Siyar al-mutaʾakhkhirin 26: SECTION XIV.
A Translation of the Seir Mutaqherin (Haji Mustafa) 26
- Language
- English
Contents
SECTION XIV.
26.1.1
The Author accounts for the peculiar character of the Indians, from the peculiarities of the soil — Indian Princes love their subjects, as fond parents do their children — On the contrary, the English hate the natives of India, and disdain their company — Twelve causes assigned for the diminution of revenue and population all over Bengal — The first, that the English are aliens — The second is their ignorance of the customs and usages of the country — Account of those usages — A Daroga of Audaulet-office — A Cazi — this last office greatly abused now — A Sadr-el-Sodur — Governor Hastings, informed in time, rescues an infinity of families from the oppressions of the actual Sadr — Fervent prayer of the Author's — The Daroga of the Audaulet, another Civil Judge, whose office is shockingly abused at this day — The Emperors and Rulers of Hindostan think it their duty to sit as Supreme Judges — Warning given to the Princes of Hindostan by the Author — Unsociableness and inaccessibleness of the English, another great defect of their Government — The Mohtesib, or Clerk of the Market — The Vacaa-naviss, and Sevana-naviss — The Emperor, by the means of the post, minutely informed every day of what happens in the remotest parts of the Empire — Two singular notes in the hand of the Emperor Aoreng-zib's — The Fodjdars, Military Commandants in some fortresses and some difficult countries — An infinity of persons in each province dependent immediately on the Emperor, and not on the respective Viceroys — Extents of duties expected from Fodjdars — Happy conditions of Indians under their native Princes, and latterly under Aaly-verdy-qhan — Third reason or cause, the Zemindars too loose, and too unrestrained, under the English Government — The Fodjdar's office, as it is excercised now, is become one of the main grievances of the natives — Fourth cause, this country having no apparent master, lies under all the disadvantages of a house untenanted — Men of confessed superior abilities eternally thwarted by majorities sent from home — Fifth cause, the subordinate rulers do not stay long enough in their employs — Benignity and tenderness of the Indian Emperors to the conquered — The natural insociableness of the English, as well as the inaccessibleness of their rulers, produces the first cause of the declension of these countries — The second is, the difference of language, manners, and way of life — The third is, the endless variations and mutations in posts of trust and importance — Slowness of proceedings in the Supreme Council, is the fourth — Differences in giving audience between the benignity and condescension of the ancient native rulers, and the superciliousness, and roughness of the present ones, is the fifth — The sixth is, the rapacity of the English, who engross all the trade of the country ;
26.1.2
very different in that from their native Princes, who left all those livelihoods to the subjects — Fifty thousand Cavalry, and ninety thousand Infantry kept up in only these three provinces — The seventh cause is, in the exorbitant powers left to Zemindars, a race deemed incorrigible in all ages — Eighth reason, the slowness of proceedings in the Council of Calcutta, and in the subordinate Councils — The ninth is, that wrong custom of giving employments and offices by seniority of rank — Tenth, partiality of the English to their own countrymen — Eleventh, establishment of the Supreme Court of Judicature of Calcutta — Twelfth, the English decide in their closets, what ought not to be decided only in public. Nothing is clearer in itself, or better understood by men of intelligence and penetration, than that the gradation of climates is such, that every tract of land has properties of its own, which have been denied to others. In other words, that in consequence of some hidden causes, in a certain tract of land, the diversity of the soil produces immancably a diversity in the genius of the inhabitants, and that this diversity is so self-evident, that the man of perspicuity needs no discourse or argument to be convinced of it ;
26.1.3
and indeed, were all soils and lands of one and the same nature, that astonishing difference in the colour of the inhabitants, and in the fruits, metals, waters, plants, and animals, so conspicuous everywhere, would not be constant and permanent in every tract of land. Amongst so many climes and so many lands, India looks the strangest country on the face of the earth. Whether we cast our eyes on the actions and practices of the inhabitants, or consider the institutions and maxims by which they are restrained and ruled, nothing in the world bears so evident marks of strangeness, and nothing under Heaven is so completely dissimilar from what we see in other countries. This is so far true, that unless the Sovereign turn his inclinations towards a management adapted to the climate and country, no steady Government can be expected ; nor is it possible that the ease and prosperity of the inhabitants, or the peace and tranquillity of the country should take place. Now as this climate, in consequence of its being under the influence of Saturn, is dominated by that planet, hence most of its inhabitants are feeble in action, and slow in comprehension ; and withal, prove so very feeble in the frame of their bodies, that they have been constantly subdued by foreign conquerors, and vanquished by foreign armies. But, however, so tenacious were at all times the vanquished of their own tenets and customs, that the victors soon found themselves under a necessity of assimilating with them ;
