Gambar halaman
PDF
ePub
[blocks in formation]

returned to their own country, and the city remained for many years in a state of desolation. Mahma Doocree, the lady on whose account the expedition had been undertaken, came with the army against Dhuboy, and dying during the siege, was revered as a saint, and buried in a grove near the gate of diamonds, where her tomb still remains. Near it a perforated stone, already mentioned, is used for ordeal trials. The monument of Sciad Ballah is near that of his mother.

When the Moguls finally conquered Guzerat, Dhuboy once more became populous, and remained under their government upwards of two centuries; it then fell into the hands of the Mahrattas, who rebuilt the walls in their present heterogeneous condition. Under them it continued until the beginning of 1780, when, during the Mahratta war with the English, General Goddard appeared before it at the head of an English army from Bengal. While he was preparing for a siege, the pundit with the Mahratta troops evacuated the city in the night, and the next morning the English took possession. General Goddard having established a garrison, marched to the conquest of Ahmedabad, and I was appointed to take charge of this new acquisition, and to collect the revenues, still retaining my situation as a member of the council at Baroche, where I occasionally resided.

The circumstances of giving a name to a city on any particular occasion, or of changing the name on some extraordinary event, frequently occurs in ancient history, as we find at Alexandria, Constantinople, and many other places. In India it is equally prevalent;

[blocks in formation]

Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, and Aurungabad derive their name from their founder or conqueror; and although the former name of Dhuboy, if the spot had any peculiar appellation, is no longer remembered, I should suppose it must have been the "city of waters ;" for in the rainy season it is completely insulated by large lakes, so that the cattle swim in and out of the gates every morning and evening. A similar passage occurs in the reign of David: when the Israelitish monarch sent Joab, his principal general, to besiege Rabbah, a royal city of the Ammonites. After the conquest, Joab sent messengers to David, and said, "I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters; now therefore gather the people together, and encamp against the royal city, and take it; lest I take the city, and it be called after my name."-2 Samuel, ch. xii. 27, 28.

I had not been many weeks in Dhuboy, before it was surrounded by the Mahratta army, consisting of near a hundred thousand horse and foot, who encamped within sight of the walls, although not within reach of our cannon. The Dhuboy garrison consisted only of three companies of Bombay sepoys, commanded by three European officers, a few European artillery-men and lascars, with five byracs of Arabs and Scindian infantry. Our situation was very unpleasant but finding, from the halcarras and spies sent into the enemy's camp, that they entertained a much higher opinion of our strength, we were in hopes the city might be defended until we received a reinforcement from Baroche.

Two English gentlemen, with whom I was inti

CRITICAL SITUATION.

549

mately acquainted, were at that time hostages in the Mahratta camp; one in the civil service on the Bombay establishment, the other a military officer. The former contrived to send me secretly a few words concealed within the tube of a very small quill, run into the messenger's ear, to inform me of the enemy's determination to recapture Dhuboy; advising me, as I could expect no relief from Baroche, and general Goddard's army was pursuing a different direction, to make the best terms possible, and deliver up the keys to the Mahratta sirdar, as all resistance would be vain. My library at Dhuboy was very scanty; the Annual Registers and Encyclopedia were its principal treasures. I consulted the commanding officer, and looked over various articles of capitulation, that in case of necessity we might at least have made honourable terms; and having no artillery officer, nor engineer, we studied the treatises on fortification, gunnery, and similar subjects, to strengthen the ramparts, repair the towers at the Diamond Gate, and render the old Mahratta guns of some service. Fortunately, at this critical period, the approach of General Goddard, with his conquering army from Ahmedabad, was announced; the Mahrattas instantly broke up their encampment, and retreating towards Poonah, the general marched to Surat.

The Indians thought my Encyclopedia contained all knowledge, from building a castle to making a guncarriage, and were constantly consulting it; and so ingenious and persevering were the Indian artificers, that in a few months after my arrival I had furnished the durbar with chairs, tables, sofas, and other necessary articles from Europe, finished entirely by the natives of Guzerat.

[blocks in formation]

On the Mahratta army entirely leaving the country, the Byots returned to their respective villages and agricultural employments, and peace and plenty once more blessed the pergunna entrusted to my care.

END OF VOL. I.

J. B. NICHOLS AND SON, 25, PARLIAMENT-STREET.

NEW VOYAGES AND TRAVELS

JUST PUBLISHED BY

RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
Publisher in Ordinary to His Majesty.

1.

In 2 vols. 8vo. with Plates,

WANDERINGS IN NEW SOUTH WALES, BATAVIA, PEDIR COAST, SINGAPORE, AND CHINA. Being the JOURNAL of a NATURALIST

in those Countries, during 1832, 1833, and 1834.
By GEORGE BENNETT, Esq., F. L. S.

2.

In 2 vols. 8vo.

ITALY.

With SKETCHES of SPAIN and PORTUGAL.

In a Series of Letters written during a Residence in those Countries. By WILLIAM BECKFORD, Esq.

Author of "Vathek."

Now FIRST PUBLISHED.

"Unlike any book of travels in prose that exists in any European language. This work will henceforth be classed among the most elegant productions of modern literature."—Quarterly Review. 1834.

3.

In 2 vols. 8vo. with Maps and Illustrations,
DISCOVERIES IN ASIA MINOR.

By the Rev. F. V. I. ARUNDELL,
BRITISH CHAPLAIN at SMYRNA.

"Volumes of great interest, which will be gladly received by the classical and religious world. Mr. Arundell's style is easy, animated, and pleasing. His narrative is agreeably intermixed with his fruitful account of striking scenery and adventures of the road."-Morning Herald.

4.

BEST GUIDE BOOK for EMIGRANTS.

New Edition, with valuable Additions, in 8vo. with Plates, EXCURSIONS IN NEW SOUTH WALES, VAN DIEMAN'S LAND, AND SWAN RIVER, By Lieut. BRETON, R. N.

In the Years 1830-31-32-33; therefore comprising the most recent Account of the Actual Condition of these Colonies.

"No emigrant to New South Wales should be without this work."-Naval and Military Gazette.

« SebelumnyaLanjutkan »