THE
THE HISTORY OF INDIA,
VOLUME II.
THE
HISTORY OF INDIA,
THE EAELIEST PERIOD TO THE CLOSE OF
LORD DALHOUSIE'S ADMINISTRATION.
JOHN CLAKK MARSHMAN.
ni
VOL. II.
LONDON :
LONGMANS, GREEN, READER & DYER.
1867.
[The right of Translation w reserved.']
PRINTED BV HARRISON AND SUNS,
ST. MARTIN'S LANE.
CONTENTS
THE SECOND VOLUME.
CHAPTER XVI.
LOBD CORNWALLIS'S ADMINISTRATION. THE THIRD MYSORE WAR.
1786-1793.
Date.
1785 Sir John Macpherson's administration of twenty months .... 1
1786 War between Tippoo and the Mahrattas, in conjunction with
the Nizam ... .... .... .... ... ... 2
Lord Macarteny offered the Governor- Generalship ; endeavours
to make terms, and is rejected .... 3
Changes in the system of appointing Governors-General .... 4
Lord Cornwallis appointed Governor-General 5
He applies to the correction of abuses 5
Numerous instances of abuse .... 6
1788 The salaries of the Civilians augmented .... 7
1786 Lord Cornwallis's arrangement with Oude 8
1788 He demands the Guntoor Sirkar of the Nizam 9
The Nizam resigns it, and demands the full execution of the
treaty of 1768 ... 10
1789 Lord Cornwallis's perplexity ; his celebrated letter 10
Tippoo takes offence at this letter .... 11
He prepares for the attack of Travancore Profligate conduct
of the Madras President ... 12
1789 Tippoo attacks the lines of Travancore .... 12
1790 Lord Cornwallis forms a tripartite treaty with the Nizam and
the Mahrattas ... ... .... ... .... .... .... 13
1790 Campaign of 1790 conducted unsuccessfully by General
Medows ... .... 14
Bengal Division marches down the coast .... .... .... 15
Colonel Hartley's brilliant exploit 15
VI CONTKNTS.
Date. Page
1791 Lord Cornwallis takes the field in person .... .... .... 16
Tippoo's embassy to Louis XVI. 16
Lord Cornwallis captures Bangalore .... .... .... , ... 17
The Nizam's contingent reaches the English camp ; descrip-
tion of it .... 17
Battle of Arikera won by Lord Cornwallis 18
He is obliged to close the campaign, and retire for want of
provisions ... 19
1790 Progress of the Mahratta contingent . 19
1791 It reaches the English camp, as the retreat commences; its
grand bazaar ... 20
Mahrattas extort 14 lacs from Lord Cornwallis .... ... 21
Movements of the Mahrattas, of the Nizam, and of the English
after the retreat ... ... .... .... .... .... 21
1792 Lord Cornwallis takes the field with a magnificent convoy .... 22
Siege of Seringapatam . . 23
Tippoo sues for peace ; conditions of the treaty 24
Remarks on the successive proposals of public men to relin-
quish territory in India .... 25
The normal principle of encroachment in native princes .... 26
The position in which the English found themselves placed in
India ... 27
Explanation of the augmentation of the British dominions ... 28
1793 Reduction of Tippoo's power 28
CHAPTER XVII.
LOED COBNWALLIS'S ADMINISTRATION. REVENUE AND JUDICIAL REFORMS.
POWER OP SINDIA, 1786 1793.
1793 Lord Cornwallis's revenue reforms .... 29
Line of the Zemindars 29
1793 Evils of the revenue systems, 17721790 30
1786 Remedy ordered by the Court of Directors .... .... ... 31
1793 Question of the proprietary right in the lands; it is granted
to the Zemindars 32
Restrictions vainly imposed on the Zemindars regarding the
enhancement of rents ... 32
Mr. Pitt determines to make the settlement perpetual .... 34
Result of the perpetual settlement 35
Lord Cornwallis's institutions for the administration of civil
and criminal justice 36
The Cornwallis Code 37
Unwise exclusion of natives from power 38
War between France and England; capture of Pondicherry.... 39
Lord Cornwallis embarks for England ... .... 39
1784 Progress of Sindia's encroachments in Hindostan 40
1787 He attacks the Rajpoots and is defeated 41
1788 Appearance of the infamous Gholam Kadir on the scene .... 41
CONTENTS. Vll
Date. Page
1788 He puts out the emperor's eyes ; he is himself put to death by
Sindia 42
1785 1790 Sindia organises a force under French officers 43
1790 He gains the battles of Patun and Mairta 44
1792 Sindia marches to Poona and invests the Peshwa with the title
obtained from the emperor 45
His mock humility .... .... 46
Severe action between the troops of Sindia and Holkar ... 46
1794 Death of Sindia 46
1786 Enlargement of the powers of the Governor-General 47
1788 Mr. Pitt's Declaratory Act for transferring power from the
Company to the Crown .... 48
1793 The renewal of the Charter 49
Arguments for continuing the monopoly 50
Eefuted by the experience of three-quarters of a century .... 51
CHAPTER XVIII.
ADMINISTRATION OP SIB JOHN SHORE, 1793 1795.
1793 Sir John Shore Governor. General 51
Guarantee treaty proposed by Lord Cornwallis, accepted by
the Nizam 52
And rejected by the Mahrattas 53
Sir John Shore's neutrality .... .... .... .... .... 54
1794 Tippoo resolves to attack the Nizam .... 54
The Nizam claims the aid of the English, under the treaty of
1790 54
Sir John Shore refuses all aid 54
1795 Nizam's European force under Raymond 55
The Mahrattas attack the Nizam at Kurdla, and totally defeat
him 56
He is obliged to sign a disgraceful treaty .... .... .... 57
He increases his French forces, and plants them on the English
frontier ... 58
Remonstrance of Sir John Shore 58
Revolt of his son and its consequences 58
Madhoo Rao Peshwa, galled by the restraints of Nana Furnu-
vese, puts an end to himself .... 59
1796 Great complication of affairs at Poona in consequence .... 60
Bajee Rao at length becomes Peshwa ... 61
1797 Nana Furnuvese seized and confined 61
Plunder of Poona by Sirjee Rao Ghatkay, at the instance of
Bajee Rao 62
1794 The question of the amalgamation of the King's and Com-
pany's troops 63
1795 Mutiny of the Bengal officers 64
1796 The weak and injudicious concessions of the Government .... 65
1797 Sir John Shore superseded ; Lord Cornwallis appointed Gover-
nor-General ... 66
Vlll CONTENTS.
Date. Page
1797 He resigns the office six months after, in disgust 67
Vizier AH appointed Nabob vizier of Oude 67
Sir John Shore discovers his spurious birth, and removes him 68
Oude considered by the natives a dependency of the Company 68
1798 Saadut AH made Nabob vizier .... .... 69
Sir John Shore created Lord Teignmouth, and retires to
England 70
CHAPTER XIX.
LORD WELLESLEY'S ADMINISTRATION. FOURTH AND LAST MYSORE WAR,
17981799.
1798 Lord Wellesley, Governor General ; his antecedents 71
Extinction of the balance of power .... 72
State of India '.... 73
The Mauritius Proclamation 74
The Coast army ordered to assemble 75
. Opposition of the Madras authorities .... .... .... .... 76
Danger from the French force at Hyderabad 77
Zemaun Shah prepares to invade India 77
Lord Wellesley's vigorous policy 78
Proposed alliance with the Nizam reluctantly accepted .... 78
Sindia's proceedings at Poona ... ... 79
Proposed alliance with the Peshiva declined 80
Negotiations with Nagpore and Sindia ... .... .... .... 81
Extinction of the French force at Hyderabad 82
Mysore war sanctioned in England 83
First communication to Tippoo . .... 84
Lord Wellesley embarks for Madras 84
1799 Continued correspondence with Tippoo 85
His professions of friendship, and his insincerity 86
Strength of the British force ... 87
Judicious selection of officers 87
Tippoo marches to the western coast, and is defeated 88
Progress of General Harris 89
Battle of Malavelly 89
The British army crosses the Cavery 90
Commencement of the siege of Seringapatam 90
Ineffectual overtures of Tippoo 91
Capture of Seringapatam 92
Death and interment of Tippoo 93
Character of Tippoo ... 94
Remarks on these transactions 95
Creation of a new Mysore kingdom ; the moving causes ;
character of this arrangement 96
Allotment of the conquered territory .... 97
Provision for Tippoo's family ... 97
Seringapatam booty .... 98
CONTEXTS. IX
Date. Page
Pes'iwa and Sindia plan an attack on the Nizam and the
Company during the siege .. .... . 99
Pesbwa rejects the Mysore territory offered to him; it is
divided between the Nizam and the Company 100
Dhoondia Waug 101
Cession of territory by the Nizam ; enlargement of the Madras
Presidency 102
CHAPTER XX.
LOBU WELLESLEY'S ADMINISTRATION (continued), 1799 1802.
The principality of Tanjore mediatized 103
Condition of the Carnatic; the Nabob and his creditors .... 104
Exertions of Lord Hobart to remedy the evils; he is recalled 105
Lord Wellesley's proposals to the Nabob .... 105
Discovery of the Nabob's intrigues 106
Lord Wellesley's resolution to mediatize the Carnal ic .... 107
Annexation of the Carnatic to the Madras Presidency .... 103
1300 Deputation of a native envoy to Persia, and his success .... 108
Captain Malcolm's magnificent embassy to Persia 109
Result of this embassy 110
Depredations of French privateers Ill
Expedition to the French islands frustrated by Admiral
Rainier Ill
Expedition to the Red Sea 112
1802 Peace of Amiens 113
French armament to Pondicheny ; Lord Wellesley refuses to
restore the settlement ... .... .... .... .... .... 113
1709 Vizier AH assassinates Mr. Cherry 114
1800 Augmentation of British troops in Oude 115
Nabob proposes to abdicate .... ... .... .... 116
Nabob's remonstrance, and Lord Wellesley's indignation .... 117
Nabob's submissson ; second demand of augmentation .... 118
18il Annexation of half the territory of Oude 119
Remarks on this transaction 120
Appointment and dismissal of Mr. Henry Wellesley 121
1800 Reorganization of the Sudder Court in Calcutta 122
Establishment of Fort William College 123
Abolished by the Court of Directors 125
Re-established on a reduced scale .... 125
Encouragement of private trade, 1793 1801 ... .... .... 126
1802 ^ucccfc-iul hostility of the India House to this measure .... 127
Resignation of Lord V, cllesley ... 128
Interference of the India Hou*e in'aypointments 129
Lord Wellesley solicited to remain another year 131
II. B
X CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXI.
LORD WELLESLEY'S ADMINISTRATION. MAHRATTA AFFAIRS, 18001803.
Date. Page
1800 Death of Kana Furnuvese 131
The Holkar family ; virtues and successful administration of
AylahBye 133
1795-7 Death of Aylah Bye and Tokajee Holkar 133
1795 Eise and progress of Jeswunt Rao Holkar .... 134
1801 He defeats Sindia's army 135
Bajee Eao barbarously murders Wittojee Holkar 136
Sindia's tro ips defeat Holkar .... .... 136
1802 Holkar recruits his army ... 137
Battle of Poona between Holkar, Sindia, and the Peshwa .... 138
Holkar places Umrit Kao in power at Poona .... .... .... 139
Treaty of Bassein 140
Kesult of the treaty ; discussions on it 141
1803 Discontent of Sindia and the raja of Berar at the Treaty .... 142
Coalition of Mahratta chiefs against the Company .... .... 142
Lord Wellesley's military preparations ... 143
General Wellesley saves Poona from destruction .... .... 144
Peshwa restored to his throne 144
Development of the designs of the coalition .... 145
Sindia's declaration, which brings on the war ..... 145
Full powers conferred on General Wellesley 146
Colonel Collins quits Sindia's camp .... .... .... .... 147
Grand preparations for war 148
Capture of Ah mednugur 148
Battle of Assye 149
Capture of Boorhanpore and Asseergur 150
Occupation of Cuttack 150
Armistice with Sindia 151
Battle of Argaom 151
Treaty of Deogaom with the raja of Xagpore 152
Sindia s possessions in Hindostan 153
Great power of General Perron 153
Capture of Allygur ... .... ... .... .... .... 154
Battle of Delhi 155
Release of the Emperor 156
Lord Wellesley's design to remove the imperial family from
Delhi frustrated 157
Capture of Agra 158
Battle of Lnswaree 158
Treaty of Sirjee Anjengaom with Sindia 160
Distribution of the conquered territory ... 160
Treaties of alliance with the princes beyond the Jumna .... 161
The Guickwar .... 162
1804 Abo'ition of infanticide by Colonel Walker 164
Reflections on Lord Wellesley's successes 165
CONTENTS. XI
CHAPTEK XXII.
LORD WELLESLEY'S ADMINISTRATION (continued), 1804-5.
Date. Page
1804 Holkar's movements ; his arrogance 165
War with Holkar declared 167
Colonel Monson's diastrous retreat 168
Remarks on this calamity 170
Holkar besieges Delhi, which is gallantly defended by Colonel
Ochterlony 171
Holkar pursued by General Lake 171
Battle of Deeg 172
1805 Siege of Bhurtpore; its failure 173
Treaty with the raja of Bhurtpore 173
Menacing attitude of Sindia .... .... .... .... .... 174
Discussions regarding Gohud and Gwalior 175
Hostility of Sindia ; detention of Mr. Jenkins 176
Proceedings in Sindia's camp ; progress of the settlement .... 177
Lord Wellesley's anxiety for peace 178
Close of his administration 178
Remarks on his administration 179
Disputes between the India House and Lord Wellesley, 1803-5 180
Cause and consequence of the alarm at the India House .... 181
Lord Cornwallis sent out to save India.... .... .... ..... 182
1806 Prosecution of Lord Wellesley by Mr. Paull 183
Condemnation of Lord Wellesley by the Court of Directors
and the Court of Proprietors 184
Reversal of it thirty years after 185
CHAPTER XXIII.
ADMINISTRATION OP LORD CORNWALLIS AND SIB GEORGE BARLOW,
1805-7.
1805 Lord Cornwallis lands in Calcutta 18n
His view of the state of afiairs 186
His policy ....' .... 187
Lord Lake's remonstrance 188
Death of Lord Cornwallis 189
Sir George Barlow, Governor-General 190
His policy 190
Negotiations with Sindia .... 191
Equipment of the army against Holkar 192
Peace with Sindia 193
Pursuit of Holkar by Lord Lake 193
1806 Treaty with Holkar 195
Sir George Barlow adds declaratory articles to the two treaties 196
Disgraceful abandonment of Jeypore 196
B 2
Xii CONTENTS.
Date. Page
1806 Aggressions of Holkar 197
Remarks on the termination of the Mahratta war 198
Violence and insanity of Holkar 199
1811 Death of Holkar 20(J
1806 Contest for the hand of the Oodypore princess 200
1807 Battle between the forces of Jeypore and Joudhpore 201
Villany of Ameer Khan 201
1809 Rajpoot princes appeal for support to the British Government 202
1810 The princess of Oodypore poisoned 203
1806-7 Sir George Barlow's interference at Hyderabad 204
1806 He refuses to tamper with tlie treaty of Bassein 205
State of the finances 206
Ministers supersede Sir George Barlow 206
They appoint Lord Lauderdale ; successful resistance of the
India House 207
Lord Minto appointed Governor- General 208
The Vellore mutiny 208
Its origin ... 209
Recal of Lord William Bentinck 210
Temple of Jugunnath .... .... .... .... .... .... 212
Propagation of Christianity in India .... 212
The Serampore missionaries 213
Opposition of the Government to their labours 214
CHAPTER XXIV.
LORD MINTO'S ADMINISTRATION.
1807 Lord Minto's antecedents 215
He pardons the Vellore mutineers '. 216
Anarchy in Bundlekund 216
Lord Minto's vigorous policy 217
Career of Runjeet Sing, 1760 1808 219
1807 Tne S;kh states of Sirhind 220
L>rd Minto takes them under protection, and checks Runjeet
Sink's ambition .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 221
Government embark in foreign alliances to check the designs
of Napoleon ..-. 221
1808 Embassy to Runjeet Sing; Mr. Metcalfe 222
Mr. Metcalfe orders him to retire from Sirhind 223
1809 Mr. Metcalfe s resolute conduct 224
Treaty with Rnnjeet Sing .... 225
1808 Embassy to Cabul ; Mr. Mountstuart Elphinstone 226
1S07 Fren I) embassy to Persia 227
Sir Harford Jones sent oa an embassy by the Crown to
Persia .... . 228
1803 Colonel Malcolm sent by Lord Minto to Persia 229
Failure of his mission 229
Military expedition to Persia ... 230
1810 Sir Harford Jones concludes a treaty with Persia 23]
CONTENTS. Xlll
Date. Page
1809 Second mission of Colonel Malcolm to Persia 231
Collision between the two envoys prevented .... .... .... 232 '
Ameer Khan's attack on Nagpore .... .... .... .... 233
Interference of Lord Minto .... 235
Defeat of Ameer Khan 235
1811 Change of policy at the India House 235
1807 Sir George Barlow, Governor of Madras 236
1808 Case of Mr. Sherson 237
Sir George's interference with the Carnatic Commission .... 238
1809 Mutiny of the European officers of the Madras army .... ... 23H
Causes of the mutiny ; abolition of the tent contract .... .... 239
.Resentment of the officers fixed on Colonel John Munro .... 240
Violence of the Madras Commander-in-chief .... .... .... 241
Violence of Sir George Barlow 24]
Outburst of the mutiny 242
Firmness of Sir George '. 243
1810 Extinction of the mutiny 244
1811 Recall of Sir George Barlow 245
1809 Suppression of piracy in the Eastern seas .... 245
CHAPTER XXV.
ADMINISTRATION OF LORD MINTO (continued), 1809-13.
1809 Occupation and abandonment of Macao 247
Depredations from the Mauritius, 1800 1S09 247
1810 Naval disasters 248
Capture of the Mauritius 249
1811 Kxpedition to Java 249
Strength of the French force in Java >. 250
Attack and capture of Fort Cornells .... 2-51
Revolt and submission of the native chiefs .... .... .... 252
1812 Supersession of Lord Minto ... .... .... .... 253
The Pindarees; their origin, 1690 1800 254
1808 The Pindaree leaders '.. 255
Dost Mahomed Wassil Mahomed 255
1811 Kureem Khan 256
Cheetoo 257
Their system of plunder ..' 257
1812 They attack the British territories 259
Lord Minto's representations to the India House 259
1813 Review of the Permanent Settlement 260
Condition of the ryots ... 262
Distraint and subletting .... .... .... .... .... .... 264
The Ceded and Conquered provinces 265
Settlement of the Madras Presidency 2C6
Civil jurisprudence .... 268
Criminal jurisprudence and police 270
Dacoity 271
Remarks on the Cornwallis system 272
XIV CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXVI.
CHABTEB OF 1813. LORD HASTINGS'S ADMINISTRATION. NEPAL WAK.
18141816.
Date. Page
1813 Negotiations for the Charter, 1809-12 273
Question of opening the out-ports to import trade 274
Growth of manufactures and commerce between 1793 and
1813 275
Lord Castlereagh introduces the India Bill . 276
Opposition of the India House ; evidence brought forward .... 277
Speeches of Lord Wellesley and Lord Grenville 278
The missionary question 279
Speeches of Mr. Wilberforce and Mr. Marsh 281
Remarks on the Charter 281
Lord Hastings Governor-General 283
State of India
Description of Nepal 285
Rise and progress of the Goorkha power 286
Goorkha encroachments on British territory 287
1814 The Goorkhas determine on war 288
Loan from Lucknow 289
Plan of the Goorkha campaign 291
General Gillespie's division 291
General Gillespie slain 292
Division of GeneralJ. S. Wood '.... 293
General Marley's division 293
General Marley's flight. Incompetency of his successor, General
George Wood 294
1815 Effect of these reverses in India 294
Operations of General Ochterlony, 1814-15 -296
Fall of A Imora ; success of General Ochterlony 298
1816 Second Goorkha campaign and peace 299
Remarks on the Goorkha campaign .... 300
Insurrection at Bareilly 301
Capture of Hatras 303
CHAPTER XXVII.
TRANSACTIONS WITH NATIVE PRINCES, 1814 17. PINDAREE AND
MAHKATTA WAR, 1817.
1814 Patans and Pindarees 303
Irruption of the Pindarees 304
Representations to the Court of Directors, 1813-15 304
Proposed alliance with Nagpore and Bhopal .... .... .... 306
Sindia and the raja of Nagpore attack Bhopal 307
Interference of Lord Hastings .... . 307
CONTENTS. XV
Date. Page
1814 Poona; proceedings of the Peshwa, 1803-14 308
Trimbukjee at Poona 309
18:5 Murder of Gungadhur Shastrce 310
Lord Hastings's second representation to the Court of Directors 312
1815-16 Pindaree irruption ; sack of the Guntoor sircar 312
Description of their ravages by Mr. Canning 313
1816 Subsidiary alliance with Nagpore 314
Attempted alliance with Jeypore 315
Mr. Canning rejects the proposals of Lord Hastings ... .... 31t>
He gives his assent to them 318
1810-17 Pindaree irruption on the Company's territories 318
Determination of the Supreme Council to suppress the Pin-
darees .... 320
Sindia agrees to co-operate in putting them down 320
1817 Hostility of Bajee Rao 321
Treaty forced on him, June 5th .... .... .... .... .... 322
Lord Hastings's defence of this measure .... .... .... 323
Proceedings at Holkar's court, 1811-17 324
Distracted state of India ... 325
Lord Hastings proceeds to the North West ; he forms a general
system of alliances on his own responsibility 32(5
Extent of his military operations 327
Treaty with Sindia 328
The cholera 329
Arrangement with Ameer Khan 330
Treaties of alliance with the native princes, 1817-18 331
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE PlNDAUEE AND MAHBATTA WAB MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES, 1817
1822.
1817 Outbreak of the Peshwa 333
Battle of Kirkee 335
Flight of the Peshwa downfall of his power 337
Events at Nagpore 337
Battle of Seetabuldee 338
1818 Deposition of Appa Sahib 340
Escape of Appa Sahib on his way to Benares 341
1817 Progress of events in Holkar's camp 341
Battle of Mahidpore 342
Operations against the Pindarees extinction of this predatory
power .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 343
1818 Eesult of the campaign 345
Remarks on these transactions 34(i
Battle of Korygaum .... 347
Restoration of the Satara family 349
Battle of Ashtee 350
Surrender of the Peshwa 851
Large pensions paid to his family 353
XVI CONTEXTS.
Date. Page
ISIS Capture of forts; Talneir; Mallygaum 354
Capture of Asseergur 355
Mr. Canning's qualified commendation of Lord Hastings's
measures; the hostility of the Court of Directors .... .... 356
Encourngement of education, 1816 1818 .... 357
Publication of the first native newspaper at Serampo:-e .... 35 S
Lord Hastings's liberality towards the press disapproved by
the Court of Directors 359
Settlement of land revenue at Madras ... 359
1821 Fraudulent sales of land in the North West 360
1818 Disturbances in Cuttack
1822 Improvement of the finances and increase of territory during
Lord Hastings's administration .... .... 364
1819 Settlement of Singapore .... 365
The Company's mercantile fleet 366
The Civil service 367
Death of Warren Hastings and Philip Francis 368
Hyderabad affairs ; the contingent .... .... .... .... 369
Administration of Chundoo Lall, 1808-20 370
1820 Mr. Metcalfe's reforms disapproved by Lord Hastings . .... 371
Messrs. Palmer and Co 371
Sir W. Eumbold joins the firm 372
Various loans from the house to the Nizam 373
Great power of Palmer and Co 373
1 822 The debt due by the Nizam paid by the Government of Cal-
cutta, and the house becomes bankrupt 374
Thanks of the Directors and Proprietors to Lord Hastings .... 374
Remarks on his administration 375
1825 Debate at the India House 377
Vote of censure on Lord Hastings 378
1S27 His death, 24th August 378
CHAPTER XXTX.
ADMINISTRATION OF ME. ADAM AND LORD AMHEEST.
1822 Lord Amherst appointed Governor-General 378
1S23 Mr. Adam Governor- General ad interim 379
Proposal to pay off the debts of the civilians 380
Persecution of the press ; Mr. Buckingham 380
Mr. Adam dies at sea ... 382
Lord Amherst assumes the Governor-Generalship 382
Rise and progress of the Burmese power, 1753 1815 .... 382
British embassies to Ava 383
Further conquests of the Burmese, 1815-23 384
Origin of the Burmese war ... 385
1824 Arrangements of the campaign 386
The strength of the expedition 387
Disaster at R;imoo 388
Capture of Rangoon . 389
CONTEXTS. XVII
Date. Page
1824 Sickness and mortality of the troops 390
Actions of the 7th and 15th December ... 391
Conquest of Assam .... .... .... .... .... .... 392
Campaign in Cachar 392
1825 Conquest of Aracan .... 393
Second campaign of Sir Archibald Campbell 393
Death of Bundoola ; capture of Pi ome 395
Negotiations for peace .... .... ' 395
Conditions proposed by the British commissioners .... .... 396
1826 Final engagement and peace .. .... 397
Treaty of Yandaboo 398
Remarks on the Burmese war .... .... 399
1824 Mutiny at Barrackpore 399
General spirit of disaffection in the country 402
1825 Transactions at Bhurtpore .... 402
Difference between Sir David Ochterlony and the Supreme
Government ... 404
His death and character .... 405
Proceedings of Doorjun Saul, the usurper .... 405
Sir Charles Mctcalfe decides the policy of Government .... 407
1826 Siege and capture of Bhurtpore 407
Disgraceful plunder of the raja .... .... .... .... .... 409
Effect of this capture in India .... .... .... .... .... 410
Honours conferred on Lord Amherst .... .... .... .... 410
J828 Financial results of his administration 411
His liberality to the press 411
1827 Death and character of Sir Thomas Munro 412
The galaxy of talent in India in the first quarter of the
century .. ... 413
1828 Lord Amherst returns to England .'. 413
Mr. Bayley Governor-General ad interim 413
THE HISTORY OP INDIA.
CHAPTER XVI.
LORD CORNWALLIS'S ADMINISTRATION THE THIRD MYSORE
WAR 1786 1793.
sir John HASTINGS left the government in the hands of Mr.,
afterwards Sir John, Macpherson, who presided
over it f or twenty months. He came out to
Madras at the age of twenty-two, as purser in one of the
Company's ships, but soon after his arrival quitted the sea
for more lucrative employment at the court of the Nabob of
the Carnatic, where he obtained great consideration. Under
his influence the Nabob was induced to make a direct appeal
to the Minister in England, as the most effectual means of
regaining his political independence, and throwing off the
restraints of the Madras government. Mr. Macpherson
was charged with this mission, and accredited by a letter
to the Duke of Graf ton, which gained little for his patron,
but a Madras writership for his young agent. Soon after his
arrival at the Presidency he obtained one of the most
lucrative appointments in the service, that of military pay-
master, but was expelled ffom it by Lord Pigot, in 1776, on
the ground that he was still a partisan of the Nabob. With
his usual sagacity, he persuaded the Nabob to make his will,
and appoint the king of England his executor and the
2 WAR BETWEEN TIPPOO, THE NIZAM, [CHAP.
guardian of his children an office which was most in-
judiciously accepted. Mr. Macpherson, who returned to
England as the representative of the Nabob, with a full
purse, was not long in obtaining a seat in Parliament, and
made himself so useful to the Minister by his eloquent pen
and his servile vote, as to obtain the appointment of second
member of Council at Calcutta. The war with the Mahrattas
and Hyder had produced the same effect on the finances of
India as the war which England had been waging with the
North American colonies produced on her finances. Troops
to the number of 70,000 had been maintained for several
years in provinces the most remote from each other, and a
debt had been accumulated to the extent of six crores of
rupees. The army and civil establishments were fifty lacs of
rupees in arrears, and the whole machinery of government
was in a state of disorder. Mr. Macpherson applied himself
with great energy to financial reform, and effected reductions
exceeding a crore of rupees. He received thanks from the
Court of Directors, and a baronetcy from the Crown ; but it
is not to be concealed that his two successors, Lord Cornwallis
and Sir John Shore, considered his pretensions to economy,
except with regard to the reduction of salaries, a mere
delusion, and his whole administration a failure.
"wars between The treat J of Mangalore left Tippoo with
o, the unimpaired resources, and augmented his ar-
Mahrattas, and m , . , i j i i
the Nizam, rogance. The ink was scarcely dry, when he
1786. wrote to his French allies at Pondicherry that
he was only waiting for an opportunity of crushing the
Nizam and the Mahrattas, and exterminating the English.
His first act after the pacification was to seize 30,000 native
Christians on the Malabar coast, and cause them to be circum-
cised. The Hindoos south of the Kistna were treated with
the same violence, and 2,000 brahmins destroyed themselves
to avoid the indignity. Of the population of Coorg, 70,000
of all ages and both sexes were ruthlessly driven off to
Seringapatam. Tippoo then proceeded to demand the cession
XVI.] ANT> THE PESTTWA. 3
of Beejapore from the Nizam, on some frivolous pretext, and
attacked the Mahratta garrison of Nurgoond, of which he
obtained possession by an act of perfidy. Nana Furnuvese,
finding Tippoo a more dangerous neighbour than his father
had been, proceeded to form an alliance with the Nizam early
in 1786, for the conquest and partition of his whole territory.
The allied army opened the campaign on the 1st of May, by
the siege of Badamee, which surrendered before the end of
the month. After various assaults and repulses, which
generally terminated to the advantage of Tippoo, he brought
this campaign of nine months to an unexpected termination
by a voluntary offer of peace. A treaty was accordingly con-
cluded between the belligerents in April, 1787, by which
Tippoo engaged to pay forty -five lacs of rupees of tribute,
and to surrender many of the places he had captured. This
sudden change of policy was subsequently explained by the
great efficiency given to the military establishments of the
Company by the new Governor- General, Lord Cornwallie, and
which led Tippoo to suppose that the English were about to
take part in the war against him.
Lord Macarteny Lord Macartney, who had taken Calcutta on
offered the h} s way to England, was detained there by severe
Governor- .
Generalship, illness, and was agreeably surprised on his re-
covery to receive the unsolicited offer of the
Governor-Generalship, as a token of the estimation in which
his services were held by Mr. Pitt and Mr. Dundas. Instead,
however, of accepting the appointment, and taking the oaths
and his seat in Council, he postponed the acceptance of it
till he had an opportunity of conferring with the Ministry on
the additional powers which he deemed necessary to impart
dignity and efficiency to the office. He embarked therefore
for England, and on his arrival submitted his views, which
were in every respect judicious, to the Court of Directors
and to the Prime Minister, by whom they were entertained
with great complacency. But all his prospects were at once
blighted when he proceeded farther to solicit such token of
4 NEW SYSTEM OF APPOINTMENT. [CIIAP.
the royal favour as should demonstrate that he entered upon
this responsible office with the entire confidence of the
Ministers of the Crown, as well as of the Court of Directors.
The request was not only in itself reasonable, but essential
to the efficiency and vigour of the government. It was the ab-
sence of this support which had subjected the administration
of Hastings to the greatest embarrassment. But Mr. Dundas,
who had sustained the nomination of Lord Macarteny against
a violent opposition in the Cabinet, took umbrage that " he
did not rather repose his future fortunes in our hands than
make it the subject of a sine qua non preliminary." Within
three days of the receipt of this request, Lord Cornwallis
was gazetted Governor-General of India.
The government of the Company's affairs in
Change in the J
system of India had hitherto been entrusted to one of their
government. ,-, -, ,-, , -, ,
own servants, on the ground that local experience
was the most important qualification for the office. But this
principle of selection, though well suited to the requirements
of a factory, was ill adapted to the government of an empire.
The advantage arising from this knowledge of the country
and the people, however great, was found to be over-balanced
by the trammels of local associations, and the difficulty of
exercising due control over those who had previously been
in the position of equals. The transcendant ability of
Hastings himself had been too often neutralized by these
connections, and he had been obliged to meet the cabals and
intrigues which beset him in the Council chamber by com-
promises, which weakened the authority of government, and
strengthened abuses. These considerations induced the
Ministry to place the government in the hands of a noble-
man of elevated rank and high character, and unfettered by
any local ties. The choice fell on Lord Cornwallis, who had
filled several posts of importance, both military and diplomatic,
and who stood so high in the estimation of the country that
even the surrender of a British army to Washington at York-
town, which decided the question of American independence,
XVI.] LORD CORNWALLIS GOVERNOR-GENERAL. 5
had not shaken his credit. It was within eight months of
that disaster, that his name was mentioned by Mr. Dundas,
in reference to the future government of India, and was
received with great satisfaction by both parties in the House
of Commons, who united in paying homage to his talents.
He was appointed Governor-General in February, 1786, and
reached Calcutta in the month of September. Thus, by the
singular caprice of circumstances, the man who had lost
America was sent out to govern India, and the man who had
saved India was subjected to a prosecution for high crimes
and misdemeanours. Lord Cornwallis's government com-
menced under the happiest auspices. He enjoyed the entire
confidence of Mr. Pitt, and, more especially, of Mr. Dundas,
the Indian Minister, who remarked in one of his letters, that
they " never before had a government in India and in
England acting in perfect harmony, on principles of perfect
purity and independence." The spirit of insubordination and
faction which had deranged Hastings's administration was
at once subdued by the dignity and firmness of Lord Corn-
wallis's character, and the current of public business began
to run smoothly, as soon as he assumed the charge of it.
_ . . The first three years of his administration were
Correction of *
abuses, devoted to the correction of abuses, to which it is
necessary to advert more particularly, to indicate
the progress of integrity in the public service. The Court of
of Directors still continued to act on the old and vicious prin-
ciple of " small salaries and large perquisites." The salaries
came from their own treasury, which they guarded with the
parsimony of a miser, the perquisites came from the people,
and excited little observation, though they served to vitiate
the whole system of government. Every man who returned
to England rich was considered a rogue, and every man who
came home poor was set down as a fool. Hastings made
some effort to correct these abuses, but he had not sufficient
official strength to stem the tide, and he was often obliged to
allay opposition by the bribe of places and emoluments. The
G CORRECTION OF ABUSES. [CTTAP.
Court of Directors nominated their friends and relatives to
the most lucrative appointments in India, and the connection
thus established between the patrons in Leadenhall-street,
and the nominees in India, was too often fatal to the
authority of the Governor-General. Lord Cornwallis was
determined to put an end to this practice, but his .efforts were
not successful until he threatened, if it was persisted in, to
resign the government, "that he might preserve his own
character, and avoid witnessing the ruin of the national
interests."
instances of Lord Cornwallis found the system of official
abuse, 1786. depredation in full bloom. The sub-treasurer was,
as he remarked, playing with the deposits ; that is, lending
out lacs upon lacs of the public money, at twelve per cent,
interest. The Commander-in-Chief had given two of his
favourites the profitable privilege of raising two regiments,
which Lord Cornwallis ordered to be disbanded soon after his
arrival. The two commandants immediately demanded com-
pensation, but after the most diligent inquiry, it could not
be discovered that either of the regiments had ever existed,
except on the paymaster's books. The collectors of the
revenue were still engaged in trade, in the name of some
friend or relative, and as they were also judges and magis-
trates, and possessed of irresistible influence in their districts,
they were enabled to amass enormous fortunes ; and one of
them did not hesitate to admit, that his emoluments exceeded
his salary more than twenty fold. The raja of Benares is
described by Lord Cornwallis as a fool, and his servants as
knaves, and the Resident, supreme in power, monopolized the
commerce of the province, and realized four lacs a year,
though his regular allowance did not exceed 1,000 rupees
a month. It was the old process, so well understood in the
east, of turning power into money, which now gave fortunes
to a new race of conquerors, as it had enriched the Afghan,
the Tartar, the Mogul, and the Abysinian conquerors, who
preceded them. There was, however, this material difference
XVI.] AUGMENTATION OF SALARIES. 7
in the two cases ; the Asiatic invader settled in the country,
and his acquisitions were expended in it, while the European
transported his gains to his own country, and was seen no
more. The fortunes thus imported into England will not, it
is true, bear any comparison with those which have been
subsequently realized in manufactures and railroads. With
one exception, there were not a dozen of the Company's ser-
vants, from first to last, who took home so large a sum as
forty lacs of rupees, but, for the time, their wealth was con-
sidered prodigious; and serious apprehensions were entertained
by many in England, that eastern gold would undermine its
constitution. But it is the peculiar merit of the British ad-
ministration in India, that it has succeeded in surmounting
these abuses, under which previous dynasties had perished,
and that, instead of becoming more corrupt with the progress
of time, it has worked itself pure, and now presents a model
of official integrity, which has, perhaps, no parallel in the
world.
The salaries of To ^ e * as ^ ^ re ^ orm Lord Cornwallis applied
the public himself with the greatest assiduity. He hunted
augmented, out frauds in every department, and abolished
jobbing agencies, and contracts and sinecures.
His greatest difficulty arose from the importunity of men of
power and influence in England who had been in the habit of
quartering their friends and kindred, and even their victims
at the gambling-table, on the revenues of India. But the
Governor-General was inexorable, and he had the courage
to decline the recommendations of the Prince of Wales him-
self, afterwards George the Fourth, who, as he remarked,
" was always pressing some infamous and unjustifiable job
on him." These reforms, however, were not consummated
till he had convinced the Court of Directors of the truth,
which Clive and Hastings had in vain pressed on them, that
" it was not good economy to put men into places of the
greatest confidence, where they have it in their power to
make their fortunes in a few months, without giving them
II. C
8 ARRANGEMENT WITH OUDE. [dlAP.
adequate salaries." The Court parted with the traditionary
policy of two centuries with great reluctance ; but Lord Corn-
wallis at length succeeded in " annexing liberal salaries to
these offices, and in giving gentlemen a prospect of acquiring,
by economy, a moderate fortune from the savings of their
allowances."
On the arrival of Lord Cornwallis, the Vizier
Arrangement
with oude. hastened to send his minister to Calcutta, to
renew the request to be relieved from the expense
of the British troops stationed in his dominions. But the
rapid encroachments of Sindia in Hindostan, and the growing
power of the Sikhs, convinced the Governor-General that the
brigade could not be withdrawn from Futtygur without great
risk. He consented, however, to reduce the demand on the
treasury of Lucknow for their support, from seventy-four
to fifty lacs of rupees a year, provided it was paid with punc-
tuality. The higher sum had never been realised, and the
Company lost nothing by the arrangement, while the defence
of Oude from foreign invasion, was provided for at a charge
of less than a fourth of its entire revenue. The Vizier was,
at the same time, relieved from the pressure of the European
harpies who had long been preying on him, and of the mono-
polies they had inflicted on his country, under the influence
of British supremacy. He was likewise exonerated from the
payment of ten lacs of rupees a year, which had been allotted
by Hastings for the office of the private agent of the Gover-
nor-General at the durbar, Major Palmer, of which his own
share amounted to two lacs. Lord Cornwallis also conferred
an inestimable boon on Oude by peremptorily refusing to
recognize the claims of any of the private creditors of the
Vizier, and thus rescued that kingdom from the fate of the
Carnatic. But he could not fail to perceive the glaring abuses
of the government, in which the Vizier took no further
interest than to give the sanction of his authority to the
acts of his servants, when they could prevail on him which
was rarely the case to look into the affairs of the kingdom.
XVI.] . GUKTOOH SIRKAR DEMANDED. 9
The Vizier'sonly care was to obtain money for boundless dissi-
pation ; and so the zemindars were allowed to squeeze the
ryots, the ministers squeezed the zemindars, and the Vizier
extorted every rupee he could obtain from his ministers, and
squandered it in cock-fighting and debaucheries, in maintain-
ing a thousand horses in his private stables, which he never
used, and a whole brigade of elephants.
Demand of the Lord Cornwallis, on leaving England, was espe-
Guntoor sirkar, cially enjoined to amalgamate the King's and the
Company's troops, and to secure the possession of
the Guntoor Sirkar. The project of amalgamation was warmly
espoused by the king and supported by his Ministers ; no
efforts, however, were made during the administration of Lord
Cornwallis to carry it into effect, but on his return to England,
after seven years of experience, he earnestly recommended
the adoption of it to Mr. Dundas and the Court of Directors.
The reversion of the Guntoor Sirkar, it will be remembered,
was assigned by the Nizam to the Company by the treaty of
1768, after the death of his brother, Basalut Jung. He died
in 1782, but the Nizam constantly evaded the surrender.
Lord Cornwallis found him in 1786 involved in a war with
Tippoo, and considered it inopportune to press the cession at
the time. But in 1788, the prospect of continued peace with
France, which removed all fear of European interference, and
the aspect of politics in the Deccan, seemed to present a
suitable occasion for making the demand. To obviate every
difficulty, troops were drawn to the frontier, and Captain
Kennaway, the Governor-General's aide-de-camp, was des-
patched to Hyderabad, " to demand the full execution of the
treaty of 1768," with the intimation, that a British force was
prepared to enter Guntoor in a fortnight. To the surprise of
Lord Cornwallis, the Nizam ordered the immediate surrender
of the district without any hesitation, as well as the adjust-
ment of all accounts ; but at the same time he expressed his
confidence that the Company's government would be prepared,
with equal aiacrity, to fulfil the obligations to which they
c 2
10 COUNTER DEMAND OP THE NIZAM. [CHAP.
were bound by it ; namely, to send two battalions of sepoys
and six pieces of artillery, manned by Europeans, whenever
the Nizam should require them, and to reduce and transfer to
him the province of the Carnatic Balaghaut, " then usurped
by Ilyder Naik." With his usual duplicity, the Nizam sent
an envoy at the same time to Tippoo, to propose an alliance
for the extirpation of the English. Tippoo readily assented
to the proposal, on condition of receiving a daughter of
the Nizam in marriage ; but the Tartar blood of the son of
Chin Kilich Khan boiled at the idea of a matrimonial alliance
with the son of a naik, or head constable, and the negotiation
fell to the ground.
perplexity of Lord Cornwallis was not a little perplexed by
Lord Cornwall!*, this manoeuvre on the part of the Nizam. Since
1789
the treaty of 1768, the British Government had
in two successive treaties acknowledged Hyder and Tippoo
as the lawful sovereigns of the Carnatic Balaghaut. The
Act of 1784 had, moreover, strictly prohibited the formation
of alliances with native princes without sanction from home.
But Lord Cornwallis deemed it important to British interests
to secure the co-operation both of the Nizam and the Peshwa
against the hostile designs of Tippoo, which were daily becom-
ing more palpable. To meet the difficulties of the case, he
addressed a letter to the Nizam, which was avowed to have
the full force of a treaty, though it professed to be simply a
clearer definition of the old compact. In this letter he stated
that if the province in question should at any time come into
the possession of the Company, with the assistance of his
Highness, the stipulation of the treaty would be faithfully
observed. The brigade of British troops, he said, should be
furnished whenever the Nizam applied for its services, but
with the understanding that it was not to be employed
against any power in alliance with the English. A list of
these powers was added to the document, but the name of
Tippoo was omitted. This memorable letter, dated the 7th
of July, 1789, has been considered by some writers of con-
XVI-] PROCEEDINGS OF THE MADRAS GOVERNMENT. H
Biderable note, as the cause of the war which broke out with
Tippoo six months after. That an engagement which con-
templated the partition of his dominions, and placed an
English force at the disposal of the Nizam, with liberty to
employ it against him, while he himself was excluded from
the register of British allies, must have given him great
annoyance, will not be denied. But, before the treaty of
Mangalore was a day old, he had assured the French
governor of Pondicherry that he would renew the war with
the English on the first occasion. He had fitted out an
expedition to attack the king of Travancore, an ally of the
English, long before he heard of the letter. It was certain
that whenever he was ready for the struggle, he would neither
want a pretext, nor wait for one. As to the Act of Parliament
intended to isolate us from all the other powers of India,
even the author of it, Mr. Dundas, had begun to consider it
a mistake, and had recently written to Lord Cornwallis that
"an alliance with the Mahrattas of the closest kind was
all that was requisite to keep the whole world in awe
respecting India."
Proceedings of ^he little principality of Travancore, at the
the Madras go- southern extremity of the Malabar coast, had
vernment, 1789. ,
been placed under British protection by the treaty
of Mangalore. Tippoo, who had long coveted the possession
of it, had been for some time assembling a large force in the
vicinity, and the raja, anxious to strengthen the defences of
his kingdom, had recently purchased the towns of Cranganore
and Ayacottah of the Dutch. Tippoo immediately demanded
the surrender of them on the plea that that they belonged to
his vassal, the chief of Cochin. The raja refused to resign
them, and applied to the British authorities for support.
Lord Cornwallis directed the President at Madras to inform
both Tippoo and the raja that if the Dutch had held in-
dependent and unreserved possession of them, he was in-
structed to assist the raja in maintaining and defending them.
Unfortunate as Madras had been in its Presidents for a long
12 TIPPOO ATTACKS THE TRAVANCORE LIKES. [CHAP.
series of years, Mr. Holland, who now occupied the chair, ap-
pears to have been the very worst of the lot. He not only with-
held this communication from Tippoo, but sent a disheartening
letter to the raja, and, at the same time, demanded a lac of
pagodas for himself, as the condition of aiding him with a
British detachment. To promote this profligate negotiation,
he kept the army in such a state of inefficiency as to encourage
Tippoo's aggression. Holland was deeply implicated in all
the criminality of the Nabob's loans, and, although he had
been ordered to suspend all payments to the creditors as
soon as there was any probability of a war with Tippoo, he
chose to continue these disbursements, allowed the pay of the
troops to fall into arrears, and neglected to make any
preparation for the impending war.
Tippoo attacks Emboldened by this negligence, Tippoo suddenly
28tli December Stacked the " lines of Travancore," consisting of
1789. the defensive wall which the raja had erected ;
but after a severe action was repulsed with disgrace, and
with the loss of 2,000 men. He immediately ordered down
a battering train from Seringapatam, and reinforcements
from every quarter. Even the detachments employed in
dragooning " the infidels of Malabar," who refused circum-
cision, were recalled from their mission, and the next three
months and a half were wasted in preparation for the attack
of this miserable wall. Holland, after he had received infor-
mation of this attack, which was equivalent to a declaration
of war, actually proposed to appoint commissioners for the
pacific adjustment of all differences with Tippoo, and per-
sisted in declining to provide cattle for the army which was
to take field. Soon after, he fled from his post and em-
barked for England.
Treaties formed During the three years of Lord Cornwallis's
Cornwaiiis, administration he had been eminently successful in
lino. his financial reforms. The income of Bengal now
exceeded its expenditure by two crores of rupees, and he
was enabled not only to supply the wants of the other Presi-
XVI.] LORD CORNWALLIS'S TRIPARTITE TREATS'. 13
dencies, but to send home an investment from territorial
revenue, of a crore and thirty lacs, which was calculated to
realise two crores in the London market. But however much
he regretted that the fruit of three years of economy should
be swept away at a stroke, he determined to lose no time in
bringing all the resources of the country to the prosecution
of the war which Tippoo had wantonly provoked. It was
not a time for pottering over Acts of Parliament, and he pro-
ceeded at once to form alliances, offensive and defensive,
with the two other powers of the Deccan. Although Nana
Furnuvese had hitherto treated the friendly advances of
Lord Cornwallis with coldness, so great was the animosity of
the Mahrattas against Tippoo, that they now agreed to
co-operate heartily with the British Government in reducing
his power. The hatred and dread of Tippoo also quickened
the zeal of the Nizam, and a tripartite treaty was concluded
between the parties, which provided that the Nizam and the
Mahrattas should attack Tippoo's dominions both during and
after the rains, and prosecute the war with all vigour ; that
they should join the British army if required, with 10,000
horse, for which they were to be fully reimbursed ; that a
British contingent should accompany their troops, and that
the territories and forts conquered by their united arms should
be equally divided among them. Of the three powers in the
Deccan, the Nizam was the most feeble, and he knew but too
well that as soon as the strength of Tippoo was broken, and
the balance of power destroyed, he would be exposed to the
encroachments of the Mahrattas, who kept open a long account
against him of arrears due for chout and tribute. He, there-
fore, delayed the ratification of the treaty while he endeavoured
to obtain from Lord Cornwallis, not only the guarantee of his
own dominions during the war, but the promise of full protec-
tion from the claims of the Poona durbar after its termination.
Lord Cornwallis could not, however, consent to this proposal
without giving umbrage to his Mahratta allies, and the
Nizam was obliged to rest satisfied with the general assurance
14 CAMPAIGN OP 1790. [CHAP.
of friendly support, as far as might be compatible with the
engagements of the Company.
Campaign of Lord Cornwallis was desirous of taking the field
179 - in person, but, finding that General Medows, an
officer of acknowledged ability, in whom he placed great confi-
dence, had been appointed Governor and General-in-Chief at
Madras, he determined to leave the campaign to his manage-
ment. The General reached Madras late in February, and
prepared to commence operations with a body of 15,000
troops, " the finest and best English army," in the opinion of
Lord Cornwallis, " which had ever been assembled in India.""
The plan of the campaign was similar to that framed by Colonel
Fullarton, in 1783, of proceeding southward to Coimbetore, and
after reducing the forts and occupying that rich district, of
ascending the ghauts to Seringapatam. Another division,
when reinforced from Bengal, was to march on the capital
through the Baramahal. So great, however, was the de-
ficiency of supplies, owing to the criminal neglect of Holland,
that General Medows was unable to move from Trichinopoly
before the 26th of May, and was nearly three weeks in
reaching Caroor, the frontier station, only fifty miles distant.
The army arrived at Coimbetore on the 23rd of July ; Dindi-
gul was captured on the 21st of August, and Palghaut,
deemed by the natives impregnable, surrendered on the 21st
of September, with sixty guns of various calibre. But here
the success of the campaign terminated. General Medows in-
judiciously separated his force into three divisions, and placed
them at too great a distance from each other for mutual
support. Tippoo took advantage of this error, and, by a
masterly movement, descended the Gujelhutty pass, attacked
the foremost division under Colonel Floyd, and obliged him
to fall back with the loss of some of his guns. " We lost
time," said Lord Cornwallis, "in 1790, and Tippoo gained
reputation." Several forts stored with provisions likewise
fell into his hands ; but the subsequent junction of the three
XVI.] ITS WANT OF SUCCESS. 15
divisions baffled his plans, and he moved northward to
oppose the army advancing from Bengal.
On the breaking out of the war, Lord Corn-
division wallis adopted the bold plan of Hastings, and
Hartley's ex- despatched a large expedition from the Bengal
Presidency along the coast down to Madras.
It reached Conjeveram on the 1st of August without accident,
under the command of Colonel Maxwell, and there it was
reinforced by several regiments from Madras, which raised
its strength to 9,500 men. The object of General Medows
was to form a junction with this force, and that of Tippoo
was to prevent it. But, notwithstanding the rapid march
and able dispositions of the Mysore army, a union was
effected of the two bodies of English troops on the 17th of
November. Tippoo then marched south to attack Trichi-
nopoly, and the chain of English posts and depots in that
quarter, and General Medows closely followed his track. In
these desultory movements the troops were subjected to un-
profitable fatigue, and began to lose confidence in their com-
mander, who was evidently unequal to the direction of
operations on a large scale. The character of the campaign
was, however, redeemed by the brilliant exploit of Colonel
Hartley, who will be remembered as having earned the
highest distinction twelve years before, in the war with the
Mahrattas. In the present year, he was stationed on the
Malabar coast, with a body of 1,500 men and a few guns, to
watch the movements of Hussein Ali, the Mysore general,
who guarded the province with a force of 7,000 or 8,000 men,
and a large body of fanatic Moplas. On the 8th of December
he ventured to attack Colonel Hartley's little band under the
walls of Calicut, but was signally defeated, with the loss of
more than 1,000 men, and obliged soon after to surrender, to-
gether with 2,500 of his force. The loss, on the side of the
English, did not exceed fifty-two. General Medows, who
was totally devoid of any feeling of professional jealousy, in
16 CAMPAIGN OF 1791. [CHAP.
announcing this success to Lord Cornwallis, exclaimed, " Oh,
to eclipse the brilliant action of Colonel Hartley."
Lord Cornwallis, mortified by the futility of the
Lord Cornwallis J J
takes the flew campaign, resolved to resume his original design
in person, 1791. Q f t a ki n g the command of the war in person, and
arrived at Madras on the 12th of December, 1790. General
Medows returned to the Presidency with his army, without
expressing a murmur on the trying occasion of being super-
seded in the command. Tippoo quitted the neighbourhood
of Trichinopoly, and proceeded northward into the heart of
the Carnatic, marking his progress by the desolation of the
province. He then advanced to Pondicherry, where he wasted
several weeks in negotiations with the French governor,
through whom he sent a mission to Louis the Sixteenth, then in
the vortex of the French revolution. Though the French and
English were at the time at peace, he requested that a body
of 6,000 troops should be sent to his assistance, for whose
conveyance and support he offered to make suitable provision,
and with whose aid he engaged to capture the English settle-
ments and transfer them to the French. The unhappy king
revolted from the proposal, and remarked : " This resembles
the affair of America, of which I never think without regret,
my youth was taken advantage of at that time, and we suffer
for it now; the lesson is too severe to be forgotten." Mean-
while, Lord Cornwallis was making the greatest efforts to
resume operations in the field. It was the first time the
British armies in India had been led by a Governor-General
in person, who enjoyed the undivided exercise of all the civil
and military powers of the state, and commanded the re-
sources of all the Presidencies. His presence was considered
by the allies the strongest pledge of sincerity, and gave them
every confidence of success.
ca ture of Ban- ^ e British army was concentrated at Vellore
galore, 2ist on the llth of February, and Lord Cornwallis
jcn,i79i. ma( j e a demonstration of advancing to Seringa-
patain through the Amboor pass, while his force, with its
XVI.] ARRIVAL OF THE NIZAM'S CONTINGENT, 17
convoys, passed undiscovered and unopposed through the
more easy pass of Mooglee, and on the 17th of February,
stood on the table land of Mysore, only ninety miles from
Bangalore, without having fired a shot. Tippoo, who had
manifested unaccountable indecision while Lord Cornwallis
was organizing his plans, hastened, by forced marches to
rescue his seraglio and treasures which had been deposited in
that fortress, and was only just in time to save them from
capture. Bangalore capitulated on the 21st of March, but
the pleasure of success was damped by the loss, during the
siege, of Colonel Moorhouse, who, though he had risen from
the ranks, exhibited all the characteristics of a gallant and
most accomplished soldier.
