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THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
THE 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES 
 OF INDIA. 
 
 BY THE LATE 
 
 COLONEL S. RIVETT-CARNAC, 
 
 FORMERLY 11.TH HUSSARS. 
 
 WITH A CONTINUATION AND GENERAL REMAKES 
 ON INDIA. 
 
 THE AUTHOR OP " OUR BURMESE WARS AND RELATIONS WITH BURMA,' 
 "DISTINGUISHED ANGLO-INDIANS," ETC. 
 
 LONDON : 
 W. H. ALLEN & CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE. S.W. 
 
 AND AT CALCUTTA. 
 
 1890. 
 
 (All Rights Reserved.) 
 
544 
 C5 
 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY W. II. ALLEN AND CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE, 
 PALL MALL. S.W. 
 
 
 *** 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 PROBABLY few literary men would ever think of attempting to write, 
 after Gibbon, another History of the Decline and Fall of the 
 Roman Empire, or give to the world a second brilliant History 
 of England, treading the same ground as Lord Macaulay ; so, 
 turning to the East, or India, it may safely be affirmed, after 
 the histories of Abbe Raynal, Orme, Mill, Auber, and, as 
 especially regards the great Bengal Sepoy Mutiny, Kaye, Malle- 
 son, and Holmes to say nothing of the Decisive Battles of India 
 with, as the famous Edinburgh reviewer says of Boswell's Life 
 of Johnson, "Eclipse first, and the rest nowhere" there are 
 few authors who would venture, even conducted by " historic 
 truth/' to tread again, over the same fields, " the long extent of 
 backward time." And yet, without such full and graphic details 
 as abound in the works of the above writers, it would not be 
 possible to do ample justice to the Presidential Armies of India. 
 By liberal quotation, and the rather unfair, but common mode of 
 transposing their language, the subject might easily have been 
 extended to two or three volumes instead of one, which would 
 have simply wearied the reader, instead of attracting his attention ; 
 so the author of this " Continuation," though at the risk of not 
 carrying out Colonel Rivett-Carnac's original plan, has preferred 
 
 513034 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 chiefly to confine himself as there are well-known published works 
 on the subjects omitted to a few historical and other sketches, 
 supplementing the work with various useful details, and, it is to be 
 hoped, somewhat valuable Appendices, in order to give the British 
 public who appear to have so little time for reading aught save the 
 ever-welcome newspaper some idea of what has been performed 
 by our Presidential Armies during the one hundred and fifty years 
 of British military glory, wonderful civil administration, and 
 mercantile success in the East. 
 
 Under Governors or Presidents Olive and Verelst, in Calcutta 
 and, doubtless, also in Madras and Bombay there were a few local 
 growls, as in our time. The Civil and Military officers were, to the 
 horror of the East India Company and their " heaven-born 
 general," both luxurious and extravagant ; in the opinion of Olive, 
 as will hereafter be seen, they had become "far gone in luxury and 
 debauchery " ; while the cool, calculating, hard-working, and 
 enterprising " Interloper," against whom war had been waged since 
 the days of Sir Josiah Child, the model East India Director, or 
 from the very end of the seventeenth century, was in nearly as 
 anomalous a position as the zealous and most deserving Uncove- 
 nanted official in the nineteenth. Lord Clive was most anxious to 
 check the growth of luxury and extravagance in the Indian Army ; 
 and now, at the end of the present century, while this preface is 
 being written, Europe is astonished at the new Emperor William of 
 Germany taking such a vast interest in the welfare of the working 
 man, and resolving at the same time, with a decision of character 
 of which Frederick the Great might have been proud, that " the 
 alarming increase of luxury in the Army must be resisted with all 
 seriousness and energy." There is a decided smack of the Oive 
 language in this wise resolution of the independent Emperor 
 William which cannot fail to be pleasing to Englishmen. 
 
 Under the able rule of Clive, Calcutta rose " like a phoenix from 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 its ashes." One hundred years after India's severest trial, the 
 great Bengal Sepoy Mutiny, had a similar effect on the entire 
 dominion, as, from our putting down the rebellion hy the most 
 decisive measures so materially assisted by the Presidency Armies, 
 and even patriotic " Interloping" Volunteers, with such mighty 
 men as Venables, the noble-hearted, who equipped a force and held 
 a district, and the Calcutta Volunteer Guards, who were ready, 
 with their Interlopers' corps of cavalry, infantry, and artillery, to 
 defend the city against any number of rebel sepoys as was also 
 the case at Arrah, in Kajshahye, Pubna, Kishnaghur, and other 
 stations the thunder passed away; the air was cleared ; and the 
 Englishman's "loved/' but too much neglected, India was 
 saved. 
 
 By September 1858, when the Government had been taken over 
 by the Crown, even such an anomaly as a genuine Anglo-Indian 
 interloper became almost impossible. 
 
 Doubtless, in time of need, our Presidential Armies will yet 
 have, as of yore, the assistance of a splendid reserve force, chiefly 
 recruited from the strong Uncovenanted ranks " Siva's* Own" 
 in Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. As Clive declared that India 
 must be kept by the sword, every European in the country should 
 have some military training about him ; and nothing can be better 
 than the Volunteer system, conducted on fair and liberal principles. 
 We cannot be entirely civil until the chief opposing forces say, over 
 two hundred millions of Hindus and fifty millions of Mahomedans 
 are reconciled to each other. 
 
 To meet " coming events/' then, to complete our great schemes 
 of civilisation, whatever they may be, every European in India 
 should be half a soldier. The great Parsi community in Bombay 
 evidently cherished some views of the sort, or they would not, as 
 has recently been the case, have felt so pleased at being allowed 
 
 * Siva, the Hindu Satan, or Destroying Power. 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 by the Viceroy to join the Volunteer movement. It is quite 
 refreshing to read, regarding the high-souled sons of Zoroaster, 
 that Government has sanctioned their enrolment in the " local 
 battalion of Volunteers." There can be no doubt that well-trained 
 Parsis would form, in the event of future rebellion or commotion, 
 safe and valuable auxiliaries to the Presidential Armies. This, and 
 many other matters, should be thoroughly understood by the 
 Englishman at home, especially should he have any position in 
 the Home Government of India. But the question ever comes to 
 the Anglo-Indian mind, or to the servant, civil or military, who 
 has passed his best years in the country, When are the English 
 people going to understand India? Echo answers, When? They 
 have been told scores of times that " India is the largest appendage 
 of a great empire which the world ever saw " ; and again, as if a 
 libel on the general intelligence of the renowned British Senate 
 although written forty years ago, yet true in part now " that the 
 ignorance and the indifference of both Houses of Parliament upon 
 matters connected with India is deplorable." To say that things 
 have not greatly improved in these respects would be wrong. But 
 how is it possible for the British Parliament to do justice to India 
 when so much of its time is given to Ireland, with a population of 
 fifty or sixty times less than that of our greatest Dependency ? 
 With one or two exceptions, for many years, there has been 
 scarcely any instance of an honourable member of the House of 
 Commons throwing his whole heart and soul into an Indian ques- 
 tion, with the energy (to say nothing of the eloquence) of a Burke 
 or a Sheridan, so as to place his auditors for the time actually in 
 India, while redressing the wrongs of its people, or, it may be, of 
 those who form a portion of the machinery of its government. In 
 this spring of 1890, public attention will have been directed to the 
 remarkable confessions of two distinguished Members of Parlia- 
 ment regarding their Indian experiences. There are now some 
 
PREFACE. ix 
 
 hopes of a stronger British interest being created in India and 
 Indian affairs, when we read that the impression left on Professor 
 Bryce's mind by his visit to India was that of " the extraordinary 
 solidity and safety of our government." Not such a great chance 
 at present, as in the days of Sir John Malcolm, of our, as he 
 quaintly said, " getting up in the morning with our throats cut ! " 
 And, again, Mr. Childers after his visit to India was fain to confess 
 how little he had learnt about India after months of almost con- 
 tinuous travelling, study, and conversation. There is nothing of 
 the frivolous " globe-trotter" about such admirably modest and 
 shrewd remarks of the M.P. travellers, who may yet take a trip 
 into "Darkest Africa" with the greatest traveller of our time, 
 who is now rivalling Burnes, when, to throw a line of light over 
 Asia fifty years ago, he came to London with the manuscript of 
 his famous travels into Bokhara. Nor is there aught save down- 
 right earnestness in the energetic and philanthropic action of Mr. 
 H. S. King, M.P., who during a brief visit to India not only 
 powerfully advocated the claims of the " Uncovenanted," but found 
 time to visit the city of the Nizam at Hyderabad, taking an 
 interest in a local educational institute, and also to bring back 
 in his pocket a grand scheme for the establishment of an Indian 
 Institute in England. It is only such well-timed energy, in a 
 variety of ways, that can make our great Indian Empire really worth 
 possessing, and cause the Englishman, with reference to Carlyle's 
 remark, to be as loth to eradicate India from his country's history 
 as to take away his own loved Shakspeare from our literature. 
 The Chelsea philosopher leans to the immortality of Shakspeare ; 
 for he thinks "Indian Empire will go, at any rate, some day." 
 This is sadly prophetic for the Presidential Armies. The chain 
 of historical narrative in this work disappears, purposely after the 
 conquest of Mysore the importance of which can never be fully 
 appreciated ; and which it required the foresight, vigour, and deter- 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 mination of three of our most famous Governors-General Warren 
 Hastings, and the Marquesses Cornwallis and Wellesley and the 
 tact as well as the strategy of our ablest generals to accomplish. 
 
 Mysore may be styled the first grand field of combination for 
 display of prowess by the three Presidency armies. Now (April 
 1890), instead of the expensive "pride, pomp, and circumstance of 
 glorious war," we read that Peace is also having her triumphs one 
 of them being a subscription of 1,000 sterling to Mr. H. S. 
 King's fund for establishing an Indian Institute in England for 
 the convenience and welfare of Indian gentlemen, generously given 
 by His Highness the Maharajah of Mysore. 
 
 It may now be stated that the first six chapters of this work, 
 written by the late Colonel Kivett-Carnac, appeared in the Army 
 and Navy Magazine, the last in the number for June 1888. Of 
 these six chapters alone, it might be said that there are few contri- 
 butions to Indian history which give so much information in so 
 small a space ; and hence the utility of this work for schools and 
 private students may become apparent. 
 
 As to the twelfth chapter, a considerable portion of it originally 
 appeared in The Indian Magazine for March and April 1889, 
 under the title of " Ava, City of thenewMarquisats : the old ' City 
 of Gems,' and Capital of the Jewels' Kingdom." The larger part 
 of the second paper referred chiefly and briefly to the minerals of 
 Burma and the now well-known ruby mines, which, of course, 
 have nothing to do with the Presidential Armies further than 
 had they not conquered Pegu and Upper Burma there would now 
 have been no "Kuby Mines Company, Limited." 
 
 Two of the greatest living authorities on Indian military affairs 
 both distinguished Anglo-Indians have kindly furnished replies 
 to a few brief queries submitted to them, with a view to give more 
 completeness to the present work. 
 
