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Enclosures of letter to Her Majesty's Secretary of State for India, No.11, dated 15 January 1875: Nos. 3 to 45 of Abstract of Contents, from the Officiating Under-Secretary to the Government of India, Fort William [‎83v] (66/100)

The record is made up of 50 folios. It was created in 15 Jan 1875. 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. .

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loud in condemnation of His Eiglmess 1 extravagant expenditure on himself,
bis favorites and his Palaces. It appeared that during the past year His High
ness had thus expended seventy (70) lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees of rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. , while the total revenue real
ized l.v the State aggregated only ninety-four lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees (94). Again, I found our own
officials employed in districts adjacent to the borders of the Baroda State, almost
unanimous in their accusations of bad neighbourhood on the part of the Gaek-
war Affain, it is matter of general notoriety that Baroda and its purlieus are
the resort of bad characters and intriguers. Again, there is the present scanda
lous violation of the rights of hospitality and of the immunities attaching to
the person of a foreign representative, in respect to the attempt on the life of
the late Resident. ^Again, there is the fact that three previous representatives
of the British Government at Baroda either were
Williams, Sutherland. Outram. ^ W ere supposed to be aimed at by means of
poison.
32. I do not mean to say that in all the above instances the Gaekwar or
his State was wholly in the wrong. As little do I attribute wholly and solely
to His Highness the condition of confusion, partizanship, intrigue, crime, and
comparative paralyzation of the executive, to which affairs have been reduced.
On the contrary, I am of opinion that in some of the acts of reform, for which
His Highness has been condemned, the Prince may have intended well while
his underlings perverted his intentions in administering. Again, it is obvious
that the present crisis is the result of misgovernment under more than one
ruler. Again, the disturbance in prices and in rents caused by the abnormal
rise in the price of cotton during the rebellion in the United States has proved
an element of disorder. Again, we ourselves may have made some mistakes in
respect to our proceedings and relations with the Baroda State, and finally I
am confident that at the present time His Highness is sincerely anxious to
follow our advice and reform his administration.
33. Nevertheless, on a general and dispassionate review of the whole
case, considered in its political bearings under the three heads above enumerated
I am of opinion that the complicity of His Highness in the recent attempt
to poison, taken in connection with His Highness' personal antecedents, and
with the heretofore general and protracted maladministration of the State, renders
„ XT ^ it obligatory on me to accept the alternative which
My No. 415-1378 of the 7th ultimo. ^ , 1 , •, M-i. i x j - xv
I recently alluded to as a possibility, and to aiiteren-
tially submit to His Excellency the Viceroy and Governor-General of India
in Council my " solemn recommendation that the Gaekwar State be saved by
the deposal from power of its Ruler, and by the inauguration of a minority or
other mode of government under suitable conditions."
Dated Baroda, 5tb Junuary 1875.
From— Hon'ble Andrew R. Scoble , Advocate-General, Bombay,
"i 0 —Colonel Sir Lewis Pelly, K.C.S.I., Agent, Governor-General, &c. &c.
I n obedience to your request I have the honor to submit the following
observations upon the evidence now available with regard to the recent attempt
to poison Colonel Phayre, the Resident at Baroda.
It appears to be clear from the reports of Colonel Phayre, Dr. Seward and
Dr. (iray (the Chemical Analyzer to Government) that on the morning of the
9th November 1874, white arsenic and some siliceous substance (which it is
suggested was daimond dust) were introduced into Colonel Phayre's sherbet,
and that alter taking a few sips of the beverage. Colonel Phayre was attacked
by the symptoms usually produced by the swallowing of poison. The small
quantity of sherbet taken, however, fortunately prevented any fatal or even
serious effect.
No satislactory evidence as to the person by whom this poison was
administered appears to have been obtained until the latter part of December by
58

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The enclosures relate to the attempted poisoning of Colonel Robert Phayre, formerly Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. at Baroda, including the Colonels interviews with the staff at 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. on duty the day of the poisoning, and the implication that the Gaekwar of Baroda had ordered it. Also discussed are the subsequent enquiry into the affairs of the Gaekwar, both financial and personal, and concerns that such an enquiry and any subsequent trial could lead to civil disturbances in Baroda.

The enclosed correspondence is between the Secretary to Government at Bombay (Charles Gonne); Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department (Charles Umpherston Aitchison and Frederick Henvey - Officiating Under-Secretary); Agent, Governor-General for Rajputana [Rājasthān] and Special Commissioner at Baroda (Lewis Pelly); the Viceroy of India (Thomas George Baring, Second Baron Northbrook); the Advocate-General at Bombay (Andrew Scoble); and the Commissioner of Police at Bombay (Frank Henry Souter).

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Enclosures of letter to Her Majesty's Secretary of State for India, No.11, dated 15 January 1875: Nos. 3 to 45 of Abstract of Contents, from the Officiating Under-Secretary to the Government of India, Fort William [‎83v] (66/100), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F126/81, ff 52-100, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023626960.0x0000a9> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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