Arrival of the "^he Nizam's contingent of 10,000 horse as-
Nizam'scon- sembled in the neighbourhood of Hyderabad, in
May, 1790, in accordance with the conditions of
the treaty of alliance ; but they never moved beyond their
own frontier, till they heard, in September, that Tippoo had
gone southward to Coimbetore. When there was no longer
any risk of encountering his army, the Nizam's troops entered
the Mysore territory, spreading desolation and ruin in their
course. But, instead of marching on to join the English army,
they sat down before Copaul, a tremendous rock a few miles
north of the Toombudra, and twenty miles west of the
ancient ruins of Vijuynugur, which detained them nearly six
mouths. As soon, however, as intelligence of the capture of
Bangalore reached their camp, they hastened forward, and
joined Lord Cornwallis's army on the 13th of April, 1791.
They are described as mounted on horses in excellent con-
dition, and clothed in armour of every conceivable variety,
including the Parthian bow and arrow, the iron club of
Scythia, sabres of every age and nation, lances of every
length and description, and matchlocks of every form. But
there was neither order, nor discipline, nor valour among them ;
and the gay cavaliers were so utterly unsuited for field work
that they were unable to protect their own foragers, and soon
ceased to move beyond the English pickets.
18 BATTLE OF ARIKERA. [CHAP.
Comwallis was now in full march on the
Battle of Arikera,
and retreat of capital ; and Tippoo. yielding to the representa-
Cornwallis,1791.,. V - v- c ,.
tions of his officers, and the remonstrances of his
women, resolved not to allow it to be invested without a
struggle. His father had always advised him to avoid a regular
engagement with the English, but he determined on this occa-
sion to disregard this salutary injunction. He drew up his
whole army at a short distance from Seringapatam, with the
Cavery on his right and a ridge of hills on his left; and there, on
the 13th of May, was fought the battle of Arikera. Although
Tippoo executed his movements with great promptitude and
military judgment, he was entirely discomfited. On the sum-
mit of the hill, where the last shot was fired, the island of
Seringapatam and the eastern face of the fortress became
visible to the victors ; but here terminated the triumph of the
campaign. For many weeks the British army had been suffer-
ing the extremity of want. The scanty stores which accom-
panied it had been exhausted, and Tippoo's light horse cut off
all supplies of provision or forage, and created a desert around
it. After the engagement of the 13th, Lord Cornwallis felt, as
Sir Eyre Coote had felt ten years before, that he would gladly
exchange the trophies of victory for a few days' rice. The
Nizam's horse, which was unable to make any effort for its
own subsistence, increased the calamity by consuming forage
and grain. General Abercromby, with the Bombay army
sent to co-operate with Lord Cornwallis, had proceeded down
the Malabar coast, and, passing through the friendly country
of Coorg, had arrived at Periapatam, forty miles distant from
Seringapatam ; and Lord Cornwallis, after the engagement,
advanced to Caniambady, with the view of forming a junction
with him. But, on the 20th of May, his commissariat officers
reported that it was utterly impossible to move his heavy
guns a step farther with bullocks reduced to the condition of
skeletons. The whole camp was falling a prey to want and
disease ; and Lord Cornwallis was constrained to accept the
conclusion that the object of the campaign was no longer
XVI.] EETREAT OF THE ENGLISH ARMY. 19
practicable, and that the salvation of the army depended on
an immediate retreat. On the 21st of May instructions were
sent to General Abercromby to retrace his steps to the coast,
which he reached in safety, after having destroyed a portion
of his siege guns, and buried the remainder at the head of the
pass. The next day Lord Cornwallis issued a general order,
explaining to the soldiers, European and native, the true
motives of this measure, in order to avoid misapprehensions,
and then destroyed his own battering train and heavy equip-
ments. On the 26th the army began its melancholy march
back to Madras.
Pro ess of the ^"^ e dispirited f orce had scarcely accomplished
Mahratta con- half a short march, when a body of about 2,000
horse made its appearance on the left flank. It
was supposed at first to be a portion of the enemy's troops
advancing to make an attempt on the stores and baggage on
the line of retreat, and prompt dispositions were made to
frustrate it, but a single horseman soon after galloped up
and announced that it was the advanced guard of their Mah-
ratta allies. By the coalition treaty the Mahratta cabinet
had engaged to furnish a body 10,000 horse for the prosecu-
tion of the war with Tippoo, and the Governor- General had
engaged to strengthen their main army with a British detach-
ment. Captain Little accordingly embarked at Bombay, with
two battalions of sepoys and one company of European and
two of native artillery, with which he reached the rendezvous
at Coompta on the 18th of June, but found that not more
than 2,000 Mahratta horse had been assembled. This was
explained by the fact that, although the treaty, offensive and
defensive, had been actually signed by Nana Furnuvese on
the 1st of June, the envois of Tippoo were still entertained
at Poona, in the hope, which the ministers did not attempt to
conceal, that he might be induced even at the eleventh hour
to purchase their neutrality by a concession of territory. This
hope was at length dispelled ; the vakeels were dismissed on
the 5th of August, and Pureshram Bhao, the Mahratta com-
20 ARRIVAL OF THE MAHRATTA CONTENOENT. [CHAP.
mandant, crossed the Kistea six days after and joined the
army. But it soon became evident that his intention was not
so much to promote the general object of the confederacy in
the humiliation of Tippoo, as to take advantage of the co-
operation of the British artillery to recover the fortresses
and territories which Tippoo had wrested from the Mahrattas.
On the 18th of September, he sat down before Dharwar, a mud
fort, but well fortified, and garrisoned by 10,000 Mysore
troops, under the command of one of Tippoo's ablest generals.
The fort held out till the 30th of March, when the garrison
capitulated, on hearing of the fall of Bangalore. On the 1st
of January, 1791, a second Mahratta army, consisting of
25,000 horse and 5,000 foot, marched from Poona, under
Hurry Punt, the commander-in-chief of the armies of the
state, and advanced into Mysore by a more easterly route,
capturing a number of forts in its progress,
junction of the These two bodies were united on the 24th of
E^gushannies, ^Wi 1791, and marched towards Milgota, where
i79i. two days later they came up with the English
army on the first day of its retreat. Great was the astonish-
ment of Lord Cornwallis to find the Mahratta forces, which
he supposed to be a hundred and fifty miles distant, in his
immediate vicinity. But, his intelligence department, to which
only 2,000 rupees a month had been allotted, was wretched
beyond example, while the admirable organization of Tippoo's
troop of spies intercepted all communication, and kept the
allies mutually ignorant of each others movements. Had the
approach of the Mahratta armies been announced a week
earlier, the campaign would have presented a very different
prospect. The provisions which they brought with them,
though sold at an exorbitant rate, proved a seasonable relief
to Lord Cornwallis's famished soldiers. The bazaar of the
Mahratta camp presented the greatest variety of articles;
English broadcloths and Birmingham penknives, the richest
Cashmere shawls, and the most rare and costly jewellery, to-
gether with oxen, and sheep, and poultry, and all that the best
XVI.] OPERATIONS OF THE ALLIES AFTER THE RETREAT. 21
bazaars of the most flourishing towns could furnish, the result
of long and unscrupulous plunder; while the carpets of the
money-changers in the public street of the encampment,
spread with the coins of every kingdom and province in the
east, indicated the systematic rapine of these incomparable
freebooters. But, though the Mahratta sirdars had been enrich-
ing themselves with plunder from the day on which they took
the field, they set up a plea of poverty, and demanded a loan
of fourteen lacs of rupees. Lord Cornwallis had no time to
examine the morality of this request ; he had only to con-
sider the consequence of refusing it the transfer of their
alliance to Tippoo, who was ready to purchase it at any price.
He, therefore, sent an express to Madras, and took out of the
hold of the ships then about to sail for China, the specie
intended for the annual investment.
operations of Hurry Punt, the Mahratta general-in-chief,
the Mahratta, accompanied the English army on its retirement,
the Nizam's and ,., ....,,. , ,
the English but lost no opportunity of indulging in plunder,
forces, i79i. r^^ Q mam |j 0( jy o f the Mahratta army, under
Pureshram Bhao, moved to the north west, subjecting the
Mysore districts to indiscriminate spoliation. The siege of
Simoga, hi which he engaged, was rendered memorable by
the skill and heroism of Capt. Little's detachment which ac-
companied his force, who, after thirty-six hours of hard fight-
ing, without food or rest, placed the fortress in his hands. The
Bhao had left Lord Cornwallis in July, under a solemn pro-
mise to return to the army whenever required ; but nothing
was farther from his intentions ; his object was to avail him-
self of the aid of the English force to recover the territory
which the Mahrattas had lost ; and he was importuning
Captain Little to attack Bednore, when another and more
peremptory requisition obliged him to return to the south ;
but he did not join the English camp till a fortnight after the
termination of the war. The army of the Nizam, on the
retreat of Lord Cornwallis, proceeded to the north-east, and
laid siege to Goommconda, where it was detained many
22 THE GRAND CONVOY. [CHAP.
months. The fort was at length captured by the English
auxiliary force, and Hafiz-jee, who had been the bearer of
Tippoo's offer of an alliance with the Nizam's family four
years before, which was rejected with indignation, was made
prisoner and cut to pieces by the Nizam's commander, to
revenge that deep felt indignity. Soon after, the Hyderabad
army was summoned to join Lord Cornwallis, then advancing
a second tune against Seringapatam. After his retirement
from the capital in May, 1791, he employed the remainder of
the year in the conquest of the Baramahal, and the reduction
of the fortresses with which the country was studded, and
the fortifications of which had been improved by Tippoo with
so much skill and assiduity as to excite Lord Cornwallis's
warm admiration. Nothing, indeed, filled the princes of the
country with such awe of the British power as the ease and
rapidity with which fortresses, absolutely impregnable to the
assaults of any native force, were mastered, and which they
attributed to the power of magic. While the Mahrattas had
been six months and a half besieging Dharwar, and the
Nizam's army had been detained five months before Copaul,
such fortresses as Kistnagherry, Nundidroog, Severndroog,
and others, which seemed to defy all human approach on their
inaccessible peaks, were captured in a few days.
The grand con- ^^ e arrangements of Lord Cornwallis for the
voy, January, campaign of 1792 were completed early in
January, and he took the field with a convoy
which surpassed in magnitude anything which had ever
accompanied a British force in India, and struck the Deccan
with amazement. First and foremost, marched a hundred
elephants laden with treasure, followed by a hundred carts
supplied with liquor, and 60,000 bullocks laden with provisions
belonging to the brinjarees, the professional and hereditary
carriers of India, more than one-fourth of which number had
been serving in Tippoo's army the preceding year. Then in
three parallel columns came the battering train and heavy
carriages, the infantry and the field-pieces, the baggage and
XVI.] 8IEGE OF BERING AP AT AM. 23
the camp followers. The appearance of these vast supplies,
partly received from England, and partly drawn from the other
Presidencies, within six months after Lord Cornwallis had
been obliged to retreat for want of provisions, might well
justify the exclamation of Tippoo, " It is not what I see of
the resources of the English that I dread, but what I do
not see."
On the 25th of January, the Nizam's army,
Siege of Serin- * *'
gapatam, eth consistuig of about 8,000 men, under the com-
uary, 1792. man( j Q f j^g gon ^ j.^ more gaudy than serviceable,
together with a small body of Hurry Punt's Mahrattas y
joined the camp of Lord Cornwallis, when he moved forward
with a force, consisting exclusive of allies, of 22,000 men, 44
field-pieces, and 42 siege guns. On the 5th of February the
whole force reached an elevated ground which commanded a
view of Seriugapatam, standing on an island formed by two
branches of the Cavery. The defences, which had been
greatly improved by Tippoo, consisted of three lines pro-
tected by 800 pieces of cannon, the earthwork being covered
by a bound hedge of thorny plants, absolutely impenetrable
to man or beast. Tippoo's force was encamped on the
northern face of the stream, and his position was so ad-
mirably fortified that it appeared an act of rashness to attack
it. Lord Cornwallis reconnoitred the works on the 6th, and
determined to storm them that same night. The generals of
the allies were astounded when they heard that the English
commander had gone out in person, like an ordinary captain,
in a dark night, without guns, to assail these formidable lines.
But the attack was planned with the greatest skill, and re-
warded with complete success. The contest raged through-
out the night, and by the morning Lord Cornwallis had ob-
tained possession of the whole of the enemy's redoubts, and
established himself in the island, with the loss of 530 killed
and wounded, of whom 36 were officers. The casualties in
Tippoo's army were estimated at 4,000, but as the conscripts
whom he had pressed into his service took advantage of
II. D
24 TIPPOO CONSTRAINED TO SUBMIT. [CHAP.
this reverse to desert it, his total loss did not fall short
of 20,000.
Treaty of Tippoo now began to tremble for his capital
peace, 1792. an( j jjjg kingdom, and hastened to release
Lt. Chambers, whom he had detained, contrary to the
capitulation of Coimbetore, which that officer had defended
to the last extremity, and sent him with overtures to Lord
Cornwallis. On the 16th of February, General Abercromby
joined the camp with a reinforcement of 6,000 men from the
Malabar coast. The operations of the siege were prosecuted
with unabated vigour during the negotiations, and on the
23rd the works were so far completed that fifty pieces of
cannon were brought to bear on the fortifications. Tippoo
assembled his principal officers, and adjured them on the
Koran to advise him in all sincerity and good faith, and
to inform him whether, in their opinion, he ought to accede
to the demands of the confederates. They replied that no
reliance could any longer be placed on his soldiers, and that
submission was inevitable. Tippoo felt that he had to choose
between the loss of his throne, and submission to the severe
terms dictated by Lord Cornwallis; which were, that he
should cede half his territories, pay three crores of rupees
towards the expenses of the war, and give up two of his
sons as hostages. The confederates left Sir John Kennaway,
the British plenipotentiary, to settle the conditions of the
treaty, but when it was completed, Hurry Punt, the Mahratta
general-in-chief added a supplemental demand of sixty lacs
of rupees for himself and the Nizam's general, as a reasonable
fee for their labours in the negotiation. This sum was subse-
quently reduced to one-half that amount. From documents
found on the capture of Seringapatam, in 1799, it was dis-
covered that both the Mahrattas and the Nizam were all this
time engaged in a clandestine correspondence with Tippoo,
the object of which was unconsciously but effectually defeated
by the signature of the preliminaries by Lord Cornwall's on
the 23rd, and the arrival of the hostages on the 25th of
XVI.] PEACE OF SEEINGAPATAM. 25
February. The youths were conveyed with much ceremony
to the Governor-General's tent, and received with distinguished
courtesy. A crore of rupees had also been sent in, when
Tippoo, finding that the little principality of Coorg which he
had destined to destruction for the assistance afforded to the
English was to be included in the territory he was required
to cede, not only remonstrated against the demand of what
he termed one of the gates of Seringapatam, but manifested
a disposition to renew hostilities. Lord Cornwallis, however,
made preparations for pressing the siege with such prompti-
tude, that Tippoo was speedily brought to reason. The
tripartite treaty had provided that the territories conquered by
the joint exertions of the allies should be equally divided among
them. The Mahrattas, as the preceding narrative will show,
had given no assistance in the war, and the Nizam's force
had done nothing but consume provisions and forage, but
Lord Cornwallis was determined to adhere to the original
compact with the most scrupulous fidelity, and made over a
third of the indemnity, as well as of the territory, to each of
the confederates, annexing another third, of the value of forty
lacs of rupees a year, to the dominions of the Company. It
comprised the district of Dindigul in the south, and of the
Baramahal in the east, including several important passes
into Mysore, and a large strip of fertile territory with great
commercial resources on the western coast, which was
annexed to Bombay, and formed the first real domain of
that Presidency.
Proposals to This was the first acquisition of territory since
relinquish terri- j t ha( j been reso i ve( i to control the growth of the
1780-1793. British empire in India by Acts of Parliament.
Mr. Pitt, on the introduction of his India Bill, in 1784, stated that
his first and principal object would be to prevent the Governor
of Bengal from being ambitious, and bent on conquest ; and
his chief objection to Hastings was, that he had endeavoured
to extend the British dominions in India. The dread of ter-
ritorial expansion was, in fact, the prevailing bugbear of the
D 2
2G THE QUESTION OP TERRITORIAL ACCESSIONS. [CHAP.
day. But neither Hastings, nor any other statesman ia
England or in India, had ever entertained any such design.
On the contrary, Hastings was at one time prepared to relin-
quish all the Northern Sircars. Clive had given back the
entire kingdom of Oude, when it had been forfeited by the
result of the war which the Nabob vizier had wantonly waged
against the Company, and he denounced any attempt to
extend the British territories beyond the Curumnussa. Lord
Cornwallis, soon after he assumed office, expressed his wish
to withdraw from the Malabar coast, and to reduce Bombay
to a mere factory, subordinate to Calcutta or Madras ; and
Lord Shelburne, when Prime Minister of England in 1782, pro-
posed to give up everything except Bombay and Bengal ; and,
had Lord Cornwallis accepted the office of Governor-General
when it was first proposed to him, he would probably
have taken out orders to abandon the Madras Presidency.
If the extent of the British dominions in India had depended,
therefore, on the wishes, or the policy of its rulers, so far from
being ambitiously expanded, it would apparently have been
reduced within very narrow limits.
Those who took the lead in the government of
Encroachments ._ -,,*
of native India at this period, had evidently out a partial
princes, 1793. k now i e( jg e o f j ts ear j y history an d polity, of the
character of its princes, or of the position in which England
was placed. From time immemorial, aggression had been
the life-blood of all Indian monarchies. Twenty-five centuries
before Mr. Pitt's time, the father of Hindoo legislation had
placed conquest among the foremost of regal virtues. " What
the king," says Munoo, " has not gained, let him strive to
gain by military strength ;" and this is, perhaps, the only in-
junction of the Hindoo shastras, which Hindoo printes have
never forgotten. The same aggressive principle was adopted
by the Mahomedan conquerors, not only in reference to infidel
princes, but to those of the "true faith." Every new dynasty,
as it arose with the elastic vigour of youth, continued to
attack and appropriate the territories of its neighbours, till
XVI. J POSITION OF THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. 27
it became itself effete, and was in its turn absorbed by new
adventurers. For more than ten centuries there had been no
settled kingdom, guarded by a respect for prescriptive rights,
anxious to maintain peace with its neighbours, and content
with its ancient boundaries. In every direction, the continent
had presented an unbroken series of intrigue, violence and
aggression.
The position of ^ * ne P er id which this narrative has reached,
the English, the political cauldron in India was seething with
more than ordinary violence. The four chief powers,
the Peshwa, the Nizam, Tippoo, and Sindia, had been esta-
blished within the brief period of sixty years by usurpa-
tion, and were kept alive by the impulse of aggression.
Every year had witnessed some invasion of the right of some
prince in Hindostan or the Deccan. It was at this juncture
that the English appeared on the scene, and took up arms to
defend their factories. By the superiority of their valour
and discipline, they became a first-rate military power, and,
consequently, an object of jealousy to all the belligerent
princes of India. It was the restlessness and encroachment
of those princes, and not the ambition of English go-
vernors which gave rise to nearly all the wars in which
they were engaged. Admitting that they had any right to
be in India at all, the increase of their power and possessions
was the inevitable effect of that law of progression to which
all new dynasties were subject. From the very first they
were placed in a state of antagonism to all those who
dreaded their power, and coveted their possessions. The
slightest appearance of weakness, and, too often, even the
exhibition of moderation a virtue unknown in India became
the signal of aggressive assaults. When the aggressor was
conquered, it appeared to be the dictate of prudence to pre-
vent the renewal of hostilities by reducing his resources, and
appropriating a part of his territories. And thus was the
British empire in India gradually extended by a mysterious
but inexorable necessity, which overpowered, not only the
28 REDUCTION OF TIPPOO'S POWER. [CHAP.
reluctance of English governors, and the denunciations of
patriots, but even the omnipotence of Parliament.
Censure of Lord The conduct of Lord Coniwallis was not allowed
fh^Ho'^ m to pass without censure in the House of Commons,
1793. more especially from Mr. Francis, who had been
the instrument of annexing the province of Benares to the
Company's territories. The war which Lord Cornwallis
'considered "an absolute and cruel necessity," forced on him
by the ungovernable ambition and violence of Tippoo, was
stigmatised as unjust and ambitious, and the treaties of
alliance he had formed with the Nizam and the Poona durbar
were affirmed to be infamous. Lord Porchester went so far
as to assert that the war was founded on avarice, but the
charge was triumphantly refuted by the fact that Lord
Cornwallis had not only been subject to a loss of nearly
three lacs of rupees by it, but had relinquished his share of
the prize-money, which came to four lacs and a half more a
generous act which was nobly emulated by General Medows.
The House ratified all the measures of the Governor-General,
including the large acquisition of territory which he had
made, and the king conferred on him the dignity of Marquis.
The precedent has been scrupulously maintained since that
time, and every Governor- General who has enlarged the
British empire in India, has received the thanks of Par-
liament, and has been decorated with honours by the
Crown.
Beduction of The progress of the war demonstrated beyond
nppoo's power, question, that of the three native powers in the
Deccan, Tippoo was by far the strongest. Both
the Nizam and the Mahrattas were found to entertain the most
lively dread of his power and his ambition, and they were
brought to feel that they could not have defended themselves
effectually from his encroachments, without the aid of an
English army. The power of Tippoo was effectually reduced
by the alienation of one-half his territorial resources, which,
before the peace, were reckoned at about two crorcs and a
XVII.] LORD CORNWALLIS'S REVENUE SYSTEM. 29
half of rupees. The Nizam and the Poona durbar had ex-
hibited such inefficiency during the campaigns, as to reduce
themselves to a very subordinate political position, and the
prestige of British power had been in a corresponding degree
augmented. The deference paid to the Governor- General
both by friends and enemies placed the British name and
consequence in a light never known before in India. After
this period, for half a century, there were no more treaties of
Mangalore, or conventions of Wurgaum, but the British
authorities dictated their own terms in every negotiation.
CHAPTER XVII.
LORD CORNWALLIS'S ADMINISTRATION REVENUE AND JUDICIAL
REFORMS - POWER OF SINDIA.
Lora Corn- Brilliant success of the Mysore war reflected
waiiis's revenue the highest credit on Lord Comwallis, but the
reforms, 1793. .. , . , . . ^.
permanent renown of his administration rests
upon his revenue and judicial institutions, which form one
of the most important epochs in the history of British
India.
Kse of the The resources of government in India had been
zemindars. derived from time immemorial, almost exclusively
from the land, a certain proportion of the produce of which
was considered the inalienable right of the sovereign. The
settlement of the land revenue was, therefore, a question of
the greatest magnitude, and embraced, not only the financial
strength of the state, but the prosperity of its subjects. Two
centuries before the period of which we treat, Toder Mull,
the great financier of Akbar, had made a settlement of the
lower provinces, directly with the cultivators, after an accurate
survey and valuation of the lands. To collect the rents from
the ryots, and transmit them of the treasury, agents were-
30 EVILS OP FORMER REVENUE SYSTEMS. [CHAP.
placed in various revenue circles, and remunerated for their
labour by a per centage on the collections. The office of
collector speedily became hereditary, from the constant ten-
dency of every office in India to become so, and, also from
the obvious convenience of continuing the agency in the
family which was in possession of the local 1'ecords, and
acquainted with the position of the ryots, and the nature of
the lands. The collector thus became responsible for the
government rent, and was entrusted with all the powers
necessary for realising it. He was permitted to entertain a
military force, which it was his constant aim to augment, to
increase his own consequence. His functions were gradually
enlarged, and came eventually to embrace the control of the
police and the adjudication of rights. The collector was
thus transformed into a zemindar, and assumed the title and
dignity of raja, and became, in effect, the master of the
district.
Evils of the ^he English government had from the first
revenue system, treated the zemindars as simple collectors, and
ousted them without hesitation when otjiers
offered more for the lands than they were prepared to pay.
But this uncertainty of tenure, and this repeated change of
agency was found to be equally detrimental to the improve-
ment of the lands, the welfare of the ryots, and the interests
of the state. Under such a system there could be no appli-
cation of capital to the operations of agriculture ; the estates
became deteriorated, while the remissions which Government
was obliged to make from time to time, overbalanced any
profits arising from competition. The Court of Directors
complained that the revenue was steadily diminishing, and
that the country itself was becoming impoverished and ex-
hausted. Lord Cornwallis, soon after his arrival, declared
that agriculture and internal commerce were in a state of
rapid decay, that no class of society appeared to be flourish-
ing, except the money-lenders, and that both cultivators and
landlords were sinking into poverty and wretchedness. The
XVII.] REMEDY PROPOSED BY THE COURT OP DIRECTORS. 31
evils under which the people groaned, he affirmed to be
enormous.
Remedy pro- The Court of Directors felt the necessity of
court of oi- adopting some bold and decisive measure to arrest
rectors, 1786. ^he progress of ruin, and, under this impression,
framed their memorable letter of the 12th of April, 1786,
which became the basis of the important revenue settlement,
begun and completed by Lord Cornwallis. They condemned
the employment of farmers of the revenue and temporary
renters, who had no interest hi the land, and defrauded the
state, while they oppressed the ryots. They directed that
the engagements should be made with the old zemindars, not,
however, as a matter of right, but of fiscal policy. On the pre-
sumption, moreover, that sufficient information must have
been acquired regarding the estates, they desired that the
settlement should be made for a period of ten years, and
eventually declared permanent, if it appeared to be satis-
factory. But Lord Cornwallis found that the Court had been
essentially mistaken in this conclusion. Twenty years had
been employed in efforts to procure information regarding
the land, and five schemes had been devised for the purpose,
but the Government was still as ignorant as ever on the sub-
ject. The Collectors had no knowledge of the value of the
lands, of the nature of tenures, or of the rights of landlord
and tenant. They had no intercourse with the people, and
were ignorant of their language. They saw only through the
eyes of their omlas, or native officers, whose sole object
was to mystify them, in order the more effectually to plunder
the country. Lord Cornwallis, therefore, suspended the exe-
cution of the orders of the Court, and circulated interrogatories
with the view of obtaining the necessary information, and, in
the mean time, made the settlements annual.
Proprietary The proprietary right in the land had been con-
right in the sidered, from time immemorial, to be vested in the
lands, 1793. . , ... , ,.- '
sovereign ; and although Mr. Francis and some
others had thought fit to adopt a different opinion, the great
32 RESTRICTIONS ON THE ZEMINDARS. [CHAP,
majority of the public servants adhered to the ancient
doctrine. But, after the investigations were completed, the
Governmemt, acting upon a generous and enlightened policy,
determined to confer on the zemindars the unexpected boon of
a permanent interest in the soil. Before this concession, the ze-
mindars, from the highest to the lowest, had been mere tenants
at will, liable at any time to be deprived by the state landlord
of the estates they occupied. But the regulations of 1793,
in which the new fiscal policy was embodied, converted the
soil into a property, and bestowed it upon them. A large
and opulent class of landholders was thus created, in the
hope that they would seek the welfare of the ryot, stimu-
late cultivation, and augment the general wealth of the
country. It was found, however, to be much more easy to
determine the relation between the government and the land-
lord, than between the landlord and his tenant. The rights
of the cultivators were more ancient and absolute than those
of the zemindar; but the zemindar had always practised
every species of oppression on them, extorting every cowrie
which could be squeezed from them by violence, and leaving
them little beyond a rag and a hoveL Mr. Shore, who super-
intended the settlement, maintained that some interference
on the part of government was indispensably necessary to
effect an adjustment of the demands of the zemindar on the
ryot. Lord Cornwallis affirmed that whoever cultivated the
land, the zemindar could receive no more than the established
rate, which in most cases was equal to what the cultivator
could pay. The difficulty was compromised rather than
adjusted by declaring that the zemindar should not be at
Restrictions liberty to enhance the rents of the " independent
on the land- talookdars " and two other classes of renters who
holders, 1793. . , . _ n , ,, . , .
paid the fixed sums due to the state through him,
simply for the convenience of government. The zemindar
was also restricted from enhancing the rent of the class of
tenants called khoodkast, who cultivated the lands of the
village in which they resided, except when their rents were
XVII.] SETTLEMENT MADE PERMANENT 33
below the current rates, or when their tenures had been im-
properly obtained. The remaining lands of the estate he
was at liberty to let in any manner and at any rate he pleased.
For the protection of the resident cultivators it was enacted
that the zemindar should keep a register of their tenures,
and grant then) pottahs, or leases, specifying the rent they
were to pay, and that for any infringment of these rules the
ryot was to seek a remedy in an action against him in the
civil courts, But the registers were not kept, and pottahs
were rarely given ; and, as to the remedy, a poor man has
little chance against his wealthy oppressor in courts where
the native officers are universally venal, and their influence is
paramount. By the unremitted contrivances of the zemindar,
and changes of residence on the part of the ryot, which
extinguished all his rights, the class of resident cultivators
has been gradually diminished; and the ryots have been placed
at the mercy of the zemindar. The absence of any clear and
defined rules for the protection of the cultivator in his ancient
right not to pay more than a limited and moderate rent, and to
be kept in possession of .his fields as long as he did so, is an
unquestionable blot on a system which in other respects was
highly beneficial.
Settlement After the settlement had been completed, the
made perma- great and all important question came on whether
it should be decennial or permanent. Mr. Shore,
the highest authority in all revenue questions in India at the
time, strenuously opposed every proposal to make it irrevo-
cable. He argued that government did not yet possess suffi-
cient knowledge of the capabilities of the land, and of the
collections, to make an equitable distribution of the assess-
ment. But Lord Cornwallis replied, with great force, that if
we had not acquired this knowledge after twenty years of
research, and after the collectors had been employed espe-
cially for three years in seeking for it, we could never expect
to obtain it, and the settlement must be indefinitely postponed.
He considered that the boon which it was proposed to confer
34 BY MR. PITT AND MR. DUNDAS. [CHAP.
on the zemindars would give them an irresistible inducement
to promote cultivation, and to render their ryots comfortable.
Mr. Shore, with a more correct appreciation of the character
of the zemindars, affirmed that they had never been alive to
their true interests ; that they were utterly ignorant of the
rudiments of agricultural science ; that the whole zemindary
system was a mere conflict of extortion on their part and
resistance on the part of the ryot, the zemindar exacting
whatever he had any chance of wringing from him, and the
ryot refusing every cowrie he could withhold ; and he argued
that the zemindar would not assume new principles of action
because his tenure was made permanent. But Lord Corn-
wallis was resolute in his opinion that a fixed and unalterable
assessment was the only panacea for the evils which afflicted
the country, and he strongly urged it upon Mr. Dundas.
Some of the leading members of the Court of Directors,
partly influenced by the weighty opinion of Mr. Shore, and
partly by then: own convictions, adopted a contrary opinion ;
but, as a body, they could not be persuaded to give their at-
tention to the measure. Mr. Dundas resolved, therefore, that
it should originate- with the Board of Control. Mr. Pitt,
who had for many years studied every Indian question with
great assiduity, shut himself up with Mr. Dundas at his
country seat at Wimbledon, determined to master the subject
in all its bearings and results. Mr. Charles Grant, who had
passed many years of his life in India, and combined the
largest experience with the most enlightened views, though
lie had not been considered worthy a place among the Direc-
tors, was invited to assist Mr. Pitt and Mr. Dundas in these
deliberations, and he gave his suffrage for the perpetuity of
the settlement. Mr. Pitt at length declared his conviction
of the wisdom of this measure, and a despatch was accord-
ingly drawn up by Mr. Dundas and sent to the Court of
Directors. The subject was too large for their consideration
in general, and the few who understood it, finding that the
Ministers of the Crown had made up their minds on the point,
XVII.] RESULT OF THE SETTLEMENT. 35
thought it best to acquiesce, and the dispatch was sent out to
India.
Eesuit of the The permanent settlement of Bengal and Behar
settlement. was promulgated in Calcutta on the 22nd of March,
1793. It was the broadest and most important administrative
act which the British government had adopted since its esta-
blishment in India. At a period when the revenue derived
from the land formed the bone and muscle of the public re-
sources, and while one-third of the country was a jungle, the
assessment was fixed for ever. No margin was allowed for
the inevitable increase of expenditure in the defence of the
country, and in the development of civilised institutions ; and
there was moreover the unquestionable conviction that where
the rent happened to be excessive, it must be reduced ; where
it was inadequate, it could not be increased. With the expe-
rience of seventy years before us, we are enabled to discover
many defects and inequalities in the settlement, and it would be
a miracle if this were not the case ; but we must not forget
the impending ruin of the country which it was intended to
avert. It was a bold, brave, and wise measure. Under the
genial influence of this territorial charter, which for the first
time created indefeasable rights and interests in the soil, popu-
lation has increased, cultivation has been extended, and a
gradual improvement has become visible in the habits and
comfort of the people ; and the revenue of the provinces of
Bengal and Behar have increased to fourteen crores of rupees
a-year, of which only four crores are derived from the lands.
Before dismissing the subject it may be worthy of remark,
that with all his benevolent and generous sympathies for the
natives, Lord Cornwallis was not able to advance beyond the
traditional creed of England, that ah 1 her colonial and foreign
possessions were to be administered primarily and emphati-
cally for her benefit. No effort was to be spared to secure the
protection, the improvement, and the happiness of the people;
but it was with an eye exclusively to the credit and the in-
terests of the governing power. He closes his great minute
36 REFORM OF THE CIVIL AND CRIMINAL COURTS. [CHAP.
on the permanent settlement with this characteristic remark :
" The real value of Bengal and Behar to Britain depends on
the continuance of its ability to furnish a large annual invest-
ment to Europe, to assist in providing an investment for
China, and to supply the pressing wants of the other presi-
dencies."
administration of Lord Cornwallis was also
Reform of the
civil courts, rendered memorable by the great changes intro-
duced into the judicial institutions of the Presi-
dency. The collector of the revenue had hitherto acted also
as judge and magistrate. Lord Cornwallis separated the
financial from the judicial functions, and confined the collector
to his fiscal duties, placing him under a Board of Revenue at
the Presidency. A civil court was established in each district
and in the principal cities, with a judge, a register to deter-
mine cases of inferior value, and one or more covenanted as-
sistants. Every person in the country was placed under the
jurisdiction of these courts, with the exception of British
subjects, who were, by Act of Parliament, amenable to the
Supreme Court. To receive appeals from the zillah and city
courts, four Courts of Appeal were constituted at Calcutta,
Dacca, Moorshedabad, and Patna, and from then* decisions
an appeal lay to the Sudder Court at the Presidency, nominally
composed of the Governor-General and the members of
Council. All fees of every description were abolished, and
the expenses of a suit restricted to the remuneration of
pleaders and the expense of witnesses.
Criminal courts, For the administration of criminal law, it was
1793. ordained that the judges of the four Courts of
Appeal should proceed on circuit, from zillah to zillah, within
their respective circles, and hold jail deliveries twice in the
year. The Mahomedan law, divested of some of its most
revolting precepts, was the criminal code of the courts, and
the Mahomedan law officer, on the completion of the trial at
which he had been present, was required to declare the sen-
tence prescribed by that code; which was carried into execu-
XVII."} THE CODE OF 1793 37
tion if the judge concurred in it, and if he did not, it was
referred to the Sudder Court, which was also constituted a
Court of Appeal in criminal cases. The zillah judges were
likewise invested with the powers of a magistrate, and au-
thorized to pass and execute sentences in trivial offences,
and, in other cases, to apprehend the delinquent and commit
him for trial before the judges of circuit. Each zillah was
divided into districts of about twenty miles square, to each of
which an officer called a daroga was appointed, with authority
to arrest offenders on a written charge, and when the offence
was bailable, to take security for appearance before the
magistrate. Of all the provisions of the new system this
proved to be the most baneful. The daroga, who was often
fifty miles from the seat of control, enjoyed almost unlimited
power of extortion, and became the scourge of the country.
The code of For more than ten years, the clear and simple
1793. rules for the administration of justice, drawn up
by Sir Elijah Tmpey, in 1781, had been the guide of the
Courts. Lord Cornwallis considered it important that his
new institutions should have all the certainty of fixed rules.
" It was essential," he said, " to the future prosperity of the
British in Bengal that all regulations affecting the rights,
persons, and property of their subjects, should be formed into
a code, and printed, with translations, in the country lan-
guages." Mr. George Barlow, a civil servant of mark at the
tune, and subsequently Governor-General, ad interim, and
Governor of Madras, had the chief hand in manipulating the
code of 1793, more especially in the police and judicial de-
partment. He was ignorant of the principles or practice of
law, except as he might have picked up some notion of them
in the country courts. He expanded the ordinances of Sir Eli-
jah into an elaborate volume of regulations, altering the
original rules, without improving them. This code, however
valuable as a monument of British benevolence, was alto-
gether unsuited to a people who had been accustomed to have
justice distributed by simple and rational enquiry. The
38 EXCLUSION OP NATIVES FROM POWER. [CHAP.
course of procedure was loaded with formalities, and the
multiplication of puzzling and pedantic rules only served to
bewilder the mind, and to defeat the object in view. There
was, in fact, too much law for there to be much justice.
Every suit became a game of chess, and afforded the amplest
scope for oriental ingenuity and chicanery. " Justice was
thus made sour" by delay, and equity was smothered by
legal processes. To add to the impediments thrown in the
course of justice, it was administered in a language equally
foreign to the judge and the suitors.
Notwithstanding the wisdom exhibited in Lord
Exclusion of .,...
natives from Cornwallis s institutions, they were deformed by
power, 1793. Qne gj. ea ^ an( j ra( ji ca i error. He considered it
necessary that the whole administration of the country should
be placed exclusively in the hands of covenanted servants of
the Company, to the entire exclusion of all native agency.
In the criminal department, the only native officer entrusted
with any power was the Daroga, upon an allowance of
twenty-five rupees a month. In the administration of civil
justice, cases of only the most trivial amount were made over
to a native judge, under the title of Moonsiff ; but while the
salary of the European judge was raised to 2,500 rupees a
month, the Moonsiff was deprived of all pay, and left to find
a subsistence by a small commission on the value of suits ; in
other words, by the encouragement of litigation. Under all
former conquerors, civil and military offices, with few excep-
tions, were open to the natives of the country, who might
aspire, with confidence, to the post of minister, and to the
command of armies. But under the impolitic system estab-
lished in 1793, the prospects of legitimate and honourable
ambition were altogether closed against the natives of the
country. If the peculiar nature of British rule rendered it
necessary to retain all political and military power in the
hands of Europeans, this was no reason for denying the
natives eveiy opportunity of rising to distinction in the judi-
cial departments, for which they were eminently qualified by
XVII.] CAPTURE OF PONBICHERRT. 39
their industrious habits, and their natural sagacity, not less
than by the knowledge they possessed of the language and
character of their fellow-countrymen. The fatal effects of
this exclusion were speedily visible in the disrepute and in-
efficiency of the whole administration. With only three or
four European functionaries in a district, which often contained
a million .of inhabitants, the machine of government must
have stood still without the services of natives. But this
power and influence from which it was impossible to exclude
them, being exercised without responsibility, was used for the
purposes of oppression, and the courts of every description
became the hot-bed of corruption and venality,
ca tureof ^e remamm g events of 1793 are few and un-
Pondicheny, important. Information having been received that
France had declared war against England, Lord
Cornwallis issued orders for the assemblage of a large force
at Madras, intending to take the command of it in person, and
march against Pondicherry. He embarked at Calcutta on the
25th of August, but was twenty -five days in reaching Madras.
On his arrival there, he found that Colonel Brathwaite had
proceeded to invest Pondicherry, and that, in consequence of
the insubordination of the French troops, the governor had
been obliged to capitulate a few days before. Lord Corn-
wallis embarked for England in October, after a memorable
reign of seven years, during which period he had given
strength and stability to the power established by the daring
of Clive, and consolidated by the genius of Hastings. The
dignity and firmness which he exhibited in his intercourse
with the princes of India conciliated and overawed them,
while the supreme authority which he exercised over all the
Presidencies, convinced them that a new element of vigour
had been introduced into the British government in India,
which rendered it more formidable than ever.
Progress of The treaty of Salbye, which Sindia had con-
sindia-s en- c l u ded with Hastings, on the part of the Mah-
croachmenu, 7
1784. ratta powers in 1782, raised him to a commanding
II. K
40 PROGRESS OF SINDIA IN HINDOSTAN. [CHAP.
position in the politics of India. He was no longer a mere
feudatory of the Peshwa, but an independent chief, the ally
of the British Government, who had honoured his capital with
the presence of their representative. He determined to lose
no time in improving these advantages, and of pushing his
schemes of ambition in Hindostan. The state of affairs at
Delhi was eminently favourable to these views. The imbecile
emperor was a puppet in the hands of Afrasiab Khan, who
invoked the aid of Sindia, in his master's name, to demolish
the power of his rival, Mahomed Beg. Sindia accepted the in-
vitation with alacrity, and advanced with a large force to Agra,
where he had a meeting with the emperor in October, 1784.
Afrasiab was soon after assassinated, and the authority of
the imperial court, and the influence connected with it, were at
once transferred to Sindia. He refused the title of Ameer-ool-
omrah, but accepted that of Vakeel-ool-mutluk, or Regent of
the empire, for the Peshwa, and the post of deputy for himself,
and was thus nominally invested with the executive authority
of the Mogul throne. The emperor likewise conferred on him
the command of the imperial forces, and assigned to him the
provinces of Agra and Delhi, out of which he agreed to pay
65,000 rupees monthly, for the expenditure of the emperor's
household. His ambitious views were thus gratified sooner
than he had expected, and in the elation of success, and
encouraged likewise by the departure of Hastings, he de-
manded the arrears of chout for Bengal and Behar, but
Mr. Macpherson not only rejected the claim with indignation,
but constrained him to offer a humble apology for having
made it.
attars The resources of the provinces of Agra and Delhi,
the Kajpoou, which had been exhausted by constant hostilities,
and is defeated, . J '
1787 were found inadequate to the maintenance of the
large force which Sindia entertained, and he sequestered the
jaygeers of the Mahomedan nobles of the court. A powerful
party was thus raised against him, which received secret
encouragement from the emperor himself. Sindia then pro-
XVH.] HE PLUNDERS THE RAJPOOTS. 41
ceeded to despoil the Eajpoots, and at the gates of Je}*pore
made a demand of sixty lacs of rupees, as tribute due to the
imperial treasury. The greater portion of this sum was paid,
but when his general appeared to claim the remainder, the
Kajpoot tribes made common cause, and attacked and routed
him. Sindia advanced with all his troops to encounter them,'
but Mahomed Beg, who joined his standard after the murder
of Afrasiab, fearing that the confiscation of his estates would
not be long delayed, if Sindia were victorious, chose the eve
of the battle for going over to the Rajpoots. He was killed
in the engagement which followed, but his gallant nephew,
Ismael Beg, one of the best native soldiers of the age, rallied
the troops, and Sindia was obliged to retire. He was pre-
paring to renew the conflict, on the third day, when the
whole of the emperor's troops went over in a body to Ismael
Beg, with eighty pieces of cannon. Sindia had not been
reduced to such straits since he fled from the field of Paniput,
but in no emergency did he evince greater fortitude and con-
duct. Fortunately for him, the Eajpoots, satisfied with their
success, retired to their respective homes, instead of following
up the victory. They left Ismael Beg to conduct the war
alone, and he laid siege to Agra, the fortifications of which had
been greatly strengthened by Sindia. In this extremity, he
addressed Nana Furnuvese, and importuned him to aid him in
maintaining the Mahratta ascendancy hi Hindostan. But
Nana was jealous of the growing power of Sindia, who he
knew was aiming at the supreme control of the Mahratta
commonwealth, and although he did not fail to send for-
ward troops under Holkar and AH Bahadoor, they were
intended rather to watch and check his movements than to
assist them.
ohoiam Kadir, In this position of affairs, the infamous Gholam
I788> Kadir, a turbulent soldier of fortune, the son of
the Rohilla chief, Zabita Khan, who had died in June, 1785,
appeared on the scene. Ismael Beg was still engaged in
the siege of Agra : Gholam Kadir, with his body of free
E 2
42 GHOLAM KADIR BLINDS THE EMPEROR. [[CHAP.
lances joined him there, and Sindia advanced to attack them
both. On the 24th of April, tney raised the siege and ad-
vanced sixteen miles to meet him ; Siridia was completely
overpowered, and obliged to retreat to Bhurtpore, the capital
of the friendly Jauts. Gholam Kadir was soon after called
off to defend his own jaygeer from the encroachments of the
Sikhs, by whom it was invaded at the instigation of Sindia,
who took advantage of the circumstance to attack Ismael
Beg, under the walls of Agra. The battle was fought on the
18th day of June, 1788, and terminated in the complete dis-
persion of Ismael's troops. He immediately joined the camp
of Gholam Kadir, and they advanced together towards Delhi,
but the emperor refused to admit either of them into it.
Gholam Kadir, however, succeeded in corrupting one of the
emperor's confidential officers, seized the gates of the city,
and occupied the palace and the citadel. He then let loose
his licentious soldiers on the city, which was for two months
subjected to a degree of violence, rapine and barbarity, un-
exampled even in the gloomy annals of that imperial metro-
polis, which had been so repeatedly devoted to spoliation.
The wives and daughters, and female relatives of the emperor
were exposed and dishonoured, while some were, more mer-
cifully, put to death. To crown his infamy, the
Gholam Kadir
blinds the em- ruffian put out the eyes of the wretched monarch
peror, 1788. j n ^heir goc k e tg w ith his dagger. Ismael Beg
turned with horror from the sight of these atrocities, and on
receiving the promise of a jaygeer, entered the service of
Sindia, who advanced to Delhi, reseated the emperor on the
throne, and did everything that humanity could suggest, to
alleviate the sorrows of the old man, then in his sixty-fifth
year. A force was sent after Gholam Kadir who took shelter
in Meerut, where he defended himself with vigour, but seeing
his case desperate, mounted a swift horse and fled across the
country, but was captured and brought into the presence of
Sindia, who subjected him to the most barbarous mutilations,
under which he expired.
xvn.] SINDIA'S SEPOY ARMY ORGANIZED BY THE FRENCH. 43
The success which had attended the exertions
Sindia's Euro- .
pean force, of Sindia was owing, in a great measure, to the
T91 ' force which he had organised under European
officers. He could not fail to perceive that the native
Mahratta soldier, though admirably adapted for marauding 1
expeditions, was ill suited for regular warfare, or for the
maintenance of such a power as he was endeavouring to
establish ; and he resolved to create a Sepoy army on the
model of the English battalions. The Count de Boigne, a
native of Savoy, had come to India in quest of service, and
circumstances brought him to the camp of Sindia, by whom
he was immediately entertained. He was an officer of dis-
tinguished talents and great military experience, having
served both in Europe and in India, and a large force was
gradually formed under his direction, consisting chiefly of
Eajpoots and Mahomedans, commanded and disciplined by
European officers, many of whom were English adventurers.
The force was eventually raised to 18,000 regular infantry,
6,000 irregular and 2,000 regular cavalry, and 600 Persian
horse. With the aid of these regiments Sindia was enabled
to fight pitched battles, and to capture towns and forts, as no
Mahratta chief had ever done before. A foundry was like-
wise established, and 200 cannon cast. The equipment of this
formidable force completely established Sindia's authority in
Hindostan, and made him the most powerful member of the
Mahratta confederation.
Battle of Pattm, The turbulent Ismael Beg did not long remain
June n, 1790. faithful to Sindia, and he was joined by the
Rajpoot rajas of Jeypore and Joudhpore. Sindia attacked
the allies at Patun, on the 20th of June, 1790. Ismael fought
with his usual bravery, and thrice charged through Sindia's
regular infantry, cutting down the artillerymen at their guns.
Holkar's force stood aloof during the engagement, and the
issue of the battle was for a time doubtful, but the personal
gallantry of De Boigne and his European officers, and the
firmness of his disciplined troops, secured the day to his
44 SINDIA MARCHES TO POONA. [CHAP,
master, though not, as it was affirmed, without the loss of
11,000 men. Ismael Beg fled with a small retinue to Jey-
pore, all his guns were captured, and ten of his battalions
grounded their arms and surrendered. The Eajpoots, how-
Battie of Maiita, ever, still continued to maintain the war, and in
i Sept., 1791. ^g guccee( }i n g y ear a second battle was fought,
at Mairta, in which De Boigne achieved another victory. The
Rajpoot tribes were now apparently at Sindia's mercy, but
the equivocal conduct of Holkar induced him to grant them
peace on the payment of a moderate tribute. The raja of
Joudhpore, however, who had assassinated Sindia's brother,
Jayapa, thirty-two years before, was now required to sur-
render Ajmere to atone for the deed.
Sin.iia marches Sindia had offered to join the alliance against
to Poona, 1792. Tippoo, in 1790, on the condition that two bat-
talions of English troops should accompany him to Poona,
tli at his own conquests in Hindostan should be guaranteed,
and that he should be assisted to effect the complete subjuga-
tion of the Rajpoot states. Lord Cornwallis necessarily
rejected these terms, upon which he entered into correspon-
dence with Tippoo all the while, however, professsing the
warmest attachment for the Company and assumed a
threatening attitude towards the Peshwa; and, if the arms
of the allies had met with any serious reverse in the war with
Tippoo, would doubtless have made common cause with that
prince against them. That he might be in a position to take
advantage of circumstances, and establish his authority at the
Mahratta capital, he resolved to proceed thither, much against
the wishes of Nana Furnuvese, who was justly apprehensive
of his designs. After the battle of Patun, he had obtained
from the emperor, for the third time, patents constituting the
Peshwa Vakeel-ool-mootluk, or regent of the empire, and
Sindia and his descendants, hereditary deputies. It may
serve to give some idea of the prestige which still lingered
about the Mogul throne, that, at a time when the emperor
was dependant on Sindia for the daily expenses of his house-
XVII.] GltAND INVESTITURE OF THE FESHWA. 45
hold, such a sunnud as this was considered an important
acquisition in the Deccan. As a pretext for appearing at
Poona, he gave out that he was proceeding to invest the
Peshwa with the robes of his new office. He arrived at the
capital on the llth of June, 1792, and in order to exhibit his
influence over the imperial house, as well as to gratify the
feelings of the Hindoos, he published an edict he had extorted
from the emperor, forbidding the slaughter of bullocks and
cows throughout the Mogul dominions. Nana Furnuvese
used every effort to prevent the Peshwa's accepting the title
conferred on him, but Sindia had brought a large variety of
rarities with him from Hindostan which delighted the fancy
of the young prince, and, by making constant arrangements
for his amusement, obtained a complete ascendancy over him.
A day was accordingly fixed for the investiture.
Sindia spared no pains to render the ceremony
vestiture,Juiy, imposing. A grand suite of tents was pitched in
the vicinity of the town, and the Peshwa pro-
ceeded to them with the greatest pomp. At the farthest end
of the great tent of state a throne was erected to represent
that of the Great Mogul, on which the imperial sunnud and
the insignia were placed. The Peshwa approached it and
placed on it the usual offering of a hundred and one gold
mohurs, and took his seat on the right, when Sindia's secre-
tary read out the patent, as well as the edict abolishing the
slaughter of kine. The Peshwa was then invested with the
gorgeous robes and splendid jewels of the office, and returned
to Poona amidst the acclamations of thousands, and salvos
of artillery. The grandeur of the scene exceeded everything
which had ever been seen in the Mahratta capital before. It
was on this occasion that Sindia exhibited one of the most
extraordinary specimens of mock humility recorded in Indian
history. It must be borne in mind that three months before
this time, Tippoo had been stripped of half his dominions,
and that Sindia was now the most powerful native prince in
India, and master of an army composed of sixteen battalions
46 DEATH OP SINDIA. [CHAP.
of regular infantry, five hundred pieces of cannon, and a
hundred thousand horse. But he dismounted from his elephant
at the gates of Poona, and in the great hall of audience
placed himself below all the hereditary nobles of the state.
The Peshwa entered the room, and desired him to take his seat
among the highest dignitaries, when he replied that he was
unworthy of that honour, and untying a bundle which he
carried under his arm, produced a pah" of slippers, which he
put before the Peshwa, saying, " This is my occupation ; it
was that of my father," and it was with great apparent re-
luctance that he allowed himself to be conducted to the
honourable seat prepared for him.
