 
T The early history of India is involved in such deep obscurity that we have no reliable information before the invasion of Alexander the great. True, we read of a nation of Indian Amazons, mentioned by Nonnus, but we have no details on the subject. Amongst the sovereigns In Martin's "History of Eastern India" we read of a warrior-queen named Moynawoti. She was married to Manikechandro, brother of Dhormo Pal, a King of Kamrup, and on the death of her husband, she made war on the king, who was defeated and slain on the banks of the Tista. Gopichondro, son of Moynawoti, succeeded his uncle on the throne, but he left the management of state affairs to his mother, and gave himself up to a life of pleasure. When he grew up, however, the young king wished to take an active share in the government, but his mother persuaded him to dedicate his life to religion, and he ever after practised the utmost humility and self-denial. It was during the caliphate of Walid that the Mahommedans made their first conquests beyond the Indus. About the year 711 A.D., an Arab ship having been seized at Dival, or Dewal, a port connected with Scinde, Hejaj, the Moslem governor of Bosra, demanded its restitution. Daher, Rajah of Scinde, refused; and this led to the invasion of India by six thousand followers of Islam. Daher marched at the head of fifty thousand men to oppose the invaders, but in the battle which ensued he was slain, and his troops routed with terrible slaughter. Daher's widow, with a courage worthy her deceased lord, raised fifteen thousand men, and offered battle to the conquerors. They declined the challenge, and she retired within the walls of Adjur. The Moslems closely invested the city; and the garrison, reduced to the last extremities, sacrificed their wives and children on the burning pile formed by their gold and treasures, and, headed by the royal widow, attacked the besiegers in their own camp. They all fell, fighting gallantly to the last. On the death of Altumsh, Emperor of Hindostan, in 1235, he was succeeded by his son, Prince Feroze. The latter was an effeminate, luxurious monarch, who thought of nothing but spending on dancing-women, comedians, and musicians, the treasures accumulated by his father, and he left the affairs of The Sultana possessed every quality proper for a ruler; even detractors could find no fault, save that she was a woman. During her father's lifetime she had entered heartily into state affairs and was Regent for a short time during the absence of Altumsh on an expedition against Gwalior. Rizia was not long left in undisturbed possession of the throne. The omrahs who had conspired against her brother now marched from Lahore, and encamped before Delhi; but she contrived to sow dissensions amongst them, and each was compelled to retreat to his own province. Some of them, pursued by the Empress, were captured and put to death. The omrahs finally tendered their submission and the empire enjoyed peace for a time. But the promotion of Jammal, who had once been an Abyssinian slave, to the post of Captain-general of Hindostan, Scarcely was this revolt quelled, when Altunia, governor of Tiberhind, raised the standard of rebellion. Rizia immediately marched against him; but when she had gone about halfway, all the Turkish chiefs mutinied. A tumultuous scene ensued, the Abyssinian general was slain, and the Empress sent prisoner to Tiberhind. The imperial troops then returned to Delhi; and set Byram, the Empress's younger brother, upon the throne. Rizia married the Governor of Tiberhind, and by their joint influence they raised a great army, and marched to Delhi. They were defeated near the city, by the troops of Byram, and the empress with difficulty escaped to Tiberhind. Soon, however, she rallied her scattered forces, and marched once more towards the capital. But she was again defeated at Keitel, and, together with her husband, made prisoner, and barbarously put to death. Thus died Sultana Rizia, after a brief reign of three years six months and six days. Indian historians agree that she was worthy of a better fate. One day the Emperor Alla-a-Deen Khiljy was The Emperor, in a rage, commanded the rajah to quit Delhi. Hearing, shortly after, that Nehr Dew was raising forces, he ordered a division of his army to besiege Jalwur. This was in 1309. To signalize his contempt for the rajah, he placed the troops under the command of a slave girl of the palace, named Gool Behisht, or, "the Rose of Heaven." She displayed great courage during the siege, and had almost effected the capture of Jalwur, when she was seized with a mortal illness. On her death the command was given to her son, Shaheen. Nehr Dew made a sortie, defeated the imperial forces, and slew Shaheen with his own hand. The Emperor, enraged at this defeat, sent reinforcements to renew the siege; Jalwur was taken, and Nehr Dew, with his family, and the whole of the garrison, put to the sword. In 1510 Ismail Adil Shah ascended the throne of Bijapur. Being too young to rule the state, the administration was entrusted to Kumal Khan Deccany, the most powerful noble in the land. The latter soon made up his mind to usurp the throne; He was warned by the astrologers that certain days in the present month were unfavourable to his designs; and recommended to avoid approaching any one of whom he had suspicions. The regent, acting on their advice, committed the charge of the citadel to his own adherents, and