SINDE, an extensive kingdom of Hindustan, which extends from the district of Shikarpoor on the frontier of Cabul, and the island of Bukkor in the Indus, along the level plain, watered by that river to the sea; in length about two hundred and fifty miles by eighty miles in average breadth. The general boundaries are the British principality of Cutch and the Indian ocean to the south; the kingdom of Jessulmere and the Rejistah, or Sandy Desert, to the east, which extends from the territories of Cutch five hundred and fifty miles in length by a hundred and fifty in breadth; the mountains of Belochistan on the west; and the provincesof Seewistan and Babawulpoor on the north. It is a flat alluvial country, situated between the 23d and 27th degrees of north latitude, and the 67th and 71 st degrees of cast longitude; and is crossed in a diagonal direction by the Indus and its brandies, which form adclta, in length about a hundred miles along the coast. The lower part of this delta is intersected by numerous rivers and creeks, like the delta of the Ganges, but it has no trees on it, the dry parts being covered with brush-wood, and the remainder, by much the greater part, being noisome swamps, or muddy lakes. The streams which break off from the Indus, diverge in all directions into other streams, which interlock into each other, and chequer the whole country. To trace in detail those complicated branches into which the main stream is thus divided would be useless. All those various streams which overspread the country, greatly increase its fertility; but often prove pernicious to those who dwell on the banks, by the exhalations which arise under a tropical sun, from the annual inundations. “Few countries,” says Major Rennel, “are more unwholesome to European constitutions, particularly the lower part of the delta.”

Sinde may be termed a level country, intersected with rocky hills. Those tracts which are within the limits of the inundation, rival in fertility the borders of the Nile-Even those parts which are at a distance from the river, are capable of being cultivated, provided there is no failure in the periodical rains. This, however, frequently happens, as no country in the world is more subject to drought. During great part of the south-west monsoon, or at least in the months of July, August, and part of September, which is the season of the periodical rains in most parts of India, the atmosphere is generally clouded, but no rain falls, except very near the sea. At Tatta, when it was visited by Captain Hamilton, no rain had fallen for three years. Owing to this, and to the vicinity of the sandy deserts, which bound this country on the east, and on the northwest, the heats are so violent, and the winds from these quarters so unwholesome, that the houses are contrived so as to be ventilated by means of apertures on the top of them, resembling the funnels of small chimneys. During the prevalence of the hot winds, the windows are shut in order to exclude the lower and hottest current of the air, along with the clouds of dust which it sets in motion; and the cooler portion descends into the house through the funnels.^[1. Rennel’s Memoir of a Map of Hindostan. p. 290. ] When Lieutenant now Colonel Pottinger was at Tatta with the mission that was sent to the court of Hydrabad in 1808, the rains were extremely violent; they descended so heavily that the streets frequently ran like rivulets; and in the coolest apartment, the thermometer usually ranged from 94 to 102; this was in June. Towards the middle of July it became much cooler, and strong northerly gales set in, which cooled the air; and at Hydrabad, during the summer season, the mission experienced the heaviest falls of rain, which caused the Futelee river to overflow its banks; and owing to the exhalations from a burning sun, the thermometer seldom falling below 102, and the atmosphere at night being particularly oppressive, beyond, Colonel Pottinger observes, what he had ever experienced in India, the followers of the mission were attacked by fevers and other complaints; and it was only by taking regular exercise, and using requisite precautions, that the gentlemen of the mission continued to maintain themselves in health.^[2. ’ Pottinger’s Narrative, chap. 10, p. 368. ]

