Gurkhas
of Shillong
The
entry of the Gurkhas in Shillong started with the transfer of the Military in
1867 - when the 44th Regiment moved into their new quarters in the
Cantonment. Since the British yearned for the Gurkha troops, they took foremost
care for the welfare of the Gurkhas and this led to the establishment of Gurkha
village in Shillong.
The start of Gurkha settlement around the
Cantonment in Shillong is clear from the corresponding letters/files of the
British Officials such as Colonel H. M. Evans, Officer Commanding the 43rd
Regiment, the Brigadier General Assam District, the Deputy Commissioner Khasi
and Jaintia Hills, and the Secretary of the Chief Commissioner of Assam and the
Agreement made with the Siem of
Mylliem began with Gurkha army pensioners of the 44th Regiment later designated
the 1st Battalion of the 8th Gurkha Rifles.
The history of the Gurkha
settlement in Shillong can also be asserted from the documentary and material
evidences found from the family members of the Gurkhas settled in and around
Shillong such as the Tomb Epithet of Captain Kalu Thapa which is in the
compound of Military Hospital area near the MES water pump house; the Tomb Epithet
of Captain Birbal Nagarkoty, Sardar Bahadur, OBI enlisted 1876, at the Gurkha
graveyard Barapather which states that he was awarded the Order of British
India while he was a Jemadar for his
exploits at Lang Thobal in Manipur when the Manipuri rebellion took place[1].
The Gurkhas settlers of
Shillong in the initial stages of British administrative formation were thus
all linked to the 8th Gurkha Rifles. They were part of the British defensive
set up and some of the families have been living in Shillong for at least five
generations. One such family is that of Captain Gambir Singh Lama, Sardar
Bahadur, OBI. A part of the locality behind the Lumdiengjri Police Station in
Shillong is known as Lama Villa in his honour.
The Gurkha settlement in the initial stage of
settlement basically started in the northern pheriphery of the Cantonment
Gorkha lines which significantly is the present day area of Jhalupara, Paltan
Bazar, Barapather and Mawprem as is evident from its location[2], but in course of time the
Gurkha settlement in Shillong spread and extended to other areas besides that
of initial settlement as Shillong gradually expanded.
Shillong
in 1867 could not have shown any resemblance to the charming Cantonment and
Civil Station known to so many. Captain Kalu Thapa, who marched into Shillong
with the 44th (Sylhet) Regiment of Bengal Native (Light) Infantry, when asked
what it was in those days, replied "there
wasn't a rat there”.
During 1867-68, at Shillong, three barracks
for single and four for married men had been nearly completed[3]. Two other barracks were in progress. A shed
for 25 mules had been constructed, and 12 huts for the Drivers of the Eurasian
Battery of Artillery (this was a mule battery) were also completed. Out-offices
had been built for the Native Infantry Hospital. It appears that the work was
afterwards stopped as the continuance of the Eurasian Battery of Artillery at
Shillong was doubtful.
At that time, a General Nuthall was
commanding the troops in Shillong. The Lieutenant-Governor of the Bengal
Presidency, Sir William Grey (1866–1871), was on tour in July 1867 and visited
the station of Shillong amongst other places. In relation to the
infrastructure, during 1867-68, the Courthouse of the Deputy Commissioner of
Shillong (Yeodo) was completed. By 1867-68, the road from Shillong to Gowhatty
via Burneehat (Birney Haut Bridle Road) had been improved. The Shillong Cart
Road (Brigg’s Trace) was
from Marbusoo to Gowhatty (93 miles). Work had commenced in March 1863
at a cost of Rs. 4.38 Lakhs. However, in 1867 no work had been done on this
road, as its abandonment was under consideration.
“In July
1867 I took my wife and a lady friend of hers up to Shillong, and left them
there. There was scarcely the vestige of a road in those days; we had to
deposit the money for coolies impressed to carry goods into the Cutcherie, and
many of our loads were deposited in the jungles and the coolies fled, we being
heavily the losers, but no redress was to be got.”
In another version[5], Pollock gives the following account:
“In July 1867 I visited Shillong. There was no road worthy of the name then, and the coolies we had to carry up our stores etc. threw them about the jungles and bolted, and inflicted great loss on us. As I had work to do on the plains, I left my family there and returned to Gowhatty, not very favourably impressed with the place, for I thought it was not worth the bother and expense we were put to get there.”
By
all accounts Golam Hyder Mollah and Kasimuddin Mollah appear to be the
‘Rockefellers of Shillong’, preceding the Marwaris and Sindhis. They were
pioneers in the world of transport. The first Tonga or pony cart service side by side with bullock carts was
started on 6 November 1867. It was recognized by the Government of Assam
Division through an Agreement on 11 July 1868.
While
the former covered the distance in nine to ten hours every day, the latter took
three days for the two way journey. The services continued till 1911. The Tonga Service was called
Shillong-Guwahati Daily Passenger Service. The bullock carts numbering 500 to
600 ferried not only goods but also passengers. Passengers were also carried in
baskets.