shut himself up with his family in a house close by the royal palace. Booboojee Khanum, the queen-mother, now resolved by a bold stroke to get rid of the regent. Affecting uneasiness about his health, she despatched one of her adherents with secret instructions for the assassination of Kumal Khan. The plot succeeded, though the murderer was immediately cut to pieces. The regent's mother, with great presence of mind, commanded the attendants to keep silent, and sent orders to Sufdur Khan, the son of Kumal Khan, to seize the king at once. Sufdur closed the gates of the citadel and advanced with a strong force to the palace. The queen-mother would have submitted, but for Dilshad Agha, the king's foster-aunt, who declared that in such a crisis valour was better than submission. She ordered the palace gates to be closed, and sent out to the Persians, on duty in the outer court of the seraglio, entreating them to assist their king against his enemies. The foreign generals declared their readiness to defend the young prince. Sufdur Khan tried to force open the gates, but was met with volleys of arrows; the king, his mother and aunt, and Murtufa using the bow with considerable effect. The brave little band were reinforced presently by fifty Deccany matchlock-men; and several score of foreigners from the city; but though the besiegers were thus kept in check, their force was so considerably superior in numbers that they continued the assault with the utmost fury, fully confident of ultimate victory. Dilshad Agha, with a veil thrown over her face, fought with bow and arrow in the ranks of the soldiers, encouraging them by exciting speeches and promises. Sufdur Khan at last made a desperate attack with five hundred men, bringing cannon to batter the walls; and the royal adherents fell in great numbers. Some fled ignominiously, while the rest, concealing themselves behind the parapet, remained perfectly still. The enemy, believing that all the garrison had taken to flight, burst open the outer gate; but while he was endeavouring to force the inner door, Dilshad Agha gave orders for her The death of Sufdur put an end to the rebellion. The insurgents, giving themselves up for lost, opened the gates of the citadel, and fled. By the advice of Dilshad Agha, the heads of the regent and his son were displayed through the streets of the city. During the reign of Akbar the Great, Emperor of Hindostan, that part of the Deccan which now comprises Orissa and Bundelcund, was known by the name of Gurrah, and was governed by a warlike queen, named Durgautti, equally distinguished for her beauty, her accomplishments, and the talented manner in which she conducted the affairs of her kingdom. She succeeded to the throne on the death of her husband. The country was about one hundred and fifty crores in length and about fifty in breadth; yet so prosperous, that it contained upwards of seventy thousand towns and villages, closely populated. About the year 1564, Asaf Khan Hirvys, an Indian noble, was raised by the emperor to the rank of an Omrah of five thousand, and appointed governor of A sanguinary battle then ensued, in which Durgautti displayed the greatest courage. After a long and obstinate conflict, the Mahommedans were routed, with a loss of eight hundred slain. The queen pursued the flying enemy till night put an end to the contest. She then halted, and gave Asaf Khan, seeing what kind of enemy he had to do with, advanced next morning with the heavy guns, which, on account of the bad state of the roads, he had not been able to use in the previous action. Durgautti posted her men at a narrow pass, and prepared to meet the enemy once more. Asaf, with his cannon, soon opened a lane into the open ground beyond, where the forces of Gurrah were drawn up. The Rajah Beir Shaw, Durgautti's son, a young man of great promise, displayed great bravery in a charge. Twice he repulsed the Moguls; in the third attack he was severely wounded. He was falling from his horse when the queen, who was in the front of the battle, mounted on her elephant, perceived that her son was expiring, and called to some of her attendants to carry him to the rear. Several crowded round him, glad of some excuse to quit the field. The death of this young man and Adhar, a brave officer of her household, who drove her elephant, repulsed numbers of the enemy. Perceiving that the day was irretrievably lost, he entreated the queen to let him take her from the field, but Durgautti would not hear of it. She begged of him to stab her to the heart. He refused, and Durgautti, suddenly leaning forward, snatched a dagger from his belt, plunged it into her heart, and immediately expired. With her death the triumph of Asaf Khan was complete. The queen's youngest son, a mere infant, was trodden to death soon after, at the capture of Chouraghus, and the whole country submitted to the Moguls. About this time, another warlike queen, Khunza Sultana, was Regent of Ahmednuggur. During the The sultana, however, gave great umbrage to the nobles by providing for her own relations at the expense of more deserving men. In 1567, several rajahs formed a conspiracy against her, and induced the young king to join them. But the latter, afraid of his mother's ire, betrayed the plot to her, and the ringleaders were all seized. In 1569, the dowager queen, with her son, marched In 1594 died Burhan Nizam Shah, King of Ahmednuggur. His son, Ibrahim Nizam