Memoir on Thar and

adopted may, under any circumstances, be deemed a legitimate source of congratulation
to those who originated them, as well as to those who carried them out.
162. Few, if any, will, I apprehend, doubt the necessity and expediency of intervention in
the Thurr and Parkur, after perusing this memoir; and as few will be disposed to question
the advantage to the people resulting from that intervention, and the subsequent conquest
of Sind. If it be thought that the state of society existing in the Thurr and Parkur and
Kutch, previous to our intervention, be too highly coloured, or that the power of the
Desert banditti of those days be overrated, I appeal to the Government records of the
period. If, on the other hand, it be thought that the present social state and prospects of
the Thurr and Parkur are too strongly contrasted with what first caused our intervention
there, I appeal to the Commissioner in Sind’s report * of 1856, and to an extract from a
letter from the same authority to Government, † quoted as a note below, and to the paucity
of crime and other significant signs of the times, on record in the Government archives.
Murder and rapine have been supplanted by law and order; fear and dread of the banditti
have given way to security of person and property; the reckless disregard of the laws of
nature, exemplified in the chopping off of women’s heads, when even suspected of
infidelity, has given way to a wholesome regard for the laws and justice of the ruling
power. In short, where all was chaos, order now prevails, and men gain their livelihood
by trade, cultivation, and other lawful pursuits, instead of robbing their neighbours and
the such like.
163. The gratitude of the people generally—in saying generally, I speak advisedly, to
prevent its being thought that only the chiefs and those who enjoy grants and immunities
are included,—is demonstrated in a variety of ways, though, from the nature and position
of the districts, and the little importance attached to them, they have but few opportunities
of showing in a marked way their good feelings towards the British Government. When
an opportunity did occur, by the visit of the Commissioner in Sind to those districts in
1854- 55, they took advantage of it to assure him of their sense of the liberality and
justice of, and of their devotion to, the ruling power.
164. Aware how much Natives appreciate the mark of respect and confidence of being
allowed to appear armed, I have rather encouraged it amongst the heads of tribes and
leading members of society than otherwise. It is a trifle in itself, but is thought a good
deal of by them.
165. It may be as well to observe, before closing this memoir, that statute or forced
labour is unknown in the Thurr and Parkur. If any man or woman has been called on to
* The report is published in Selections from the Records of the Bombay Government, No. XL., and is dated 21st
January 1856.
† Extract from letter No. 151, of 11th April 1855, from the Commissioner in Sind to the Right Honorable Lord
Elphinstone, Governor and President in Council.— I look upon his (Lieutenant Raikes’) management of the Thurr
districts as a perfect model for the administration of a very delicate and difficult charge—an opinion in which I trust
Government will concur, when the present heavy press of current duty allows of my completing my long-promised
report on the Thurr and Parkur.
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