Enclosures of letter to Her Majesty's Secretary of State for India, No.17, dated 22 January 1875: Nos. 3 to 26 of Abstract of Contents, from the Officiating Under-Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department, Fort William [‎138r] (75/90)

25 Q
Eoclosure No. 12.
No. 410-1472, dated Baroda, 27th December 1874.
From— C olonel S ir L ewis P elly , K.C.S .I., Agent, Governor-General, and Special
Commissioner, Baroda,
To—C. U. A ttchison , Esq., C.S.I., Secretary to the Govt of India, Foreign Dept.
A mong the instructions contained in paragraph 9 of your Office letter No.
1586P. of the 25th of July 1874, was the following:—
"That with respect to the arbitrary reductions which have been made
among the military classes, the Gaekwar should be advised, in consultation with
the Resident, to frame some general rules for adoption in giving effect to such
reductions in future which will ensure their being carried out with due consi
deration to the claims of the parties concerned, and will prevent the scandal
and risk that must attend the sudden deprivation without compensation or
other provision of any sort of large numbers of old and hereditary military
servants of the service on which they are wholly dependent for the means of
subsistence."
2. On taking charge of this office, I found that the question of the Sir
dars, in relation to the Gaekwar, had formed the subject of a lengthened corre
spondence, but that in this as in almost every other case on the records of 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. , no settlement or satisfactory arrangement had been arrived at.
3. The most recent letter on the tile was one from Colonel Phayre 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. , No. 411-1361 of the 2nd December, in which Colonel
Phayre on being removed from office, submitted some statements of 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. 's
Attornies, and concluded his transmitting letter with the following words:—
" During the past year I have so frequently pressed upon the notice of
Government the important nature of these cases that I refrain from alluding
further to it."
4. This letter of Colonel P hay re's, with its accompaniment, has now been
sent to me from the Political Secretariat, Bombay, by transmitting letter No.
7548 of the 14th December 1874, intimating that " under present circumstances
you (I) will take such further action in the matter of this representation as
you (I) may think proper."
5. It will be in your recollection that numerous complaints from 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. , Silledars, &c., were produced before the Commission of last year, and
that some 40 cases were enquired into, and that of these 40 the Commission
accepted a few cases which had direct reference to the acts of the present
Gaekwar; and it was for the disposal of these latter cases that on my arrival
here, arrangements were made for enquiry being instituted 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. , as
reported in my letter No. 431-1428 of 18th December 1874.
6. But I soon found that the debts, grievances, and complaints of 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. , &c., required a more extended investigation than that contemplated by
the Commission. Indeed, there appeared to be irritation almost approaching
exasperation on the part of 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. towards the Gaekwar, and these angry
feelings appeared to me to have been increased by an injudicious or (to say the
least of it) an inopportune act on the part of His Highness in according to
the recently created Pritinidhi a cushion sent in 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). , thus signifying
precedence over all 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. .
7. On the anniversary of the Gaekwar's birth-day, being 12th instant,
I observed that there was only one 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. present in 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). , and His High
ness afterwards explained that his 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. had been so accustomed to look 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. that they had ceased to regard him: that they had refused to
accept their last year's allowances; and that they now wished to contest his
right to confer rank on his late Minister.
8. A few days afterwards His Highness called on me to intimate that
his 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. had requested an interview with him, that he had accorded the
same, and that during the interview disrespect had been shown especially on
the part of Narayen Rao Raje Pandray, the head Mharatta 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. , who had gone
so far as to insinuate a threat to His Highness.