 "Had you asked me your questions some fifty years ago, or 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 when I first knew India, I should have replied, Leave the com- 
 manders-in-chief as they are: let not the centralization (or any 
 other) system in Bengal be applied to Bombay or Madras ; and 
 the Volunteer system is impolitic for India. But British India is 
 no longer * Oriental ' ; and having clothed herself in Western 
 garments, must adapt herself to Western ways. Whether we have 
 done well to transform her, so far as transformation has already 
 gone, I am not prepared to say ; but rulers in India are as liable to 
 form erroneous conclusions and make erroneous forecasts as rulers 
 in other parts, and Government at home will naturally support 
 their nominees. For the present day, my impression is that : 
 
 "1. Commanders-in-chief may well be abolished at Presidencies. 
 
 " 2. A centralization system bringing all troops in India under 
 the immediate ken of the one commander-in-chief (but not 
 necessarily assimilating their organization) might act healthily, if 
 the commander-in-chief and his staff were the men for their places. 
 
 " 3. The Volunteer assistance should be purely tentative and 
 confined to localities." 
 
 From such a great authority on the subject of an Indian mutiny, 
 the following information would seem to be especially valuable. It 
 is the opinion of this eminent Anglo-Indian : 
 
 " 1st. That I don't think there can be another mutiny, as now 
 we man all the guns, hold all the forts, and occupy all the domi- 
 nating positions in India ; and the natives know it. 
 
 " 2nd. I am in favour of abolishing the commands-in-chief in 
 Madras and Bombay. 
 
 " 3rd. Volunteers in India should be treated precisely as 
 Volunteers in England are treated. You must recollect that when 
 the first mutiny broke out in 1857 we had only 30,000 English 
 troops in India to about 240,000 natives (I write from memory) ; 
 whereas now we have 60,000 to 120,000. Then the natives 
 manned more than half the guns, whereas now they man none, or 
 
Xll PREFACE. 
 
 next to none. The natives held the arsenals, the magazines, and, 
 to a large extent, the fortresses ; now they hold none of these. 
 There was great discontent throughout the country and the army ; 
 now there is not. The natives were awake ; the English were 
 asleep. Yet, in spite of these drawbacks, we prevailed ! How 
 could they have a chance of success now ? " 
 
 There can be no doubt that, as stated by the first authority, 
 " British India is no longer * Oriental.' ' A new organization of 
 the Indian Presidency armies will, however, require skill as well as 
 caution ; and it is highly pleasing to read that Sir Frederick Roberts 
 is to be detained in India to direct or aid in such a noble purpose. 
 But well organized and highly effective local armies which can only 
 be effective if kept up to the full strength of officers should ever 
 be backed up by impregnable defences, which, unfortuuately, has 
 been far from generally the case in the Presidencies of India. We 
 have not, as a rule, been so foolish as to despise our enemy in the 
 field; but we have for a long series of years despised him in the 
 matter of local defence ; and, although not fearing another 
 mutiny, we have for long quite closed our eyes to the possibility of 
 some strong naval European Power one day attacking India, while 
 our own navy might be fully employed elsewhere. 
 
 The question now is, Have either of the three Presidency cities 
 strong support? There is one thing quite certain that, in addition 
 to neglecting other measures of strategy, or " grand tactics," we 
 have neither in Calcutta, Madras, or Bombay, ordinary maxim 
 though it be, assured to the artillery " all its defensive effect." 
 The uselessness and neglect of the defences of Bombay occupied 
 the zealous attention of the Duke of Connaught before leaving 
 India and his high command in the Bombay Presidency. It is 
 to be hoped that serious charges of a similar nature will never be 
 brought against those who are responsible for the complete efficiency 
 of the defences of Calcutta, Madras, and Rangoon. With strong 
 
PEEPACE. Xlll 
 
 local defences, powerful guns ready to be manned at a moment's 
 warning, and Olive's absolute necessity, t( a strong and commanding 
 military force," National Congresses, possible elective systems 
 the elective principle, founded, as Sir Erskine Perry said of 
 certain land tenures in Oudh, on an " imperfect theory" anta- 
 gonistic Mahomedans and Hindus, caste prejudices, and Russian 
 designs on our Eastern Empire, need cause us no anxiety ; and 
 the chance of a good Indian Budget like that which is said to 
 exist in the present year* will be more probable than hitherto. 
 If the sword cannot be sheathed in highly-civilised Europe, how is it 
 possible that it can, for a long time to come, with so many opposing 
 forces and such a vast, overwhelming population, be sheathed in 
 India ? 
 
 W. F. B. L. 
 
 London, April 1890. 
 
 * Presented to the Legislative Council on March 21, and considered the most 
 satisfactory Budget of the last seven or eight years. About the middle of April it 
 was announced that Sir David Barbour's Budget gave a surplus of two and three- 
 quarters crores (millions), " achieved without extra taxation or impost." 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR'S CAREER AND SERVICES . . . xvii 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 A SHORT CHAPTER ON VERY EARLY ANGLO- INDIAN HISTORY . . 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOMBAY AND MADRAS PRESIDENCIES 30 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BENGAL PRESIDENCY . 60 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 PROGRESS OF THE ENGLISH IN INDIA FROM 1700 TO THE PEACE 
 
 OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, 1748 93 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 PROGRESS OF THE BRITISH ARMS IN INDIA FROM THE PEACE OF 
 
 AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, 1748, TO THE FALL OF DUPLEIX, 1754 . 125 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES .... 159 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CHANDERNAGORE PLASSEY CHINSURAH OPERATIONS IN BENGAL 188 
 
XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. PAGE 
 
 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF OUR INDIAN ARTILLERY LORD CLIVE 
 
 AND THE ARMY ......... 237 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 LALLY IN THE CARNATIC COLONEL FORDE IN THE NORTHERN 
 CIRCARS SUCCESSES AND REVERSES OF LALLY BUSSY 
 BOMBAY . . . 264 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 WAR WITH, AND CONQUEST OF, MYSORE BRIEF RECORD OF A 
 
 DISTINGUISHED BOMBAY INFANTRY REGIMENT . . . 299 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE BENGAL ARTILLERY ASTONISHING MARCH TO BAMIAN THE 
 
 MADRAS SAPPERS AND MINERS ...... 829 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 AVA, CITY OF THE NEW MARQUISATE . . . . . .351 
 
 NOTES. 
 I. AMALGAMATION. BENGAL EUROPEAN REGIMENT. A FUSILIER 
 
 ANECDOTE ......... 370 
 
 II. FOURTH " PRINCE OF WALES' OWN" REGIMENT MADRAS 
 
 LIGHT CAVALRY 372 
 
 INDIAN REGIMENTS OF CAVALRY ...... 376 
 
 APPENDICES. 
 
 A. LORD NAPIER OF MAGDALA ...... 379 
 
 B. FIELD OPERATIONS IN UPPER BURMA ..... 388 
 
 C. " THE NATIVE ARMIES OF INDIA " . .... 416 
 
SKETCH OF 
 THE AUTHOR'S CAREER AND SERVICES. 
 
 COLONEL EDWARD STIRLING RIVETT-CARNAC, son of Rear- 
 Admiral Rivett-Carnac, born at Broadstairs, Kent, 14th September 
 1841, died 28th February 1888, at Southsea. Entered the service 
 as Cornet, 1st Bengal Cavalry, 4th January 1858. Lieutenant, 
 18th May 1858 ; 19th Hussars, 18th May 1858 ; Captain, 19th 
 Hussars, 25th January 1871. Exchanged to llth Hussars, 14th 
 February 1872 ; Major (local India), 4th January 1878; Major, 
 (Brevet), 31st January 1880; Lieutenant-Colonel, July 1881; 
 Colonel, July 1885. 
 
 Service. 
 
 1858. March to July 1858. Indian Mutiny Campaign, attached 
 to 7th Hussars. Officer Chief in Command, Lieutenant- 
 General Sir Colin Campbell. Medal. 
 
 I860. China War, in Fane's Horse. Sinho : Siege of Taku 
 Forts ; Chinkia Whan ; Tangchow. Chief in command, 
 Lieutenant-General Sir Hope Grant, G.C.B. Medal, 
 with clasps for Taku Forts and Pekin ; mentioned by 
 Brigadier Pattle after Sinho and Tangchow in his de- 
 
Xviii SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR^ CAREER AND SERVICES. 
 
 spatches; mentioned in G.O. letter of Right Honourable 
 Secretary of State for India, No. 50, of 24th January 
 1861. 
 
 1867. Brigade-Major, and A.D.O. to Major-General W. F. 
 Beatson, Allahabad. 
 
 1868. Abyssinian Campaign, Transport Corps. Chief in com- 
 mand, Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Napier. Present at 
 taking of Magdala. Mentioned as having received the 
 approbation of his superiors for zeal and ability ; 
 Military Department's letter, 10th December 1868, from 
 Secretary of State for India. Medal. 
 
 1875. December. Delhi, Assistant Quartermaster - General 
 Cavalry Division. Major - General Honourable A. 
 Hardinge's force. 
 
 1876. Delhi Imperial Assemblage, Assistant Quartermaster- 
 General Artillery Division. 
 
 1877. January to May. Special Famine Duty, Madras. Under 
 SirRichard Temple (now Baronet and M.P.). Favourably 
 mentioned in despatch of India Office, 19th August 
 1877. 
 
 May. Military Secretary to H.E. the Governor of 
 Bombay, Sir Richard Temple. 
 
 1878. Thanked by H.E. for services in despatching Malta 
 expedition. 
 
 1880. Also for services in connection with the Kandahar railway, 
 and completion of Jacobabad-Sibi section, commenced 
 5th October 1879, and completed 14th January 1880, 
 representing the construction of 133J miles of surface 
 broad-gauge railway in 101 days, showing an average of 
 1-J- miles. 
 
 Brevet-Major, for connection with Afghan Campaign, and 
 general services in India, Afghan medal. 
 
SKETCH OF THE AUTHORS CAREER AND SERVICES. 
 
 1880. Military Secretary to General Warre, Commander-in-Chief, 
 
 Bombay. 
 1881. Military Secretary to General the Honourable A. 
 
 Hardinge, Commander-in-Chief, Bombay. 
 1886. Half Pay ; returned home. 
 
 We may, therefore, remark that Colonel Carnac was taken into 
 " the silent land " prematurely, or the marching orders which 
 none of us can ever gainsay were put in force long before his 
 life's work of usefulness might be considered near an honourable 
 close. 
 
 The name of Carnac occupies an important place in Indian 
 history. We have already alluded to the Major in our brief his- 
 torical sketch, when he was in command of the Bengal army, nnd 
 defeated that of the Emperor of Delhi in the days of Clive. 
 He then took M. Law and his French followers prisoners ; com- 
 manded the army at the defence of Patna; and eventually accom- 
 panied Clive to England, January 1767. He had now attained the 
 rank of General, and Clive was anxious to get his friend a seat 
 among the Court of Directors. And then, at an earlier date, 
 there is a Lieutenant Jacob Carnac, who volunteered for service 
 with the Bengal European Regiment from H.M. 84th. 
 
