374 



INDIA. 



in not attempting to undo the palace revolution, 

 and directed him to recognize as Regent the 

 Jubraj or next heir to the throne, who had pro- 

 claimed himself Maharajah as soon as he was 

 informed by the Senaputty of the forced abdica- 

 tion and deportation of Chandra Sing. He had 

 taken no part in the affair, having gone away 

 into the country to avoid being mixed up in the 

 conflict between his brothers. As soon as the 

 old Maharajah had reached British territory, 

 where he knew that his life was safe, he tele- 

 graphed to Mr. Quinton, denying that he had 

 formally abdicated, and asking for the interven- 

 tion of the Indian Government to restore him to 

 the throne. When the trouble first began Mr. 

 Quinton sent word to Mr. Grimwood that he 

 could have troops to maintain the authority of 

 the Maharajah, which the Indian Governmentwas 

 bound to defend under the treaty of protection. 

 Mr. Grimwood did his best to persuade the Ma- 

 harajah to recall his decision to resign the gaddi 

 or sovereignty and flee from the country. After 

 he had abdicated and fled in a panic, the local 

 British authorities, following the settled policy of 

 the Indian Administration, were obliged to pro- 

 visionally recognize the de facto native govern- 

 ment until the Supreme Government at Cal- 

 cutta should decide who was to be ruler. Mr. 

 Quinton and Mr. Grimwood, in their reports 

 to the Viceroy, said that the Senaputty had made 

 himself exceedingly popular by his courage, 

 generosity, ability, and force of character, and 

 that things were going on tranquilly under the 

 new Maharajah. Chandra Sing, who was ac- 

 companied in his flight by the Pucca Sena, went 

 to Calcutta and prayed to be reinstated, con- 

 vincing the Viceroy by his arguments until the 

 officers on the spot urged the objections to his 

 restoration. The Governor-General and his 

 Council took a long time to deliberate, and 

 meanwhile Mr. Grimwood established cordial 

 relations with the Jubraj and the Senaputty. 

 In January the Viceroy signified a desire to re- 

 store the old Maharajah. Mr. Quinton, who 

 went to Calcutta, strongly advised against such a 

 step, as it would involve the maintenance of a 

 large garrison in Manipur and the frequent in- 

 terference of the paramount government. The 

 deposed ruler was a weak and vacillating man, 

 who had shown himself too timid to punish the 

 Senaputty with banishment, as advised by the 

 Chief Commissioner on the occasion of a defiant 

 outbreak in 1888, and had lived in dread of his 

 brother ever since. On further consideration 

 the Governor-General in Council decided to con- 

 firm the Jubraj as Maharajah, since he had 

 taken no part in the revolution, but to punish 

 its leader, the Senaputty, by interning him in 

 some distant part of India. Mr. Quinton re- 

 ceived orders on Feb. 21 to proceed to Mani- 

 pur with a sufficient military force and to arrest 

 the Senaputty as secretly and quietly as possi- 

 ble. The Chief Commissioner took a force of 

 400 Goorkhas from two of the best regiments 

 in the Indian army. The escort was under the 

 command of Col. Charles McDowal Skene, who 

 was experienced in frontier warfare, and it was 

 supposed to be strong enough to deal with the 

 whole Manipuri army. Another body of 200 

 Goorkhas, under Capt. CoWley, was ordered to 

 Manipur. The Chief Commissioner was prepared 



to fight, and he did not take a large force be- 

 cause he anticipated little resistance from the un- 

 trained Manipuri militia, whose only good weap- 

 ons were 200 Enfield rifles and two 7-pounder 

 guns presented to the Maharajah in 1887 for 

 assisting the British troops in Burmah. It has 

 ever been the military policy of the Government 

 of India in dealing with the native princes by 

 bold and adventurous action to impress them 

 with the superior prowess of the British troops. 

 Kept in complete ignorance of the wish of the 

 Viceroy to restore the ex-Maharajah and of his 

 final decision to remove the Senaputty, Mr. 

 Grimwood cultivated cordial relations both with 

 the new Maharajah and with the Senaputty, 

 who was practically the ruler. When Mr. Quin- 

 ton entered Manipur from the north by way 

 of the Kohima pass, he sent forward Lieut. 

 Gurdon, who arrived in the city of Manipur on 

 March 15, 1891, but told him nothing of the 

 Chief Commissioner's plans. Mr. Quinton, on 

 the 20th, informed Mr. Grimwood that it was 

 his intention to call a durbar, and that it would 

 be his duty as resident political agent to arrest 

 the Senaputty and deport him from the country. 

 His wife begged that the task should be given 

 to some person who had not received the prince's 

 hospitality and kindness. Mr. Grimwood had 

 gone to Sengmai to meet the Chief Commis- 

 sioner, and the Senaputty came out to receive 

 him with honor, and conduct the party into the 

 capital with a military escort. Mr. Quinton's 

 purpose to arrest the Senaputty in open durbar 

 was communicated by telegraph to the Viceroy 

 and approved on March 19. A council was 

 held on the 21st, at which Mr. Grimwood ad- 

 vised against making the arrest, saying that 

 formidable opposition would be offered. He 

 was overruled by the civil and military chiefs 

 of the expedition. The British force had no 

 mountain guns or other artillery, and the sol- 

 diers carried only forty rounds of ammunition, 

 as the march was through a rugged country and 

 there was known to be a supply of cartridges at 

 the Residency. 



On his ceremonious entry into Manipur, on 

 March 22, Mr. Quinton announced that a durbar 

 would be held in the Residency at noon. The 

 Senaputty, rising from a sick bed, went to the 

 Residency, where he was kept outside for a long 

 time. Surmising from the number of guards 

 the intention to arrest him, he went away. The 

 Regent appeared at the appointed hour,"but the 

 Chief Commissioner refused to receive him and 

 his ministers because the Senaputty and the 

 other princes were not present. The Regent 

 said that the Senaputty was unwell. Mr. Quin- 

 ton demanded that he should be sent for, and 

 detained him as a prisoner until he sent an order 

 for his brother to come. When the Senaputty 

 returned answer that he was too ill to come, the 

 durbar was dismissed. After a conference be- 

 tween the political agent and the ministers, 

 another durbar was appointed for the following 

 morning. But to this no one came. The Chief 

 Commissioner then sent a message to the Regent, 

 saying that if the Senaputty was not produced 

 he would have him arrested. The Regent was 

 frightened at the menaces of the Chief Com- 

 missioner, who threatened to depose him, but 

 was still more in dread of the Senaputty, who 