26.1.4
and so soon as these mighty conquerors had acquired a firm footing in these countries, and the violence and extortions inseparable from a state of warfare, slaughter, and confusion, came to be over, their very first thought was always to quiet the minds of the inhabitants, and to afford them relief, by always becoming their protectors in whatever concerned their lives, fortunes, honors, and families. They used to call up all the abilities of the land to their sides, would give them weight and consequence, and prepose Vezirs and Omrahs of the country to the management of their own affairs. In consequence of such a conduct, each individual, high or low, finding an easy access to the Princes, and to their Ministers, used to meet with opportunities of shewing what business he was particularly fit for; so that those Princes, who were naturally endowed with penetration, and had their minds exercised in the art of conjecture, soon found out the capacity and fitness of every one, and soon preposed him to a business adequate to his talents and abilities; whilst themselves, standing above them all as so many overseers, attended to the regulation of affairs, to the tranquillity and ease of the country and its inhabitants, and to the promoting of men of penetration and knowledge; which last never failed, after a proper trial of their abilities and virtuous dispositions, to be advanced to offices of trust and dignity.
26.1.5
Hence those Princes lived amongst their people, and amongst their nobles, as kind and condescending parents amongst their children; nor did they suffer the dust of sorrow to darken the heart of any of the creatures of God, by a show of tenderness to one part of the people, and of rudeness to the other. For they looked upon them all, whether conquerors or conquered, with an equal eye; so that for several ages together, down to the times of Shah-djehan, every thing in Hindostan was quietness, love, and harmony. It is only since the times of Aoreng-zib-Aalem-ghir, his son, a Prince extremely warlike and ambitious, that evils have crept upon the land. But yet these were light matters; for such were the abilities, prowess, and strictness of government under that reign, that the established rules and institutions did not suffer any considerable injury from the wickedness of the turbulent Grandees; nor did the people of God meet with much oppression in the civil wars, during which it never ceased to be protected and cherished. The main evil resulting from his time was this, that to make a diversion in the minds of the people, to the ill renown of ingratitude and hardness of heart, which he had acquired by killing his brothers, and keeping his father in prison, he had assembled the Ecclesiastics about his person, and had given them such unbounded sway, that the populace complimented him with the titles of the Faithful Emperor, ever victorious, and the constant Cherisher of Religion.
26.1.6
But those hypocrites no sooner saw themselves at the head of affairs, than their avarice and covetousness gave rise to such a train of evils, as shed even now their baleful influence on these countries, continuing to pour ruin and devastation on the posterity of the Faithful: a revolution which has been succinctly mentioned at the end of our first volume, where our narrative gives the history of the latter Emperors of Hindostan. Matters grew worse in the reign of Feroh-syur, who was a nothing without brains. In his time Ratan-chund, Divan to Seyd-abdollah-qhan, then omnipotent under the name of Vezir, got so far possession of his master's mind, that he governed the whole Empire, and drove from the helm, or disgusted entirely those very Grandees and Ministers that had supported its honor and glory, in the time of Aoreng-zib. Then commenced the custom of leasing out all the branches of the Finance-office, and all the districts and lands of the Imperial demesnes. Then bribing men into compliance became of fashion, and of current use; and sluggish people, addicted to their ease, thinking it a good fortune to get at once so much assured money, made no difficulty to sacrifice the sweat of the people of God, and the toil of the helpless farmer, to the rapacity of lease-takers, tax-gatherers, and contractors. It is from those times that must be dated the sinking of rents, the decrease of husbandry, the distress of the people, and their detestation of their Rulers.
