Deposition of Jemadar Durriow, 10 February 1857

Deposition of Jemadar Durriow, 8th Company, 34th Regiment, Native Infantry, taken at Barrackpore on the 10th day of February 1857 in presence of Brigadier C. Grant, C.B., Commanding at Barrackpore, Colonel S. G. Wheler, Commanding 34th Regiment, Native Infantry, Captain C. C. Drury, 8th Company, 34th Regiment, Native Infantry, Lieutenant B. H. Baugh, Adjutant, 34th Regiment, Native Infantry. INTERPRETER--Lieutenant A. F. Corbett, 43rd Regiment, Native Infantry.

        Jemadar Durriow, 8th Company, 34th Regiment, Native Infantry, having been solemnly affirmed, states as follows:--

        On the night of the 5th instant (February 1857), soon after eight o'clock roll-call, two or three men (sepoys) came to me and made me accompany them to the parade ground, where I found a great crowd assembled, composed, to the best of my belief, of the men of the different regiments at this station; they had their heads tied up with cloths, leaving only a small part of the face exposed; they asked me to join them, and I asked them what I was to join them in: they replied that they were willing to die for their religion, and that if they could make an arrangement that evening, the next night (6th February 1857) they would plunder the station and kill all the Europeans, and then go where they liked.

        I told them they had better go to their lines, and explained to them that if they did anything of this kind, they would not get good masters in future. I went away after this, and the crowd dispersed.

    Question--How many men do you suppose were assembled?

    Answer---About three hundred.

    Question--Did you recognise anybody in the crowd?

    Answer---The two men who took me away were sepoys, by name Kassee Persaud Doobie, No. 8 Company, and Mohun Sookul, No. 7 Company, 34th Regiment, Native Infantry.

    Question--Were there any non-commissioned officers, or commissioned Native officers in the crowd?

    Answer---I cannot say; they all had their heads so tied up that I could not recognise any.

    Question--How long were you with the crowd before they dispersed?

    Answer---About a quarter to half-an-hour.

    Question--What arrangements were made with regard to killing the Europeans and blunder of the station?

    Answer---Nothing farther than that if they could settle anything that night, then the affair was to come off on the ensuing night, the 6th February 1857.

    Question--Did you recognise the voices of any of the speakers in the crowd?

    Answer---I think I recognised that of Mookta Persaud Pandy, drill-havildar, 34th Regiment, Native Infantry.

    Question--What prevented the proposed assembly taking place on the night of the 6th February 1857?

    Answer---I don't know.

    Question--Has any similar meeting taken place since the 5th instant, or do you know if any such is contemplated by the men?

    Answer---There has been none since nor do I know if any meeting is contemplated,

    Question--You say you recognised the voice of the drill-havildar, 34th Regiment, Native Infantry.  Can you state any thing that he said?

    Answer---No, I cannot.

    Question--Are you aware if any particular regiment takes the lead in these disturbances?

    Answer---No, I think they are all equally implicated.

    Question--Do you know how the late fires in the station originated, and whither they were the work of sepoys or others?

    Answer---I do not know; I was only relieved form fort* duty on the 3rd February.

        The foregoing deposition was taken in presence of us, this 10th day of February 1857.

                                          (Sd.)  C. GRANT, Brigadier; Commanding at Barrackpore.

                                            “       S. G. WHELER, Lieutenant-Colonel, Commanding 34th Regiment,
                                                    Native Infantry.

                                            “      C. C. Drury, Captain, in charge of No. 8 Company, 34th Regiment,
                                                    Native Infantry.

                                            “       B. H. Baugh, Lieutenant, Adjutant, 34th Regiment, Native Infantry.

                                            “       A. F. Corbett, Lieutenant, 43rd Regiment, Native (Light) Infantry,--
                                                    Interpreter.

*Duty in Fort William.

From: Selections from the Letters Despatches and other State Papers preserved in the Military Department of the Government of India, 1857-58.  Edited by George W. Forrest.  Calcutta: Military Department Press 1893, 20-22.