The second of a series of letters written by Lakshmibai to Dalhousie concerning the annexation of Jhansi; written in Persian and translated by the British, dated 16th February 1854.

Translation of a Khureeta from Her Highness the Lackmee Bau the widow of Gunghadhur Rao late Maharajah of Jhansi to the address of the Marquis of Dalhousie the Most Honourable the Governor General of India, dated Jhansi, 16th February 1854.

After Compliments.

Distress at recent affliction when I addressed your Lordship upon the 3rd December last had prevented my entering as fully as I ought to have done into the circumstances of the adoption made by my late husband, an omission which I now beg leave to supply.

It was the good fortune of Sheo Rao Bhao, the father of my late husband, to be the first of the chiefs in this part of the country who tendered their allegiances to the British Government, which he improved by subsequent exertions in inducing them to follow his example; at which Lord Lake was so pleased that he directed him to submit a paper of requests as to to the manner in which the interests of himself and his family could be best served. In obedience to these orders a paper, Wajib ul urz [record of rights], containing seven different articles was submitted, thro' Captain John Baillie, the Political Agent for Bundlecund, which were all sanctioned by order of the Most Noble the Governor General of India. Sheo rao Bhao having omitted to define certain requests in the Wajib ul urz. which he was anxious to make, and having in the mean time had an opportunity of rendering further services, His Lordship entered into a new agreement, for the purpose of rectifying this omission, and thereby beecoming an additional pledge of fidelity and attachment on his part to the Government. The new agreement consisted of nine articles, in which the benefits of two new articles were added to those already derivable from the seven articles of the Wajib ul urz, and having been duly signed and sealed by the Governor General, was delivered to him by Captain John Baillie, at Kotra.

In the 6th article of the Wajib ul urz, Sheo Rao Bhao reports that the Rajas of Urcha, Duttia, Chanderi, and other neighbourind States, are ready to tender their allegiance to the British Government, provided the different places then in their possession was [sic] confirmed to them, and prepared to pay their accustomed tribute to the British Government. Upon which an order was passed, to the effect that any chief who imitated his example in showing obedience and attachment to the British cause should be confirmed in possession of all the advantages then belonging to them; moreover, that other marks of friendship might be expected from service in such a cause.

It was from the same desire to reward past services like these that the British Government entered into a treaty, in 1817, with Rao Ram Chundra Rao, the grandson of Sheo Rao Bhao, the second article of which acknowledges Rao Ram Chundra, his heirs and successors, as hereditary rulers in perpetuity of the Jhansi principality, and guaranteed its protection to them from foreign aggression.

During the Burmese war in 1824, Rao Ram Chundra Rao advanced upwards of 70,000 rupees to banjarahs [suppliers] employed in carrying grain to the troops in Burmah. Mr. Ainslie reported his having done so in favourable terms to the Governor General, who ordered the money to be repaid; but Rao Ram Chundra Rao having declined repayment on the grounds that he was an ally of the British Government, and that the interests of the two States were identical, the Governor General was pleased to send him a dress of honour, with a complimentary Khareeta, thanking him for his services upon the occasion. I regret to say that this Khareeta has been mislaid, and would esteem it a favour if your Lordship would kindly order my being furnished with a copy of it.

Shortly afterwards, during the siege of Bharutapoor, the city Kalpi, in the British Territory, being threatened with an attack from Nannay Pandit, at the time in the rebellion against Jaloun, Mr. Ainslie, the agent, called upon Bhikraji Nana, Kamdar of Jhansi during the minority, to dispatch troops with the utmost expedition to Kalpi, with a view to protect the Kooneh district from plunder; in consequence of which, Bhikraji Nana made immediate arrangements for sending off 2 guns, 4,000 sowars, [cavalry] and 1,000 foot soldiers, to Kalpi, and which arrived in time to save Kalpi from being plundered, and proved the means of restoring general confidence to the people in the Kooneh district. Copies of letters from Mr. Ainslie to Ram Chundra Rao, the minor Rajah, and Bhakaji, his kamdar, thanking them for their services on this emergent occasion, are submitted with theview of showing that Jhansi state was always foremost in the field when opportunity occurred for displaying its loyalty to the Paramount Power.

When Lord William Bentinck was at Jhansi in 1832, he visited Rao Ram Chunder Rao in the fort on the evening of the 19th December, and conferred upon him the title Maharaj Dhiraj Fidwi Badshah Janujah Englistan [King of Kings, Faithful to the Emperor of England], Maharajah Ram Chunder Rao Bahadur, ordering him to have it engraved on his seal, investing him at the same time with the insignia of the Nakara and Chonar, with permission to adopt the British flag, telling him, in open durbar, that of all the chiefs of Budelkund, his uncle, Sheo Rao Bhao, had done the best service, and that the honours now conferred were the reward of his meritorious services to the British Government. On arrival at Saugur, his Lordship was further pleased to send him a complimentary letter in English, having a gold-leaf border, dated 20th December 1832, copy of which is forwarded, repeating what he had stated in Durbar, and adding, that the letter then issued would serve ever afterwards as a patent of his rank and authority.

Raghonath Rao, who succeeded his nephew, Ram Chundra Rao, in 1835, died in 1838, when the right of my husband to the succession was acknowledged; but owing to the State being in debt at the time, it was placed under the superintendence of Captain D. Ross for a period of three years, at the expiration of which it was restored to him, with an agreement on his part by which he ceded Duboh, Talgong, and other districts, valued at 2,55,891 Jhansi rupees, as payment towards a legion to be employed for the purpose of coercing any of his turbulent feudatories who might set his authority at defiance; and one on Colonel Sleeman's part, dated 1st January 1843, confirming to the Jhansi State all of the advantages guaranteed to it by virtue of former treaties.

It cannot be denied that the terms Warisan [warisan], 'heirs', and Janishnian [janishin], 'successors', made use of in the second article of the treaty with Ram Chundra Rao, refer to different parties; the term Warisan being confined in meaning to natural or collateral heirs, while Janishnian, on the contrary, refers tothe party adopted as heir and successor to the estate, in the event of their being no natural or collateral heir entitled to the succession. Treaties are studied with the utmost care before ratification; and it is not to be supposed that the term Janishnian used in contradistinction to Warisan was introduced in an important document of this kind, of the authority almost of a revelation from Heaven, without a precise understanding of its meaning, the advantages of which are further explained by the clause declaring the gift then made to have been one in perpetuity to the family. It was with this understanding of the terms of the treaty that my husband, the day before his death, summoned Major Ellis and Captain Martin, the officer commanding the station, to the palace, and with his dying breath, in full Durbar, made over Anand Rao, his adopted son, to the care and protection of the British Government, delivering at the same time a kharita, or testament, further declaratory of his wishes on this solemn occasion for communication to your Lordship.

I take the liberty of enclosing a list of some of the precedents which have occurred in Bundlecund in which the right of the native chief or his widow to adopt a successor to the guddi [throne], in default of natural heirs, has been sanctioned; and as it is the firm reliance which they feel in the integrity and justice of the British Government which enables them to pass their days in peace and quietness, without other care than how to prove their loyalty, venture to express a hope that the widow of the son of Sheo Rao Bhao will not be considered undeserving of that favour and compassion which others similarly situated have been declared entitled to. [Attached are the four enclosures referred to in the letter.]