Battle with Sindia and Nana Furnuvese, after this trans-
Hoikar, 1792. ac tion, maintained an outward appearance of
respect and civility, though plotting each other's destruction ;
but their respective forces in Hindostan could not be restrained
from open hostility. They had been engaged together in
levying tribute from the Rajpoots, and had captured two forts,
but quarrelled about the division of the spoil. De Boigne,
with 20,000 horse and 9,000 regular infantry, fell on Holkar's
army of 30,000 horse, and four battalions disciplined by Euro-
peans. The conflict was desperate, and the four battalions
were completely annihilated, only one European officer escap-
ing the carnage. Holkar retreated with the wreck of his
army, and on his route sacked and burnt Sindia's capital,
Oojein. This battle rendered Sindia absolute in Hindostan,
and served to aggravate the intrigues at Poona, and to deepen
the alarm of Nana Furnuvese. But he was unexpectedly re-
Death of lieved from all anxiety by the death of Sindia, on
the 12th of February, 1794. Had he lived a few
months longer, a contest for the office of chief
minister of the Peshwa, and the supreme command of tho
Mahratta power would have been inevitable. For thirty-
five years he may be said to have passed his life in the camp,
devoting himself to the improvement of his army, and the
increase of his resources. His character has been aptly
XVII.] DISPUTE BETWEEN THE MINISTRY AND THE COURT. 4J
summed up in a few words, by the great historian of the Mah-
rattas, " he was a man of great political sagacity, and con-
siderable genius, of deep artifice, restless ambition and im-
placable revenge." He received from his father a small
principality ; he bequeathed to his successor, a lad of thirteen,
a kingdom comprising all the territory from the Sutlege to
Allahabad, two-thirds of Malwa, and the fairest provinces in
the Deccan, as well as the finest native army in India.
Enlargement ^ ne proceedings in England in connection with
of the powers the government of India, subsequent to Mr. Pitt's
of the Gover-
nor-Generai, Bill in 1784, will now claim attention. The
Kegulating Act of 1773, which created the office
of Governor- General, made him responsible for the safety of
India, but gave him only a single vote in Council, and ren-
dered him liable, on every occasion, to be overruled by his
colleagues. The distractions of Hastings's administration
are to be attributed, in a great measure, to this anomalous
clause, which frequently brought the Government to a dead
lock. Lord Cornwallis therefore refused to accept the office,
subject to this encumbrance, and a Bill was introduced and
passed La 1786 to enable the Governor-General and the Go-
vernors of the minor Presidencies to act in opposition to the
opinion of the Council, when they deemed it necessary for
the welfare of the country, the counsellors being at liberty
to record the reasons of their dissent. Of the wisdom of
this measure no better proof can be offered than the fact
that it has worked beneficially for nearly eighty years.
The Deciara- The gravest movement of this period, however,
tory Act, 1788. wag ^ ne consummation of Mr. Pitt's plan of trans-
ferring the powers of government from the Company to the
Crown. In the year 1787, a conflict of parties arose in the
republic of Holland ; the French and the English Governments
espoused opposite sides, and there was every prospect of a
rupture between them. The interference of France in the
politics of India, had been for half a century the great object
of dread to the Court of Directors, and under the apprehen-
48 MR. PITT'S DECLARATORY ACT. xvn.]
sion that they might have again to encounter it, they now
solicited the Ministry to augment the European force in India,
and four regiments were immediately raised for their service.
Happily, the peace with France was not interrupted, but, as
soon as the storm had blown over, the Court of Directors,
anxious to save the cost of the regiments, declared that they
were no longer necessary. Lord Cornwallis had earnestly
recommended the augmentation of the European force in
India, to give greater security to our position, and the Board of
Control therefore determined that the regiments should be sent
out. The Court of Directors, however, refused to allow
them to embark in their ships, and as the contest, which
thus arose between the India House and the Ministry, in-
volved the great question of the substantial powers of go-
vernment, Mr. Pitt referred the question to the decision of
Parliament.
Discussions in On the 25th of February, 1788, Mr. Pitt intro-
pariiament, duced a Bill to declare the meaning of the Act of
1784, and affirmed that " there was no step which
could have been taken by the Court of Directors before the
passing of that Bill, touching the military and political concerns
of India, and the collection, management, and application of
the revenues, which the Board of Control had not a right to
take by the provisions of that Bill." He stated, moreover,
that in proposing his Bill of 1784 it was his intention thus to
transfer the whole powers of government to the Crown.
The organs of the Court of Directors in the House stated
that they never would have supported that measure, if they
had supposed such to have been its intent ; and they dis-
covered, when too late, that in voting for Mr. Pitt's Bill they
had committed an act of suicide. An objection was raised to
the despatch of the regiments on the constitutional doctrine
that no troops could belong to the King for which Parlia-
ment had not voted the money. Mr. Pitt thereupon stated
his conviction that the army in India ought to be on one
establishment, and to belong to the King, and that it was not
xvn.] THE CHARTER OP 1793. 49
without an eye to such an arrangement that he had brought
forward the present motion. But, notwithstanding the
boundless influence which he enjoyed in the House, the
members were alarmed at the immense power which he
attempted to grasp. Many of his stanch supporters deserted
him, and the Opposition were very sanguine in their hopes of
being able to overthrow the Ministry on this occasion. There
were four tempestuous debates on the question, one of which
was prolonged to eight o'clock in the morning. Mr. Pitt
had encountered no such opposition in the present Parlia-
ment, and to prevent being beaten in the successive stages
of the Bill, was under the necessity of making great con-
cessions, and adding several conciliatory clauses to it. The
Declaratory Act of 1788 rivetted on the East India Company
the fetters which had been forged by the Act of 1784.
The charter The period for which the exclusive privileges
of 1793. had been granted to the East India Company ex-
pired in 1793, and on the 23rd of April, the Court of Directors
presented a petition to Parliament for the renewal of them.
But new commercial and manufacturing interests had been
springing up in England with great vigour since the last con-
cession, and petitions poured into the House from Liverpool,
Glasgow, Manchester, Bristol, and other seats of industry
and enterprize, protesting against the continuance of a
monopoly in so large a trade, and the exclusion of the country
in general from any share in it. The Court of Directors
appointed a Committee to draw up a reply to the petitioners,
and to demonstrate that it was essential to the national in-
terests that the East India Company should continue to be
the sole agent for managing the commerce and government
of India. The Ministry found the existing state of things,
more especially since the Declaratory Act, exceedingly con-
venient to themselves, and resolved to oppose all innovation.
Fortunately for the Company, Lord Corwallis, notwithstand-
ing the Mysore war, had placed the finances of India in a
more flourishing condition than they had ever been in before ;
50 ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OP THE RENEWAL.
and, it may be said, than they have ever been in since.
Mr. Dundas was thus enabled to ask the House, with an air
of triumph, whether they were prepared to stop the tide of
this prosperity, for a mere theory.
Arguments for ^ G arguments which he adduced for con-
renewing the turning- the power and privileges of the East
Charter, ] 793. T ,. ., r . ,. ,
India Company were, that to throw the trade
open to all England would retard the payment of the Com-
pany's debts ; that it would check the growing commerce of
India, and that it would inevitably lead to colonization and
ensure the loss of the country to England. He objected to
the dissolution of the Company, because the patronage of
India, added to the other sources of influence in the Crown,
would destroy the balance of the Constitution. These argu-
ments, solemnly propounded by the Ministers, at a period
when free trade was considered the direct road to ruin, were
received with blind confidence by the House, and the privileges
of the Company were renewed, with little modification, for a
period of twenty years. To meet the clamours of the mer-
chants and manufacturers of England, the Company was
directed to allot 3,000 tons a year for private trade, but as the
privilege was hampered with the heavy charges and delays
of their commercial system, it was little prized, and seldom
used. An effort was made by Mr. Wilberf orce, one of the
ablest and most enlightened members of the House, to obtain
permission for missionaries and schoolmasters to proceed to
India, and give voluntary instruction to the people, but he
was vehemently opposed by the old Indians in the Court of
Directors, who had imbibed the fantastic notion that the
diffusion of knowledge would be fatal to British rule in India,
and that the presence of missionaries would be followed by
rebellion ; and the House was persuaded by Mr. Dundas to
reject the proposal.
Eemarksonthe The Charter, as it is called, of 1793, maybe
Charter, 1793. regarded as a faithful reflection of the narrow
views of the age, which, considered that the introduction of
XVIII.] ADMINISTRATION OP SIB JOHN SHORE, 51
free trade and Europeans, of missionaries and schoolmasters,
into India, would sap the foundation of British authority.
The experience of nearly three-quarters of a century has
dispelled this hallucination. Since the extinction of the
Company's monopoly, the trade, instead of being diminished,
has increased twenty fold. The free admission of Europeans
into India has not endangered the dominion of England ; on
the contrary, during the great mutiny of 1857, India was
nearly lost for want of Europeans. The patronage of India
has been trebled in value, and the Company has been
abolished, yet, owing to the happy discovery of the principle
of competitive appointments, the power of the Crown has not
been increased, and the independence of Parliament has not
diminished. Christian missionaries have been admitted into
India and placed on the same footing as the Hindoo priest
and the Mahomedan mollah, and allowed to offer instruction to
the natives ; and, the education of the people is now considered
as much a duty of the state as the maintenance of the police ;
yet the feeling of allegiance to the Crown of England has.
not been impaired.
CHAPTER XVIII.
ADMINISTRATION OF SIR JOHN SHORE, 1793 1798.
sir John shore SIR John Shore, a distinguished member of the
Governor-Gene- Company's civil service, and the author of the
revenue settlement of 1793, succeeded to the go-
vernment, on the departure of Lord Cornwallis, \vho, in a
letter to Mr. Dundas on the choice of his successor, had given
it as his opinion, that " nobody but a person who had never
been in the service, and who was essentially unconnected
with its members, who was of a rank far surpassing his asso-
ciates in the government, and who had the full support of
the Ministry at home, was competent for the office of Gover-
52 GUARANTEE TREATY WELCOMED BY THE NIZAM [CHAP.
nor-General." Subsequently to the date of this letter, Sir
John, then Mr. Shore, had visited England, and on his return,
Lord Cornwallis wrote again to Mr. Dundas, that " seeing
how greatly Mr. Shore's mind had been enlarged and improved
by the visit, he desired to make an exception in his favour."
Mr. Pitt, who had taken great interest in the question of the
revenue settlement, had been much struck with the industry,
candour and talent exhibited by Sir John Shore, and, believ-
ing him to be well suited to cany out the views of Lord
Cornwallis, mentioned his name to the King as his successor.
The King replied, that " No one could have been so properly
thought of as Mr. Shore, unless a very proper man of dis-
tinction could be found to be Governor General at Bengal."
Sir John Shore, therefore, received the appointment, and en-
tered on the duties of his office on the 28th of October, 1793.
The first question of importance which came up
treaty^arceptea to test his powers, was connected with the politics
by the Nizam, o f ^he D e ccan. The treaty of alliance concluded
1792-93. J
with the Nizam and the Mahrattas by Lord Corn-
wallis in 1790, stipulated, that "if after the conclusion of the.
peace with Tippoo, he should attack or molest either of the
contracting parties, the others shall join to punish him, the
mode or conditions of effecting which shall be hereafter settled
by the contracting parties." To avoid future complications,
Lord Cornwallis was anxious, after the termination of the
war, that the grounds on which the allied powers could demand
mutual support, should be distinctly defined. He accordingly
sent the draft of a " treaty of guarantee," to Poona and
Hyderabad, in which he proposed that if any difference should
arise between any of the confederates and Tippoo, the nature
and circumstances should be communicated to the others,
and that they should not be bound to take up arms till they
were convinced that he had justice on his side, and that every
effort for conciliation had been exhausted. The proposal was
highly acceptable to the Nizam. The Mahrattas had a long
account against him, and their envoys were pressing the
XVITT.] AND REJECTED BY THE MAHRATTAS. 53
settlement of it at Hyderabad, at the time when his army was
employed conjointly with theirs against Tippoo. The Nizam
brought forward a counter-claim of larger amount, under
thirty-four heads, for contributions unjustly exacted, and
revenue unjustly withheld. But he proposed to postpone
the adjustment of these accounts till the war had terminated,
hoping thereby to obtain the friendly interposition of the
English government. He therefore welcomed the treaty of
guarantee with much avidity, under the impression that it would
serve to strengthen his influence with Lord Cornwallis, and
counteract the hostility of the Poona durbar, who were already
preparing to invade his territories.
Rejected by the The Mahrattas, on the other hand, declined any
Mahrattas, 1793. engagements which might in any measure inter-
fere with their designs on the Nizam. Mahdajee Sindia was
then at Poona, exercising a powerful influence in the councils
of the state, and he did not conceal his opinion that the Com-
panyhad become too powerful, and that Tippoo ought to be sup-
ported as a counterpoise to them. He denounced the proposed
treaty as an arrogant assumption of authority. Nana Furrni-
vcse, however, was anxious to cultivate a good understanding
with the English government, as a check on the ambitious
projects of Sindia, and prolonged the negotiations for several
months. He then drew up the outline of another treaty,
including in it the demand of arrears of chout from Tippoo,
which he was well aware Lord Cornwallis would never sanc-
tion. After a twelvemonth vainly spent in these wearisome
discussions, the Governor-General was obliged to abandon all
hope of obtaining the concurrence of the Mahrattas in any
arrangement, and to remain content with a vague and verbal
assurance, that they would abide by their engagements.
Sir John ^* ^ e Beginning f 1794, the death of Mah-
Shore's nen- dajee Sindia, the chief opponent of the Guarantee
t ~ 9S ' treaty, and the succession of his grand-nephew
Dowlut Rao, a youth of thirteen, to his power and resources,
appeared to present a favourable opportunity for the energetic
54 SIR JOHN SHORE'S UNHAPPY NEUTRALITY. [CHAP
interposition of British influence to preserve the peace of
India. But Sir John Shore determined to remain quiescent.
The Mahrattas, who expected some decisive movement on this
occasion, were not slow to perceive that the sceptre of the
British power had fallen into feeble hands ; and as soon as
they discovered that Lord Cornwallis's successor was resolved
to limit his interference to " good offices," they hastened their
preparations for war with the Nizam. Tippoo likewise an-
nounced his intention of joining them to crush the Nizam,
who immediately claimed from the Government of Calcutta
the fulfilment of the 10th article of the treaty of 1790, which
bound the contracting parties to unite in repelling his aggres-
sions. There can be little doubt that if Lord Cornwallis had
been in India at this time, his manly representations, backed
by the assembly of an army on the frontier, would have been
sufficient to maintain peace between the parties. But Sir John
Shore lacked his spirit and resolution ; he had a morbid dread
of giving offence to the Mahrattas, which might end in a war,
and drain the treasury, then full to the brim ; and he was above
all anxious to exhibit a most exemplary obedience to the Act
of Parliament which discountenanced native alliances. The
question which he put to himself was " whether we were bound
by treaty to defend the Nizam, if Tippoo should attack him
while engaged in hostilities with the Mahrattas, either as their
ally or independently of them." Strange to say, his opinion
was in the negative. The Nizam pleaded that in becoming
a party to the treaty of 1790, he had trusted to the good faith
of the English Government, not to the treachery of the
Mahrattas. But Sir John Shore persuaded himself that the
defection of one of the parties from a tripartite alliance, offen-
sive and defensive, and his union with the power against
whom the treaty was made, cancelled the obligation of the
remaining party. It is, however due to his memory to state
that his judgment was evidently influenced, to a considerable
extent, by the incompetence of his Commander-in-chief to take
charge of a war with Tippoo and the Mahrattas. He resolved,
XVin/J MAHRATTA EXPEDITION AGAINST THE NIZAM. 55
therefore, to remain neuter, and leave the Nizam to his fate.
And thus the high reputation which the British Government
had acquired throughout India by the prompt succour of the
raja of Travancore when attacked by the armies of Tippoo,
was sacrificed by his successor, from motives of expedience
and economy, and too obsequious a submission to an Act of
Parliament through which Lord Cornwallis had boldly dnven
his coach, and had, nevertheless, received the thanks of both
Houses.
EX dition ^~ assem ^ e a Mahratta army when there was
against the 'a prospect of plunder had never presented any
difficulty. On the present occasion the young
Peshwa resolved to accompany the expedition, and summoned
all the feudatories into the field; and it proved to be the last
time they were mustered under the national standard. Dowlut
Kao Sindia brought up a force of 25,000, of whom 10,000 con-
sisted of De Boigne's regular infantry. The Raja of Berar
contributed 15,000 horse and foot. Holkar's contingent was
only 10,000, but of these 2,000 were disciplined by European
officers, and he had, moreover, a following of 10,000 Pindarrees.
Govind Rao Guickwar likewise sent a detachment of troops,
and all the southern Jaygeerdars furnished their quota/ The
whole army mustered 130,000 horse and foot, and 150 pieces
of cannon. The Nizam, abandoned by his English allies,
threw himself into the hands of their European rivals, with
whom they were then at war. A French officer of the name
of Raymond, who had come out to India with Lally, twenty-
five years before, and fully shared his animosity towards the
English, had entered the service of the Nizam, and organised
two battalions, which did good service in the Mysore war.
When the struggle with the Mahrattas appeared inevitable,
he was directed to increase his force to the fullest possible
extent. The procrastination of the Mahrattas, arising from
the dissensions created by the death of Mahdajee Sindia,
enabled Raymond to raise this body of troops to 18,000, all
of whom were trained and commanded by European officers.
II. F
56 DEFEAT OF THE NIZAM AT KURDLA. [CHAP.
The war with the Mahrattas, while at a distance, was popular
with the Hyderabad army. The disorderly soldiers indulged
in the wildest gasconade, threatening to plunder and burn
Poona ; the dancing girls moved through the camp chaunting
the triumphs the army was about to achieve, and even the
chief minister, forgetting his own dignity, boasted that the
Peshwa should be banished to Benares, with a cloth about his
loins and a water-pot in his hand, to mutter incantations on
the banks of the sacred stream.
Defeat of the The Nizam was the first in the field, and ad-
Nizam at Kurdia, vance( j f rom Beder, where he had established his
llth March,
1795. camp, towards the Mahratta frontier. The Peshwa
quitted Poona in January, and the two armies approached
each other on the 10th of March. On that evening the Nizam
sat in durbar, and received congratulations for the victory of
the morrow. The forces joined issue on the llth, a little in
advance of the village of Kurdla, which has given its name
to the battle. The Nizam's Patan cavalry drove the centre
division of the Mahratta army, commanded by Pureshram Bhao,
from the field, and a large portion of his army was seized with
a panic and fled. By this time the regular battalions on both
sides approached within musket shot of each other, and the
Nizam's cavalry were advancing steadily to the support of
their infantry, when Rughoojee Bhonslay assailed them with
a shower of rockets, and Perron, who commanded Sindia's
disciplined troops, poured in a destructive fire from thirty-five
pieces of cannon he had judiciously planted on an eminence.
The cavalry was put to the route, but Raymond's infantry stood
their ground, and had even obtained some advantage over
Perron's battalions, when he was obliged, in consequence of
repeated and pressing orders, to follow the Nizam, who had
retraced his steps, to Kurdla. The Nizam was accompanied
on this expedition by his zenana, and the favourite Sultana,
terrified by the roar of the artillery, insisted on his retiring
beyond the reach of it, and threatened, if he refused, to dis-
grace him by exposing herself to public gaze. The dotard
XVIII.] THE NIZAM INCREASES HIS FRENCH FORCE. yj
yielded to her importunities, and the whole army retreated in
wild confusion. The greater portion of the troops fled from
the field, after having plundered the baggage of their own
army, but the Pindarrees pursued them, and stripped them of
everything they possessed. The next morning the Mahrattas
advanced over the field, and found it strewed with guns,
stores, baggage, and all the equipments of the army. Only a
tenth of the Nizam's force remained about Kurdla, in which he
had taken refuge, and where, after sustaining the cannonade
of the Mahrattas for two days, he solicited a cessation of
arms. The Mahrattas demanded territorial cessions of the
value of thirty-five lacs of rupees a-year, together with an
indemnity of three crores of rupees, one-third to be paid down
immediately, as well as the surrender of Musheer-ool-moolk,
his chief minister, and the ablest man at his court, on the
pretext that amends must be made for some insulting language
he was reported to have used hi reference to Nana Furnuvese.
With these hard conditions the Nizam was constrained to
comply, and he affixed his signature to the humiliating treaty
on the 13th of March, 1795.
The xizam in- During these transactions the British ministers
French force, a ^ * ne cour t f the Nizam and the Peshwa re-
1795. moved from their camps, and remained in the
neighbourhood, mere spectators of the event. Neither were
the two English battalions in the pay of the Nizam allowed
to take any part in the war, notwithstanding his earnest
entreaty. He returned to his capital highly incensed at this
neutrality, and immediately dismissed the battalions, while
Raymond was directed to increase his force with all diligence.
He and his officers lost no opportunity of manifesting their
hatred of the English ; they carried the colours of the French
republic, then at war with England, and wore the cap of
liberty on their buttons. Raymond made the greatest and
most successful exertions to improve the discipline and effi-
ciency of his corps, and the power and resouices of the
Hyderabad state, which Lord Cornwallis had endeavoured to
F 2
58 DEATH OF THE PESHWA MODHOO RAO. [CHAP.
secure for the interests of the British nation, were thus
transferred to its enemies. The Nizam, following the example
of Sindia, determined to assign districts for the support of
this, foreign force, and Raymond made his selection of Kurpa,
because it lay on the confines of the Company's territories,
and was comparatively adjacent to the coast, from which he
would be enabled to receive recruits, and possibly co-operate
with a regiment then expected from France. But even the
pacific Shore could not brook the presumption of the Nizam
in planting a hostile force in the immediate neighbourhood of
the British territories. He peremptorily insisted on their re-
moval, and threatened to enforce the demand by a military-
demonstration. Just at this juncture an unexpected event-
the rebellion of the Nizam's son, Ali Jah served in some
measure to restore a good understanding between him and
the government of Calcutta. On the night of the 28th of
June that prince abruptly quitted Hyderabad, and proceeded
to Beder, where he raised the standard of revolt. The
Nizam was thrown into a fever of alarm, and recalled the
English battalions in all haste, and offered immediately to
remove the French force from the frontier. The battalions
were directed to march against the prince with the utmost
expedition ; but before they could reach Beder, Raymond's
corps had extinguished the revolt.
Death of the "^e battle of Kurdla completely prostrated the
Peshwa relieves Nizam, and left him at the mercy of the Mah-
' rattas, who would doubtless have returned to
complete his humiliation after the division of the spoil, had
not the sudden death of the Peshwa given a new direction to
the current of events, and restored to him much of his pre-
vious consequence. By the success of the recent campaign
Nana Furnuvese had gained the summit of his wishes. He
had restored the Mahratta supremacy in the Deccan, and
gratified the Mahratta chiefs with plunder. Dowlut Rao
Sindia manifested the greatest deference to him ; the raja
oi Berar and the great brahmin feudatories were entirely
XVin.] COMPLICATIONS AT POONA. 59
subservient to him. He was without a rival in the Mahratta
commonwealth ; but his love of power, and his anxiety to
monopolise it, produced an event which brought him to the
grave in misery and disgrace. During the minority of the
Pcshwa, Madhoo Rao, the second, Nana had for twenty years
enjoyed, with occasional interruptions, the chief control of
Mahratta affairs at the capital. But though the Peshwa was
now of age he was still kept by the minister in a state of the
most stringent and galling tutelage, and in a fit of impatience
threw himself from a terrace of the palace on the 22nd of
October, 1795. He died two days after, bequeathing his
throne to his cousin Bajee Rao, the son of the luckless
Raghoba, and the last of the Peshwas. Bajee Rao was a
prince of many accomplishments, mental and bodily, graceful
in person, mild in his demeanour, and of the most insinuating
address, but distinguished above every prince of the age by
his profound dissimulation, and his utter unscrupulousness.
As he grew up Nana Furnuvese had watched his movements
with great jealousy, and had for some tune detained him a
close prisoner. The unexpected death of the Peshwa con-
founded all the plans of Nana, and gave rise to a series of
complications unmatched even in Mahratta history, of which,
however, we can find room for only a brief outline,
chimnajee, Immediately after the catastrophe Nana as-
Peshwa, 1796. sembled the Mahratta chiefs, carefully suppressed
the dying bequest of the late Peshwa in favour of Bajee Rao,
and proposed that his widow should be required to adopt
Chimnajee, the younger brother of Bajee Rao, in whose name
he himself intended to continue to administer the government.
Bajee Rao, on receiving intimation of this plot, which, if suc-
cessful, would have deprived him of all his rights, opened a
secret correspondence with young Sindia and his minister,
Balloba Tantia, and offered them jaygeers of the value of
four lacs of rupees a year if they would support his claim to
the succession. Nana Furnuvese discovered this negotiation,
and resolved to circumvent Sindia by releasing Bajee Rao of
60 BAJEE BAO BECOMES PESIIWA. [CHAP.
his own accord, and placing him on the vacant throne. That
prince was accordingly conducted to Poona, and reconciled to
Nana, whom he engaged to maintain as his minister. Mean-
while Balloba, Sindia's chief adviser, who resented this pro-
ceeding, resolved to counteract the designs of Nana, and
directed the army, then encamped on the banks of the
Godavery, to march up to Poona. Nana, who was as re-
markable for political talent as for personal cowardice, im-
mediately fled to Poorunder. Balloba, now master of the
situation, proposed to Pureshram Bhao, the commander-in-
chief, that Bajee Rao should be set aside, and placed in con-
finement, that the widow of the late Peshwa should adopt
Chimnajee, and that Pureshram himself should be the chief
minister. He sought advice of Nana in his retreat, and that
wily statesman not only gave his approval of the adoption, but
proceeded in person to Satara to procure the investiture from
the descendant of Sevajee. Bajee Rao, ignorant of these
machinations, repaired to Sindia's camp, where he was de-
tained as a prisoner, while Chimnajee, greatly against his own
will, was installed as Peshwa on the 26th of May, 1796.
Pureshram Bhao, now at the head of the
teethe throne,* 6 government, immediately released the minister
4th December, o f ^he Nizam, who had been held as a hostage
for fourteen months since the battle of Kurdla.
The great object of all the parties in power at Poona
at this time was to obtain possession of the person of
Nana, who was obliged to fly for security to the fortress
of Mhar. His fortunes now seemed to be at the lowest ebb,
but they were restored by his extraordinary tact. " The
vigour of his judgment," as the historian of the Mahrattaa
observes, "the fertility of his resources, the extent of his
influence, and the combination of instruments he called into
action, surprised all India." He renewed his communications
with Bajee Rao. He entered into an engagement with the
Nizam, which is generally known as the treaty of Mhar, and
was dated the 8th of October, 1796, in which it was provided
NANA FURNUVESE SEIZED AND CONFIXED. 61
that a body of 15,000 Hyderabad troops and a train of artil-
lery should be sent to assist in establishing Bajee Rao as
Peshwa, and Nana as minister, and that, in return for this
assistance, the territory the Nizam had been constrained to
cede to the Mahrattas should be restored, and the balance of
the indemnity remitted. Balloba, the inveterate foe of Nana,
having 1 received some intimation of these schemes, determined
to frustrate them by sending Bajee Rao as a prisoner into
Hindostan. He was sent under the charge of Sirjee Rao
Ghatkay, and on the route succeeded in corrupting him, by
promising his master, Sindia, a donative of two crores if he ob-
tained his liberty and his crown ; he was liberated accordingly.
The schemes of Nana were now matured. He had secured
the co-operation of Roghoojee Bhonslay, and Holkar. He had
gained over Sindia by the promise of Pureshram's jaygeers,
worth ten lacs of rupees a year, and on the 27th of October,
1796, that chief commenced the revolution by seizing his own
minister Balloba. Pureshram took to flight ; Nana marched
in triumph to Poona, and on the 4th of December placed Bajee
Rao on the throne of his ancestors, and cancelled the adoption
of Chimnajee.
Nana seized and Bajee ^ a ) whose nature was to trust no one
confined, Decem- and t' Jeceive all, was no sooner in possession of
ber 1797
power than he began to plot the destruction of
the two men who had been the chief instruments of his
elevation. The agency of Sindia was employed against
Nana, who was induced by the representations of the in-
famous Sirjee Rao to pay his master a visit of ceremony,
when he was seized and confined in the fort of Ahmednugur.
His escort, consisting of a thousand persons, was stripped,
maimed, killed, or dispersed. Troops were sent to pillage his
adherents, and the capital presented a scene of confusion and
bloodshed. Having thus disposed, as he thought, of Nana,
Bajee Rao began to devise means of ridding himself of Sindia.
who had recently espoused the beautiful daughter of Sirjee
Rao Ghatkay. The wedding was celebrated with extra-
62 PLUNDER OF POONA. [CHAP.
ordinary display and expense. The monthly cost of his army
at Poona, moreover, did not fall short of twenty lacs of
rupees. He began to be straitened for money, and was coii-
strained to press Bajee Rao for the two crores which had been
agreed on as the price of his release and elevation. Bajee
Rao pleaded the emptiness of his treasury, but advised him
to constitute Ghatkay his chief minister, and instruct him to
levy this sum from the wealthy inhabitants of Poona. The
advice was taken ; the ruffian was let loose on the capital,
and, as long as it exists, his name will be remembered with
horror and execration. He proceeded in the first instance to
the Peshwa's palace, where he seized the ex-ministers of the
party of Nana, and scourged them until they gave up their
property. The rich bankers and merchants, and all who
were suspected of the possession of wealth, were tortured till
it was surrendered. For many days the city of Poona was
given up to plunder and violence. Amrit Rao, the illegitimate
son of Raghoba, who had been placed in the office of minister
on the imprisonment of Nana, not knowing that the infamous
Ghatkay had been set on these atrocious proceedings by the
advice of his own brother, Bajee Rao, attributed them to the
malevolence of Sindia, and proposed to assassinate him.
Bajee Rao readily entered into a project so entirely in ac-
cordance with his own wishes, and one Abba Kally was
selected to despatch him, at a public interview, in the
Peshwa's palace. Sindia was summoned to the audience
chamber, and Bajee Rao upbraided him with the arrogance and
cruelty which he and his servants exhibited, and declared that
he would no longer endure the contempt shown to his authority,
ordering him at the same time peremptorily to depart from the
capital. Sindia replied, with the greatest modesty, that he
was anxious to obey, but could not remove his camp for want
of funds, and solicited payment of the large sum which had
been expended in seating Bajee Rao on the throne. At this
moment Amrit Rao inquired whether he should give the signal
to the executioner, but Bajee Rao's courage failed him, and
XVIII.] AMALGAMATION OF THE KING'S AND COMPANY'S ARMY. 63
Sindia was allowed to depart in peace. This was the first
occasion on which the Peshwa manifested that irresolution of
purpose which marked his character through life, and ren-
dered him an object of general contempt. It was in the
midst of this scene of intrigue and confusion that Lord
Wellesley assumed the office of Governor - General, and
speedily convinced the native princes of India that the energy
of Hastings and Cornwallis was restored to the ' British
Government.
. . . . One of the two points on which Lord Cornwallis
Amalgamation ~
of the army, had received specific instructions before he em-
barked for India, had reference to the amalgamation
of the King's and the Company's army. Mr. Dundas considered
that India could be retained only by a large European force ;
and as the number of European soldiers in India, in 1788,
was only 12,000, to about 58,000 native sepoys, he deemed it
necessary, in order to create a feeling of perfect security, to
augment it to about 17,000, so as to establish the proportion
of one to three. He considered it important that the whole
of this force should be under the Crown, and " act in concert
with the general strength of the empire." Lord Cornwallis,
during his residence in India, collected a mass of information
on the subject, which he embodied in an elaborate minute on
his return to England. He proposed that the whole army,
European and native, should be transferred to the Crown;
but he considered it indispensable that the European officers
of the native army should remain an essentially distinct body;
that they should go out to India early in life, and devote
themselves entirely to the Indian service, in which a perfect
knowledge of the language, and attention to the customs
and religious prejudices of the sepoys, was absolutely neces-
sary. This plan of amalgamation, which appears to have
been drawn up in November, 1794, was rejected by the Court
of Directors, who were not disposed to transfer their entire
military establishment to the Crown ; and it did not receive
the full concurrence of the Board of Control.
64 MUTINY OP THE BENGAL OFFICERS. [CHAP.
Before this plan was ready for consideration,
Mutiny of the , . '
Benjrai officers, the omccrs of the Bengal army were in a state of
open mutiny. Lord Cornwallis had been employed
during his administration in abolishing sinecure offices, and
lessening the sources of illegitimate gain, both in the civil
and military branches of the service. The civilians had been
compensated for these reductions by increased salaries, but
it was impossible to adopt the same rule with regard to a
body of officers counted by thousands. The command of a
regiment was still worth 80,000 rupees a year, but the
general disproportion in the remuneration of the two services,
was a source of constant envy and discontent to the military
branch. This feeling was inflamed by the superior advan-
tages of rank enjoyed by the King's officers. Sir John Shore,
on assuming the government, found that he had to deal, not
with the discontent, but with the actual insubordination of
the Bengal army, and, in a country in which he felt that " the
civil authority was at the mercy of the military." This spirit
of mutiny continued to increase throughout the year 1794 ; but
the officers refrained from any overt act of rebellion, while
they waited to ascertain how far the new regulations which
Mr. Dundas was drawing up in lieu of Lord Cornwallis's amal-
gamation scheme, proved agreeable to their wishes. The regu-
lations, however, were delayed so long, that the patience of
the officers was exhausted, and on Christmas-day, 1795, Sir
John Shore convened the Council, and laid before them the
alarming intelligence he had just received. Delegates had
been elected from each regiment to form an executive board,
and the whole army was bound by the 'most solemn obliga-
tions to protect their persons, and make good their losses by
a general subscription. This board was authorized to treat
with government on these terms : that the Company's regi-
ments should not be reduced ; that the King's troops should
be limited by law to a small number ; that promotion should
invariably go by seniority ; and that all allowances which had
at any time been granted to the army, including double batta,
XVIII.] CONCESSIONS OP THE GOVERNMENT. G5
should be restored. If these conditions were not accepted,
they were prepared to seize the Governor-General and
the Commander-in-chief, and take possession of the govern-
ment.
Conciliatory The Council was thunderstruck at this state of
Goveient, affairs. It was a crisis of the same magnitude as
I795 - that which Olive had quelled thirty years before
by his undaunted bearing ; but there was no Clive at Calcutta.
The Governor-General instantly dispatched orders for troops
to the Cape and Madras, and directed the Admiral to bring
up his whole squadron to Calcutta without delay ; he likewise
accepted an offer from De Boigne, of the services of a corps
of Sindia's cavalry, commanded by European officers. The
Commander-in-chief, Sir Robert Abercromby, proceeeded to
Cawnpore. Though he was not the man for the emergency, his
official character and his courteous manner effected some good;
but it was the firmness of the artillery in Calcutta, and the
manly resistance of several officers at Cawnpore, that stemmed
the tide of mutiny for the time. The long-expected regula-
tions arrived at length, in May, 1796, and disgusted all
parties. Sir John Shore described them as a mass of confusion,
calculated neither to gratify the officers, nor to improve the dis-
cipline of the army. The spirit of revolt blazed forth afresh.
Remonstrances poured in upon the bewildered government
from every quarter, and on the 30th of June, Sir John Shore
wrote to his superiors at home stating, that the pressure on
him had been so great, as to oblige him to give way, partly,
and to modify the regulations. In a minute which he pro-
mulgated in India, he expressed a hope that the general code
which he had drawn up would be acceptable to the officers.
The regulations were so modified,that there was little of them
left. The concessions went even beyond the expectations of
the army. Arrears of batta to the extent of seven lacs of
rupees, were granted unasked ; the arrears of brevet rank were
gratuitously bestowed, and such an addition made to the allow-
ances of the officers of all grades, as to entail a permanent
6 SUPERSESSION OP SIR JOHN SHORE. [CHAP.
addition of seven lacs of annual expenditure. The weakness
of government had, in fact, surrendered everything up to a
factious army. In a letter to Lord Cornwallis, immediately
after this transaction, Sir John Shore admitted that he was
little qualified by habit or experience, to contend with a dis-
contented army, and the responsibility of these wretched
measures, must, therefore, rest chiefly with the Commander-
in-chief.
The intelligence of these concessions, which
Alarm of the -
Ministry in reached England in December, 1796, filled the
md, i/96. Minify w ith alarm, and they determined imme-
diately to supersede Sir John Shore. Lord Cornwallis was
importuned to proceed forthwith to India, and he was
assured by Mr. Dundas, that if he could bring himself to
forego his comforts at home for only a twelvemonth, and
spend three months at Calcutta, and three months at Madras,
he would do the greatest service to his country that ever any
man had it in his power to do. So urgent did the necessity of
the case appear, that Mr. Dundas offered his own services, in
case of Lord Cornwallis's refusal, and stated his readiness to go
out to Bengal as Governor- General; but Mr. Pitt refused to part
with his colleague, and Lord Cornwallis determined " to sacri-
fice all personal consideration of comfort and happiness, to the
service of the public." He was sworn in as Governor-General
on the 1st of February, 1797, and the appointment was imme-
diately announced to all the Presidencies in India. On the first
intelligence of this spirit of insubordination, Mr. Dundas de-
clared himself averse to all concessions, and resolved to put it
down with a high hand. But he met with serious obstructions
in various quarters, and was obliged, at length, to succumb
to circumstances. There was a regularly organised committee
of Bengal officers then sitting in London, as the representa-
tives of the mutineers in India, and the Court of Directors
and Mr. Dundas, strange to say, entered into negotiations
with them, and passed, what Lord Cornwallis designated,
a "milk-and-water order," with which L they desired him to
AFFAIRS OF OUDE. (J7
embark for India and assume the government, -which he
refused to do. They proceeded further to make concession
after concession to the London committee, and even promoted
one of the ringleaders to a confidential post at the India
House. Lord Cornwallis therefore resigned the office of
Governor-General in disgust, on the 2nd of August.
Affairs of oude; The most memorable event of Sir John Shore's
death of the administration was the change which he made in
the Oude succession. Hyder Beg Khan, the chief
minister, was a native statesman of vast energy and singular
ability, and sustained the sinking fortunes of the state with
great vigour. His death in 1795, and the appointment of a
successor totally devoid of principle, put an end to all hope of
reform in the government. By nature, the Vizier was a
man of good disposition, but spoiled by the enjoyment of
absolute power, and by the fools, knaves, and sycophants,
who composed his court. During the seventeen years of his
reign he had lived only for one object the gratification of
his personal appetites. Some English adventurer who visited
his court introduced to his notice the diversion of a race by
old women in sacks. The Vizier was enchanted with this
new pleasure, and exclaimed, that though he had expended a
crore of rupees in procuring amusement, he had never found
anything so much to his taste. The government was" com-
pletely effete, and, but for the protection of the English
battalions, the country would long since have been absorbed
by Sindia. Sir John Shore, before he resigned the govern-
ment, paid a visit to the Nabob at Lucknow, and prevailed
on him to appoint Tufuzzil Hussein, his minister. He had
been his master's representative in Calcutta, and had obtained
the entire confidence of Sir John Shore by the simplicity of
his character, his unblemished integrity, and his great abilities.
In his various interviews with the Vizier, Sir John endeavoured
to inculcate on him the necessity of endeavouring to promote
the prosperity of the country and the happiness of his people;
but he found that such questions had never come within the
G8 VIZIER ALI MADE NABOB. [CHAP.
scope of his imagination. Whatever favourable impression
the Governor-General might produce in the morning, was
completely effaced in the evening, when the Vizier was again
closeted with his buffoons and parasites, or stupified with opium.
After a residence of six weeks at Lucknow, Sir John returned
to Calcutta, and the Nabob, worn out with excesses, died in
the course of the year.
vizier AH, The succession of his reputed son, Vizier Ali,
Nabob, 1797. was ra tifi e d by Sir John Shore on the ground that
the old Nabob had acknowledged his title, that the Nabob's
mother had given it her sanction, and that it was generally ac-
quiesced in by the people. But he subsequently received
information of his spurious birth and violent character, and,
from that feeling of conscientiousness which had always guided
his conduct, proceeded to Lucknow to investigate the case.
Before he reached it, he was met by the minister, Tufuzzil
Hussein, who assured him that Vizier Ali was not even the il-
legitimate son of the late Vizier, but the offspring of a man of
the lowest caste ; that his elevation had created astonishment
and disgust, and that the succession belonged of right to
Sadut Ali, the. brother of the late prince. The province of
Oude was considered by the people of Hindostan to stand in
a position altogether different from that of any other princi-
pality in India. In 1764 it had been conquered by the
British arms, and forfeited by the laws of eastern warfare.
It was 1 afterwards voluntarily restored to the family of the
Vizier by Lord Olive, and was ever after considered a de-
pendency of the British Government, and the appointment of
its Nabobs was held to rest on the will of the Governor-
General. Sir John felt the full responsibility of his situation,
and was most anxious to do justice. He consulted all those
who were likely to give impartial testimony, and he found
the statement of the minister regarding the ignoble birth of
Vizier Ali fully confirmed. He learned, likewise, that since
his elevation he had exhibited great violence and unsteadiness
of character, and the most hostile designs towards the English
XVIII.] HE IS DEPOSED, AND SAADTJT ALI CHEATED NABOB. ($
Government. Sir John, therefore, came to the conclusion
that it would be injurious to the country, and disgraceful to
the British name to support him, and that, as all the children
of the late Nabob were illegitimate, the throne ought to
descend to his brother.
Arrangement ^hat prince was at the time residing at Benares,
and Sir John Shore deputed Mr. Cherry, the
All 1798
Resident, to announce the intentions of the British
Government to him. He was likewise presented with the
draft of a treaty, which, with some subsequent modifications,
embraced the following provisions : that the defence of the
Oude dominions should remain exclusively with the British
Government ; that the number of British troops stationed in
Oude should consist of 10,000 ; and that the annual payment
for them should be seventy-six lacs of rupees, which was to
vary according to the increase or diminution of the force;
that the fortress of Allahabad, the key of the province which
the English were to defend, should be made over to them ,
that the Nabob should not maintain more than 35,000 troops,
and should enter into no negotiation with any foreign power,
without the consent of the British Government. The treaty
made such arrangements as a superior would dictate to a sub-
ordinate, and fully bore out the impression that Oude was
subject to the Company. During this negotiation, Sir John
was encamped in the immediate neighbourhood of Lucknow,
and exposed to no little peril from Vizier Ali, who was sur-
rounded by bands of desperate men, who openly talked of
his assassination. The city was then supposed to contain
800,000 inhabitants ; the streets were narrow lanes and
intricate passages, capable of being strongly defended, and
every house was filled with armed men. Ibrahim Beg, a
bold and reckless adventurer, commanded the troops of Vizier
Ali, and had 300 pieces of ordnance, of which 30 were so
posted that they could not be seized without great danger.
Sir John Shore was strongly advised by the minister and
the nobles to anticipate the designs of Vizier Ah', and seize
70 SIR JOHN SHORE RETURNS TO ENGLAXD. [CHAP.
him in the city, but he felt that the firing- of a single shot
might lead to the massacre of thousands. In the midst
of these dangers, his escape from which was pronounced
by his successor in the government to be miraculous, he
maintained the utmost calmness and composure, and his con-
duct throughout this transaction exhibited a pattern of courage
and resolution.
SadutAUin- Sadut Ali at length reached Cawnpore, and
stalled, 1798. was escorted from thence to Lucknow, a distance
of 50 miles, by a large British force, and all the embarrass-
ments of Sir John Shore at once terminated. Vizier Ali was
deserted by his servants and followers as Sadut Ali ap-
proached the city, in which he was proclaimed Nabob Vizier
on the 21st of January, 1798. Vizier Ali was removed to
Benares, where he resided some time on his pension of a lac
and a half of rupees a year, cherishing the most inveterate
feelings towards the English Government. The revolution
was hailed by Europeans and natives as an act of justice, and
the general feeling in Oude was that " the right had come to
the rightful." The Court of Directors recorded that "in
circumstances of great delicacy and embarrassment, Sir John
Shore had conducted himself with great temper, ability, and
firmness." Dr. Lawrence, a friend of Mr. Burke's and one of
the managers of the impeachment of Hastings, threatened
Sir John with an indictment for his proceedings in Oude, but
it was never carried into execution; and the impartial voice of
posterity has paid homage to the honesty, the wisdom, and the
vigour manifested by him on this occasion. Immediately
after Saadut Ali had been placed on the throne, Sir John
Shore, who had been created Lord Teignmouth, returned to
Calcutta, and embarked for England on the 25th of March,
1798.
LORD WELLESLEY, GOVERNOR-GENERAL. 71
CHAPTER XIX.
LORD WELLESLEY'S ADMINISTRATION FOURTH AND LAST
MYSORE WAR, 1798, 1799.
Lord weUesiey, g 1R JOHN SHORE was succeeded in the govern-
Generai, 1798, ment of India by Lord Mornington, subsequently
created Marquess of Wellesley, then in his thirty-
eighth year. He was born in Ireland in 1760, and placed at an
early age at Eton, where he became one of its most distin-
guished scholars. On coming of age he took his seat in the Irish
House of Peers, and engaged in the most important debates
of the time. Soon after, he was elected a member of the British
House of Commons, and was brought into communion with the
great men of genius who then adorned the senate, and who
have shed an imperishable lustre on that period of English
history. At the age of twenty-six he was nominated one of
the Lords of the Treasury. In January, 1794, he delivered a
brilliant speech against French jacobinism, which stamped him
as one of the rising men of the day, and was supposed to have
mainly conduced to his Indian appointment. He had likewise
enjoyed the advantage of a seat at the Board of Control for
four years, which gave him a comprehensive knowledge of the
politics of India. He was, moreover, the intimate friend of
Mr. Pitt, the prime minister, and possessed the confidence of
Mr. Dundas, the President of the Board of Control, an asso-
ciation of inestimable value to a Governor-General. He em-
barked for India in November, 1797, and landed at the Cape
in February, 1798, where he found Lord Macartney, who had
been Governor of Madras during the second Mysore War, as
well as Lord Hobart, who had recently been recalled from that
post, and was thus put in possession of their views regarding
British interests in the Deccan. At the Cape he also met with
Major Kirkpatrick, formerly minister at Sindia's court, and
latterly the Resident at Hyderabad, and obtained from him the
II. G
72 EXTINCTION OP THE BALANCE OF POWER. [CHAP.
most important information respecting the strength of the
various native powers, and the objects of their policy. While
Lord Wellesley we anticipate his superior title was de-
tained at the Cape, a vessel from Calcutta touched there, with
the despatches of the Government to the Court of Directors,
which he did not hesitate to open, that he might obtain the
latest intelligence of the actual position of affairs in the em-
pire he was going out to govern. With the information derived
from these various sources, he composed his first despatch
to Mr. Dundas, embodying his own views of the course of
policy which it was advisable to pursue. This letter afforded
the clearest evidence of his extraordinary genius for govern-
ment.
After the humiliation of Tippoo, in 1792, the
Extinction of . . ,
the balance of Indian authorities in London had been encouraged
power, 1798. by Lord c omw allis to believe that the security of
the Company's interests depended on that balance of power
which he had established among the princes of the Deccan,
and which he considered both stable and permanent. But the
first survey which Lord Wellesley was enabled to take of the
country powers convinced him that a greater fallacy had never
been harboured in Leadenhall-street. There never had, in fact,
been, and, considering the policy of the native courts, there
never could be, anything like a real balance of power in India.
With the princes of India, rapine and conquest had been from
time immemorial the only avowed principle ol action. War
was considered the chief source of glory ; it was sanctioned
by the ordinances of religion, both Hindoo and Mahomedan ;
it was prosecuted without any pretext or semblance of justice,
and restrained only by the power of resistance. The Court of
Directors, trusting to this imaginary safeguard, had prohibited
all alliances with the native princes, and all interference in
their affairs. Sir John Shore was determined to carry out
their system with conscientious fidelity ; but, before he had
been eighteen months in office, he saw the whole fabric of the
balance of power crumble to pieces before his eyes. At the
XIX.] CONDITION OP INDIA. 73.
battle of Kurdla, the Peshwa and the other Mahratta princes
completely demolished the power of the Nizam, while Sir John
Shore looked on, and refused him the aid even of the British
battalion which was in his pay. Soon after, the Peshwa was,
in his turn, reduced to extremity by the encroachments of
Sindia, and implored the protection of the Governor-General.
It was refused from a servile deference to the orders of the
Court of Directors, and the power of the Peshwa was reduced
to the same state of prostration as that of the Nizam. The
balance of power in the Deccan was thus irretrievably des-
stroyed. The British Government became the object of de-
rision to the princes of India, who were fain to conclude that
it contained the same elements of decay as all Asiatic so-
vereignties, and that the energy which had raised it to the
summit of power was now exhausted. " Its moon," they said,
"was already in the wane ;" and a brief prolongation of Sir
John Shore's feeble administration would have brought the
British empire in India to the brink of destruction.
state of India, To estimate the ; difficulties of Lord Wellesley's
position on assuming the government, it is only
necessary to glance at the state of the chief native powers.
In the south, Tippoo was brooding over his misfortunes and
thirsting for an opportunity of gratifying his hostility to the
English, the ruling passion of his life. The five years of peace
he had enjoyed were assiduously devoted to the improvement
of his resources. Though deprived by Lord Cornwallis of
half his dominions, he was still able to maintain a formidable
army in a state of the highest efficiency. He had entertained
a body of French officers, and, as the anxiety of Francs to re-
gain her former power in India had revived with the ambition
of the Revolution, he expected material assistance from a
French alliance. The Nizam, finding the assistance of the
British regiment he subsidised denied him by Sir John Shore
in the hour of his utmost need, had increased the strength of
his French battalions, under Raymond, to 14,OuO men and 36
field pieces, and assigned districts yielding eighteen lacs of
G 2
74 LORD WELLESLEY ARRIVES IN CALCUTTA. [CHAP.
rupees for their support. They constituted the only military
force of any importance in his dominions, and were gradually
assuming 1 the authority and tone natural to such a position.
They carried the colours of the French republic, then at war
with England, and wore the cap of liberty on their buttons.
Sindia, who was supreme at Poona, had likewise obtained pos-
session of the person of the emperor at Delhi, and was
strengthened by all the influence still connected with the
Mogul throne. His territory in the Deccan extended to the
banks of the Toombudra, and skirted the frontiers of the
Nizam and the Peshwa, while in the north his possessions
abutted on those of the Company and the Nabob of Oude.
The French battalions raised by De Boigne, he had augmented
to 40,000 men, with 464 guns, and assigned an entire province
for their maintenance. The organization of this force included
all the requirements of war, fortresses, arsenals, founderies,
and depots, and it was in no respects inferior to the British
army in Hindostan. To add to Lord Wellesley's embarrass-
ments, the European officers of the Company were in a state
of complete insubordination, the spirit of the community was
depressed by the visible weakness of the Government, and
public credit was at so low an ebb that it was not possible to
obtain money under twelve per cent. Lord Cornwallis had
bequeathed a surplus revenue of a hundred and eighty-five
lacs of rupees a-year to his successor, but under Sir John
Shore's administration it had dwindled down, year after year,
without any war expenditure, and for the first time in the
history of British India peace had created a deficit.
_ .. ... Lord Wellesley landed in Calcutta on the 17th
The Mauritius _ _ >
proclamation, May, and within three weeks was startled by the
appearance in one of the Calcutta journals of a
proclamation issued by General Malartic, the Governor of the
Mauritius. It stated that two envoys had arrived in the
island from Tippoo Sultan with despatches for the Government
in Paris, proposing an alliance offensive and defensive, and re-
questing a body of troops without delay to assist him in ex-
XIX.] MAURITIUS PROCLAMATION. 75
pelling the English from India, and it invited volunteers to
enrol themselves under the Sultan's colours. The document
was at first deemed spurious, as it was difficult to suppose
that Tippoo would thus publicly proclaim his hostile inten-
tions, and prepare the British Government to defeat them ;
but the receipt of a second copy of it from the Cape dispelled
every doubt. Soon after, it was announced that a French
frigate at the Mauritius had taken on board about a hundred
men, including civil and military officers, and landed them at
Mangalore, on the Malabar coast, after capturing two East-
Indiamen on the route. On reaching the capital, the French
officers organised a Jacobin club under the auspices of the
Sultan, whom they dignified with the title of Citizen Tippoo.
The tree of liberty was planted with due ceremonials, and
surmounted with the cap of equality ; the emblems of royalty
were burned, and the French republic, one and indivisible, was
consecrated on the public parade.
The Coast army Lord Wellesley determined to anticipate the
ordered to ^ designs of Tippoo, and directed General Hams,
' the officiating Governor of Madras, to assemble
the Coast army to march directly on Serin gapatam. At the
same time, he called on the Nizam and the Peshwa, the
signataries of the treaty of Seringapatam, to furnish their
quota of troops in accordance with the 12th article. The
Presidency of Madras was thunderstruck at this daring pro-
ject. General Harris trembled to commit the Government in
so hazardous a conflict, and cautioned the Governor-General
against the error of putting any trust in these dilatory and
timid native allies, the only advantage of enlisting whose
services was to prevent their being transferred to the enemy.