26.1.7
These evils went on increasing from day to day, till at last the office of Cazy or Judge, and that of Sadr or of Great Almoner, with many other Magistratures, came to be put up publicly to sale; so that the people skilled in law, and in matters of distributive justice, entirely disappeared from the land; nor was anything else thought of, but how to bring money to hand by any means whatever. This, and this alone, became the utmost ambition of all ranks, and especially of the hypocrites amongst the men that meddled with law. It was in such an enfeebled state of the Empire, that there arose a new sort of men, worse than the former, who, so far from setting up for patterns of piety and virtue, or pretending to shew the right way to others, squandered away the lives and properties of the poor with so much barefacedness, that other men, on beholding their conduct, became bolder and bolder, and practised the worst and ugliest actions, without fear or remorse; so far are they from thinking it a shame or an infamy to imitate and follow such examples. From those men sprung an infinity of evil-doers, who plague the Indian world, and grind the face of the wretched inhabitants. Those men having in process of time assembled in bodies, there arose an age of senseless, slothful Princes, and of Grandees, ignorant and meddling.
26.1.8
Then it was that the Sun of Justice and Equity, that had already been verging from the meridian, inclined downwards, degree by degree, and at last entirely set in the Occident of ignorance, imprudence, violence, and civil wars. It is in consequence of these excesses, that evils are arisen to such a height, as render a remedy impossible. It is in consequence of such wretched administrations that every part of Hindia has gone to ruin, and every one of its discouraged inhabitants have broken their hearts. Life itself is become disgustful to most. So that, on comparing the present times with the past, one is apt to think that the world is overspread with blindness, and that the earth is totally overwhelmed with an everlasting darkness.
26.2.1
Amidst the strange events which these revolutions have brought about, the introduction of European foreigners, in the heart of the land, is an important one. The wise men of Europe have been casting their eyes upon the conquest of India, and have contrived to achieve great part of that conquest, having already acquired an absolute dominion in several tracts. But such is the complete difference, and the total dissimilarity betwixt the manners of their own country, and the customs and usages of Hindostan, that all the endeavours of their chief Rulers, and all the resorts they have put in motion, have answered no purpose at all; nor has the face of regulation in the country, and of ease to the inhabitants, made its appearance as yet. But, over and above those considerations, it may be said with great truth, that such is the aversion which the English openly shew for the company of the natives, and such the disdain which they betray for them, that no love, and no coalition (two articles, which, by the bye, are the principle of all union and attachment, and the source of all regulation and settlement) can take root between the conquerors and the conquered; and as we see that the very reverse is actually taking place, so we may rest assured, that the distresses of the people, and the depopulation and desertion of the land, will go hand in hand, until they are come to their height, and the desolation is become complete and general.
