^y -if, 1834. THE HISTORY THE BRITISH EMPIRE INDIA. BY THE REV. G. R. GLEIG, M.A,M.R.S.L.,&c. FOUR VOLUMES. VOL. II. LONDON: JOHX MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET. MDCCCXXXV. LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWKS, Duke-street, Lambeth. CONTENTS VOL. II. CHAPTER I. Privileges obtained for the Company by Mr. Hamilton Renewal of the Charter War with France Labour- donnais take_s Madras Dupleix's breach of faith Attack of Fort St. David Of Cuddalore Naval Ope- rations Attack of Pondicherry The English repulsed Peace Restoration of Madras puge I CHAPTER II. Expedition to Tanjore Capture of Devi-Cotah Disputed succession to the nabobship of the Carnatic Struggle for the Soubahdarry of the Deccan Conduct of Dupleix His success Death of Murzafa Jing 21 a 2 IV CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. The English roused from their supineness Take the field Defeated before Golcomlah Retreat to Trichinopoly Mr. Clive His services Takes and defends Arcot Battle of Ami Congeveram stormed Siege of Trichi- nopoly Alliance with the Rajah of Mysore Operations against Chundah Saheb Return of Lawrence Cam- paign before Trichinopoly The French surrender Intestine differences among the Allies Bussy's influence with the Nizam Dupleix superseded Peace with France soon interrupted 44 CHAPTER IV. Affairs of Bengal Capture of Calcutta Sufferings of the Prisoners "The Black-hole of Calcutta" Bengal re- taken Hoogly plundered Hostilities with Suraja Dow'a Chandernagur taken Intrigues to dethrone Suraja Dowla Battle of Plassy Accession of Jaffier Khan 74 CHAPTER V. Operations in the Carnatic Arrival of M. Lally Capture of Fort St. David Naval action Reduction of Con- jevcram Siege of Tanjore Second naval action Lally takes Arcot Besieges Madras, and is repulsed Conjeveratn taken by the English British repulsed from Wandewash Arrival of Colonel Coote Battle of Wandewash Capture of Pondicl.erry 99 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. Affairs of Bengal Mcer Jafficr's intrigues Expedition to the Northern Circars Capture of Masulipatam Bengal invaded by the Prince (afterwards Shah Alum) The Dutch defeated near Calcutta Clive returns home Second invasion of Shah Alum His attempt to surprise Moorshedabad Repulsed from Patna Death of Jaf- fier' s son, Meerum 144 CHAPTER VII. Changes in the Government of Bengal Their consequences Meer Jaffier deposed Disagreements with Mcer Causim Surprise of Patna The English defeated Mr. Amyatt killed Factory taken War with Meer Causim with the Emperor and Shujah ad Dowla Meer Jaffier restored His death Nujab ad Dowla created Nabob Appointment of Lord Clive as Gover- nor , 163 CHAPTER VIII. Affairs of the Carnatic Peace with France Treaty of Paris Return of Clive to Calcutta Appointment of a Select Committee Reforms Grant of the Dcwanee obtained Clive resigns the Government Succeeded by Mr. Verelst He quits India Legislative proceedings at home .. .186 VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER IX. Nizam Ally usurps the Soubahdarry of the Deccan Inva- sion of . scrip tion. It was situated near the river, about midway between the northern and southern extre- mities of the Company's territory, and consisted uf four weak bastions, mounting ten guns each, with curtains composed of brick, and only four feet in thickness. Terraces constructed from the roofs of chambers formed the top of the ramparts, and the windows of the chambers themselves supplied the place of embrazures, while the whole were either overlooked, or seriously incommoded by dwelling- houses, store-rooms, and other structures erected close to the line of the ditch. It is true that the English had begun, of late, to add to the respectability of the defences, for they received in- timation so early as the beginning of April, that a renewal of war with France was inevitable, but the progress made was so trifling when Suraja Dow] a marched towards them, that they could not flatter themselves with being in any condition to stand a siege. In like manner the garrison, though con- sisting nominally of two hundred and sixty-four regulars and two hundred and fifty militia, could boast of no more than one hundred and seventy- four Europeans, scarcely ten of whom had ever seen other service than that of the parade, while there was not an officer within the walls compe- tent to direct the movements of a company in the presence of an enemy. Nevertheless their case admitted of no alleviation. After trying every method to soften the Soubahdar without effect, they determined to trust to their own valour for safety, and arming about fifteen hundred natives with matchlocks, they made such general disposi- tions as appeared to their inexperience the best adapted to ensure success. 1756.] CAPTURE OF CALCUTTA. 81 On the 18th of June, 1756, the outposts were furiously assailed. They were defended with some courage but little skill, and they were all carried in the short space of a few hours. As the garrison had trusted mainly to the resistance which these detached batteries were expected to offer, their con- sternation became excessive, when theyfound them- selves cooped up within the walls of the fort ; and the alarm soon spreading, all ranks ceased to calcu- late, except upon the best and speediest means of securing a retreat. There lay in the river more than sufficient tonnage to remove in good order all the European inhabitants from Calcutta ; but the panic which prevailed in the place soon extended to the fleet, and the ships began one by one to slip their cables. All was now confusion and dismay on shore. Men, women, and children rushed indis- criminately to the water's edge, and boats pushed off so soon as there were people enough to direct them, while the entreaties of such as were left behind either failed to reach the fugitives, or were shame- fully disregarded. Nor can it ever be forgotten, that among those who precipitately abandoned the place were Mr. Drake, the governor, Mr. Macket, Cap- tain-commandant Minchin, and Captain Grant. These gentlemen, overcome by a sense of personal danger, threw themselves into two of the last boats which quitted the fort, and left Mr. Holwell an,d Mr. Pearks, with one hundred and ninety men, to provide, as they best might, for their own safety. The horrible tragedy to which this disgraceful flight gave rise, is still familiar to the imagina- tion of every English reader. After using every imaginable effort to bring back even one vessel VOL. II. G 82 BRITISH INDIA. [1730. for their removal after hoisting flags by day and throwing up blue lights by night the re- mains of the garrison beheld themselves attacked on all sides by the Soubahdar's troops. Mr. Hoi- well did everything that man could do to encou- rage and cheer them, but they had lost all heart, and the ramparts were won. Some now cast themselves headlong from the bastions, to be cut down by the enemy's horse which scoured the open country ; a few, creeping along the slime of the river, escaped ; but one hundred and forty-six wretches were taken, and preserved to endure a fate which, for misery, has seldom been paralleled. They were thrust into a room twenty feet square, with only two small windows, both of which were obstructed by a viranda, and the door being locked upon them, they were left to their despair. It was the very height of summer, and the night more than usually sultry even for that season. The excessive pressure of their bodies, one against another, and the intolerable heat which prevailed, soon convinced the prisoners that it was impos- sible to live through the night, and violent efforts were made to burst the door, but without effect, for it opened inwardly. Many now began to give loose to desperation, though Mr. Holwell,whohad planted himself near one of the windows, contrived for a brief space to restrain them, by representing that their only hope lay in continuing as much as possible in a state of tranquillity both of body and mind. He then addressed himself to the officer who commanded the guard, an old jemadar, who bore some marks of humanity in his countenance, and promised him a thousand rupees in the morn- 1750.] " THE BLACK-HOLE OF CALCUTTA." 83 ing, provided he Avould separate his prisoners into two chambers. " The old man," says Mr. Orme, " went to try, but, returning in a few minutes, said it was impossible, when Mr. Holwell offered him a larger sum, on which he retired once more, and returned with the fatal sentence, that no relief could be expected, because the Nabob was asleep, and no one dared to wake him." In the meantime every minute had increased the sufferings of the captives. The first effect of their confinement was a profuse and continued perspi- ration, producing before long an intolerable thirst, which in its turn was succeeded by excruciating- pains in the chest, and a feeling of absolute suffo- cation. Every effort was now made to obtain an increase of air and space. The wretched men tore off their clothes, and waved their hats backwards and forwards, but these movements afforded no relief, and it was proposed that they should all sit down oni their hams at the same time, and, after remaming a little while in this posture, should all rise again together. It was a fatal expedient, for at every movement some proved unable to recover themselves, and, being trodden under foot by their companions, perished miserably. Fresh attempts were now made, and with redoubled fury, to force the door; these likewise failed, and there arose a wild and unearthly cry, over which one word, that of water water, could alone be heard. The Je-' m.-idar, who really pitied his captives, strove to gratify them, and caused skins filled with water to be placed against the windows, but the apertures were too narrow to admit them, and the sole con- sequence was an increase of suffering, by a further G 2 84 BRITISH INDIA. [175G. exclusion of air. Their senses now forsook many of the captives. They raved, fought, and struggled to reach the skins, tearing each other down, and trampling the fallen to death, while the soldiery without held their torches on high that they might witness the terrible spectacle. But it is unneces- sary to continue the narrative farther. Let it suffice to state, that when the Soubahdar next morning commanded the dungeons to be cleared, the door was found choked up with the dead ; fur out of the whole number imprisoned not more than twenty-three individuals survived the horrors of the night. It so happened that intelligence of these disas- trous events reached Madras at a moment when a combination of fortunate accidents had placed at the disposal of that Presidency both a fleet and an army adequate to avenge the sufferings of their countrymen. It will be borne in mind, that soon after the con- clusion of the treaty which established Mohamed Ally in the Nabobship of the Deccan, Captain Clive returned to England for the recovery of his health. He was received there with the attention due to his extraordinary talents and eminent services, and was afterwards sent out again in 1755, as se- cond in command of a considerable armament de- stined to act in union with the Mahvattas against the French*. On his arrival at Bombay, however, where Admiral Watson and Sir George Rooke had * Colonel Scott was, through the influence of the minis.; ters, nominated to the chief cuinmarid, but he died soon after his r.rrival, and Clive succeeded, as his employers desired that he should, to the vacant office. 1755.] CALCUTTA RETAKEN. 5 preceded him, he found that an armistice was al- ready concluded, and he accordingly gave his as- sistance in the reduction of Angria, a celebrated pirate, who kept the western coast of Hindostan in alarm. This service being happily ended, he re- paired to Fort St. David's, of which he was nomi- nated governor, while Admiral Watson proceeded with the fleet to Madras. Clive had not remained long at Fort St. David's when he was summoned to Madras, for the purpose of giving his advice as to the measures best to be adopted in the present crisis. It has been shown that an application was made by Salabat-jing for the assistance of a corps of English, to enable him more effectually to deliver himself from the thral- dom of M. Bussy and the French. The Madras authorities, well disposed to accede to the proposi- tion, had given orders that a body of three hundred Europeans, with fifteen hundred sepoys, should hold themselves in readiness to march, when intel- ligence of the capture, first of Cossimbuzar and afterwards of Calcutta, reached them. This ne- cessarily produced a strong revulsion in the views and feelings of the council, for though the position of Bussy excited a well-grounded jealousy, the absolute destruction of the Company's settlements in Bengal appeared a matter of infinitely greater importance. After much consultation, therefore, as to the propriety of attempting to carry both points, it was finally resolved to restrict their efforts to one, by employing all the means at their disposal in the recovery of Calcutta ; and the command of the fleet being committed to Admiral Watson, Colonel Clive was appointed to head the land forces. 86 BRITISH INDIA. [1756. On the 16th of October, the squadron get sail, having on board twelve hundred sepoys and seven hundred and fifty Europeans, of whom two hun- dred and fifty belonged to the king's service. On the 20th the expedition reached Fulta, a town at some distance down the Hoogly, whither the fugi- tives from Calcutta had betaken themselves, from whence, carrying the serviceable portion of these miserable men along with them, they proceeded towards the city. The ships came to anchor within gun-shot of the place on the 27th, when the troops being landed, preparations were made to assail it by sea and land ; but the enemy, after an ineffec- tual attempt to surprise the land forces, fled from their posts on the firing of the fleet. Clive l<^t no time in taking possession. He found the mer- chandise belonging to the Company for the most part untouched, because it had been preserved for the use of the Soubahdar, but the houses of indi- viduals were everywhere ransacked, and all private property was removed. Clive had not long been in possession of Cal- cutta, when information was conveyed to him, that the important city of Hoogly, belonging to the Soubahdar, and situated about twenty miles up the river, lay exposed to insult or capture. He determined to attack it, and, though delayed by the grounding of one of the ships upon a sand-bank, he arrived before it on the 10th of January. A breach was effected the same day, and preparations were made to storm ; but ere the assault could be given, the garrison abandoned the place, and Clive entered without firing a mus- ket. He had scarcely done so when intelligence 1757.] HOOGLY PLUNDERED. 87 came in, that hostilities between the French and English were begun, and Clive saw himself, with his handful of troops, exposed to the united attacks of the Soubahdar and of a corps of three hundred disciplined Europeans, supported by a formidable train of artillery. It was fortunate for the English East India Company that the most pacific councils were, at this juncture, in favour with their rivals at Chan- dernagur. To the repeated solicitations of Suraja Dowla that they would join him, the French re- turned cold and evasive answers, while they pro- posed that they and the English, notwithstand- ing the war between their respective countries, should maintain a strict neutrality, one towards another. As may readily be imagined, Clive was too profound a politician not to enter with apparent sincerity into the scheme, at the same time that he laboured without ceasing to appease the fury of the Soubahdar. But the indignation of Suraja Dowla was too much excited to permit his listening to any amicable communication from that quarter. He put himself at the head of a large army, and marched in pursuit of Clive, who, after plundering Hoogly, had fallen back upon Calcutta ; and on the 3d of February pitched his tents about a mile and a half from the Presidency. Nothing daunted by this vast display of num- bers, Clive entered at once upon offensive opera- tions. He obtained from Admiral Watson a re- inforcement of five hundred seamen, and at three o'clock in the morning of the 4th of February at- tacked the enemy's lines both in front and rear. The Soubahdar's followers were taken completely 88 BRITISH INDIA. [1757. by surprise. After giving their fire with little effect, and trying the issue of a few charges of cavalry, they fled in the utmost confusion, leaving about thirteen hundred men dead on the field, while the loss on the part of the conquerors scarcely amounted to two hundred. Suraja Dowla was astonished beyond measure at the audacity of this attack. He conceived all at once an exaggerated notion of the power and enterprise of his enemies, and he not only granted them peace on their own terms, including a restitution of all their factories and esta- blishments, but proposed of his own accord to en- ter with them into an alliance offensive and defen- sive. An accommodation with so formidable an enemy was that of which, under existing circumstances, the English were most desirous. But the first use which they made of their newly-acquired influence put an almost immediate stop to the growing friendship of the Soubahdar. Clive requested per- mission to attack the French factory at Chanderna- gur, and because the Soubahdar evaded, rather than peremptorily rejected the proposal, resolved to interpret the answer according to his own wishes. But the troops were scarcely across the river when difficulties arose, w : hich it required all the firmness, and something of the finesse of this politic warrior to overcome. In the first place, Suraja Dowla now laid aside his reserve, and threatened to interfere by violence, should such a measure prove necessary, in defence of his ancient allies. In the next place, some members of the council entertained serious scruples as to the pro- pi iety of commencing hostilities against men w ith 1757.] SURRENDER OF THE FRENCH. 89 whom they had, but a few weeks previously, con- tracted a solemn league of neutrality. It was true that, on the part of the French, such treaty could not be contracted, except provisionally, because the factory of Chandernagur, being dependent on Pondicherry, could execute no deed of a public nature without receiving the sanction of the Presi- dency. But the leaders of the English expedition carried with them ample powers, and if they had not actually affixed their names to the deed, they had signified to the agents of the French establish- ment their perfect willingness to do so. Never- theless, in this as in other cases, where transactions are between nations, and not between individuals, that which might have been strictly just was made to give place to that which was highly convenient. There came in also at the same moment a message from the Soubahdar,which.seemed to imply that he was ready to purchase the friendship of the Eng- lish on any terms, and intelligence of the arrival of four ships, having troops on board from Bombay, at Madras. The hesitation of Clive and his asso- ciates instantly gave way ; the French deputies were dismissed, and the army and the fleet began their movement. The French, though they defended themselves with great spirit, were at last obliged to surrender, being borne down by the vigour of Olive's ap- proaches, and the irresistible fire of the fleet ; but their subjugation was not viewed with indifference by Suraja Dowla. That prince, on the contrary, who had been induced to dissemble his real feel- ings, through apprehension of the Abdallas, then masters of Delhi, no sooner became aware of the 90 BRITISH INDIA. [1757. movements of the English, than he protested warmly against them; and, though he failed in diverting them from the attack of Chandernagur, he positively refused to give up to their pleasure the remainder of the French settlements within his dominions. It was very evident that with such a monarch no terms could be maintained, and at the suggestion of Clive it was resolved to effect a revo- lution in the government of Bengal. Among the many persons of note wfrom the capricious tyranny of Suraja Dowla had disgusted, there was one who, from the official situation which he held, and his connexion with the reigning family, appeared peculiarly well qualified to serve the purposes of the English. Meer Jaffier Khan, the individual in question, had married one of Aliverdi's sisters, and, being an officer of dis- tinguished character, was promoted to high rank in the army. With him it was determined to open a negotiation, and, as good fortune would have it, there resided in Moorshedabad the most convenient of all instruments through whom to conduct so delicate a treaty. This was Omichund, a Hindoo merchant, of whose treachery little notice has been taken, though much has been said of his punishment, by writers unfriendly to the nu of Clive a man possessed of great wealth, gene- rally speaking friendly to the English, but prepared to sacrifice both them and all the world besides for the furtherance of his own interests. Being familiarly known to most of the nobles about the Soubahdar's court, he found no difficulty in passing to and fro among them, and by his instrumen- tality a treaty was drawn up which, on certain con- 1757.] TREACHERY OF OMICHUND. 91 ditions, assured to Meer Jaffier a succession to the musnud. Before the deed was actually signed, how- ever, Omichund threw oft' the mask. He had all along acted for hire, and large sums were promised in the event of the negotiation being- brought to a successful issue ; he now threatened that if these sums were not doubled he would disclose to the Soubahdar the whole of the secrets that had been intrusted to him. Such a threat, coming from such a quarter, was not to be despised, for the lives of Meer Jaffier and Mr. Watts, the English resident at Moorshedabad, were in his hands, and the interests of the Company, if not its very existence, hung in the balance. It was, therefore, suggested that a two-fold bond should be executed, one real, the other fictitious; that the latter only, which secured to him the full amount of his demand, should be shown to Omichund, while the former should be kept back till after the final termination of the intrigue. Col. Clive in particular, with whom this project originated, has been severely censured, as acting with consummate duplicity, nor can either his con- duct or that of his coadjutors in office be defended on the ground of abstract probity ; but when the circumstances of the case are rightly considered, it will perhaps appear that the sum of their of- fence amounted to nothing more than the defeating an artful intriguer with his own weapons. The man who can turn round, for mercenary .purposes, upon his confederates in any plot, and threaten them with ruin, deserves little delicacy of treatment at their hands. These matters being fully adjusted, a formal agreement was entered into, by which the English 92 BRITISH INDIA. [1757. engaged to assist Meer Jaffier in dethroning the Soubahdar. It was stipulated that Jaflier should join them on a certain day at Cutwa, with as many troops as he should be able to draw together, and that he should pay, as the price of his eleva- tion, a million rupees to the Company, live mil- lions to the English inhabitants of Calcutta, two millions to the Indians, and seven hundred thou- sand to the Armenian merchants; that the squadron should receive a donation of two millions five hun- dred thousand rupees, the army a donation to a similar amount, and that large sums should be paid to the different members of council. But the most important condition of all was that which provided for the total exclusion of the French from the kingdom of Bengal ; whilst the territory surrounding Calcutta, to the distance of six hundred yards beyond the Mahratta ditch *, together with all the lands lying southward as far as Culpee, should be granted to the English on zemindary tenure, the Company payintr the ordi- nary revenues in the same manner as other zemin- dars. Such was the treaty which, after numerous delays and hazards, received its final ratification on the 10th of June ; and on the 12th, Clive, with the army, a portion of which was embarked in boats, moved towards Moorshedabad. It is not to be imagined that, in this scene of plotting and treachery, our countrymen and their friends were the only actors. Suraja Dowla, * The Mahratfa ditch was an unfinished trench, which the English were permitted by Aliverdi Khan tu dig, as a protection jigainst the sudden inroads of Muhratta ene- mies. 1757.] INTRIGUES TO DETHRONE SURAJA. C3 hating the English, though restrained from ex- hibiting his hatred by a boundless respect for their power, was not less busily engaged all the while in conducting negotiations with their enemies. When he found himself unable to save the French foi tress of Chandernagur, he caused M. Law, the commandant, to march into Bahar, that he might be in readiness to return whenever the fitting op- portunity should occur. At the same time he corresponded with M. Bussy, who had dexterously freed himself from the toils, and was once more in full favour with the Nizam, entreating him to invade Bengal, and promising to support him with the whole strength of the province. His own army, moreover, took the field, ostensibly for the purpose of overawing the Mahrattas, but, in reality, that it might be prepared to take ad- vantage of any accident for the recovery of Cal- cutta. But Suraja Dowla was no match, even iu intrigue, for the enemies to whom he was op- posed. His fears prevailing from time to time, produced a wavering in his councils, which ren- dered every scheme abortive as fast as it had come to a head ; while his adversaries, keeping one object continually in view, pressed steadily towards it, in spite of a thousand obstacles, which their firmness eventually overcame. One of the chief difficulties in the way of Clive and his associates at Calcutta, consisted in a well- grounded apprehension for the safety of their friends in Moorshedabad. It seemed hardly possible to conceal, for any length of time, so extensive a con- spiracy from the observation of its object ; and they were well aware that the first disclosure of the truth 94 BRITISH INDIA. [1757. would act as a signal for the execution of all con- cerned. Even here, however, fortune forsook them not. First Omichund, then Mr. Watts, effected his escape ; while Meer Jaffier, shutting himself up in a fortified palace, prepared to stand upon his defence. But the moment had now arrived when further concealment was useless. From Chandernagur, Colonel Clive addressed a letter to Suraja Dowla, in which he reproached him with treachery and a hreach of faith, and openly called upon him to choose between submission to the demands of the English and war. This letter, with intelligence of the flight of Mr. Watts, at once opened the eyes of the Soubahdar to the perils of his situation. Instead of attacking Jaffier in his castle, as he had intended to do, he strove to separate him, by large promises, from his new friends ; and he so far succeeded as to obtain an oath on the Koran that his general would not be- tray him. The consequence was, that Jaffier, again admitted to the royal presence, marched, with his master, against the English, instead of coming, as he had engaged, to join them with his contingent. In the meanwhile, Clive, ignorant of these pro- ceedings, had advanced to the place of rendezvous. No allies met him there ; but in their room there came letters from Meer Jaffier, entreating the English to press on, and promising that he would embrace the first opportunity, as soon as the battle began, of withdrawing from the Soubahdar's lines. Clive hesitated as to the degree of confidence which it might be prudent to repose in this assurance. The Hoogly was in his front, fordable only in 1757.] APPROACH OF SURAJA DOWLA. 95 one place, with an extent of one hundred and fifty miles of hostile country between him and his supplies. It appeared the height of rashness to rush into such dangers, when a defeat, if sustained, must be productive of utter ruin. For the first and last time in his life, Clive called a council of war, which, like most assemblies of the kind, de- cided against a forward movement. But he re- fused to abide by the decision, put his columns in motion, and at one o'clock in the morning of the 23d of June, took up a position in the grove of Plassy. The little army which was now to contend for the sovereignty of Bengal, consisted of three thou- sand two hundred men, of whom not cpiite nine hundred were Europeans ; while their park of artillery contained eight six-pounders, with two small howitzers. The men were scarcely laid down to rest, and the sentinels planted, when a loud beating of drums, mixed with the braying of trumpets, gave notice that the enemy was at hand. The case was so ; for Suraja Dowla, contrary to his original plan, had advanced from Muncarra, and was now in full force about a long cannon- shot in their front. His army, which amounted to fifty thousand foot, eighteen thousand horse, with fifty pieces of cannon, covered a prodigious extent of country, and occupied an entrenched camp which had been formed some time ; yet was the Soubahdar far from being at his ease. He dreaded the discipline and cool courage of the English ; he distrusted the fidelity of those about him ; and he looked with the utmost apprehension to the battle which was now inevitable. Nor were his doubts and apprehensions groundless. 9G BRITISH INDIA. [1757. The battle of Plassy is one of tliose affairs of which it is impossible to give any distinct account, and on the issue of which it were vain and childish to reason. Clive deserves immortal honour for the courage which induced him to adventure upon it at all ; but the battle itself seems to have been nothing more than an irregular cannonade, occa- sionally relieved by a feeble charge of cavalry. It began at eight in the morning of the 23d of June, and ended by the absolute rout of the Soubahdar's host at five o'clock in the evening. Yet during this extended period, the loss sustained by the English amounted to no more than sixteen sepoys killed, thirty-six wounded, with twenty Europeans killed and wounded. This fact alone may suffice to show, that however formidable in appearance the advance of nearly seventy thousand undisci- plined and ill-armed men may be, their capability of acting with effect against a handful of soldiers is small indeed ; more especially when, as .in the present instance, there is neither courage nor con- duct among the leaders. As soon as the rout of his followers became apparent, Suraja Dowla, who sat in his tent during the battle, mounted a fleet camel, and, attended by two thousand chosen horsemen, escaped to Moorshedabad. He was not pursued, because his flight was for some time unknown ; but a detachment from the English army followed the crowd as far as Daudpore, for the purpose of keeping it dispersed, where, leaving the plunder of the camp behind, the main body also arrived, at eight o'clock in the same night. It was at this place that Meer Jaffier, who, if he failed to act 1757.] ACCESSION OF MEER JAFFIER KUAN. 97 vigorously, at least held back from the late con- test, was saluted hy Colonel Clive as Soubah- dar of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, after which the latter pushed upon the capital. Meanwhile, the unhappy prince whom he endeavoured to overtake had, already abandoned it. He fled by water towards Bahar, with the design of throwing him- self upon the protection of M. Law ; but his rowers, being weary, stopped at Raje Mahl, and he fell into the hands of a private enemy. He was carried back in chains to Moorshedabad, and secretly put to death on the night of his arrival. So far all things had succeeded according to the wishes of the confederates. Jaffier Khan, being formally placed upon the throne, was ac- knowledged Soubahdar by the people of the capi- tal ; and nothing remained except to fulfil the conditions to which he had pledged himself in favour of his English allies. But many and serious difficulties arose in the adjustment of this point. It was found quite impracticable to raise so large an amount of money as Jaffier, under va- rious pretexts, had agreed to pay, while extravagant claims were set up by others, besides the English, on the score either of relationship or special services. In the end, however, the English were content to receive one-half of their promised donative. Omichund was coolly informed that not a rupee AYould be paid him, and the rest of the expectants were put off, some with a greater, some with a less share of their dues. One danger alone remained to disturb the seem- ing tranquillity of the new Soubahdar. M. Law, with his party, having failed to join Suraja Dowla VOL. II. H 98 BRITISH INDIA. [1757. in sufficient time to take part in the battle of Plassy, retreated again into Bahar, where they were well received by the deputy-governor, Ram- narain, a Hindoo by birth, but strongly attached to the family of Aliverdi. As JafBer distrusted his own troops, a detachment of English, under Major Coote, was sent to assert his authority. The troops proceeded in boats, which were so wretchedly manned and equipped, that their pro- gress proved both slow and hazardous ; and when Coote, disembarking, endeavoured to push forward by land, the European portion of them broke out into mutiny. The consequence was, that long ere they reached Patna, the French, after being amply- supplied with everything necessary to their conve- nience, were sent into Oude, where they found a ready shelter. Coote was now instructed to act openly against Ramnarain, and prepared to do so ; but ere he had taken any decisive step, counter-instructions recalled him, and the submission of the Hindoo was accepted. He then returned to Moorshcda- bad. His detachment was stationed at Cossim- buzar. The rest of the army took up its quarters at Chandernagur ; and Clive, having committed the conduct of the Company's affairs with the Soubahdar to Messrs. Watts, Managhan, and Scrafton, departed for Calcutta. 1757.] CHAPTER V. Operations in the Carnatic Arrival of M. Lally Capture' of Fort St. David Navaf action Reduction of Conjeve- ram Siege of Tanjore Second naval action Lally takes Arcot Besieges Madras, and is repulsed Conjeve- ram taken by the English British repulsed from, Wan- dewash Arrival of Colonel Coote Battle of Wandewash Capture of Pondicherry. AT the moment -when Colonel dive's expedition set out to avenge the capture of Calcutta, the utmost exertions were making by the authorities both at Pondicherry and Masulipatam, to relieve M. Bussy from the state of siege in which he was kept at Chamoul. Of the circumstances which led him there, some account has already been given. Driven from the presence of the Nizam by the intrigues of his enemies, he proceeded leisurely homewards, in the full persuasion that he would even yet be recalled ere he reached the Car- natic ; but the influence of the adverse faction prevailing, he was closely pursued, and surrounded in his quarters by a numerous and well-appointed army. Nothing could exceed the gallantry and coolness of the French troops in this trying situ- ation. They not only repulsed every attack, but made frequent sallies, driving before them division after division ; till their numbers daily diminish- H 2 100 BRITISH INDIA. [1757. ing, and their ammunition beginning to fail, they were at length compelled to act wholly on the de- fensive. Such was their condition, when a rein- forcement, under M. Law, marched from Masuli- patam to their support. It was not without severe fighting, and the endurance of many hardships, that the two corps met ; but they did effect a junction at last; and having once more beat up the Indian camp, they fell back in good order upon Hyderadabad. Here a reconciliation took place between Bussy and the Nizam. The enemies of the former were given up to him, he was reinstated in all his dignities, and the influ- ence of his nation became more than ever esta- blished at the court of Arungabad. Bussy then marched into the Circars, for the purpose of re- storing order, and collecting certain arrears of revenue; and was thus employed, when he re- ceived the summons from Suraja Dowla, of which notice has just been taken. These events befell towards the close of 1*156, a season little memorable for any other exploit of importance performed south of the Nerbudha, either by the English or the French. With re- spect to the former, indeed, they found themselves involved in tedious and troublesome disputes with several of the chiefs and rulers of the Carnatic, particularly with those of Tinivelly and Madura, both of whom refused to continue their payments. Against them, Captain Calliaud, who commanded in Trichinopoly, led an army. Of Tinivelly, an open town, he immediately recovered pos- session; but Madura he found himself unable, for want of battering cannon, to reduce. In like 1757.] OPERATIONS IN THE CARNATIC. 101 manner, a force was despatched from Madras, to assist the Nabob in recovering possession of Vel- lore, a fortress situated in the north of the Car- natic, of which the Nabob's brother was governor. This attempt likewise proved abortive, the troops being repulsed from the breach ; and ere a fresh assault could be given, their services were required elsewhere. The French were now in the field ; and the authorities at Madras, alarmed for the Presidency itself, hastily recalled Colonel Forde for their protection. Though war between the two nations had been some time formally declared, their mutual weak- ness, occasioned by the departure of Colonel Clive's and M. Law's divisions, rendered both parties averse to the commencement of hostilities in the Carnatic. When the French, however, beheld their rivals engaged in operations so harassing and disjointed, they also conceived that they might, with perfect safety, strike a blow ; and on the 6th of April, 1757, two hundred Europeans and one thousand sepoys marched, under the com- mand of M. D'Auteuil, from a standing camp which they occupied in front of Pondicherry. Their first attempt was upon Ellavanasore, a place of no great strength, but held by a chief who exercised the calling of a freebooter, and drove off the cattle both of 'friend and foe, as often as an opportunity offered. Meer Saheb, for such was his name, bravely sallied out against them. He charged with so much vehemence, that he had well nigh broken and dispersed them, when he was himself shot dead by a musket ball; upon which his followers fled in confusion, and the 102 BRITISH INDIA. [1757. game night evacuated their hold. It was this movement on the part of the French which caused the sudden recall of Colonel Forde from Vellore. No one could tell whither they designed next to bend their steps ; and Madras, being almost en- tirely stripped of its garrison, appeared to the members of the council to be in imminent danger. But M. D'Auteuil's views were directed to a very different object ; and for a time the Presi- dency was spared. Having reduced one or two forts of lesser importance, and levied a heavy con- tribution upon the open country, he pitched his camp at Arielore, where he remained for a while inactive, waiting, as it seemed, for some intelli- gence which might guide his future proceedings. Explicit orders had been given to Colonel Clive, previous to his departure for Calcutta, that he should return at all hazards, and under all circumstances, in April, with a portion of his army. On the 28th, advices reached the Presidency, not only that Clive entertained no in- tention of obeying these orders, but that not a man could be spared from the force employed in Bengal. But a short while elapsed ere this wel- come news was communicated to the government of Pondicherry. They hastened to take advantage of it; and well aware that they should be free from all serious interruption during the remainder of the summer, they adventured upon an attempt as bold as it was judicious. Withdrawing every disposable soldier from their less important forts, and enrolling the white inhabitants for the defence of the city itself, they reinforced M. D'Auteuil to the amount of one thousand European infantry, one 1757.] BLOCKADE OF TRICHINOPOLY. 103 hundred and fifty hussars, three thousand sepoys, and ten pieces of cannon, and directed him to attack Trichinopoly, which lay much exposed, in consequence of the absence of Calliaud, with the better part of the garrison. D'Auteuil was not slow in acting upon his instructions. He pushed on Trichinopoly with rapid strides, strove to in- timidate the governor by frequent alarms, and once, at least, made a show of carrying it by esca- lade; but his efforts proved, on each occasion, abortive, because Captain Smith had long sus- pected his design, and had prepared against it. Nevertheless, fifteen hundred men, of whom not more than eight hundred could be trusted, formed but a very inadequate guard to a city which, be- sides containing four hundred French prisoners, measured upwards of six thousand yards in cir- cumference ; and Trichinopoly would have doubt- less fallen, had not Smith found means to convey to Calliaud information of the perilous predicament in which he stood. The latter instantly broke up from before Madura. He left his artillery and baggage behind, under a sufficient guard, carried with him a few rounds of spare ammunition upon bullocks, and, out-manceuvring the enemy, pene- trated through a supposed swamp, and entered the town. This success gave a death-blow to the hopes of M. D'Auteuil, who forthwith raised the blockade, and after a short halt in the island of Seringham, where he established a garrison, marched back to Pondicherry. Intelligence of the march of the French upon Trichinopoly, and of the failure of their own troops before Madura, came in to the Presidency 104 BRITISH INDIA. [1757. of Madras almost at the same time. They deter- mined to create a diversion in favour of the former place, by making an inroad into the enemy's country ; and Wandewaeh being a town of some importance, it was judged prudent to make the first essay against it. Unfortunately, they en- trusted the command of the armament to a man totally unaccustomed to Indian warfare, and bigotedly attached to established usages, as they were in fashion in the old school of Europe. Colonel Aldercron, the leader of the troops, marched so faithfully according to rule, that he contrived not to reach his place of destination till the return of D'Auteuil from Seringham. Never- theless, the Colonel took possession of the Pettah, threw a few shells into the fort, and setting fire to the open town, fell back, with the loss of ten men wounded, to Madras. It is not necessary to detail at length the series of petty operations which followed this abortive expedition. The French, in revenge for the de- struction of Wandewash, ravaged the Company's territory, burned the flourishing city of Conje- veram, and drove its inhabitants into the woods ; while the English contented themselves with making frequent reprisals, and endeavouring, without effect, to bring their enemy to battle. Captain Calliaud likewise renewed his attempt upon Madura, of which, in spite of a second and more serious repulse, he obtained possession ; while the Mahrattas added not a little to the general distress by a threatened inroad into Arcot. With some difficulty, their retreat was purchased by the payment of a heavy sum, under the appel- 1757.] LALLY SAILS FROM INDIA. 105 lation of chout ; but they were scarcely with- drawn, when fresh dangers arose, from the arrival in Pondicherry roads of a squadron of twelve ships of war. A thousand Europeans landed from this, gave to the enemy so decided a superiority, that our countrymen would not venture any longer to keep the field. Captain Calliaud accordingly retired to Trichinopoly. Colonels Aldercron and Lawrence shut themselves up in Madras ; while the French, reducing Chittapet, Trinomalee, Gingee, and other forts adjacent, obtained a con- siderable accession to their resources. Such were the last operations of any magnitude performed by the belligerents during the season ; for while the one party esteemed it prudent to pause till the arrival of a long-promised armament from Europe, the other were not averse to husband their re- sources against the danger with which they knew themselves to be threatened. One of the first measures of the French govern- ment on the breaking out of war in 1756 was to prepare a formidable force, with which to carry on operations with vigour and effect against the English settlements in India. A squadron of four ships of the line, with a frigate and an armed cruiser, belonging to the East India Company, was placed under the order of the Count D'Ache, a seaman, as was believed, of great courage and considerable experience. A land force, compre- hending one thousand and eighty men of the regiment of Lally, fifty artillerymen, and many officers of distinction, was embarked on board of the squadron ; and the chief command of the whole was given to the Count de Lally, the 106 BRITISH INDIA. [1758. descendant of an Irish family, and a lieutenant- general in the French service. A number of untoward accidents occurred to retard the de- parture of this expedition. The ships had scarce cleared Brest harbour, when a storm arose, which compelled them to return, with heavy damage ; and ere they had undergone the repairs necessary to enable them again to put to sea, the destination of two of their largest vessels was altered. Fur- ther delays arose out of this, which were, however, obviated by the supply of additional tonnage by the Company ; and on the 4th of May, 1757, Lally at last quitted his anchorage. But even then his troops carried along with them the seeds of a malignant fever, of which upwards of three hundred died, whilst a tedious sojourn at Rio Janeiro for refreshment, with the necessity of collecting a farther reinforcement at the Mau- ritius, rendered his voyage one of the most ha- rassing which of late years had been performed. It was not till the 25th of April, 1758, that this long-expected armament came in sight of the Coromandel coast. The admiral was immediately instructed to steer for Fort St. David, opposite to which the main body of the fleet arrived on the 28th, while Lally proceeded with two ships to Pondicherry, for the purpose of explaining his plan of campaign to the local authorities. It was of the boldest and most enterprising kind. He had resolved, with the sanction of the govern- ment at home, to commence operations with the siege of Fort St. David ; and his present visit to the Presidency was for the purpose of putting in motion all the disposable means which he might 1758.] SIEGE OF FORT ST. DAVID. 107 find within reach. Nor was any opposition offered to this project by men who appeared quite as sanguine as himself, One thousand Europeans, with an equal number of sepoys, were speedily under arms; and before sunset on the same evening, began their march. But they marched under guides singularly disqualified for their office, while of provisions, and even spare ammunition, they were destitute. The consequence was, that after a troublesome and distressing night- journey, they arrived next morning in sight of the place with bodies jaded through fatigue and inanition, and spirits unhinged and broken. A scene of plundering and insubordination followed ; which, had a party of English sepoys, sent to attack them, done their duty, might have over- thrown at once all the high hopes of Lally and his employers. In the meanwhile, the squadron had approached the roads so unexpectedly, and in such order, that two British frigates, which chanced to be at anchor, found it impracticable to escape. The commanders promptly ran them on shore, by which means the crews were saved ; and a very acceptable addition of five hundred men was made to a garrison by no means excelling in numbers. It was not, however, in numbers only that the garrison of Fort St. David was weak : there was a sad deficiency of military skill within its walls, where the officer of greatest experience was Major Polier; a gentleman not wanting in personal courage, but quite unqualified for command. Nevertheless, both he and Mr. Wynch, the acting governor, returned a spirited refusal to Mr. Lally's summons, and hostilities began. 108 BRITISH INDIA. [1758. It was the intention of the French general to land his own division on the banks of the Penar, for which purpose the fleet brought up off Cuddalore. But ere a boat had been launched, or a man re- moved from his station, a serious interruption occurred. Admiral Pococke, with his squadron from Bengal, had arrived at Madras on the 24th of February. On the 24th of March, he was joined by five sail under Admiral Stedman, from Bombay; and on the 17th of April the whole steered to the southward, with the design of inter- cepting the French, of whose approach they had received information. Having worked up, in ten days, to the head of Ceylon, they again bore down for die coast, making Nagapatnam on the 28th ; from which point they proceeded alongshore all night, and on the following morning descried the enemy at anchor. Pococke instantly prepared to engage, while the French, hoisting all sail, steered for Pondicherry,with the hope of being able to form a junction with their two partners, to whom they made frequent signals. It is not quite certain whether these signals were observed ; but before any notice was taken of them, the battle began. It ended in the discomfiture of the French. Never- theless, as their ships far surpassed those of the English in the quality of sailing, they all escaped with the exception of one, which was accidentally driven on shore. While the cannonade lasted, both fleets fell considerably to leeward ; and six days elapsed ere the French were enabled to land the troops at Pondicherry. As fast as they came on shore, however, they were forwarded to Fort St. David, 1/58.] SIEGE OF FORT ST. DAVID. 109 of -which the siege was pressed with great vigour. In providing the means necessary for this arduous undertaking, M. Lally is accused of setting the prejudices and feelings of the people shamefully at defiance. There seems to he a great deal of truth in the accusation, for he permitted no rever- ence for custom or caste to exempt any portion of the native community from such services as he deemed essential ; hut, on the other hand, it is no more than justice to allow, that he was not with- out weighty excuses for his conduct. He found the government of Pondicherry administered by men who, trusting all to the exertions of others, took no pains whatever to smooth the way for such exertions. The treasury was empty ; there were neither horses nor draft-hullocks for the guns ; provisions were scarce, and the means of transport wholly wanting. It was against such disadvantages that Lally found himself called upon to bear up, at a moment when nothing but the most extensive triumphs were looked for; and if he did transgress the strict rule of propriety and decorum, perhaps he was less to blame than those whose business it was to have obviated the necessity. Be this, however, as it may, the alacrity and perseverance with which he prosecuted his first grand object deserve ample praise, of which the faults in the temper and ulterior conduct of the man ought not to deprive him. Notwithstanding the radical defect of want of room in the body of the place, which measured no more than three hundred and ninety feet from north to south, and one hundred and forty from east to west, Fort St. David was at this period by 110 BRITISH INDIA. [175S. far the strongest place of arms throughout the whole of the British possessions in India. It was situated in a sort of island, formed by the Tre- popalore river on the south, by the sea on the east, by the Peiiar on the north, and a canal connect- ing the last-mentioned stream with the Trepopti- lore on the west ; and it Avas doubly defended in consequence of its position in an angle between the river Trepopalore and the canal. With respect to the works again, they consisted of four bastions, surmounted by twelve guns each ; and a curtain, which, as well as the bastions, was covered by a fausse-bray, with a brick parapet ; whilst the out- works were a horn-work to the north, mounting thirty-four guns, two large ravelins, one on the east, the other on the west, and a ditch encircling the whole, which had a cuvette cut along the middle, and was supplied with water from the river. The scarp and counterscarp of the ditch were faced with brick ; a broad covered way, ex- cellently pallisadoed, with arrows at the salient angles, commanded the glacis; and the glacis itself, besides being mathematically sloped, was provided with well-constructed mines. The ground, however, by which the fort was sur- rounded, was in many places not favourable to the garrison. Besides a variety of sand-hills, which furnished admirable cover to the assailants, there was a ruined redoubt, composed of stone work, on the bank of the canal, about thirteen hundred yards from the glacis; while two others were placed, one two hundred yards to the right of the former, and another about four hundred yards to the rear of both. Of these the governor considered 1758.] CAPTURE OF FORT ST. DAVID. Ill it necessary to retain possession as advanced posts, and he planted there eighty Europeans, with seven hundred sepoys, being rather more than one-third of the whole strength of his garrison. On the night of the 15th of May, these posts were attacked, and carried after a brisk but in- effectual resistance. The whole of the Europeans stationed in them were taken, and the natives, dis- persing, sought safety in any direction rather than in the body of the place. Batteries were soon raised at various points, which kept up a well-directed and incessant fire ; while the defenders, who had absurdly wasted their ammunition in the begin- ning of the siege, soon found themselves unable effectually to reply to it. They held out, however, in the fond expectation that their own fleet, of the success of which they were not ignorant, would, sooner or later, come to their relief. But on the 1st of June, not a sail appearing, and their powder being totally expended, they sent out a flag of capitulation. It was stipulated that the garrison should march out with the honours of war, and lay down their arms in the ditch ; that they should be kept as prisoners at Pondicherry till exchanged ; and that the soldiers should retain their knapsacks, the officers their side-arms and private baggage. M. Lally would not, however, listen to a proposition having reference to a pre- servation of the works. These he had received directions from the government at home to destroy so soon as they should fall into his hands ; and he was not a day in possession ere he levelled them with the earth. While the siege of Fort St. David was going 112 BRITISH INDIA. [1758. on, M. Bussy, after asserting the authority of his nation over numerous refractory chieftains in the northern Circars, found himself involved in a serious qiiarrel between the Nizam and his two brothers, the object of which was none other than the sovereignty of the Deccan. When he quitted Arungabad, after his last reconciliation, he had been prudent enough to leave behind him a guard of Europeans and disciplined sepoys, for the de- fence of the Nizam's person ; but these, though sufficiently numerous to protect the life of Salla- bat-jing, were incapable of defending his authority against the intrigues of ambitious relatives. By a series of artful manoeuvres, which it is not neces- sary to describe in detail, one of these persons managed to gain possession of the royal signet, while the other obtained the government of the most important fortresses within the bounds of the Nizam's dominions. The Nizam saw, though he knew not how to counteract, the designs of his brothers. He wrote to Bussy, who hastened to his support, and, with singular address, involved these ambitious princes in the ruin which they had destined for their unsuspicious relative. One of them died in a scuffle, brought on by his own people, under a mistaken notion that violence was intended for their master; the other fled, was pursued and taken ; and the Nizam, secured in his seat by the ability and courage of Bussy, be- came more than ever the slave of his wishes. But the influence thus honourably earned led to nothing ; for Lally, full of prejudices against all who had served in India prior to his arrival, would not listen for a moment to the admonitions of 1753.] CAPTURE OF DEVI-COTAH. 