by Craig Murray
Burnes and Holland finally left Bhuj on 1 December 1829. At twenty-four, Burnes was the elder by two years. As they rode out into the vast, scorching, wind-blown dunes of the great desert, they were thrilled at this opportunity. They became lifelong friends; three years later Holland married Jane Burnes.
If Burnes performed well it might open up permanent appointment to the Political Branch. The reports he submitted are therefore painstaking. In the first, marked ‘Camp at Keerawow, 14th December 1829’,29 he apologised for reporting in such detail. He noted he was the first European ever to visit other than on a punitive raid, and added he was motivated by a ‘great anxiety to shew myself worthy of the honour and trust which the Government have conferred upon me’.
He lived a great deal of his life in tents, and it is important to form a picture of these camps. British officers had large, individual tents. These would be taken ahead by bearers and pitched, ready for the officers’ arrival in the evening. Their escort and servants would inhabit numerous tents around them. The camp would be very diffuse, as men of differing castes could not share a tent or cook their food together. Camp-fires were therefore numerous and small. Horses and baggage animals would be pegged or corralled on the margin of the camp.
The kind of tent in which Burnes slept would have had both an inner and an outer; valets and bodyguards were sometimes allowed to sleep in the space between. At the entrance and ventilation points would be hung additional screens called tatties, kept soaked to provide cooling through evaporation. In very hot weather the British sank a pit under the tent. The floor was covered with rich carpet. The official issue tent for a subaltern, the most junior officer, was a substantial twelve feet square, but many officers used larger, private tents.30
A contemporary traveller in India, Charles Hugel, had a tent with poles twenty-five feet high – like a modern British telegraph pole. The outer roof alone of Hugel’s tent weighed 600lb, and the fabric needed six horses to carry it. William Hough wrote that when a regiment’s tents were brought down by a storm, sleeping officers were in danger of being killed by falling tent poles. There are numerous references to marches delayed by heavy rain, because the wet tents were too heavy to be lifted.
Burnes arrived at Nagar, capital of Parkar, on 10 December 1829, and the Rana of Nagar, Jugaji, came to meet him: ‘He brought along with him most of the inhabitants of Nuggur’, an indication of how unusual was a visit from a British officer. Jugaji believed that Burnes had come to arrest him for the murder of his predecessor. In his report, Burnes makes light of any danger, but plainly the situation must have been tense. Burnes’ instructions were to force Jugaji to stop giving shelter to bandits with whom he was closely linked. It was a difficult position.
Burnes was a model of tact, combining reassurance with threat:
I told him, that I was not sent to interfere with the politics of the state and that I was happy to hear he had been confirmed in the title of Parkur by the Ameers of Scinde […] but I evaded all allusion to the foul murder which he had committed […] to achieve it. I said, that tho’ Parkur was no longer the den of thieves which it had been […] yet it was still a cause of much dread to the neighbouring countries […] generally to impress upon his mind, that a continuance of such practices must one day bring ruin upon him.31
The Rana offered to hand over to the authorities in Cutch any named fugitives, and to take stringent measures on his frontiers to prevent the further passage of plunderers. He represented a number of dissident groups who had fled from political persecution in Cutch or Sind, and said that he had given them land to farm. Burnes replied that he ‘was not instructed to prevent his shewing acts of civility and hospitality to men in distress’, but that he should beware the danger of sheltering the wrong people. He promised that good actions would be rewarded, and presented a pair of fine pistols.
Burnes then moved on to Virawow, where he met the chief of the Soda tribe, Punjaji. Here Burnes made an explicit promise of cash reward in return for the suppression of banditry. Punjaji had a considerable revenue from the possession of the God, Gricha, to whom pilgrims came from a wide area. Punjaji’s father had killed a neighbouring Soda ruler, Thakur of Pitapur, forty years previously to seize the idol, and a deadly feud had continued ever since.
The Amirs of Sind claimed suzerainty over the Sodas, and enforced a tribute on the resentful Punjaji through annual visits – the thanna – by a troop of Baluchi warriors. Burnes was able to witness one:
A thanna of sixty Beloochees has been at Veerawow for the last week to demand the annual tribute […] Last year the tribute paid amounted to eighty ‘rulsees’ of grain, which is always sold in the country and may yield the paltry sum of a thousand rupees to the Chief Ameer of Scinde […] some one of the Sirdars of the court of Hyderabad receiving an order to proceed to Parkur and collect as much money as possible, and if their demands be not complied with, they always help themselves to a portion of cattle.32
Burnes was able to show goodwill by assisting the Sindian party with medicine. His political report on Parkar was followed by thirty close-written pages on geography, topography – with a particular eye to facilities for a passing army – geology, commerce and anthropology. The whole is an impressively clear piece of work. Pottinger was pleased and passed it on to Malcolm. The reply of 12 January 1830 is entirely approving:
you will be pleased to convey to that officer the satisfaction of Government with his interesting and useful account of Parkur as well as for his discreet and conciliating attitude towards the chiefs of that district. Nothing can more fully evince the expediency of combining political duties with those of geographical research […] and if […] the incursions of plunderers cannot be prevented, we shall at least become possessed of information that will enable us to defeat them.33
More importantly for Burnes, Malcolm was so impressed that he forwarded the report on for the attention of the Governor-General in Calcutta.34 Alexander Burnes was being noticed in high places.
