Volume 1

Rambles and recollections of an Indian official / [Sir William Henry Sleeman].

  • William Henry Sleeman
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Rambles and recollections of an Indian official / [Sir William Henry Sleeman]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    304/492 page 264
    and happiness of the people, had extended the fame of the family all over India; and that I trusted the reigning member of that family, whoever he might be, would be sensible that it was his duty to sustain that reputation by imitating the example of those who had gone before him. After attar of roses and pan had been handed round in the usual manner, I went to the summit of the highest tower in the castle, which commands an extensive view of the country around. The castle stands upon the summit of a small hill of syenitic rock. The elevation of the outer wall is about one hundred feet above the level of the plain, and the top of the tower on which I stood about one hundred feet more, as the buildings rise gradually from the sides to the summit of the hill. The city extends out into the plain to the east from the foot of the hill on which the castle stands. Around the city there is a good deal of land, irrigated from four or five tanks in the neighbourhood, and now under rich wheat crops ; and the gardens are very numerous, and abound in all the fruit and vegetables that the people most like. Oranges are very abundant and very fine, and our tents have been actually buried in them and all the other fruits and vegetables which the kind people of Jhansi have poured in upon us. The city of Jhansi contains about sixty thousand inhabitants, and is celebrated for its manufac- ture of carpets.' There are some very beautiful temples in the city, all built by Gosains, one [sic] of the priests of Siva who here engage in trade, and accumulate much * This estimate of the population was probably excessive. The present population, including the cantonments^ is 53»779- hi 1886 the fort of Gwalior and the cantonment of Morar were surren- dered by the Government of India to Sindhia in exchange for the fort and town of fhansi. Both forts were mutually surrendered and occu- pied on the loth of March, 1886. Sindhia also surrendered fifty-eight villages in exchange for thirty given up by the Government of India, and the difference in value was adjusted by cash payments. The detailed arrangements were finally sanctioned by Lord Dufferin on 13th June, 1888.
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3