BRITISH RELATIONS WITH BHUTAN
fifty outrages were committed in the Cooch Behar territory, in one of which Rs. 20,936 worth of property was said to have been plundered, and altogether sixty-nine residents of that State were kidnapped.
The Dewangiri Raja (Dungl'sang Sangsub), acting with the connivance of the Tongsa Penlop, was largely concerned in the commission of these outrages. In compliance with representations from our Government, the Deb Raja ordered the Tongsa Penlop to pay into the Treasury a sum of money equal to half the value of the property plundered by his relative and subordinate, the Dewangiri Raja. This led the Penlop to address two insolent letters to Colonel Jenkins complaining that the Agent should not have addressed the Deb Raja direct, and arrogating to himself equal powers with the Deb Raja. “I am a Raja like the Deb Raja,” he wrote; “how can he possibly injure me?” There was probably a good deal of truth in this, and the inherent weakness of the central Government in Bhutan, which left the powerful officials like the Tongsa Penlop free to do entirely as they pleased, had much to do with the constant outrages on the frontier. Lord Dalhousie, in Orders No. 186, dated January 11, 1856, directed Colonel Jenkins to send strong letters of warning both to the Deb Raja and the Tongsa Penlop, requiring the latter to apologise for the disrespect he had shown to his lordship’s representative, and pointing out to the Deb Raja that he must be held responsible for the malpractices of his subordinates, and that if there should be a recurrence of these predatory incursions into British territory the Agent had been authorised to take immediate measures for the permanent occupation of the Bengal Duars. The revenue of the Assam Duars was at the same time withheld. This produced an apology, and the revenue was paid, after deducting the value of the plundered property, Rs. 2868.
Even while these letters of apology were on their way another outrage was committed, and Arun Singh, an hereditary Zamindar of the Goomar Duar, was forcibly
273
