CHAPTER XI.

Ghazenuggur--Secundra--Allyghur--The Fort--The Church--Monuments--The Gaol--Akbarabad--Meerun-ke-Serai--Kanoge--Tombs--Ancient Coins--Language of Kanoge--Supposed Site of Palibothra--Population of Benares--Streets of Benares--Singers and Musicians--Productions of Kanoge--Poorah--Cawnpore--Court Etiquette at Lucknow--Nawab of Oude--His Regal Rank--Military Depôt at Cawnpore--Saddlery--Sirsole--Dâk Bungalows--Arapore--Lohunga---Allahabad.

ON the morning of the 11th of April, I bade adieu to the far-famed city of Delhi, after a most agreeable stay of only four days, during which, however, I had made the most of my time.

Quitting the city from my encampment at the Cashmere gate, I set out for Ghazenuggur, a distance of fourteen and a half miles. I passed over the river Jumna, about five miles from Delhi, by the bridge of boats of which I have already spoken. The bed of the river being unusually broad at this time, these boats were exceedingly numerous. Half way _en route_ to Ghazenuggur, or perhaps rather less, I crossed the river Hindon by an iron bridge.

On the 12th, I rode to Secundra, a distance of twenty-three miles, the scenery being very tame and uninteresting. On the 13th, I continued my route as far as Koorjah, seventeen miles and one-eighth; and on the 14th, to Somnagunge, fourteen and a half miles.

On the 15th I reached Allyghur, or Coel, as the town is called. On my arrival, I immediately visited the Great Mosque, with five cupolas, and a large pillar close by it, called the Minar. It is in a ruinous state, and a very poor resemblance of the renowned Cootub Minar, at Delhi. I ascended as high as was practicable by the spiral staircase in the interior, and counted eighty-one steps. An intelligent native, who accompanied me, told me that the founder intended that it should rival the beautiful column at Delhi; but some accident prevented its completion.

I next visited the Fort of Allyghur, taken by Lord Lake, in 1803. It is built of mud, faced with kankar, or limestone, of a square form, and surrounded by a very deep and broad fosse filled with water, and abounding in fish. Within the gates nothing now remains of this chief stronghold of Sindiah but a few huts, and small bomb-proof magazines; the fortress having been stormed by the British troops under Lord Lake in 1803, and dismantled by Lord William Bentinck.

The church, built at the expence of a liberal and pious civilian, is very small and neat; near it is a monument erected to the memory of seven officers of H.M. 76th Foot, who were killed in action against the army of Sindiah. At no great distance are two low pillars, each encircled by a wall, in memory of two French officers, in the service of Dowlut Row Sindiah; and, close by, a faithful Mussulman Khidmutgar, or butler, lies interred beneath a flat stone. On one side of the church is a European burial ground, nearly covered over with tombs and pillars.

A few minutes' walk conducts the visitor to an enormously large gaol, in which all the culprits in the district of Allyghur, about 700 in number, were at this time confined.

The station appeared to be an exceedingly pleasant one; the bungalows to the north are surrounded with fine tropical trees, which give it a very cheerful appearance. During my stay here, my tent was pitched in an ancient Mahomedan burying ground.

On the 16th of April, I rode to Akbarabad fourteen miles and a half. The hot winds having now set in, and travelling in the day-time being almost insupportable, I started at eleven o'clock the same night, and arrived at Budwas, a distance of twenty miles at half-past-four o'clock on the morning of the 17th. On the 18th I rode to Naia Serai, twenty miles; and on Sunday, the 19th, to Korowlee, thirteen miles and one-eighth; on the 20th, to Bowgong, sixteen miles; on the 21st, to Chiberamow, twenty-one miles; on the 22nd, to Goorsaigunge, fourteen miles.

