Kashmir Part 9

On Hira Singh's death the power fell into the hands of the brother of the infant Dhulip Singh's mother and her paramour, Lal Singh, a Brahmin. They increased the pay of the soldiers, and in order to keep them quiet turned them against Gulab Singh at Jammu. He was brought to Lah.o.r.e and had to pay a crore (ten millions) of rupees. They were then turned against Multan. Another son of Ranjit Singh raised a revolt, but was suppressed and murdered by the regnant maternal uncle of the infant Dhulip Singh. Then this uncle was himself murdered. The mother, with the aid of the minister Lal Singh, and of Tej Singh, the commander-in-chief of the army, a.s.sumed the government and, as it is thought, with the object of employing the army, which was a positive danger to the throne, ordered an advance upon British territory. In November 1845 the Sikh army of 60,000 men with 150 guns crossed the river Sutlej which was then our frontier, and by the 16th of December was encamped by Ferozepore fort held by only 10,000 British and British Indian troops. A b.l.o.o.d.y and indecisive battle was fought at Mudki, December 18, 1845. Another most hard-won battle--"the most severe and critical the British army had ever fought in India"--and in which the Governor-General, Lord Hardinge, himself took part, and lost five aides-de-camp killed, and four wounded, was fought at Ferozeshah on December 21. This just stemmed the tide of invasion, but at such a cost of men and ammunition, that the British could not follow up their success till January 28, 1846, when the decisive battle of Aliwal was fought, which utterly disheartened the Government at Lah.o.r.e. Lal Singh, the minister, was deposed for his incapacity, and Gulab Singh was invited from Jammu to negotiate with the Governor-General.

Here was the wonderful turn in the wheel of fortune, which, when his own brother and so many of the leading men of the Punjab had been murdered or debased, brought him alone and his descendants after him to a position of security.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LOOKING DOWN THE GURAIS VALLEY, FROM DUDHGAI VILLAGE]

Gulab Singh immediately made overtures to the British Government, but the Sikh army was not yet thoroughly defeated, and it was not till after the battle of Sobraon, on February 10th, that the way for negotiations was really clear. The British troops occupied Lah.o.r.e. The Sikh Government submitted, and the treaty of Lah.o.r.e was concluded on March 9th. By this, amongst other things, the Sikhs ceded to the British all the hill country between the rivers Beas and Indus, "including the provinces of Kashmir and Hazara"; and "in consideration of the services rendered by Raja Golab Singh, of Jummu, to the Lah.o.r.e State, towards procuring the restoration of the relations of amity between the Lah.o.r.e and British Governments," the British agreed to recognise "the independent sovereignty of Raja Golab Singh in such territories and districts in the hills as may be made over to the said Raja Golab Singh, by separate agreement between himself and the British Government, with the dependencies thereof, which may have been in the Raja's possession since the time of the late Maharaja Khurruk Singh"; further, the British Government, "in consideration of the good conduct of Raja Golab Singh," agreed "to recognise his independence in such territories, and to admit him to the privileges of a separate treaty with the British Government."

A week later, on 16th March 1846, was signed this separate treaty with Gulab Singh, by which the British Government "transferred and made over, for ever, in independent possession, to Maharaja Golab Singh and the heirs male of his body, all the hilly and mountainous country, with its dependencies, situated to the eastward of the river Indus and westward of the river Ravi, including Chamba and excluding Lahoul, being part of the territories ceded to the British Government by the Lah.o.r.e State." In consideration of this transfer Golab Singh was to pay the British Government 75 lakhs of rupees, and in token of the supremacy of the British Government, was "to present annually to the British Government one horse, twelve perfect shawl-goats of approved breed (six male and six female), and three pairs of Kashmir shawls."

He further engaged "to join with the whole of his military force the British troops when employed within the hills, or in the territories adjoining his possessions"; and on their part the British Government engaged to "give its aid to Maharaja Golab Singh in protecting his territories from external enemies."