26.2.2
Such a state of things may be deduced from several causes, which I hope to be able gradually to unfold. And the first is, that these new Rulers are quite alien to this country, both in customs and manners; and quite strangers to the methods of raising tribute, as well as to the maxims of estimating the revenues, or of comprehending the ways of tax-gathering; because in their country a Landlord or Zemindar paying Royal rent from year to year to the public treasury, is a being that has no existence. Taxes and imposts upon husbandry and land, Soobadaries, Foadjdaries, Qhalissas, and Djaghirs are not customary in that country. As much as I can trust to the information I have obtained from intelligent persons amongst them, it appears that they take something, by way of duty, from coaches, and from windows of houses, from plate and other vessels of gold and silver, and from merchandise; and that they differ widely from the customs of this Country, in the mode of giving salaries to the servants of Government, and to those that are at the head of affairs; as well as in punishing misdemeanours and trespasses. Insomuch that there are some trespasses that are finable in this country, and are not there; some more that are reputed slight here, and are accounted very high there, and some that are the very reverse. On the other hand, there are some other matters that are unnoticed here, and passed by, and are not so there;
26.2.3
some practices, which are become there of custom and obligation, and which here have never been heard of, or seen; as for instance, counting the inhabitants of every town and city, and examining how much they may have earned, and how much spent; how many are dead, and how many are their children, and how many their old men. In one word, it may be said in general, and indeed in almost every institution and custom, that there is a wide difference betwixt the two nations and Governments; and that it is of such a nature as cannot be remedied at all. Nor does it seem possible to bring the people of this country into such customs and usages; whereas the English being accustomed to them in their own country, want to introduce them here likewise, and think such an introduction easy, and of small moment. The second cause is, that what little these foreigners have gleaned of the institutions of this country, and which they have examined and committed to their registers, proves to be no more than what they have learned from their own servants. Hence they know nothing of either the reason or intent of them, but by the absurd report of their own servants, who being all beardless and unexperienced, have no view but that of their own benefit, and think only of pleasing their English masters. Those men never fail to shew a deal of revenue matter in every institution and custom;
26.2.4
and they are so firm in that opinion, that one would be inclined to believe, that the setting up this and that institution was for no other view, but that of scraping together a few pence; not that it could have any other intent, but that of hooking in some more; and in reality there is no other for men of such sordid dispositions. Nor is this opinion a novel one; it is of some standing, and has commenced so early as the times of Feroh-syur. No wonder then if these foreigners, that are lately come into this country, and know nothing in any such matters, should take for truth, and for useful advice, such crude explanations as are afforded by those that approach their persons, and should act according to what information they receive. Nevertheless, such is their natural genius, and such their innate penetration, that of their own accord they have set aside and abolished some institutions, which they thought oppressive; and here in an instance of this: The first Mussulmen Sovereigns disapproved of public women, and of their being of general use, especially on the eve of a Friday, which is a day particularly holy; nor would they suffer any one to defile himself with the crime of fornication; and therefore they denounced punition, and even a capital one, against any such as indulged in keeping in their houses slave-girls or concubines, without having them consecrated by the forms of law, and the rites of religion ;
26.2.5
and for these reasons they discerned a variety of pains, which to sinners appeared as hard as death itself, or any other extreme misfortune. It was on that account they had appointed a Daroga, whose business was to be informed of any such women as had rendered themselves public, and had made profession of prostitution ; and this officer's business was to take from them a heavy fine every day, and, if found trespassing against the eve of Friday, a heavier one. The drum and hautboy players were also put under this officer's inspection, that they might not go to play anywhere without his knowledge and leave. He had also the authority of determining finally such differents as arose in that tribe amongst themselves, and a power to repress their excesses, and punish their misdemeanours. In this there was another intent and view ; namely, that in feasts and weddings, every one should send for as much music only as his means could afford, without casting, in his entertainment, an eye of jealousy upon the Nobles and his betters ; and without launching out into expenses of prodigality, or pretending to equal, still less, to surpass his superiors. But, as we have already remarked, people of sordid dispositions did not fail, this longwhile, to pervert this institution into a catch-penny, and an item of tax-gathering ; and, shutting their eyes upon the original intent of it, they have observed no other end in it, than the wretched one of scraping up a little money by such a pretence ;
26.2.6
so that even this pitiful article has been converted into an item of the tax-gathering business. This is so far true, that the English themselves conceiving it to be a shameful finesse, that drew after it the worst consequences, have forbidden that tax in their dominions, and totally abolished it. And so it is with every one institution besides. And indeed, if those strangers, who have naturally much penetration and much impartiality, were made acquainted with the infamous practices now in vogue, but concealed under the bark of institution and custom, it is highly probable that they would endeavour to correct them, as so many defects in administration. It is therefore to assist their efforts in that view, that I shall assume the task of explaining the reason and intent of some of those institutions and customs of Hindostan ; and I am in full hopes that my notions shall awaken the minds of men of sense upon subjects so misunderstood. The Cazy's or Judge's office, for instance, was to put in force the ordinances of the law, without partiality or pity, in every matter, and against any person whose case should require his animadversion; and as he had a salary from the treasury, and such a Djaghir besides from the Emperor's liberality as afforded amply to all his wants, he did not dare to take any fee or any bribe from any one;
26.2.7
and if peradventure any one was found capable of any such infamy, he became from that moment, an object of the Imperial resentment, was adjudged guilty of having dishonoured the law and the Mussulman religion, and became henceforward an object of taunt and reproach from every rank of men. Insomuch that finding himself pointed out with the finger, he pined away with shame and remorse, was for ever excluded from any office, and remained infamous and cursed in this world and the other. But now since from a length of time, it is become customary to put up everything to sale, the office of Cazy is leased out, and under-leased; and a practice which never was heard of in any nation, in any religion, or in any sect whatever, is become a matter of course; so that we see every day faithless Cazies, who, ignorant even of the principles of Musulmanism, and worse in their lives than so many Renegadoes and so many Atheists, take leases of what they call the Cazy's rights, and under-lease them openly to others, although these rights are no more than so many new inventions to torment the Mussulmen of this land, and to extort money from them, under a variety of pretences. No wonder then, if it is come to pass, that by the repeated efforts, and the serious approbation of those faithless wretches, those new-fangled practices have taken such deep root, as to become the current creed of those under-judges; insomuch, that to reclaim them from those practices, is become an absolute impossibility.
