Kotwal

“ The reputed son of the Kotwal grew up a vigorous, robust lad. As the house of the old Brahman was not far from the Kotwal's, the Kotwal's son used accidentally to meet the handsome strange woman who passed for the Brahman's daughter. The lad liked the woman, and wanted to marry her. He spoke to his father about the woman, and the father spoke to the Brahman. The Brahman's rage knew no bounds. What! the infidel Kotwal's son aspiring to the hand of a Brahman's daughter! A dwarf may as well aspire to catch hold of the moon! But the Kotwal's son determined to have her by force. ”

“ My lord's face is kind—I cannot die—and my lord has no sword, and how will he kill me?" He had only just perceived that we were both unarmed, and he made a sudden rush at the door. "The Kotwal shall know of this," he cried; "people are not to be terrified with impunity." The door was fastened; he gave several desperate pulls and pushes at it; but I was at his back, and the fatal handkerchief was over his head: he turned round and glared on me—the next instant he was dead at my feet. ”

“ But will your Majesty, refuge of the world, pass orders on the Khan's case?"
"I see no order to pass, Hyat Khan," returned the Queen; "surely ye are satisfied?"
"We may be, but the people will not be," said the Kotwal, decidedly. "There is a blood feud now between the people of Elias Khan and Abbas Khan. Put thought of him aside, O noble lady, and prevent bloodshed, a renewal of the old scenes which brought the kingdom to the verge of ruin. There is a public durbar to-morrow, let the case be decided; I have force enough to prevent riot." ”

“ Go, betake yourself to the bazar; be thankful that you can get any place; and, [42] if no one will shelter you, lie in the street; bethink yourself that many a better man has done so before you."
The man stood aghast: he looked first at us, then at the kotwal and his men, while expressions of delight at his discomfiture ran through the kotwal's party: "Well said!" "Proper fellows!" "He ought to be turned out of the village," &c. At last, without saying a word, he threw down his turban and ran out, bellowing as loud as he could. We all burst into a hearty fit of laughter. ”

“ Amán! Mercy! mercy!" broke from a crowd of captives tied together; and one of them, who had been Abbas Khan's duffadar, cried out piteously [290] "Let me speak; let me speak before the assembly. I am a traitor and a rebel, and deserve death, but not before I have spoken, O my lord."
"Let me and my people take charge from thee, Runga Naik," said the Kotwal. "Thy men are weary and footsore."
"I thought to have been here yesterday, noble Khan, but it could not be done. Yet I am not too late, and the duffadar should speak before the Queen." ”

“ On the whole it seems probable that the title was originally Turki, but was shaped by Indian associations.
[The duties of the Kotwāl, as head of the police, are exhaustively laid down in the Āīn (Jarrett, ii. 41) . Amongst other rules: "He shall amputate the hand of any who is the pot-companion of an executioner, and the finger of such as converse with his family."] The office of Kotwāl in Western and Southern India, technically speaking, ceased about 1862, when the new police system (under Act, India, V. of 1861, and corresponding local Acts) was introduced. ”

“ Each dipped his hand in turn, the Rajah’s son, the Vizier’s son, the woman, and the Kotwal himself, but only the Kotwal had his hand badly burnt, so this ended the whole affair. The Rajah’s son meantime had dressed himself as a woman, and taken service in the house of the beautiful woman who was the wife of a Sowcar. ”

“ Séthjee," said Bhudrinath, addressing him; "what a place is this they have put you into after all, not fit for hogs to lie in! That rascally kotwal, for all his smooth tongue, is an arrant knave, I warrant; and I have heard," continued he, lowering his voice, "that he has in his employ a number of thieves, whose business it is to cut away travellers' saddle-bags from under their heads at night, and when the poor man goes to complain in the morning, he is beaten out of the village. Did we not hear so, Jemadar Sahib?" ”

