CHAPTER IX.

TOUR IN THE DECKAN -POONAH-BEEJAPOOR - CALBERGA GOLCONDA HYDERABAD-COURT OF THE NIZAM-DEATH OF MEER ALLUM-BEEDERWYRAAG-TENT ROBBED-PATUS-GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

THE reader will not, perhaps, be sorry to quit, for a short period, the desk and the study, to accompany our traveller on one of those excursions on the neighbouring continent, which commonly occupied the cold seasons. These having been but slightly touched upon, it may not be improper to devote the present chapter to a pretty copious selection from a diary of a journey, which he made towards the conclusion of the year 1808 into the Deckan. His design, on this occasion, was to visit his friend, Captain Sydenham, at Hyderabad, and, in going or returning, to examine the remains of the capitals of the old kingdoms of the Deckan. He accordingly proceeded from Poonah to Beejapoor, the capital of the Adil-Shahi dynasty, and thence went on to Calberga, the old capital of the Bahminiah kings. He visited Golconda, the seat of the Kutub-Shahi princes, and on his return passed through Beeder, the second capital of the Bahminiahs. This carried him considerably out of the beaten track, by a route then, at least, little frequented.

In this journey, his attention was chiefly turned to the structure of Indian society, the quality of the population, and of the castes into which it was divided; the hereditary and other officers of districts and villages; the degree

of protection afforded by the Government, and the tenure of landed property. The speculations of Colonel Wilks had directed his attention to these important topics, and he was desirous of discovering how far the observations made in the south of India were applicable to the present state of the Deckan. This led him into minute inquiries at every village where he rested, concerning the number of persons of each caste; their religion or sect; the number and rights of village officers; the rent of land, as well as the supposed right in the soil. "In this excursion he thought," as he afterwards expressed himself, "that he had gained more of the sort of Indian knowledge of which he was in pursuit, than he could have done in five years' reading; and the result was a firm conviction, that the first blessing to be wished to the inhabitants of India was, that a civilised conqueror might rescue them from their native oppressors, and that they would find better masters in the worst Europeans, than in the best of their own countrymen." Most of these minute inquiries, new and valuable as they were at the time, it has been judged proper to retrench, many of them having been superseded by later and more correct investigations, though the general conclusions have been, as far as possible, preserved.

"November 8th.-Left Bombay at half-past ten in the evening. About eleven fell asleep-once or twice awakened, notwithstanding my flannels, by smartness of the cold. A little before five I was informed that we are in the harbour of Panwell. In about an hour, Colonel Close's palankeen came to the shore. I was carried into the village, and after a few compliments from Mulna Hussein *,

*The agent of Colonel Close, at Panwell. He was also a cousin of Fyzullah (Fazl-ed-din), Sir James's servant.

proceeded at half-past six on my way to Chowk, a stage of twelve miles, which we took four hours to get through.

"Panwell is a wooded village, well situated on a small bay, distinguished by the handsome dome of a mosque. The road winds along a valley from one to three miles wide, formed by two lines of woody and rocky hills of castellated shapes, advancing from the Ghauts to the sea. The valley is beautifully varied by wood and corn-fields. As I did not sleep sound last night, and had passed this way twice before, neither my body nor my mind were very much awake to the scenery.

"9th. Chowk to Compowlee, twelve miles.

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Left Chowk at a quarter after one. The road is through a continuation of the same valley, in general almost narrowed into a glen, but sometimes, after a shorter pass than usual, widening into amphitheatres, which are striking. In the last and smallest of these are the Pagoda and Tank of Compowlee, most beautifully situated. The pagoda was founded by Nana Furnavese, the famous Mahratta minister. He was a Bramin, and therefore a secret unbeliever, yet he richly endowed Pagodas.

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"I have felt more cold last night, and more heat to-day, than I had before done in India; not that the day was nearly the hottest, nor the night the coldest, but that I was more exposed to cold and heat.

*

"Arrived at Compowlee at half-past five, and conversed for some time with Captain Christie (stationed there), who nine months ago made me a present of his brother's book of mythological prints.

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Captain Christie tells me that the Carwaree Bramins,

* Known afterwards as a traveller in Beloochistan and Seistan, and

for his eminent services in organising the Persian army. He was killed in a night attack of the Russians on the Persian camp, near Tabreez.

who are charged with offering human sacrifices (the Nurmed'), have lately, at Poonah, offered a Bramin to the dread Goddess Calee, whom they worship. The victim was inveigled into one of their houses, and poisoned. This is a strange mode of killing for sacrifice, but they dare not try any other. The fact, though not judicially proved, is said to be universally believed at Poonah. I must inquire into the matter more fully when I reach that place.

"10th.-Compowlee to Carlee, sixteen miles.

"Left Compowlee at five-almost immediately began to climb the Ghauts, which soon became so steep as to make me quit my palankeen. Compared to the Ghauts in Malabar, they are nothing, either for height or steepness. Before we had got through the Ghaut, it was near eight. Quite at the top is a small village, called Candaulah, having in miniature the situation of Compowlee. The Pass itself scarcely appears grand, after the forests and mountains of Malabar. It has, however, all the effect of deep wooded chasms beneath, and lofty wooded rocks above*. The timber is much inferior to that in the south. After we are quite clear of the Ghaut, the trees dwindle still more, and are more thinly scattered. breath of the Ghaut is strong and cold; I no longer feel heat as in the valley yesterday.-Did not arrive at Carlee till half-past ten, after having experienced some of the accidents of an eastern journey. Four of my palankeen bearers are left on the road from real or pretended hurts in the feet.

The

"Found Colonel Close's tent pitched in a topet of mango trees, at the very spot where I passed a day with poor Frissel near three years ago.

The scene reminded Bishop Heber of the Vale of Corwen, N.W.

↑ Grove.

"Short as these journeys are, they are so slow, that they do not seem likely to leave much leisure. I shall seldom be less than six hours on the road.

"Read sixty-eight pages of Bardili's History of the Progress of Opinions concerning God and the Human Soul,' which in general explains the progress of these speculations justly, as well as ingeniously. It was published in 1787, and I was pleased to find ideas in it not unlike some of mine in an essay, which I read to the Speculative Society' a little before that time, viz., that air first gave the notion of invisible beings-that breath was the original soul, &c. But they are obvious, and must have occurred to many before us.

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-Did not find myself in spirits for a second visit to the Cave, which I reserve for our meeting on my return. This is a miserable village of fifteen or twenty huts, and about fifty inhabitants, as I am informed by a poor Bramin, who is a sort of purveyor for travellers. The rent paid for it to a man of rank at Poonah, is 1000 rupees per annum. He threatens to raise it to 1200, and the inhabitants threaten to emigrate. They feel that they are governed-only when they pay taxes; in every other respect they are completely left to themselves ;-no police, no administration of justice, &c., except such as the village system of India, explained by Colonel Wilks, supplies. It would be difficult to say for what the tax is paid, unless it be to bribe the sovereign not to murder and rob the inhabitants.

"11th.-Carlee to Tulligom, fifteen miles.

"-Left Carlee at twenty minutes before five, and arrived at Tulligom at twenty minutes before ten. The wood has entirely ceased; the country is bare and little cultivated; there are no villages; the road is lonely, and the whole district seems unpeopled. The want of inhabit

* Extensive Buddhist excavations.