Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 6.djvu/20

INTRODUCTORY SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF SIND. same as that of Meeanee, but more quickly decided. The Belochees left 5,000 dead and dying on the field, with their cannon, while the English loss was 270 men and officers killed and wounded, of whom no less than 147 were of the 22nd foot.

These two actions decided the fate of Sind and its princes, and the province was soon after annexed by proclamation to the British territories in India. Most of the Ameers were pensioned, and sent to Calcutta; but one, Ali Morad, who had been a traitor to his family, remained on his domains in Upper Sind with some additions to them, till proofs of his forgeries caused a portion of them to be resumed. Sir Charles Napier ruled over the country till his final retirement from the service; and since, as a dependance of the Bombay Presidency, the province has been governed on the English system, and has become prosperous and content. Even the fierce Beloch tribes have one and all submitted, and are now at least peaceful, if not peace-loving subjects of Queen Victoria.

In this sketch all allusion to the memorable controversy between Sir Charles Napier and Sir James Outram has been purposely avoided. Those who will, may read both sides of the question in General William Napier's Conquest of Sind, and Outram's commentary upon it. The events detailed in both are matters of history, with which future historians of the period are alone competent to deal; for this sketch is intended only as a preliminary introduction to details of the people, and is given because Sind, which is not an integral province of India, has an independent history of its own.

The province of Sind much resembles Egypt; a flat alluvial plain traversed by the Indus, by which it is irrigated—with the mountains of Belochistan to the west, and the sandy desert of India to the east. The plain, where water from the river can reach it, is very fertile. The climate, except in the winter months, is excessively hot, but not generally unhealthy, and during the hottest months the people temper the heat by living in apartments under ground. There are many distinct classes of people and languages in Sind, and Persian, Pushtoo, Beloch, and Sindee are spoken, the latter being the original vernacular of the Province, almost confined to Hindoos and the descendants of the original inhabitants. It has a close affinity to Hindee, and is therefore Aryan.

MEADOWS TAYLOR