NANA SAHIB.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 108, 2 November 1858, Page 3

NANA SAHIB.

As we have no. doubt that many of our readers would be glad to'be acquainted with the parentage and other antecedents of the man who bears this blood-stained name, we'propose, in the present article,* to give a brief sketch of him. Nana Sahib Rajah of Bithoor—whose correct name is Sree Mount Dhoondoo Punt—is the eldest son, by adoption, of the late Badjee Rao, ex Peishwa of the Mahrattas.

For many years previous to his death, Badjee Rao had been a dethroned pensioner of the East India Company. When in the fulness of his power, he had, as a native prince, assisted the East India Company in their war against Tippoo Saib,the tiger of Seringapatam; and as a reward for his doing so, the Company, after years of strife \vith_ him—after negotiation's, and exactions, and treaties, and violations of these treaties .on their part—contrived, in 1827, to get hold of his dominions. After numerous and fierce conflicts, Badjee Rao, at the head of 8000 men, and with an advantageous post, was prepared to do battle for the sovereignty of the Deccan; when Briga-dier-general Sir John Malcolm, who commanded the British Army, sent a flag of truce to him, with proposals for a surrender. N • The proposals made on the part of Sir John Malcolm were, that Badjee Rao, the Peishwa of the Mahrattas, should renounce his sovereignty altogether ; that he should come, within twenty-four hours, with his family and a limited number of his adherents and attendants, into the British camp that they should there be received\vith honor and respect; that lie should be located in the holy city of Benares, or in some other sacred place of Hindostan ; that he should have a liberal pension from the . East India Company for himself and . his family; that his old and attached adherents should

bo-rp*6fiJe4 for; and that the pension to be settled tipoti" himself1 and his family should not be less than eight lacs of rupees—that is, £80,000 per annum. After long and anxious deliberation with his prime minister and other great officers of state, the Peishwa accepted these proposals—went with his family and adherents into the British camp—and Bithoor was afterwards assigned as his residence. The East India Company, with their usual grasping and illiberal spirit of covetousness, were displeased with Sir John Malcolm for his granting these terms. But they, and the Governor-General, Lord Hardinge, could not recede from them; and they took care to limit the stipulated allowance to the smallest sum mentioned in the treaty—namely, eight lacs'of rupees, or £80,000 per annum. We have stated that the pension was to be conferred upon Badjee Rao ana his family. Now, before we proceed further, we must mention, that by the Hindoo Shastere, or scriptures, there is a fearful doom awarded against those who die childless ; that doom is, the being consigned, after death, to 'a place called Put, a place of horror, to which the manes of the childless are supposed to go, there to be tormented with hunger and thirst, for want of these oblations of food and libations of water, at prescribed periods, which it is the pious, and indeed indispensable duty of a Hying son to offer.' j Such are the principles of the Hindoo religion with regard to the want of natural male issue. I Now, the same principles, in order to remedy the defect, permit the system of adoption where natural issue fails. It was in accordance with this that Badjee Rao, in his old age, finding himself naturally childless as to male issue, by his will declared Nana Sahib to be his eldest son, heir, and representative. . In his day, Badjee Roa, as chief of the powerful Mahratta nation, had been a great sovereign. He survived his downfall—exercising civil and criminal jurisdiction, ou a limited scale, at Bithoor— thirty-five years. On the 18th of January, 1851, he died.** • ; -■>- ■■■' '■:•■•-;•„.,■-■:...,■. ■•• , s ,-• ': On. the 24th of .June, 1851, Nana Sahib for'waided a memorial to the lieutenant governor of the North-west Provinces of India on the subject. In reply, he was told that the pension could not be continued, but that a certain tract of land would be his for life. The commissioner of Bithoor, a public officer of high rank and standing, and who knew the circumstances and claims of the ex-Pe- | ishwa's family, forwarded an urgent appeal on their ! behalf: but, in a letter from the secretary of the Governor-General, of date September the 24th, 11851, he received a severe reprimand for so doing. His recommendation was stigmatised as " uncalled for and unwarrantable." After some further efforts in India, Nana bahib addressed the Court of Directors, at Leadenhallstreet, in England. His appeal to them was dated the 29th of December, 1852. la the eyes of the East India Company, the appeals of native princes of India do not seem to have been matters of much consequence. The Company appear to have considered that-it added to their dignity to have the advocates of such princes waiting in their anterooms. Somewhere about December, 1853, the Company sent back Nana Sahib's memorial to the Government in India, and the result was, that nothing was done. It would appear that Nana Sahib, with smooth and gentlemanly manners, unites superior abilities; and that to these abilities he adds passions of the strongest and most vindictive nature. His spirit is high, and his vehemence of the most determined character. At the period of the breaking out of the mutiny, which has rendered his name infamous, he seems to have become a monomaniac on the subject of what he believed to be his wrongs. - In the preceding sketch, subject, of course," to correction, we have endeavored to state facts, not with a view to advocating any cause, but simply for the purpose of communicating to our readers information as to some of the numerous causes which have led to the dreadful events which have .recently occurred in the East. ' [We liave been informed that an Oriental named Azimullah was in London in 1855, for the purpose of making a last appeal in behalf of his employer, Nana Sahib. He lodged in a respectable private hotel in George-street, Hanover-square, Where a friend of ours, living in the same house, formed his* acquaintance, was entertained by him in gentlemanlike style at dinner, and found him a wellbred agreeable ;person, of good intelligence about English matters. Our friend, on lately revisiting the house, learned from its proprietor that the polite Azimullah, before "departing from England, shewed .symptoms of a moody and soured feeling, and let fall several hints to the effect that England would yet regret the manner in which it had used his master. This same Azimullah has since appeared in the dismal transactions connected with the destruction of the Cawnpore garrison.:—Ed.]— Chambers' Journal. ■,