On the 23rd I rode to Meerun-ke-Serai, a distance of fourteen miles. On my arrival, I visited the ancient city of Kanoge, by diverging two miles from the main road, to my left. An old man of ninety years of age was my guide through the ruins, accompanied by his son apparently as aged as himself. The father's name was Oodee Ram. Kanoge is abbreviated from Kanyacubja.[65] It is a town of great antiquity and celebrity, in the Province of Agra, having been the capital of a powerful kingdom, at the time of the first invasion of the Mahomedans. It is situated on the west of the river Ganges, in Lat. 27° 5´ north, and Long. 79° 52´ east. The Ganges runs about two miles off, and, by means of a canal which makes a bend towards the town, the sacred stream is brought close to the citadel.

The town, at present, consists of only one street, but along an extent of six miles, the fragments of small pieces of brick earth, and the occasional vestiges of a building, point out the site of this ancient capital of Hindoostan. I may mention a peculiarity in the Hindoo buildings, that they are composed of very small bricks, worked in with a great portion of cement, which is harder, and requires more force to break it, than the bricks.

I here saw the tombs of two Mahomedan saints, who lie in state in two Mausolea on an elevation covered with trees. From the terrace which surrounds them I enjoyed a pleasant prospect over the plain, scattered with the ruins of temples and tombs; little images broken into fragments, are lying about in all directions under the trees. Ancient coins of an irregular shape are frequently found among the ruins; they are inscribed with Sanscrit characters, the original language of India, and, sometimes have the figure of a Hindoo deity on one side. We nowhere read of any one having ever collected these coins, much less of having translated the inscriptions upon them. Surely it would be worth the trouble to send some one to dig them up out of the heaps of rubbish which cover them. Coins are the books of antiquity, for the art of printing was not known even in Europe till about 400 years ago. The coins found in the Tope at Munnikala in the Punjaub, have led to the belief, that such structures as those at Kanoge were not raised by the natives of the country. It is true that the search for coins in that district has not always produced genuine ones, for the cupidity of the natives has led them to sell modern copies of ancient coins to Europeans not versed in the knowledge of these antique deposits; they see that they are of Bactrian origin, but cannot distinguish the true from the false coins. General Ventura, who opened the Tope, had the advantage of a first discovery, for spurious ones could not have been originally deposited there.

Kanoge, in the remotest times of Hindoo history, was a place of great renown, and the capital of the powerful kingdom of Hindoostan, which existed down to the period of the Mahomedan invasion, which is about coeval with that of England by William the Conqueror. The name Kanyacubja, has reference to a well-known story related in the Hindoo mythological poems. The language of Kanoge appears to have formed the ground-work of the modern Hindoostanee known also by the appellation of Hindee or Hindivee, it is a graft on the Sanscrit; the Oordoo is a mixture of Hindee and Persian. Oordoo means a camp, hence Oordoo is the Camp or Court language of Delhi and Lucknow, where it is spoken with the greatest purity. Kings formerly often lived in Camp with their troops.

The Rajahs of Kanoge are mentioned by Ferishta as early as 1008. The town was conquered, though not permanently retained, by Mahmood, of Ghuznee, A.D. 1018. The late Lieutenant-Colonel W. Francklin, Bengal army, in his "Enquiry into the Site of the Ancient Palibothra," calls it "Kennouj, or Kanycacubja." The learned Mr. Maurice, in his Indian Antiquities (p. 36), observes, of this city, that it was enclosed by walls fifty coss, or one hundred miles, in circumference; and, in page 42 of the same work, states, on the authority of the Ayeen Akbaree,[66] that, in the beginning of the sixth century, under the reign of Maldeo, it contained 30,000 shops where betel-nut was sold, and 60,000 bands[67] of singers and musicians, who paid a tax to government. The extent of the city might reasonably allow of a population of from two to three millions of souls. If these positions be admissible, we surely need not cavil at the extent of the city of Palibothra, as assigned to it in the Hindoo records. Colonel Francklin writes of Bisnagur (Beejanuggur), "of this city, Cæsar Frederic, a Venetian merchant, who was there in 1567, says, 'that it had a circuit of ninety-four miles, and that it contained within it a number of little hills and pagodas.'" Major Rennel, the well-known Surveyor-general of India, in his Dissertations, agrees with the Venetian, that these hills and pagodas were within the boundaries. Of course, there were many temples at Kanoge; and there seems to be no reason whatever for disbelieving the fact of its having been one hundred miles in circumference, or of there having been 4,000 souls to a square mile.