 Running down the years, and coming nearer our own time, we 
 arrive at James Rivett-Carnac, whose period of service as Director 
 of the East India Company extended from 1827 to 1839. He was 
 made a baronet in 1839, and appointed Governor of Bombay in the 
 same year. Colonel Rivett-Carnac, late Military Secretary to the 
 Commander-in-Chief, Bombay Army, it was declared in a highly 
 appreciative tone by a leading Anglo-Indian journal* in London, 
 had left India amidst a flood of eulogy from the Indian press. 
 He was well known and appreciated through three distinguishing 
 
 * AlUn'i Indian Mail, March 2, 1886 
 
XX SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR* S CAREER AND SERVICES. 
 
 qualifications : his personal popularity ; his humane and well- 
 considered endeavours to improve the position of the Native Sepoy ; 
 and his various articles on the great question of Russian advance 
 towards our splendid dominion, which gained him distinction 
 throughout India. He had also paid special attention to the 
 defence of Meshid from Russian aggression, and he was known to 
 be a trustworthy authority on the Persian Gulf region. Still in 
 the prime of life only forty-five it was well remarked, in March 
 1886, Colonel Rivett-Carnac had before him tf a fresh career of 
 usefulness" in England; and there was every reason to see his 
 capacity and experience fitly utilised by some appropriate appoint- 
 ment by the Home Authorities on his arrival. 
 
 But as is so often the case with our most useful toilers in the 
 Indian land, though not at home meeting with " severest obloquy," 
 he did not receive what he had every right to expect. 
 
 Five years before this period, the leading Bombay journal 
 remarked: llth HUSSARS. Speaking of Major Rivett-Carnac, 
 who has been selected to fill the office of Military Secretary to 
 General Hardinge, it is saying " something for his reputation, 
 for his knowledge of military affairs, and his experience in 
 business details, that he should have been chosen as Military 
 Secretary by three such different men as Sir Richard Temple, 
 General Warre, and the present Commander-in-Chief. He has 
 served the Queen as a soldier for 23 years in all parts of the world, 
 where there was anything stirring." It is this constant desire for 
 action among our intelligent officers which does so much, not only 
 to render the British name respected wherever they go, but to aid 
 the cause of general civilization and sound policy in a very 
 remarkable degree. 
 
 The gallant Colonel was a keen-eyed traveller also. He visited 
 Japan twice, and journeyed across the Great Wall of China and 
 
SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR'S CAREER AND SERVICES. 
 
 into Thibet over the Himalayas. As will have been seen, his 
 services were various. He served throughout the campaign in 
 Abyssinia, and, as on former occasions, was honourably mentioned 
 in despatches. 
 
 After aiding the versatile and accomplished Sir Eichard Temple 
 during the Madras famine, he received the acknowledgment of the 
 Secretary of State for India, and the Viceroy's congratulation upon 
 this recognition of his services. 
 
 As Military Secretary to Sir Richard Temple, during the 
 despatch of the Malta Expedition, he served with great credit to 
 himself and advantage to the public. The same may be said of 
 his work during the expedition to Kandahar. For his services in 
 connection with the successful construction of the railway line from 
 the Indus to Libi, it is written that " Major Rivett-Carnac would 
 assuredly have received a reward, but for the sudden departure 
 of Lord Lytton." While Military Secretary to General Warre, it 
 is said that he applied to join the forces in Natal. Fortunately 
 for himself permission was refused, and he remained to occupy his 
 old position under General Hardinge, to whom his long experience 
 in military affairs was of much assistance, and which would be more 
 so during the completion of expected reforms in the Bombay army. 
 
 Always fond of adventure and novelty, it was said that on the 
 expiration of his term of Staff service he would return to England 
 by a new route through Persia. 
 
 According to a high military authority,* in an elegant tribute 
 written a few weeks after his death, it is said that Colonel Carnac 
 began to serve his Queen and country at the age of 16 years. He 
 became Sir Richard Temple's Military Secretary when Sir Richard 
 was appointed Governor of Bombay in 1877. " He accompanied 
 his chief in the ride to Candahar, when the railway line was suc- 
 
 * Naval and Military Gazette, March 24, 1888. 
 
XX11 SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR S CAftEEB AND SERVICES. 
 
 cessfully constructed 141 miles in 101 days which was justly 
 considered the most remarkable progress made in India during 
 modern times. . . . Colonel Rivett-Carnac's health had suffered 
 much from the climate of India, and it is indeed much to be 
 deplored that the career of this -gallant, energetic, and most 
 popular officer should have been cut off in his 47th year." It is 
 the old story of real excellence too frequently having but a brief 
 reign below. 
 
 The Times of India wrote, with its usual good taste and good 
 feeling : 
 
 " The death of Colonel Rivett-Carnac will be a personal loss 
 to a large number of Englishmen on this side of India. He 
 was not only a gallant and enthusiastic soldier, passionately fond 
 of his profession, but he was a thorough military student. Except- 
 ing, perhaps, General Macgregor, no man knew more of the difficult 
 questions connected with our frontier policy ; and while in India, 
 he used to keep himself posted in European opinion by constant 
 correspondence with such experts as M. Vambery and Mr. Marvin. 
 It was through his instrumentality, and that of his chief, General 
 Hardinge, that the public were at last aroused to the danger of 
 leaving the great Eastern ports undefended; and it is well that this 
 should be recalled, now that we are at last setting our defences in 
 order. When he left India two years ago, we said that the Sepoy 
 owed a debt of gratitude to Colonel Carnac for the earnestness 
 with which he contended that the widows caused by the Afghan 
 War should receive a pension. 
 
 " The employment of retired Sepoys as Commissionaires was also 
 a movement which owed its birth and success in a great measure 
 to his zealous advocacy. He was a finished Persian scholar, and, 
 like all our best soldiers, a many-sided man. It is, as we wrote 
 
 * March, 1888. 
 
SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR'S CAREER AND SERVICES. 
 
 then, not usual to draw aside the veil which covers the Press ; but 
 we may be permitted to say that the interesting letters regarding 
 Java and Batavia which were published in our columns, and 
 attracted considerable attention, were written by him. These letters 
 are so graphic and fresh as to be well worth re-publication. They 
 were indeed privately reprinted, and as a simple record of travel in 
 an almost unknown country we scarcely remember anything better. 
 Their author had the unusual knack of cosmopolitan sympathy, 
 and his death will leave a blank in many circles not apt to be 
 moved by sudden changes. He was, in a word, a likeable man. 
 Colonel Carnac's friends in this country had no reason to suppose 
 that ho was dangerously ill. When he wrote last he was in the 
 middle of an important work, The History of the Indian Army" 
 This is, we believe, the present incomplete, though in many respects 
 valuable, work now given to the world as the Presidential Armies 
 of India. 
 
 As will be seen at the end of the sixth chapter, the Colonel's 
 devoted wife, when near the " last scene of all," wrote, from his own 
 dictation, an interesting paragraph on the defeat of the French at 
 Chandernagore. Colonel Rivett-Carnac, then, may be said to have 
 taken his farewell of earth while recording the overthrow of the 
 greatest enemies the British ever had in India the French ; 
 conquered by the greatest military captain and statesman India 
 ever saw Colonel, afterwards Robert Lord Clive. 
 
 W. F. B. L. 
 
THE PKESIDENTIAL AKMIES 
 OF INDIA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A SHORT CHAPTER ON VERY EARLY ANGLO-INDIAN 
 HISTORY. 
 
 " No event," says Abbe Raynal in his History of the Settlement 
 and Trade of the Europeans in the East and West Indies, " has 
 been so interesting to mankind in general, and to the inhabitants 
 of Europe in particular, as 'the discovery of the n.ew world and the 
 passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope." 
 
 For Europe we may now well substitute England. 
 
 When, in 1497, Vasco de Gama doubled the Cape of Good 
 Hope, formerly known as the Cape of Storms, and discovered the 
 sea route to the East, and the Portuguese and Dutch subsequently 
 explored all the coasts of India in the sixteenth and seventeenth 
 centuries, they little thought that they were but preparing the way 
 for the English, the modern Phoenicians, who were destined to 
 oust them from their possessions, and form that Colonial and 
 Indian Empire, the power and greatness of which were lately prac- 
 tically exemplified to a wondering and admiring nation in the 
 Exhibition, opened by their Queen-Empress with a pomp and 
 ceremony worthy of the occasion. Well might the English people 
 
 i 
 
2 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIBS OF INDIA. 
 
 point with pride and thankfulness to the great buildings containing 
 specimens of the arts, industries, and products of the mighty 
 Empire that has sprung from the little island, whom her sons, toiling 
 in far-distant lands, proudly call Home, and on whose possessions, 
 extending over more than 9,000,000 square miles, and numbering 
 305i million inhabitants, the sun never sets.* 
 
 For, like the Phoenicians of old, our habitation is but a small 
 speck of ground ; and like as they in their day engrossed all the 
 commerce of the Western world, so now have we, thnt of the East, 
 retaining, at the same time, a lion's share of Western trade. If it 
 be true, as supposed, that the Phoenicians learnt navigation from the 
 Syrians, they speedily eclipsed their masters in the art, and soon 
 became the the greatest navigators, explorers, and colonists of the 
 ancient world ; their Empire was that of the sea. In all these 
 respects the two nations are identical. It is quite possible that the 
 Britons learnt the first rudiments of navigation from the Phoeni- 
 cians, for it is certain that the latter extended their voyages to 
 Western Britain indeed, it is the opinion of Bochart, the celebrated 
 orientalist of the seventeenth century, that the name " Britannia " 
 is derived from the Phoenician Barat Anas, signifying " the land of 
 tin or lead " ; and this belief is strengthened by the fact that the 
 Greek name for the island, given at a later period, was Cassiterides, 
 which has the same signification. 
 
 The Phoenicians, having learnt the value of the products and 
 fabrics of the Indies from the Syrians, with whom they traded, first 
 introduced them into Europe, and eventually extended their voyages 
 from the Red Sea f to those rich and prosperous countries, enjoy- 
 
 * The exact numbers furnished by the Commission for the Colonial and Indian 
 Exhibition, 1886, are as follows : 
 
 BKITISH EMPIRE. 
 
 Area . 9,126,999 square miles. 
 
 Population .... 305,337,924. 
 
 Imports 390,018,569. 
 
 Exports 295,967,583. 
 
 t Mr. Robertson, in his work on Ancient India, gives the following origin to the 
 name appropriated, in modern times, for the Arabian Gulf. In ancient days, the 
 ocean extending from the Gulf to India was named the Erythraean Sea, after King 
 Erythras, which, in the Greek, signifies Red. 
 
