Enclosures of Letter to Her Majesty's Secretary of State for India, No.213, dated 27 November 1874: Nos. 3 to 31 of Abstract of Contents, from Foreign Department, Fort William [‎22r] (43/102)

^oing through the several cases of 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. , Silladars, &c., which came before
the Commission, it will be seen that it is only w ithin the last 6 or 8 years, but
chiefly during the present reign, that cases have occurred which have led His
Excellency the Viceroy and Governor-General to order His Highness the present
Gaekwar " to pay due consideration to the claims of the parties concerned, and
to prevent the scandal and risk that must attend the sudden deprivation without
compensation or other provision of any sort of large numbers of old or here
ditary military servants of the service on which they are wholly dependant for
the means of subsistence."
Moreover, that " misrule on the part of a Government, which is upheld
by the British Government, is misrule in the responsibility for which the British
Government becomes in a measure involved, that the Gaekwar as sovereign of
Baroda is responsible for exercising his sovereign powers with proper regard
to his duties and obligations alike to the British Government and to his
subjects."
His Lordship further deemed it necessary to remind the Gaekwar that
" both by the terms of treaties and by constant usage the British Government
has the right to advise him in public concerns affecting the good of the country,
and to require the settlement according to equity and reason of any measures
shown to be improper or unjust, and that by consequence it is at liberty to
take such steps as it may deem necessary for the just exercise of that right and
the fulfilment of the obligations to the ruler and people of Baroda which flow
therefrom, that from the earliest period of its connection with the Baroda State
the British Government has repeatedly found it necessary to intervene in
Baroda affairs. This intervention has not been limited to the case of the
guarantees to which His Highness has referred, but lias been exercised in a
variety of other ways, as for example by investing the Resident with power of
control over the finances, by assuming for a time the management of portions
of the State, by the removal of evil advisers, in short whenever intervention
has been deemed by the British Government necessary in the interests of the
ruler or his subjects."
Enclosure No. 22.
No. 6678, dated Bombay Castle, 13th November 1874.
From—Secretary to Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. ,
To—Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department.
In continuation of the papers on Baroda affairs ending with my letter of
the 2nd instant, No. 6378, 1 am directed to forward to you, for submission to
the Government of India, the accompanying copy of a letter, with enclosures, from
the Resident at Baroda, No. 350-1196, dated the 27th ultimo, regarding the
action taken 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). in the matter of the Sindhees and Arabs in the
Baroda State.
No. 350-1196, dated Baroda 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. , 27th October 1874.
From—Resident at Baroda,
To—Secretary to the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. .
In forwarding, for the information of Government, copies of my yad No.
1986 of this date and accompaniment, 1 have the honor to bring to notice that
the action of His Highness regarding these Sindhees who with the Arabs
are fast getting beyond the control of their 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 Jemadars, and may at
any moment burst forth into open rebellion, appears to me to be most unjust
and mischievous.
2. On the Sind Frontier we have reclaimed thousands of the same
class of people by taking great pains to provide land for them, encouraging
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