Memoir on Thar and

His Highness then enjoins on Government the necessity of directing all the
Thannadars of Kutch and Guzerat to put to death all the robbers they can find in
those districts. The letter concludes— Ever water the garden of amity with the
water of your correspondence.”
59. The general tenor of this letter, when divested of oriental metaphor, was not
calculated to inspire confidence and satisfaction, more especially as there was good
reason for believing that His Highness * had been privy to the escape from Parkur of a
notorious outlaw from Kutch, whose surrender had been demanded; and under these
circumstances, Government—whose only object was to protect Kutch and Guzerat from
the devastation committed by the outlaws, and who would much have preferred not
interfering directly in Parkur, if His Highness would have made the necessary
arrangements to attain that object, — decided that the Ameer should again be addressed,
with the view of assuring him “of the satisfaction Government derived from His
Highness’ promise to punish the Parkur freebooters; but that as the evil to our frontier
from their inroads is very great, and can be endured no longer, definite precautions in
that matter must be taken, and Government was in consequence compelled to make the
following demands on him.”
60. The demands may be stated thus:—to surrender certain outlaws; to reimburse those
who had suffered by the depredations of the banditti during the last two years, and make
arrangements to restrain the banditti in Parkur for the future; or allow a British force to be
stationed in Parkur: or the option of ceding the sovereignty of Parkur to His Highness the
Rao of Kutch, and thus absolving himself from all responsibility with reference to its
inhabitants in future, was offered him, the tribute, &c. from Parkur being guaranteed to
the Ameer by the British Government.
61. Notwithstanding the above promises, in January 1832, the banditti † carried off four
hundred head of cattle from Chorar, on the eastern frontier of Kutch; nor were their
depredations confined to this one instance it was therefore determined to dispatch a force
to Parkur to punish the banditti.
62. A field force accordingly crossed the Runn into Parkur, ‡ via Nurra Bait, on the 1st
November 1832. The chief authority in Parkur, Soda Juggoojee—who had a few years
before murdered his uncle, the Rana, and usurped his authority, and who had been mixed
up with the plunderers whom the force had come into Parkur especially to punish —
absconded. The Chief of Veerawow, and the Thakoor of Barana, however, at once made
their submission; and the force proceeded onwards to Bakasir and Balmeer, between
which places the banditti had always, when pressed in other quarters, found refuge. Most
* Vide letter from Government, No. 128, of 24th November 1831
† Vide letter from Captain Roberts to Resident, dated 9th February 1832.
‡ Vide letter from Lieutenant Colonel Litchfield, Commanding Field Force, dated Veerawow, 7th November 1832.
<strong>Memoir</strong> on the Thurr and Parkur Districts of Sind. Copyright © www.panhwar.com
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