§ On Motion that the House go into Committee on the East India Loan,
§ MR. LAYARDsaid, he wished to draw the attention of the right hon. Gentleman the Chief Secretary for India to the ease of Azim Yah, the Nawab of the Carnatic, who had been deprived of his revenues, and who had petitioned Parliament in the beginning of this Session. He (Mr. Layard) had recommended the agents for Azim Yah to advise that Prince to present a memorial to the Secretary of State, his case having only been officially before the East India Company; but that memorial could not be received until late in the year, and the matter could not be discussed till the next Session. The Prince was meanwhile in difficult circumstances, and had been compelled to raise money at great disadvantage to meet his necessities. The East India Company offered him a large stipend on condition that he would renounce all his claims. The Nawab refused the condition. He (Mr. Layard) wished to ask the right hon. Gentleman, Whether he would not allow that unfortunate prince to receive the stipend without prejudice to his claims until an opportunity had been afforded for bringing them forward? It would be a simple act of justice to the Prince, and he was sure would be consonant with the feelings of the right hon. Gentleman. Should the request be refused, Azim Yah would be compelled to encumber himself with debts which he would never be able to discharge, and from a loyal subject might, as other native Princes had done under similar circumstances, become an enemy of the British Crown. The Prince had been in the first instance deprived most unjustly of his property by the East India Company, although his family had rendered great services to the British in India.
§ COLONEL SYKESsaid, that if the hon. Member would substitute the words Board of Control for the East India Company he should agree with his animadversions.
§ SIR CHARLES WOODsaid, that the ease of Azim Yah had been referred to the Government of Madras, and that the Prince was not without a fair allowance, 1509 though not so great as the stipend offered to him. He concurred generally with the remarks of the hon. Member, and was quite willing to inquire fully into the merits of the case.