Shah, who succeeded him, was slain in battle, and the vizier, Meean Munjoo, raised to the throne a boy named Ahmed, said to belong to the royal family. The nobles refused to acknowledge the new king, and besieged the vizier in the capital. Unable to contend with them, the vizier solicited aid from the Moguls, promising to put the fort of Ahmednuggur into their hands. The Moguls had long sought an excuse to interfere in the affairs of Ahmednuggur; so Murad Mirza, son of the Emperor Akbar, marched thither with Chand Beeby was one of the ablest Indian politicians of her time. She had been for some years queen and dowager-regent of Bijapur. She now took the entire direction of affairs into her own hands; in a few days she had raised her own nephew, Bahadur Nizam Shah, to the throne, though he was at this time a prisoner in a distant fortress, and seemed likely to stay there. The Moguls, seeing that it was useless to conceal their hostile intentions, prepared openly to besiege Ahmednuggur. On the 14th December, 1595, the first shots were exchanged. The siege was pressed with the utmost vigour. Mounds were raised, trenches opened, battery after battery erected, mines sunk; and on the morning of February 17th, 1596, eighty feet of wall were blown down by the explosion of a mine. Chand Beeby, though many of her principal officers had taken to flight, was not Deccan traditions say that, during the storm, the shot of the garrison having become exhausted, Chand Beeby ordered the guns to be loaded, first with copper coins, then with silver, and at length with gold; and all the coins being likewise used up, she fired away her jewels. The valour of Chand Beeby formed the chief subject of conversation round the camp-fires and in the tents of the Moguls; and, after this memorable day, her title of Chand Beeby, "the Lady Chand," was changed by common consent to the grander one of Chand Sultana. The want of provisions, and the approach of seventy thousand men from Bijapur, compelled the Moguls to retreat a few days after the storm. Bahadur Shah was now brought from the fort of Chawund, where he had been held prisoner, and was placed on the throne. But the ambition and duplicity of the Ahmednuggur nobles brought about a second siege in 1599. Chand Sultana, afraid to trust any of them, applied to Humeed Khan, an officer of high rank, who recommended her to defend the place to the last extremity; but Chand declared that so many chiefs had acted treacherously, it was plain no reliance could be placed on them, and she proposed that they should negotiate with the besiegers. Humeed Khan rushed into the streets, crying out that Chand Sultana was treating with the Moguls to surrender the fort. The ungrateful and short-sighted mob, believing him, and forgetting the former services of the heroine, rushed to the private apartments of Chand Sultana, and murdered her in their fury. It is satisfactory to know that the ungrateful people got the reward they so richly merited. For, a few days after the death of Chand, the Moguls captured the fort, giving little or no quarter. Mher-Ul-Nissa, or Nour Mahal, the "Light of the Harem," sometimes styled Nour Jehan, the "Light Nour Mahal was a widow when, in 1611, she became the bride of Jehanghire, and it is said that she took for her second husband the murderer of her first. Her influence over the Emperor soon became paramount. They had many tastes in common, amongst others the passion for hunting; Nour Mahal was as fond of the chase as Zenobia. In company with Jehanghire she would slay tigers and other savage beasts of the jungle, charming her lord by the adroitness with which she handled the bow or the more unwieldy matchlock. It was strange that a haughty, overbearing, courageous woman like Nour Mahal should never Next morning the empress led a party across the river to rescue Jehanghire. She was armed with a bow and two quivers of arrows, and sat in a howdah on the back of an elephant. In fording the stream, hundreds were swept away by the force of the current. Those who escaped drowning were weighed down by their armour and their wet clothes, and had their powder spoilt. In this disastrous condition they were obliged to fight hand to hand with the rebels before a landing could be effected. Nour Mahal, with her brother and a handful of the bravest chiefs, was amongst the first who reached the shore; but this little band could make no impression on the ranks of Mohabat Khan, whose soldiers poured The contest raged fiercest round the elephant of Nour Mahal, who never quailed before the infuriated rebels who sought her life. Her gallant defenders fell one after another, fighting manfully to the last; but she herself appeared to bear a charmed life amidst the perfect hail of bullets and winged shafts, though her infant granddaughter, who sat close beside her, was wounded, the driver of her elephant was shot, and the beast himself received a cut across the trunk. Half-maddened with pain, the animal plunged into the river, and was carried away by the stream. When at length the elephant struggled up the bank, Nour Mahal was discovered calmly extracting an arrow from the wound of her grandchild, as cool and collected as though she had been a spectator at a review in place of the leading actor in a fierce encounter. The howdah was saturated with blood. The failure of this rash, though gallant attempt, proved that Mohabat was too strong to be subdued by open force; Nour Mahal therefore resolved to lull his suspicions, and trust to chance for some expedient to crush him. Next day she went to his camp and surrendered herself a prisoner. For a Jehanghire died on the 28th of October, 1627. Although Nour Mahal survived him for twenty-four years, she held aloof from politics. She was buried in a splendid tomb at Lahore, close by the monument of Jehanghire. Spontini has chosen the story of Nour Mahal as the subject for one of his best operas. In 1688 the Mogul army, commanded by Azim Shah (son of Aurengzebe) was engaged in the siege of Bijapur. The troops were much distressed for want of provisions, as their supplies had been cut off by the enemy. Aurengzebe, hearing of this, ordered one of his generals to take twenty thousand bullock-loads of grain to the camp of Azim Shah. The enemy made a desperate attempt to seize this convoy on its road; but after a fierce encounter with the Moguls, they were driven off. During the action, the Princess Janee Begum, who was proceeding with the convoy to join her husband, Azim Shah, rode on the back of an elephant into the midst of the fight, and encouraged the soldiers by her presence. Juliana is perhaps the only European woman who ever took a leading part in the politics of the court of Delhi. She was born in Bengal in 1658, and her father was a Portuguese gentleman named Augustin Dias D'Acosta. Early in life she gained the favour of Aurengzebe, who made her superintendent of his Zenana, and governess of his son, Bahadur Shah. In 1707 Aurengzebe died, and Bahadur Shah ascended the throne. His right was disputed by his brothers, and he was compelled to defend his throne by force of arms. A battle was fought near Agra; Juliana, mounted on an elephant, by the side of Bahadur Shah, aided him by her advice, and cheered him with inspiring words; when his troops began to give way, she exhorted him not to despair. To her presence indeed was he indebted for the ultimate victory gained by his army. Juliana was created a princess, and given the rank of wife of an omrah, together with innumerable honours and riches showered upon her. The Great Mogul held her in such estimation that he used to say:—"If Juliana were a man, I would make her my vizier." Jehandur Shah, who ascended the throne in 1712, entertained the same respect for Juliana. She experienced some persecutions when this emperor was deposed in 1713 by his nephew Ferokshere; but During the latter half of the eighteenth century, the native princes of India finding, by dearly bought experience, that Indian discipline was ludicrously inferior to the European system, determined to introduce the latter into their own battalions. With this view they offered high rewards to European officers who would accept the command of their troops and teach them how to fight. Hundreds of adventurers—British, French, German, Swiss, Portuguese—soldiers of fortune, in short, from every part of Europe, took service under the various rajahs and princes, and many of them attained to high rank and honours. It was not uncommon for the widows of these officers to be given the post left vacant by their deceased husbands; and these female commanders led their troops to battle, or stopped at home, as they pleased. One of these soldiers of fortune was Colonel Mequinez, a Portuguese, who commanded a regiment of Topasses in the service of Hyder Ali Khan, Sultan of Mysore. At his death, Hyder Ali gave the widow (also a Portuguese) the command of her husband's regiment, to hold it till the adopted son of her husband had attained his majority. Madam Madam Mequinez was excessively avaricious, besides having a character for immorality. Having been detected in a plot to cheat the Provincial Father of the Mysore Jesuits out of a large sum in rupees and jewels, she was excommunicated, and sentenced to undergo public penance. Some months latter she finally disgraced herself by marrying a "mongrel Portuguese sergeant" belonging to her regiment. But she was very much surprised when the bacsi informed her that the Sultan had reduced her pay to that of a sergeant, because she had brought shame on the memory of her first husband, who had been a great favourite with the Sultan, Hyder Ali. One of the most thoroughly unprincipled European adventurers of these days was Somroo, a German soldier, who, after serving as private in the French and English armies, and in those of various native Somroo married twice; his second wife was, some say, the daughter of a Mogul noble who had fallen into great distress, though others aver she was a Cashmerian dancing-girl. He persuaded the Begum to renounce Mohammedanism and become a Roman Catholic. At Somroo's death, in 1778, the Vizier Nujeef Khan gave the widow the jaghire and the military post. She was a great favourite with the Emperor, who had the highest respect for her talents. He bestowed upon her the name of Zul Al Nissa, which means "Ornament of her sex." Under the government of this talented woman the "small but fertile" town of Serdhauna George Thomas, afterwards the most famous of all these European soldiers of fortune, accepted a commission in the Begum's service; and her keen eyes quickly discerned his superior military talent. He soon rose to high favour with the Begum, whose esteem he merited by courage, zeal, and untiring activity. So greatly was her revenue and authority increased by his talents, that he was for many years her chief