A Glorious Episode in the Indian War.— About three miles above Phillonr fort there is a ghat or ferry, formed by the projection of a neck of land into the inver, while the opposite bank also curves outwardly, and through this contracted channel, not above one quarter of a mile wide, the stream, especially at this season, .when greatly swollen by the melted snow, pours down in considerable force. Across this channel the mutineers, having contrived to seize three small boats, and, during the day, passed over about sixteen hundred of their number, four hundred still remaining on the right bank, some of whom were in the act of. crossing when the Seihks began the attack. The main body, as they crossed over, began to concentrate on the curve of the bank, which, being undulating and covered with low brushwood, afforded a good and safe bivouacking ground. Directly' the Seikhs opened fire, the rebels spread out, right and left, in the form of a crescent. Lieutenant Williams at once threw out his men, who were not above one hundred strong, into skirmishing order, to prevent being outflanked. The imperfect light greatty favored the Seikhs, for they could see the masses of the rebels, and directed their fire with tolerable accuracy and effect, while the return volleys did but little execution upon their own thin scattered line. Nobly was that solitary nine-pounder worked. Atone moment a volley from the right shewed the rebels in force on that quarter; the gun was instantly pointed there, and a charge poured into them. The next moment a volley would come in from the opposite side, when round swung the gun as quick as thought, repaying them with interest. This was Mr. "Rickett's special charge; aided by the native officer and two or three gunnersjhe worked away incessantly—-trow loading, now springing, now swinging it round; Lieutenant Williams, too, ever and anon giving a helping hand there; but Kis duty lay more in moving about, and regulating his own gallant Seikhs. For nearly two hours did they two, with a single gun, and not above one hundred Seikhs, hold their ground against sixteen hundred rebels, and keep them at bay' in that curve' of the river's bank, hoping and hoping on that the pursuing force, attracted by their firing, would soon be on the rear. But no signs of succour came. At' length the ammunition began to fail; the fire of the gun slackened,, that of the musketry became weaker; the men, too, were fagged; the long march of the night before, and the fatigues of the afternoon, began "to Jell on them. Suddenly, about midnight, the'moon burst out from behind a cloud, disclosing their position and the weakness of their numbers. The rebels saw their opportunity; the bugle sounded the "close -up;" drawing in on every side, they poured in a murderous volley, to which the gallant Seikhs could reply but feebly.At this moment Lieutenant Williams, waving his sword to cheer on his little band to make one effort more, he received a wound under the right armpit. A Seikh caught him as he fell; Mr. Rickett instantly sprang to his side, and they carried him off to the rear, and placing him on a camel, sent him in to Loodiana. The struggle was now over; with their officer dangerously wounded, and their ammunition spent, it became hopeless to hold out longer; an orderly retreat was all that remained for them.— Blachwood's Magazine. ''"'.'■■' ■ .

