Haridwar

“ Now I feel sure that in British India the Irregular Forces, which are of little use and which cost His Highness's government annually 23! lakhs of rupees, would long ago have been abolished, and that the jagirdars would, many years before this, have been shorn of such privileges as their own Law Courts and prisons. The small jagirdars are, it seems to me, the white elephant of the Hyderabad State at the present time, for they retard general progress and, in most cases, take no interest in the education of their ryots. ”

“ We have sailed for many a weary moon and desire only peace and a chance to trade for food and water. What city is this?"
"This is Nagdragore, one of the chief principalities of India," answered the rajah. "Come ashore; ye are my guests. It's many a day since I turned my face eastward and I am hungry to speak with one in the old tongue of Rome and hear the news of the west."
"What says he? Is it peace or war? Where be we?" the questions rained on the Briton.
"We are indeed in the land of Hind," answered Donn Othna. "But yonder king is not Indian. If he be a Greek, then I am a Saxon! ”

“ A second time the genius of Hastings saved the British empire in the east. On the arrival of the news that Hyder had descended from the highlands of Mysore, cut to pieces the only British army in the field, and swept the Carnatic up to the gates of Madras, he at once adopted a policy of extraordinary boldness. He signed a blank treaty of peace with the Mahrattas, who were still in arms, reversed the action of the Madras government towards the nizam, and concentrated all the resources of Bengal against Hyder Ali. ”

“ The young Rájá Chikka Krishnaráj of Mysore had long smarted under the thraldom of his Mayor of the Palace, Nanjráj, and it occurred to the dowager queen that advantage might be taken of the ascendancy over the troops which Haidar had acquired to get rid of the obnoxious minister. This was successfully achieved with the aid of Khande Ráo, but the effect was to exchange King Log for King Stork, for Haidar, having practically command of the army and of the revenue of nearly half the kingdom, kept the Rájá in the same state of dependence as before. ”

“ As Nasir-ud-din Haidar had no legitimate son, his uncle, Naseeh-ud-daula, son of Sadat Ali Khan, succeeded him after a violent attempt on the part of the Padshah Begum, adopted mother of Nasir-ud-din Haidar, to get the above named illegitimate son, Moonna Jan, put on the throne. ”

“ Further, Hardoi was on the great highway from Delhi to Jaunpur and Bengal. Tall poppies do not grow by the roadside. These things account for large principalities never having flourished in Hardoi; they do not account for large clans like the Nikumbhs, Chamar Gaurs, Sakarwars, Panwárs never having elected a rája. They show that even when a clan had mastered a compact estate, the rája was regarded as an ornamental appendage which might or might not be added, HAR in war. ”

“ Immediately above the plains of the Carnatic lies the hill country of Mysore, and there a new power had been established by the ablest opponent we ever met in India, Hyder Ali. A Mahommedan of low birth, a freebooter, a rebel, and commander-in-chief of the Mysore army, he succeeded at last in establishing himself on the throne of the Hindoo Rajah. [1123] Sometimes in confederation with the Nizam of the Deccan, sometimes with the Mahrattas of the Western Ghauts, Hyder kept up a continual war with the English. His army of 100,000 men was organized in the European fashion. ”

“ In Hindustán, as elsewhere, when any man of vigour and energy has raised himself to a throne, it is not difficult to find for him a pedigree showing his noble descent, and it is not therefore surprising that native annalists should endeavour to prove that Haidar came from the famous race of the Korésh. According to their accounts, one of his ancestors named Hasan, who claimed Yahya as his progenitor, left Baghdád, and came to Ajmere in India, where he had a son called Walí Muhammad. ”

“ And are you an Englishman, Frenchman, Indian, American, or what? You seem not to have taken your degrees in these parts.’
‘That’s a secret, my friend,’ said Dare. ‘I am a citizen of the world. I owe no country patriotism, and no king or queen obedience. A man whose country has no boundary is your only true gentleman.’
‘Well, where were you born—somewhere, I suppose?’
‘It would be a fact worth the telling. The secret of my birth lies here.’ And Dare slapped his breast with his right hand.
‘Literally, just under your shirt-front; or figuratively, in your heart?’ asked Havill. ”