The country increases in barrenness as it recedes eastward from the Indus, and its tributaries; and in the vicinity of the Northern Runn, it is described by Dr. Burnes, who travelled through this country in 1825, as a dead unproductive flat, a perfect desert, in which not a tree, house, nor human being, was to be seen, and where it was even difficult to procure a little brackish water from the stagnant marshes that were occasionally seen. For about fifty miles eastward from Cutch, as far as the town of Rurce, and nearly the same distance from the Indus the country presents the same aspect; namely, a sterile flat. The town of Rurce, though superior to most of the towns in this country, yet being removed beyond the freshes of the Indus had suffered severely from drought, so that the inhabitants were reduced below 500.^[3. See Narrative of a Visit to the Court of Sinde, by James Burnes, p 36. ] The villages which are met with in this country, have also the same miserable appearance, being far inferior to those of Cutch, on the eastern side of the Runn. In place of the stone buildings, and tiled roofs, which give an air of neatness and comfort to those of the latter country, they are for the most part collections of low huts, composed of clay and thatch; and even the mosques are built of the same frail materials, of rather greater elevation indeed, and with a feeble attempt at ornament. Many of the inhabitants inhabit grass hovels in the fields, from which, by hard labour, they extort a miserable subsistence. When either food or forage fail, it is not unusual[7:20:362] for the whole population of a village to migrate to another station, as choice or necessity prompts them. Westward, the country gradually improves, and on approaching the region of the inundation, it presents an appearance of extensive cultivation, and the richness of the soil is everywhere remarkable, It is intersected by numerous canals from the branches of the Indus, dug for the purposes of navigation, and over which small brick bridges have been thrown, on which water wheels are placed, by which a supply of moisture is distributed over the fields. The country in the vicinity of Hydrabad assumes a hilly appearance; and westward of the Indus it is bounded by a pile of barren mountains, that are quite as inhospitable, both as to soil and climate, as the sandy desert which is seen at a distance from the Indus and its waters. Near the sea at Kurachee, in latitude 24. 52. north, longitude 67. 17. east, west of the river, the country is, for eight or ten miles, a dead flat; and as, when it was visited by Pottinger, there had been a want of rain for several seasons, the earth was quite burned, without the slightest trace of vegetation, except some small stunted bushes scattered over the plain. But the inhabitants assured him that in forty-eight hours after a plentiful fall of rain, the ground would be a perfect grass plat, moisture being here, as in other hot regions, the great agent of fertility.

The climate is hot; the thermometer varying, in the months of June and July, from 90 to 100; and the country is within the range of the monsoons, and the periodical rains. It is mentioned, however, by Dr. Burnes, that in January 1828, the rain fell in torrents at Hydrabad, which was attended with more piercing cold than he had ever experienced in Europe. In the northern parts of Sinde the air is pure, and refreshed by the cooling breezes from the westward, so that the heat is far from being intolerable. On the western bank of the river, from the latitude of Schwan in 26. 6., there is a variety of feature in the face of the country, some districts being mountainous, some flat, some intersected by ranges of low mountains down to the sea.^[4. Pottinger'a Narrative of a Journey through Belochistan, chap. 9. p. 361. ]

The banks of the Indus near Hydrabad, and generally throughout its lower course, are well cultivated, except where the Ameers, the rulers of the country, have converted the most fruitful fields and districts into gloomy and impervious forests for the preservation of game; those princes being unfortunately passionately fond of hunting, and like all despotic princes, gratifying their inclinations at whatever expense of misery to their subjects. It is mentioned that one of the princes, Meer Futtch Ali, depopulated one of the most fertile spots in the neighbourhood of Hydrabad, which yielded two to three lacs of rupees annually, because frequented by a peculiar species of antelope, which he found great pleasure in hunting. And the youngest brother, Mourad Ali, banished the inhabitants of an ancient village and razed it to the ground, because the crowing of cocks, and the grazing of cattle, disturbed the game in the neighbouring lands, which were contiguous. The game laws of Europe are sufficiently tyrannical; but they are fortunately corrected by the milder influence of manners. During the swelling of the river, grain and other seeds are reared; the remainder of the year is employed in the production of indigo, sugar-cane, and all kinds of grain. They have also extensive pastures; and the country would rapidly advance in wealth, but for the oppressive rapacity of the government. It is the heavy taxes which ruin industry in this, as in most other eastern countries. Every beegah of land watered by a canal or wheel, pays a revenue of from l ½ to 31/ 2 rupees to the government. A duty of one rupee is also charged on each kun war, or 120 pounds of giain reaped by the farmers. Garden land producing fruit trees, pays 2 ½ rupees per bee gah; and the spring crop of tobacco is rated at 4 ½ rupees per beegah. The tax on sugar is collected in kind, and is 4 ½ rupees per beegah. But these are not the only exactions with which agriculture is burdened. Its produce has to pay other dues in the market before it is allowed to be sold. Boats that arrive at Tatta are all taxed in proportion to their value; and these exactions generally exceed the original cost of the articles on which they are imposed. The revenues that are derived from Kurachee, situated west of the Indus, at the south-western extremity of Sinde, of which it has become of late years the principal sea-port, are farmed, agreeable to the wretched policy that obtains throughout this country; and in 1809, according to the information of the able and enterprising traveller, Lieutenant Pottinger, there was paid on this account, into the public treasury, 99,000 rupees, or L. 12,375; and the vender was supposed to clear 12,000 rupees. The revenues have since increased to one lack 23,000 rupees, equal to L.15,375. This increase of revenue is ascribed solely to the local advantages of the port, being a central point between India and the dominions of Cabul, as also Khorassan, Balk, Bokhara, &c. The disorderly state of the country, from the decreasing authority of the Khan of Kelat, diverted the trade into this route through Sinde, the merchants finding the heavy exactions imposed on them more tolerable than the risk of violence to which they were exposed in other parts.

It has been remarked that despotic power, wielded by wisdom and goodness, would constitute the best government. But unfortunately, in Sinde it is wielded neither by wisdom nor goodness, but is a fearful instrument of rapacity and oppression, in the hands of the tyrants who rule the country, who, having no conception that it is for their own interest that the people should thrive, despoil them of their wealth, thus crushing the seeds of future accumulation, and for ever preventing any improvement of the national revenues. Under this short-sighted policy, the imposts and taxation in Sinde, according to Dr. Burnes, whose work affords valuable information on this subject, are enormous, and paralyze the whole trade and industry of the country. With the characteristic recklessness of an arbitrary government, the revenues are farmed to the highest bidders, who, as they are responsible to their task-masters for the produce, and can never expect indulgence on any pretence, are obliged to satisfy their rapacity, and to extort a revenue by whatever means from the impoverished people. Were it not for the great natural advantages with which the country is blessed, in the never-failing supply of moisture from the inundation of the Indus, which renders the cultivator independent of the tropical rains, her industry must have sunk under the manifold evils of ignorance and misrule. This is a source of fertility, of which no tyranny can despoil this highly favoured land; and thus the bounty of Providence is here more effectual to renovate, than the wickedness of man to destroy. The cultivator looks with certainty to an abundant harvest, and is enabled to export of his abundance to other countries. “Hence,” says the judicious traveller already referred to, “there is an appearance of plenty and contentment throughout this misgoverned land, which would surprise any traveller who did not take every circumstance into consideration.” Certain checks, however imperfect, no doubt exist to the excesses of despotic power. The farmers of the revenues are generally Hindus, who have no influence with the Ameers, by whom they are despised for their religion, and envied on account of their wealth; and on this account, they are the more ready to listen to any complaints against their oppressions from the Ryots, and to grant them redress. This, however, is but a feeble safeguard against oppression; and it too often happens that the interests of[7:20:363] the two parties lead them to unite in the spoliation of the helpless villager.