113 those who spoke of any projects except his own as rational or practicable. M. Lally was no sooner in possession of Fort St. David, than he sent M. D'Estaing, at the head of a strong detachment, to lay siege to Devi-Cotah. The garrison, which consisted of thirty Europeans and six hundred sepoys, evacuated the place on his approach, and retreated, in the utmost trepi- dation, to Trichinopoly. But nothing further was, for the present, attempted. On the contrary, Lally, surprised at his own success, and suffering much for want of money and stores, marched back to Pondicherry, where a few days were spent in useless rejoicing, and still more useless alterca- tion. It was the great wish of this sanguine but in- temperate commander to crush the English power on the coast, by reducing, without loss of time, the city of Madras. With this view he sent peremptory orders to M. Bussy to abandon Arungabad, and pressed the government, with increasing earnestness from day to day, for those supplies which he needed, but which they were quite unable to afford. All his efforts, however, to raise the funds requisite for this service proved abortive. The public treasury was empty; and the example which he himself set of making good the deficiency from the fortunes of individuals was but imperfectly followed ; he was, therefore, re- duced to the necessity of postponing his grand de- sign, and of embarking for the present upon another. It was asserted that among all the native princes amenable to the vengeance of the French arms, the king of Tanjore was the richest; and Lally I 114 BRITISH INDIA. [1759. was, after numerous scruples, persuaded to march his army into the Tanjorine dominions. It will be recollected, that the crown of Tanjore was not worn by the reigning monarch without an attempt on the part of a rival to deprive him of it. The cause of that rival, indeed, had been once espoused by the English, who were forward in prosecuting his quarrel, but who laid it aside so soon as the reigning monarch thought fit to confirm them in their conquest of Devi-Cotah, and to grant a pension for life to his nephew and competitor. Of the person of this nephew the French obtained possession on the capture of Fort St. David, and they now made of him a convenient instrument for the furtherance of their own designs. They carried him along with them, not, indeed, pro- claiming him king, but holding out a threat that they would do so, in the event of their demands being rejected ; and meeting with no opposition, they arrived, after a seven days' march, on the 25th of June, at Karical. From Karical they proceeded to Nagore, an opulent but defenceless town, which they plundered ; after which they pushed upon Kivloor, famous as the site of one of the most venerated pagodas south of the Xer- budda. Lally was sadly distressed for money. He was without funds to purchase cattle, to hire coolies, or even to provide rice for his sepoys : in an evil hour he listened to the advice of injudi- cious counsellors, and plundered the temple. Nothing was found of sufficient value to repay the labour of the search ; whereas a spirit of hos- tility was excited, which he never afterwards overcame. But his misfortunes were only begin- 1759.] ARRIVAL OF ADMIRAL POCOCKE. 115 ning. The king of Tanjore, instead of coming to terms, sent to solicit assistance from the English, the Nabob, and the neighbouring Poligars, while he assembled all the force of his principality, and prepared to defend himself to the last extremity. In this instance, as in many others, M. Lally per- mitted his irritable temper to defeat the designs of his better judgment. After alarming his ad- versary by shutting him up in his capital, and bringing him to propose terms, the French general broke otf on a point of etiquette, of which he was scarcely a competent judge, and was at last com- pelled to raise the siege, after a breach had been effected, in consequence of the arrival of a force from Trichinopoly, and the appearance of an English fleet at Karical. Yet he was not per- mitted to withdraw unmolested. A sortie was made on the morning preceding the night in which it was designed to abandon the trenches, by which the French, though they repelled their assailants, suffered considerably. The French, followed and harassed in their march by the Tanjorines,were compelled to aban- don their heavy artillery, and to subsist as they best could, on cocoa-nuts, and other wild fruits growing along the side of the road. After endur- ing many hardships, they arrived, on the 1 8th of August, at Karical, where, in perfect agreement with the intelligence conveyed to them, they found the English fleet at anchor. A number of cross accidents had conspired to keep Admiral Pococke in Madras roads, after his unsuccessful attempt to raise the siege of Fort St. David. The means of refitting were found to be so scanty, that it was the i2 116 BRITISH INDIA. [1759. 25th of July ere he could again put to sea, and on the 2*7th he arrived abreast of Pondicherry, where the French fleet lay at moorings. The latter immediately got under sail ; but during the night the squadrons missed each other, upon which the French bore up for Karical. They were followed thither without delay. Neverthe- less, the weather proving squally, both sides avoided an action till towards noon on the 2d of August. On that day an obstinate battle took place, which, like the former, ended in favour of the English. The enemy retreated to Pondicherry, with a severe loss in killed and wounded ; the British anchored oft" Karical, to repair their damage in rigging. The first intelligence which met M. Lally at Karical had reference to the intended withdrawal of the French fleet from the coast. He saw in this the utter overthrow of all his projects ; and though he esteemed it imprudent for himself to quit the army on its march, he sent forward M. D'Estaing, his second in command, to remonstrate warmly against the proceeding. Neither the arguments of D'Estaing, however, nor the en- treaties of the governor and council, had the smallest weight with Admiral D'Ache. The result of the late engagements had impressed him with so strong a sense of his incapacity to keep the sea against the English, that to all the suggestions both of flattery and reproach he turned a deaf ear ; and on the 2d of September, a few days after Lally's return to Pondicherry, he departed for the Mauritius. Great was the indig- nation of Lally at this proceeding; nevertheless, 1759.] CAPTURE OF ARCOT. 117 he determined not to relax his own exertions ; and seeing that the capture of Madras was now rendered next to impossible, he devised another, and, as it was hoped, a scarcely less important enterprise. A scarcity of money was the great misfortune under which the French at this time laboured. The expedition into Tanj ore, instead of mitigating, had increased the evil. It was now resolved to make an attempt upon Arcot, where a treasure was supposed to be deposited. No difficulty was experienced in reducing the place, because the officer left in charge of it by Mohamed Ally proved a traitor ; but neither in it, nor in the secondary forts of Trevatore, Trinomalee, Carangoly, and Ternery, were the wished-for supplies obtained. Lally was deeply mortified by this result ; yet, with characteristic activity ,he prepared to turn next upon Chinglaput, an important post, which covered the whole of the country from which Madras drew the chief of its supplies. He had, however, com- mitted a serious blunder in neglecting to reduce Chinglaput in the first instance, while it lay almost entirely at his mercy. The English were already awake to its danger; strong reinforce- ments had been poured into it ; and the French general, unable to raise a sum sufficient to enter upon a tedious siege, was compelled to abandon his project. He returned with the troops to Pon- dicherry, where for several weeks he remained, a prey to chagrin and disappointment. In the meanwhile, Bussy, after accomplishing great things for his country at Arungabad, was, by a peremptory order from head-quarters, re- 118 BRITISH INDIA. [1759. called. It was to no purpose that he represent. d the extreme impolicy of abandoning the Nizam to the mercy of his enemies : La'ly treated all his arguments with contempt ; and he found himself reduced to the necessity of putting in hazard the fahric which it had taken so much of time and of care to erect. He left the Nizam overwhelmed with grief and apprehension ; and carrying along with him a considerable portion of the garrison of Masulipatam, joined M. Lally at Arcot. But though the latter thus contrived to assemble at one point the greatest number of disciplined troops which had yet appeared in India, he felt that, till his pecuniary embarrassments were removed, they could be turned to no useful account ; he there- fore intreated Bussy, of whose popularity he had received numerous proofs, to negotiate a loan on his private credit, for the public service. Bu^sy, though yielding to no man in genuine patriotism, proved unable to effect this ; and Lally, again thrown back upon his own exhausted resources, ceased, for a time, to indulge in dreams of con- quest. Matters were in this plight, when the authori- ties of Pondicherry declared that the means of longer supporting so numerous an army in the settlement were wanting A council of war was, in consequence, summoned, in which D'Kstaing, with many other officers, pronounced it better to die in the presence of the enemy than to perish of hunger. It was accordingly suggested, that, feeble as their resources were, an attempt upon Madras ought to be hazarded ; and Lally, though he entertained Lut slender hopes of success, readily gave in to 1759.] SIEGE OF MADRAS. 119 the proposition. Nor did he content himself with barely approving of a resolution which accorded well with the enterprising temperament of his own mind. He came forward with a contribution from his own private fortune, to the amount of thirty- four thousand rupees; and the example being followed by others, a sum, not indeed adequate to the distresses of the moment, but highly credit- able to those by whom it was furnished, was supplied. Thus slenderly provided, for ninety thousand rupees constituted the whole contents of the mili- tary chest, the French army began, about the middle of November, its march to Madras. The weather was inclement, for the rains fell in tor- rents, which seriously retarded the columns ; so that the 12th of December had arrived ere they reached their ground, while the provisions, origi- nally scanty, were reduced to something less than would suffice for one week's straitened subsist- ence. They had met, however, with no opposi- tion by the way, for the English retired leisurely as they approached ; yet every information assured them, not only that the garrison was numerous, and in the highest spirits, but that the place was amply supplied with all things necessary for a siege. In spite of all this, Lally entered upon his un- dertaking with the same spirit which distinguished his attack of Fort St. David. On the 13th, the city was closely reconnoitred. On the 14th, the Black Town was surprised and retained, though not till after a sanguinary action with a body of six hundred English, who endeavoured to recover it ; and on the 15th, working parties were in full 120 BRITISH INDIA. [1759. operation in the erection of mortar batteries, and the construction of redoubts. All this, according to Lally's own account, was done with no other view than to harass the English by a bombard- ment ; till the arrival of a frigate, loaded with treasure, in Pondicherry roads, caused a total change of plan. Whatever of merit belongs to the skill and vigour with which this operation was pushed, must be, in strict justice, attributed to M. Lally alone. Destitute of engineers, and poorly sup- plied with artillery officers, he still contrived to establish batteries with so much judgment, as to keep under, in a great degree, the fire of the be- sieged, who, commanded by Colonel Lawrence, under the governor, Mr. Pigot, displayed an extra- ordinary share. of courage and perseverance. Both sides, indeed, exerted themselves as if the fate of India depended on the struggle ; but in the end a breach was made, and the French general, eager to bring affairs to a crisis, issued orders for the assault. It was at this critical juncture that the discontent which had so long prevailed among his subordinates openly showed itself. The officers refused to lead their men to the assault ; that is to say, they advanced so many reasons against it, that Lally became fearful of the event. Still, it is in the highest degree probable that his innate perseverance would have overcome even this lust and greatest obstacle, but for the opportune ap- pearance of a British fleet in the offing. It was Admiral Pococke's squadron, which had sailed from Bombay on the 31st of December, along with six of the Company's vessels, and the whole, 1759.] LALLY RETREATS FROM MADRAS. 121 carrying six hundred fresh soldiers, made their appearance just as the fate of Madras trembled in the balance. This event, which occurred on the 16th of February, satisfied Lally that any further attempt to reduce the place would be useless. He began immediately to prepare for a retreat : indeed, the exhausted condition of his magazines, and the emptiness of his military chest, left him no alter- native between immediate flight and success the most prompt and decided. Without pausing so much as to disable his battering-guns, or to re- move or destroy a considerable store of ammuni- tion, he gave orders to burn the fascines, to blow up a powder-mill which had early fallen into his hands, and to abandon the trenches ; and the orders were obeyed with so much alacrity and good-will, that on the morning of the 17th, not a French soldier was to be seen. All were gone ; and in ruined works, deserted artillery, broken carriages, and an hospital of sick and wounded left to their fate, abundant proof was found of the precipitation with which the retrogression had been conducted. In the meanwhile, the face of affairs in the surrounding country, which at one period wore an exceedingly unpromising aspect, began to brighten. The Nabob, who had taken refuge, in Madras from the threatened invasion of his capital, escaped during the siege, and made his way by sea, not without some hazard and considerable suffering, to Tanjore. He found Major Galliaud there, strenuously exerting himself to raise cavalry, and embodying a force sufficiently numerous to 122 BRITISH INDIA. [1759. harass the enemy, by acting upon their convoys. The king of Tanjore was not, however, easily prevailed upon to ally himself with what he be- lieved to he the weaker side ; and it required all the energy and perseverance of Calliaud, assisted by the presence of a body of troops from Trichin- opoly, to overcome his scruples. But as the for- tunes of the French began to decline, the friend- ship of the Tanjorine returned ; and Calliaud was at length put at the head of a corps, with which he performed valuable service. In like manner, the governor of Chinglaput proved eminently useful in cutting off detachments, and harassing foraging parties. Various active partizans, more- over, took the field at different quarters ; more than one fortress was recovered, and more than one chieftain again changed sides. Nevertheless, by far the greater proportion of the province of Arcot was still in possession of the enemy ; and as the English were desirous, on many accounts, to recover it, they spared no exertion to equip a force capable of taking the field with effect. They so far succeeded, that an army, consisting of eleven hundred and fifty-six Europeans, seven- teen hundred and seventy sepoys, eleven hundred and twenty irregular infantry, furnished by the southern Polygars, and nineteen hundred and fifty-six horse, was brought together ; and the whole, though but indifferently supplied with means of transport, advanced to Conjeveram. They found the French in position at this place, and, in spite of the late discomfiture, far from being dispirited. During two and twenty days the corps faced each other, the English 1759.] CAPTURE OF CONJEVERAM. 123 seeking to draw the enemy out of their lines, the French manoeuvring to bring on an attack ; till Major Brereton, who, on the resignation of the veteran Lawrence, commanded the English army, at length changed his plan. He suddenly passed the Palar river, and leaving Conjeveram in his rear, pushed upon Wandewash. The stratagem so far succeeded, that the enemy, alarmed for the safety of that important place, broke up their camp ; upon which Brereton made a second movement, and returned, with equal celerity and address, to the place whence he had set out. This march was so well conducted, that he came upon Conjeve- ram by surprise, and took the pagoda by assault, though at a heavy loss ; after which the two armies again faced each other till the 28th of May. They then went into cantonments. From this date up to the end of the rainy sea- son, no movement of any importance took place. The French, more than ever distressed for want of money, were quite incapable of undertaking anything. Indeed Lally's own regiment was in a state of mutiny, and of the privates belonging to other corps few could be trusted. The English again, assured of speedy reinforcements, of which the advanced guard arrived in Madras towards the end of June, were not disposed to risk the advan- tage already obtained by any rash or premature proceeding. It is true that the little fort of Cover- pauke surrendered to a detachment sent to sum- mon it, and that an attempt was made to gain possession of Arcot, which, however, failed ; but except in these instances, no effort was hazarded beyond the predatory excursions of a few partisans. 124 BRITISH INDIA. The moment was, however, approaching, when matters were destined to assume a different aspect, and the war was again to rage with violence, both by sea and land. Early in the spring of 1759, Admiral Po- cocke had arrived upon the coast of Bombay, but had continued to windward of Pondicherry, principally at Negapatnam, with a view to inter- cept the French squadron, which was expected from the isles. He was joined here, towards the end of July, by five ships, having the first division of the promised troops on board, which supplied him with such stores and provisions as he chiefly wanted, and continued their voyage to Madras. On the 20th of August he steered for Ceylon, in the confident expectation that he should obtain some intelligence of the enemy ; and on the 2d of Sep- tember his hopes received their accomplishment. M. U'Ache made his appearance round Friars' Hood, with a force which exceeded that of Po- cocke by three sail of the line, and a hundred and seventy-four guns. Nevertheless, the English admiral instantly formed his line, and the fleets engaged. The contest, which lasted about two hours, was warm and bloody, but, like almost all which took place in those seas, produced no very decisive results ; though the English were entitled to claim the honour of a victory, the whole of their adversaries escaped. But the moral effect, even of such a victory, was not without its uses. The French hastened to Pondicherry, landed four hundred Caffrees, and five hundred marines, with a trifling sum in money and jewels; and, after undergoing a few repairs, departed, in despite 1759.] REPULSE AT WANDEWASII. 125 of the urgent entreaties of the government, for the islands. Thus was a complete command of the seas secured to the English, whilst the French saw themselves reduced to depend upon their own exertions, not for conquest, but for existence. Such was the condition of the belligerents, when Colonel Brereton, eager to strike a blow previous to the arrival of a superior officer, put his army in motion for the purpose of surprising Wandewash. It was a measure illustrative rather of the courage than of the military skill of the in- dividual who planned it. Indeed it was undertaken upon very vague information, and in the face of a corps little, if at all, inferior to his own, even in point of numbers. Yet is the failure to be attri- buted as much to the want of vigour displayed in the attack, as to any other circumstance. Brere- ton approached his point not, indeed, unobserved, for the enemy had early obtained intelligence of his design, and provided against it but in excel- lent order, and with a force full of enthusiasm. He determined upon a night attack ; and he en- trusted the command of one of the columns to an officer, who, by some unexplained mistake, dis- appeared at the very moment when he was most needed. The. consequence was, that another column, which had penetrated into the town, and made itself master of several of the main streets, was driven out again with severe loss, and narrowly escaped destruction. This unfortunate affair in no degree diminished the confidence of the English troops, though it cost the lives of two hundred Europeans ; for they fought bravely, they were 126 BRITISH INDIA. [1759. aware that they had done so, and the loss of the enemy was to the full as serious as their own. Meanwhile the jealousy which M. Lally had always entertained of Bussy gathered additional strength every day. The latter, startled by the aspect which things had assumed in the Deccan, urged the propriety of renewing, at all risks, the intimacy which had been improvidently broken off between himself and the Soubahdar ; and sug- gested, as the most effectual means of doing so, the wisdom of appointing the Soubahdar's brother, Bassalut-jing, to the nabobship of Arcot. There were two circumstances which rendered this ad- vice particularly distasteful to Lally. In the first place, he never valued, as it deserved, the friend- ship of Salabat-jing ; in the next place, he had already disposed of the dignity in question, having set up, so soon as he obtained possession of the Rajah Saheb, the son of that Chundah Saheb who had been displaced by Mohamed Ally. When Bassalut-jing approached the Carnatic, however, at the head of a numerous army, Lally consented that Bussy should join him, with full poAvers to conclude even this negotiation, on condition that he would act in alliance with the French. But Bussy had not proceeded a day's march towards Arcot, when he was hastily recalled by the rumour of an event, which threatened the fortunes of the French in India with instant ruin. This was a second mutiny, much more extensive and more formidable than the former. It extended through all the troops cantoned at Wandewash, who de- serted their colours, and refused obedience to their officers, but who committed uo excesses, nor 1759.J COOTE ARRIVES AT MADRAS. 127 evinced any disposition to go over to the enemy. On the contrary, they chose a serjeant-major as commander-in-chief, with certain privates and non-commissioned officers under him, and declared that they would ohey no orders except such as emanated from him, till the arrears due to them were paid. Happily for all concerned, the ser- jeant-major was a prudent man. He persuaded the mutineers to accept what Lally succeeded in procuring one-half of their dues ; and a full pardon being given, with assurances of better treatment for the future, they returned, as if no rupture had ever taken place, to their duty. This danger having happily subsided, Bussy again set out for the camp of Bassalut-jing, where information of the real state of French affairs had preceded him, and where, as a neces- sary consequence, his influence had much declined. He found the prince well disposed to march upon Arcot, provided Bussy, besides undertaking to se- cure his recognition by the government of Pondi- cherry, would advance four lacs of rupees to defray immediate expenses ; but when to the former de- mand some obstacles were started, and a com- pliance with the latter was peremptorily refused, the negotiation was at once broken off. Bussy saw that no benefit could accrue from any attempt to renew it ; he therefore returned to head-quarters, followed by a body of four hundred excellent horse, whom he had found means, in spite of great poverty, to attach to his personal service. On the 27th of October, Colonel Coote, with the last division of the expected reinforcement, arrived at Madras, and took the command of the 128 BRITISH INDIA. [1759. army. On the 21st of November head-quarters were fixed at Conjeveram, where the plan of the campaign was arranged. The enemy being at this time scattered and divided, one portion at Seringham, whither it had marched to procure supplies, and another near Arcot, it was deter- mined to hazard a second attempt upon Wande- wash, and, the better to disguise the design, a movement was made as if Arcot itself was about to be threatened. The most perfect success at- tended the operation. Colonel Brereton, who led the attacking force, besides gaining possession of Trevatore, took the pettah of Wandewash on the 27th, and Coote joining him soon after with the main body from Arcot, batteries were erected against the castle. After a few hours' firing, a breach was made, which the English prepared to storm, but the garrison calling out for quarter, the assault was suspended, and on the 30th this im- portant fortress again changed masters. Coote lost no time in forming the siege of Ca- rangoly, another important fortress, which is situ- ated thirty-five miles west-south-west from Wande- wash, twelve to the south-west of Chungleput, and eighteen from Sadrass and the sea. He entered the pettah, or town, on the 4th of December, and on the 6th began to fire from a battery of two eighteen-pounders. During three days the can- nonade was briskly continued, tvo additional guns, with a howitzer, being brought to bear; and on the 10th, when his shot was well nigh ex- pended, he enjoyed the satisfaction of beholding a flag of truce hung out. It was not a time to fall off on any point of useless form, so the garrison were 1759.] BLUNDERS OF LALLY. 129 admitted to the terms which their commander pro- posed ; after which the British prepared to attack Arcot. But Lally had now taken the alarm, and B ussy' with his cavalry rendering the open country a desert, it was found impracticable, at least for the present, to carry the project into execution. We have said that* when Colonel Coote arrived to take the, command of the British army, he found the French so scattered as to be incapable of seri- ously interrupting him in the prosecution of his designs. The cause of this division of strength was "the same which, aver since the appearance of Lally on the stage, had led to so many blunders and miscarriages. Want of funds from which to pay his troops, and want of temper and discretion to assist him in increasing these funds, induced that headstrong chief, contrary to the advice of his council, to undertake an expedition against the only province in the Carnatic which was not de- vastated and laid waste. It was with the hope of collecting the revenue from the districts around Trichinopoly, that a corps of nine hundred Euro- peans, one thousand Sepoys, two hundred irregular horse, and ten pieces of cannon, was detached, under M.Crillon, to Seringham; while the remain- der of the army, with the exception of a move- able column of eight hvmdred men, destined to act from Arcot whenever it might be needed, was broken up into garrisons for the defence of the most important of the fortresses. Crillon, advancing rapidly, and well disguising his design, reached the banks of the Coleroon ere his approach was suspected. A detachment was sent out from Trichinopoly to observe him, which cut to VOL. II. K 130 BRITISH INDIA. [1739. pieces his advanced-guard, and itself narrowly escaped destruction at the hands of the main body. He passed the river without difficulty, sat down before the large pagoda in the island, and, after an obstinate resistance, carried it by assault. To the disgrace of those concerned, of whom Crillon him- self was not one, the sto- rning party gave no quarter to the defendants, putting to death without mercy even such as threw down their arms, till out of three companies of sepoys scarce ten men survived. This affair took place on the 21 st of November, the very day when Colonel Coote began to move ; but except by providing partially for the wants of those engaged, it was productive of no beneficial results. Before Crillon could push his conquests farther, or collect any portion of the revenue so much needed, he was hastily recalled, for the purpose of enabling Lally to check the progress of Coote, and protect the rest of his falling fortresses. Coote returned from Carangoly to Wande- tvash, whence, on the 1 3th of December, he pro- ceeded to Passantanguel, a town six miles in ad- vance of Trevalore, on the Arcot road, and a con- venient position for intercepting the enemy's divi- sions, as they moved one towards another. On the 16th, he approached nearer to Arcot, to a place called Mullawady, which he reached just as M. Bussy, with his own corps and a cloud of Mah- rattas, came in. The British were miserably defi- cient in cavalry, of which the European portion fell short of one hundred, while the Nabob's horse, undisciplined and destitute of courage, were in nothing to be relied upon. They could not, therefore, prevent Bussy from sweeping the entire 1760.] ATTACK OF WANPEWASH. 131 face of the country, and spreading havoc and dis- may up to the bound-hedge of Madras itself. This alone cramped Coote exceedingly in his move- ments, while severe rains setting in, his men began to sicken, and he despaired of effecting anything further. He therefore broke up his camp for the present, and filing off in the direction of Covere- pank, put the whole army into cantonments. The breathing space thus obtained was employed by M. Lally in bringing his scattered parties to- gether ; so that by the 8th of January, 1760, he was in a condition to take the field, with an army more numerous than he had yet commanded. Bussy earnestly entreated him to confine his ope- rations to straitening the English, by means of his superior cavalry, but Lally, who felt that his military reputation had suffered some tarnish, was eager to wipe out the stain. He therefore manoeu- vred with great skill to deceive the enemy, who, like himself, had quitted their quarters on the return of dry weather ; and having effectually blinded them, pushed with great rapidity upon Conjeveram. Of the town he obtained immediate possession, and he plundered it completely, driving off, among other valuable effects, upwards of two thousand cattle; but the fortified pagoda he ab- stained from attacking, because it was impreg- nable to a coup-de-main, and he had far out- stripped his cannon. He then defiled upon Treva- lore, where he broke up his force, leaving the larger division under Bussy to watch the English army, while he himself, with a chosen band, composed entirely of Europeans and Mahrattas, marched against Wandewash. K 2 132 BRITISH INDIA. [I/CO. It had not escaped the suspicions of Colonel Coote, that, sooner or later, an attempt would be made to recover this important fortress. While, therefore, he put the commandant fully on his guard, he himself stood at all moments prepared to march to his relief; and intelligence had no sooner reached him that things had fallen out as he expected than he crossed the Paliar, and fol- lowed Lally. The latter had, in the meanwhile, formed the siege of Wandewash. The pettah he took by escalade, after a stout resistance, and his batteries were preparing to open, when he received a letter from Bussy, which warned him of the approach of the English. At first his personal antipathy towards the writer induced him to doubt the truth of the intelligence, but eventually he saw matters in their just light, and instructed Bussy to join him. Bussy obeyed, and, after again vainly intreating him to avoid a battle, made ready to give his best exertions towards securing a victory. Different accounts are given of the relative strength of the two armies, which now approached one another. According to the statement of Mr. Orme, the French consisted of three hundred European cavalry, two thousand two hundred and fifty European infantry, one thousand three hundred sepoys, and three thousand Mahrattas, while the English mustered eighty Europeans and one thou- sand two hundred and fifty native horse, one thou- sand nine hundred European infantry, and two thousand one hundred sepoys. The statement of M. Lally makes his army considerably weaker ; but whichever be the real state of the case, in mere numbers there seems to have been no great dispa- 1760.] BATTLE OF WANDEWASH. 133 rity between them. With respect to the order in which the hostile lines were brought into action no doubt can exist ; Lally was everywhere out- generalled and thwarted. On the 21st of January, Coote arrived at Ti- rimbourg, a village about seven miles distant from Wandewash. He passed the night there, and the following morning at sunrise began his march, himself pressing forward to reconnoitre with an advanced guard of two hundred native cavalry and two companies of sepoys. He found the enemy encamped at the base of the mountain upon which Wandewash stands, with paddy fields separating one of their lines from another, and their position covered, both on the flanks and partly in front, by empty tanks. They had a large train of artillery mounted, some of them in an entrenchment, while the Mahrattas hung like a cloud upon the hill side. Coote had scarcely time to observe all this, when the Mahrattas, with the European cavalry, came out to oppose him, and a warm skirmish began. The sepoys did their duty, but the odds were tre- mendously against them, till there arrived five ad- ditional companies, with a couple of field-pieces, to their support, the last of which no sooner began to fire than the enemy broke in confusion, and quitted the field. Coote having concluded his re- connoissance, leisurely withdrew, that he might form the main body of his army into order of battle. The dispositions which he adopted were un- questionably as judicious as the circumstances in which he was placed would allow. He drew up in three lines; the first extended considerably 134 BRITISH INDIA. [1760. beyond the flank of the enemy's position, and manoeuvred so as at once to turn their en- trenchments, and communicate at pleasure with the garrison of Wandewash ; the second, consi- derably weaker than the first, was composed entirely of men ou whom he could depend, while his cavalry, of which the European squadron alone were trustworthy, formed the reserve. In this order he advanced, while Lally, who seemed no- wise disposed to be forced into action, found him- self under the necessity either of fighting on ground chosen by his opponent, or raising the siege. He preferred the former course ; but at the very com- mencement of the battle his cavalry, which he conducted in person, was thrown into disorder by a few cannon-shot, and quitted the field. Lally hastened to the infantry, and led them on with great gallantry. Some of them fought well, parti- cularly the regiment of Lorrain, which charged in column, and broke through the battalion opposed to it. But the latter, which received the charge in line, instantly wrapped round the flanks of the assailants, and by a few discharges destroyed them. The utmost confusion now fell upon other parts of the French line. The entrenchment was carried at the point of the bayonet, the empty water-courses were forced, and Bussy, gallantly endeavoxiring to recover the former, was made prisoner. It was to no purpose that Lally exerted himself manfully to restore the day ; an unaccountable panic had seized his troops, and they fled iu all directions. The French lost in this action upwards of six hundred men in killed, wounded, and prisoners ; the loss of the English amounted to one hundred 1760.] DEFEAT OF THE FRENCH. 135 and ninety, and the disproportion would have been much greater, had not the French cavalry reco- vered themselves, and ably protected the infantry in their retreat. Twenty-four pieces of cannon fell into the hands of the victors, as well as eleven tumbrils of ammunition, with tents, stores, and baggage of every description, while a still greater quantity was burned by the enemy previous to their quitting the lines. With respect to Lally, he fell back, first upon Chittapet, whence, on the following day, he marched to Gingee ; nor did he halt till he had reached \ r aldore, a position well adapted at once to cover Pondicherry and to give protection to the districts from which that place drew its principal supplies. Had Coote been aware of the destitute condition of the Presidency, he would have doubtless marched from Wandewash and assailed it at once ; as it was, he directed his efforts, in the first instance, against places of lesser note. On the day after the battle he approached Arcot, taking Chittapet, by surrender, in his progress : and on the 9th. when two breaches were effected, which it would have been the height of rashness to storm, the place ca- pitulated. Timery was next invested and taken ; Devicotah fell, and Trincomalee, Permacoil and Alamparva, one after another, shared the same fate. Karical, with the exception of Pondicherry, was now the only fortified station on the coast of which the enemy retained the command, and that, in despite of an attempt to relieve it, surrendered on the 5th of April ; then followed, on the 15th, the capture of Valdore, which again was succeeded, on the 20th, by that of Chillambrum ; while Cud- 136 BRITISH INDIA. [17CO. dalore, which opened its gates much about the same time, was, in spite of various efforts to re- cover it, retained. By the 1st of May, the possessions of the French in the Carnatic were confined to the fortresses of Gingee and Theagur, the town of Pondicherry, and the territory immediately dependent upon it. The utmost dissension, moreover, prevailed in their councils, and the utmost despondency in their ranks, for the mutual jealousy which had long subsisted between Lally and the civil authorities was increased to hatred, and any hope of receiving succours from Europe ceased to be entertained. The English, on the other hand, elated by their past successes, were still further cheered by the ar- rival of six sail of the line at Madras, an event which was shortly followed by the appearance of a second squadron, on board of which six hundred troops were embarked. In this emergency Lally opened a negotiation with Hyder, the general-in- chief of the Mysore armies, and one of the most remarkable characters of his age. He offered to put him in immediate possession of Theagur, pro- vided Hyder would support him with three thousand cavalry and five thousand infantry, and he under- took to pay to the auxiliary force a monthly sub- sidy of one hundred thousand rupees. To these terms the Mysorean readily assented, and it was further stipulated that, in the event of success attending their endeavours, other and far more valuable concessions would be made. Hyder proved so far true to his w ord, that he dis- patched the promised reinforcement, with a supply of cattle and grain for the use of the French troops. 1760.] BLOCKADE OF FONDICHERRY. 137 The movement, however, was not unohserved by Colonel Coote, who sent out a detachment, chiefly of sepoys, to intercept the convoy ; but the state of discipline which existed in the Mysore armies had been misunderstood, and the English sustained a defeat. Nevertheless the event proved very little serviceable to the allies. The Mysoreans were scarcely arrived in camp, ere intelligence reached them that a revolution had occurred in Mysore, which threatened the safety of their chief; and hence, after a sojourn of four weeks, during which they performed no service of importance, they abruptly quitted the camp. In the meanwhile Lally, after sustaining several skirmishes, and making repeated attempts to se- cure the most important of his outposts, fell gra- dually back upon Pondicherry, near the bound- hedge of which he at length took up a position. With indefatigable industry he had exerted him- self to supply the city with stores and provisions ; and he had collected a sufficiency of both to enable it to withstand a siege of some months. The atti- tude which he assumed was, likewise, so com- manding, that the English made their approaches with extreme caution, whilst three small forts, Pe- rumbe and Villanore in front, and Ariancopang on his flank, of which he still retained possession, so effectually cramped their movements, that it was not till late in the season that the investment can be said to have been complete. Villanore, however, being given up on the 16th of July, and the desertion of the Mysoreans following soon after, affairs began by degrees to assume a desperate 138 BRITISH INDIA. [1760. aspect. Coote closed in upon the bound-hedge*, and having determined to reduce Ariancopang, which commanded that barrier, he requested Ad- miral Stevens, who lay at anchor in the roadstead, to assist him with the marines of the fleet. The marines were promptly given ; hut Major Monson, the second in command, remonstrating strongly against the measure, it was abandoned. The army accordingly entrenched itself, and kept as near to the enemy's outworks as a regard to the safety of the men would allow. Driven up, as it were, into a corner, and utterly hopeless of relief, Lally resolved to try once more the fortune of battle, and arranged, with admirable boldness, the plan of a night attack, which de- served better success than attended it. He kept his secret so well that, though the city abounded with spies, not a rumour of the intended operation reached the British army till they found themselves attacked on either flank of their lines, and the enemy in possession of one of their most important redoubts. Had not a third column, which was directed to act simultaneously with these two, and which had penetrated unobserved to the rear of the British encampment, contrived, by some ex- traordinary blunder, to lose its way, it is difficult to say how the action might have terminated. As it was, the troops actually engaged, not hearing * Pondicherry, like other Indian cities, was covered by a strong hedge of aloes and prickly shrubs, which extended in a semicircle from the river Ariancopang to the sea. It was in advance of the ditch generally about fifteen hundred yards. 1760.] BLOCKADE OF PONDICHERRY. 139 the fire of their comrades, and being opposed by numbers very superior to their own, gradually lost their confidence. They were in consequence beaten back with great slaughter, and the condi- tion of the city, instead of being bettered, became more desperate than ever. There had arrived at Madras, during this inter- val, certain ships from England which brought accounts of his promotion to Major Monson, with instructions to Colonel Coote to proceed, as soon as possible, to take the command of the army in Bengal. Colonel Monson was not un- worthy of the honours bestowed upon him, for he was a brave officer, and far from destitute of talent, but nothing could have occurred more inopportunely for the public interests than the supercession, at such a moment, of Colonel Coote. The Madras Presidency remonstrated warmly against it, nevertheless Coote possessed too much generosity to act upon the protest, and he displayed this disposition still further by volun- tarily leaving in camp his own regiment, though directed by the home authorities to transport it also to Bengal. He lost no time, however, in resigning the command to Monson, who proceeded to carry into execution a plan which he had some time meditated, and by means of which he hoped to drive the enemy from the hedge, as well as from several redoubts and batteries which sup- ported it. The assault was made in the night, it succeeded, in spite of many blunders, arising from the impediments which visually come in the way of night attacks, and it compelled the enemy, after blowing up fort Ariancopang, to take post upon 140 BRITISH INDIA. [\7(JQ. the glacis. But the victory cost the assailants dear, for, independently of one hundred and fifteen Europeans of inferior rank, Monson him- self was disabled by a shot which broke both bones of his leg. Upon this Coote, who re- mained still in Madras, was earnestly solicited, both by Monson and the local authorities, to re- sume his station at the head of the troops, and as the command had devolved on an individual no way qualified to exercise it, he yielded without reluctance to their solicitations. On the 20th of September he returned to the camp, where he was welcomed with the utmost enthusiasm by his soldiers. Fresh spirit was now given to the blockading army, which proceeded without loss of time to push its advances more and more briskly. There stood on the north flank of the hedge a work called the Madras redoubt, and a village, within which the French were accustomed to bleach their clothes. The enemy, fearful that they might afford shelter to the besiegers, sent out a party to destroy them, but Coote, anticipating the design, surprised this party with his personal escort, carried the redoubt, and established there a post of great importance. An effort was made the same night to recover it ; it failed, but of the village the French continued to keep possession. Nevertheless they were even- tually reduced to the necessity of abandoning this also, and to confine themselves almost entirely to the town. It is not necessary to describe in detail the pro- gress of a siege which lasted through the whole of the rainy season, and furnished numerous oppor- 1760.] SIEGE OF rONDICHERRY. 141 tunities to both commanders for displaying the activity and enterprize that belonged to them. Lally retaining the command of the Ariancopang, erected in the midst of it a redoubt, under cover of which he still kept up some communication with the open country. Coote, on the other hand, nar- rowly watched his proceedings, and cut off by far the larger portion of the petty convoys which, from time to time, endeavoured to carry 'supplies into the place. Nor was Admiral Stevens idle. Keeping his station off Cuddalore, he prevented all ingress from the sea to the capital ; and the more effectually to cripple the garrison, he caused the boats of his fleet to cut out two frigates, which lay at anchor under the guns of a battery. The consequence was, that famine began by degrees to do its work ; all the black inhabitants were expelled, the troops were put upon half rations, and every man that could be spared from the actual defence of the works was sent out to act with a living force, which still kept the field about Thea- gur. Thus passed the rainy season, at the close of which Coote made ready to convert the blockade into a siege. Ample stores were provided from Madras, batteries were erected in convenient spots, and the guns were about to be run in, when, on the 30th of December, a hurricane came on, which produced awful havoc both at sea and on shore. Three of the English ships foundered, by which upwards of eleven hundred lives were lost ; the remainder, suffering more or less damage, were driven from their anchorage ; while the tents were stripped to ribbons, the works blown down, and 142 BRITISH INDIA. [17GO. the whole army thrown into extreme confusion. It was fortunate that at such a juncture the inun- dation proved so great as to prevent the enemy from taking any advantage of the calamity. With infinite labour, therefore, the batteries were recon- structed, and approaches being dug, and parallels drawn, the guns fired with much effect in breach. Such was the state of things when, on the 14th of January, a deputation came out from the place to propose a capitulation. It was high time that some such step should be taken, for there remained not in store provisions enough for two days' con- sumption ; nevertheless the French,with their habi- tual effrontery, strove to obtain terms as favourable as if the siege were only now about to commence. But Colonel Coote was not to be duped by their sophistry : he insisted upon an unconditional sur- render, and the enemy, seeing that he could not be moved, submitted. The prisoners, which amounted in all to up- wards of two thousand, were no sooner secured, and the English flag hoisted, under a salute of a thousand guns, than Coote hastened to complete his task by the capture of the last of the strong- holds which remained in the Carnatic. Theagur and Gingee were both attacked, and both surren- dered, after a feeble resistance ; and Mahe, with its dependencies, having been reduced some weeks pre- viously, the French empire on the continent of India ceased to exist. Thus ended a war which, at its commencement, promised to lead to widely different results. It inflamed to the highest pitch the already- irritated feelings of the French company, who, as a matter of course, cast the whole blame of failure 1761.] PONDICHERRY TAKEN. 143 upon Lally ; whilst a feeble and corrupt govern- ment readily espoused the cause of numbers against a single brave man, who had nothing to urge in his own defence except the truth. Lally returned home to suffer a fate which stamps with indelible disgrace the character of his judges. He was cast into prison, tried, condemned, and executed with an indecent haste, of which it may with truth be asserted that none except the Parisians could be guilty. With respect, again, to the English, they were so much astonished at their own success, that they seemed for a while incapable of determining to what use it ought to be turned. Cplonel Coote, with the officers of the king's troops, claimed Pon- dicherry for the crown, Mr. Pigot, the governor of Madras, asserted that the Company alone were entitled to it ; and the dispute ran at one moment so high, that serious consequences were to be ap- prehended. But Mr. Pigot persisting in his de- mands, and refusing to advance money for the payment of the troops, Colonel Coote, with his council of officers, judged it prudent to give way. After solemnly protesting against the measure, he yielded up the fortress, which was immediately taken possession of in the names of the Directors, and the works, in obedience to instructions long ago received from home, were levelled with the earth. 144 [1757. CHAPTER VI. Affairs of Bengal Meer Jaffier's intrigues Expedition tu the Northern Circars Capture of Masitlipatam Bengal invaded by the Prince (afterwards Shah Alum} The Dutch defeated near Calcutta C/ive return* home Second invasion of Shah Alum His attempt to surprise Moorshedalad Repulsed from Patna Death ofjnffier's eon, Meerum. WHILE these important operations were in pro- gress in the southern provinces of India, the affairs of Bengal were conducted with a degree of ma- nagement and skill which alone could have carried them triumphantly through the difficulties with which they were beset. Meer Jaffier, who, like other Indian usurpers, had promised much more than he found it either convenient or practi- cable to perform, soon began, after the usage of his nation, to aim at an infraction of the treaty. He tried the measure, which is for the most part irresistible in the east, he offered private bribes, as a means of defeating public arrangements ; but finding that, in this instance, his confede- rates were proof against his wiles, he began to meditate some convenient method of obtaining a deliverance from their alliance. Not daring to break with the English at once, he directed his first efforts against certain native functionaries, who had taken 1757.] AFFAIRS OF BENGAL. 145 a prominent part in the late revolution ; with the view of depriving them of their offices and fortunes, and so acquitting himself of some part of the obli- gations under which he laboured. These were Doo- loob Ram, the Dewan,or principal officer of finance; Ramramsing, the governor of Bednapore, and bro- ther to the Rajah of that district ; and Ramnorain, the viceroy of Berar, a man of great influence, and very considerable talent. It is worthy of remark, that the whole of these persons were Hindoos by religion and lineage. They had been brought into public life by Allaverdi Khan, who found the patient and faithful worshippers of Brahma infi- nitely preferable, as public servants, to the turbu- lent followers of the Prophet, and who, gre'atly to the annoyance of the professors of the true faith, took every opportunity of advancing them to high stations. It was not to the interest of the Company or their servants that these Hindoos should be crushed, and Clive judiciously interfered to avert the ca tastrophe. How this was done, it would far ex- ceed the limits of this work to explain ; but we may state, that it needed all Olive's temper and all his skill in controlling the. passions of others, to preserve for a season the appearance of friend- ship where none really existed. Between Ram- ramsing and the Soubahdar a formal reconcili- ation took place ; Dooloob Ram was likewise re- stored to favour ; and though Berar was entered with a numerous army, Clive leading a British contingent along with it, good care was taken that no act of positive hostility should be committed. Nor was this able politician satisfied with keeping VOL. II. L 146 BRITISH INDIA. [1758. in places of power those whom he knew to be well disposed to the interests of his country. He ex- torted from the Souhahdar a lease, at the highest ostensible rent which had ever been paid, of the districts on the bank of the Granges, near Patna, where saltpetre was manufactured ; and though the Dutch remonstrated against this arrangement, he nevertheless maintained sufficient influence over Meer Jaffier to cause their protest to be treated with neglect. These matters were transacted during the autumn and winter of 1757, and on the 15th of May, 1758, Clive returned to Moorshedabacl. He received the same day information of the investment of Fort St. David's, with accounts of the first naval action fought on the Coromandel coast ; and after publicly giving out that the latter had ended decisively against the French, he departed, on the 24th, for Calcutta. The intelligence which met him here was not so much to his mind. By what motives actuated it is hard, in these times, to say, but the Directors had sent out a commission, which ap- pointed ten individuals to be members of council, and nominated four, among whom Clive was not enumerated, to fill the office of governor in ro- tation. No arrangement could be less adapted to the state of the country. Under any circum- stances, the appointment of four rivals in autho- rity, each of whom was to enjoy power during a few months in rotation, would have been ridiculous, if not mischievous ; as the province of Bengal was situated, the whole plan demonstrated only the ignorance or excessive shortsightedness of those with whom it originated. To the honour of the 175!). J INTRIGUES OF MEER JAFFIEK. 