No More Learning

Lal Singh now became wazir,
an unworthy ruler, but the power was not with him but with Sardar
Tej Singh, the commander-in-chief, and the panchayats of the army.
The direct causes of the Sikh war with the English are obscure.
The English seeing the confusion which followed the death of Ranjit
Singh no doubt made preparations of a defensive kind; as the event
showed they would have been very foolish if they had not done so,
though there was some point in the words of a hostile critic: "To
be prepared is one thing; to be always making preparations another”.
The Sikhs, seeing more men placed in the neighbourhood of their
frontier, at a time when they knew that their own power was weaker
than before, drew the natural but erroneous inference that the English
wanted their country. And this impression was strengthened by the
fact that they knew that some of the Sikh chiefs would gladly have


## p. 549 (#577) ############################################

OUTBREAK OF WAR
649
seen the English come. There was the object lesson of Sind before
their eyes; they had always been an aggressive people themselves,
and they could not understand that a powerful nation could be
otherwise. They remembered, long after the English had ceased to
think about such matters, projects for sending troops to Lahore and
for handing Peshawar over to the Afghans; men had talked, too, in
the days of the Afghan occupation of "macadamising" the Panjab.
The actual changes in recent years, so far as troops are concerned,
have been summarised thus :
Up to 1838 the troops on the frontier amounted to one regiment at Sabatha,
and two at Ludhiana, with six pieces of artillery, equalling in all little more
than 2500 men. Lord Auckland made the total about 8000, by increasing
Ludhiana and creating Ferozepore. Lord Ellenborough formed further new
stations at Ambala, Kasauli and Simla, and placed in all about 14,000 men and
48 field guns on the frontier. Lord Hardinge increased the aggregate force to
about 32,000 men, with 68 field guns, besides having 100,00 men with artillery
at Meerut. After 1843, however, the station of Karnal, on the Jumna, was aban-
doned, which in 1838 and preceding years may have mustered about 4000 men.
But Lord Hardinge has shown that his father deserved even greater
credit than this account, believed to be from the pen of Lawrence,
would allow. The strength on the frontier, exclusive of hill stations
which remained the same, at the departure of Lord Ellenborough
was 17,612 men and sixty-six guns : at the outbreak of war it was
40,523 men and ninety-four guns. This comprises the garrisons of
Firozpur, Ludhiana, Ambala and Meerut. 1
Cunningham thinks that the Sikhs distrusted Major Broadfoot
because of angry proceedings on his part when passing through their
territory with Shah Shuja's family in 1841, and because of the
strong line he took when British agent with regard to the relations
between the Cis-Satlej states and the British Government. In the
latter connection various small incidents occurred, trifling in them-
selves but magnified by bazaar gossip in a land where there are but
few topics of conversation. More important was undoubtedly the
fact that many of the chiefs of the Panjab had, or thought they had,
everything to gain if the army with its system of panchayats dashed
itself to pieces against the English, and among these were such men
as Lal Singh, the wazir, and Tej Singh, the commander-in-chief;
their interests or their wishes coinciding with those of the soldiers on
widely different grounds. Cunningham has mentioned, too, the story
of two Sikh villages having been sequestrated because they harboured
criminals, but, whether this is true or not, it probably had little to do
with the matter. The soldiers were determined, although their com-
mander knew that they were mistaken, and although Gulab Singh
and many others were entirely opposed to the war. The Sikh army
1 Lord Hardinge, Viscount Hardinge, pp. 74 sqq. , and Burton, Sikh Wars,
pp. 10 sqq. Cf. Rait, Lord Gough, I, 371 sqq.


## p. 550 (#578) ############################################

550
CONQUEST OF SIND AND THE PANJAB
then, hoping to surprise the English and march to Delhi, crossed the
Satlej on 11 December, 1845, between Huriki and Kasur.
The governor-general, Sir Henry Hardinge, and the commander-
in-chief, Sir Hugh Gough, were both old and tried soldiers. They
had available forces of between 20,000 and 30,000 men and they had
to meet (the exact number is uncertain)' over 50,000 well-armed
opponents. The governor-general on 13 December issued a formal
declaration of war. He stated that the British Government had ever
been on friendly terms with that of the Panjab and had continued
to be so during the disorganised state of the government which had
followed the death of Shir Singh in spite of many unfriendly proceed-
ings on the part of the Sikh durbar. The Sikh army had now invaded
British territory without a shadow of provocation and the governor-
general must, therefore, take steps necessary to protect the British
provinces, to vindicate the authority of the British Government, and
to punish the violators of treaties and disturbers of the public peace.
He therefore declared the possessions of the maharaja on the left
bank of the Satlej confiscated and annexed to the British territories.
As there was a strong striking force of the Sikhs to contend with,
it was wisely decided to bring as many troops together as possible;
the garrison of Ludhiana was therefore transferred to Basian where
it served the admirable purpose of protecting a great grain depot of
the forces. The Sikhs took up a position within a few miles of Firozpur.
It is unnecessary to discuss the alleged treachery of Lal Singh and
Tej Singh, it suffices to follow what happened. The English under
Gough pushed forward by way of Wadni and Charak to Mudki which
they had no sooner reached than they were attacked by the Sikhs
(18 December, 1845). The enemy were, however, defeated with a
loss of seventeen guns. How men who had marched so far under
such difficult conditions, and who had but the short remnant of a
winter's day to fight in, could have done better is hard to see, but
nicre than one critic has expected it. Sale, amongst other brave men,
fell here.
The English army was now only twenty miles from Firozpur,
where was General Littler, and if his force could join that of Gough
and Hardinge, who had now placed himself as a volunteer under the
orders of the commander-in-chief, they would have about 18,000 men
with which to attack the large body of Sikhs who were encamped
round Firozshah. Gough was anxious not to wait, but the governor--
general obliged him to do so; they were joined by Littler a few hours
later on the 21st, and they attacked at four in the afternoon, both
sections of the army having been many hours under arms. This was
a very different affair from Mudki, and on the night of 21 December
"the fate of India trembled in the balance”. The enemy's camp was
indeed taken, but much remained to be done, and the two leaders
were equally resolved to fight things out to a finish in the morning.
So the nexť day the wearied troops renewed the battle; again the