EAELY ANGLO-INDIAN HISTORY. 3 
 
 ing, as they undoubtedly did, even in those early days, a high 
 civilisation. Herodotus says that these bold navigators, setting 
 out from Egypt in the days of Pharaoh Necho, circumnavigated 
 Africa, by way of the Red Sea, returning to Egypt by the Pillars 
 of Hercules (Straits of Gibraltar), and that the voyage took three 
 years. But their sea-borne trade with distant India could have 
 been but small, and it is to the Arabs, who about the middle of the 
 seventh century had established their power in Egypt, that the 
 world, in the days of Charlemagne, owes the foundation of the most 
 extensive commerce that had been known since the times of Athens 
 and Carthage. 
 
 At that period the Arabs, masters of Northern Africa, Spain, 
 Asia Minor, Persia, and part of India, introduced from one country 
 to another reciprocal exchange of the commodities of their vast 
 empire, which they gradually extended to China. Alexandria, 
 after the destruction of Tyre, then became the great market for 
 Eastern goods, which were eagerly purchased by the famous 
 merchants of Venice and Genoa, who exchanged them in the 
 marts of Europe. The Arabs themselves introduced some of 
 these commodities into France, Germany, and England, and the 
 Crusades added to the European taste for Eastern luxuries.* 
 
 But although India was now well known for the beauty of its 
 fabrics, it had not yet become accessible to Europe. 
 
 Marco Polo, the Venetian, in the thirteenth century, following 
 the footsteps of his father in Asian explorations, visited China* 
 India, and Java; but it was not until three centuries after the 
 Crusades that the first attempts were made to reach India by 
 sea. The honour of the discovery of the sea-route belongs to 
 Portugal. 
 
 John I. formed a plan of extending his dominions by sea and 
 land, and some expeditions were by him despatched to Barbary. 
 His son Henry, who possessed both ambition and genius of a high 
 order, determined to undertake discoveries in the West. He was 
 
 * Abbe Raynal's History of the European Settlement and Trade in the East and 
 
 West Indies. 
 
4 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 the first who applied the compass, already known in Europe, to the 
 purposes of navigation.* Madeira was discovered in 1418, and 
 in 1420 he possessed himself of the Canaries and the West Coast 
 of Africa, as far as Congo. In the reign of John II., astronomy 
 was applied to navigation, and the most southern point of Africa 
 was seen by Bartholemy Diaz in 1486, and called by him the 
 Cape of Storms. This name was changed into that of " Good 
 Hope " by the clear-sighted monarch, who foresaw that it would 
 open up the route to the Indies. In A.D. 1497, his successor, 
 Emanuel, equipped a fleet of four ships, which, under the 
 command of Vasco de Gama, rounded the Cape, and, after a 
 voyage of thirteen months, attended with great difficulties, landed 
 in Hindostan. 
 
 The great peninsula now known as India extends from N. lat. 
 7 27' at Cape Comorin to 35 40' at the Indian Caucasus north of 
 Peshawar, and long. 67, where the Beluchistan mountain barrier 
 marks the frontier, to 90 where the line cuts the Brahmaputra 
 river. It forms an immense triangle having its apex in the south, 
 its base to the north ; its western shores are bathed by the waves 
 of the Indian Ocean, its eastern shores by those of the Bay of 
 Bengal. The area of this great peninsula is over one million square 
 miles, its greatest length is 1,900 miles, its greatest breadth 
 somewhat less, and its population is 245J millions. This calcu- 
 lation does not include Burmah, and other territories east of the 
 Brahmaputra river.f 
 
 Fable, rather than history, tells the story of ancient Hindostan, 
 the learned men of which claim for their origin an exaggerated 
 antiquity, although, in the opinion of some, the peninsula of India 
 
 * Abbe Raynal's History of the European Settlement and Trade in the East and 
 West Indies. 
 
 f The following are the statistics supplied by the Royal Commission, Colonial 
 and Indian Exhibition, 1886 : 
 
 BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA (INCLUDING BURMAH). 
 
 Area 1,574,516 square miles. 
 
 Population .... 253,982,595. 
 Trade (68,156,654 imports. 
 
 ' (89,098,427 exports, 
 
EARLY ANGLO-INDIAN HISTORY. 5 
 
 must, from its geological formation, have been among the earliest 
 inhabited portions of the globe. That this antiquity is great there 
 can be no doubt, for, accepting with caution the statement of the 
 Hindoos that a Prince Bardht was supreme a century after the 
 Deluge, and that a line of Kings, the Chandras, reigned 3,200 
 years before Christ, it is generally accepted that the Aryan invasion 
 of India took place about B.C. 2,000.* The sacred writings of the 
 Hindoos, the Vedas, are also said to have been written a cen- 
 tury and a half B.C. The epic poems, Mahabarata and Ramayna 
 are of somewhat later date, and full of extravagant myths.f The 
 Laws of Menu possess an uncertain antiquity ; some are of opinion 
 that they date from the eleventh or twelfth centuries B.C. ; others 
 that they deal with the customs of society 800 years B.c.J These 
 laws divide the community into four classes or castes, and lay 
 down the rights and privileges of each. In some instances Menu 
 is reputed to be the son of Brahma, and the first man, and to be 
 identical with Menes, the first King of Egypt, where the same 
 institution of class division existed. In the seventh century B.C. 
 Buddha, the religious reformer, the Martin Luther of those early 
 days, appears on the scene. He, like Luther, preached against 
 the arrogance of the priestly caste, or Brahmins. His religion 
 travelled far into the East ; he died about 540 B.C. His death 
 was the signal for the revival of Brahmanism in a modified form. 
 Those who hesitated between the old and new faiths, formed them- 
 selves into a sect known as Jains (about 600 B.C.), whose temples 
 are to-day among the most beautiful and perfect in India. 
 
 A portion of India was invaded by the Persians, under Scylax, 
 sent by King Darius Hystaspes, who reigned 522 years before the 
 
 * The most eminent Pundits and Brahmins assembled in Calcutta, by the autho- 
 rity and under the inspection of Warren Hastings, to compile a full code of Hindoo 
 laws, stated that some of the writers upon whose authority they founded the decrees 
 which they inserted in the Code, lived several millions of years before their 
 time ! ! Robertson, vol. xii. (India) and see p. xxxviii. of the Code. 
 
 f According to the Hindoos, they were written 3,000 years B.C. 
 
 J The Hindoos themselves suppose the laws to have been revealed by Menu 
 some millions of years ago. Sir W. Jones' Third Discourse, Asiatic Research. 
 p. 428. 
 
O THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Christian era; he drew an annual tribute of 360 talents of gold 
 from the conquered provinces.* 
 
 The Greeks are believed to have visited India by land, and by 
 the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, for the purpose of instruction in 
 the industrial arts, before the days. of Pythagoras, who died about 
 470 B.C. ; but the first accounts of Indian conquest that come to 
 us with any degree of accuracy, are those of the invasion of the 
 present Punjab by the Macedonian Emperor, Alexander the Great, 
 a full account of which has been left by Arrian (who derived his 
 information from the journals left by Nearchus and others) in his 
 Anabasis of Alexander. This invasion was undertaken in the 
 rainy season of 327 B.C., when he defeated Porus, the Indian 
 ruler. The army suffered extraordinary hardships. Alexander's 
 designs to advance to the Ganges were frustrated by his troops, 
 who declined to proceed further to the east in that inclement 
 season. Alexander retraced his steps, leaving his lieutenants to 
 administer the conquered territories, and himself sailed down the 
 Indus to the ocean, reducing to subjection the various tribes he 
 encountered on the way. Having reached the sea with the greater 
 portion of his victorious but long-suffering army, he took the land 
 route, across arid deserts, to Babylon, which he reached after in- 
 credible sufferings. About 10,000 men embarked in his best ships 
 under his lieutenant, Nearchus, with orders to explore the coast, 
 their final destination being the Euphrates. This was successfully 
 accomplished. The Greek dominion survived between 100 and 
 200 years after the great monarch's death, and succeeding dynasties 
 conquered the fertile territories watered by the Ganges and Jumna 
 rivers.f The Edicts of Asoka, written on the rocks with a pen 
 of iron, throw some light on the events of the third century B.C., 
 in which he lived. 
 
 * The expedition under Scylax, which is described by Herodotus, is not mentioned 
 by Nearchus, Ptolemy, Aristobulus, or Arrian. 
 
 t Seleucus, one of Alexander's most able generals, and, after his death, Sovereign 
 of that portion of the Macedonian Empire known under the name of Upper Asia, 
 invaded India. Little, however, is known of his exploits ; but he is said to have 
 reached the Ganges^ and even the modern Allahabad. 
 
EARLY ANGLO-INDIAN HISTORY. 7 
 
 The Greek power in India was overturned by an irruption of 
 Tartar hordes, who, according to Strabo (whose testimony is con- 
 firmed by Chinese writers) invaded the country about 126 years 
 B.C.J after overrunning Bactria. From this period to the seventh 
 century after Christ, little is known except what is derived from 
 Chinese and Greek sources. 
 
 Towards the middle of the seventh century, the west coast of 
 India from Malabar to Scind, was frequently raided by those Arab 
 Mahometans (before-mentioned as introducing Eastern commodities 
 into Europe), but no Mahometan power can be said to have made 
 any impression on Hindostan until the eleventh century of the 
 Christian era. 
 
 Mahmood, the son of Sabatagin, better known as Sultan Mah- 
 mood, had at this period established himself at Ghuzni, in Afghan- 
 istan, and founded the Ghuznividian dynasty. He rose from a 
 humble station, and about A.D. 999 conquered Korasan. 
 
 In 1001 he invaded and conquered Lahore, extended his con- 
 quests to Guzerat, and his fame is remembered and execrated to 
 this day by Hindoos generally as the destroyer of many monuments 
 of their idolatry, notably the temples of Napakote and Somnaut. 
 His dominions extended from the banks of the Ganges to the 
 shores of the Caspian Sea; but in many of the conquered districts 
 his power was more nominal than real. This nominal supremacy 
 was the cause of frequent inroads into India by successive princes 
 of the dynasty, for the purpose of enforcing tribute due from pro- 
 vinces subdued by former invaders. The successors of Mahmood 
 having been driven from Ghuzni by the Afghan house of Ghoor, 
 their capital was established at Lahore. The last of this line of 
 princes was treacherously murdered by Mahomed Ghoory, with 
 whom began the Gaurian dynasty. 
 
 In 1193 Delhi was wrested from its Hindoo ruler by Kotb-od- 
 deen, Mahomed's general. In this reign Ajmere, Guzerat, and 
 Agra fell under the Mahometan rule, and succeeding princes of 
 the dynasty carried their conquests to Bengal. 
 
 On the death of Mahomed, Kotb-od-deen proclaimed himself 
 
8 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 independent, and with him commenced the Mahometan power at 
 Delhi. This dynasty did not survive many generations, and was 
 succeeded by that of Khilgy. Feroze, the first prince of this 
 house, carried war into the distant Deccan (1294), where immense 
 booty was secured and transferred to Delhi. The last ruler of the 
 Khilgy dynasty, Moobarik by name, was murdered, and his throne 
 usurped, by a trusted servant. This man was, in his turn, slain 
 by Ghazi Khan Toghluk, Governor of the Punjab Province, the 
 founder of the Toghluk dynasty. 
 
