No More Learning

XX. " I desire that you will inform him [the Nabob], that, in these and the other measures which
were either proposed by him or received his concurrence in the agreement passed between us at Chunar, I neither had nor could have any object but his relief,
and the strengthening of his connection with the Company; and that I should not on any'other ground have exposed myself to the personal obloquy which they
could not fail to draw upon me by my participation in
them, but left him to regulate by his own discretion
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 411
and by his own means the economy of his own finances, and, with much more cause, the assertion of his domestic right. In these he had no regular claim to my interference; nor had I, in my public character, any
claim upon him, but for the payment of the debt then
due from him to the Company, although I was under
the strongest obligations to require it for the relief
of the pressing exigencies of their affairs. He will
well remember the manner in which, at a visit to
him in his own tent, I declared my acquiescence freely, and without hesitation, to each proposition, which
afterwards formed the substance of a written agreement, as he severally made them; and he can want
no other evidence of my motives for so cheerful a consent, nor for the requests which I added as the means
of fulfilling his purposes in them. Had he not made
these measures his own option, I should not have proposed them; but having once adopted them, and made
them the conditions of a formal and sacred agreement,
I had no longer an option to dispense with them, but
was bound to the complete performance and execution
of them, as points of public duty and of national faith,
for which I was responsible to my king, and the Company my immediate superiors: and this was the reason
for my insisting on their performance and execution,
when I was told that the Nabob himself had relaxed
from his original purpose, and expressed a reluctance to
proceed in it. "
XXI. That the said Warren Hastings does admit
that the Nabob had originally no regular claim upon him for his interference, or he any claim on the
Nabob, which might entitle him to interfere in the
Nabob's domestic concerns; yet, in order to justify
? ? ? ? 412 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
his so invidious an interference, he did, in the letter
aforesaid, give a false account of the said treaty,
which (as before mentioned) did nothing more than
give a permission to the Nabob to resume the jaghires,
if HE should judge the same to be necessary, and did
therefore leave the right of dispensing with the whole,
or any part thereof, as much in his option after the
treaty as it was before: the declared intent of the
article being only to remove the restraint of the
Company's guaranty forbidding such resumption,
but furnishing nothing which could authorize putting that resumption into the hands and power of
the Company, to be enforced at their discretion.
And with regard to the other part of the spoil made
by order of the said Hastings, and by him in the letter aforesaid stated to be made equally against the will of the Nabob, namely, that which was committed
on the personal and movable property of the female
parents of the Nabob, nothing whatsoever in relation
to the same is stipulated in the said pretended treaty.
XXII. That the said Hastings, in asserting that
he was bound to the acts aforesaid by public duty,
and even by national faith, in the very. instance in
which that national faith was by him grossly violated,
and in justifying himself by alleging that he was
bound to the complete execution by a responsibility
to the Company which he immediately served, and.
by asserting that these violent and rapacious proceedings, subjecting all persons concerned in them to obloquy, would be the means of strengthening
the connection of the Nabob with the British United
Company of Merchants trading to the East Indies,
did disgrace the authority under which he immedi
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 413
ately acted. And that the said Hastings, in justify.
ing his obligations to the said acts by a responsibility
to the king, namely, to the King of Great Britain, did
endeavor to throw upon his Majesty, his lawful sovereign, (whose name and character he was bound to
respect, and to preserve in estimation with all persons, and particularly with the sovereign princes, the
allies of his government,) the disgrace and odium of
the aforesaid acts, in which a sovereign prince was
by him, the said Hastings, made an. instrument of
perfidy, wrong, and outrage to two mothers and
wives of sovereign princes, and in which he did exhibit to all Asia (a country remarkable for the utmost devotion to parental authority) the spectacle of a Christian governor, representing a Christian sovereign, compelling a son to become the instrument of
such violence and extortion against his own mother.
That the said Warren Hastings, by repeated messages and injunctions, and under menaces of "a
dreadful responsibility," did urge the Resident to a
completion of this barbarous act; and well knowing
that such an act would probably be resisted, did order him, the said Resident, to use the British troops
under his direction for that purpose; and did offer
the assistance of further forces, urging the execution
in the following peremptory terms: " You yourself
must be personally present; you must not allow any
negotiation or forbearance, but must prosecute both
services, until the Begums [princesses] are at the entire mercy of the Nabob. " *
XXIII. That, in conformity to the said peremptory orders, a party of British and other troops, with
* 26th Dec. , 1781.
? ? ? ? 414 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
the Nabob in the ostensible, and the British Resident
in the real command, were drawn towards the city of
Fyzabad, in the castle of which city the mother and
grandmother of the Nabob had their residence; and
after expending two days in negotiation, (the particulars of which do not appear,) the Resident not receiving the satisfaction he looked for, the town was first stormed, and afterwards the castle; and little or no
resistance being made, and no blood being shed on
either side, the British troops occupied all the outer
inclosure of the palace of one of the princesses, and
blocked up the other. *
XXIV. That this violent assault, and forcible occupation of their houses, and the further extremities
they had to apprehend, did not prevail on the female
parents of the Nabob to consent to any submission,
until the Resident sent in unto them a letter from the
said Warren Hastings,t (no copy of which appears,)
declaring himself no longer bound by the guaranty,
and containing such other matter as tended to remove all their hopes, which seemed to be centred in
British faith.