Even the governing spirit of Madras, Mr. Webbe, a young
civilian of thirty-one, of whom the Duke of Wellington, then
General Wellesley, affirmed that he was one of the ablest men
lie ever knew, and, withal, the most honest, was appalled at
such an enterprize. He had a lively dread of the Mysore
power, which had, within memory, annihilated JBaillie's detach-
76 BACKWARDNESS OP MADRAS. [CHAP.
ment, devastated the Carnatic, and burned the suburbs of
Madras. In a very elaborate state paper, he enumerated all
the dangers and disasters which had attended our former wars
with Hyder and Tippoo. In 1791, Lord Cornwallis, he said,
took the field with an army completely equipped, but had failed
to reach Seringapatam. At present, the entire disposable
force of the Presidency did not exceed 8,000 men, and they
were without draft cattle, supplies, or commissariat. Thi&
army, far from being in a condition to march upon the enemy's
capital, was unequal even to the defence of the Company's
territories, if Tippoo should think fit to invade them, which he
would not fail to do when he heard of our preparations. The
treasury, moreover, was bankrupt ; the public debt had in-
creased in eight years from seventeen to fifty lacs of pagodas,
and the twelve per cent, paper was at a discount of five per
cent. On the other hand, Tippoo numbered 60,000 troops, a
large portion of whom consisted of the celebrated Mysore
horse. His infantry was, in part, disciplined by French
officers. He possessed 144 field-pieces, a rocket brigade, a
long train of elephants, and a superb muster of carriage and
draft cattle. Any movement of troops which might give um-
brage to Tippoo could only end in fearful disasters, and in
the impeachment of Lord Wellesley. These representations,
however, instead of deterring him from his purpose, only
served to demonstrate more clearly the imperative necessity
of extricating the affairs of the Company from this perilous
position. If, he^argued, we were not strong enough to repel
the assaults of Tippoo, he was virtually master of the Deccan,
and there could be no real security as long as it depended
simply on the moderation of an inveterate foe. Though con-
strained, therefore, from the weakness of the Madras Presi-
dency, to fold up the idea of striking an immediate blow at
Tippoo's power, he issued peremptory orders for the equipment
of the army, and threatened with his severest displeasure, and
in his most imperious style, those who "presumed to thwart
him, and arrogated to themselves the power of governing the
xix.] LORD WELLESLEY'S VIGOROUS POLICY. 77
empire committed to his charge." Meanwhile, he called on
Tippoo to disavow his embassy to the Mauritius.
The state of affairs at Hyderabad demanded the
Lord Wellesley's
vigorous policy, immediate attention of the Governor- General.
Raymond, who organized the French force of the
Nizam, had died in the spring of the year. His successor,
Piron, who was considered an abler soldier, was animated by
a stronger feeling of Jacobinical hatred to England. Lord
Wellesley felt that in the approaching conflict with Tippoo,
he could not take this body of troops into the field as a part
of the Nizam's contingent, without the hazard of their joining
the Sultan, with whose French officers they were in constant
communication. To leave them behind without a large force
to watch their movements, appeared equally dangerous. The
French force at Hyderabad was, moreover, the nucleus of the
power which France was endeavouring to establish in the
Deccan. The junction of this body with the French troops hi
Mysore, and those in the service of Sindia, might at any time
extinguish the power of the Nizam and the Peshwa, and
enable the French to bring the resources of the Deccan and
of Hindostan to bear on the dominions of the Company. The
extinction of the French army at Hyderabad was, therefore,
an object of the first importance. At this critical juncture,
Lord Wellesley received a letter from Zemaun Shah, announc-
ing his intention to cross the Indus and invade Hindostan,
and demanding the assistance of the English Government to
drive the Mahrattas back into the Deccan. Zemaun Shah
was the grandson of the renowned Ahmed Shah Abdalee,
whose victory at Paniput, forty years before, was still
remembered with a feeling of terror throughout India. The
intrinsic weakness of his power had not then been discovered,
and another Abdalee invasion could not be contemplated
without alarm. Lord Wellesley was thus menaced with
dangers in every direction, but he never feared the bugbear of
responsibility, and he determined to carry out the plans he
had formed for the protection of the empire, without waiting
78 PROPOSED ALLIANCE WITH THE NIZAM [CHAP.
for the sanction of the Court of Directors or the Board of
Control. He found that the Company had not augmented their
security, by curtailing- their influence, but had drifted into a
position where it was less perilous to advance than to stand
still or to recede. He resolved at once to terminate that policy
of isolation which had been erroneously considered the safe-
guard of British power, and to abandon the system of non-
interference which was held sacred in Leadenhall-street.
"Within three months after he had taken his seat at the
Council board, active negotiations were commenced through
the country ; every durbar from Cape Comorin to the banks
of the Jumna was electrified by the revival of that energy
which was supposed to be extinct, and the princes of India
soon felt that the spirit of Clive and of Hastings again
animated the Government of Calcutta.
Lord Wellesley's first negotiation was with the
Proposed alii- *
ance with the court of Hyderabad. The minister, Musheer-ool-
Nizam, i/98. jnyoii^ more commonly designated Meer Allum,
fell into the hands of the Mahrattas at the battle of Kurdla,
and was kept in confinement, in order to deprive his master of
the benefit of his great abilities. He had recently obtained his
liberty, and resumed the management of the Nizam's affairs.
Alarmed at the ascendency which the French officers had
acquired during his captivity, and disgusted at their arrogance,
he had resumed the lands allotted for their maintenance, and
had repeatedly proposed to the Company's Resident that an
English subsidiary force should be substituted for the French
battalions. The proposal was refused by Sir John Shore, but
Lord Wellesley now eagerly embraced it, and offered to
augment the corps of British troops in the Nizam's pay to
6,000, with a proper complement of artillery, on condition that
a provision of twenty-four lacs of rupees a-year should be
made for their support, and that the French force should be
promptly disbanded. He likewise offered his mediation on all
matters in dispute with the Peshwa, and engaged to protect
the state from his unjust claims. The Nizam, then in his
XIX.] AND WITH THE PESHWA. 79
sixty-fifth year, more feeble in body and in mind than his
illustrious father at the age of a hundred, manifested consider-
able repugnance to so close an alliance with a power which,
since he ascended the throne, had risen to be the most formid-
able in India. The minister himself was not insensible of the
danger which might be incurred by this connection ; but he
argued that the Hyderabad state was utterly defenceless, and
that it was more advisable to be dependent on a power dis-
tinguished by good faith than to remain exposed to the
ambitious views of Tippoo on the one hand, and the insatiable
rapacity of the Mahrattas on the other. The influence of the
minister was paramount, and the reluctant consent of the
Nizam was at length obtained to the treaty.
Proposal to the The proposal of a similar alliance was likewise
Peshwa, 1798. ma( j e to the Peshwa, Bajee Rao. In the preced-
ing year, he had solicited the aid of a British force to protect
him from the designs of Sindia, who had fixed his head-
quarters near Poona, but Sir John Shore, in deference to the
policy then in the ascendant at the India House, had refused
to comply with his wishes, and the opportunity of establishing
an influence at the Mahratta court was lost. Bajee Eao
then entered into negotiations with the Nizam, and con-
cluded an alliance with him, ceding territory valued at
eight lacs of rupees a-year, as the price of his assistance
against Sindia. Sindia avenged himself by despatching
envoys to Tippoo, to invite him to attack the Nizam, and
by releasing the great minister, Nana Furnuvese, whom the
Peshwa feared as much as he detested. On the Nana's
arrival at Poona, a strong feeling of mistrust of the Peshwa
led him to decline all connection with public affairs. The
Peshwa, therefore, repaired to his residence ia the dead of
night, with only a single domestic, and employed all those
insinuating arts of which he was so perfect a master, laid his
head at the feet of the Nana, swore to consider him in future
as his father and his counsellor, and, in a flood of teara, con-
jured him not to abandon the brahmin sovereignty, but to
80 THE PESHWA DECLINES IT. [CHAP.
assume the office of minister. The appeal was successful;
but the Nana had no sooner entered on his duties, than the
Peshwa began to plot his destruction, and urged Sindia to
place him again in confinement. The minister discovered the
intrigue, and repairing to the palace, upbraided Bajee Rao
with his unparalleled treachery, and begged him to cease
plotting against the liberty and life of an old man, but to
allow him to retire into obscurity. The Peshwa protested his
innocence, threw the blame on his officers, and persuaded the
Nana to resume his post. It was at this period that the
Resident brought forward the proposition which he was
instructed by Lord Wellesley to make, of a subsidiary alliance
to liberate the Peshwa from the thraldom of Sindia. It pro-
vided that a large British force should be received into the
s'ervice of the Peshwa, and due arrangements made for their
support ; that the French should be for ever excluded from
his dominions ; and that all differences with the Nizam and
Sindia should be submitted to the arbitration of the British
Government. It has been supposed that the eagerness mani-
fested on this occasion by the Governor- General tended to
defeat his object. But Bajee Rao had no desire for the final
settlement of such claims, which had been the source of
Mahratta greatness, and which it was the national policy
never to close. The alliance proposed by Lord Wellesley was
designated by him >a restoration of the Peshwa to his due
authority and power, but he and the other princes to whom
the offer was made were too astute not to perceive that it
involved the complete extinction of their political independence
and of their military power. The Peshwa would, it is true, have
been relieved from the domination of Sindia, but it would only
have been a change of collars, the substitution of one which
he could never shake off, for another which, however galling,
might yet be temporary. It is not surprising that princes
with whom independence had a charm, the value of which was
often enhanced by its risks, should have been loth to part
with it. The Peshwa, therefore, acting upon the advice of
XIX.] PROPOSALS TO SINDIA AND NAGPORK. 81
Nana Furnuvese, evaded the proposal of an alliance, but
assured the Eesident that he would faithfully observe the
engagements of the triple alliance. A large Mahratta force
was ostensibly ordered to assemble and join the expedition
which the Governor-General was fitting out against Tippoo,
but it was never intended to act, and the Mahrattas took no
part in the campaign.
- T .. .. While these negotiations were in progress at
Negotiations *
with smdia and Poona, Colonel Collins, the Resident at the court
of Sindia, was instructed to lay before him the
letter of Zemaun Shah, requesting the co-operation of the
British Government in driving the Mahrattas from Hindo-
stan, liberating the emperor from bondage, and restoring him
to the throne. The Resident was instructed to assure Sindia
that the Governor-General was determined to resist this
attempt to disturb the established states of India in their
actual possessions, and to invite him to unite in a defensive
league against the Abdalee. Sindia was also urged to quit
Poona and return to Hindostan, where he would find an
English army ready to join him. He declined the alliance, but
promised to proceed to his own provinces in the north, a
promise he did not intend to fulfil. The raja of Nagpore had
maintained a friendly disposition towards the Company, and
Mr. Colebrooke, the most eminent Oriental scholar of the day,
was sent to his court to improve it, but the raja refused to
entangle himself with an alliance.
Extinction of To give effect to the subsidiary treaty with the
the French Ni za m, f our Madras regiments, with proportionate
force at Hydera- ' f f
bad, 1798. artillery, were ordered to march to Hyderabad, but
the Madras treasury was so empty, that the Governor was
obliged to raise funds for their equipment on his own
personal responsibility. They reached Hyderabad on the 10th
October, but the difficulties of the transaction were not past.
Every artifice and intrigue was employed for nine days to evade
the performance of the treaty and the dismissal of the French
corps. The vacillation of the Nizam and his minister arose,
82 EXTINCTION OF THE FRENCH AT HYDERABAD. [CHAP.
not only from the dread of a collision between the two forces,
English ^and French, but also from a feeling of reluctance at
the last moment to descend to a state of helpless and irre-
trievable dependence on a superior power. The Nizam, under
the influence of personal terror, took refuge in the neigh-
bouring fortress of Golconda. The British Resident, Captain
Kirkpatrick, was obliged to assume a high tone, and to assure
the minister that it was now too late to recede, and that the
Nizam would be held responsible for the consequences of this
breach of faith. Colonel Roberts, who commanded the British
force, was anxious to bring the question to an issue before the
arrival of the Nizam's household cavalry, who were known
to be friendly to the French interests, and had been ordered up
from the country. The minister was at length convinced that
there was more danger in evading than in performing the
engagement his master had entered into, and a proclamation
was issued dismissing the French officers from the service,
and releasing the sepoys from the obligation of obedience to
them. Both officers and men were thrown into a state of
confusion and dismay by this unexpected announcement. The
British force was moved into a position which completely com-
manded the French encampment, and from which, if necessary,
the French storehouses and magazines could be set on fire by red
hot shot. The French commandant, Mons. Piron, on receiving
his dismissal from the Nizam, sent a messenger to inform Captain
Kirkpatrick that he and his officers were ready to place them-
selves under British protection, and expected to be treated
according to the usages of civilised nations. But the men, to
whom considerable arrears were due, rose in a body on their
officers and placed them in confinement, and it was not with-
out great difficulty they succeeded in escaping during the night
to the English camp. Captain Malcolm, a young officer of
great spirit and ambition, then rising to notice, was sent to
quell the excitement of the native troops, and to offer them
the payment of their arrears. By his great tact in the manage-
ment of natives, he prevailed on them to accept these terms,
XIX.] BONAPARTE LANDS IN EGYPT. 83
and before the evening this large body of 14,000 disciplined
troops, possessed of a powerful train of artillery and well-
stored arsenals, was disarmed without the loss of a single life.
This great achievement, the foremost of the new administra-
tion, filled the native princes, who were calculating on the down-
fall of the Company's power, with amazement, while it gave
fresh confidence to their native subjects. The ability with which
it was planned, and the promptitude with which it was executed,
removed all cause of anxiety from the minds of the European
functionaries of government at all the Presidencies, and
created a spirit of confidence and devotion, which contributed
essentially to the success of the Governor-General's plans.
While Lord Wellesley was engaged in pre-
Mysore War . J
sanctioned in parations for war, he was so happy as to receive
England, 1798. a degpatcn from the Court of j)i rec tors, written on
the receipt of the Mauritius proclamation. The dread of the
Mysore power, which they had thrice encountered in thirty
years, still haunted their imaginations, and they began to
tremble anew for the security of their possessions in the
Deccan. They stated that if Tippoo had actually entered
into a league with France, it would be neither politic nor
prudent to wait till he commenced hostilities, but they also-
enjoined the utmost discretion in resorting to arms. Mr.
Dundas considered that this breach of faith fully warranted a
declaration of war, and Lord Wellesley was thus enabled to
commence the campaign with the full concurrence of the
authorities in England. On the 18th October he received
intelligence that Bonaparte had landed in Egypt with the
object of establishing a French empire in the East, and two-
days after issued orders to Madras to press forward the
organisation of the army in every department, and to send
the battering train and heavy stores to the frontier without
delay. He likewise announced his intention to strengthen
the Coast army with 3,000 volunteer sepoys, and, above all,
with His Majesty's 33rd Regiment, commanded by Colonel
Wellesley, afterwards the Duke of Wellington, in himself a
84 CORRESPONDENCE WITH TIPPOO. [CHAP.
host. On the 8th of November, intelligence of
First letter to
Tippoo, Novem- the complete success ot the movement tor the
t>er 8, 1798. suppression of the French force at Hyderabad,
reached Calcutta, and Lord Wellesley despatched his first
communication to Tippoo Sultan. The British Government,
he said, could not be ignorant of the intercourse he had
formed with the French, the inveterate enemies of the Com-
pany, and then actually at war with England ; and he was
cautioned against a connection which "must subvert the
foundations of friendship between him and the Company, and
introduce into the heart of his kingdom the principles of
anarchy and confusion." The Governor-General had, con-
sequently, been obliged to adopt measures of precaution and
defence, though he was anxious to live in peace and amity
with all his neighbours. He was, however, desirous of pro-
pounding a plan which would remove all distrust and suspicion,
and establish a good understanding between the Company
and the Sultan, on the most stable foundations ; and he pro-
posed to depute Major Doveton for this purpose to his durbar.
Lord Wellesley likewise resolved to proceed to Madras in
person to obviate the delay inseparable from a distant corre-
spondence, and to bring the authority of the Supreme Govern-
ment to bear upon the military preparations. Sir Alured
Clarke, the Commander-in-chief, was to be left in Bengal to
watch the movements of Zemaun Shah, who had already
crossed the Indus and reached Lahore. The Calcutta militia,
an old institution which had fallen into disuse, was embodied
to the number of 1,500. Lord Wellesley then embarked for
Madras, which he reached on the last day of the year, and
assumed the control of all the political and military arrange-
ments, leaving the local administration undisturbed in the
hands of the Governor.
Lord Wellesley found Tippoo's reply to his letter
at Madras. With regard to the embassy, the
ley and Tippoo, g u itan observed that the agents of a mercantile
1799.
tribe, who had purchased a two-masted vessel,
XIX.] TEPPOO'S EVASIVE REPLIES. 85
happened to go with a cargo to the Mauritius, and forty per-
sons, French, and of a dark colour, ten or twelve of whom
were artificers and the rest servants, had embarked in her for
Mysore in searcli of employment. Some of these had entered
his service, and the others had left the country. The French,
" who were full of vice and deceit, had perhaps taken advan-
tage of the departure of the ship to put about reports, with
the view to ruffle the minds of both Sircars." The proposed
conference with Major Doveton he evaded, under the pretence
that " the treaties and engagements entered into among the
four Sircars " the English, the Nizam, the Peshwa, and him-
self " were so firmly established and confirmed, as ever to
remain fixed and durable, and be an example to the rulers of
the age. No means more effectual than these could be adopted
to give stability to the foundations of friendship and harmony."
To this letter Lord Wellesley replied on the 9th of January,
giving a full detail of all the transactions by which Tippoo
had violated the treaties subsisting between him and the
Company, and manifested the hostility of his designs. He
stated that the new engagements which the Sultan had
entered into with the common enemy, necessarily demanded
new arrangements on the part of the allies. He solemnly
admonished him to assent to the conciliatory mission of
Major Doveton, and warned him of the dangerous conse-
quences of delay in arduous affairs, entreating him not to post-
pone his reply for more than one day after the letter should
reach his presence. Before the arrival of this communication,
Tippoo had again written to the Governor-General to lull him
into security, assuring him that " the sincerity of his friend-
ship and regard, together with proofs of his solicitude for
tranquillity and peace (his friendly heart being bent on their
increase) had been made apparent." At the time when this
letter was written, he was despatching Dubuc, one of his
French officers, through the Danish settlement of Tranquebar,
to the Executive Directoiy at Paris, to solicit the aid of 10,000
or 15,000 troops, who were to be maintained at his expense,
86 LORD WELLESLEY'S PREPARATIONS FOR AVAR. [CHAP.
and employed in expelling the English from India. He was
likewise inviting Zemaun Shah to cross the Indus, and join him
in prosecuting " a holy war against the infidels, polytheists,
and heretics." " Please God," he said, " the English shall
become food for the unrelenting sword of the pious warriors."
Lord Wellesley's letter of the 9th January appears to have
given him the first clear monition of the danger which he had
incurred by his negotiations with the French, and his first
impulse was to receive the mission of Major Dovetou, and
throw himself on the consideration of the Governor-General.
The letter addressed to him by Bonaparte, from Egypt, stating
" that he had arrived on the borders of the Red Sea, with an
innumerable and invincible army, full of the desire of delivering
him from the iron yoke of England," had not as yet reached
him ; but his French officers assured him that the army of
Bonaparte must already have embarked for India, and might
be daily expected. After many days of alternate hope and
fear, he forwarded his reply with this significant expression :
" Being frequently disposed to make excursions and hunt, I
am, accordingly, proceeding on a hunting excursion. You
will be pleased to despatch Major Doveton, slightly attended
(or unattended)."
strength and But Tippoo had miscalculated the character of
Britisher the man he had now to deal with, and the length
1799. to which he might venture to procrastinate.
Lord Wellesley had determined to bring the war to a close
in a single campaign, by one vigorous and decisive blow
at the capital. Seringapatam was the great object of Tippoo's
pride, the centre of his power, his principal granary, and his
only arsenal, on the preservation of which he considered the
fate of Ms kingdom to depend. Unlike any other fort in
India, it was impregnable from June to November, owing
to the rise of the Cavery around the island on which it was
erected. Unless, therefore, it could be reduced before the
rains set in, the campaign must prove abortive, and the intol-
erable expense of a second season of military operations must
XIX.] STRENGTH OF THE BRITISH ARMY. 87
be incurred. As the year advanced, every moment became
increasingly important, and Lord Wellesley, after waiting in
vain for the early reply he had solicited from Tippoo, on the
3rd February ordered the army to break ground. In reply to
the cold and ungracious letter of the Sultan, when it arrived,
lie expressed regret that his earnest representations of the
dangers of delay had not been heeded. The mission of Major
Doveton, he said, was no longer expedient ; but General Harris,
who was advancing at the head of an army into Mysore, would
be prepared to receive any embassy Tippoo might think fit to
send. The army which was now about to take the field was
considered the best appointed, and the most perfect in point
of equipment and discipline which had ever been collected in
India under the British standard. Only six months before,
the Madras functionaries had declared that it would be im-
possible to assemble a force of more than 8,000 men, which
would be scarcely equal to the defence of the Carnatic, if it were
invaded by the Sultan. But the commanding energy of Lord
Wellesley,- seconded by the indefatigable exertions of his
brother, Colonel Wellesley, and of the son of the great Clive,
now Governor of Madras, had called into existence an army of
20,802 men, of whom 6,000 were Europeans, with a battering
train of 40 guns and 64 field-pieces and howitzers. To this
number was added 10,000 of the Nizam's cavalry and the
Hyderabad subsidiary force, which included 3,600 of Raymond's
disciplined sepoys, and made up another body of 10,000 foot,
under the direction of European officers, and commanded by
Colonel Wellesley and Captain Malcolm. It thus became an
efficient auxiliary, instead of the dead weight it had proved
during the campaign of Lord Cornwallis. The army was for-
tunate in its superior officers, all of whom, with one exception,
enjoyed the advantage of the experience acquired in the pre-
vious Mysore war ; while General Han-is, the General-in-chief,
was personally acquainted with all the localities on the route.
Lord Wellcsley possessed in an eminent degree two of the
greatest qualifications for command, great discernment in the
n. H
88 TIPPOO MARCHES TO THE WESTERN COAST. [CHAP.
selection of his instruments, and the wisdom of reposing un-
reserved confidence in them ; and never were these talents
more distinctly exhibited than on the present occasion, by
the accordance of unfettered authority to General Harris, and
the able officers associated with him. The Bombay division of
6,420 troops was assembled under General Stuart at Canna-
nore, on the Malabar coast, to advance simultaneously on the
capital.
Tippoo marches Tippoo, who had made several marches to the
to the western eastward to meet Major Doveton, at length assem-
bled his chief officers, and expressed his vexation
that while the English were closing on him from the east and
the west he was losing invaluable time, and pointed out the
necessity of " marching, and striking some decisive blow."
He determined, therefore, to leave Poornea and Syud Sahib
with a sufficient force to watch the movements of General
Harris, and to march in person with the flower of his army
across the peninsula and engage the army of General Stuart,
whose advanced post was then at Seedasere. It was diligently
propagated throughout the country that Tippoo was proceed-
ing against General Harris, and nothing was so little expected
by the Bombay army as his appearance in its neighbourhood.
On the morning of the 5th March, however, the raja of
Coorg, a gallant prince, the grateful ally of the Company, and
the mortal enemy of the family of Hyder, who had always
oppressed him, ascended the hill of Seedasere, and to his
amazement beheld the plain below covered with Tippoo's en-
campment. Preparations were immediately made to meet
the attack of the enemy by General Hartley, the second in
command, a name of ancient and high renown on that coast.
On the morning of the 6th the advanced brigade was vigor-
ously assailed by the Sultan's entire force, and three battalions
under the gallant Colonel Montresor sustained the assault for
six hours with such cool and determined bravery, that the
utmost efforts of Tippoo's best officers and troops could make
no impression on their ranks. General Stuart, who was ten
XIX.] BATTLE OF MALAVELLT. 89
miles in the rear, hastened to their assistance, and found them
exhausted with fatigue and reduced to their last cartridge.
His timely arrival decided the fortune of the day. Within
half an hour Tippoo's army retreated through the wood with
the loss of 2,000 men. He continued for six days to linger in
the vicinity in a state of great perplexity, and on the llth
March turned his back on the Bombay force, and marched to
oppose the advance of General Harris.
Pro ess of General Harris reached Bangalore on the 15th
General Harris, March, with the heavy charge of conveying the
vast and cumbrous equipage for the siege in
safety to its destination. Of the three routes which led
from Bangalore to Seringapatam he had chosen the most
southern. It presented many points where a bold and
skilful enemy might have seriously obstructed his progress,
more especially on the banks of the Madoor, which
afforded an excellent position for opposing the passage of an
army. But, throughout the campaign, the Sultan appeared to
be bewildered, if not infatuated ; and, in direct opposition to
the advice of his own most experienced officers, and of his
French commandant, he fixed upon Malavelly as the field for
encountering the English force. The battle, in which Colonel
W'ellesley particularly distinguished himself, terminated in
the complete discomfiture of Tippoo, with the loss of 1,000
men. After the defeat he moved his encampment in a north-
ern direction, not doubting that General Harris would adopt
the route to Seringapatam which had been taken in the pre-
vious war by Lord Cornwallis. It had therefore been laid
waste under his own inspection, and not a particle of dry
forage or a pile of grass was left unconsumed. But the
chief of the guide corps, Major Allen, whose exertions con-
tributed pre-eminently to the success of the campaign, and
Captain Macaulay, were sent southward to examine the road
which led to the Cavery, twelve miles distant; and they
returned at midnight with the report that it presented a fine
and open tract of country, and that the ford at Sosilla afforded
H 2
90 BRITISH ARMY ARRIVES AT SERINGAPATAM. [CHAP.
every facility for the passage of an army. The next morning 1
the whole force marched down with all promptitude, and before
nightfall one wing was across the river, while Tippoo was
twenty miles distant, in an opposite direction, waiting to
oppose General Harris's progress towards the capital. The
happy choice of this route gave the famished cattle an abund-
ance of rich pasturage ; it facilitated the junction of the Bom-
bay army, and it rendered abortive the dispositions which
Tippoo had made for defending the northern face of Serin-
gapatam. Nothing could exceed his dismay and rage when
he found all his plans frustrated by this admirable strategy.
He summoned his principal officers, and said, " We have now
arrived at our last stage ; what is your determination?"
" To die with you," was their unanimous reply. Every one
present was deeply affected at the distress of his sovereign,
who was bathed in tears, and the meeting broke up with the
firm resolution to make one last and desperate effort for the
defence of the capital and the kingdom, with no alternative
but victory or death.
No farther opposition was made to the progress
The Army before r
Seringapatam, of the British army, the advanced post of which
April eth, 1799. wag esta blished within 1,600 yards of the fort OH
the 6th April. This direct march on the capital with a heavy
siege train, through a hundred and fifty miles of the enemy's
territory, without establishing a single intermediate post, was
in accordance with that daring spirit which had won our
dominion in India, and which, when conducted by such men as
Harris, and Baird, and Wellesley, and Malcolm, could scarcely
be considered rash ; but it was not effected without the greatest
risks. If Tippoo's resources had been directed with any
degree of ability, this attempt to reach the capital, with an
unwieldy convoy, might have ended in disaster. Though
extraordinary efforts had been made to perfect the equipment
of the force, and the number of cattle provided for its use
exceeded 60,000, not including a countless multitude of
brinjarees and provision dealers, the army had no sooner begun
XIX.] PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE. 91
to move than it experienced the same kind of embarrassments
which had defeated Lord Cornwallis's first expedition in 1791.
On the third day of the march, every store which could possibly
be dispensed with was destroyed to increase the available
carriage. As the army advanced, the loss of powder and shot
and other military stores, from the failure of the cattle, created
very serious alarm. This was attributed to the climate and
water of Mysore, which were said to be unfavourable to the
cattle of the Carnatic. It was owing to these impediments
that the army was only able to advance at the rate of five
miles a-day, when every hour was of increasing importance.
Two days after the Bombay division had effected a junction
with General Harris, it was found, on weighing the rice bags,
that the stock was mysteriously diminished such mysteries
are by no means uncommon in the commissariat department
and there remained only eighteen days' consumption, even for
the combatants. It was evident that unless the supplies which
Colonel Read was then employed in collecting in the southern
districts could reach the camp before the 6th of May, it
would be reduced to a state of starvation. General Floyd
was therefore despatched with a large force to convoy them.
Progress of the For any details of the siege, which may be
! ie ^. 1 w thApril considered as having commenced on the 17th of
to 4th May,
1799. April, we cannot find room. It was pushed on with
such vigour that the Sultan was induced, within three days,
to make proposals for a conference. General Harris, in his
reply, dwelt on the repeated efforts made by Lord Wellesley
to avert the war by negotiations, and informed him that the
only conditions on which he was now authorised to treat,
were, the cession of half his dominions, the payment of two
crores of rupees in two instalments, and the delivery of four
of his sons, and four of his chief officers, as hostages. The
Sultan, who still appeared to have no just conception of his
danger, raved at what he termed the arrogance and tyranny
of the proposition, and did not deign to return any reply to
it. " Better," he exclaimed, " to die like a soldier, than to
92 CAPTURE OF SERINGAPATAM. [CHAP.
live a miserable dependant on the infidels, and to be placed
in the roll of their pensioned rajas and nabobs." Yet,
throughout the siege, he exhibited none of that mental or
physical energy which was to have been expected of him,
and, instead of making due preparations for the impending
assault, busied himself in consultation with his astrologers.
On the 3rd of May it was reported that there were provisions
only for two days left in the English camp : but it was like-
wise reported that the breach was practicable, and it was
determined at once to bring the contest to an issue. The
troops destined for the storm, 4,376 in number, took up their
appointed stations in the trenches the next morning. General
Baird, a gallant and distinguished officer, who had been for
four years confined in irons in a dungeon in Seringapatam, was
very appropriately selected to lead the assault. Tippoo, who
directed all the operations of the defence himself, had discarded
the advice of his most experienced officers, and surrounded
himself with boys and parasites, who flattered his vanity.
They assured him that the attack would not be made before the
evening, and he had just sat down to his mid-day meal, when
intelligence was brought him that it had already begun. After
a few moments of silent and awful expectation in the trenches,
General Baird ascended the parapet at one o'clock, and exhibited
his noble military figure to the view of both forces, and then,
drawing his sword, desired his men " to follow him, and show
themselves worthy of the name of British soldiers." A small
and resolute band of Tippoo's troops met the forlorn hope on the
slope of the breach, and the greater portion on either side fell
in the desperate struggle, but within seven minutes after the
soldiers emerged from the trenches, the British ensign was
floating over the breach. The works, however, were defended
with great valour, and the carnage was terrific at the rampart
where the Sultan had taken his station, and was animating
his troops. The two columns of assailants, which after
storming the breach, had wheeled to the right and left, were
gradually gaining ground ; the Mysore sepoys borne down by
XIX.] DEATH OF TIPPOO SULTAN. 93
them, at length lost confidence, and every avenue was choked up
with fugitives.
Death and in- The column commanded by General Baird at
Tippocf^sth l en gth made its way to the front of the palace,
May, 1798. and Major Allen climbed over an unfinished wall
with a flag- of trace, and was conducted to an apartment
where two of Tippoo's sons were surrounded by officers and
attendants in a state of the deepest consternation. The
Major gave them and their adherents the assurance of com-
plete safety, and endeavoured to convince then! that the only
chance of saving the life of their father was his immediate
surrender ; but they declared most solemnly that he was not
in the palace. He then requested that the outer gate should
be opened to prevent its being forced by the victorious soldiers,
to which they at length consented, but not without great
hesitation. In front of it Major Allen found General Baird
with a large body of European troops, who had just learned
that on the preceding night Tippoo caused twelve of their
comrades who had fallen into his hands to be murdered in
<;old blood, and they were frantic to avenge them. The
General, however, succeeded in preventing their entrance
into the palace, where no life would have been sacred, and
he requested that the young princes should be brought out to
him. They were received with great humanity and kindness,
and conveyed with suitable honours to the presence of the
General-in-chief . General Baird now proceeded to search the
palace for the Sultan, when the commandant offered to point
out the place where he was said to be lying, though, as he
had heard, only wounded. He accompanied the General to
the gateway which had been the great scene of conflict and
carnage, and which presented a ghastly spectacle. It was
already night, and the bodies lay heaped in masses on each
other ; they were separately drawn out and examined by the
light of torches. One man alone, the personal attendant of
the Sultan, was found alive, and he pointed out the spot
where the body of his master lay. It was immediately recog-
94 CHARACTER OF TIPPOO. [CHAP.
nised by the native commandant, and conveyed to the palace.
It appeared, on enquiry, that Tippoo had received three
wounds in succession, and was then placed by his faithful
attendants in his palankeen, but the spot soon became so
blocked up with dead and dying combatants that it was found
impossible to remove it. Tippoo then appears to have crept
out, when a European soldier, entering the gateway", endea-
voured to snatch his brilliant sword-belt. Though fainting
from loss of blood, the Sultan grasped a sword which lay near
him, and aimed a blow at the soldier, who immediately lodged
a ball in his temples, and deprived him of life. His remains
were conveyed through the city, and the inhabitants crowded
the streets and prostrated themselves before the bier of their
late sovereign. He was interred in the superb mausoleum of
the family, by the side of his father, with all the imposing-
rites of Mahomedan sepulture, and the honours of an European,
military funeral.
Character of Thus, in the space of a few hours, fell the
Tippoo, 1799. capital of Mysore, though garrisoned by 20,000
troops, defended by 287 pieces of ordnance, and provided with
well-stored arsenals and every munition of war. It was the
opinion of Lord Wellesley and of the best military authorities
around him, that with a thousand French troops well com-
manded, Seringapatain, through the strength of its fortifica-
tions and the difficulties of approach, would have been im-
pregnable. With the capital fell the dynasty of Hyder, after
a career of thirty-eight years. Tippoo, who was forty-six at
the time of his death, possessed none of his father's abilities,
either for war or for peace ; he exhibited neither the same
moderation in prosperity, nor the same equanimity in adversity.
In the opinion of the Mysoreans, the one was born to create
an empire, and the other to lose it. Tippoo died bravely in
the defence of his throne, but it was the death of a soldier, not
of a general or a sovereign. He was distinguished by bigotry
and intolerance, and was the only Mahomedan sovereign since
Aurungzebe who determined to propagate his creed by perse-
XIX.] REMARKS ON THESE TRANSACTIONS. 95
cution. Both father and son exhibited for thirty years the
same rancorous hatred of the English, and it was a dread of
their projects throughout this period which mainly influenced
the policy of the Company's Government. The animosity of
Hyder was occasioned by the follies of the Madras council ;
that of Tippoo sprung from his natural malevolence. The
expulsion of the English from India was the ruling passion of
his life, and to accomplish this object he intrigued in every
durbar in India, and sent his emissaries to Cabul and Paris.
Remarks on the ^ or na ^ a cen tury the Deccan had been the
transactions of source of constant anxiety to the Court of Direc-
tors, and the theatre of perpetual warfare. The
safety of the British possessions had always been precarious,
even in the intervals of peace. Lord Wellesley terminated this
state of insecurity. Within a twelvemonth after landing in
Calcutta he extinguished the French party and influence at
Hyderabad, and made all the Nizam's resources subservient to
British interests ; he annihilated the kingdom of Mysore, and
he established the Company's authority from Cape Comorin
to the Kistna on so solid a basis that it has never since been
interrupted. The capture of Seringapatam, an event second
in importance only to the battle of Plassy, resounded through
the whole continent, and the sudden and complete extinction
of one of the substantive powers of India, struck terror into
the hearts of its princes, and exalted the prestige of the British
Government. But these advantages were not obtained with
out the violation of those solemn injunctions which the wisdom
or the fears of Parliament, the Ministry, and the East India
Company, had issued to restrain the growth of the British
empire in India. " I suppose," said Lord Wellesley, in writing
to Mr. Pitt on the subject of these transactions, " You will
either hang me or magnificently honour me for my deeds. In
either case I shall be gratified ; for an English gallows is better
than an Indian throne." He was magnificently honoured, by
the King with a step in the peerage, by the Parliament with
its thanks.
96 CREATION OF A NEW MYSORE DYNASTT. [CHAP.
Creation of a Lord Wellesley entertained no views of territorial
new Mysore aggrandisement when he entered upon the war
with Tippoo, but the issue of it had placed the
whole of his dominions at the absolute disposal of the Company,
and the right of conquest was exercised with great wisdom
and moderation. Lord Wellesley, who acted in this matter
exclusively on his own judgment, without consulting his ally
the Nizam, felt that the appropriation of the whole territory to
the Company would have raised a flame of discontent at Hy-
derabad and Poona, which it might have cost another war to
quench. To have divided it equally between the Nizam and
the Company would have inflamed the jealousy of the
Mahrattas, and enlarged the territories of a prince who was
incompetent for the management of those he already possessed.
To have given the Peshwa a proportionate share of the con-
quered districts when he had not participated either in the
expense or the risk of the war, would have been an act of
inconsistency, and it would, moreover, have imprudently
strengthened a power of very doubtful fidelity. Lord Welles-
ley, therefore, determined to make over a portion of the terri-
tory to the ancient dynasty of Mysore, whom Tippoo had
reduced to a state of abject poverty and humiliation. The
family had passed out of all recollection in the country, which
rendered the act the more generous. A child of five years of
age the present rajah was drawn from obscurity and placed
upon the throne, to which districts yielding fourteen lacs of
pagodas a-year were attached. It was intended that the new
state should be essentially native in its character and admini-
stration, and the brahmin Poornea, who, although a Hindoo,
had been for a quarter of a century the most efficient of the
ministers of Hyder and Tippoo, and was the model of an Indian
statesman, was appointed to the chief control of affairs, while
Colonel Close acted as the representative of the British Go-
vernment. The military force, for the maintenance of which
the sum of seven lacs of pagodas were appropriated, was to be
disciplined and commanded by British officers. The Company
XIX.] DIVISION OF THE MYSORE TERRITORY. 97
was, moreover, at liberty to take over the entire management
of the state, or of any portion of it, if the mal-administration
of the raja should endanger the subsidy. Though Lord Wel-
lesley deemed it expedient to associate the Nizam with the
Company in the preliminary convention for the disposal of the
conquered territory, the treaty with the Mysore raja was con-
cluded in the name of the British Government alone, from
whom he received the kingdom as a free gift, bestowed on
him personally, without any mention of heirs. The whole
arrangement was merely a screen to cloak the appropriation
of the resources of the kingdom to the objects of the British
Government ; and Lord Wellesley did not hesitate to affirm
that the territories thus placed under the nominal sovereignty
of the raja of Mysore constituted substantially an integral
portion of our own dominions. But he did not fail to do justice
to the interests of the country in the selection of the members
of the commission appointed to complete the organization and
settlement of it. It included Colonel Barry Close, the prince
of the Indian diplomatists of the tune ; Captain Malcolm, after-
wards Governor of Bombay; Captain Munro, subsequently
Governor of Madras ; Henry Wellesley, eventually Lord
Cowley, ambassador in Paris ; and the Duke of Wellington ;
the largest number of men of genius ever assembled at the
same board in India, either before or since.
The remaining 1 districts of Mysore were thus
Allotment of
the remaining partitioned. Territory of the annual value of
777,000 star-pagodas was allotted to the Com-
pany, but charged with the payment of 240,000 pagodas to
the families of Hyder and Tippoo, with the proviso that the
British Government should be at liberty to make such deduc-
tions from time to time from the sums allotted for their main-
tenance as might appear proper on the decease of any member
of the various branches of the family, and to limit, and if ad-
visable, to suspend entirely the payment of the whole or any
part of the stipend, in the event of any hostile attempt on the
part of the family, or any member of it, against the peace of
98 DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZE MONEY. [CHAP.
the territories of the Company, or its allies. The provision
thus made for the royal family of Mysore gave them a more
liberal allowance than they had ever enjoyed before. Districts
yielding 600,000 star-pagodasj^a-year were transferred to the
Nizam, charged, however, with the payment of 70,000 pagodas
annually to Kuniur-ood-deen, one of the most eminent of
Tippoo's generals, who had thrown himself unconditionally on
the generosity of the British Government. A tract of country,
yielding 263,000 star-pagodas a-year, was reserved for the
acceptance of the Peshwa, on conditions which will be pre-
sently noticed. The additions thus made to the Company's
dominions consisted of districts which gave them the absolute
command of the Malabar coast, and the exclusive possession
of the southern division of the Peninsula from coast to coast.
It included also the capital, on which both Tippoo and Lord
Wellesley set a high value, but which has been subsequently
abandoned as a military station, from its unhealthiness. The
population has dwindled down from 150,000, when it was the
seat of Tippoo's government, to about 12,000.
Prize money, The property captured at Seringapatam was at
1799. g rs ^ estimated at ten crores of rupees. The
assignment of so prodigious a sum as prize money could not
have failed to demoralize the army, but it was fortunately
found not to exceed a tenth of this amount. In 1758, when
intelligence of the battle of Plassy reached England, the
Crown made a grant to the Company of all booty captured by
their own soldiers, with a reservation of the royal prerogative
when the Bang's troops happened to be associated with them.
Lord Wellesley, thinking the army might become impatient
if the distribution of the Seringapatam prize money had to
await the receipt of instructions from England, which in such
cases are scandalously delayed, took upon himself the respon-
sibility of " anticipating" the royal assent and the sanction of
Leadenhall-street, and directed the immediate division of it.
This procedure received the sanction both of the Crown and
the Company. The Court of Directors, moreover, anxious to
XIX.] THE PESHWA REFUSES THE OFFERED TERRITORY. 99
manifest their sense of the merits of Lord Wellesley, offered
him a donation of ten lacs of rupees from the proceeds of the
captured grain, which appertained to the state, but his high
sense of honour induced him to decline the gift, on which
they settled an annuity of 5,000 a-year on him for twenty
years. But the Commander-in-chief, General Harris, far
from exhibiting the same magnanimity allotted to his own use
double the usual share of his rank, or thirteen lacs of rupees.
The general officers followed his example. The injustice of
depriving the rest of the army of their legitimate dues by
this unfair appropriation was so palpable, that the law officers
of the Crown to whom the case was referred the Attorney-
General, subsequently Prune Minister of England, and the
Solicitor-General, afterwards Speaker of the House of Com-
mons advised the parties to refund the excess, of their own
accord, but they refused to relinquish a cowrie. A suit was
therefore commenced against them in Chancery, which, how-
ever, was not successful ; but the stigma of this rapacity
tarnished the laurels of Seringapatam.
On the eve of the war with Tippoo, Lord
Peshwa refuses
the offered tr- Wellesley demanded of the Peshwa the aid of the
ntory, 1799. contingent which he was bound by the treaty of
1792 to furnish, and he ostensibly ordered Pureshram Bhao,
one of the great feudatory chiefs of the Mahratta empire, to
join the British army with his force. At the same time,
however, Bajee Rao, with his usual duplicity, received two
vakeels at his court from Tippoo, [and accepted a douceur of
thirteen lacs of rupees, unknown to his minister, Nana Fui*-
nuvese. The Mahratta contingent consequently took no
part in the campaign. On the contrary, the Peshwa and
Sindia concerted a plan for attacking the dominions of the
Nizam, while his army and that of his British ally were occu-
pied with the siege of Seringapatam ; and on the 26th April,
1799, Lord Wellesley, who was fully apprized of their
machinations, considered a rupture with them imminent. But
before their plans could be matured they were astounded by
100 DHOONDIA WAUG. [CHAP.
the intelligence that Tippoo was slain and his power extin-
guished. Bajee Rao affected great delight at this intelli-
gence, and Sindia offered his congratulations to the Governor-
General, but took care to dispatch his emissaries into Mysore
to encourage the partizans of the late government to resist
the British authorities. Notwithstanding the hypocrisy of
Peshwa, however, Colonel Palmer, the Resident at his court,
was instructed to inform him, that although he had forfeited
all claim to a share of the conquered territory, the Governor-
General was prepared to assign him districts valued at
263,000 pagodas a-year, on his consenting to admit the media-
tion of the British government on every question in dispute
between him and the Nizam, and to exclude the French from
his dominions. He replied, that he should be happy to
accept the territory, as a commutation of the chout, to
which the Mahrattas were entitled from the whole kingdom
of Mysore, but the two conditions he positively rejected.
After a protracted discussion which led to no result, the
reserved territory was divided between the Company and the
Nizam, and Lord Wellesley, disgusted with what he con-
sidered the " systematic jealousy, suspicion and insincerity"
of the Peshwa, took leave of Mahratta politics, till a more
favourable opportunity should turn up in the course of events
for his intervention.
DhoondiaWaug, It only remains to be noticed that the settle-
ment of Mysore was accomplished without any of
those embarrassments which usually attend the introduction
of a new government. The only opposition was offered by
one Dhoondia Waug, who had been confined in irons in
Seringapatam for various depredations in Mysore, and was
inconsiderately released on the capture of the town. He
was a daring adventurer, and having collected together. some
of Tippoo's disbanded cavalry, and a body of men of despe-
rate fortunes, proceeded northward, plundering the towns
and villages in his progress. Success brought crowds to his
standard, and he was enabled to obtain possession of the
XIX.] THE NIZAM EXCHANGES TERRITORY FOR SUBSIDY. 101
rich district of Bednore with its important fortresses. Two
British armies were sent against him, who succeeded in
recovering the district, and driving him to the frontier of the
Peshwa's dominions, where the pursuit necessarily ended.
The distractions which prevailed among the Mahratta chiefs
enabled him to collect another and a larger body, and the
revolt began to assume formidable dimensions. It was mani-
fest that there could be no tranquillity in the Deccan while
this bold chieftain was roaming through it, at the head of an
increasing force of marauders. Colonel Wellesley was,
therefore, directed to take the field against him, and with his
usual energy and promptitude, pursued him without the re-
laxation of a day for four months, from district to district, and
at length brought him to bay on the 10th September, 1800.
With four regiments of cavalry, European and Native, he
completely defeated and dispersed 5,000 of Dhoondia's horse.
The freebooter fell in the action, and the insurrection, which ,
without this vigorous effort, might have ended in the esta-
blishment of a hostile power, was completely suppressed.
Cession of Tem- By the treaty concluded with the Nizam, on the
torybythe 1st September, 1798, the new subsidiary force,
which took the place of the disbanded French
battalions, was placed on the same footing with the regiments
previously in his service, and restricted from acting against
the Mahrattas. The minister was no stranger to their in-
satiable rapacity, and the recent refusal of the Peshwa to
admit the arbitration of the British Government for the settle-
ment of his demands on the Nizam, plainly indicated the
treatment which he had to expect from the Mahratta powers.
He therefore proposed to the Resident that the subsidiary
force should be augmented, more especially in the cavalry arm,
and that territory should be substituted for the subsidy in
money which was then paid for its maintenance. The pro-
posal was most welcome to Lord Wellesley. He felt that the
cash payments might be precarious, and that the conveyance
of so large a sum month by month from the treasury to the
102 THE RAJA OF TANJOBE. [CHAP.
residency would be a source of constant irritation, which
might ripen into political embarrassments. The negotiation
occupied little time, and it was speedily arranged that in lieu
of the payment of forty lacs of rupees a-year, districts yield-
ing sixty-three lacs of annual revenue should be ceded in per-
petual sovereignty to the Company, and that the remaining
territories of the Nizam should be unreservedly guaranteed
by the British Government against the encroachment of every
enemy. The territory thus transferred by him consisted of
the districts he had obtained from Mysore by his alliance
with the British in the wars of 1792 and 1799. The ex-
change was beneficial to both parties. The dominions of the
Company were extended on the north to the Toombudra and
the Kistna, and being surrounded on three sides by the sea,
included every harbour in the peninsula. The Nizam was
relieved from all further anxiety regarding the interminable
demands of the Mahrattas, without the alienation of any
portion of his patrimonial possessions ; and although, by relin-
quishing the military defence of his kingdom, and the right
of foreign negotiations, he ceased to be one of the substantial
powers of India, the transaction proved the salvation of his
throne. Every other native power throughout the Deccan,
from the Nerbudda to Cape Comorin, has been blotted out of
existence, while the descendant of the Tartar Chin Kilich
Khan still continues to occupy the musnud of Hyderabad,
though with diminished splendour.
CHAPTER XX.
LORD WELLESLEY'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED, 1799
1802.
. THE remaining transactions in the Deccan are
lanjorGj louu.
few. Tuljajee, the raja of Tanjore, adopted
Serfojee, and died in 1786 ; but the validity of the adoption was
XX.] STATE OF THE CARNATIC. 103
controverted, on the ground that the raja himself was in a
state of mental incapacity at the time, that Serfojee was an
only son, and that he was beyond the age of ten. Ameer Sing,
the half-brother of the deceased prince, was accordingly
placed on the throne, with the full concurrence of the Court
of Directors. Serfojee, who had been educated by the
missionary Swartz, and was a youth of many accomplish-
ments, did not cease to press his claims on the British Govern-
ment, and they were indirectly strengthened by the gross
misconduct of Ameer Sing, who was a mere Asiatic volup-
tuary and tyrant. Sir John Shore was at length induced to
submit the case anew to the most renowned pundits in Hin-
doostan, as well as in the Deccan, and they concurred in pro-
nouncing the adoption of Serfojee unexceptional, according
to the precepts of Hindoo law. The Court of Directors,
persuaded that they had given their sanction to an act of
injustice by his exclusion, instructed Lord Wellesley to place
him on the throne, on condition that he should accept any
arrangement the Government might think fit to dictate regard-
ing the more punctual payment of the debts due to the
Company, and the better management of the country.
Commissioners were appointed to examine the condition and
the resources of Tanjore, and on their report, Lord Wellesley
assumed the entire administration of the country, and settled
on the raja an annual allowance of one lac of pagodas, together
with a fifth of its net revenue. Thus expired this little inde-
pendent principality, a hundred and fifty years after it had
been founded by Shahjee, the father of Sevajee.
The state of the In the treaty made by Lord Cornwallis, in 1792,
camatic, 1799. W j t j 1 fa e Nabob of the Carnatic, it was provided
that an annual subsidy should be paid for the support of the
British troops to whom the defence of the country was com-
mitted, and that certain districts should be pledged to the
Company, on which no assignments should be given. Maho-
med Ali, the reigning prince, whom the Company had set up
as " their own nabob of the Carnatic" in the days of Clive and
n. i
104 THE NABOB'S EMBARRASSMENTS. [CHAP.
Coote, in opposition to the nominee of the French, occupied
the throne for nearly half a century, and died in 1795. His
son and successor, Omdut-ool-omrah, was surrounded, as his
father had been, by a swarm of unscrupulous and rapacious
Europeans, who fed his extravagance by loans at exorbitant
interest, and received by way of security, assignments on the
revenue of districts, which were rack-rented by their profligate
agents. The Company's servants at the Madras Presidency
were very inadequately paid, and the traffic in loans to the
Nabob presented the shortest and surest road to fortune. The
moral atmosphere of the Presidency had been polluted for
forty years with the corruption of these nefarious transactions,
and it was believed that some of the public servants still con-
tinued to participate in them. The European creditors of the
Nabob had instilled into his mind the idea that a distinction
both of interest and of powers existed between the Crown and
the Company, and that the one might be advantageously
played off against the other ; the Company's Government was,
therefore, treated by him with habitual contumely. Their
representations were strengthened by the letters addressed to
him, from time to time, as to an equal, by the King of England
and, more particularly, by the Prince of Wales, which were
treasured up in the palace as the most precious gems. This
royal correspondence, which was not vouchsafed to any other
native prince, tended to lower the character and weaken the
authority of the local Government to such an extent that
Lord Wellesley ventured to remonstrate with his royal high-
ness on the injurious effect of his letters on the public interests.
The advances with which the Nabob was liberally supplied by
the European and native money-lenders who haunted his
court, enabled him to pay the subsidy with punctuality. But
this aid only served to postpone the crisis of his embarrass-
ments, and was sure to aggravate it when it came. The
wretched cultivators were ground down by the local agents of
the creditors; the prosperity of the country was rapidly
declining, and the resources of Government were tlireatened
xx.] LORD WELLESLEY'S PROPOSALS. 105
with extinction. In 1795, Lord Hobart, the Governor of
Madras, endeavoured, at the particular request of the Court of
Directors, to obtain a modification of the treaty of 1792, and
proposed that the mortgaged districts, on which the Nabob
continued to grant assignments contrary to his engagement,
should be transferred to the Company in lieu of the subsidy.
To secure the concurrence of the Nabob, he offered to relinquish
debts due to the Company to the extent of a crore of rupees,
but his creditors constrained him to reject the proposal,
because, though highly advantageous to his interests, it
would have extinguished their own flagitious profits. Lord
Hobart then proposed to resort to coercion, on the ground
that the treaty of 1792 had been violated by the Nabob, and
ceased to be binding on the Company, but Sir John Shore,
peremptorily refused his concurrence; and the acrimonious
correspondence which grew out of the proposition, induced the
Court of Directors to recall Lord Hobart.
They had, however, set their heart on this
le/s proposals measure, and they requested Lord Wellesley to
to the Nabob, ca n at Madras on his way to Calcutta, and make
a second effort to procure the Nabob's consent to
it. But under the interested counsel of the harpies around
him, he not only spurned the proposals, but went so far as to
raise the question whether the Company had any claim
whatever upon the revenues of the Carnatic. The negotiation
consequently fell to the ground ; but the treaty of 1792, had,
likewise, given the Governor-General authority, in the event
of a war on the Coast, to assume the entire government and
resources of the Carnatic, with the reservation of a fifth for the
support of the Nabob's dignity. In the prospect of a war
with Tippoo, the Court of Directors had, moreover, directed
the Government of India to take possession of the Carnatic,
and not to relinquish it without special instructions from them.