 During this dynasty the capital of the Mahometan power was 
 transferred to Deoghur, a conquered Hindoo city, afterwards 
 named, by Mahomed Toghluk, Dowlatabad. To this city the in- 
 habitants of Delhi were forced to migrate, and their ancient capital 
 was left to fall into ruin, as is testified to-day by the vast remains 
 of Toghlukabad, near modern Delhi. 
 
 But events had been occurring in Europe which, in due course, 
 were destined to place a rival Mahometan power on the throne of 
 Delhi. The Mogols or Mongols, after overrunning Western and 
 Central Asia under their leader, Chengiz Khan, invaded Eussia, 
 Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary, and were the terror of Europe. 
 They arrived on the frontiers of India as early as 1219, and fre- 
 quently raided the adjacent territories, carrying fire and sword 
 wherever they went. In 1398, about ten years after the death of 
 Feroze Toghluk, Timour or Timourlang (commonly written 
 Tamerlane), meaning " Timour the Lame," advanced against 
 Delhi. The Government was at that time in disorder, the throne 
 being disputed and contested by rival princes of the house of 
 Toghluk. The victory gained was an easy one, and Timour was 
 proclaimed Emperor. Contributions were demanded of the in- 
 habitants, but, these not being forthcoming with sufficient celerity 
 to satisfy the savage conqueror and his cruel followers, the city 
 was given to the fire, and its luckless people to the sword. Timour 
 left Delhi almost immediately, and retired to his Central Asian 
 fastnesses with an immense treasure. Thence he invaded Syria, 
 destroyed Bagdad, and, about 1404, turned his victorious arms 
 
EAELT ANGLO-INDIAN HISTORY. 9 
 
 towards China, which country he invaded at the head of 200,000 
 followers. He died in the province of Khokand in 1405. 
 
 Thus were the first seeds of the mighty Mogul Empire planted 
 in the fertile plains of Hindostan. 
 
 The confusion and anarchy consequent on the conquest by 
 Timour and the weak government of Khizr, who shortly after his 
 departure ruled at Delhi, was the signal for revolt in the distant 
 provinces, the governors of which declared their independence, and 
 the Mogul power sank to insignificance, until Mahomed Baber, a 
 descendant of Timour' s, who was proclaimed sovereign of the 
 Moguls in Tartary in 1494, after reducing Samarkand which had 
 revolted, turned his attention to India, which he considered his by 
 right of former conquest, and consequently invaded. 
 
 At Panipat, near Delhi, in 1526, he conquered the Afghan ruler 
 after a hotly-contested day, and secured possession of the capital. 
 Hoomayoon, his son, pushed on at once and captured Gwalior. 
 Baber secured his power not without difficulty, but at length suc- 
 ceeded in firmly establishing the Mogul Empire in India. He was 
 his own biographer, and left a most curious account of his life and 
 doings, which was translated and published in 1826. 
 
 Hoomayoon succeeded Baber, but was forced to vacate the 
 throne of Delhi in favour of Sheer, an Afghan ; on the death of 
 Sheer, Hoomayoon again seized the reins of government. His 
 successor was Akbar, his son, who in 1556 was, at an early age, 
 proclaimed Emperor. His reign was stormy and long ; he reduced 
 many of the revolted states to subjection, and invaded the Deccan, 
 of which he styled himself Emperor, although his success was 
 but partial, but he firmly established his empire, which included 
 Cabul, Kandahar, the whole of Hindostan, and part of the Deccan. 
 Students of Indian geography will understand the extent of his 
 Indian empire by a perusal of the provinces into which it was 
 divided ; they were Delhi, Bengal, Allahabad, Oude, Behar, Berar, 
 Ajmere, Agra, Moltan, Lahore, Cabul, Kandeish, Ahmednagar, 
 Guzerat, and Mahe. 
 
 Akbar, who is generally considered to have been a just ruler, was 
 
10 THE PEESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 tolerant of religion.* He reigned nearly fifty-one years, and was 
 followed by his son Selim (better known as Jehangir) in 1605. 
 The principal event of this reign, so far as this short chapter of 
 Indian history is concerned, is the reception at the Court of 
 Jehangir of an embassy from England, under Sir Thomas Eoe,f 
 sent by James I. to the Mogul Court in 1615, to ask for the 
 protection of the Great Mogul for the English traders, who, under 
 the name of the London East India Company, had, in 1600, 
 established trade at Bantaun in Java, for the Malayan archipelago 
 and China, and later at Surat, for Hindostan. 
 
 Having brought the history of India down to the earliest days of 
 the East India Company, and as the exploits of succeeding 
 Emperors will necessarily be touched upon in recording the doings 
 of the English in India, it is time to return to the Portuguese, who, 
 under Vasco de Gama, as before mentioned, reached India in 
 1497-98, or, in other words, during the period of the poorly- 
 established rule at Delhi, which took place between the conquest of 
 Timour and the triumph of the arms of his descendant, Mahomed 
 Baber, in 1526.J 
 
 Gama first landed at Calicut, on the south-western or Malabar 
 coast ; here he was well received and hospitably treated, so much 
 so that an alliance and treaty of commerce was proposed to him by 
 the authorities of the land. Besides the natives, he found many 
 Arab Mahometans established in India. These were mostly the 
 descendants of those Arabs who had made incursions into India, and 
 possessed themselves of the western sea-board extending from the 
 Goa of to-day to the Indus ; their numbers had greatly increased, 
 
 * Mr. Robertson in his vol. xii. (India) says Akbar was "one of the few 
 Sovereigns entitled to the appellation both of ' great and good.'" Again, "Akbar 
 incorporated into one code the purest precepts of the Koran with the institutes of 
 Menu." Thorn's Wars in India. 
 
 t He arrived December 1615, accompanied the Emperor to the Deccan, and left 
 at the close of 1618. Elphinstone. 
 
 J The reason for entering into somewhat minute details of the conquests of the 
 Portuguese, French, and Dutch in the East, will explain itself further on, when it 
 will be seen that most of the territories mentioned were wrested from one or the 
 other of those nations by the English, and with the aid of native troops of the 
 several Presidential armies. Author. 
 
EARLY ANGLO-INDIAN HISTORY. ll 
 
 for, being polygamists, they contracted marriage in many places, 
 which they visited for purposes of trade ; their power was great, 
 and they were the factors for all eastern commodities of which 
 Alexandria was the mart. 
 
 Calicut was by no means a safe port ; but the Arabs, who were to 
 some extent missionaries, are said to have entertained for it a 
 religious sentiment, as being the place at which a king of Malabar 
 had embarked for Mecca after having embraced the faith of the 
 Prophet. 1 * 
 
 Gama soon found Mahometan jealousy too strong for him. The 
 Arabs threw suspicion on the rival power which they feared, and 
 induced the Zamorin, or Prince-Governor of the province, to 
 undertake the massacre of the adventurers. The plot was dis- 
 covered, and the Admiral with his fleet escaped the threatened 
 danger. Timely reprisals procured a restitution of his merchan- 
 dise, when he sailed for Europe, carrying with him some of the 
 natives as trophies of his enterprise. 
 
 The enthusiasm that attended the return of Gama and his fleet to 
 Portugal was unbounded. Hopes were entertained of establishing the 
 richest commerce in the world, and the Pope, whose authority was 
 in those days supreme in Catholic Europe, gave to the Portuguese 
 all the lands they might discover in the East, together with per- 
 mission " to trade with infidels. "t There was no lack of adven- 
 turers ready to embark on board the new fleet fitting out for India, 
 the ambitious for fame, the avaricious greedy of gain, and the super- 
 stitious in hopes of propagating their religion by persuasion, or, if 
 necessary, by force of arms. 
 
 Alvares Cabral was given command of the expedition, which 
 consisted of thirteen vessels. He arrived safely at Calicut, and 
 restored some of the Indians who had been taken to Europe by 
 Gama. Although these men spoke highly of the treatment they 
 had received, the Zamorin would not be reconciled to the Portu- 
 guese, and, at the instigation of the Arabs, massacred a number of 
 
 * Abbe RaynaL 
 
 f Robertson's India, vol. xii. 
 
12 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 the adventurers. In retaliation, Cabral burnt the town and the 
 Arab fleet in harbour. He then visited and traded with several 
 places on the coast, notably Cochin and Cananor, with the rulers 
 of which, tributaries of the Zamorin his enemy, he entered into 
 alliance. 
 
 With their assistance he was soon master of the Malabar coast 
 and destroyed the Arab trade, and rich cargoes were despatched to 
 Lisbon, which speedily became the mart of Europe for Eastern 
 goods. 
 
 Alphonso Albuquerque was the first Viceroy sent by Portugal to 
 its growing possessions, and he it was who seized upon Goa, the 
 present capital of Portugal in India. 
 
 About this time he saw the necessity of destroying the trade of 
 Egypt with India. The Venetians, equal sufferers with Egypt by 
 the commercial success of Portugal, had formed a confederacy with 
 the Arabs settled in Egypt, on the eastern coast of Africa and 
 scattered over India, to place every obstacle in the way of Portu- 
 guese ambition, and had, in 1508, assisted the Egyptian Sultan to 
 equip a fleet of ten vessels for this purpose. The Portuguese 
 having foreseen this confederacy, had the previous year determined 
 to prevent it by establishing their power in the Red Sea, and 
 formed a plan for seizing on the island of Socotra at the mouth 
 of the Gulf of Aden. This scheme was successfully carried out by 
 Tristan d'Acuqhna. The island, however, did not turn out to be of 
 the value expected, as ships from the Red Sea did not touch there 
 on the outward voyages, although it was necessary to sight the 
 island before entering the Gulf of Aden when homeward bound.* 
 The Egyptian fleet passed in safety, and having encountered the 
 Portuguese armament in the Indian Sea, gained some successes 
 which had no lasting effect, as future fleets from Egypt were con- 
 stantly beaten and dispersed by the small squadron kept by 
 Portugal to cruise at the entrance of the gulf. 
 
 These skirmishes annoyed Albuquerque, who determined to 
 destroy Suez ; but this enterprise, although attempted, was aban- 
 * Abbe Raynal. 
 
EARLY ANGLO-INDIAN HISTORY. 13 
 
 doned on account of the immense difficulties that were encountered; 
 effectual measures were, however, taken to prevent hostile vessels 
 reaching the coasts of India. * 
 
 But this was not sufficient, as there was another outlet for Indian 
 trade to Europe via the Persian Gulf, the Euphrates Valley, and 
 Alexandretta on the Mediterranean, opposite the island of Cyprus. 
 Albuquerque, therefore, determined to become master of the 
 gulf. 
 
 On an island in the Straits of Mocandon was the city of Ormus, 
 founded by an Arabian conqueror in the eleventh century, the 
 centre of trade between India and Persia. Albuquerque having 
 ravaged the towns on the coast subject to Ormus, suddenly ap- 
 peared before that city, and with ease conquered the Arab 
 armament sent to oppose him.f Treachery in his own fleet made 
 him abandon his conquest for a time, but shortly after Ormus was 
 again attacked and became subject to the Portuguese, whose power 
 being now completely established at both the outlets of trade, 
 began to cast their eyes further east. 
 
