[1872 'resistance' by the Namdhari (Kuka [Kooka])] "Remarks on a Letter, No. 857, Dated 30th April, 1872 | From E.C. Bayley,[...] Secretary to the Government of India in the Home Department, to the Secretary to the Government of the Punjab."

24pp., 4to, unbound, flimsy/thin paper, crudely stitched, fold marks, wear and tear, including closed tears at folds, grubby, loss of 2 x 3" corner of final leaf (jagged), text, apart from this loss and wear at the fold of last leaf, clear. Annotated, probably in Lambert Cowan's hand, with the name of the officer to whom it had presumably been sent, Maj.Gen. F. Campbell, and with three lines in the same hand, some of which is lost by the damage to the last leaf, but now reading, "[...] own by the great precautions taken by | [...] ment that they believed in the | [...] of the danger". The misspelling of Lambert [Lambart] has also been annotated. Two words in a different hand (presumably the recipient, Campbell - "applies today") refers to a paragraph in which Cowan quotes the Lt Governor's view that "the British Government is strong enough to keep order and suppress crime", then giving reasons and statistics to cast doubt this statement. Campbell obviously agrees with Cowan, with his [?] "applies today".The controversial issue was the punishment meted out on the revolutionary Kookas [Kukas] - tying to cannons which are then fired, a punishment use by the British for many years, including during the Mutiny of 1857. (See note below). Cowan takes the letter cited above point by point, giving his views on what happened, and why it needed to be done. The result is a comprehensive account of the Kooka insurrection, with various points of view, including the approval of a Maharajah.No other copy traced in COPAC/WorldCat. Note: "In 1872 resistance by the Namdhari (Kuka) sect of Ram Singh occurred at Malerkotla. Troops were at once ordered to the disaffected districts, and Forsyth was entrusted with the duty of suppressing the insurrection. His powers on this occasion seem not to have been sufficiently defined, and Lambert Cowan, the then commissioner of Ludhiana, had anticipated his arrival by executing many of the rebels, a course of action which, though contrary to instructions, Forsyth felt himself bound to support. When the insurrection was put down, an inquiry instituted into the conduct of Forsyth and Cowan resulted in the removal of both from their appointments."