SINDE UNDER THE AMEERS.

BY CAPT. HART, BOMBAY ARMY.

As misfortune naturally invests a fallen dynasty with an interest it would not have commanded in its prosperous days, some reminiscences connected with the rule of the Talpoor Princes over the fertile territory of Sinde, may not be uninteresting at the present time; the more so, as that province having now become an integral portion of the British Empire in the East, all traces of the machinery of its late government will soon be entirely obliterated. Until within a very recent period, Sinde was a forbidden land to European investigation and enterprise, for the line of policy adopted by its rulers to protect themselves from foreign aggression, was to keep other states in total ignorance of their wealth and resources, and thus induce a belief of their ability not only to resist encroachments upon their own territory, but if provoked even to invade with overwhelming force the dominions of any troublesome neighbour. Circumstances over which they had no control, forced their descendants to depart from this wise policy of the founders of their line, who viewed with just alarm the gigantic strides towards universal dominion in the East of the mighty European power on their frontier, and the consequences have been such as were foreseen, both by themselves and every person of discernment under their sway. At first, a temporary occupation of a line of military posts through their territory; heavy demands upon their treasury, and a curtailment of their privileges, thus causing a diminution of their influence and exciting heart-burnings and intrigues, with the almost hopeless object of casting off the yoke of the stranger; then the discovery of these plots leading to more galling restrictions of their power, and the final attempt to break their bonds, followed by defeat, exile and captivity. Little more than half a century has elapsed since the chieftains of this race flew to arms to avenge the slaughter of their kindred, and drove the last unworthy representative of the Calora Princes from a throne which his ancestors had occupied for even a less period, to end his days as a poor and despised wanderer in a distant land. Then was exhibited that phenomenon in Asiatic history, of the successful leader of an hostile party after possessing himself of the reins of power, and obtaining the confirmation of his Lord Paramount, (the Afghan monarch,) to his usurpation, crushing the seeds of jealousy and rivalry in the bosoms of his warlike relatives, by admitting his three younger brethren to a share of his high dignity, and amicably reigning with them, under the denomination of the Ameers or Lords of Sinde. The result proved either the consummate wisdom of the measure, or his knowledge of their affectionate dispositions, for their strong and unvarying attachment during life gained them the honourable appellation of the "Char Yar," the four friends. The sovereignty which they had won and retained by the sword, has been wrested from their descendants by the same powerful weapon, and their fall adds another instance in the page of history of the uncertain tenure of dominion by Oriental Princes.

To give an idea of their system of government, its practical working in one of their most important towns must be shown, explanator U. S. MAG., No. 187, JUNE, 1844.

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the detail of which it has been necessary to allude thus briefly to the origin of the authority exercised by the Ameers. The constant reference which has been made to Kurachee in the dispatches from the seat of war on the Indus, and the fact of its being the only sea-port of Sinde, point it out for selection on this occasion. Its situation at the head of a creek communicating with a spacious harbour, must render it the entrepot of goods sent from Europe, and the picture about to be drawn of its condition under its former rulers, will afford grounds for the formation of an opinion of the benefits or otherwise which may hereafter accrue to it from the change of masters. Three years ago its population amounted to upwards of 13,000 souls, of whom two-thirds were Hindoos, essentially the trading portion of the community, the Mahomedans being mostly fishermen, carriers, and labourers. The persons in authority were a Military and Civil Governor, with four collectors of customs, the two former appointed by the joint concurrence of the Ameers; the latter acting on behalf of, and attending to the interests of their own particular chiefs. Unanimity, however, did not always prevail in the nominating to these situations, for in the case of one official, three only of his masters acquiesced in his appointment, the fourth giving his vote to his own collector. But no inconvenience resulted from this difference, as the more powerful exercised the duties uncontrolled by his rival candidate for the office, who contented himself with receiving one-fourth of the emoluments. The military chieftain had the command of the troops stationed in the town, and garrisoning the small fort at the mouth of the harbour. When the British force landed at Kurachee in 1839, this functionary fled to Hyderabad, to make his personal excuses for not having defeated or repelled the invaders, carrying with him one of the 32-pound shot which had been fired from the man-of-war, as a specimen of the artillery he had deemed it useless to attempt contending with. The conduct of a few of his soldiers who formed the garrison of the small fort, deserves honourable mention. When the British vessels came to an anchor off the harbour, these men were summoned to surrender the post intrusted to their charge, to which they replied, that although perfectly aware of the hopelessness of resistance, they could not submit without orders from their chief. At this time the plea was thought a mere subterfuge, and the fort was battered down; but it afterwards appeared, that had they acted otherwise, they would have been accounted infamous, and immediately discharged, and found it impossible to have obtained service again. The military duties performed by the soldiers were little more than nominal, their principal employment being the serving as escorts to caravans of merchandise leaving the town for the interior of the country. As the tribes to which these men belonged, resided in the neighbourhood, it was merely necessary for one, or at most, two of them, to accompany a caravan, their presence being sufficient to secure the property from plunder, and its owners from molestation, as long as the road lay through districts under their influence. On the confines of their territory others relieved them, and the merchant was thus enabled, for a comparatively trifling charge, to send his goods in safety from one end of the country to the other. Instances had indeed occurred where the escorts were attacked and overpowered; but such an event never failed to bring upon the offending parties the speedy vengeance of that