147 Company's local representatives be it recorded, that they beheld the matter in its true light. The per- sons named as first governors declined the charge, and with one voice called upon Clive to take among them the situation to which his eminent services had entitled him. Clive did not refuse the office : he became sole president on the instant, and it was afterwards found that, in so doing, he had only anticipated fresh instructions, drawn up subsequently to the arrival in London of the report of his successes at Plassey. These points were scarcely settled, and another of Meer Jaffier's plots defeated, when intelligence came in that Fort St. David's had fallen, that a second naval action had been fought between Ad- mirals Pococke and D'Ache, and that the French army were in march to Tanjore. The despatch communicated at the same time the apprehensions of government that Madras itself would be attacked, and urged Clive to return, with a large portion of the army, for its defence. Clive was absolute master in Bengal, whereas in the Carnatic he must have acted in obedience to the instructions of others ; he therefore paid no heed to the recall in his own person, nor permitted a man to pass from under his authority. But he was not regardless of the state of the Presidency. An opening pre- sented itself for effecting a diversion of which he hastened to take advantage, and the most brilliant success attended the expedition. It has been stated that M. Bussy, after extricating himself from his difficulties at Hyderabad, marched into the Northern Circars, for the purpose of reduc- ing to order certain turbulent chiefs and renters. L2 148 BRITISH INDIA. [1759. Among others against whom his arms were turned, was Vizeramrauze, Rajah of the provinces of Rajali- naundrum and Chicacole, who defending himself with singular obstinacy, was slain, with the greater number of his followers. Bussy appointed one Anumderauze-Gauzepetty to succeed Yizeramrauze. He annexed, however, certain conditions to this dig- nity, to which Anumderauze never cordially sub- scribed, and hence the departure of Bussy to sup- port Salabat-jing against his relatives served as a signal of revolt to the new Rajah. He marched from Vizianajarum,his chief residence, attacked and took from the French Vizagapatam, and sent off mes- sengers to Madras with an offer to surrender his new acquisition to the English, provided they would aid him with a body of troops in the reduc- tion of the Circars. But the authorities at Madras were too much alarmed at the dangers which threatened themselves to comply with the wishes of Anumderauze. He accordingly made the same proposal to Clive, who saw in the arrangement numerous advantages which it would be highly improper to neglect. In defiance of the opinion of his council, who, to a man, pronounced against the measure, Clive directed an armament to be prepared, which, after considerable delay, set sail towards the end of September, under the orders of Colonel Forde. ColonelForde landed at Vizagapatam on the 20th of October, with five hundred Europeans, two thou- sand sepoys, and one hundred lascars ; his train of artillery consisted of six field-pieces, six heavy guns, one howitzer, and an eight inch mortar. He formed an immediate junction with the troops of 1759.] EXPEDITION OF COL. FORDE. 149 Anumderauze, but the customary sources of dis- union, disputes as to the payment of the army, were not slow in producing their customary effects. After much delay, however, and repeated alterca- tions, a treaty was at last concluded, by which the Rajah pledged himself to furnish fifty thousand rupees monthly, for the maintenance of the private soldiers, and six thousand for that of the officers, on condition that the plunder acquired in the cam- paign should be equally divided, and that all the conquered country, with the exception of the sea- ports and towns at the mouths of rivers, should be delivered up to him. In the meanwhile M. Conflans, the officer left by Bussy in charge of the Northern Circars, had concentrated his army in the vicinity of Raj ah - mundrum. It consisted of five hundred Euro- peans, five hundred horse, six thousand sepoys, and a multitude of irregulars, the whole being supported by a train of artillery, cumbrous both from its weight and quantity. On the 3d of De- cember Colonel Forde began his march, and on the 6th encamped at the village of Chumbole, about six miles from the French position. Some delay took place in consequence of the respect with which the hostile commanders viewed each other ; but on the 9th both armies quitted their lines, each in profound ignorance of the designs of its adversaries. It was the intention of Colonel Forde to turn the enemy's flank, and to throw himself between them and the town; M. Conflans, on the other hand, having been informed by a deserter of a route by which he could approach the English encampment unobserved, was hastening to avail himself of the 150 BRITISH INDIA. [1759. advantage. The consequence was, that the columns met and engaged, on ground with wh'.eh they were both comparatively unacquainted, and before any plan of action had been drawn up on either >ide. It was awell-contested affair, but ended decidedly in favour of the English, who were very judiciously led on by Colonel Forde, and who enjoyed the undivided honour of the victory, the Rajah with bis followers having carefully kept out of fire. M. Conflaus retreated to Rajalmmndrum, but being hotly pursued, evacuated it on the following day, and took refuge in Masuhpatam. It was by far the strongest and most important station be- longing to the French in this part of India, and as the remains of Conflan's army composed a gar- rison at least as numerous as the force under Forde, no apprehensions were entertained as to its safety. . But Conflans did not confine himself to mere defensive operations. He dispatched mes- sengers to Salabat-jing, intreat.ng him to come to his assistance ; he made a report of his danger to the government of Poudicheny, and having told off a body of the best of his own troops, he sent them abroad to act upon the English convoys, and harass their rear. Forde was not unaware of these proceedings, nor was he long kept in ignorance both of the advance of Salabat-jing and the equip- ment of a reinforcement at Pondicherry ; never- theless he pressed on to the att.sck of Masulipa-' tarn, before which, on the (5th of March, lie sat dowa. Masulipatam consisted at this time, of a town and a fort, the one distant ft em the other rather more than a cannon-shot. The town was open, and on 1759.] MASULIPATAM TAKEN. 151 the approach of the English, Conflans, who had previously kept the main body of his army there, withdrew into the castle. The castle, again, con- sisted of four bastions, with curtains, and a ditch, but was unprovided either with outworks or a glacis. Under these circumstances, Forde con- sidered it unnecessary to open trenches, or make his approaches with the regularity usual in sieges. He contented himself with throwing up batteries, which commanded the three principal bastions, and he fired so smartly that, in due time, the walls began to crumble. But Forde's was a situation of no ordinary hazard. Every day brought intelli- gence of the gradual approach of the Nizam ; his ally Anumderauze threatened to desert him ; even his own troops were disposed to mutiny for want of pay, and the arrival of reinforcements from Pon- dicherry might hourly be expected. Such was the nature of his prospects, when, on the 6th of April, the officer commanding the artillery in- formed him that there remained not ammunition enough to support the fire two days longer. Forde saw that he must either attempt the reduction of the place at once, or raise the siege and retreat, while the means of doing so remained. He deter- mined upon the former proceeding, and though the breaches were far from convenient, he made prepa- rations to storm. One flank of the fort of Masulipatam was covered by a morass, and the ditch was full of water, which, however, at ebb tide, measured only three feet in depth. Having sounded the morass with a party of sepoys, and found it passable, Forde distributed his little army into three divisions, two of which 152 BRITISH INDIA. [1759. he instructed to attack at opposite sides, while the third should make a feint, in order to distract the attention of the garrison. A little before midnight the troops moved to their ground. As no sus- picion was entertained within the works, the attack- ing parties gained the palisade of the ditch ere they were discovered, where a heavy fire opened upon them, beneath which numbers fell. They pressed on, however, without check or faulter, gained the ramparts in spite of all opposition, and, wheeling to the right and left, carried bastion after bastion with the utmost impetuosity. M. Conflans was confounded by the boldness of the attempt. The sound of firing, too, was heard in so many quarters at the same time, that he knew not from which to apprehend danger, he therefore surren- dered at discretion just beforedawn began to appear. This was one of the most gallant and successful exploits performed during the war, for, on muster- ing the prisoners, it was found that they consider- ably exceeded, both in Europeans and disciplined sepoys, the number of those to whom they had submitted. Masulipatam fell at a critical moment, for within a week after the British flag had been hoisted, two ships arrived in the roads with three hundred men from Pondicherry. It was announced, at the same time, that Salabat-jing, with his army, was arrived within fifteen miles of the place, and a horde of Mahrattas made their appearance soon after, with the design of facilitating the disembarkation, by occupying the sea-shore. But M. Maracin, who commanded the force on board, was not willintr to commit himself, now that Masulipatam had fallen. 1759.] BENGAL INVADED. 153 He made no attempt, therefore, to land, but de- parted, after sustaining a skirmish with an English sloop on the coast, and left the Nizam to pursue such plans as he should consider most conducive to his own interests. A very remarkable change had, in the mean- while, occurred in the feelings and views of this potentate. His brothers were no sooner freed from the restraint imposed upon them by Bussy's pre- sence, than they entered into fresh schemes against his authority. Nizam Ally, the younger of the two, advancing at the head of a strong army, ex- cited, and not without reason, his liveliest appre- hensions. No reliance could now be placed upon his ancient allies the French, of the declining state of whose affairs every hour brought fresh proof, and Salabat-jing was at once too indolent and too timid to trust for safety to his own exertions. He was therefore well pleased when Colonel Forde, aware of the predicament in which he stood, pro- posed to settle their differences by negotiation. A treaty was soon drawn up, which consisted of four articles, all of them highly favourable to the Eng- lish. By these the Nizam made over to his new friends a territory extending eighty miles along the sea and twenty miles inland, which, besides in- cluding Masulipatam, Nizamapatam, and other important stations, produced an annual revenue of four hundred thousand rupees. He pledged him- self moreover to remove the French troops within fifteen days beyond the Krishna, never again to employ any Frenchmen in his service, and to grant a perfect indemnity to Anumderauze, for any irre- gularities of which he might have recently been 154 BRITISH INDIA. [1759. guilty. Nevertheless the friends parted in mutual disgust concerning; points altogether distinct from those noticed in the treaty. The English rcfusrd to accompany the Soubahdar in an expedition against Nizam Ally, and were not, iu their turn, permitted to destroy the French army of observa- tion, which attached itself to Bassaulut-jing, passed the Krishna, and marched away uninjured, to the southward. While these operations were going on iu. the Circars, Clive was supporting his influence with Meer Jaffier, in spite of the earnest endeavours of that prince to shake off the yoke, and in defiance of the authority of the Mogul himself. It was stated in another place*, that when Alumgeer the Second became a mere tool in the hands of his minister, Ghazee ad Dien Khan, the latter strove, though without effect, to draw the prince Alee Gohur likewise within the torts. Alee Gohur escaped to Nujeedad Dowla the Rohilla, from whom, during eight months, he received an asylum, and he was subsequently taken under the protec- tion of Mohamed Khoolee Khan, Soubahdar of Allahabad. The distracted condition of Bengal, with the well-known unpopularity of Meer Jaffier, induced the prince to meditate an expedition into that province, and the project was warmly sup- ported, not only by his host, but by Shujah ad Dowla, Nabob of Oude, and one of the most power- ful chiefs in Hindostan. Many of the zemindars, both of Bengal and Bahar, likewise promised their support, and the prince having obtained from his * See Vol. L p. 277. 1760.] OPERATIONS OF CLIVE. 155 father a formal commission to act as Soubahdar over the territories usurped by Jaffier, began his inarch eastward, for the purpose of asserting the imperial authority. Had the supporters of Alee Gohur been true to him and to one another, it seems in the highest degree improbable that either Jaffier or the Eng- lish, weakened as the latter were by the absence of Forde's detachment, could have offered to their progress any effectual opposition ; but this was not the case. The Nabob of Oude had favoured the projected enterprise only that he might remove Mohamed Khoolee Khan from Alahabad ; and he no sooner heard that the imperial army was oc- cupied in the siege of Patua, than he hastened to seize it. In the mean while Rajah Ramnorain, the deputy-governor of Patna, equally disinclined to break with the English, and to resist the son of his superior, amused both parties with hollow ne- gotiations, while Jaffier, throwing himself abso- lutely into the arms of Clive T intreated him to take the field. Clive was- too well aware of the real weakness of the Mogul to permit .the terror of a name to affect his counsels. He collected as many troops as could be spared from the defence of the settlements, hastened to Moorshedabad, and, join- ing Jaffier, marched with rapid strides upon Patna. But there was no necessity, on the present occa- sion, to fire a shot. The rumour of Shujah ad Dowla's treachery had already reached the impe- rial lines, where it caused a total change of pur- pose, for no entreaties, on the part of Alee Gohur, could prevail upon Mohamed Khoolee Khan to remain one instant longer under his orders. Though 156 BRITISH INDIA. [1760. there was a practicable breach in the rampart of Patna, the Soubahdar hastily broke up his encamp- ment ; and marched home to recover his capital, and take vengeance on the traitor who had wrested it from him. It would have been an act of in- sanity in the prince to linger behind ; nevertheless, as his real weakness was not known, he demanded and obtained from Clive a sum of money as the price of a retrogression which was, in fact, indis- pensable. The gratitude of Meer Jaffier on the present occasion knew no bounds. He promoted Clive to the rank of an omrah, bestowed upon him in jag- hire the revenues of the lands around Calcutta, for which the Company, in its character of zemindar, paid tribute, and of which the rental amounted to about thirty thousand pounds per annum ; and, lay- ing aside the jealousy which had hitherto oppressed him, became, at least for a season, the sincere friend of the English. It was well that the case was so, for Clive had been but a short time returned to Calcutta, where Forde with his detached corps joined him, when a new danger, and from a quarter where danger had not been heretofore apprehended, arose. Though there was peace between England and Holland, the Dutch had not beheld without envy the rapid progress made by their ancient rivals towards the establishment of an extensive Indian empire. They had omitted no favourable oppor- tunity of indulging the passion, by rendering secret assistance to the French, and now that the tide was set in violently against their wishes, they seemed disposed to act with still greater boldness. 1760.] DEFEAT OF THE DUTCH. 157 A force was prepared at Batavia, to the amount of eight hundred Europeans and seven hundred Malay troops. These were put on board seven armed vessels, which entered the Hoogley, without any cause having been assigned for the movement, and though Clive obtained an order from the Sou- bahdar that they should instantly quit the coast, no attention whatever was paid to it. The troops, on the contrary, were landed, with cannon, am- munition, and stores of every description, while the ships cast anchor, so as to command the navi- gation of the river within a few miles of Calcutta. Clive was somewhat awkwardly circumstanced by these proceedings, and he felt that he was so, for there was no war between the nations, while a large proportion of his private fortune had been committed to the care of Dutch agents ; yet he could not reconcile it to himself that a Euro- pean force so superior to his own should be per- mitted to establish itself in Bengal. He, there- fore, determined at all hazards to expel them, and sent out Colonel Forde, with three hundred Euro- peans, eight hundred sepoys, and one hundred and fifty of the Nabob's horse, to oppose the march of the Dutch to Chinsura. Forde threw himself in their route, but being unwilling to come to extremities, sent back to request explicit in- structions from his superior. The message arrived when Clive was engaged at a rubber of whist, upon which the Colonel, with characteristic self-pos- session, wrote with his pencil upon a slip torn from Forde's letter, the following laconic order : " Dear Forde Fight 'em immediately, and I'll send an order of council to-morrow." Forde was 158 BRITISH INDIA. [1760. not slow in fulfilling the /wishes of the governor. He attacked the Dutch, put them to the route, and so entirely dispersed them, that out of the European portion of the army only fourteen indi- viduals reached their destination, while three of the Company's cruizers bearing down xvpon the fleet, captured six out of the seven vessels that composed it. It has never been perfectly ex- plained why this expedition should have been un- dertaken at all ; but the promptitude with which the defeated party pleaded guilty, by apologising and offering to defray the expenses of the war, leaves good ground for surmising that Olive's sus- picions of intended treachery were not unreason- able. This was the last public act which Colonel Clive performed during his first government of Bengal, for early in June, 1760, having long made up his mind to that step, he took, accompanied by Colonel Forde, his departure for Europe. The calm which appeared to prevail throughout the Soubahdary at the period of dive's resignation of the government was not destined to be of long continuance. Colonel Calliaud, who had been dis- patched from the Carnatic to take command of the troops in Bengal, was scarcely arrived, when the tyranny and injustice of Meer Jaffier and his son, Meeram, again led to conspiracies, and the prince Alee Gohur was invited to try the fortune of a renewed invasion. He passed the Carumnassa at the head of a band of adventurers, and penetrated into Bahar, where intelligence of his father's mur- der reaching him*, he immediately proclaimed him- * For the particulars of that act of guilt, see Vol. I., p.^283. 1760.] OPERATIONS IN BENGAL. 159 self emperor. This title, of his right to which no doubt could be entertained, gained him a vast ac- cession of strength. Many rajahs and chiefs who had hitherto hung back, through the deference with which they regarded the authority of the Soubah- dar, now declared openly in his favour, and he advanced on the road to Patna with an army which increased in numbers at every step. Nor was it the least politic of his proceedings that he nominated Suraja ad Dowla, the principal Sou- bahdar of Oude, to the office of Vizier. That chief, flattered by the distinction, made consider- able exertions to support him, whilst Ahmed Shaw Abdalla, the conqueror of Delhi, espousing his cause, issued peremptory orders that he should be acknow ledged by all the Afghan chieftains of Hin- dostan. As Shah Alum (for such was the name which the new emperor assumed) approached the capital of Bahar, Ramnorain, whose talents were not of a military order, marched out at the head of a worthless rabble to oppose him. A petty detach- ment of English, under Lieutenant Cochrane, ac- companied him, with the hope rather of prevent- ing an action than of taking part in it. But to Mr. Cochrane's prvident counsels Ramnorain would pay no attention. He risked a battle, in which he sustained a signal defeat, not more from the cow r ardice than the treachery of his officers; while the English detachment, which had been impru- dently divided, suffered next to annihilation. All the sepoys belonging to it were destroyed, their English officers slain, and a part only of the Euro- peans, by the exercise of more than common 160 BRITISH INDIA. [1760. courage and steadiness, made their way within the walls. Had Shah Alum assaulted the city while its chiefs were paralyzed hy the contemplation of this defeat, he would have doubtless obtained possession of it without difficulty ; but he hesitated so long, that the Nabob's army under Meeram,and the main body of the English under Calliaud, were enabled to arrive to its support. A second battle took place, in which, despite of the misconduct of Meeram and his troops, the Emperor sustained a repulse. He retreated the same night to Bahar, a town ten miles distant from Patna; but not being pursued, (for Meeram was quite immovable,) his people recovered their confidence, and he entered promptly, and with as much hardihood as judgment, upon a new enter- prise. Leaving Patna behind, he pushed upon Moorshedabad, where he expected to find Meer Jaffier but slenderly attended; and had not Cal- liaud used extraordinary exertions to overtake him, it is in the highest degree probable that the Nabob would have fallen into his hands. Yet though driven from the direct route, and compelled to make a detour through the mountains, he arrived in the plain of Bengal long before his pursuers ; and Moorshedabad at last owed its preservation rather to his want of confidence than to the feeble garrison which held it. Two hundred Europeans, whom the Nabob had been enabled to call in from Calcutta, served to keep the Emperor at bay, till Calliaud, with his army, arrived, and every hope of success was laid aside. Though baffled in this design, it still appeared practicable to the emperor to strike a serious blow 1763.] SIEGE OF PATNA. 161 at the resources of his enemies. The precipita~ tion with which they had followed him to the vi- cinity of Moorshedabad left Patna again exposed, and with indefatigable alacrity he doubled back upon that place, with the design of attacking it by surprise. He was further induced to take this step, because the handful of French troops which had escaped from the factory at Chandernagur, and which up to the present moment had resided peaceably in Oucle, under M. Law, made him a tender of their services, which he gladly accepted, and they were already on their march to join him. At the same time theNaib of Poonania, a powerful chief, had declared in his favour. Hoping to form a junction with these allies under the walls of Patna, he moved rapidly into Bahar, and sat down before the capital at a season when it was but ill prepared to resist a vigorous assault. The Emperor pressed the siege with great vigour. He twice endeavoured to scale the walls, and there is good reason to be- lieve that the third attack would have succeeded, had not Calliaud despatched a light corps, under an active officer, Captain Knox, to avert the threatened danger. Knox proceeded with a degree of rapidity which is perfectly astonishing in an Indian climate. He entered Patna covered with dust and sweat , yet he took no more than an hour or two to rest his overwrought but gallant fol- lowers, previous to risking an attack on the ene- my's lines. In this he was completely successful, for he chose that period of the afternoon when the natives of warm climates are accustomed to refresh themselves with sleep, and the Emperor, alarmed at his boldness, instantly retreated. Meanwhile VOL. II. M 162 BRITISH INDIA. [17f>3. the Naib, at the head of his long-expected con- tingent, appeared on the opposite bank of the river, when Knox, to the astonishment of the people of Patna, declared his intention of crossing and engaging him in the plain. He adhered to this resolution, and though his own force amounted only to two hundred Europeans, five pieces of light artillery, one battalion of Sepoys, and three hun- dred horse, while that of the enemy mustered twelve thousand men and thirty guns, he gained a decisive victory. The enemy rled, though in tolerable order, and he was too weak seriously to harass them. What Knox was not sufficiently strong to at- tempt, Calliaud, whom Meeram still accompanied, resolved to accomplish. He crossed the Ganges, followed close upon the heels of the retreating Naib, and had already anticipated a rich reward of his exertions, when an event befel which rendered it necessary to abandon the enterprise. This was the death of Meeram, who perished during a thun- der-storm, his tent being struck with lightning ; and as Calliaud well knew that the death of their leader invariably causes an Indian army to dis- solve, he did not venture to continue the pursuit any farther. On the contrary, he hastened back to Patna, where it required all his vigilance to keep even a part of the Nabob's troops together, till the season arrived for disposing them into winter- quarters. 1763.] 163 CHAPTER VII. Changes in thf. Government of Bengal Their Consequences Meer Jajfier deposed Disagreements with Meer Causim Surprise of Paina The English defeated Mr. Amy - alt killed Factory taken War with Meer Causim With the Emperor and Shujah ad Dowla Meer Jciffier restored His death Nujab ad Dowla created Nabob Appoint- ment of Lord Cfive as Governor, WHILE the army was thus actively employed in the field, several important changes occurred in the civil government of Calcutta, which were shortly followed by a new revolution in the poli- tical condition of Bengal itself. After the departure of Clive, the office of governor devolved, as a mat- ter of course, upon Mr. Holwell, the senior mem- ber of council, and a man possessed of some pre- tensions. The Court of Directors, however, in- stigated, as is generally believed, by Clive, had nominated Mr. Vansittart to the government, and that gentleman, arriving from Madras, entered upon his new dignity in the month of July. It was scarcely to be expected that the bringing in of a stranger over the heads of a body of men, each of whom was ambitious of promotion, would be re- garded otherwise than with distaste. A feeling of outraged justice arose among them, and the jea- lousy with which they regarded the new appoint- ment extending to the individual appointed, the M 2 164 BRITISH INDIA. [1763. seeds of violent party-spirit were sown. No great while elapsed moreover ere an excellent opportu- nity offered of exhibiting the disposition which swayed all parties : for the state of the Souhahdarry was such as to render some radical change in its administration absolutely necessary. When Mr. Yansittart reached Calcutta, he found the treasury empty, the means of providing an in- vestment wanting, the troops at Patna on the eve of a mutiny for lack of pay, Madras and Bombay sending continual applications for pecuniary assist- ance, yet the income of the Company scarcely ade- quate to meet thecurrent expenses of Calcutta itself. Meer Jaffier, likewise, instead of fulfilling the stipulations into which he had entered, kept even the allowance promised to the army many months in arrear, while he lavishly expended upon his concubines and parasites sums of which all de- partments of the state stood in need. It was evident to all reflecting persons that such a state of things could not be permitted to continue. Mr. Holwell accordingly suggested the propriety of withdrawing the Company's support from the Nabob, of acceding to the proposal of Shah Alum, and establishing with him a league of amity ; but Mr. Vansittart either perceiving, or fancying that he perceived, a stigma on the national character in thus changing sides, set his face decidedly against the arrangement. Now that Meeram was dead, there was no male in Jaffier's family of suf- ficient age to be entrusted with power, but his son- in-law, Meer Causim, was believed to be a man of talent, and towards him the new governor turned his eyes. It was suggested that he might act as 1763.] MEER JAFFIER DEPOSED. 165 deputy to his father-in-law ; in other words, mount the musnud in his room ; and as he appeared in no wise averse to the arrangement, the assistance of the English was promised, on condition that he would grant them some control over his expen- diture, and make good all the obligations incurred by his predecessor. On the 27th of September, a treaty to this effect was drawn up and formally ratified; and on the 2d of October, Mr. Vansittart, accompanied by Colonel Calliaud and a division of troops, pro- ceeded to Moorshedabad, for the purpose of ob- taining the assent of Jaffier. They found the aged Nabob as little disposed to relinquish his rights as he was indignant that a proposition of the kind should, under any circumstances, be made to him, and Mr. Vansittart, aware of the feelings which actuated a portion of his own council, hesi- tated as to the propriety of pressing the measure. He sent for Meer Causim, confessed his unwilling- ness to proceed further, and hinted at the possible arrangement of all differences ; but hearing that it was Meer Causim's intention, in case of failure, to throw himself into the arms of the Emperor, he returned to his original determination. The pa- lace was secretly filled with troops, Meer Jaffier was seized, and receiving a solemn assurance that no violence would be offered to his person, he ab- dicated the throne, and withdrew with his private treasure and family to Calcutta. It proved not the least fruitful source of dissa- tisfaction in the council, that this important revo- lution was conducted by a select committee. Men were unable to forget the princely fortunes which 166 BRITISH INDIA. [1763. rewarded the exertions of the favoured few, through whose services the elevation of Mcer Jaffier had been brought about, and suspecting, naturally enough, that similar results would follow on the present occasion, such as saw themselves excluded from the list of principal agents became violently hostile to the arrangement. A protest was entered in the minute-book, to which the names of Mr. Amyatt, Mr. Ellis, and Mr. Smyth were appended. It contained no denial of the difficulties which sur- rounded the English government, nor any justifi- cation of the extravagancies and mismanagement of Jaffier, but it pronounced his deposition to be a violation of national faith, and severely censured those concerned in it. This was but the bciri li- ning of squabbles, which, during several years, continued to distract the councils of Bengal, and led to results not less remarkable than any which we shall be called upon to notice in the course of this history. The first measures of Meer Causim indicated a strong disposition on his part to cultivate the good will of his allies, as far as w r as in any degree con- sistent with the rights and privileges of his own subjects. By exercising a remarkable economy in his private expenditure, and by seeking out and depriving of their wealth all who had been unde- servedly enriched by his predecessor, he collected money enough to discharge, within a few months, the arrears due to the English troops at Patna, while, by mortgaging his jewels, he was enabled, shortly afterwards, to provide six or seven lacs, in discharge of his engagements with the Company. He was thus employed when the zemindars of Beer- 1763.] SURPRISE OF PATNA. 167 boom and Buvd wan gave unequivocal signs of dis- content. The Emperor likewise hung upon the borders of Bahar, which lay uncultivated through the apprehension of a renewed invasion, and as any protracted struggle must necessarily have inter- fered with their plans of retrenchment, the English resolved to avert it. Major Carnac, who in the be- ginning of the year had relieved Calliaud in the command of the troops, was instructed to march without delay upon Patna, with the view of driv- ing Shah Alum back upon Oude, or compelling him to come to an accommodation. Carnac, as soon as the rains ceased, marched rapidly to Gyah Maunpore, where Shah Alum, supported by M. Law and his corps of French- men, lay encamped. He was accompanied by Ramnorain, and engaging the imperialists, de- feated them with great slaughter. The most re- markable event in this action was the capture of M. Law, who, though deserted by his countrymen, refused to quit the field, and was found by Carnac in person, sitting astride upon a gun, as if waiting to throw away his life. It is highly honourable to all concerned, that Law refused to surrender his sword, and being received as a prisoner of war on his own terms, was treated both by Carnac and the other officers of the army with marked and delicate attention. The consequences arising out of this battle were of the highest importance. Carnac hastened to propose an accommodation with the emperor, which was joyfully acceded to by that unfortunate prince, and the Nabob being, after some hesitation, per- suaded to become a party to the treaty, Shah Alum 168 BRITISH INDIA. [1763. was received with great appearance of deference into Patna. To satisfy the feelings of all con- cerned, the Emperor was made to establish his court in the hall of the Company's factory, where the Nabob, acknowledging him as sovereign, was invested with the dignity of Soubahdar of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, liable to a yearly payment of twenty-four lacs of rupees. It was at this time that the Emperor received the invitation of the Soubahdar of Oude,of Nujab ad Dowla* and other Afgan chiefs, to return under their protection to Delhi ; and as he accepted it with great apparent joy, he was immediately escorted by the English troops as far as the frontier of Bahar*. These perils being averted, Meer Causim pro- ceeded, together with Major Yorke and a detach- ment of English, to suppress the threatened rebel- lion of his discontented zemindars. He overtook them at Beerboom, attacked and routed their forces, and reduced both districts to obedience, after which he compelled the Mahrattas, whom they had called in to their assistance, to evacuate the province. But the expense of the expedition en- tirely exhausted his treasury, and though he gave up the revenues of Burdwan in pawn to the Com- pany, he found, on his return to Patna, that diffi- culties increased upon him daily. In this emer- gency he began to devise plans for the plunder of Ramnorain, whom, by an error of judgment com- mon to eastern princes, he suspected of having enriched himself at the expense of his province and his sovereign. The first step was to demand * For particulars, see Vol. I. 1763.] CONDUCT OF MEER CAUSIM. 169 from the deputy-governor of Patna, an exact account of his receipts, from the period of his appointment to office. A good deal of intriguing followed, because Mr. Vansittart, naturally in- clined to support the Nabob of his own choice, leaned to the side of Meer Causim, whilst Major Carnac, who acted with Mr. Amyatt's party, took every opportunity of exhibiting his extreme pre- dilection for Ramnorain. But the contest was brought to a close at last, by a display of excessive intemperance on the part of Carnac, which led to the sudden recal both of him and Colonel Coote, whom, on his arrival to assume the command, he had infected with his own prejudices. It was an unfortunate measure, however justifiable in the eyes of such as advised it, and it was succeeded by others not less impolitic, and still more fatal in their results. The Nabob, having satisfied Van- sittart that he possessed no funds for the defray- ment of the debt due to the Company, except such as might be recovered from his dishonest repre- sentative, was permitted to follow his own devices, and Ramnorain, as a necessary consequence, be- came involved in absolute ruin. The downfall of an individual so influential, and to whom the English had in so many instances been indebted, furnished additional grounds of complaint to the party of whom we have already spoken as jealous of the appointment of Mr. Van- sittart. They exclaimed loudly against the injus- tice of the whole proceeding, and condemned, in severe terms, the want of integrity and spirit evinced by the president ; nor would it be candid to con- ceal, that a more glaring error has seldom been com- 170 BRITISH INDIA. [17G3. mitted by the head of any government. Whatever Mr. Vansittart's opinion of Ranmorain's conduct might have been, it indicated little skill in the ma- nagement of a semi-barbarous race, to give up into the power of an enemy, a chief avowedly connected with the English by ties of amity and dependence. Even such as desired the destruction of the indivi- dual, beheld, in the means by which it was effected, strong grounds of distrust in the English charac- ter, while an opinion spread abroad, both among Europeans and natives, that the Nabob would be supported in all his projects, whether justifiable or the reverse. The consequence was that a spirit of opposition extended itself more and more widely, both in the council-chamber and in the factories ; and the governor soon found that all his influence was required to carry on, with effect, the business of the colony. Such was the state of affairs, when instruc- tions arrived from home for the dismissal from the Company's service of those gentlemen on whom the governor could alone depend for efficient sup- port. Prior to the departure of Clivc, a letter had been written at his suggestion, which was signed by himself, Mr. Holwell, Mr. Sumner, and Mr. M'Guire, and in which certain expressions em- ployed by the Directors in one of their despatches were animadverted upon with a degree of freedom quite unprecedented. The sovereigns of Lcaden- hall-street took violent umbrage at this letter; they answered it by a peremptory order, that the individuals whose names were appended should be deprived of office, and the order reached Calcutta at a juncture when the spirit of discord was at the 1763.] CONDJJCT OF MR. ELLIS. 171 highest. No delay was permitted to be used in pa) ing obedience to so welcome a mandate, and Mr. Vansittart's friends being dismissed, he found himself outvoted on all occasions. One of the earliest acts of the triumphant fac- tion was to appoint to the chiefship of the factory at Patna, Mr. Ellis, the most intemperate and ar- bitrary of Vansittart's opponents, and the personal enemy of the Nabob. This gentleman omitted no opportunity of treating Meer Causim with disre- spect ; he ordered his collectors to be resisted when- ever they made any difficulties as to the transit of goods to and from the stations, and he seized certain loads of nitre which were in progress to Moorshedabad for the Nabob's private use. But Mr. Ellis was not singular in these respects. It has been shown that, by virtue of a privilege granted at an earlier stage in their history, the Company were permitted to protect from inland duties all goods specified in a passport signed by the president, and intended for exportation. Dur- ing the confusion which attended recent events, the most shameful abuse of this privilege had been introduced. Not the Company only, but every private Englishman, and not every private Englishman only, but every native connected with the English, now claimed the right of carrying on a trade with the interior free of all impost, while the subjects of the Nabob were compelled to pay at various stations a duty of full forty per cent, upon every article of barter. It was to no purpose that the merchants complained to their sovereign, and the sovereign remonstrated with the council at Calcutta. The members of that body, being per- 172 BRITISH INDIA. [1763. sonally interested in the proceeding, gave to it their steady support, in defiance of the honourable ex- ertions of Mr. Vansittart, and the minority with which he now acted. Nor did the evil rest there. If the Nabob's officer of customs presumed to protest against some glaring abuse, he was either cast into prison, or flogged upon the spot. The people likewise were compelled by threats and violence, both to purchase the commodities ottered to them, and to sell their own goods at a reduced value, while the judges and the magistrates to whom they appealed were either laughed to scorn, or their functions usurped. The Nabob bore with these and other wrongs and insults till the whole frame of his government became relaxed, and the zemindars and other collectors in many districts refused to be longer answerable for the revenues. Mr. Vansittart did his best to stem the torrent, and at last so far won upon the better feelings of his council, that he was permitted to undertake in person a journey to Moorshedabad, for the purpose of arranging, if possible, some definite treaty with the Nabob. He found Meer Causim violently, and not unjustly, enraged, and, to all appearance, re- solved not to sanction, under any modification, the continuance of such abuses ; but he prevailed upon him in the end to accept a compensation of nine per cent, on all goods, whether they belonged to the Company or to individual Englishmen. The duty, moreover, was to be paid upon the spot, where the article happened- to be procured, and hence no interruption was to be given at the bar- riers, or chokeys, which guarded every bridge, ferry, and road throughout the country. Now, this 1763.] CONDUCT OF MR. VANSITTAHT. 173 was undoubtedly an arrangement in every respect unfair towards the natives, because in the highest degree favourable to the strangers. While the latter were required to pay not more than nine per cent., the former, besides suffering the incon- venience of frequent searches, paid in no case less, and in some cases more, than forty per cent. ; yet was it scouted and condemned by the mem- bers of council at Calcutta, as altogether inadmis- sible. They pronounced that the President had far exceeded his authority, that the Company were not bound to adhere to the terms of this treaty, which was in direct violation of the free trade secured to them by ancient charter ; and that the impost to which alone it behoved them to submit when trading, either collectively or in- dividually, was a payment of two and a half per cent, on the article of salt. It was at the same time decreed, that all disputes between English merchants and their agents and the subjects of the native government should no longer be cogniz- able by the Nabob's tribunals, but should be re- ferred to the heads of British factories, and to them alone. When Mr. Vansittart quitted Moorshedabad, he entertained a firm belief that the troublesome question of trade was settled for ever ; indeed, so confident was he that even his council would not reject the terms which he had obtained for them, that he drew up a general outline of his plan, and committed it to the Nabob's keeping. A similar persuasion existed in the mind of Meer Causim, who despatched copies of the memorandum to all his principal marts, with directions to the collecting 174 BRITISH INDIA. [1763. officers that they should act in strict agreement with its tenor. He himself then set out on an expedition against Napaul. But when, on his re- turn, information was communicated to him that the English had paid no regard to what he con- sidered as a formal treaty, his indignation became violently excited. There seemed but one course for him to adopt, which he had long threatened, but to which he was extremely averse. He pub- lished an edict abolishing all transit duties what- ever throughout the Soubahdarry ; in order that, as he himself expressed it, his own merchants might at least participate in the spoils of their so- vereign. It needed but some such act as this to blow up into a flame the embers which had long smouldered. The English council, in defiance of all decency as well as justice, pronounced the Na- bob's edict to be an act of glaring hostility towards the Company ; they insisted that it should be im- mediately recalled, on peril of their heavy dis- pleasure, and as the Nabob paid to their requisi- tion no attention, both sides prepared for war. Partly in order to save appearances, partly with the hope that even yet extremities might be avoided, an embassy, consisting of Mr. Amyatt and Mr. Hay, both members of the preponderating faction, was despatched to remonstrate with the Nabob. They were coldly received, and somewhat cavalierly treated, but no positive insult was offered to them, and they bore, not without a struggle, the indirect slights to which their situation rendered them liable. It happened that at this time certain boats laden, among other effects, with five hundred mus- kets for the troops in Patna, arrived at Mongheer. 1764.] PATNA TAKEN. 175 The Nabob ordered them to be stopped, and, alarmed by the prospect which their approach held out, sent to solicit the support both of the Emperor and the Soubahdar of Oude. A good deal of angry discussion followed this procedure, and the depu- tation at length prevailed upon him to permit the flotilla to pass ; but the accounts were scarcely for- warded to Calcutta of his amicable dispositions, ere matters underwent a change. The Nabob had long been aware of a design on the part of Mr. Ellis to make himself master of Patna as soon as a con- venient opportunity should offer, and within a few hours from the despatch of Mr. Amy att's letter he received positive intelligence that preparations for the attempt were in progress. He lost no time in issuing fresh instructions for the seizure of the boats, and though he permitted Mr. Amyatt to return to Calcutta, he detained Mr. Hay as a hos- tage for some of his aumils, whom the English had thought fit to imprison. The rumour which had reached the Nabob, touching the designs of Mr. Ellis, was in every re- spect well founded. He had early applied to his own government for discretionary powers, which Mr. Vansittart, aware of his natural rashness, was exceedingly unwilling to grant, but in this, as in other questions, Mr. Vansittart remained in the minority. On the 24th of June, Mr. Ellis learned that Mr. Amyatt had departed for the presidency ; that very night he led his troops against Patna, surprised the guards, scaled the walls, and obtained possession of the place. It was an unjust and a most unfor- tunate commencement of the struggle, for the troops 176 BRITISH INDIA. [1764. being permitted to abandon their ranks, spread themselves through the town in quest of plunder, and were immediately driven out again with some loss. The survivors fled in confusion to the fac- tory, which in its turn was subjected to the mise- ries of a siege, and which, after a feeble resist- ance, fell into the enemy's hands, the garrison abandoning the works, and retreating into Oude. There they were attacked by the Foujedar of Ju- kaur Sarem, who compelled them to lay down their arms, while the factory of Cossimbuzar was at the same time taken, and all the English be- longing to it sent prisoners to Patna. But it was not thus only that the aggressors suffered. The JNabobno sooner heard of the attempt upon Patna than he despatched a flotilla of armed boats to stop Mr. Amyatt, and he, foolishly resisting, was, with several of his attendants, killed in a contest as hopeless as it was uncalled for. Intelligence of these transactions excited the highest indignation among the members of council at Calcutta. It was resolved, in spite of the op- position of Mr. Vansittart and Mr. Hastings, to enter into no compromise with Meer Causim ; and Jaffier, who still sighed for the state and parade of sovereignty, was again declared Nabob. He purchased his second elevation by a ready assent to every condition demanded of him. He gave up all claim to transit duties, except in the article of salt, and even in this case agreed to accept a composition of two and a half per cent, offered by the English. He undertook to raise and equip twelve thousand horse, and a like number of foot ; to pay to the Company three hundred thou- 1764.] MEER CAUSIM. 177 sand rupees on account of expenses in the war ; to reimburse the personal losses of individuals, and to permit no Europeans, except Englishmen, to erect fortifications in the country. These prelimi- naries being settled, the allies took the field, Major Adams marching with the English army on the 2d of July, and the Nabob joining him on the 17th, at Agurdup. Meer Causim had, during his short and troubled reign, bestowed infinite pains upon the organisa- tion and discipline of his army. He had formed a considerable portion of it into battalions, which were armed, clothed, and drilled after the fashion of the Company's Sepoys, and he now sent for- ward a strong advanced guard, under three of his most renowned generals, to cover the ap- proaches to Moorshedabad. On the 19th, an action was fought, in which the English proved victorious. The enemy fell back upon Geriali, where they were joined by the main body under Causim in person ; and on the 2d of August they again risked a battle in an open plain, near Soottee. It was the most serious affair in which Europeans had ever been engaged with Indians, for the firing continued warm and close upwards of four hours, and the 84th regiment, attacked both in front and rear, was at one moment in great danger ; but the steadiness of the men, and the cool courage of the officers, prevailed at last over the impetuosity of their assailants. Meer Causim was defeated with the loss of all his cannon, one hundred and fifty boats loaded with provisions, and a large quantity of stores ; while his army was saved from utter destruction only by taking shelter in an entrenched VOL. II. N 178 BRITISH INDIA. [1764. camp, which had been formed on the banks of the Oodwah. Closely pursued by the English, with whom no reconciliation was to be expected, and rendered desperate by the prospects which everywhere met his gaze, Meer Caushn began to indulge upon his unfortunate prisoners the cruelty which was natural to him. Ramnorain, with several other natives of rank, were put to death, but the English, though they suffered a more rigorous confinement, were, for the present, spared. Meanwhile his army, re- inforced by fresh levies, kept within their lines on the Oodwah. The position was strong, being co- vered by a nullah, or lake, as well as by the rugged banks of the stream, and during five weeks Major Adams, though he earnestly desired it, could make no impression. At last a deserter, grown weary of Meer Causim's service, and returning into camp, offered, on promise of a pardon, to guide a body of troops by a ford through the nullah ; and the offer being accepted, the enemy's entrench- ments were gained before they became aware of their danger. The rout was complete ; Meer Causim himself, with his dispirited followers, fled to Mongheer, a strong fortress, into which he threw a garrison, after w hich he retreated to Patna, in a frame of mind more pitiable than ever. The remainder of the history of this ill-fated prince is narrated in few words. Mongheer was besieged and taken, upon which Meer Causim, in a paroxysm of rage, caused his English prisoners to be massacred. They were all put to death, with the exception of Dr. Fullerton, by his chief officer, Sumroo, a German by descent, and a deserter from 1764.] WAR WITH MEER CAUSIM. 179 the Company's service. As the English advanced upon Patna, Meer Causim evacuated it, and took refuge within the territory of Oude, the Nabob of which, the Vizier Shujah Dowla, promised faith- fully to support him. He found that chief, whom, the Emperor Shah Alum accompanied, preparing at Allahabad an expedition against the Bundelas, and he performed an essential service, by reducing, with his disciplined battalions, one of their strongest forts ; yet neither the recollection of this, nor the sanctity of an oath sworn upon the Koran, were sufficient to secure for him any generous treatment. It is true that the allies entered Bahar, ravaged the country in all directions, and penetrated as far as Patna, under the walls of which they fought a battle ; but the Vizier, finding that against the dis- cipline of the English his own rude levies made no impression, soon began to desire with them an accommodation. They demanded the surrender of Meer Causim, to which he would not consent, but he returned to his own country, where he began to meditate the plunder of the fugitive who had thrown himself on his honour for protection. Meanwhile the English army, into which a spirit of daring mutiny had entered, continued in- active in the vicinity of Patna. The men had exhi- bited strong symptoms of discontent prior to the advance of the Vizier, which, not less than an ap- prehension of his overwhelming numbers, led to a retreat from the frontier, and when in the month of May, 1764, Major, afterwards Sir Hector Munro, arrived to assume the command, he found that the severest measures would be necessary to restore order. On one occasion an entire battalion of N2 180 BRITISH INDIA. [1764. Sepoys marched off, \vith their arms and baggage, to join the enemy. Munro instantly despatched in pursuit a corps on whose fidelity he could de- pend, which, coming up with the deserters when asleep and unguarded, took them all prisoners. A selection was now made, hy order of the comman- der, of twenty-four of the most active ringleaders, the whole of whom were tried by a court-martial, and condemned to be shot. Four of them were blown away from the mouth of a gun on the spot ; but when preparations were making to execute the remainder, the Sepoys openly declared that they would not permit it. Munro behaved on this try- ing occasion with admirable firmness and judg- ment. He commanded the artillery officers to load their pieces with grape, and turn them on the native regiments ; he drew up his Europeans in the intervals between the guns, and peremptorily desired the discontented Sepoys to ground their arms. The men obeyed, the executions went on, and order and discipline were restored. The greater part of the season having thus been 'wasted, and the rains beginning to fall, it was the 1 5th of September ere Munro was enabled to take the field. He suffered much, likewise, from the ab- sence of every necessary supply, and carried with him provisions enough for eight days' consumption only ; nevertheless he passed the Soane in spite of the opposition of a corps of cavalry, and on the 22d of October readied the vicinity of the Vizier's entrenched camp at Buxar. On the following morning, at eight o'clock, the enemy were seen advancing in force. Munro drew out to receive them, and after an obstinate contest, which lasted 1764 ] DEFEAT OF MEER CAUSIM. 