The principal articles of domestic produce, which are exported chiefly from Kurachee, are rice, ghee, hides, shark fins, potash, saltpetre, assafoetida, bdellium, madder, frankincense, Tatta-cloths, indigo, oleaginous and other seeds. From Mooltan, and the countries to the northward, are imported for re-exportation, alum, musk, horses, Kashmeer shawls, dried fruit, diamonds, lapis lazuli, turquoise, and other precious stones and gums. Other imports are tin, iron, lead, steel, ivory, European manufactures, sandal and other scented woods, from the south of India; swords and carpets from Khorasan and Candabar, silk and other articles from the Persian Gulf. The merchants who are settled here from Mooltan are the principal traders, and the wealthiest part of the community. The exports from Sinde to Bombay consist of sharks’ fins and flesh, bdellium, ghee, potash, saltpetre, hides, oil of sesame, wheat, assafoetida, oil, raisins, almonds, colouring plants, pistachio flowers and nuts, shawls, cloths, mustard, wild saffron, black cummin seed from Kerman, white cummin seed, chintzes both from Sinde and Khorasan. In return are received from Bombay, sugar, sugar-candy, steel, iron, tin, tutenaque, lead, cochineal, betel-nut, black pepper, dried cocoa nuts, vermillion, red lead, quicksilver, Bengal and China silks and cloths, cinnamon, cardamoms, cloves, nutmegs, sandal-wood, grapes, china ware, pearls, aloes, and amuttas. A considerable trade is carried on with Muscat, Cutch, and with Mooltan and Cabul. To Muscat the exports are dressed leather, rice, wheat, sirshif oil, ghee, bdellium, chintzes, and other cloths; for which the returns are dates, limes, roses, silk from the Persian province of Ghilan, elephants’ teeth, pearls, almonds, preserved fruit, cowries, slaves, arsenic, senna from Mecca, quince seeds, and gum. From Cutch it derives a supply of cotton, snuff, unwrought iron found in Cutch, and the small Arabian aloe. The Indus affords an easy means of intercourse with this province and the countries to the northward, being navigable for small vessels to a great distance from the sea. With Mooltan and Cabul the trade is carried on chiefly by caravans, and also by merchants and travellers. It is proper to add, that the trade in the Indus had greatly decayed, and had become merely nominal, the ignorant and tyrannical policy of the Ameers having nearly crushed it in that province, and the unsettled state of the countries to the northward rendering it precarious in that quarter. In 1808 it was carried on by a few boats passing up and down with grain, saltpetre, salt, and firewood; though, with the increasing ascendancy of the British in this quarter, and the restoration of order and peace in these former regions of anarchy, the former intercourse has revived, and will now be carried on with greater security than ever. A factory, established at Tatta in 1756 by the East India Company, which carried on a considerable trade with the province of Sinde, and was withdrawn, probably from the demoralised state and poverty of the country; though so late as the beginning of the present century, Mr. Crow was a commercial resident at Tatta. An unsuccessful attempt was since made in 1808 to renew the intercourse; but the haughty and jealous chieftains who ruled in this province rejected all advances on the part of the British. Ever since the occupation of Cutch by the British troops in 1819, they viewed the extension of their dominions with distrust, and maintained a cold and unfriendly attitude. No European officer was allowed to cross the frontier from Cutch; and even a special envoy, who had proceeded from Bombay in 1820, on the invitation of their own minister, was coldly received, and it was only in 1825 that a most friendly letter was received, with an invitation to Dr. Burnes to proceed without delay to Hydrabad, on account of the alleged sickness of one of the principal chiefs. The invitation vas accepted, and he was received with every mark of confidence. A treaty has been since ratified in 1838 by the Ameers of Sinde, providing for the reception of a British resident; to which office Colonel Pottinger has been appointed.