 The island of Ceylon would have fallen an easy prey, its con- 
 quest having been commenced by his predecessor, d'Almeyda, and 
 subsequently completed, but Albuquerque made no settlement 
 there, nor did he establish himself on the Coromandel coast, but 
 sailed for the coast of Malacca, being of opinion that the latter was 
 of more immediate importance, and that, with it and Ceylon in 
 his possession, the easy conquest of the Coromandel must follow. 
 
 Malacca was the emporium for the trade from China, Japan, 
 the Philippines, and Molucca islands, and, after some early ill- 
 success, fell to Albuquerque in 1511. From thence an expedition 
 was despatched to the Moluccas, where the Arab traders were 
 again dispersed, and the valuable trade in cloves and nutmegs fell 
 into the hands of Portugal. In the meanwhile, Albuquerque com- 
 pleted the conquest of the Malabar coast. He died at Goa, in 
 1515, without wealth, and out of favour at Court. 
 
 * Robertson's India, vol. xii. 
 f Ibid., also Abbe Raynal, 
 
14 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 He was succeeded by Lopez Soarez, who pursued his designs, 
 and, like him, advocated trade with distant China. 
 
 In 1518, a Portuguese ambassador, by name Perez, was de- 
 spatched from Lisbon, with a squadron, to China. He was well 
 received, and, to his astonishment, found the country enjoying a 
 high state of civilisation, so much so, indeed, that, to use the 
 words of Abbe Raynal, " we shall not wonder at the surprise of the 
 Portuguese ambassador, who had been accustomed to the barbarous 
 and ridiculous manners of Europe " ! ! 
 
 Perez went to Pekin, and visited many cities of China, and was 
 about to enter into a treaty with the Emperor when, a fresh 
 squadron arrived on the coast, the commander of which, having 
 built a fort without permission on one of the islands off the coast, 
 took every opportunity of pillaging ships bound for Chinese 
 ports. 
 
 For these misdeeds Perez was seized and imprisoned, and died 
 in confinement. 
 
 For some years the Portuguese were refused admission into China, 
 but eventually were permitted to trade with the port of Saucian. 
 A notorious pirate having seized on the island of Macao, and 
 threatened Canton, was, with Portuguese assistance, vanquished. 
 In gratitude for this timely aid, the Emperor bestowed Macao on 
 the adventurers. 
 
 Their hungry eyes were now turned on Japan, the fame of whose 
 trade they well knew; for a Portuguese ship having been wrecked on 
 the coast of those celebrated islands, the crew, who were hospi- 
 tably entertained, carried the news of the riches of these new lands 
 to Gk>a. An expedition was, consequently, sent to Japan, and an 
 extensive trade established. The Portuguese allied themselves 
 with the richest of the Japanese heiresses, and, it is said, carried 
 away annually precious metals to the amount of over half a million 
 sterling.* 
 
 The power of Portugal was, by this time, established over a vast 
 territory, extending along the coasts of Guinea, Arabia, and Persia, 
 
 * Abbe Raynal. 
 
EAELY ANGLO-INDIAN HISTORY. 15 
 
 the peninsula of India, Malacca, and Ceylon, whilst Macao ensured 
 their trade with China and Japan. They had also firmly esta- 
 blished their influence on the coast of Zanquebar and the Mozam- 
 bique ; their power in the East was supreme ; and they enjoyed 
 the monopoly of many articles coming from their numerous depen- 
 dencies, and regulated their value in Europe at their discretion, 
 and in 1538 destroyed a powerful fleet sent against them by 
 Solyman the Magnificent, ruler of the Ottoman Empire, which in 
 those days owned Egypt and Syria as provinces. 
 
 But religious zeal had induced cruelty amounting to ferocity ; 
 an Inquisition was established at Goa, where the auto da fe 
 flourished. The pagodas on the Malabar coast were destroyed. 
 Faria, leader of an expedition against pirates in the China seas, 
 plundered the sepulchres of the Chinese Emperors. Correa, having 
 terminated a tedious war with the King of Pegu, treacherously 
 broke all his treaty engagements. Nuno D'Acuqhna, having de- 
 termined to seize the island of Daman, the inhabitants wished to 
 surrender it to him, but he slaughtered the unresisting people. 
 The Portuguese, indeed, were by this time as willing to break faith 
 with each other as with the natives, and the whole community 
 throughout India was broken up into factions. 
 
 Don Juan da Castro, an enlightened administrator and a brave 
 soldier, now took the reins of government, and, in some ways, re- 
 stored the declining power of Portugal. During his administra- 
 tion, an Indian combination attacked the fortress of Diu, on the 
 Kattywar coast, when the place was, in spite of small numbers, 
 successfully defended, and such prodigies of valour displayed, that 
 the Indians, baffled in all their attempts, said of the defenders 
 (according to Raynal), " Happily, Providence has decreed that 
 there should be as few of them as lyons and tygers, lest they should 
 exterminate the human species." 
 
 But the courage and energy reanimated by Castro was not to 
 last, and the power of Portugal was on the wane. Success had 
 secured riches, riches had begotten luxury, and luxury effeminacy. 
 The original conquerors of India were no more, and their sue- 
 
16 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 cessors were degenerate. Possibly Portugal had been exhausted by 
 the numbers of her colonies, and had not the capacity to replace 
 the old adventurers with a race of men equally vigorous. Certain 
 it is that they were replaced by the descendants born in Asia, and 
 often of mixed blood, who gave themselves up to all sorts of ex- 
 cesses, and who possessed not the courage that inspires respect or 
 fear. A confederacy was formed to oust them from the East. To 
 counteract this, an expedition was despatched from Lisbon, which 
 consisted of men who had formerly distinguished themselves in 
 Europe. The Portuguese power was attacked on the Malabar 
 coast, at Daman, Malacca, in the Moluccas. Goa itself was be- 
 sieged. The Portuguese from Europe, under their commander, 
 Ataida, well maintained their old reputation for valour; the siege 
 was raised, the confederacy in all places defeated, and the supremacy 
 of Portugal again restored. 
 
 In the reign of Philip II. of Spain, who, in 1580, acquired the 
 throne of Portugal, the Portuguese in India seem to have, to a 
 great extent, cut themselves adrift from the mother country. Some 
 declared themselves independent governors, some enlisted in the 
 service of the Indian princes, whilst others ranged the Eastern seas 
 as pirates. Spain, indignant at the want of submission of her new 
 subjects, the Indo-Portuguese, no longer supplied fleets of mer- 
 chantmen, and even withdrew the naval squadron which had 
 hitherto guarded the Indian seas. Garrisons were not reinforced, 
 and fortifications fell into a ruinous condition. 
 
 That the Portuguese should have enjoyed the monopoly of 
 Eastern trade for nearly a century is, although curious, of easy 
 explanation. Spain, under Charles V. and Philip II., was engaged 
 in ambitious operations in Europe, and in discoveries in America, 
 and, by the acquisition of Portugal in 1580, shared the trade, in 
 some degree, with the Portuguese. France was occupied with 
 wars in Italy and Spain ; England was also engaged in Con- 
 tinental wars, after the weary and bloody strife between the 
 Houses of York and Lancaster, and the power of Venice had 
 been humbled. For these reasons the prominent Powers in Europe 
 
EARLY ANGLO-INDIAN HISTORY. 17 
 
 remained inactive spectators of the transactions of Portugal in the 
 East.* 
 
 The Portuguese at length forfeited their former power, when the 
 Dutch, a free and enlightened nation, tolerant in religious matters, 
 appeared in the East to contest with them the Empire of India, 
 which they had so long held, and so systematically misused. 
 
 Towards the end of the sixteenth century Holland formed part 
 of the dominions of Philip II. of Spain. This monarch, a religious 
 fanatic, desired, among other innovations, to introduce the Inqui- 
 sition among a people always celebrated for its independence, and 
 who had accepted the reformed religion introduced by Martin 
 Luther. Under William of Orange they rose in general revolt, 
 and threw off the yoke of Spain, and having, in 1590, more than 
 once humbled the Spanish flag, they settled down into peaceful 
 traders; their ships being employed in the carrying trade of 
 Europe. The trade of Lisbon for Indian goods soon fell into their 
 hands. These commodities they sold to advantage in the different 
 States of Europe with which they dealt. 
 
 Philip II., in retaliation for their revolt against his authority, 
 closed the ports against them in 1594, an act which weakened their 
 trade and drove them to new fields of adventure. They resolved 
 to fit out ships for trade with the East, but, the sea-route via the 
 Cape of Good Hope being in the hands of their enemies, it was 
 determined to find a northern route, by the frozen sea, to China 
 and Japan. In this attempt they failed. 
 
 The story t is told how, while engaged in this enterprise, a mer- 
 chant named Houtman, a man of energy and determination, was 
 kept prisoner in Lisbon for debt. During his detention he managed 
 to worm the secrets of the Portuguese trade with India and China 
 from his captors, and to make himself master of the details of the 
 intricate navigation in the direction of those countries. This 
 knowledge he transferred to Amsterdam ; his release was effected 
 by the payment of his debts by his fellow-merchants, who, having 
 
 * Robertson's India, vol. xii. 
 f Abbe Raynal. 
 
18 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 formed themselves into a company, fitted out a fleet of four vessels, 
 of which they gave him the command. His voyage was successful; 
 he coasted Africa, landed in Madagascar, visited the Maldives and 
 the islands of Sun da. and formed an alliance with the principal 
 sovereign of Java. He returned to Holland stocked with infor- 
 mation, rather than treasure, and brought away with him specimens 
 of the inhabitants of all the countries he had visited, and, what 
 was of still greater value, a pilot perfectly acquainted with the 
 coasts of India. 
 
 The success of this voyage determined the merchant to establish 
 a settlement in Java as a centre of trade with China and Japan, 
 and well removed from the principal Government of Portugal in 
 the East, which was on the Malabar coast of India. The expedi- 
 tion, consisting of ten vessels, was entrusted to Admiral von Neck, 
 who, after some opposition from the settlers in Java, obtained 
 permission to trade. Thence he visited the Moluccas (where he 
 knew the Portuguese to be deservedly hated), established factories, 
 entered into commercial treaties with the chiefs, and finally returned 
 to Holland the bearer of good tidings and much wealth. 
 
 Numerous companies were then formed, but these were, in 1602, 
 united into the " Dutch East India Company," and invested by 
 the States-General with immense powers. A fleet of fourteen 
 ships was next despatched, under Admiral Warwyck ; he built a 
 factory in Java, which he fortified, and obtained permission to trade 
 with Johore (on the mainland, near the present Singapore), visited 
 India, and entered into a bloody struggle with the Portuguese, over 
 whom he at first gained easy victories. Fresh reinforcements and 
 vessels were constantly arriving from Holland, whereas, as before 
 mentioned, Philip II. sent none to his unruly subjects in India. 
 The Hollanders showed more perseverance than dash in these wars, 
 and, often repulsed, always returned to the attack, with ultimate 
 success. 
 