“ At lunch time the English-speaking native, who had charge of the catering and other arrangements in connection with the prince’s reception at Chaman, came to tell me that the Kotwal had also approached him about running away, and what should he do? I recognized that there was no help at hand, and so I impressed on him that whatever was done nothing must be known that we were concerned in the man’s running away, pointing out the bad impression it would make on the Amir, and that the Government would no doubt institute inquiries and we should be blamed. ”

“ In short, sirs, there is no end to the fancies, foolishnesses, and, I may say, tyranny, of travellers, and who think me, I suppose, to possess superhuman power, and to have jins (genii) at my command, to bring them whatever their foolish ideas may desire."
"You have indeed no easy situation, and to please every one is impossible," said I; "but here comes the merchant,"—and he entered.
"Take up your turban, good fellow," said the kotwal, "and do not be angry; you are no child to be quarrelling with decent people. ”

“ He insisted, having plenty more, he said, at home. Abdoolah cooked me some chops, so altogether I fared admirably, and was just turning in, when Buddoo arrived. He had been detained by the delay and difficulty in obtaining a change of coolies at Serai.
20th October. Up ere dawn, and everything made ready for a start, the kotwal very busy, lending a helping hand. I gave him a long certificate, of which testimonials [Pg 329] he has hundreds, and takes much pleasure in exhibiting them to any saheb who may have sufficient patience and good temper to humour him. ”

“ These sepoys are the men employed by the Kotwal in the carrying out of executions and punishments, and those who happen to be on guard at the time are appointed for the work. Some of the younger sepoys are very sick after assisting in some horrible punishment, but use hardens them, and after a time they become callous to suffering in others, in some cases even to the extent of gloating over the death or tortures they are ordered to inflict on some miserable wretch. ”

“ The police almost every where seem to have been bought over. In the city of Gwalior, the kotwal got one-fourth of their profits; and in the British territory, five rupees a day have been paid as hush-money to the neighbouring thannah. Amongst their friends was the mess khansaman of a regiment at Meerut, the brother of one of their chiefs, and an accomplice. Gold and silver coin, and ornaments of pearl and coral, formed part of the remittances that used to be sent to their head-quarters at Cawnpore. ”

“ They let the cows graze on the meadow, while they themselves met together under a large tree to play. And they played at royalty. One cowboy was elected king; another, prime minister or vizier; another, kotwal, or prefect of the police; and others, constables. Every day for several days together they saw the Brahman passing by weeping. One day the cowboy king asked his vizier whether he knew why the Brahman wept every day. On the vizier not being able to answer the question, the cowboy king ordered one of his constables to bring the Brahman to him. ”

“ A few words from her brother soon, however, explained all; and he made light of the Peer Sahib's rudeness, which he told his sister was only what they must expect to endure as Christian missionaries.
"We have been spoilt too much," he continued, "by the good old Nawab of Moodgul and by our friend Abbas Khan; and in a city like this, full of fanatics and different religious bodies of Mussulmans, [40] we may hardly expect to escape notice. But we have a good friend in the great Kotwal, and under the Queen Regent's protection we should have no fear. ”

“ She was a biddable girl and really was very quiet, lying down and promising to be good. I examined the two other children and found them in the same state of stupor as Mrs. Selwyn. Evidently they had been drugged and the whole thing was a plot. The Ayah's absence assured me of this. Had she run away to give the alarm help would have come long before, but the Kotwal had told me that it was Fanny's unearthly screams that had aroused the Bazaar. ”

“ Contradiction was unbearable to the autocrat; and in a rage he ordered his companion to break off a leaf from the banyan tree standing by, and bring it to him, so that he might put down in writing what he had to say concerning the matter under discussion between them. The leaf was brought, and the king wrote on it: "If, kotál, you have a son, and I a daughter, I will marry them to each other; but if the reverse happens, I will have you beheaded. Again, if each of us gets a male child, I will give half my kingdom to your son." Of course the kotal could not but accept the conditions. ”