26.2.8
One would say that the holy sentence. Shew me, O Lord! those that have made me go astray, that I may trample them under my feet, has been revealed on purpose for them.
26.3.1
Here is, for instance, one of the inventions set up by those calumniators of the law. Whenever any Mussulman of the poorer sort comes to die, these poor people, who never had any other instructors than those faithless tutors, enemies to all law, never fail to think that until the Cazy's substitute is come, and has received the fee designed by his principal, the deceased's spirit does not quit the house ; and as sometimes a poor fellow cannot afford the fee, he from that moment is deemed so impure and defiled, himself, his family and dependants, and all, that his very neighbours and acquaintances shun his company, avoid drinking and eating with him, and carry matters so far as to refuse him both fire and water; nor is such an interdict withdrawn until the fee is discharged. So that the deluded man, in despair, either betakes himself to the highway in order to raise the necessary money (and thus acquires a relish for the trade of highwayman), or sells away his ground and furniture, and becomes a vagrant ; or at least, he finds means to borrow, and immediately runs in debt ; in all which cases, he becomes either useless or pernicious to society ; and all that to get rid of the entailed curse upon himself and family.
26.3.2
It is the same with respect to boys that need circumcision, and to the girls that are marriageable, as being both come to the age of puberty. If they chance to be unable to pay the Cazy's fees, they remain bound for years together, and are debarred, the former, from the rites of circumcision, and the latter, from the comforts of marriage. This superstition and abuse goes so far; that if they continue unable to pay the fees, especially those due to the Cazy, they are sure to consume their lives in privation and sorrow ; for it is not possible for them to get rid of the interdict, otherwise than by paying. Hence it is, that so many young persons, of both sexes, being debarred the benefit of either of those rites, turn loose and become dissolute. Those then who after approving of such interdicts and such vexations, still pretend to be Mussulmen, will never make any difficulty, on receiving a sum of money, as Cazy's fees, to turn right into wrong, and injustice into justice ; and what is still more afflicting, they have such a collection of oppressive practices, and they are put in force so barefacedly, that it would be tedious and painful to mention them at length. However, we shall touch upon some of them, although even with so light a hand.
