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'Baroda Enquiry Commission Report, 1874' [192v] (389/502)
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.
8
Deponent states on solemn affirmation that her husband* is employed in
. , the Senapati's Kacheri, that she has been in prison
about 3 months for seizing a certain girl named
they robbed the woman. She Bhima, (from Junaghar in Kattywar) who was living
received compensation and was i n a hired house near Sur Sagar Tank. States that
ordered back to Kattywar. hus !)U ' ! d was employed with two others named
Kashipuri and Lakshman llabe in seizing women in the city of Baroda for
the Maharaj ; that within a short time her husband and the two others had
taken upwards of 50 women to the palace, of whom 10 or 12 were married
women living with their husbands, others are widows, others were women
living away from their husbands, and some are loose women. The two
following persons belonged to the street in which she lived, and were seized
in her own presence, viz : —
Igt,—Gaja, wife of Tukaram Morya—Good-looking girl of about 22 years
of age, living with her husband.
2nd. —Kaushalya, daughter of one Paru, married to a man in the Huzur
Paga, and living with him, aged about 20 years, and good-looking.
Both of these women told her that theyhadbeen dishonoured in the palace.
Witness states that on the day that her husband was imprisoned, the fifty
women who had been seized by him and others also were released owing to the
representations made by the Resident to the Maharaj. Witness knows that
about 50 women were seized by her husband because 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.
used to go to her house, and order her husband to seize such and such a
woman.
The following evidence was also in possession of the Resident, but the
girl who gave it was not willing to appear before the Commission, and it was
not therefore pressed.
Jamna, wife of Shivlal Ganpatram, Aodichh Brahmin, age 22 years,
stated on solemn affirmation before the Resident, that about 3 months ago,
as she was proceeding from her husband's house to her father's in the middle
of the day, two Government men, one named Ganpat and another Bava,
seized her and took her to the Haveli saying that the Sarkar wanted her.
On arrival, they told her to sit down and went to report to the Maharaj.
About 2 hours afterwards her husband came to the Haveli, but Ganpat and
Bava turned him away denying that he was her husband. He therefore
went away to bring a person to prove his relationship. In the meantime
the said Ganpat dishonored her. In due time her husband brought a Khe-
raval Brahmin named Gabad to prove his relationship. She was then allow
ed to go with him, he being employed in British territory at the Nariad
Railway station.
In addition to the above the names and residence of 26 women are
recorded in the
Residency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India.
office, who were seized as loundies or for
immoral purposes, and have been recently released.
The compilation containing this extra evidence not recorded by the
Commission was submitted to the President for perusal with letter No. 1082,
dated the 3rd of December, and I, in that letter, took occasion to point out
that feelings of shame and fear of disgrace and excommunication from caste
prevented many from coming before the Commission who did not object to
come to the
Residency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India.
accompanied by their relatives.
Subsequently to the above, and after 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).
had made their state
ment of 22nd December, two British female subjects from the Ratnagiri
District appeared before the Commission and stated their cases, as fully set
forth in Schedule I., Cases 12 and 13.
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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- 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