Page:Twelve men of Bengal in the nineteenth century (1910).djvu/233

Rh Khan has been conspicuous from the very commencement of the disturbance; and the bravery and frankness with which he has, at a very great risk to himself, cast his lot on the side of the authorities, is deserving of special recognition at the present time, and has been in itself of great use."

"A few days after the news of the Mutiny reached us, he presented to me a petition, stating that he was ready to devote life and property to the service of the state, and from that day he has incessantly exerted himself in the cause of Government, seeking for information, ferreting out bad characters, watching the city and obtaining good information through emissaries employed at his expense from the neighbouring villages. Walayet All Khan has accordingly taken possession of an English house at the west end of the city near my compound and began living there day and night at a considerable scale of sacrifice to his life."

It was not only in time of emergency, however, that he showed his loyalty to the crown and his earnest desire to serve his country. At a time when Muhammadan influence and education were at their lowest ebb, he came to the front as a leader in every movement of social progress in Behar. There was no public spirited enterprise of any kind from this time forward with which his name was not associated. Of the Patna College, which now occupies so prominent a place among educational