DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15172#0096
62
ARRIVAL AT BUKKUR. chap. ill.
were the forerunners of conquest, the advance-guard
of a conquering army. The persons of the Ameers
are secure from danger by the number of slaves
which they entertain around their persons. These
people are called " Khaskelees," and enjoy the con-
fidence of their masters, with a considerable share
of power: they are hereditary slaves, and a distinct
class of the community, who marry only among
themselves.
We marched to Bukkur on the morning of
the 19th, which is a fortress fifteen miles from
Khyrpoor, situated on an insulated rock of flint
on the Indus, with the town of Roree on one side
and Sukkur on the other. It was not to be supposed
that the Ameer would give us permission to visit
this fancied bulwark of his frontier, and I did not
press a demand which I saw was far from agreeable;
but we had good opportunities of examining the
place while passing it, both on shore and on the
river. The island is about 800 yards long, of an
oval shape, almost entirely occupied by the forti-
fication, which looks more European than most
Indian works: it is a beautiful object from the banks
of the Indus; its towers are mostly shaded by large
full-grown trees, and the tall date drops its weeping
leaves on the mosques and walls. There are several
other islets near it, on one of which stands the
shrine of Khaju Khizr, a holy Mahommedan, under
a dome that contributes to the beauty of the scene.
The Indus rolls past Bukkur in two streams, each
of 400 yards wide, and the waters lash the rocks
which confine them with noise and violence. During
ARRIVAL AT BUKKUR. chap. ill.
were the forerunners of conquest, the advance-guard
of a conquering army. The persons of the Ameers
are secure from danger by the number of slaves
which they entertain around their persons. These
people are called " Khaskelees," and enjoy the con-
fidence of their masters, with a considerable share
of power: they are hereditary slaves, and a distinct
class of the community, who marry only among
themselves.
We marched to Bukkur on the morning of
the 19th, which is a fortress fifteen miles from
Khyrpoor, situated on an insulated rock of flint
on the Indus, with the town of Roree on one side
and Sukkur on the other. It was not to be supposed
that the Ameer would give us permission to visit
this fancied bulwark of his frontier, and I did not
press a demand which I saw was far from agreeable;
but we had good opportunities of examining the
place while passing it, both on shore and on the
river. The island is about 800 yards long, of an
oval shape, almost entirely occupied by the forti-
fication, which looks more European than most
Indian works: it is a beautiful object from the banks
of the Indus; its towers are mostly shaded by large
full-grown trees, and the tall date drops its weeping
leaves on the mosques and walls. There are several
other islets near it, on one of which stands the
shrine of Khaju Khizr, a holy Mahommedan, under
a dome that contributes to the beauty of the scene.
The Indus rolls past Bukkur in two streams, each
of 400 yards wide, and the waters lash the rocks
which confine them with noise and violence. During