1837.] An Account of the Trihe of Mhadeo Holies. 



279 



officer, the late Captain Luyken. I have omitted to mention before that 

 that portion of the hilly tract of country lying south of Hurrisschunder, 

 forms the western boundary of the Poona district ; while- that part ex- 

 tending northward, from the same hill fort, forms the western boundary 

 of the Ahmudnuggur district. Troops were out now in pursuit of the 

 BheelSj Ramoossies and Kolies who had committed depradations in the lat- 

 ter part of 1829, and beginning of the year 1830. Many of the officers and 

 men employed had been out the previous season, and had consequently 

 become well acquainted with the inhabitants and the localities of the 

 country. All were actuated by an unusual spirit of enthusiasm, and 

 willingly underwent the fatigue and labour of this harassing duty. 

 Although the services and exertions of all were so great, yet it would be 

 very unjust to the memories of the late Lieutenants Lloyd and Forbes, 

 the former of the 11th regiment and the latter of the 13th regiment, 

 were I not to mention that they greatly contributed to the restoration of 

 tranquillity in the hilly country. A number of prisoners were taken to 

 Poona and Thanna ; Ramah Keerva with several other notorious leaders 

 and their followers were brought to Ahmudnuggur, where Keerva was 

 executed. Some years previously, detachments from the Konkan had 

 endeavoured to capture Keerva by surrounding him in his house at night, 

 but he invariably contrived to escape ; but as the havildar commanding 

 one of these parties was the Koly Patell of a village near Kotool, Keerva 

 set fire to his house by which he lost property worth several hundred 

 rupees. As 1 have before noticed, this practice of retaliation is a com- 

 mon one among the Kolies, and I had soon an opportunity of making an 

 effort to check such a system. Two nights after Ramah Keerva was 

 seized, the house of the man who gave the information which led to his 

 apprehension, was burnt, with the dwellings of four other persons ; two 

 of these were extremely poor, and one of them a widow. I therefore 

 had the loss of each person valued as nearly as possible, and allotted to 

 the two poorer persons three times the value of the house and grain 

 that were destroyed ; and to the other three double the amount of the 

 property consumed by the fire ; and instantly circulated a proclamation 

 offering a reward of five hundred rupees for the apprehension of the 

 incendiary, and announced to the people, at the same time^ that it 

 became the duty of the government authorities to afford protection to 

 persons who suffered injury in their person or property for having 

 rendered useful service to the state. 



I shall close this memoir by mentioning that the inhabitants of the 

 Kotool and Rajoor districts showed a very great desire to aid the troops 

 in the service on which they were employed ; and while acting inde- 

 pendently, without any of our troops near, they seized a number of the 

 Bund and brought them prisoners to camp. 



Ahmudnuggur, \$th July 183S. 



