LETTERS OF A HINDOO RAJAH. LETTER I. Zaarmilla, Rajah of Almora, to Kisheen. Neeay Maandaara, Zimeendar of Cumlore, in Rohilcund. PRAISE to Ganesa! May the benign influence of the God of Wisdom,* beaming on the breast of Maandaara, dispel those clouds of wrath which have been engen * The God of Wisdom, a customary introduction to the writings of the Hindoos. From several expressions made use of by the Rajah in the course of his corres dered by mistake, and poured forth in the whirlwind of impetuosity. I might justly expostulate upon the harshness of thy expressions; but I call to mind the goodness of thy heart, and they are effaced from my memory. We shrink from the fury of the King of Rivers, when his terror-striking voice threatens destruction to the surrounding world; but when his silver waves return to the peaceful channel allotted to them by the adored Veeshnu, we forget our terrors, and contemplate with rapture the majestic grandeur of the sacred stream who rolls his blessings to a thousand nations. And who would not prefer the casual fury of the mighty Ganges to the apathetic dulness of the never moving pool? pondence, he appears to have been an adherent of the sect called in the northern parts of India Veeshnûbukt, or Adorers of Veeshnû, the preserving power. The Angel of Truth, whose dwelling is with Brahma, be my witness, that I have never been unmindful of the vows of friendship we so solemnly exchanged over the still warm ashes of the venerable Pun- ' dit, the guide and the instructor of our tender years. Twice, in performance of that vow, have I essayed to send the promised information, and twice have my intentions been frustrated. No sooner had the auspicious arms of the sons of mercy opened the long-obstructed channels of conveyance, and checked the fury of the Afgan Khans, who have so long oppressed our unhappy country,* * "On the 22d day of April, 1774, was fought between the armies of the visier, assisted by the English, and the troops of Hafiz Rhamut, the Rohilla Chief, the decisive battle of Cutterah; in which the complete victory obtained by the former at once annihilated the power, and decided the fate, of the Afgan adventurers. 1 than I dispatched a messenger to thee, with a full account of public affairs, and of all the incidents that have occurred to me in my retirement. Two months ago I learned that this messenger was drowned in his attempts to pass the Jumna. Again I wrote the same voluminous detail, and sent it by the hands of an Hircarrah, employed in the English camp, and who was sent from thence with dispatches to Agra, his native city. This messenger, more unfortunate than the other, was seized and cut in pieces, by a band of brutal Afgans. Hoping that this account will fully exculpate me from the charge of neglect, and Wherever the fate of the Rohillas became known (says the historian of their short lived empire) the Hindoo Zimeendars (each of whom is possessed of a strong-hold attaching to the chief village of his district) shut their forts, and, refusing to their late masters protection, plundered without distinction all whom they found flying toward the hills." |