181 three hours, gave them a complete defeat. It was one of the most important and decisive victories ever gained by the English in India. It destroyed for ever the strength of the Soubahdar of Oude, placed the Emperor himself under the protection of the English, and elevated them at once to the highest rank among the sovereign powers of Hin- dostan. The day after the battle, Shah Alum pitched his tents beside those of the British army. He ex- pressed great delight at his escape from the thral- dom in which Shujah Dowla had held him, and his perfect confidence in the honour of Munro, with whom, as the representative of the English Company, he proposed to enter into a negociation ; though Munro, as he had received no explicit in- structions on this head, declined to avail himself of the offer, till letters should arrive from Cal- cutta in answer to his own. In the meanwhile, however, he advanced to Benares, the Emperor marching with his retinue in rear of the column, till stopped by the arrival of a messenger from Shujah Dowla who came in with proposals of peace. Munro demanded, as a preliminary step to all negociation, the surrender both of Meer Causim and Sumroo. The Vizier consented to the first, but denied his ability to perform the second of these conditions ; nevertheless he offered to have the deserter assassinated in the presence of any person whom the English general might send to witness the deed. Such a proposal was, of course, scouted, nor does it appear that Shujah Dowla, perfidious as he was, ever entertained a serious idea of delivering up Meer Causim to the English. Be 182 BRITISH INDIA. [1764. this, however, as it may, Meer Causim, fearful of the issue, effected his escape to Rohilla, and for the present all communication between the Vizier and the Company was broken off. By this time the answer to Major Munro's despatch had arrived, and a definitive treaty with the Emperor was drawn up and ratified. It se- cured the possession of Gauzeepore, and the rest of the territories of the Rajah of Benares to the Com- pany, who, on their part, engaged to conquer for the Emperor, Allahabad and the other dominions of Shujah Dowla; while the Emperor undertook at some subsequent period to refund the expenses of the war out of the royal revenues. The troops were immediately put in motion, but ere they had effected any important purpose, fresh revolutions occurred in Bengal, which led to a total change of purpose. Meer Jaffier, who, on the retreat of the confederates from Buxar, had returned, at th.3 earnest request of the English, to Calcutta, was seized with a dangerous distemper. In spite of his \veak state, he was daily harassed by the members of Council for fresh advances of money, the public requiring him to pay, in addition to former obli- gations, five lacs of rupees monthly during the continuance of the war, and individuals swelling their claims to the enormous amount of fifty-three lacs. " All delicacy," says Mr. Scrafton, " was laid aside in the manner in which payment was obtained for this sum, of which seven-eighths were for losses sustained, or said to be sustained, in an illicit monopoly of the necessaries of life, car- ried on against the orders of the Company, ami to the utter ruin of many thousands of the India 1765.] DEATH OF UEER JAFF1ER. 183 merchants." " The Company," at the same time, became, according to Clive, " possessed of one half of the Nabob's revenues. He was allowed to collect the other half himself, but, in fact, he was no more than a banker for the Company's servants, who would draw upon him as often and to as great an amount as they pleased." Nor was the evil permitted to end even here. The English pertina-r ciously asserting their right to carry on trade free of all imposts, at once impoverished the revenue, and put an entire stop to the industry of the subject. The wretched Nabob felt all this acutely ; it heightened the virulence of the malady under which he laboured, and in the month of January, having with difficulty removed from Calcutta to Moorshedabad, he gave up the ghost. A power of choice amid various courses was now submitted to the government of Calcutta. They might restore to the Emperor the sovereign authority over Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, or leave him to exercise his legitimate privilege by appointing a Soubahdar; they might assume the Soubahdarry to themselves, in compliance with an offer repeatedly made, and recently renewed by Shah Alum through Major Munro ; or they might set up a Soubahdar of their own, retain- ing the substance of power, while they entrusted the shadow and the labour to another. They preferred the last-mentioned plan, partly because they were as yet unwilling to stand forward as sovereigns of any portion of India, partly because they individually anticipated a rich harvest of gifts on the occasion. All things fell out as they could have desired. Instead of advancing to the 184 BRITISH INDIA. [17(>4. musnud the grandson of Meer Jaffier, the son of Meeram, a child six years old, they proclaimed Nujub ad Dowla, a son of the late Nabob, and a young man of twenty years of age, Soubahdar, whom they bound down by treaty to a line of con- duct which rendered him a mere tool in their hands. The new Nabob was to support only so many troops as were necessary for the parade of government, the distribution of justice, and the business of the collections. The military defence of the country thus devolved entirely upon the English, while they took care to control its civil administration also, by nominating the minister, by name Reza Khan, through whom all affairs of justice and re- venue should be managed. The other conditions of the treaty were almost to a letter the same with those which they had contracted with the old Na- bob. Not only the revenues of Burdwan, Med- napore, and Chittagong, were made over to the Company, but a monthly payment of five lacs was secured during the war, whilst a further promise was exacted, that so much of it as might to them seem necessary should be continued after the war had ended. Nor were these most impudent of all negociators neglectful of the important privilege of free trade. That was secured, in its most ex- tended sense, to every servant of the Company; nay, it was explicitly provided, that not an ac- countant of revenue should be appointed throughout the country, except with the sanction of the English authorities. These measures passed the Council during the temporary government of Mr. Spencer, who, as senior member, succeeded to the Presidency on the 1764.] LORD CLIVE. 185 resignation of Mr. Vansittart. In the meanwhile, the Court of Directors, who had long acted as mere spectators of the proceedings of their servants,began to feel that the moment had arrived when some interference on their part was necessary. Endless recriminations had been poured in upon them, the parties mutually accusing one another of insubor- dination and disaffection, while the intelligence that war with Meer Causim was inevitable, and that a number of their functionaries had been slain, added strength to the alarm which such a state of things excited. After a good deal of hesi- tation, they determined to send out a new governor, with powers sufficiently extensive to redress all ex- isting grievances ; and though Clive, now advanced to the peerage, was no favourite among them, (for which, indeed, his independent and, perhaps, do- mineering disposition may fairly account,) they could pitch upon no man better qualified to dis- charge so important a trust. He was, in conse- quence, nominated to fill the joint offices of Gover- nor and Commander-in-chief of the Company's civil and military establishments in Bengal, and on the 4th of June, 1764, after being permitted to choose his own councillors, set sail for Calcutta. 186 [1764. CHAPTER VIII. Affairs of the Carnatic Peace with France Treaty of Paris Return of Ctive to Calcutta Appointment of a Select Committee Reforms Grant of the Dewannee ob- tained Clive resigns the Government Succeeded by Mr. Verelst He quits India Legislative proceedings, at home. BEFORE entering upon a narrative of the second administration of Lord Clive, it will be necessary to revert, in few words, to the state of affairs in the Carnatic. By the total expulsion of the French, conse- quent upon the fall of Pondicherry, the English found themselves placed in a situation to which they had never, in their most sanguine moments, ventured to look forward. With a Nabob, who owed his elevation entirely to their exertions, in possession of the nominal sovereignty of the Car- natic, they felt that all power was in reality vested in their hands, and they soon began to convince Mahomed Ali that they were not disposed to regard that circumstance as barren of substantial advan- tages. They not only made large demands upon his exchequer, under the pretext of expenses in- curred during the war, but they solicited from him a jaghire ; that is to say, the revenues arising from certain tracts of country, free of all charges on the part of government. To the first proposi- tion the Nabob assented, as far as his means 1765.] AFFAIRS OF THE CARXATIC. 187 would allow ; he even borrowed money, on usu- rious interest, in order to raise the sum required,, and agreed, over and above, to defray all charges incurred during the late siege ; but he endea- voured to evade the last requisition, by pleading his extreme poverty, the load of debt under which he laboured, and the necessities of his situation. For a time the Madras government bore with these excuses ; they assisted him likewise in reducing Velore, where Mortiz Ali endeavoured to maintain himself, and they expended in the expedition more of blood and of treasure than the post, when won, was worth ; but they steadily refused to take any part in the subjugation of Tanjore, towards which, the Nabob, as much from pecuniary distress as from motives of ambition, cast a longing eye. On the contrary, they assumed to themselves the right of arbitrating between the two monarchs, both of whom they appeared to treat as sovereign princes, and they restored the semblance of good will between them, by exacting from Tanjore a payment of twenty-two lacs of rupees* as arrears of tribute, with the promise of an annual contri- bution of four lacs. Nevertheless, they lost not sight even for a moment of their great object, the acquisition of an independence for themselves. They contended that, as their army had conquered the musnud for Mohamed, so must he be main- * The whole of this was transferred to ihe Company's treasury, and the Nabob credited with Ihe amount in the government books. There were other points likewise in which the English were necessitated to interfere, particu- larly in the preservation of the dam which kept the banks of the Covery apart ; but these are mere episodes in the his- tory of India.' 188 BRITISH INDIA. [1763. tained in his seat by their exertions, and they pro- fessed their inability to support an armed force sufficient for that purpose, unless a share of the revenues of the country were made over to them. A good deal of correspondence took place, during which Mr. Pigot, the President, enacted for a time the farce of a suitor, but as he ended by remind- ing the Nabob of his total dependence on his allies, the humbled sovereign was fain to submit. Such was the relative situation of the two par- ties in the summer of 1763, when a new and un- looked for enemy called them into the field. This was Mohamed Issoof, a chief who had performed signal services as a partizan in the late war, and who received as his recompense a lease, on easy conditions, of the zemindaries of Madura and Tinnivelly. It is highly probable that, moderate as his rent was, he found himself unable, in con- sequence of the distracted state of the country, to discharge it. Such, at least, was his own account of the matter, and it is certain that he speedily fell into arrears ; but the Nabob resolved to employ force against him, and the English, as in duty bound, lent their assistance. Mohamed Issoof was a brave and skilful chief, his forts were strong, and his country exceedingly defensible ; he, there- fore, protracted the struggle from August, 1763, to October, 1764. He was subdued at last,, through the treachery of a French mercenary, but the con- quest was as far from repaying the labour, as it covered the expenses incurred in effecting it. Up- wards of a million sterling was wasted in this tedious war, which cost the lives 06 many English as well as native soldiers. 1764.] PEACE WITH FRANCE. 189 It was at this- period that intelligence arrived of the signing of the treaty of Paris, which restored peace to France and England, of which both coun- tries were equally desirous. It was stipulated by the eleventh article of that treaty, that mutual restitution of conquests should take place in India; in other words, " that Great Britain should re- store to France, in the condition in which they might then be, the different factories possessed in 1 749 by the latter power, as well on the coast of Coromandel and Orissa, as on that of Malabar and in Bengal. France, on the other hand, re- signed all pretensions to the conquests which she had made on the coast of Coromandel and Orissa. It was further agreed, that his Most Christian Majesty would deliver up all that he might have conquered from Great Britain, whether in the islands or on the continent of the East Indies; that he should erect no fortifications, nor maintain any troops in the dominions of the Soubahdar; and that both parties should acknowledge Moha- med AH as legitimate Nabob of the Carnatic, and Salabat-jing legitimate Soubahdar, or Nizam, of the Deccan. With how little care some, at least, of these stipulations were drawn up, we shall have occasion to notice by-and-by ; in the mean while we return to the history of Bengal. \Ve stated in the last chapter, that the re ap- pointment of Clive, with extraordinary powers, to the head of the British establishment irf Bengal was occasioned by a lively conviction that his ability and firmness would alone avail to redress the grievances under which the Company's affairs were understood to labour. The mutual accusa- 190 BRITISH INDIA. [1764. tions of the opposite factions in council had long satisfied the Directors that there was no such thing as an efficient government in the Presidency, while the accounts that reached them of the, ini- quitous extent to which the abuses of free trade were carried, excited not less their indignation than their alarm. Various despatches had been sent out, prohibiting altogether the continuance of so mischievous a practice. In like manner, the habit of accepting presents from the native 1mtho- rities was condemned, and the local agents were generally accused of sacrificing the interests of the Company to their own. Though there was ample tmth in these allegations, and though the censure conveyed in them was well merited, neither it nor the repeated commands of the court received any attention. The members of council read the de- spatches, and cast them aside as waste paper, while they excused themselves by carelessly observing, that the Honourable Court could not possibly be aware, when the letters were written, of the mighty changes which had of late occurred in the state of the country. It was this continued disregard of their wishes, together with the notorious anarchy prevalent in Calcutta, which induced the Court to solicit once more the assistance of Lord Clive, a man who had retired from the service only in sufficient time to escape the disgrace, if such it deserved to be termed, of a dismissal. Though Clive had participated largely in the harvest of presents which late events had opened out to all the influential Europeans in Bengal, he was not blind to the impolicy, as well as to the injustice, of permitting the practice to continue. 1765.] STATE OF AFFAIRS IN BENGAL. 191 If it had been mischievous in the beginning of the Company's power, it would become doubly so as that power should extend itself, not merely by ren- dering the local authorities indifferent to the public welfare, but as an engine of oppression in their hands towards the natives. Gifts, it was con- tended, were no longer now what they once were, gratuitous displays of gratitude and good will on the part of the donors. They had degenerated into exactions, to which the feeble natives were obliged to submit, and they must, if persisted in, so impoverish the country, as to render both its trade and revenues worthless to the Company. Clive accordingly proposed to strike at the very root of the system at once, and received full autho- rity to enact any regulations, or to adopt any method which should appear calculated to put an end to it. With respect, however, to the privi- leges of free trade, as Clive himself had not devoted much of his attention to commercial pursuits, he was less qualified either to form an opinion, or to suggest the proper method of controlling it. Like other men of common sense, he saw that, when carried to an extreme, it tended to drive all the native merchants out of the market, and to sap the foundations of the Company's commerce. He was not unaware, moreover, of the excessive abuses to which it led, of the cruelties inflicted upon the people by the agents of the English, who, when they bought, gave what they pleased, and when they sold, took what they pleased ; but he ima- gined, with many in ihf Court of Directors, that the evil was so interwoven with the frame of so- ciety in Bengal, that it ought to be modified, rather 192 BRITISH INDIA. [1765. than abolished. Such is the substance of what he himself affirmed, when his conduct in this, as in other particulars, was arraigned ; and though his proceedings may not be without a handle of which his enemies are enabled to lay hold, we are not, therefore, justified in refusing to his statements as much of credit as they may appear to deserve. On the 3d of May, 1765, Lord Clive reached Calcutta. He had received from the Directors permission to exercise his own discretion in the remodelling, or otherwise, of the government ; that is to say, he was vested with authority either to continue the council in office, himself superseding the temporary governor; or, should the state of affairs seem to demand it, he was authorized to appoint a select committee of four, in whose hands, together with his own, all jurisdiction should be vested. Clive found the elements of strife too abundant in the old council to hesitate as to the proper course which it behoved him to follow. On the fourth day after their arrival, he, Mr. Simm, and Mr. Sykes, resolved themselves into a select committee, nominating General Carnac and Mr. Verelst, both of them absent at the moment, to be their coadjutors, and after administering to one another an oath of secrecy, declared the original council dissolved There was a good deal of mur- muring, as might have been expected, at the promptitude of this measure ; but the firmness of the Governor was too well known to permit a hope to be entertained of diverting him from his purpose. So early as the 24th ofjJanuary, and previous to the treaty with Nujeem ad Dowla, the then go- vernment of Calcutta had received positive instruc- 1707.] STATE OF AFFAIRS IN BENGAL. 193 tions from home, that the inland trade should be abandoned, or that an agreement should be entered into by all the servants of the Company, not to receive for the future any presents from the natives. . These commands the council treated, as they had done others, with sovereign con- tempt. The inland trade, instead of being aban- doned, was prosecuted with increased energy, and so far from executing the covenant, numerous and rich gifts were greedily exacted from the new Na- bob on his accession. The first measure of the select committee was, to procure an immediate exe- cution of the covenants. They were signed first by the members themselves,next by the servants on the spot, and lastly by such as were scattered through the provinces. It is recorded of General Carnac on this occasion, that, though he sent round the deeds to his subordinates, he himself delayed, on various pretexts, to ratify his own, nor was his signature appended till after he had accepted a present of two lacs of rupees from the Emperor Shah Alum. Having settled this point, and inquired, with some semblance of party rancour, into the conduct of certain individuals to whom his elevation had given offence, Clive, on the 25th of June, departed from Calcutta, for the double purpose of forming a new arrangement with the Nabob for the govern- ment of the provinces, and of concluding a treaty of peace with the Vizier Suraga Dowla. It has been broadly asserted by those to whom the me- mory of this great man is not dear, that Clive had determined, previously to his quitting England, on the line of conduct which he was about to pursue ; and they quote, in corroboration of their statement, VOL. II. O 194 BRITISH INDIA. [1765. extracts from certain of his letters, in which he desires his agent to dispose of all his money, and of as much as could be borrowed in his name, in the purchase of East India stock. We are not called upon to decide whether this is to be takm as conclusive evidence against Lord Clive's posi- tive assertion, that he had not made up his mind till some time after his arrival in India, as to any parti- cular line of policy ; and that the line which he did adopt was pointed out by the circumstances of the moment; but, wherever the truth may lie, his present mode of procedure with the Nabob was, without question, the immediate cause of a mighty change in the condition of the English in India. That feeble chief was easily persuaded to associate with his deputy, Reza Khan, in the chief ma- nagement of his affairs, two others, the Rajah Dooloob Ram, and Juggut Lut, a great Hindoo banker, and to admit to his confidence a European resident, whose professed business it was to main- tain concord in the Divan. Finally, he surrendered into the hands of the Company the whole of his revenues, together with the entire management of the Soubahdarry, and consented to accept an an- nual pension of fifty-three lacs of rupees, subject to the control of the three agents nominated by the English. These arrangements were concluded on the 25th of July ; on the 28th,Clive set out for Moor- shedabad, in pursuit of the army now advanced far into Oudc. It had not been idle since the battle of Buxar, for the Vizier, after despatching his women and treasures for safety to Bareily, a strong hold belonging to a Rohilla chief, had been hide- 1765.] STATE OF AFFAIRS IN BENGAL. 195 fatigable in his exertions to draw together another army, with which he might yet protract the war. He had called to his standard a body of Mahrattas, and Ghazee-ad-dien Khan, with a handful of his followers, had joined him; but the Rohillas, on whom he mainly relied, kept aloof, and the traitor Sumroo, with three hundred Europeans, quitted his service. With these, after abandoning Luck- now, he endeavoured to raise the siege of Alla- habad ; but ere he could interrupt it, the Eng- lish effected a breach, and the place immedi- ately surrendered. Nevertheless, on the 3d of May he risked a battle near Corah, in which he sustained a total defeat; and on the 22d of June, the Mahrattas, on whom he mainly depended,, were again routed and driven to the hills. Broken in spirit and destitute of all resources', the Vizier now determined to throw himself on the mercy of the English. He addressed a letter to Gen. Carnac, in which he stated that he was on his way to the camp, and not long after its receipt he actu- ally arrived. He was received with the utmost respect, and treated with great delicacy, indeed there was every disposition on the part of the new government, not only to act mercifully, but libe- rally 'towards him. The consequence was, that, in a conference with Lord Clive on the 2d of August, he received assurances that the whole of his dominions would be restored. Certain con- ditions were, indeed, annexed, as that he should pay fifty thousand rupees as a compensation for expenses ; that he should not molest the Rajah of Benares, who, though one of his subjects, had joined the English in the late war ; and that he o 2 196 . BRITISH INDIA. [17C5. should engage never again to accept the services of Sumroo, or afford him an asylum in his dominions ; but these, light in themselves, were esteemed as nothing by a man who scarcely ventured to hope, under any circumstances, for a restitution to power. The truth, however, was, that Clive, like all the ablest Indian statesmen of his day, stood opposed to the policy of extending the Company's empire beyond the limits of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa. It was, therefore, necessary either to reinstate Suja ad Dowla, or, in accordance with a former agreement with the Emperor, to make over to him the fertile soubahdarry- of Oude ; and as the Sou- bahdar himself was esteemed the more efficient ally of the two, as well as a better check upon the grow- ing power of the Mahrattas and the Afghans, the preference was given to him. Such were the real motives which led to the restoration of Suja ad Dowla, and to an agreement between him and the English, which bound either party to afford assist- ance in the event of the dominions of the other being invaded. It now only remained to arrange certain im- portant points, in which the Emperor Shah Alum was mainly interested. Instead of the sovereignty of Oude, with a lordly revenue in other provinces, that unfortunate monarch was informed that the countries about Allahabad and Corah were secured to him, and that he should enjoy their revenues, to- gether with an annual pension of thirty-six lacs of rupees. In return for this, he was required to grant to the Company a firman, or deed, autho- rizing them to collect and receive the revenues of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa. This document, 1765.] STATE OF AFFAIRS IN BENGAL. 197 which raised the Company at once to the rank of a sovereign power, and made them masters of a great kingdom, in name as well as in reality, was dated the 12th day of August, 1765; and it was accompanied by another deed, confirming to them the possession of all the territories which they held within the limits of what may henceforth be termed the nominal empire of the Moguls. On the 7th of September, Lord Clive resigned his seat in the committee, which lost no time in discussing the important question of the inland trade. It was one concerning w r hich Clive, by his own account*, had long made up his mind, and hence the delays in coming to an arrangement were not very oppressive. The three great articles of internal commerce in Bengal were salt, betel-nut, and tobacco. It was resolved by the Committee, that a monopoly should be granted, and the trade in these carried on for the exclusive benefit of the senior servants of the Company. A fixed duty, com- puted to produce one hundred thousand pounds a year, was indeed deducted ; but with this excep- tion, all the profits arising out of it were ordered to be divided into fifty-four shares, which again were distributed into three classes. The first class, comprehending thirty-five shares, was as- signed to the governor, the commander-in-chief, the members of council, and two colonels, the governor receiving five shares, and the other func- tionaries in proportion. The second class, which * He states in one of his letters, that the project even- tually carried into execution was devised by him during his outward voyage. 198 BRITISH INDIA. [17G5. consisted" of twelve shares, was divided equally among a chaplain, fourteen senior merchants, and three lieutenant-colonels ; while the third, which included only nine shares, was awarded to thir- teen factors, four majors, four chief surgeons at the presidency, two surgeons serving with the army, one secretary to the council, one sub-accountant, one Persian translator, and one sub-export ware- house-keeper. At the same time a committee was appointed to manage the concerns of this hetero- geneous company ; the purchases were directed to be made by contract, the goods to be conveyed to certain fixed stations, and there sold by retail to native merchants, whilst European agents were appointed to conduct the business of the society in different parts of the country. It is not our business to inquire how far such an arrangement, preceded as it was by the buying up of all the salt in the market, did or did not redound to the honour of those concerned. The excuse set up by the individuals themselves was this, that the bare pay of the Company's servants was quite inadequate to the risk and responsi- bility of their situations, and that unless sonic avowed source of additional emolument were per- mitted, they would not fail to find out others, not less lucrative and infinitely more mischievous. The excessive preference shown to the members of council and other high functionaries likewise, was not without its palliating, if not its justificatory reasons. Clive and his committee contended that it was to the interest of the Company that the junior servants should be rendered incapable of earning more than a competency ; because, were 1765.] STATE OF AFFAIRS IN BENGAL. 199 the contrary the case, men would quit India in middle life, leaving the administration of affairs continually in the hands of boys. On tlie other hand, it was not less the interest of the Company to place within the grasp of long service, such prizes as would induce men of talent to pass more than their early youth in a state of honourable exile. Doubtless there was great justice in these pleas, though there is no denying that they came with a particularly bad grace from the persons who first reaped the benefits of their own enact- ments. In addition to these very important arrange- ments, there were two points connected with the civil administration of Bengal, to which the com- mittee at this period especially directed their atten- tion. It had been hitherto customary to appoint members of council to the chiefships of the differ- ent factories established in the provinces, and the arrangement was found to produce the worst effects, both as regarded the interests of the natives and of the Company. With respect to the natives, whatever oppressions they might endure, the rank and influence of the local chiefs prevented them from bringing forward even a complaint ; while the Company was deprived of the deliberative wisdom of men whose duty it was to superintend, not the affairs of any particular establishment, but the whole colony. Clive and his coadjutors put an end to this abuse. They declared that members of the council were, ex ojficio, incapable of accept- ing such appointments, and directed that they should thenceforth be given to senior merchants, or other experienced but inferior functionaries. But they 200 BRITISH INDIA. [17G5. stopped not here. Finding that a large propor tion of the senior servants had returned to Europe with overgrown fortunes, they refused to promote to vacancies in the council the youths that sur- rounded the presidency, and called in from Madras a certain number of gentlemen to fill up sucli situ- ations as chanced to be vacant. As may be ima- gined, no transaction throughout dive's public career gave greater umbrage than this, though none, perhaps, was more judicious ; nor, under ex- isting circumstances, more necessary. Having thus remodelled the civil service of Ben- gal, Clive, in obedience to instructions conveyed to him in London, proceeded to introduce impor- tant changes into the constitution of the army. The sepoys, who had hitherto acted in undisci- plined masses under their own officers, superin- tended, rather than commanded, by one or two Europeans, were regularly regimented. Each bat- talion was placed under the command of a captain, assisted by a due proportion of subalterns, and the whole army was divided into three brigades, or corps, to each of which a separate station was assigned. All this was agreeable enough, because it in no degree interfered with the emoluments of the English officers; but Clive's next measure roused a storm which the whole of even his energy was required to subdue. There has ever been made to officers in India, when employed in active service in the field, an allowance called balta, the design of which is to cover the many heavy ex- penses to which, in such a climate, they are liable. During the revolution which ended in the advance- ment of Meer Jaffier to the throne, that prince, 1765.] MUTINY IN THE ARMY. 201 for the purpose of exciting the English to fresh exertions, doubled the batta, or field allowance, to all the officers. The custom had never since been omitted, for the Company, who, while the Nabob defrayed the expense, offered no objection to a measure so beneficial to their own servants, found themselves in some degree obliged to continue the practice after the revenues of the Soubahdarry passed into their hands. This was considered by the select committee to be an iniquitous tax upon their employers, and they issued a proclamation, that, on the 1st of January, 1766, the double batta should cease. But they had miscalculated both the degree of deference likely to be paid to their authority by men with arms in their hands, and the spirit of union which, at this period, pre- vailed among the European officers. A formidable mutiny was the consequence. The officers did not, indeed, endeavour to corrupt the minds of their men, nor raise their weapons against the civil power, but they entered into a strict agreement that they should all, on a certain day, send in their resignations, and refuse to serve again till the ob- noxious edict was recalled. It was well for British India that, through the timidity, or treachery, or right feeling of some undiscovered member of the plot, intelligence of what was in progress reached Clive in good time. He acted on the occasion with his usual decision, by causing the chief movers in the conspiracy to be arrested, and, as the private soldiers remained true to their allegiance, no evil followed. A certain number of the ringleaders, and among others Sir Robert Fletcher, second in command, were tried, found guilty, and dismissed 202 BRITISH INDIA. [17CG. the service, and the remainder, offering ample apo- logies for their misconduct, were restored to their rank. Thus ended an affair which promised at one moment to involve the British settlement in irretrievable ruin, for an army of sixty thousand Mahrattas was then assembled at Culpee, and it was uncertain to what point they intended to turn. But this cloud likewise dispersed without produc- ing a storm, for these were the people who per- suaded the Emperor to intrust himself to their care, and to return under their protection to Delhi. The movement was not agreeable to Clive, for he refused to give any countenance to it, and the issue to which it led has been sufficiently explained in another place. During these transactions, the Nabob Nujeem ul Dowla died, and was succeeded by his brother, Syeff ul Dowla. The change was not felt by the English, who continued to act as if no such per- sonage existed, collecting the revenues, superin- tending the administration of justice, and driving their own trade in a manner the reverse of agree- able to the native merchants. Nor in the impor- tant matter of the monopoly were the express com- mands of the Directors permitted to have any weight ; that continued as it had done before, in spite of a peremptory condemnation of the whole system; because, forsooth, the Honourable Court could not be aware, when such prohibition was penned, of the real state of the provinces. It is true that Clive presented a minute to the select committee, in which he gave it as his opinion that a governor should be no party to commercial spe- culations, and it was declared in consequence that 1767.] STATE OF AFFAIRS IN BENGAL. 203 lie should resign his shares, receiving in lieu of them a commission of one and one- eighth per cent, upon the revenues. But the practice of trading in salt, betel-nut, and tobacco, for the exclusive benefit of the favoured few, was continued in defi- ance of more than one positive .prohibition. At last, however, there arrived a despatch, dated the 17th of May, 1766, so peremptory and so decisive, that its contents could no longer be disregarded. The committee, therefore, after resolving that the monopoly should continue only till the share- holders could balance their accounts, decreed its abolition, and on the 14th of September, 1768, the society was formally dissolved. On the 16th of January, 1767, Lord Clive de- clared his intention of returning immediately to England. As he had been empowered by the Directors either to restore the government to its ancient form, or to continue the select commit- tee, according as the state of affairs might seem to render expedient, he without hesitation adopted the latter course. Mr. Verelst was nominated as his successor in the office of governor, Mr. Cartier, Colonel Smith, Mr. Sykes, and Mr. Beecher were appointed members of committee, and they all, on the 17th of February, (Clive having by that time set sail), entered upon the discharge of their high functions. From this period up to the autumn of 1769, there is not much in the transactions of Bengal requiring particular notice by the historian. If we except a short quarrel with Nepal, which ended without any serious loss on either side, there was no war to occupy the attention of the government, 204 BRITISH INDIA. [17GO. and the general affairs of the province went on, if not prosperously, at all events free from open com- motion, or an approach to public suffering. At this period, it will be observed that, though the English took upon themselves the general admi- nistration of the Soubahdarry, they acted only in the name of the imbecile Nabob, and left all the minor duties of collection and police to the rajahs, zemindars, and other native chiefs. We are not prepared to say that these functionaries were, in every instance, guided by a strict attention to jus- tice. Doubtless, many abuses existed, as they seem to have done both in India and other semi-bar- barous countries in all ages. But the local gentry lived as their ancestors had done the fields were well cultivated, the ryots appeared contented, and the revenues were regularly paid. By degrees, too, monopolies wore themselves out, and even the in- ternal trade began to revive among the native mer- chants. It is true that, in the extravagant expec- tations which they had been led to form of the prodigious dividends to be received, the proprietors of India stock were disappointed. So far from being able to remit home a surplus, the local government found themselves frequently obliged to draw upon their employers ; but to cover these bills, valuable investments were remitted, as well from China as from India and the islands. It may fairly be questioned, indeed, in spite of many acknowledged grievances, whether the condition of the people of Bengal has ever been, since they passed under the rule of the English, more prosperous than it was then. Meanwhile the state of the Company's affairs 1769.] STATE OF AFFAIRS IN BENGAL. 205 began to attract, in no common degree, the atten- tion both of the public and legislature of Eng- land. A question naturally arose, whether it were lawful in a body of British merchants to conquer territory in any part of the world, except for the crown? and Parliament began to assert its right of interference with the revenues arising out of these conquests. It had been rashly voted at a Court of Proprietors, that the dividends should be advanced to twelve and a half per cent. This was a measure quite unauthorized by the condi- tion of the Company's finances ; and to meet the order, money was of necessity borrowed at an ex- orbitant interest. The transaction came to the knowledge of the legislature, and a bill was passed which directed that henceforth dividends should be voted only by ballot in a general court, and that no dividend above ten per cent, for the year should be made previous to the next session of Parliament. This act sufficiently established the right of the nation to interfere, at pleasure, with the proceedings of the East India Company ; but for the present the question of the sovereignty of India was not pushed to a decision. It was, how- ever, enacted, that the Company, in consideration of being permitted to enjoy the territorial reve- nues of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, should pay annually into the public exchequer the sum of four hundred thousand pounds. But it is now high time to revert to the im- portant transactions of which the Deccan had again become the theatre. 206 BRITISH INDIA. [17G2. CHAPTER IX. Nizam Ally usurps the Soubahdarry of the Deccan Inva- sion of the\Northern Circars Treaty with the. Eng/ish War with Hyeler Hyder's early history Condition of ike Ulahraltas They enter Mysore Make peace with Hyder He is joined by the Nizam Colonel Smith's suc- cesses Hyder recovers his posts Invades the Girnalic Dictates the terms of peace. WE have more than once alluded, in the progress of this history, to the state of inquietude and alarm in which Salabat-jing, the Soubahdar, or, as he was called by the English, the Nizam of the Dec- can, was kept by [his brothers, Nizam Ally and Bassalut-jing. Even when supported by the power of M. Bussy's troops, the Nizam found it exceedingly difficult to repress their ambitious enterprises. Bussy no sooner abandoned him, than he fell an easy prey. On the 18th of July, Nizam Ally, who was by far the abler conspirator of the two, seized and'cast him into prison ; and invested himself with the full insignia of govern- ment, something more than eighteen months prior to the date of the Treaty of Paris, by which the titles of Salabat-jing had been acknowledged as lawful. As there was nothing in this act which caused immediate alarm to the English, they paid to it no 1763.] USURPATION OF NIZAM ALLY. 207 very marked attention ; but the year 1765 brought convincing proof that the new Nizam was not likely to prove the same peaceable neighbour as his predecessor. Early in the spring, he entered the Carnatic at the head of a numerous and dis- orderly force, which committed everywhere ravages more atrocious than, for the most part, marked the course even of an 'Indian invasion. The army under Colonel Campbell marched from Arcot to oppose him, and he retired into his own country without risking a battle. In the meanwhile Clive, who had touched at Madras, in his voyage to Bengal, suggested the propriety of connecting the Company's possessions on the coast, by procuring for the Emperor Shah Alum a grant of the Northern Circars. The plan was approved of, and the grant solicited and ob- tained ; upon which General Calliaud put himself at the head of a force, and proceeded to assert the Company's title. It does not appear that he met with any serious opposition from the Rajah's Polygars, and other local chiefs ; but his move- ment gave extreme offence to Nizam Ally, who regarded the Circars as a portion of the Deccan, and acknowledged no right on the part of the emperor to dispose of them. He immediately suspended a war in which he was engaged with the Mahrattas, and made preparations to invade the Carnatic ; while the Presidency, apprehensive of a contest with so powerful a prince, at a period when their exchequer chanced to be exhausted, made haste to open with him a negotiation. They gave up, with a degree of timidity not to be ac- counted for, the honourable station to which it was 208 BHITISH INDIA. [17C7. in their power to advance ; and consented to act a secondary part, though equally perilous with the first. It was accordingly agreed that they should hold of the Nizam the Circars of Rajahmundry, Ellore, and Mustephanagur, at an annual payment of five lacs of rupees, together with Chicacole and Guntoor, at two lacs each.. But, as the last-men- tioned district belonged to Bassalut-jing in jag- hire, it was stipulated that they should not enter into possession during his life-time. In return for these concessions, if, indeed, the term be properly applied, the Company promised to assist the Nizam, when called upon, with a body of troops; and they presented him with a gift of five lacs of ru- pees, which were of course provided by their dependent the Nabob. It was not long before the improvidence of that article in the treaty, which pledged the Company to support the Nizam with troops, became appar- ent. There had existed for some time a great degree of jealousy between the sovereign of the Deccan and Hyder Ally ; and the Company were now required to join their superior and ally, in a war with that successful usurper. As they retained an angry recollection of Hyder's hostility towards themselves, the Madras government desired not to avoid a contingency, to \vhich they were in honour bound to yield, and hence Colonel Smith was appointed to lead an army into Mysore, by a route of which Nizam Ally was permitted to make choice. Of the origin of the kingdom of Mysore, some account has been given in a previous chapter of this work. It arose out of the ruins of the great 1767.] WAR WITH HYDER. 209 empire of Vijanuggur,and continued to be governed, till the usurpation of Hyder, by the descendants of its founder, who, professing the religion of the Hindoos, regulated the country according to the ancient usages of that singular people. Though occasionally subject to the exaction of tribute, and harassed from time to time by invasions both of the Mahrattas and of the Nizam, the Rajah of Mysore still maintained his independence ; as far, at least, as a prince can be said to be independent, whose will was in everything controlled by an overbear- ing minister. He even carried his arms, with con- siderable success, against the chiefs by whom he was surrounded, till his principality became at last one of the most extensive, as well as one of the most powerful, among the nations south of the Nerbudda. At the breaking out of the war between the French and English in 1749, the sceptre of My- sore was swayed by Chicki Rishen Raj, a weak prince, himself an usurper, and a mere tool in the hands of his ministers. There were two brothers, the elder named Doo Raj, a man of great ability and prudence, the younger Nunjeraj, chiefly re- markable for his violence, profligacy, and intem- perance. We are not called upon to give any particular account of the uses to which they turned their influence. It is sufficient if we state, that they held the pageant Rajah in complete servitude; compelled him, at seventeen years of age, to marry a daughter of Nunjeraj, and made ready, so soon as the convenient moment should arrive, to remove the crown entirely from his head. VOL. n. p 210 BRITISH INDIA. [1749. Nunjeraj, though eminently unfitted to com- mand an army in the field, seems to have highly estimated his own military talents ; and the suc- cess which, in 1*746, attended one of his expedi- tions against the Polygars of Darapoor, confirmed him in his previous sentiments. He accordingly conducted a second armament, in 1749, against Dernhully, a strong fort, situated about twenty- four miles N.E. from Bangalore, and held by a chief who, by dint of courage, had for several years maintained his independence. The siege -went on heavily, and might have ended in a dis- comfiture, but for the extraordinary hardihood of an unknown volunteer, who served as a private horseman, was ever the first in danger, and ex- hibited not less of cool discernment than of daring. The volunteer in question was Hyder; a man destined, within the space of a few years, to raise himself to a throne, and to offer to the armies of England by far the most obstinate resistance which they had as yet sustained from any native power. Of the early history of this remarkable man it will be sufficient to give, in this place, a very general outline. His great grandfather, Mahomed Belole, came from Panjab into the Deccan, where he settled as a fakir, or Mohamedan saint, at Alund, a town in the district of Calburga, one hundred and ten miles N.W. of Hyderabad. The saint had two sons, Mohamed Ally and Mohamed Wellee; both of whom, when they arrived at man's estate, were sent abroad to push their for- tunes ; and they both took service as peons, or revenue soldiers, at Sera, where Futtee Mahomed, 1749.] HYDER'S EARLY HISTORY. 211 the father of Hyder, was born. Futtee's father, Mahomed Ally, died, while Futtee was yet a child ; upon which Mahomed Wellee seized his brother's property, and drove the widow and her infant from their home. They found shel- ter in the house of a Naick of Peons in Colar, who took compassion upon their destitute state, brought up Futtee, and, in due time, enrolled him as a peon in his own band. From a more obscure origin than this many an oriental adventurer has risen to the highest honours. Futtee was brave. He found various opportunities of evincing his bravery; and he was promoted by the Soubahdar of Sera to the rank of a Naick. He had attained to this dignity when he married a lady of good family, a Nerayet* from Curcan. She died soon after the marriage ; but by her sister, whom, on the decease of his first Nerayet wife, he likewise married, he had two sons, Shabas and Hyder. Like their father, they were left orphans in their youth ; but they found a generous protector in their maternal uncle, Ibrahim Sahib, who held a trifling command of peons, under the Killedar or governor of Bangalore. Shabas gave early indications of talent and steadiness, and was soon advanced, under the Rajah of Mysore, to the command of two hundred * The Nerayets are descendants from the family of Hushein, whom Hejaj Biu Yusuf, a monster of cruelty, compiled to abandon their homes in Irak. They came into India in the beginning of the eighth century; and, though scattered over many provinces, may still be distin- guished by their fair complexions. They have, for the most part, studiously avoided intermarriages with any except their own stock. 212 BRITISH INDIA. [1755. horse and one thousand foot. Ilyder, on the con- trary, could never be persuaded even to read ; but, till the age of twenty-seven, lived chiefly by the chase, to which he was passionately addicted. When, however, the siege of Dernhully was formed, and his brother's corps employed before it, Hyder offered to serve as a volunteer, and exhibited so many proofs of a natural genius for war, as to draw upon himself the attention of Nunjeraj. He was rapidly advanced from one dignity to another, and when the place fell, was put in charge of one of the gates, as a commander of fifty horse and two hundred infantry. The breeze had now set decidedly in his favour, and Hyder took care, oy judiciously trimming his sails, that it should not blow in vain. He ex- pressed the most devoted attachment to Nunjevaj, at the same time that he seized every opportunity of further establishing his own character as a sol- dier; till, in 1755, when the progress of the Eng- lish alarmed the minister for the safety of Dunde- gul, Hyder was appointed governor. All things went well with him. He collected troops of his own, carried on, though with singular address, a system of indiscriminate plunder, laid up a con- siderable treasure, and began to aim at higher offices ; and though brought to the brink of ruin, by a defeat from Mahomed Issoof, when striving to obtain possession of Madura, he speedily re- covered from the blow. At this juncture, theRajah, uneasy under the state of thraldom in which he was kept, strove to cast off the yoke, and Hyder hastened to take advantage of the circumstance. With infinite skill, he managed to act the part of a 1759.] HYDER'S EARLY HISTORY. 213 friend to all sides ; and he received, as the reward of a reconciliation brought about by his interven- tion, the fort and district of Bangalore, with an assignment of all the revenues due to government. A war with the Mahrattas, in 1759, presented this bold adventurer with fresh opportunities of distinguishing himself. He was now advanced to the station of commander-in-chief of all the My- sore armies, and saw that there stood but one man, his original patron Nunjeraj, between him and the supreme control of the kingdom. In no stage of his career is Hyder open to the charge of having been withheld by a sense of honour or gratitude from prosecuting his own wishes. Find- ing the Rajah well disposed to renew his attempts at emancipation, Hyder, on this occasion, cordially espoused the cause ; and, by corrupting the troops of his rival, reduced him to the necessity of yield- ing without a struggle. Nunjeraj retired into pri- vate life with a pension, and Hyder became, what he had formerly been, the ostensible servant, and real master of the Rajah. This revolution occurred in 1759, when Lally, hard pressed by the English, solicited the assist- ance of Mysore. Hyder readily promised his sup- port ; but took care, before he detached any por- tion of his army, to make himself master of Anical and Baramahl, two provinces, the command of which secured to him, at all seasons, an easy pas- sage into Arcot. This done, he sent forward a corps, which obtained possession of the important fortress of Theagur, and made its way, as has already been related, to the French camp at Pon- dicherry. But the hopes of further conquest, 214 BRITISH INDIA. [1759. which the success obtained by this detachment over a body of English had excited, were not de- stined to be of long continuance. There suddenly arose, within Mysore itself, a storm, under which Hyder's fortunes had well-nigh suffered shipwreck, and which it required all his daring, and all his craft, to appease. Hyder lay at this time, but slenderly attended, under the guns of the palace of Seringapatam, where he believed that his influence was so surely rooted, that no counter-interest could affect it. He was mistaken in this idea ; for the widow of the late Rajah, and the mother, by adoption, of the pre- sent, had long beheld his ascendency with distrust ; and conceiving that the present moment offered a favourable opportunity for putting an end to it, she induced the Rajah to hazard the attempt. A negotiation was in consequence opened with a body of Mahrattas, who chanced to be in a neigh- bouring province ; but ere the expected assist- ance arrived, it was deemed advisable to commence operations. Hyder's camp was furiously cannon- aded ; and while he was yet in the dark concerning the circumstance to which the attack ought to be attributed, a corps of Mysoreans gradually encircled his detachment. There is little doubt that, but for the generosity of an individual to whom he had shown some kindness in other days, and who, in return, left a ferry-boat within his reach, Hyder must have perished on the spot. In that solitary wherry, however, he crossed the river after night- fall, and escaped alone, and covered with dust and sweat, to Bangalore. Once more was this singular man thrown upon 1759.] HYDER'S EARLY HISTORY. 