ther), mentions that, on the 14th February, Beejar Khan had agreed to surrender, with his force of 2,000 men; that the relations of the robber chiefs had arrived in the camp on that day, the chiefs themselves promising to come in a day or two; that Sir Charles had given them four days of grace, and meant, if they were not then in his power, to make a sudden night-march with his camelcorps and cavalry, and surprise them in their camp. The Calcutta mail, bringing intelligence a day or two later from the camp, adds to this account that six chiefs had come in, together with Beejar Khan's son, Wuzeer Khan, and although the "old fox" had not yet made his appearance, he was hourly expected. "Sir Charles seems," observes the Calcutta Star, "to have out-generalled the famed hill-robber by his untiring perseverance and quickness of movement."

The plan of Sir Charles is not limited to the subjugation of these tribes; he proposes to transmute them, if possible, into an orderly and industrious population, a scheme so successfully executed in the case of some of the marauding tribes of India. "His intent is," observes the statement before quoted, "to force the three robber tribes to surrender, and then to place them on the eastern side of the Indus, and make them labour until they erect houses and form farms sufficient for their own subsistence and dwellings; then to offer these products of their labour to them, if they will be peaceable. If they refuse, he will continue to make them work as convicts." How far the gallant Governor of Scinde will be able to adopt the latter alternative will depend, we apprehend, upon the Supreme Government of India.

The state of the province of Scinde is, upon the whole, favourable. The country continues quiet, and the health of the troops is improving. The Bombay Times* has published a statement of the British forces in that province, whence it appears that, including the troops engaged in the Kutchee expedition, the number is nearly 15,000, of which 1,144 are in hospital, 177 belonging to the 78th Highlanders, at Hyderabad, and 125 to the 69th Bengal Native Infantry, at Shikarpore. The loss suffered by deaths in the 78th regiment (which has been ordered to leave Scinde and proceed to Bombay, where it will be inspected by the medical authorities, and sent to the Deccan, the Cape, or England), from the 6th September, 1844, the date of the first death which happened after the departure of the regiment from Kurrachee for Sukkur, to the 31st January, 1845, amounts to two officers, 431 men, 40 women, and

• March 1st.

155 children. In the month of December, the deaths were 220, and in January, 223. It is evident that there must have been some cause of disease peculiar to this regiment to account for this amount of mortality, which did not affect other corps at the same station, and should not, therefore, be charged to the account of the climate of Scinde. The 17th native regiment, nearly double the number of the 78th, had but forty-eight in hospital, or five per cent., where the other regiment had forty per cent.

The recent revolution in the Punjab has produced none of those convulsions which had been anticipated from an event whereby the only fragment of authority was destroyed. The kingdom of the Sikhs is now really without a government, yet total disorganization is still delayed; the arch seems to keep together for a time by the strength of the cement alone, after the loss of its key-stone. Apprehension of the intentions of the British Government has its share, no doubt, in preventing discord amongst parties disunited by separate interests, and the army, having thrown the sword into the scale, has acquired a predominance in state affairs. Meean Jowahir Sing, the younger brother of the late Heera Sing, hastened, upon the first news of the revolution, to Jesrowta, the family possession of his eldest brother, the late Dheean Sing, where their valuables were deposited, a large portion of which he removed to the fortress of his uncle, Gholab Sing, at Jumboo. The state army despatched a force, under Sirdar Sham Sing, Attareewallah, to take Jesrowta; but finding it stronger, or more resolutely defended, than they expected, the troops had recourse to treachery, and offered to support Jowahir Sing, if he would become a candidate for the office of wuzeer, on certain conditions, the chief being that he should pay down a certain sum of money, and engage to raise the pay of the army. The young Meean* fell into the snare. He agreed to give up the fort, and admitted a party of the Khalsa troops. His eyes were, however, soon opened; he perceived that not a moment was to be lost, and fled to Jumboo. The Sikh army, though disappointed at his escape, indemnified themselves by plundering the place, as well as all the villages subject to the Dogra family, the zemindars and inhabitants of the country flocking to Jumboo to implore protection from Gholab Sing.

Meanwhile, the capital exhibited a scene of turbulence which might be expected from the unbridled sway of a licentious army, who do just as they please, obeying only such orders as they

A title of nobility superior to sirdar, but inferior to rajah. Asiat.Journ.N.S. VOL.I.No.1.

C

approve of, and abusing, beating, and expelling their officers who displease them. Sirdar Jowahir Sing, the brother of the Raní, has fallen into disgrace with the troops, who threaten to banish him from the city. His real offence seems to be, inability to appease their appetite for money, the last lakh having been drawn from the treasury. Rajah Lall Sing had also become obnoxious to them, and the punches, or deputations of the battalions, appeared to be intent upon some movement, probably against the Rajah of Jumboo, who, on his part, was evidently prepared for a conflict, offensive or defensive, and with that view he was in communication with Prince Peshora Sing (who wisely continued quiet in his jaghire at Seealkot), and even with the chiefs of Kohistan.