- Camp Groupings.—Our camp, indeed, presents the most pjcturcsque groupings; in the world. At niglit when ; the chrapfirea, light up.the swarthy faces of the native followers, or the moonlight falls pn their motionless bodies, wrapped iii shroud-like

fold 9of white, each lying by the aide of his camel, his bullock, hi 9 elephant, or his master's tent, arid so thickly that one can scarcely step without rousing a slumbering. Hindoo —in the heat of the day, when the trees cast their dark shado-v? on the parched yellow plains, and afford a shifting1 shelter to the Syces, Bheesties, Kelassies, and all the various tribes dependent on the inarch of armies—at every hour, all around us, there are objects which possess that extraordinary combination of form and colour which has induced so many men to deceive themselves and others, and, to tell untruths about " the gorgeous East," —'that Orientalism which begins in Turkey in Europe and ceases with Burmahand China. What it is I cannot describe, but I feel and know it exists. Just before my tent at this moment there is a group which could not be met with in any part of the world beyond the regions I have indicated. Sukeram, the Syce, is superintending the shoeing of a horse. In order to do this he complicated himself with that animal's hind legs in a fantastic and traditional manner wonderful to behold. He has seated himself on his haunches as only an Oriental can, between the horse's legs, one of which he lias pulled over his shoulder so 83 to present the hoof to the farrier; while his disengaged arm is passed round the other leg of the animal, which "accepts the situation" as it has been handed down to him for thousands of years. Sukeram is a grave, handsome fellow, with a white turban on his head, one end of-which floats over his shoulders, and a white piece of cotton wrapped round his loins, leaving his brown body and^legs to shine in the blazing sun. He looks as intelligent as most Englishmen, but in reality he has no idea, or will not have one, of any earthly duty beyond the care of that horse whose tail he has j«st fastened to a strap passed round the fetlock. His wife—for he has a faithful attendant in all his marches—whose arms are covered with brass rings from wrist to elbow, and on whose ankles jingling bands of metal make pleasant music as she walks, is mining up his rice and curry in a bright brass , poi£ covered in one long fold "of-cotton, so .that only her arms and feet are visible, and; on -her hip'a small imp is perched, obstreperous for his meal, and see he gets it, so delicately and decently that our ladies at home might envy the process, for a fold of the robe is opened, the tawny body disappears inside and is covered with the robe, and only a pair of legs are left visible, which soon by their -easy modulations give tokens of the satisfaction^ ./the youthful proprietor with the treatment he i& receiving inside.— Russell in "The Times'' The Costume op the Arbiyin India.—How good Sir George Brown, for instance, would stand aghasfc-at the sight of these sun-burnt "bashibazouks,". who from heels to head and upwards set at defiance the sacred injunctions of her Majesty's Regulations! Except the Highlanders, not a-corps'that I have seen sport a morsel of pink or shew a fragment of English scarlet. The Highlanders wear, eccentric shades of grey linen over their bonnets—the kelt is discarded, or worn out in some.regiments, and flies, mosquitoes, and the sun are fast rendering it impossible in the others. Already many officers who can get trews have discarded the ponderous folds of woollen staff tucked into massive wads over the hips, and have provided some defence against the baking of their calves by day, and have sought to protect their persons against the assaults of innumerable entomological enemies l)y night. The Artillery have been furnished with excellent head-covers and some good frocks of light' stuff. Lord Cardigan, in his most sagacious moments, would never light oh the fact that those dark-faced bearded horsemen, clad in snowy white, with flagless lances glittering in the sun, are the war : hardened troopers of her Majesty's 9th Lancers, or that yonder grey tunicked cavaliers, with ill-defined head-dresses, belong to the Queen's Bays. The 7th Hussars, the Military Train, have vestiary idiosyncracies of their own, but there is some sort of uniformity among the men. .The infantry regiments for the most part are dressed in