counsellor and adviser. Begum Somroo enjoyed the respect of the leading ministers at the court of Delhi; the Viziers Nujeef Khan, Mirza Shuffee, and Afrasiab Khan placed the most implicit trust in her judgment on military matters. When Scindiah, the Mahratta chief, attained to the rank of vizier, he not only confirmed her in the jaghire of Serdhauna, but added a grant of territory south-west of the Jumna. Her generalship was not confined to occasional reviews; she took an active part in the wars and insurrections which disturbed the reign of Shah Aulem. During the war with Pertaub Sing, the In 1787, during the insurrection of Gholaum Cadir Khan, Prince of Sehraurunpore, Begum Somroo displayed the utmost coolness and determination. Previous to his open declaration of hostility, Gholaum, by the most artful speeches, endeavoured to gain the Begum's alliance; well aware of her influence at court, he offered her an equal share in the administration if she would assist him in seizing the reins of government. The proposal was tempting, but the Begum, well acquainted with the perfidious nature of the wily Rohilla chief, rejected all his offers, and repaired to the palace, where she announced her resolve to sacrifice life itself, if necessary, in defence of her sovereign. Her arrival infused new courage into the Imperial party; and some of the generals having assembled their forces, Gholaum Cadir opened a heavy cannonade on the palace. This was answered from the fort of Delhi; and after the bombardment had lasted for several hours, the rebel chief receiving intelligence that a large force was marching to relieve the Emperor, judged it most prudent to tender an apology, which Shah Aulem thought fit to accept. In the following year, 1788, Shah Aulem left The Emperor himself, with the main body of the army, invested Gocul Ghur, while two of his principal generals erected batteries against the rebel head-quarters, which they bombarded most vigorously. The village would have speedily been taken, but for the disgraceful conduct of the besieging force, both officers and men, who gave themselves up to riot and excess. Nujuff Cooli Khan, taking advantage of this, attacked the Mogul entrenchments one night, when nearly all the soldiers were fast asleep. Carrying all before them, the rebels perpetrated an indiscriminate slaughter before the others had time to arouse themselves. This news rapidly spread to the main body and threw the whole camp into dire confusion. To increase the The entire Imperial army, together with Shah Aulem and his family, would probably have fallen into the hands of the rebels, but for the courage and presence of mind of Begum Somroo. She was encamped with her sepoys to the right of the camp, and her troops not having been infected by the panic, waited, drawn up ready for action. Perceiving the disorder which prevailed, the Begum sent a respectful message to Shah Aulem, entreating him to repair for safety to her quarters. Then, stepping into her palanquin, she proceeded at the head of one hundred sepoys and a six-pounder (the latter commanded by a European) to the ground occupied by Munsoor Khan. She ordered her palanquin to be set down, and ere long drove the rebels from the field by a well-directed fire of grape, supported by volleys of musketry from the sepoys. This gallant exploit gave time for the Imperial troops to rally. In their turn they now attacked the rebels, and after a short sharply contested engagement, the latter were defeated. Nujuff Cooli Khan, disheartened by this reverse, entreated the Begum to intercede for his pardon; which was granted at last, after he had paid a large sum of money into the Imperial treasury. In 1791, Nujuff Cooli Khan again broke into rebellion. Ismail Beg was despatched to arrest him; but when the latter reached Rewari, where the rebel chief had set up his head-quarters, he learned that Nujuff was dead. However, the widow of Nujuff Cooli, a woman akin to Begum Somroo, of a masculine spirit, possessing, moreover, considerable military abilities, took command of deceased's forces. Knowing that Ismaeel Beg was courageous, talented, and ambitious, she proposed an alliance, which he accepted; and throwing himself into the town of Canoor, defended it against the Mahrattas. The Begum displayed the utmost courage throughout the siege, and invariably joined in all the sorties made by the garrison. Unfortunately, this brave woman was slain in a skirmish by a cannon-ball, and her death broke up the rebel camp. It was resolved by the garrison to deliver up Ismaeel Beg to the Mahrattas; but he was beforehand with them, and surrendered the town. General Thomas, in his zeal for the Begum Somroo's interests, raised up enemies for himself in the principal French and German officers. They took occasion to poison the Begum's mind against him by foul accusations; and in 1792 he was compelled to withdraw to Anopsheer, one of the frontier stations of the British army. Early in 1793, he took service under Appakandarow, a Mahratta chieftain. Le Begum Somroo, instigated by her husband, now determined to crush poor Thomas; and at the head of four battalions of foot, four hundred horse, and twenty pieces of cannon, she marched towards Jyjur, where he was stationed. But the Mahratta chiefs, who had long been jealous of her influence over Shah Aulem, stirred up a mutiny amongst the troops left in Serdhauna, and compelled her to return thither with all