XXV. That the chief officers of their household,
who were their treasurers and confidential agents, the
eunuchs Jewar Ali Khan and Behar Ali Khan, persons of great eminence, rank, and distinction, who
had been in high tIust and favor with the late Nabob,
were ignominiously put into confinement under an
inferior officer, in order to extort the discovery of the
treasures and effects committed to their care and
fidelity. And the said Middleton did soon after, that
* 13th Jan. , 1782. t 18th Jan. , 1782.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 415
is to say, on the 12th of January, 1782, deliver them
over for the same purpose into the custody of Captain
Neal Stuart, commanding the eighth regiment, by his
order given in the following words: " To be kept in
close and secure confinement, admitting of no intercourse with them, excepting by their four menial
servants, who are authorized to attend them until
further orders. You will allow them to have any
necessary and convenience which may be consistent
with a strict guard over them. "
XXVI. That, in consequence of these severities
upon herself, and on those whom she most regarded
and trusted, the mother of the said Nabob did at
length consent to the delivering up of her treasures,
and the same were paid to the Resident, to the
amount of the bond given by the Nabob to the Company for his balance of the year 1779-80; and the
said treasure " was taken from the most secret recesses in the houses of the two eunuchs. "
XXVII. That the Nabob continuing still under
the pressure of a further pretended debt to the Company for his balance of the year 1780- 81, the Resident, not satisfied with the seizure of the estates and treasures of his parents aforesaid, although he, the
said Resident, did confess that the princess mother
"had declared, with apparent truth, that she had delivered up the whole of the property in her hands, excepting goods which from the experience which he, the Resident, had of the small produce of the sales of
a former payment made by her in that mode he did
refuse, and that in his opinion it certainly would have
amounted to little or nothing. " did proceed to extort
? ? ? ? 416 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
another great sum of money, that is to say, the sum
of one hundred and twenty thousand pounds sterling,
on account of the last pretended balance aforesaid:
in order, therefore, to compel the said ministers and
treasurers either to distress their principals by extorting whatever valuable substance might by any possibility remain concealed, or to filrnish the said sum from their own estates or from theirecredit with their
friends, did order their imprisonment to be aggravated with circumstances of great cruelty, giving an
order to Lieutenant Francis Rutledge, dated 20th. Tanuary, 1782, in the following words.
XXVIII. "' SIR, - When this note is delivered to
you by Hoolas Roy, I have to desire that you order
the two prisoners to be put in irons, keeping them from
all food, &c. , agreeable to my instructions of yesterday.
(Signed) " NATHL MIDDLETON. "
XXIX. That by the said unjust and rigorous proceeding the said eunuchs were compelled to give their
engagement for the payment of one hundred and twenty thousand pounds sterling aforesaid, to be completed
within the period of one month; but after they had
entered into the said compulsory engagement, they
were still kept in close imprisonment, and the mother
and grandmother of the Nabob were themselves held
under a strict guard, -- although, at the same time,
the confiscated estates were actually in the Company's
possession, and found to exceed the amount of what
they were rated at in the general list of confiscated
estates,* and although the Assistant Resident, Johnson, did confess, "that the object of distressing the
* Letter from Mr. Middleton, 2d Feb. , 1782.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 417
Bhow Begum was merely to obtain a ready-money instead of a dilatory payment, and that this ready-money payment, if not paid, was recoverable in the course
of a few months upon the jaghires in his possession,
and that therefore it was not worth proceeding to any
extremities, beyond the one described," (namely, the
confinement of the princesses, and the imprisonment
and fettering of their ministers,) " upon so respectable a family. " *
XXX. That, after the surrender of the treasure,
and the passing the bonds and obligations given as
aforesaid, the Resident having been strictly ordered by,
the said Warren Hastings not to make ally settlement,
whatsoever with the said women of high rank, the Na --
bob was induced to leave the city of Fyzabad without
taking leave of his mother, or showing her any mark:
of duty or civility. And on the same day the Resident left the city aforesaid; and after his return to
Lucknow, in order to pacify the said Hastings, who
appeared to resent that the Nabob was not urged to
greater degrees of rigor than those hitherto used towards his mother, he, the said Resident, did, in his
letter of the 6th February, give him anll assurance in
the following words:-" I shall, as youa direct, use
my influence to dissuade his Excellency-' from concluding any settlement until I have your further commnallds. " XXXI. That the payment of the bond last extorted from the eunuchs was soon after commenced, and.
the grandmother, as well as the mother, were now
compelled to deliver what they declared was the extent* Lucknow, 22d July, 1782.
VOL. VIII. 27
? ? ? ? 418 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
of the whole of both their possessions, including down
to their table utensils; which, as the Resident admitted, " they had been and were still delivering, and
that no proof had yet been obtained of their having
more. "
XXXII. That bullion, jewels, and goods, to the
amount of five hundred thousand pounds and upwards, were actually received by the Resident for the
use of the Company before the 23d of February,
1782; and there remained on the said extorted bond
no more than about twenty-five thousand pounds, according to the statement of the eunuchs, and not above
fifty thousand according to that made by the Resident.