“ Kotul, or "tooth-breaking pass," and a truly formidable one it is for beasts of burden, especially the declivity on the northern side. Very few venture upon the descent without dismounting, for the surface of the rock is so smooth and slippery, that the animals can with difficulty keep their legs even when led, and many teeth, both of man and horse, have been broken before reaching the bottom.
The valley of Kāmmurd lying at the foot of the northern side of the pass has a very fertile appearance, and orchards of different descriptions of fruit-trees are interspersed throughout the cultivation. ”

“ In due time the queen and the kotál's wife gave birth, the former to a girl of unusual beauty, and the latter to a male child. Time helped the growth of each, and the two children were, when five years old, sent to the same pathshala. [3] Pushpamala, the king's daughter, sat on the throne, while the kotál's son sat below. In their studies they made rapid progress, especially in reading and writing, in which they showed great proficiency. One day the pen in the hand of the princess accidently dropped to the ground, and the kotál's son eagerly picked it up and gave it back to its owner. ”

“ The Peiwar Kotal is a narrow depression in the ridge, commanded on each side by high pine-clad mountains. The approach to it from the Kuram valley was up a steep, narrow, zigzag path, commanded throughout its entire length from the adjacent heights, and difficult to ascend on account of the extreme roughness of the road, which was covered with large fragments of rocks and boulders. Every point of the ascent was exposed to fire from both guns and rifles, securely placed behind breastworks constructed of pine-logs and stones. ”

“ He brought it to a wonderful state of prosperity, and under his administration, which lasted over forty-five years, the Kotah territory was respected by all parties. In 1838 it was resolved, with the consent of the chief of Kotah, to dismember the state, and to create the new principality of Jhalawar as a separate provision for the descendants of Zalim Singh. The districts then severed from Kotah were considered to represent one-third (£120,000) of the income of Kotah; by treaty they acknowledged the supremacy of the British, and agreed to pay an annual tribute of £8000. ”

“ What evil conspiracy are you two concocting by night in this forest?"
The man in Brahman garb remained for some time silent and immersed in thought, as if some new means of accomplishing his purpose had entered into his mind. He took Kopal-Kundala by the hand, and led her
some distance from the broken house. Kopal-Kundala in great wrath released her hand. The man in Brahman garb said very softly, close to Kopal-Kundala's ear, "What do you fear? I am not a man." ”

“ A poor man attaches himself to the kotla of a rich one, and is considered a child of the latter. An under-chief has a number of these circles around his; and the collection of kotlas around the great one in the middle of the whole, that of the principal chief, constitutes the town. The circle of huts immediately around the kotla of the chief is composed of the huts of his wives and those of his blood relations. He attaches the under-chiefs to himself and his government by marrying, as Sechele did, their daughters, or inducing his brothers to do so. ”

“ Muslins are the chief articles of manufacture, but the town has no great trade, and this and the unhealthiness of the site may account for the decrease in population.
KOTAS (Kotar, Koter, Kohatur, Gauhatar) , an aboriginal tribe of the Nilgiri hills, India. They are a well-made people, of good features, tall, and of a dull copper colour, but some of them are among the fairest of the hill tribes. They recognize no caste among themselves, but are divided into keris (streets) , and a man must marry outside his keri. ”

“ The King of this fair city should declare the blockade absolute, and refuse to be troubled with anyone except “Colon-nel Baltah Agenty Sahib Bahadur” and the Politicals. If ever a rail{204}way is run through Kotah, as men on the Bombay side declare it must be, the cloistered glory of Boondi will depart, for Kotah is only twenty miles easterly of the city and the road is moderately good. In that day the Globe-Trotter will pry about the place, and the Charitable Dispensary—a gem among dispensaries—will be public property. ”

“ If you flee, he will never be ungrateful! It is only because the proper moment has not yet arrives that you have hitherto escaped destruction. Considering what you have done to-day, there is fear for your life. Therefore I tell you to flee. This, too, is Bhobani's order. So go; if I had the means of keeping you back, I would do so, but you know I cannot.
Kopa. Let it be marriage then.
After this conversation they both came out of the temple. The Adhikari seated Kopal-Kundala in one room, and then, going to Nobokumar's bed, he sate down by his pillow and said, "Are you asleep, sir?" ”