But Lord Wellesley was unwilling to adopt so extreme a
measure, and made the milder request of a contribution of
three lacs of pagodas for the use of the army then about to
i 2
106 DISCOVERY OF THE NABOB'S INTRIGUES. [CHAP.
take the field. The Nabob made a solemn promise to furnish
this supply, but violated it " with every circumstance of
infamy." [n reliance on his pledge, the scanty funds in the
Madras treasury had been fully appropriated to the equipment
of the army, and his failure might have proved most disastrous
to the military operations of the campaign, if a supply of
treasure had not opportunely arrived from Bengal. Lord
Wellesley next proposed to the Nabob to renounce for ever
the right of the Company to assume the management of the
Carnatic, on the occurrence of war, if he would consent to
transfer in perpetuity territory yielding an annual revenue
equal to the subsidy he was bound to contribute for the
military defence of the country, he receiving the benefit of
whatever additional rents the districts might yield under
improved management. Lord Wellesley likewise offered a
liberal and generous arrangement respecting the debts due by
the Nabob to the Company, which fell little short of two crores
of rupees. But this proposal was likewise rejected, and the
Governor-General was rebuked for having ventured to make it,
at a time when the instalments were punctually paid, although
with money raised at usurious interest.
By the treaty of 1792, the Nabob was bound
Discovery of . .
the Nabob's " not to enter into any negotiation or political
intrigues, 1 1 99. correS p On( j ence w ith any European or native
power, without the consent of the Company." But, on the
fall of Seringapatam, papers were discovered which showed
that both the late and the present Nabob had been engaged in
a clandestine correspondence with Tippoo, by means of a
cypher which was found and had conveyed secret intelli-
gence, and friendly admonition, and important advice to him.
The fact of this intrigue was established by the clearest oral
and documentary evidence ; nor will it appear incredible except
to a European mind. Intrigue is the aliment of native courts,
and there was not a native prince in India who would have
considered such a plot dishonourable under any circumstances,
or felt any regret except on its failure. On examining the
xx.] LORD WELLESLEY'S RESOLUTION. 107
documents, Lord Wellesley came to the conclusion that the
Nabobs, father and son, had not only violated the treaty by
negotiating a separate connection with Tippoo, but had placed
themselves in the position of enemies of the Company by
endeavouring to establish a unity of interests with "their
most implacable foe." The obligations of the treaty, he said,
were thus extinguished, and the British Government was at '
liberty to exercise its rights in whatever manner might be
most conducive to the general interests of the Company hi the
Carnatic. The " combination of fortunate circumstances "
which had revealed the correspondence, removed every diffi-
culty from his mind, and satisfied him of the justice and equity
of depriving the Nabob of the civil and military government
of the Carnatic, reserving a suitable proportion of its revenues
for his support. But the negotiations then on foot with the
court of Hyderabad, regarding the commutation of territory for
the subsidy, were not, as yet, complete, and it appeared
advisable to postpone the assumption of the Carnatic. This
delay afforded time for receiving the direct sanction of the
Court of Directors and of the Board of Control for this bold
measure. But when the period for action arrived, the Nabob
Omdut-ool-omrah was on his death-bed, and it was deemed
indelicate to disturb his last moments with a painful discussion.
On his death, the Governor of Madras communicated to his
reputed son, whom he had nominated as his heir, the proofs of
his father's and grandfather's infidelity, by which all claim to
the consideration of the Company had been forfeited. He was
inf ormed that the succession to the musnud was now a question
of favour and not of right, and that it could be conceded only
on condition that the entire civil and military power of the state
should be resigned to the British Government. Acting under
the advice of the guardians whom his father had appointed, he
refused to accept these conditions. They were then offered to
Azim-ool-omrah, the son of the deceased Nabob's brother,
who acceded to them without hesitation ; and, in the pompous
language of the proclamation, " this prince, the immediate
108 ANNEXATION OF TIIE CARNATIC. [CHAP-
great grandson of the Nabob Anwur-ood-deen khan, of blessed
memory, had renewed the alliance between the Company and
his illustrious ancestors, and established an adequate security
for the British interests in the Carnatic; and the British
TheCamatic Government had resolved to exercise its rights
annexed, 1801. an( j j^ s p Owerg) un der Providence, in supporting
and establishing the hereditary pretensions of the prince in
the Soobadaree of the territories of Arcot and the Carnatic
Payenghaut." In plain English, the Nabob was mediatized,
and the Carnatic became a British province. A fifth of its
revenues was allotted for his support ; but the arrangement
was distinctly and intentionally limited to him and to his own
family, instead of being extended, as in the case of former
treaties, to his heirs and successors. The annexation of the
Deccan to the dominions of the Company was thus con-
summated. Out of the territories acquired from Mysore, the
Nizam, the Nabob of the Carnatic, and the rajah of Tanjore,
Lord Wellesley created the Presidency of Madras. Of the
population, which, according to a late census amounted to more
than twenty-two millions, eighteen millions belong to Lord
Wellesley's annexations, and though they were made in direct
contravention of the resolutions of all the public authorities in
England, they were honoured with their hearty concurrence.
Native embassy While Zemaun Shah was advancing towards
to Persia, 1800. Delhi, Lord Wellesley despatched a native envoy,
Mehndy Ali, to the court of Persia, to instigate the king to
threaten his hereditary dominions in Central Asia, and induce
him to recross the Indus for their defence. The unscrupulous
vakeel, who considered lying the first qualification of an
Oriental diplomatist, assured the king that the Governor-
General was not in the smallest degree annoyed at the inva-
sion of Zemaun Shah, but rather wished him to advance into
the country, and thus afford an opportunity of showing how
easily he could be expelled. But, he remarked, the Abdalee
was a Sconce, and had grievously oppressed the Sheahs, the
ruling sect in Persia, and constrained thousands of them to
xx.] MALCOLM'S MISSION TO PERSIA. 109
take refuge in the Company's territories. To arrest the
progress of so heterodox a prince would be an acceptable ser-
vice both to God and man. The pious monarch swallowed the
bait, and lost no tune in giving encouragement to Mahomed
Shah to invade the dominions of his brother, Zemaun Shall,
who was thus obliged to retreat in haste across the Indus, in
the course of the year 1799.
But Lord Wellesley considered it advisable to
Malcolms em-
bassy to Persia, send a more imposing embassy to Persia, with the
view of establishing a British influence in Central
Asia, and preventing the periodical alarm of an invasion by
Zemaun Shah, with his horde of Turks and Tartars, Oosbegs
and Ghiljies. The officer selected for this mission was
Captain Malcolm, then not more than thirty, who had
attracted the notice of Lord AVellesley by the talent he had
exhibited during the late critical transactions at Hyderabad,
and the ardour of his professional ambition. He was pecu-
liarly adapted for a mission to a court like that of Persia,
by his thorough knowledge of the oriental languages,
character, and weaknesses, his admirable tact, and his invari-
able good humour. No accredited agent had visited that
court since the days of Queen Elizabeth, when the name of
England was utterly unknown in Asia, and Lord Wellesley
was anxious to impress the Persians with a due sense of the
power and wealth of the British empire in the east. The
envoy's suite comprised more than five hundred persons,
European and native. The embassy was equipped in the most
magnificent style, and supplied with watches glittering with
jewels, caskets of gold beautifully enamelled, lustres of
variegated glass, richly chased pistols, and massive mirrors
in gorgeous frames, which twelve hundred men were daily im-
pressed to convey from the coast to the capital, and a hundred
and forty maunds of sugar and sugar-candy. Though im-
peded at every step by the frivolities of Persian etiquette.
Captain .Malcolm was treated with distinguished honour during
his progress through the country. On his arrival at Teheran,
110 RESULT OF THE MISSION. [CHAP.
lie was received in full durbar by the king 1 , decked with the
jewels of which his ancestor, Nadir Shah, had plundered
Delhi in 1739, and arrayed in a robe studded with precious
stones, the value of which was computed at a crore of
rupees. The ulterior purpose of the mission was to establish
a predominant influence at the Persian court, and this could
be accomplished only by a lavish expenditure ; the envoy,
therefore, "bribed like a king, and not a pedlar," upon a
scale which made the Court of Directors wince. But, when
he came to open his commission, he found that his immediate
object had been already accomplished, by the humble native
vakeel who preceded him, and who had been instrumental
in compelling 1 Zemaun Shah to recross the Indus^ by foment-
ing the rebellion of his brothers, and suggesting an attack
on Balkh. A political treaty was nevertheless made, which
provided that the king of Persia should labour to counteract
any future attempt to invade Hindostan ; that if Zeinaun
Shah invaded Persia, the Company should aid the king with
stores, and that neither the French, nor any power in alliance
with them, should be allowed to erect a fort in any part of
the Persian dominions. It stipulated, moreover, that if any
of the French nation should endeavour to establish them-
selves in the country, the king's officers should disgrace,
expel and exterminate them. To extenuate this truculent
order, Captain Malcolm explained that it was a mere eastern
hyperbole, and, in reality, meant nothing. He likewise con-
cluded a commercial treaty, granting various privileges,
which were, however, of no value, as the trade of Persia,
in its most palmy days, had never been worth maintaining.
The result of the embassy fell miserably short of its cost.
Indeed, the political treaty, so far as it revealed our fears of
the invasion of India by a European power, through Persia,
may be considered positively mischievous. The Government
of India, however, experienced no further molestation from
Zemaun Shah, who perished in battle two years after..
Proposed expe- On the fall of Seringapatam, Lord Wellesley
XX.] PROPOSED EXPEDITION TO THE MAURITIUS. Ill
to the suggested to Mr. Dundas the propriety of sending
Mauritius, 1799. ft for( , e fr()m j udia t() co . operate j n any attempt
which the Ministry might make to expel the French from
Egypt. But the communication between England and India,
was at that period so dilatory and precarious, that he was for
seven months without any authentic information from home.
He limited his exertions, therefore, to the assemblage of a
large body of European troops at Trincomalee, the noblest
harbour in Ceylon, to be ready to proceed in any direction
which Mr. Dundas might indicate. In the reply which he
subsequently received from Downing Street, no notice was
taken of the proposed expedition to Egypt, and Lord Wel-
lesley resolved to employ the armament collected at Trin-
comalee in the capture of the Mauritius and Bourbon. The
possession of these islands, at an easy distance from the
continent of India, greatly facilitated the hostile projects of
the French, and exposed the political and commercial interests
of England in the east to no small risk. The privateers
fitted out in them preyed incessantly on British trade iu
every part of the eastern seas. The losses sustained by the
merchants of Calcutta alone, since the beginning of the war,
were moderately estimated at two crores of rupees. ' The rate
of insurance had reached a point which almost suspended the
trade of the port. The Indian squadron, under Admiral
Rainier was unable to protect the Bay of Bengal, in which five
merchant vessels had recently been taken. On the 7th of
October, 1800, the Company's ship the " Kent," armed with
eighteen guns, was captured by a French vessel of war, at
the mouth of the Hooghly, after an action of an hour and
three-quarters, in which fifty-five of her crew were killed or
wounded. Lord Wellesley could not brook this insult at the
very threshold of his capital, and determined at once to send
the Trincomalee fleet and army to the islands, and extinguish
this nest of corsairs. But, the design was unfortunately
frustrated by Admiral Rainier. lie thought fit to keep the
letter soliciting the co-operation of the fleet, for six weeks
112 EXPEDITION TO THE RED SEA. [dlAP.
without acknowledgment, though the lateness of the monsoon
required the utmost despatch, and at length positively refused
to take part in the expedition, without the express commands
of his Majesty, signified through the usual channel of the
Admiralty. As the Ministry were not prepared to displace
him for this misconduct they gave him official credit for having
acted under a sense of public duty. To every one besides
it was palpable, that he was actuated only by that feeling of
contemptible jealousy which had so often led the officers of
the royal navy to treat the instructions received from a
Governor of the Company with contempt. The expedition
was necessarily abandoned when the aid of the navy was
denied. The islands remained in possession of the French
for eight years longer, and the priggish conceit of the Admiral
entailed on the commerce of India an additional loss of two
crores of rupees. The recurrence of such acts of folly was
subsequently prevented by an Act of Parliament which placed
the king's navy, equally with his army, at the disposal of his
representative in the east.
At length, Lord Wellesley received a despatch
Expedition to
the Bed Sea, from Downing-street, stating that Sir Ralph Aber-
cromby had been despatched with a force of
15,000 men, to co-operate with the Turkish army in expelling
the French from Egypt, and that it was deemed advisable to
support his operations with an Indian force. The armament
collected at Trincomalee was, therefore, ordered to the Red
Sea, together with a large addition of Bombay troops. The
army, consisting altogether of 4,000 Europeans and 5,000
volunteer sepoys, was entrusted to General Baird, with the
animating remark of Lord Wellesley, that a " more worthy
sequel to the storm of Seringapatam could not be presented to
his genius and valour." The expedition touched at Mocha,
and proceeded up the Red Sea to Cosseir, where the troops
performed one of the most extraordinary feats ever achieved
by an army, that of traversing a hundred and twenty miles of
the arid and pathless desert to Ghennah, on the Nile. General
XX.] THE PEACE OF AMIENS. 113
Eaird reached Cairo on the 10th August, and on the 27th
encamped on the shores of the Mediterranean. The history
of British India teems with romance, but there is no incident
more romantic than the appearance of sepoys from the banks
of the Ganges, in the land of the Pharaohs, marching in the
footsteps of Alexander and Caesar, under an English commander,
to encounter the veterans of the army of Italy. Before the
Indian contingent, however, could be brought into action, the
report of its approach, combined with the energy of Sir John
Ilutchinson, who had succeeded to the command on the death
of Sir Ralph Abercromby, induced the French general to
capitulate. But the power and the resources of the British
empire were most conspicuously exhibited to the world by this
concentration of troops from Europe and Asia on the banks of
the Nile.
The Peace of Within a month of the surrender of the French
Amiens, 1802. army in Egypt, the preliminaries of peace
between England and France were signed at Amiens. All the
foreign settlements which had been captured in India, Ceylon
excepted, were restored, as well as the Cape of Good Hope,
then considered, and with reason, the maritime gate of India.
The Court of Directors, under the influence of a short-sighted
economy, immediately ordered their military establishments in
India to be reduced, but Lord Wellesley, not considering the
British dominions sufficiently secure to justify such a measure,
hesitated to comply with their order, and the course of events
fully vindicated his sagacity. The treaty of Amiens was no
sooner ratified than Bonaparte despatched a large armament to
Pondicherry, with the determination of re-establishing the
power and influence of France in India. It consisted of two
ships of the line, two frigates, and two corvettes, with a
military staff of several general officers, and a due proportion
of subordinate officers, with 1,400 European troops, and ten
lacs of treasure, under the direction of Mons. Leger, who
was designated Captain-General of the French establishments
to the east of the Cape. It was to be followed by a second
Ill FRENCH SETTLEMENTS RETAINED. [dlAP.
squadron of three ships of the line and two frigates. Lord
Wellesley had brought with him to India the intense anti-
gallican feeling of the day. It had been his constant aim for
three years to exclude French influence from every native
durbar. He had completely succeeded in closing the Deccau
against it, and the feelings with which he now witnessed the
arrival of a powerful French force on the Coromandel coast,
directed by the supreme genius of Bonaparte, may be readily
conceived. He felt that all our relations with the native
princes would be at once deranged, and the seeds of another
conflict for supremacy planted in the soil of India, ever fruitful
in revolutions. There was already a formidable French force
in Sindia's pay in Hindostan, equal in numbers and strength
to the Biitish anny in that quarter, and he could not contem-
plate the co-operation of the two bodies in the north and south
without a feeling of just alarm. He determined, therefore, by
an act of unexampled audacity, to disregard the royal warrant,
which preremptorily directed him to restore to the French
Republic " all the countries, territories, and factories which had
belonged to it in India." On the arrival of Admiral Linois
with his squadron in the roadstead of Pondicherry, Lord Clive,
the Governor of Madras, was directed to inform him that the
Governor-General had resolved to postpone the restitution of
the French settlements till he could communicate with the
Ministry in England. The fleet returned to the Mauritius, and
before a reply could be received to the reference, hostilities had
recommenced in Europe, and the British interests in India were
thus saved from the dangers they must have been exposed to if
the continuance of peace had enabled Bonaparte to give full
scope to his ambitious schemes.
vizier AU as- We turn now to the affairs of Oude. One of
sassinates Mr. tne latest acts of Sir John Shore's administration
Cherry, 14th
January, 1799. was the elevation of Sadut Ali to the niusnud, in
the room of the profligate Vizier Ali, who was sent to Benares,
with an annual pension of a lac and a half of rupees. The
. turbulence of his disposition, however, rendered it imprudent
XX.] ASSASSINATION OF MR. CHEERY. 115
to permit him to reside so near the frontier of Oude, and it was
resolved to remove him to Calcutta. He spared no effort to
procure a reversal of the order, but without success. A day
or two before the period fixed for his departure, he called on
Mr. Cherry, the British Resident, under whose superintendence
he had been placed, and complained in very intemperate lan-
guage of the harshness of this procedure. Mr. Cherry endea-
voured to calm his violence, and remarked that he was simply
carrying out the orders of his superiors, for which he was not
himself responsible. The youth started up in a rage from his
seat, and struck Mr. Cherry with his sword. His attendants,
who were waiting for the signal, rushed in and butchered him,
as well as several other gentlemen residing in the house.
From thence they hurried to the houses of other Europeans,
several of whom fell victims to their fury ; but on the arrival
of a troop of horse, they took to flight, and eventually sought
refuge in the woody district of Bootwul. Vizier Ali was soon
after joined by several zemindars, and was enabled to take
possession of the eastern districts of Oude with a considerable
force. Sadut Ali had lost all popularity by his exactions, and
in the hour of need discovered that both his subjects and his
troops were disposed to desert him, and join the standard of
his rival. He was constrained, therefore, to apply for a
British detachment to protect his own person. Another de-
tachment was sent against Vizier Ali ; his followers rapidly
dispersed, and he fled for protection to the Rajpoot raja of
Jeypore, who delivered him up on the demand of Lord Welles-
ley. But even in that age of anarchy and treachery, the sur-
render of one to whom an asylum had once been granted, was
considered an act of unpardonable baseness, and the raja
became an object of contempt in every kingdom and province
of India.
Augmentation On the approach of Zemaun Shah to the Indus,
of British which has already been noticed, Lord Wellesley
troops in Oude, .
1800. requested Sir James Craig, the commandant m
Oude, to communicate his views on the defence of that king-
116 AUGMENTATION OP TROOPS IN OUDE. [CHAP.
dom, which was certain to be the first object of spoliation,
more especially as the discontented Rohillas in its northern
districts would not fail to join their fellow-countrymen in the
camp of the invader. Sir James replied that the rabble of
troops maintained by the Vizier was not merely useless, but
dangerous, and that if he were required to march against
Zemaun Shah, he should be as unwilling to leave them behind,
as to leave a fortress in the possession of an enemy. Sadut Ali
was bound by the treaty which seated him on the throne to
provide seventy-six lacs of rupees a-year for the subsistence
of British troops, 13,000 in number, employed in the defence
of his country. The home authorities had more than once
informed the Governor- General that they considered this force
too small for the protection of the kingdom, and that it could
be rendered secure only by the substitution of a well organised
force commanded by their own officers, for the disorderly
regiments of the Vizier. Lord Wellesley, who fully concurred
in these views, had frequently brought the subject before the
Nabob. On his return to Calcutta, in November, 1799, he
renewed his representations iu greater detail. The British
Government, he said, was bound to defend the Nabob Vizier's
territories against all enemies ; the present British force was
insufficient for this purpose, and required a large augmentation.
The treaty had provided for this contingency, out of the
revenues of the country. The cost of additional troops would
amount to fifty lacs of rupees a-year, and the proper course
for the Nabob to adopt was to discharge his own disorderly
troops, arid thus effect a saving equivalent to the new
demand.
The proposed reform would have transferred
The Nabob pro- r y _
poses to abdi- the entire military power of Oude to the Company,
ate ' 18 ' which was precisely the object which Lord Welles-
ley had in his eye, but which the Nabob was most anxious to
prevent. To evade the question, he proposed to retire from
the Government. The refractory and perverse disposition of
the people, he said, combined with the want of zeal and fidelity
XX.] NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE NABOB. 117
in his servants, had filled him with disgust. Neither was he
pleased with his subjects, nor they with him. From the first
he had been indisposed to the cares of government, and he
was not reconciled to them by experience. He expected that
one of his sons would be placed on the throne, as a matter of
course, to perpetuate his name, and that suitable allowances
would be granted to the other members of the family. As for
himself, the treasure which he had accumulated estimated at
a crore of rupees would procure him all the gratification he
could desire in a private station. Lord Wellesley eagerly
caught at the proposal of the Nabob Vizier, and hastened to
inform the Court of Directors that he intended to turn it to
account, and establish the Company's exclusive authority in
Oude. He informed the Nabob that he was fully prepared to
sanction the proposed abdication, provided he took up his
residence in the British dominions, and vested the government
of Oude absolutely and permanently in the Company, but he
could not permit the public treasure, which belonged to the
state and was liable for its obligations, to be removed.
He withdraws ^ ut tne ^ a ^ob Vizier had never seriously con-
his abdication, templated the resignation of his kingdom to his
son, and still less to the Company. His ruling
passion was avarice, and nowhere could it be more amply
gratified than on an Asiatic throne. On the receipt of Lord
Wellesley's proposal, he assured the Resident that he would
not bring on himself the odium and disgrace of having sold his
country for money, and had therefore abandoned all thought of
retirement. Lord Wellesley expressed great indignation at the
insincerity and duplicity, as he termed it, of the Vizier, and
charged him with having made a proposal which was from the
first illusory, and designed only to defeat the reform of his
military establishment by artificial delays. The Governor-
General resolved to proceed at once to action. Several regi-
ments were ordered to move to different stations in the Oude
territories, and the Nabob was called on to make provision for
their maintenance, according to the terms of the treaty. He
118 NABOB'S SUBMISSION. [CHAP.
immediately addressed a memorial to the Governor-General,
acknowledging that he was the creature and dependent of the
Company, but remonstrating against a measure to which he
had never given his consent. The seventh article of the treaty,
he said, provided that no augmentation of the British force
should be made without necessity, yet a large increase was
now needlessly forced upon him. By the seventeenth article
he was to enjoy full authority over his household affairs, his
subjects, and his troops ; whereas he was now required to re-
linquish the control of the military force in his dominions,
which would not fail to annihilate his authority, and expose
him to the contempt of his people. This remonstrance excited
the highest displeasure of Lord Wellesley, who ordered it to
be returned to the Nabob, as being deficient in that respect
which was due to. the first British authority in India, and he
was informed that " if he should think proper again to impeach
the honour and justice of the British Government in such terms,
the Governor-General would consider how such unfounded
calumnies and gross misrepresentations, both of facts and
arguments, ought to be noticed."
Submission of The Nabob Vizier yielded to necessity, and began
the Nabob j. Q ^i s j) an( j a p ar t o f hj s own troops, in order to ob-
Secoml demand,
1800. tain funds for the payment of the British regiments.
But, in November, 1800, he was required to make provision
for a second body of troops, " to complete the augmentation."
He pleaded the extreme difficulty with which the collections
were realized, and refused to become responsible for any
further payments till he was assured that his, resources were
sufficient to meet them, lest he should be chargeable with a
breach of faith. At the same time, he ordered a schedule of
his revenues to be drawn up by his treasurer, and submitted
through the Resident to Lord Wellesley, who, on receiving the
statement, replied that " if the alarming crisis be now approach-
ing in which his Excellency can no longer fulfil his public en-
gagements to the Company ... it became the duty of the
British Government to interpose effectually for the protection
XX.] FURTHER DEMAND ON THE NABOB. 119
of his interests, as well as those of the Company, which were
menaced with common and speedy destruction by the rapid
decline of the general resources of his Excellency's dominions."
The Resident was then instructed to propose either that he
should resign the entire management of the civil and military
government to the Company, a suitable provision being made
for his own maintenance and that of his family, or that he
should cede to the Company in perpetual sovereignty a section
of his territories sufficient to cover the expense of the entire
British force. The Nabob manifested the strongest repugnance
to both proposals., and a tedious correspondence ensued, which
was marked, on the part of Lord Wellesley, by that imperious
tone which had characterized the transaction throughout. The
Nabob, unable to obtain any relaxation of the demand, entreated
Lord Wellesley to allow him to go on pilgrimage, the pretext
by which Hindoos and Mahomedans -endeavour to escape from
an embarrassing position. The whole of his territories and
treasure, he said, was at the disposal of the Company, and he
had neither inclination nor strength to resist them, but he could
not yield his consent to a proposal so injurious to his royal
character. Lord Wellesley was desirous, if possible, to avoid
the appearance of a compulsory cession of territory, and de-
spatched his brother and private secretary, Mr. Henry Wel-
Tesley, to Lucknow, in the hope that the presence of a member
of his own family would overcome the repugnance of the
Nabob. Every form of ingenuity was exhausted to obtain the
voluntary surrender of the districts, but the Nabob still per-
sisted in asserting that it would inflict an indelible stain on his
reputation throughout India to deprive one of its royal houses of
such a dominion. The Resident at length brought the discussion
to an issue by ordering the intendants of the districts which had
been selected to hold themselves in readiness to transfer their
collections and their allegiance to the Company.
The Vizier deemed it vain any longer to contend
Annexation of
the Oude terri- with negotiators who could bring such arguments
to bear on him, and on the 10th November, after
n. K
120 CESSION OF TERRITORY. [CHAP.
two years of weary discussion, simply, as he said, " to gratify
the wishes of Lord Wellesley, and in submission to the earnest
solicitations of his brother," signed the treaty which transferred
to the Company for ever districts yielding a hundred and
thirty-five lacs of rupees a-year, leaving him a territory, guar-
anteed against all invaders, valued at a little over a crore of
rupees.
The security which this transfer of military
Remarks on this *
transaction, power in Oude gave to the possessions both of the
Nabob and the Company will admit of no question.
A British force, fully adequate to the defence of the frontier
was substituted for the miserable legions of the Nabob, always
an object of more dread to their masters than to their enemies.
An important addition was made to the resources of the Com-
pany, and a large population was rescued from the oppression
of native officers, whose only remuneration consisted of the
sums they could extort from the people. But of all the trans-
actions of Lord Wellesley's administration, this acquisition of
territory from the Nabob by the process of coercion has been
considered most open to censure, as an arbitrary, if not unjust
proceeding. For any justification of it we must look to the
peculiar position of the country and the political obligations
which it created. The throne of the Nabob was upheld only
by British bayonets, and if at any period during the previous
fifteen years they had been withdrawn, the dynasty of Oude
would have ceased to exist. The safety of Oude was menaced
not only by Zemaun Shah, and the hordes of Central Asia ready
to follow his stirrup, but also by Sindia, who had planted a
formidable force of 30 or 40,000 disciplined troops, commanded
by European officers on its frontier, and only waited for an op-
portunity to spring on its inviting districts. It was necessary,
therefore, to maintain a powerful force, permanently, against
the probabilities of a Mahratta invasion. For the Company to
continue responsible for the defence of the whole kingdom of
Oude, with only a third of its revenues, the realization of which
Avas subject to all the corruption and abuses of the system of
XX.] APPOINTMENT OF MR. HENRY WELLESLEY. 121
misrule, dignified with the name of government at Lucknow,
was not only unreasonable, but financially impracticable. The
fidelity of the troops depended on punctual pay, and this
punctuality required the solid basis of territorial revenues,
honestly administered by British officers. This is the sinew of
the argument by which this high-handed or as the natives
would call it, zuburdust proceeding has been vindicated, and
it will be readily conceded that it is by no means deficient in
strength. Nor should it be forgotten that the kingdom of Oude
fell to the Company by right of conquest in 1763, and was
restored to the reigning family as a matter of grace ; and that
according to the prescriptive maxims of eastern policy, it was
considered ever after subject to the control, if not even at the
disposal, of the British Government, who had accordingly made
and unmade Nabobs at its own pleasure. It was doubtless on
this principle that Lord Wellesley told the Nabob on one occa-
sion during these negotiations, that he had a right to take over,
not a part only, but the whole of his country.
Appointment The settlement of the districts ceded by the
ami dismissal Nat> o b Vizier was entrusted to a commission con-
of Mr. Henry
weiiesley, sisting of the Company's civil servants, of which
Mr. Henry Wellesley, the brother of the Governor-
General, who combined great administrative talent with much
firmness and discretion, was made President. In announcing
this arrangement to the Court of Directors, Lord Wellesley
stated that the labours of the commission would probably be
completed within a twelvemonth, perhaps in a shorter period,
and that his brother would receive no allowance beyond the
salary of his post as private secretary. The Directors expressed
their cordial approbation of the terms of the treaty, which
was calculated to promote their interests, and which created
thirty new appointments for their civil service, but they de-
nounced even the temporary appointment of Mr. Wellesley as
" a virtual supersession of the just rights " of that favourite
service, and they hastened to give vent to their jealous feeling
in a despatch, which peremotorily ordered his dismissal. The
K 2
122 REFORM OF THE SUDDER COURT. [CHAP.
President of the Board of Control, Lord Wellesley's personal
friend, Lord Castlereagh, drew his pen across the despatch and
returned it to the India House, with the remark that the ap-
pointment was not in the fixed and ordinary line of the Com-
pany's service ; that it was only decent to await an explanation
from the Governor- General, and that Mr. Wellesley would
probably have relinquished the office before the despatch could
reach India. The labours of the commission were in fact com-
pleted, and Mr. Wellesley had resigned the office, even before
the despatch was drafted.
The sadder On Lord Wellesley's return from the Coast, he
Court, isoo. devoted his attention to various measures of in-
ternal administration with his accustomed ardour. Of these,
one of the most important was the reconstruction of the
Sudder Court at Calcutta. This was not only the highest local
court of appeal, but was charged with the duty of superin-
tending the administration of justice, and the operations of the
police throughout the whole of the Presidency. Under the
native governments, the prince had always united the legis-
lative, executive, and judicial powers of the state in his own
person. The Company acted on the principle of introducing
as few changes as possible in the existing system of adminis-
tration, and it was accordingly provided that the Governor-
General in Council should, in like manner, exercise the highest
judicial functions, in addition to those of the executive
government and of legislation. The Sudder Court was
accordingly held in the Council Chamber, with closed doors,
and without the presence either of the suitors or of their
pleaders. The proceedings of the lower courts were trans-
lated into English and read to the members of Council, and
the decisions they passed in each case, were recorded and pro-
mulgated by the register. To this system of procedure,
Lord Wellesley saw many grave objections. The translation
of the papers occasioned a vexatious delay, and the union of the
judicial and the legislative functions in the same body was
repugnant to sound principle ; a conscientious jdischarge of
XX.] COLLEGE OP FORT WILLIAM. 123
the duties of the Sudder Court would absorb all the time of
the Governor-General, while the administration of justice with
closed doors deprived it of one of its most important safe-
guards, and impaired the confidence of the countiy. On the
other hand, to throw open the Council Chamber while suits
were under examination, would not be without its disadvan-
tages. The presence of the Governor-General on the bench
would necessarily interfere with the freedom of advocacy ;
few native pleaders would be found to contest his opinions,
and his will, rather than the law, would too often be the rule
of decision. It was resolved, therefore, to divest the
Governor-General and Council of then* judicial functions, and
to select the ablest judicial officers in the service to preside
in the Court. Lord Wellesley was anxious that the chief
judge should be invested with the same emblem of dignity
which the chief justice of the Crown Court enjoyed, but he
was unable to procure the distinction of knighthood for him.
The Sudder Court, however, was rendered illustrious by the
appointment of Mr. Henry Thomas Colebrooke, the most
profound Oriental scholar of the day, and one of the most
distinguished of the public servants, to preside over its pro-
ceedings.
It became evident, moreover, to Lord Welles-
The College of '
Fort wiiiiam, ley's mind, that there could be no substantive
improvement in the administration of the country,
without providing a succession of men, sufficiently qualified
to conduct it. The civil service had produced not a few men of
first-rate ability, but it was in its_ origin only a mercantile
staff, and it had not been deemed necessary to accommo-
date the training of the civilians, as a body, to the more
important duties which now devolved upon them. India was
still considered rather in the light of a commercial factory,
than an imperial domain. For men who were to act as
magistrates, collectors, judges, political agents, and ambas-
sadors, it was still deemed sufficient if they were well versed
in the mysteries of the counting-house, understood book-
124 ITS MAGNIFICENT ESTABLISHMENT. [CHAP.
keeping by double entry, and wrote a hand which the
Directors could read. The system which Burke had repro-
bated fifteen years before was still unchanged, and lads of
fifteen were sent out to the Indian service before their educa-
tion was finished, with no opportunity or inducement after
their arrival, to complete it. Of the languages of the people,
whose affairs they were to administer, they were not required
to know even the rudiments. To supply these palpable
deficiencies in the system of government, Lord WeUesley was
determined to found a College hi Calcutta, and assemble in it
the young writers, as the embryo civilians were designated,
from the three Presidencies, and set them to continue and
complete then* European education, and to study the laws,
literature, and languages of the people they were to govern.
The institution was projected on that scale of magnificence
which marked all Lord Wellesley's plans, and in the medal
which was struck on the occasion, the date of its establish-
ment was thrown back a twelvemonth, to associate it with
the memorable event of the capture of Seringapatam. A
provost and vice-provost were appointed, with salaries of
Indian magnitude, and the sum of 5,000 rupees a-month was
allotted for the public table of the collegians. Learned men
were invited to join it from ah 1 parts of India, and in the
minds of the natives the halcyon days of the great Mahome-
dan and Hindoo princes, who had sought to render their
courts illustrious by the assemblage of the literati, appeared
now to be revived in the metropolis of British India. Four
disputations were to be held annually in the grand edifice
which Lord WeUesley had erected, " in an august assembly,"
composed of the natives of rank and learning, pundits and
moonshees, rajas and foreign ambassadors. Such an institu-
tion was at the time essentially necessaiy to give the stamp
of efficiency to the institutions of the British Government ;
but it was very costly, and, it was erected without the sanc-
tion, or even the cognizance, of the Court of Directors.
Accordingly, on the 21>th January, 1802, they passed a
XX.] I51POSIT1ON OF TRANSIT DUTIES. 125
peremptory order for its immediate abolition. Lord Wellesley
was mortified to an extreme degree by this subversion of one
of his most cherished schemes, which exposed him to the
contempt of India, and he gave vent to his feelings in a
passionate appeal to his friends in the Ministry. He likewise
placed on the records of the Council an elaborate minute, in
which he combated the arguments of the India House, and
maintained the necessity of such an institution with irresistible
force. The objection which the Court of Directors had raised,
on the ground of expense, had been obviated, he said, by
the imposition of a new tax, Avhich would produce a sum
equal to the charge of the College establishment. This was
no other than the renewal of the transit duty on the convey-
ance of produce from district to district, which Hindoo and
Mahomedan Governments had been in the habit of imposing.
At the present day it appears incredible, that one of the most
liberal and enlightened statesmen of that period, should have
taken credit to himself for the establishment of one of the
most barbarous and mischievous taxes ever devised, and
sought to make provision for his noble college by the inter-
ruption of inland commerce. He proceeded to pass an order
for the abolition of the College, " as an act of necessary sub-
mission to the controlling authority of the Court," but immedi-
ately after, issued a second order directing that the abolition
should be gradually effected, in the next eighteen months.
At the same time, he entreated Lord Castlereagh to use his
utmost endeavours to save from destruction the institution
which he regarded with feelings of greater exultation, than
even the kingdom he had built up in the Deccan, and to the
consolidation of which he vowed to devote his poh'tical life.
Under the pressure of the Board of Control, the Court of
Directors were induced to qualify their orders, and permit the
continuance of the College, but on a reduced scale, limiting its
agency to the students of the Bengal Presidency, and to the
cultivation of the native languages. To complete the
European education of the students, and impart to them the
126 ENCOURAGEMENT OF PRIVATE TRADE. [CHAP.
rudiments of the eastern tongues, they set up an expensive
College of their own at Haileybury.
Private Trade, At the renewal of the charter in 1793, Parlia-
17931801. ment endeavoured to silence the clamours of the
merchants and manufacturers of England for a participation in
the Indian trade, by obliging the Court of Directors to allot
them 3,000 tons of freight annually. Though this concession
was saddled with extravagant charges and vexatious restric-
tions, the private trade soon increased, under its operation, to
5,000 tons a-year. The commerce of India was, in fact,
bursting the bonds of the monopoly, which, however valuable
during the period of its infancy, was totally unsuited to an age
of development and maturity. The subject was forced on the
attention of Lord Wellesley as soon as he landed in Calcutta,
and on the 5th October, 1798, he issued his first notification
for the encouragement of free trade between India and the
port of London, to which, at that time, all imports were re-
stricted. Ship-building had recently attained great perfection
on the banks of the Hooghly, and a vessel of 1,400 tons, a vast
size for a merchantman of that period, was then on the stocks.
Lord Wellesley, on the part of Government, chartered a
number of country-built vessels, and relet them to the private
merchants, with liberty to make arrangements with the pro-
prietors to suit their own convenience, and secure those advan-
tages which could not be enjoyed in the privileged tonnage of
the Company. This indulgence was discontinued in 1799, but
it was found necessary to renew it in the succeeding year.
The evils of the monopoly were daily becoming more palpable.
The trade of Calcutta was increasing beyond all example,
and forcing a passage in foreign vessels which were freighted
by English capital, the funds of the merchants, and the savings
of the services. In the previous year, the imports and exports
of American, Portuguese, and Danish vessels had exceeded a
crore and a half of rupees, and in September, 1800, there were
8,500 tons of shipping, under foreign colours, lying in the
Hooghly. By these ships the produce of India was conveyed
XX.] OPPOSITION OF THE COURT OF DIRECTORS. 127
to Europe with great expedition and economy, and the East
India Company was thus beaten out of the markets on the con-
tinent. Lord Wellesley considered it important to secure this
valuable commerce to British interests. There were 10,000
tons of India-built shipping then anchored in Calcutta, and he
determined, as in 1798, to engage a large portion of this
tonnage to convey the produce of the country, belonging to
private merchants, to the port of London.
In his despatch to the Court of Directors on the
Court'on'the * subject, he stated that " it would be equally
Private Trade, unjust and impolitic to extend any facility to the
trade of the British merchants in India by sacri-
ficing or hazarding the Company's rights or privileges, by
injuring its commercial interests, or by departing from any of
the fundamental principles of policy which now govern the
British establishments in India ; but the increasing commercial
resources of Great Britain claimed for her subjects the largest
attainable share of the valuable and extensive commerce of
such articles of Indian produce and manufacture as were
necessarily excluded from the Company's investments." He
recorded his decided opinion that a well-organised system of
intercourse between the ports of India and London was indis-
pensable to the interests both of the Company and of the nation.
These liberal views met with the entire concurrence of
Mr. Dundas, who said " it was notorious that at no period had
the capital or commercial powers of the East India Company
been able to embrace the whole, or near the whole, of the
wealth of India, exported thence by trade to England, and he
was anxious to authorise the Government of India to licence
the appropriation of India-built shipping for the purpose of
bringing home that India trade which the means and capital of
the East India Company was unable to embrace." Far different,
however, was the feeling at the India House. The great dread
of interlopers, which had haunted it for two centuries, was
still in full vigour. Though the cream of the India trade was
still to be assured to the Company, the Directors could not
128 RESIGNATION OF LOUD WELLESLEY. [CHAP.
brook that others should be permitted to taste eveii the lees, .
The proceedings of Lord Wellesley were arraigned with the
greatest virulence. That " our Governor-General," as he was
usually addressed in the public despatches, should give the
slightest countenance to free trade, was not to be endured. He
lost caste at once and irretrievably in Leadenhall-street. Every
effort was made to thwart his administration and weaken
his authority, and, during the last three years of his Indian
career, the treatment he experienced from the India House was
scarcely less rancorous than that which had embittered the life
of his illustrious predecessor, Warren Hastings. The Court of
Directors passed a vote, in the teeth of the Prime Minister,
Mr. Addiiigton, condemning the liberal commercial policy of
Lord Wellesley, and the Court of Proprietors cordially adopted
it. A farther period of ten years was required to break up the
monopoly of two centuries, and open the gates of India to
British enterprize and capital.
Ecsignation of As soon as the arrangements in Oude were corn-
Lord weuesiey. pleted, Lord Wellesley sent in his resignation to
the Court of Directors, assigning no other reason for this step
but the completion of the plans he had devised for the security
of the empire, and the general prosperity of the country. To
Mr. Addington, however, he unburdened his mind, and explained
the real motives of his retirement the hostile disposition of
the Court, and the withdrawal of their confidence. They had
peremptorily ordered him to reduce the military establishments
in the Peninsula, leaving him no option between an act of direct
disobedience and the execution of measures which he considered
fatal to the vital interests of the Government. The total dis-
regard of the strong opinion he had expressed on the sub-
ject appeared clearly to intimate that they considered him no
longer competent to govern the empire which he endeavoured to
consolidate. They had issued the most positive injunctions to
reduce many of the stipends which he had considered advisable
at the close of the war. They had selected for especial censure
the additional allowances granted by the Madras Government,
XX.J THE COURT INTERFERES IN APPOINTMENTS. 129
with his concurrence, to his brother, General Wellesley, to de-
fray the charges of his important and expensive command in
Mysore. He considered this reduction as " the most direct,
marked, and disgusting indignity which could be devised."
The Act of 1793 had invested the Governor-General in Council
with the power of enforcing his orders on the minor Presiden-
cies, though they might happen to supersede the injunctions
of the Court of Directors. But the Court had now thought fit
to issue orders to those Presidencies to carry certain measures
into effect, notwithstanding any directions they might have re-
ceived to the contrary from Calcutta. The authority of the
Supreme Government over the subordinate Presidencies was
thus neutralized.
The Court had not only taken upon themselves
ference in ap- to displace officers who enjoyed the full confidence
pomtments, o f t } ie Governor-General, but to nominate others in
opposition to his judgment. For example, he had
placed Colonel Kirkpatrick, one of the ablest and most experi-
enced officers in the service, in the important post of political
secretary. The Court cancelled the appointment, to the great
detriment of the public interests, and the injury of the Governor-
General's character and influence. They had likewise forced
on him the nomination of Mr. Speke, an ex-member of Council,
as officiating president of the Board of Trade, though he
had no higher recommendation than the favour of the Prince of
Wales. At Madras, the Court had removed from the office of
chief secretary Mr. Webbe, the most eminent statesman of that
Presidency, and the unflinching enemy of that system of in-
trigue and conniption which had for more than thirty years
disgraced the public service. This removal was the more
offensive as it was to be traced to the base insinuation of
some informer that Mr. Webbe exercised a strong influence on
the mind of Lord Clive, which, if true, was equally honourable
to both. Mr. Cockburn, the ablest financial officer at the
Madras Presidency, was likewise displaced to make room for
some nominee of Leadenhall-street. Lord Wellesley was well
130 LORD WELLESLEY REQUESTED TO REMAIN. [CHAP.
known to have approved of both these appointments, and indeed
of all the proceedings of Lord Clive, and he considered the
conduct of the Court of Directors in these instances as a reflec-
tion also on himself. This nomination to offices in India of
those who could secure the smiles of the Directors had been
checked by Lord Cornwallis, who threatened to throw up his
office if it were persisted in, " that he might preserve his own
character, and avoid witnessing the ruin of the national inte-
rests." By the subsequent Act of 1793, the power of appoint-
ing to official situations in India was vested in the local
Governments, subject only to the general control of the home
authorities. The interference with this patronage by the India
House was therefore not only highly injurious to the public
interests, but altogether unconstitutional. Lord Wellesley
justly remarked that if the Government of India was thus to
be thwarted in every subordinate department, deprived of all
local influence, and counteracted in every local detail by a
remote authority, interfering in the nomination of every public
servant, it would be impossible to conduct the government
under such disgraceful chains. It was a singular anomaly that
the Court of Directors should thus have grasped at appoint-
ments in India at the time when they themselves were de-
nouncing the appointment of Mr. Henry Wellesley, even for a
twelvemonth, as an invasion of their own rights. Lord Castle-
reagh, the President of the Board of Control, was anxious that
Lord AVellesley should remain another year in the government,
and he placed this letter to Mr. Addington, confidentially, in
the hands of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Court.
They did not disguise from him that great dissatisfaction and
jealousy was felt by the Company with regard to certain mea-
sures of Lord Wellesley's government, which had been in-
creased by the employment of Mr. Henry Wellesley. Lord
Wellesley had, in fact, touched the two privileges on which
the India House was most sensitive, its commercial monopoly
in the matter of the private trade, and its patronage in the ap-
pointment given to his brother, and the indignation of the
XXI.] DEATH OF NAN A FURNUVESE. 131
Directors rose to fever heat. But the Chairs assured Lord
Castlereagh that they were not unmindful of his eminent ser-
vices, and were alive to the importance of retaining them for
Lord weiiesie an thev year. A despatch was sent out, officially
asked to remain commending his zeal and ability, and requesting
12 months. 1803. -, . \ -i T i n/-\ <
mm to postpone his departure to January, 1804.
Little did they dream of the momentous results of this request,
and of the great revolution to which it would lead, in the irre-
trievable prostration of the Mahratta powers, to whose history
we now return.
CHAPTER XXI.
LORD WELLESLEY'S ADMINISTRATION MAHRATTA AFFAIRS,
18001803.
Death of Nana ^he destruction of Tippoo's power, and the com-
Fumuvese, plete ascendency established at Hyderabad, left the
Company with no antagonist but the Mahrattas,
and the two rival powers now stood front to front. It was
the firm conviction of Lord Wellesley that the peace and tran-
quillity of India could be secured only by the extension of British
supremacy over all its princes, by means of defensive and sub-
sidiary alliances, which recognized the British Government as
the arbiter in every dispute. But nothing could be more un-
palatable to the Mahrattas chiefs than this policy. The peace
and tranquillity of India implied the termination of that system
of plunder and aggression which was the foundation and
element of their power. They believed, and not without reason,
that these subsidiary alliances would extinguish their inde-
pendence, and deprive them of the respect of their subjects.
The offer of such an alliance, which was made in the first
instance to the Peshwa, in July, 1799, was therefore declined,
132 CONFUSION AT POONA.
under the prudent advice of Nana Furnuvese. In March,
1800, that great statesman closed his long and chequered
career. For more than a quarter of a century he had been the
mainspring of every movement in the Mahratta empire. By
the vigour of his character and the wisdom of his councils, he
had controlled the disorders of the times, and he wanted only the
addition of personal courage to render him supreme. He was
distinguished by the rare, and among the Mahrattas of that
age, the incredible qualities of humanity, veracity, and honesty
of purpose. While he admired the English for their sincerity
and their energy, he had a patriotic jealousy of the increase of
their power, which it was his constant endeavour to restrain.
*' With him," wrote Colonel Palmer, the Resident, " has de-
parted all the wisdom and moderation of the Mahratta govern-
ment." He had been the only check on the growing ascen-
dency of Sindia at Poona, who was left by his death without
a rival and without control, and now ventured so far to indulge
his spirit of domination, as on one occasion, when he feared
that Bajee Rao meditated an escape, to surround his palace
and place him temporarily under restraint. It was not, there-
fore, without secret delight that the Peshwa contemplated the
rising power of Jeswunt Rao Holkar, by whose assistance he
hoped to free himself from the tyranny of Sindia. In propor-
tion as this hope increased, his inclination towards the alterna-
tive of a British alliance, which Lord Wellesley continued to
press on him with great importunity, was slackened.
The Holkar To elucidate the rise of this celebrated chief, who
family. played an important part in the transactions of the
next five years, it is necessary to bring up the history of the
Holkar family. Mulhar Rao Holkar, who raised himself from
the condition of a shepherd to the dignity of a prince, died at
the age of seventy-six, after a brilliant career of forty years.
His only son died soon after the battle of Paniput, leaving his
widow Aylah-bye, with a son and a daughter. The son died in
1766, and his widow, a woman of extraordinary powers,
steadfastly resisted all the entreaties of the chiefs to adopt a
XXI.] VIRTUES OF AYLAH-BTE, 133
son and retire into obscurity, and resolved to undertake the
government of the state herself, in the capacity of regent.
With singular discernment she selected Tokajee Holkar, a
chief of the same tribe as Mulhar Rao, though not of his
kindred, to take the command of the army. It was scarcely
to be expected that in a country like India, and in a period of
unexampled turmoil, an arrangement which placed the military
power in the hands of a great soldier, while the civil govern-
ment was administered by a female, would be of long con-
tinuance. But the gratitude and moderation of Tokajee, and"
the commanding genius of the Bye combined to perpetuate it
for thirty years. He never failed in the homage due to her
position, and was never known to encroach on her authority.
She sat daily in open durbar, and gave public audiences without
a veil, and dispensed justice in person to all suitors. She laid
herself out to promote the prosperity of the country by the
encouragement of trade and agriculture. She acquired the
respect of foreign princes by the weight of her character, and
in an age of extreme violence succeeded in maintaining the
security of her own dominions. She raised Indore from a
mere village to the rank of a noble capital. Like all wealthy
Hindoo females, she fell under the dominion of the priesthood,
and expended large sums on religious edifices and establish-
ments in every part of India, from Ramisseram to Hurdwar.
Relays of porters were daily employed at her expense in con-
veying the water of the Ganges to the sacred shrines in the
Deccan, however remote, and she was rewarded by the
brahmins with the title of an avatar, or incarnation of the deity.
Whatever opinion may be formed of these acts of superstitious
devotion, she was in other respects the purest and most exem-
plary of rulers, and added one more name to the roll of those
illustrious females who have adorned the native history of
India with their genius and virtues.
Death of Ayiah- Aylah-bye died in 1795, and Tokajee in 1797,
bye and an( } the reign of anarchy began, not to close but
Tokajee, ~ *
1795-97. in the entire submission of the state to British
134 RISE OF JESWUKf RAO HOLKAR. [CHAP.
authority, twenty years later. Tokajee left two sons by
his wife, Kashee Rao and Mulhar Rao, and two by a con-
cubine, Jeswunt Rao and Wittoojee. Kashee Rao was
weak hi mind and deformed in body, and his brother Mulhar
Rao assumed the command of the army, and the government
of the state. Kashee Rao repaired to Sindia at Poona, and
he espoused his cause, and made a treacherous attack on the
army of Mulhar Eao, who fell in the engagement. The house
of Holkar, which had long been the rival of Sindia, was thus
enfeebled and brought into complete subordination to his
power, and another step was gained in his ambitious endea-
vours to obtain the universal control of the Mahratta common-
wealth. Jeswunt Rao, who had taken part with Mulhar
Rao, fled from the field of battle to Nagpore, but the raja,
anxious to conciliate Sindia, placed him in confinement. He
c jntrived. however, to make his escape, and sought refuge at
the court of Anund Rao, the chief of the ancient principality
of Dhar, to whom he was enabled to afford material assistance
in coercing some of his refractory subjects. The enmity of
Sindia still pursued him, and the raja was constrained to dis-
card him, but, to compensate for this breach of Rajpoot hos-
pitality, bestowed on him a parting gift of 10,000 rupees. He
quitted Dhar with seven mounted followers, and about a hun-
dred and twenty ragged, half-armed infantry, with the resolu-
tion to trust his future fortunes to his sword. Fully aware of
the strong prejudice which existed against him on account of
his illegitimacy, he announced himself as the champion and
minister of his nephew, Khundeh Rao, the youth-
ful son of Mulhar Rao, and called upon all the
Hottar, 1796. adherents of the house of Holkar to rally round
him, and resist the encroachments of Sindia. The freebooters,
who swarmed in Central India, Bheels and Pindarees, Af-
ghans and Mahrattas, hastened to join his standard, and thus
commenced the career of this predatory chieftain. Soon after,
he was joined by Ameer Khan, a Rohilla adventurer, then
about thirty-two years of age, who had just taken service
XXI.] HOLKAR DEFEATS SINDIA. 135
with the Chief of Bhopal, but quitted it in 1798 with a body
of free lances to traverse the country, and levy contributions
on his own account. For eighteen months the combined forces
of the two chiefs spread desolation through the districts on
the Nerbudda, but were obliged to separate when they were
completely exhausted. Ameer Khan proceeded eastward to
the opulent city of Sagor, belonging to the Peshwa, where he
subjected the inhabitants to every species of outrage, and
acquired incredible booty. Jeswunt Rao entered the pro-
vince of Malwa, which had enjoyed repose and prosperity for
thirty years, and dispersed his predatory bands in every direc-
tion, and the country was half ruined before Sindia could take
measures to protect it. That chief was now obliged to quit
Poona, where he had continued to reside for eight years, ever
since his accession to the throne of his uncle, domineering
over the unfortunate Peshwa, from whom he extorted the sum
of forty-seven lacs of rupees on taking his departure. The
notorious Sirjee Rao Ghatkay was left as his representative
to maintain his authority with five battalions of foot, and
10,000 horse.
Nothing can give the mind a clearer idea of the
Holkar defeats
Sindia's army, anarchy and misery which prevailed in Hindostan
at this period than the ease with which Jeswunt
Rao was able, by the allurement of plunder, to organise an
army of 70,000 men within two years. With this force he laid
waste the districts of Malwa, and then advanced against the
capital, Oojein. To this city the widows of the deceased
Mahdajee Sindia had fled with a large military force and their
treasures, to avoid the violence of Dowlut Rao. Under the
pretence of espousing their cause, Holkar contrived to lull
them into security, and in the dead of night opened his guns
on their encampment, and constrained them to fly for their
lives, while he took possession of all their property, and of
their valuable park of artillery. Two bodies of Sindia's troops
were immediately pushed forward from the south to avenge
this insult, and expel Jeswunt Rao. One of these armies
n. L
136 SINDIA DEFEATS HOLKAR. [CHAP.
though commanded by European officers, was constrained to
lay down its arms, and the other, under Colonel Hessing, was
attacked with such vigour as to lose a fourth of its number.