XXXIII. That, in this advanced state of the delivery of the extorted treasure, the ministers of the
women aforesaid of the reigning family did apply to
Captain Leonard Jaques, under whose custody they
were confined, to be informed of the deficiency with
which they stood charged, that they might endeavor,
with the assistance of their friends, to provide for the
same, and praying that they might through his mediation be freed from the hardships they suffered under
their confinement: to which application they received
an insolent answer from the said Richard Johnson,
dated February 27th, 1782, declaring that part of
what he had received in payment was in jewels and
bullion, and that more than a month, the time fixed
for the final payment, would elapse before he could dispose of the same, - insisting upon a ready-money payment, and assuring them " that the day on which their agreement expired he should be indispensably obliged
to recommence severities upon them, until the last
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 419
farthing was fully paid. " And in order to add to
their terrors and hardships, as well as to find some
pretext for the further cruel and inhuman acts intended, an apparently groundless and injurious charge was suggested to the imprisoned ministers aforesaid
in the following words. "You may also mention to
them, that I have reason to suspect that the com
motions raised by Bulbudder have not been without
their suggestion and abetment, which, if proved upon
them, in addition to the probable breach of their agreement, will make their situation very desperate. " XXXIV. That on the receipt of the said letter,
that is, on the 2d March, the ministers aforesaid did
aver, that they were not able to obtain cash in lieu of
the jewels and other effects, but that, if the goods
were sold, and they released from their confinement,
and permitted (as they have before requested) to go
abroad among their friends, they could soon make
good the deficiency; and they did absolutely deny
s" that they had any hand in the commotions raised by
Bulbudder, or any kind of correspondence with him
or his adherents. "
XXXV. That the prisoners aforesaid did shortly
after, that is to say, on the 13th March, a third time
renew their application to Nathaniel Middleton, Esquire, the Resident, and did request that the jewels remaining in his, the said Resident's, hands, towards
the payment of the balance remaining, " might be valued by four or five eminent merchants, Mussulmen and Hindoos, upon oath," and that, if any balance
should afterwards appear, they would upon their release get their friends to advance the same; and they
? ? ? ? 420 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
did again represent the hardship of their imprisonment, and pray for relief; and did again assert that
the imputations thrown upon them by the said Richard Johnson were false and groundless, -- " that they had no kind of intercourse, either directly or indirectly, with the authors of the commotions alluded to, and that they did stake their lives upon the smallest proof
thereof being brought. "
XXXVI. That, instead of their receiving any answer to any of the aforesaid reasonable propositions, concerning either the account stated, or the crimes
imputed to them, or any relief from the hardships
they suffered, he, the Resident, Middleton, did, on the
18th of the said month, give to the officer who had
supplicated in favor of the said prisoners an order in
which he declared himself " under the disagreeable
necessity of recurring to severities to enforce the said
payment, and that this is therefore to desire that you
immediately cause them to be put in irons, and keep
them so until I shall arrive at Fyzabad to take further
measures as may be necessary": which order being
received at Fyzabad the day after it was given, the
said eunuchs were a second time thrown into irons.
And it appears that (probably in resentment for the
humane representations of the said Captain Jaques)
the Resident did refuse to pay for the fetters, and
other contingent charges of the imprisonment of the
said ministers of the Nabob's mother, when at the
same time very liberal contingent allowances were
made to other officers; and the said Jaques did
strongly remonstrate against the same as follows.
"You have also ordered me to put the prisoners in
irons: this I have done; yet, as I have no business
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 421
to purchase fetters, or supply them any other way, it
is but reasonable that you should order me to be reimbursed. And why should I add anything more?
A late commander at this place, I am told, draws
near as many thousands monthly contingencies as my
trifling letter for hundreds. However, if you cannot
get my bill paid, be so obliging as to return it, and
give me an opportunity of declaring to the world that
I believe I am the first officer in the Company's service who has suffered in his property by an independent command. " XXXVII. That, in about two months after the
said prisoners had continued in irons in the manner
aforesaid, the officer on guard, in a letter of the 18th
May, did represent to the Resident as follows. " The
prisoners, Behar and Jewar Ali Khan, who seem to
be very sickly, have requested their irons might be
taken off for a few days, that they might take medicine, and walk about the garden of the place where
they are confined. Now, as I am sure they will be
equally secure without their irons as with them, I think
it my duty to inform you of this request: I desire
to know your pleasure concerning it. " To which
letter the said officer did receive a direct refusal,
dated 22d May, 1782, in the following words. " I am
sorry it is not in my power to comply with your proposal of easing the prisoners for a few days of their
fetters. Much as my humanity may be touched by
their sufferings, I should think it inexpedient to afford
them any alleviation while they persist in a breach of
their contract with me: and, indeed, no indulgence
can be shown them without the authority of the Nabob, who, instead of consenting to moderate the rigors
? ? ? ? 422 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
of their situation, would be most willing to multiply.
them ":- endeavoring to join the Nabob, whom he
well knew to be reluctant in the whole proceeding,
as a party in the cruelties by which, through the
medium of her servants, it was intended to coerce
his mother.
XXXVIII. That the said Resident, in a few days
after, that is to say, on the 1st June, 1782, in a letter
to Major Gilpin, in command at Fyzabad, did order
the account, as by himself stated, to be read to the
prisoners, and, without taking any notice of their proposal concerning the valuation of the effects, or their
denial of the offences imputed to them, to demand a
positive answer relative to the payment, and, " upon
receiving from them a negative or unsatisfactory reply, to inform them, that, all further negotiation being at an end, they must prepare for their removal to
Lucknow, where they would be called upon to answer
not onily their recent breach of faith and solemn engagement, but also to atone for other heavy offences,
the punishment of which, as had frequently been signified to them, it was in their power to have mitigated
by a proper acquittal of themselves in this transaction. " By which insinuations concerning the pretended offences of the said unhappy persons, and the
manner by which they were to atone for the same,
and by their never having been specifically and directly made, it doth appear that the said crimes and offences were charged for the purpose of extorting money, and not upon principles or for the ends of justice. XXXIX. That, after some ineffectual negotiations
to make the prisoners pay the money, which it does
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 423
not appear to have been in their power to pay, they
were again threatened by the Resident, in a letter to
Major Gilpin, dated 9th June, 1782, in the following
terms. "'I wish you to explain once more to the
prisoners the imprudence and folly of their conduct
in forcing me to a measure which must be attended
with consequences so very serious to them, and that,
when once they are removed to Lucknow, it will not
be in my power to show them mercy, or to stand between them and the vengeance of the Nabob. Advise them to reflect seriously upon the unhappy situation
in which they will be involved in one case, and the
relief it will be in my power to procure them in the
other; and let them make their option. "
XL. That he, the said Resident, did also, at the
same time, receive a letter from the princess mother,
which letter does not appear, but to which only the
following insolent return was made,- that is to say:
"The letter from the Bhow Begum is no ways satisfactory, and I cannot think of returning an answer
to it. Indeed, all correspondence between the Begum and me has long been stopped; and I request
you will be pleased to inform her that I by no means
wish to resume it, or to maintain any friendly intercourse with her, until she has made good my claim upon her for the balance due. "
XLI. That, in consequence of these threats, apd
to prevent a separation of the ministers from their
mistresses, several plans for the payment of the balance were offered, both by the mother of the Nabob and the prisoners, to which no other objection appears
to have been made than the length of time required
? ? ? ? 424 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
by the parties to discharge the comparatively small
remainder of the extorted bond: the officer on command declaring, that, conformable to his instructions, he could not receive the same. *
XLII. That the prisoners were actually removed
from the city of their residence to the city of Lucknow, where they arrived on the 24th of June, 1782,
and were on the next day threatened with severities,
" to make them discover where the balance might be
procurable. " And on the 28th, it should seem, that
the severities for the purpose aforesaid were inflicted,
at least upon one of them; for the Assistant Resident, Johnson, did on that day write to Captain
Waugh, the officer commanding the guard, the letter
following, full of disgrace to the honor, justice, and
humanity of the British nation.
