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'Baroda Enquiry Commission Report, 1874' [117v] (239/502)
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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
SCHEDULE No. 111.-—continued.
Names of Claimants, &c.
Notwithstanding this I was expected to use
my influence as Resident to persuade
the head of the firm to credit the State
with Rs. 75,000, without examining the
accounts on both sides, which I of course
declined to do.
Thus the attachment has continued since
August 1872—thus business has been
stopped—thus rents unpaid, and their
creditors ready to come
them at any moment.
Next day I come to Colonel Shortt and told him what
happened, and Colonel Shortt then said, you need not,go to
Wussuntram Bhow, but go to Nana Saheb, Minister. I did
so on the following day, and I was told as I had been by
Wussuntram Bhow. This was in September 1872, and mat
ters are just the same now as they were then. I never pro
mised Colonel Shortt to sign a paper for Rs. 75,000; he
advised me to do so, because the Minister wished it, but I
declined. I said I could not do so without consulting Motilal
SamuL
T wish to place on record the following documents :—
1.—A memorandum from memory of our account, the books,
&c., being under attachment with H. H. the Gaekwar.
down upon No. 2.—Copy of the Kullumbundee of nine articles made with
H. H. Siajeerao.
3.—Copy of the Kullumbundee of seven articles.
No. 4.—Sunud of Devalipura village.
No. 5.—Sunud of Gudala.
No. 6.—Sunud of Paga, in contingent. .
No. 7.—Sunud for Futtehpur.
No. 8.—Palanquin.
No. 9.—Sunud for Zelif.
2—Case of the British firm of Dowlutchund j
Jowairchund, Jewellers of Ahmedabad,
claiming payment for jewels value
Rs.. 2,71,799-8-6. Interest on ditto, at
6 per cent, per annum, Rs. 39,333-7-6
This case has been transferred from
Schedule No. 1, British subjects, to this
schedule by order of the Commission
The firm in question is established at
Ahmedabad but trades with Baroda.
The Resident respectfully submits that
case No. 1 of this schedule (Samul
Bechur's) as well as this and others
that will follow come within the scope
of paras. 4 and 5 of His Excellency the
Viceroy and Governor Generals letter
No. 2209 p ., dated Simla, 19th Septem
ber 1873, wherein British subjects,
including those resident in Baroda
territory, whose welfare has been affected
by the present extraordinary adminis
tration of the Baroda State, are specified
as fit objects for protection.
See the next case No. 3, wherein Mug
gunlal Huggumchund, of Ahmedabad,
places the matter in a different light
from that represented by the Minister,
and claims 5
lacs
One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
of
rupees
Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
as still due
according to agreement.
b is now very nearly three years since the jewels in question
were purchased by His H ighness Mulharow on the occasion
of his marriage. Every effort at obtaining a settlement
having failed, the firm, as a last resource, deputed a mem
ber of it, named Tarachund, from Ahmedabad, in September
last, to represent the circumstances if necessary to the Eesi- !
dent. Tarachund first delivered letters to His Highness
and the Dewan soliciting a settlement which was not effect
ed. The Dewan first brought the case to the notice of the
Resident, asking his advice about it; and subsequently
Tarachund made his complaint. The case was then represented
to the Maharajah in the following letter—a course that under
ordinary circumstances would not have been followed, but
which, in consequence of the rejection of the Residents j
advice in the Banker Samul Bechur's and other important
cases, became a matter of absolute necessity. I believe that |
the representative of the firm Tarachund Wukkutchund has
spoken the plain truth in his statement given below ; and if
so, the commercial interests and relations between the
Gaekwar and British States demand that such cases should
be inquired into, with a view to ascertaining their real
merits, especially as the Minister has stated that the original
offer was a
lac
One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
less than Tarachund states was sanctioned
by His Highness himself, in the chits issued bearing his own
signature. The letter is as follows :—
No. 2421.
Y our H ighness, 19^ October 1873.
On the morning of the 7th instant, Nana Saheb Khanveekur ,
(the Minister) brought to my notice the claim which the
firm of Dowlutchund Jowairchund, Jewellers of Ahmedabad,
have against your Highness, for jewelry purchased from them
on the occasion of your Highness' marriage about three years j
ago. He stated that the amount originally offered for those
jewels was only Rs. 1,71,000, but that Dowlutchund demands
from your Highness the sum of Rs. 2,71,000 as the origHf
price fixed on the jewels purchased at the time of ^ j
marriage were said to have been of the value of twenty j
About this item
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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)
- Letter from James Braithwaite Peile, Acting Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Kattywar [Kathiawar] to T D Mackenzie, Secretary, Baroda Commission, 13 December 1873 regarding papers requested by the Commission and informing them that the outstanding paper will be forwarded as soon as they are received. Enclosed with the letter are a memorandum from Peile for reconstitution of His Highness the Gaekwar's Contingent in Kattywar, 13 December 1873 and Rule for the guidance of the Officers and Kamdars appointed to the Contingent of Horse of His Highness the Gaekwar, serving in the various Tributary Mahals according to treaty.
- Letter from Peile to Mackenzie, 6 January 1874, forwarding a report and returns received from Colonel Walker, Superintendent to the Gaekwar's Contingent in Kattywar and stating that he does not concur with the Colonel's opinion. Enclosed with this letter is a letter from Colonel Chamberlen William Walker, 30 December 1873, providing the information on the Contingent requested by the Commission and enclosing an extract of the Contingents annual report for 1871 and a statement of the men within the Contingent on duty under officials paid by Talukdars etc, 06 March 1872.
- Letters from John Whaley Watson, Acting Political Superintendent Pahlanpur [Palanpur], Captain Henry Nicholas Reeves, Acting Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. Rewa Kanta [Rewa Kantha] and Major Philip Harrison Le Geyt, Acting Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Mahi Kanta [Mahi Kantha] to the secretary of the Baroda Commission 19 December 1873 to 9 January 1874 reporting on the Gaekwar's contingents serving within their districts and commenting on numbers of men, pay and conditions. The letters all refer to enclosed returns, but only the return for Mahi Kanta is included in the report.
- 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.
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- Reference
- Mss Eur F126/78
- Title
- 'Baroda Enquiry Commission Report, 1874'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:248v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence