The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-06-03 00:00:00

SIR SALAR JUNG.

(From The Times.)
The career of a native statesman in India does not
attract the attention of the multitude at home ueless
his name happens to be a-sociated w'th some Imperial
measure, in which case he is sealosn favourably men
tioned. As long as he is eusased in the Go --ernment
of some Native Snate, improving its coudi ion, directing
its internal economy, and regulating its finances, he is
only known to the Indian Government and its ser-
vants, and he is generally all the better for his ob-
scurity. But from the time that Poorneah won the ad-
miration of ore of toe ablest of our own statesmen down
to the present moment, the Neatly° States of liindostan
have rarely failed to produce administrators of mar sed
ability e if he visite c! the Princp of Wales has pro-
cuced many results which were ;net foreseen by the
most sagacious observers at home or abroad. It is
likely to leave an indeliule mark on the history
of the relations between England and India.
Had that tour never been, undertaken Sir Saber
-Jung would, in all probability, have come to
England; but he would have appeared among Us in
different, and, in all likelihood, in less agreeable,
circumstances. Eminent as his services have been,
and remarkable as his career has been, there are many
thousands who ask, "Who is Sir Saler Jung ?" And
there are many thousanclkwho have never heard of his
name. It was a revelation to millions, indeed, to hear
that there were still Native States in India with
Courts, Ministers, and Armies of their own. We fear
that there are some even among the educated classes,
who would be puzzled to give a very definite account
of the Deccan, or to describe the territories of the
Nizam and the nature and relations of the State and
of its ruler with the British Government. Had the
Deccan been involved in the troubles of 18578, as
Gwalior and Indere were, we should, no doubt,
have been acquainted with the particulars, but the
services which were rendered to the British Govern-
ment at that eventful period were of the utmost
value and magnitude, although they, fortunately,
did not need to be written in characters of blood.
The Deccan extends over nearly 100,000 square
miles, and is peopled by 10,000,000 inhabitants, of
whom the vast majority—probably nine in ten—are
Hindoos. The soil is generally good and produces cot-
ton in abundance. Coal and iron mines have been
discovered, and the great rivers Kiatna, Tombudra, and
Godavery drain the vast plateau which forms the bulk
of the land and open it to the Eastern and Western
Oceans. The first Nizam established friendly relations
with the English Governor of Fort St. David in 1747,
which were generally maintained in the wars with the
French and their allies, and, although for a time the
ability and genius of Bossy secured the ascendancy of
his councils and influence at Hyderabad, the tro nos and
resources of the Nizam were placed at our disposal in
the campaign against Tippoo in 1791, and in the strug-
gle with the Mahrattas, and the alliance has continued
to the present day. In 1853 Sir Saler Jung was
appointed to succeed his uncle, Seraj 00l Muolk, as
Dawan to Niaseer 00l Dowlah, who had just been forced
by Lord Dalhousie to assign to the superintendence of
the British certain rich districts to secure the payment
of debts alleged to be due for the pay of the Contingent
which was kept up in accordance with the Treaty by
the Deccan. He was only 19 years of age, and the
condition of the State was one which might have
appalled the boldest and most experienced of states-
men.
There was no money in the Treasury—the system of
taxation was wasteful and unproductive. Although
the Residents at the Court of Hyderabad had been for
many years possessed of paramount power, they ap-
plied their energies to the sole object of securing
British interests, and did not interfere in the internal
affairs of the State with a view to their improvement.
In fact, as long as the enormously expensive Contin-
gent was paid, they cared little for Vie manner in
which the money was raised. Armed bands, Miscalled
soldiery, carried terror and dismay through the coun-
try, and created disturbances and riots in the towns at
their pleasure. Hyderabad was a hot-bed of turbulent
fanaticism. Arab mercenaries and Ruhillas, ever
ready for mischief, paralyzed the arm of law and order,
blighted trade and commerce, and threatened at any
moment to require the attention of the Governor-
General, at that moment L ird Dalhousie, whose
imethods in such cases were terribly earnest. Saler
'Jung began his work by refu-ing to draw more than
half toe salary of his bffice, and his example was fol-
lowed by the other servants of the State. He put an
I end to the system of farming the revenues • he dis-
I couraged the itnmigration of Arabs and Rohillas, ssnd
l set to work to strengthen the hands of the polies, and
!to obtain cone degree of security for property and
life. But while he was engaged in this Herculean
task there came upon bin a trial, the tension
and force of which can never be urdsrstood by a
European and a Christian. He was a Mehoinedau,
and he served a Mahomedan State. The Power
which bad destroyed the role of Mahomedan and
Hincloo alike was in the utmost peril. The Mutiny
and Rebellion had spread over India and the Governor
of B.enbay probably told no more than the truth when
he tetegraphed to the Resident at Hyderabad—" If 1
the Nizam goes all is lost." But the Nizetn did not
go. Saler Jung, surrounded by armed crowds, who
threatened and reviled him, held fast to the British
Government. He held the control with a masterly
hand, arrested end delivered over to punishment the
rioters who attacked the Residency, and inspired the,
Resident with such a conviction of his ascendancy andl
fidelity that he ordered the Hyderabad Contingent tol
join the British forces, with whom it rendered till
most signal services. It would be foolish to pretend,
that in his efforts he had the sympathy of the Mahl
medan. populace, and that he did not encounte
opposition and enmity. His merit is that he roe
superior to the prejudices and passions of his co-reli
giouists and countrymen, and that at the loss oi his
own popularity, and at the risk of a violent death'
which more than once well-nigh befell him, he resolved
to stand by the Power, even when it seemed at its
death gasp, which had given some sort of peace to
Hiedostan and promised to guarantee its future proa-
perity and advancement in the ways of modern
civilisation.
When the rebellion was put down Saler Jung set
himself to work at the rest of his self-alloted task.
Associated with his'co Regent, the Ameer-el•Kaheer,
the very able man who jointly with him is charged
with the direction of affairs during the non-age of the
boy Nizam, he has developed in the Deccan such
enterprise and secured such a measure of peace and
prcgress as have never been witnessed in India
since the golden days and the model rulers of
whom the poets and historians tell such marvellous,
if not apocryphal, stories. Roads have been made
.or restored,' tanks built, wells dug, irrigation works
—matters of the first necessity—renewed or created,
railways made and planned, an efficient polies
;gradually introduced and extended, schools founded
education fostered, the Arab Chiefs restrained or co
verted to the cause of order, the irregular soldiery se
pressed, the Rohillas disbanded, and Hyderabad
tranquillised that the members of the Prince's suii
who visited it were treated with the utmost civility. I
May possibly be that they could not detect much plea-
sure and friendliness in the glances which they en-
ceuntered. But we should remember that an Egyptian
officer charged with the superintendence of certain
work on board one of the Khedive's ships in the
Thames, who took up his abode at Lirnehouse, found
it necessary after a time to lay aside his fez and put
on a bat, in order to avoid the jeers and occasionally
the more material mobs of dislike of the Christians of
that religious district; so that we need not be sur-
prised if the same sort of illiberality existed at Hyder-
abad. The Indian Government, to mark its sense of
the services of Saler Jung, created him Grand Cross of
the Star of India, and restored to the Nizam the
Reichoar Doab and Dharaseo. Sir Saler Jung is of
princely rank by descent and possessed of large estates,
but in his tastes he is simple and unostentatious, as he
is regal in his hospitalities and charities. He speaks and
writes English with ease and elegance, and his man-
ners are so engaging that an English official, who was
very much opposed to claims which Sir Saler Jung was
urging on behalf of the NIZAM against the Govern-
ment, said that "he thought Englishmen of influence
and rank should not be encouraged to go to Hydera-
bal, as Sr Saler Jung was sure to make converts of
them. The impression produced by the Nawab on
strangers is certainly very agreeable, and it is not effaced
by further intercourse. In the painful discussion which
arose in reference to the presence of the Nizern, who is
a very sickly boy, at the Prince of Wales's Durbar at
B imbay, he never lost his dignity and temper when
subjected to very strong insinuations, and he certainly
won an easy victory over clumsy opponents in the
diplomatic controversy as the Nizam's health and
ability to visit Boasbsy. The splendour of the deputa-
tion which he headed evinced his desire to do honour
to the Heir Apparent and to pay respect to the
Crown, and both at Bombay and Calcutta he was
treated with marked distinction by the Prince of Wales,
who was aware of his services and was much interested
in his conversation. Toe Duke of Sutherland, who
weot to Nyderobad, was much struck by the practical
sense of the Minister, who will soon be his guest, and
it may be taken for granted that no more remaikable
personage has visited this country for many years from
countries outside Europe than Sir Saler Jung.