XLIII. "SIR, --The Nabob having determined to
inflict corporal punishment upon the prisoners under
your guard, this is to desire that his officers, when
they shall come, may have free access to the prisoners, and be permitted to do with them as they shall see proper, only taking care that they leave them always
under your charge. "
XLIV. That the said Richard Johnson did, further to terrify the prisoners, and to extort by all ways
the remainder of the said unjust, oppressive, and rapacious demand, threaten to remove them out of the Nabob's dominions into the castle of Churnagur, in
order forever to separate them from their principals,
and deprive both of their reciprocal protection and
* Major Gilpin's Letter, 15th June, 1782.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 425
services,* -- and did order a further guard to be put
on the palace of the grandmother of the Nabob, an
ally of the Company, and to prevent the entrance of
the provisions to her, (which order relative to the
guard only was executed,) and did use sundry unworthy and insulting menaces both with regard to
herself and to her principal ministers. t
XLV. That a proposal was soon after made by
the said princess and her daughter-in-law, praying
that their ministers aforesaid should be returned to
Fyzabad, and offering to raise a sum of money on
that condition; t as also that they would remove
from one of their palaces, whilst the English were
to be permitted to search the other. ~ But the Assistant Resident, Johnson, did, instead of a compliance with the former of these propositions, send the following orders, dated 23d July, 1782, to the officer
commanding the guard on the ministers aforesaid:
" Some violent demands having been made for the release of the prisoners, it is necessary that every possible precaution be taken for their security; you will therefore be pleased to be very strict in guarding
them; and I herewith send another pair of fetters to
be added to those now upon the prisoners. " And in
answer to the second proposition, the said Resident
did reply in the following terms: "'The proposal of
evacuating one palace, that it may be searched, and
then evacuating the next, upon the same principle, is
apparently fair; but it is well known, in the first
place, that such bricked-up or otherwise hidden treas* Mr. Johnson's Letter, 9th July, 1782. t Ibid. , 4th July, 1782.
t Major Gilpin's Letter, 6th July, 1782.
~ Mr. Johnson's Letter, 22d July, 1782.
? ? ? ? 426 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
ure is not to be hit upon in a day without a guide.
I have therefore informed the Nabob of this proposal,
and, if the matter is to be reduced to a search, he will
go himself, with such people as he may possess for
information, together with the prisoners; and when
in possession of the ground, by punishing the prisoners,
or by such other means as he may find most effectual
to forward a successful search upon the spot, he will.
avail himself of the proposal made by the Bhow Begum. "
XLVI. That, probably from the Nabob's known
and avowed reluctance to lend himself to the perpetration of the oppressive and iniquitous proceedings
of the representative of the British government, the
scandalous plan aforesaid was not carried into execution; and all the rigors practised upon the chief ministers of the ladies aforesaid at Lucknow being found ineffectual, and the princess mother having declared
herself ready to deliver up everything valuable in
her possession, which Behar Ali Khan, one of her
confidential ministers aforesaid, only could come at,
the said change of prison was agreed to, -- but not
until the Nabob's mother aforesaid had engaged to
pay for the said change of prison a sum of ten thousand pounds, (one half of which was paid on the return of the eunuchs,) and that'" she would ransack
the zenanah [women's apartments] for kincobs, muslins, clothes, &c. , &c. , &c. , and that she would even
allow a deduction from the annual allowance made to
her for her subsistence in lieu of her jaghire. " *
XLVII. That, soon after the return of the aforesaid
* Major Gilpin's Letters, 16th June and 15th Sept. , 1782.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 427
ministers to the place of their imprisonment at Fyzabad, bonds for the five thousand pounds aforesaid,
and goods, estimated, according to the valuation of a
merchant appointed to value the same, at the sum
of forty thousand pounds, even allowing them to sell
greatly under their value, were delivered to the commanding officer at Fyzabad; and the said commanding officer did promise to the Begum to visit Lucknow with such proposals as he hoped would secure the small balance of fifteen thousand pounds remaining of the unjust exaction aforesaid. * But the said
Resident, Middleton, did, in his letter of the 17th of
the said month, positively refuse to listen to any
terms before the final discharge of the whole of the
demand, and did positively forbid the commanding
officer to come to Lucknow to make the proposal
aforesaid in the terms following. " As it is not possible to listen to any terms from the Begums before
the final discharge of their conditional agreement for
fifty-five lacs, your coming here upon such an agency
can only be loss of time in completing the recovery
of the balance of 6,55,000, for which your regimentwas sent to Fyzabad.
I must therefore desire you
will leave no efforts, gentle or harsh, unattempted to
complete this, before you move from Fyzabad; and I
am very anxious that this should be as soon as possible, as I want to employ your regiment upon other emergent service, now suffering by every delay. "
XLVIII. That the goods aforesaid were sent to
Lucknow, and disposed of in a manner unknown;
and the harsh and oppressive measures aforesaid being
still continued, the Begum did, about the middle of
* Major Gilpin's Letter, 15th Sept. , 1782.
