INDIA. 



397 



pressed their decided opinion that the Guicowar 

 was guilty of the offense imputed to him, but, 

 as the commissioners were divided in opinion, 

 refrained from punishing him for his crime. 

 Nevertheless, in consideration of the "noto- 

 rious misconduct of the Guicowar, his gross 

 misgovernment of the state, and his evident 

 incapacity to carry into effect the necessary 

 reforms," considering also the opinion of the 

 Government of India that "it would be detri- 

 mental to the interests of the people of Baroda 

 and inconsistent with the maintenance of the 

 relations which ought to subsist between the 

 British Government and the Baroda state that 

 his highness should be restored to power," 

 a proclamation, dated April, 1875, ordered the 

 deposition of the Guicowar from sovereignty, 

 and the forfeiture by him and his issue of all 

 the advantages and rights appertaining to it. 

 The deposed Guicowar succeeded his brother 

 Khundee Row in 1870. His antecedents were 

 not favorable. He had been accused of being 

 concerned in a conspiracy to murder his broth- 

 er, by poison or other means, in 1863, and had 

 in consequence been kept in confinement as a 

 state prisoner during his brother's lifetime. 

 He was then described hi the residency records 

 as being "intellectually feeble and apparently 

 irresponsible for his actions." On Khundee 

 Eow's death Mulhar Eow was believed to be 

 the only legitimate lineal descendant of Peelajee 

 Guicowar, the founder of the dynasty, and as 

 such he succeeded to the government of the 

 state. It was subsequently found that there 

 were other claimants to the throne, whose 

 titles were carefully investigated after the 

 deposition of Mulhar Row. The Government 

 of India at length decided in favor of Gopal, the 

 son of Kassi, who was adopted by the widow 

 of the late Khundee Row, and solemnly in- 

 stalled as Guicowar on June 24th. 



A great excitement was produced through- 

 out India by the announcement that the Prince 

 of Wales would pay a visit to the country. It 

 was the first visit ever paid by a member of 

 the royal family of England to the Indian Em- 

 pire. The voyage was made on board the iron- 

 clad steamer Serapis, which reached Bombay 

 on November 7th. Grand preparations had 

 been made to receive him. On landing, he 

 was met by the civil, military, and municipal 

 authorities, accompanied by seventy native 

 princes and chiefs, and more than 200,000 

 people lined the streets through which the 

 prince was conducted to the government- 

 house. The prince in the course of No.vember 

 and December visited Poona, Ceylon, Madras, 

 and Calcutta, and the capitals of several native 

 princes. The English Government declared 

 itself entirely satisfied with the enthusiastic 

 reception the prince had everywhere received, 

 and with the proofs of loyalty to British rule 

 which the native population on this occasion 

 had shown. 



A.t the beginning of November, the British 

 Resident of Perak, on the peninsula of Malacca, 



was murdered by the natives. Several rajahs 

 were believed to have instigated the attack, 

 and a general outbreak of the Mohammedan 

 population of the peninsula was at first antici- 

 pated. In great haste troops were sent from 

 Singapore to Perak, which relieved the English 

 residency of Perak from the siege by the 

 Malays, but in an unsuccessful attack upon a 

 neighboring stockade the English lost a cap- 

 tain and several men. A few days later larger 

 reinforcements arrived from Hong-Kong and 

 Calcutta. The Malays, who were commanded 

 by the Maharajahs Ismail and Lela, were se- 

 verely defeated on December 7th, and retreated 

 to Kintah, which, on December 23d, was taken 

 by General Colborne without any loss. The 

 two Maharajahs fled to Siamese territory, and 

 the English took possession of all the important 

 places in the neighborhood. 



Serious complications between British India 

 and Burmah were caused by a treacherous 

 attack made, near the northern frontier of 

 Burmah, upon a British expedition which was 

 to explore a land-route between British India 

 and Western China. The anticipation of an 

 impending war paralyzed the trade of British 

 Burmah, and caused a general stagnation of 

 business. In the district of Pegu, the dacoits, 

 or armed robbers, displayed an unwonted au- 

 dacity, and Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton, the 

 inspector-general of police of the province, lost, 

 his life in an encounter with them. During the 

 troubles with Burmah, the natives of British 

 Burmah showed a general disaffection toward 

 British rule, which was eagerly fomented by 

 Buddhist priests. On December 12th, an or- 

 ganized outbreak had been planned at Rangoon 

 by Moung Bena, a political refugee from Upper 

 Burmah, who intended to seize the town, mas- 

 sacre all the Europeans, and reestablish Bur- 

 mese rule instead of the English. The English 

 authorities received notice of the plot in the 

 course of the day ; speedy precautions were 

 taken, a number of arrests made, and this 

 scheme, it seems, was consequently abandoned. 



In May, a petition was presented to the 

 English Parliament, under the auspices of the 

 East India Association, and signed by nearly 

 22,000 native inhabitants of India, residing in 

 different parts of the Deccan, in the Bombay 

 Presidency, complaining that the affairs of 

 India receive but little attention at the hands 

 of the British Parliament. Questions of the 

 most vital importance, affecting the well-being 

 of 200,000,000 of her Majesty's subjects, sel- 

 dom enter into its deliberations, or at best are 

 dragged to the fag-end of the session, when 

 they are disposed of with little or no attention. 

 The few members who devoted their time to 

 Indian topics in the last Parliament lost their 

 seats at the new election, and there exist no 

 means whereby the grievances and wants of 

 the people of India can be efficiently repre- 

 sented. The petitioners, therefore, urge that 

 it has become a political necessity that India 

 should have direct representation in Parlia- 