215 the resources of his own genius ; and they did not fail him. He recalled his troops from Pon- dicherry, bribed the Mahrattas to withdraw, and took the field with all the expedition possible. Nevertheless, he was still greatly inferior to his enemies, foremost amongst whom was the ex- minister Nunjeraj. In this emergency, Hyder adopted an expedient, which few except himself would have thought of, and which would have scarcely been productive of success, except against a man so weak and vain as Nunjeraj. To gain time for the spread of corrviption in the hostile ranks, Hyder repaired, alone and unarmed, to the tent of his old patron. He made confession of his ingratitude, deeply deplored it, and, promising to devote his future life entirely to the service of Nunjeraj, prevailed upon that imprudent chief to receive him into favour. Meanwhile his emis- saries were neither idle nor penurious in their intercourse with the royalists; whilst a number of forged letters, as if from his principal officers, were thrown in the way of Nunjeraj. They spoke of a conspiracy as about to burst forth, and so wrought upon the fears of Nunjeraj, that he pre- cipitately fled from the camp. The rest of the story is soon told. Hyder's troops approached ; they attacked the royalists, divided among them- selves, and destitute of a leader, and defeated them with great slaughter. The result was, that Nun- jeraj, again pensioned off with one lac of rupees annually, resigned his pretensions, while the Raj ah was well pleased to give up to Hyder the whole of the revenue and management of the kingdom, on 216 BRITISH INDIA. [1759. condition of receiving a yearly allowance of three lacs. From this moment Hyder governed Mysore with a degree of vigour to which it had not previously been accustomed. He extended the bounds of his principality likewise over Sera ; he conquered the two Balipoors, wrested Goote from the Mahratta chieftain, Morari Row, received the submission of the polygars of Randroog, Horponelly, and Chittle- droog, and overran, with extraordinary facility, the rich principality of Bidnore. From Bidnore, after fully establishing his authority, he passed on to Sovrida, which he speedily connected with Sera by the subjugation of Savanoor; and, passing the Werda, the Malpoorba, and Gutpoorba, stretched his northern frontier almost to the Kistna. But his successes in this direction soon drew upon him a power more formidable than any which he had yet encountered, and placed, at least for a moment, the whole fabric of his empire in jeopardy. Though we have been repeatedly called vipon to speak of the movements of the Mahrattas, we have attempted no connected history of that re- markable people, since the final consolidation of their power under the immediate successor of Si- vajee. The truth, indeed, is, that such a history, if given, would contain little else than a narrative of predatory excursions, of frequent intestine quar- rels, and of constant intrigues. The descendants of the great Sivajee, inheriting little of their ances- tor's talents, sank, like many other native princes, into gradual insignificance, and the strength of the nation became parcelled out among a num- 1759.] THE MAHRATTAS. 217 her of chiefs, whose obedience to their sovereign was, in most instances, little more than nominal*. Among these, the peshwa, or prime minister, neces- sarily enjoyed the most extensive authority. His situation, placing at his disposal both the person and revenues of the Maharajah, gave to him, in the eyes of the people at large, great importance, and his individual resources were, generally speaking, not inferior to those of any other of the great nobles or heads of tribes. It was not designed by Siva- jee that the office should become hereditary, yet there is a tendency in all Hindoo institutions to- wards this point ; and though, in various instances, a collateral branch succeeded in usurping the place of the direct line, the peshwas, like their masters, followed each other from father to son. It was during the reign of Shao, the grandson of Sivagee, but the fourth in succession to the former, that the influence of the peshwa attained to its greatest height. The office was then held by Bal- lajee Bujee Rao, a man of great talents, great * The most important of these Mahratta independencies were, 1st, that of the Bhonslas, which, together with Cut- tach, and a part of Orissa, included the whole of the exten- sive province of Berar ; 2<1, that of the descendants of Pil- lagee Guicawar, which comprised the province of Guzerat ; and 3d, those of Holkar and Scindia, both of whom held extensive possessions in Malwa, and in the districts adja- cent to Berar and Oude. BirTbesidus these, there were many chiefs of no contemptible power, particularly Morari Row, who took an active part in the war of the Carnatic, and possessed Goote, with a considerable extent of territory on the Nizam's frontier. All these princes owed a species of nominal allegiance to the Maharajah, and would, when occasion required, unite their strength against a common enemy. BRITISH INDIA. [1750. energy, and boundless ambition. As the Maha- rajah was childless, for his only son died early, the peshwah prevailed upon him, when on his death- bed, to execute a deed, which constituted the mi- nister complete master of the Mahratta government, on condition of his perpetuating the rajah's name and keeping up the dignity of the house of Sivajee. Tin's, again, the minister proposed to do through an infant, the grandson of Shoa's uncle, the same Ram Raj who, during the period of Shoa's deten- tion at Delhi, had filled the Mahratta throne. All things fell out as Ballajee Bajee Rao could have wished, for the rajah no sooner expired than he caused the chief of his political opponents to be ar- rested, and, proclaiming Ramraja, entered, in 1750, upon the full exercise of his powers. From this period up to the fatal battle of Pun- niput, (1th January, 1161,) the power of the Mahrattas continued to extend itself in all direc- tions. They overcame large portions of Hindos- tan, held much of the Deccan in a species of vas- salage, and exacted chout from the latitude of Delhi as far as that of Tanjore. They appear, moreover, not to have deviated in any degree from the policy of their great regenerator ; for, while they equally abhorred all foreigners, they freely contracted alliances whenever an opportunity of- fered of bringing the swords of the Mohamedans against each other. Hence we find them in league sometimes with one nabob and sometimes with another, though uniformly exacting, not less from, friends than from enemies, important advantages to themselves. The great loss sustained in the battle of Punni- J750.] THE MAHRATTAS. 219 put retarded, for a season, their ambition, and called into active operation a spirit of anarchy, of which the elements had long been prepared. It became doubly operative on the demise of Ballajee Rao, the able and experienced peshwa, and the accession to office of his son, Mahdoo Rao, a youth just entered into his seventeenth year. A species of civil war was the consequence ; for when Nizam Ally took up arms to recover certain conquests wrested from him by Ballajee Rao, many of the chiefs served under his standard. Nor were affairs in a better plight after peace had been restored, and the Nizam withdrawn into his own country. Serious differences then arose between the young peshwa, and his uncle and guardian, Rugonath Rao, who exhibited a disposition to continue the system of restraint long after his nephew conceived that he was justified in so doing. A second intestine war ensued, which promised at one moment to shake the power of the nation to its base, and which was rendered comparatively innocuous only by the magnanimous behaviour of the youthful minister. He no sooner beheld the point towards which affairs were tending, than he voluntarily relinquished his pretensions, and sacrificed all schemes of personal ambition to the good of his country. It was high time that the Mahrattas, if they desired to continue an independent people, should unite among themselves, for Nizam Ally, now Soubahdar of the Deccan, was again on his march towards Poonah. Unable to oppose him in the field, the Mahrattas hovered round his camp, ha- rassed his columns, straitened them of supplies, 220 BRITISH INDIA. [1750. while they marched a light corps upon Hyderabad, with the intention of surprising it, or at least of recalling the Nizam to its defence. But they failed in effecting their object ; for Hyderabad, se- cured by its works, set their unskilful efforts at defiance, and their own capital, taken possession of by the Moguls, was plundered and burned. It was in this juncture that intelligence of the inva- sion of the Northern Circars by the English was communicated to Nizam Ally. He instantly drew off his troops, and, being followed and defeated in a great battle, made peace with one enemy, in order that he might oppose, with the undivided strength of the Deccan, the progress of another. How this was done, and on what terms the Eng- lish submitted to retain the Circars, has already been explained. Meanwhile the Mahrattas had not been inatten- tive to the proceedings of Hyder Ally, whose early conquest of Sera, and more recent aggressions on the principality of Morari Row, excited great in- dignation throughout the whole community. The peshwa put himself at the head of a numerous army, and, in spite of a stout resistance, compelled Hyder to abandon Goote, and pay a sum of thirty lacs of rupees, as compensation for expenses. He then withdrew, leaving the Mysorean leisure to consolidate his newly-acquired dominions, and ex- tend them still more widely by the conquest of Ma- labar. But the latter project was yet imperfectly realized, when information reached Hyder, which recalled him in all haste and great anxiety to Se- ringapatam. Anew alliance had, it appeared, been contracted between the Mahrattas, the Nizam, and 1750.] THE MAHRATTAS. 221 the English, and the troops of all three were in motion by different routes for the invasion of My- sore. Well aware of his inability to make effectual head against this formidable coalition, Hyder de- termined, if possible, to dissolve it. He began with the Mahrattas, who had already overrun a considerable portion of his territory, and by a promise to resign Sera, besides paying a sum of thirty- five lacs of rupees, he prevailed upon them to suspend all further hostile operations. Meanwhile, the Nizam, after wasting much pre- cious time in preparations, advanced by a more eastern route, while an English army hastened to support him from the Carnatic. The corps moved towards Colar, where the peshwa lay encamped ; but, instead of a friendly reception, the agents which they sent forward were treated with con- tempt, and the defection of one ally became appa- rent. This aptitude to desert a cause professedly espoused with zeal, was not, however, peculiar to the Mahrattas. Colonel Smith, who led the Eng- lish contingent, had long suspected that the Nizam was in treaty with Hyder, and a short space of time sufficed to convince him that his suspicions were well founded. On the llth of May, the Nizam moved in the direction of Bangalore ; he invited Smith to join him there, and Smith, in spite of many scruples, obeyed ; but the junction had scarce been effected ere he received positive information that the confederacy was dissolved. He withdrew sullenly and slowly towards his own frontier, leaving, at the earnest entreaty of the Madras government, which still affected to disbe- 222 BRITISH INDIA. [1750. lieve the Nizam's treachery, three battalions of infantry, with their cannon, in the Nizam's camp. While the confederates were in march for the northward, a second corps of English was engaged in Barahmal, in feeble and ill-directed efforts to reduce that important province. Destitute of heavy artillery, and poorly supplied with ammu- nition, the officer in command soon discovered that the hill-forts, with which Barahmal abounds, were proof against his attacks. Having suffered some loss before Kistnagherry, he endeavoured to reduce it by blockade, an operation unavoidably tedious, and, in existing circumstances, highly impolitic. He had made but little progress, when the return of Colonel Smith, and the state of feel- ing among the confederates, were reported to him, upon which he broke up his camp, joined Smith, and marched with him to the eastern foot of the Ghauts. There is some satisfaction in being able to de- tect, among so much perfidy and deceit, one soli- tary trait of chivalrous feeling in the conduct of the Nizam. The plans of that chief were no sooner matured, than he directed the English bat- talions, so incautiously left at his mercy, to depart ; and he permitted them to gain several days' march in the direction of their friends, ere he threw off the mask. Then, however, he made haste to join Hyder, who had already changed his preparations from a defensive, into those necessary for offensive war, and early in August the new allies were in position on the ridges of the mountains. On the 25th of that month, hostilities began, by a sur- prise of Smith's cattle when grazing under a weak 1750.] THE MAHRATTAS. 223 guard, and the siege and capture of one of his for- tified posts, called Caveripatam. Though the Madras government indicated an extreme aversion to abandon all hope of reconcili- ation with the Nizam, it had not been inattentive to the repeated assurances of General Smith, that war was inevitable. Under a sort of involuntary conviction that the general's suspicions might prove correct, a body of troops were directed to advance from Trichinopoly to his support ; and the fortified pagoda of Trinomalee, to the eastward of the first range of hills, was pointed out as a conve- nient spot at which the two corps might form a junction. By some unexplained oversight, Hyder, whose information never failed him, and who was perfectly well aware of this movement, neglected to throw himself between Smith's army and the pass of Changama ; he continued, on the contrary, in his strong position, which he had rendered doubly inaccessible by works, as if satisfied that Smith's necessities would drive him to hazard an attack ; nor could all the remonstrances of the Nizam pre- vail upon him to adopt a bolder policy. The con- sequence was, that Smith, after suffering severely during some days, began his retreat unmolested, and gained the entrance of the critical defile, ere an attempt was made to annoy him. But the Nizam's expostulations at length prevailed. Hyder followed the English with great rapidity, came up with their rear while yet entangled in the pass, and repeatedly charged it both with cavalry and infantry, but was repulsed in every attempt with a degree of steadiness deserving of the highest com- mendation. Nevertheless, the Mysoreans, though 224 BRITISH INDIA. [1752 worsted in the field, and driven back with the loss of two guns, continued to break in upon Smith's slender convoy of rice, and destroyed it. This misfortune, besides reducing the English to the necessity of continuing their retreat with increased precipitation, compelled them to seek shelter in Trinomalee. Colonel Smith had been assured by the Madras government, that the Nabob had abundantly stored this place with every article of which his army was likely to stand in need. He found it totally destitute of cleared rice, and supplied with paddy, or rice in the husk, sufficient only for a few days con- sumption of his overwrought and famishing sepoys. Nevertheless, his necessities compelled him to retain possession of it as a point d'appui for the detachments, whenever they went out in search of provisions ; while the confederates, closing round him, fortified a position, and evinced a disposition to force him to action. Smith was fortunate enough to discover large quantities of rice which had been hidden by the country people under ground. With this he recruited the strength of his followers ; and being now reinforced by the junction of Colonel Wood's division, amounting altogether to ten thou- sand men, he determined to try the fortune of a battle. It took place on the 26th of September, and ended completely in favour of Smith, who captured sixty-four pieces of cannon in the action and the pursuit, and so thoroughly broke the spirit of Nizam Ally, that he began immediately to re- pent of his precipitate connexion with Hyder. Nor was this the only favourable result that accrued from the victory. It recalled from the immediate J769.] THE MAHRATTAS. 225 vicinity of Madras, Hyder's son, Tippoo, who had been detached with a body of five thousand horse to ravage the open country, and which had plun- dered the very villas of the president and members of council, failing to capture the highest of these functionaries only by an accident. The approach of the rainy season, and the scarcity of supplies, compelled Colonel Smith, soon after the battle of Trinomalee, to distribute his army into winter quarters. Hyder gladly availed himself of the opportunity to reduce several places of lesser importance in the vicinity of Ballag- haut ; but from Amboor, to which he laid claim, and of which he expected to obtain possession through the treachery of the killedar, he was repulsed with loss. Meanwhile his ally Nizam Ally exhibited unequivocal symptoms of dissatisfac- tion at the issue of the campaign. Information coming in likewise of the descent of a British force from Bengal, which had penetrated, with not less conduct than daring, as far as Commanut and Wanagul, his alarm became excited to an extra- vagant pitch ; and when Hyder again suffered de- feat, in an attempt to cut off an entire detachment under Major Fitzgerald, he could no longer be re- strained from opening a negotiation with Colonel Smith. It ended, after some delays, in a separate peace between the Nizam and the English, on terms highly favourable to the latter, though the reverse of oppressive to the former. Nor is it the least curious part of this transaction, that Hyder was not for an instant kept ignorant of the progress of the negotiation. His spies kept him regularly informed of the proceedings of his ally, yet he VOL. ii. Q BRITISH INDIA. [1769. dissembled his indignation, and permitted the trai- tor to depart in peace, with the remark, that the present was not a favourable moment for a union of the Mohammedan powers against the infidels. At this critical junctxire of his affairs, Hyder was suddenly alarmed by accounts of the rebellion of many of the chiefs of Malabar, and of a threat- ened landing on that coast of a force from Bombay. He left a division of cavalry to mask his move- ment, and circulating various reports of his inten- tions, suddenly inarched with the main body of his army westward. Here he obtained several suc- cesses over both the English and the malcontents, expelled the former, and reduced the latter to obe- dience. He was absent on this expedition up- wards of six months ; yet such was the discipline which he had established both in his camp and among the officers of police, that Colonel Smith was not made aware of the true state of affairs till the moment for availing himself of it had passed away. Rumours, on the contrary, being industri- ously circulated that Hyder was marching to op- pose the Mahrattas that he had made a desert of his own frontier, and would, on the first alarm, return to defend it, both Smith and the Madras government felt themselves at a loss how to act. The former, indeed, conceived that, under such circumstances, it would be madness to abandon his supplies ; the latter were clearly of opinion that Mysore ought to be invaded; and Smith, being naturally of a pliable and easy temper, gave way. A series of trifling operations followed, in which a few petty forts were reduced, and the heads of the great mountain-passes won; but the troops 1769.] THE MAHRATTAS. 227 employed were too scanty to make the most of their conquests, or to act efficiently after they had been acquired. Thus was the entire summer wasted, till Hyder, after enriching himself with the confiscations with which he chastised the rebels in Malabar, returned early in August, to give a new character to the war. We cannot pretend to offer any connected nar- rative of the complicated, but petty manoeuvres which attended the renewal of active operations. On the part of the English these led almost inva- riably to disasters, the consequences of faulty ar- rangements, and of gross incapacity in execution ; on the part of Hyder they consisted principally in harassing his enemies by frequent attacks, and cutting off in detail the many detachments which had been made from their main army. It has been stated that, in the first campaign, Barah- mal was reduced, and the summits of the Ghauts occupied ; it was the design of the English to open the second with the capture of Ban- galore. But their great anxiety to secure the con- quests already gained, rendered this enterprise totally impracticable. With a strange ignorance of the first principle of his art, Colonel Wood, on whom, after the return of Colonel Smith to Ma- dras, the command devolved, thought fit to occupy a number of untenable posts, detached from one another, in no case less than ten, in some cases as much as forty miles. Into each of these he threw one, two, or three companies, and the consequence was that Hyder had only to march against them, in order to reduce them in detail. But glaring as this error was, it formed but a single link in a Q 2 228 BRITISH INDIA. [17G9. whole chain of blunders. On one occasion Co- lonel Wood permitted himself to be attacked un- awares, and escaped absolute destruction only through the extraordinary presence of mind of a wounded officer, Captain Brookes. On another, the whole of his baggage, with his battering guns, were taken, by the surprise of a mud fort into which he had incautiously thrown them. Yet palpable as the incapacity of this gentleman was, it were an act of injustice not to attribute some share of the disgrace of the campaign to the Madras go- vernment. Even when the army was led by Smith, a man prompt in action, though somewhat too ready to yield his own judgment to that of others, they did their best to render it inefficient r by sending into camp two members of council, with full powers to regulate the conduct of the general, whilst all arrangements of supply, as well as the regulation of the conquered provinces, were especially intrusted to Mohamed Ally. Never, since the days of Marlborough and his field-depu- ties, had a more impolitic measure been devised ; and as the talents of Marlborough were not, on the present occasion, opposed to it, all the evils, of which it was the natural source, occurred. So early as the previous September, Hyder had endeavoured to negotiate a peace, when his ad- vances were met with haughtiness, and his pro- posals rejected. It was now the turn of the Ma- dras government to make overtures, which were treated with great respect and manly firmness. But Hyder's views not corresponding with those of the English emissary, the negotiations led to nothing ; and, after an armistice of twelve days' 1769.] THE MAHRATTAS. 229 continuance, the war was renewed. It was now that the Mysorean gave proofs of those extraordi- nary talents for war which have ranked him among the first generals, not of India only, hut of his age. He descended the Ghauts at points where least of all he was expected ; he ravaged the Southern Carnatic in all directions ; and, while his own people were abundantly supplied, caused his ene- mies, though acting in their own country, to suffer the extremity of want. Even Smith, whom the government restored to his command, and left free from the annoyance of field-deputies, though he repeatedly baffled and crossed him in his designs, found it impracticable to bring on a battle. In this manner the two armies manoeuvred during three months, the route of the Mysoreans being traced by the smoke of burning villages, and the absolute desolation which they left in their rear. Still the capital appeared to be safe ; for, in addi- tion to Smith's force, there was an army of re- serve intended especially to cover Madras, and of this, as the means of ensuring their own personal safety, the council determined to keep the direc- tion in their own hands. Nevertheless all their caution proved useless. Hyder, after threatening Congeveram, suddenly fell off to the westward, and conducted the movement with such skill, as to draw after him both divisions, Colonel Smith pressing hard upon the rear of his army, and Colo- nel Laing, the officer in command of the reserve, following at an interval of one day's march. Such was the precise object which Hyder desired to accomplish. Having carried them upwards of one hundred and thirty miles from the capital, he 230 BRITISH INDIA. [17G9. suddenly quitted his own army, which he directed to continue its route towards the Ghauts, and at the head of five thousand cavalry and one thousand infantry, unincumbered even with cannon, threaded his way back upon Madras. On the morning of the third day he reached St. Thomas's Mount, within five miles of the city. There was no longer a disinclination on the part of the English authori- ties to accept peace, even at his dictation. They sent out to him M. Du Pre, a plenipotentiary chosen by himself; and on condition that a mutual res- titution of conquests should take place, and that the contracting parties should agree to assist each other in all defensive wars, an end was put to the contest. It is impossible to review the evils attending this memorable war, without receiving a lively impression of the extraordinary talents displayed by Hyder, both as a diplomatist and an officer. He took the field with an army superior both in discipline and equipment to any which an Indian prince had ever before commanded ; and as the entire merit of rendering it so rests with him, so was his management of it, when called upon to act, worthy of our unqualified commendation. Not ignorant that his followers, though drilled and armed after the European fashion, were wanting in that stubborn courage which seems peculiar to Europeans, he rarely committed them, however superior in point of numbers, in open fitrht with the English ; or if he did, it was invariably under circumstances which seemed to promise more than a compensation for that deficiency. But in the rapidity of his movements in the excellence 1769.] THE MAIIRATTAS. 231 of his intelligence in the facility with which he subsisted his own troops, while his adver- saries were starving in these, which constitute, after all, the most difficult lessons in the art of war, he showed himself a perfect master. It is true that he enjoyed many and great advantages. His cavalry was numerous, active, well organised, and enterprising; whereas the English could mus- ter only a single squadron of European dragoons, and the Nabob's horse were useless : but this fact, so far from taking away from his renown, only adds to it. The same materials from which to create an efficient cavalry existed on both sides : it was the fault of the English system that none served under it. With respect again to his merits as a statesman, these are exhibited, not only in the pacification which he actually obtained, but in the whole series of his negotiations, from the commencement to the close of hostilities. When the English endeavoured to treat with him on a previous occasion,he received their envoy, Captain Brook, with marked respect; and, though in the midst of a career of conquest, advanced no demands indicative of the presump- tion which usually attends success. He blamed the English for their unworthy svibmission to a powerless puppet such as Mahomed Ali ; pointed out to them how much it would redound to their own honour were they to set him aside ; made a ten- der of his own alliance on terms of perfect equality, and avowed that he did so, because he believed that the arrangement would prove advantageous to both parties. He never pretended to conceal, that it was necessary for him to connect himself 232 BRITISH INDIA. [17C9. either with the English or with the Mahrattas ; he stated that he would greatly prefer the former to the latter; but added, that if the English re- jected him, he must, as a matter of self-preserva- tion, throw himself into the arms of the Peshwah. From these views he never deviated ; and the de- fensive alliance into which he enveigled M. Du Pre as completely realized them as if a different form of words had heen employed. It was of an attack from the Mahrattas that he had just cause to be afraid ; he therefore gained his end so soon as he had bound the English to assist him in re- pelling it. Hyder has been accused, and with too much justice, of violating the terms on which many forts capitulated during the war. He did so ; but unfortunately he found in one of the forts which fell, an English officer, a Captain Robinson, who had given his parole not long previously, and been set at liberty. Had Hyder put the individual to death, and kept faith with his companions, the proceeding \vould have been unquestionably more to his honour ; but let us not forget, that Hyder received his education in a school where nice principles of honour are not recognized. Besides, he had too much reason to believe that the culprit was not unsanctioned in his guilt by the govern- ment under which he acted. But, however this may be, the instances in question appear as excep- tions rather than as the rule, for Hyder is acknow- ledged, in his general character, to have been as ostentatious of good faith, as he was prompt in seizing a pretence for its violation. If we look again to the conduct of the English, 1769.] THE MAHRATTAS. 233 we shall find it characterised by a mixture of ar- rogance and incapacity, such as can rarely be paralleled. Of Colonel Smith, military historians speak respectfully. They describe him as a man cool in danger, and sagacious in meeting an emer- gency; but the organization of his army (for which he was not accountable) must be admitted to have been as defective, as the system followed in directing it was absurd. Colonel Smith, more- over, laboured under a Aveakness, destructive, in a great degree, of almost every other military talent. He was apt to follow the advice of others, even when his own better judgment stood opposed to it ; and hence, in the very commencement of his career, he fell into errors, such as he never after- wards found an opportunity to redress. Of the appointment of field-deputies, again, with all its consequences, it is unnecessary to say anything ; while the haughtiness with which Hyder's early attempts at pacification were repelled, could be equalled only by the cowardice which permitted him to dictate his own terms at last. The truth however is, that, as yet, the English in India neither knew their own strength, nor were aware of the proper means of exerting it ; and hence they were as easily depressed by misfortune, no matter from what source it might originate, as they were apt to be elated by success. The preliminaries of peace were no sooner signed, than Hyder returned to his army, which he laid up for refreshment in Bangalore, while the English applied themselves to remedy the evils which the invasion of their territory had occa- sioned. 234 BRITISH INDIA. [1770. CHAPTER X. Stale of affairs in Bengal -Changes in the Company's go* vernment by the act of 1773 Hastings's early administra- tion View of the system of internal administration The emperor returns to Delhi The Mahraltas threaten Rohilcund The Vizier and the English oppose them^ The Vizier turns his army against the Rohillas Allaha- bad and Corah sold to him by Hastings The Rohillas subdued. WHILE these important matters were in progress under the Presidency of Fort St. George, the msre northern provinces experienced a total exemp- tion from external danger and internal anarchy. Several changes occurred, it is true, in the persons of the nominal rulers. In 1766, the Nabob, Nizam ul Dowla, died, and was succeeded by his brother, Syeff ul Dowla, a youth sixteen years of age; while, in 17*70, Syeff being attacked by the small-pox, made way, in his turn, for the ele- vation of a brother still younger, Mubarick ul Dowla. Such revolutions, however, had long ceased to affect, in any degree, the tranquillity of the provinces. Indeed, it was only by the arrival of a despatch from the Court of Directors, requir- ing the pecuniary allowance of the minor Soubah- dar to be curtailed, that either the natives or the English were made to feel that the musnud had 1770.] STATE OF AFFAIRS IN BENGAL. 235 received a new occupant. With respect again to the affairs of the Company, these continued to be conducted almost after the fashion which had characterized their administration for some time previously. There came out, from time to time, summary directions that the inland trade, espe- cially in salt, hetel, and tobacco, should be left to the natives ; and the local government, after exer- cising ample delay, saw reason to submit ; but to the repeated demands for increased treasure, and the repeated protestations against drafts upon the court at home, no attention was paid. Thus passed the three years, in which Mr. Verelst, Lord dive's successor, filled the president's chair ; and when he resigned it, in December, 1770, to Mr. Cartier, profound tranquillity prevailed throughout Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa. Meanwhile, the anomalous relation in which the Company stood towards both the-Government and people of Great Britain, began to excite no slight share of attention in all circles. Notice has already been taken of the measures which parliament esteemed it necessary to adopt, for the purpose of establishing a right of control over both the revemies and territorial management of India ; nor did it appear that the legislature was inclined to limit its interference with the period of time specified in the act. Before the 1st of February, 1769, arrived, the affairs of India be- came again a subject of Parliamentary investiga- tion ; and it required all the management of the Company, which had now become an influential body in the community, to secure their chartered privileges, or what they considered as such, against 236 BRITISH INDIA. [1770. invasion. In April of the same year, however, a bill was passed, which secured to the Company a further enjoyment of the revenues of India during five years longer, on condition that the Company would continue the contribution to the state of 400,000/., and export annually articles of British manufacture to the amount of 300,000/., and up- wards. Nevertheless, the perfect right of Par- liament to interfere in the regulation of the Com- pany's dividends was asserted; and the amount, to be paid under circumstances particularly noticed, was specified. To all this the Company submitted, if not with perfect cheerfulness, at least without repining. But the period was approaching when still greater sacrifices than these behoved to be made. The Court, indignant at the overthrow' of those hopes of wealth, which they, in common with the proprietors^ had of late been taught to encou- rage, determined on sending out a commission for the purpose of inquiring on the spot; and had actually named the individuals who were to com- pose it, when, to their amazement, the government interposed. It was asserted by the minister, that the Company possessed no right to effect any change whatever in the government of the pro- vinces ; and that, if such were intended, it rested with him to order it, as well as to take a share in it, when arranged. Nor was this all. In reply to an application from the Court for the assistance of a squadron of king's ships, it was required that the commodore should be vested with full powers of acting as the representative of his sovereign in all transactions between the Company and the native princes, which had any reference to mari- 1772.] CHANGES IN THE GOVERNMENT. 237 time affairs. Against both propositions the Court of Directors warmly protested ; and, in the end, they so far prevailed, that a few frigates were fur- nished on their own terms, and the commission was permitted to proceed. It never reached its destination, for of the ship which conveyed its members, Mr. Vansittart, Mr. Scrafton, and Colonel Ford, no tidings have been heard up to the present hour. For some time after the grant of the Dewanny, the proprietors persisted in believing that the pro- mises held out to them by Clive and others, though slow in attaining their accomplishment, would eventually be fulfilled. Acting upon this persuasion, they continued from year to year, in defiance of an exhausted treasury, and constant reports of poverty from abroad, to increase the amount of the dividends, raising them gradually from six to ten, and from ten to twelve and a half per cent. These desperate proceedings hurried the affairs of the Company to a crisis. On the 8th of July, 1772, on an estimate of cash for the next three months, in other words, on an esti- mate of the payments falling due, and of the cash and receipts applicable to meet them, there ap- peared a deficiency to the full amount of 1,293,000/. On the 15th of July, the Directors were reduced to the necessity of applying to the Bank for a loan of 400,0007. On the 29th of the same month, they solicited an additional loan of 300,0007., of which the bank would advance only two-thirds ; and on the 10th of August, the chairman and deputy-chairman waited upon the minister, to represent that the very existence of the Company 238 BRITISH INDIA. [1772. depended on its borrowing at least one million from the public. It required but some such ex- planation as this to excite the loudest clamour throughout the country ; while the minister, nothing loath, hastened to recommend to the legislature, that it should interpose " with new laws for the supplying of defects or remedying disorders " in a branch of the national affairs, which, " as well from remoteness of place as from other circumstances, was peculiarly liable to abuses, and exposed to danger." The recommendation just quoted, formed part of the king's speech, with which the session of 1772 was opened ; and in November of the same year, a committee was formed, for the purpose of inquiring into the state of the Company's affairs. In due time a report was delivered in, which was almost immediately followed by the introduction of a bill, so framed, as in a great degree to remodel the constitution of the Company's government both at home and abroad. It was enacted, " 1st. That the Court of Directors should, in future, in- stead of being chosen annually, be elected for four years; six members annually, but none to hold their seats for longer than four years. 2nd. That the qualification-stock should be 1000/. in- stead of 500/.; that 3000/. should confer two votes, and 6000/. three votes. 3rd. That, in lieu of the Mayor's Court, the jurisdiction of which was limited to small mercantile causes, a supreme court of judicature, consisting of a supreme judge, and three puisne judges, should be appointed by the crown, with great and extended powers of cognizance over the civil and criminal jurisdiction 1772.] CHANGES IN THE GOVERNMENT. 239 of the subjects of England, their servants and de- pendents, residing within the Company's territories in Bengal. 4th. That a governor-general and four councillors should Le appointed to Fort Wil- liam, and vested with full powers over the other presidencies. When any differences should occur, the opinion of the majority was to be decisive; and this board was instructed by the act to trans- mit regular reports of its proceedings to the Directors ; who were, within fourteen days of the receipt of these despatches, to furnish copies of them .to one of his Majesty's secretaries of state, to whom they were also to send copies of any rules and ordinances which they should have made; and these, if disapproved by his Majesty, were to become null and void. A subsidiary clause to this bill provided, that the first governor-general and councillors should be appointed by parlia- ment, and hold their offices for five years, after which the right of patronage should revert to the Directors, though still subject to approval by the crown. Great was the indignation both of the Directors and the proprietors, when the contents of the pro- posed bill became public. They exclaimed against the measure as destructive of all vested rights ; they sent in numerous petitions against it, and prevailed upon various corporations among others, upon that of the city of London itself to join them in their remonstrances. But opposition availed not. The act passed both houses by great and decisive majorities ; it received the royal assent, and became a portion of the law of the land. The arrangements concerning the business 240 BRITISH INDIA. [17~3 at home were appointed to commence on the 1 st of October, 1773 ; those which concerned the foreign administration, on the 1st of August, 1774. Such is a brief outline of the first measure adopted to ensure, on the authority of the British legislature, the blessings of an efficient government to his Majesty's subjects in India. It would serve little purpose were we to criticise very minutely a system Avhich has long ago suffered, in all its essential points, extensive modification ; but no unprejudiced person can, we presume, turn to it even a careless eye, without being struck with its excessive absurdity and unfitness. Of the chancres effected in the constitution of the Court of Di- rectors, and the raising of the qualification of vote from 500/. to 1000/., we are not disposed to say anything in condemnation. There is little doubt that a ruling body, which depends from year to year for existence upon the caprice of constituents generally less enlightened than itself, will be more apt to attend to the known wishes of their consti- tuents in its system of management, than to the calls of abstract duty, or the dictates of reason. In such a corporation as the East India Company, indeed, this seems to be particularly the case ; and hence the clause, which secured to the Di- rectors a continuance in office for the space of four years, cannot be classed among the provisions which we have designated as absurd. So also with respect to the confining of the right of vote to the possessor of 1000/. stock and upwards, the measure, if it demands not our positive ap- probation, seems scarcely deserving of censure. No doubt the owner of 500/. may be quite as en- 1773.] CHANGES IN THE GOVERNMENT. 241 lightened as the owner of 1000/., and equally capable, in ordinary cases, of exercising with dis- cretion the right of franchise; but experience has shown, that where the question of dividend is at issue, the voter upon a small capital is always more unreasonable than the voter upon a large. On this ground we are far from objecting to the enactment, which withdrew the chief management of the Company's affairs from a class of persons, in whose eyes every consideration may be presumed to have been light, when compared with the in- crease of their individual income. But to the arrangement which trusted the minister, on whom no responsibility lay, with an absolute control over the conduct of the Indian government, it is impossible to apply other terms than those of unqualified condemnation. Its immediate conse- quence was, that from henceforth the favour and aid of the British cabinet became indispensable to the governor-general ; and as there was but one mode of securing this, the principal patronage of India came into the minister's hands. He needed but to recommend some friend of his own to office, and the governor-general, if he desired to retain the countenance of the government, must, however little qualified the individual might be, attend to the recommendation. In like manner, it seems difficult to account for the introduction of that clause into the bill, which established a supreme court of judicature for the administration of English law, in a country where the habits, manners, religious feelings, and local customs of the people, were all violently opposed to the spirit of that law. Yet even this was not the full ex- VOL. II. R 242 BRITISH INDIA. [1773. tent to which the evil rose. The powers of the supreme court were so inadequately defined, that it remained a matter of serious doubt whether they did not absolutely supersede those of the gq^ern- ment itself; and a door was in consequence opened for contests between the rival authorities, which had well-nigh shaken to its base the whole fabric of the Anglo-Indian empire. We have said that the right of appointing the first governor-general, as well as the members of coun- cil under the new act, was reserved to the crown. The individuals nominated were,Mr. Warren Hast- ings as governor-general, General Clavering, Mr. Monson, Mr. Banvel, and Mr. (afterwards Sir Phi- lip) Francis,as members of council. It so happened that Mr. Hastings was already at the head of the go- vernment of Bengal, to which, on the retirement of Mr. Car tier, he had, in the beginning of 1772, succeeded. The other gentlemen lost no time in proceeding to the scene of their labours, whither, in 1744, they were followed by the new judges. These were Elijah Impey, Esq., chief justice; Robert Chambers, Esq., Stephen C. Le Maistre, Esq., and John Hyde, Esq., puisne judges. They took leave of the Court of Directors on the 28th of March, with assurances that they would use their utmost endeavours to render their appoint- ments serviceable to the Company. How far these assurances were attended to in practice, will be best seen in the sequel. We have now arrived at a stage of our history, when it becomes necessary to a right understand- ing of that which is to follow, that the reader should be put in possession of a general outline of 1765.] INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION. 243 the system of internal management hitherto pur- sued in the provinces. We need scarcely ob- serve, that the great object towards which the attention of the local authorities was directed, was the realizing of such a revenue as should satisfy the extravagant expectations of the holders of India stock. To this, indeed, every other con- sideration was held to be subservient ; indeed there never came a despatch from home, which contained not repeated intimations that the Courts were highly dissatisfied with the miserable issue of so many promises. That the local authorities were not, in all instances, so attentive to the interests of their employers as they might have been, we have already stated. Nevertheless, they were not back- ward in adopting new plans as often as those hitherto in use proved inefficient ; and the follow- ing may be taken as a brief summary of these changes, from the assumption of the Dewanny, down to the year 1174. It has been stated elsewhere, that the Dewan's authority over the provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, was conferred in perpetuity on the East India Company by a firman, or grant from the emperor, in August, 1765. The Nabob of Bengal, Nujin ul Dowla, had already, as the condition of his succeeding to the musnud, on the decease of his father, Meer Jaflfier, agreed to intrust the administration of the Soubahdarry to the management of a Naib, or deputy, appointed by the governor in council. By a second treaty, dated 30th of September, 1765, the Nabob re- cognised the grant of the Dewanny to the Com- pany, and consented to accept a fixed stipend for a 2 244 BRITISH INDIA. [1770. the maintenance of himself and his household ; while any further expenses which might be found necessary for the support of his dignity were, within certain limits, to be disbursed through the deputy chosen by the English government. There were at this time two influential natives, by name Mahomed Riza Khan and Shed Shetab Roy, to whom the office of Naib was respectively in- trusted. Of these, the former, residing at Moor- shedabad, administered the affairs of Orissa and of so much of Bengal as was not included within the Zemindarry of Calcutta, the twenty-four Per- gunnahs, and the ceded districts Burdwan, Med- napore, and Chittagong ; whilst the latter, fixing his station at Patna, superintended the manage- ment of Bahar. Though Lord Clive took his place, in 1776, as Dewan, or collector for the Mogul, and, in con- cert with the Nabob, who acted as Nazim, or supreme magistrate, opened the courts of revenue at Mootyghul and Moorshedabad ; and though the civil and military power of the country, as well as the resources for maintaining it, were thus for- mally assumed on the part of the East India Com- pany, it was not thought prudent, either by the Court of Directors or the local government, to vest the immediate management of the revenue, or the administration of justice, in the hands of their European servants. The degree of know- ledge generally possessed by the European ser- vants of the Company at that time was not, in- deed, such as to sanction such a step ; the go- vernment, therefore, contented themselves with stationing a resident at the Nabob's court, who 1769.] INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION. 245 should exercise a general control over the conduct of Mahomed Reza Khan ; while to the chief of the factory at Patna, similar powers were granted of inspection and check in the proceedings of Shetab Roy. In this state things continued till the month of August, 1769, very little to the satisfaction either of the Company or their servants ; when, the receipts falling infinitely short of general expec- tation, it was resolved that an immediate inter- ference on the part of Europeans was necessary. Supervisors were accordingly appointed, to control, in different parts of the country, the natives em- ployed in collecting the revenue and administering justice; and councils, with superior authority, were established, in the year following, both at Moorsheclabad and Patna. But the duties intrusted to the supervisors extended further than this. They were instructed to obtain a summary history of the provinces; to inquire into the state, the pro- duce, and the capacity of the lands ; to ascertain the amount of the revenues, the cesses or arbitrary taxes, and of all demands whatsoever which might be made upon the cultivators ; the manner of col- lecting them, and the date of their origin ; and to make themselves acquainted with the regulations which affected commerce, and the system upon which justice was administered. There is no longer room to doubt, that, in some important particulars, the supervisors were themselves mistaken ; but the general report, as far as regarded the existing condition of the country, was as correct as it was melancholy. They represented that " the revenue system was, throughout, utterly corrupt; that 246 BRITISH INDIA. [1760. the Nazims (the chief officers of state) exacted what they could from the Zemindars, and in^eat farmers of the revenue, whom they left at liberty to plunder all below, reserving to themselves the privilege of plundering them in their turn, when they were supposed to have enriched themselves with the spoil of the country ;" whilst of the administration of justice, it was stated, " that the regular course was everywhere suspended; but that every man exercised it who had the power of compelling others to submit to his decisions." This was a very deplorable account of the condi- tion of a country, from the superiority over which so many benefits had been anticipated ; yet it was scarcely different from what might have been expected to arise out of the many wars and revo- lutions to which it had recently been subjected. Had the Court of Directors been possessed, at this early period, of even a moderate acquaint- ance with the ancient usages of India, it is by no means improbable that, glaring as these evils were, they might have been effectually remedied. By instructing their servants to restore, in the first place, vigour to a government which had become enfeebled in all its departments, through the weakness of its head, they would have made the -best preparation for such changes as the course of events was likely to force upon them ; but this they neglected to do. Attributing the falling off in the revenue to the extreme corruption of the native character, they assumed that the cor- ruption in question was irremediable, and hence that they themselves should never be able to realize the wealth which was their due, till the 1771] INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION. 247 entire management of affairs had passed into other hands. In a letter to the president and council, bearing date the 28th of August, 1771, it was accordingly declared that the Company had de- termined " to stand forth as dewan, and, by the agency of their own servants, to take upon them- selves the entire care and management of the revenue." Never was so gigantic a change in the arrangements of any portion of human society brought about with such a total absence of care and consideration. It was imagined in Leaden- hall-street, that the determination here expressed would merely supersede one set of revenue officers by another ; whereas, it led to an innovation by which the whole property of the country, and along with it the administration of justice, was placed upon a new foundation. The radical misconception which led to many important errors exhibited in the legislation of this period was that which swayed men relative to the proprietary right in the soil. Because they beheld the agents of the native government re- lieved from all the restraints to which they had anciently been subject, and wringing from the poor ryots by far the greater proportion of the fruits of their labour an opinion almost universally pre- vailed, that the sovereign was the sole landed pro- prietor in India, and that, though he might have permitted his collectors to retain an hereditary interest in the collections, he was legally autho- rised to dispose of the lands in any manner which should to himself appear most beneficial. Again, the exercise of those judicial functions, which be- longed to the office of zemindar, and for which, 248 BRITISH INDIA. [1772. during the vigour of the Mogul government, the zemindar was held strictly accountable, appeared, in the eyes of our countrymen, who beheld it only when fallen into abuse, as a wanton usurpation of authority. They could not understand by what law, or upon what principles of equity, the re- ceiver of the sovereign's rents should also be the judge in cases of dispute, arising out of the con- duct of his own officers ; and still less were they able to comprehend whence the magisterial juris- diction of this merely revenue officer could be de- rived. They determined to interfere effectually for the redress of so many abuses, and in doing so they revolutionised the entire order of society. The first proceeding of the council, which met on the 14th May, 1772, in obedience to the in- structions recorded above, was to declare the office of naib-dewan abolished ; and in its place a board of revenue, consisting of the president and council, an accountant-general, with assistants, was established at Calcutta. To the same place were the khalsa, or exchequer, and the treasury, heretofore supported at Moorshedabad, commanded to be removed ; whilst to the former a full esta- blishment of native officers, such as the volumi- nous and important business appertaining to it required, was appointed. This was a sweeping measure enough, and when the original duties demanded of the governor and council are taken into account, it will probably be esteemed the reverse of a prudent one j but it was a specimen of absolute wisdom, when contrasted with other changes to which it formed a prelude. Having instituted some inquiries into the nature of the 1772.] INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION. 249 various imposts to which the ryots were subject, the government, with the best possible intentions, abolished all such as appeared to be most vexa- tious and oppressive. So far no blame can be attached to them ; but the act with which they followed up this deed of grace has rarely been equalled in point of iniquity under any govern- ment in ancient or modern times. It was re- solved to let the whole lands of the provinces to the best bidders yet to grant to the ryots leases for five years, on the face of which every exaction to which they were liable should be explicitly stated. Had the notion which then prevailed relative to the nature of landed property been correct had it been true that the governments of India possessed a proprietary right in the soil, and could therefore by law dispose of their own to tenants at will, the adoption of a system to w : hich all the prejudices of the people stood opposed, would have been, to say the least of it, impolitic. But when it is further considered that there was not a field in Bengal, Bahar, or Orissa which was not the property of some owner, and that these very owners were, in nine, cases out often, its occupants and cultivators, the justice of a law which went to dispossess them of this right, in order that their rulers might enjoy a greater amount of land tax, need not be discussed. The measure was as arbitrary as it was cruel, and it led to nothing. It was to no purpose that the supervisors were henceforth denominated collec- tors, that they were furnished with native as- sistants, and invested with authority to receive the taxes from the payers. Neither this nor the avi- 250 BRITISH INDIA. [1772. dity with which farmers came forward to bid, se- cured to the Company any increase of revenue; for these, offering more than they found themselves ahle to discharge, soon fell into arrears, and the receipts proved as little satisfactory as they had been previous to the change of system. Equally unsatisfactory in all its points were the arrangements entered into for the reform of those abuses in the administration of justice, of which the supervisors complained. These consisted in the erection of two courts in each provincial divi- sion, or collectorship, one by the name of Dewanny, or civil court, for the cognizance of civil causes ; the other named Foujedarry, or criminal court, for the trial of crimes and misdemeanours. Over the civil court, the collector presided on the part of the Company, in their capacity of king's dewan, where he was attended by the provincial native dewan, and the other officers of the collector's court. To this jurisdiction were referred all disputes concerning property, real or personal; all causes of inheritance, marriage, or caste ; all claims of debt, disputed accounts, contracts, partnerships, and demands of rent. Nevertheless, to facilitate the course of justice in trivial cases, the determining disputes which involved property to less amount than ten rupees, was still left to the head farmer of the Per- gunnah, within which the disputants dwelt. In the criminal court, again, sat a cauzy, a moofty, with two moolavies, to expound the Mohammedan law, and to determine how far it had been violated ; though it was the business of the collector in person to see that witnesses were duly called, and that the proceedings were conducted throughout agree- 1772.] INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION. 251 ably to justice and equity. Appeals from the de- cisions of these tribunals were allowed to two su- perior courts established at the seat of govern- ment, one under the denomination of Dewanny Sudder-adawlut, or chief court of civil judicature ; the other, of Nizamut Adawlut, or chief court of criminal justice. The former consisted of the president and members of council, assisted by the native officers of the Khalsa, or exchequer ; and in the latter, a chief officer of justice presided *, who was assisted by the head cauzy and moofty, and three eminent moolavies. " Over this court, however, a control was vested in the president and council, similar to what was exercised by the col- lectors in the provinces, in order that the Company's administration, in the character of king's dewan, might be satisfied that justice, so essential to the welfare and safety of the country, might not be perverted or tainted by corruptionf." The additional labour imposed upon the gover- nor-general, by rendering him a final court of appeal, in all cases, criminal as well as civil, was felt by Mr. Hastings to be so oppressive, that, within eighteen months after the new order of things had been introduced, it again underwent modification. The office of naib nazim was re- stored, and vested in Mohamed Reza Khan, the same individual who formerly exercised it, and the seat of supreme justice was, as a necessary conse- quence, once more established at Moorshedabad. In like manner, the gradual decrease of the re- * He was called the Nazim, and derived his appointment from the president. f Fifth Report. 