“ In 1857 when the Mutiny broke out, the attitude of Hyderabad as the premier native state and the cynosure of the Mahommedans in India became a matter of extreme importance; but Afzul-ud-Dowla, the father of the present ruler, and his famous minister, Sir Salar Jang, remained loyal to the British. An attack on the residency was repulsed, and the Hyderabad contingent displayed their loyalty in the field against the rebels. In 1902 by a treaty made by Lord Curzon, Berar was leased in perpetuity to the British government, and the Hyderabad contingent was merged in the Indian army. ”

“ In short, the girl one day said to her father, ‘Father! give me in marriage to some one who is possessed of all accomplishments. On this, he said, ‘I will give thee to one who is acquainted with all science.’”
“One day subsequent to this, the king summoned Haridãs, and said, ‘There is in the south a king named Harichand; go and ask after his health and welfare for me, and bring me news thereof.’ On receiving the king’s command he took leave, and arriving at that king’s after some days, delivered to him the whole message of his royal master, and took up his permanent abode near that monarch.” ”

“ And in the meanwhile king Harivara, finding out that his beloved Anangaprabhá had gone somewhere or other, was ready to abandon the body out of grief. Then the minister Sumantra said to the king to comfort him, " Why do you appear as if you do not understand the matter ? Consider it yourself? How, my sovereign, could you expect that a woman, who deserted a husband, that had by means of his sword obtained the power of a Vidyádhara, and repaired to you as soon as she saw you, would be faithful even to you? ”

“ Haridãs began to think to himself, ‘One girl and three suitors! to whom shall I give her, and to whom not?’ He was troubled with this thought, when a demon came at night and carried off the girl to the summit of a mountain in the Vindhyã range. It is said that too much of anything is not good. Sïtã was exceedingly beautiful, and Rãvan carried her off; King Bali gave gifts largely,—he became indigent; Rãvan utterly ruined his family by his excessive pride. ”

“ Haidarabad is one of the oldest cities in India, with a population of 355,000, inclosed by a strong wall six miles in circumference. The city stands in the midst of wild and rocky scenery and is one of the most interesting places in India, because the nizam is fond of motion and music and color, and has surrounded himself with a large retinue of congenial spirits, who live at his expense and pay their board by amusing him. ”

“ HARDY’S FIRST INDIAN The war-cloud gathers over Kentucky—Hardy goes a-hunting and bags a fat turkey—He practices the difficult feat of barking squirrels—He detects a dusky foe spying upon him from behind a tree—And plans to outwit the wily savage—Hardy fires and scatters the head-feathers of the Indian—Hardy is now reduced to his tomahawk for defence—He makes a good throw and barely misses the mark—Powerless, he awaits death as the savage advances—A friend in need is a friend indeed—“My scalp, I reckon, young fellow!”—Simon Kenton, the daring dandy of the backwoods. ”

“ The Mysore minister at that time was Nanjráj, who, pleased with Haidar's courage, gave him the command of a small body of troops, and shortly afterwards, when a force was despatched to Arcot, in accordance with instructions from the Nizám Nasir Jang, Haidar and his brother accompanied the army. ”

“ The occasion which, in 1749, led to the despatch of the troops from Mysore, with whom Haidar was serving, was a contest for the Nizámat between Násir Jang and his nephew Muzaffar Jang, the latter of whom had been nominated as his successor by Kamar-ud-dín. who died in 1748; but Násir Jang, being on the spot, seized the throne, calling to his aid the chiefs just mentioned, as well as the Rájá of Mysore, who was tributary to the Nizám. Muhammad Alí of Arcot joined his standard, as also a contingent of British troops under Major Lawrence. ”

“ HYDERABAD or Haidarabad, capital of the above state, is situated on the right bank of the river Musi, a tributary of the Kistna, with Golconda to the west, and the residency and its bazaars and the British cantonment of Secunderabad to the north-east. It is the fourth largest city in India ”

