Central Asia Journal No. 64

Memorials

of

Major General Sir Herbert B. Edwardes

by His Wife in 2 Volumes

Dr. Mohammad Anwar Khan*

The book entitled above is a compilation of letters, addresses and governmental dispatches of Herbert Edwards by his wife Emma Edwardes published by Kegan Paul Trench and Co. Pater noster square, London in 1886. I had somehow picked volume 2 of the work probably in 1961 out of discarded collection of the Red Path Library (McGill University), Canada, at a throwaway price of ten cents. Volume one remained haunting my search in Pakistan. One or two copies discovered were too deteriorated for turn of page, hence internet was utilized through courtesy of my young colleague Abdullah Beg who downloaded volume I from Library of American Congress collection, re-borrowed from University of California Los Angeles.

Herbert Edwardes (1819-1868), a Welsh, holds prominence in converting Peshawar as the first bastion of defence against northwestern threat to the emerging British Empire in India. Having entered into the East India Company service in Bengal as an infantry cadet in 1841, he utilized his extraordinary intelligence of a debator, writer and poem composer at King’s College London with a frantic labour to pick up local languages Hindustani (Urdu), Hindi and Persian, and thus received quick attention from his immediate seniors for devotion to his work. 1853 found him placed under Peshawar Commissionerate, taking over in Hazara as deputy commissioner when its incumbent James Abbot retired serving Hazara, in last stint of his service from 1847 to 1853. Edwardes as a mark of respect for his predecessor named the district head quarter as Abbottabad after him. In October same year Frederick Mackeson Commissioner Peshawar was killed by a Talib and Edwardes was appointed Commissioner of Peshawar region. Edwardes had little knowledge about the Frontier, excepting minor assignments on Bannu, as part of the Lahore administration with some more from Hazara but deeper urges now immersed him to dive deeper as he had spent more of the period in Punjab becoming even Deputy Commissioner in Jallandhar in 1851.

Peshawar carried considerable connotation with Fort William. It was the major strategic location in the northwestern part of India, bordering Afghanistan which had to serve a bulwark role in defusing tension with Russia. England had already fought a war with Afghanistan on this issue in not very distant past (1839-42). The Commissioner at Peshawar had to serve the role of Agent to the Governor General in addition to an administrative organ of Lahore under its Chief Commissioner. Edwardes preferred the role under big boss and one noticing him more attentive to Kabul than Peshawar. He noticed Kabul in every pain at Peshawar. Peshawar, he found at the mercy of the tribes surrounding it and thus he evolved a mechanism, stern with tribesmen and equation with Kabul. Thus one notices his stern dealings with Shiranis, Afridis, Mohmands, Shinwaris, the Hazara tribes and even those in the sourthern areas and at times by-passing his Chief Commissioner (John Lawrence) for the Governor General (Marquess of Dalhousie) to firm up ties with Dost Mohammad of Kabul. His reports at Peshawar were that Kabul could stir problems on the Frontier, as the Sikh had bribed Kabul to take over Peshawar in case of Afghan support in the Anglo-Sikh war (1848-49)

Dost Mohammad in fact had placed a sizeable irregulars at around Jalalabad, but Sikhs put up a poor show in the war theatre in Punjab. Herbert Edwardes prevailed upon the Centre to struck a deal with Kabul in 1855 in form of a treaty wherein both governments agreed to respect the territorial limits of each other and to come friend of friends and enemy of the enemies of the other government. The treaty was signed at Peshawar, the Chief Commissioner John Lawrence signing it involuntary on behalf of the East India Company with Prince Ghulam Hyder Khan from the Afghan side on March 30, 1855.

This was followed by the treaty of 1857 in January. This was as a consequence of the Persian occupation of Herat in 1856. Herbert Edwardes was again active. Herat loss was an extraneous entry into Afghanistan. Persia had fallen under Russian influence. To the British and particularly to Edwardes it posed threat initially to Afghanistan and finally to India. The treaty of 1857 signed by Amir Dost Mohammad Khan at Peshawar provided money, a lakh of rupees per month to raise an Afghan army of 18000 men and also to receive a British mission under Major Harry Lumsden, his brother Peter Lumsden and Dr. Henry Bellew to monitor the war situation. The British declared war against Persia in the Gulf and the port of Bashire was taken. No land action via Afghanistan was taken as the Afghan soldiery was poor to match. Persia thus was forced to withdraw from Herat and by a peace treaty at Paris in March 1857 was worked out. The treaty of Peshawar had provided for stationing a British representative preferably a native to be placed at Kabul and Foujdar Khan Alizai, who happened to be moving around on British official agenda to Kabul, was firmed up as Company’s accredited agent in Afghanistan. Foujdar Khan had been enlisted earlier for action with his Multan Pathan soldiery against Mulraj a Sikh chieftain in Multan. Foujdar established firm loyalty and support to the authorities of East India Company and thus was the awarded the title of Khan Bahadur in 1849 and Nawab in 1857.

