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'Baroda Enquiry Commission Report, 1874' [‎99r] (202/502)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (249 folios). It was created in 1 Nov 1873-14 Feb 1874. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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25
SCHEDULE No. II.—
Complaints of Baroda Subjects.
B emabks,
Tims it appears that the wife of this goldsmith was sent with
the Maharajah's knowledge to serve as a Lowndee, notwithstand-
| ing her husband's repeated applications for her restoration to
him. The case was eventually settled by the woman being
restored to her husband, and the value of he r ornaments,
amounting to about Rs. 600^ which had been taken from her
being also restored.
[The case of Malsahbai was briefly that her daughter,, aged 17, had
been forcibly carried away by Government sepoys 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. and made a
! Lowndee in His Highness the Gaekwar's household. This
girl was also released on the application of the Resident.
The case of Kondajee is precisely similar; viz., th at Government
sepoys 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. had seized his wife and made her a Lowndee. He
stated that the primary object of these sepoys 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. in seizing her
was to prostitute her. This girl also was released on the
application of the Resident.
The truth of case No. 4 is denied by 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). , notwithstanding
the fact that her release was obtained by the Resident through
the Minister. The principal offender in this case was His
i Highness' Private Secretary, Damodur Punt. A good deal of
correspondence has taken place about it, and the present result
appears to be that the girl's friends are afraid to come forward
for fear of her being excluded from caste, if the facts of the
case are publicly recorded in Court.
In addition to the abovementioned cases, some 8 or 10 women
similarly abducted and made to serve as Lowndees were released
i on the Resident's intercession ; no record of these cases was kept
except in the instance of a woman named Gunga, who wa^
seized and made to render forced service to a mistress of Hi^
Highness by name Luximeebai.
On the 20th September last a case of
a Koli girl having been sold to Bulwunt-
row Nagurkur, in His Highnesss private
employ, was brought to the notice of 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). . In this case a reply was received
to the effect that the girl has no other
protector and wished to stay with Bul-
wuntrow, her parents not being known.
The subject of abduction was again brought to the notice of
Government in letter of October 4th 1873, forwarding for
information the petition of one Kashee, woman, with accom
panying correspondence. This woman's daughter was for
cibly abducted to serve as a Lowndee in the Ranee's house
hold. Her deposition was taken, in which she states that
she was taken direct to the Maharajah. That she wept
bitterly and asked to be released, but that he was in
exorable and ordered her to be kept in the Ranee's house
hold. She was released on the interposition of the Resident.
This was a distinct case of forcible abduction in which the
Maharajah himself gave direct orders,
The petition of a relative of the Gaekwar, Jugoba Jugtap, for
warded to Government with letter No. of 24th September,
shows how the Maharajah endeavoured to possess himself of
a kept mistress of the former. This was resisted by the
Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. and another girl was given in her place to His High
ness ; but the whole transaction proves the existence of the
system, and shows that if His Highness will send men forcibly
to abduct a girl from the house of a relative, others of less
rank in Baroda have probably suffered in a similar manner^

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Content

Report of the Baroda Enquiry Commission on the administration of the government of Malharrao, Gaekwar of Baroda. The Commission comprised Richard John Meade (President), Edward William Ravenscroft, Mumtazul Dowlah Nawab An honorific title; an official acting as a provincial deputy ruler in South Asia; or a significant Muslim landowner in nineteenth century India. Faiz Ali Khan, Colonel Alfred Thomas Etheridge and Thomas Duncan Mackenzie (Secretary).

The report comprises a letter from the members of the Baroda Enquiry Commission to the Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department presenting their report on the results of the proceedings and submitting copies of correspondence, reports and statements relative to the enquiry (ff 5-19):

Appendix A, Part I

  • Schedules I-III: Complaints and grievances against the Gaekwar's Government from individuals and groups (ff 21-78).
  • Appendix B, Schedules I-III: Cases of complaint and grievance which the commission did not look into during the enquiry (ff 79-81).
  • Appendix C: Letter from Colonel Richard John Meade, President, Special Commission of Enquiry on Baroda Affairs, to Colonel Robert Phayre, Resident at Baroda, 1 November 1873 (ff 82-83).
  • Appendix D: Translation of an amended notice issued by the Resident to complainants desirous of appearing before the Baroda Enquiry Commission (ff 84-85).
  • Appendix E: Schedules presented to the Commission along with Colonel Phayre's introductory statement regarding them. (ff 86-131).
  • Appendix F: Letter No. 1128 of 1873 from Colonel Phayre to the President, Baroda Commission regarding the cases already submitted to the Commission, the List of undisposed petitions to be attended to by the Resident which could be used as additional cases if required and the statements that he had yet to make on cases under enquiry by the Commission (ff 132-133).
  • Appendix G, Schedule I: Statements from witnesses with cross examination statements from 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). on behalf of the Gaekwar and statements from the Resident as to the accuracy of the information provided (ff 134-229).

Appendix Part II (ff 231-245)

Extent and format
1 volume (249 folios)
Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main sequence of foliation consists of a small pencil number in the top front right hand corner of each folio enclosed in a circle.

There is also an original sequence of foliation which consists of larger pencil numbers also in the top front right hand corner of folios, however the sequence is not consistent and some of the numbers may be filing references rather than foliation numbers.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'Baroda Enquiry Commission Report, 1874' [‎99r] (202/502), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F126/78, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023442807.0x000003> [accessed 8 June 2024]

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