? ? ? ? 428 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
October, 1782, cause to be represented to the said
Middleton as follows. '" That her situation was truly
pitiable, --her estate sequestered, her treasury ransacked, her cojahs prisoners, and her servants deserting daily from want of subsistence. That she
had solicited the loan of money, to satisfy the demands of the Company, from every person that she
imagined would or could assist her with any; but
that the opulent would not listen to her adversity.
She had hoped that the wardrobe sent to Lucknow
might have sold for at least one half of the Company's
demands on her; but even jewelry and goods, she
finds from woful experience, lose their value the
moment it is known they come from her. That she
had now solicited the loan of cash from Almas Ali
Khin, and if she failed in that application, she had
no hopes of ever borrowing a sum equal to the demand ": - an hope not likely to be realized, as the
said Almas Ali was then engaged for a sum of money to be raised for the Company's use on the security of their confiscated lands, the restoration of which could form the only apparent security for a loan.
XLIX. That this remonstrance produced no effect
on the mind of the aforesaid Resident, -- who, being
about this time removed from his Residency, did, in
a letter to his successor, Mr. Bristow, dated 23d October, 1782, in effect recommend a perseverance in
the cruel and oppressive restraints aforesaid as a certain means of recovering the remainder of the extorted bond, and that the lands with which the princesses aforesaid had been endowed should not be restored to
them.
* Major Gilpin's Letter, 19th Oct. , 1782.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 429
L. That the said Warren Hastings was duly apprised of all the material circumstances in the unjust
proceedings aforesaid, but did nothing to stop the
course they were in, or to prevent, relieve, or mitigate
the sufferings of the parties affected by them: on the
contrary, he did, in his letter of the 25th of January,
1782, to the Resident, Middleton, declare, that the Nabob having consented to the " resumption of the jaghires held by the Begums, and to the confiscation of their treasures, and thereby involved my own name
and the credit of the Company in a participation of
both measures, I have a right to require and insist on
the complete execution of them; and I look to you for
their execution, declaring that I shall hold you accountable for it. " And it appears that he did write
to the Nabob a letter in the same peremptory manner;
but the said letter has been suppressed.
LI. That he, the said Hastings, further did manifest the concern he took in, and the encouragement
which he gave to the proceedings aforesaid, by conferring honors and distinctions upon the ministers of the
Nabob, whom he, the Nabob, did consider as having
in the said proceedings disobeyed him and betrayed
him, and as instruments in the dishonor of his family
and the usurpation of his authority. That the said
ministers did make addresses to the said Hastings for
that purpose (which addresses the said Hastings hath
suppressed); and the Resident, Middleton, did, with
his letter of the 11th of February, 1782, transmit the
same, and did in the said letter acquaint the said
Hastings " that the ministers of the Nabob had incurred much odium on account of their participation
in his measures, and that they were not only consid
? ? ? ? 430 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
ered by the party of the dispossessed jaghiredars, and
the mother and uncle of the Nabob, but by the Nabob
himself, as the defendants of the English government,
which they certainly are, and it is by its declared and
most obvious support alone that they call maintain the
authority and influence which is indispensably necessary. " And the said Middleton did therefore recommend "'that they should be honored with some testimony of his [the said Hastings's] approbation and
favor. " And he, the said Warren Hastings, did send
kellauts, or robes of honor, (the most public and distinguished mode of acknowledging merit known in
India,) to the said ministers, in testimony of his approbation of their late services.
LII. That the said Hastings did not only give the
aforesaid public encouragement to the ministers of the
Nabob to betray and insult their master and his family in the manner aforesaid, but, when the said Nabob
did write several letters to him, the said Hastings, expressive of his dislike of being used as an instrument
in the dishonorable acts aforesaid, and refusing to be
further concerned therein, he, the said Warren Hastings, did not only suppress and hide the said letters
from the view of the Court of Directors, but in his
instructions to the Resident, Bristow, did attribute
them to Hyder Beg Kh. An, minister to the Nabob,
(whom in other respects he did before and ever since
support against his master,) and did express himself
with great scorn and contempt of the said Nabob, and
with much asperity against the said minister: affirming, in proud and insolent terms, that he had, "by an
abuse of his influence over the Nabob, -he, the Nabob himself, being (as he ever must be in the hands of
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 431
some person) a mere cipher in his [the said minister's],
-- dared to make him [the Nabob] assume a very
unbecoming tone of refusal, reproach, and resentment,
in opposition to measures recommended by ME, and
even to acts done by MY authority ": the said Hastings, in the instruction aforesaid, particularizing the
resumption of the jaghires, and the confiscation of
the treasures that had been so long suffered to remain in the hands of his, the Nabob's, mother. But
the letters of the Nabob, which in the said instructions
he refers to as containing an opposition to the measures recommended by him, and which he asserts was
conveyed in a very unbecoming tone of refusal, reproach, and resentment, he, the said Hastings, hath
criminally withheld from the Company, contrary to
their orders, and to his duty, - and the more, as the
said letters must tend to show in what manner the
said Nabob did feel the indignities offered to his
mother, and the manner in which the said ministers,
notwithstanding their known dependence on the English government, did express their sense of the part
which their sovereign was compelled to act in the said
disgracefiul measures. And in further instructions to
him, the said new Resident, he did declare his approbation of the evil acts aforesaid, as well as his resolution of compelling the Nabob to those rigorous proceedings against his parent from which he had
long shown himself so very averse, in the following
words. "The severities which have been increased
towards the Begums were most justly merited by the
advantage which they took of the troubles in which I
was personally involved last year, to create a rebellion
in the Nabob's government, and to complete the ruin
which they thought was impending on ours. If it is
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the Nabob's desire to forget and to forgive their past
offences, I have no objection to his allowing them, in
pension, the nominal amount of their jaghires; but if
he shall ever offer to restore their jaghires to them, or
to give them any property in land, after the warning
which they have given him by the dangerous abuse
