CONVICT NUMBER 3807

CONVICT NUMBER 3807

By Francis Xavier Neelam

The mail steamer had just come in and dropped anchor in front of Ross Island. The pilot launch raced to its side, and the harbour master clambered up the rope ladder.  He collected the mail bag meant for the Chief Commissioner and handed it to a uniformed orderly. The giant Sikh rushed to Ross, jumped on a horse at the jetty and galloped to the Government House, where he handed over the bundle to Maj. Birch, the un-official Secretary to the Chief Commissioner.  

Maj.Birch was dressed smartly in a starched khaki uniform. He enjoyed his position as the confidant of many Chief Commissioners. People disliked him for it. During Gen. Barwell’s time he was even reprimanded for being quarrelsome.

Birch took out the letters and arranged them in a neat pile which he placed in a leather folder in the order of their importance. On the top he placed a letter carrying the seal of the Home Secretary Sir C.J. Lyall.  He knew that Col. Cadell, V.C., the Chief Commissioner and Superintendent of the penal settlement of Andaman & Nicobar Islands was anxiously waiting for it.

A uniformed orderly came down the stairs to announce that the CC was on his way.  He brought a bundle of files and placed them on the huge teak table.  He wiped the leather upholstered chair and the table top with a cloth, checked the newly installed electric fan and table lamp, opened the windows and spread a fresh white towel on the back of the chair.  He also checked the attached bathroom to see if the water cistern was full or not. 

Foot steps on the wooden staircase heralded the arrival of Col. Cadell.  Two armed Sikhs in ceremonial dress marched in step before him. They halted in front of the tall doors of the office, turned and saluted. Cadell, dressed in immaculate white drill suit and sun helmet returned the salute and entered the office.  Birch sprang to attention and saluted while the orderly pulled the chair back for Cadell to sit at the table.

Cadell returned Birch’s greeting and settled in the chair. He seemed to be in a jovial mood.  His sailing boat Greyhound has won the annual regatta again.  He was very proud of his boat and his Sikh body guards.  As soon he sat down his eyes fell on the Home Secretary’s letter. 

“Ah Bill! I hope Allauddeen gets it this time…”, he remarked as he slit the envelope with an ivory paper knife. 

“I too hope so sir”, Birch replied as Cadell started to read the letter.

Cadell’s face clouded.  He pulled at his walrus moustache in irritation and anger. 

“My dear Cadell,” the letter said. “In reply to your demi-official letter of 9^th August last, regarding conditionally released convict Moulvie Ala-ud-din,” wrote Lyall in his flowing handwriting, “I am desired to express the regret of the Governor General in Council that he is unable (the words ‘for political reasons’ were written and struck off) to sanction the absolute release of the convict from the Andamans”.

The letter was signed on 12 October 1889, at Simla.

Cadell stood up and stamped the floor in anger.  He curse loudly, “That damned Vizier of the Nizam…its his work”.

Birch knew the reason for Cadell’s anger.  Over the last few years Cadell had sent many letters to the government for the absolute release of Moulvie Allauddin of Hyderabad.  He even met Salar Jung, the Prime Minister of the Nizam, during a conference in Simla and pleaded his case.  Finally he decided to send a DO letter to his friend JC Lyall hoping he could do something.  But, it appeared from the struck off portion of the letter, that political reasons were responsible for denying absolute release to the poor Moulvie.  The letter meant that the Moulvie will die in the Andamans, without any hope of returning to his native place or seeing his loved ones.

Why was Col. Cadell, known for his penchant for hanging people, especially Mutiny convicts, taking such personal interest in the release of the prime accused in the attack on the Hyderabad Residency?  What did Allauddin do to make Cadell write so many letters for his release. 

The answers to these questions reveal the strange camaraderie that existed between the convicts and the jail authorities in the Andamans during the penal era.

Strangely, convicts branded as most dangerous by the government or the princely states that transported them were the most favoured by the prison authorities.  They became trusted servants, orderlies, clerks, scribes and confidants.  They were rewarded with promotions, land grants, remission of sentence and even an early release from the penal settlement.

The political prisoners, on the other hand, were treated as most dangerous by the jail officers.  While an ordinary convict, usually a murderer, could get a ticket-of-leave or even absolute release after serving for about fifteen years while the politicos or the Mutiny convicts were not released even after serving their full term.  Recommendations for their release were repeatedly turned down by the government citing the reason that their return may lead to a revival of seditious activities in the state.

Maulvie Allauddin was one such. Because of his good conduct and great learning he was in the good books of the Superintendents right from the time of his arrival in the Islands.

The reason for Maulvie Allauddin’s presence in the Andamans goes back to the happenings in Hyderabad, the capital of the Nizam’s dominions, on the 17^th of July 1857. 

(Next --- The Happenings in Hyderabad…)