Of eleven European officers attached to it, seven fell in action,
and three were made prisoners. The city of Oojein was thus
placed at the mercy of Holkar, but so absolute was the control
which he had acquired over his troops that he was enabled to
restrain them from plundering it, even in the excitement of
victory ; but he exacted the heavy ransom of fifteen lacs of
rupees, which he transferred to his own military chest. Mean-
while the Peshwa, liberated for the first time from the des-
potism of Sindia by his departure from the capital, gave full
scope to his natural disposition, and, instead of strengthening
his throne by conciliating his feudatories, subjected them to
the most wanton insult and plunder. His oppressive govern-
ment became the object of universal hatred. Bands of
brigands sprung up in eveiy direction, and laid the villages
under contribution. Wittoojee, the brother of Jeswurit Rao,
was driven by necessity to join one of these bodies, and was
taken prisoner. Bajee Rao sentenced him to be trampled to
death by an infuriated elephant, and seated himself in the
verandah of his palace to enjoy the revolting spectacle, and
the yells of the unfortunate youth. A universal feeling of
execration rose throughout the country at this atrocious
murder of a son of Tokajee, who had for thirty years
zealously maintained the interests of the Mahratta power.
Jeswunt Rao, who, with all his ferocity, was really attached to
his brother, vowed vengeance on his murderer, and it was not
not long before he had an opportunity of wreaking it.
Sindia, alarmed by the defeat of his armies,
Sindia defeats ' . .
Hoikar, 14 Octo- and the increasing power of Holkar, summoned
ber, 1801. Sirjee Rao Ghatkay to join him with the troops
under his command. That miscreant, after the departure of
his master from Pooua, proceeded to the Peshwa's southern
provinces, which he ravaged without mercy, and, when thus
called away, was encamped on his return within a mile of
XXI.] HOLKAR RECOVERS HIS STRENGTH. 137
the capital which he was on the point of giving up to plunder.
Sindia's army thus reinforced, and comprising fourteen of
De Boigne's battalions, met Holkar on the 14th October, 1801,
and totally routed him, capturing ninety-eight guns. This de-
feat was generally ascribed to the absence of Holkar's European
officers whom he had injudiciously left behind. Sirjee Kao
entered Indore in triumph, and gave it up to spoliation, to
avenge the plunder of Sindia's capital. His ruthless troops
were let loose on the city which Aylah Bye had spent a life in
embellishing, and the noblest edifices were sacked and reduced
to ashes. Those who were supposed to possess property were
tortured to disclose it, and the wells were choked up with
the bodies of females who destroyed themselves to escape
dishonour. If Sindia had followed up his victory with vigour,
the career of Jeswunt Rao would probably have been
brought to a close ; but, after expelling him from Malwa, he
thought fit to enter into negotiations with him, under the
impression that he was crushed beyond redemption. Holkar,
however, either from mistrust of Sindia, or under encourage-
ment from the Peshwa, or perhaps from an overweening con-
fidence in his own fortune, advanced the most extravagant
demands, and the negotiation fell to the ground. He was
not long recovering from the blow. His wild and daring spirit
was precisely suited to the character of the times and of the
country. His standard again became the rallying point of
the unquiet spirits who were hanging loose on society in
Central India, and not a few even of Siudia's soldiers deserted to
it. With this force he proceeded northward, plundering every
village and town in his route, and, to the horror of his own
lawless but superstitious soldiery, not sparing the renowned
shrine of Nath-dowrah. He then crossed the Nerbudda, and
laid waste the province of Candesh, while one of his cojri-
manders was sent to ravage the Southern Mahratta pro-
vinces. General Wellesley soon after marched up through this
territory, and remarked that Holkar's troops had cut all the
forage, consumed the grain, and burnt the houses for fuel ;
L 2
138 BATTLE OF POONA. [CHAP.
that the wretched villagers had taken to flight, with their
cattle ; and that, except in one village, not a human being
was left between Meritch and Poona. Meanwhile, Jeswunt
Rao, who had been encamped at Chandore, moved down
upon Poona, with the object, as he asserted, of claiming the
protection of the Peshwa from the hostility of Sindia.
Battle of Poona, The object of Holkar's march could not, however,
1802. b e mistaken. The consternation at Poona may be
readily conceived, and the Peshwa began to tremble for his own
safety. Lord Wellesley had never abandoned the belief,
that until we could obtain a footing and an influence at Poona,
the peace of the peninsula would be periodically disturbed by
Sindia and Holkar, and he had renewed his offer of an alliance
with the Peshwa, whenever there appeared any chance of
success. On the other hand, the vakeels of the raja of
Berar and Sindia, constantly and earnestly dissuaded him
from accepting it, and engaged to protect him from the
designs of Holkar. The British negotiation fluctuated with
the hopes and fears of Bajee Rao. Sindia sent his general,
Sudaseeb Rao, with ten battalions of infantry, and a large
body of cavalry to defend the capital from the threatened
attack of Holkar ; the Peshwa was thus encouraged to treat
the advances of the Governor- General with indifference, and
in the beginning of October, Colonel Close, the Resident,
declared the negotiation at an end. As Holkar approached
the neighbourhood of Poona, Bajee Rao made him the most
humiliating offers, which he haughtily rejected, demanding
the restoration of all the dominions belonging to his house,
and the release of his nephew, and bitterly reproaching him
with the murder of his brother, which he was now come to
avenge. The troops of Sindia and the Peshwa were united
under the walls of Poona on the 25th October. The combined
force numbered about 84,000 horse and foot ; and of Sindia's
battalions ten were under the command of Colonel Dawes.
Holkar also had fourteen battalions disciplined by European
officers, together with 5,000 irregular infantry and 25,000
XXI.] FLIGHT OP THE PESHWA. 139
cavalry, and thus was exhibited the anomalous spectacle of
British officers arrayed against each other under the hostile
standards of native princes. The battle was long and
obstinately contested. Success at first inclined to Sindia and
his ally; the slaughter of Holkar's troops was prodigious,
and they had begun to give way, when he advanced from the
rear, and vaulting into his saddle, called out to them " now
or never to follow Jeswunt Rao." He dealt about him like
a mad lion, and his foaming valour restored the fortune of
the day. The victory was complete, and placed in his hands
the whole of the baggage, stores, and ammunition of his
opponents. The Peshwa had come out to take part in the
engagement, but he was terrified by the first firing, and
hastened to place himself beyond the reach of it, on the hill
Parbutee, where he was surrounded by a considerable body
of his troops, who would have been more usefully employed
against Holkar. As he perceived the scale of the battle
turn against him, he sent a messenger in haste to Colonel
Close, who was encamped in the neighbourhood, to accede to
all the conditions of the alliance which he had previously
objected to. When he found the day lost he retired to Sun-
gumnere with about 7,000 men, and thence hastened to the
sea coast, and despatched letters to the Governor of Bombay,
requesting the accommodation of a vessel, in which he
embarked, and reached Bassein on the 6th December.
Jeswunt Rao, who entered the capital after the
Holkar places . , .
umritRaoin battle, was anxious, above all things, to obtain
power, 1802. possession of the person of the Peshwa, and to
construct an administration in which he himself should possess
the same power and ascendency which Sindia had enjoyed for
eight years ; but the Peshwa was too deeply incensed at his
conduct to listen to any overtures. Finding at length that he
had no intention to return to his capital, Holkar sent for his
brother, Umrit Rao, and placed him at the head of affairs, and
seated his son on the musnud, bargaining for himself an imme-
diate payment of two crores of rupees, and districts yielding
140 TJBEATY OF BASSEIN. [CHAP.
another crore, together with the command of the army and
the substantial power of the state. For two months after his
victory, he exhibited a spirit of singular moderation, but in the
end threw off the mask and gave up the city of Poona to
indiscriminate plunder. Colonel Close was earnestly entreated
by Holkar to continue as the British Resident at Poona, but he
refused to countenance this usurpation by his presence, and
Treaty of retired to Bombay in the beginning of December.
Bassem, 1802. jj e wag i mme( ji a t e ly placed in communication with
Bajee Rao, who was now eager for the alliance which was to
restore him to his throne. Accordingly, on the last day of
December, 1802, the memorable treaty of "defensive alliance
and reciprocal protection," was completed at Bassem. A
British force of 6,000 infantry, with a suitable complement of
artillery, was to be stationed within the Peshwa's dominions,
and districts in the Deccan yielding twenty-six lacs of rupees
a-year were to be assigned for their support. The Peshwa
agreed to entertain no European in his service belonging to
any nation at war with the English, to engage in no hostilities
or negotiations without their concurrence, and to refer all his
claims on the Nizam and the Guickwar to the arbitration of
the Governor-General. The treaty likewise guaranteed to the
southern jageerdars, the great feudatories of the Peshwa, the
full enjoyment of ah 1 then* rights.
The treaty of Bassein forms one of the most
the Treaty, important epochs in the history of British India.
It completely paralysed the head of the Mahratta
commonwealth, and it inflicted a blow on the Mahratta power,
from which it never recovered. Although the Peshwa's authority
was often set at nought by the chiefs, they still continued to
regard it as the centre of national unity, and a most important
element in the existing struggle for the empire of India be-
tween the Malirattas and the English. There has been no
little diversity of opinion on the propriety of this treaty, but
we have happily the views of two of the greatest statesmen of
the age to assist us in judging of its merits. It was impugned
XXI.] REMARKS ON THE TREATY. 141
by Lord Castlereagh, the President of the Board of Control,
in a very able state paper, entitled " Observations on Mahratta
affairs," and its policy was triumphantly vindicated in an
elaborate memorandum by the Duke of "Wellington, then
General Wellesley. From his own personal experience of six
years, which was superior to that of any one else in India,
the General drew a very vivid sketch of the position and the
policy of the various country powers, whose interests were
affected by the treaty. He demonstrated that it was the inevit-
able corollary of the engagements which had been entered
into with the Nizam. On that prince the Mahratta powers
had interminable claims the Asiatic claims of the strong on
the weak and they would have neglected no opportunity of
enforcing them, which must have compromised the tranquillity
of the Deccan. The subsidiary alliance which Lord Wellesley
had entered into with the Nizam, identified his interests with
those of the Company, and gave him the protection of the
British arms against the claims and the aggression of the
Mahrattas. The necessity which had thus arisen of support-
ing the Nizam against all his enemies must have involved
the Company, sooner or later, in a war with the whole of the
Mahratta nation, and this could be avoided only by forming
an alliance with its recognised chief, on the basis of consti-
tuting the British Government the arbiter of these demands.
Lord Wellesley considered the position of affairs at the end of
1802, as affording the best occasion for effecting this impor-
tant object. The Peshwa was a fugitive, and both Sindia and
Holkar, though with private and opposite intentions, had
repeatedly urged him to interpose in the settlement of affairs
at Poona. He had the wisdom to avail himself of this golden
opportunity, which might never return, and to form a treaty
with the Peshwa which placed the settlement of all claims on
the Nizam in the hands of the British Government, and at the
same time secured to it an absolute ascendency in the counsels
of Poona. The great Duke placed it on record that, "the
treaty of Bassein and the measures adopted in consequence of
142 HOSTILE COMBINATION OF THE MAHRATTAS. [CHAP.
it, afforded the best prospect of preserving the peace of India,
and that to have adopted any other measures would have ren-
dered war with Holkar nearly certain, and war with the whole
of the'Mahratta nation more than probable," and his appro-
bation has been ratified by the judgment of posterity. The
war with Sindia and the raja of Nagpore in the following
year arose ostensibly from the conclusion of the treaty, but a
war with them was all but inevitable, and the only difference
made by the treaty was to hasten its occurrence, and to deprive
them of all the resources of the Peshwa.
Discontent of ^ ne establishment of the Company's paramount
sindia and the authority at the capital of the Mahratta empire by
Bhonslay, 1803. , , c -n \. \,
the treaty ot Bassem gave great umbrage to the
Mahratta powers. It thwarted the ambition of some, and the
interests of all. Sindia had solicited the interposition of the
Governor-General for the restoration of the Peshwa, only in
the hope of regaining his power at Poona, and he was mortified
to find that all his ambitious prospects in the Deccan were at
once overturned. " The treaty," he said, " takes the turban
from my head." Lord Wellesley had offered him the " benefit "
of an arrangement similar to that which had been made with
the Peshwa, but he could not fail to perceive that this new
system of subsidiary alliances must sap the foundation of
Mahratta power, as effectually as the invention of the system
of the chout had enabled the Mahrattas to destroy the Mogul
empire. He lost no time in deputing his prime minister to
confer with the raja of Berar on the formation of a con-
federacy of Mahratta chiefs to oppose the common enemy.
The raja, a collateral branch of Sevajee's family, had always
cherished pretensions to the office of Peshwa, but the treaty of
Bassein, by reinstating Bajee Rao under British protection,
effectually destroyed all these expectations. He not only
entered cordially into the views of Sindia, but became the life
and soul of the hostile coalition. The Peshwa himself repented
of the treaty as soon as he had affixed his seal to it, and com-
menced a series of intrigues to render it ineffectual. He
XXI.] LORD WELLESLEY ORDERS UP TROOPS. 143
despatched a confidential agent to Sindia and the raja of
Nagpore, ostensibly to reconcile them to the alliance he had
formed with the British Government, but in reality to invite
them to Poona to assist him hi frustrating it. Holkar, finding
all his plans thwarted by the policy of Lord Wellesley, and by
the advance of a British force to support it, quitted Poona and
retired to the north. The raja of Nagpore made the most
strenuous efforts to induce him to join the league, and at
length succeeded in effecting a reconciliation between him and
Sindia, on the condition that all the dominions of the family
should be restored to him, and that his nephew, Khundeh
Rao, should be liberated. But although he signed the
engagement, and received possession of the family domains,
he evaded every solicitation to bring up his forces and join
the allies, alleging that he was unable to raise sufficient funds
for the payment of their arrears. But, no sooner did he find
Sindia actually involved in hostilities with the English, than
he let loose his famishing host on the possessions of that prince
in Malwa, while his confederate, Ameer Khan, proceeded to
pillage his territories in another direction.
Lord Weiiesiey's Lord Wellesley had early intelligence of this
military move- confederation, but he was anxious to maintain
peace, and caused a communication to be made to
Sindia and the Berar raja, that he was desirous of continu-
ing his friendly relations with them unimpaired, but would
resist to the full extent of his power any attempt on then- part
to interfere with the treaty of Bassein. To be prepared for
every contingency, he ordered the whole of the Hyderabad
subsidiary force under Colonel Stephenson, together with
6,000 of the Nizam's own infantry, and 9,000 horse to advance
to the north-western frontier of his kingdom ; and they reached
Purinda, 116 miles from Bombay, on the 25th March. Gene-
ral Wellesley was likewise directed to march up from Mysore
in the same direction, a distance of 600 miles, with about
8,000 infantry, 1,700 cavalry, and 2,000 of the celebrated
Mysore horse, under an able native commandant. It was
144 RESTORATION OF THE PESHWA. [CHAP.
important to the stability of the arrangements made with the
Peshwa that the great southern jageerdars, who, in con-
sequence of a long series of aggressions, mistrusted his inten-
tions, and detested his person, should be induced to rally
round his throne. For many years there had been constant
struggles for power and plunder among the chiefs themselves ;
but the energy displayed by General Wellesley in the pursuit
of Dhoondia Waug had spread his fame through the Deccan,
and the strength of his character had inspired such general
confidence that he was enabled to compose their mutual feuds,
and to bring up with him six of the chief feudatories, with
10,000 of then- troops. Holkar, on quitting Poona, had left it
in the hands of Umrit Rao, with 1,500 troops ; but that prince,
on hearing of the advance of General Wellesley in the direction
of the capita^, resolved to give it up to the flames, and then
to withdraw from it. This nefarious design could not be kept
secret, and General Wellesley, on being apprized of it, made
a rapid march of sixty miles in thirty-two hours, and reached
Poona in time to save it from destruction. Soon after, the
Peshwa left Bassein, accompanied by Colonel Close, and on the
Restoration of 13th ^ a J' a ^J selected by his astrologers as
the Peshwa, peculiarly fortunate, entered his capital, surrounded
by British bayonets, and resumed his seat on the
rnusnud under a British salute.
Meanwhile, the hostile designs of the confede-
of the assigns rates became daily more apparent. Sindia was at
of the coalition, Qoiem when he heard of the battle of Poona and
1803.
the defeat of his army by Holkar, and began to
move to the south in November. He halted for some time at
Boorhanpore on the Taptee, and despatched a letter to the
Governor-General, asserting the Mahratta claim to the chout
of the Nizam's dominions, and announcing his determination to
proceed and enforce it. He then continued his march south-
ward to form a junction with the raja of Nagpore, who
entered his tents in the vicinity of that city on the 17th April,
and advanced to meet Sindia with a large force. Both princes
XXI.] SDOMA'S FATAL DECLARATION. 145
announced their intention to proceed to Poona, " to adjust the
government of the Peshwa." The Resident informed Sindia
that the Governor-General would not fail to consider any such
movement on his part an act of hostility, involving the most
serious consequences. Sindia asserted that as he was the
guarantee of the treaty of Salbye, the Peshwa was not at
liberty to sign a new treaty without his concurrence, or to act
without consulting the great Mahratta princes. He stated,
moreover, that they were proceeding to Poona on the express
and repeated invitations of the Peshwa himself ; whereas the
Peshwa had invariably assured Colonel Close that he had
forbidden their approach. Lord Wellesley likewise obtained
possession of a letter addressed by the raja of Berar to the
Nizam, which stated that after an interview with Sindia, and a
satisf actoiy arrangement with Holkar, he should advance with
the allies to Poona "to settle affairs." A letter was also
intercepted from Sindia to the Peshwa's officers in Bundle-
kund, ordering them " to prepare for war." With these un-
equivocal tokens of hostility before him, the Governor-General
directed Colonel Collins to demand from Sindia a categorical
explanation of his intentions. The interview took place on the
28th May, when Sindia frankly admitted to the Resident that
the treaty of Bassein contained nothing repugnant to his just
rights. He disavowed any intention of invading the terri-
tories of the Company, or of their allies ; but, in reference to
the negotiations then on foot, he could give no decisive answer
till he had seen the raja of Nagpore, then about forty miles
distant; "when you shall be informed whether
Sindia s fatal .
declaration, there is to be war or peace." These ominous words
proved to be the knell of Mahratta power. That
Sindia, encamped with a large army on the frontier of the
British ally, the Nizam, should rest the question of war or
peace simply upou a conference with an armed confederate,
was considered by Lord Wellesley a public insult to the
British Government, and so palpable a menace of hostility, that
a conflict was no longer to be avoided. The complication of
146 POWERS GRANTED TO GENERAL WELLESLEY. [CHAP.
affairs at this juncture was increased by the arrival of the
French squadron, already alluded to, at Pondicherry, which
Sindia did not fail to turn to account in his communications
with the other Mahratta powers, as well as by the daily expec-
tation of the death of the old Nizam, when the question of
the succession to the throne of Hyderabad would open a wide
door for the intrigues of the two Mahratta chiefs encamped
on its frontier. But Sindia and the raja of Nagpore endea-
voured to spin out the discussions with the Resident for two
months longer, while they continued to press Holkar to cross
the Taptee, and join then: forces. During this period of sus-
pense, the Peshwa was engaged in constant communications
with Sindia, urging him to make no concession, but to advance
at once to Poona. He was lavish in his promises to the
Resident, but he took care to perform nothing. The contingent
he was bound to furnish was withheld, supplies were prevented
from reaching the English camp, and no opportunity was lost
of embarrassing the operations of the British Government.
Full powers of Early in May, General Wellesley had represented
We'ifestey the * ^ e Governor-General that no reply to any
result, 1803. reference could be received from Calcutta under
six weeks, and that all the advantages of delay rested with
the Mahrattas ; he therefore suggested the propriety of de-
puting to some authority on the western coast the power of
summarily deciding upon every question as it arose. Feeling
the full force of this advice, at this critical juncture, the
Governor-General took on himself the responsibility for which
he was afterwards captiously censured of vesting the full
powers of government, civil, military, and political, in reference
to Mahratta affairs, in General Wellesley, and after a clear
arid ample exposition of his own views, authorised him to
commence hostilities, or to conclude treaties without any
further application to Calcutta. This communication reached
him on the 18th July, and he lost no time in announcing to
Sindia and to the raja of Berar the plenary powers with
which he had been invested, and called on them to demonstrate
XXI.] VIGOROUS PREPARATIONS FOR WAR. 147
by their conduct the sincerity of the pacific declarations which
they continued to make. Their armies, he said, now occupied
positions not necessary for the security of their own territories,
but menacing both to the Company, the Nizam, and the
Peshwa. He proposed that they should withdraw their forces
respectively to Hindostan and to Nagpore, while he sent back
the British armies to their usual stations. Then ensued another
week of frivolous and fruitless discussion, in the course of
which Sindia, with that mixture of simplicity and perfidy which
is so often found together in the oriental character, said that he
and his confederate could determine upon no movement, because
the arrangements for Holkar's joining their camp were not as
yet completed. W earied with these studied delays, General
Wellesloy gave them twenty-four hours for then* ultimatum,
which they presented in this shape ; that he should dismiss his
troops to their respective cantonments, and that they should
fall back forty miles to Boorhanpore. To this the General
replied, " You propose that I should withdraw to Serin gapa-
tam, Madras and Bombay, the troops collected to defend these
territories against your designs, and that you and your con-
federate should be suffered to remain with your forces, to take
advantage of their absence. I offered you peace on terms of
equality, and honourable to all parties. You have chosen war,
and are answerable for all consequences." On the 3rd August
Colonel Collins quitted Sindia's camp, and this cir-
Colonel Collins
quits sindia's cumstance became the immediate precursor of
hostilities. Thus commenced the Mahratta war of
1803.
preparations for Lord Wellesley, when he found that a war with
Sindia and the raja of Nagpore was more than
probable, determined to strike a decisive blow simultaneously
at the possessions of both princes, in every quarter of India,
though the field of operations was 700 miles apart in one
direction, and 600 in another. In the grand combinations of
the campaign he was his own war minister, and never had the
resources of India been drawn forth on a scale of such mag-
148 CAPTURE OF AHMEDNUGUR. [CHAP.
nitude, or applied with such efficiency. In the Deccan about
3,600 troops were left for the defence of Hyderabad and Poona,
while a covering army of about 8,000 men protected the districts
between the Kistna and the Toombudra. The advanced force
under the command of General Wellesley of about 9,000, and of
about 8,000 under Colonel Stephenson, was intended to
operate against the main armies of the two allies. In the north
of India, 10,500 troops were assembled under the Commander-
in-chief, General Lake, to attack Sindia's disciplined battalions,
and wrest from him his possessions in Hindostan. A force
of 3,500 men was allotted for the occupation of Bundelkund. On
the western coast of India an army of 7,300 men was or-
ganised to dispossess Sindia of his districts in Guzerat, and
5,200 men were prepared to take possession of the province
of Cuttack, in the bay of Bengal. The whole force, amounting
to about 55,000, was animated by that traditionary spirit of
enterprize and enthusiasm which had created the British empire
in the east, and which, on the present occasion, was heightened
by a feeling of unbounded confidence in the master mind of the
Governor-General. The armies of Sindia and the raja of Berar
were computed at 100,000, of whom 50,000 were cavalry and
30,000 infantry, trained and commanded by European officers,
together with a superb train of artillery of many hundred
pieces.
As soon as Colonel Collins had left Sindia's camp,
Ahmednugur, General Wellesley opened the campaign by an attack
Aug. 12. 1803. on Ahmednugur, Sindia's great arsenal and depot
south of the Nerbudda. This important fortress, though it had
been considered impregnable since the memorable defence of it
by Chand Sultana in 1595, was surrendered after a brief resist-
ance on the 12th August. The general then proceeded to take
possession of all Sindia's territories south of the Godavery, and
crossed that river on the 29th August, in the hope of bringing
the contest to the issue of a general engagement. But the
confederates spent three weeks in marching and counter-
marching without skill, and without any apparent object except
XXI.] BATTLE OF ASSTE. 149
that of avoiding 1 the pursuit of the British armies. On the 21st
September General Wellesley found himself in the neighbour-
hood of Sindia's encampment, and, at a conference with Colonel
Stephenson, arranged that they should move on separate routes
to the attack of the enemy on the 24th. But the General was
misled by his scouts as to the actual position of the confederate
army, and after marching twenty-six miles on the 23rd, unex-
pectedly discovered that it was encamped at no greater dis-
tance than six miles, whereas he had been led to believe that it
was twice as remote from him. He was, likewise, assured
that the allied chiefs were on the point of retiring from their
present position, and under the apprehension that their infantry
might escape him, he resolved to bring on an action before the
close of the day, without waiting for the junction of Colonel
Stephenson. On ascending an eminence, he beheld the Mahratta
armies stretched out before him, consisting of 50,000 men, of
whom 10,000 were trained sepoys, and supported by a hundred
pieces of cannon.
Battle of Assye, The handful of British troops which now moved
Sept. 23, 1803. (J own to attack this formidable host did not exceed
4,500. The Mahrattas had taken up a strong position, as they
were always famous for doing, with their left resting on the
village of Assye, and their infantry entrenched behind formi-
dable batteries. General Wellesley had given the most posi-
tive injunctions to the officer commanding the pickets to avoid
the cannon planted in the village, but he led his troops directly
up to the muzzle of the guns, which poured an incessant shower
on the assailants. The 74th, which supported them, was thus
exposed to a hotter fire than any troops had ever before en-
countered in India. To save that gallant regiment from utter
destruction, it was necessary to bring up additional corps ; but
so tremendous was the cannonade, that General Wellesley was
at one time doubtful whether he could prevail on any regiment
to advance and face it. The indomitable courage and energy
of British troops, however, bore down all resistance, and
Sindia's splendid infantry, who stood to their guns to the last
150 OCCUPATION OF CUTTACK. CHAP.
moment, were at length overpowered and dispersed. The vic-
tory was the most complete which had ever crowned British
valour in India, but it was dearly purchased by the loss of
one-third of the army. The slaughter would not have been
half so severe but for the blunder of the officer commanding
the pickets, for which the strategy of the General was not
responsible. The raja of Nagpore fled at the first shot, and
Sindia was not slow to follow his example. He lost all his
guns, ammunition, and camp equipage. His army was com-
pletely and irretrievably disorganized, and he retreated with a
small body of horse along the banks of the Taptee. He then
made a rapid movement southward, vigorously followed
Ca ture of ^ v General Wellesley, while Colonel Stephenson
soorhanpore, successively besieged and captured the flourishing
seergnr! 218*1 town of Boorhanpore and the strong fortress of
Oct., 1803. Asseergur. These were the last remaining pos-
sessions of Sindia in the Deccan, and General Wellesley was
now at liberty to direct his undivided attention to the raja of
Nagpore, who was the most determined enemy of the Com-
pany, and the prime mover in this war.
Capture of During the month of September, the army
Cuttack, 1803. un d e r Colonel Harcourt advanced into the maritime
province of Cuttack, abutting on southern Bengal, of which the
Nagpore family had held possession for more than hah 1
a century. It lay between the Bengal and the Madras Presi-
dencies, and the Court of Directors had always cast a longing
eye upon it, and pressed the acquisition of it, if necessary, by
purchase, on successive Governors-General for twenty years.
It was now to be added to their dominions by the fortune of
war. The whole country was occupied without even the
semblance of opposition. As the British army approached the
temple of Jugunnath, which is considered to sanctify the whole
province, and render it " the land of merit," the brahmins has-
tened to the camp to inform the Colonel that on the preceding
night they had inquired of the god whether he would rather
live under the protection of the English than of the Mahrattas,
XXI.] BATTLE OF ARGAOM. 151
and he had replied that he greatly preferred the English. This
very sagacious and prudent determination was considered of
such importance as to be communicated by express to
Calcutta.
Armistice with Sindia, stripped of the last of his possessions
smdia, 1803. in Candcsh, by the capture of Asseergur, made
overtures of peace to Genera] Wellesley, which, after a weari-
some negotiation, resulted in a provisional armistice on the
23rd November. It stipulated that he should keep his army
to a position forty miles east of Elichpore, and that his
camp should not approach within the same distance of either
of the British armies, then operating against the raja of Nag-
pore. Colonel Stephenson was marching to the siege of
Gawilgur, a strong and important fortress in the Nagpore
territories, in which the royal treasures were said to be depo-
sited. The raja and his troops who had been for some time
moving about in the southern districts, closely followed by
General Wellesley, now moved up to the defence of the fort.
The General, who had been separated from Colonel Stephenson
for two months, opportunely joined him in time to support and
cover the siege. On the 28th November, the British force,
after a long and fatiguing march, came up with the Nagpore
army, on the plain of Argaom. Siiidia, who was
Argaom, 28th waiting for the result of circumstances, had not
fov., i8i ratified the armistice, or observed its conditions,
but was encamped within four miles of his confederate, and, in
the engagement which ensued, did not hesitate to send his
cavalry to aid him hi charging the British regiments. Though
it was late in the day, General Wellesley resolved to engage
the enemy, but his troops had no sooner come within range of
their guns than three entire battalions, who had behaved with
distinguished gallantry on the field of Assye, under a far hotter
fire, broke their ranks and fled. Fortunately, the General hap-
pened to be at no great distance, and succeeded in rallying them,
and re-establishing the battle, or it would have been inevit-
ably lost. The raja abandoned all his cannon and ammunition ;
II. M
152 PEACE WITH THE RAJA OF NAGPORE. [CHAP.
and few of his troops would have escaped if there had been
an hour of daylight left. On the 15th December the fortress
of Gawilgur surrendered to Colonel Stephenson, and General
Wellesley prepared to march on the city of Nagpore. The
raja, reduced to despair by these rapid reverses, and trembling
for his capital and his throne, hastened to sue for peace. The
of negotiation was entrusted to Mr. Mount Stuart
aom, Dec. Elphinstone, a young civilian of great talent and
18th, 1803. , , , ,
promise, who subsequently rose to great eminence
in the public service, and had the honour of twice declining
the post of Governor-General, for which not even an English
statesman could have been better qualified. The treaty, known
as that of Deogaom, was completed in two days. The pro-
vince of Cuttack was ceded to the Company, and a letter-post
was established without a break between Calcutta and Madras.
The districts of Berar west of the Wurda, had belonged in
part to the Nizam, but the raja of Nagpore, who owned the
other portion, had collected the revenues of the whole, and
appropriated the lion's share to himself. This territory, which
includes the " cotton field of the Deccan," was now entirely
transferred to the Nizam. Half-a-century later he assigned
it to the Company for the pay of his contingent, and they
immediately endowed it with the inestimable blessing of a
railway. The raja likewise engaged to refer all his differences
with the Nizam and the Peshwa to the arbitration of the
British Government, and to exclude all Frenchmen and all
Europeans of any nation at war with England from his king-
dom. The large cessions of territory which the raja was thus
constrained to make comprised the most valuable of his pos-
sessions, and reduced him to a secondary rank among the
princes of India ; and the power of another member of the
Mahratta pentarchy was effectually crippled.
General Wellesley had deprived Sindia of all
Stadia i posses-
sions in Hin- his possessions in the Deccan. Colonel Murray
dostan, 1803. ^ ^ game fi me ^ ca pt ure( j Broach, his only sea-
port, and occupied all his districts on the western coast in
XXI.] POWER OF THE FRENCH IN HINDOSTAN. 153
Guzerat ; but it was in Hindostan that he experienced the
most overwhelming disasters. The valuable possessions of
his crown in that quarter, which formed, in fact, an opulent
kingdom, had been gradually enlarged and consolidated by the
incessant labours of the late Mahdajee Sindia, and chiefly
through the army raised and disciplined by De Boigne, on
whose retirement to his native town in France, in 1796, the com-
mand devolved on General Perron. Dowlut Rao Sindia, from
the period of his accession in 1792, had been continually
encamped in the neighbourhood of Poona, coercing and
fleecing the unfortunate Peshwa, and had never so much as
visited his northern dominions. The governor of Delhi, em-
boldened by his master's absence, had the temerity to set his
authority at defiance. General Perron was directed to invest
the city, and it was surrendered under the threat of a bom-
bardment. The aged and blind emperor, who had been treated
by the native warden of the palace with great severity, and
often left without the common necessaries of life, was now
transferred, after ten years of suffering, to the charge of
Perron, and as every effort was made to alleviate his wretched
condition, he had good reason to congratulate himself on the
change of masters. The continued absence of Sindia had
thrown the whole administration of his dominions in Hirido-
stan, both civil and fiscal, as well as the command
General
Pen-on's power, of the army, into the hands of General Perron,
who exercised this extensive power with great
ability and moderation. He had succeeded in establishing the
complete authority of Sindia throughout Rajpootana, and was
gradually extending it over the Sikh states between the Jumna
and the Sutlege. His advanced posts approached the Indus in
one direction, and Allahabad in another, and throughout this
wide expanse of country his power was paramount. The terri-
tory under his management yielded a revenue of two crores
of rupees. The troops under his command consisted of
28,000 foot, not inferior in discipline or valour to the Company's
Sepoy army, and 5,000 horse, with 140 pieces of artillery.
H 2
154 GENERAL PERRON DISSATISFIED WITH SINDIA. [CHAP.
The jeopardy in which the Company's interests were placed
by the establishment of this powerful force essentially French
in its tendencies along the whole line of their western fron-
tier, was self-evident, and Lord Wellesley naturally considered
the extinction of this danger an object of the highest import-
ance. Happily for the accomplishment of his wishes, Sindia's
native officers entertained great jealousy of General Perron's
power, and Sirjee Rao represented to his master the indignation
felt by his great sirdars at the confidence which he thought fit to
repose in this foreigner. So strong was the adverse current
that in April, 1802, the General repaired to Sindia's camp,
and endeavoured to avert danger and to strengthen his
position by a nuzur of fifteen lacs of rupees. But the inces-
sant murmurs of his ministers at length induced Sindia to
divest Perron of the management of all the districts under
his charge, with the exception of those allotted for the main-
tenance of his troops. He was therefore contemplating a
retirement from Sindia's service at the time when General Lake
was preparing to take the field against him. The Governor-
General, anxious to take advantage of this feeling of disaffec-
tion, directed the Commander-in-chief to offer him a reasonable
consideration, if he would transfer his military power and
resources, together with the person of the emperor, to the
British Government. But, though he had received the greatest
provocations from Sindia, he honourably rejected every induce-
ment to betray his trust.
General Lake was invested with the same
Capture of Ally- .
gur, 29th civil, military, and political powers in Hindostan.
August, isos. which had been conferred on G eneral Wellesley
in the Deccan, and he took the field as soon as it was known
that Colonel Collins had quitted Sindia's camp. He advanced
towards General Perron's encampment on the 29th August,
but the enemy, though 15,000 strong, retreated without
firing a shot. The French General retired with his body
guard towards Agra, leaving Colonel Pedron in charge of
the important fortress of Allygur, the great military arsenal
XXI.] CAPTURE OF ALLYGUR. 155
and depot of the array in Hindostan, with orders to defend
it as long as one stone remained upon another. Every appli-
ance which science could suggest had been adopted in
strengthening the fort ; it was protected by ten bastions and
a ditch, a hundred feet wide, and thirty deep, containing
ten feet of water. Throughout Hindostan it was deemed
impregnable, and it was considered questionable whether any
amount of military strategy would have been sufficient to
secure its surrender. But it was captured at once by the
irresistible gallantry of the 76th Highlanders, commanded by
Major Macleod, who blew open the gate, and forced their way
in through the most intricate and loop-holed passages, raked
by a destructive fire of grape, wall-pieces, and matchlocks.
The number of guns captured amounted to 281. Our loss in
killed and wounded was 217, of whom 17 were officers. This
was one of those master strokes which served to confound
the native mind, and which essentially promoted the submission
of the native powers. General Wellesley, on hearing of it,
remarked, that he had often attempted to blow open a gate,
but had never succeeded, and that he considered the capture
of Allygur one of the most extraordinary feats he had ever
heard of. Yet, it was aUowed to pass without any recogni-
tion for forty-eight years, and it was only in the reign of
Queen Victoria that a medal was struck to commemorate the
achievement, and presented to the few heroes who still sur-
vived. A week after, General Perron, having heard that his
enemies in Sindia's court had at length succeeded in pro-
curing an order for his dismissal, informed General Lake
that he had resigned the Maharaja's service, and requested
permission to retire with his family, his suite, and his pro-
perty, through the British territories, to Lucknow. He was
received in the British camp with the distinction due to his
talents and position.
Battle of Deiw After the capture of Allygur, General Lake
iitn September' advanced toward Delhi, and Bourquin, who had
succeeded to the command of Perron's army,
156 BATTLE OF DELHI. [CHAP.
crossed the Jumna to oppose his progress. The British
force, 4,500 strong, after a fatiguing march of eighteen miles,
reached its encamping ground, within sight of the minarets
of Delhi, and found the enemy posted in such force that the
General, after a reconnaissance, deemed it advisable to begin
the attack without delay. Bourquiri's army, consisting of
sixteen battalions of regular infantry and 6,000 cavalry, in all
about 19,000 men, with a large train of artillery, was drawn
up with its rear resting on the Jumna. The position appeared
impregnable and General Lake ordered his cavalry, which
was advancing in front, to feign a retreat; the enemy,
deceived by the movement, immediately abandoned all the
advantages of their position, and rushed forward with their
guns, shouting and yelling after the peculiar fashion of native
troops. The British infantry, led by the ever ready 76th
Highlanders and by the Commander-in-chief in person,
advanced steadily, amidst a storm of grape and chain shot,
and after delivering one round charged with cold steel. The
shock was irresistible, the ranks of the enemy reeled and
then broke up in disorder, flying down to the river in which
great numbers perished. The British loss was comparatively
small, only 409, but one-third of the casualties fell on the
noble Highlanders. Three days after, Bourquin and three of
his officers surrendered to General Lake.
The city of Delhi was immediately evacuated
the emperor, by the troops of Sindia, and the British standard
leos. 8 * 1 ^ ber ' was hoisted on its battlements, forty-seven years
after the sack of Calcutta by Seraja Dowlah had
extinguished the British power and name in Hindostan.
The emperor, in a previous communication with General Lake,
had expressed a strong desire to obtain the protection of the
British Government ; Lord Wellesley was no less desirous of
granting it, and thus securing to the Company the advantage
which was connected with the possession of his person. The
Mogul throne had not lost all its prestige. The emperor,
though a prisoner and sightless, was still considered the
XXI.] RELEASE OF THE EMPEROR. 157
fountain of honour throughout India, equally by the Hindoos
and Mahomedans, and a patent of nobility under his seal was
as highly prized in the remotest provinces of the Deccan, as
it had been in the days of Aurungzebe. Tippoo was the only
Mahomedan prince who had ventured to discontinue the
homage due to the royal house, and the day after his fall, the
Nizam's general solicited General Harris's permission to pro-
ceed in state to the great mosque, and resume the reading of
the khootba in the emperor's name. It was, therefore, con-
sidered important to the interests of the Company to be
identified with the house of Timur. It was arranged that
the heir apparent should arrive with his suite at the General's
tent at midday, but natives, and more especially native
princes, consider that punctuality lessens their dignity. The
General was kept waiting more than three hours, and it was
nearly sunset before the cavalcade reached the city, where, to
borrow the magniloquent diction of the Governor-General,
" in the magnificent palace built by Shah Jehan, the Com-
mander-in-chief was ushered iuto the royal presence, and
found the unfortunate and venerable emperor, oppressed by
the accumulated calamities of old age, and degraded authority,
extreme poverty, and loss of sight, seated under a small
tattered canopy, the remnant of his royal state, with every
external appearance of the misery of his condition." The in-
habitants of the city manifested great enthusiasm at the change
of masters, and the courtly news writers affirmed, that the
emperor not only shed tears, but had actually regained his
sight, in the excess of his joy. Lord Wellesley formed the
judicious resolution of removing him and the royal family
from the dangerous associations of Delhi, and proposed
Monghir for their future residence, but the emperor clung
with such tenacity to the spot which had been for six cen-
turies the capital of Mahomedan greatness, that Lord Wel-
lesley was reluctantly compelled to abandon this design.
But the wisdom of it was abundantly vindicated half a
century later, when the residence of the royal family at
158 CAPTURE OF AGRA. fCHAP.
L
Delhi, entailed a bloody tragedy, which terminated in
sweeping every vestige of the Mogul dynasty from the
soil of India.
Leaving Colonel Ochterlouy in command at Delhi,
Agra, Oct. 17, General Lake marched down to Agra, which was
still held by Sindia's troops. In the exercise of
the political powers with which he was invested, he concluded
a treaty with the raja of Bhurtpore, who sent a body of 5,000
horse to co-operate with his army. He was the first to seek
an alliance with the'British Government in the flood tide of its
success, and the first to repudiate it when the tide appeared to
be ebbing. Agra capitulated, after a protracted siege, on the
17th October, and the treasure found in it, twenty-eight lacs of
rupees, was promptly and wisely distributed among the officers
and men, in " anticipation of the approval of the home autho-
rities."
On the outbreak of the war- Sindia sent fifteen of
Battle of Las-
waree, ist NOV., his disciplined battalions across the Nerbudda to
protect his possessions in Hindostan. They were
considered the flower of his army, and usually designated " the
Deccan Invincibles." But before their arrival the battle of Delhi
had extinguished Sindia's army in the north, with the exception
of two battalions which joined the southern force, and raised
its strength to 9,000 foot, 4.000 cavalry, and 72 pieces of
artilleiy. No attempt was made to relieve Agra, but it hung
on the skirts of the British army. General Lake did not fail
to perceive that while so formidable a fort;e continued unbroken
it would be impossible to obtain the general confidence of the
province, and he determined to attack it without delay. He
had received an unfounded report that the Mahratta army was
endeavouring to avoid him, and, with his usual impetuosity,
started at midnight in search of it with his cavalry alone,
leaving orders for the infantry to follow. He came up with the
encampment of the enemy at daybreak on the 1st November, at
the village of Laswaree, and found them, as usual, entrenched
in a formidable position, with their guns drawn up in the
XXI.] BATTLE OF LASWAREE. 159
front. The General led his cavalry up in person to the attack ;
a fearful discharge of grape and double-headed shot mo\ved
down column after column, and rendered the fiery valour of the
troops useless. To prevent their utter extinction, the General
was obliged to withdraw them from the conflict, to await the
arrival of the infantry, who had marched sixty -five miles in
the preceding forty-eight hours, and twenty-five miles since
midnight. After a brief rest and a hasty meal, they were
launched on the enemy's guns and battalions. The engage-
ment was the severest in which the Company's troops had ever
been engaged, not excepting that oif Assye. Sindia's sepoys
fought as natives had never fought before. They defended
their position to the last extremity, contesting every point inch
by inch, and refusing to give way while a single gun remained
in their possession. But they were at length overpowered, and
lost their ammunition and camp equipage, together with 71
pieces of cannon. It was even reported that one-half their
number was left on the field, killed or wounded. On the
British side the casualties amounted to 824, one-fourth of
which belonged to the 76th Highlanders, who bore the brunt
of the action. The General himself conducted every operation
throughout the day, with more credit to his personal gallantry
than to his military talent. Though a dashing soldier, and
adored by his men, he was only a second-rate general ; but
the flagrant defects of his arrangements were covered, as has
frequently been the case in India, by the undaunted valour of
his men, at the sacrifice of their own lives. The battle of
Laswaree served to exhibit the high state of efficiency to which
the French generals in the Mahratta service had brought their
native troops. It does not appear that there was a single
European officer with them during the engagement, yet so
complete had been their training, that when left to themselves
they exhibited a degree of skill and intrepidity which stag-
gered General Lake himself, and constrained him to remark
that if they had been led by their French officers the result of
the day would have been exceedingly doubtful.
160 TREATY WITH SLNTDIA. [CHAP.
This defeat completed the humiliation of Sindia.
Treaty of Sirjee
Anjengaom, In the course of twelve weeks the French batta-
Dec. 4, 1803. jj onSj ^he bulwark of his power, had been anni-
hilated, and all his territories in the Deccan, in Guzerat, and in
Hindostan, the rich patrimony bequeathed to him by his
uncle, had been wrested from him. Seeing no alternative
between the entire annihilation of his power and submission to
the severe terms dictated by Lord Wellesley, he yielded to
necessity, and within a fortnight after the raja of Nagpore had
made his peace with the British Government, signed the treaty
of Sirjee Anjengaom. It was negotiated on the one part by
General Wellesley, on the other by Wittul Punt, Sindia's chief
minister, who, though advanced in years, was still considered
the first native diplomatist of the age, and was designated by
General Wellesley the Talleyrand of the east. By this treaty
Sindia ceded all his territories in Hindostan, lying in the
Dooab between the Ganges and the Jumna, as well as those
north of the Rajpoot principalities of Jeypore and Joudhpore ;
the fortress and territory of Ahmednugur in the Deccan, and
Broach with its dependencies in Guzerat. He relinquished
all claims on the Peshwa, the Nizam, the Guickwar, and the
British Government, and agreed to recognize the independence
of the rajas and feudatories in Hindostan with whom treaties
had been concluded by General Lake, and a list of whom was
to be delivered to him when the treaty was ratified by the
Governor- General. Two districts to the north of the pre-
scribed limits were, however, restored to him, and pensions
granted to some of his officers and the members of his own
family.
. . , The engagement made with the Nizam at the
Distribution of
the conquered commencement of hostilities stated that he should
territory, 1803. ghare e q ua ]i v ^^ fae Company the conquests
made by their joint efforts, if he honourably fulfilled the condi-
tions of the alliance. That aged prince, the son of the re-
nowned Nizam-ool-moolk, who had been decorated with honours
by Aurungzebe more than a century before, was at the time
XXI.] DISTRIBUTION OF THE CONQUERED TERRITORY. 161
on his deathbed, and expired four days after the war began.
His son, Secunder Jah, was placed on the musnud by the
decision of Lord Wellesley. But though the Hyderabad forces
were sent to co-operate with Colonel Stephenson, the stipula-
tions of the treaty were scandalously violated by the Nizam's
civil and military officers, whose sympathies were entirely with
the confederates. Every obstacle was thrown in the way of
military operations. The provision of grain for the army was
purposely neglected, and permission was refused to purchase it
in the Nizam's dominions. The officers and men wounded at
Assye were denied an asylum in the fort of Dowlutabad, and
one of the Hyderabad commanders had the audacity to fire on
the British troops from the guns of his fort. The Nizam had
thus forfeited all claim to share in the spoils of war, but Lord
Wellesley generously bestowed on him the rich province of
Berar, lying to the west of the Wurda. The fortress and the
district of the Ahmednugur, acquired from Sindia, were trans-
ferred to the Peshwa, notwithstanding the perfidy of his conduct.
The province of Cuttack, the conquests in Guzerat, and the
valuable districts in Hindostan were incorporated with the
Company's dominions. These last, together with the province
ceded by the Nabob Vizier, were formed into the separate go-
vernment of the north-west provinces, and now constitute the
Agra Presidency. The territory which Lord Wellesley had
annexed two years before to the Madras Presidency, and that
which he now added to Bengal, was estimated at the annual
value of six crores of rupees, an amusing comment on the
Parliamentary denunciation of territorial aggrandisement.
Having thus reduced the power of the Mahrattas,
Treaties of
alliance in the Lord Wellesley was anxious to prevent the revival
north, 1803. of ^^ [^ UGriC Q fa Hindostan by establishing a
barrier between their possessions and those of the Company.
With this view, General Lake concluded treaties of alliance
and mutual defence with the Jaut prince of Bhurtpore, and
with the Rajpoot princes of Jeypore, Joudhpore, Machery
and Boondee, who were thereby absolved from all allegiance to
162 ALLIANCE WITH THE NORTHERN STATES. [CHAP.
the Mahratta powers. Sindia had entrusted the fortress of
Gwalior and some df his districts in that quarter to Ambajee
Inglia, who, after the battle of Laswaree, in which he took an
active part, offered to desert his master, and transfer the fort
and half the territory to the British Government, on condition
of being acknowledged the independent ruler of the remainder.
A treaty was accordingly drawn up and signed, to which, how-
ever, he did not long adhere. His commandant refused to sur-
render Gwalior, which was besieged and captured by an Eng-
lish force. Ambajee returned soon after to Sindia's court, and
was restored to favour. The rana of Gohud, whose dominions
Sindia had appropriated to himself twenty years before, was
reputed to possess great influence among the Jauts, and Lord
Wellesley resolved to grant him the territory of which he had
been dispossessed, together with the fort of Gwalior, on his
engaging to subsidize three English battalions. The compli-
cations which arose out of this anomalous transaction we shall
have occasion to notice hereafter. By the treaty of Bassein,
the Peshwa had assigned for the maintenance of the subsidiary
force districts in the Deccan yielding twenty-six lacs of rupees,
but this arrangement was found inconvenient to both parties,
and, upon the advice of General Wellesley, he was permitted
to exchange them for territories in Bundelkund of the value of
thirty- six lacs a-year ; but as his authority in that province
was merely nominal, the transaction was more advantageous
to him than to the British Government, upon whom it entailed
a long and harassing conflict. Lord Wellesley was, moreover,
bent on establishing a subsidiary treaty with Sindia, and Major
Malcolm was engaged for many months in a tedious negotia-
tion, which, though eventually successful, produced no result,
inasmuch as the quota of troops, 6,000 in number, was not to
be stationed within his dominions, and their support was to be
derived from the territories which he had already ceded uncon-
ditionally to the Company.
The Guickwar, It on ^y remains to notice the progress of events
18001803. m Guzerat, the greater portion of which was in-
XXI.] THE GUICKWAR. 163
eluded in the dominions of the Guickwar. It has already been
told how the Mogul authority in this province ceased in 1755,
when the capital Ahmedabad was captured by Damajee
Guickwar. He died in 1768, and was succeeded after a long
series of intrigues, by his son, Futteh Sing. On his death,
in 1792, his brother mounted the throne, and died in 1800,
leaving eleven children, and the country was immediately
distracted by their struggles for the supreme power. Anund
Rao, the eldest, though imbecile, was acknowledged as the
legitimate successor to the musnud, and, having taken an able
minister into his counsels, applied to the Bombay government
for aid against his brothers and rivals, and offered to enter into
a subsidiary alliance. This occurred at the time when Lord
Wellesley was intent on extending these political arrange-
ments throughout India, as the most effectual mode of estab-
lishing British supremacy, and the offer was cordially accepted.
The subsidized force consisted of five battalions, and districts
yielding between eleven and twelve lacs of rupees a-year
were assigned for their support. The appearance of a British
army in the field extinguished all opposition, the authority of
Anund Rao was fully acknowledged, and Major Walker was
appointed Resident at the court, which was now transferred to
the new capital, Baroda. But the treasury was insolvent, and
the finances were in a state of apparently hopeless confusion.
The revenues amounted to fifty lacs of rupees a-year, and the
expenditure to eighty-two. The deficiency had been made up,
year after year, according to the fatal practice of native princes,
by loans at extravagant interest, and mortgages and assign-
ments, which devoured the resources of the state, and
threatened the dissolution of all government. Major Walker
was one of those great men to whom the Company has been
indebted for the extension and the popularity of their rule. He
had acquired the confidence of the natives of Guzerat even to
a greater degree than that of his own Government, and with
the universal consent of nobles arid people, assumed the entire
control of the administration. It was necessary in the first
164 ABOLITION OF INFANTICIDE. [CHAP.
instance to relieve the country from the native army, which
ceased to be necessary after the establishment of the sub-
sidiary force, but it could not be disbanded without the payment
of arrears, which amounted to forty-one lacs of rupees. Major
Walker prevailed on the Governor-General to advance the
sum of twenty lacs, and by the extraordinary influence he had
acquired among the native bankers, obtained a loan of the
remainder from them, though not without a British guarantee.
The troops were at length paid up in full, and the country was
freed from the insolence of these Arab mercenaries. The mari-
time district of Kattiwar took advantage of the dissensions
of the time to refuse the payment of the tribute due to the
parent state, but Major Walker marched into the country and
constrained the insurgents to enter into an engagement for the
payment of nine lacs of tribute a-year. His expedition into
that province was rendered ever memorable by the moral results
Abolition of in- wn i c ^ & produced. The custom of infanticide
fanticide, 1804. W as universally prevalent among its Rajpoot in-
habitants, who preferred the death of their daughters to the
disgrace of an inferior alliance. By the influence of his official
position, but more particularly by the weight of his personal
character, Major Walker was enabled to obtain from all the
principal chiefs a pledge, both on then- own part and that of
then: fraternities, to abstain from the practice, to expel from the
community all who were found guilty of it, and to submit to
any penalty he might think fit to impose. The success of these
efforts in the cause of humanity has shed a brighter lustre on
his memory than all his political achievements, great as they
were. It was through his exertions that peace and tranquillity
were restored to the country, and the government of the
Guickwar consolidated. The connection of the state with the
British Government was closely cemented, and the resources
of another Mahratta prince were detached from the Mahratta
cause, and placed under the control of the Company.
The transcendent genius and energy of Lord
Ejections. Wellesley had thus, in the course of five years,
MOVEMENTS OP HOLKAR. 165
completely remodelled the whole policy of India, and placed
the Company on the pinnacle of power. They had now become
the masters of a great part of the continent, the protector
of all the principal powers, and the acknowledged mediator in
the disputes of all. Their sovereignty was greater, and then-
authority fixed on a firmer and more solid basis than that of
Akbar or Aurungzebe. The administration of Lord Wellesley
had reached its culminating point. The disasters which clouded
the remaining period of his Indian career arose from the blunders
of the Commander-in-chief, and not from any imperfection in his
Government, though it was necessarily saddled with the obloquy
they entailed.
