Failures

Abbas Ali Leaves the Jodhpur Legion

It was hardly the only problem the government threw at Monck Mason. Had he been at will to act according to his best judgment, he could have appeased the Thakur of Auwa and, perhaps, in part at least, the Jodhpur Legion. However, Calcutta, far removed from the difficulties of the field, was unequivocal — there would be no treating with rebels in arms. On his table lay two letters — one from Lieutenant Conolly and another from Abbas Ali, the man who had saved the lieutenant’s life.
If Abbas Ali had proposed coming to Jodhpur, unarmed, as a willing soldier of the government, things might have gone better for him. Instead, he proposed bringing away the legion’s cavalry and the guns, provided he and his comrades “were pardoned and reinstated in the service of the Government.” That would have meant allowing well-armed cavalry to march on Jodhpur and take up residence, while Monck Mason only had Conolly and the ressaldar’s word that they would behave. How the Legion had conducted itself was hardly a promising entreaty.
Monck Mason could have risked it had there not been the shadow of Lord Canning and his injudicious order looming over his head. Pritchard and others rightly showed their displeasure regarding the machinations of Calcutta, securely tucked away behind Beadon’s line of 600 miles. The dilemma Monck Mason faced was two-fold: if he allowed Abbas Ali to march to Jodhpur with an armed cavalry, and they proved faithless, his head would be on the block and Jodhpur could be lost; if on the other hand, the ressaldar proved true he would have had the “satisfaction of doing the country a service;” at the expense of his destroyed career. Either way, Monck Mason stood to lose.
And this was hardly his only problem.
The Legion’s troops that had been stationed at Jodhpur itself had been sent away before the troubles had started, and it now seemed “impolitic to bring back to bring a much larger and stronger party back again to the very spot where, of all others, they could do most mischief…” Only a small party of sowars, some ten in number, belonging to the legion had been kept behind to act as orderlies and in other sundry positions – it had seemed advisable, as soon as the news of Abu and Erinpura reached Jodhpur, to disarm them. Unfortunately, this had been mismanaged — the ministers of the court had taken the task on themselves, together with the “armed rabble” that formed the fort’s garrison. It was no secret that the disciplined men of the Legion detested the royal troops, and now these very men were being sent to disarm them. Although the intention had been kept a secret, the sowars were not fools — they had kept their horses saddled, and as soon as the troops attempted to take their arms, they mounted and rode off, pursued ineffectively by the raja’s cavalry. They rode straight through the city — two offered resistance and one was killed – and joined the main body of their comrades marching upon Pali. It was impossible, therefore, to know exactly how well disposed Abbas Ali’s men would really be, considering how the sowars had been treated.

Monck Mason finally sent an answer back to Abbas Ali:
“There was no time to refer to a higher authority, and at length it was determined to be on the safe side, and a message was sent back to say that the political agent was precluded from accepting the terms Abbas Ali had offered, by a recent stringent prohibition from the Governor-General, but that if he (Abbas Ali) would act as a faithful soldier and servant of the British Government, and weaken the cause of the rebels by deserting, as he proposed, there was no doubt that his case would be viewed leniently by the Governor-General, and he would probably receive an unconditional pardon, and a suitable reward, but to treat with rebels in arms was forbidden.”

Set now with an impossible situation, the poor man was left biding his time. His comrades did not trust him, and the British would not accept him. He finally deserted the Legion after the next events at Auwa and went into hiding in Bikaner. He kept up his correspondence with Lieutenant Conolly, who eventually procured his pardon from Lord Canning and called for his readmittance to the service. By then, however, it was 1859.

The Maharaja Sets an Example

In their dealings with the Jodhpur Legion, the British would suffer defeats which would not only harm their prestige and send their supporters into confusion, but would also bolster the unity of the landowners, the erstwhile Jagadir rebels.
The news that the Jodhpur Legion was planning to march through Marwar prompted the Maharaja Takht Singh to take action. Declaring, “they should never get safe out of his dominions,” he wanted to set an example. Unfortunately, his own unpopularity with his populace and with his own soldiers did not bolster the confidence of Monck Mason that, when called to do their duty, the Maharaja’s men would do his bidding. Previously, when asked to stand against the Nasirabad regiment, they had declared themselves in sympathy with their cause; now, they would be called to fight in the very territory of their sovereign, under his orders and under his leaders. They could not go against their Maharaja, but there was no reason, in their minds, why they should risk life and limb for him either.
Their leader, in the fight that Maharaja Takht Singh proposed to wage, would be none other than his most trusted general, Anar Singh. A man whom the Maharaja had brought with him from Gujarat, and served now as the commandant of the fort and palace. For all his valour and military prowess, Anar Singh was still not popular among the men. They viewed him as a foreigner and not a “regular Marwari,” while the confidence he enjoyed from the Maharaja made him all the more suspicious in the eyes of the nobles.
“He was a tall, well-made man, with that peculiarly martial bearing so characteristic of Rajpoot chiefs of high descent. Nor did his appearance belie his character, for in action he was bold and undaunted as a lion.”
In more than one of his dealings with insubordinate thakurs and belligerent dacoits, Monck Mason had had Anar Singh by his side – “On one occasion they had hunted to earth some leaders of rebels or robbers, or both, of whom they were in pursuit; the outlaws took up their position in an underground hole or apartment, to which there was but one opening, through a small door; here they were determined to sell their lives as dearly as they could, and, being well-armed and desperate, there was no doubt that many lives would be sacrificed before they were overpowered. Anar Sing was not to be deterred by any idea of danger, and waving his sword in the air, with his shield well poised on his left arm, he made a dash at the entrance and in one moment would have been engaged in deadly conflict, against great odds, with the outlaws. But his life was too valuable to be sacrificed thus rashly, and Captain Monck Mason, who was happily close by, seized the daring chief by the arm, and by main force held him back.” Monck Mason managed to talk the robbers out without any bloodshed.
Maharaja Takht Singh was aware that his royal troops were hardly a match for the Jodhpur Legion; he also knew they did not wholeheartedly support him, and if he sent them out to meet the legion with any of their own chiefs, it was hardly likely they would fight. So with great reluctance, he sent, at their head, Anar Singh. With his love of fighting and his fine leadership, the Maharaja hoped the men could be inspired to fight if they had a leader of Anar Singh’s bravery at their side. So out he marched, to Auwa and encamped his men in front of Kushal Singh’s fort, in shouting distance of the Jodhpur Legion.