RETURN of the Name or Number of each REGIMENT and REGULAR and IRREGULAR CORPS in India which has MUTINIED, or manifested a Disposition to MUTINY, Since 1 January 1857; of the Number of Officers and Men present with each Regiment and Corps at the Outbreak of the Mutiny; of the Date of the First Intimation received by any Officer of the Regiment or Corps being disposed to Mutiny; and of the Date when Information thereof was received by the Governor-General of India or the Governor of Bombay; &c.

(Mr. Ayrton.)

Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed, 15 March 1859.

[Price 9 d.]

133.

Under 12 oz.

RETURN to an Address of the Honourable The House of Commons,
dated 4 March 1859;-for,

"COPIES of all CORRESPONDENCE, MINUTES, and ORDERS of the late Court of Directors and the Board of Control, of the Government of India, the Government of Bombay, the Political Agent for Rajpootana, the Magistrate and Superintendent of Police at Bombay, and of any Depositions taken by them respecting the Departure of Mr. Hudson, Syed Uckber Ally, and Khirat Allie Khan from England, and their Arrest and Detention, and Discharge from such Arrest, in Bombay; and all subsequent Correspondence and Papers relating to those Events."

India Office, 1 10 March 1859.J

J. W. KAYE,

Secretary in Political and Secret Departments.

(Mr. Ayrton.)

Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed,
11 March 1859.

COPIES of all CORRESPONDENCE, MINUTES, and ORDERS of the late Court of Directors and the Board of Control, of the Government of India, the Government of Bombay, the Political Agent for Rajpootana, the Magistrate and Superintendent of Police at Bombay, and of any Depositions taken by them respecting the Departure of Mr. Hudson, Syed Uckber Ally, and Khirat Allie Khan from England, and their Arrest and Detention, and Discharge from such Arrest, in Bombay; and all subsequent Correspondence and Papers relating to those Events.

PETITION OF SYED UCKBER ALLY.

The humble Petition of Syed Uckber Ally, of the City of Jodlipore, for and on behalf, and as the duly authorised Representative of his Highness Maha Rajah Tukht Singh, Rajah of Jodhpore in and Ruler of the independent Protected State and Principality of Marwar, in the East Indies, and on behalf of Jeswunt Singh, the eldest Son, and the other Sons of the said Maha Rajah of Jodhpore, all being Minors, and under the guardianship of their Father,

Showeth,

THAT your petitioner came to this country six years ago, and has remained here hitherto, by command of his Highness the said Maha Rajah of Jodhpore, to endeavour, by just and proper means, to obtain restitution of the raj of Ahmednuggur, and its united rajs of Morassa and Bayur, which have been, by and with the sanction of the British Government, unjustly alienated from his family, and illegally bestowed upon Jowan Singh, Rajah of the State of Edur.

That in this case the British Government in India, in pursuance of treaties, and as the paramount power, assumed the functions of judge or arbitrator, to decide the mixed questions of law and fact (unencumbered as they were with state or political considerations) which have been raised by the parties claiming the rights of succession and inheritance to the said raj of Ahmednuggur and its dependencies.

That the decision complained of is not the independent judgment of the Governor-General in Council, formed after full investigation of the law and facts, and having the necessary information and evidence before them, but is the decision of a single individual, directed by the Government to report thereon, and is founded on and in conformity with such report. Your petitioner therefore craves leave to bring under the notice of your Honourable House the following

facts:

That the rulers of both Marwar and Ahmednuggur have at all times been Hindoos of the tribe called Rajpoots, and that the ruler of Edur belongs to the same tribe and family. That the late Rajah Kurrun Singh died in possession of Ahmednuggur, leaving two sons, videlicet, Perthee Singh and the said Maha Rajah Tukht Singh. That the former, as eldest son, succeeded to the raj, and continued in possession of it and its dependencies up to the time of his death, which happened on the 6th December 1839. At the time of the decease of Rajah Perthee Singh, his nearest surviving relative was his brother, your petitioner's master, his Highness Tukht Singh, to whom some time previously had been born a son, the above-mentioned Jeswunt Singh; one of the ranees or widows of the deceased Rajah was then pregnant, and on the 23d May 1840 was delivered of a son, who was named Bulwunt Singh. That in the interval between the death of Perthee Singh and the birth of Bulwunt Singh, Tukht Singh took upon himself the management of the raj on behalf of the expected heir, and coninued during the lifetime of that child in such management; but that Bulwunt t'ngh only lived to attain the age of 16 months, and died in September 1841. That the said deceased Rajah Perthee Singh, during his last illness and in anticipation of death, gave to the Ranee Sesodnee, his eldest wife, express direc125.