On 24 December Burnes was able to report that they had now crossed the Thar desert and followed the Luni river up to Chitalwana. They intended to make a further loop through the desert to explore the oases before continuing to Pali.35 Alexander recorded in his official journal a fascinating account of how he carried out his survey, and especially his technique of pumping people for information:
I march exactly at daylight and survey till about 10 o’clock which, in the mildness of the cold season, can be borne without inconvenience. On the road I always enter into conversation with the village guides whose extreme simplicity fits them well to convey information about themselves, their country and their customs.
By 2pm the survey of the morning figures on the map and the latitude is determined to correct it, when […] two or three […] villagers are invited into my tent to talk with me till within half an hour of sunset. I ask the distances of all the villages around within ten miles the road to each and the cross distance of one to another which I sketch roughly on paper […]
The information on these points is acquired slowly in the intermediate spaces between conversation with the villagers who are generally so delighted to have a hearing granted them to all they have to say, that all suspicion is banished […] I have heard, I believe, in almost every village, the private history of its owner, the legends of its gods, the notions of the people and their minute customs and prejudices and with due heed to such matters one will readily find that the number of cosses36 and the number of houses of each village will soon follow […]
In the evening I take the angles to all hills and towns in sight of my encampment and also a series of bearings to such as are beyond view by a guess on the direction being pointed out by a villager […]
On the march I take three or four series of similar angles […] and, with the assistance of the native information […] can easily construct the map.37
When he submitted the map to government, he added:
The latitudes throughout have been determ
ined by the sextant with the false horizon. Observations were taken daily by two different sextants and, in most instances, the mean of the two laid down as the correct parallel after the necessary corrections for refraction parallax etc. etc. had been made.
The parallels of latitude have been laid off on the scale of [damaged] statute miles to a degree; the meridians of longitude on the other hand are given according to their value calculated by their distance from the equator
[…]
It was indeed prudent to avoid […] carrying any instruments or apparatus which might excite the suspicions of the people, perambulators and theodolites were therefore dispensed with and the valuable compass by Smalehalder substituted […]
The rate of march was previously determined by perambulator […] to be a few yards less than four miles an hour […] There were many opportunities occurred by cross-bearings from other hills at a considerable distance to judge of the justice of this calculation and it has been verified both by them and by latitude.
The survey […] laid down in this map was much facilitated by the hills with which they are studded, Some of them were visible from a distance of forty-five miles and became thus, as so many points to check the different portions of the survey, and which have rendered the map trigonometrical.
Behind the published accounts of all of Burnes’ travels lay this continual, intensive survey work, in addition to all the commercial, political, historical, cultural, ethnographical, geological and archaeological information collected. It is not an accident of nomenclature that while most of the correspondence on Burnes’ travels and negotiations was addressed to the Political Committees of the EIC in Bombay, Calcutta and London, the surveys are always addressed to the Secret Committees. This is the kind of information which accompanied the maps:
Parkur is open to attack from all sides and could be approached by an army with heavy guns from the South East by ‘Nurrabate’ but any advance made into the country with ultimate intentions on Sinde would be inadvisable as the road is not passable beyond Parkur. Guns might be dragged along the Runn banks but the desert would be rendered impregnable in a day by filling up or concealing the wells […] The roads before Parkur are passable for carts but beyond none but beasts of burden travel. Water is abundant in the district and might be found about ten feet beneath the surface.38
Unfortunately, while the quality of Burnes’ work in Parkar was undoubted, the expedition was not welcome in the Governor-General’s offices. Calcutta did not share Pottinger’s view that a detailed knowledge of what lay beyond its north-west frontier was essential to the security of British India. They were primarily concerned with reducing expenditure and making the Company profitable. Sending two young officers exploring, who might get themselves killed and cause problems, was not on the agenda.
There was also a turf battle here. Relations with foreign states were strictly the preserve of the Governor-General and the Supreme Government in the Bengal Presidency. The Governors of the Bombay and Madras Presidencies were not permitted to run their own foreign policies, and Bombay officers like Burnes and Holland were not allowed on missions in foreign states without the express permission of the Governor-General. This had not been sought. This, and the ramifications of being ‘only’ a Bombay officer, affected Burnes’ career.
Even before Burnes had reached Parkar, a letter had been sent from Calcutta to Bombay curtly ordering the end of the mission. On 26 January 1830, having just received that instruction, Charles Norris, the Chief Secretary in Bombay, wrote to Pottinger and Burnes ordering a stop.39 But Burnes was 700 miles away before the order reached Bhuj.
Pottinger by then had written to the British political agents – officers detached to foreign capitals – in Jaipur, Ajmir and Udaipur, asking them to assist Burnes.40 This compounded the problem. While there was a tacit acceptance in Calcutta of Pottinger’s intelligence gathering in Sind and Kelat, the Rajput states were very different. These political agents were Bengal officers.