252 BRITISH INDIA. [1774. venue, under European management, led to the recall, in 1774, of all the collectors, and the trans- ference of their authority to natives, bearing the general designation of Amils, who were made responsible to one or other of the provincial coun- cils, of which six were established, for the super- intendence of the collections at Calcutta, Burd- wan, Dacca, Moorshedabad, Dinageporc, and Patna. In the native department, on the other hand, which, like every other, had been new-mo- delled, no material alteration took place. The preservation of the peace of the country, instead of depending upon'zemindars, and heads of villages, had been intrusted to a class of officers, called Foujeclars, who, with a certain number of armed followers, took charge each of a specified district. It continued to be thus managed, subject only to one modification, the foujedars being latterly made dependent upon the naib nazim at Moorshedabad ; whereas, when first appointed, they reported to the supreme government at Calcutta. Such was the order of tilings which prevailed at the period to which our narrative has, as yet, been brought down ; an order that, while it unhinged the entire fabric of native society, was far from producing those 'results which the sanguine temperaments both of the Directors and the local authorities had anticipated. During the progress of these great changes in the internal government of Bengal, a variety of events befel among the surrounding states, which opened out a new field of enterprise and ambition to the servants of the Company. The condition of his capital, which Abdallah Shah had just eva- 1772.] THE EMPEROR RETURNS TO DELHI. 253 cuated, and which, under the prudent administra- tion of Nujeeb ad Dowla, the Rohilla chief, en- joyed profound repose, inspired the Emperor Shah Alum with a strong desire to return, and he re- peatedly applied to the English for such an escort as would enable him to do so without hazard. Why Mr. Verelst should have set his face de- cidedly against the proceeding, has never been satisfactorily explained; but the consequence of his backwardness was to drive the Emperor into the hands of the Mahrattas, by whom, as has been described in another volume, he was carried triumphantly to Delhi. Of the result of this un- foreseen measure, as far as Shah Alum was indi- vidually affected by it, the reader is already aware j it remains for us to describe certain other contin- gencies which may be said to have arisen out of it. The campaign of the Emperor with his Mah- ratta allies against Zabita Khan, the son and suc- cessor of Nujeeb ad Dowla, naturally struck the whole of the Rohilla chiefs with alarm. Con- scious of their own inability to oppose the progress of this mighty torrent, they endeavoured to nego- tiate an alliance with the Soubahdar of Oude, to whom the establishment of the Mahrattas upon his frontier was, they well knew, a subject both of anger and apprehension. They found him much less willing than they had anticipated to connect his fortunes with theirs ; indeed he ad- vanced such demands, both of pecuniary subsidies and territorial cessions, as to produce in them a strong disinclination to carry the matter further. Nevertheless, their necessities were urgent, the Mahrattas were gaining ground upon them every 254 BRITISH INDIA. [1774. day, and at the earnest entreaty of Sir Robert Baker, the commander of the English army, they consented to treat. They pledged themselves to pay to the Soubahdar forty laca of rupees, ten on the expulsion of the Mahrattas, and the remaining thirty within three years ; whilst the Soubahdar, on his part, undertook to effect their deliverance with as little delay as possible. This was in every respect an unfortunate treaty for the Rohillas, to whom the Soubahdar never lent the smallest assistance, though he persisted in holding them responsible for the payments which they had so imprudently promised. It has been seen elsewhere, that the Emperor, disgusted with the conduct of his allies, withdrew, on the subjugation of Zabita Khan, to Delhi. He was followed thither by the Mahrattas, who had now become the friends of Zabita Khan, and who, besides compelling him to advance his personal enemy to the highest honours, wrung from him a grant of the provinces of Allahabad and Corah for themselves. From the Rohillas, moreover, they had exacted a heavy sum as the price of a cessa- tion from further hostilities, and they now moved towards the Ganges, with the avowed intention of taking possession of their recently-acquired dominion. The Soubahdar, alarmed at the as- pect which affairs had assumed, wrote urgently to the English for support ; and at length evinced a disposition to support the Rohillas, by marching his own army towards that point in their territory which appeared to be most immediately threatened. But the English had already provided against the capture of Allahabad and Corah. At the request 1774.] THE MAHRATTAS RETURN. 255 of the Emperor's deputy, who refused to obey the orders sent from Delhi, on the ground that his master, acting under restraint, was no longer en- titled to obedience, they threw strong garrisons into both places. They then despatched a force, under Sir Robert Baker, to the assistance of the Soubahdar; and for some time the allies occu- pied one bank of the river, while the Mahrattas, unwilling to bring matters to a crisis, remained encamped on the other. The departure of these restless warriors to their own country in the month of May, 1773, led to a new, and not a very creditable arrangement, be- tween the Soubahdar and the English govern- ment. It had long been the earnest wish of the former to annex to the soubah of Oude that tract of country, both in the plain and among the mountains, of which the Rohilla chiefs were pos- sessed, and the present appearing an opportunity favourable for the attainment of that darling object, he earnestly requested that Mr. Hastings would indulge him with a conference. The par- ties met at Benares ; and, after a good deal of dis- cussion, Hastings promised, on the part of the British government, to support this ambitious chief in his undertaking, on condition that the Soubahdar would defray all the expenses of the corps employed in that service, besides paying into the Company's treasury forty lacs of rupees. But this was not the only bargain which, as he himself has avowed, the pecuniary distresses of the Com- pany induced Mr. Hastings to conclude, in defiance of the dictates both of justice and humanity. The Emperor had no sooner chosen to intrust the care 256 BRITISH INDIA. [1774' of his person to the Mahrattas, than he was given to understand that the tribute from Bengal had ceased, while his districts of Allahabad and Corah, which the English occupied on the pretext of pre- serving them for him, were deliberately sold to the Vizier for the sum of fifty lacs. Thus was the honour of the country coolly bartered away for gold, and two of the grossest acts of injustice committed that had yet blotted the annals of British authority in the East. It would appear that Mr. Hastings, as if ashamed of the part which an excess of zeal in the service of his employers induced him to perform, kept the particulars of this treaty, as far as they related to the subjugation of the Rohillas, for some time secret from his council. That communication was reserved for the moment when the Soubahdar found it convenient to demand an English corps ; nor was the demand complied with till after a long debate, and much opposition had been of- fered. But the influence of the president pre- vailed. One of the three brigades into which the army was divided, marched under the orders of Colonel Champion, and defeating the Rohillas in a sanguinary battle, put the Soubahdar in possession of the prize which he so much coveted. Never was victory more abused by the victor, nor defeat fol- lowed by more fatal consequences to the van- quished. Whole tribes were put to the sword, for the Vizier, as cruel as he was cowardly, spared neither sex nor age ; indeed, it was only by taking shelter in the woods, or abandoning their country altogether, that any individual bearing the Rohilla name escaped. It is worthy of remark, that the 1774.] DESTRUCTION OF THE ROHILLAS. 257 Soubahdar had engaged the Emperor in his cause, by promising to divide with him the booty taken and the territory subdued; and there marched from Delhi a force under Nujeef Khan to support him. As it arrived, however, too late to take part in the dangers of the war, the Vizier conceived that he was justified in refusing to share the fruits of his victory with its leader, and again was he supported in his subterfuges and breach of faith by the English government. The result, therefore, was, that Suja ad Dowla took possession for him- self of the whole of Rohilcund, with the exception of the district of Rampore, which was granted in jageer to a chief named Fyzoollah Khan, at the entreaty of the English, and on his own pro- mise of fidelity and allegiance. This was the last transaction of importance during that portion of Hastings's administration which preceded the arrival of the new constitu- tion, and of the functionaries by whom that was to be introduced. It was not approved by the Court of Directors, who, on the contrary, con- demned the use which had been made of their troops in the reduction of a people from whom they had received no injury ; but with every other act of his, even with the sale of Allahabad and Corah, the same Court of Directors expressed themselves highly pleased. Nor is it to be won- dered at that the case was so. " When," says Mr. Hastings himself*, " I took charge of the govern- ment of Bengal, in April, 1772, I found it loaded with a debt at interest of nearly the same amount * See his Memoir relative to the state of India, published in 1786. VOL. II. S 258 BRITISH INDIA. [1774. as the present ; in less than two years I saw that debt completely discharged, and a sum in ready cash to the same amount in the public treasuries." Had he effected no more than this, it would have sufficed to secure for him the approbation of a body who judged of the merits of their sen-ants by one criterion only, namely, the amount of re- venue which- they managed to realize ; but Hast- ings, with all his faults, advances higher claims to praise than this. He possessed, in no ordinary degree, the firmness and decision which are not less requisite than brilliant talent for the dis- charge of high office ; nor was he destined to retire into private life till full opportunity had been furnished of exercising these qualities, under circumstances of more than common difficulty. 1774.] 259 CHAPTER XI. The new Government enters upon its functions Disagree- ments in the Council Affairs of Bombay War with the Mahrattas Continued dissensions in the Supreme Council Shameful execution of a Native Dutl between Mr. Hastings and 3/r. Francis Mr. Francis returns to Eu- rope. DIRECTIONS had been given that the new consti- tution framed by act of Parliament should come into operation in India on the 1st of August, 1774. The 19th of October arrived, however, ere three out of the four members of council reached their destination; and as the fourth, Mr. Boswell, was still absent, no business could be transacted till the 25th. Then it was that the ancient order of things was formally declared to be at an end, and the new government entered upon the full exercise of those extensive powers with which it was in- vested. It is said that Mr. Hastings received his new colleagues, on their first arrival at Calcutta, with a degree of coldness and reserve which they never afterwards forgave. There may, or there may not, be truth in this statement ; but granting that the case was so, it seems difficult to imagine how a circumstance, in itself so trivial, should have been permitted to affect seriously the public conduct of men intrusted with the chief government of a great s 2 2GO BRITISH INDIA. [1774. country. That such was the effect produced by it, however, there is too much reason to believe : for the very first proceedings of Messrs. Clavering, Monson, and Francis exhibited marks of hostility towards the governor, of which their subsequent behaviour was at no moment divested. They vio- lently condemned both the sale of Allahabad and the war with the Rohillas ; they required that Mr. Middleton, a gentleman whom Mr. Hastings had appointed to the office of resident at the court of the Nabob of Oude, should be superseded, and insisted that all the correspondence which had passed, or might hereafter pass, between the two states should be open to their inspection. Nevertheless, while they thus expressed themselves concerning transactions, of the abstract justice of which we can attempt no defence, they appeared not less anxious than the governor to secure the price of his political crimes. They insisted that Suja ad Dowla should imme- diately pay up twenty lacs of the sum promised on the commencement of the Rohilla war ; and that, in the event of his proving refractory or incapable of doing so, their troops should be recalled. It was to no purpose that Mr. Hastings opposed him- self to measures so intemperate and ill-judged. He was supported by Mr. Barwell alone, and the act of Parliament having provided that the opinions of the majority should prevail, he ceased in any measure to control that government of which he was ostensibly the head. When this impolitic order passed the council, intelligence of the Vizier's success had not yet been received. It arrived soon afterwards, with fifteen lacs in ready money, and an assurance that Ins 1775.] PROCEEDINGS OF THE COUNCIL. 261 Highness would spare no exertions to discharge the remainder of his debt. But long ere the promise could be fulfilled, his Highness paid the debt of nature. He expired in the beginning of 1775, of a decline, under which he had for some months laboured, and was succeeded, without opposition, by his son, Assof ul Dowla. From him the ma- jority in the council resolved upon demanding the full amount of arrears due from his father, at the same time that they held themselves free to sti- pulate for fresh advantages as the price of a con- tinued alliance; and they succeeded in procuring a cession of territory, valued at an annual revenue of two millions two hundred and ten thousand rupees, besides considerably raising the allowance granted to the troops. Again was Mr. Hastings overborne in his opposition to measures which he condemned as iniquitous, while the Court of Direc- tors, always satisfied so long as treasure came in, expressed themselves highly pleased at the wisdom of the arrangement. One of the earliest acts of the new government was, to announce to the authorities at the presi- dencies of Madras and Bombay the novel relation in which they now stood towards that of Calcutta, and to demand from each a full statement of the condition of the province, both political and mili- tary. On the side of Madras there was little to communicate, beyond what has been already re- lated in full ; on that of Bombay the case was dif- ferent. The latter presidency was involved, as it had been for some time back, in transactions of great importance with the Mahrattas, for a right understanding of which it will be necessary to ex- 262 BRITISH INDIA. [1775. plain events which, in order of time, ought to have been narrated long ago. While the extent of the Company's territory was continually enlarging itself, both in Bengal and the Carnatic, the establishments on the west- ern coast continued almost in the same state to which they were advanced in the reign of James the First. In the relative importance, indeed, of most of these settlements, a serious change had been effected. Surat, which once held the highest rank among the English factories, sank by degrees into a mere dependency upon Bombay. Never- theless, Bombay itself, though its commerce was somewhat enlarged, could boast of no extension of territory, nor, indeed, of any great accession of influence. Even the town of Bassein and the island of Salsette, though in some degree essential as commanding the entrance to the harbour, con- tinued in the hands of the Portuguese up to the year 1750, when they passed by conquest to the Mahrattas, by whom they were highly valued and tenaciously held. It had long been the wish of the Directors of the East India Company to annex these important places to their dominions ; but it was not till the period to which our narrative lias just been brought down, that any prospect of gra- tifying that wish appeared. We alluded some time ago to an arrangement into which the Bombay government entered, for the reduction of certain pirates who harassed the coasting trade, and whose strongholds were, after a stout resistance, reduced by Commodore James and Colonel Clive. This service proved extremely acceptable to the Mahrattas, into whose hands 1775.] AFFAIRS OF BOMBAY. 263 the conquered fortresses were delivered ; yet when the English took advantage of it to solicit the transference to themselves, by purchase, of the two stations at the mouth of the harbour, they found their allies as unbending as they had ever been. The same obstinacy continued during the peshwaship of Ballagee Ragee Rao, as well as throughout both the pupilage and the manhood of his successor, Mahdoo. Nevertheless, as the good understanding between the two nations suf- fered no interruption, and the English maintained all the while a resident at Poonah, they continued, through him, to repeat their application from time to time, as often as a favourable opportunity ap- peared to offer. Of the career of Mahdoo, while acting under the control of his uncle, Ragonaut Row, some account has been given. It has been shown that, in more than one instance, the peshwah sacrificed his own personal inclinations to a desire of main- taining concord in the family ; and that he sub- mitted, on this account, to be treated as a minor, long after both his judgment and his years were matured. There are, however, limits to all human forbearance, and that of Mahdoo was at length exhausted. He caused his uncle to be arrested, and committing him to safe, but not to irksome restraint, assumed, as he was entitled to do, the full exercise of his powers. In the discharge of these he exhibited so much of talent and discre- tion, as to render his early death a serious loss to his country, for he died in 1172, and left no son to succeed him. Though Mahdoo had been compelled to place 264 BRITISH INDIA. his uncle in confinement, it does not appear that he ever entertained a distrust of his integrity or good intentions. Of hoth, on the contrary, he was well aware, as also of his talents, especially in warlike affairs ; but there was a restless anxiety to take the lead, which rendered Ragonaut troublesome, and compelled the peshwah in the end to adopt a line of policy exceedingly disagreeable to himself. If, in pursuing this course, he did his uncle some wrong, he made ample amends for it by his beha- viour towards him when dying. He sent both for him and for his younger brother, Narrain Row, to whom the peshwahship descended ; he entreated them to live in amity, and committed the care of the latter, who was yet but a youth, to his uncle. There are curious rumours current as to the use which Ragonaut Row made of the influence thus acquired. We are not called upon tti give here any accoxint either of them or of the evidence on which they rest ; it is enough to mention that the young peshwah was shortly afterwards murdered in his uncle's presence, by a body of his own troops, who had become mutinous for want of pay*. Ragonaut Row was not popular among the lead- ing chiefs of his nation, and seems to have been par- ticularly obnoxious to the mutsiddees, or council f, * Colonel Wilks and Mr. Mill assert lhat Ragonaut Row was privy to the minder ; Captain Grant, in his History of the Mahrattas, has, we think, demonstrated that the case was not so, though he admits that the uncle desired to con- fine the nephew, and exercise, in his own person, the func- tions of peshwah. -f- Of these an account has been given in Vol. I. 17/5.] AFFAIRS OF BOMBAY. 265 which still exercised some degree of influence in the general management of affairs. They could not, however, refuse to admit his claim to the vacant dignity, and he w 7 as, in consequence, for- mally invested with the peshwah's robe ; hut this was scarcely done when the widow of Narrain was discovered to be pregnant, and a change in the sentiments of the party immediately took place. They removed her to a strong fort, proclaimed her regent, and insisted upon their own right to ad- minister affairs, till the issue of her travail should be known. Both sides began instantly to arm, and both looked with anxious eyes to the English. They, again, conceiving that the present moment was highly favourable to the accomplishmentof their masters' wishes, directed their resident to negotiate with all parties for the acquisition of Salsette and Bassein ; and at last, when other measures failed, and Ragonaut and his enemies were fairly com- mitted, they fitted out an expedition which carried the island by assault. It is but just to add, that the Bombay government was induced to take this somewhat unwarrantable step, by learning that Portugal had prepared a great armament for its recovery ; and by the well-grounded apprehension that from the Portuguese, should they once re- cover possession of their oldest settlement, neither force nor entreaty would easily wrest it. In the meanwhile various battles were fought, in which success leant, for the most part, to the side of Ragonaut. He had escaped to Guzerat on the first breaking out of the conspiracy, where he was joined by Govind Row, the rightful claimant to the throne of that province, of which his younger 266 BRITISH INDIA. brother, Futty Sing, had taken possession. Iu like manner lie had found an ally in Berar, also distracted by a feud between two brothers, one of whom gladly linked his fortunes with those of a chief so renowned as Ragonaut Row. With the assistance of v these he gained some successes, which, had he followed them up with promptitude, might have insured a permanent triumph ; but his courage strangely failed him, and he turned away from Poonah at a moment when his arrival there was confidently anticipated. The consequences of this indecision were such as usually follow when men take time to deliberate in a critical moment. The adherents of the mutsiddees rallied ; they offered him battle again, and some Arabs, on whom he mainly depended, deserting him, he sustained a signal defeat. Nothing now remained but to throw himself absolutely into the arms of the English, to whom he offered, as the price of their support, the surrender both of Salsette and Bassein. Not a moment was lost on their part in closing with this proposition. The wished-for stations were an- nexed to the presidency, and an army of five hun- dred European infantry, and fourteen hundred sepoys, with a due proportion of artillery, marched, under the command of Colonel Keating, to join Ragonaut at Copperwunge, about fifty coss from Cambay. Some time prior to the conclusion of this treaty, the Bombay government had engaged in hostilities with the Nabob of Baroach, in consequence of his refusal to pay to them the tribute which his an- cestors had paid to the native government of Surat. These military operations, conducted without skill 1775.] WAR WITH THE MAHRATTAS. 267 or courage, ended in nothing ; but a second arma- ment, still more unjustifiable, because undertaken in the face of a positive treaty, expelled the Rajah from his dominions. This was followed by an alliance with Futty Sing, the rival of Ragonaut's friend, Govind Row, who agreed to pay to the Company the Nabob's share of the revenues of Baroach, on condition that they would acknowledge him as lawful sovereign of Guzerat. It was rather an awkward admission, for it stood directly opposed to that which Ragonaut had just made to Futty Sing's rival ; nevertheless the Mahratta continued to satisfy his client with pro- mises of a principality elsewhere, and the risk of disunion, at one time so imminent, was obviated. The campaign of Ragonaut and his English allies against the nvutsiddees was one of marches, rather than of battles. One action, indeed, took place on the plain of Arras, which, though it ended in a victory, cost the English the loss of some officers, eighty European soldiers, and two hun- dred sepoys, while the absence of a due supply of horses, and the mutinous state of the peshwah's troops, hindered any advantage from being derived from it. The Mahrattas refused to pass the Ner- budda, till their arrears of pay were made good ; and while Ragonaut encamped at Bellapoor, the English established themselves in quarters in Dhu- boy. Here great exertions were made to collect a sum sufficient to carry on the war with vigour, on the return of the dry season. These so far suc- ceeded, that Futty Sing, in consideration of his title being acknowledged, engaged, among other important concessions, to furnish twenty-six lacs 268 BRITISH INDIA. [1775. of rupees ; nor can it be doubted that, even with such means, Poonah would have fallen in the next campaign, had not events occurred of which no anticipation could have been formed, but which gave a totally new turn to the course of affairs on the western coast of India. We have seen that the new government of Cal- cutta early directed its attention to the establish- ment of a permanent authority over the presiden- cies of Madras and Bombay. To the questions transmitted to the latter station, touching the po- litical and military condition of the colony, an explicit statement had been returned of the alliance with Ragonaut, and the consequences arising oxit of it, more particularly of the occupation of Bas- sein and Salsette, and the important acquisitions of territory and revenue obtained in Guzerat. The letter which contained this statement, though dated the 31st of December, did not reach Cal- cutta till the month of March, 1775. It excited the highest indignation in the supreme council. Peremptory orders were issued that all further communication between the English and Rago- naut should cease, and these, in spite of a strong but respectful remonstrance from Bombay, were again and again repeated. It was asserted that a subordinate presidency possessed no right to inter- fere, except by the express instructions of the supreme government, in the internal quarrels of the Mahrattas. While, therefore, the authorities at Bombay were directed to recall the troops, an agent was despatched from Calcutta to Poonah, who was instructed, as if in sheer opposition to the offending government, to treat only with the 1775.] DISSENSIONS IN THE COUNCIL. 269 mutsiddees. It is not easy to assign a motive for sucli proceedings on the part of men Avho had ar- rived at the years of discretion, and were not without some experience. Children sometimes inflict injuries 011 themselves for the purpose of proving that they are not be controlled even for their own benefit; it remained for the supreme government of India, towards the end of the eighteenth century, to demonstrate that men are sometimes swayed by the same principles which guide their grandsons. The immediate consequence of such imbecility was to create in the mutsiddees a conviction that the English, unable any longer to sustain the ex- pense of the contest, were prepared to sacrifice both Ragonaut and their own honour to peace. They assumed a high tone in communicating with Colonel Upton, and advanced such pretensions, that the government which had so recently ex- pressed its disapprobation of war, avowed its intention of bringing into the field the whole strength of the Company's empire. The Mahrattas were far from contemplating with indifference the realization of this threat. They consented at last to a treaty, which, of course, reduced Ragonaut to the condition of a fugitive and dependant at Surat, but which stripped the English of Bassein and all their conquests in Guzerat, and left them in possession only of Salsette, and the petty islands adjacent. It is somewhat remarkable that this treaty, though avowedly contracted because the preservation of peace was the great object to which the Court of Directors looked, proved the reverse of acceptable to that inconsistent body. While it 270 BRITISH INDIA. [1775. was yet pending, or to speak more correctly, ere intelligence of its ratification reached Calcutta, there arrived letters from London, which contained a full approval of the recent proceedings of the Bombay government. " We approve," said they, " under every circumstance, of the keeping of all the territories and possessions ceded to the Com- pany by the treaty concluded with Ragonaut, and direct that you forthwith adopt such measures as may be necessary for their preservation and defence." During the progress of these events, the spirit of discord which had early shown itself in the supreme council, rose to a height which threatened before long to interrupt entirely the course of pub- lic business. As there were no foreign enemies to watch, for neither the Emperor ,nor Assof ul Dowla, nor any other power on the north-western frontier, possessed either the means or the inclination to molest them, the three gentlemen whom Hastings had originally offended began to pry, with more than inquisitorial eyes, into the tenour of his pub- lic and private conduct. He was accused of accepting bribes from native chiefs, both in his own person and through his servants; in one instance to the amount of fifteen thousand ru- pees, in another of thirty-six thousand, in a third of one hundred and fifty thousand, and in a fourth of upwards of three hundred and fifty thou- sand. It does not appear, however desirous the Court of Directors might be to put a stop to the pernicious practice of receiving gifts, that either they or the recent act of parliament gave any authority to the members of council to sit as 1775.] DISSENSIONS IN THE COUNCIL. 271 judges on the proceedings of the governor-general. If there existed ground of suspicion against him, it was doubtless the duty of his colleagues to report the nature of these suspicions to the authorities at home ; and, provided the home authorities saw fit to supersede the governor, hy ordering inquiries to be instituted on the spot, then, indeed, they would have been fully justified in sifting each case to the bottom. But to bring forward charges of malversation against a man who still held his place as ostensible head of the government, was a measure destructive of all order, and at variance with all precedent. Mr. Hastings, with great propriety, refused to enter into the merits of a single case. He denied the right set up by .the council, of taking cognizance of his proceedings, and declined to justify himself before those to whose judgment he was not amenable. But neither this, nor his declaring the council dis- solved as often as they reverted to the subject, had the smallest effect in restraining Messrs. Cla- vering, Monson, and Francis. They persisted in asserting that to them, as constituting the majority in the council, all power was committed ; and they went on ^vith their inquiries and judgments as if the office of governor had been absolutely abolished. The four great charges against Mr. Hastings were, 1st, That, in conjunction with the resident at Burdwan, he had taken a bribe from a dewan to withdraw the infant rajah from the care of his mother, and commit him to the keeping of the individual who tendered such bribe. 2d, That out of a rent of seventy-two thousand lacs paid yearly by the phouzdar of Hoogly, thirty-six 212 BRITISH INDIA. [1773. thousand went into the pocket of the governor- general. 3d, That he had accepted from the be- gum, or mother of the young nabob, fifteen thou- sand rupees, under the denomination of entertain- ment money, on occasion of his visit to Moorsheda- bad, in 1772, for the purpose of placing her at the head of the nabob's household ; and 4th, That pre- sents to the amount of three hundred and fifty -four thousand one hundred and five rupees were made to him in the course of various other arrangements re- lating to the nabob's establishment. As Mr. Hast- ings steadily persisted in his refusal to vindicate himself from any charge, it were useless to inquire how far these were or were not brought home to him ; but of the fate which attended the most im- portant witness against him in the last-mentioned case, it is impossible to speak without indignation. Rajah Nuncomar, a native of high rank, who had filled more than one office of trust and responsi- bility under the government, came forward to vouch for the reality of the alleged bribery. His testimony produced upon the council (not, it must be owned, the most impartial judges) so great an effect, that in defiance of Mr. Hastings's protest, they required him to refund the whole amount, by paying it into the Company's treasury. Within a very few days Nuncomar was arrested and thrown into prison, on a charge of forgery; he was brought to trial before Sir Elijah Impey, the crime was proved against him, and he was sen- tenced to be hanged. To the eternal disgrace of all concerned, the sentence was carried into execu- tion, and a man who was not legally amenable to the court which tried him who had committed 1775.] DIFFERENCES IN THE COUNCIL. 273 the offence before English law was established in India, according to the usages of whose native courts forgery is not a capital crime and against whom the evidence was far from conclusive that man, in defiance of the respect due to the feelings of the whole native population, suffered death by the hands of the executioner. There is not among all the acts of Mr. Hastings's government one which has left so deep a stain upon his memory as this, or tended more to excite suspicions as to his general integrity and uprightness, even among those who most admire his genius and firmness. It Avas not to be expected that men who thus acted towards one another would lay aside, under any circumstances, their private animosities for the sake of furthering the public good. When the leasing system was found to have failed, as proved in due time to be the case, the majority in the council, instead of aiding the governor in his efforts to devise a better, contented themselves with recording bitter invectives against measures that were past. To put an end to this, Mr. Hast- ings proposed that each member of the govern- ment should individually bring forward a plan, and that these should be laid for approval before the Court of Directors. As there was no ground what- ever on which to object to this, the motion was agreed to, and both he and Mr. Francis drew up schemes to which their respective satellites con- sented. Mr. Hastings suggested the propriety of letting the lands on leases of one or two lives, giving, wherever the arrangement was practicable, a preference to the zemindars ; Mr. Francis's minute boldly pronounced the zemindars the real VOL. II. T 274 BRITISH INDIA. [1775. proprietors of the soil, and declared that with them, as recognised freeholders, an adjustment ought to be made. This is the first instance which meets us of a gross mistake, which has brought many and heavy evils upon British India. Hitherto all Europeans, or almost all, had erro- neously considered the land to be the property of the government ; to Mr. Francis we are indebted for the introduction of another and an equally fatal mistake namely, that the land is the property of the zemindars. It is curious that not one person in authority had as yet discovered, that the only real landed proprietors in India are the ryots. If, in his opinions on the subject of property, Mr. Francis ran into error, his views respecting the maintenance of a police and the general admi- nistration of justice were unquestionably more en- lightened than those of his rival. He proposed that to the zemindars should be restored all the rights and immunities of which recent enactments had deprived them ; and that they should be held responsible under the British government, as they had been during the vigour of the native governments, for the peace of the country. Mr. Hastings, on the other hand, was opposed to this, and drew up, with the help of Sir Elijah Impey, the draught of a bill for the establishment of tw6 courts of record in each of the seven divisions into which the country was now portioned off. These, however, were to decide in civil cases only, for criminal justice was to be administered as hereto- fore by native judges, under the superintendence of Naib Nazim Mohamed Reza Khan ; but before any answer arrived from England, or either plan 1775.] DIFFERENCES IN THE COUNCIL. 275 could be carried into execution, Mr. Monson died. A complete change, both in the principles and con- duct of the local government, was the immediate consequence. Hastings, by means of his casting vote, had now the sovereign power in his own hands, and he was not the man to be very diffi- dent as to the necessity of exercising it. Though confident of the wisdom of the leasing system, and well disposed to carry it into execu- tion, Mr. Hastings, however, was too prudent not to preface it by a minute inquiry into the resources and general state of the country. He had drawn up a minute on the subject while yet in the minority, in which he proposed that both Europeans and natives should be employed in this service; and that no tenders of hire should be accepted or con- sidered till the board of revenue had acquired an accurate knowledge of the real capabilities of the lands. As a matter of course, this proposal, like every other emaciating from him, had been scouted ; it now rested with himself either to see it carried into effect or otherwise. He persisted in regard- ing the arrangement in the same light as before ; and he sent out agents with ample powers to seek for information wherever they might 'expect to find it. Nevertheless, the intelligence which they acquired was not permitted to have the smallest weight in fixing the amount of revenue. De- spatches had, in the interval, arrived from Lon- don, which equally condemned the projects of Mr. Hastings and Mr. Francis, and directed that settle- ments should be made only from year to year, on the basis of an average of the collection realized for the three years preceding. This was not a T 2 276 BRITISH INDIA. [1777. measure agreeable to the policy of Mr. Hastings, who desired, if possible, to fix the taxes at an amount proportionate to the capabilities of the payers ; but he was compelled to give way. On the expiration of the five years' settlement in 1777, new contracts were made, and the system of yearly settlements, which originated not in sur- veys, but in guesses, was introduced. While these things were passing in India, a circumstance befell elsewhere, of which the effect was seriously felt both at Calcutta and in London. When Mr. Hastings was in the deepest depres- sion, under the ascendancy of his opponents, a gentleman of the name of Maclean departed for England, and carried with him various confiden- tial communications from the governor-general. Among these was the resignation of Mr. Hastings, which, after some demur, occasioned chiefly l>y the refusal of Mr. Maclean to show the whole of the letter that contained it, was a'ccepted. De- spatches were, in consequence, sent out, which contained the information that Mr. Wheler had been named as the new governor, and directed General Clavering, as senior member of the coun- cil, to execute the office till he should arrive. By this time, however, the whole power of the go- vernment had come into Mr. Hastings's hands, and he refused to resign, on the ground that Mr. Mac- lean had exceeded his powers. It is not neces- sary to say that a scene of extraordinary commo- tion ensued : nevertheless, the death of General Clavering, which occurred shortly afterwards, left Hastings master of the field ; and, in spite of the opposition of Messrs. Francis and Wheler, 1779.] WAR WITH THE MAHRATTAS. 277 lie was voted to be governor. He did not fail to exercise his powers for the advantage of all those who had supported him under different cir- cumstances. Various changes were effected in subordinate stations, on all of which the Court of Directors were far from conferring their approba- tion : nevertheless Hastings carried his measures with a high hand ; and it is but justice to the memory of a great and persecuted man to own, that there was not one of these to which any rea- sonable objection could be offered. In the midst of so many unhappy feuds intel- ligence arrived, that certain French emissaries had made their appearance in Poonah, and that the Mahrattas, won over by their representations, were prepared to violate the late treaty, by grant- ing to them authority to establish a station upon the Malabar coast. Serious fears were in conse- quence entertained ; and it was at one time de- bated, whether or not Ragonaut ought to be given up as a peace-offering ; but better counsels pre- vailed, and it was resolved to remonstrate with the Mahrattas in a tone becoming the dignity of the Company. In this determination the supreme council was confirmed by the receipt of a com- munication from home, which approved of the intention expressed by the Bombay authorities to support Ragonaut; while a disagreement which soon afterwards arose among the Mahratta mi- nisters themselves, tended in no degree to abate the manly spirit which animated them. The consequence was, that, finding their remonstrances lightly regarded, the supreme government deter- mined to try an appeal to arms, by once more 278 BRITISH INDIA. [1779. espousing the cause of Ragonaut ; and the presi- dency of Bombay received instructions to march an army upon Poonah, which should be supported by a force sent across the country from Bengal." Never were expeditions conducted with less judg- ment, or productive of more humiliating results. Six battalions of sepoys, one company of artillery, with a corps of cavalry, set out from Calpee, under the orders of Colonel Leslie, with instruc- tions to make their way, by fair means or by foul, through Berar and Aurungabad ; while a force -of four thousand five hundred men, under Col. Egerton, who was accompanied by two field- deputies, Messrs. Carnac and Mostyn, marched from Bombay to meet them. Colonel Leslie wasted his time so shamefully, that he failed to reach the frontier of the enemy's country till long after the period when it behoved him to have been in possession of the capital. Happily he died here, and left the command to Colonel Goddard, nn officer formed in a very different school. But whatever Goddard's talents might be, the imbeci- lity of those to whom the conduct of the Bombay force was intrusted, prevented him from effecting anything beyond the preservation of his own army. Colonel Egerton had arrived within eighteen miles of Poonah, when his civilian colleagues became alarmed, and induced him to commence a retreat, which he found himself unable to pursue. He was surrounded by the enemy's cavalry, his sup- plies were cut off, and, in spite of the remon- strances of Captain Hartley, he consented to ca- pitulate. It was agreed in consequence that Sal- sette should be restored ; that Ragonaut should 1780.] CAPITULATION OF THE ENGLISH. 279 be given up ; and that the English should re- nounce all pretensions to the acquisitions lately made in Guzerat; and though the army was allowed on these terms to return to Bombay, two officers of rank were retained by the Mahrattas as hostages for the fulfilment of the treaty. For- tunately Colonel Goddard was made aware of this convention in sufficient time to provide for his own safety. By a forced march of nineteen days' continuance, he made his way from Bhuorampoor to Surat, where he arrived in perfect order, his troops having preserved admirable discipline, and received the best treatment from the inha- bitants as they passed along. To the terms of the convention into which Leslie, with his civilian colleagues, had entered, the supreme government would not accede. Both sides prepared for an immediate renewal of hosti- lities ; and Colonel Goddard having conducted himself, under circumstances of no ordinary diffi- culty, with great judgment and discretion, he received his reward by being nominated com- mander-in-chief of all the forces employed on the western coast of India. At first some jealousy of this appointment was exhibited by the Bombay government, but Goddard, by his judicious beha- viour, overcame that feeling, and he took the field on the 2d of January, 1780, with the full con- fidence of all parties. He had, moreover, con- tracted a very favourable treaty both with Rago- naut and Futty Sing, and his gallantry and acti- vity in the campaign were not inferior to his management in council. He took possession of Dubhoy on the 20th, carried Ahmenabad by storm 280 BRITISH INDIA. [1780. on tlic lt)th of February, and on the 3d of April surprised and defeated the combined armies of Scindiah and Holkar, two of the most influential of the chiefs to whom Ragonaut was at this time opposed. This last victory was followed by nu- merous less important successes, which, in a great degree, gave to the British army the command of the passes leading to Poonah ; after which the troops were, in consequence of the approach of the rainy season, sent into quarters. In the meanwhile Sir Eyre Coote had arrived from England, to succeed General Clavering in the chief command of the forces, and to occupy the seat in the council-chamber which the demise of the latter had rendered vacant. Without ser- vilely following the instructions of the governor in all things, Sir Eyre generally gave his support Avhere it was most needed, and readily consented to support the Rajah of Gohud, whose territories were invaded by the Mahrattas. In this service Captain Popham was employed ; and though his command extended only to a single battalion, he managed to perform services for which his name well deserves a place in military history. He drove the invaders from Gohud, crossed the Lindi in pursuit of them, battered, with a wretched train, the city of Ichan, and took it by storm. But his most memorable exploit was the capture, by escalade, of the celebrated fortress of Gualior. It stands upon the summit of a rock, which is scarped to the depth of sixteen or twenty feet ; above this there is a broken and precipitous ascent of ninety feet; and, above all, the rampart, mea- suring thirty feet from its base. Yet he took it 1783. j MR. FRANCIS RETURNS HOME. 281 in open day, in despite of the opposition of a gar- rison of a thousand men, not, as sometimes occurs in war, by a fortunate accident, but by the exer- cise of sound calculation and admirable courage. The effect of this achievement was such as to strike terror into the whole of the Mahratta na- tion, and to induce Scindiahto retreat with preci- pitation to his own capital. There remains but one transaction more ap- pertaining to this stage of our history, of which it is necessary to make mention ; namely, the me- morable duel between Mr. Hastings and Mr. Francis. These two gentlemen had long Taated each other; they had been induced, by some mutual friends, to come to a professed reconcilia- tion, and to enter into stipulations of the full ex- tent of which the world will probably remain for ever ignorant. It appeared, however, that Mr. Francis's pledges were either violated, or were believed to be violated, almost as soon as given ; at least we find Mr. Hastings, in a minute, dated the 13th of July, 1783, declaring, "I do not trust to his promise of candour, convinced that he is incapable of it. I judge of his public con- duct by my experience of his private, which I find to be void of truth and honour." The con- sequence of this accusation was a challenge from Mr. Francis, which the governor-general saw fit to accept, and the former being wounded in the rencontre, returned on the 9th of December to Europe. 282 [1770. CHAPTER XII. Affairs of ike Carnatic Arrival of a king's ambassador Mischievous effects of the appointment Hyder refused support Tanjore reduced Lord Piffot appointed Cover" not Restores the Rajah Dissensions in the Council Arrest of the Governor His death Sir Th'.mas Rum- bold 1 1 is incapafji/ify I far u'ith ll>/der Destruction of I>di/ie's corps The English army retreats to Marmalong. BY the treaty of 1769, the Madras government stood pledged to assist, with a contingent of troops, in repelling any enemy that might, on any pretext, invade the Mysore territories. Within a few weeks after the return of Hyder to his own country, they received a communication, in which he urged them to unite with him in supporting one of the Mahratta chiefs in a rebellion against the Pesh- wah. With this request they refused to comply ; for, though they were far from holding in contempt the power of the Mahrattas, or regardless of their encroachments, they could justly excuse them- selves, on the ground that they had given no pro- mise of assistance except in a war of defence. The case was widely different when, in a little while afterwards, intelligence arrived that Mysore was actually invaded, and that Hyder, unable to meet his enemies in the field, had fallen back upon his capital. Had they really desired to act up to the 1770.] ARRIVAL OF A KING'S AMBASSADOR. 283 treaty of 1769, they would immediately have marched an army to his aid ; but they entertained no such wish. Beholding, both in Hyder and in the Mahrattas, powers equally hostile to themselves, whom it was their interest to embroil with one another during as long a space of time as possible, they were not disposed to lend to either party such assistance as would give to it a decided superiority over its rival. They accordingly evaded the requisition, on different pretexts, some of which, to say the truth, were abundantly futile ; and, affecting neutrality, made preparations to take up arms only when the extremity should become unavoidable. It was at this juncture that there came over from England, in command of the squadron granted to the Directors towards the close of 1769, Commodore Sir John Lindsay, with powers, the bare mention of which excited among the servants of the Company the liveliest alarm. For some time back the Nabob, Mohamed Ally, had, it ap- peared, found means to conduct a secret corre- spondence with the English cabinet. His agents had represented him as a high-born potentate, cruelly robbed of his authority by a body of English merchants ; and they so wrought upon the misdirected feelings of the minister, that he was persuaded to adopt the absurd statements as truths. The result was, that, looking to the eleventh article in the treaty of Paris, which pro- vided for the acknowledgment of Mohamed's title, the minister resolved to take this oppressed monarch under his own especial protection. Not a hint was dropped of this intention to the Direc- 284 BRITISH INDIA. [1770. tors ; who, on the contrary, were led to believe that all the claims originally set up of interference in the internal management of India had been abandoned. Nevertheless, Sir John Lindsay was formally commissioned as ambassador from the court of Great Britain to that of Arcot ; and he lost no time, after his arrival at Madras, in enter- ing upon the exercise of his powers. He at once declared himself the defender of the rights of the Nabob against the aggressions of his own country- men. He took every opportunity of humbling the local government, by teaching the Nabob to look, not to it, but to the king his master; and finding that Mohamed was desirous of joining the Mah- rattas against Hyder, he violently urged upon the authorities the necessity of yielding to his wishes. It is not necessary to describe at length the alter- cations and disputes which ensued. We must content ourselves with stating, that the Madras government adhered steadily to its neutral policy, and that Sir John Lindsay, having indulged in expressions of unbecoming warmth, was recalled. The specimen thus afforded of the probable results of this measure was not sufficient to con- vince the ministers of its impolicy. A new pro- tector to the crowned heads of India appeared in the person of Sir Robert Harland, a man still more intemperate, and less skilful in the politics of the country, than his predecessor. Again was the question of a Mahratta alliance agitated with extreme bitterness ; and again the local authori- ties persisted in their adherence to the prudent plan which they had drawn up for themselves. It was to no purpose that the Nabob protested 1771.] TANJORE. 