A Gift for the Queen — Page 17
17 towards the base passions. All these changes have taken place during the auspicious rule of Her Majesty, the Queen of India. I know quite well that misfortune and dependence are also a prescription for the promotion of human traits, provided that they remain within limits and last for a short time. Our land was in dire need of this prescription. I have personal experience in this matter. We have benefitted from this prescription much and we have acquired many spiritual jewels through it. I am from a family of the Punjab that had enjoyed the status of state-rulers during the time of the Mughal kings. Our ancestors possessed many farm- ing villages along with the rights of sovereignty. Shortly before the rise of the Sikhs, when the ability of the Mughal kings to govern had weakened, and fiefdoms of independent states had emerged, my great grandfather, Mirza Gul Muhammad, was also a local ruler and was a sovereign in every aspect. After the Sikhs gained dominance, only eighty villages were left in his possession. Soon the zero of the number eighty also disappeared and perhaps only seven or eight villages were left. During the British rule, he was gradually left empty handed. Thus during the early time of this government, he was known to possess only five villages. My father, Mirza Ghulam Murtaza, had a chair in the court of the governor. He was such a well-wisher of the English government and brave of heart that during the 1857 uprising he supported this govern- ment beyond his means by providing fifty horses from his own resources and fifty warriors. In short, the days of our authority continued to decline and we were rendered to the condition of a minor landlord. Seemingly, this is a matter of distress as to what we used to be and what we ended up as, but when I think about it, I feel thankful to God that He saved us from many of the trials