speed. The officers, to give a sanction to their proceedings, offered the jaghire to Zuffer Yab Khan, son of Somroo by a former wife. He was a young man of worthless and turbulent character; since his father's death he had lived in Delhi, receiving a handsome allowance from his step-mother. It was only a few days after the marriage that this In the course of the following year, the Begum, who had been ever since kept in durance vile, besought the assistance of George Thomas, for, said she, the hourly dread of assassination was driving her mad. Thomas was not deaf to her entreaties; he persuaded Bappoo, a Mahratta chief, to aid him with his forces, and together they marched upon Serdhauna. The Mahrattas were won over, partly by the prayers of Shah Aulem, and partly by liberal promises; and Zuffer having been expelled, the Begum was restored to power. Begum Sumroo was a good friend to the English, with whom she was always exceedingly popular on account of the great hospitality with which she entertained those who visited her neighbourhood. However, she fought against them, as an auxiliary of Scindiah, in 1803. She took part in the battle of Assaye; and at the defeat of the Mahrattas, she fled to Northern Hindostan, and hastily made peace with the Marquis Wellesley, on condition that her principality should revert to the British Government of When the British became masters of Delhi, the Begum frequently visited their camp, dressed in European costume, with a hat and veil, sometimes in a palanquin, sometimes on horseback, sometimes on an elephant. At this time she appeared to be about fifty-five, was of middle height, with a beautiful complexion. Her ancient friendship for the Mahrattas, and an intercepted letter which she was believed to have written to Jeswunt Rao Holkar, caused her to be suspected by the British when they were at war with that chief in 1805. However, she succeeded in clearing herself of the accusation. The exact year of her death is not known. Although Begum Somroo left no children of her own, she had adopted the daughter of Somroo by his first wife, a Mahratta woman. This girl wedded Mr. Dyce, a half-caste, son of Captain Dyce of the East India Company's service. The Begum had intended to make him her heir; but in her old age she detected him in a conspiracy, and so she left her property to his son, instead. This latter was the notorious David Ochterlony Dyce-Sombre. About the year 1838, this eccentric gentleman came to England, whither he had been preceded by the renown of his fabulous wealth. His arrival caused considerable excitement in London; he was fÊted When Lord Lake was in India, fighting the Mahrattas, there was a Sergeant W——, of the artillery, who served in nearly all the battles of his illustrious chief. This sergeant owned a Hindoo slave, belonging to the lowest dregs of the pariahs; but through the earnest labours of a Baptist missionary, she was converted to Christianity, and the sergeant made her his wife. She accompanied him in all his campaigns, and followed him into battle. When he was tired, she would lend a hand at the guns. In one action the sergeant was struck down by a bullet which passed through his shako and struck his forehead just above the temple The principal leaders in the terrible Indian Mutiny were Nana Sahib, Tantia Topee, and the Ranee of Jhansi. They were equally ferocious: they detested the British, and the motives which induced them to rebel were almost precisely similar. According to the laws and usages of Hindostan, a native prince, in default of sons, could adopt a strange boy and make him his heir; seldom was a dissentient voice raised against the succession of the adopted child till within the last thirty-five or forty years, when the East India Company constituted itself heir-apparent to all the thrones in the country. The city of Jhansi is situated in Bundelcund, to the south of the river Jumna. Previous to 1857, it was the strongest and most important place in the entire of Central India. The people were nearly all Brahmins, a religion held in common with their rajahs. In the days when the Peishwa was still a person of importance in Hindostan, the ruler of Jhansi was merely a wealthy zemindar, or land-owner, Gungadhur Rao died in 1854. Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General, refused to acknowledge his right to adopt an heir, and the little province of Jhansi was annexed to British India. The young Rajah and the Ranee, his mother by adoption, were pensioned off; the latter receiving six thousand a year, paid monthly. Her troops were disbanded, and replaced by a few regiments of Sepoys and Sowars. The Ranee was powerless to resist; she could only bide her time. She had not long to wait. Three years later, India was in a blaze. The Bundelcund Sepoys were amongst the first to mutiny. On the 14th of June, the native troops at Jhansi broke into It was generally believed at the time that this massacre took place by order of the Ranee, who is said to have stood by while the heads of ladies were chopped off, and the brains of babies were dashed out upon the flags. Nay, some have declared she laughed aloud when some deed of atrocity worse than the rest came under her notice. Shortly after this massacre, the Ranee took the field at the head of some hundreds of Sepoys, and marched towards Gwalior, where Scindiah, the descendant of our old enemy whom we routed at Assaye, remained faithful to