Letter from the undersigned Sirdars, etc. of the Baroda Sate to Philip Sandys Melvill, Agent to the Governor-General of India, Baroda [‎19v] (6/18)

6
taken to abolish it, or, at least, to diminisli its force. We often tried
in vain to draw the attention of His Highness Malharrao Gaekwar to
our grievances on the subject. Subsequently we represented them to
the Commission of Sir R. Meade, as well as to Sir Lewis Pelly, and
although we were assured by the latter that proper inquiries would
immediately be instituted into the matter, it remained as it formerly
was. In the meantime. His Excellency Sir Mahadevrao was appointed
Prime Minister of the State, so that the matter came to his hands for
decision. From this quarter, too, we have received sad disappoint
ments ; instead of adhering to the principles of the Hindu Law, His
Excellency has declared several of our hereditary rights to be enjoyed
only for the lifetime of the adopted son, and, in some cases, has either
reduced or wholly discontinued the allowances. We postpone sub
mitting full particulars in support of these statements till your Honour
desires us to do so; but, in order that they may not appear wholly
groundless, we beg your Honour to refer to His Excellency's Admi
nistration Report for the year 1875-76. Thus your Honour will
clearly see that the assurance conveyed in the proclamation of Her
Most Gracious Majesty the Empress of India, and repeated from time
to time by Her Majesty's Representatives to the effect that the admi
nistration of this State would be conducted in conformity to its parti
cular customs, is not being carried out; and we are at a loss to
understand how, in the face of such assurance, the new policy of His
Excellency the Dewan can for a moment be upheld.
In this State it is an established custom that whenever we are in need
of borrowing money, we ask the Sircar to offer to the banker a kacha
kabulaydt (guarantee) in the shape of a promise to pay him a certain
proportion of ouv hales or allowances at the time of their becoming
due to us. This practice affords both convenience to ourselves and
security to the banker, at the same time that the Sircar thereby in
curs no responsibility. The Sahookar rests assured that the money
advanced by him will doubtless be repaid from the Government trea
sury at the time of the payment of our haks^ while we are enabled to
get the required loan at a very moderate interest. Moreover, the
practice affords the Government a clue to acquire a thorough know
ledge of our circumstances. This custom, which has existed here for
a long time, is now abolished, and it appears that the present Ministry
has resolved never to revive it {vide para. 56 of His Excellency the
Dewan's Administration Report for the year 1875-76). This deter
mination on the part of the Ministry is highly injurious to all of us,
while it is clear that the Gowrnment derives no gain from it. The
absence of Government security 'tegets impatience and distrust in the
mind of the Sahookar, so that we find it extremely difficult to procure