[A Journey through the Kingdom of Oude, Volumes I & II by William Sleeman]@TWC D-Link book
A Journey through the Kingdom of Oude, Volumes I & II

CHAPTER III
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The tigers in the Tarae do not often kill men, sir, for they find plenty of deer and cattle to eat."-- "Can you tell me, Rajah Sahib," said I, "why it is that among the Arabs, the lion is called 'the father of cultivation,' '_abol hurs_, or _abo haris_.'" "No," replied the Rajah; "it is an odd name for a beast that feeds on nothing but the flesh of deer, cattle, and men." "It is, I suppose, Rajah Sahib," I remarked, "because he feeds upon the deer, which are the greatest enemies of their young crops." The Rajahs of Toolseepoor and Bulrampoor, and all the merchants and respectable landholders in these parts assure me, that all the large colonies of Bhuduks, or gang robbers by hereditary profession, who had, for so many generations, up to A.D.1840, been located in the Oude Terae forest, have entirely disappeared under the operation of the "Special Police," of the Thuggee and Dacoitee Department, aided and supported by the Oude Government; and that not one family of them can now be found anywhere in Oude.

They have not been driven out as formerly, to return as soon as the temporary pressure ceased, but hunted down and punished, or made to blend with the rest of society in service or at honest labour.
_December_ 16, 1849 .-- Nawabgunge, eight miles, over a plain of the same good soil, but not much better cultivated.

The people tell me, that garden tillage is now almost unknown in these districts; first, because kachies or gardeners (here called moraes) having been robbed, ruined, and driven into exile by Rughbur Sing, cannot be induced to return to and reside in places, where they would have so little chance of reaping the fruits of their labour; and, secondly, because there are no people left who can afford to purchase their garden produce.

They tell me also, that the best classes of ordinary cultivators, the Koormies and Lodhees, have been almost all driven out of the district from the same cause.

The facts are manifest-- there are no gardeners, and but few Koormies and Lodhees left; and there is, in consequence, little good tillage of any kind, and still less of garden cultivation.
The Rajah of Bulrampoor and Ramdut Pandee, the banker, rode with me, and related the popular tradition regarding the head of the Kulhuns family of Rajpoots, Achul Sing, who, about a century and a quarter ago, reigned over the district intervening between Gonda and Wuzeer Gunge, and resided at his capital of Koorassa.


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