The government of Sinde is a military despotism. After a long era of civil commotion, Futtch Ali Khan was called to exercise the supreme power, who generously admitted his three brothers, Ghoolam Ali, Kurm Ali, and Mourad Ali, to a participation in his high destiny. He died in 1801, and Ghoolam Ali in 1811. The supreme power in Sinde is now vested in the two youngest and surviving brothers, Meers Kurm and Mourad Ali, who are known as the chief Ameers, and whose seals are affixed to all public documents issued in the name of the government. But there are others of the family who are scarcely inferior in rank to these princes, on whom has devolved the executive government. The two deceased brothers, Futtch and Ghoolam Ali, left sons, to whom they bequeathed their shares in the administration, and who, though they have been kept back by their youth, and the grasping spirit of their uncles, had, when Dr. Burnes was at Hydrabad in 1827, acquired ascendancy in the state; and since his departure, one of them had risen in successful rebellion, and had raised himself to a political equality with his relatives. The two sons of Mourad Ali, Noor Mahommed and Nusseer Khan, are also among the heads of the government. All these chiefs are in possession of respective portions of the revenues of Sinde. After the death of Futtch Ali, the province was partitioned into four shares, of which the largest belongs to Mourad Ali, who, on the plea of his having descendants, continued to despoil his brother and Meer Mahommed of much of their possessions. There are other nobles who are related to the royal family, and who are allowed to assume the title of meer, or lord, but are not permitted to interfere in the affairs of state, deriving their importance solely from their alliance with the reigning princes. The real power centres in Meer Mourad Ali, who is represented as a gloomy tyrant, a slave to avarice, and a plunderer of his people. At the court of the Ameers, every thing is conducted on a scale of magnificence scarcely equalled at any other court in Hindustan. The parade that was exhibited when Colonel Pottinger and Dr. Burnes were severally received at court, is described by these travellers; and they both agree in celebrating the surpassing richness and splendour of the scene. The princes, says the former writer, wore a vast number of jewels, beside those that were set in the hilts and scabbards of their swords and daggers; and their waist-belts displayed some extraordinary emeralds and rubies. They were seated on a thin felt, that extended all round the circle, and over which was laid a silk mattrass, about an inch thick, spread with a muslin cloth, embroidered in a most exquisite manner with gold and silver flowers. They reclined on three large pillows, covered with similar embroidery, which, with the display of jewels, gave the whole an inconceivably rich effect. “Many of the officers of government,” he continues, “appeared in very good style; and the general splendour and richness of the scene far surpassed any thing we had expected to see at the court of Hydrabad.”^[5. Travel in Balochistan and in Sinde, chap. x. p. 367. ] The dress of the princes, which was not ornamental, consisted in fine muslin tunics, with costly sashes tied round their waists, and their turbans of thin transparent gauze were of the largest dimensions, about 2 ½ feet in diameter, and yet so neatly folded up, as to give them a very becoming appearance. Dr. Burnes observes, that when he was first introduced at court,[7:20:364] the coup d’oeil was splendid, and that the spectacle approached nearer than any thing he had seen to the fancies formed in childhood of eastern grandeur. The two principal Ameers were seated amid a group of elegantly attired figures, at the end of a lofty hall, spread with Persian carpetting, on their musnud, a slightly elevated cushion of French white satin, beautifully worked with flowers of silk and gold, the corners of which were raised by four massive and highly chased golden ornaments, resembling pineapples, and, together with a long velvet pillow behind, covered with rich embroidery, presented a very grand appearance. There was no tinsel or gaudy display of scarlet; none of the incongruities seen at the Hindoo courts, of gorgeousness and dirt; but a simple and becoming elegance, far surpassing any thing he had seen in India. The Ameers and their attendants were habited nearly alike, in tunics of fine white muslin, neatly prepared and plaited, so as to resemble dimity, with sashes of silk and gold, wide Turkish trousers of silk tied at the ankle, chiefly dark blue, and Sindian caps made of gold brocade or embroidered velvet. “A pair of Cashmere shawls,” adds Dr. Burnes, “of great beauty, generally white, thrown negligently over the arm, and a Persian dagger at the girdle, richly ornamented with diamonds or precious stones, completed the dress and decorations of each of the princes. All the officers in attendance, judging from their dress and manners, seemed to be of inferior rank. There was no crowding for places; the rabble had been shut entirely out of doors; and there was a degree of stillness and solemnity throughout the whole, and an order and decorum in the demeanour of each individual, which impressed one with a feeling of awe and respect. I could not have anticipated the brilliant collection of jewels and armour that is in possession of these princes, and is of all things calculated most to surprise a European stranger.” Colonel Pöttinger mentions with admiration the profusion of pearls which they displayed; the size of one which the prince carried in his hand, he declares was such as before be should have regarded as perfectly incredible; and a perfect emerald, suspended from the hilt of a dagger which one of the younger princes wore in his sash, was considerably larger than a pigeon’s egg. They had still this emerald in their possession when Dr. Burnes visited the court; and the immense treasure which they have accumulated from the spoil of the country which they govern, consists in rubies, diamonds, pearls, and emeralds, with which their daggers, swords, and matchlocks are adorned, or they are worn as rings and clasps, on different parts of their dresses. Many of these precious stones were purchased at reduced price, from the unfortunate princes of the Cabul monarchy and the nobility, when they were reduced to ruin by the revolutions which took place in that kingdom; and merchants are encouraged to visit Sinde from all parts, in consequence of the avidity of the princes to buy up the precious articles in which they deal. One or two Persian goldsmiths are employed at court, who continue to display to the best advantage the jewellery of their masters; and the art of inlaying letters of gold on steel has been brought to the greatest perfection by these artizans. The Ameers of Sinde are also remarkably curious in the qualities of swords and gun-barrels; and they possess a more valuable collection of these articles than is to be met with in any other part of the world. The value of a sword is estimated by the age and fineness of the steel, or by the temper and watering. One which was shewn by Kurm Ali to Dr. Burnes, dated 1122, (a.d. 1708,) was valued at 2000 rupees, or about L.125. They have in their armoury swords that have been worn by almost every prince renowned in Asiatic story; by Shah Abbas the Great, Nadir Shah, Ahmed Shah Doranee, besides other equally illustrious personages. Their blades are generally embellished with inscriptions in gold, of verses from the Koran, or short prayers for aid and protection. They manage their swords with great skill; and though they are not heavier than common English sabres, Dr. Burnes mentions that he has seen one of them cut a large sheep, with one stroke, in two pieces, a feat that depends on a certain mode of striking that requires great practice and dexterity.