Thus it was that Kashmir came under its present rulers; and surprise has often been expressed that when this lovely land had actually been ceded us, after a hard and strenuous campaign, we should ever have parted with it for the paltry sum of three-quarters of a million sterling. The reasons are to be found in a letter from Sir Henry Hardinge to the Queen, published in _The Letters of Queen Victoria_.

The Governor-General, writing from the neighbourhood of Lah.o.r.e on 18th of February 1846--that is nearly three weeks before the treaty of Lah.o.r.e was actually signed--says it appeared to him desirable "to weaken the Sikh State, which has proved itself too strong--and to show to all Asia that although the British Government has not deemed it expedient to annex this immense country of the Punjab, making the Indus the British boundary, it has punished the treachery and violence of the Sikh nation, and exhibited its powers in a manner which cannot be misunderstood." "For the same political and military reason," Sir Henry Hardinge continues, "the Governor-General hopes to be able before the negotiations are closed to make arrangements by which Cashmere may be added to the possessions of Golab Singh, declaring the Rajput Hill States with Cashmere independent of the Sikhs of the Plains." "There are difficulties in the way of this arrangement," he adds, "but considering the military power which the Sikh nation had exhibited of bringing into the field 80,000 men and 300 pieces of field artillery, it appears to the Governor-General most politic to diminish the means of this warlike people to repeat a similar aggression."

This was the reason we did not annex Kashmir. We had not yet annexed the Punjab. We did not finally conquer it till three years later, when the continued unruliness of the Sikhs and the murder of British officers had rendered a second campaign necessary. In 1846 the East India Company had no thoughts or inclinations whatever to extend their possessions. All they wished was to curb their powerful and aggressive neighbours, and they thought they would best do this, and at the same time reward a man who had shown his favourable disposition towards them, by depriving the Sikhs of the hilly country, and by handing it over to a ruler of a different race.

So Gulab Singh became nominal ruler of Kashmir. But he did not acquire actual possession of his new province without difficulty. The governor appointed under the Sikh Government showed no disposition to hand over the province, and with the aid of feudatories attacked Gulab Singh's troops. Gulab Singh had to apply to the British Government to aid him, and British troops were accordingly sent to Jammu to enable Gulab Singh to send his Jammu troops to Kashmir, and two British officers, one of whom was the famous Sir Henry Lawrence, accompanied Gulab Singh to Srinagar. Owing to his character for oppression and avarice he was not a popular ruler, and the people did not welcome him. But with the support of the British Government he was finally able to establish his rule over Kashmir by the end of 1846, and Sir Henry Lawrence returned to Lah.o.r.e.

The state of Kashmir when Gulab Singh took it over was deplorable. The Government took from two-thirds to three-quarters of the gross produce of the land--about three times as much as is now taken. The crops when cut by the cultivators were collected in stacks. One-half was taken as the regular Government share, and additional amounts were taken as perquisites of various kinds, leaving one-third or even only a quarter with the cultivators. Of this some was taken in kind and some in cash.

The whole system of a.s.sessment and collection was exceedingly complicated and workable only in the interests of the corrupt officials; and Government held a monopoly in the sale of grain. Gulab Singh during his lifetime did very little to ameliorate this state of things. He took things as he found them and troubled little to improve them. He died in 1857, and was succeeded by his son Ranbir Singh, who rendered valuable services to Government during the Mutiny, and received, in recognition, the right to adopt from collateral branches an heir to the succession on the failure of heirs-male of Gulab Singh on whom alone the country had been conferred by the British. Maharaja Ranbir Singh died in 1885.

