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 [‎50r] (99/102)

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will be forced in that event, to have recourse to those measures for securing
justice which their ancestors adopted in past times; for as the proverb runs:
" It is better for one to sell his life dearly, or with one's head in hands, than to
die the miserable death by the exhaustion of one's limbs (feet).
Your petitioners, however, have thought proper to make a full representa
tion of their case in the hope that it will induce Your Excellency to pity, and
also that no blame may be attached to them if in the end they are compelled
to adopt such a course.
(Ashwin Sood 9th, A .D. 1874, Sumvut 1930.)
(Sd.) S indee G ajee N atha M ya & 24 others.
Enclosure No. 28.
No. 2563P., dated Fort William, 25th November 1874.
From—Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department,
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. , Political Department.
I am directed by the Governor-General in Council to acknowledge the receipt
of your letter of 19th November, No. 6832, sending a khureeta An important letter usually sent in an elaborate textile pouch, dispatched as part of the royal or diplomatic correspondence of rulers and elites. from His
Highness the Gaekwar to the address of His Excellency the Viceroy, and of
your letter of the same date, No. 6831, forwarding further papers completing
the correspondence submitted with your letters of 22nd October, No. 6137, and
of 23rd October, Nos. 6159 and 6160, in accordance with the request con
tained in my telegram of 11th November, No. 2417P.
2. His Excellency in Council observes that the whole correspondence
between the Bombay Government, Colonel Phayre, and the Baroda 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). ,
now received, satisfies the Government of India that Colonel Phayre has
thoroughly misundei-stood the spirit of the instructions both of the Govern
ment of India and of the Bombay Government, and that the duties of Resident
at Baroda cannot be entrusted any longer to Colonel Phayre with the
reasonable prospect of a satisfactory result.
3. The Governor-General in Council has accordingly deputed, as a
Temporary measure. Colonel Sir L. Pelly, K.C.S.I., as Agent to the Governor-
General and Special Commissioner at Baroda. Sir Lewis Pelly has received
personally from the Viceroy full instructions for his conduct in the very
difficult circumstances under which he will assume his duties. The Bombay
Government, to whom Sir Lewis Pelly has been instructed to report himself
on his arrival in Bombay, are requested to take all necessary steps to invest him
with the needful powers to enable him to discharge, during his tenure of office
at Baroda, the duties hitherto discharged by the Resident. Sir Lewis Pelly
will also be the bearer of a khureeta An important letter usually sent in an elaborate textile pouch, dispatched as part of the royal or diplomatic correspondence of rulers and elites. from the Viceroy to the Gaekwar
announcing his appointment, a copy of which is enclosed for the information of
the Bombay Government.
4. "While the Governor-General in Council is compelled to express his
disapproval of the manner in which Colonel Phayre has acted. His Excellency
in Council fully admits the difficulty of the position in which he has been
placed, and the integrity of his intentions.
5. The Governor-General in Council has not as yet received information
as to the result of the enquiry into the atrocious attempt to poison Colonel
Phayre, which was reported in your letter of 14th November, No. 40P., but His
Excellency in Council desires to convey to Colonel Phayre the sympathy of
the Government of India and their congratulations upon his escape. This
circumstance, however, cannot affect the conclusion at which the Govern
ment of India has arrived in consequence of transactions which occurred Ions:
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