The government of the Sikh state at this moment is nominally in the hands of the Raní Chunda, the mother of the Maharajah Dhuleep Sing, a lady of some accomplishments for a Sikhí, and skilful in the use of her pen, by which means, it is supposed, she was able secretly to combine the late insurrection against her enemy Heera Sing. It is said that she presides in person at the council, within a purdah, outside of which sit the boy maharajah, her son; Sirdar Jowahir Sing, her brother and minister; and Bhae Ram Sing, the guardian of the maharajah. The Raní does not belong to any of the high families of the Punjab, being the daughter of a respectable zemindar, and has consequently no family influence amongst the Sikhs, which is a matter of much importance. Her brother is a man of no talents, uneducated, and addicted to low dissipation. Bhace Ram Sing was one of the trusted followers of Runjeet Sing; he is a man of energy and influence, but not supposed to be more scrupulous in consulting his own interests than the other sirdars. It is imagined that the power of the existing government will be strengthened by the recal of the Sindanwalla chiefs, who were banished after the murder of Maharajah Shere Sing and Dheean Sing, of which they were the prime agents, and who are bitter enemies of the Dogra faction. They returned to Lahore on the 30th January, where they were received with great distinction, and since their arrival, the designs of the Sikh chiefs and of the army seem to have taken a more decided direction against Jumboo, the chief of which, by his wealth and power, is alone capable of striving for the sovereignty, either for himself or his protegée, Peshora Sing.

The

The Dogra family are now reduced to Rajah Gholab Sing, Meean Jowahir Sing, his nephew, and some younger members. character and capabilities of Rajah Gholab Sing are thus stated by the Delhi Gazette:

Rajah Gholab Singh, though his force is very small, numerically, compared to the Sikh army, is formidable from his strong hill country, the known valour of the hill-men, the immense wealth the family have accumulated in the hills, and from his own determined character. Sikhs at any time approach the rajah with fear and trembling, and they will be a bold band of Sikhs who first come to actual blows with the Bear of Jumboo. In discipline and material the rajah's force is superior to the Sikh army as now disorganized. A struggle between them on the plains might be in favour of the latter, from their numerous cavalry; but Gholab Sing is an able general, and need not be told that a couple of hundred of hill-men, in a strong pass, can keep in check a far superior force of men from the plains, even though drilled to a nicety. The rajah professes entire obedience to the durbar, and is humouring it in hopes of another storm. At the same time, the whole country from Rajawur, along the hills to Attock, and thence to Mittun Kot, is in a state of ferment and rebellion at the rajah's instigation. He will find the Khalsa work without marching on Jumboo.

The Jumboo rajah has not far to look for auxiliaries. Besides the Koonr (prince) Peshora Sing (whose jaghire of Seealkot is a little below Jumboo), the governor of Cashmere, Sheikh Gholam Moheeood-deen, is described as a bold, energetic, crafty man, and a timeserver, who would be ready to barter his aid to the rajah for emancipation from dependence upon Lahore. He is said to have opened a negotiation with the British authorities. The family of the late Dewan of Mooltan, Sawun Mull, are divided amongst themselves, so that the scheme which evidently engrossed their father's attention, namely, throwing off allegiance to the Sikh government, and erecting an independent state, is renounced by them; but they may be supposed to be not unwilling to be rid of the control of that government. Peshawur would shake off the Khalsa yoke, if supported by Dost Mahomed Khan, and Rajah Gholab Sing is known to be in treaty with Mahomed Akhbar Khan for troops to march to his aid, in the event of the Sikhs attacking him, the rajah engaging to pay them. It is stated, moreover, that the Baoodcheeas, a tribe renowned even amongst the Sikhs for their bravery, had taken the fort of Beeas, near Dowlutanuggur, and openly declared in favour of Rajah Gholab Sing against a party of Sirkaree troops stationed near the place.

In this state of circumstances, the comparative calm of the Punjab is, as before observed, rather indicative of the coming storm. Two parties are collecting their strength for a conflict which cannot long be deferred.

The British Government, in the mean time, appears to be quietly concentrating a force that may be employed either in the defence of

our territories, or as peace-makers, or conquerors. The principal military posts on our frontier have been reinforced, and the papers are full of notices of the movements of different corps from almost every station in the Lower and Upper Provinces, so that it is asserted in the Englishman, that an army of 30,000 men could, at an emergency, be collected to enter the Punjab. There seems to be a strong impression in many quarters that circumstances will induce our Government to push the British army across the Sutlej, at the commencement of the cold season, and the Delhi Gazette says, "We firmly believe that, from the Raní Chunda down to the lowest beggar in Lahore, there exists not one individual in the Punjab, save the disorderly troops, who would not hail as a godsend the advent of a British army; yet none dare shew that feeling."

The Mahratta state of Gwalior remains in its condition of uneasy quietude. The loss of the insubordinate army, although it has relieved the Government from a constant source of vexation and alarm, has, at the same time, rendered it powerless. The increasing infirmities of the chief minister, Ram Rao Phalkea, give birth to intrigues upon a large scale amongst those who speculate upon deriving advantage from his death or resignation. The latter is not expected, for with the tenacity of age he clings to the power and profit which he derives from the post secured to him by the British Government. Pertab Sing had surrendered to our resident, but a fresh conspiracy, which threatened the life of the young maharajah, had been detected. A slave girl, named Rookma, belonging to the palace, who had been, before the late troubles, confined at Oujein, had contrived to escape, and returning to Gwalior, in conjunction with Soobadar Sindhia, plotted the death of the prince. They gained an entrance, with twelve armed Mahrattas, into the palace, but were discovered by the jemadar of hurkaras, and seized.

New troubles in Affghanistan are foretold by the native newswriters (not the most veracious chroniclers) from the uxorious weakness of the chief of Cabul, who had contracted a marriage with a damsel of fourteen, the daughter of Tej Mahomed Khan, whom his principal wife, the mother of Mahomed Akhbar Khan, had intended as a bride for her son, Shere Jan Khan. This incident, the Delhi Gazette says, 66 will, we have great reason for believing, from what we know of the consequences of the like events in Mahomedan families generally, lead to the most serious results; the outraged mistress of the house will enlist the energies of her son against her husband, though probably not to the extremity of attempting his life." A fresh quarrel with Mahomed Zuman Khan