During his reign there was a steady improvement, but it was very slow, and an account of the condition of Kashmir then reads curiously ill beside the account of the province now after nearly a quarter of a century of the present Maharaja's reign. The Maharaja Ranbir Singh himself was extremely popular both with his people and with Europeans--in this respect being a marked contrast to his father. He was manly, fond of sport, affectionate in his family, and simple and moral in his private life. And Mr. Drew has given a pleasant picture of how this chief, in the old-fashioned way so liked by the people and so conducive of good relations between rulers and subjects, used to sit daily in public Durbar in full view of his people, receiving and answering his people's pet.i.tions.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AKBAR'S BRIDGE, KARALLAYAR]

With the vastly more complicated system of administration of the present day it is practically impossible for a ruler of Kashmir to conduct his business on precisely these lines; but I have seen the same system working in Chitral, and quite realise the advantages it has for small states. If it does nothing else it teaches the people good manners, for they learn from observation of others how to comport themselves in high society. But these public Durbars are also an education of no small value. Here the people discuss men and events.

They learn character and hear outside news, and it is surprising to see how much more native intelligence, dignity, and character men brought up in these conditions have than the school-bred men of to-day.

Ranbir Singh was then a typical ruler of a type that is now almost gone. Unfortunately he had not the officials capable of the immense labour required to remove the terrible effects of many centuries of misgovernment, and especially of the harsh, cruel rules of the Afghans and Sikhs. His officials were accustomed to the old style of rule and knew no better. In the early 'sixties cultivation was decreasing; the people were wretchedly poor, and in any other country their state would have been almost one of starvation and famine; justice was such that those who could pay could at any time get out of jail, while the poor lived and died there almost without hope. There were few men of respectable, and none of wealthy appearance; and there were almost prohibitive duties levied on all merchandise imported or exported. By the early 'seventies some slight improvement had taken place. The labouring cla.s.ses as a general rule were well fed and well clothed, and fairly housed. Both men and women were accustomed to do hard and continuous labour, and it was obvious that they could not do this and look well unless they were well nourished. Their standard of living was not high, but they certainly had enough to eat. And this is not surprising, for a rupee would buy 80 to 100 lbs. of rice, or 12 lbs.

of meat, or 60 lbs. of milk. Fruit was so plentiful that mulberries, apples, and apricots near the villages were left to rot on the ground.

And fish near the rivers could be bought for almost nothing. Crime of all kinds was rare, chiefly because of the remembrance of the terrible punishments of Gulab Singh's time, and because of the system of fixing responsibility for undetected crime upon local officials. Drunkenness, too, was almost unknown. About half a lakh of rupees was spent upon education, and another half-lakh on repairing the "paths." A slight attempt was also made to a.s.sess the amount of land revenue at a fixed amount This much was to the good, but yet the country was still very far indeed from what it ought to have been. The means of communication were rough and rude in the extreme, so that men instead of animals had to be used as beasts of burden. Even the new a.s.sessment of the land revenue was three times as heavy as that of the amount demanded in British districts in the Punjab. And there was still much waste land which the people were unwilling to put under cultivation, because under the existing system of land revenue administration they could not be sure that they would ever receive the results of their labour.

A cultivator would only produce as much as would, after payment of his revenue, provide for the actual wants of himself and his family, because he knew by experience that any surplus would be absorbed by rapacious underling officials. In matters of trade there were, too, still the impediments of former days. Upon every branch of commerce there was a multiplicity and weight of exactions. No product was too insignificant, and no person too poor to contribute to the State. The manufacture or production of silk, saffron, paper, tobacco, wine, and salt were all State monopolies. The sale of grain was a State monopoly, and though the State sold grain at an extraordinarily cheap rate, the officials in charge did not always sell it to the people who most required it, or in the quant.i.ty they required. Favourite and influential persons would get as much as they wanted, but often to the public the stores would be closed for weeks together, and at other times the grain was sold to each family at a rate which was supposed to be proportionate to the number of persons in the family; but the judges of the said quant.i.ty were not the persons most concerned, viz.

the purchasers, but the local authorities. Private grain trade could not be openly conducted, and when the stocks in the country fell short of requirements they could not be replenished by private enterprise.