26.3.3
The Sadr-el-soodoor, or Sadr of Sadrs, and the other Sadrs of every Soobah, and every Sercar, were established for trying the capacity of the Cazies, and for ascertaining the circumstances of people possessed of Amides and Azmas, and other lands set apart for pious uses, but especially for watching over the capacities and morals of Cazies, lest by assuming the appearance of learning and knowledge, men ignorant of the principles and rites of Mussulmanism, should find ways to introduce themselves into those offices by dint of artifice and finesse; and thus, from their ignorance of law, religion, faith, and truth, prepare themselves a punition in the other world, and in this. Their office was likewise to take back and to resume such lands, which being originally consecrated to pious uses, should come to fall into the hands of other than such needy and worthy persons, for which they were originally set apart. He was also to protect those persons to whom they had been given in charity, and to prevent or hinder their being dispossessed in their own persons or that of their heirs, either by threats, or by artifice. His business was also to prevent their usurping upon each other, or their making encroachments upon the Crown-lands, or upon such spots as belonged to the Qhalissas, or Exchequer office. These were some of the duties expected from the Sadrs. But now the business of the office of Sadr is become a scene of oppression and violence;
26.3.4
and in the hands of that Atheist, Zehor-ollah-beg, it has devoured the substance of thousands of necessitous, inoffensive people; and all this, without his ever minding the consequences, without fear, and without remorse. That man is now dead and gone, and he has carried away upon his shoulders the whole load of the lamentations and groans of an infinity of oppressed, undertrodden people. Thanks be to God! that the words of the Scripture, The Sun is in the middle of the day, have been verified literally in the Governor's person, who no sooner heard of the complaints of the holders of charity-lands, and of the oppressions committed under the veil and pretence of Sadrship, than he shewed his detestation of those shameful and sordid actions, and discarded those accursed ones that took upon themselves such a sacred name, and dishonoured the function. At the same time, he confirmed to that office such small fees as were allowed to it, time out of mind, by Emperors, lovers of equity and religion; but he entirely rejected, and utterly abolished the augmentation which this stone-hearted wretch had set up in addition to the perquisites of that office, and which he wanted to carry still higher, as if not yet satisfied with all the havoc he had been doing by raising them from one thousand eight hundred rupees to thirty-five thousand a year.
26.3.5
May the Almighty Bestower of Graces and Favors reward the Governor for his having hastened to the assistance of so many afflicted families, and may He put it in his heart, and that of the other heads of administration, to set apart two hours, or even one hour, in every week, for the purpose of taking notice of the many customs and institutions perverted at present; and of listening to the groans and sobs of so many thousands of oppressed ones, who know how to suffer, but cannot speak! Let them consecrate two hours, or even one hour in the week, to so meritorious a purpose. Let them enjoy the luxury of becoming the reversers of every violence and oppression; and let them regale on the dainty of affording relief to those multitudes of the people of God, who groan under a variety of oppressions and exactions, and have no other advocate, and no other comforter, but God Almighty. Let those unfortunate souls find at last in their Rulers a relief from their numberless misfortunes. I have called upon You, O Lord, that are the Most Merciful of the merciful! May my request be granted! Amen. The office of Daroga of the Adalet, that is, of Auditor of the Court of Justice, was established for the purpose of affording instant relief to such poor, defenceless, weak people, as could not at all times, and for every subject, resort to the Ministers, and to the Emperors. He was provided with a salary, and a Djaghir suitable to his station;
26.3.6
and his business was to sit in his tribunal from day-break to three in the afternoon, and to lend an attentive, patient ear to the voice of the oppressed ones, be they whoever they might. If the defendant proved to be a man of consequence, and one whose dignity did not admit of his being sent for, his Attorney was ordered to stand up in his stead, or even himself obliged to attend personally, if the gravity of the case did require it; and the matter was examined with patience, and with an equal look. If it proved to be a slight one, it was made up with the consent of both parties; else, if it proved of moment, then after having carefully ascertained it by witnesses on oath, and by other lawful means, the whole was made up into a Sooret-hal or judicial narrative, and together with the witnesses, and with the plaintiff and defendant, it was presented by the Daroga and his officers to the Emperor and the Minister, who used to sit twice a week on purpose to hear such matters; otherwise, it was presented to the Lieutenant-Governor, or the Lieutenant of the Fodjdar of the town and district, where the differend had happened; and the Emperor and the Minister having examined the case, according to their wisdom, gave their decree as they saw fit and equitable. But if the matter was not thoroughly investigated and determined at that one sitting, they referred it to a second;
26.3.7