## p. 551 (#579) ############################################

SOBRAON
551
governor-general and the commander-in-chief led the attack; and
finally with a magnificent bayonet charge the fight was won. But
this two days' battle had been a terrible risk; there had been some
confusion and the loss of life (Broadfoot fell amongst many less known
men) had been great; he hesitated and on 30 December requested
Gough's recall. 1
Fortunately Gough was a man of iron who never hesitated for a
moment as to what he had to do. It was far otherwise with the British
public and the cabinet which represen*ed them. It was at once
resolved that the governor-general should take the command and to
get over the technical difficulty a "Letter of Service” was sent out
to him from the queen which would enable him as a lieutenant-
gereral on the staff to command in person the troops in India.
Happily conditions had altered so much that the letter owing to
the generous spirit of Sir Henry Hardinge was never published; nor
indeed was its existence generally known till fifty years later. 2
Seventy-three guns had been taken and several thousand Sikhs
killed at Firozshah, but there was still a formidable army to reckon
with, and the British force was sadly reduced. Fresh Sikh troops
kept pouring across the Satlej, more guns were brought, and every
day became of importance especially as an attack on Ludhiana was
threatened. Under these circumstances, reinforcements having arrived
from Meerut, Sir Harry Smith was sent to Ludhiana, and, after being
joined by the troops under General Wheeler, he attacked on 28
January, 1846, a strong enemy force. The Sikhs in this neighbour-
hood, afraid of being taken on both sides by the two bodies of English
troops, had fallen back to an entrenched position at Aliwal. The
result was a brilliant victory. The Sikh position was entirely des-
troyed and over fifty guns were captured. It was valuable on its own
account, but it also vastly encouraged the main body of the British
troops who were preparing for the far more serious ordeal of an
attack on the great Sikh army posted near Sobraon Ghat on the
Satlej, a few miles from Firozpur.
In sanctioning the attack on the Sikh entrenchments on the
memorable 10 February, 1846, Hardinge made the attempt conditional
on the artillery being able to be brought into play. But it was soon
evident that the Sikh guns could not be silenced by artillery, and
Gough, so the story goes, rejoiced when the ammunition gave out and
he could "be at them with the bayonet”. This, the glory of Sobraon,
was what happened, for the infantry carried ail before them in their
onrush and proved once more what Napier has said, "with what a
strength and majesty the British soldier fights". With such a leader,
ever anxious to lead the charge himself, everything was possible, and
at his side there were men of great distinction and promise : the two
Lawrences, Havelock, Robert Napier; these amongst others. Never
1 Rait, op. cit. II, 88 sqq.
2 Lord Hardinge, op. cit. pp. 104-5.


## p. 552 (#580) ############################################

552
CONQUEST OF SIND AND THE PANJAB
was a victory more decisive. The Sikhs fled across the river losing
at least 10,000 men and all their guns. The fighting was over at
1 o'clock on the 10th and by the 13th almost the whole British army
was across the Satlej and well on its way to Lahore. By the 18th
they were close to the city. On the 20th it was occupied and the only
question was that of terms.
There were, it has often been pointed out, at least three possible
courses open to Lord Hardinge. He might have annexed the Panjab.
But this was contrary to his own ideas, contrary to the policy of the
Company, and would have required the services of a much larger
force than he had at his disposal, even had Sir Charles Napier joined
him with 12,000 men from Sind. He might again have established a
"subsidiary alliance”, that is to say he might have kept the existing
government on foot, with troops under the Company's command but
paid for by the state, and a Resident representing the wishes of the
outside authority. This was the system which commended itself to
the Lahore durbar. It had, however, other disadvantages than that
of keeping on foot the rule of a selfish body of time-serving intriguers.
It would have introduced a divided authority in the state, and was
certain to lead to disturbance and possibly to further interference in
the future. The third plan was that which he followed. It had much
to be said for it, as all compromises have, but it did not really settle
the problem, and was open to many of the same objections as that to
which reference has just been made. Perhaps, however, as things
were it was unfortunately the only possible course open to him. It
was in the main that which was represented by the treaty concluded
at Lahore on 9 March, 1846. 1
All the territories lying to the south of the Satlej were handed
over to the British Government. The Jalandhar doab between the
Bias and the Satlej was also ceded, and, in substitution for the war
indemnity of one and a half crores of rupees, the hill countries bet-
ween the Bias and the Indus, including Kashmir and Hazara. The
Sikh army was limited to twenty-five battalions of infantry and
12,000 cavalry, and thirty-six guns in addition to those already
captured were surrendered. Two other important articles prevented
the maharaja from employing any British, European, or® Amerian
subject without the consent of the British Government, and provided
that the limits of the Lahore. territory should not be changed without
the concurrence of the British Government. Kashmir was transferred
to Gulab Singh, a man of humble beginnings indeed, for he had been
a running footman to Ranjit Singh, but of talent and address. He
knew and feared the Sikhs, he was a Rajput, and was glad to be
finally, as the reward of a life of service which included no inconsider-
able amount of cruelty and self-seeking, separated from the state to
which he owed everything, but to which it is difficult to regard him,
1 Aitchison, op. cit. VIII, 160.


## p. 553 (#581) ############################################

THE TREATIES OF LAHORE
553
in spite of Lord Hardinge's defence, as other than a traitor. What was
clear was that the Lahore state must be reduced in size, that Kashmir
was the easiest limb to lop off, and that such being the case Gulab
Singh was the only man to whom it could be well handed over.
The treaty had recognised Dalip Singh as maharaja, but the
governor-general was careful to state that the British Government
would not interfere in the internal administration of the Lahore
state. It was, however, agreed that a force sufficient to protect the
person of the maharaja and to secure the execution of the treaty
should be left in the capital until the close of the year 1846, and Henry
Lawrence was appointed as British agent. It was, however, soon
clear that this arrangement would have to be prolonged. In October
an insurrection under Shaikh Imam-ud-Din, directed against the
transfer of Kashmir to Gulab Singh, took place in that country, and
a considerable British force, assisted by 17,000 of the Sikhs who had
fought against us, was necessary to put it down. And as it was proved
at a formal court of enquiry that Lal Singh the wazir had been at
the bottom of this movement, his deposition was demanded from the
durbar and agreed to. The favourite of the rani was accordingly
deported to British territory notwithstanding her protests; and as
the remaining members of the durbar saw nothing but anarchy
ahead of them if the English retired, they asked for and obtained a
revision of the treaty. It was a distinct march in the direction of
annexation, a solution which Hardinge disliked and wished to avoid,
but of which he saw even then the possibility.
The revised treaty only modified the previous one in respect of
the extent and character of British interference. It provided for the
appointment by the governor-general of a British officer with an
efficient establishment of assistants to remain at Lahore and to have
full authority to direct and control all matters in every department
of the state. There was to be a council of regency composed of lead-
ing chiefs and sardars, acting under the control and guidance of the
British Resident. The members of this council were named, and the
consent of the governor-general, expressed through the Resident, was
necessary for any change in its composition. Such British force as
the governor-general thought to be necessary should remain in Lahore
and should occupy all forts in the Lahore territory that the British
Government deemed needful for the maintenance of the security of
the capital or the peace of the country. The Lahore state was to pay
twenty-two lakhs a year in respect of the expenses of the occupation.
An allowance was to be granted to the maharani and the new
arrangements to last till the maharaja attained the age of sixteen
years (4 September, 1854), or till such period as the governor-general
and the durbar might agree on.
This treaty marked the downfall of the rani's ascendancy (she
>
1 Idem, p. 166.


