Mss Eur F126/78

Report of the Baroda Enquiry Commission on the administration of the government of Malharrao, Gaekwar of Baroda. The Commission comprised Richard John Meade (President), Edward William Ravenscroft, Mumtazul Dowlah Nawab Faiz Ali Khan, Colonel Alfred Thomas Etheridge and Thomas Duncan Mackenzie (Secretary).

The report comprises a letter from the members of the Baroda Enquiry Commission to the Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department presenting their report on the results of the proceedings and submitting copies of correspondence, reports and statements relative to the enquiry (ff 5-19):

Appendix A, Part I

• Schedules I-III: Complaints and grievances against the Gaekwar's Government from individuals and groups (ff 21-78).
• Appendix B, Schedules I-III: Cases of complaint and grievance which the commission did not look into during the enquiry (ff 79-81).
• Appendix C: Letter from Colonel Richard John Meade, President, Special Commission of Enquiry on Baroda Affairs, to Colonel Robert Phayre, Resident at Baroda, 1 November 1873 (ff 82-83).
• Appendix D: Translation of an amended notice issued by the Resident to complainants desirous of appearing before the Baroda Enquiry Commission (ff 84-85).
• Appendix E: Schedules presented to the Commission along with Colonel Phayre's introductory statement regarding them. (ff 86-131).
• Appendix F: Letter No. 1128 of 1873 from Colonel Phayre to the President, Baroda Commission regarding the cases already submitted to the Commission, the List of undisposed petitions to be attended to by the Resident which could be used as additional cases if required and the statements that he had yet to make on cases under enquiry by the Commission (ff 132-133).
• Appendix G, Schedule I: Statements from witnesses with cross examination statements from the Durbar on behalf of the Gaekwar and statements from the Resident as to the accuracy of the information provided (ff 134-229).

Appendix Part II (ff 231-245)

• Letter from James Braithwaite Peile, Acting Political Agent, Kattywar [Kathiawar] to T D Mackenzie, Secretary, Baroda Commission, 13 December 1873 regarding papers requested by the Commission and informing them that the outstanding paper will be forwarded as soon as they are received. Enclosed with the letter are a memorandum from Peile for reconstitution of His Highness the Gaekwar's Contingent in Kattywar, 13 December 1873 and Rule for the guidance of the Officers and Kamdars appointed to the Contingent of Horse of His Highness the Gaekwar, serving in the various Tributary Mahals according to treaty.
• Letter from Peile to Mackenzie, 6 January 1874, forwarding a report and returns received from Colonel Walker, Superintendent to the Gaekwar's Contingent in Kattywar and stating that he does not concur with the Colonel's opinion. Enclosed with this letter is a letter from Colonel Chamberlen William Walker, 30 December 1873, providing the information on the Contingent requested by the Commission and enclosing an extract of the Contingents annual report for 1871 and a statement of the men within the Contingent on duty under officials paid by Talukdars etc, 06 March 1872.
• Letters from John Whaley Watson, Acting Political Superintendent Pahlanpur [Palanpur], Captain Henry Nicholas Reeves, Acting Political Agent Rewa Kanta [Rewa Kantha] and Major Philip Harrison Le Geyt, Acting Political Agent, Mahi Kanta [Mahi Kantha] to the secretary of the Baroda Commission 19 December 1873 to 9 January 1874 reporting on the Gaekwar's contingents serving within their districts and commenting on numbers of men, pay and conditions. The letters all refer to enclosed returns, but only the return for Mahi Kanta is included in the report.