Enclosures of Letter to Her Majesty's Secretary of State for India, No.213, dated 27 November 1874: Nos. 3 to 31 of Abstract of Contents, from Foreign Department, Fort William [‎46v] (92/102)

your petitioners made a representation of their case several times to the Sirkar
but to no purpose. Feeling helpless at this, your petitioners were compelled to
petition the Resident at Baroda for redress, and your petitioners' masters, the
Jemadars, also laid most of your petitioners' grievances before the Baroda Com
mission. Afterwards your petitioners submitted their petitions both to Your
Excellency's Government and the Calcutta Oovernwient. A copy of the peti
tion to the latter is herewith appended for your information. Notwithstanding
this they could not get any redress.
Afterwards the Karkhana of the Paga was entrusted by the Sirkar to the
descendant of the late Hamid Jemadar, by name Shah Mahomed Mirza bin
Radkuh Mirja, on his being confirmed in the same, and although he managed
it, he did ttot get the full nemnook from the Sirkar for several years, which was
the cause of your petitioners not getting their pay in full. This put them to
much distress. It was aggravated by the Wywutdar preventing your peti
tioners from reaping the crops of their fields, and mohsuls were imposed on
your petitioners. This necessitated your petitioners to make an application to
the Dewan, Mr. Dadabhai Nowrojee, who paid no attention to it, nor did he
pass any endorsement on the petition. Disappointed at this, your petitioners
had recourse to the Resident for redress. A copy of this application has been
herewith annexed, a perusal of which will convince Your Excellency of the
extent of the oppression under which they are groaning by reason of
mohsuls, &c.
It is now nearly seven or eight months since Mr. Dadabhai Nowrojee has
been here, and that he has been exercising the functions of the " de facto
Dewan" since about a month and a half or two. Mr. Dadabhai has entrusted
the charge of the Revenue and Criminal Departments with their executive
functions to the * New Mundallee" (men) of his own selection, and has made a
good bundobust (arrangement) for himself and them by way of " nemnook."
Although he is repeatedly told by the Resident to give redress to the ryots of
the Baroda State, so as to stop their complaints, he does not do so, as he and
the new authorities whom he has invested with power are quite unacquamted
with the system of the Oaekwar Government. Nor can he, for it has been
oftstomary with the Ministers hitherto to hear petitions o'penlv <at their own
houses, or in the Kutchery at His Highness' Palace, and decide the cases in the
presence of the petitioners which tended to give immediate redress to them.
In the present in^ance the petitioners cannot have personal access to any of
the officials, the place where they sit being in a very secluded locality;*' further
they have to report to the sepoy Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank. near the entrance to give notice of their oom-
ing to the " authorities and they are only caMed up if it suits their pleasure
to do so. Generally it happens that they have to go back without getting a
hearing. In the Durbar A public or private audience held by a high-ranking British colonial representative (e.g. Viceroy, Governor-General, or member of the British royal family). also, if the case of any petitioner happens to be called
oat, the petitioner is only called in, if it suits their pleasure to do so, or else
he has to go back. This necesarily places many persons, whose cases are just,
to grjpat disadvantage. If after all this any one is bold enough to go near
the Minister, the latter expresses himself as follows to him " This is a very
large State, and I hate a Very pressing work before me ; as I am alone,
how ca!h 1 get through your buisiness T Such Es the state of affairs. This put
ytfnr petitioners -in mind that the Minister being a resident under British rule
Wants to act the part of an Englishman in this respect, viz., to show his love
of working in solitude as Europeans do. But it ought to be remembered
that Europeans do hear the petitions of petitioners, and do grant them justice ;
while this man wants only to imitate the manners of Europeans without
giving satisfaction to any one. In consequence of this, thousands of helpless
people who have had no redress given them have been plunged into despair.
\ our petitioners however beg to submit that the only alternative left them
is to petition Your Excellency ; but although they did so several times, no notice
has beefn taken of their 'petitions up to this time. Their case 'is rendered the
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