and after such examination as might stand the look of the Imperial eye, they determined according to the rules of truth and justice. Such was the method used in former times. But now the painful task of rendering justice being turned into a powerful engine for making a fortune, the office of Daroga, which so many persons used to decline, is become an object of ambition and strife; and men give presents and make interest to obtain it, whilst Government itself bestows it on them, as an object of favour and predilection. Of late the salaries of the Daroga, and of his officers and dependants, are paid out of the fines and monies arising from it; so that the incumbent, with his dependants, being in the centre of his wishes, finds means in a little time to amass immense sums; nor is there any one to enquire after the rate of the perquisites they are drawing from that office. Heretofore few men of piety and knowledge could be found that would dare to take upon themselves such an office, which consisting in decisions about property, exposed their consciences to be answerable to God for errors and misconceptions; nor could the Prince and his Ministers, after an exact inquiry about people of good morals, and sufficient knowledge and fear of God, prevail upon them, but by dint of intreaties, to accept such offices. They bestowed more of their attention upon this part of administration than upon any other;
26.3.8
nor did they suffer that injustice should become justice by prescription, or that any one should oppress another, at his will. They took care to appoint proper persons in every branch of such an office, and had rendered extortion and bribery so odious, that to call one a bribe-taker was resented much more, than if it had been the most opprobrious word. It was in consequence of such regulations and attentions that such men of virtuous principles were found out, as reckoned bribery amongst the highest reproaches, and thought it little short of infidelity, and apostacy; whereas venality and bribery, as well as the art of bringing money by any whatever means, are now reckoned amongst the greatest and most laudable qualifications of the knowing ones of these our times; there being rulers and under-rulers, who seek out men of such stamps, and think them the only ones capable of business. Hear, ye men of penetration! and benefit by the example. It was so very easy for poor men to arrive at the very feet of the Emperor's, and to obtain redress, that when, notwithstanding all these precautions, and all these attentions, some oppression chanced to take place, we have instances of oppressed ones, who would sometimes come from two or three months' journey, and obtain audience, and expose their complaint; and be they the poorest of men, they were sure of being righted against the most powerful adversary.
26.3.9
Now that it is exceedingly difficult even to men of the most illustrious descent to approach the Governor and the men in office; now that the English seldom visit or see any of us, the distressed inhabitants of this country; to obtain justice is become a very difficult business, a very operose article; or if any one of us, by the strength of his introductor, or the weight of some forcible reason, chances to be admitted for once or twice, it avails little, as the Gentlemen, in consequence of their being engrossed by a variety of public and private affairs of importance amongst themselves, have no attention to spare for the concerns of the people of this land; and as their Mootusuddies or officers and dependants, are always men of such a stamp, that being at all times afraid of some discovery about the lining of their coats, they cannot bear that any one of the oppressed ones should come near their masters. From thence we can easily conclude what is likely to be the fate of the unfortunate people of this land, and how their sufferings are likely to end. Possibly is it, their peculiar fate, that after having been subjected by Providence to the yoke of these strangers, they are still destined to find them such inattentive rulers, as do not think it worth their while to mind the welfare of those prostrated at their feet, and such supine masters, as do make nothing of leaving them at the disposal of their own servants and substitutes;
26.3.10
although, however, nothing should be so important to a Sovereign, as the care of the subject, and he ought never to lose sight of the Indian adage,—
26.4.1
"Do not refer his complaint to your Divan, "Since his complaint is probably against that very Divan." Amidst such scenes of oppression on one side, and inattention on the other, we ought to praise God, that at the end of the year 1195, the office of Daroga of the Court of Justice, together with the Fodjdary, was taken from the hands of the Indians, and transferred to the English Gentlemen immediately; by which revolution the oppressions and sufferings of the people of this land have been upon the whole somewhat alleviated. But as their officers and dependants are a set of people always prone to offer injustice; and these are entrusted with all the details, as well as Deputyships, whilst they make it a point to uphold the corruption and indolence of their masters; it happens that they become in fact the centre and hinge of all decisions; and all matters come to pass through their hands unavoidably, as it appears undeniably that such of their masters, as are preposed to these offices, will not, or cannot, attend personally to their duties. So that there is still left in the sneaker much of the late broth. "O God, come to the assistance of your afflicted people, and set open some door through which they may escape from "oppression!" But let us return to our narrative about the several offices set up formerly by our Sovereigns.