Then came the summer of 1857. Herbert Edwardes in May 1857 received the news of Meerut (Miruth) sepoy rising. Peshawar had only three European regiments (2800 men) and the 64^th and 51^st native infantry regiments. Edwards instantly in consultation with army Brigadier (Sydney Cotton) moved the 64^th native soldiery out of Peshawar to the dreaded Mohmand frontier and urged John Lawrence, the Chief Commissioner to recruit a thousand Multani and Derajati soldiers (Horse). Lawrence did not agree to the recruitment proposal. Similarly the 55^th Native Infantry from Nowshera was moved to Mardan and the European Guide from Mardan to take over Nowshera defence. Lt. Col. Nicholson who had lately joined as deputy commissioner Peshawar was placed under Punjab command on their request. John Lawrence later agreed to raise Derajat Horse numbering up to 2000 men from amongst loyal native groups but it had gone late. Meantime reports came that Delhi had fallen to the natives, with all European killed or imprisoned. This brought disarming of the native soldiery in Punjab and Calcutta urging upon London to send men and war material to counter insurgency. India had only thirty to forty thousand white soldiers. Difficulty arose on the frontier to recruit more men on account of opposition by the local feudal chiefs and Edwardes reported by the end of the month (May) that only 90 persons could be enlisted. General George Anson, the commander in-chief died of cholera at Simla during this period.

At Mardan, the 55^th Native Infantry rebelled. This brought total disarmament for the native soldiery first at Peshawar (51^st Native) followed by action against 55^th. Their commander Lt. Horne ran the fort and got shelter with Qadir Khan Toru. The soldiers in arm did not resist invading force from Peshawar at Nowshera and resorted to run towards Swat. The Company army killed, destroyed and humbled them in its hot pursuit action. Forty arrested out of them were blown away from guns.

At Delhi Bahadur Shah was installed as King and 20,000 Muslim fighters rallied round him. The trouble initially had started with Hindus, but the champion of the cause now were Muslims. Central India had gone out of British grip. The new Commander-in-Chief (General Thomas Reed) harped upon fresh re-enforcement from home or directing forces proceeding for war action against China to report in India.

On June 11, Edwardes received orders from John Lawrence, the Chief Commissioner to abandon Peshawar and the trans-Indus area and hand them over to Kabul (Dost Mohammad), making Indus as the boundary line between two states. Edwardes was further asked to consult only Cotton and Nicholson about it. The proposal was opposed by Hugh James, the Chief Commissioner’s Secretary who happened to have served at Peshawar. The proposal was emphatically opposed by Edwardes and his two other colleagues, arguing that it would be taken as an all out retreat on the part of the British from India both by Kabul, the Sikhs and others. John Lawrence had also endorsed a copy of it to the Governor General (Earl John Canning) but was given no heed by Calcutta. Meanwhile Lt. Col. John Nicholson was ordered to proceed to Punjab for proposed onslaught on Delhi. He was put in-charge of newly recruited Multani Pathan force at Jallandhar. General Reed needed around 8000 men to storm Delhi. Lumsden from Qahdhar was warning that Dost Mohammad was under pressure from his Sardars that Kabul should not loose the opportunity wresting Peshawar. Trouble was now brewing up in Tirah: followed by provocations all along Frontier border: Oudh Commissioner Henry Lawrence was killed by mob in August and in September John Nicholson now brigadier general died in action storming Delhi.

Delhi however fell to the British, as it was fighting an organized war against disorganized irregulars. This all was accompanied by the end of September 1857, followed by taking over Agra and Lucknow in October and so on. Persia in the meanwhile withdrew from Herat by autumn 1857 and a scion of the house of Barakzi (Sultan Ahmad Khan) took over in Herat.

The fall of Delhi, Edwardes write to his wife in England, brought rapid change in hostile public behavior in Peshawar. Congratulations and felicitations followed from amongst notables, Khans and Arbabs. Apologies were tendered by moneyed group in Peshawar who had been approached by the administration for an advance loan amounting to Rs. five lakh to the government to meet financial contingencies during the troubled period. A bonfire was held at Gorkhatri Sarai. Edwardes was excited as it was the Christ reward to the English nation for introducing Christianity in India. Edwardes himself came from a highly religious family; his father was a parish of his county (Shropshire) and was instrumental in establishing Christian Mission in Peshawar in 1853. The Edwardes (Church) Mission high school finds existence in his period (1855) at Kohati gate, which later found higher status as college and in 1910 transferred to its present location on the Mall.

Edwards remained Commissioner of Peshawar till 1859 and for his meritorious services to his nation he was knighted, raised in military rank (major general), served elsewhere in India, till he retired in 1865 and returned home but lived short dying in 1868 as vice president of the Church Missionary Society of England.

His achievement lay (i) in foreseeing the threat from Kabul to the north-western frontiers of India in formative period of the British rule in this region (ii) tying knots with Dost Mohammad Khan through treaties of 1855 and 1857 despite opposition from his immediate officer (John Lawrence), the Chief Commissioner of Lahore (iii) bribing Dost Mohammad with monthly stipend of Rs. One lakh per month paid over twenty months which coincidently covered the rainy period of administration in Peshawar (iv) holding on to Peshawar when ordered to vacate during the turmoil and (v) keeping the frontier region under firm hold during the period of chaos in India. All along the catastrophy, almost every tribe on Peshawar border remained under his blockade on one or the other pretention and Edwardes furnishes a report on this episode in chapter IV volume 2 of the book pinpointing the British success to (a) installation of electric signaling in the Company’s dominion which kept its intelligence maneuverability in order and (b) call to duty by the European soldiery and civil service wherein they knew their survival lay in resistance.

The book talks little on Peshawar, its people, the society or its cosmopolity. It looks Edwardes was outer looking noticing absolutely no romance inside. The book on the whole is an excellent source material on emerging shape of European thought in Peshawar and around.

Consultation

1. Imran Rashid Imran, [2001]: “Peshawar Sadar Tarikh ke Ainay Mein,” (Urdu) Peshawar.
2. Gazetteer of the Peshawar District, 1897-98, [1989]: (reprint) Sangemeel, Lahore.
3. Dictionary of National Biography. Part I, Oxford: 1979.