A 2

tions,

tions, in the event of her not having a son, or in case of the death of such son, to adopt, according to the Rajpoot custom and religion, the said Jeswunt Singh, and accordingly, as soon after the death of her child as grief would permit, that is to say, in about 14 days after that event, the said ranee duly, and with all the ceremonial observances required by the Hindoo law and Rajpoot custom, adopted Jeswunt Singh, with the consent of the other two ranees of her deceased husband and of the chiefs of the state, his father Tukht Singh having formally surrendered and given him to her for that purpose.

That Jeswunt Singh ipso facto became the adopted son, heir, and representative, according to Hindoo law and custom, of his uncle, and as such immediately succeeded to and became Rajah of Ahmednuggur and its dependencies aforesaid, under the guardianship of his natural father, Tukht Singh, who continued as theretofore, previous to the birth and during the lifetime of the deceased infant, to manage the affairs of the said raj, as regent and guardian to said Jeswunt Singh.

That a deed formally declaring the said adoption was executed contemporaneously with the act, and remains as evidence thereof, although the execution of such deed was not in any way necessary, according to Hindoo law, to constitute such adoption valid.

That the principality of Jodhpore, the capital of Marwar, at the time when the above circumstances took place, was ruled over by his late Highness the Maha Rajah Maun Singh, who died on the 5th day of September 1843, without issue, but having on his deathbed requested that Tukht Singh might be elected to succeed him. Accordingly the widowed ranee of that prince and the sirdars or chiefs of Jodhpore proceeded to elect Tukht Singh, who thereby became adopted into the raj of Jodhpore, and under and by virtue of the laws and customs of Rajasthan removed from Ahmednuggur, and ascended the throne of Jodhpore, with the title of Maha Rajah. The investiture of Tukht Singh and his assumption of the government of Jodhpore were formaliy recognised by the British Government.

That upon the election of Tukht Singh becoming known, a claim was set up to the throne of Jodhpore on behalf of the then infant Rajah of Edur, which claim was most zealously supported by Captain Lang, the British political agent, in whose district Edur and Ahmednuggur are situate, and the representations of Captain Lang were supported by the Bombay Government, on the ground that the Rajah of Edur was one degree nearer related to his late Highness Maun Singh than the successor he had nominated, and who had been elected by the ranees and sirdars; but the then Governor-General, Lord Ellenborough, as he was bound to do, gave effect to the Hindoo law and Rajpoot custom, and confirmed and recognised Tukht Singh as aforesaid.

That on Tukht Singh's quitting Ahmednuggur, he left his son, Jeswunt Singh, under the guardianship of his adoptive mother, the Ranee Sesodnee, who then took upon herself the management of the affairs of the raj, as guardian of the infant rajah during his minority. This was in strict accordance with the law and custom, as is admitted in the report: "During the childhood and minority of the party adopted, all things are managed on his behalf by the widow of the deceased."

That the pretensions of the Rajah of Edur to the throne of Jodhpore having been disappointed, as above mentioned, the said Captain Lang put an attachment upon the raj of Ahmednuggur, alleging that Jeswunt Singh had not been adopted, but that Tukht Singh had, on the death of the posthumous son of the late rajah, ascended the throne, and become and continued the de facto ruler of the raj, and that having now resorted to Jodhpore, the throne of Ahmednuggur was vacant, and as in remote times it had formed part of Edur, it had, ipso facto, lapsed to that state, and should be given to the said Jowan Singh. He also sent orders that Jeswunt Singh should follow his father to Jodhpore, and wrote to the Government to postpone their approval of the selection of Tukht Singh for Jodhpore until the claims of the ruler of Edur were satisfied.

That in consequence of such proceedings on the part of Captain Lang, the Supreme Government sent instructions to Major (now Colonel) Thoresby, political agent for Jodhpore, to institute an inquiry among the sirdars of Marwar, so as to obtain their opinion as to the disposal of Ahmednuggur. That officer, after the necessary inquiry, made his report, dated the 17th January 1844, in which he said, that "the principal sirdars concur in opinion that Ahmednuggur

should