Chapter I. 1858. January. gain a clear view of the position, but he ascer- BOOK XVII. tained that they numbered certainly five hundred, and that they had at least one gun. Boisragon and his party then fell back leisurely on their camp, to wait till the movement of the rebels should be more pronounced. Khankal, His patience was not long tried. The following afternoon, about 2 o'clock, Boisragon received information that the rebels were crossing the river in force, and that a great number had established themselves to the south of Khankal, which they were about to enter. Leaving a small party to protect his camp and watch the ford, Boisragon marched with the rest of the detach- Marches to ment to Khankal, entered it from the north side, traversed the main street, and went out from the south gate, just in time to prevent the entrance of the rebels. Detaching his few mounted men (sixteen men 1st Panjáb cavalry) to cover his flanks, Boisragon, with his small force,* advanced to cut off the rebels from the town of Jowálápúr, in which he had reason to believe they had many sympathisers. Posting the guns between that town and a large building, he sent the Gúrkahs on the extreme right, under Lieutenant Boisragon, to attack their left flank, whilst the Sikhs, who were next the guns, should charge their front. The attack was irresistible. One of the rebel attacks, leaders fell by the hand of Lieutenant Boisragon; their rank and file were thrown back on the river, and sought refuge either in the stream or by Eight Europeans, thirty Gúrkahs, thirty Sikhs, and two guns. Chapter I. 1858. January. BOOK XVII. flight along its banks. In their flight they were followed by the cavalry and considerably cut up. Captain Boisragon ascertained that they numbered about a thousand and that they had two defeats them. guns. This little affair was the more important as it was the first decisive blow struck at the rebellion so long rampant in Rohilkhand. and com. pletely Terror of the nawáb. The disputes and his coad readjusted. between him jutors are Jones's force To return to Bijnor. The effect of Boisragon's victory was immediately felt in that district. No people traverse more quickly than the natives of India the space between exalted elation and bitter despondency. To conciliate the small landowners, the nawáb's nephew at once announced that all rent-free holdings resumed under British rule would be released; but this helped him but little, and the declension of the fortunes of the usurpers was followed by a renewal of their quarrels. Some bitter disputes terminated in a new agreement, in virtue of which the nawáb's monthly salary was reduced to eight thousand rupees; his eldest son was declared his heirapparent; his nephew was nominated as his representative; two other Muhammadans were promoted to be generals, and assignments of lands were made to provide for their salaries; a third was appointed to be commander-in-chief; stipends were set apart for all the members of the nawab's family, and an engagement was taken from the nephew that he would not aspire to the succession, or interfere in any way with the claims of the eldest son on his father's death. This tinsel fabric was shattered at the very khand. first push. Even whilst it had been building enters Rohil BRITISH RULE RESTORED IN BIJNOR. 417 Chapter I. 1858. April. there was being prepared at Rúrki a British force BOOK XVII. whose very appearance in Rohilkhand would be sufficient to shake it to its very foundations. On the 17th of April that force, accompanied by Mr. Shakespear and others crossed the Ganges near the head of the Ganges canal, and in five days. effectually cleared the Bijnor district in the manner described in the second volume of this history.* resumes his Services rento Jones's dered by him force. From the date of the crossing of the avenging Shakespear force into the Bijnor district, Mr. Shakespear duties. resumed his duties as the representative of the Government. His responsibilities were extremely onerous. He was the only officer of the column who had any acquaintance with the country, so that matters connected with the department of the Quartermaster-General were mainly dependent upon his opinion and advice, and, added to this, it devolved upon him to decide the measures which should be taken for the punishment of offenders and for the restoration of order. In a sketch such as this is, it is impossible to render full justice to all that Mr. Shakespear in a very brief period was able to accomplish. The principle upon which he acted was to mark in an effective manner the displeasure of the Government, whilst opening to all, except to actual murderers, a way of reconciliation and pardon. Thus -even before the fight at Naghína-to leave a lasting symbol of the sentiments entertained by He reorthe British Government regarding the nawáb, the gases the district. * Vol. ii. pages 513 to 519. III. 27 Chapter I. 1858. April. BOOK XVII. hall of audience at Najibábád was destroyed; the district was at the same time dominated by the occupation of the fort of Pattargarh in the vicinity. These acts accomplished, Mr. Shakespear fixed his headquarters at Najibábád, reestablished the collectorships and police posts in the districts, and endeavoured, by conciliatory measures, to induce the rebel Muhammadans, who had not been engaged in any distinct crime in connection with the rebellion, to return to their peaceful avocations. His measures were so far successful that his police were able, even at that early period, to enter the jungles and capture without opposition some relatives of the nawáb. When, after Naghína, he returned, escorted only by the loyal Hindús and accompanying the guns captured at that fight, to Bijnor, he ascertained that the population were returning to their normal avocations; that traffic was being reopened, and that the collection of rebels His tact and in the jungles was rapidly diminishing. Mr. conciliatory measures speedily re store order and confidence. Shakespear subsequently visited every part of his district, and by his firm, conciliatory, and judicious measures, speedily removed the very last remnant of discontent. As he, at the beginning of the disturbances, had clung to his district longer than any other officer in Rohilkhand, so on their subsidence he was able to bring back the normal routine earlier than was found practicable in the other districts of the same province. * The nawáb Mahmúd Khán was sentenced to be transported for life. His property was forfeited to the State. 1 Chapter I. 1858. May. The "energy and sound judgment" displayed BOOK XVII. by Mr. Shakespear were noticed by the cordial approval of Lord Canning. With other civil officers, likewise, he was thanked for his services as a volunteer with the Rúrki force; but there the public acknowledgments ended. In the circumstances in which he was placed, no one could have accomplished more than Mr. Shakespear. It must have been trying for him to notice, when the honours were apportioned, that others who had done less were substantially rewarded. Dehrá Dún is another typical district which Dehrá Dún. seems to deserve special mention. In the beginning of May 1857, this district consisted of a valley measuring about sixty miles by fifteen, partly forest and partly tea-plantations, a hill-tract of less extent, and a sanitarium and convalescent depôt, containing invalids, women, and children, to the number of about two thousand. It was bounded on the north by native states, on the west by native states, on the south by the district of Saháranpúr, on the east by the district of Bijnor. The chief civil autho- Mr. Keene rity was the superintendent, Mr. H. G. Keene, pean popula his assistant being Mr. J. C. Robertson. The tion of the garrison consisted of the Sirmúr regiment of Gúrkahs under the command of Major Charles Reid. The Trigonometrical Survey had its head-quarters there under Colonel Scott Waugh of the Bengal Engineers. There was a small establishment under the American Presbyterian Board of Missions. There were also some old and the Euro district. |