The Ameers are passionately fond of hunting; and for this purpose large tracts of fertile land are enclosed to prevent the egress of the quadrupeds, and are converted into jungle; and once or twice a-month they visit their different game preserves to enjoy the pleasures of the chace, though the manner of killing the game in this country does not bear the appellation. Their mode of hunting does not at all partake of the animation which belongs to that amusement in Europe. Their plan is to close up all the wells, except the one in front of their tents, to which, when the animals resort, being compelled by dire necessity, they are then shot by the Ameers, amid the acclamations of their followers. They never hunt on horseback; but sometimes, though rarely, go a deer shooting on camels, and none, except themselves, are permitted to fire at any game. There is rarely a sporting excursion which does not cost the lives of two or three of their subjects, a matter of extremely little consequence in this tyrannical country, either from their false aiming, or from the fury of the boars driven desperate. The mode in which those hunting excursions are conducted, marks the jealous policy of the tyrannical government. They are attended by large retinues; and they never previously announce in which direction they mean to travel; nor will any of the princes leave the other behind. They are afraid of leaving them this short interval for intrigue, and, perhaps, rebellion; and it was by being left for two or three hours behind, that one of the princes succeeded in his late rebellion. Though related, they place no confidence in each other. They sleep in apartments peculiarly contrived for safety, with loaded arms laid beside their uneasy pillows; though these precautions are now somewhat relaxed, in consequence of the long era of nearly forty years’ tranquillity which the country has enjoyed under the existing regime. There is nothing like the spirit of independence among the courtiers or nobility of Sinde. They only retain their places by the most implicit obedience and the most fawning adulation to their superiors; and their habitual propensity to flatter a European who is in favour at court, or even each other, is ludicrous; scarcely two persons meet without indulging in the most fulsome strain of oriental flattery; social life is burdened with this ceremonious formality, which is the mark of inferior civilization, and is common in Persia, Cabul, and generally among the semi-barbarous tribes of Asia.

The whole family of the Ameers are extremely strict, and mere bigots in their intolerant religion. With one or two exceptions, they have become Sheahs, or followers of Ali; who hate the sect of the Soonees even more bitterly than Brahmins or Christians. They are remarkable for the intolerance with which they persecute the Hindus, forming a considerable proportion of their subjects, who are subjected to the most exasperating indignities, and often to the greatest cruelties; they are forced to adopt the Mahometan dress, and to allow their beards to grow. It is only lately that they have been allowed to ride on horseback, and it is only the few who are in the immediate service of government that are allowed the privilege and honour, as it is esteemed, of a saddle. Merchants of wealth and respectability may be seen mounted on asses and mules, consider ed unclean animals, such as none but the vilest outcasts in other Asiatic countries can touch with impunity; and they are obliged to descend and stand aside when any Musselman passes by. They are denied the free exercise of their religion; the tom-tom can only be beat when special permission is granted; and though images are placed in most of the temples at Hydrabad, the sound of music never[7:20:365] echoes from their walls; they are subjected to other shocking and degrading cruelties revolting to humanity; any two of the true believers, by declaring that they have heard a Hindoo repeat a verse in the Koran, or the words “Mahomed the prophet,” may procure his immediate circumcision, which this degraded and persecuted class consider the most cruel calamity that can befal them, in which, as it is resorted to on the slightest provocation, and performed with the deriding pretence that it is for their eternal happiness, the torture of the mind is added to that of the body. On the other hand, the most bigotted veneration is expressed for the Seynds, or descendants of the prophet. The meanest wretch who can boast a connection, however remote, with this holy stock, enjoys a station in society such as no temporal man can bestow. If any one, under whatever provocation, would dare to retaliate, by abusing or striking any one of this favoured class, he would be torn to pieces by the enraged populace; and, in consequence of this high favour which they enjoy, an idle herd of these wretches flock into Sinde from the neighbouring countries, where, besides being useless members of the community, and withal insolent and lazy, they debase the minds and drain the purses of the deluded inhabitants.

The Ameers commence business about two hours before day-break, each holding a levee to hear compliments, and to adjust the affairs belonging to his department. About sun-rise they repair to their apartments to dress, and appear shortly afterwards in durbar, where the whole family regularly assemble for transacting public business; all letters are then laid before them, which, being read and considered, and some time passed in conversation, they withdraw to their morning repast about ten or eleven o’clock. They again appear abroad about two o’clock and remain together until dark, when they repair for the night to their respective apartments. At the residences of the younger princes every thing forms a contrast to the stately ceremonial of the elder Ameers; all restraint is thrown aside, and every species of amusement, such as boar-baiting, fencing, ball practice, and wrestling, are pursued with avidity. At the public audiences in the durbar the Ameers, though courteous, are for the most part haughty and reserved in their manners; nothing approaching to familiarity being allowed between them and their most favoured servants. Under such a government as has been described, justice is very imperfectly administered. The Koran is the foundation of law as it is of religion; and between man and man disputes are generally settled fairly enough by the cadi, except where bribery is employed, when the best security for justice is a weighty purse. The Hindus generally settle all disputes among themselves by punchayets or juries, as is practised in many parts of Hindustan, as they have no encouragement to come before the ruling authorities. The native inhabitants, the Beloches, according to their military notions, generally take the law into their own hands, and act on the simple principle of retaliation; nor do the authorities interfere, except where the dispute extends to whole tribes, and seriously endangers the peace of the country. In this case they interfere to settle matters by force or by conciliation. A serious quarrel of this nature occurred when Dr. Burnes was at Hydrabad, when the contending parties were sent for by the princes, who, with much flattery and address, obtained a promise from them to desist.

The military force of Sinde is very inefficient; their armed retainers are few in number and contemptible in appearance. Several of the chiefs of the tribes reside at court, and they can collect in a few days their followers, who are generally employed in agriculture and other occupations. In this manner it is estimated that 40,000 men may be collected. But though the iron rod of oppression has repressed the daring spirit of the military classes, yet the anarchy which has prevailed in this, as in other parts of Hindustan, has nurtured, among the great body of the people, a spirit of disorder and a love of plunder which is ready to break out on all occasions. The country is, in short, filled with licentious banditti, and would have been, in the evil days that are passed, a fit nursery of recruits for the Pindarie bands. “Like hungry vultures,” says Dr. Burnes, “they would almost seem to scent the battle from afar, for the train of dissension is no sooner lighted than war becomes their universal cry, and it is incredible in how short time they flock to the rendezvous.” The late insurrection of the princes was settled in a few days; yet, in that short time, about 20,000 or 30,000 volunteers had joined the different standards, and they were hourly crowding in when the adjustment took place. In military qualities, the Sindian soldier ranks very low; he has no discipline nor steadiness in the field, though he is brave and hardy; and his vanity and gasconading are proverbial. The army presents, when assembled, a motley and ill-accoutred assemblage of mercenaries from all quarters, chiefly composed of ferocious adventurers from the mountains of Belochistan, to one of whose rude tribes the reigning house traces its origin. The Ameers are well aware of the inefficient state of their military force, and of the utter hopelessness of any conflict with the British arms. And this furnishes the explanation of their distance and reserve, justly fearing that any close intercourse would only expose the nakedness of the land. It is not easy to obtain any exact estimate of the revenue of Sinde. Colonel Pottinger states its total amount, including those of all the collateral branches of the reigning family, at sixty-one lacs of rupees yearly, equal to L.767,500 sterling, which shews an increase, since 1809, several years previous to his estimate, of L.232,750, the amount being, at that time, forty-two lacs and 78,000, or L.534,000 sterling.

The men of Sinde are dark in colour but are an exceedingly handsome race; above the medium height of Asiatics, with good features and well-formed limbs. The beauty of the women is proverbial, and it is remarked by Pottinger in his instructive and excellent work, that though he had only casual opportunities of seeing any of the higher class of females, yet among the dancing girls who came to exhibit before them, there was not one who was not distinguished by loveliness of face or the symmetry of her figure, and in most instances both these requisites of beauty were strikingly combined. The dress of the men consists of a loose shirt, a pair of trousers, puckered at the ancles, and a quilted cotton or cloth cap, ornamented with flowers of silk or gold sewed round the bottom: that of the women, with the exception of the cap, is much the same; they wear beside, underneath their shifts, a silk jacket made to fit the form, that laces behind; and when abroad, a cloth shirt wraps round the body, having one end brought round the crown of the head, and serving as a veil to cover the face from strangers. This traveller does not, however, commend, in the same degree, the character of the people, in which the bad qualities, according to his estimate, greatly predominate. They are, he observes, avaricious, full of deceit, cruel, ungrateful, and strangers to veracity; and all the extenuation which he offers for these vices is, that the present generation has grown up under a government whose extortion, ignorance, and tyranny, is unequalled in the world. The Sindians, however, he does not rate lower in the scale of morality than the population and society of the other nations of Asia. Their good qualities consist in personal bravery, abstinence, and obedience to their superiors; for which they are reckoned the best mercenary soldiers in Hindustan. In manners they are generally forward and unpolished; in intellect dark and inapt, and in hospitality and fidelity signally regardless and deficient.