CHAPTER XXII.
LORD WELLESLEY'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED, 1804-5.
ove- WHILE Sindia and the raja of Nagpore were in-
menta, 1804. volved in hostilities with the Company, Holkar was
employed in predatory expeditions in Hindostan, and on the
conclusion of peace marched down to Muhesur, on the Ner-
budda, a great emporium of commerce, and plundered it of
wealth estimated at a crore of rupees. With this treasure he
was enabled not only to satisfy his own troops for the time,
but to take into his pay those whom Sindia and the raja had
discharged on the peace. His army was thus augmented to
60,000 horse and 15,000 foot, a force far exceeding his require-
ments or his resources, and which could be subsisted only by
pillage. The Governor-General had sedulously avoided any
collision with him during the five months of the war with the
confederates ; and General Wellesley had repeatedly assured
him that as long as he refrained from attacking the dominions
of the Company and its allies, the government would abstain
from all interference with him. This assurance was also com-
166 HIS ARROGANT DEMANDS. [CHAP.
municated to him by Lord Wellesley on the 10th February.
But repose was incompatible with his plans of ambition and
plunder. His fortune was in his saddle, and eighty thousand
of the lawless soldiery of Central India followed his stirrup.
By the humiliation of Sindia and Nagpore, he was the only
Mahratta chief left with an unbroken army ; but, heedless of
the warning conveyed by their fate, he was impelled by his
own reckless disposition to hazard a conflict with the British
Government. He desired Ameer Khan to join him without
delay, " as he had made up his mind to meet General Lake in
the field." He sought an alliance with the brother of Zeinaun
Shah, who had seized Cabul, and on a new seal which he had
engraved, styled himself, " the slave of Mahomed Shah, king
of kings." Letters were intercepted from him to the British
allies, exciting them to revolt. In the month of March he de-
manded of General Wellesley, then in the Deccan, the cession
of certain districts which he said had once belonged to his
farnity, adding that " if they were not restored, countries many
hundred miles in extent should be plundered and burnt, and the
English general should not have tune to breathe, and calamities
should fall on lacs of human beings, by a continued war, in
which his armies would overwhelm them like waves of the
sea." He likewise despatched two envoys to General Lake,
with claims of a similar character. During their communica-
tions with the General some allusion happened to be made to
the friendly disposition now manifested by Sindia, when they
affirmed that Sindia had within a few days requested the co-
operation of their master in a war with the English, as a large
French force had arrived on the Coromandel coast, and was
about to come to his assistance. The envoys demanded with
studied arrogance the restoration of the chout, as the inalienable
right of the Mahrattas, and the restoration of twelve of the
finest districts in the Dooab, which they affirmed were part of
Holkar's family possessions. These insolent demands were
followed up by an inroad into the territories of our ally, the raja
of Jeypore. General Lake, in his embarrassment, wrote to
XXII.] WAB WITH HOLKAR. 167
Lord Wellesley, " If Holkar should break into Hindostan, he
will be joined by the Rohillas. I never was so plagued as I
am with this devil. We are obliged to remain in the field at
an enormous cost. If we retire, he will come down upon Jey-
pore, and exact a crore from the raja, and thus pay his own
army and render it more formidable than ever. If I advance
and leave 'an opening, he will give me the slip, and get into
our territories with his horse, and burn and destroy."
Lord Wellesley felt that there could be neither
War with J .
Hoikar, April, peace nor prospenty while this vast predatory
horde continued to roam through Central India,
and that an army of observation was more expensive than an,
army of action. On the 16th April, therefore, he directed Gene-
rals Wellesley and Lake to take the field against Holkar, whom
he regarded as a mere chief of freebooters. General Wellesley,
who commanded in the south, ordered Colonel Murray to advance
with a force of about 5,800 men from Guzerat into Malwa, and
take possession of Holkar's capital. General Lake moved with
his army into the Jeypore territory, which Holkar was em-
ployed in plundering, on which he immediately withdrew his
troops. Colonel Don was then sent with a large detachment
against Rampoora, his stronghold in the north, and it fell on.
the 16th May. Holkar thus lost his footing in the country
north of the Chumbul, and retreated in haste and confusion
across that river. General Wellesley's clear military percep-
tions led him to urge General Lake to continue the pursuit with
rapidity, even though there might be little hope of bringing
Holkar to action. If, he remarked, he is pushed with vigour,
the war will not last a fortnight ; if not, God knows when i$
will be over. But, by an act of unaccountable imprudence,
General Lake, instead of continuing the pursuit, broke up his
encampment, and withdrew his army into cantonments in Hin-
dostan, sending Colonel Monson with a single brigade to
follow the steps of Holkar. This was the fatal blunder of tiie
campaign, and it entailed a tremendous catastrophe. Lord
Wellesley, it is true, approved the retirement of General Lake a
II. N
168 COLONEL MONSON'S IMPRUDENT ADVANCE, [CHAP.
army, but it must not be forgotten that he also advised him,
either to withdraw the force under Colonel Monson, or to
strengthen it with a regiment of Europeans and two or three
of cavalry. General Lake did neither. He had detached
Colonel Monson, who was as remarkable for professional in-
competence as for personal gallantry, into the heart of Holkar's
territoreis, on the eve of the rains, with a small force, unac-
companied by a single European soldier, or any cavalry except
2,000 or 3,000 irregular horse recently raised, and utterly ineffi-
cient, to encounter a force ten times its number, and commanded
by the most daring soldier of the day. As if in emulation of
this error, Colonel Monson made no arrangements on his march
for supplies, and no provision for crossing the various streams
in his rear, which cease to be fordable after the rains commence.
He still farther augmented the perils of his expedition by ad-
vancing through the Mokundra pass, and even fifty miles
beyond it, for the idle object of capturing an unimportant fort,
and thus put 200 miles between his force and its nearest
support.
Colonel ^ n ^ ne ^ n Jutyi Colonel Monson received the
Monson's alarming intelligence that Holkar had called up all
retreat'juiy, his battalions from the south, and was advancing
1804. against him with his entire force. It was likewise
reported that the provisions in the camp were only equal to
two day's consumption, and his troubles reached their climax
by the intelligence that Colonel Murray, who was advancing
from Guzerat to his aid, had retired with all his troops. The
bewildered commander took council of Bappoo Sindia, the com-
mandant of Sindia's contingent which accompanied the British
force, but he was in league with Holkar, and advised Colonel
Monson to fall back with his infantry and leave his irregular
horse to follow. Acting upon this treacherous advice, he
commenced his disastrous retreat. Holkar, who had the
fullest intelligence of every movement in the British camp,
immediately attacked the irregular horse and put it to flight.
Bappoo Sindia fled on the first appearance of his troops, and
XXH,] HIS DISASTROUS RETREAT. 169
after announcing the rout of the cavalry to Colonel Monson,
went over with all his troops to the enemy, not without his
master's concurrence. On the 10th July, Colonel Monson
reached the Mokundra pass, where he was attacked vigo-
rously by the whole of Holkar's army, but obtained a signal
victory. The success of this conflict establishes the fact, con-
firmed by every succeeding encounter, that the disasters of the
army arose from no want of mettle in the troops, but from the
incapacity of their leader, and that under an abler commander
this little sepoy army would have baffled all the efforts of
Holkar. The next morning, Colonel Monson continued his
retreat, but on reaching Kotah, the regent, Zalim Sing, who
had assisted him on his advance for which Holkar subse-
quently exacted a fine of ten lacs of rupees refused admis-
sion to his troops on his retreat. His difficulties increased at
every step ; all the rivulets were swollen, and it rained so in-
cessantly that the guns sunk in the mud beyond recovery, and
were spiked and abandoned. The army was seventeen days
reaching Rampoora, though the distance from Kotah was only
sixty miles. There Colonel Monson was reinforced by two
battalions of sepoys and a corps of irregular cavalry, and sup-
plied with provisions, sent to his aid by General Lake, on
hearing of the commencement of his retreat. At Eampoora
he remained twenty-four days, during the whole of which
period Holkar, with all his superiority of force, never ventured
to attack him. On the twenty-fifth day he most unaccountably
determined to fall back on Kooshalgur, where he expected to be
joined by Sudasheo Bhao, one of Sindia's generals, with six
battalions and twenty-one guns ; but the Mahratta, seeing the
helplessness of the commander, and the miserable plight of
his army, not only went over to Holkar, but turned his guns
upon the British troops. The game was now up ; and on the
26th August, the Colonel spiked his last gun ; the enemy al-
lowed him no rest ; all order and all discipline was lost ; the
retreat became a disorderly rout, and the last sepoy straggled
into Agra on the last day of August, fifty days after the
N 2
170 REMARKS ON IT. [CHAP.
retreat had commenced. Colonel Monson attributed his disaster
to the failure of Colonel Murray to join him from Guzerat.
Colonel Murray attributed it to Colonel Monson himself. Both
of them, as General Wellesley observed, were apparently
afraid of Holkar, and fled from him in different directions.
Colonel Monson advanced without reason and he retreated
without cause. Twenty-three years before Colonel Camac
had, with equal indiscretion, marched from the Jumna to
Sercnge in pursuit of Mahdajee Sindia, and found himself in
the same predicament as Colonel Monson, ha the heart of the
enemy's country, destitute of supplies, harassed by an active
foe, and abandonad by native allies in the hour of need. Yet,
by the unfailing expedient of a bold and aggressive movement,
suggested and earned out by Captain Bruce, he turned the
tables on Sindia, captured his guns, ammunition, and camp,
reduced him to extremit} 7 , and obliged him to sue for peace.
But for the imbecility of the commander, the same triumph
would doubtless have crowned the valour of the band of heroes
cnder Colonel Monson, and Lord Wellesley would not have
hs,d to lament the annihilation of five battalions of infantry
and six companies of artillery. This was the most signal
disgrace inflicted on the British arms since the destruction of
Colonel Baillie's force by Hyder, in 1780, and its effect on the
prestiga and influence of the Company was felt throughout
Indie.. The defeat was celebrated in ribald songs in every
bazaar, and one couplet, describing the utter confusion of the
rout has survived the lapse of more than half a century,
" Placing the houda of the elephant on the horse, and the
saddle of the horse on the elephant, did Colonel Monson fly
away in haste." The raja of Bhurtpore, who had never been
very steady in his fidelity, lost no time after this event in
opening negotiations with Holkar.
Hcikar besieges Flushed with success, Holkar advanced to
Delhi, 1804. Muttra with an army, estimated at 90,000 men.
The British detachment stationed there retired upon Agra, and
General Lake, with his accustomed energy, established his
XXII.] HOLKAB BESIEGES DELHI. 171
head-quarters at that station, and lost no time in summoning
the various corps from their cantonments to repel this new and
unexpected eruption. Meanwhile, Holkar planned the daring
project of seizing the city of Delhi, and obtaining possession
of the person of the emperor. Leaving the greater portion of
his cavalry to engage the attention of General Lake, he started
in great secrecy, with his infantry and guns, and suddenly
appeared before the gates of the city on the 7th October. It
was ten miles in circumference, defended only by dilapidated
walls and ruined ramparts, and filled with a mixed population,
not as yet accustomed to British rule. The garrison was so
small as not to admit of reliefs, and provisions and sweetmeats
were therefore served to them on the battlements, but the
British Resident, Colonel Ochterlony, animated by the spirit of
Clive, and nobly seconded by the commandant, Colonel Burn,
defended the city for nine days, against the utmost efforts of
the enemy, 20,000 strong, with 100 pieces of cannon. At
length Holkar, despairing of success, drew off his army, and
sending back his infantry and guns into the territory of his
new ally, the raja of Bhurtpore, set out with his cavalry to lay
waste the British territories in the Dooab, in the ancient style
of Mahratta marauding. General Lake also divided his force ;
the main body was left under General Fraser to watch Holkar's
battalions of infantry, while he placed himself at the head of
six regiments of cavalry, European and Native, and his mounted
artillery, and started in pursuit of him. In this expedition
Holkar contrived invariably to keep twenty or thirty miles
a-liead, ravaging and burning the defenceless villages 'as he
swept along. After a very harassing march of three hundred
pursued b an( ^ ^ v nu ^ es ^ n fourteen days, the General was
Gen, Lake, so fortunate as to come up with his encamp-
ment at Futtygur, on the 17th November, having
marched no less than fifty-six miles in the preceding twenty-
four hours. Holkar had been led to believe from the report of
his spies, that the British cavalry was a day's march behind him,
and had retired to rest. The horses were at picket, and the men
172 BATTLE OP DEEG. [CHAP.
lay asleep by their side, wrapped in their blankets, when
several rounds of grape gave them the first intimation of the
arrival of their pursuers. Holkar mounted his horse and
galloped off with the few troopers around him, leaving the
rest of his troops to shift for themselves, and they were either
cut up or dispersed in all directions. He hastened back to
rejoin his infantry, but found on re-crossing the Jumna, that
Battle of Deeg, they had been subject during his absence to an
isth NOV. 1804. irreparable defeat. Four days before the action at
Futtygur, General Fraser had encountered Holkar's army, con-
sisting of fourteen battalions of infantry, a large body of horse,
and a hundred and sixty guns, in the vicinity of Deeg. The
English force did not exceed 6,000, but contained in its ranks
the 76th Highlanders, the foremost in the path of honour and
danger, and they again bore the brunt of the battle. The
enemy was completely routed, and left eighty-seven pieces of
cannon on the field. But the victory was dearly purchased by
the loss of 643 killed and wounded, and more especially of
the noble general, who died three days after of his wounds.
On his removal from the field during the action, the command
devolved on Colonel Monson, who maintained the conflict with
the utmost gallantry, and had the satisfaction of recover-
ing fourteen of the guns he had lost in his retreat. During the
engagement a destructive fire was opened on the British troops
from the fort of Deeg, which belonged to the raja of Bhurt-
pore. A battering train was immediately ordered up from
Agra^and the fortress was captured on the 23rd December.
siege of Bhurt- The fortunes of Holkar were now at the lowest
pore, 1805. e^. jj e h a( j \ os ^ a ]j n j s f or ^ s j n | ne Deccan.
General Jones, who, under the advice of General Wellesley,
had been appointed in the room of the incompetent Colonel
Murray to the Guzerat command, had taken all his fortresses
in Malwa, and marched up through the heart of the Mahratta
dominions, unmolested, and joined General Lake's camp. The
vast army with which Holkar had proudly crossed the Jumna
four months before, had dwindled away under repeated reverses,
XXII.] SIEGE OP BHT7RTPORE. * 173
and the entire destruction of his power appeared inevitable,
when every advantage which had been gamed in the campaign
was thrown away by the fatal resolution of General Lake to
invest Bhurtpore. It was a town and fortress eight miles in cir-
cumference, surrounded by the invulnerable bulwark of a lofty
mud wall of great thickness, and protected by numerous
bastions, and a deep ditch, filled with water. It was garrisoned
by about 8,000 of the raja's troops, and the remnant of
Holkar's infantry. General Lake refused to listen to any
argument, and without a sufficient siege train, without an
engineer officer of any experience, without even a recon-
naissance, resolved, with breathless impetuosity, at once to
besiege the town. This memorable siege commenced on the 4th
January, 1805, and the army did not break up before the 21st
April. Four unsuccessful attacks were made which entailed
the unprecedented loss of 3,200 men in killed and wounded,
of whom 103 were officers. The raja was joined at his own
request during the siege by Ameer Khan, but the exorbitant
demands of that chief speedily dissolved the union, on which
he proceeded with his predatory horse into his native province
of Rohilcund, in the hope of raising it against the English.
General Smith was detached in pursuit of him, and after per-
forming the extraordinary march of seven hundred miles in
forty-three days, overtook him at the foot of the Himalayu,
and chased him back across the Jumna. Though the siege of
Bhurtpore had not been successful, the raja severely felt the
loss of all his territorial revenues, and the exactions of Holkar,
and became anxious to bring the war to a close. He therefore
sent a vakeel to General Lake, ostensibly to congratulate him
on his advance to the peerage, of which intelligence had just
been received, but, in reality, to open negotiations ; and a
treaty was speedily concluded on condition that he
Treaty with *
Bhurtpore, should pay twenty lacs of rupees towards the
Apni, 1805. expenses of the war, in four instalments. But the
submission of the raja, under such circumstances, could not
repair the loss of reputation which the British Government
17i DISSATISFACTION OP SINDIA. [CHAP.
sustained by the notorious failure of the siege. Nothing had
filled the princes of India with greater dismay than the easy
ind rapid reduction of their strongest fortresses in positions
which appeared to be absolutely impregnable. But in the
present case, a British army, under the Commander-in-chief
in person, had been foiled for several months in every attempt
to capture a mud fort, situated in a plain, and the Native
chiefs began to flatter themselves that our skill and our prowess
were on the wane. The remembrance of our disgrace was per-
petuated even in remote districts by rude delineations on the
walls of British soldiers hurled from the battlements of Bhurt-
pore, nor was the impression created by this failure completely
removed till the capture of the fort by Lord Combermere,
twenty-one years afterwards.
This accommodation with Bhurtpore was has-
Attitude of Sin- r
dia; Gohud, and tened by the menacing attitude of Sindia, to
Gwalior, 1805. ... -p, ,-. ,
whose proceedings we now return. By the treaty
of Sirjee Angengaom, he had engaged in general terms to
relinquish all claim on the rajas and feudatories in the north,
with whom the Governor-General had concluded defensive
alliances. When the list of these chiefs was for the first time
presented to him, in April, 1804, with the ratified treaty, he
was mortified to find the name of the rana of Gohud, together
with the fort of Gwalior, included in it, and he urged the most
vehement objection to these alienations. Gwalior, on which he
set a high value, was, he said, the personal gift of the emperor
to him ; and his servant, Ambajee Inglia, to whom it had been
entrusted, had no right whatever to dispose of it, when he
treacherously joined the English. As to the rana of Gohud,
he scouted the idea of acknowledging the existence of such a
being, whose power he had extinguished, and whose terri-
tories he had annexed to his own twenty years before. It
was an unfortunate circumstance that General Lake in the
north and General Wellesley in the south should have been
making arrangements and alliances affecting the interest
of Sindia, in total ignorance of the proceedings of each other.
XXII. J GOHUD AND GWALIOR. 175
When General Wellesley negotiated the treaty with Sindia
he was not aware that Lord Wellesley had determined to re-
establish the principality of Gohud, and to make the rana
independent. Sindia deprecated the revival of these ancient
and extinct claims, and justly observed that " it could not
fail to weaken the fundamental rights of actual possession, as
the greater portion of the Company's territories as well as his
own had no other foundation." General Wellesley affirmed
that Sindia had agreed to the treaty in the fullest confidence
that Gwalior was to remain with him, and that, for his part,
" he would sacrifice it and every other frontier town ten times
over to preserve our credit for scrupulous good faith, and that
the advantages and honour we had gained in the last war
and peace must not be frittered away in arguments drawn
from the overstrained principles of the law of nations, which
was not understood in India." Major Malcolm, the envoy at
the court of Sindia, entertained the same views, and anxiously
laboured for the restoration of these possessions to Sindia.
Lord Wellesley resented this opposition to his wishes, and
when the Major pleaded, in extenuation of his conduct, that
his sole object was to promote the public interests, remarked,
*' Major Malcolm's business is to obey my orders and enforce
my instructions ; I will look after the public interests." The
Governor-General was all the more pertinacious on this occa-
sion from being entirely in the wrong, and his conduct cannot
be more accurately described than by the expressive Indian
word, zid. Sindia was obliged to yield to his imperious de-
mand, and submit to the alienation of Gohud and Gwalior, but
it continued to rankle in his bosom.
Hostility of The disastrous retreat of Colonel Monson pro-
Sindia, 1804-5. (J uce( j a profound sensation throughout Ilindo-
stan ; it created an impression that fortune was at length
deserting the standard of the Company, and it strengthened the
hope that the Mahrattas might yet regain their former ascen-
dency. Wittul Punt, Sindia's great minister, died in October,
1804, and was succeeded by Sirjee Rao Ghatkay, the invete-
176 SINDIA'S MENACING ATTITUDE. [CHAP.
rate enemy of the British power. Under his sinister advice,
Sindia addressed a defiant letter to the Governor-General, im-
pugning the good faith of the British Government in numerous
instances. The letter, instead of being sent direct, was trans-
mitted to his vakeel at Benares, who journeyed with it by
slow stages to Calcutta, watching the progress of events,
and it would never have been delivered at all but for our dis-
comfiture before Bhurtpore. It reached the Governor-General
four months after it was penned. Meanwhile, a secret alliance
was formed against the Company, which included Sindia and
Holkar, Ameer Khan, and the raja of Bhurtpore ; and Sindia,
emboldened by our reverses, ventured to attack the territories
of our allies, and to invade Sagur. At the beginning of 1805,
the encampment of Mr. Richard Jenkins, the British represen-
tative at his court, was assailed and plundered at the instiga-
tion of Sirjee Rao, in the hope of irretrievably compromising
his master with the British Government. Sindia likewise put
his army in motion, and announced his intention to march to
Bhurtpore, and negotiate a peace between the raja and the
Company, an insult which the Governor-General could not but
feel acutely. But both he and General Wellesley were equally
anxious to avoid a rupture with Sindia at this critical juncture.
The army before Bhurtpore was disheartened by repeated
failures ; the British frontier, for several hundred miles, from
Calpee to Midnapore was defenceless, and a combined attack
of the allies might have been followed by disastrous results.
Sindia continued to advance with 40,000 men, including Pin-
darees, and encamped eighteen miles beyond Subulgur, where
he was joined by Ambajee Inglia. The Resident remonstrated
against his crossing the Chumbul, as it would in all pro-
bability lead to a war, and urged him to return to his own
capital. Sindia made the most amicable professions, but as-
sured him that the embarrassment of his finances was so great
as to prevent his retracing his steps ; but if some arrangement
could be made for relieving his pressing necessities, he would
act in accordance with the Governor-General's desire. General
XXTI.] NEGOTIATIONS WITH SINDIA. 177
Wellesley, who was satisfied of the truth of this assertion, and
who believed that Sindia was really impoverished, advised his
brother to grant him some pecuniary aid, and he immediately
made a retrograde movement of a few miles.
Progress of the ^ ve ^ a j s after this retirement, Sirjee Rao, ap-
settiemcnt with parently without Sindia's concurrence, marched up
to Bhurtpore with a part of his master's cavalry,
and all his Pindarees ; but before his arrival the treaty with
Lord Lake had been completed, though without the knowledge
of the Mahrattas, and the raja refused to meet him. After
the preliminaries of peace had been signed, a division of
British troops attacked Holkar, who had been hovering about
the fort during the siege, and completely defeated him, leaving
under his standard only 3,000 or 4,000 exhausted cavalry. Sirjee
Rao returned with Holkar to Sindia's encampment at Subulgur,
where all the confederates, except the raja of Bhurtpore, were
now assembled. Holkar and Ameer Khan soon intimated to
Sindia that it would be impossible to keep their forces together
without funds, and that all their projects against the Company
must therefore be abandoned. He replied that his treasury
was empty, and that although he had jewels enough, no
money could be raised on them, but his general, Ambajee, was
possessed of boundless wealth, yet would not part with a
rupee. Ambajee had been Sindia's lieutenant in Rajpootana and
Hindostan for many years, and had amassed two crores of
rupees, which he had deposited for safety in Kotah. With the
full concurrence of Sindia, he was seized and confined, and
Ameer Khan subjected him to the most exquisite tortures, till
he consented to part with fifty-five lacs from his hoards, of
which Sindia appropriated one-half to his own use. As Sindia
and his confederates continued to encamp at Subulgur, General
Lake moved down upon them as soon as the Bhurtpore treaty
was signed, and the whole body retreated in haste and consterna-
tion towards Kotah. At the beginning of June the atrocities
of Sirjee Rao constrained Sindia to displace him, and Ambajee
was raised to the post of minister. With a lively recollection
178 CLOSE OP LORD WELLESLEY's ADMINISTRATION. [<JHAP.
of the injuries he had received from Holkar, he endeavoured
to sow dissension between him and Sindia, and at length suc-
ceeded in breaking up the alliance, which paved the way for an
amicable adjustment of all differences with the British Govern-
ment. Soon after, Lord Lake addressed a letter to Sindia,
stating that if the Resident, who was still detained by him,
though treated with great respect, was not dismissed within ten
days, the relations subsisting between the two states would be
no longer considered binding. The day before the expiration
of this period, one of Sindia's principal ministers waited on the
Resident, and entreated him to waive the demand for his dis-
mission, " because it would give an appearance of enmity to
the relations of the two states." Sindia had nothing to gain
but everything to risk by a war, and he was sincerely desirous
of establishing a good understanding with the Company. He
had not forgotten how, in August, 1803, the departure of
Colonel Collins from his camp had been the signal of hostilities,
and he feared lest the retirement of Mr. Jenkins should pro-
duce the same disastrous result. On his part, Lord Wellesley
was equally desirous of peace. He had made up his mind to
restore Gohud and Gwalior, as a matter of policy, and was
ready to discuss any other concessions which might enable
him to place the army on a peace establishment and reduce the
burdens of the state. Another month or two would have
brought about an amicable adjustment of all dif-
weiiesiey's ad- f erences, and placed the tranquillity of India upon
ministration, & goM ^^ ^ ^ ^ g^ j^ Lord Q Qm _
wallis landed in Calcutta, and assumed charge of
the Government and Lord Wellesley's whole scheme of policy
was at once subverted.
Bemarks on The administration of Lord Wellesley is the
Lord Welles- mos t memorable in the annals of Brilish India.
leys admims- ,
tration, 1805. He found the empire beset with the most immi-
nent perils in every quarter, and he bequeathed it to his
successor in a state of complete security. He found a feeling
of contempt for our power gradually increasing at every court,
REMARKS ON IT. 179
and threatening its existence, and he set himself with un-
exampled energy to restore our prestige. In rapid succession
he annihilated the French force at Hyderabad, and converted
all the resources of the Nizam to the use of the Company.
He extinguished the Mysore power and became master of the
Deccan. He extirpated the French battalions of Sindia, and
turned his possessions in Hindostan into a British province.
He paralysed the power of the great Mahratta princes so
effectually that, notwithstanding the timid and retrograde policy
of the next twelve years, they were never able to recover it.
He remodelled the map of India and introduced greater and
more important changes in all its political relations than had
been effected by any single prince, Hindoo or Mahomedan.
He doubled the territories and the resources of the Company.
He had a peculiar genius for creating and consolidating an
empire. Ha was the Akbar of the Company's dynasty. His
individual character was impressed on every branch of the
administration, and his inspiration animated every member of
the service in every department, and in every province. To
those around him, who were under his immediate influence, he
was the object of " hero worship," and the designation usually
applied to him was " the glorious little man." But his atten-
tion was chiefly directed to those great measures of state
which were required to secure and strengthen the Government.
The time had not arrived when the moral and intellectual im-
provement of the people was considered within the province
of the ruler. Lord Wellesley made no effort to promote the
education of the natives, and the erroneous policy initiated by
Lord Comwallis of excluding them from all share in any
branch of the Government, and working it exclusively by
European agency, was approved and perpetuated. But he
constrained the civilians to acquire the language of the
people they were appointed to govern, which the Court of
Directors had neglected for thirty-five years ; and to his
administration belongs the distinguished honour of having,
under the influence of Mr. Udny and Dr. Carey, passed
180 LORD WELLESLEY AND THE INDIA. HOUSE. [CHAP.
the humane regulation prohibiting the sacrifice of children at
Sagur.
Lord Wellesley's great predecessor, Warren
* Hastings, was the first ruler who contemplated the
of Directors, necessity imposed by our position of extending
British influence over every court, and making the
Company the leading power in India. For the, attempt to carry
out this great conception, he was subjected to an impeachment
and reduced to poverty. Twelve years after he had. left India,
Lord Wellesley felt the pressure of the same . necessity, and
resolved to pursue the same object, not by the simple exertion
of influence, but by the exercise of authority. He was
anxious to extinguish those internecine contests among the
princes of India which for more than : a century had turned
its fairest provinces into a desert, encouraged a predatory and
military spirit among the inhabitants, and formed an inex-
haustible source for the supply of military adventurers, pre-
pared to join the standard of. any turbulent chieftain, for the
purposes of ambition, plunder, and rebellion. He felt, as
General Wellesley described it, that "no permanent system
of policy could be adopted to preserve the, weak against the
strong, and to keep the princes for any length of time in their
relative situations, and the whole body in peace, without the
establishment of one power, which by the superiority of its
strength, and its military system and resources, should obtain a
preponderating influence for the protection of all." The Com-
pany was to be this preponderant power, but the Company
was still a commercial body, and had an instinctive dread of
all military operations which interrupted its investments and
disturbed its balance-sheet. In the conflict between the
merchant and the sovereign in Leadenhall-street, the influence
and interest of the merchant prevailed, although Lord Wellesley
maintained that "as long as the Company represented the
sovereign executive authority in this vast empire, its duties of
sovereignty must be paramount to mercantile interests." This
irreconcileable difference of views created a strong feeling of
xxn.] LORD WELLESLEY'S AMBITION. 181
antipathy towards him at the India House, which, though
mitigated for a time by the influence of Lord Castlereagh,
broke out at length with irrepressible violence. His policy
was denounced, his measures were thwarted, and his govern-
ment was humiliated and weakened. For a time he manifested,
as he said, " an invariable respect even for the errors of every
branch of their authority," but this respect was at length
extinguished by xthe virulence of their opposition, and in a
moment of exasperation, he designated them the "cheese-
mongers of Leadenhall- street," an expression never forgiven.
The India House accused him of " illegal appointments," of
"evasions of the law," of "contempt of Parliament," and
above all, of "a disdain of constituted authority," meaning
the Court of Directors. He charged them with "vindictive
profligacy," and "^ignominious tyranny," and in writing to a
ministerial friend said that " no additional outrage, injury, or
insult which could issue from the most loathsome den in
the India House would accelerate his departure from India,
while the public interests seemed to require the aid of his
services,"
The impartiality of history requires that great
effect ofaiarm allowance should be made for the feelings of the
at the India Court of Directors and the Court of Proprietors.
Parliament had thought fit to interdict all increase
of territory, and even to forbid all alliances with the native
princes, and the Directors fondly believed that under the
shadow of this wise and prudent injunction, as they deemed
it, they would be enabled to continue at peace with the native
powers, and to pursue their mercantile enterprises, which
they prized above all things, without interruption. But the
present Governor-General, in utter defiance of the authority of
Parliament, had been engaged in wars from Cape Comorin to
the Sutlege, had broken the power of prince after prince,
completed a gigantic revolution, and seated the Company on
the throne of the Great Mogul, and invested it with the
responsibility of governing one half and controlling the other
182 APPOINTMENT OF LORD CORNWALLIS. [CHAP.
half of India. It was impossible that a body constituted like
the East India Company should not take alarm at the audacity
of his aspirations, and the vastness of his schemes, and forbode
the certain loss of the country, through the resentment excited
against British ambition in every province. Even Lord
Wellesley's friend, Lord Castlereagh, questioned whether an
empire founded on so broad a basis could be fed with its due
proportion of British troops from England. He feared that
the frame of the government had become too complicated and
unwieldly for any other hands than those of Lord Wellesley,
and, like the Directors, regarded with a feeling of consterna-
tion the vast extent of our dominions in India, and the
ruinous consequences which seemed to be the inevitable
result of it. The announcement of the war with Holkar filled
up the measure of Lord Wellesley's delinquencies, and of the
terror of the public authorities in England. Even before the
news of Colonel Monson's retreat arrived, Mr. Charles Grant,
the Corypheus of the Court of Directors, declared that he had
" not only wantonly but criminally involved the Government in
all the difficulties of another war with an able and powerful
chieftain." Lord Castlereagh thought there could be no
safety but in bringing back things to the state the Legislature
had prescribed in 1793, in other words, in putting the clock
back a dozen years. Sir George Barlow had been nominated
provisional Governor-General at the special recommendation
of Lord Wellesley, but at such a crisis it was deemed unsafe
to entrust the destinies of the empire to one of his disciples.
Lord Cornwallis was known to disapprove of Lord Wellesley's
system of policy, and he was entreated to proceed to India
and deliver the Company from its fatal effects, as he had been
sent out twenty years before to rescue the British interests in
India from the mischievous consequences of Hastings's plans.
But before entering on his proceedings it is necessary to
wind up the history of Lord Wellesley's career by a brief
notice of the treatment he experienced on his return to
England.
XXII.] PAULL PROSECUTES LORD WELLESLET. 183
The mode in which the great services of Lord
Prosecution of
Mr. Faun, Clive and Warren Hastings had been requited in
England forbade the hope that the brilliant admi-
nistration of Lord Wellesley would escape the homage of
censure. A Mr. Paull, who, on the testimony of General
Wellesley, was originally a tailor, had gone out as an adven-
turer to India, and taken an investment of goods to Lucknow,
where he was so fortunate as to obtain the countenance of the
Nabob Vizier, and amassed a large fortune. On his return to
India, after a short visit to England, the Nabob refused to
admit him into the city, and it was only through the interces-
sion of Lord Wellesley that the interdict was removed.
Mr. Paull expressed unbounded gratitude to his benefactor,
and professed the highest respect for his character. This feel-
ing was not, however, of long duration. On his final return to
England, in 1805, he bought a seat in Parliament, and on the
22nd May, 1806, brought forward " articles of charge of high
crimes and misdemeanours committed by the Marquis of Welles-
ley in his transactions with respect to the Nabob of Oude." In
the course of his speech he assured the House that, " from the
accursed day when Lord Wellesley set foot in India till the
day of his departure, he had exhibited a constant scene of rapa-
city, oppression, cruelty, and fraud, which goaded the whole
country into a state of revolt." Mr. Paull then moved for
papers relative to the transactions in Oude, in Furruckabad,
and in Surat. The members of the Court of Directors who had
seats in the House, while they disapproved of many of Lord
Wellesley's measures, refused their support to so preposterous
a charge; and Mr. Fox, then prime minister, declared that,
since the trial of Mr. Hastings, he had shrunk from all Indian
impeachments. The House, however, did not see fit to resist
the production of evidence ; but, after it had been taken on the
first charge, a dissolution terminated all proceedings. At the
ensuing election Mr. Paull stood for Westminster, and failed,
and then put a period to his existence. Twenty months after,
Lord Folkstone took up the thread of the prosecution, and
n. o
184 PROCEEDINGS AT THE INDIA HOUSE. [CHAP.
moved' twelve resolutions, which charged Lord Wellesley with
having, " under the impulse of unjustifiable ambition and love
of power, formed schemes of aggrandisement and acquisition
of territory, contravened two Acts of Parliament, violated every
principle of good faith, equity and justice, and the sacred obli-
gations of a solemn treaty, and affixed a lasting stigma and
reproach on the British name." The resolutions were negatived
by 182 to 31, after which Sir John Anstruther, who had been
chief justice of Calcutta, moved a resolution to the effect that
Lord Wellesley, in the late arrangements in Oude, had been
actuated by an ardent zeal for the public service, and it was
carried by a triumphant majority. Two months later, Sir
Thomas Turton brought the Carnatic question before the House,
and accused Lord Wellesley of atrocious delinquencies, and
went so far as to hint that he was accessory to the death of
the late Nabob. The resolution was indignantly rejected by
the House, and a vote approving of Lord Wellesley's proceed-
ings was carried, with only nineteen dissentient voices.
Far different was the conduct of the Directors
Conduct of the -, -.-, . , , i_ p T f
Directors and an d Proprietors, among whom the feeling of am-
mosity towards Lord Wellesley was still unabated.
Towards the close of his administration, the Court
of Directors compiled a despatch, in which all the charges which
could be raked up were elaborately set forth. It was the con-
centrated essence of the spirit of malignity which had been
fermenting in Leadenhall-street for several years. The Board
of Control judiciously substituted for it a brief letter asking for
explanations in a tone of great moderation, and to it the Court
of Directors were obliged to affix their signature. The Pro-
prietors, however, ordered the original despatch to be printed,
and a motion was brought forward in their Court impugning
Lord Wellesley's policy, and applauding the Directors for
having " restrained a lavish expenditure of public money, and
opposed all schemes of conquest and extension of empire." After
a long and acrimonious debate, 928 voted the condemnation of
Lord Wellesley, and only 195 his acquittal But, after the
XXin.] LORD CORNWALLIS LANDS IN CALCUTTA. 185
lapse of thirty years, when passion and prejudice had given
way to the voice of reason, the Court of Directors availed them-
selves of the publication of his dispatches, in five volumes, to
assure him that in their judgment he had been animated
throughout his administration " by an ardent zeal to promote
the well-being of India, and to uphold the interest and honour
of the British empire," and that they looked back to the eventful
and brilliant period of his government with f eelings common to
their countrymen. They voted him a grant of 20,000, and
ordered his statue to be placed in the India House, as a recog-
nition of the great services he had rendered to the Company.
CHAPTER XXIII.
ADMINISTRATION OF LORD CORNWALLIS AND SIR GEORGE
.BARLOW, 1805 7.
Lord Corn- LORD Cornwallis landed in Calcutta on the 30th
warns, soth July, 1805, and within twenty-four hours Lord
Weflesley had the mortification to learn that the
system of policy which he had pursued for five years with in-
defatigable zeal, was to be immediately and entirely subverted.
The ihcessant labours in which Lord Cornwallis had been
engaged for thirty years in America, in India, and in Ireland,
had exhausted his constitution, and those who had seen him
embark hi the vigour of health twelve years before, could not
help remarking, with sorrow, that he now returned with
the hand of death upon him. It would have been well if,
at his advanced age, he had remained in England ; but when
he was importuned by the Court of Directors and the Board of
Control to proceed to India and save the empire, he considered it
an imperative duty to obey the call, at the sacrifice of his ease
and comfort, and, probably, of his life. He came out to India,
therefore, pledged to the public authorities in England to over-
o 2
186 LORD CORJTWALLIS'S VIEWS. [CHAP-
turn the existing policy of Government, as far as related to
the princes of India, and he affirmed that he could not con-
sider himself at liberty to pursue any other course. It was
his primary object, he said, to remove the impression universally
entertained of a systematic design to establish British control
over every power in India. He was anxious to restore the
native Governments which had been subverted by the pro-
gress of our arms, and the ascendency of our influence, to a
condition of " vigour, efficiency, and independent interest."
He was desirous of abandoning the position in upper India
which had been secured by Lord Wellesley's successes, and
to be quit of all our alliances and territories west
His view of the *
state of affairs, of the Jumna. He lamented the almost universal
phrenzy for victory and conquest which had, he
said, seized even some of the heads which he thought the
soundest, as repugnant to the interests as it was to the laws of
their country, yet Lord Wellesley and the public functionaries
were equally ardent for an honourable peace. On the 1st August
Lord Cornwallis wrote to the Court of Directors that finding
we were still at war with Holkar, and could hardly be said to
be at peace with Sindia, he had determined to proceed to the
upper provinces, and avail himself of the interval of the rains,
when military operations were suspended, "to endeavour, if
it could be effected without a sacrifice of our honour, to termi-
nate by negotiation a contest in which the most brilliant suc-
cess could afford no solid benefit, and which, if it continued,
would entail pecuniary difficulties we should hardly be able to
surmount." He described the state of the finances as most
deplorable, a fact which admitted of no denial. Two years of
war had exhausted the treasury, and increased the public
debt. Lord Lake's army was five months in arrears. The
large body of " irregulars " who had been induced to forsake the
native princes, and to take service with the Company, and who
had thus contributed in no small degree to our successes, were
no longer required, and the six lacs of rupees a-month they
cost was felt to be a dead weight. Lord Wellesley had
xxm.J HIS POLICY. 187
already made some progress in disbanding 1 them, but Lord
Cornwallis declared that he would rather fight them than pay
them. They could not, however, be discharged without their
arrears, and he adopted a second time the expedient, the most
unpalatable to the Company, of robbing their investments to
supply the wants of the state. A sum of twenty-five lacs of
rupees was, accordingly, taken out of the hold of the China
ships at Madras, and sent on to Calcutta, " to give him the
chance of getting rid of this force."
During his progress to the north-west pro-
waiiis-s policy, vinces Lord Cornwallis defined the line of policy
he intended to pursue in a despatch to Lord Lake,
dated on the 19th of September. He proposed to restore to
Holkar all the dominions of the family as soon as he should
manifest a disposition to accede to reasonable terms of accom-
modation. He was prepared to conciliate Sindia by resigning
Gohud and Gwalior, after a suitable provision had been made
for the rana, as well as Dholpore and two other districts,
accounting to him likewise for the revenues which had been
collected during their occupancy by the Company's officers.
If the demand for the release of the Resident was likely to
prove any obstacle to a reconciliation, he was prepared, as a
mere point of honotir, to waive it. He was disposed to abro-
gate the treaty with Jeypore, and leave Sindia at liberty to
exact whatever contributions he chose from the raja. He
considered the possession of the city of Delhi and the person
of the emperor a very unfortunate circumstance, as we
could only secure him from the danger of being carried off by
the maintenance of a large and expensive army. He pro-
posed, therefore, to remove him, if practicable, to some town
nearer Calcutta, and to restore the old capital of India to
Sindia, with liberty again to establish the power of the
Mahrattas in Hindostan. Lord Wellesley had fixed the
Chumbul as their future boundary ; and to guard against their
encroachments had entered into defensive alliances with the
princes to the north of that river. Lord Comwallis resolved to
188 LORD LAKE'S REMONSTRANCE. [CHAP.
dissolve these alliances, and to compensate the princes for
the loss of our protection by distributing among them the
lands we had obtained to the west of the Jumna, which he
considered a useless acquisition. He likewise addressed a
letter to Sindia, with a sketch of the proposed arrangements,
including a demand for the liberation of the Resident, and
enclosed it to Lord Lake to be forwarded to his camp.
Lord Lake iustly dreaded the effect of mani-
Lord Lake's J J
remonstrance, f esting so eager a desire for peace, and took upon
himself the responsibility of withholding the letter
to Sindia, more especially as the Resident had in the mean-
time been unconditionally released. In his reply to the com-
munication of the Governor-General he advanced the most
cogent arguments against this new course of policy. It
would, he argued, be highly detrimental to the interests of
the Company to allow the influence and the armies of the
Mahrattas to be again introduced into Hindostan. If the
princes to whom we had promised our protection were aban-
doned, they would fall a prey to Sindia, Holkar, and Ameer
Khan, and large bodies of irregular troops thirsting for
plunder would be planted on the frontier of our most fertile
and opulent districts. Neither could we withdraw our pro-
tection from these princes, except on their own requisition,
without a breach of public faith, and no offer of territory
would induce them to relinquish this blessing, least of all, at
a time when we were about to let loose the elements of
anarchy and destruction in Central India. He observed that
the Jumna, which the Governor-General proposed to make
the boundary of the British dominions, was not a barrier of
any importance, as, above its junction with the Chumbul,
it was fordable in a variety of places except during a few
weeks in the year, and would afford little protection from the
incursions of an enemy.
__. _. Before this letter could reach its destination
Death of Lord
Comwaiiis, Lord Cornwallis was in his grave. As he pro-
Oct. 6, 1805. ceeded U p t ne river his strength rapidly declined,
DEATH OP LOED COKNTWALLIS. 189
and in the last month of his existence he lay in a state of
weakness approaching insensibility during the day, but rallied
towards the evening, when he listened to the despatches and
dictated replies. It was in this state of mental and physical
debility that the memorable despatch of the 19th September,
ordering a sudden revolution of policy in the Government of a
great empire, was composed and signed. It may reasonably
be doubted whether Lord Cornwallis was in a condition to
comprehend the scope and consequences of the measures to
which he gave the stamp of his authority. A week after, he
was unconscious of what was passing around him. He was
landed at Ghazeepore, where he expired on the 5th October.
His merits as a Governor-General have, doubtless, been over-
rated, but it would be difficult to name a public character who
more richly earned the esteem and confidence of society by
his sterling integrity, his straightforward and manly character,
and the spirit of justice and moderation which regulated all his
actions. If he had been in the full vigour of his faculties, and
had enjoyed an opportunity of intercourse with Lord Lake,
he would have been able to form an estimate of the change
which had taken place since he left the Government, and would
have perceived the impossibility of steering the vessel of the
state in 1805 by the almanack of 1793; and there is every
reason to believe that he would have modified the measures he
was now imprudently urging forward, under the impulse of the
alarm which brought him to India. As the public authorities
in England had sent out an old man of sixty-seven to govern
India without making any provision for the contingency of his
death, Sir George Barlow, of whom Mr. Pitt, Mr. Dundas
now Lord Melville and Lord Castlereagh, had said a few
months before that he was altogether " out of the question,"
succeeded to the office of Governor-General, and proceeded to
the upper provinces.
Sir George Barlow was a civil servant on the
riow, Gover- Bengal establishment, who had risen through the
gradations of office by a meritorious service of
190 SIB GEORGE BARLOW GOVERNOR- GENERAL. [CHAP.
twenty-eight years, to a seat in Council. For many years
he had been at the head of some of the most important
departments of state and had acquired a fund of know-
ledge and experience superior to that of any other officer. He
had been extolled for his official aptitude and industiy by three
successive Governors-General, and although the Ministry
in England had wisely resolved never again to place any local
official at the head of the Government, Lord Wellesley, with
all his discernment, had actually obtained the reversion of the
Governor-Generalship for him. But Sir George was simply a
respectable, plodding, first-rate civilian, whose natural abilities
eminently qualified him for a subordinate situation, but who
possessed none of that patrician elevation of mind which was
needed for the management of an empire. While he con-
tinued under the influence of Lord Wellesley's genius he cor-
dially adopted and assisted in carrying out his comprehensive
views, and became so closely identified with his policy that he
lost the prospect of succeeding him when that policy was con-
demned. This significant fact was communicated to him by his
earliest patron, Lord Cornwallis, and it may possibly have
exercised some influence on his opinions, and led him, on the
arrival of that nobleman, to become the unflinching advocate
of the new and opposite policy which was now in the as-
cendant at the India House.
On the death of Lord Cornwallis it devolved on
poUcy.Tso^ Sir George Barlow to reply to the letter of Lord
Lake, and to notify the course which the Govern-
ment, now in his hands, intended to adopt. He announced his
resolution to follow the footsteps of his deceased predecessor,
and to dissolve the alliances with the native princes, which
he had assisted Lord Wellesley in establishing. His policy,
as he described it, was " directed to the divesting ourselves of
all right to the exercise of interference in the affairs of the
native princes where we possessed it almost to an unlimited
extent by treaty, and to the withdrawing from all concern
whatever in the affairs of every state beyond the Jurnna."
xxra.J HIS POLICY. 191
This course, he remarked, was " in conformity with the princi-
ples laid down by Parliament, with the orders of their honour-
able masters, and with his own convictions of expediency."
As to the security of our territories, which Lord Wellesley
intended to rest on the establishment of general tranquillity,
under British supremacy, Sir George considered that it would
be as effectually promoted by the prevalence of general
anarchy beyond our frontier ; and the revival of the mutual
conflicts of the native princes, which had desolated the country
for thirty years, but were now happily brought tinder control,
was thus regarded as an object of complacency. It is difficult
to believe that the British Government in India, even under
the most timid administration, did ever deliberately contem-
plate the idea of allowing the native chiefs to tear one another
to pieces that they might find no leisure to invade our territories ;
but the voice of honour and humanity is never heard in the
delirium of a panic. This despicable policy was aptly described
by Mr. Metcalfe, subsequently Governor-General himself, as
"disgrace without compensation, treaties without security,
and peace without tranquillity."
In the month of July, Lord Lake, with the full
Negotiations '
with Sindia, concurrence of Lord Wellesley, had addressed a
letter to Sindia demanding the release of the
Resident by a fixed day, on pain of hostilities. The requisi-
tion came at a very favourable season. The atrocities of
Sirjee Rao Ghatkay, the inveterate enemy of the English, had
constrained Sindia to discard him from the post of minister,
and it was bestowed on Ambajee Inglia. He was favourable
to a British alliance, and incensed against Holkar and Ameer
Khan, who had recently tortured and plundered him, and he
endeavoured, and not without success, to sow dissensions
between them and Sindia. Sindia himself saw no farther
benefit to be derived from any connection with these ex-
tortionate and predatoiy chiefs. He had a painful recollection
of the field of Assye, and was anxious to avoid a second war
with the Company ; and to Lord Lake's requisition he replied
192 EQUIPMENT OF THE AKMY. [CHAP.
that the rooksut, or friendly departure of the Kesident was
only delayed, according to usage, till the arrival of his suc-
cessor. A fair opening was thus presented for negotiations ;
but the question of taking the initiative, on which, more
especially in India, their success mainly depends, was the
point of difficulty. Happily, it was discovered that the moon-
shee Kavil-nyne, an old and favourite servant of Sindia, who
had assisted in concluding the treaty of Sirjee Angengaom,
but had been obliged to fly from the oppressions of Sirjee Rao,
was at this time residing at Delhi. Colonel Malcolm invited
him to the English camp, and it was concerted between them
that one of his relatives who happened to be in the service of
Sindia, should intimate to him the ease with which a negotia-
tion could be opened with the General through Kavil-nyne.
Sindia eagerly embraced the proposal, and was the first to
make advances. Lord Lake thus occupied the vantage ground
of receiving an overture, and replied that no proposal could
be entertained while the Resident continued under restraint.
He was accordingly permitted at once to take his departure,
with suitable honours.
E ui ment of The negotiations were commenced without delay,
the army, Oct. but it was felt that any adverse turn of circum-
stances might interrupt their progress, and possibly
throw Sindia back into opposition. Colonel Malcolm judged
rightly that nothing would tend so much to facilitate such
transactions as a display of military enterprize. Lord Lake
had a noble army under his command, but his military chest
was empty, and the financiers in Calcutta were very lukewarm
about supplying it with funds. Colonel Malcolm was mortified
to find " that they could not send Holkar to the devil for want
of seven or eight lacs of rupees," and he set himself to raise
the sum with all his natural ardour. He plied the native
bankers, but we had lost ground in the money-market, and he
could only raise a lac of rupees from them. He besieged the
collectors' treasuries for bills on Calcutta. He prevailed on
Government to sell the fortress of Deeg to the raja of Bhurt-
XXm.] PURSUIT OF HOLKA.R. 193
pore, from whom it was temporarily withheld, for the immediate
payment of three lacs of rupees. By the beginning of October,
the requisite sum was raised, and Lord Lake was enabled to
take the field " in grand style," and to start in pursuit of
Holkar. Colonel Malcolm felt that no place could be more
advantageous for the discussion of a treaty than the encamp-
ment of a pursuing and successful general. The moonshee was,
therefore, hurried along with the army, and resumed the thread
of the negotiation, day by day, when the tents were pitched.
The terms were at length adjusted, and sent to Sindia for his
ratification. All the provisions of the treaty of Sirjee Angen-
gaom, which were not modified by the new arrangement, were
to remain in force. Gohud and Gwalior were restored to him
as a matter of friendship, on his engaging to assign three lacs
of rupees from the revenues to the rana. Pensions, which had
been granted to different officers of his court, were relinquished,
and annuities were settled on himself, his wife, and his daughter.
The Chumbul was to form the boundary of the two states, but
the British Government engaged to enter into no treaties with
the rajas of Oodypore, Joudhpore, and other chiefs, the tribu-
taries of Sindia, in Malwa, Mewar, or Marwar, and Sindia
agreed never to admit Sirjee Rao into his counsels.
Holkar and Ameer Khan quitted the encamp-
Hoikar 1805 men ^ ^ Sindia, when they perceived a change in
his policy favourable to the English alliance, and
proceeded to Ajmere. Holkar, notwithstanding his reverses,
still exhibited a vigorous and daring spirit. Northern India
swarmed with military adventurers, the fragments of the
armies which had been broken up. by our victories, and the
" irregulars" whom the British Government was discharging.
Holkar was thus enabled to collect together a body of about
12,000 horse and 3,000 foot, with thirty not very serviceable
guns^ and he would speedily have become as formidable as at
any former period if time had been allowed him to complete
his levies. He solicited the raja of Jeypore to join his stand-
ard, but meeting with a stern refusal, pushed on to the north of
194 INTERCOURSE WITH RTJKJEET SING. [CHAP.
Delhi, giving out that he had been invited into that region by
the Sikh chiefs of Sirhind. But the heavy contributions
which his necessities obliged him to levy on his route, and
the remonstrances of the Resident at Delhi deterred them from
joining him. Lord Lake now started in pursuit of him, at the
head of his cavalry, and a small body of light infantry ; and
a British army was for the first time conducted to the banks
of the Sutlege by the same general who had been the first to
cross the Jumna. But its progress was suddenly arrested by
the repugnance which the sepoys, from some superstitious
feeling, manifested to cross it. Colonel Malcolm, on hearing
of their hesitation, galloped into their ranks, and with that
singular tact which gave him the mastery of the native mind,
exclaimed " the city and the shrine of Umritsir, with the
water of immortality, is before you, and will you shrink from
such a pilgrimage ?" The words produced a magic effect, and
the sepoys hasted across the stream and entered the Punjab,
where Runjeet Sing, a young Sikh chieftain, of twenty-five,
was laying the foundation of a great kingdom. Holkar fled
as Lord Lake advanced, and had reached Umritsir, but Runjeet
Sing was evidently averse to the further progress of a British
army in his newly-conquered territories, and Lord Lake
encamped on the banks of the Beeas, the ancient Hyphasis, in
the neighbourhood of the spot where Alexander the Great had
erected altars to commemorate the extent of his conquests.
