1 THE IMPERIAL ASSEMBLAGE, 599
2 interest which Her Imperial Majesty took in the affairs of this her great
3 dependency. It brought the reigning princes of Hindostén and its people
4 into closer communion with their British rulers. It strengthened the bonds
5 of friendship between the Chiefs of North and South India, all of whom,
6 with an enthusiasm unparalleled in history, joined in doing homage to the
7 representative of their most august Sovereign. It served, on the one hand,
8 to establish the reality of the British Empire in the minds of the people of
9 India, while, on the other, it identified the governing race with their true
10 interests. It was the crowning event in the history of British India; all
11 hearts were cheered, all felt the beneficent suzerainty of the Queen, all were
12 proud and grateful for an act of Royal favour which had brought them closer
13 to the throne of Great Britain.
14 His Excellency, Lord Lytton, addressed the assembled chiefs and people
15 in a speech in which he explained the gracious intentions of Her Majesty
16 in adding the title to the style and dignity of her ancestral Crown.
17 His Lordship then communicated the gracious message which the Queen
18 had addressed to him in her own Royal and Imperial name, and which he
19 had received that morning from Her Majesty.
20 We, Victoria, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom, Queen-Eimpress of
21 India, send through our Viceroy, to all our officers, civil and military, and to all princes,
22 chiefs and peoples now at Delhi assembled, our Royal and Imperial greeting, and assure
23 them of the deep interest and earnest affection with which we regard the people of our
24 Indian Empire. We witnessed with heart-felt satisfaction, the reception which they have
25 accorded to our beloved son, and have been touched by the evidence of their loyalty and
26 attachment to our house and throne, We trust that the present occasion may tend to
27 unite in bonds of yet closer affection ourselves and our people ; that from the highest to
28 the humblest all may feel that under our rule the principles of liberty, equity and justice
29 are secured to them; and that to promote their happiness, to add to their prosperity and
30 advance their welfare, are the ever present aims and object of our Empire.
31 In connection with the assumption of the Imperial title by Her Majesty,
32 the salutes of the Jammu, Jhind, Nabhd and Malerkotla chiefs were each
33 increased by two guns, as a personal distinction. The additions of “Indar
34 Mahbandar Bahddur,” and of “ Sipar-i Sultanat,” were made to the title of the
35 Mahardjé of Kashmir, and that of “ Mashir-i-Kesur-i-Hind ” both to his titles
36 and to those of the Rajé of Jhind. Mahardj& Rambir Singh of Kashmir
37 was also endowed with the honorary rank of General in the British army.
38 On the 2nd of April, 1877, Sir Robert Eyles Egerton succeeded Sir
39 Robert Henry Davies as Lieutenant-Governor of the Panjab. During the
40 years 1878 and 1879, Kashmir was visited by a terrible famine, and the
41 mortality among the suffering classes, chiefly Mahomedans, was great. The
42 distribution of grain ordered by the Mahardjd was generally either not
43 made or made inequitably ; the poorer Mahomedan classes being unable to
44 obtain sufficient to maintain life with, while the richer pandit and official
45 classes were allowed to embezzle enormous quantities, reducing the general
46 stock and securing large profits for themselves, The desolation caused by
47 famine in the valley and town of Kashmir was terrible. A number of the
48 chief valleys to the north were utterly deserted ; whole villages lay in ruins;
49 some of the suburbs of the city were tenantless; the city itself was half
50 destroyed; the grave-yards were filled to overflowing; the river was fall
51 of the corpses thrown into it; death everywhere did its destructive work.
52 Some 20,000 persons made their way into Jammu and the Panjab, and
53 several thousands fled to the north. Of the hundreds who perished on the
54 road, no accounts will ever be published. The shawl and the silk trade
55 of Kdshmir were almost destroyed, owing to the almost total cessation of
56 the European demand for Kashmir shawls and pashm work.
57 In November, 1878, a war with Amir Sher Ali Khan broke out. It was
58 , The gracious inten-
59 tions of Her Royal
60 Majesty.
61 The Royal message,
62 Honours conferred on
63 the chiefs of the Pan-
64 j4b on this occasion.
65 Sir Robert Egerton
66 succeeds as Lieuten-
67 ant-Governor, 2nd
68 April, 1877.
69 Famine in Kashmir,
70 1878-79.
71 ¢ The havoc caused
72 by the fame,
73 Ablow to the
74 Kashmir shawl trade.
75 The Afghan war,
76 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh J i eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmall:com