which they formerly made of his indulgence, you
must remonstrate in the strongest terms against it;
you must not permit such an event to take place, until
this government shall have received information of it,
and shall have had time to interpose its influence for
the prevention of it. " And the said Warren Hastings, who did in the manner aforesaid positively refuse
to admit the Nabob to restore to his mother and grandmother any part of their landed estates for their maintenance, did well know that the revenues of the said Nabob were at that time so far applied to the demands
of the Company, (by him, the said Warren Hastings,
aggravated beyond the whole of what they did produce,) or were otherwise so far applied to the purposes
of several of the servants of the Company, and others,
the dependants of him, the said Hastings, that none
of the pensions or allowances, assigned by the said
Nabob in lieu of the estates confiscated, were paid,
or were likely to be discharged, with that punctuality which was necessary even to the scanty subsistence of the persons to which they were in name and appearance applied. For,
LIII. That, so early as the 6th March, 1782, Captain Leonard Jaques, who commanded the forces on
duty for the purpose of distressing the several women in the palaces at Fyzabad, did complain to the
Resident, Richard Johnson, in the following words.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 433
" The women belonging to the Khord Mohul (or lesser palace) complain of their being in want of every
necessary of life, and are at last driven to that desperation that they at night get on the top of the zenanah, make a great disturbance, and last night not only alarmed the sentinels posted in the garden, but
threw dirt at them; they threaten to throw themselves from the walls of the zenanah, and also to
break out of it. Humanity obliges me to acquaint
you of this matter, and to request to know if you
have any directions to give me concerning it. I also
beg leave to acquaint you I sent for Letafit Ali KhaIln,
the cojah who has the charge of them, and who in --
forms me it is well grounded, - that they have sold'
everything they had, even to the clothes from their backs,
and now have no means of subsisting. "
LIV. That the distresses of the said women grew
so urgent on the night of the said 6th of March, the
day when the letter above recited was written, that
Captain Leonard Jaques aforesaid did think it necessary to write again, on the day following, to the British Resident in the following words. "I beg leave to address you again concerning the women in the
Khord Mohul [the lesser palace]. Their behavior last
night was so furious, that there seemed the greatest
probability of their proceeding to the uttermost extremities, and that they would either throw themselves
from the walls or force open the doors of the zenanah.
I have made every inquiry concerning the cause of
their complaints, and find from Letafit Ali Khan
that they are in a starving condition, having sold all
their clothes and necessaries, and now have not wherewithal to support nature; and as my instructions are.
VOL. VIII. 28
? ? ? ? 434 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
quite silent on this head, I should be glad to know
how to proceed, in case they were to force the doors
of the zenanah, as I suspect it will happen, should no
subsistence be very quickly sent to them. "
LV. That, in consequence of these representations,
it appears that the said Resident, Richard Johnson,
did promise that an application should be made to
certain of the servants of the Nabob Vizier to provide
for their subsistence.
LVI. That Captain Jaques being relieved from the
duty of imprisoning the women of Sujah ul Dowlah,
the late sovereign of Oude, an ally of the Company,
who dwelt in the said lesser palace, and Major Gilpin
being appointed to succeed, the same malicious design of destroying the said women, or the same scandalous neglect of their preservation and subsistence, did still continue; and Major Gilpin found it necessary to apply to the new Resident, Bristow, in a letter of the 30th of October, 1782, as follows.
LVII. " SIR, - Last night, about eight o'clock, the
women in the Khord Mohul [lesser. palace] or zenanah [women's apartment] under the charge of Letafit Ali Khan, assembled on the tops of the buildings, crying in a most lamentable manner for food, - that for
the last four days they had got but a very scanty allowance, and that yesterday they had got none.
LVIII. " The melancholy cries of famine are more
easily imagined than described: and from their representation I fear the Nabob's agents for that business
are very inattentive. I therefore think it requisite to
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS 435
make you acquainted with the circumstance, that his
Excellency, the Nabob, may cause his agents to be
more circumspect in their conduct towards these poor
unhappy women. "
LIX. That, although the Resident, Bristow, did
not then think himself authorized to remove the
guard, he did apply to the minister of the Nabob,
who did promise some relief to the women of the late
Nabob, confined in the lesser palace; but apprehending, with reason, that the minister aforesaid might
not be more ready or active in making the necessary
provision for them than on former occasions, he did
render himself personally responsible to Major Gilpin
for the repayment of any sum, equal to one thousand
pounds sterling, which he might procure for the subsistence of the sufferers. But whatever relief was
given, (the amount thereof not appearing,) the same
was soon exhausted; and the number of persons to be
maintained in the said lesser palace being eight hundred women, the women of the late sovereign, Sujah
ul Dowlah, and several of the younger children of the
said sovereign prince, besides their attendants, Major
Gilpin was obliged, on the 15th of November following, again to address the Resident by a representation of this tenor. "SIR, --The repeated cries of the women in the
Khord Mohul Zenanah for subsistence have been truly
melancholy.
LX. " They beg most piteously for liberty, that they
may earn their daily bread by laborious servitude, or to
be relievedfrom their misery by immediate death.
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LXI. " In consequence of their unhappy situation,
I have this day taken the liberty of drawing on you
in favor of Ramnarain, at ten days' sight, for twenty
Son Kerah rupees, ten thousand of which I have paid
to Cojah Letafit Ali Khan, under whose charge that
zenanah is. "
LXII. That, notwithstanding all the promises and
reiterated engagements of the minister, Hyder Beg
Khan, the ladies of the palace aforesaid fell again
into extreme distress; and the Resident did again
complain to the said minister, who was considered to
be, and really and substantially was, the minister of
the Governor-General, Warren Hastings, aforesaid,
and not of the Nabob, (the said Nabob being, according to the said Hastings's own account, " a cipher in his [the said minister's] hands,") that the funds
allowed for their subsistence were not applied to
their support. But notwithstanding all these repeated complaints and remonstrances, and the constant promise of amendment on the part of his, the said
Hastings's, minister, the supply was not more plentiful or more regular than before.