The ancient history of Sinde is involved in obscurity. When Alexander of Macedon invaded the country, it was[7:20:366] governed by Hindu Rajahs; and from that time little is known of its history till the rise and progress of the Mahomedan power. It was conquered by a general dispatched for this purpose by a lieutenant of the Ommade Caliph Walid in Sejestim and Candahar; and flourished under the vicegerents of the prophet till its conquest by the Sultan of Ghizni. It afterwards came under the jurisdiction of the Soomrai, a native tribe, and was again reduced by Mahommed Ghori, and annexed as a fief to the crown of Delhi, to which it remained attached for two centuries. In the various conquests and revolutions which subsequently took place in India, this country was the prize of the victor. It was finally subdued by the armies of Acbar about the year 1580, since which period its rulers have never ventured openly to avow their independence, though they have sometimes evaded the payment of the tribute fixed, and have even frequently appeared in arms against the lord paramount. Under the succeeding emperors the province of Sinde was kept under strict subjection, though the unsettled aspect of Hindustan sometimes encouraged the rulers of Sinde to withhold the tribute. In the mean time the introduction of vast tribes of Beloches as mercenaries, had changed the character of the population, and the rule of the family of Toor Khan had given place to the tribe of Caloras, sprung, it is supposed, from adventurers that followed the Persian army. The invasion of India by Nadir Shah in 1739, extended the rule of Persia over Sinde and all the provinces west of the Indus; but his assassination paved the way for the rise of the D∞ranee empire under Ahmed Khan Seedozy, who declared himself king of Cabul, to whom Sinde after a time submitted, and has ever since been considered subordinate, though frequently rebelling and refusing to pay tribute. The country was long a scene of civil dissension, different competitors contending for tire throne, the Talpoories, a tribe of Beloche origin, rebelling against the house of Calora. Their contentions were carried on with various success, and with ruin and misery to the country, which was wasted in these wars. Ahmed Shah, the conquerer of the Mahrattas in the battle of Panripart in 1761, exacted the tribute with all its arrears. In 1786, Meer Futtch Allee, the eldest of four brothers, was confirmed as ruler of the country. He admitted to a participation in his high destiny his three younger brothers, Ghoulam Ali, Kurm Ali, and Mourad Ali; and they agreed to reign together as the ameers or the lords of Sinde. Futtch Allee died in 1801, and Ghoulam Ali in 1811; and the country, as has been already mentioned, is now partitioned between the surviving brothers, and their respective sons.

It is scarcely possible that this outlying country of Sinde can remain long independent of British control. The late great and successful expedition, for the purpose of restoring Dost Mahommed to the throne of Cabul, however questionable its policy, has extended the power of the British in India into countries where their name was scarcely known before. All the intervening states through whose territories the army passed in its progress to the scene of action, viewed the mighty movement with a mixed feeling of jealousy and awe. Having seen the various states of India, its princes and chiefs, with their dependent tributaries, successively swallowed up in the wide extending sway of this European empire, they would willingly have joined in repelling its further advances into the interior of Asia; but they were overawed; and the late brilliant operations of the British will tend to confirm and extend their political influence, and will in the end bring all such petty states as Sinde, alternately the prey of despotism and anarchy, under the control or the direct supremacy of that great power, whose mighty empire in the east, reared up by a continued train of brilliant success for more than half a century, seems only a step in her farther progress to the dominion of Asia.

SINDE River, in Hindustan, has its rise in the high table land of the Malwah province to the west of Seronge; and after a winding course, falls into the Jumna six miles to the north of Calpee.

Sinde Sagor, a district of Hindustan in the province of Lahore, situated principally between the 31st and 32d degrees of north latitude. It is bounded on three sides by the Indus, the Ravey, and the Jhylum, and on the north by the mountains of Joud. Zinda Singh is the term by which the inhabitants of the districts under the Seiks bordering on the Indus are known; and the Nakai Singh is the name given to the Seiks who reside in the province of Mooltan.