Now, let us take the city of Benares. The late Mr. James Prinsep,[68] between the years 1824 and 1827, found the population to be 183,491; or, 34,621 to the square mile. The census was taken under peculiar difficulties. Benares, or Kasi, is the most sacred Hindoo city in Hindoostan. In the late census, taken in 1848-49, the population was allowed to stand the same as when taken in 1824-27. The lapse of more than twenty years will give a great increase of population, even supposing that there had been an over-calculation.

Let us test the point by English statistics. In Middlesex[69] they quote 5,590--98 souls to a square mile. Now, if we say three millions for Kanoge, it will give about 4,800 souls to a square mile. Then it must be recollected, that the streets of Benares are so very narrow, that if one person enters a street at one end on an elephant, and another comes from the opposite end similarly mounted, neither can pass, but one must back out, which implies that the streets are not twenty feet wide. Besides which, the native houses in Benares are several stories high. It is a fact, that a great portion of the sickness of that city, as of others which I have seen, arises from the circumstance that the sun's rays never penetrate the street. Therefore, if Kanoge were peopled to anything like the extent even of Middlesex, we may believe the number of inhabitants to have been as great as suggested by Maurice. If the Venetian be correct, we may assert that, if Beejanuggur extended ninety-four miles, Kanoge, the most ancient Hindoo city of Hindoostan, was one hundred miles in circumference. It is to be borne in mind, that the population of the world, at the period referred to, was greater than in times before the Christian era. Lord Lake had his head-quarters at Kanoge before his army took the field in 1803.

The late Lieut.-Colonel Thorn, in his Memoir of the War in India, 1803-6, says: "Kanoge, which modern writers suppose, though certainly on very problematical grounds, to be the site of the celebrated Palibothra;" but this will be noticed again when I speak of Allahabad, which some deem to be the identical site of Palibothra.

The 60,000 bands of singers and musicians is a more puzzling problem: because each band has never less than four persons; two girls and two men. Now, 2,500,000 divided by 60,000, gives a "natch" or dancing set to about every forty-two persons. It proves at least the musical taste of the Hindoos, and their fondness for singing and dancing in those days. We must, however, recollect that singing enters into their religion, and forms a necessary part of their sacred festivals. Again, if we take a brick house to contain six people, and a mud house four, there would be a band for every eight or nine families.

Kanoge is celebrated for its attar of roses, rose-water, and sweetmeats; of the last I purchased fifteen seers, or thirty lbs. for my servants, thus giving two lbs. to each man.

On the 24th of April, I rode twenty-three miles to Poorah; on the 25th, to Kullianpore, nineteen miles and three-quarters. My next stage was to Cawnpore, a distance of seven miles, where I put up at the Bungalow, next to the one I occupied when I was stationed at Cawnpore with my regiment last year. The change from my tent to a Bungalow was exceedingly agreeable, for latterly I had found it almost intolerable, on account of the dust and heat.

Cawnpore is a large military station, situated on the right bank of the Ganges, between Kanoge and Allahabad. The circumstance of its becoming a military station, was the result of a treaty with the Nawab of Oude, by which the British East India Company agreed to keep a Brigade at Cawnpore for the defence of the Nawab's dominions. It is about forty-nine miles from Lucknow, the capital of the King of Oude. About the year 1818, the Governor-General, the late Marquis of Hastings, suggested the title of King in lieu of that of Nawab. The Company, it seems, had borrowed money from his Highness, as he was then called, to pay the expences of the Nepaul war; and as the Nepaul frontier bordered on Oude, there appeared to be some tangible reason for asking for a part of the outlay. His Highness lent two "crores," or two millions sterling: one of which was afterwards repaid, and the other was partly absorbed in the kingly title.