LXIII. That the said Resident, Bristow, finding
by experience the inefficacy of the courses which had
been pursued with regard to the mother and grandmother of the reigning prince of Oude, and having received a report from Major Gilpin, informing him
that all which could be done by force had been done,
and that the only hope which remained for realizing
the remainder of the money, unjustly exacted as
aforesaid, lay in more lenient methods,* he, the said
* Major Gilpin's Letter, 18 Nov. , 1782.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 437
Resident, did, of his own authority, order the removal of the guard from the palaces, the troops being long and much wanted for the defence of the frontier, and other material services, -- and did release the said ministers of the said women of rank, who
had been confined and put in irons, and variously
distressed and persecuted, as aforerecited, for near
twelve months. *
LXIV. That the manner in which the said inhuman acts of rapacity and violence were felt, both by
the women of high rank concerned, and by all the
people, strongly appears in the joy expressed on their
release, which took place on the 5th of December,
1782, and is stated in two letters of that date from
Major Gilpin to the Resident, in the words following.
LXV. " I have to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter of the 2d instant, and in consequence immediately enlarged the prisoners Behar Ali Khan and
Jewar Ali Khan from their confinement: a circumstance that gave the Begums, and the city of Fyzabad
in general, the greatest satisfaction.
LXVI. "In tears of joy Behar and Jewar Ali
Khan expressed their sincere acknowledgments to
the Governor-General, his Excellency the Nabob
Vizier, and to you, Sir, for restoring them to that
invaluable blessing, liberty, for which they would
ever retain the most grateful remembrance; and at
their request I transmit you the inclosed letters.
LXVII. "I wish you had been present at the en* Mr. Bristow's Letter, 2d Dec. , 1782.
? ? ? ? 438 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
largement of the prisoners. The quivering lips, with
the tears of joy stealing down the poor men's cheeks,
was a scene truly affecting.
LXVIII. " If the prayers of these poor men will
avail, you will, at the LAST TRUMP, be translated to the
happiest regions in heaven. "
LXIX. And the Resident, Bristow, knowing how
acceptable the said proceeding would be to all the
people of Oude, and the neighboring independent
countries, did generously and politically, (though not
truly,) in his letter to the princess mother attribute
the said relief given to herself, and the release of her
ministers, to the humanity of the said Warren Hastings, agreeably to whose orders he pretended to act:
asserting, that he, the said Hastings, "was the spring
from whence she was restored to her dignity and consequence. " * And the account of the proceedings
aforesaid was regularly transmitted to the said Warren Hastings on the 30th of December, 1782, with the
reasons and motives thereto, and a copy of the report
of the officer concerning the inutility of further force,
attended with sundry documents concerning the famishing, and other treatment, of the women and children of the late sovereign: but the same appear to have made no proper impression on the mind of the
said Warren Hastings; for no answer whatsoever was
given to the said letter until the 3d of March, 1783,
when the said Hastings, writing ipn his own character
and that of the Council, did entirely pass by all the
circumstances before recited, but did give directions
for the renewal of measures of the like nature and
* Mr. Bristow's Letter, 12 Dec. , 1782.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 439
tendency with those which (for several of the last
months at least of the said proceeding) had been employed with so little advantage to the interest and
with so much injury to the reputation of the Company,
his masters, in whose name he acted, - expressing
himself in the said letter of the 3d of March, 1783,
as follows: "We desire you will inform us what
means have been taken for recovering the balance
[the pretended balance of the extorted money] due
from the Begums [princesses] at Fyzabad; and if necessary, you must recommend it to the Vizier to enforce the most effectual means for that purpose. " And the Resident did, in his answer to the board, dated
31st March, 1783, on this peremptory order, again
detail the particulars aforesaid to the said Warren
Hastings, referring him to his former correspondence,
stating the utter impossibility of proceeding further
by force, and mentioning certain other disgraceful
and oppressive circumstances, and in particular, that
the Company did not, in plundering the mother of the
reigning prince of her wearing apparel and beasts of
carriage, receive a value in the least equal to the loss
she suffered: the elephants having no buyer but the
Nabob, and the clothes, which had last been delivered
to Middleton at a valuation of thirty thousand pounds,
were so damaged by ill keeping in warehouses, that
they could not be sold, even for six months' credit, at
much more than about eight thousand pounds; by
which a loss in a single article was incurred of twentytwo thousand pounds out of the fifty, for the recovery
of which (supposing it had been a just debt) such rigorous means had been employed, after having actually
received upwards of five hundred thousand pounds in
value to the Company, and extorted much more in
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loss to the suffering individuals. And the said Bris.