## p. 554 (#582) ############################################

554
CONQUEST OF SIND AND THE PANJAB
was finally deported to Benares), and the beginning of the control of
the famous Resident, Henry Lawrence. He chose men whom he
knew and could trust and distributed them over the province, allow-
ing them as much freedom of action as he could. Their names are
an undying testimony to Lawrence's capacity as a ruler : John and
George Lawrence, Nicholson, Herbert Edwardes, Lake, Lumsden,
Hodson; these and others like them. But this is not the place to deal
with the details of administration. Unfortunately Henry Lawrence
sailed for England with Lord Hardinge on 18 January, 1848, and his
successor, after a brief interval, was Sir Frederick Currie, a different
type of man indeed, but it would be unjust to hold him responsible
for what followed.
For the second Sikh War must be regarded as inevitable. It was
clear that the arrangements made were temporary in their nature,
and they could only result either in the annexation of the country or
in a resumption of its independence. That the Sikh people who had
fought with determination in the war just over, and who had a long
record of successful achievements behind them, were likely to settle
down without a further struggle was not to be believed. It needed
but an event of sufficient general interest to excite a national rising,
and that event was supplied by the city of Multan, long a storm
centre.
The governor of Multan, the Diwan Mulraj, whom we have
already. noted as a man of some force and ability, was in trouble
about money matters, and probably for this reason wished to resign
his post. A successor, one Sardar Khan Singh, was appointed in his
place and two officials, Vans Agnew of the Civil Service and Lieute.
nant Anderson, on being sent to arrange the matter were murdered at
Mulraj's instigation on 20 April, 1848. Mulraj strengthened the
defences of the town and proclaimed a general revolt in the surround-
ing country; the troops of the considerable escort which had come
with the officials joined him and thus there was open warfare.
The question was, what to do. Detachments of troops were
moved against Multan as soon as the urgent message sent by Van
Agnew had been received. But when it was known that the two
British officers were dead, Lord Gough, to whom Sir Frederick Currie
had written, decided against sending large masses of troops just before
the beginning of the hot weather, and Lord Dalhousie agreed with
him. This decision, though approved by the home authorities includ-
ing the Duke of Wellington, was much criticised at the time; especially
by those who did not know what the troops available were, and the
difficulties attending large military movements during the hot weather
and the rains. But politically there was, much to be said for delay.
Lord Gough knew that the whole country was really at the back of
Mulraj. Had an expedition been hurried forward, and if it had been
successful, it would have narrowed the issue down to the punishment
of the governor of Multan, and the inevitable struggle would have


## p. 555 (#583) ############################################

THE SECOND SIKH WAR
555
been postponed. It is certain too that for such a small object as the
reduction of Multan the loss of life would have been very great. If
proof were wanted of the widespread nature of the movement it
could be supplied by the movements of Chatter Singh, father of Shir
Singh, who was busy raising a revolt in Hazara and who succeeded
in winning over Peshawar to the rebel cause. By holding out that
city as a bait he was able to draw in Dost Muhammad, who afterwards
sent troops, though to small purpose.
And Lord Gough resolved that when done the work should be
finished. He estimated for and prepared a large striking force with
all its necessary auxiliaries and transport; it was to assemble at
Firozpur in November. It is not necessary to describe the movements
which took place in the interval, especially as they have been the
subject of controversy. Edwardes and Currie made heroic but mis-
taken efforts to deal with the rising on a small scale, the results being
that Shir Singh came out into open hostility on 14 September, that
the siege of Multan had to be abandoned, and that the second Sikh
War as a national rather than a local movement, began in earnest,
as it had promised to do sooner or later in any case. The importance
of the siege of Multan has been exaggerated. It was begun again
with reinforcements in December and the fortress fell on 22 January,
1849. Lord Gough had held the sound view of Multan from the first,
but Lord Dalhousie took some time to come round to it.
On 13 October, 1848, the secretary to the government of India
wrote to the Resident at Lahore that the Governor-General in Council
considered the state of Lahore to be, to all intents and purposes,
directly at war with the British Government; and Lord Dalhousie
in a letter to the Secret Committee of 7 October, 1848, spoke of a
general Panjab war and the occupation of the country. The real
war as a whole may be said to date from 9 November when Lord
Gough crossed the Satlej, though on the 15th he rather petulantly
said he did not know whether he was at peace or at war or who it
was he was fighting for. The situation soon cleared. On the 13th
his force of over 20,000 men reached Lahore. On the 16th he crossed
the Ravi and advanced to Ramnagar. On the 22nd he drove the Sikhs
across the Chenab, and himself crossed that river, Shir Singh, who
was in command of the Sikhs, having been forced by a flanking
movement by part of the troops under General Thackwell a higher up
the river to retire on the Jhelum. Gough was anxious to wait as
long as possible so as to be strengthened by the forces before Multan,
but the fall of Attock and the consequent reinforcement of the Sikhs
on the Jhelum made it necessary for him to risk an engagement. So
he moved to Dinghi on 12 January, and found himself almost due east
of Shir Singh who was just beyond the village of Chilianwala, bet-
ween it and the river. Gough now had with him about 14,000 men
1 Parliamentary Papers, 1849, XLI, 374.
2 Wylly, Thackwell, pp. 243 sqq. , and Calcutta Review, XII, 275 sqq.
2