In that classical region the ratification of the treaty by Sindia
was received on the 25th December, and a double salute was
fired in honour of the day and of the peace. Runjeet Sing
is said to have visited the English camp in disguise, to examine
the military organisation of the foreigners who in the course
of fifty years had become masters of India. After a brief nego-
tiation, he concluded an agreement with Lord Lake, engaging
to hold no farther communication with Holkar, and to constrain
him to evacuate the Punjab. Holkar, now a helpless fugi-
tive, sent an envoy humbly to sue for peace, and Lord Lake
presented him with the draft of a treaty drawn up under the
XXIII.] TREATY WITH HOLKAR. 195
instructions of Sir George Barlow. All the family domains
south of the Chumbul were to be restored to him ; that river
was to be his fixed boundary, and the British Government
agreed not to interfere with any of the rajas or dependents
of the Holkar family south of it. He was required to relin-
quish all right to Rampoora, and all claims on the state of
Boondee ; to entertain no Europeans in his service without
the permission of Government, and to banish Sirjee Rao for
ever from his presence. He was likewise to return to Hin-
dostan by a prescribed route, and to abstain from injuring
the territories either of the Company or of their allies.
To Holkar, whose fortunes were now desperate,
Hoikar, Jan. and who had no alternative but to submit to any
terms Lord Lake might choose to dictate, these
proposals appeared a god-send. But the incredible lenity of
the conditions, which confounded the minds of the native
princes, only served to create a feeling of presumption in his
breast, and to inflate him with the notion that the British
Government could have been influenced only by a dread of his
military prowess. His vakeels returned with a demand for
eighteen districts in Hindostan, and additional jaygeers for his
family in the Deccan, and liberty to levy contributions on
Jeypore. But Colonel Malcolm replied that the British Go-
vernment had already pledged its faith to the protection of the
raja, and would not abandon him. " You have good reason
for supporting him," retorted the envoys, " for he violated the
sacred laws of hospitality in surrendering Vizier Ali, on your
demand." Colonel Malcolm rejected all the demands and re-
buked the impertinent taunt, which, however, served to show
in what light that transaction was still viewed at the native
courts. New difficulties and delays were studiously inter-
posed, till Lord Lake's patience was exhausted, and he
threatened to break up his camp and commence the pursuit
of Holkar, when his vakeels at once produced the ratified
treaty, and confessed that they were only endeavouring to
gain credit with their master for their diplomatic tact.
196 DECLARATORY ARTICLES. [CHAP.
Sir George Barlow, however, was not satisfied
with the terms of either treaty. He considered
that to fix the Chumbul as the boundary of the
Mahratta dominions might be construed as a pledge to pro-
tect the native principalities lying to the north of it, and he
was resolved, in obedience to the authorities in England, to
dissolve all connection with them. While ratifying the treaties,
therefore, he added declaratory articles, the effect of which was
to withdraw our protection entirely from those states west of
the Jumna, with whom alliances had been formed two years
before. Rampoora, which Colonel Malcolm had positively
refused to relinquish, was restored to Holkar, and he fired a
royal salute on the occasion, declaring at the same time that
the English were, nevertheless, " great rascals, and never to
be trusted." The raja of Boondee was likewise left to his fate.
Lord Lake made the most strenuous efforts to save that un-
fortunate prince. He had the strongest claims on the con-
sideration, if not also on the gratitude of the Government.
He had never failed in his attachment to the Company;
regardless of the denunciations of Holkar, he had afforded
shelter and aid to Colonel Monson during his retreat. His
country, moreover, contained one of the most important
passes into our northern provinces. Sir George turned a
deaf ear to every remonstrance, and the raja was abandoned
to the revenge and rapacity of Holkar.
jeypore 1806 ^e course pursued with regard to Jeypore was
yet more disgraceful. The raja was among the
foremost to enter the system of defensive alliances concluded
by Lord Wellesley. But his fidelity was shaken by the ap-
parent decay of our power, when Holkar was chasing Colonel
Monson before him, and Lord Wellesley informed Lord Corn-
wallis that his defection on that occasion had cancelled his
claims to our alliance. In the following year, Holkar entered
his territories and demanded his aid against the Company, but
Lord Lake informed him that he had now an opportunity of
making atonement for his former disloyalty, and that the
XXIII.] ABANDONMENT OP JETPOEE. 197
boon of our protection would be restored to him if he resisted
the advances of the Mahratta chief. Upon the strength of
this promise, the raja not only obliged Holkar to quit his
dominions, but afforded cordial and important aid to our de-
tachments while passing through his districts in pursuit of him.
Lord Cornwallis, who was the soul of honour, assured Lord
Lake that any pledge which he had given to the raja should
be considered sacred. But Sir George Barlow refused to
recognise the obligation, and, at the time when Holkar was
returning from the Punjab and entering the Jeypore territory,
bent on plunder and revenge, caused it to be notified to the
raja, that the British protection was withdrawn from him, in
consequence of the breach of his engagements during Monson's
retreat. We thus incurred the odium of having availed our-
selves of the raja's services when they were of the highest
value to us, and of abandoning him to destruction when we
no longer needed them. It was in vain to attempt to reason
with Sir George, and Lord Lake was subjected to the reproaches
the keener for their truth of the raja's vakeels, who
upbraided the British Government with having made its good
faith subservient to its interests, and asserted that this was
the first time it had abandoned an ally to suit its convenience.
Indignant at the contempt with which his expostulations were
treated, and the degradation of the national honour, and con-
vinced, moreover, that he could not be a fit instrument for the
execution of measures which he entirely disapproved of,
Lord Lake, in the beginning of 1806, resigned the political
powers which had been entrusted to him, and resolved to con-
fine his attention to his military duties.
The treaty with Holkar had stipulated that he
Aggressions t j TT
of Holkar, should return to Hindostan by the route pre-
scribed for him, and abstain from all aggression
on the territories of the Company or its allies. But Lord
Lake was in haste to return, and save Government the field
expenses of his army, and, instead of directing Holkar to pre-
cede or accompany him, permitted him to remain behind. No
198 REMARKS ON THESE TRANSACTIONS. [CHAP.
sooner did he find that the British army was fairly across the
Sutlege, than he let loose his predatory bands on the Punjab
and plundered the country without mercy. He proved him-
self, as Rnnjeet Sing said indignantly to the British envoy
who visited his court four years later, a pucka huramzada
a determined rascal. Holkar was fully aware that he had no
longer Lord Wellesley to deal with, and there was no article
of the treaty which he did not violate with the greatest
effrontery. Passing through the province of Hurriana, which
had been granted to Abdul Sumud as a reward for the eminent
services he rendered to the Company, Holkar laid waste the
lands and levied heavy contributions on the people. Abdul
implored the interposition of the British Government, which
Sir George Barlow refused, but promised to make him a pecu-
niary compensation for his losses. Holkar then halted for a
month at Jeypore, and finding that the Governor-General had
withdrawn his protection from the raja, extorted eighteen
lacs of rupees from him. He then proceeded to wreak his
vengeance on the raja of Boondee for the assistance which he
had given Colonel Monson during his retreat.
This disastrous termination of the Mahratta
Remarks on
these transac- war planted the seeds of another and more
tions, 1806. mom entous contest. The difference between the
policy of Lord Wellesley and of his two immediate successors,
was not the restoration of peace or the prosecution of war
and conquest. When the career of Lord Wellesley was ter-
minated by the arrival of Lord Cornwallis, nothing remained
to secure the pacification of India but to complete the accom-
modation with Sindia, which was in rapid progress, and to
extinguish the power of Holkar and Ameer Khan, who were
then reduced to extremity. If Lord Wellesley had continued
five months longer in power, India would have been blessed
with peace and tranquillity. The policy of the Court of Directors
brought peace to the Company, but distraction to India, and
the wisdom of Lord Wellesley's measures was lamentably
vindicated by the twelve years of anarchy which followed
XXIII.] CABEEB OP HOLKAR. 199
the rejection of it. By abandoning all the defensive alliances
which had been made, and enjoining a neutral and isolated
policy, the Directors endeavoured to check the advance
of the British Government to supreme authority in India.
But this attempt to control the inevitable progress of events
proved not only abortive, but disastrous. It afforded an oppor-
tunity for the growth and maturity of a new predatory power,
that of the Pindarees, who, after having exhausted the pro-
vinces of Central India, poured down on the British territories,
and rendered it necessary, in self-defence, to assemble an
army of more than 100,000 men to extirpate them. That
which it fell to the lot of Lord Hastings to accomplish for the
settlement of India in 1817, might have been effected with
greater ease, and at a less cost, by Lord Wellesley's plans in
1805.
Career of Hoi- To continue the brief career of Holkar to its
kar, 1806-u. C l se. After his return to his own dominions he
addressed letters to the other Mahratta princes exhorting
them to form a national league against the common enemy,
but Lord Wellesley had so effectually paralyzed their power as
to leave them little inclination to respond to the call. Holkar
determined to reorganise his army, to reduce its numbers, and
improve its discipline. But the cavalry he had enlisted in the
south, whom he proposed in the first instance to discharge,
broke into open mutiny, and he was obliged to deliver his
nephew, Khundeh Rao, into their hands as a hostage for their
arrears. They immediately hoisted the standard of revolt,
threw off their allegiance to Jeswunt Rao Holkar, and pro-
claimed the lad their sovereign. To appease them, he delivered
up the sums he had extorted from Jeypore, on the receipt of
which they marched back to their homes. Within a week, the
unfortunate child, in whose name the government had hitherto
been carried on, was removed by poison, under the instigation
of Holkar's gooroo, or spiritual guide, the infamous Chimna
Bhao, who soon after became the instrument of murdering
Kashee Rao, the brother of his prince, and the only re-
n. f
200 DEATH OF HOLKAR, [CHAP.
maining member of the royal house. The remorse of this
double murder preyed on the spirits of Holkar, and he began
to exhibit a degree of excitement in his conduct bordering on
insanity. He had determined to increase and improve his
artillery, and he laboured in person at the furnaces casting
cannon with a wild impetuosity. He gave himself up to un-
bounded indulgence. The shops at Bombay were ransacked
for cherry brandy, and intemperance began to undermine
his reason. His phrenzy rose eventually to such a pitch as
to endanger the lives of his attendants, and his own officers
seized him and confined him with ropes in a separate tent,
under a guard, where he uttered the loudest objurgations, and
tore his flesh with his nails. The most skilful doctors and the
most renowned magicians were called in, but their prescrip-
tions and incantations were equally without avail. After a
year of raging insanity he sunk into a state of
vuntRaoHoi- fatuity, and expired on the 20th October, 1811.
kar, i8ii. During the period of his incapacity the govern-
ment of the state was carried on by his favourite concubine,
Toolsee bye, and his minister, Buluram Sett, whom we now
leave in charge of the administration.
_ . ,. The withdrawal of British protection from the
Bajpootana
contest for a territory west of the Jumna, left the fertile pro-
:ess, 1806. vmces o f Rajpootana at the mercy of the Mahrattas
and the Patans. The princes, instead of uniting their strength
against the enemies of their peace, wasted it for several years
against each other in a conflict, which, though tinged with a
ray of romance, entailed incalculable misery on their people.
The contest was for the hand of Krishnu Koomaree, the beau-
tiful daughter of the rana of Oodypore. An alliance with that
ancient and illustrious house " the sun of Hindoo glory"
was considered the highest honour to which a Kajpoot prince
could aspire, and the princess was considered the "flower"
of Rajpootana. She had been betrothed to Bheem Sing, the
raja of Joudhpore, but his death broke off the match, upon
which Juggut Sing, the raja of Jeypore, solicited her hand,
CONTEST FOR THE OODTPORE PRINCESS. 201
and being accepted as her bridegroom sent a splendid escort
to conduct her to his capital. But Maun Sing, who had
succeeded Bheem Sing as the raja of Joudhpore, was ad-
vised to demand the princess, on the ground that the alliance
was contracted with the throne rather than with its occupant,
and attacked and routed the convoy. The raja of Jeypore was
incensed at the insult thus offered him, and collected an army
of more than 100,000 men to avenge it. It was a motley
assembly of Patans, Rajpoots, and Mahrattas. Ameer Khan,
whose fortunes were reduced to so low an ebb when the treaty
was made with Holkar in the Punjab that he was on the point
of flying to Afganistan, had returned to Hindostan, and
collected a large force, with which he joined the raja of Jey-
pore. Two of Sindia's commanders were likewise sent to
espouse his cause; and Sevae Sing, a powerful Joudhpore
noble, who had proclaimed a posthumous child of Bheem Sing
the rightful heir of the throne, in opposition to Maun Sing
whom he held in detestation, likewise joined his enemies.
There were few of the Rajpoot chiefs who were not ranged
under either flag. In the great battle which ensued, in February,
1807, Maun Sing was deserted by his nobles and sustained a
total defeat. He fled from the field to the citadel of his
capital, which he defended with great gallantry for many
months, while his country was devastated by the enemy. To
relieve himself from this scourge, he made overtures to Ameer
Khan, who had no interest in reducing any of the Rajpoot
states to destruction, and thus depriving himself of the .prospect
of plundering them in succession. The Patan, therefore, on
the promise of fifty lacs of rupees a-year and a jaygeer of four
lacs for his kitchen expenses, deserted the cause of ^ the Jey-
pore raja, and that prince, in addition to the loss of a hundred
arid twenty lacs of rupees, which the war and his allies had
cost him, now found his territories ravaged without mercy by
his own ally. The fortunes of Maun Sing were thus re-
trieved; but he could not consider himself secure while
Sevae Sing lived, and Ameer Khan agreed to effect hie de-
p 2
202 APPEAL OP NATIVE PRINCES. [CHAP.
struction for an additional sum of ten lacs. He paid him a
visit at Nagore, his chief town, pretending to have deserted
the cause ot Maun Sing, and took an oath on the Koran as a
pledge of his sincerity. Sevae Sing, suspecting no treachery,
accepted an invitation to an entertainment ; but while he was
amused with dancing girls, the ropes of the tent were cut, he
and his followers were entangled in its folds, and indiscrimi-
nately slaughtered by musketry and grape shot.
The raja of Oodypore had taken no part in the
British war f which his daughter was the innocent cause,
Gorernment, but he was, nevertheless, subjected to plunder by
Sindia and Ameer Khan, who were constrained to
resort to rapine to subsist the armies which they persisted in
maintaining on a scale beyond their resources. Wherever
the Mahratta or the Patan encamped, a single day was suffi-
cient to give the most flourishing spot the aspect of a desert,
and their march was traced by the blaze of villages and the
havoc of cultivation. In his extremity the rana applied to
the British Government for protection, offering to make over
one-half his territories for the defence of the other. Zalim
Sing, the renowned regent of Kotah, together with the rival
princes of Jeypore and Joudhpore, earnestly joined in this
solicitation. There had always, they said, been in India
some supreme power to which the weak looked for protec-
tion against the ambition and the rapacity of the strong.
The Company had now succeeded to this paramount sove-
reignty, and were bound to fulfil the duties attached to it.
The Mahrattas and the Patans, who were now spreading
desolation from the Sutlege to the Nerbudda, were utterly
unable to offer any opposition to the British arms, and the
Governor-General had only to speak the word and peace and
tranquillity would be restored. These facts could not be con-
troverted, but such interference was known to be foreign to
the existing policy of the India House. The Court of Directors,
however, when reviewing the conduct of Sir George Barlow
towards Jeypore, appeared to experience some slight touck
XXIII.] DEATH OF THE PRINCESS OF OODYPOKE. 203
of compunction for the desertion of the raja, but they satisfied
their consciences with an idle lecture on " the necessity of
taking care, in all the transactions of Government with the
native princes, to preserve its character for fidelity to its
allies from falling into disrepute, and to evince a strict regard
to the principles of justice and generosity." The sincerity of
these professions would have been less liable to mistrust if
they had been accompanied by a change of policy ; but the
Court distinctly repudiated the idea of taking the raja under
their protection at the risk of a war. From the British Go-
vernment there was, therefore, no prospect of relief for the
wretched states of Rajpootana, and the raja of Oodypore was
obliged to come to a compromise with Ameer Khan, and to as-
sign him one-fourth of his dominions to preserve the remainder
from rapine. He was likewise subjected to the indignity,
which no prince in India could feel so acutely as he did, of
exchanging turbans, as a token of friendship and equality,
with the Patan freebooter. That unscrupulous chief took
advantage of the ascendency he had thus acquired at Oody-
pore to perpetrate one of the foulest murders ever known,
even in that land of violence. He suggested to the raria that
the only means of quenching the feuds which distracted Raj-
pootana on account of his daughter, was to put her to death,
and he threatened to carry her off by force to Maun Sing if his
advice was not followed. Under the influence of an infamous
favourite, Ajit Sing, one of his nobles, the father consented
to become the executioner of his child. His own sister,
Chand bye, presented the poisoned bowl with her own hands
to the young and lovely princess, then in her sixteenth year,
and urged her in the name of her father to save the honour
of the house of Oodypore by the sacrifice of her life. She
meekly bowed her head, and exclaimed, " This is
princess of the marriage to which I was foredoomed," and
drank off three successive doses, sending up a
prayer to heaven with her last breath for the life
and prosperity of her father. The news of this tragedy was
204 AFFAIRS OF HYDERABAD. [CHAP.
no sooner spread through the capital than loud lamentations
burst from every quarter, mingled with execrations on the
wretched father and his atrocious adviser. One of the great
nobles, on hearing that the deed was in contemplation, galloped
to the capital in haste to prevent it, but finding that he was
too late, unbuckled his sword and shield, and placing them
at the feet of the. rana, said, "My ancestors have served
yours for thirty generations, but never more shall these arms
be used in your service."
Affairs of Hy- This narrative has carried us beyond the period
deratad, 1806-7. o f gi r George Barlow's administration, to which
we now return. The greatest blot in his policy was the
abandonment of Malwa and Kajpootana to anarchy and
desolation. On the other hand, he deserves great credit
for the resolution with which he maintained the peace of the
Deccan, in opposition to the principle of non-intervention.
Meer Allum, the able minister of the Nizam, had become ob-
noxious to his weak master by his steady support of the
British alliance, and was threatened with assassination, and
obliged to take refuge in the British residency. The Nizam
then proceeded to open negotiations with Holkar and Sindia,
and to assemble troops on his frontier, and manifested every
disposition to dissolve his connection with the Company. Sir
George felt that" "there was no alternative but either to
abandon the alliance altogether, or to make an effort to replace
it on a just and proper foundation by a direct and decided in-
terposition . . . but, the dissolution of the alliance would
subvert the very foundations of British power and ascendency
in the political scale in India, and become the signal and the
instrument of the downfall of the remaining fabric of our poli-
tical relations." He felt that we could not abandon our influ-
ence or our power at Hyderabad without finding the ground
occupied by our enemies, the result of which would be univer-
sal " agitation, and distrust, and turbulence and expense." He
did not therefore hesitate to discard the doctrine of neutrality.
The Nizam was ordered to restore Meer Allum to the office of
XXIII.] AFFAIRS OF POONA. 205
minister, to banish from his counsels all who were hostile to
the British alliance, and to submit to the more direct interfer-
ence of the .Resident in the management of his affairs.
Affairs at The Court of Directors continued to view the
Poona, 1806. treaty of Bassein on the same narrow grounds on
which they were at first led to object to it, as the source of
multiplied embarrassments. They considered that their go-
vernment might be relieved from these difficulties if they could
withdraw from all interference in Mahratta politics, and leave
the Peshwa to resume his position as the head of the Mahratta
commonwealth. Sir George Barlow resisted with equal steadi-
ness every proposal to modify the treaty, and had the courage
to state that, while he desired to manifest every attention to
their wishes, he felt that there was a higher obligation imposed
on him, that of maintaining the supremacy of the British rule,
which would be compromised by any alteration of the policy
established at Poona. It had been affirmed that such a course
would be most agreeable to the Mahratta powers, to which he
replied with truth that to withdraw from the position we occu-
pied there would be gratifying to the Mahrattas in exact pro-
portion as it afforded them the hope of subverting our authority
and supplied the means of prosecuting designs hostile to British
interests. The Peshwa advanced claims on the independent
chiefs of Bundlekund, from many of whom he claimed chout ;
as the head of the Mahratta empire, he insisted on his share of
the contributions which Holkar and Sindia were levying in
Rajpootana, and he requested permission to appoint a repre-
sentative in Hindostan ; in other words, to revive the influ-
ence and power of which he had been deprived by the treaty
of Bassein. But Sir George Barlow refused to admit any of
these pretensions, and determined to maintain, in undiminished
vigour, the ascendency which Lord Wellesley had established
in the counsels of Poona.
state of the The state of the finances called for Sir George
finances, i80. Barlow's early attention. From the first establish-
ment of the British Government in India, all its financial diffi-
206 STATE OF THE FINANCES. [CHAP.
culties had arisen out of the wars in which it was involved.
There was no elasticity in a revenue derived almost exclusively
from the land, and it became necessary to have recourse to
loans whenever the expenditure was found to exceed the
income. On the return of peace and the removal of the mili-
tary pressure, the finances had always, with one exception,
resumed their spring. The extensive military operations of
Lord Wellesley's administration had necessarily augmented the
public debt, but this pecuniary strain, though manifestly of a
temporary character, brought on one of the intermittent fevers
of alarm at the India House, and large and comprehensive views
of policy were needlessly sacrificed to obtain immediate relief.
It appears to have been entirely overlooked that our wars in
India had always been marked by this peculiarity, that they
terminated in an accession of territory and revenue, which
served to balance whatever incumbrance they had entailed.
Thus, the increase to the debt during Lord Wellesley's admini-
stration was eight crores and a half of rupees, while the per-
manent increase of anuual revenue was not less than seven
crores. The Indian debt has seldom exceeded the income of
two years ; and this rule of proportion appears indeed to be the
normal condition of Indian finance. In the year preceding the
arrival of Lcrd Wellesley the revenue was eight crores, the
debt seventeen. At the close of his administration the former
had increased to fifteen crores and a half, and the latter to
thirty-one. After the lapse of sixty years, the relative pro-
portion remains without alteration. In the present year the
revenues of the empire are forty-five crores, and the debt is
ninety-two crores. By the cessation of the war and the re-
duction of the military charges, Sir George was enabled to
reduce the annual expenditure, and within two years the deficit
was converted into a surplus, which remained steady, with
occasional variations, for twenty years, till the first Burmese
war again depressed the scale.
Supersession of The great zeal manifested by Sir George Barlow
Barfoisoe. i n carrying out the views of the India House, re-
XXIII.] SUPERSESSION OF SlK GEORGE BARLOW. 207
commended him to the Directors as the fittest successor of Lord
Cornwallis, the news of whose death reached England at
the end of January, 1806. The death of Mr. Pitt, and the
dissolution of his ministry had just introduced the Whigs to
power, after an exclusion of more than twenty years. Within
twenty-four hours of their accession to office they were called
on to make provision for the exercise of the full powers of the
Governor-General, and Lord Minto, the President of the Board
of Control, agreed, as a temporary measure, to the nomination
of Sir George Barlow. His commission was accordingly made
out and signed in February, 1806, but only ten days after, the
Ministry informed the Court of Directors that they had selected
Lord Lauderdale for that office. They passed a high encomium
on Sir George Barlow, but his policy was not in accordance
with the views of some of the leading members of the new
Cabinet. Lord Grenville, more especially, considered the ad-
ministration of Lord Wellesley the most splendid and glorious
that India had ever seen, and he vigorously opposed the ap-
pointment, as his successor, of one whose chief merit, in the
opinion of the Court of Directors, consisted in a determination
to reverse his measures. The Directors strenuously resisted the
appointment of Lord Lauderdale, not only as an abrupt and
contemptuous rejection of their favourite, but also on personal
grounds. He had been a warm admirer of the French revolu-
tion, and during the height of its mania had dropped his
ancient and noble title, and assumed a costume symbolical of
Jacobinism. These follies had passed, but the Court did not
forget that he had also been a zealous advocate of Mr. Fox's
India Bill, and, more recently, of Lord Wellesley's doctrine of
free trade with India, which was considered a pestilent heresy
in Leadenhall-street. The Act of 1784 had vested in the
Crown the right of vacating any appointment in India under
the sign manual, and without the consent of the Court of
Directors. The Ministry now, for the first time, brought it
into exercise, and retaliated on them by a warrant cancelling
the commission of Sir George Barlow. The discussion between
208 APPOINTMENT OF LOKD MINTO. [CHAP.
the Board of Control and the India House was carried on for
many weeks, with great warmth, inasmuch as it not only in-
volved the immediate question of Lord Lauderdale's appoint-
ment, but the more important point connected with the
interpretation of the Act of 1784, of the -general right of
nomination to the office of Governor- General. In such a contest
the ministers of the Crown, being the stronger party, could not
fail to triumph, and the difference was accommodated by the
appointment of Lord Minto.
TheVeiiore I n * ne month of July, the Government was
Mutiny, 1806. astounded by a portentous event, unprecedented
in its annals the massacre of European officers and soldiers by
the sepoys at Vellore. This fortress, situated eighty-eight miles
west of Madras, and only forty miles from the frontier of
Mysore, had been selected, contrary to the wiser judgment of
the Court of Directors, for the residence of Tippoo's family,
and was speedily filled with eighteen hundred of their ad-
herents and three thousand Mysoreans. The princes were
treated with the usual liberality of the British Government,
and were subjected to little personal restraint. The European
troops in the garrison consisted of about 370, and the sepoys
amounted to 1,500. One of the native regiments was com-
posed of Mysore Mahomedans, many of whom had been in
the service of Tippoo. At three in the morning of the 10th
July, the sepoys rose in rebellion, and having secured the
main guard and the powder magazine, suddenly assaulted the
European barracks. They had not the courage to encounter
the bayonets of the soldiers, but poured in upon them volley
after volley through the Venetians, till eighty -two had been
killed and ninety-one wounded. Parties of sepoys then pro-
ceeded to the residences of the officers, of whom thirteen fell
victims to then* treachery. During the massacre, an active
communication was kept up between the mutineers and the
palace of the Mysore princes, many of whose followers were
conspicuous in the assault. Provisions were also sent out to
the sepoys, and the royal ensign of Mysore was hoisted on
XXin.] THE VELLORE MUTINY. 209
the flag-staff amidst the shouts of a large crowd. The re-
maining Europeans, though destitute of ammunition, maintained
their position under cover of a gateway and a bastion, till they
were rescued by Colonel Gellispie. He was in garrison at
Arcot, eight miles distant, and, on hearing of the outbreak,
started without a moment's delay with a portion of the 19th
Dragoons, and arrived in time to save the survivors. The gate
was blown open with his galloper guns, and his men rushed in
and obtained possession of the fort. Between three and four
hundred of the mutineers were put to death, many were taken
prisoners, and the remainder escaped by dropping from the walls.
Cause of the The searching investigation which was imme-
Mutiny, 1806. <Ji a tely made, clearly revealed the cause of the
mutiny. The new Commander-in-chief, Sir John Cradock,
soon after his arrival, had obtained permission from the
Governor in Council, Lord "William Bentinck, to codify the
voluminous regulations of the military department, on the
condition that no rules should be added to those in force with-
out the express sanction of Government. The code on its
completion was submitted to the Governor, and received his
sanction, as a matter of form, but several innovations had
been introduced . by the Adjutant-General, of which no inti-
mation was given to him. The sepoys, for instance, were for-
bidden to appear on parade with earrings, or any distinctive
marks of caste, and they were required to shave the chin,
and to trim the moustache after a particular model. These
unnecessary orders were sufficiently vexatious, but it was the
new form prescribed for the turban, which gave the sepoys the
greatest offence, because it was said to bear a resemblance to
a European hat. Orientals consider the head dress an object
of particular importance, and cling to the national fashion
with great tenacity. The Turk, who does not object to a
European coat, trousers, and boots, will not relinquish the
cap of his nation. The Parsee readily adopts a European
costume, but retains his own distinguishing head-dress.
Even the Hindoo, who apes European fashions, shrinks from
210 CAUSE OF THE MUTINY. [CHAP.
the use of the hat, which among Asiatics is an object of in-
stinctive abhorrence. In the present case, this feeling was
aggravated by a report industriously circulated in the native
army by the Mahomedans who led the movement, that it was
the precursor of an attempt to force Christianity on the sepoys.
Of all the Presidencies that of Madras had been the most
officious in patronising the religions of the country. Forgetting
the duty due to their own creed, and to the consistency of
their own characters, the Madras functionaries had been in the
habit of firing royal salutes on the birthdays of the gods, of
constraining their own Christian servants to make offerings at
different shrines in the name of the Company, and of employ-
ing the police to impress the poor ryots to drag the cars of
the idols. At the same time, the ministrations of Christianity
were so completely neglected, as to lead the natives to believe
that their European conquerors were without a religion. But
all these humiliating concessions to native prejudices did
not secure the Government from the suspicion of a design to
destroy the religion of the people, and to force a foreign
faith upon them. A spirit of deep disaffection was diffused
through the army, which was diligently fomented by the in-
trigues of the Tippoo family, who upbraided the sepoys with
the badge of the infidel creed, which they were already
obliged to wear. It was this family, to whom we had gene-
rously, but unwisely, given the large pecuniary resources now
turned against us, which applied the torch to the mine which
the Government had unconsciously laid. The exasperated
sepoys were thus led on to rebellion and massacre. The same
feeling of dissatisfaction was also manifested by the troops at
Hyderabad,but it was extinguished by the judicious proceedings
of the Resident and Colonel Montresor. The members of
Tippoo's family were removed without loss of time to Calcutta,
and their pensions were not curtailed, notwithstanding their
complicity in these treasons and murders.
The Court of Directors were overwhelmed by
the news of this mu t inv and in that spirit of
DISMISSAL OP LORD W. BENTINCK. 2M
vindictiveness which the excess of terror inspires recalled
Lord William Bentinck and the Commander-in-chief within
a week after the intelligence reached them, before they
had received a single line of explanation from either of them.
On his return to England, Lord William presented a memorial
to the Honourable Court in vindication of his character and
proceedings. " I have," he said, " been removed from my
situation, and condemned as an accomplice in measures with
which I had no farther concern than to obviate their evil con-
sequences. My dismissal was effected in a manner harsh and
mortifying; and the form which custom has prescribed to
soften the severity of a misfortune, at all times sufficiently
severe, have in this single instance been violated as if for the
express purpose of deepening my disgrace .... I have
been severely injured in my character and my feelings. For
these injuries I ask reparation, if, indeed, any reparation can
atone for feelings so deeply aggrieved, and a character so
unjustly compromised in the eyes of the world." The Court
endeavoured to soothe his feelings while they attempted to
vindicate the propriety of his recal. They bore testimony to
" the uprightness, disinterestedness, zeal, respect for the
system of the Company, and, in many instances, success, with
which he had acted in the Government but, as the misfortunes
which happened under his administration placed his fate under
the government of public events and opinions which the Court
could not control, so it was not in their power to alter the
effect of them." The Court little dreamt that in this vain
attempt to apologize for their conduct towards him, they were
unwittingly shadowing forth their own doom, and the occa-
sion of it. Half a century later, another, and a far more
appalling, mutiny broke out in India, for which the East India
Company was no more to blame than Lord William Bentinck
was for the Vellore mutiny, but to use the language of the
Court, " as the misfortune happened under their adminis-
tration, and placed their fate under the government of public
events and opinions which the Ministry could not control,"
212 TEMPLE OF JUGUNNATH, [CHAP.
they were deposed from the Government of the great empire
they had built up, and of their magnificent house in Leaden-
hall-street not one stone was left upon another.
The province of Cuttack acquired in 1803, was
Temple of J
jugunnath, attached to the Presidency of Bengal, and the
question of dealing with the temple of Jugunnath
was forced upon the Supreme Council. Lord Wellesley
refused to connect it with his government, but Sir George
Barlow determined to assume the management of the establish-
ment to the minutest item, not excluding the three hundred
dancing girls, and an army of pilgrim hunters. The pilgrim,
tax was revived to cover these charges, and the balance was
carried to the credit of the Company, as Sir George deemed
such a tax a legitimate source of revenue. It is due to the
Court of Directors to state that they were opposed to this
anomalous and degrading job, but they were overruled by
the Board of Control. It was for many years the subject of
a bitter contention between the Government of India and
those who were anxious to maintain the consistency of our
religious character. Under the pressure of public opinion, the
tax was at length repealed ; and some time after, Lord Dalhousie
had the courage to restore the management of the temple, and
of the lands which had once belonged te it, to its legitimate
guardians, the priesthood of Pooree.
Far different, however, was the course pursued
Propagation of . 7
Christianity in by Sir George Barlow regarding the diffusion
India, 1806. Q j Q^atian truth in India, to which we now turn.
The first Portuguese settlers had no sooner acquired a political
footing in India than they began, in the spirit of the sixteenth
century, to persecute the Pagans. They sent to India some
of the most able and zealous of their ecclesiastics, of whom
St. Francis Xavier was the most illustrious, under whose
instructions, though not without some degree of compulsion, a
large Roman Catholic community was formed on the Malabar
and Coromandel coasts. At the beginning of the eighteenth
century several German Protestant missionaries proceeded to
THE SERAMPORE MISSIONARIES. 213
the Danish settlement of Tranquebar, a hundred and sixty
miles south of Madras, under the patronage of the King of
Denmark. They were followed by a succession of earnest
men, and, among others, by the celebrated Swartz, who was
held in honour both by Christians and Hindoos. By then.' zealous
exertions a numerous body of converts was collected on the
Coromandel coast. In 1793 Mr. William Carey proceeded to
Bengal to establish a Christian mission, and laboured with
much devotedness, but little success, for seven years in the
district of Malda. In 1799 two other missionaries, Mr. Marsh-
man and Mr. Ward, went out to his assistance. As they were,
however, without a licence from the India House, they were
ordered to quit the country the day after then- arrival, but
obtained an asylum at the Danish settlement of
TheSerampore , * .
Missionaries, Serampore, in the neighbourhood of Calcutta, and
were received under the protection of the Danish
crown. Mr. Carey then removed to Serampore, and he and his
colleagues established a fraternity which, under the title of
the Serampore Missionaries, has attained a historical im-
portance. They opened the first schools for the gratuitous
education of native children. They set up printing presses,
and prepared founts of types in various Indian languages.
They compiled grammars of the Bengalee, Sanscrit, and other
languages, into which they likewise translated the Sacred
Scriptures. They cultivated the Bengalee language with
great assiduity, and published the first works which had ever
appeared in it, and thus laid the foundation of a vernacular
literature. Their names will long continue to be held in
grateful remembrance as the pioneers of civilization in Hin-
dostan, to which they devoted their resources and their lives,
at a time when the moral and intellectual improvement of the
people was an object of profound indifference to the British
Government. They, and the converted natives who had joined
their establishment, itinerated through the districts of Bengal,
and met with no small measure of success in preaching the
doctrines of Christianity.
214 . INTERRUPTION OF THE MISSIONARIES. [CHAP.
Their missionary labours were, however, viewed
Opposition of *
Government, by the Company in England arid the Company's
servants in India with great mistrust and jealousy.
All previous conquerors, the Hindoos, the Boodhists, and the
Mahomedans, had identified their religion with their policy,
and supported it with the whole weight of their political and
military power, and subjected those who professed a different
creed to severe persecution. The English were the first con-
querors who left their native subjects the unrestricted exercise
of their own religion ; partly, from that principle of religious
toleration which had always distinguished the East India Com-
pany, but, chiefly, from the apprehension that an opposite course
might rouse a fanatic opposition to their rule, and expose it
to danger. It was under the impulse of this morbid feeling
of dread that the Court of Directors set their faces sternly
against all missionary efforts. They were thus placed in the
false position of hostility to their own creed, which, among a
people of strong religious sensibilities like the Hindoos, was
calculated to create a feeling of contempt, or, what was worse,
a dangerous suspicion that so unnatural a procedure must
be intended to conceal some sinister design. The mutiny at
Vellore was traced to an interference with the religious pre-
judices of the sepoys, and under the panic which it created,
Sir George Barlow considered it necessary for the security of
the Company's interests in Bengal, to put a stop to the labours
of the Serampore Missionaries, lest the natives should regard
them as an interference with their religion. He was not in a
mood to reflect that it is only when the agency of the state
is employed to enforce a change of religion that there is either
disaffection or danger ; that the natives of the country had
been accustomed for centuries to religious discussions and
conversions, and that during the seven years in which the
Serampore Missionaries had been labouring in Bengal, the
Hindoos who had become Musulmans greatly outnumbered
those who had embraced Christianity, and, without creating
any alarm. The missionaries themselves were convinced that
XXIV.] LORD M1NTO GOVERNOR-GENERAL. 215
the truths of the Gospel would only be embraced in sincerity
when they were placed before the country separate from all
political influences. They, therefore, repudiated all aid from
the state, and deprecated the intrusion of the public authori-
ties into their province. But their labours were at once and
peremptorily interdicted. They prudently bent to the storm,
the Vellore panic died out, and the restrictions laid on them
were quietly removed.
CHAPTER XXIV.
LORD MINTO'S ADMINISTRATION, 1807-1810.
LordMinto's LORD Minto, who was appointed Governor-Ge-
administration, neral in 1806, was a well-trained politician, and
1807 .
had been engaged for many years in the manage-
ment of public affairs. He was one of the managers appointed
by the House of Commons to conduct the impeachment of
Warren Hastings ; and the prosecution of Sir Elijah Impey
was especially committed to his charge. The interest he had
taken in India pointed him out to his Whig colleagues when
they came into power, as the fittest member of their body for
the post of President of the Board of Control, and the twelve
months he passed at the head of that office gave him an
enlarged comprehension of Indian questions. He was an
accomplished scholar, distinguished above his predecessors by
his urbanity, a statesman of clear perceptions and sound judg-
ment, mild and moderate in his views, yet without any de-
ficiency of firmness. He was accepted by the Court of
Directors as their Governor-General on the understanding
that he should eschew the policy of Lord Wellesley, which
was still the great object of terror in Leadenhalt-street, and
tread in the footsteps of Lord Cornwallis. After his arrival
in Calcutta he facetiously observed that when taking leave of
ii. Q
216 PARDON OF THE VELLORE MUTINEERS. [CHAP
the Chairman and his deputy at the India House and asking
their final instructions, there seemed to be only two points on
which they felt any anxiety the importance of adhering most
scrupulously to the policy of non-interference, and of con-
trolling the consumption of penknives, which appeared by
the latest indent to be growing extravagant. On reaching
Madras he found himself called upon, as his first act of
government, to determine the fate of the Vellore mutineers.
Seventeen of the ringleaders had been executed by sentence
of court-martial, but six hundred yet awaited their doom.
Great difficulty had been felt in obtaining evidence of indi-
vidual guilt. The excitement and animosity created by the
mutiny had, moreover, subsided ; the confidence of the army
had been restored, and the officers ceased to sleep with pistols
under their pillows. Lord William Bentinck advised the
adoption of a mild course ; the Commander-in-chief advocated
a severe example. The Supreme Government, to whom the
matter was referred, ordered the whole party to be trans-
ported beyond sea, which, to Hindoos, would have been a
penalty worse than death. Lord Minto adopted the more
generous and lenient counsel of Lord William Bentinck, and
ordered that they should be dismissed the service, and de-
clared incapable of ever re-entering it.
On his arrival in Calcutta, the early attention of
Bundlekund T , ,.,. . ., .-, - ,
Anarchy of Lord Minto was drawn to the state of anarchy
z 106 ' * nto wn * c k tne feeble policy of his predecessor
had plunged the province of Bundlekund. By the
treaty of Bassein the Peshwa had ceded to the Company for
the support of the subsidiary force districts in the southern
Mahratta country and near Surat, yielding twenty-six lacs of
rupees a-year. A twelvemonth after they were exchanged
for districts in Bundlekund, and the transfer was considered
mutually beneficial. The lands in the Deccan were isolated
from the Company's dominions, and the defence and manage-
ment of them would have proved both troublesome and expen-
sive, while they abutted on the Peshwa's territories. The
XXTV.] ANARCHY IN BUNDLEKUND. 217
districts in Bundlekund were more handy for the British
Government, while the Peshwa's authority in them was
nominal, and they yielded him no revenue. The exchange,
which received the high sanction of General Wellesley,
was effected in a supplementary treaty of December, 1803.
The province, however, was a prey to anarchy. It was over-
run with innumerable military adventurers, who gained a
subsistence by plunder, and who were necessarily opposed
to any form of settled government. A hundred and fifty
castles were held by as many chieftains, and they were in-
cessantly at feud with each other. The inhabitants, a bold
and independent race, were disgusted with the stringency of
our judicial and fiscal system, and deserted their villages, and
too often joined the banditti. Two forts, Calinger and Ajygur,
universally considered impregnable, were held by chiefs
who owed all their power to rapine and violence, and headed
the opposition to the British authorities. Lord Lake assured
the Government in Calcutta that the peace of the province
could never be maintained without obtaining possession of
these fortresses, which might be effected by a vigorous effort
in a single campaign ; but Sir George Barlow replied that " a
certain extent of dominion, local power, and revenue, would
be cheaply sacrificed for tranquillity and security within a
more contracted circle." The sacrifice was made, but the
tranquillity and security were more distant than ever. The
chiefs who had seized the forts were left in possession of
them, and sunnuds, or deeds, were granted to them and to
some of the most notorious leaders of the freebooters, recog-
nizing their right to the lands they had usurped, upon a
vague promise of allegiance. Due respect was likewise paid
to the principle of non-interference, oy allowing them to
decide their disputes by the sword, and this fair province, en-
dowed with the richest gifts of nature, was turned into a
desert.
Lord junto's Within five weeks after Lord Minto had as-
rigorous pohcy, gume ^ fa c Government, he adopted the resolution.
Q2
218 SUBJUGATION OF BUNDLEKUND. [CHAP.
that "it was essential, not only to the preservation of
political influence over the chiefs of Bundlekund, but to
the dignity and reputation of the British Government to
interfere for the suppression of intestine disorder." The
whole policy of the state was at once changed, and it was
announced throughout the province that Government was
determined to enforce obedience to its authority. The
numerous rajas, who had hitherto treated with contempt the
maudlin advice of the commissioner, hastened to make their
submission when they found the Governor- General in earnest,
and agreed at once to refer their disputes to the decision of
British officers. But it was found impossible to extirpate the
banditti which infested the country, while they could obtain
shelter in the great fortresses ; a military force was, therefore,
sent to reduce them, and Ajygur was surrendered after a
breach had been made in the walls. But one military adven-
turer, Gopal Sing, by his astonishing skill, activity, and resolu-
tion, aided by the natural advantages of a country filled with
fastnesses, contrived to evade the British troops in a series
of desultory and harassing movements, for a period of four
years. He offered his submission at length, on condition of
receiving a full pardon and a provision for his family, and the
Government, weary of a conflict which appeared to be inter-
minable, granted him a jaygeer of eighteen villages. The last
fortress to submit was the renowned Calinger, which had
baffled the efforts of Mahmood of Ghizni, eight centuries
before. It was likewise in the siege of this fort that Shore
Shah was killed, hi 1545, and the Peshwa's representative,
AJi Bahadoor, had recently besieged it in vain for two years.
It was surrendered after an arduous siege, in which the
British force was, on*one occasion, repulsed with the loss of
150 in killed and wounded. The peace and happiness of
Bundlekund were restored, to be soon, alas, destroyed again
by one of the Company's pucka, or unscrupulous collectors,
who rack-rented the province, and blighted its prosperity as
effectively as the freebooters had done before him.
XXIV.] RISE OP RTOJEET SING. 219
The difficulty of maintaining the practice of
Kunjeet sing, non-intervention was still more clearly demon-
strated before Lord Minto had been a twelve-
month in office, in reference to the proceedings of Runjeet
Sing, whose career now claims attention. On the retire-
ment of the Abdalee from India after the battle of Paniput,
the affairs of the Punjab fell into confusion, and the half
military half religious community of the Sikhs, who had been
oppressed by all the successive rulers of the country, had an
opportunity of gradually enlarging and consolidating their
power. This country, lying in the track of every invader,
from Alexander the Great to Ahmed Shah Abdalee, and which
had been subject to greater vicissitudes and a more frequent
change of masters than any other Indian province, was now
in the hands of the Sikhs. Their commonwealth was divided
into fraternities, termed misils, the chief of each of which was
the leader in war, and the arbiter in time of peace. Of these
clans, twelve were deemed the foremost in rank. Churut
Sing, the head of one of the least considerable, had com-
menced a course of encroachments on his neighbours, which
was carried on by his son, Maha Sing. He died in 1792,
leaving an only son, Runjeet Sing, who at the early age
of seventeen entered upon that career of ambition and aggran-
disement, which, by a rare combination of cunning and
audacity, resulted in the establishment of a power as great as
that of Sevajee or Hyder. He acquired great credit for his
prowess when, in 1799, Zemaun Shah entered the Punjab,
which was still considered as an appendage of the crown of
Cabul. Runjeet Sing had the discretion to aid him in moving
his guns across the Jhelum, and was rewarded by the im-
portant grant of the town of Lahore, which was the capital of
the country even before the Mahomedans crossed the Indus,
and had always been associated with the supreme authority
in the province. From 1803 to 1806, Runjeet Sing was dili-
gently employed in extending his authority over the dif-
ferent fraternities and chiefs in the Punjab, In 1806, the
220 THE SIKH STATES OF SIKHIND. [CHAP.
course of his conquests brought him down to the banks of the
Sutlege, and he cast a wishful eye on the plains beyond it.
Between the Sutlege and the Jumna lay the
The Sikh States .
of sirhind, province of Sii'Iund, occupied by about twenty in-
dependent Sikh principalities, of greater or less
extent, the most considerable of which was Putteeala, with a
revenue of about twenty lacs of rupees a-year, and a popula-
tion of a million and a quarter. The chiefs had been obliged
to bend to the authority of Sindia, which General Perron had
extended to the vicinity of the Sutlege, but two of them,
Kythul and Jheend, had rendered important services to Lord
Lake in the campaigns of 1803 and 1805, and were recom-
pensed with large grants of land. As the British power had now
superseded that of the Mahrattas in this region, these petty
princes offered their submission and fealty to it, and, although
there were no mutual engagements in writing, considered
themselves under the suzerainty of the Company, and entitled
to their protection. The ambition of Runjeet Sing, which had
as yet received no check, led him to contemplate the annexa-
tion of these states, and the extension of his dominions to the
banks of the Jumna. He proceeded with his usual caution.
A sharp dispute had arisen between the chiefs of Putteeala and
Naba, and the raja of Naba invoked the interposition of Runjeet
Sing, who crossed the Sutlege with a large body of horse,
and dictated terms of reconciliation. No notice was taken of
this encroachment by the Resident at Delhi, and Runjeet Sing
flattered himself that ho had no opposition to apprehend from
the Company's officers. In 1807, the raja of Putteeala and
his wife were again at variance regarding a settlement for
her son ; Runjeet Sing was called in, and crossed the Sutlege
a second time. He decreed an allowance of 50,000 rupees a-
year to the boy, and received as a token of gratitude a valua-
ble diamond necklace, and, what he valued still more, a cele-
brated brass gun. On his way home, he levied contributions
on some of the petty chiefs, seized their forts and lands, and
carried off all their cannon to augment his own artillery, which
XXIV.] LORD MINTO RESOLVES TO PROTECT THEM. 221
was at this time the great object of his desire. These succes-
sive inroads filled the Sikh chiefs of Sirhind with alarm, and a
formal deputation proceeded to Delhi, in March, 1808, to im-
plore the protection of the British Government, whose vassals,
they said, they had always considered themselves since the
extinction of Sindia's power; but the encouragement they
received was not so decisive as they expected. JHunjeet Sing,
anxious to discover the views of the British Government in
reference to this appeal, addressed a letter to the Governor-
General, stating his wish to remain on friendly terms with the
Company, but adding, "the country on this side the Jumna,
excepting the stations occupied by the English, is subject to my
authority ; let it remain so." This bold demand of the province
of Sirhind by Runjeet Sing, as a matter of right, brought
directly before Lord Minto, the important question whether,
in obedience to the non-interference policy of the Court of
Directors, an energetic and aspiring chief, who had, in the
course of ten years, erected a large kingdom upon the ruin
of a dozen princes, should be allowed to plant his army, com-
posed of the finest soldiery in India, within a few miles of our
own frontier. The solution of this point could not brook
delay ; there was no time for consulting the Court, and Lord
Minto boldly determined to cake on himself the responsibility
of extending British protection to the Sikh chief s, and shutting
up Runjeet Sing in the Punjab.
Foreign Aiii- It had been the policy of the Court of Directors
ances, 1808. f or man y years to discourage all alliances with the
princes of India, but, at this juncture, they were driven by the
irresistible current of circumstances to seek alliances Jbeyond
its frontier, for the protection of their interests. The treaty
of Tilsit, concluded between the emperor of Russia and Napo-
leon, was supposed to include certain secret articles which had
reference to extensive schemes of conquest in the east. More
especially was it believed to provide facilities for the gratifi-
cation of Napoleon's views on the British power in India. To
anticipate these designs, it was resolved to block up his path
222 EMBASSY TO RUNJEET SING. [CHAP.
to India by endeavouring 1 to contract defensive alliances with
the princes whose territories lay on the route, and to dispatch
missions to Persia, Afghanistan, and Lahore.
E mbassy to 7 _'
Bunjcetsing, Mr. Charles Metcalfe, a young 1 civilian, who had
been trained up in the school of Lord Wellcsley,
and, indeed, under his own eye, was selected for the Punjab
embassy. The task assigned him was one of no ordinary
difficulty : on the one hand, he was to frustrate Runjeet Sing's
favourite project of extending his dominion across the Sutlege,
on the other, to conciliate his co-operation in opposing the
approach of a French army from the west. Runjeet Sing
received the mission with coldness and suspicion. His per-
sonal bearing towards the envoy was discourteous, all inter-
course between the camps was interdicted, supplies were
refused, and the bankers were incited to refuse to cash his
bills, while his messengers were waylaid and his letters
opened. But he was resolved to allow no hostile conduct on
the part of Runjeet Sing to damp his ardour, or turn him
aside from his object. When at length he had obtained an
opportunity of explaining the object of his mission, the Sikh
cabinet intimated that the alliance appeared to be one in which
the British rather than the Punjab Government was inte-
rested, and that as it was intended to benefit the Company, it
ought also to include some advantage for the Punjab. They
did not object to the proposed treaty, but it must recognise
the sovereignty of Runjeet Sing over all the Sikh states on both
sides the Sutlege. Mr. Metcalfe replied that he had no instruc-
tions to make this concession ; but, while the negotiation was
in progress, Runjeet Sing broke up his encampment at Kusoor,
and crossed the Sutlege a third time, and for three months
swept through the districts of Sirhind, plundering the chiefs,
and compelling them, with the exception only of Putteeala and
Thanesur, to acknowledge his authority. The British mission
was dragged in his train, but Mr. Metcalfe felt that his pre-
sence seemed to give countenance to these aggressions, as
Runjeet Sing intended it should, and after proceeding several
XXIV.] RUNJEET SING ORDERED TO RETIRE FROM SIRHIND. 223
stages, refused to advance farther, and eventually encamped
at Umritsir, to await the return of the Lahore ruler.
Eunjeet ordered Lord Minto, finding Runjeet Sing still bent on
to retire, 1808. the subjugation of Sirhind, determined to lose no
further time in arresting his progress, if necessary, by force
of arms. By this time, moreover, Napoleon was entangled in
the affairs of Spain, and the idea of an invasion of India, if it
had ever ripened into a design, was abandoned. All anxiety
for these foreign alliances was removed, and Lord Minto,
having no longer anything to ask of Runjeet Sing, was
enabled to assume a higher and more authoritative tone. The
Commander-in-chief, then in the north-west, was directed to
hold an army in readiness to march down to the Sutlege, and
a letter was addressed to Runjeet Sing, telling him in firm
and dignified language that by the issue of the war with the
Mahrattas, the Company had succeeded to the power and the
rights they had exercised in the north of Hindostan. The
Sikh states of Sirhind were now, therefore, under the protec-
tion of the British Government, and would be maintained in
all their integrity ; the Maharaja must consequently restore all
the districts of which he had taken possession during his
late incursion, and confine his military operations in future to
the right bank of the Sutlege. Runjeet Sing, on the ter-
mination of his expedition to Sirhind, hastened back to Um-
ritsir to exchange the toils of the camp for the enjoyments
of the harem. Like Hyder Ali, he was the slave of sensual
indulgence when his mind was not absorbed in the excitement
of war. On the evening of his arrival, Mr. Metcalfe waited
on him to present the letter of the Governor-General, but he
exclaimed that " the evening was to be devoted to mirth and
pleasure," and called for the dancing girls, and then for the
strong potations to which he was accustomed, and before
midnight was totally incapacitated for business. The com-
munication from Calcutta remained for several days without
acknowledgment, and, as it afterwards appeared, even with-
out perusal. On the 12th December, Mr. Metcalfe transmitted
224 MK. METCALFE'S FIKMNESS. [CHAP.
him a note, repeating the statements contained in the Governor-
General's letter, pressing the demands of Government on his
attention, and pointing out the danger of refusing to accede to
them, stating, however, that the British Government was
anxious to maintain the most amicable relations with him.
This letter, which seems to have given him the first monition