On the manufacture of shawls parallel restrictions were placed. The wool was taxed as it entered Kashmir; the manufacturer was taxed for every workman he employed, and at various stages of the process according to the value of the fabric; and, lastly, the merchant was taxed, before he could export the goods, the enormous duty of 85 per cent _ad valorem_. Butchers, bakers, carpenters, boatmen, and even prost.i.tutes were still taxed, and coolies who were engaged to carry loads for travellers had to give up half their earnings.

The whole country, in fact, was still in the grip of a grinding officialdom; and the officials were the remnants of a bygone, ignorant, and destructive age, when dynasties and inst.i.tutions and life itself were in daily danger, when nothing was fixed and lasting, when all was liable to change and at the risk of chance, and each man had to make what he could while he could; and when, in consequence, a man of honesty and public spirit had no more chance of surviving than a baby would have in a battle.

No wonder that in 1877, when--through excess of rain which destroyed the crops--famine came on the land, neither were the people prepared to meet the emergency, nor were the officials capable of mitigating its effects, and direful calamity was the consequence.

In the autumn of 1877 unusual rain fell, and owing to the system of collecting the revenue in kind and dilatoriness in collection, the crop was allowed to remain in the open on the ground, and then it rotted till half of it was lost. The wheat and barley harvest of the summer of 1878 was exceedingly poor. The fruit had also suffered from long continual wet and cold, and the autumn grains, such as maize and millet, were partly destroyed by intense heat and partly devoured by the starving peasants. The following year was also unfavourable, and it was not till 1880 that normal conditions returned.

These were the causes of the scarcity of food-supply; and when this calamity, which nowadays could be confidently met, fell upon the country, it was found that people had nothing in reserve to fall back on; that the administrative machine was incapable of meeting the excessive strain; that even the will to meet it was wanting; and that corruption and obstruction impeded all measures of relief, and even forbade the starving inhabitants migrating to parts where food could be had. In addition, the communications were so bad that the food, so plentiful in the neighbouring province, could be imported only with the greatest difficulty.

As a result two-thirds of the population died; a number of the chief valleys were entirely deserted; whole villages lay in ruins, as beams, doors, etc., had been extracted for sale; some suburbs of Srinagar were tenantless, and the city itself was half-destroyed; trade came almost to a standstill, and consequently employment was difficult to obtain.

The test of this great calamity showed bare the glaring defects of the system the present dynasty had taken over from their uncultured predecessors, and which in their thirty years' possession of the valley they had not been able to eradicate.

During the five years which remained of the late Maharaja's reign the first important steps were taken to remedy this terrible state of affairs; the a.s.sessment of the land revenue was revised, and the cart-road into the valley was commenced. But it has been during the twenty-three years of the present Maharaja's reign that the most real progress has been made. First and foremost the land revenue has been properly a.s.sessed; it has been fixed in cash for a definite number of years, and the share claimed by the State has been greatly reduced.

Then a first-rate cart-road up the Jhelum valley has been made. The heavy taxes on trade have been reduced. A well-trained set of officials have been introduced, and they have been well paid.

Increased, though not yet nearly sufficient attention has been paid to education. Surveys for a railroad have been made, and a great scheme for draining the valley, reclaiming waste land, and preventing floods has been commenced. As a result, and in spite of the State taking a smaller share of the cultivator's produce, the revenue has more than doubled. More land is being taken up. The population is steadily increasing. The darkest days are over, and the future is a.s.sured.

The history of the people has shown that there is latent in them much ability and taste, but that they have always prospered most when most subjected to the influences of the great world outside Kashmir. Those influences are now strong upon the country, and the future prosperity of the people will very largely depend upon how they meet and profit by them.

Needless to add, a weighty responsibility lies also upon the British Government that it should guide their destinies aright.

CHAPTER X

ADMINISTRATION

A more detailed account of the administration may now be given.