285 that those who ought to be his subjects were be- come his masters. The Madras government re- fused to furnish a man, and the Nabob, and his ambassador, were obliged to content themselves with patching up a peace between the belligerents, on terms extremely unfavourable to Hyder. This matter was scarcely arranged, when a new project was devised, into which, as it accorded well with their own feelings, the Company's government readily entered. Amid the many re- volutions to which the natives of southern India had been subject, the little kingdom of Tanjore remained tranquil ; being governed by the lineal descendants of Eckajee Sivajee's brother, and pro- tected partly by i1s remote situation, partly by the alliance which the Rajah had contracted with the English. It chanced, however, that a full con- viction of the importance of this alliance did not hinder the Rajah from avoiding, as far as possible, to mix up his own fortunes with those of his pro- tectors. In the late war with Hyder, he had contributed a smaller proportion both of troops and money than was expected from him; and he was suspected, not without reason, of having held all the while a secret correspondence with the enemy. In spite, however, of this blot upon his scutcheon, the Rajah continued to be treated as the friend and ally of the English. As such he had been specifically named in the treaty with Hyder, and his safety provided for through their interference, chiefly because they were unwilling that he should become, or seem to become, a client of the opposite party. The backwardness and apparent treachery of 286 BRITISH INDIA. [1771. the Rajah had not, however, ceased to rankle in the minds both of the Nabob and of the English. They believed likewise, because his country was fertile, and had suffered no recent invasions, that he was immensely rich ; and they longed for a fair pretext on which to draw from his exchequer a portion of that treasure of which they were equally in want. No great while elapsed ere the wished-for opportunity offered ; and they were far from backward in taking advantage of it. Early in the month of February, 1771, the Presidency received intelligence that the Rajah was preparing an expedition for the reduction of the Polygar of Sunputty,one of the districts called Marawars. Over these the Nabob, as sovereign of Trichinopoly, claimed to exercise a feudal supe- riority; and" he hastened to require that the Tan- jore prince would not attack one of his vassals. The remonstrance was disregarded; the Nabob called upon the English to assist him in protecting his subjects, and the English, no way averse to the scheme, complied. They caused an army to assemble at Trichinopoly, which marched under the joint command of General Smith and the Na- bob's eldest son, Omrut ul Omrah, and on the 12th of September began to enter Tanjore. On the 16th, the strong fort of Vellore was attacked ; on the 20th it was taken, the garrison making their escape as soon as the breach became prac- ticable. On the 23rd, the capital itself was in- vested ; and on the 29th, late in the evening, the besiegers broke ground. But the army Avas indif- ferently supplied both with stores and provisions, Omrut ul Omrah, to whom the care of collecting 1771.J TANJORE REDUCED. 287 them had been intrusted, having shamefully neg- lected his duty ; and as the garrison made a brave defence, and risked more than one sally, the labours of the siege advanced but slowly. A breach was, however, effected, and orders were issued for the assault, which was to have taken place at day- break on the 27th of October; when, to the astonishment of General Smith, to whom no refer- ence had been made, the young Nabob announced that the war was at an end. He had taken it upon himself to accept eight lacs as arrears of Peschush, with 50,000 rupees for the expense of the expedition ; and had promised that, as soon as the first instalment was paid, the besieging army should withdraw, and Vellore be restored to the Rajah. The utmost indignation was excited, both among the troops and at the Presidency, when the treaty in question became known. The troops had calculated upon the 'plunder of Tanjore, and they refused to accept a sum offered to them by Omrut ul Omrah in lieu of it ; while the Govern- ment was highly indignant that the unconditional surrender of the place had not been insisted on. Though, therefore, they commanded General Smith to fall back, they instructed him on no account to relinquish Vellore, and to hold himself in readi- ness, in the event of any delay in the promised payment, to renew the war. Things fell out as the Madras authorities had anticipated. The Rajah was not punctual ; and the English army, after assisting the Nabob to conquer those very Marawars whom he had affected to treat as his dependants, was again led against Tanjore. There was scarcely any plausible excuse for 288 BRITISH INDIA. [1771. this second inroad upon Tanjore. Out of fifty lacs promised as compensation for expenses, and eight lacs as arrears, the Rajah, by pledging his jewels and plate, had paid up all except twelve lacs, and these twelve he was making strenuous exertions to procure. Nevertheless, it was con- venient that his kingdom should not remain open as a landing-place for the French, and that all hazard from the rear should be obviated, in case of a renewal of the contest with Hyder. On those iniquitous grounds, the Rajah was given up to destruction ; for even the temptation of an enor- mous bribe was wanting. The Nabob would not consent that the captured city should receive so much as an English garrison ; and he promised no more than a gratuity of ten lacs of pagodas : yet for this poor sum the English government con- sented to intrust to his keeping the persons of the devoted Rajah and of all his family. After vainly striving to avert the storm by submission, and calling, with equal absence of success, on Hyder for support, the Rajah prepared to sell his capital at the dearest possible rate. He defended it with great resolution for upwards of a month, when the place being stormed and carried during the heat of the day, when the garrison were all buried in sleep, he became a prisoner in the hands of his worst enemy. But the conquerors were not satis- fied to rest here. The Dutch had recently pur- chased the sea-port of Nagpore, an acquisition which both the English and the Nabob beheld with distaste. It was determined to deprive them of it; and partly on the pretext that the Rajah, as a dependent prince, was not entitled to alienate 1774.] LORD 1'IGOT APPOINTED GOVERNOR. 289 any portion of his dominions, partly because the Dutch had supplied him with money and stores during the war, they were commanded to with- draw. The Dutch felt their own inability to maintain themselves, and they obeyed. Accounts of these transactions reached the Court of Directors so early as the 26th of March, 1774 ; but it was not till the 12th of April, 1775, that they condescended to express an opinion concerning them, either commendatory or the reverse. It is highly probable, indeed, that the deposition of the Tanjore Rajah would have been permitted to pass without one word of remark, had not the Court of Proprietors determined, for the second time, to invest Lord Pigot, late Mr. Pigot, with the government of Fort St. George. Now, it so happened, that with the dethroned Rajah, Mr. Pigot, when formerly in office, had formed an intimate and confidential connexion. It was to the good pleasure of Governor Pigot, indeed, that the Rajah owed the treaty of 1762, which gave to him the only security which he possessed for his throne : it would have been sin- gular had his deposition failed to affect his former patron with sentiments of deep regret. Whence it came about does not exactly appear; but the nomination of Lord Pigot was almost immediately followed by a revolution in the sentiments of the majority of the Court, touching the practice and policy of recent proceedings. They were unequi- vocally condemned, and peremptory orders were dis- patched, to restore, without loss of time, the Rajah to his throne. At the same time, instructions were issued for placing the revenue management VOL. II. U 290 BRITISH INDIA. [1775. of the Northern Circars on an improved footing ; and a desire was generally expressed, that to the well-known talents and zeal of the new governor, the Council would pay every deference. Armed with this authority, and doubly armed by the con- fidence reposed in him, Lord Pigot took leave of the Court, and entered upon his duties in the council-chamber of Fort St. George, llth of De- cember, 1"775. Profound was the sorrow of the Nabob, Moha- med Ally, when the intention of the English Government to reinstate the Rajah became known. He tried first the language of menace, then that of supplication ; and finding these equally un- availing, he endeavoured to divert them from their purpose, by offering to admit an English garrison into Tanjore itself. The government did not scruple to take advantage of this permission, though they never so far forgot what was due to themselves as to pretend a compliance with the Nabob's wishes. On the contrary, they marched a force to Tanjore, obtained quiet possession of the Rajah's person, and restored to him forthwith the sovereignty of which he had been temporarily deprived. It had been voted in council, that the Governor, who appeared desirous of managing this matter in person, should proceed to Tanjore for the purpose. He did so ; but found on his return that a spirit of hostility towards himself, in what cause ori- ginating has never been accurately shown, had arisen, in the interval, among a majority of his colleagues. There was a person of the name of Benfield, resident at Madras, a former servant of 1776.] DISSENSIONS IN THE COUNCIL. 291 the Company, whose yearly salary amounted to a few hundred pounds. This man had long heen on confidential terms with the Nabob, and natu- rally saw with regret the possession of a fertile province like that of Tanjore taken away from his friend and patron. With a degree of assurance altogether unparalleled, he advanced claims upon the Nabob to the amount of one hundred and sixty-two thousand pounds, besides a further claim upon individuals of seventy-two thousand pounds ; the whole of which he pretended to have lent. For this enormous debt, he asserted that security had been given to him, on the revenues and standing crops in Tanjore ; and he appealed to the Nabob himself, who at once admitted the claim. Two sources of suspicion naturally occurred con- cerning this transaction to Lord Pigot. In the first place, he considered it extremely probable that there was collusion between the nominal creditor and the nominal debtor ; in the next place, he was far from being satisfied that the Nabob possessed any right to offer such security as that specified. Mr. Benfield's case, therefore, (for he called upon the English government to assist him in the reco- very of his property,) was referred to the considera- tion of the Council, which, besides being unable to procure any vouchers to the supposed debts, came to the conclusion that the public property of the Rajah of Tanjore could not be escheated for the purpose of covering any loans advanced to private persons. This was both an unanimous and a fair decision : yet, strange to say, a motion was made at the next meeting that the matter should be reconsidered; and a verdict diametrically opposed 292 BRITISH INDIA. [1776. to that originally delivered was given in. Lord Pigot was surprised ; and endeavoured, by re- peatedly changing the form of his motion, to bring the Council back to the sentiments which they had formerly expressed. He did not succeed ; and from that hour everything like unanimity and concord ceased. Were we to describe at length the scenes which now occurred, when every question brought for- ward by the Governor was opposed and overborne by a majority in the Council, we should present to the reader only a copy of the picture of which he has already beheld the effect in the Chamber at -Calcutta. Lord Pigot desired to nominate a friend of his own to the situation of resident at Tanjore; he was outvoted ; and Colonel Stuart, the second in command, received the appointment. The Go- vernor refused to indorse it, declared himself an in- tegral part of the local jurisdiction, and forbade any order to be obeyed which had not received his signature. The Council pronounced this an act of tyranny, and proceeded to sign all deeds without reference to their president at all. Suspensions followed ; these were succeeded by counter-sus- pensions ; and finally the Governor was arrested by order of the opposite party, and placed in con- finement. He died while thus circumstanced, only a few weeks previous to the arrival of a dis- patch from London, which contained both his re-appointment and recall, and the whole council being summoned, Sir Thomas Rumbold, with Mr. Whitehill and General Hector Monro, took upon themselves the administration of affairs. Sir Thomas Rumbold gave an early specimen 1777.] SIR THOMAS RUMBOLD. 293 of the intended scheme of his administration, by disregarding, or rather by practically condemning, one of the few useful measures which marked the policy of his predecessors. We have alluded to the instructions communicated by the Court of Directors, touching a commission of inquiry into the resources of the Northern Circars, and the fittest method of rendering them available. For three years after they passed into the Company's possession, the districts of Rajamundry, Ellore, and Condapelly, had been consigned, under lease, to a native named Hassein Ally Khan, who had previ- ously governed them under the Nizam, with the state and authority of a viceroy. The remaining Circar of Cicalole was placed under a similar admi- nistration, but in the hands of a separate deputy. In the year 1769, a change took place, by the dis- continuance of native management, and the esta- blishment of chiefs and councils at Masulipatam and Vizagapatam, to whose charge the entire fiscal and judicial administration was intrusted. The revenue, however, continued to fall off, and the Council, during the period of Lord Pigot's im- prisonment, sent forth a commission to inquire and report upon the real state of the country, and the causes of its mortifying unfruitfulness. The commission had made some progress,when Sir Tho- mas Rumbold arrived, and an immediate stop was put to its proceedings. He determined that it would be better to command the attendance of the chiefs and zemindars at Madras, and to make with them, personally, such arrangements as cir- cumstances might warrant; and his council, with an obsequiousness to which governors had not of 294 BRITISH INDIA. [1778. late been accustomed, at once coincided in his opinion. The consequences were highly injurious to the native chiefs. They were all poor; many of them were de'eply involved, and not a few oppressed with age and bodily infirmities. Never- theless, they were compelled to wait upon their masters, in defiance of the avowal of the commis- sioners that they must increase their embarrass- ments by borrowing money to defray the expenses of the journey. Nor was this all. To one of these chiefs, Vizeram Roy, the Rajah of Vizinagaram, the Governor behaved with a degree of tyranny for which there was no excuse, by compelling him to make over the management of his affairs to a brother, of whose hostility and rapaciousness ample proofs were recorded. But there was an excellent reason for this. Several large sums were forwarded by that brother to Madras, which never found their way into the Companv's trea- Bxiry ; and both Rumbold and his private secre- tary, Mr. Redhead, were soon after enabled to remit home more than six times the amount of their respective salaries. If such was the tenor of his more private deal- ings, (and they were severely and justly blamed by his employers,) Sir Thomas Rumbold's policy in more conspicuous transactions lay equally open to the censure of the Directors. Notice has been taken of the reservation made of the Guntoor Cir- car, which was enjoyed as a jaghire by Basalut- jing, the brother of the Nizam. Hitherto he had been left in undisturbed possession of his pro- perty ; but there came in a rumour about this time that he had enlisted a corps of French in his 1778.] RUMBOLD'S INCAPABILITY. 295 service, and the apprehensions of the Madras go- vernment became violently excited. Instructions were promptly conveyed to Mr. Holland, the resi- dent at Hyderabad, to remonstrate with the Nizam on this proceeding ; while Basalut-jing himself was peremptorily required to dismiss M. Lally and his followers, on pain of immediate ejection from the jaghire. It so happened that Basalut- jing, apprehensive of an attack from Hyder, was prepared to secure the favour of the English at any cost; he therefore agreed to discharge his French mercenaries, arid to make over to the English in lease the whole of his revenues, on condition that they sent a force for his protection. In like manner, the Nizam declared himself per- fectly willing to see the treaty of 1768 rigidly enforced ; but he deprecated the loan of any troops from the English to his brother, on the ground that it would induce the latter to aspire at independence. Rumbold paid no attention to this remonstrance ; he pledged himself that a corps of English should supply the place of Lally and his Frenchmen, and the latter were dismissed, only to be taken into the service of the Nizam. Nor was Rumbold satisfied with this ; the payment due from the English to the Nizam had fallen into arrears for some time back Rum- bold now advanced a claim, that it should be re- mitted altogether. If the Nizam suspected the Madras authorities before, he became doubly sus- picious now, and he appealed to the supreme go- vernment, which, with perfect justice, though in a tone of great moderation, espoused his cause. Rumbold could not brook this. He replied to 29G BRITISH INDIA. [1778. the despatches from Calcutta in a strain of petu- lance and reproach, as much out of place as it was uncalled for, and followed up the step by taking forcible possession of Guntoor, and sub- letting it on a lease of ten years to the Nabob. But he was guilty of still greater political crimes than these, of which the consequences were long and severely felt throughout the whole of British India. Disgusted with the treatment which he had received from the Madras government, Hyder had for some time directed his views to an alliance with the French, between whom and the English war was known to be impending, if it had not already broken out. His advances were promptly met by M. Bellicombe, the enlightened and able governor of Pondicherry, and he was liberally supplied with arms, ammunition, and other necessaries, through the settlement at Mahe. All this was well known to Rumbold, yet, with unaccountable infatuation, he neither took steps to prevent it, nor began to make the slightest preparation against the issues to which it must necessarily lead. On the con- trary, he persisted in treating the ruler of Mysore with marked disrespect, at the same time that he permitted both the pecuniary and other resources of the presidency to fall into the grossest confu- sion. A few words will suffice to place this mat- ter in its true light. In the beginning of July, 1178, intelligence was received in Bengal, which, though somewhat premature, was acted upon as certain, that war between France and England had commenced. Orders were immediately issued to reduce the 1778.] RUMBOLD'S INCAPABILITY. 297 settlements at Cliandernagur, Masulipatam, and Carical, the whole of which, being incapable of effectual resistance, submitted without a blow. Pondicherry was next assailed, both by sea and land, and forced, after a gallant defence, to sur- render. The garrison were made prisoners of war, and the fortifications were blown up. The fall of this place was not regarded with indiffer- ence by Hyder ; but as yet he was unprepared for an open rupture, and he dissembled his senti- ments. It was not so when officially informed that an army, destined to reduce Mahe, was pre- paring to set out from the Carnatic. He formally protested against the measure, declared that all foreigners on the Malabar coast were equally en- titled to his protection, and threatened to avenge any insult offered to his flag by the destruction of Arcot. We are not prepared to condemn the Madras government because they disregarded this threat. There was no law in existence which con - stituted Hyder the natural guardian of a French fort, merely because the country contiguous hap- pened to form part of his dominions, for the French neither owed, nor pretended to owe, any allegiance to the sovereign of Mysore. But it would have been commonly prudent in Sir Thomas Rumbold, while meditating so bold a step, to furnish Hyder with no just ground of quarrel in another quarter, while he himself adopted proper precautions against the probable effects of his own proceeding. In both instances the governor of Madras showed himself as singularly as he was culpably negli- gent. He caused Mahe to be attacked and cap- tured, in defiance of a display of the Mysore 298 BRITISH INDIA. [1779. standard on the walls, and followed up the mea- sure by commanding Colonel Harpur to lead a body of troops through a portion of Hyder's ter- ritory towards Guntoor, without so much as pay- ing to Hyder the usual compliment of soliciting and obtaining his sanction to the measure. The step was a false one, as it led to the most' serious consequences. Harpur, opposed in the defiles of Cudapah, was compelled to abandon his design ; while a messenger, sent to offer explanations at the court of Seringapatam, was treated with undis- guised coldness, and even insult. It is scarcely to be accounted for, that a government, placed in such a situation, should have permitted the delu- sion to continue for one moment, that war with Mysore could be avoided. We find Sir Thomas Rumbold, so late as January, 1780, after it had been communicated to him by the Nabob, whose information was usually excellent, that a treaty existed between Hyder and the Mahrattas, to which Nizam Ally had acceded, writing to the Court of Directors that there was every pro- spect of tranquillity ; repeating this assurance in still stronger terms in the month following, and acting with as much disregard to the defensibility of the province as if his indemnity from attack rested upon the surest grounds. Nor did the evil end here. A spirit of faction arose in the council, which, under any circumstances, and at any mo- ment, would have been hurtful to the public inte- rests, but which, at a juncture so critical as the present, could not fail of leading to consequences in the highest degree mischievous. Such was the state of affairs at Madras and in 1780.] WAR WITH HYDER. 299 the Carnatic, when, on the 19th of June, an ex- press from the officer commanding at Velore com- municated information that Hyder had begun his march from Seringapatam, and that a prodigious army was assembling at Bangalore, The intelli- gence came upon government like a thunderbolt, for never had the country been less prepared to resist invasion. No efforts had been made to col- lect depots of stores or provisions ; there were few draught cattle fit for service, and the army, scat- tered among the chief places of strength, Velore, Wandewash, Arcot, Trichinopoly, &c., was, to all intents and purposes, inefficient. It is true that Colonel Bailie, who succeeded Harpur in com- mand of the Guntoor detachment, had been in- structed to repass the Kistna, and to be ready, in case of emergency, to effect a diversion ; but even this order was as yet very imperfectly obeyed. The most extraordinary fact of all, however, remains yet to be stated. Though 'the plans of Hyder were now fully developed, the government permit- ted another month to elapse without making any attempt to bring into the field even the wretched force at their disposal ; indeed, the individuals who composed the government were" too much occupied in cabals and disputes with one another, to pay the smallest regard to the condition of the presidency, or the interests of their employers. The consequence was, that Hyder had descended the Ghauts, overrun the open country, plun- dered and burned Porto Novo, Conjeveram, and other exposed towns, invested Arcot and Velore, besides reducing several lesser fortresses, ere so much as a place of rendezvous for the dis- 300 BRITISH INDIA. [1780. parsed corps of the British army had been named, or an officer appointed to command them when assembled. The force which Hyder now led against the Car- natic has been computed to exceed ninety thousand effective men, including twenty-eight thousand ca- valry, fifteen thousand trained infantry, and M. Lally's corps of four hundred Europeans. This last- mentioned battalion, after passing from the service of Basalut-jing to that of the Nizam, had eventu- ally accepted the pay of Hyder, and its chief was highly esteemed, and freely consulted, both as to the plan and conduct of the campaign. To op- pose so formidable a host it was found practicable to draw together something short of six thousand infantry, about one hundred cavalry, in addition to the Nabob's irregular horse, and a train of artillery, contemptible in amount, and doubly so in consequence of its extreme deficiency both in cattle and equipment. There was nothing very encouraging in such a comparison of strength ; but even to that the difficulties under which the English laboured were far from being limited. Though Sir Hector Monro drew up a plan for the campaign, and recommended an immediate advance upon Conjeveram, he expressed no inclination to assume the direction of the troops, or to throw away the influence which his presence in council gave to the party of which he was a member. Lord Macdonald, therefore, who had lately arrived from Europe in command of a Highland regiment, was requested to assume the command ; but Lord Macdonald did not approve of General Monro's dispositions, and he therefore declined to stake his 1780.] WAR WITH I1YDER. 301 professional reputation on the execution of plans, in the formation of which he had not been con- sulted. Under these circumstances, Monro, whose courage no one has ever pretended to question, put himself at the head of the troops, and having instructed Bailie to join him with as little delay as possible, marched on the 25th of August from St. Thomas's Mount. In this, as in his previous war with the Eng- lish, Hyder contrived to establish a system of in- telligence, which rendered it impossible for his adversaries to conceal from him either their de- signs or their movements. He heard of the pro- jected junction between Monro and Bailie's divi- sions while eagerly engaged in the siege of Arcot : he saw the necessity of preventing it, and took his measures accordingly. A corps of five thousand infantry and six thousand cavalry, with six light and six heavy guns, was detached under his son Tippoo Saib, to intercept Bailie, while he himself, at the head of the main body, advanced upon Con- jeveram, where Monro, with much difficulty, had arrived on the 29th. He found the English gene- ral reduced to the last stage of weakness, through the failure of the Nabob's agent to supply either cattle or provisions. The army had quitted St. Thomas's Mount with rice sufficient for the con- sumption of eight days only. Of this, all except one day's rations was consumed, and the troops were halted till some further stock should be col- lected from the impoverished country round. In the meanwhile, Bailie, who had reached the village of Goomgapovridey, within twenty-eight miles of St. Thomas's Mount, so early as the 302 BRITISH INDIA. [1780. 24 tli of August, instead of being required 'to join Monro at Connitoor, by forced marches, had been instructed to follow an independent route to Conjeverain. He obeyed the 'order, not without serious misgivings, and arrived on the 25th at the river Covtilaur, which was then low and ford- able. Unfortunately he pitched his camp on the northern bank, though intending to cross early next day, a serious mistake under any circum- stances, but particularly so at a season when the rains might be expected hourly to fall. They did fall that very night ; nor was it till the 4th of September that his corps, which consisted of two hundred and seven Europeans, two thousand six hundred and six sepoys, and ten guns, was ena- bled to make good its passage. On the 6th, Bailie took post at Peraumbacum, distant about four miles from Conjeveram. He sustained a sharp action during the day, for Tippoo fell in with him on the march, and killed about one hundred men by cannonade. He reviewed his division here, and sent a messenger to inform Monro that he could advance no farther. The messenger reached Monro not without some difficulty, and found him busily occupied in for- tifying the pagoda, into which he had thrown his slender supplies. He was strongly urged by Lord Macdonald and others to leave his stores to their fate, and to march with his whole army to Peraum- bacum ; but to this he would not consent. On the contrary, he committed the serious error of dividing his force still further, by detaching one thousand of his best infantry to Bailie's assist- ance, while he himself rested idly in Conjeverain, 1780.] DESTRUCTION OF BAILIE*S CORPS. 303 as if waiting the result. The measure proved fatal to Bailie's division, and severely hurtful to his ownl The former corps, having received its re- inforcement, moved upon Conjeveram at midnight of the 8th. At three o'clock in the morning of the 9th, it was attacked by the flower of Hyder's army, and after again sustaining a desperate con- test during many hours, it suffered total annihila- tion. Out of eighty-six officers, thirty-six were killed, or died of their wounds, thirty-four were wounded and taken, and sixteen, though unhurt, became prisoners ; while of the private soldiers almost all were either massacred after they sur- rendered, or cut down during the battle. It is difficult to account on any principle, either of military or political science, for .the conduct of Sir Hector Monro throughout this entire series of operations. In the first place, his wanton expo- sure of Bailie in the march to Conjeveram can be explained only upon the supposition, that he was determined to risk the very being of his army, rather than relinquish an opinion, however hastily formed. In the next place, his division of a force originally weak, by detaching to Bai- lie's support, instead of moving en masse as the state of affairs required, exhibits a shameful ig- norance of the rudiments of an art which, more than any other, may be reduced to calculation. It is true that he had begun to form a depot, of which he was unwilling to risk the capture, by leaving it under a slender guard in a place not yet strength- ened against surprise; but his conduct in this respect deserves no commendation, for the site was chosen without skill, and the grossest negli- 304 BRITISH INDIA. [1780. gence had been exercised in covering it. Nor can the poor excuse be advanced, that he remained in ignorance of Hyder's intention to support his son in a renewed attack upon Bailie's corps. On the evening of the 8th, it was known to Monro that Hyder was in motion ; nor could any doubt remain either as to the object of that movement, or the consequences which would probably ensue, were it to pass unheeded. Nevertheless, Monro rested quietly all night, and began his march in quest of Bailie, only when it was too late to afford him the smallest assistance. He had proceeded some way towards Peraum- bacum, under the direction of guides, who, being in Hyder's pay, led him by the most circuitous route, when a wounded sepoy, escaping from the general slaughter, brought intelligence of Bailie's defeat. The army was instantly countermarched, the stores, on the preservation of which so much had been thought to depend, were destroyed, and before dawn on the 12th, a retreat began. It was conducted with great precipitation and some confusion ; but as Hyder did not venture to fol- low, except with a portion of his cavalry, little loss of life was sustained. The army arrived at Chingleput at a late hour on the night of the 1 1th. It was joined here by a force from Trichinopoly under Lieutenant-Colonel Crosby, which had ma- naged to evade the Mysore detachment ; and on the 1 5th, the whole fell back upon Marmalong, where the troops were placed in cantonments. 1780.] 305 CHAPTER XII. Sir Eyre Coote takes the command of the Army Operations by sea and land Battles of Porto Novo of Pollelore and Sholingur Capture of the Dutch Settlements Distress of the English Arrival of the French Naval Actions Sir Eyre Coote resigns the command. WHILE these operations were going on in the Car- natic, the Bengal government had not been re- gardless either of the errors committed by the au- thorities at Madras, or of the state of affairs in other parts of India. Besides early expressing their disapprobation of a line of policy which threatened to bring about a rupture with the Ni- zam, they had issued orders that the Guntoor Cir- car should be restored, and all arrears to the pesh- wah made good. On the 25th of September, 1780, information reached them of the destruction of Bailie's detachment, and of the alarming progress which Hyder's arms were making in all parts of the Carnatic. There was no longer any hesita- tion as to the steps necessary to be taken. Mr. Hastings saw that half measures would avail no- thing ; he therefore determined, with the appro- bation of his council, to exercise the full authority with which his employers had entrusted him. VOL, n. x 306 BRITISH INDIA. [1780. His first proceeding was, to assemble an army of six thousand sepoys, and to secure for them a safe passage through Berar into the Carnatic. His next, to despatch Sir Eyre Coote by sea, with a body of three hundred and thirty European infan- try, two hundred artillery, six thousand three hundred lascars, and about fifty gentlemen volun- teers. That officer carried with him a liberal supply of money for the necessities of Madras ; but he was the bearer also of an order, to which it was extremely doubtful whether prompt obe- dience would be paid. Mr. Whitehill, who had recently succeeded Governor Rumbold, was de- clared unfit for his situation, and suspended; a strong measure, doubtless, but not more strong than the circumstances of the times required. Nor was any difficulty experienced in carrying it into effect. Sir Eyre reached Madras on the 5th of November; on the 7th, he opened his dispatches, and the council, yielding at once to the wishes of the supreme government, deposed their chief, and entrusted to Coote the unshackled conduct of the war. In the meanwhile, Hyder, after sweeping off the cattle, and making a desert of the country round Madras, had formed in person the siege of Arcot, while he detached, at the same time, vari- ous corps, under his son, Meer Saheb, and other leaders, to invest Wandewash, Velore, Amboor, Permacoil, and Chingleput. Arcot was" not de- fended as its importance or the strength of its garrison required, for the pettah was carried by assault on the 31st of October, and the citadel surrendered on the 3d of November. In like man- 1781.] THE ENGLISH TAKE THE FIELD. 30t ner, Amboor, though commanded by an English officer, opened its gates on the 13th of January; but the remaining fortress held out with great obstinacy, despite both of violence from without and treachery within the walls. It was the grand object of Sir Eyre Coote to march as soon as pos- sible to their relief; yet such was the poverty of the Carnatic, and such the total absence of pre- paration at the presidency, that the 17th of Janu- ary arrived ere he could take the field. Then, however, with an army which amounted barely to seven thousand men which could muster not more than eight hundred black cavalry and was wretchedly supplied both with provisions and means of transport he quitted the Mount, that he might open a campaign, upon the issue of which the fate of the British empire in India confessedly depended. On the 18th, General Coote arrived within four miles of Chingleput, the siege of which was im- mediately raised. On the 19th, he crossed the Pallaur ; and on the same night detached three battalions of sepoys, under the command of Capt. Davis, to attack the fort of Carrangoly, in which the enemy was understood to have laid up con- siderable stores of rice. In spite of a resistance more spirited than he had been led to expect, Captain Davis carried the place by a coup de main, but found that the amount of its resources was as much exaggerated as its defences had been un- derrated. Nevertheless, this first success on the opening of a new campaign was not without its effect upon the spirits of the troops. It inspired them with a confidence to which they had of late 308 BRITISH INDIA. [1781. teen strangers, and animated them to endure, with increased patience, the hardships that awaited them. It was past noon on the 24th, when the ad- vanced guard came in sight of Wandewash, where, to the great delight both of the general and his fol- lowers, the English flag was still flying. Since the beginning of December Meer Saheb had pressed the siege with more than common vigour, yet his efforts had been foiled in every effort by the gal- lantry of Lieutenant Flint, and he now retreated with his whole force of twelve hundred cavalry and two thousand infantry, to a position distant about fifteen miles from Coote's encampment. He halted there, as if to watch the proceedings of the English, sending out frequent patroles to scour the open country ; but he did not hazard even the demonstration of an attack. Coote, therefore, after throwing a slender supply into the place, pressed forward on the road to Permacoil, and relieved it, as he had already done Chingleput and Wandewash, from the presence of the enemy. But he had scarcely effected his purpose, ere the rumoured appearance of a French fleet upon the coast called his attention to other objects, and induced him to direct his march, first towards Madras, where a landing was apprehended, and afterwards, on the departure of the squadron in a southerly direction, upon Pondicherry. The arrival of Sir Eyre Coote, and the intelli- gence which reached him of the preparations that were making in Bengal, inspired Hyder with a de- gree of alarm, such as he never experienced since the commencement of the war. On this account it 1781.] ARRIVAL OF A FRENCH FLEET. 309 was that, instead of opposing the passage of the Pallaur, he withdrew even his posts from its banks, and directed his 'several detachments to concentrate without delay, that they might be at hand to cover Arcot, should an attempt be made to retake it. The boldness of Coote's advance, in defiance of his imperfect equipment, served by no means to decrease the respect which Hyder entertained for him. The siege of Velore was in consequence abandoned, and Coote had the satis- faction to learn, when on the road to Pondicherry, that the Mysorean army had concentrated, and that, in all probability, a general action could not be very distant. In the beginning of February, the British army encamped on the red hills above Pondicherry. They found a French fleet of seven sail of the line and four frigates at anchor in the roads, and the inha- bitants everywhere in arms, with the avowed in- tention of facilitating a disembarkation, and join- ing the troops after they should have come on shore. General Coote lost no time in suppressing this movement. He deprived the people of their weapons, destroyed the country boats, and caused the few cannon which remained in the place to be dismantled *. He had scarcely effected this service, when Hyder made his appearance, advancing in full inarch towards Cuddalore. Coote instantly ordered his tents to be struck, and the two armies moved during the night of the 6th along parallel * The inhabitants of Pondicherry had been treated with great lenity ever since the capture of that place. Yet they embraced the very first opportunity of violating their faith, and turning round upon their humane conquerors^ 310 BRITISH INDIA. [1761. roads, under a heavy, but harmless, cannonade. Next morning at dawn, the British line was formed with its left extending toward Fort St. David's, and its right nearly on Cuddalore, while the My- soreans, cut off from the bound-hedge, which it was their probable intention to seize, lay upon their arms, without attempting anything. The rapidity and judgment with which this march was conducted, unquestionably saved Cud- dalore ; but the distresses under which Coote himself laboured, and which had so cruelly im- peded his operations from the first, were very far from receiving alleviation. The scanty stock of provisions which had been brought from Madras was now wholly consumed ; Cuddalore contained supplies adequate to two days' consumption only ; and the presence of the enemy's squadron cut off all communication by sea between the ca- pital and the army. Under these circumstances, nothing short of a victory, so decisive as to clear the open country, seemed to hold out any prospect of relief, and Coote repeatedly drew out, in the hope that he might tempt Hyder to risk a battle. But Hyder was too cautious to fall into the snare. He declined the offered contest, and withdrew with his main army towards the south, leaving clouds of horse to watch the English, and to cut off their convoys. Happily for this gallant band, the French admiral, by what motive actuated has never perfectly appeared, weighed anchor on the 15th, and the water-communication, so long inter- rupted between the capital and the camp, was once more renewed.' From this date up to the middle of June, the 1781.] THE ENGLISH REPULSED. 311 inadequacy of his means of transport, together with a disinclination to separate himself too far from the troops now daily expected from Ben- gal, kept Sir Eyre Coote, in a great degree, sta- tionary at Cuddalore. Once, and only once, in the early part of May, he quitted his cantonments, with the intention of raising the siege of Theagur, but on reaching Trividi its fall was communicated to him, and he retraced his steps without delay Meanwhile the Mysoreans had spread themselves into Tanjore, the whole of which, with the excep- tion of the capital, they reduced. They next in- vested Wandewash, which was again bravely maintained by the same Lieutenant Flint who had so gallantly defended it before ; and advanced with a large detachment towards Trichinopoly, for the safety of which serious apprehensions were enter- tained. Sir Eyre Coote, resolved, at every hazard, to preserve a place, the importance of which seems to have been at all times overrated, broke up his camp on the 16th of June, and arrived on the 18th at Chalambrum, a fortified pagoda, situ- ated thirty miles south-west from Cuddalore. As soon as darkness set in, the general directed an assault to be made. The detachment employed on the service suffered a repulse, in which six offi- cers, with one hundred and fifty men, perished ; whilst an attempt to batter in breach, with a single eighteen-pounder, led only to the loss of the gun on the following morning. General Coote was disturbed at this failure, not through any mis- taken estimate of the importance of the pagoda, but because he was aware of the bad effect which would be produced upon the minds of the troops, 312 BRITISH INDIA. [1781. by the abortive issue of any enterprise in which they fairly embarked. He determined, therefore, to renew the attack, as soon as his battering can- non should come up, for whicli he had already sent more than one urgent message, to Cuddalore. In the meanwhile the blockade was raised, and the columns proceeded to Porto Novo, where Ad- miral Hughes, with a reinforcement of men from Bombay, was expected shortly to arrive. The fleet of which he was in command had performed good service on the Malabar coast, by destroying in Cuttack and Mangalore the whole of Hyder's navy, and it was now at hand to second the exer- tions of the Carnatic army, by keeping open the communication by sea, and overawing the enemy's cruisers. It conveyed likewise the heavy cannon from Cuddalore, as well as a supply of rice and ammunition, and it reached its anchorage on the 24th, just two days after the troops had marked out their ground of encampment. No time was lost in preparing rafts for the more convenient transport of the guns to Chilambrum ; but ere any of these were in a fit condition to be launched, the attention of all concerned was drawn to matters of infinitely greater importance. At early dawn on the 28th, the sound of the reveille was heard in front of the camp, and the rising sun discovered the plain, for several miles in each direction, co- vered with the tents of the Mysorean army. The truth is, that the repulse from Chilambrum, with the announcement that the assailing troops had withdrawn, inspired Hyder with a mistaken confidence, such as he had not till now ventured to encourage. Believing that the moment had 1781. J BATTLE OF PORTO NOVO. 313 arrived when he should be able utterly to destroy the British army, he relinquished his intention of besieging Trichinopoly, and calling in his detach- ments,marched about seventy miles in two days, and encamped at Mootypolam, a league or something more from Porto Novo. Nor were his followers less confident than himself. They approached the outposts singly, and in groups ; assured the British sentinels that their fate was inevitable, and called upon the sepoys to save their lives, by com- ing over to the service of Hyder. Nothing could have occurred more perfectly in accordance with the wishes both of Coote and his officers. They desired only a fair field on which to measure themselves with their enemy, and such a field being at length afforded, no delay was exercised in taking advantage of it. Few battles have been undertaken under more serious disadvantages, yet few victories have been more complete than that of Porto Novo. The action began about eight o'clock in the morning of the 1st of July, by the advance of seven thou- sand British troops, in two lines, to the assault of a strong position, covered with numerous batteries, and defended by upwards of eighty thousand horse and foot. It ended at two in the afternoon, by the total discomfiture of the Mysoreans, who fled with the utmost precipitation, leaving upwards of three thousand dead upon the field. On the side of the English, not more than four hundred of all ranks suffered, a number unprecedentedly small, more especially when it is considered that among them were only two officers wounded. It were vain to offer any remarks upon such a contest 314 BRITISH INDIA. [1781. as this. To General Coote the highest praise is due, for the courage which prompted him to accept the battle at all; while his troops are represented, by those who witnessed their conduct, to have behaved with the steadiness of experienced veterans ; yet it would be absurd to deny, that nothing short of the grossest misconduct on the part of the enemy could have led to a result so decisive. It was the triumph of discipline over numbers, of a moveable body over an inert mass : for Sir Eyre Coote, by a judicious disposition of his lines, ventured to attack the Mysoreans in flank, whilst they, being incapable of a change of position, were routed in detail. Hyder was so astonished at the turn which affairs had taken, that he seemed to lose all courage and self-com- mand. He recalled Tippoo from Wandewash, of which he had been left to carry on the siege with a corps of thirty thousand men, and, followed by the whole xf his now dispirited army, withdrew to Arcot. While Hyder was thus abandoning the fruits of his former successes, Sir Eyre Coote, after a halt of a few days at Cuddalore, marched to the north- ward, in order to meet the long-expected and wished-for reinforcement from Bengal. This force, which had encountered numerous impedi- ments, and suffered much from sickness and de- sertion by the way, was now arrived in the Northern Circars; and in the beginning of August, the junction, so important in every point of view, was effected at Pulicat. The General was not tardy in turning to account the fresh spirits with which so great an addition to their strength inspired his 1781.] BATTLE OF POLLALORE. 315 troops. He pushed upon Tripassore, laid siege to it, and compelled it to surrender. No event could have befallen more opportunely ; for, inde- pendently of the great importance of the conquest, the advance of Hyder's army, which was in full march for its relief, appeared in sight at the very moment when the troops were taking possession of the works, and there remained but a single day's rice in the camp. Coote hastily recruited his stores from those of Tripassore ; and finding that the Mysoreans were willing to hazard another action, proceeded, at an early hour on the 27th, to the attack. There is an opinion prevalent, upon what au- thority grounded we are unable to say, that the battle of Pollalore was fought in consequence of a formal challenge sent in by Hyder, and accepted by General Coote. It is by no means impossible that a superstitious and semi-barbarous chief like Hyder may have taken some such step, encouraged as he was by finding himself on the same ground where he had gained his first and greatest victory over Bailie ; but that Sir Eyre Coote should have acted upon a challenge seems to be in the highest degree improbable unless, indeed, his extreme anxiety to fight induced him to do so on any terms. However this may be, it is certain that, on the 27th of August, the hostile armies once more met. That of Hyder occupied a position, covered in every point by water-courses and ravines ; that of Coote pressed forward to dislodge the enemy, and, at a heavy loss, succeeded. But though Hyder retreated on the following day, and left the English masters of the field, no great 316 BRITISH INDIA. [1781. advantage could be taken of the victory. As usual, the conquerors were crippled for want of cattle, and destitute, or nearly so, of provisions : they could therefore pause only to bury their own dead, and the bodies of Bailie's unfortunate com- rades ; after which they fell leisurely back upon Madras. From the 28th of August to the 27th of Sep- tember, Coote was confined by his necessities to the Mount ; while Velore, of which the siege had again been resumed, suffered the utmost distress from the want of provisions. It was gallantly defended by Colonel Long, an officer whom no danger could affright, nor any suffering overcome. Nevertheless, it was apparent to all, that, unless relieved within a given time, it must of necessity be taken. Velore, however, was a place of great importance, not more on account of its strength, than because it commanded one of the principal passes from Mysore into the Carnatic. It was resolved, therefore, to attempt some diversion in its favour, no matter at what hazard or expense. With this view, Coote once more took the field. He came up with Hyder's army at Sholingur, a strong pass on the Velore road, attacked it without a moment's hesitation, and again obtained a vic- tory. Yet was he so far from being in a state to improve his success, that he had himself well nigh suffered annihilation. Famine, as it had done before, pressed severely upon him. His bullocks were few in number, and wretchedly out of con- dition ; indeed it was only by great exertion, and the sending out of detachments, sometimes at imminent hazard, that he collected rice as it was 1781.] TANJORE. 317 wanted from day to day. Under these circum- stances, it was not till towards the end of October that he succeeded in throwing into Velore a supply of provisions for six weeks. By this time the monsoon had set in with the excessive violence which usually attends it. The rain fell in torrents, and the cold became so intense, that multitudes, both of men and women, perished. Nevertheless, Coote marched upon Chittore, of which he made himself master, and then hastened to relieve Pali- put and Tripassore, to both of which the My- soreans had laid siege. He arrived in time to save them, though at the expense of many cattle and horses, which were to him invaluable ; after which he placed his troops in cantonments, between Tripassore and the Mount, and returned in per- son to Madras. During the progress of this campaign, a series of events occurred elsewhere, which, though less interesting in themselves than those just described, were not without their weight in affecting the final issues of the war. It has been stated, that when Hyder led in person his grand army into the Carnatic, he detached a corps to the southward, which, with the exception of the capital, took possession of every fort and town within the prin- cipality of Tanjore. Around the city itself a belt of devastation was drawn, to the depth of twelve miles in all directions ; but the continued efforts of the Mysoreans to reduce the town were baffled and withstood by the commandant, Colonel Braith- waite. Such was the state of affairs, when, on the 22nd of June, 1781, Lord Macartney arrived from England, in the capacity of governor of 318 BRITISH INDIA. [1781. Madras. He brought with him intelligence that war had broken out between Great Britain and Holland ; and one of his first measures, after reaching the Presidency, was to propose that operations against the Dutch should be immedi- ately begun. He found the Council well dis- posed to second him ; though Sir Eyre Coote, the commander of the forces, upon some pretence or another, strongly opposed the measure. Never- theless, all parties agreed in the propriety of strengthening Braithwaite, to whom reinforce- ments were forwarded accordingly, as opportu- nities occurred. The Colonel, animated by the arrival of fresh troops, began to act upon the offensive. He assaulted several strong places, from which, being himself severely wounded, he was repulsed with great loss. Yet his second in command, Colonel Nixon, proved more for- tunate ; nor did the tide turn when Braithwaite so far recovered as again to assume the guidance of his own corps. He attacked the Mysore army in a fortified position, of which the village of Mahada- patam was the key; and though his army was composed entirely of natives, and amounted, in fact, to scarcely one-half that of the enemy, he defeated them with great slaughter, and won, among other trophies, two pieces of cannon. Meanwhile Lord Macartney, persevering in his designs against the Dutch, called out the militia of Madras, and putting himself at their head, re- duced the settlements of Sadras and Pulicat. He had endeavoured some time previously to open a negotiation with Hyder ; but being coldly met, he turned his undivided attention to the best means 1781.] TIUNCOMALEE CAPTURED. 