## p. 556 (#584) ############################################

556
CONQUEST OF SIND AND THE PANJAB
and sixty-six guns. On the 13th, after a march of four hours, he
fought and won the glorious but expensive action of Chilianwala. He
had been anxious to wait until the next day, and it was only because
the Sikhs advanced their positions somewhat, making it impossible
for the British army to encamp, that he was forced into an action
under such disadvantageous conditions. But it was a dangerous and
difficult affair, marked, too, by a certain amount of confusion and
mistake! ; marked also, however, by an amazing number of heroic
deeds on the part of individuals. The British losses were over 2000,
and the impression made both in India and in England, when it was
also heard that four guns and the colours of three regiments had been
taken by the enemy, was very great. The news of the battle inspired
the first poem of George Meredith, which well represented the general
melancholy felt. But Chilianwala was a very important victory.
Large numbers of Sikhs had been killed; many guns had been taken
or destroyed; and a very strong position had been carried. But the
general public knew even less than the poet of the real facts and
called for a victim, and the directors were forced to supersede Lord
Gough as commander-in-chief by Sir Charles Napier. Fortunately
the former had the opportunity of taking the noblest revenge before
the news of his disgrace reached India.
The drawing on of night prevented Chilianwala from being a
complete victory. The Sikhs could not at once retire on their position
at Rasul, but they had not been driven into the river and they
stationed themselves at Tupai on its banks. The British army was
prevented by rain from following up their victory, and large reinforce.
ments joined the Sikhs. On 2 February they moved deliberately
towards Gujrat near the Chenab; Lord Gough slowly following by
way of Sadullapur. By the 20th the 'Multan army had joined him,
and he felt strong enough, especially as regards artillery, to strike a
crushing blow. From his camp at Shadiwal on the 21st he moved out
to attack the Sikh position, a strong one, to the south of Gujrat with
the Chenab on its left. In a few hours the battle of Gujrat was over;
a brilliant victory was won; and the enemy were in rapid flight. A
body of 12,000 men pursued thern across the Jhelum; on 12 March
they surrendered at discretion, and the capitulation of Peshawar and
the hurried escape of the Afghan auxiliaries ended the war.
The Panjab was formally annexed by a proclamation in full
durbar on 30 March, 1849, the maharaja being pensioned and required
to reside outside the state. Henry Lawrence was the obvious man to
carry out the difficult work of organisation, but Lord Dalhousie did
not agree with his views. Hence as a compromise a "Board of Gov-
ernment” was appointed consisting of Henry and John Lawrence and
Charles E. Mansell. The three all pulled in different directions and
yet the results were satisfactory. But the three would never have
1 Cf. Rait, op. cit. , Wylly, op. cit. , and Calcutta Review, xv, 269 sqq.


## p. 557 (#585) ############################################

ANNEXATION
557
We may
achieved the mighty task that was set before them, that of trans-
forming one of the ancient military autocracies, where revenue was
the chief interest of the government after warfare, into a modern
state, had it not been for the work of those who assisted them, and
to whom reference has been made. In 1853 Henry Lawrence went
to Rajputana, and John, whose views were nearer to those of Lord
Dalhousie, became chief commissioner.
Various opinions have been held and will be held as to the an-
nexation of the Panjab. But it is quite clear that if the British were
to hold the controlling power in India it was inevitable.
even go further than that. After the death of Ranjit Singh the state
of the Panjab was such that the Sikhs, a small minority, could not
have long continued to hold the country; it was bound either to split
up into various independent states, or, as was more probable, to
become in whole or in part the prey of some external conqueror.
Dost
Muhammad would no doubt have annexed most of the Afghan
portions, and the rest might have relapsed into the condition of the
Cis-Satlej states at the time when they passed under British protec-
tion. From such a fate the interference of the English delivered the
country. But there was a wider influence and a greater question. The
English did not wish to invade the Panjab, they were anxious to avoid
doing so; but once the challenge was given they were bound to accept
it, and what was really fought out at Sobraon and on the other great
Sikh battlefields was the continuance of British power in India. It
was here that Lord Dalhousie was right, and he expressed in rough
but 'spirited language the only feeling that a conquering race could
have, the only answer that such a race could make when the question
was put : “Unwarned by precedents, uninfluenced by example, the
Sikh nation has called for war, and, on my word, sirs, they shall have
it with a vengeance".
i Cf. Ellenborough's language ap. Lew, op. cit. p. 113.


## p. 558 (#586) ############################################

CHAPTER XXX
BURMA, 1782-1852
The conquests of the Alaungpaya dynasty were completed under
King Bodawpaya, 1782-1819. On the east, the Burmese had long
received tribute from the Shans, to the south they had annexed the
Talaing country (Irrawaddy Delta and Tenasserim) in 1757, on the
north they had repelled the great Chinese invasions of 1765-9. They
now conquered Arakan in 1785, Manipur in 1813, Assam in 1816.
Thus brought into contact with the English, they felt no fear : Ava
was the centre of the universe, its arms invincible, its culture supreme.
In 1818, as successors to the crown of Arakan which in mediaeval
times had received tribute from the Ganges Delta, they summoned
the governor-general to surrender Chittagong, Dacca and Murshi-
dabad under pain of war.
Fifty thousand Arakanese fled into Chittagong; the more spirited,
under Nga Chin Pyan, used British territory as a base; the English
seized most of the principals, but Nga Chin Pyan was still at large
when he died in 1814. In Assam the Burmese diminished the popu-
lation by half in 1816-24, partly by massacre, partly by driving 30,000
in slave-gangs to Ava; Chandrakant, an insurgent prince, produced
muskets and men in British territory, bribing subordinates not to teli
their English superiors. Burmese commanders started violating the
Chittagong frontier in 1794, the Goalpara frontier in 1821, and were
amazed at their own moderation, since, as Burmese customary law
made no distinction between crime and rebellion, the English refusal
to surrender political refugees was a hostile act.
European intercourse with Burma had centred at Syriam and its
successor Rangoon. Teak was the principal product, shipbuilding the
industry; but disorder was endemic, export of most commodities was
interdicted, and the volume of trade was not great. The Dutch came
in 1627 and left in 1680. The French came in 1689, built ships for
Dupleix, and decayed. The English East India Company founded a
factory at Syriam in 1647 which lasted a decade, and private traders,
chiefly from Mașulipatam, continued to use the factory buildings
and dockyard for many years.
In 1680 the demand for Burmese
lac led Fort St George, Madras, to begin a series of negotiations for
reopening official trade, and several missions visited Ava, notably
those of Fleetwood and Leslie in 1695 and Bowyear in 1697, but these
resulted only in the regulation of private trade, which continued
till 1713 when the Talaings, alleging complicity with the Burmese,
burnt the Syriam factory. In 1753 a factory was opened on Negrais
Island but in 1759 the Burmese, alleging complicity with the Talaings,


## p. 559 (#587) ############################################

FIRST BURMESE WAR
559
massacred the staff, and the protest of Captain Alves in 1760 resulted
merely in the Company being permitted to return to Rangoon. Thus
commercial relations alone had so far existed between the English
and Burma, and in the eighteenth century barely four Englishmen
had reached Ava. Bodawpaya's conquests created a frontier situation
which necessitated political intercourse. The governor-general sent
envoys-Captain Symes, 1795, 1802; Captain Cox, 1797; Captain
Canning, 1803, 1809, 1811. Though expensively equipped, they failed.
English officers were accustomed to kneel unshod in the presence of
Indian kings, but at Ava they were expected to unshoe before entering
the palace, and to prostrate themselves at gateways and spires; they
were ignored for months and segregated on a scavengers' island.
Symes did indeed obtain a treaty, but Burmese thought had not
evolved such a concept; the king was above contractual obligations
and anything he signed was revocable at will. An inland race who
regarded Rangoon as a foreign garrison, the Burmese had no inter-
national relations, they never thought of sending an ambassador to
England or knew its whereabouts, yet they rejected the envoys,
saying that their king could receive only an ambassador from the
king of England.
So little was known of Burma that it was almost a "mystery
land”, responsible officers entertained exaggerated ideas of its strength,
and Burmese victories once caused a panic in Calcutta; Symes in
1795 estimated the population at 17,000,000, although King Bagyidaw's
Revenue Inquest of 1826 gave only 1,831,467. The governor-general
had no desire to be involved in Indo-China, but in the dry season
1823-4 his outposts from Shahpuri Island to Dudpatli were driven
in by Burmese commanders whose orders were to take Calcutta.
General Sir Archibald Campbell with 11,000 men, mostly Madras
sepoys, and ships under Captain Marryat, R. N. (the novelist), occupied
Rangoon, 11 May, 1824. The Talaings were expected to rise in their
favour, but the Burmese deported the population, leaving the delta a
waste whence the invader could get no intelligence, supply, or trans-
port; till the end of the rains the English could not move two miles.
The Burmese withdrew from the north, attacked Rangoon in Decem
ber, 1824, and retreated to Danubyu where Bandula, their greatest
leader, was killed. There were operations in Tenasserim and in
Arakan, but it was round Rangoon that the Burmese armies were
broken. Lack of transport persisted, and only on 24 February, 1826,
was Campbell able to dictate the Treaty of Yandabo, whereby Ava
yielded Arakan, Tenasserim, Assam, Cachar, Jaintia, and Manipur,
paid £1,000,000, received a Resident at Ava and maintained one at
Calcutta.
The Burmese host was the greatest in their history-600 guns,
35,000 muskets, and a cadre of 70,000. Except 4000 household troops
they were a mass levy, and even the household troops had not
sufficient training to fight in the open; but their musketry and jingal


## p. 560 (#588) ############################################

560
BURMA, 1782-1852
fire was good, their sapper work admirable, and their jungle fighting
of the highest order; they tortured prisoners, and practised a species
of head-hunting, but Englishmen respected their courage and physique.
As Henry Havelock, who served as deputy assistant adjutant-general,
pointed out, the direction of the English forces was indifferent-
stormers were left to take stockades, among the most formidable in
history, without scaling ladders; sepoys, sent into action without a
stiffening of British infantry, were so often routed that their moral
declined and they were obsessed with a belief that Burmese warriors
had magical powers. Administration was discreditable—medical
precautions were lacking, and, in expectation of Talaing aid, no
arrangements had been made for commissariat supply from India.
Campbell sometimes had only 1500 effectives. The original contin-
gents of European troops were 3738 at Rangoon, 1004 in Arakan; at
Rangoon their hospital deaths (scurvy and dysentery) were 3160,
their battle deaths 166; in Arakan their hospital deaths (malaria)
wers 595, battle deaths nil-4 per cent. battle deaths, 96 per cent.
hospital; 40,000 men passed through the cadres, 15,000 died, and the
war cost £5,000,000.
The Residency, held successively by Major Burney (Fanny's
brother) and Colonel Benson, lasted from 1830 to 1840. Few have
served their fellow-men better than Burney during his seven lonely
years at Ava; trusted by both sides in civil wars, he stayed several
executions; he supported the Burmese against the governor-general,
winning them the Kabaw Valley on the disputed Manipur frontier;
and when he left, an invalid, the parting was full of mutual regrets;
but, urge as he might that Siam and Persia recognised the governor-
general, that the very greatest powers found permanent embassies
the only way of avoiding friction, even he could not induce the
Burmese to maintain a Resident at Calcutta. None of the ministers,
he noted, was the equal of a gaunggyok in Tenasserim, the character
of King Bagyidaw, 1819-37, being such that he would have no other
type near him. Bagyidaw became insane and was put under restraint.
His brother King Tharrawaddy, 1837-45, said:
The English beat my brother, not me. The Treaty of Yandabo is noi
binding on me, for I did not make it. I will meet the Resident as a private
individual, but as Resident, never. When will they understand that I can
receive only a royal ambassador from England?
In repudiating the treaty, Tharrawaddy was within the Burmese
constitution, whereby all existing rights_lapsed at a new king's
accession until he chose to confirm them. The governor-general, who
had disapproved previous withdrawals, now. sanctioned final 'with
drawal. Becoming insane, Tharrawaddy was put under restraint by
his son King Pagan, 1845-52.
Rangoon stagnated, and even its shipbuilding industry was inter-
mittent. Its British community (five Europeans and several hundred


## p. 561 (#589) ############################################

SECOND BURMESE WAR
561
Asiatics) periodically complained of ill-usage after the withdrawal of
the Resident, but government refused to intervene, saying that any-
one who went to live under Burmese rule did so with his eyes open.
Finally a governor, appointed in 1850, used, when tipsy, to threaten
to torture and behead the whole population, and among his acts of
extortion were three dozen committed on British subjects, culminating
in the cases of Sheppard and Lewis. Sheppard's 250-ton barque
from Moulmein ran aground near Rangoon; the Chittagong pilot, a
British subject, fearing she would become a total wreck, jumped
overboard and swam to safety; Sheppard brought his ship into Ran-
goon and was promptly accused by the governor of throwing the
pilot overboard; he and his crew were imprisoned, detained eight
days, and had to pay 1005 rupees. Lewis sailed his 410-ton vessel from
Mauritius, and one of his lascars, a British subject, died the day he
anchored off Rangoon; the governor accused him of murdering the
lascar and threatened to flog and behead him; he was made to attend
court daily for three weeks and had to pay 700 rụpees.
Dalhousie sent H. M. frigate Fox, Commodore Lambert, R. N. , to
ask that the king remove the governor and compensate Sheppard and
Lewis. The king replied courteously and sent a new governor em-
powered to settle the matter; but the old governor was given a
triumphal farewell, the new governor brought an army, and when
Lambert sent a deputation of senior naval officers to greet him, they
were refused admission on the pretext that the governor was asleep.
Lambert forthwith declared a blockade and seized a king's ship; the
governor retorted that the naval officers who had been turned away
were drunk, and his batteries opened fire on the Fox.
The Burmese mobilisation was only the usual precaution; in
removing the former governor, and in writing to the governor-general,
thereby recognising his existence, the court of Ava showed a desire
to avoid war. The miscarriage was at Rangoon. Had Lambert been
accustomed to orientals, he would have warned his officers againsi
riding their horses into the governor's courtyard, a breach of Burmese
manners, and he would have accompanied them himself, as a Bur-
mese governor could not receive assistants, however senior. The
governor, a backwoods mandarin, failed to reflect that Lambert had
in person received even the humblest Burmese emissaries on the
deck of his frigate; and the reports he sent to his chiefs at Ava were
alarmist and false. Dalhousie regarded the annexation of yet another
province as a calamity, and had misgivings over Lambert's preci-
pitancy. But the court of Ava accepted their governor's every act.
Dalhousie's ultimatum received no reply, and on the day it expired,
1 April, 1852, the forces of General Godwin (a veteran of the First
Burmese War) and Admiral Austen (Jane's brother) reached Rangoon.
The Shans refused to send levies, the Delta Burmese welcomed
the English, the Talaings rose in their favour. Dalhousie had studied
36


## p. 562 (#590) ############################################

562
BURMA, 1782-1852
the records of the First Burmese War as a precedent to avoid; thanks
to his insistence—he now visited Rangoon himself—the commissariat
and medical arrangements were such that the health of the troops in
the field was better than that of many a cantonment in India.
Martaban and Rangoon fell in a fortnight, Bassein a few weeks later;
Prome, to intercept the rice supplies of Ava, and Pegu, to please the
Talaings, were captured in the early rains, but were not held till the
dry season. The Burmese numbered 30,000; the invaders, 8000, of
whom 3000, including sailors, were English, the gross battle casualties
throughout were 377, and the campaign cost under £1,000,000. The
Secret Committee gave Dalhousie a free hand; but he would not
advance into Upper Burma, saying that though welcomed in Lower
Burma, the population of which was only partly Burmese, we should
be opposed by the Burmese in their homeland and could not ad-
minister them without undue expense. He annexed Pegu by pro-
clamation 20 December, 1852; he left the king to decide whether he
would accept a treaty or not, and wrote to him that if he again
provoked hostilities "they will end in the entire subjection of the
Burmese power, and in the ruin and exile of yourself and your race”.
The government of Bengal administered Arakan through joint
commissioners, Hunter and Paton, till 1829; through a superintendent,
successively Paton and Dickinson, under the commissioner of Chitta-
gong till 1834; thereafter through a commissioner-Captain Dickinson,
1834-7; Captain (later Sir Archibald) Bogle, 1837-49; Captain (later
Sir Arthur) Phayre, 1849-52. Assistant commissioners (three on 1000
rupees monthly, two on 500 rupees), one for each district-Akyab,
An (headquarters at Kyaukpyu), Ramree, Sandoway—and one for
Akyab, the capital, were usually recruited from officers of the Bengal
regiment at Kyaukpyu seconded to the Arakan local battalion.
Before them lay a kingdom devastated by forty years of Burmese
rule, without records showing the system of administration. Pencil
notes in Burmese were indeed found, and one of these, part of a
revenue inquest of 1802, gave the population of Akyab district as
248,604 : the English found under 100,000 in the whole province.
The rainfall was 225 inches; in 1826 it was proposed to abandon the
interior and administer it indirectly from Cheduba Island, and, even
later, of seventy-nine English officers who served in Akyab, eighteen
died and twenty-two were invalided; on returning from the bloodless
pursuit, in January, 1829, of an insurgent in Sandoway district, three
English officers died, and all their sepoys died or were invalided;
a four years' attempt to establish a district headquarters at An was
abandoned in 1837 because the three assistants successively sent there
died. Till 1837 the commissioner had no ship, and officers were
invalided on native craft where they had to lie either on deck, exposed
to the monsoon, or in the cargo hold, suffocating amid scorpions and
centipedes.


## p. 563 (#591) ############################################

ARAKAN ADMINISTRATION
563
And yet by 1831 the administrative system was complete. It was
imposed ready-made from above, not built up from below; the
Bengal acts and regulations were applied by rule, and lithographed
forms followed. There was a daily post from Calcutta, and district
officers, compiling returns sometimes a year in arrears, had little
leisure for touring; their letters were of such length that each had to
be accompanied by a précis. The commissioner could not buy a
cupboard, create a sweepership on five rupees monthly, or pay three
rupees reward for killing a crocodile, without previous sanction from
Calcutta, and in 1832 the assistant at Ramree was censured because,
during an outburst of dacoity, he had, on his own initiative, hired
some villagers as temporary constables. Assistants could imprison for
two years, the commissioner for fourteen years, submitting records
to Calcutta for heavier sentence. Forty-nine per cent. of persons
tried were convicted, and 66 per cent. of sentences appealed against
were confirmed; appellate interference sometimes proceeded from the
desire of seniors to display their impartiality. Till 1845, when Persian
was abolished, the trial record was threefold, the vernacular depo-
sition being accompanied by Persian and English translations. The
only native entrusted with judicial functions was a judge on 150
rupees monthly appointed in 1834 for Akyab district, which contained
57 per cent. of the population and 66 per cent. of the cultivation; he
tried most of the original civil suits, but had no criminal powers. .
A district assistant's executive staff consisted of a myothugyi
(principal revenue clerk), an Arakanese on 150 rupees monthly; civil
police stations, under Bengalis or Arakanese on eighty rupees; and
kyunok or thugyi (circle headmen). The circle headman, an Araka-
nese, paid by 15 per cent. commission on his revenue collections,
resided among his villages, numbering sometimes forty, each under
its yuagaung (village headman); the principal revenue and police
officer of the interior, the thugyi tried petty civil suits; he was, on
showing capacity, transferred to a large circle; although family was
considered he was not hereditary, and he was sometimes styled a
tahsildar.
Arakan's contribution to her governance was an admirable
ryotwari system evolved by officers of whom Bogle was the survivor.
Hunter and Paton were superseded for imagining circle headmen to
be zamindars and letting them collect, at Burmese rates, revenue of
which little reached the treasury. By 1831 rates fell three-quarters
and extortion ceased, for each cultivator had his annual tax bill, and
in Burma each cultivator can read; the circle headman submitted
the assessment roll, the myothugyi checked it, and the assistant issued
a tax bill, initialled' by himself, for each villager by name. Save for
thathameda (household tax, in the roll of which each inmate of a
house was entered), the Indo-Chinese system of a lump sum assess-
ment on the village community, apportioned by the elders, was
displaced by land revenue, at one rupee four annas to two rupees four


## p. 564 (#592) ############################################

564
BURMA, 1782-1852
annas an acre of cultivation, which after 1835 was roughly surveyed
by circle headmen.
Native rule had professed prohibition and it was reluctantly, on
finding the Arakanese as addicted to intoxicants as any race could
be, that the commissioner in 1826 introduced liquor and opium
licenses; held by Chinese, they produced little revenue but acted as
a check. Kyaukpyu exported salt, 300,000 maunds annually, to
Chittagong, but rice soon became the main industry of the province,
and its export, prohibited under native rule, now averaged 70,000
tons annually; its production caused seasonal migration from Chitta-
gong and there was a steady trickle of settlers from Burma, but the
main source of population was remigrant Arakanese. The following
figures include cultivated acreage of all kinds, tonnage cleared from
Akyab port, and revenue from all sources :
Tonnage
Total
revenue
(rupees)
371,310
629,572
904,501
Cultivation
(acres)
78,519
204,069
351,668
1830
1840
1852
Population
131,390
226,542
333,645
69,038
80,630
Although Akyab was the greatest rice port in the world, no jetty
existed till 1844. It was largely to build this jetty that Arakan
received an executive engineer in 1837, but under a system which
forbade him even frame an estimate without sanction from Calcutta,
he took seven years to build it; usually a subaltern unacquainted
with engineering, he was transferred five times a year, and his
energies were confined to Akyab town where he built thatched wooden
offices. There were gaols at Akyab, Ramree, and Sandoway, and in
the intervals between mutinies, each district assistant used convicts
to lay out his headquarters and drain the marshes in which it lay.
Outside the towns roads and bridges were non-existent.
The Arakan local battalion, two-thirds Arakanese, one-third
Manipuris, were military police who in 1851 took over the province
from the regulars; in 1852 they clamoured to be led against their
hereditary foes the Burmese, and captured the Natyegan stockade in
the An Pass. Hardy and mobile, they had from their foundation in
1825 played a leading part in suppressing the insurgency which broke
out when the English, hailed as deliverers who would restore Araka-
nese rule, were found to be introducing a direct administration of
their cwn; Arakanese officers who had served the Burmese were then
displaced, for they were found to be trained in little but extortion
and intrigue; émigrés, returning from Bengal to their ancestral
villages, found themselves no longer lords but peasants under an
alien administration which reserved high office to itself and regarded
all men as equal. Arakanese of birth and spirit found English con-
ceptions of justice and efficiency intolerable, and they soon took the
>


## p. 565 (#593) ############################################

ARAKAN ADMINISTRATION
565
measure of their new masters—under native rule, to escape torture, a
dacoit confessed as soon as caught, and was beheaded then and there;
but the English ruled confessions inadmissible and held prolonged
trials during which the witnesses, fearing reprisals, resiled. They
never united, but until 1836, when they burned Akyab town and police
station, dacoity, accompanied with murder, rape, and arson, averaged
annually 290 per million people. Thereafter the incidence per million
was dacoity thirty-seven, murder twenty-six, and these were mainly
on the frontier; the decrease was attributed to preoccupation with
expanding cultivation and to the growth of a propertied class. In
1850 stabbing appeared, and was attributed to excessive prosperity
unbalancing the passions.
Government had no vernacular schools but in 1838 founded Anglo-
vernacular schools at Akyab and Ramree to teach Arakanese boys
Roman and Greek history and to produce clerks and surveyors;, in
1845 Bogle discovered why they were apathetic—there were not
sufficient clerkships, whereas circle headmanships, the largest cadre,
were vernacular. Two-thirds of the population spoke Burmese, but
the remainder, especially in the towns, spoke Bengali and Hindustani;
and when, in 1845, at the instance of Phayre, who alone knew Bur-
mese, the government finally prescribed Burmese, Bogle protested
that Arakan should be assimilated to Bengal and that Burmese was
the language of an enemy country, it was too difficult a language for
English gentlemen, its literature contained nothing but puerile super-
stitions, he had served eighteen years without learning it and the
people were entirely satisfied with his administration.
Only the ignorant can doubt the disinterestedness of the men
who gave Arakan the most benevolent and businesslike government
she had ever seen; yet though, being English gentlemen, they instinc-
tively appreciated the external side of the native character and res-
pected its prejudices, they were out of touch with its inner and
probably finer side. Nor did any of them question the fact that the
great administrative machine they built up was so alien that its
higher offices could not be held by natives, and that, once having
gained initial impetus, it must expand with increasing complexity
and require an ever-increasing European staff.
The government of Bengal administered Tenasserim through a
commissioner, Maingy, jointly with Sir Archibald Campbell, 1826-8;
Maingy, 1828-33; Blundell, 1833-43; Major Broadfoot, 1843-4; Captain
(later Sir Henry) Durand, 1844-6; Colvin, 1846-9; thereafter Major
Archibald Bogle. Assistant commissioners-one for each district
(Amherst, Tavoy, Mergui), one for Moulmein, the capital, and after
1844 one additional for Amherst, which contained all the timber, 57
per cent. of the population, 58 per cent. of the cultivation-were
usually recruited from the Madras regiments at Moulmein. Mails
were infrequent, and references to Calcutta sometimes remained


## p. 566 (#594) ############################################

566
BURMA, 1782-1852
unanswered for months because the retention of Tenasserim was
doubtful. Arakan was strategically part of Bengal; Tenasserim was
isolated, needed an expensive garrison, cost at first 22,00,000 rupees
against a revenue of 2,40,000 rupees, and there was little prospect of
increase as it had no Chittagong whence to draw population. In 1831
the Resident was instructed to discuss its retrocession with the
ministers, but their only reply was triumphantly to demand Arakan
as well; considerations of humanity also prevailed—the governor-
general remembered the fate of Pegu at the evacuation. In 1842
King Tharrawaddy, hearing of the Afghan disasters, camped with
40,000 men at Rangoon; finding the Moulmein garrison promptly
strengthened, he withdrew, convinced that he had brought Tenasserim,
through garrison charges, one stage nearer retrocession.
A district assistant's staff consisted of an akunwun (principal
revenue clerk) on 200 rupees monthly; a sitke (native judge) on 300
rupees, who tried most of the civil suits and criminal cases requiring
only two months' imprisonment; and six gaunggyok (township officers)
on twenty-five to 100 rupees. The revenue and police officer of the
interior, the gaunggyok, also tried petty civil suits and criminal cases
requiring only twenty rupees fine; he supervised the thugyi (circle
headman) who was paid by commission on revenue collections, such
commission seldom exceeding five rupees monthly whereas a coolie
earned twelve rupees. There were no police stations outside the
towns, and little information existed as to events in the districts.
Burmans and Talaings were so mixed that the population was
homogeneous; all assistants knew Burmese; and the first translations
and vernacular text-books were printed at Moulmein, where the
American Baptist Mission possessed Burmese and Siamese founts.
But education was mainly European, for the climate was healthy,
Moulmein was styled a sanatorium, there was always a European
regiment in the garrison, and the 40,000 townspeople included one
of the largest domiciled communities in India. Juries were prescribed
for trials requiring over six months' imprisonment, but in practice
were empanelled only at sessions. After 1836 there was always at
least one newspaper at Moulmein; its columns were full of persona-
lities, and in 1846 the commissioner sentenced Abreu, editor of The
Maulmain Chronicle, to two years' imprisonment and 300 rupees fine;
the judgment was immediately reversed at Calcutta. Officials quar-
relled among themselves in interminable letters, and, after perusing
some of these, the government removed Durand from his commis-
sionership, sent Major McLeod, district assistant, Amherst, out of
Tenasserim, and transferred others.
The main industry lay in the magnificent forests. In 1847 a staff
from Pembroke Dockyard arrived to buy Admiralty teak, and 109
shy's (35,270 tons), including a 1000-ton steam frigate for the Royal
Navy, were built at Moulmein in 1830-50. Barely half the fellings
were extracted, yet the annual teak export was 12,000 tons. Dr.


## p. 567 (#595) ############################################

THE FORESTS
567
Wallich in 1827 was the first to visit the forests and urge the need of
conservation, yet no teak was planted, no check imposed on waste.
There was indeed a Superintendent of Forests, 1841-8, but when he
asked for power to prevent felling of unselected trees, the court of
directors replied that such power was not for local officers. Logs
reaching Moulmein were taxed 15 per cent. ad valorem; through fraud
and neglect, three-quarters of them escaped payment in 1834-44, and
even subsequently timber provided only 18 per cent. of the total
revenue. The timber traders—discharged warrant officers and ship's
mates-never visited the forests but sent out Burmans who made the
jungle-folk, timid Karens, extract timber for little or nothing; the
Karens burned several forests to discourage such visitations. In 1842
better firms appeared but as these had the ear of government the
result was to accelerate exploitation-Durand's removal placated
Calcutta firms whose leases he had cancelled. By 1850 the forests
were ruined.
In 1827, immediately on the evacuation, the Burmese, despite the
Treaty of Yandabo, executed eleven circle headmen between
Yandabo and Rangoon, searched out every woman who had lived
with the English and every man who had served them, and wreaked
vengeance. The Talaings rose, failed, and fled, 30,000 of them, into
the Amherst district. Otherwise, apart from seasonal labour, there
was little immigration, as for long taxation was not lighter, or pro-
perty more secure, than in Pegu, where criminal administration was
effective and governors, wishing to retain their subjects, now requisi-
tioned less forced labour. The Talaing Corps, which lasted from
1838 to 1848, was intended to raise the Talaings against the Burmese,
but failed because its commandant was not a whole-time officer, and,
in Broadfoot's words, Talaings as well as Burmans could rise to the
highest offices in Ava, whereas in Tenasserim both were on low pay
only augmented by bribes.
Until 1842 the village revenue demand, distributed by elders, was
paid in kind; government had no information regarding tenures or
crop yields. By 1845 money payment was substituted, and assessment
was on each villager's field, surveyed by the village headman; reduc-
tions by 72 per cent. in 1843-8 left the rates at four annas to two and
a quarter rupees per acre; thereafter cultivation increased and yielded
37
per
cent. of the total revenue :
Cultivation
(acres)
Total
revenue
(rupees)
Population
1826
1835
1845
1852
?
'?
97,515
144,405
240,131
339,370
517,034
570,639
? 66,000
84,917
127,455
191,476


## p. 568 (#596) ############################################

568
BURMA, 1782-1852
Attempts to attract European planters by large grants of land
failed. The difficulty was lack of population, for immigration, some-
times amounting to thousands annually, from the Coromandel Coast,
was usually confined to the towns; it began in 1838 with imported
commissariat labour, and increased in 1843 when debtor slavery ceased
and convicts were withdrawn from private employment. Cattle were
imported from the Shan states, but the visits of Dr Richardson in
1830, 1834, 1835, 1837 to Chiengmai and Mong Nai and of Major
McLeod in 1837 to Kenghung, failed to open up general trade because,
though the people were friendly, jealousy between the overlords,
Ava and Bangkok, stifled intercourse.
The terrible system of frontier raids ceased in 1826-7 when Major
Burney visited Bangkok and obtained the return of 2000 persons
whom the Siamese had enslaved. Internal slavery, abolished by the
great Act V of 1. 843, was usually of the same mild type, debtor and
domestic, as in Arakan. But in Tavoy, noted for the comeliness of
its women, Muhammadans, exploiting ignorance and poverty, bought
girls for the Moulmein brothels and these debtor-bonds were enforced
in English courts; under Blundell's rules, abolished by Broadfoot in
1844, brothels were recognised, paying revenue in proportion to their
size. Liquor and opium licenses which, in spite of Chinese rings,
yielded 16 per cent of the revenue, were introduced in the towns
with Madras and European garrisons; Maingy, after seeing the effect
on Burmans and Talaings, regretted their introduction. Gambling,
also prohibited under native rule, was licensed until 1834 when the
protests of the Buddhist clergy prevailed.
Crime was rare save on the Burmese frontier. Burmese governors
were unpaid, they suppressed crime because brigandage was the per-
quisite of their retinue, and the daily sight of prosperous Moulmein
was too much for the governor of Martaban. Warnings having failed,
the commissioner burned Martaban in 1829, and gained several years
respite. But in 1847-50, of thirty-three traced dacoities in the
Amherst district, twenty-five were traced to Martaban; dacoits came
in racing canoes, posted pickets in Moulmein high street, looted
houses within two furlongs of the garrison, and vanished into the
darkness. Until 1844 most assistants never left their headquarters,
revenue accounts for the whole year covered only a single sheet, and
statistics of cultivation and population were rare. Criminal law was
the Muhammadan law of Bengal, but no copy of it existed; civil law
was Burmese, but until Dr Richardson, assistant, translated and
printed it in 1847, nobody knew what it was. Gaols were inefficient,
and in 1847 Sleeman protested against thugs being transported to
Moulmein, where they escaped at the rate of one a month.
Irregularities were of a type unknown in Arakan. In 1843 Corbin,
district assistant, Mergui, misappropriated grain revenue received in
kind, and his native mistress purchased girl slavus to weave cloth for
sale. In 1844 De la Condamine, district assistant, Amherst, drew the


## p. 569 (#597) ############################################

TENASSERIM ADMINISTRATION
569
pay of vacant clerkships, and kept no account of timber revenue
received in kind, while his clerks traded in timber and usury with
capital attributed to himself and Maingy. In 1848 the adjutant,
Talaing Corps, recovered from his sepoys money lent them by his
native mistress. Captain Impey, district assistant, Amherst, submitted
no treasury accounts for nine months, misappropriated 21,880 rupees,
refunded two-thirds on detection in 1850, and disappeared into the
Shan states.
Control from Calcutta was so slight that the commissioner might
have evolved a system of indirect government which allowed nativo
institutions proper scope.