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Letter No.555 of 1870 from Colonel William Lockyer Merewether, The Commissioner in Sind, Kurrachee [Karāchi] to The Government at Bombay [124v] (2/2)
The record is made up of 1 folio. It was created in 6 Sep 1870. 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
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No. 1219 of 1870.
P olitical D epartment.
Jacobabad, 30th August 1870.
1. In submitting tViis letter, No. 66 dated !20th instant, trom Captain Harrison, tho
Political Superintendent on the Frontier is not sufficiently acquainted with the local
history of Beyla to offer any remarks, except upon the general question involved in para.
which is rather at variance with General Jacob's opinion, expressed in his letter No. 343
dated 21st June 1858, which says—
* * » « The j am 0 f Beyla is the Sovereign Prince of that Province, he is a feuda-
" torv of the Khan of Khelat, to whom he owes allegiance, military service, and some
" trifling specific dues.
" The Jam, and his subordinate Chieftain, Oomed Ali, arc, as I have long since reported,
" in rebellion against the Khan of Khelat; but the Jam of Beyla has an undoubted right
" to levy any taxes he may think proper within his own territory, except transit dues on
" general merchandize passing through Beloochistan."
2. The above is somewhat different from the position ascribed to the Jam m this letter,
viz. ; that for generations, his subjects have looked upon the Khan as their SoA -ereign, and
the Jam as merely his representative.
R. PIT AY RE, Colonel,
Political Superintendent, Frontier Lpper Sind.
No. 555 of 1870.
P olitical Department.
Commissioner's Office,
Kurrachee, 6th September 1870.
Submitted to Government in continuation of previous correspondence.
2 Had the Political Superintendent been better acquainted with the previous history of
Kheiat, had he even taken tho trouble to study the best description of that country, its
people, government, and customs, (Masson's) he would have found no difficulty in reconcding
the circumstances slated by Captain Harrison, and what General Jacob wrote.
3 The term Sovereign Prince, in the literal sense of the first word, was not quite coi-
rectly applied to the Jam of Beyla, for though, from the timo of the grandfather of
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.
Meer Khan, the Jam of Beyla was allowed to exert almost supremo power over the
province, and to levy taxes therein, he was " a feudatory of the Khan of Khelat, did him
" military service," and paid him " some trifling specific dues," as stated by General Jacob.
He was not permitted to levy transit dues on general merchandize passing through Beloo
chistan, those were only payable to the head of the whole country, the Khan of Khelat.
The subjects of Beyla considered themselves also subjects of the supreme ruler, accom
panying their immediate head, the Jam, when called on to do military service for the
Sovereign.
4. There was nothing therefore so very far wrong in the statement of
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.
Meetah
Khan,
W. L. MERE WETHER. Colonel,
Commissioner in Sind.
B
B j
1!
I
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Letter enclosing correspondence from Captain Charles Henry Harrison (No.66 of 1870) and Colonel Robert Phayre (No.1219 of 1870) and making the observation that had Colonel Phayre taken the time to be better acquainted with the previous history of Khelat [Kalāt] he would have had no trouble in reconciling the information General John Jacob had provided on the position of the Jam of Beyla [Bela] with the statement made in Captain Harrison's letter and that he considered there to be nothing wrong in the statement.
Enclosures to the letter:
- Letter No.66 of 1870 from Captain Charles Henry Harrison, Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Khelat to Colonel Robert Phayre, Political Superintendent, Frontier Upper Sind, 20 August 1870 reporting on the arrival of 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. Meetah Khan, Shaook of Beyla [Bela] and a visit paid by him to Captain Harrison in which he and stated that they had always looked upon the Khan as their sovereign and the Jam of Beyla as his representative, and that since His Highness had taken control of the Government of Beyla their situation had improved and he wished to acknowledge his satisfaction with the new Government imposed by the Khan.
- Letter No. 1219 of 1870 from Colonel Robert Phayre, Political Superintendent, Frontier Upper Sind, Jacobabad to Colonel William Lockyer Merether, Commissioner in Sind, 30 August 1870 stating that he is not sufficiently acquainted with the local history of Beyla but that he had noted a letter from General John Jacob, June 1858, on the position of the Jam of Beyla which seemed to be at odds with the statement given by 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. Meetah Khan.
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Letter No.555 of 1870 from Colonel William Lockyer Merewether, The Commissioner in Sind, Kurrachee [Karāchi] to The Government at Bombay [124v] (2/2), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F126/22, f 124, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100024195160.0x00002f> [accessed 30 June 2026]
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- Reference
- Mss Eur F126/22, f 124
- Title
- Letter No.555 of 1870 from Colonel William Lockyer Merewether, The Commissioner in Sind, Kurrachee [Karāchi] to The Government at Bombay
- Pages
- 124r:124v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
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- Open Government Licence