26.4.2
The Muhtasib (or Clerk of the Market) was established for the purpose of inspecting weights and scales, exposing to view the false bottoms and artifices of Corn-meters and Scale-men, and for fixing the price of grain and other similar commodities. He had a great salary, and some fees; but the latter were rather honorary; and the intent was to render him alert in putting a stop to all altercations and disputes between buyer and seller, by disabling the latter from over-reaching the other. The punition and coercion of the disorderly and insolent was also of his resort. It was his business in particular to take care that no drunken men, or any other people, out of their senses, should walk loose throughout the markets; that no injury or insolence should be offered to any one, by threat, action, or infamous words; and that modest women, obliged sometimes to cross a street or a market, should not be exposed to any insult or indecency, from the voice, hand, or sound of the profligate and thoughtless. But now, every one does as he pleases. The Muhtasibs take a great deal more perquisites than were heretofore their due; and in one and the same city the prices of grain vary in the same market, at the distance of three or four shops, nay of three or four yards; and the differences, varieties, and rogueries in weights and scales are risen to such a height, as not to be conceivable.
26.4.3
Moreover, not only all the markets and thoroughfares are thronged with disorderly people, and disorderly houses, but every street and every corner is infected with drinking-shops and tippling-houses, with here and there groups of drunken servants, butlers, harcarras, qhalassies, and sipahis, but especially of servants belonging to the English, a set of disorderly people, who, availing themselves of the respect paid to the men in power to whom they belong, and of the influence they acquire by their being linked together, make nothing of lying in wait, sometimes half naked and half drunk, and quarrelling without an antagonist; nor do they make any difficulty of doing and saying whatever they please, and to whom they please; So that Gentlemen accustomed to decency and respect, are at a loss, how to go from their homes, upon urgent business, through a market, or along a street, and how to come back again, without being entangled within some mischance or other, in consequence of the words or actions of those insolent people; nor is it uncommon to see them recommend themselves to God Almighty's safeguard on their going out, and to wish they may come back without being forced into some mischance. The Vacaa-nuviss, or Remembrancer, or Gazetteer, and the Sevana-nuviss, or Historiographer, and the Harcara, or Spy, were appointed for writing down the events that might happen in the respective provinces, territories, and districts of their residence.
26.4.4
Their duty was to inhabit such cities and towns as were the seats of command and Government, to the end that they might have it in their power to write down at day-break such events as should have happened the whole day and night before, and to send the paper to the Emperor. There were posts established, that carried the dispatches, with all speed, and in all weathers, to Court, where a Daroga or Inspector examined the same; after which he reduced to a concise exposition the substance of such as deserved the Imperial notice, presenting at the same time, the whole detail as forwarded by the provincial intelligencers. Nevertheless whatever amongst those papers was addressed personally to the Emperor, was sacred, and could not be set open by any other hand than his own. It was perused by the Monarch himself, who alone could break the seal, and he alone ordered what he thought proper about the contents. By these means the Emperor was informed of every private man's affairs. He knew what one had done to his neighbours at four hundred leagues from Court, and what the latter had done to others; and what such an one wanted from such another, and what this other pretended from his antagonist; he knew all that, and gave directions accordingly. Nor was it uncommon for him to be informed by such a channel of the requests and wishes of the concerned ones;
26.4.5
nor at all extraordinary to see directions arrive at the cities of their residence long before their private petitions could have reached the Court. So that the petitioners often had gained their cause in the middle of a distant province, sometime before they had agreed upon the wording of their petitions. But all this correspondence was for the Emperor's personal inspection only; for if at anytime it came to appear, that the secret Gazetteer, or the Remembrancer, of any other public officer, had himself found means to acquire the least interest with the Imperial Princes, or with the Grandees of the Court, or with the men in eminent station, or was in any connections with them; such a man was forthwith dismissed, and another appointed in his stead; and to this purpose there are yet extant notes written by the Emperor Aoreng-zib's hand, to his own Vezir, Assed-qhan; and here is a copy of one: