Confessions of a Thug

by Meadows Taylor

  CHAPTER XXII.

  On the fourth morning we reached Beeder. If not so striking in itsoutward appearance as we approached it as Hyderabad, this city wasnevertheless interesting. The summit of a long tableland broke into agentle descent, and from it Beeder suddenly opened on our view. Thewalls of the town occupied the crest of a high ridge; and over themone tall minaret, and what appeared another rude unfinished one, ofgreat height, towered proudly. On the right hand the large white domesof some tombs peeped out of a grove of mango trees, with which thehill was clothed from top to bottom; and there was a quiet solemnityabout the approach to the now nearly deserted capital of Dukhun, thefavourite residence of the once proud and powerful Bhamunee kings,which accorded well with our feelings, and formed a powerful contrastto the busy city we had just left. Some of our men who had gone on inadvance, had chosen a spot for our encampment near the gate of the cityupon the road we were to take in the morning; but separating from myparty, I rode through the town, which, though now mean in comparison towhat it must have been, was more striking than I had expected to findit.

  I joined the encampment on the other side, which now presented itsusual bustling appearance: some were already cooking their morningmeal by the edge of the well, others were bathing, and all talking andconversing in that joyous manner which showed their minds were freefrom care and full of happiness, at the prospect of a speedier returnto their home than they had anticipated, and well laden with a richbooty.

  "My father, this is a city full of true believers," said I, as I joinedhim; "Moolas there must be in plenty, and I pray you to send for one,that the nika may be performed, and that I may receive Azima at yourhands as my wife."

  "I will not oppose it, my son; but, the old Moola, whoever he may be,will think it strange."

  "He may think what he pleases," said I; "but I can no longer livewithout her; therefore pray consider the point settled, and send forhim at once."

  Accordingly Peer Khan was despatched for the holy person, who dulyarrived: he was received with the greatest courtesy by my father, andthe object for which he was required was explained to him. He expressedthe utmost astonishment; it was a proceeding he had never heard of, forpersons to celebrate a marriage on a journey, and was in every respectimproper and indelicate. When he had exhausted his protestations, myfather replied to him.

  "Look you, good Moola," said he, "there is no one who pays more respectto the forms and usages of our holy faith than I do. Am I not a Syudof Hindostan? Do I not say the Namaz five times a day, fast in theRamzan, and keep every festival enjoined by the law? And unwilling asI am to do anything which may be thought a breach of the rules of ourfaith, yet circumstances which I cannot explain render it imperativethat this ceremony should be performed; and if you refuse, all I cansay is, that there is no want of Moolas in Beeder, and if you do notperform it, some less scrupulous person must, and earn the reward whichI now offer to you;" and my father laid two ashrufees before him.

  "That alters the case materially," said the Moola, pocketing themoney. "Since the ceremony must be performed, in Alla's name let ittake place; it was no doubt fated that it should be so; and you willtherefore find no person in Beeder more willing to read the form of theNika than myself. Let me, I pray you, return for my book--I will beback instantly;" and he departed.

  "There," cried my father, "I thought it would be so. No one canwithstand the sight of gold; from the prince on the throne to themeanest peasant it is the same; its influence is all-powerful. With ita man may purchase his neighbour's conscience, his neighbour's wife, orhis daughter; with it a man may bribe the venerable Cazee of Cazees,in any city he pleases, to declare him innocent, had he committed ahundred murders, forged documents, stolen his neighbour's goods, orbeen guilty of every villany under the sun; with it a good man _may_ bebetter--but that is rare--a bad man increases his own damnation; for itany one will lie, cheat, rob, murder, and degrade himself to the levelof a beast; young women will dishonour their lords; old women will bebribed to assist them. A man who has hoards will practise every knaveryto increase them, yet is never happy; those who have no money hungerand thirst after it, and are also never happy. Give it to a child toplay with, and by some mysterious instinct he clutches it to his bosom,and roars if it be taken from him. In short, its influence cannot beopposed; old and young, rich and poor--all are its slaves. Men's wisdomis nothing; men's eloquence is nothing; their character nothing; theirrank nothing; but this vile metal, which has no voice, no intellect, nocharacter, no rank--this rules our destinies on earth as surely and aspotently as Alla himself does in heaven."

  "Alla ke Qoodrut!" said I with a sigh; "your words are true, my father,now that one thinks on them; and we have had a precious specimen inthe sudden change of opinion in the worthy Moola, who asked no furtherquestions when he saw your gold."

  "No!" cried my father; "and if one only had enough, one might rule theworld. Who was Sikundur? By all accounts a petty prince, not half sopowerful as he who rules this country; and yet, when he gained favourin the sight of the Jins, and afterwards by his magic got dominion overthem, did they not place the treasures heaped up in the bowels of theearth at his disposal? and who could then stop his career? Is not thisall written in a book, and is it not as true as the Koran?"

  "It were heresy to doubt it," said I: "but here comes the subject ofour conversation, with his book under his arm. I will prepare Azima."

  I went to her. "Dearest," cried I, seating myself, and passing my armround her waist--"dearest, the time is come when, with the blessing ofAlla and my father's sanction, you will be mine for ever, and when thelaw shall bind us together, for death alone to separate us. A Moolahas come; and, with your permission, now, even now, the Nika shall beperformed; further delay is idle; and I am consumed with the burningsof my love."

  "So soon, Ameer Ali? oh, not till we reach your home. What will yourfather think of my consenting to this wild union?"

  "He sanctions it, beloved! 'Twas he who sent for the Moola; 'twas hewho persuaded him to perform the ceremony; and they but await my returnto the tent to read the words which make you mine for ever."

  "Alas! I know not," said the fair girl; "I am another's wife--how canthis be done?"

  "Forget the hateful marriage," I cried. "Azima, these objections willkill me. Am I not your slave? are we not now on our way to a distantland, where he from whom you have fled will never again hear of you?Ah, do not continue to talk thus, for it seems like a bitter mockerythat you should have fled with me, now to deny yourself to me."

  "No no, no!--do not say so, Ameer Ali; you saved me from insult, andfrom a miserable death to which I had doomed myself. I am your slave,not you mine; do as you choose with me; let it be even as you will. Iwill follow you till death." And she hid her face in my bosom.

  "Then," cried I, "beloved, the preparations are soon made. Call Kulloo,and let her know all."

  The old woman came, and was overjoyed to hear of my proposal. "I hadfeared you would not have bound yourself by this tie, Meer Sahib," saidshe, "and my mind sorely troubled me on the subject; but now I am easy,and I will give my precious child to you with joy and confidence; mayyou be blessed in her, and see your children's children. Would that Icould proceed with you! but I am old, and my bones and spirit would notrest easily in a strange land. Your generosity and what I have scrapedtogether is enough to make me comfortable for life, and when my hourcomes I shall die content."

  "Then be quick," said I; "put up a screen, and I will call the Moola;you can all three of you sit behind it while the ceremony is read."

  A cloth was stretched from one side of the tent to the other, andfastened to the ground: my father, myself, and the Moola sat on oneside, the females on the other. "All is ready, Moolajee," said I;"begin."

  He opened his book and read the usual service in Arabic. I did notunderstand a word of it, neither indeed did he; but it was sufficientthat it had been read--the ceremony was complete, and Azima was minefor ever.

  It would have been a pity t
o have left Beeder without seeing moreof the town and fort, of which I had heard many praises; and in theevening, therefore, my father, myself and a few others strolled intothe town for the purpose of seeing what we could. First we passedthe old Madressa, a noble mass of ruins; the front was covered withbeautiful enamel from top to bottom, and the immense minaret whichwe had seen from a distance in the morning was also covered with thesame. The huge round fragments of another lay scattered about in everydirection, and I could well picture to myself the noble building itmust have been, ere by an unfortunate explosion of gunpowder, whenused as a magazine by Aurungzebe, its front was blown out, one minaretdestroyed, and the whole rent and torn as if by an earthquake.

  Passing onwards we arrived at an open space before the ancient andmajestic ruins of the fort. Piles upon piles of old ruined palaces, inmany places built upon the walls themselves, and all nodding to theirfall, while they impressed us with a stronger idea of the magnificenceof their builders than anything we had as yet seen, were a lesson tohumble proud man--to teach him that he too must moulder in the dust astheir founders had done: they had stood for centuries; yet now the owl,the bat, and the wild pigeon were the only tenants of these splendidhalls, where once beauty had dwelt and had been the adoration of thebrave and glorious.

  Where were now the princely state, the pomp of royalty, the gallantwarriors who had of old manned these lofty walls and towers, and sooft bidden defiance to hosts of invaders?--all were gone,--all wasnow lonely and desolate, and the stillness accorded well with theruinous appearance of the scene before us. Not however that the wallswere dilapidated or overthrown; _they_ remained as firm and solidas ever; and here and there the muzzle of a cannon, pointing from aloophole or rude embrasure, showed that they were still capable ofdefence, though, alas! defenders there were none. We thought the placeabsolutely deserted, and went on to the gateway. It was massive, andhighly ornamented with enamel work, such as we had seen before in theold Madressa and the tombs at Golconda.

  While we thus stood admiring the outside, a soldier approached us andasked us our business. "We are strangers, who have put up in the townfor the day," answered my father, "and we could not leave the spotwithout looking at the venerable fort of which we have heard so much.May we be permitted to enter?"

  "Certainly," he replied; "persons of your respectable appearance arealways gladly admitted; if you will follow me, I will show you overthe interior, which is worthy your inspection." We followed him, andpassing through two gateways, which were defended by traverses so asto be impenetrable to invaders, we stopped under the third, and ourconductor said,

  "The rooms above this are well worth seeing, if you will ascend."

  "Surely," said I, "we would willingly see everything." We ascendeda narrow stair, which at the top opened into a small but beautifulsuite of rooms, profusely adorned with enamel, far surpassing in itsbrilliancy of colours and minuteness of design any that we had beforeseen on the outside. Sentences of the Koran in white letters on abrilliant azure ground were all round the cornices, and the ceilingsand walls were covered with flowers of every hue and design, theircolours and the enamel in which they were worked being as fresh andbright as the day they were first painted.

  "These are imperishable," said I to my father; "would that thebuildings which hold them could be so too, to remain to generations yetunborn a proof of the magnificence and wealth to which they owed theirerection!"

  "Ay," said he, "there requires no better proof than these of thepresent degeneracy. The monarchs of those times were just and liberalas well as powerful: the wealth their dominions brought them was freelyexpended in beautifying their cities, and raising edifices by whichthey might be remembered. Now, with the same dominions, the wealththey bring is either uselessly hoarded or wastefully expended; now,no buildings arise as monuments of a dynasty, no armies rejoice inthe presence of a brave and noble sovereign, and, stimulated by hisexample, win for him renown at the points of their bright swords. Allnow is mean and sordid, from the poor pensioned descendant of Shah Jhanand Alumgeer to the representative of the once proud Soobahs of theDukhun."

  "Yes," said our conductor; "what is the use of now calling oneself asoldier, with scarcely bread to eat? The few of us who are in the fortwander about the ruins of the noble palaces and the deserted walls, andour only enemies are the panthers and hyaenas, who have taken advantageof the yearly increasing jungle and desolation, and bid fair to expelus altogether. But look from the window, sirs; the open ground overwhich you came is called the Fatteh Mydan, the plain of victory. Herethe proud monarchs of Beeder, first the Bhamunee and afterwards theBeereed dynasties, used to sit, while their gallant troops pouredforth from the gates, and amused while they gratified their sovereignwith feats of arms. And yonder," added he, taking us to anotherwindow,--"yonder are their tombs where their mortal remains rest,though their spirits are in the blessed paradise of our Prophet."

  We looked, and the view was as lovely as it was unexpected. We were onthe top of what appeared to be a lofty mountain, so far and so deepdid the noble expanse of valley before us descend. The blue distancemelted into the blue of the heavens, while nearer and nearer to us thevillages and fields became more and more distinct, till, close underus, they seemed as it were drawn out on a map; and among them stood thetombs, a cluster of noble-looking edifices, their white domes glaringin the red light of the declining sun.

  "Ay," cried I, "they must have felt that they were kings, while theygazed admiringly on their gallant soldiers, and looked forth over thelovely country which they ruled."

  "Come," said my father, breaking in upon my reflections, which wererapidly peopling the open space of the Fatteh Mydan with the troops andwarriors of past ages, and picturing to me their manly games--theirmock-fights--the shouts of the contending parties--while from the spotwhereon I stood, the praises of the king, and acclamations of hiscourtiers, were ringing through the arched roofs, and re-echoed bythe multitudes without--"come, it is growing late, and we must soonreturn." We again followed our guide, and as we passed over a causewaywhich was built across the moat, we had a noble view of its great widthand depth. The bottom was partially covered by stagnant pools, theremains of the water the monsoon had deposited; for the rainy seasonwas now past. The fosse was very curiously dug, with a view to defencehaving been excavated out of the solid rock to a considerable depth;three walls had been left standing, with large intervals between each;and they would certainly oppose a most formidable interruption to aninvader.

  We entered the fort by a large gloomy archway, within which somesoldiers were lounging; and from thence traversing a large court-yard,covered with fragments of ruins and rank brushwood, we emerged intoan open space beyond. Here a scene of still greater desolationthan even the outside presented opened on our view; ruins of alldescriptions--of palaces, stables, offices, baths, magazines forarms and ammunition--strewed the ground; it was a melancholy sight,but the whole was evidently far beyond repair, and fast hastening todestruction. We left the spot, to see the only remaining real curiosityof the place, an immense cannon, the _sister_, as our guide told us,of one at Beejapoor. It was on a high bastion, from which there was amagnificent view of the plain below us, over which the huge fort nowflung its broad, deep shadow, while the distant country was fast fadinginto obscurity under the growing darkness of the evening. The herds ofthe town, winding up the steep ascent from the plain, alone broke theimpressive silence, as their lowings, the tinkling of their numberlessbells, and the melancholy, yet sweet, notes of the shepherd's rudepipe, ascended to our lofty station.

  But we could stay no longer; we returned by the way we had come; andthough I longed to have roamed over the ruined and deserted palaces,and explored their recesses, it was too late; dismissing our guide,therefore, with a small present for his civility, we retraced our stepsto our encampment. From Beeder, Sahib, we had no adventures worthrelating till we reached Ellichpoor, by which town we directed ourroute homewards; however, we did not travel by the same road as we haddone
in coming down, which would have led us by Mungrool and Oomraotee,and we had good reasons for avoiding both places; the remembrance ofthe fate of the sahoukar would necessarily be fresh in the memoryof the inhabitants of the latter place, and our appearance was tooremarkable to be easily forgotten; so we struck off from Nandair on theGodavery towards Boorhanpoor, and when we reached Akola, in the Berarvalley, we turned again towards Ellichpoor, and reached it in safety.You must not think, however, that during this long journey we wereidle; on the contrary, we pursued our avocation with the same spiritand success with which we had commenced and continued our fortunateexpedition; and no traveller, however humble, who joined our party, orwas decoyed among us, escaped: and by this means, though our booty wasnot materially increased, yet we collected sufficient to support us,without taking aught from the general stock, which was to be dividedwhen we reached our home.

  At Ellichpoor we encamped under some large tamarind trees, close tothe durgah of Rhyman Shah Doolah. It was a quiet, lovely spot. Belowthe durgah ran a small river, which had its rise in the neighbouringmountains; and over its stream the hallowed buildings of the saint,embowered in thick trees, seemed to be the abode of peace and repose.Thither Azima and myself, attended by some of our men, went, as soonas we had rested ourselves a little and changed our road-soiledgarments, to present our offerings at the shrine, and to offer up ourthanksgivings for the continued care and protection of Alla. This done,I sent her back to our camp, and entered into general conversationwith the Moolas, as was my wont, in order to gather information toguide us in our enterprises; and from so large a city as Ellichpoor,I had some hope that we should gain a valuable booty. We conversedupon many topics of every-day occurrence; at last, one of the Moolasasked me where I had come from, and whither I was going. I said Iwas a horse-dealer, who had been down to Hyderabad with horses fromHindostan, and was now returning, having disposed of them. "And the menwho accompany you, who are they?" asked the Moola.

  "My father, who is a merchant, is one," said I; "besides him, there arethe grooms and attendants who accompanied us, and several travellerswho have joined us from time to time as we journeyed hither."

  "Then you are a kafila?" said the Moola.

  "Exactly so," said I; "and feeling ourselves to be strong, we aredetermined to try the road to Jubbulpoor by Baitool, which, thoughunsafe for small bodies, presents no obstacle to our numerous party."

  "Certainly not," he replied; "and the road will save you a longdistance which you would have had to travel had you gone round byNagpoor; and since you are bent on trying the jungle road, perhaps youwould not have any objection to an increase to your party? and I thinkI could get you one."

  "Certainly not," said I, "if the travellers are respectable."

  "Highly so," said the Moola; "the person of whom I speak is a man ofrank, no less than a Nuwab, who is returning to his nephew, who rulesover Bhopal."

  "Ah, I have heard of him, I think," said I; "you do not mean the NuwabSubzee Khan, as he is called?"

  "The very person, and a fine old soldier he is. It is a pity he is soaddicted to the subzee or bhang, from which, however, he has gained aname which it is well known has struck terror into his enemies on thebattle-field, and has fairly superseded any other he may have had."

  "It is a pity," I said; "for report speaks well of the noble Khan, andhis deeds of arms are known to all who have sojourned in Hindostan: Ishall be right glad to accompany him, for 'tis said also that he is arare companion."

  "You have heard rightly," said the Moola. "The Nuwab will be herebefore sunset, as he always comes to converse with us and drink hisbhang; if you will step over from your encampment when I send to you, Iwill introduce you to him."

  "Thanks, worthy Moola," said I; "you only need to summon me, and I willattend your call with pleasure."

  I left him soon after. Here was the commencement of an adventurewhich promised fairly to eclipse all our former ones; the rank of theNuwab, the number of followers he would necessarily have with him,and the noise there would be made about him when he was missed,--allcontributed to render this as pretty an adventure as a Thug seekingplunder and fame could desire. I did not mention a word of my hopesto any one; I was determined to have this matter all to myself, bothin plan and execution. If I succeeded my fame and character wereestablished for ever, and I could not fail with so many to back me. Amomentary thought flashed across me--that the Nuwab was a man of war,that he would be armed to the teeth; and who was I, that I could opposehim? but I dismissed it in an instant as unworthy. My confidence in myown prowess, both as a Thug and with every weapon, whether on foot oron horseback, was unbounded; it had never as yet been checked, and Ifeared nothing living, I believe, in the form of man.

  "Yes, Ameer Ali," said I, "you and all your tribe have ever feared usEnglishmen. You have never yet attacked one of us, nor dared you."

  The Thug laughed.--"No, Sahib, you are wrong; we never feared you, butto attack any of you would have been impossible. When you travel onhorseback you are not worth attacking, for you never carry anythingabout your persons. In your tents you are surrounded by a host ofservants, and at night you are always guarded. When you travel post,we might possibly get a few rupees from your palankeens, but youare generally armed; you usually carry pistols, and some of us mustundoubtedly fall before we could effect our object; but above all,there would be such a hue and cry if any of you were missing that itwould be impossible to escape, especially as any property we might takefrom you would assuredly lead to our detection."

  "Your reasons are weighty," said I laughing; "but I suspect, Ameer Ali,you do not like the pistols, and that is the reason we have escapedyou: but go on with your story; I have interrupted you."

  Well then, Sahib, to continue. I waited very impatiently till towardsevening, when, as I was sitting at the door of my tent, I saw a manon horseback, attended by a small retinue, among whom, to my greatastonishment, was a young good-looking girl, mounted on a spiritedpony, coming down the road from the city. He passed near our camp, and,crossing the river, ascended the opposite bank and entered the Durgah.Was this my new victim? I was not long in suspense: a message soon camefrom the Moola requesting my company; and taking my sword and shieldwith me, I followed the man who had come to call me.