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Letter from Colonel Sir Lewis Pelly, Baroda to His Lordship Lord Northbrook, Viceroy of India [5r] (9/10)
The record is made up of 5 folios. It was created in 13 Dec 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.
( 9 )
will go far to convict themselves of wilful passive resistance to the legitimate
demands of their Government.
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.
class have already committed themselves, by combined resistance,
to the Gaekwar's authority; while the Gaekwar, on the other hand, has com
mitted faults, as we know, in many directions.
Every one is more or less in the wrong, and in an utter state of mess or
confusion.
I feel myself like a physician called in to treat a very complicated case.
If the \arious members of the organism attend to, or submit to, treatment,
I think the patient may recover; that is, if the finance question don't prove
unmanageable.
I3ut if the financial question, or other accident, prove too much for the
present organism, why we must let it die scientifically, and re-organise the
constituent under new conditions for a time.
The alternatives are habitually present to my mind, and I feel no anxiety.
In fact, a cheerful coolness is very desirable here just at present. Meantime
the work, current and special, is about as much as I can manage.
Your Lordship's
faithful and obedient servant,
LEWIS PELLY.
P. S.—Finally, and whatever may prove to be issue of the crisis here,
or the success or otherwise of my personal endeavours in regard thereto,
these cannot alter the character of the counsel I would respectfully and
earnestly submit to your Excellency, viz., to resolve, so soon as may be con
venient, on the line of policy and the nature of the relations which shall
henceforward be maintained towards the Baroda State, and to render the line
of policy and action permanent and consistent.
About this item
- Content
Letter submitting an unofficial résumé of the condition that he has found affairs at Baroda to be in.
The letter discusses the Gaekwar's (Malharrao) reaction to the khureeta An important letter usually sent in an elaborate textile pouch, dispatched as part of the royal or diplomatic correspondence of rulers and elites. issued by the Viceroy and Pelly's subsequent appointment and his willingness to be bound by the Viceroy's advice; letters drawn up between Pelly and the Gaekwar's minister in which he promises to accede to all the instructions issued by the Viceroy in July 1874; and additional requests made by the Viceroy during private audiences with Pelly.
These additional requests included asking Pelly to carefully examine the finances of his territory; to examine the condition of land revenue and satisfy himself as to the causes of recent resistance on the part of agriculturalists; and that care be taken in regard to religious claims when reforms to finance were being made.
The letter summarises Pelly's enquiries and findings under several headings: Finance, Revenue, Sirdars Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. , Soucars, Police, and Proclamations before providing a résumé of the question of reformation of the finances of the state.
Pelly's résumé includes his assessment of the total incomes of the state; the need for Government to reassess their outlays based on these assessments; the need to limit expenditure; the attitudes of the agriculturalists towards 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). ; the disputes between the Gaekwar and the Sirdars 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 the need for policy towards and relations with Baroda state to be defined by the Government of India.
- Extent and format
- 5 folios
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Letter from Colonel Sir Lewis Pelly, Baroda to His Lordship Lord Northbrook, Viceroy of India [5r] (9/10), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F126/83, ff 1-5, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023467455.0x00000a> [accessed 1 July 2026]
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- Reference
- Mss Eur F126/83, ff 1-5
- Title
- Letter from Colonel Sir Lewis Pelly, Baroda to His Lordship Lord Northbrook, Viceroy of India
- Pages
- 1r:5v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence