The wrongs of which they complain are of course such as all men of
their class in Oude are liable to suffer; but no other men in Oude
are so prone to exaggerate the circumstances attending them, to bring
forward prominently all that is favourable to their own side, and
keep back all that is otherwise, and to conceal the difficulties
which must attend the search after the truth, and those still greater
which must attend the enforcement of an award when made. Their claims
are often upon men who have well-garrisoned forts and large bands of
armed followers, who laugh at the King's officers and troops, and
could not be coerced into obedience without the aid of a large and
well-appointed British force. For the immediate employment of such a
force they will not fail to urge the Resident, though they have, to
the commanding officer of their company and regiment represented the
debtor or offender as a man of no mark, ready to do whatever the
Resident or the Oude authorities may be pleased to order. On one
occasion no less than thirty lives were lost in attempting to enforce
an award in favour of a sipahee of our army.
I have had several visits from my old friend Sheikh Mahboob Allee,
the subadar-major, who is mentioned in my _Essay on Military
Discipline_. He is now an invalid pensioner in Oude, and in addition
to the lands which his family held before his transfer to the
invalids, he has lately acquired possession of a nice village, which
he claimed in the usual way through the Resident.
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