The bullock carts were assembled at a place
somewhere near Motphran and Garikhana on the outskirts of Iewduh[6]. Every morning, a bugle was sounded to
announce to the residents of Shillong, that the bullock cart was about to start
its journey. The same bullocks were not used for the entire journey from
Shillong to Guwahati, rather the journey had to be done by relays.
The first set of bullocks were let off to
take rest at a distance of about 5 kilometres or so and a new set would take
their place. And so it continued till they reached their destination. Elephants
were used for some British officers to escort the officers on their long tours
down to the plains of Assam which took them at least one month or sometimes
more.
There was a Cinchona garden (presumably for
the production of quinine) at Nunklow which was closed during 1867-68, and
orders were given to remove the establishment to Shillong. The establishment of
a small nursery at the Khasia Hills was sanctioned by Government early in 1867[7]. The nursery was intended only for raising
plants of Chinchona for distribution among the tea planters in Assam. One of
the European gardeners from the Darjeeling plantation was sent, in February 1867,
in charge of the plants from Darjeeling, with which the cultivation was to be
commenced. He reached Shillong at the end of March 1867, and early in May 1867 the
cultivation was commenced near the Dak Bungalow of Nunklow.
The present Shillong was covered at that time
by deep forests surrounded by populous villages, like Laban and Mawkhar[8]. Jungles were cut, some allotments were made
to Europeans and Eurasians in the core areas. The migrant business people were
allotted land in what is now known as Police Bazar.
James Thornton who retired as the Deputy Surgeon
General of the Bengal Medical Service was in Shillong during 1867-1869 and from
him we receive a greater insight of the period. In 1867 it was decided to move
the 44th
(Sylhet) Regiment of Bengal Native (Light) Infantry from Cherra Poonjee to Shillong, which had already
been selected as a new site for the Civil Station, and had been occupied for
some time by the Chief Civil Officer and his subordinates[9].
The site chosen for the new Station was in the
centre of the Khasia Hills, about 30 miles north and a little east of Cherra,
and consisted of a series of undulating hills thickly covered with pine trees.
The elevation was about 4,900 feet, and to the south and west extended a range
over 6,000 feet high, which culminated at its western end in Shillong Hill
(this appears to be a more apt description rather than ‘Shillong Peak’), 6,660
feet high.
According to Thornton, the view from this summit was
truly magnificent, as fully 30,000 square miles of country could be seen, from
the distant peaks of the Himalaya Mountains in the north to the delta of the
Ganges in the south-west, and from the Garrow Hills in the west to those of
Northern Cachar on the east. The country lying between Moflong and Shillong
(what we now know as ‘Upper Shillong’) was a grassy undulating plateau about
6,000 feet high, with scattered pine trees here and there, and rhododendrons on
the banks of the numerous streams flowing down the hollows between the hills.
At a distance of about a mile and a half from Shillong (‘Upper Shillong’) the
country subsided rather abruptly, and a long descent led down to the Station
more than 1,000 feet below.
Thornton mentions that the right wing of the Regiment
left for Shillong in February 1867 and the left wing and the artillery followed
in October 1867. They all chose suitable sites at the new Station, and
commenced house building with as little delay as possible. Having received
orders to remain at Cherra for the present with the left wing of the Regiment
and the Eurasian Battery of Artillery, Thornton had to commit the building of
his new house at Shillong to Pyrbad Sing, his Khasia servant. Thornton went
over from time to time to see the progress of the work. During this time, owing
to the paucity of British officers at Cherra, Thornton was frequently put on
court martial duty for the trial of men of the Eurasian Battery of Artillery,
who were treated as British soldiers. He mentions this merely to show the
various duties which Indian medical officers were sometimes called upon to
perform.
In June 1867 Thornton was ordered to Shillong, and
in July 1867 his wife and children joined him there. Their house was finished
before the end of 1867, and by that time they were very comfortably settled at
the new Station. Broad roads, as nearly level as possible, had been made
throughout the Station, many private houses had been built, and the courts of
justice, barracks for the troops, regimental and battery hospitals, and various
other public buildings were being constructed.
Thornton reported that gardens were started by many
of the residents and were generally very successful. Geranium, fuchsia, salvia,
petunia, heliotrope, hydrangia, and other flowers too numerous to mention, grew
luxuriantly and flowered freely in the open air, where they could be safely
left all the year round owing to the mildness of the climate and the
comparatively moderate amount of rain. The rainfall at Shillong was much lesser
than that of Cherra, indeed it amounted to less than 100 inches in the year.
This extraordinary difference was probably due to the clouds having previously
parted with most of their rain along the southern border of the Khasia Hills,
and on the lofty range of hills to the south of the Station.