“ The highest official of Peshawar, Sir Harold Deane, with his wife, and the Maharaja of Idar, were guests in the palace of the Viceroy for a couple of days. Sir Harold was a man one never forgets after once meeting him; strong, tall, manly, and amiable. The half-savage tribes and princes on the frontier of Afghanistan fear and admire him, and he is said to manage them with masterly tact. This meeting was very important to me, for Sir Harold gave me letters of introduction to the Maharaja of Kashmir and his private secretary, Daya Kishen Kaul. At my return to India, Sir Harold was, alas! dead. ”

“ Gradually, however, the steady, rapid motion, the sense of strength and reliance in themselves and each other, lessened the somber expression, and a general talk began, mostly upon Indian fights, in which most of the older settlers had at one time or other taken a part.
Mr. Hardy took a part in and encouraged this conversation. He knew how necessary, in an expedition of this sort, it was to keep up the spirits of all engaged; and he endeavored, therefore, to shake off his own heavy weight of care, and to give animation and life to them all. ”

“ So the Sesodias came to their own again, and the successors of Hamir extended their kingdoms and rebuilt Chitor, as kings know how to rebuild cities in a land where human labour and life are cheaper than bread and water. For two centuries, saith Tod, Mewar flourished exceedingly and was the paramount kingdom of all Rajasthan. Greatest of all the successors of Hamir, was Kumbha Rana who, when the Ghilzai dynasty was rotting away and Viceroys declared themselves kings, met, defeated, took captive, and released without ransom, Mahmoud of Malwa. ”

“ The next time that I saw His Highness the Nizam was at Delhi, where, at the Coronation Durbar, he, as premier prince of India, walked first to the thrones and bowed there to King George, who, at the same time, and in the same way, returned his homage. He wore a plain English morning suit and the yellow Hyderabad turban, and his quiet manner and dignified bearing seemed to make a very favourable impression on the vast assembly. ”

“ Is not this a round-about way to India? Won't the Queen send an army to free us? Do you think we'll be sold as slaves? Are there cannibals in this horrid Arabia?" These, and many other such questions, repeated again and again till a brief reply was extracted, tried sorely the patience of Harold. Whilst, with weary limbs and blistered feet, the young missionary paced the desert way behind the camel, he had to endure this infliction. ”

“ Had Hastings been governor of Madras, Hyder would have been either made a friend, or vigorously encountered as an enemy. Unhappily the English authorities in the south provoked their powerful neighbour’s hostility, without being prepared to repel it. On a sudden, an army of ninety thousand men, far superior in discipline and efficiency to any other native force that could be found in India, came pouring through those wild passes which, worn by mountain torrents, and dark with jungle, lead down from the table land of Mysore to the plains of the Carnatic. ”

“ You talk like a young, hot-blooded boy: this cannot be. We of Hyderabad are too much beholden to the Ungrez Feringhees for freeing us from the demands of the Mahrattas, and the oppression of Hyder Ali and Tippoo, to quarrel with them ”

“ Her son and she wait upon the folks."
"I see," said Eustacia.
"'Tis the last strain, I think," said Saint George, with his ear to the panel. "A young man and woman have just swung into this corner, and he's saying to her, 'Ah, the pity; 'tis over for us this time, my own.'"
"Thank God," said the Turkish Knight, stamping, and taking from the wall the conventional lance that each of the mummers carried. Her boots being thinner than those of the young men, the hoar had damped her feet and made them cold. ”

“ Positive orders having been issued that neither officers nor men should be allowed to enter Hyderabad on any pretence whatsoever, I am unable to give my readers a description of the town. It appeared to be of considerable extent, but of such little strength, that had the Ameers driven matters to extremities, I [Pg 31] have no doubt we should have carried the place in an hour.
We were exceedingly amused at the surprise and consternation displayed by the inhabitants of Hyderabad at the arrival of one of the iron steamers in the Indus, with supplies for the troops from Bombay. ”

“ De Stancy went into the hall, and on to the gallery, where Dare was standing as still as a caryatid.
‘I have heard every word,’ said Dare.
‘Well, what does it mean? Has that fool Havill done it on purpose to annoy me? What conceivable reason can the man have for throwing up an appointment he has worked so hard for, at the moment he has got it, and in the time of his greatest need?’
Dare guessed, for he had seen a little way into Havill’s soul during the brief period of their confederacy. ”