tow, being well acquainted with the unmerciful temper of the said Hastings, in order to leave no means
untried to appease him, not contented with the letter to the Governor-General and Council, did on the
same day write another letter to him particularly,
in which he did urge several arguments, the necessity of using of which to the said Hastings did reflect
great dishonor on this nation, and on the Christian
religion therein professed, namely: "That he had
experienced great embarrassment in treating with
her [the mother of the reigning prince]; for, as the
mother of the Vizier, the people look up to her with
respect, and any hard measures practised against
women of her high rank create discontent, and affect
our national character. " And the said Resident,
after condemning very unjustly her conduct, added,
" Still she is the mother of the prince of the country,
and the religious prejudices of Mussulmen prevail too
strongly in their minds to forget her situation. "
LXX. That the said Warren Hastings did not
make any answer to the said letter. But the mother
of the prince aforesaid, as well as the mother of his
father, being, in consequence of his, the said Hastings's, directions, incessantly and rudely pressed by
their descendant, in the name of the Company, to pay
to the last farthing of the demand, they did both positively refuse to pay any part of the pretended balanlces aforesaid, until their landed estates were restored to them; on the security of which alone they alleged
themselves to be in a condition to borrow any money,
or even to provide for the subsistence of themselves
and their numerous dependants. And in order to
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 441
put some end to these differences, the Vizier did himself, about the beginning of August, 1783, go to Fyzabad, and did hold divers conferences with his parents, and did consent and engage to restore to them their
landed estates aforesaid, and did issue an order that
they should be restored accordingly; but his minister
aforesaid, having before his eyes the peremptory orders
of him, the said Warren Hastings, did persuade his
master to dishonor himself in breaking his faith and
engagement with his mother and the mother of his
father, by first evading the execution, and afterwards
totally revoking his said public and solemn act, on
pretence that he had agreed to the grant "from
shame, being in their presence [the presence of his
mother and grandmother], and that it was unavoidable at the time "; X - the said minister declaring to
him, that it would be sufficient, if he allowed them
" money for their necessary expenses, and that would
be doing enough. "
LXXI. That the faith given for the restoration
of their landed estates being thus violated, and the
money for necessary expenses being as ill supplied
as before, the women and children of the late sovereign, father of the reigning prince, continued exposed
to frequent want of the common necessaries of life; t
and being sorely pressed by famine, they were compelled to break through all the principles of local decorum and reserve which constitute the dignity of
the female sex in that part of the world, and, after
great clamor and violent attempts for one whole day
to break the inclosure of the palace, and to force their
* Shoka from the Vizier to Hyder Beg Khan, 2d Ramsur, 1197.
t Bristow's Letter, 29th Jan. , 1784, with inclosures.
? ? ? ? 442 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
way into the public market, in order to move the
compassion of the people, and to beg their bread,
they did, on the next day, actually proceed to the
extremity of exposing themselves to public view,an extremity implying the lowest state of disgrace
and degradation, to avoid which many women in India have laid violent hands upon themselves, - and
they did proceed to the public market-place with
the starving children of the late sovereign, and the
brothers and sisters of the reigning prince! A minute account of the transaction aforesaid was written
to the British Resident at Lucknow by'the person
appointed to convey intelligence to him from Fyzabad, in the following particulars, highly disgraceful to
the honor, justice, and humanity of this nation.
LXXII. " The ladies, their attendants and servants, were still as clamorous as last night. Letafit, the darogah, went to them and remonstrated with them on the impropriety of their conduct, at the
same time assuring them that in a few days all their
allowances would be paid, and should not that be
the case, he would advance them ten days' subsistence, upon condition that they returned to their
habitation. None of them, however, consented to
his proposals, but were still intent upon making
their escape through the bazar [market-place], and
in consequence formed themselves into a line, arranging themselves in the following order: the children
in the front; behind them the ladies of the seraglio;
and behind them again their attendants: but their
intentions were frustrated by the opposition which
they met from Letafit's sepoys.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 443
LXXIII. "The next day Letafit went twice to
the women, and used his endeavors to make them
return into the zenanah, promising to advance them
ten thousand rupees; which, upon the money being
paid down, they agreed to comply with: but night
coming on, nothing transpired.
LXXIV. " On the day following their clamors
were more violent than usual. Letafit went to confer with them upon the business of yesterday, offering the same terms. Depending upon the fidelity
of his promises, they consented to return to their
apartments, which they accordingly did, except two
or three of the ladies, and most of their attendants.
Letafit then went to Ilossmund Ali Khan, to consult with him upon what means they should take.
They came to a resolution of driving them in by
force, and gave orders to their sepoys to beat any
one of the women who should attempt to move
forward. The sepoys consequently assembled; and
each one being provided with a bludgeon, they drove
them by dint of beating into the zenanah. The women, seeing the treachery of Letafit, proceeded to
throw stones and bricks at the sepoys, and again attempted to get out; but finding that impossible, from
the gates being shut, they kept up a continual discharge of stones and bricks till about ten, when, finding their situation desperate, they retired into the Kung Mohul, and forced their way from thence into
the palace, and dispersed themselves about the house
and garden; after this they were desirous of getting
into the Begum's apartment, but she, being apprised
of their intention, ordered her doors to be shut. In
the mean time Letafit and HIossmund Ali Khiln
? ? ? ? 444 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
posted sentries to secure the gates of the lesser Mohul. During the whole of this conflict, all the ladies
and women remained exposed to the view of the sepoys. The Begum then sent for Letafit and Hossmund Ali Khan, whom she severely reprimanded, and insisted upon knowing the causes of this infamous behavior. They pleaded in their defence the
impossibility of helping it, as the treatment the women had met with had been conformable to his Excellency the Vizier's orders. The Begum alleged, that, even admitting that the Nabob had given those
orders, they were by no means authorized in this
manner to disgrace the family of Sujah Dowlah; and
should they not receive their allowance for a day
or two, it could be of no great moment: what was
passed was now at an end; but that the Vizier
should certainly be acquainted with the whole of the
affair, and that whatever he desired she should implicitly comply with. The Begum then sent for five
of the children, who were wounded in the affray of
last night, and, after endeavoring to soothe them, she
sent again for Letafit and Hossmund Ali Khan, and
in the presence of the children expressed her disapprobation of their conduct, and the improbability of
Asoph ul Dowlah's suffering the ladies and children
of Sujah Dowlah to be disgraced by being exposed to
the view of the rabble. Upon which Letafit produced
the letter from the Nabob, at the same time representing that he was amenable only to the orders of
his Excellency, and that whatever he ordered it was
his duty to obey, and that, had the ladies thought
proper to have retired into their apartments quietly,
lie would not have used the means he had taken to
compel them. The Begum again observed, that what
? ? ?