Owing to this greatly diminished rainfall there
were many more fine days at Shillong than at Cherra, and the temperature at the
former in the hot season was considerably higher than at the latter. In
Thornton’s view, the country in the vicinity of Shillong was in some parts
extremely pretty, though not on the grand scale of the scenery at Cherra. Two
small rivers (the Umshirpi and Umkhrah) ran through the Station, and at a short
distance to the north they formed two beautiful waterfalls (the Beadon &
Bishop Falls), one being an unbroken fall of about 300 feet, while the other
consisted of several successive waterfalls of smaller depth.
During their residence in the Khasia Hills, both at
Cherra Poonjee and at Shillong, they frequently experienced earthquakes which
were usually slight, but occasionally rather severe. In 1869, not long after
his departure from Shillong, an earthquake (the Cachar Earthquake) of more than
ordinary violence occurred, which cracked the walls of some of the houses and
threw down the Regimental magazine.
Thornton observed that it was a curious that
earthquakes, which were rarely, if ever, felt in the plains of India, were
comparatively frequent on both the north-eastern and the north-western
frontier. Thornton surmised that the earthquakes in the north-eastern frontier
were probably due, as Sir Joseph Hooker speculated, to the volcanic forces
operating in the Bay of Bengal and the Malay Peninsula.
Thornton reported that an excellent cricket ground (the
present Garrison Ground) had been formed on the smooth and level floor of a
valley within the boundaries of the Station, and cricket was played several
times a week by the officers and men of the 44th (Sylhet) Regiment of Bengal Native (Light)
Infantry and the
Eurasian Battery of Artillery. The Goorkhas were very fond of games like
cricket and football, and sometimes excelled in them. He had seen one of these
sturdy little hillmen score thirty runs against good bowling without giving a
chance.
The men of the battery were Eurasians of every
shade, some as fair as any European, and others darker than most natives.
Several of these men were keen cricketers, and always took part in the matches.
In Thornton’s view, it was a pity that this battery and a Regiment recruited
from the same class of men could not be retained on the strength of the Indian
Army, as employment was thus provided for a considerable number of Eurasians,
who otherwise would probably have been wandering about the country in a state
of destitution, as so many persons of that class did then.
Thornton never served with the Eurasian Regiment,
and therefore could not comment on their military efficiency. But he was in
medical charge of the Eurasian Battery of Artillery for several years, and
witnessed their behaviour in two campaigns, and he noted that they were most
efficient and excellent soldiers both in peace and in war. Unfortunately these
troops were expensive as they were treated as British soldiers in most
respects, and cost almost as much. So first the Regiment, and subsequently the Battery,
were disbanded, and the experiment of employing Eurasians as soldiers of the
Indian Army was discontinued. Interestingly, a decade later they would be
accused of vandalising monoliths in Iewduh.
In 1868,
having completed 12 years' service, Thornton was promoted to the rank of
Surgeon (with the relative rank of Major), and as his health had become
somewhat impaired from the hardships and privations of several years of active
service in the field, he applied for 2 years' furlough[10] to England, to which he was entitled, provided
that his services could he dispensed with. While his furlough application was
pending, they disposed of their houses, furniture, and all superfluous effects,
and they made all necessary preparations for the journey to England.
They had decided to proceed by the Cape route,
which, previous to the opening of the Suez Canal, was considerably cheaper than
the overland route by Suez and Alexandria. After much delay, his furlongh was
granted and his successor appointed, and in October 1868 they left Shillong for
Calcutta, travelling by way of Moflong to Cherra, where they descended into the
plains and went on by boat to Chattuck.
[1]Ibid.
[4]Wild
sports of Burma and Assam (1900), Colonel Fitz William Pollock, Late Staff
Corps, and W. S, Thom, Assistant District Superintendant of Police, Burma.
Hurst and Blackett Limited, London,1900.University of California. Pg.438.
[5]Sport in British Burmah, Assam, and the Cassyah and Jyntiah
hills. with notes of sport in the hilly districts of the northern division,
Madras Presidency, indicating the best localities in those countries for sport,
with natural history notes, illustrations of the people, scenery, and game, together
with maps to guide the traveller or sportsman, and hints on weapons,
fishing-tackle, etc., best suited for killing game met with in those provinces.
Volume 2.
Lieutenant Colonel Fitz William Thomas Pollock, Chapman and Hall, London, 1879.
Harvard University.Pg.90.
[6]Philemon, E.
P. 1995, Cherrapunjee : the arena of rain : a history and guide
to Sohra & Shillong/E.P. Philemon Spectrum Publications,
Guwahati.
[8] Sengupta,
Sutapa. & Dhar, Bibhash. & North-East India Council for Social
Science Research. 2004, Shillong: a
tribal town in transition / editors, Sutapa Sengupta, Bibhas Dhar
Reliance Pub. House, New Delhi:
[9]Memories of
seven campaigns, James Howard Thornton, Archibald Constable and Co,
Westminster, 1895 (covering the period 1862-69), University of Boston.
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