On 4 January 1830 Pottinger had sent further instructions to Burnes and Holland to push on:
I have now to request, that you will continue your survey and inquiries in the direction of Jessulmere and Ooch.
It is […] impossible that at this distance I can even form a conjecture of the serious obstacles that may oppose your advance […] I must therefore […] leave everything to your sound discretion and judgement, and only
[…] remind you, that you are neither to run into difficulties, nor to endanger your lives […]
The project of your descending the Indus […] into Scinde I consider to be almost hopeless, for I feel certain, from the interest your visit to Parkheer has already attracted, that the Ameers would never consent to your entering their dominions […] I cannot disguise from myself that means might be taken by them to make away with you in such a manner as to render it impossible to prove that you had not been waylaid and murdered by robbers.
You had better continue to despatch […] sketches of your routes and notes on the tracks through which you pass, for the purpose of being deposited at this place till your return.41
This letter reveals how dangerous the experienced Pottinger considered this expedition to be. A copy to Malcolm drew an instant reply stating that in view of the dangers, Burnes and Holland must immediately be ordered not to cross the Indus.42
On 8 January 1830 at 5pm, Burnes and Holland rode up to the gates of Jaysulmir with their small escort of local horsemen. Burnes described the fortress as ‘commanding and magnificent’, crowning a rocky hill, triangular in shape with sides three hundred yards long, and having three or in places four concentric walls and 175 towers and bastions.
At the gate of the castle, Burnes’ party were detained and only Burnes and Holland allowed to enter. It must have been an intimidating experience:
We continued to advance on horseback and passed through four strong gates till we alighted […] and were conducted […] through five or six courts and as many more now very dark staircases […] Every place […] was lined with the guards of the Prince […] the Seiks, I noticed, were nearest the person of the Prince. Two flights of steps from the summit we were met by the Prime Minister of the Rawul, a Brahmin, and introduced by him to the durbar. On entering, Guy Sing rose from his throne […] and advancing a few steps on a cushion stretched out his open hand (which is simply touched by the person) and then desired us to be seated on a cushion spread out in front of his jaddee and nearly on a level with it. On both sides sat his chiefs and men of weight in the community arranged in regular order, behind him were his relations and domestics and on his right hand stood his minister […] strict silence was preserved and this, with the cleanly whiteness of their garments, gave a considerable solemnity to the scene. The appearance of the Rawul himself was most dignified, he is rather stout, but has both an intelligent and pleasing complexion. He was plainly dressed, without any other ornament than a pair of elegant gold bracelets and a ‘sirpeesh’ of rubies and diamonds on his turban […] 43
They found the Rawul affable and full of questions about British customs and technology, but without pausing in his flow for an answer. The meeting concluded with expressions of his desire for friendship and co-operation.
Pottinger was now fighting Bentinck’s instruction to terminate the mission. In sending Malcolm the Jaysulmir reports, Pottinger suggested ‘these documents might be sent […] in order that His Lordship the Governor-General-in-Council may see how well Lieutenant Burnes and Holland have already acquitted themselves […] and perhaps, in consequence, be induced to modify the intimation contained with Chief Secretary Swinton’s letter of the 4th December 1829’.44
By 9 February Burnes and Holland had reached ‘Gajussoor 14 miles beyond Pallee’. They were in the territory of the Raja of Jodhpur, who had sent them an escort, and wished them to visit Jodhpur itself. But as Jodhpur was east and their goal was north-west, they politely declined. They now sent back to Pottinger very extensive notes, journals and maps, and Bur
nes set out their future route to Uch, from where they intended to descend the Indus by boat.45 Pottinger meanwhile was at pains to state to Malcolm that Bentinck’s instruction to terminate ‘Was dispatched from the residency to Lieut Burnes on the 21st […] but owing, I presume, to the rapid manner which that officer has moved from one part of the country to another, it had not reached him’.
The young men arrived in Pali on 1 February, where they wrote reports on the opium trade. They reached Gagara on 7 February and Ajmir on 17 February. They stayed there three days, preparing to strike out across the desert to the Indus. Finally, on the very eve of departure, the instruction from Bentinck caught up with them and they had to turn for home.46 They returned through Bimalia to Bhuj. On 19 March Alexander wrote to his sister Anne in Montrose a breathless account of his adventures.47
The formal reports they prepared – all 199 crammed pages of them – appear entirely to be in Burnes’ hand. They include records of temperatures taken at 6am, 10am and 2pm daily in ninety-seven different locations, the analysis of 216 geological samples, reports on commerce and trading routes, navigability of the Luni, practicality of roads for artillery, fortifications, revenue and availability of forage and the height of hills. His map was accompanied by a (mostly) alphabetical gazetteer giving information on 253 villages. Here is an extract:
Siew A village of 100 houses belonging to a Bhattu chieftain 50 miles E.N.E. of Jaysulmere, and noted for harbouring a set of thieves […] The Daoodpootras lately revenged themselves on the place by filling up the wells and throwing down its gurry.
Sutteesa A village of 60 houses, 40 miles E.N.E. of Jaysulmere, similarly situated to the village of Siew above described. The chief of it is a relative of him of Siew.