tribe whose guarantee had been violated; no mention was ever made of the confidence reposed in individuals having been betrayed, however great the temptation. A small portion of the sum received by the guards was the perquisite of their Commander, to increase the amount of his trifling salary. At Kurachee, his office precluded him from all interference in the affairs of the inhabitants, and consequently his influence was but little sought after, nor any attempts made to propitiate his good will by presents.

The post of Civil Governor was a far more important one, the only restraint on his authority being the chance of complaints of his tyranny or oppression reaching the ears of his superiors. The police of the town was his special care, and all punishments for offences against the revenue laws, reported by the collectors of customs, were inflicted by his orders. It was a matter of the utmost importance to obtain his countenance and favour, particularly on the part of the Hindoo class of the people; but occasionally even their meek and patient tempers would be goaded to desperation by acts of injustice and cruelty. On such occasions, with that passive endurance which was more than a match for the active coercion of their oppressor, they would close their warehouses, draw their vessels on shore, shut up their houses, and quit the town in a body, forwarding at the same time a statement of their grievances to the capital. This decisive conduct seldom failed in its effect, as the stoppage of all trade, and consequent loss of revenue, was so forcible an appeal to the feelings and purses of their rulers, that a favourable reply to their complaints was usually forwarded, and sometimes the obnoxious governor immediately removed.

This speedy attention to the petitions of the inhabitants of Kurachee was owing to the fact of no grain of any description being cultivated within many miles of the town, and its entire revenue, in consequence, dependent on the amount of tonnage frequenting the port, where Hindoos were owners of the greater number of vessels. At the inland towns they were maltreated and fined for the most trivial offences without ceremony.

The civil governor could not inflict capital punishment without reference to the government. The only instance which occurred during the first three years a British force was encamped near Kurachee was the hanging of a chief of a band of plunderers, for the murder of a British officer. It appeared, from the evidence collected some time after this melancholy event, that a Syud, (a descendant of the Prophet,) residing at a distance in the mountains, imagining that some of the cattle or sheep belonging to the camp might be driven off without difficulty, quitted his place of residence, and visiting several encampments in his neighbourhood, collected a body of five-and-twenty or thirty men to assist him on his expedition. The prospect of plunder was an inducement no Sindian could withstand, and, under the guidance of so holy a personage as the Syud, they felt confident of success. All were on foot, but by well timing their marches, they reached during the night a range of hills which overlooked the British lines, where they could lie concealed until a favourable opportunity of carrying their designs into execution should occur. The total want of cavalry with the force prevented the country being patrolled to any distance, and enabled these plunderers to retain their position unobserved for two

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days; but as no cattle happened to be driven in the direction of the hills, they were disappointed of their prey. The third morning an officer taking a ride unfortunately passed near them; a steep descent induced him, unsuspicious of danger, to retrace his steps. The party at once concluded their designs were suspected, and the Syud, fearing that if he returned to the camp he would give the alarm, and troops be detached in pursuit, gave the order to slay him, which was instantly obeyed. After throwing his body into a ravine close by, the murderers, taking his horse with them, decamped with all speed. But it happened that another officer, riding in the same direction, had observed his comrade, who was no longer visible, ascending the hills, and remarking several men near the spot where he was last seen, he galloped onwards, in case anything had happened which needed his assistance, or to share in whatever danger might present itself. At that moment the remembrance of there being a Sindian in confinement in the camp for camelstealing crossed his mind, and induced him to suppose that the party he had seen might make an attempt to carry off the officer to the mountains, as a hostage for the good treatment of their countryman. To rescue him, if possible, or, at all events, to follow their track, was his immediate resolution. Spurring up the range, he was surprised to find that the party had quitted the hills; but at some distance in the plain beyond he could indistinctly perceive a body of men hurrying along, with one person on horseback amongst them. Convinced of his brother-officer being made a prisoner, he pushed down with all speed into the valley to reconnoitre the captors more closely. The large and thick bushes of prickly pear, with which the face of the country was there covered, concealed the party from his view on his reaching the level of the plain; but, continuing hi course for about a mile, he unexpectedly, on turning the angle of a hillock, found himself within a few yards of the Sindians, who had posted themselves behind some bushes to receive him. He had barely time to rein up his horse before three matchlocks were discharged, the ball of one passing through his thigh. Thus wounded he galloped off in the direction of the camp, certain that the officer was a prisoner; for in the hurried glance he got of the party he had seen the horse, though he had not recognised the rider.