linen frocks, dyed carky'or grey slate color —slate blue trousers, and shalsoes, protected by puggerees, or linen covers, from the sun* The peculiarity of carky is, that the dyer seems to be unable to match it in any two piece 3, and that it exhibits endless variety of shade, varying with every washing, so that the effect is rather various and pleasing on the march or, on the parade ground. But the officers do not confine themselves to carky or' to anything else. It is really wonderful what fecundity of invention in dress there is, affer all, in the British mind, when his talents can be properly developed. To begin with the head-dress. The favorite wear is a helmet of varying shape, but of uniform ugliness. In a.moment of inspiration a Calcutta hatter conceived, after a close study of the antique models, the great idea of reviving for everyday use, the awe-inspiring head-piece of Pallas Athene, and that remarkably unbecoming affair—Minerva was above caring for appearances—became the prototype of the Indian tope in which the wisest and greatest of mankindlookssimplyridiciilousand ludicrous; Whatever it might be in polished steel and burnished metal, the helmet is a decided failure in felt, or .vwicker-work, or nith, as far as external effect is concerned. It is variously fabricated, with many varieties of Interior ducts and passages leading to escape holes from imaginary hot air in the front or top, and around it are twisted infinite colors and forms of turbans with fringed ends and laced fringes. When a peacock's feather, with the iris end displayed, is inserted in the hole in the top of the helmet, or is stuck in the puggery around it, the effect of the covering is, much enhanced, and this style is rather patronised by some of the staff. The coat may be of any cut or material, but shooting jackets hold their own in the highest posts, and a carky-colore'd jerkin, with a few inches of iron curb chain, sewed on the shoulders to resist sabre cuts, is a general favorite. The sword is of all descriptions, except the regulation, which is not much in vogue, and it is slung in many ways in many belts, of which the regulation again is rarely seen. There are native tulwars with English handles and guards, old cavalry sabres with new hilts, Damascus blades in leathernsheaths, and these are hung by broad shoulder belts at the hip, or depend from ii'on hooks fixed in broad buff waistbelts. The revolver—scarcely a li regulation" weapon for the army as yet—is universally worn, and I have seen more than one pistol in one of the cummerbunds or long sashes which some of our officers wear round the stomach in the oriental-fashion. As to the clothing of the nether man, nothing but a series of photographs could give the least notion of the numerous combinations which can be made out of the leg, leather, pantaloons, and smallclothes. Long stage bootsof buff-colored leather, for the manufacture j of.which Cawnpore is famous, pulled overkjiee" Sbreeches of leather or regimental, trousers^*iirfl. 1 common. . There are officers who'prefer Wearing, their Wellingtons outside" their pantaloons, thus' exhibiting tops of very bright colors, and the boot, and baggy trousers of the Zouave officer are not unknown. -

The Mysteries of Masonbvt.—VV hen the novice is introduced into the conclave of the freemasons, the Grand Master or his deputy looks very fierce at him and draws his sword^ which makes the novice look very melancholy, as he is. not aware of having had time as yet for any profaneuefs, and fancies therefore that romehody must have been slandering him. Then the Grand Master or his deputy cites him to the bar, saying, '• What's that you have in your pocket ?" To which the novice replie?, " A guinea." " Anything more ?" lt Another gu'mea." " Then," replies the official person, in a voice of thunder, " fork out." Of course to a man coming sword in hand, few persons refuse to do that. This forms the fust half of the mysteries; the second itself, which is by much the more interesting, consists entirely of brandy.— De Quincey. A lady entered her kitchen the other day, and found the oven swimming with grease. Oa asking the servant, a Welsh girl, the cause, the Cambrian maid answered with the greatest simplicity, "Look you, missus, the candle was fell into the water, and 1 put her in the oven to dry." Wit is brushwood-rJudgment 19 timber. The first makes the brightest '.flame, but tho Other gives the most lasting heat.