the British. But In January, 1858, Sir Hugh Rose (Lord Strathnairn), commanding the second brigade of the Central India Field Force, set out against the rebels south of Delhi; his chief object being the capture of Jhansi. Having been joined by Brigadier Stuart, they invested the fortress on the 21st of March following. The city of Jhansi measured about four miles and a half in circumference. It stood on a level plain, surrounding the east, north, and part of the south sides of an elevated rock on which the fort stood. Altogether it was a fine specimen of modern fortification; and since the first outbreak of the Mutiny, its strength had been considerably added to by the Ranee, who took care to arm the batteries with heavy ordnance of long range. On the 25th a Tantia Topee marched to the relief of Jhansi with twenty or twenty-five thousand men, and an obstinately contested battle was fought on the 1st of April. But Tantia Topee, after proving himself to be a brave man and an able general, was totally routed with the loss of all his ordnance. Next day a general assault was made on the city; under a murderous fire the British forced their way through the streets. When they had more than half conquered it, the news of the Ranee's flight put an end to all further resistance on the part of the rebels. It was then found that the brave old tigress, utterly disheartened by the defeat of Tantia Topee, had fled during the previous night, under cover of the darkness. Followed by about three hundred rebels, she joined Tantia Topee at Koonch. Sir Hugh Rose, as soon as he had settled matters in Jhansi, directed his march towards Calpee. He was intercepted at Koonch by the Ranee and her ally; when a spirited action took place on the 9th of May. The mutineers were driven from their entrenched On the approach of Sir Hugh Rose, Tantia Topee fled, leaving the Ranee to defend the city. But she was not a woman easily dispirited. She disposed her forces (chiefly composed of the Gwalior Contingent) most skilfully, so as to command all the roads leading to Gwalior. She was scarcely ever out of the saddle; dressed in a sowar's uniform, and attended by a picked, well-armed escort, she rode from post to post, superintending all the operations. Sir Hugh Rose reached the Moorar cantonments on the 16th of June, and carried them with but slight loss. To intercept his reinforcements, the Ranee marched to the banks of the little river Oomrar. Brigadiers Smith and Orr, who were marching from Antree to join in the attack on Gwalior, reached Kota-ki-Serai, on the banks of this stream, on the morning of the 17th. Between this village and Gwalior, from which it is distant about three or four miles, the road winds through a succession of hilly ranges. Some rebel pickets were observed in front of and The Ranee's death was caused either by the bullet of a British rifleman, or by the fragment of a shell which pierced her breast. Her body was never found; it was said to have been burned by her followers immediately after the battle. Upon her death the rebel hosts melted like snow before a sunbeam. The British infantry speedily carried the first range of heights; and the enemy, after losing about four hundred men, and seeing their camp in flames, were compelled to fly. The British, after losing about fifteen men (ten of whom died from sunstroke and fatigue), and spiking three rebel guns, resumed their march; and the same evening rejoined Sir Hugh Rose. The combined forces now advanced on Gwalior, routed the sepoys in the battle of Gurrowlee, June 19th, and recaptured the city, June 20th, when Scindiah was restored to his throne. The death of the Ranee excited very little interest in this country. The newspapers of the time, with but one or two exceptions, barely chronicled the event, without making any comments; but it was universally felt by every British soldier serving in India that, with the death of Lukshmi Baee, we had lost the foe who was able to do us most injury. For courage and military skill she was acknowledged to be far superior to any of the other rebel chiefs. The message flashed along the wires announcing that the Ranee had fallen, added that "the deaths of Moulvie and the Ranee were more gain to us than half-a-dozen victories." The exact age of the "Indian Boadicea" was never accurately determined. While one journal styles her "this girl, barely twenty years of age," another assumes her age to have been at least thirty. An employÉ of the East India Company who visited Jhansi in 1854, and accidentally caught a glimpse of this oriental heroine, describes her as "a woman of about the middle size—rather stout, but not too stout. Her face" he says, "must have been very handsome when she was younger, and even now it had many charms—though, according to my idea of beauty, it was too round. The expression, also, was very good and very intellectual. The eyes were particularly fine, and the nose very delicately shaped. She was not very fair, though All agreed as to the extreme licentiousness and immorality of her habits; and the rooms in her palace are said to have been hung with pictures "such as pleased Tiberius at Capri." It was formerly the custom with many of the native princes to maintain female warriors to guard their zenanas. The tyrant Ferokshere, who was murdered in 1719, kept up an Amazon corps at Delhi, composed of Abyssinians, Cashmerians, Persians—in short, drawn from every nation whence