The Nawab, as Vizier, had been the servant of the Emperor of Delhi; and at the time of which I am treating two of the Emperor's sons were living at Lucknow, and used to be supplied with money by the Nawab. Now the court etiquette was such, that whenever his highness met their royal highnesses, the princes of the blood of Delhi, his highness was constrained to make his elephants kneel down, if so mounted; which deportment was considered degrading in the presence of his liege subjects at Lucknow, and called for a remedy. It was therefore, intimated to the Nawab, that he and the Honourable Company might make an amicable agreement, by the government of India conferring upon him the title of Majesty.[70] The Nawab jumped at the proposal, and was dubbed "King and mighty Sovereign." Besides these advantages, he was not only raised in rank above the princes of the blood royal; but he was also king as well as the great Mogul, whose style was "Shahun Shah," or "King of Kings." The Emperor, however, was greatly incensed; what now was to be done? He complained that his income of ten lakhs, or £100,000, was not meet and sufficient to keep up his royal dignity;[71] whereupon the Company, in order to conciliate his majesty, at once raised his pension to £120,000 per annum. Money carries everything in the East, as it does for the most part in the West--it can do anything short of a miracle.

The investiture of the Nawab of Oude with regal dignity is, however, by no means incongruous. Mooltan, for instance, we find from old historians, covered an area of 3,273,932 beegahs, or 1,636,966 acres of measured lands; and again those of Oude were 2,796,206 beegahs, or 1,398,103 acres. Now, as there was formerly a king of Mooltan, the size of which is only 238,863 acres larger than Oude, there seems to be no reason why its ruler should not bear the style and title of King of Oude. Oude is estimated to be 250 miles in length, and 100 in breadth, from which it appears that it is as large as Scotland and much larger than Hanover.

His Majesty has disbanded his disorderly troops, and maintains two corps of Infantry, disciplined and appointed by British officers, stationed at Sultanpore and Seetapore. At Lucknow itself there is a Horse Field-battery and three battalions of East India Company's Sepoys. Visitors to Lucknow should go to the late General Martin's palace and the Dil-Khoosha. The Residency is situated two-and-a-half miles from the cantonments. There is a bridge over the Goomtee river, and an iron bridge near Dil-Khoosha. In the neighbourhood of Lucknow are many fine palaces, which well deserve two or three days' inspection.

At Cawnpore there are two companies of Artillery, a corps of Native Cavalry, a European regiment of Infantry, three corps of Native Infantry, and an Infantry recruiting depôt; whereas formerly, there used to be a troop of Horse Artillery, a regiment of British Dragoons, a corps of Queen's Foot, two companies of Artillery, a corps of Golundaz, a regiment of Native Cavalry, and three regiments of Native Infantry. The cantonments are of great length and very straggling; the distance from the magazine to the end of the Native Artillery lines being seven miles. Looking from the river, the regiments used to stand thus:--The European Infantry on the left; next to which come the European Foot Artillery, then the Native Infantry; next the Dragoons and Native Cavalry, and, lastly, the Native Artillery. The civilians live chiefly at Nawabgunge, about two or three miles to the left of the cantonments. In the midst of the cantonments are the Church, the Theatre, and the Assembly Rooms, the latter consisting of two rooms parallel to each other and about 100 feet in length, where public meetings are held. Besides the church here spoken of, a neat little chapel was built close to their lines, for the use of the Dragoons, when they were stationed here.

There is an hotel at Cawnpore, kept by a Mr. Duhan, pleasantly situated on the banks of the river. It is a great convenience to travellers, but, owing to the want of sufficient patronage, it will, probably, be soon broken up. Not far from the hotel is the European burial ground, crowded as usual with pillars and slabs, marking out the last resting-place of beloved relatives and friends.