Kashmir Proper, that is, what is known as the valley of Kashmir, is a province of the Jammu and Kashmir State, which has a total area of about 80,000 square miles, and a population of 2,905,578, while the province, which includes for administrative purposes the valley of the Jhelum River from Baramula to Kohala, as well as the district of Gurais on the far side of the North Kashmir Range, has a population of 1,157,394.

Kashmir itself is administered by a Governor, and the whole State is ruled over by a Maharaja. It is one of what are known as the Native States of India,--States which are ruled by their own Chiefs, but feudatory to the British Government, whose interests are represented by a British Resident at the capital.

The present ruler, who succeeded his father in 1885, is Maharaja Sir Pratap Singh, G.C.S.I., a major-general in the British Army, and a Chief of strong religious tendencies, who is much respected in India and loved by his own people. He is advised by a chief minister, his very capable and business-like brother, Raja Sir Amar Singh, K.C.S.I., and by three subordinate ministers--one in charge of the foreign relations of the State, of the Public Works, the Forests, and several minor departments; another in charge of the Land Revenue administration; and the third in charge of the Home Department, including the Police, the Customs, Medical and other branches. The Judiciary is presided over by a Judge of the High Court.

All of these officials are natives of India, and, except one, belong to the British service, and have been trained in British provinces.

None are Kashmiris. They have been lent by the British Government to the Maharaja for a specified number of years, and draw salaries of from Rs. 1200 to Rs. 1500 a month, or 720 to 800 a year.

Under them, again, are the governors of Kashmir and of Jammu; and the wazir-i-wizarats of Ladak (including Baltistan) and Gilgit, of whom all except the latter are also Indian officials lent by the Government of India.

Besides these, in the departments of the State where special technical knowledge is required, European and American specialists are employed under the ministers. The finances of the State are controlled by an Accountant-General from the British service. The operations for a.s.sessing the land revenue are under a Settlement Commissioner, a member of the Indian Civil Service. The public works are under the charge of a retired engineer from the Public Works Department of the Government of India. The forests are controlled by a Conservator of Forests from the Indian Forest Department. And under the State Engineer is the Chief Engineer of the Electrical Department, a Royal Engineer Officer, who in his turn has under him a large staff of Englishmen, Americans, Canadians, engaged in carrying out the great schemes for converting water power into electric power, and by means of the latter draining the water-logged portions of the valley, reclaiming land, and preventing floods.

This, in brief outlines, is the administrative system in the State. At the head is an hereditary ruler. Immediately responsible to him are a group of Indian officials mostly born, educated, and trained in the adjoining British province of the Punjab. The local executive is likewise chiefly presided over by Government of India native officials; and in charge of technical departments are European and American specialists.

What is chiefly remarkable is the very small number of Kashmiris who are employed. Though the majority of the inhabitants are Mohamedans, very few Mohamedans are employed in high positions. Though the Kashmiris are very intelligent, extremely few have posts in the State service; and this anomaly, though remarkable, is paralleled in many other native States. They are most of them dependent on officials trained or at least educated in British provinces. The Maharaja of Kashmir realises, however, the necessity of educating and training his own subjects, and most of the smaller officials and many of the clerks in the offices are State subjects.

And these are the men with whom visitors to Kashmir come mostly in contact. Immediately under the Governor of Kashmir are officials known as tehsildars, in charge of tehsils or small districts, and under them again are naib-tehsildars in charge of groups of villages; and, finally, we come to the lumberdars, or head-men of the villages.

These officials with their attendants collect revenue, keep order, and administer justice in small cases. But for the administration of justice there is also in the Kashmir provinces a Chief Judge holding his court at Srinagar, and minor judges known as munsiffs.

The chief revenue is derived from the land, and is a.s.sessed according to a system which will presently be described. Out of a total revenue for the whole State of one hundred lakhs of rupees, the revenue from land amounts to over forty lakhs.

Customs is another princ.i.p.al source of revenue. The receipts for the Kashmir province for the last three years were--

Rs. 3,99,155 = 26,610 Rs. 4,84,235 = 32,282 Rs. 5,51,102 = 36,740