On reaching the lines he was so faint from loss of blood that it was some time before he could explain what had occurred; but as soon as it was understood that a British officer had been carried off, every other who was not on duty, and possessed a horse, mounted and rode in the direction pointed out. Unfortunately a high wind began to blow just at this time, and raised such clouds of dust as to obscure objects a few hundred yards distant, and though the country was scoured for miles round no trace of the fugitives was found. A small party of the officers, who on their return were leading their jaded horses from their unsuccessful search, recrossed the range of hills where the men had been first seen, and observing some vultures hovering over a ravine, were induced to look for the object of attraction; which proved to be the mangled remains of their unhappy countryman. It was evident that his death had been instantaneous, for there were at least a dozen mortal wounds upon the body; yet it seemed he was not killed for the sake of plunder, as his pockets were not rifled, nor even a gold ring upon his finger taken off, so that the general opinion was, his life had been sacrificed to religious antipathy.

Many months had elapsed, and the wounded officer nearly recovered, before any clue to the perpetrators of this deed could be obtained, when chance brought to light what the promise of reward and strict investigation had failed to accomplish. A petty tribe in the vicinity received information that a plundering party from the hills had fixed on a certain day to rendezvous near a well-known spring of water, for the purpose of deciding on their future movements, and electing a chief to command during the expedition. Dreading that their flocks and herds might suffer from such dangerous neighbours, they made known the circumstance to the governor of the town, and he, anxious to show his care for the security of those under his rule, detached some soldiers to seize the strangers. When the British Commander heard of this circumstance he sent for the Chief of the captured party, in order to interrogate him; but he, supposing he was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the murder, after a few denials of his own guilt, stated that he knew the parties implicated, had seen them on their way to the camp, as also on their return after committing the crime, and, further, that one of his own people, then in confinement, was present at the deed. On questioning the man alluded to, he at first firmly denied all knowledge of the matter; but his Chief having ordered him to speak the truth, he immediately, and without prevarication, after saying that obedience to his superior alone induced him to place his life in jeopardy by acknowledging his share in the transaction, proceeded to relate every particular connected with the occurrence. When asked why they had not carried off the officer as a prisoner to so great a dis.. tance as to preclude, on releasing him, the possibility of his giving an alarm before they had reached a place of security, he replied that no one thought of acting otherwise than in obedience to the Syud's orders. They had lain in concealment for two days without obtaining any plunder, and want of food and water had made them so desperate, that when their leader cried out "Kill him, kill him," they cut him down, and fled, because they observed another European on horseback following them, whom they hoped to have slain also; but as he was merely wounded they gave themselves up for lost. The Syud, however, bade them have confidence in his power, and immediately commanded a high wind to blow, which enabled them to make good their retreat to the mountains, under the friendly shelter of the dust it raised.

This evidence having been corroborated by that of other persons, application was made to the Court at Hyderabad to apprehend the Syud as the principal delinquent, less criminality being attached to the actual perpetrators of the deed than to him, as the instigator; their fanatic bigotry leading them to venerate him as a saint, whose commands were law, and the fear of his curse more terrible than death. Although for some years his violent and savage conduct had rendered him an object of dislike to those tribes among whom he dwelt, still no one dared to refuse compliance with his demands for whatever supplies he required, or even to avenge the death of a former enemy, whom he had lured under his roof upon a solemn promise of forgiving past

offences.

To issue an order for the seizure of so sacred a personage was a most unpleasing task to the Ameers, whose religious prejudices were fully as deeply rooted as those of the meanest of their subjects; indeed,