Cawnpore, although very hot and dusty, is, in my opinion, not an unhealthy station; for, during my stay there, from the 28th of April, 1844, to the 17th of October, 1845, I found that, with common prudence, a person might enjoy very tolerable health. There is a fine race-course, which used to afford an exciting amusement during the cold months. The officers' bungalows, pleasantly situated in large compounds,[72] surrounded by walls, are very comfortable. The one which I occupied, while stationed here, and for which I paid only £96 per annum rent, was, perhaps, rather adapted for a general officer than for a captain of Dragoons. The saddlery made at Cawnpore is celebrated throughout India, as particularly good; and the Native Cavalry are chiefly supplied with it. The extension of our frontier has, however, done no small injury to Cawnpore, for it will never again enjoy the large and important commerce which it used to possess. To continue my route:--

On the 30th of April, 1846, I rode to Sirsole, fourteen miles, and put up at the Dâk, or Stage Bungalow. These Dâk Bungalows are stationed along all the principal roads in India, at a distance of about fifteen or twenty miles apart, are a great comfort to the weary traveller; for, as there are few hotels on the route, he thankfully avails himself of such fare as these afford. Here he enjoys the luxury of a bath, accommodation, and attendance, for the trifling sum of 2s. per diem. The traveller must bring his own provisions, which the Dâk Khidmutgar will prepare _à son goût_. These establishments are under the control of the government post-masters. The word Dâk signifies post; and the Inland Mail is transferred from one part of India to another not by railway and mail coaches, but by such conveyances as are best adapted for speed in different localities. Thus, in some districts camels are used; in others, horses; and, in others again, mail-carts; while the most ordinary method of transmission is by a runner, who carries the letter-bags, generally at the end of a bamboo pole poised over his shoulder, and shifts it upon those of another runner, who stands, waiting in readiness, at a distance of ten or twelve miles, and who, in his turn, transmits it to another, and so on, till the whole distance is accomplished. These Dâk post runners keep on at a regular speed of four or five miles an hour.

On the 1st of May I rode to Kullianpore, a distance of seventeen miles, and the next day to Futtehpore, sixteen miles. I was on the point of taking my customary ablution this morning, when my Bihishti, or water-carrier, discovered a deadly cobra de capella, partly concealed and asleep, under one of the earthen jars which I was just going to use. I felt very thankful for my escape.

Futtehpore is an extensive Mahomedan city; it is in a lamentable state, and the ruins of tombs, mosques, houses, and walls lie spread over a very large space. It has been a civil station since 1826; and it also contains a very large gaol.

On the third of May, I started for Arapore, a distance of sixteen miles, and proceeded the next morning to Lohunga seventeen miles off. I arrived at Kusseah on the 5th, after a ride of sixteen miles, and having rested till five o'clock in the afternoon, I commenced a long march, but halted for about half-an-hour at the Travellers' Bungalow at Koela, fifteen miles, to allay a burning thirst with some tea, and finally reached Berrill's Hotel at Allahabad at a quarter to one the next morning, being a distance of twenty-nine miles.

Thus I rode the whole way from Lahore to Allahabad, a distance of at least 704 miles in fifty-four days, including the nine days I halted.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 65: Kanya, a damsel, and cubja, a spinal curve.]

[Footnote 66: A work written by the command of Akbar. It contained a statement of the revenues of all the districts and towns, the amount of the troops, and the number under each commander.]

[Footnote 67: Tyfeeah, "a band," or set of Natch girls.]

[Footnote 68: Statistical Survey of Berar, p. 155, table xxx. Statistics, North-west Provinces. By A. Shakespear, Assistant Surveyor-General.]

[Footnote 69: Shakespear's Statistics, North-west Provinces of India, table ii. p. 172.]

[Footnote 70: Vide Oude, Parliamentary Papers.]

[Footnote 71: See Appendix XX.]

[Footnote 72: From _Campaô_, a Portuguese word, signifying an enclosure round a house, or bungalow.]