slaves could be easily procured. They were armed with matchlocks, bows and arrows, spears and targets, and other weapons, according to their nationality. When the Emperor took refuge from his assailants in the zenana, the female guards held the entrance bravely for some time, and exchanged shots with the rebels; but they received more wounds than they gave, and were so easily driven away. In the harem of the Nizam, at Hyderabad, there was, so lately as the time of the Mutiny, a regiment of Amazons who wore scarlet tunics, green trousers, and red cloth hats, trimmed with gold lace and mounted with a green plume. Their arms were the An interesting sketch of the female sepoys at Lucknow is given in the "Private Life of an Eastern King." "Of the living curiosities of the Palace, there were none the account of which will appear more strange to European ears than the female sepoys. I had seen these men-like women pacing up and down before the various entrances to the female apartments for many days before I was informed of their real character. I regarded them simply as a diminutive race of soldiers with well wadded coats. There was nothing but that fulness of the chest to distinguish many of them from other sepoys; and one is so accustomed to see soldiers in England with coats stuffed so as to make their wearers resemble pouter-pigeons, that I took little heed of the circumstance. "These women retained their long hair, which they tied up in a knot on the top of the head, and there it was concealed by the usual shako. They bore the ordinary accoutrements of sepoys in India—the musket and bayonet, cross-belts and cartridge-boxes, jackets and white duck continuations, which might be seen anywhere in Bengal. Intended solely for duty in the Palace as guardians of the harem, they were paraded only in the court-yards, where I have seen them going through their exercise just like other sepoys. They were drilled by one of the native officers of the king's army, and appeared quite familiar with marching and wheeling, with presenting, loading, and firing muskets, with the fixing and unfixing of bayonets; in fact, with all the detail of the ordinary barrack-yard. Whether they could have gone through the same marches in the field with thousands of mustachioed sepoys around them, I cannot tell—probably not. They had their own corporals and sergeants; none of them, I believe, attained a higher rank than that of sergeant. "Many of them were married women, obliged to quit the ranks for a month or two at a time, occasionally. They retained their places, however, as long as possible.... Of these female sepoys there were in all two companies of the usual strength, or weakness, if the reader will have it This act of Nussir was rendered all the worse, because many years before, when Ghazi-u-deen, the late King of Oude, wished to disinherit his son and put him to death, the Begum armed her retainers, and fought for Nussir with the courage of a lion. After many had fallen on each side, the British resident interfered, and put an end to the contest. Nussir, after he became king, wished to act towards his son as Ghazi would have done towards him; but the old Begum now fought as stoutly for her grandson as she did previously for her son. The King sent his female sepoys to turn her out of her palace, but she armed her servants, fought the sepoys, and put them to flight. Fifteen or sixteen of the Begum's adherents were left dead on the field. The resident again interfered, and guaranteed the life and succession of the child. But Nussir succeeded in cheating his mother after all, by declaring the boy illegitimate. In vain the old Begum, after the death of Nussir, surrounded the British Residency with her troops; the Englishman was not to be intimidated. Troops were ordered up from the cantonments, and a few discharges of grape quickly dispersed the Begum's adherents. One of Nussir's uncles was then placed on the throne, and the brave old Begum was compelled to submit. There is a similar guard of female warriors in the Palace of the King of Siam, at Bangkok; and the Paris papers of September, 1866, speak of a regiment of female Zouaves, armed with rifles, which was then being raised in the first-named city. As lately as 1873, we read of Amazonian soldiers in Bantam. Says a newspaper of that date, describing the condition of the sexes in that kingdom:—"Although tributary to Holland, it is an independent state, politically without importance, yet happy, rich, and since time immemorial governed and defended by women. The sovereign is indeed a man, but all the rest of the government belongs to the fair sex. The king is entirely dependent upon his state council, composed of three women. The highest authorities, all state officers, court functionaries, military commanders, and soldiers are, without exception, of the female sex. The men are agriculturists and merchants. The body-guard of the king is formed of the female Élite. These amazons ride in the masculine style, wearing sharp steel points instead of spurs. They carry a pointed lance, which they swing very gracefully, and also a musket, which is discharged at full gallop. The throne is inheritable by the eldest son, and in case the king dies without issue a hundred elected amazons assemble, in order to choose a successor from among their own sons. The chosen one is then proclaimed lawful king." |
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