319 of carrying on the war with vigour. There were now opposed to the English, independently of the sovereign of Mysore, all the great naval powers of Europe, against whom Lord Macartney justly conceived that it was a point of the utmost im portance that every harhour in India should he closed. Once more, therefore, he urged upon Sir Eyre Coote the wisdom of fitting out an expedition for the reduction of Negapatnam, and the places dependent upon it ; and finding that the general continued as averse to the proposal as ever, he re- solved, on his own responsibility, to hazard the attempt. It chanced that Sir Hector Monro was at this time resident in Madras, whither he had retired, professedly in bad health, but more truly in consequence of some harsh expression used towards him by his superior officer during the battle of Pollalore. To him Lord Macartney committed the command of a force, which he made up as he best could, without withdrawing a single man from General Coote's army ; and embarking the whole on board of Sir Edward Hughes' squa- dron, he sent them forward to try their fortune in Tanjore. Monro, after he had landed the marines, with a body of sailors to serve his guns, could muster less than five thousand men, inclusive of Braithwaite's corps under Nixon. Nevertheless, he carried on his approaches with so much spirit, that, in six days after the firing of his batteries, he compelled the garrison of Negapatnam to capitu- late. Nor did he stop there. Sailing across to Ceylon, he laid siege to the fort of Trincomalee, which he carried by storm ; thus effectually ex- pelling the Dutch from every station within the limits of the Indian seas. 320 BRITISH INDIA. [1781. All this was satisfactory enough ; yet the state of exhaustion in which the Carnatic lay, and the impoverished condition of the public treasury, hindered it from producing any visible effect upon the probable result of the contest. The Nabob, when called upon for funds with which to carry on the war, professed his absolute inability to supply them. His excuses were received with undisguised distrust ; and it was proposed that he should make over to the English all authority over the revenues of the country, becoming, like the Nabob of Bengal, a pensioner upon their bounty. To the astonishment of Lord Macartney, his Highness made Answer, that for such a contingency he was long ago prepared. He had already, it appeared, entered into a treaty with the Supreme Government, by which even this emergency was guarded against ; and the subordinate authorities found themselves deprived of all power,except to act upon arrangements contracted elsewhere. It would have been contrary to human nature had such a stretch of authority failed to rouse something like indignation in the members of the subordinate government. Nevertheless, they did not permit the feeling to stand in the way of their turning the arrangement to the best possible account. They nominated collectors of their own to super- intend the management of the Nabob's affairs; and making a deduction of one-sixth for the de- frayment of his personal expenses, they transferred the remainder of the revenues of the Carnatic to their own treasury. The negotiation with the Nabob was yet in progress, when pther and scarcely less serious 1731.] DISTRESS OF THE ENGLISH. 321 difficulties arose out of the increasing dissatisfac- tion manifested by Sir Eyre Coote towards the new government. The expedition to Negapatam, undertaken, and successfully terminated, in oppo- sition to his remonstrances, by no means tended to soothe a temper naturally irritable, and now rendered doubly so by old age and disease. He complained not of this alone, but likewise of the total absence -of zeal manifested by the civil au- thorities in providing his troops with the ordinary means of equipment, and declared his intention of resigning the command, and returning to Bengal. It is extremely doubtful whether all the conces- sions of Lord Macartney (and his Lordship, to use his own language, " courted Sir Eyre like a mistress, and humoured him like a child") would have prevailed upon him to relinquish this idea, had not the brave old man been summoned, early in January, to the field. It was then that in- formation came in of the fall of Chittore, and of the impossibility that Velore could hold out be- yond the llth; two pieces of intelligence Avhich produced a much more powerful effect on the chivalrous feelings of Coote, than all the protesta- tions and flattering addresses of the governor. On the 6th, he set out from his cantonments, and, though harassed and cannonaded throughout the whole of the 10th, he reached Velore on the llth, with a supply of three months' provisions. He performed this march in his palanquin, having been seized with a fit of apoplexy on the 5th ; yet he conducted it with his usual skill, and, on the 13th, set out on his return. Once more were the columns exposed to a galling fire of cannon, VOL. II. Y 322 BRITISH INDIA. [1782. as well as threatened -with a more serious attack while crossing a swamp. But they made good their passage in excellent order, charged and dis- persed the enemy, and, after manoeuvring during some hours on the 16th without effect, returned to the lines at Tripassore. The war was carried on all this while with extraordinary alacrity and varied success in Mala- bar, in Tanjore, and on the high seas. The force sent from Madras for the capture of Mahe, having been recalled for the defence of the Carnatic, was relieved by a detachment of Bombay sepoys, under Major Abingdon, which, unable to keep the field, shut themselves up in Tellichery, a factory rather than a fortress, covered by such intrenchments as Europeans were originally accustomed to con- struct by way of a defence against the attacks of native powers. Abingdon was assailed here by a corps of Hyder's best troops, \vnder the command of one of his most distinguished officers. The Major defended himself with great spirit till re- inforcements arrived; he then assumed the offen- sive, and put the assailants to the rout. After destroying their works, he marched upon Calicut, and, on the 12th of February, 1782, compelled it to surrender. Important as this success was, as offering a point round which the discontented Nairs might assemble, it was more than counterbalanced by the destruction, almost at the same moment, of the Tanjore army, under Colonel Braithwaite. That officer, after re-establishing the authority of the Rajah, had encamped, in fancied security, on the banks of the Coleroon, where he was surprised 1782.] DEFEAT OF BRAITHWAITE. 323 and surrounded by Tippoo and M. Lally, at the head of an overwhelming force. He endeavoured first to retreat to Tanjore ; but finding every avenue blocked up, threw himself into a square, and refused to lay down his arms. The battle raged with the utmost fury from the 1 6th to the 18th of February. Repeated charges of the enemy's horse were repelled; nor was it till Lally's Europeans, four hundred in number, ad- vanced with fixed bayonets upon them, that the sepoys began to waver. Then, indeed, all order was lost, and the Mysoreans, breaking in, cut them down without mercy, and in defiance of all the intreaties of Lally and his officers. Only a remnant of this gallant band, which consisted, when the action began, of one hundred Europeans and one thousand eight hundred natives, escaped the general massacre to be shut up, with the other prisoners taken during the War, in the dun- geons of Seringapatam. It is somewhat remarkable that, in spite of these mutual victories, both Hyder and the Eng- lish should have given way, at this moment, to more than their usual despondency. The for- mer, taught by experience that not all the dis- cipline which he had been able to infuse into them rendered his troops a match even for the British sepoys, found but slender consolation for the loss of many general actions, in the casual triumph of hie son. He beheld, too, in the poli- tical horizon, the gathering of a storm, which must, sooner or later, burst upon his head. The French, on whom he mainly depended, were not yet T 2 324 BRITISH INDIA. [1782. arrived j and it was exceedingly doubtful whether they would arrive at all. Of the Mahrattas, two of the principal chiefs, Moodajee Bhoonslah and Scindiah, were already detached from his interests, while the remaining branch of the confederacy, the Poonah nobles, were in treaty with Mr. Hastings, and the Nizam Ally had violated all his promises, by abstaining from taking any part in the contest. These were causes of just and serious apprehension ; nor was it less alarming to know, that an impression had been made upon the weakest point in his dominions, the western provinces. " I have committed a great error," said he one day to his minister ; " 1 have pur- chased a draught of leandu, (a cheap but in- toxicating liquor,) at the price of a lac of pagodas. I shall pay dearly for my arrogance. Between me and the English there were, perhaps, mutual grounds of dissatisfaction, but no sufficient cause for war ; and I might have made them my friends, in spite of Mohamed Ally, the most treacherous of men. The defeat of many Bailies and Braith- waites will not destroy them. I can ruin their resources by land, but I cannot dry up the sea ; and I must be first weary of a war in which I can gain nothing by fighting. I ought to have reflected, that no man of common sense will trust a Mahratta, and that they themselves do not ex- pect to be trusted. I have been amused by idle expectations of a French force from Europe ; but supposing it to arrive, and to be successful here, I must go alone against the Mahrattas, and incur the reproach of the French for distrusting them ; 1782.] ARRIVAL OF THE FRENCH. 325 for I dare not admit them in force to Mysore*." Thus thinking, Hyder determined to abandon all his designs on the Carnatic, to withdraw entirely beyond the Ghauts, and look to the peace of his own kingdom; and he had actually pro- ceeded so far as to undermine Arcot, when cir- cumstances induced him to suspend the opera- tion. Of all these sources of uneasiness which pressed so heavily upon the mind of their enemy, the au- thorities at Madras were ignorant. They knew only that Braithwaite was destroyed, that a French army was assembling at the Mauritius, and might daily be expected on the coast ; and that if they found it a hard matter to make head against the Mysoreans alone, their chances of success would be slender indeed, when Hyder should be thus strongly supported. To a certain extent, both par- ties reckoned justly, and both were equally in error; but the moment was rapidly approaching when doubts should.be converted into certainty. Towards the latter end of Mai-ch, 1781, there sailed from Brest a squadron of five sail of the line and some frigates, under M. Suffrein, filled with troops, for the attack of the British settle- ments along the Coromandel coast. About the same period an expedition took its departure from St. Helen's, of which Commodore Johnstone had the guidance, and of which the object was, first, the reduction of the Cape of Good Hope; and ultimately the reinforcement of the king's troops in India. The British fleet put into Praya Bay, * See Wilks's Historical Sketches. 326 BRITISH INDIA. [1782. in St. I ago, one of the Cape de Verde islands, where it was attacked, while unprepared, by the enterpris- ing Suffrein, who had followed, and now hoped to surprise it. Suffrein was repulsed with consider- able loss; yet the action proved so far injurious to the English, that it gave time to the governor of the Cape to prepare for them, and to set them at defiance when they arrived. Commodore John- stone, therefore, after capturing a fleet of Dutch East Indiamen, returned to England with the frigates, and left the heavier ships to pursue their voyage. They were continually baffled by calms or adverse winds. On the 2d of September, the fleet stopped at Joanna, to refresh the sick, who had now be- come numerous ; on the 24th, it again weighed anchor. From the llth of October to the 5th of November not a breath of air blew ; the calm again was succeeded by a change in the monsoon, which carried them to the coast of Arabia Felix; on the 26th of November, they came to anchor in Marabut Bay ; and on the 6th of December, the convoy broke up. The principal vessels of war, having on board General Mathews, Colonel Ful- lerton, and the main body of the troops, departed in search of Sir Edward Hughes, while the re- mainder, with a part of two regiments, under the command of Colonel Humbertstone, steered for Bombay. Humbertstone remained at Bombay something less than a week, when he re- embarked, with the intention of rounding Cape Comorin, and joining Sir Eyre Coote at Madras. In the course of the voyage, however, intelligence reached him which led to a total change of plan. He was in- 1782.] NAVAL ACTION. 327 formed that the French were in command of the seas ; that the Carnatic was overrun ; that Tan- jore was reduced, and two British armies de- stroyed ; and, above all, that anarchy and intestine division reigned among the authorities, who were threatened and insulted even in Fort St. George itself. As it appeared to him that any attempt to reach the presidency must, under such circum- stances, be attended with a degree of hazard which success itself would hardly justify, he directed the transports to put in at Calicut, and there he landed the troops. He came, however, not to seek repose, but to effect, if possible, a diversion in favour of the Carnatic. With this view he joined Major Abingdon's corps to his own, advanced into the interior,and gained several advantages over Hyder's generals. The approach of the monsoon, how- ever, compelled him to relinquish his conquests ; and on the 18th of May he again fell back upon Calicut. In the meanwhile, M. Suifrein, after securing the Cape against surprise, had continued his voyage to the Mauritius, where his arrival augmented the French fleet to ten sail of the line, one fifty-gun ship, and several frigates. He carried with him the first division of an army destined, under M. Bussy, to retrieve the fortunes of his country in Asia ; and he was urgent with Admiral d'Orves, his senior in rank, to enter, without loss of time, upon the campaign. The combined squadrons put to sea in December, 1781 ; they made the Coromandel coast early in January ; and M. d'Orves dying soon after, Suffrein threw out a signal that they should steer direct for Madras.; 328 BRITISH INDIA. [1782. On the 17th of February, the whole, attended by eighteen transports, entered Madras roads, under the expectation that Admiral Hughes lay at an- chor there with his own fleet of four sail only ; Init Hughes had fortunately been joined the day before by three ships from England*, and was not, therefore, unprepared to meet them. A sharp action followed, which cost Suffrein six of his con- voy. Nevertheless, the English being too much crippled to follow their success, the enemy re- turned unmolested to Porto Novo, whilst Hughes stood away for Trincomalee, the only port in those seas where he could conveniently refit. Suffrein lost no time in disembarking the troops, which amounted, including a regiment of Caffres, to three thousand men. They were immediately joined by Tippoo, fresh from the destruction of Braithwaite and the siege of Cuddalore. This place, besides being feeble and extensive, was garrisoned only by a weak battalion of four hun- dred men ; it was therefore incapable of any effec- tive defence, and surrendered on the 3d of April. But Suffrein did not remain to witness its cap- tine. He heard of the expected arrival of a fleet of Indiamen, and in the end of March put to sea to intercept them, a movement which again brought him in contact with Hughes, now refitted and re- inforced, and on his passage with military stores fir the support of the garrison of Trincomalee. Once more the squadrons engaged with great fury, but without any decisive result ; for the English * In tl.ese vessels were embarked General Meadows and his brigade. 1782.] COOTE RETURNS TO MADRAS. 329 reached their port of destination, and the French bore up for the harbour of Batticola. It was now the 12th of May, and the army under Sir Eyre Coote, partly from the want of due supplies, partly through the dissensions which ex- isted between the governor and commander-in- chief, was still in cantonments. Information that Cuddalore had fallen, and that the enemy were moving to the attack of Permacoil, at length roused it into action. Coote put his army hastily in motion, and advanced towards the threatened point ; but a severe storm delayed him, and on the 16th intelligence came in, that the place had sur- rendered. He next bent his steps in the direction of Wandewash, whither the enemy were reported to have moved. Better success attended him here, for Hyder, made aware of the movement, fell back upon Killinoor, and Wandewash was, for the present, preserved. A variety of manoeuvres fol- lowed, having for their object the capture and de- fence of Arnee, where Hyder's principal maga- zines were understood to be deposited. They led to a desultory action on the 2d of June, in which the English were entitled to boast of a victory; but the stores in question were withdrawn, and little loss was sustained on either side. On the 20th, General Coote returned to Madras, after a very fruitless as well as a very fatiguing campaign. In conducting such operations as these, both by sea and land, the remainder of the summer was spent. The English, straitened on all hands, and destitute of that unanimity which can alone carry men through difficulties, found themselves not only unable to recover the places recently BRITISH INDIA. [1782. taken, but in imminent danger of suffering still more serious reverses. It was to no purpose that the fleet sustained action after action with that of Suffrein ; though invariably victorious, they never managed matters so as to reap the fruits of victory, which, on the contrary, passed, on almost every occasion, into the hands of the vanquished. Hence it was that Suffrein, though worsted in a severe battle fought on the 3d of July, was again at sea on the 1st of August, and had recovered Trincomalee before his conqueror, Admiral Hughes, was in a condition to interrupt the attempt. In like manner, Negapatam was saved from an attack with which it was threatened, only that it might be blown up soon afterwards by the English them- selves, whose valour and seamanship were infi- nitely more conspicuous than their activity in repairing damages, or their vigilance in guarding against danger. Nor were the operations on shore marked either by greater energy or more favour- able results. Velorewas, indeed, re-victualled, so as to enable it to sustain a blockade for many months, and an attempt to retake Cuddalore was hazarded; but the admiral refusing, in consequence of the approach of the monsoon, to risk his fleet in an open roadstead, the latter projectwas abandoned. As a necessary consequence, these repeated failures, which he somewhat unjustly attributed to want of support from the civil authorities, preyed upon the irritable temper of Coote, who carried his resent- ment so far as to refuse holding any communica- tion with Lord Macartney, even on the subject of an abortive negotiation for peace with which Ilyder thought fit to amuse them. 1782. j HURRICANE AT MADRAS. 331 In the month of October, this harassing and unprofitable campaign came to an end. It was then that Admiral Hughes, in defiance of the remon- strances and authority of the Madras government, withdrew to Bombay for shelter, while the French fleet betook itself to Achein. Sir Eyre Coote, likewise, whose health had long been declining, avowed his intention of returning to Bengal, and formally gave up the command in the Carnatic to General Stuart. With respect to the hostile armies, that of the English went into cantonments in the neighbourhood of Madras ; that of the French took post at Cuddalore ; while Hyder selected for the same purpose an elevated piece of ground on the left bank of the Poni, about sixteen miles from Arcot. But though the winter months \vere thus undistinguished by any military opera- tions, they were far from being felt by the Madras authorities as a season of repose. A hurricane, which came on soon after the departure of the fleet, caused dreadful havoc, both in the roads and on shore. Most of the store-vessels, which lay at anchor, loaded with rice, were stranded. Almost all their cargoes were lost, and famine, in its most hideous form, threatened but too surely to affect the settlement : for the surrounding country was a desert the town was crowded with people and the season of the year precluded all hope of pro- curing from Bengal such supplies as would be needed from day to day. The fears thus excited proved not to be groundless. Men, women, and children died by hundreds daily, and the air, poisoned by the effluvia of their putrefying bodies, engendered a loathsome pestilence. It has been 332 BRITISH INDIA. [1782. calculated that, while this state of things lasted, there were buried in trenches every week not fewer than fifteen hundred bodies ; while the total loss by death throughout the Carnatic fell not short of ftve hundred and forty thousand. 1782.] 333 CHAPTER XIV. War ivith the Mahrattas Treaty of Sally e Operations in Malabar Death of Hyder Tippoo ascends the Throns General Stuart's misconduct sit lack of Cuddalors Peace with the French Surrender of Mangalore Peace with Tippoo Re/lections on the conduct of the Campaign. IT is necessary to revert now to certain transac- tions which kept pace, in other parts of India, with the progress of the war in the Carnatic. We left General Goddard in quarters, after a successful campaign against the Mahrattas, in which he had defeated the armies of Scindiah and Holkar, and reduced the fortresses of Duboy and Ahmenabad. These events occurred early in the summer of 1 780, and they were succeeded by many other complicated operations, of which it would be impossible, within the narrow limits of a work like this, to give any intelligible account, but of which it may with truth be stated, that the results were neither very brilliant nor jrery influential. The district of the Conkan was, indeed, reduced by a detached force under Colonel Hartley ; from the side of Bengal, Agra, Scindiah's principality, was invaded ; and the strong forts of Lahar and Gua- lior were carried by assault. But from the Conkan Hartley was soon afterwards compelled to with- draw, in spite of a protracted and gallant defence, 334 BRITISH INDIA. [1782. while the same indigence, which affected the mili- tary proceedings on the eastern coast, threw a baneful influence over those of the west. The only important acquisition made there was, indeed, the city of Bassein, which Goddard, by the tedious process of a regular siege, reduced without much suffering. The truth is, that the supreme govern- ment had become weary of a Mahratta war, and desired, at almost any sacrifice, to bring it to a close. They contented themselves, therefore, with issuing instructions that the contest should be restricted merely to defensive operations, at the same time that they used their utmost exertions to open a negotiation for peace ; and the with- drawal of a large portion of the Madras contin- gent left Goddard but indifferently supplied with the means of conducting with spirit even a defen- sive war. Nor is it to be concealed that, in his choice of a position, from which to cover the ter- ritories entrusted to him, General Goddard was not happy. He took post at the Bhore Ghaut, a place difficult of access to his own supplies, yet the reverse of tenable against an enemy ; from which he was eventually compelled to retreat with great loss both in men and baggage. This untoward event would have tended much to thwart the views of Mr. Hastings, had not its influence been, in a great degree, neutralized by the success of Colonel Camac in Agra. That officer, who succeeded Captain Popham, the con- queror of Lahar and Gualior, found himself op- posed by a force so superior to his own, that he was compelled to retreat from Leronge to Mahaut- poor, harassed at every march by Scindiah, who 1782.] PEACE WITH THE MAHRATTAS. 335 encamped regularly at the distance of six miles from his outposts. Having abstained from all active endeavours till he had thrown the Mahratta completely off his guard, Camac suddenly at- tacked his camp by night, and put him to the route, with dreadful slaughter and irretrievable confusion. The opening of a negotiation with Colonel Muir, Camac's successor in command, was the immediate consequence, and Scindiah was soon brought, over, by the judicious manage- ment of Mr. Hastings, to act the part of a me- diator with the other Mahratta powers. The Rajah of Berar likewise was easily bribed to hold back from joining the confederacy, and Nana Furnavese being in due time gained, all the ob- stacles to a general pacification were removed. Finally, a treaty was concluded at Salbye, on the 17th of May, 1782, by Mr. David Anderson, on the part of the East India Company, and by Ma- hadajee, on that of the peshwah and of the whole of the Mahratta nation ; Mahadajee being at the same time plenipotentiary of the peshwah and gua- rantee for the due performance of the conditions. It stipulated for a mutual restoration of conquests effected since 1775; for the personal safety of Ragonaut Rao, who was to be allowed a monthly pension of twenty-five thousand rupees, with the choice of his own place of residence ; for free trade ; for the preservation of territory, and the exclusion of all Europeans, except the English and the Portuguese, from the Mahratta states ; while a clause was inserted, by which the Mahrattas bound themselves to require of Hyder an aban- donment of all the territories recently captured in 336 BRITISH INDIA. [1782. the Carnatic. Such is the substance of the treaty of Salbye, which received the signature of the governor-general on the 6th of June, but which was not formally ratified by Nana Furnavese till the 24th of December, 1784*. Meanwhile, Col. Humbertstone, with the troops from Calicut, again took the field, and pene- trated as far into the interior as Palgautchery, to which he prepared to lay siege. He advanced with greater boldness than discretion, drawn on, as it were, from post to post, by the facility with which the enemy's detachments submitted, till he found himself deserted by the nairs, on whom he depended both for supplies and guidance. Under these circumstances, he conceived that it would be vain to proceed any farther, and accordingly began to fall back. It was well that this resolu- tion had been formed in time, for an enemy was in movement towards him whom no valour on his part could have enabled a force so inadequate to withstand. We have alluded in another place to the fit of despondency which came upon Hyder, and led to a determination of evacuating Arcot, and concen- trating behind the Ghauts. The arrival of the French fleet, and the landing of the French troops at Porto Novo, diverted the Sultan from this pro- ject, and induced him to detach Tippoo for the protection of the western provinces, while he himself remained in the Carnatic to support his * Scindiah was rewarded for his good offices in conduct- ing this negotiation, as well as for his humanity to his Eng- lish prisoner?, by a grant of the town and district of Ba- roach. 1782.] rirroo REPULSED. 337 allies. Tippoo, whom Lally accompanied, con- ducted his expedition with consummate skill. His movement indicated rather an attempt upon Tri- chinopoly, than any design against Humberstone; nor was the latter made aware of the danger with which he was threatened, till he found him- self furiously attacked during his retreat. He defended himself with singular obstinacy and ad- dress ; he forded a river, the waters of which reached to the chins of his men ; and arrived at Calicut on the 20th of November, worn down with fatigue, and considerably weakened both in num- bers and means. Fortunately, Colonel Macleod, with a reinforcement from Bombay, had arrived during his absence, and the junction of the two corps enabled them to keep the field in a fortified position some miles in advance of the town. On the night of the 29th, the English lines were assailed by four separate columns of attack ; but the enemy were beaten off with the bayonet, the sepoys rivalling their European comrades in using it. On the 30th, Admiral Hughes, proceed- ing with his squadron from Madras, appeared in sight. He submitted the choice to Colonel Mac- leod, either to take his troops on board, or to re- inforce him with four hundred and fifty Euro- peans ; and Macleod preferring the latter arrange- ment, it was immediately completed. By this means the garrison of Calicut was increased to the amount of nine hundred Europeans and two thou- sand two hundred natives, a force still very in- adequate to withstand Tippoo's army, of which as yet only the light division had come up. But on the 12th of December, all anxiety, if, indeed, such VOL. II. Z 338 BRITISH INDIA. [1783. was entertained, ceased. The advanced sentries reported that not a man of the Mysorean army was to be seen ; and further inquiries brought proof that the whole were in full and rapid march to the east. Nor was this unexpected movement without a cause. Hyder, the greatest and most formidable enemy to whom" the English have ever been opposed in the East, died on the 7th of December, 1782, of a disease under which he had long laboured. The event was carefully concealed by the ministers, Poornea and Kishin, both of whom, though Brah- mins, were true to their master's house, whilst expresses were sent off to Tippoo, for the purpose of recalling him ere the rumours, which soon be- gan to circulate, should obtain credence. Tippoo felt that the present was not a moment in which any minor affair ought to be considered. He instantly broke up his camp, and hurried through Malabar, scarcely pausing to rest till he ap- proached the grand army, which the ministers, with great judgment, had withdrawn from its lines near Arcot, in order to lessen the distance between themselves and the new sovereign. On the 2d of January, 1783, he reached head-quar- ters, at that time established between Velore and Arnee ; and the same evening, without the slight- est opposition or tumult, ascended the musnud. Not all the vigilance of Poornea had succeeded in concealing from the Madras government the fact of his master's decease. A report to that effect reached Lord Macartney so early as the third day after its occurrence; and his Lordship, well aware of the weakness of an Indian army, 1783. | GENERAL STUART'S CONDUCT. 339 \vhen deprived, even temporarily, of its head, was urgent with General Stuart to open the campaign by an immediate advance upon Arcot. Bnt with the command of the troops Sir Eyre Coote seems to have bequeathed to his successor that jealousy of civil interference which gave so decided a turn to his own military administration ; for the general professed to doubt the validity of the testimony on which the report rested, and refused to move. It was to no purpose that the governor insisted upon his paying obedience to the established authorities General Stuart questioned the right of any Company's servant to dictate how it behoved the leader of the king's troops to act, and ended by declaring that, were he ever so well disposed to obey the wishes of Lord Macartney on the present occasion, the means of transport were wanting. Thus was one of the most promising opportunities of striking a great blow which had offered since the commencement of the war, permitted to pass unimproved, and the army remained inactive till Tippoo's authority was established. It was not till the 15th of January that the British army quitted its cantonments for the pur- pose of re-victiialling its intermediate depot at Tripassore. On the 5th of February, however, the general took the field in earnest, and marching upon Wandewash, offered battle to the enemy, which they prudently declined. He then employed himself in demolishing the works both at Wan- dewash and Caringoly, neither of which were esteemed defensible, though the former had already sustained three sieges, and the latter one. His next object was to replenish the exhausted maga- z 2 340 BRITISH INDIA. [17S3. zines of Velore, a service which was performed with unlooked-for facility ; and now lie turned his attention to Cuddalore. To recover that place was esteemed, both by the civil and militai y an thorities, a point of the utmost importance ; and whatever General Stuart's errors may have been, lie was not less anxious on this head than others ; but it was deemed useless to hazard the attempt so long as the sea remained open, which it must be till the return of Sir Edward Hughes with the fleet. The army accordingly fell back upon Madras, where, till the end of April, it remained inactive. Widely different was the conduct of Tippoo, whom alarming rumours from the west recalled as soon as the ceremony of succession had been gone through, to the scene of his recent operations. A respectable force under General Mathews had joined Colonel Macleod's corps at Rajahmundroog, on the Mirjee, and after storming the fort of Onore, had penetrated through the great pass called the Hussengherry Ghaut, and made themselves masters of the numerous redoubts by which it was defended. They advanced next upon Becl- nore, the capital of one of the most important of all the dependencies of Mysore. It opened its gates; and Mathews, after accepting the submission of many lesser places, sat down before Ananpore and Mangalore. They were both taken ; the former by assault, after violating two flags of truce, the latter by capitulation. All this, it appeared, was accomplished by General Mathews in opposition to his cwn views of the campaign, and by peremptory directions from 1783] ATTACK ON CUDDALORE. 341 Bombay ; but the vigilance with which he guarded his conquests proved by no means equal to the resolution and hardihood with which he effected them. He committed the gross military error of scattering his force over a prodigious extent of country, and the. scarcely less glaring political mistake of quarrelling with all the senior officers under his command. Thus were his troops ex- posed to be cut off in detail, while there was a total absence of everything like concord among the heads of departments. The consequences which actually ensued proved in no degree differ- ent from what might have been anticipated. While complaints were carried to Bombay, and orders of recall and supercession issued, Tippoo, advancing rapidly from the vicinity of Velore, fell upon the scattered divisions of the army, slew, dispersed, or took them, and sat down in form to besiege Bednore. The place being in ruins, and incapable of a lengthened defence, capitulated on the 30th of April; by which means General Mathews, with the bulk of his Europeans, be- came prisoners. Tippoo then pushed for Manga- lore. He reconnoitred its defences on the 16th of May, drove in the piquets on the 20th, and on the 23d completed the investment. In the meanwhile, the French force at Cudda- lore received a very considerable increase by the long-expected arrival of M. Bussy, and the return of the fleet under Suffrein. The former, indeed, lost a large portion of his army, of which two divisions, with the ships that carried them, be- came the prize of English cruisers ; but the corps which he disembarked fell not short of two 342 BRITISH INDIA. [1783. thousand men, all of them inured to danger, and full of confidence in their leader. It was well for the interests of England at such a juncture that Hyder no longer swayed the sceptre, and that even Tippoo, with his hosts of irregulars, was at a distance. Had it not been so, the struggle would have been, in all probability, waged, not in the vicinity of Cuddalore, but in front of Fort St. George itself. As it was, Bussy could only hasten to fortify a line of defence, so as to cover botli the town and fort of which he was in possession. It has never yet been satisfactorily explained why General Stuart should have permitted these works to be carried on, without making the smallest effort to interrupt them ; yet it is certain that the 3rd of June arrived ere he took up a position distant about five miles to the north-west of the enemy's outposts. For several days the English army remained inac- tive; but on the 13th, Bussy's lines were attacked with great impetuosity, and not without some appearance of judgment. The attack miscarried, partly from the neglect of the commander-in-chief to avail himself of success at a point where success had not been anticipated ; partly through the re- pulse of that particular column, on the triumph of which he had mainly counted. Nevertheless, the enemy, alarmed at the prospect of a second assault, fell back during the night within the walls. Next morning the attention of both parties was turned to the sea, which was now covered with the squadrons of Hughes and Suffrein ; the one hurry- ing forward to assist in the blockade, the other seeking to relieve it. The former, which consisted 1783.] PEACE WITH THE FRENCH. 343 of eighteen sail of the line, was manned by less than half the numbers requisite to work the vessels in action ; and of these -diminished crews, a very large proportion laboured under the most dis- tressing kind of scurvy. The latter could muster only sixteen sail, leaky, indeed, and inadequately found, but more than fully manned. The conse- quence was, that after a severe action, in which the English proved decidedly superior, they were compelled to bear up for Madras roads; whilst S unrein, though defeated, gained his object by the opening of the sea to Cuddalore. He instantly threw his fleet into the anchorage which Hughes had abandoned, landed a strong body of seamen, and gave to Bussy as great a superiority in num- bers as he had hitherto possessed in resources and position. Nevertheless, Bussy enjoyed no oppor- tunity of turning his superiority to account. One vigorous sally was, indeed, made, at dawn on the 25th; it was vigorously repulsed by the guards of the trenches, sepoys as well as Europeans ; and ere the preparations for another and more gigantic effort were complete, intelligence of peace between England and France came in. As a matter of course, hostilities immediately ceased ; and Bussy, while he consented to invite Tippoo to a partici- pation in the treaty, dispatched peremptory orders for the recall of the French detachment employed with the Mysorean army in the west. All this while Tippoo was pressing the siege of Mangalore with the utmost vigour of which he was capable. Three regular attacks, suggested by M. Cossigny, the commandant of the French contingent which served under the sultan's orders, 344 BRITISH INDIA. [1783. embraced the front accessible by land ; and the fire from the batteries soon reduced the walls to little better than a heap of ruins. But the skill of the governor, Colonel Campbell, ably seconded by the bravery of the garrison, rendered this of little avail. Every attempt to storm the breaches was repulsed, and more than one sortie carried dismay and confusion into the enemy's lines. Such was the state of affairs, the trenches having been open upwards of fifty days, when Bussy's orders of recall were communicated to Cossigny. They were promptly, and not unwillingly obeyed ; and Tippoo became, in consequence, constrained to draw off from further attacks, and to trust to famine for a conquest, which he was unable to effect by the sword. In the meantime, the Madras government had instructed Colonel Fullerton, the able successor of Braithwaite in Tanjore, to penetrate into Mysore from the south, with a view rather of diverting Tippoo from the blockade of Mangalore, than with the hope of effecting in that direction any perma- nent conquests. Fullerton lost no time in exe- cuting the task assigned to him. He advanced with extraordinary rapidity, yet without rashness. By the middle of May, the forts of Coroor, Ara- vazcouly, and Dindegul, were reduced ; before the end of the same month, magazines were established, and depots stored, in a country which he found every where exhausted. He was again in full march ere June set in; and on the. 2nd, Daropoora was breached and taken. There the progress of this indefatigable officer was stayed by command of General Stuart, who informed him of 1783.] OVERTURES TO TIPPOO. 345 the cessation of hostilities at Cuddalore, and ex- pressing his own conviction that a peace with Tippoo must immediately follow, desired that fur- ther aggressive measures might be suspended. Though Fullerton felt little satisfied with the propriety of the measure, or the justice of the reasoning on which it was founded, he could not refuse to follow instructions so explicitly given ; he therefore halted, and employed himself during several weeks in restoring order and obedience in the provinces of Madura and Tinevelly. So early as the month of February, Lord Ma- cartney had engaged a Brahmin, proceeding on his devotions to Conjeveram, to discover, through some of his friends in the Mysorean service, how far Tippoo was, or was not, inclined to enter into negotiations for peace with the English. Tippoo refused all advances of the kind, on the pretext that lie could not, in honour, desert his French allies ; nor was an attempt to renew the proposi- tion made, till after the treaty of peace concluded in Europe became known at Cuddalore. It was then that his lordship addressed a letter to Tippoo, bearing date the 2d of July, in which he informed him that all obstacles arising out of his connexion with the French were removed, and once more invited him to become a party to the treaty of Salbye. Tippoo received this communication soon after M. Cossigny had withdrawn from his encampment, but paid to it, for some time, no regard whatever. On the contrary, though he agieed to suspend, on the 2nd of August, all active hostilities against Mangalore, Onore, and the other English posts in Malabar, he took care that these 346 BRITISH INDIA. [1783. should not receive any supply of such articles as were most essential to the health of the garrisons ; and he answered Lord Macartney's communication at last, only because he hoped, by means of a little further delay, to starve the forts in question into submission. It was in consequence of this mis- chievous armistice that Colonel Fullerton's victo- rious career was stayed. Early in October, however, Tippoo threw off the mask, by resuming in earnest the siege of Mangalore ; and on the 1 8th of the same month, Fullerton, without waiting for instruc- tions from Madras, recommenced his operations. Fullerton had not added to his own strength by the delay to which he was forced to submit ; yet his proceedings were all marked with the same decision and skill which previously characterised them. The strong fortress of Palacutchery was invested on the 4th of November; on the 13th, two batteries were opened, and the same night the garrison surrendered. In like manner Coim- betore, without waiting till a breach should be effected, opened its gates on the 26th ; and Seringapatam itself, in which many discontented spirits were known to be at large, lay in some de- gree at his mercy. It was when matters had reached this important crisis, that Fullerton re- ceived, to his extreme mortification, instructions to proceed no further. Another armistice had, it appeared, been concluded ; British commissioners were actually in the sultan's camp, for the pur- pose of negotiating a permanent peace ; and the principal dread was, lest the exploits of the south- ern army might throw impediments in the way of so desirable a consummation. Fullerton was 1783.] TIPPOO SAIB. 347 deeply chagrined. Nevertheless, he once more suspended his conquests, in obedience to the will of his superiors, though he positively refused to fall back, as they required, within the limits of the Tanjore dominions. It was exceedingly for- tunate that he possessed moral courage sufficient to disregard the charge even, of partial disobe- dience; for on the 2d of January, 1784, further orders came in, which required him to push the war to the utmost extremity. The truth is, that Tippoo, though far from blind to his own danger in the event of a contmuance of hostilities single-handed against the English, was not willing to bring them to a close, except with the performance of some exploit calculated to impress the native powers around with an ex- aggerated notion of his prowess. Though he knew, for example, that, as a mere matter of grace, the forts of Mangalore, Onore, &c., would be restored to him, yet he was desirous of recovering them by force of arms rather than by treaty ; because he hoped by this means to convince both the Mahrattas and the French that, even in the attack of fortified places, his army was irresistible. This, with the vain, but, in his case, not unnatural anxiety of exhibiting the English in the light of suppliants, induced him to evade and procrastinate in the manner just described ; a line of conduct to which the Madras authorities showed them- selves either shamefully inattentive or strangely and imprudently indifferent. On the 9th of November, two gentlemen set out from Fort St. George, with powers to adjust all differences at Seringapatam. They were not permitted so much as to visit that 348 BRITISH INDIA. [1784: capital, but were led, after a fashion as little re- spectful as can well be imagined, to the sultan's camp in front of Mangalore. There the grossest indignities were heaped upon them. Tippoo re- fused to communicate with them, except tnrough one of his ministers, upbraided them with Fuller- ton's breach of faith; caused gibbets to be erected at the doors of their tents, and relaxed not for one moment in his endeavours to reduce the fort. But the fort was held by men who preferred death, in its worst form, to the disgrace of sub- mission, except on honourable terms. Though tantalized repeatedly with the hope of relief, which never reached them, neither Campbell nor his gallant band would hear of unconditional sur- render ; nor did they capitulate at last, till one- half of the Europeans, and nearly two-thirds of the sepoys, had perished of famine and disease. On the 26th of January, Campbell signed articles of convention, which permitted him and his brave band to retire with arms, baggage, and equip- ments, to Tellichery. With the fall of Mangalore, this important and expensive war may be said to have come to a close. Tippoo, having effected two of his objects, the reduction of a fort and the humiliation of the English, condescended to meet the commissioners ; and, on the llth of March, 1784, signed a treaty of peace, on the grounds of a mutual restitution of conquests. The deed was immediately transmitted to Calcutta, where, in the absence of the governor- general, who was then at Lucknow, it was acknow- ledged and ratified by the Supreme Council. Long after all this had occurred, after it had been 1784.] PEACE WITH TIPPOO. 349 returned to Tippoo, and its terms carried partly into effect, there arrived a second deed, signed and ratified by Mr. Hastings himself, into which were introduced several stipulations, totally novel and unexpected. This Lord Macartney was com- manded, " at his peril," to forward to Seringa- patam ; but his lordship declined to take part in a proceeding, in his opinion, quite unprecedented, and the matter fell to the ground. It is impossible to look back with any degree of attention, upon the conduct and results of this eventful war, without receiving a lively impression, not only of the total inadequacy of the system of government as yet established in British India, but of the deplorable incompetency of almost all the leading characters whose fortune it was to take a part in the great drama. In this sweeping cen- sure, however, it is very far from our intention to in- clude Mr. Hastings, the governor-general. To his charge, on the contrary, we are not prepared to lay any accusation more heavy, than that of paying less attention than he might have done to the feel- ings of those associated with him, and acting too much, in cases where he was scarcely required to do so, upon his own undivided responsibility. We cannot, for example, applaud the policy of some of his dealings with the subordinate government at Madras, which left the relative powers of the civil and military authorities so vague and undefined. No doubt some decisive measure was requisite after the melancholy display of imbecility which the campaign of 1780 had afforded. Nor can the promptitude with which Sir Eyre Coote was despatched to the scene of danger be spoken of in 350 BRITISH INDIA. [1784. terms even of qualified approbation. But the remarkable ambiguity which pervaded the general instructions issued on that occasion, the commis- sion which seemed to invest the commander of the forces with the entire management of the war, yet left him dependent upon the civil government for the means of conducting it, that was a mis- take not less unworthy of Hastings than detri- mental in its results to the interests of the Com- pany. Its consequences were, an excess of jealousy and distrust on both sides, which led to dissensions always the most violent when their recurrence threatened to produce the most mischievous effects. Again, the anxiety of Hastings to detach the Nizam from the general confederacy led him to propose a cession, which, had it been agreed to by the Madras authorities, might have been produc- tive of many and serious evils. He consented to give up the sovereignty of the Northern Circars, on the ground that they were mere stripes of sea-coast, quite incapable of defraying the expense of their own government. This was a palpable error, because, in the state of affairs as they then existed, a stripe of sea-coast was, of all other possessions, the most useful to the English ; and the actual revenues of the province in question amounted to 612,000 pagodas per annum. Nor must he be acquitted of all blame in condescending to treat with Mohamed Ally, without communicating to the government of Fort St. George the terms of that treaty. It was, to say the best of it, an ex- ceedingly indelicate stretch of authority, which could produce no good, and might have brought 1784.] REFLECTIONS. 351 about much evil. Yet, in spite of these blots upon his public conduct, (and they were, after all, of a very venial nature,) Mr. Hastings stands alone, as the preserver of British India under cir- cumstances more trying than it has been the lot of any other governor-general to encounter. When all the most important of the native powers were in alliance against him, when he foresaw that they would shortly be joined by the French, and sus- pected that the Dutch likewise were on the eve of following the example, neither his courage nor his constancy forsook him. However anxious he might be, he took care, in dealing with his ene- mies, to evince the most absolute self-confidence ; and while he seemed careless about conciliating any, he contrived to detach them all, one by one, from each other. When we look again to those who played a secondary part in this great game, we shall find that there were few, indeed, whose conduct was not marked by some glaring error, either of tem- per or judgment, or both. Of Sir Hector Munro it may truly be said, that he was equally unfit to plan as to execute a campaign ; while his co- adjutors in office, Governors Pigot and Rumbold, were men whom nature never designed to fill other than an obscure station in society. Sir Eyre Coote, on the other hand, was both able and ac- tive ; but disease and old age were not without a baneful effect in sharpening a natural irritability which was too apt at all times to impede, if it could not control, the exercise of his faculties. He assumed the command, it is true, under circum- stances of no ordinary difficulty. He found an ex- 352 BRITISH IN'DIA. [178-1. hausted treasury ; a government divided against itself ; an army disheartened by defeat ; and a coun- try \iniversallydevastated. As yet there was no re- gular system of intelligence established. The means of transport were wanting ; and of provisions there were neither depots formed abroad, nor any store laid up even in the capital itself. It must be confessed that few men could have contemplated such prospects otherwise than with dismay. Ne- vertheless, General Coote, at the head of an army of infantry, took the field against an enemy whose horse made a desert of the whole scene of intended operations; and scarcely, throughout a protracted and arduous struggle, committed one error, of which the consequences were either long or se- verely felt. Had his conduct in the cabinet been marked by the same propriety which distinguished his proceedings in the field, Coote would have de- served a place among the greatest commanders whom India has produced ; but the case was not so. Jealous of his own dignity, distrustful of those about him, and not always clear-sighted in views which he himself took, Coote not only effected nothing towards allaying the ferments which pre- vailed previous to his arrival, but increased them to a very hurtful degree. His frequently-repeated threats of resignation were sometimes as childish as the pretexts in which they originated were without solid foundation. Concerning the individual on whom the com- mand devolved after Coote's resignation actually took place, only one opinion can, we presume, be formed. With all the querulousness, and more than the pride of Coote, he possessed little of the 1784.] CHARACTERS OF PUBLIC OFFICERS. 353 chivalrous gallantry, and was totally destitute of the military glory which undeniably characterized the high-minded veteran. He succeeded to power at a moment when, for the first time since the com- mencement of the war, an opportunity of striking a great and decisive blow presented itself. He permitted the lucky moment to pass unimproved, and it never afterwards returned. In one respect, however, he seems to have made Coote his model : he was constantly at variance with the civil authori- ties, constantly advancing pretensions to a separate power, which, however it might appear to have been especially conferred upon his predecessor, was not continued to him. Hence his refusal to act against the Mysorean army, which the death of Hyder had in some degree disorganized ; and hence, too, not a little of the procrastination and indecision' which hampered his movements during the remainder of the campaign. It is not necessary to devote much space to a review of the public conduct of the officers em- ployed apart from the principal field of operations. General Mathews, destitute alike of energy and discretion, accidentally gained advantages, of which he knew not how to make use, and lost in the end both his army and his life, through the grossest negligence, and a display of very questionable principles. Colonels Campbell and Traveuion, the one in Mangalore, the other at Velore, proved themselves brave and honourable soldiers; but it was by Fullerton and Hartley, and by them alone, that anything approaching to genius or talent was exhibited. There are few campaigns on record more brilliant while they lasted, or VOL. II. 2 A 354 BRITISH INDIA. [1784. which have been carried on in the face of more serious obstacles, than that of Fullerton in Coim- batoor; while the defence of Conkan by Hartley was in the highest degree creditable both to his courage and his skill. We cannot quit this part of our subject without directing the reader's attention to the very strik- ing fate which attended almost all the chief actors in the drama just described. Coote, returning from Bengal with enlarged powers, and a force superior to any which he had previously com- manded, was smitten with an apoplectic stroke, and died two days after landing. General Stuart, being recalled with disgrace from the lines at Cuddalore, was placed in arrest, and dismissed the Company's service. Mathews died by assassi- nation in one of Hyder's dungeons. Lord Ma- cartney was deprived of his government ; and of the persecutions of which, during many years, Mr. Hastings was the victim the recollection has not yet passed away. END OF VOLUME THE SECOND. UCSB LIBRARY! .;vVs,?VUV rjRnO