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'Baroda Enquiry Commission Report, 1874' [177r] (358/502)
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.
3
Ath. That the present Maharaja has also appropriated, without payment,
a magnificent emerald necklace valued at upwards of five
lakhs
One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
of
Rupees
Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
,
the private property of the petitioner.
5th. That the present Maharaja has forcibly compelled the petitioner to
sign a deed of release for a sum of
Rupees
Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
75,000, which had been lent to the
Maharaja before his accession by the petitioner's firm.
bth. That the present Maharaja has resumed all the petitioner's villages
and stopped his allowances without any cause whatever, although he, peti
tioner, holds hereditary sanads for the villages and allowances in question, the
genuineness of which has never been disputed.
Htli. That during the minority of the petitioner, certain creatures 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).
have been placed in charge of the firm solely for the purpose of
plundering it; and that loss to the extent of one
lakh
One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
of
Rupees
Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
has been
caused by the depredations ofoneGirdhar Trikam so appointed 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).
.
§th. That in order to procure the removal of the said Girdhar Trikam
from his position as Manager, the petitioner was compelled 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).
to
pay a sum of
Rupees
Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
75,000, though the estate was nominally under
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).
management and though Girdhar Trikam was 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).
nominee.
dth. That although Girdhar Trikam was removed 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).
on the
payment of
Rupees
Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
75,000 by the petitioner, yet he was subsequently replaced
in the same position 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).
, and continued to plunder the firm as
before until finally removed a few months ago.
With reference to the first complaint, 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).
state that nazarana
was levied in accordance with existing custom. The petitioner does not
deny the existence of the custom, but contends that the amount levied was
simply extortionate, and that 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).
made use of'the exigency of the
situation to exact an amount for which there is not only no precedent, but
which in the case of trading firms is simply ruinous. The Resident respect
fully submits that the petitioner's contention is just. He has reason to know
that the case of the present petitioner is not an isolated case of extortion
practised on a gigantic scale under colour of existing custom. The repre
sentative of the late Gopalrao Myral has been similarly mulcted of the sum
of ten
lakhs
One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
or £100,000, although the right of adoption is a legal right,_
dependant not on the will of the Maharata, but on the recognized precepts of
Hindu Law.
With reference to the second complaint, 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).
give no explanation
whatever of the circumstances under which the bond for twenty
lakhs
One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
was
given by the petitioner's mother.
This omission is significant. The petitioner's account is as follows : In
the year Svt. 1920, the present Deputy Sir Subha named Narayenbhai Lallubhai
(who left the British service under the Rewakanta
Agency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
under suspicious
circumstances, and who has figured conspicuously in many disgraceful trans
actions) was sent 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).
to examine the accounts of the petitioner's
firm. Narayenbhai in collusion with a certain discharged servant of Hari
Bhagti's firm who had formerly acted as Munim, pretended to discover in
the accounts of the firm a certain item of 15
lakhs
One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
which they alleged was due
by the firm to 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 account of certain transaction which occurred
in Svt. 1854, or sixty-five years previously, ly
guarantee of the British Government. The petitioner contends that this
alleged debt of 15
lakhs
One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
is utterly false, and asserts that the claim was con
cocted by his fraudulent ex-Munim together with Narayenbhai in order to
give 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).
a safe opportunity of plundering the firm. The claim thus
concocted was immediately pressed 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).
, and the petitioner s
mother was forcibly compelled to sign a bond for the whole amount of the
About this item
- 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)
- 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.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'Baroda Enquiry Commission Report, 1874' [177r] (358/502), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F126/78, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023442807.0x00009f> [accessed 5 July 2026]
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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