 In 1607 they attempted to open out trade with China, but their 
 object was frustrated by Portuguese jealousy; in 1624, however, they 
 established themselves in the island of Formosa, opposite the 
 
EARLY ANGLO-INDIAN HISTORY. 19 
 
 Chinese province of Fokien. Unexpected prosperity attended 
 this venture. The conquest of China by the Tartars induced 
 numbers of Chinese subjects to seek refuge in Formosa. The 
 activity and industry of these new Colonists speedily drew atten- 
 tion to this extensive island, which soon became the centre of all 
 the commerce carried on between the Philippine islands, China, 
 Japan, Siam, and Java. 
 
 But the prosperity of the Hollanders in their new possessions 
 was not destined to be of long continuance. In 1662, being 
 attacked by a Chinese rebel against the Tartar power, they, after 
 a determined resistance, were forced to capitulate and retire to 
 Java ; from that moment their trade with China suffered a blow 
 from which it never entirely recovered, but Japan still offered 
 them a market. 
 
 Ever since 1641 the trade of the Hollanders with that rich 
 country had been carried on under humiliating circumstances. 
 They were confined to an artificial island built by themselves and 
 called Decima, where they suffered a sort of imprisonment, a 
 bridge, their only means of communication with Nagasaki on 
 the main island, being drawn up from the Japanese side.* Their 
 trade soon became insignificant ; for this loss they indemnified 
 themselves by the seizure of the Moluccas and the Celebes. 
 They also settled in Sumatra and carried on an extensive trade 
 with Siam. 
 
 In 1640 they colonised the Cape of Good Hope, and in 1641 
 they drove the Portuguese from Malacca. By the possession of 
 Batavia and Malacca the Dutch were masters of the only straits 
 then known by which trade could be carried on with China and 
 Japan, that is to say the Straits of Malacca and Sunda.f In 
 1658 they dispossessed the Portuguese of their settlements in 
 Ceylon and of Negapatam on the Coramaudel Coast ; and in 1662 
 
 * This was still actually the case in 1861, when Japan was visited by the 
 author. 
 
 f It will be remembered that the Straits of Sunda were upheaved and rendered 
 unnavigable (for a time) by the terrible eruption of Krakatao in August 1883. The 
 site was visited by the author early in 1884. 
 
 2 
 
20 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 they further diminished the tottering power of Portugal in India 
 by the capture of Cochin, on the coast of Malabar. 
 
 But the ascendency of Holland in the East was, like that of 
 Portugal, doomed, and was to make way for that of England. 
 Too great prosperity had rendered them avaricious, unjust to 
 their foreign subjects and to themselves. Public spirit died out in 
 Holland. To again quote the words of Abbe Eaynal, writing in 
 1777 : " Meanness, baseness, and dishonesty characterise now the 
 conquerors of Philip. They make a traffic of their oath as of their 
 merchandise, and they will soon become the refuse of the universe, 
 which they had astonished by their industry and their victories. 
 Industrious Hollanders ! Ye who were formerly so renowned 
 for your bravery, and are at present so distinguished for your 
 wealth, tremble at the idea of being again reduced to crouch 
 under the rod you have broken. Would you learn how the spirit 
 of commerce maybe united and preserved with the spirit of liberty? 
 View from your shores that island and those people whom nature 
 presents to you as a model for your imitation. Keep your eyes 
 constantly fixed on England ; if the alliance of that Kingdom has 
 been your support, its conduct will soon serve you as an in- 
 structor, and its example as a guide." 
 
 Having briefly recounted the means by which Portugal and 
 Holland successively became masters of Eastern trade, it is time 
 to draw attention to that mightier power which is now supreme 
 in India, and whose flag is to be found proudly floating in every 
 port in the West to the confines of China in the East; and whose 
 sons for over 250 years, from 1600 to 1857, the date of the great 
 Mutiny, suffering many vicissitudes of fortune, have fought and 
 traded, and have at length firmly established their country's power 
 in the Land of the Sun, to the admiration and envy of Europe, 
 and to the prosperity of millions of subjects, to whom they have 
 at length given the blessings of solid and settled Government. 
 
 About the period of the Portuguese power in India, England 
 boasted many bold navigators ; among the most illustrious of these 
 were Sir H. Willoughby, Chancellor, Drake, Frobisher, Davis 
 
ANGLO-INDIAN HtSTO&Y. 21 
 
 and Hudson. The Cabots (Jean and Sebastian), father and son, 
 Venetians, established themselves at Bristol under Henry VII., 
 and under his auspices attempted the discovery of the north-west 
 passage to India about 1496. Chancellor attempted the north-east 
 passage in 1553, and discovered Archangel. Drake, in 1577-80, 
 circumnavigated the world, and is still more celebrated for his sub- 
 sequent victory over the Spanish Armada. Davis, Hudson, and 
 Frobisher were Arctic navigators ; but the former afterwards made 
 voyages to India in the interest of the East India Company, and 
 lost his life in the Indian Seas. 
 
 The repeated attempts of the English and Dutch to reach India 
 by the northern route, and their endeavours to discover a north- 
 west and north-east passage by the Frozen Ocean having utterly 
 failed, in spite of the gallantry of the commanders and the devotion 
 of their crews, a choice of two routes remained open to subsequent 
 adventurers, the first by the well-known track via the Cape of 
 Good Hope; the second, by rounding the most southerly point of 
 the American continent, the present Cape Horn. 
 
 The practicability of the latter route was proved by Magellan, a 
 Portuguese, who, starting from Sanlucar in 1519, reached the 
 Pacific in the following year, and the Ladrones and Philippine 
 Islands in 1521, which latter were afterwards named in honour of 
 Philip II. In this voyage Magellan lost his life, and the journey 
 was brought to a successful conclusion by his lieutenant, Del Cano, 
 who, having doubled the Cape of Good Hope, arrived at Sanlucar 
 in 1522. The south-western route, although thus shown to be 
 possible, was deemed too circuitous for the practical purposes of 
 trade, The impracticability of the northern, and the length and 
 consequent expense of the south-western route having thus been 
 established, for ever set at rest the vexed question of the most 
 advantageous trade passage to the East. 
 
 Undeterred by these considerations, Francis Drake sailed from 
 Plymouth in 1577, and arrived at the Straits of Magellan in the 
 following year ; coasted America, and thence visited the Moluccas, 
 reaching Plymouth by way of the Cape of Good Hope in 1580. 
 
22 THE PRESIDENTIAL AKMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 During this voyage, although war had not openly been declared 
 with Spain, Drake carried on a conflict with the Spanish vessels he 
 met, and made many captures of a decidedly piratical character. 
 In reply to Spanish complaints, his conduct was disavowed by the 
 Court of Elizabeth, who, notwithstanding, did not hesitate to 
 confer on him the honour of knighthood. 
 
 Drake's report of this successful voyage, and the capture, some 
 years later, of a Portuguese ship containing a cargo of immense 
 value, drew public attention to the importance of direct trade with 
 the East, and in 1582 an expedition was entrusted to Mr. Edward 
 Fenton for a voyage to " the East Indies and Cathay." To what 
 extent the funds for this adventure were supplied by Government is 
 not clear ; but by the instructions conveyed to the Commander, and 
 which are fully quoted in Beveridge's History of India, it is 
 evident that the expedition was under the complete control of the 
 English Court. 
 
 This expedition, which was the first that entered into direct 
 competition with the Portuguese in trade with India, via the Cape 
 of Good Hope, proved a failure, and one vessel only out of five 
 originally despatched reached England in safety. 
 
 The next voyage worthy of record was undertaken as a private 
 venture by Mr. Thomas Cavendish in 1586. He fitted out three 
 ships at his own expense, and, following the example of Magellan 
 and Drake, circumnavigated the globe by the south-western route, 
 returning to Plymouth by the Cape of Good Hope in 1588, after 
 a prosperous voyage, having visited the coast of America, the 
 Ladrones (so-called by the Portuguese from the thievish practices 
 of the inhabitants), the Philippines, the Moluccas, and St. Helena. 
 Cavendish committed many unjustifiable depredations, and in his 
 letter to Lord Hudson, the then Lord Chamberlain, dated Septem- 
 ber 1588, says : 
 
 " I navigated alongst the coast of Chili, Peru, and Nueva Espanna, where I made 
 great spoiles ; I burnt and sunk nineteen sailes of ships, small and great. All the 
 villages and towns that ever I landed at I burnt and spoiled, and had I not bene 
 discovered upon the coast, I had taken great quantitie of treasure."* 
 
 * Beveridge's History of India, 
 
JSARLY ANGLO-INDIAN HISTORY. 23 
 
 In 1589, the year after the defeat of the Spanish Armada, a 
 body of English merchants petitioned Elizabeth for permission to 
 fit out a fleet for Eastern trade. The request was granted, and the 
 expedition sailed from Plymouth in 1591, under command of Mr. 
 George Raymond, who was lost during the voyage in his ship the 
 Penelope, when the command devolved upon Mr. James Lan- 
 caster. The venture proved a failure, although some piratical 
 advantages were gained over the Portuguese. Sickness and mutiny 
 adding to the hardships endured from contrary winds and shortness 
 of provisions, Lancaster was abandoned on the coast of Brazil 
 with a small portion of his crew. After many severe trials he 
 managed to reach England after an absence of over three years. 
 
 The Dutch successes about this time fully published, induced an 
 association of merchants to again petition the Queen for per- 
 mission "to set forth on a voyage to the East Indies and other 
 islands and countries thereabouts." This was dated September 
 1599. 
 
 It is not within the province of this paper to detail the diffi- 
 culties, chiefly of a political nature, that had to be overcome by 
 the Association before their request was granted by the Crown 
 suffice it to say that the jealousy of Spain was aroused, and, after 
 the Eoyal approbation had been accorded, permission was withheld 
 in deference to the representations of the Spanish Court. 
 
 After many memorials setting forth the advantages to be gained 
 by the country at large, and an exhaustive report by Eulke 
 Greville, afterwards Lord Brooke, which had a favourable effect, 
 the charter was granted on the 31st December 1600 to " the 
 Governor and Company of the Merchants of London, trading 
 unto the East Indies," by which the Company was empowered to 
 trade with " the countries and parts of Asia, Africa, and America, 
 or any of them beyond the Cape of Bona Esperanza to the 
 Streights of Magellan," with this restriction, that such trade 
 should not interfere with the rights of any Christian prince friendly 
 to the British Crown, who might already be in possession of any 
 of the countries visited. 
 
24 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 The capital of the Company was a little in excess of dG30,000, 
 divided among 218 individuals. The Company's first venture 
 consisted of five ships, which, after various delays, left the shores 
 of England in April 1601, under the command of Lancaster, and 
 reached Acheen, in Sumatra, in June 1602. 
 
 Lancaster met with a friendly reception from the native autho- 
 rities, and entered into a treaty by which the English were granted 
 perfect freedom of trade, in spite of the endeavours of the Por- 
 tuguese to prejudice the King against them. These intrigues 
 having been discovered, Lancaster retaliated by setting off on an 
 expedition to the Straits of Malacca, where he captured a Portu- 
 guese vessel richly laden, and, having fully stored his ships with the 
 cargo of his prize, he returned to Aoheen, and further ingratiated 
 himself with the authorities of the land by a liberal distribution 
 of the " loot " he had so easily acquired. 
 
 From Acheen, Lancaster sailed for Bantam, by the Straits of 
 Sunda. Here, as at Acheen, he was well received, and disposed 
 of his prize goods for local commodities. Having established a 
 factory, he, in February 1603, sailed for England with a full 
 cargo. 
 
 The homeward voyage was stormy, and nearly disastrous ; but 
 eventually all the ships reached England in safety, but with the 
 loss of many members of their crews ; they anchored in the Downs 
 in September 1603, after an absence of two years and five 
 months. 
 
 The profits of this voyage, including the hardly justifiable cap- 
 ture of the Portuguese prize off Malacca, amounted to nearly 
 100 per cent., and two factories had been established on a satis- 
 factory footing at Acheen and Bantam. 
 
 The second voyage undertaken by the Company was entrusted 
 to the command of Captain Henry Middleton, and sailed from 
 Gravesend in March 1604. The same ships were again employed, 
 and reached Bantam in December of the same year, where friendly 
 intercourse appears to have been entered into with the Dutch* 
 From Bantam Middleton visited the Moluccas, where he met with 
 
EARLY ANGLO-INDIAN HISTORY. 25 
 
 some opposition from the Dutch, and finally reached England in 
 May 1606 with a very valuable cargo, but with the loss of one of 
 his vessels. 
 
 The third voyage was undertaken in 1607, under the command 
 of Captain Keeling, and traded with the Island of Socotra, at the 
 entrance of the Gulf of Aden ; one of the ships under Captain 
 Hawkins, who had formerly sailed in the expedition under Cap- 
 tain Feuton in 1582, having separated from the rest of the fleet, 
 touched at Surat. To Captain Hawkins and his ship, the Hector, 
 belongs the honour of being the first to plant the seeds of English 
 trade direct with India. After some opposition from the Portu- 
 guese settlers at Surat, the Hector sailed for Bantam under the 
 command of its first officer, leaving Hawkins, who foresaw fair 
 prospects of trade, ashore at Surat. Thus was established the 
 Company's first factory in India. Captain Hawkins subsequently 
 visited the court of the Emperor Jehangir, with whom he obtained 
 favour, and a promise of permission to trade. These successes 
 were afterwards frustrated by the intrigues of the Portuguese.* 
 
 Captain Keeling, having placed the factory at Bantam on a 
 satisfactory footing, sailed for England, which he reached in May 
 1610. 
 
 In the meanwhile two more voyages were undertaken; the fourth 
 being a total loss, both ships being wrecked. The fifth proved 
 more successful ; the clear profits on the third and fifth voyages 
 amounting to 234 per cent. 
 
 At this time the Dutch made no secret of their intention of 
 keeping the trade with the Islands entirely in their own hands, 
 and the conduct of the Portuguese at Surat showed an equal deter- 
 mination to monopolise the trade of the Malabar coast ; facts that 
 made it evident that the Company, to ensure a successful share of 
 the riches of the East, must in future trade on an increased scale, 
 and be prepared, at all risks, to defend their rights. 
 
 The exclusive privileges of the Company having been ratified 
 
 * The exploits and successes of Hawkins are not mentioned by Bruce in his 
 Annals of the East India Company. 
 
26 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES Otf INDIA. 
 
 by James I., the sixth voyage was undertaken, with an increased 
 capital, and consisted of three ships under the command of Sir 
 Henry Middleton, who had successfully conducted the second 
 voyage. His flagship, the Trade's Increase, was of 1,000 tons 
 burden, a vessel of great size in those days. Middleton left 
 England in 1610, and shaped his course for Socotra and the Red 
 Sea, leaving one of his ships, the Peppercorn, at Aden. At Mocha 
 the Trade's Increase was nearly lost on a sandbank, and Middle- 
 ton and his crew actually suffered captivity at the hands of the 
 Arabs. At the sacrifice of a portion of his cargo he obtained 
 release, and in September 1611 reached Surat, where he found a 
 powerful Portuguese fleet ready to dispute his right to trade. 
 Here, to his disappointment, he heard of Hawkins' ill success at 
 the Mogul Court, and realised that, for the time being, successful 
 trade with Surat, in opposition to the Portuguese, could not be 
 secured. 
 
 Having embarked Captain Hawkins and other Englishmen who 
 had remained at Surat, Middleton sailed for the Red Sea with 
 the intention of forcing trade on all the Indian ships he should 
 meet, on the plea that, having brought fitting commodities to 
 India for barter, and not being allowed to trade on shore, " he 
 would do himself some right, and them no wrong," if he insisted 
 on bartering his goods at sea ! 
 
 During these questionable proceedings a seventh expedition, 
 under Captain Saris, had started from England and made for 
 Socotra. He traded with Mocha with some success, and finally 
 joined forces with Middleton and continued the depredations on the 
 Indian ships. The loss of the Trades Increase caused the death 
 of Middleton, when Saris continued his voyage to Japan, where, 
 in spite of Dutch opposition, he made arrangements for permanent 
 trade. He concluded a successful venture in 1614. 
 
 At the time of Captain Saris' departure from England, Captain 
 Hippon was despatched, in a vessel named the Globe, for Bantam. 
 He visited Ceylon, and made his way up the Bay of Bengal, and 
 established a factory at Petapoli, on the Coramandel coast, south 
 
EARLY ANGLO-INDIAN HISTORY. 27 
 
 of Musilipatam. To Captain Hippon belongs the credit of the 
 foundation of the first English settlement on the east coast of 
 India. He also established factories on the coast of Malacca and 
 Siam.* 
 
 Although the Company had now gained some pecuniary advan- 
 tages by their several voyages, these successes were obtained more 
 by force of arms and depredations on the cargoes of other nations 
 than by fair and legitimate trade. No permanent footing had yet 
 been gained in the East, and, although factories had been esta- 
 blished at various places, the position of the factors was precarious 
 and dangerous in the extreme. The Dutch were supreme in Java, 
 Sumatra, and Japan ; the Spanish in the Philippines, and the Portu- 
 guese in India and Malacca ; whilst the English, by their piratical 
 proceedings, had engendered distrust in the minds of the native 
 authorities of the countries with which they desired to trade, and 
 had not as yet shown their superiority over their rivals in honesty, 
 diplomacy, or force of arms. 
 
 In 1612, the eighth voyage was undertaken on a different model, 
 and a powerful squadron was despatched to the coast of India, 
 under the command of Captain Thomas Best. Having arrived at 
 Surat, he found himself opposed by a formidable Portuguese 
 fleet, which, after a series of actions, lasting several days, he 
 completely discomfited. 
 
 This success over an enemy hitherto looked upon as invincible, 
 entirely changed the attitude of the Emperor Jehangir, who now 
 gladly entered into a treaty with Best, whereby the British were 
 allowed free trade with India, on the payment of 3J per cent, on 
 their imports as custom-duty to the Mogul. This important con- 
 cession was dated February 1613. 
 
 A permanent footing having thus, at length, been secured, its 
 importance was fully recognised by the Company, who, in future, 
 determined to trade on a joint stock, and to send out fleets of such 
 strength as would ensure their success against all foreign oppo- 
 
 * For a full account of the several voyages see Brace's Annals and Beveridge's 
 History of India. 
 
28 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 sition. But the commanders were strictly enjoined to avoid the 
 errors of the Portuguese and Dutch, and to conduct their enter- 
 prises with the natives of India with humanity and fair dealing, 
 and to gain thereby, if possible, the love and respect of the people. 
 Several more voyages were undertaken with various success, but 
 with an average profit of 87J per cent., and in 1615 the power of 
 England in India was further immensely strengthened by a de- 
 claration of war between the Great Mogul and the Portuguese, the 
 defeat of their powerful fleet, under command of the Viceroy of 
 Goa in person, by the British in the Surat Roads, and by the 
 arrival of Sir Thomas Roe, as Ambassador to Jehangir from 
 James I. 
 
 But not only Indian trade, but that of Persia also, was effected 
 by these successes. The city of Ormuz was wrested from the 
 Portuguese, and a commercial treaty entered into with the Persian 
 monarch, which brought considerable profit to the coffers of the 
 now, comparatively speaking, prosperous Company. 
 
 By this time the power of Portugal in the East was rapidly on 
 the decline, but the Dutch were nearly supreme among the islands 
 (where the English traded almost on sufferance), so much so, that 
 they memorialised James, complaining of British aggression, and 
 founded their claim to the monopoly on the fact that they had by 
 force ousted the Portuguese from their island possessions. 
 
 These claims were strenuously resisted by the Company, who 
 brought forward counter claims and charges, which, after protracted 
 negotiations, resulted in a dual control over the Moluccas, Am- 
 boyna, and Banda, whereby the Dutch enjoyed two-thirds of the 
 proceeds of the trade, the remaining third being apportioned to the 
 Company. 
 
 The arrangement, which took place in 1619, appears to have 
 worked fairly well for a time, but neither of the contracting parties 
 were really contented, and each contrived to render the clauses of 
 the compact to their own advantage, and the scheme eventually 
 suffered the fate of houses governed by two masters. Quarrels 
 and mutual recriminations succeeded, which were destined to have 
 
EAELY ANGLO-INDIAN HISTORY. 29 
 
 a terrible conclusion in the atrocious massacre at Amboyna, by 
 which, after a mock trial, twelve Englishmen, including the British 
 Agent and his assistants, and one Portuguese, besides several 
 natives, lost their lives, after having been made to confess, under 
 torture, that they had participated in a plot to seize the factory 
 and put the Dutch inhabitants to the sword. The date of this 
 atrocity was February 1623. 
 
 Such universal indignation was felt and expressed in England, 
 that James actually talked of war, when death put an end to his 
 weak reign ; and it was not for years after, during Cromwell's 
 Protectorate, that the massacre and insult were avenged. 
 
 The year 1619 sees the infant Company established at Surat, on 
 the west coast of India, and doing a considerable trade with Persia, 
 but, through the intrigues and treachery of the Dutch, powerless 
 in the Spice Islands. 
 
 Although a footing had, at last, been established, the power of 
 England in the East was as yet but small, and the position of the 
 Company's agents precarious. Energy, zeal, and a bold defiance 
 of all difficulties and dangers formed the most valuable and prin- 
 cipal portion of the Company's stock in trade, and was destined, in 
 future years, to produce the three great Presidencies, whose rise to 
 power on the ruins of Portuguese and Dutch supremacy will form 
 the subject of another chapter. 
 
30 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOMBAY AND MADRAS 
 PRESIDENCIES. 
 
 ALTHOUGH the main object of this book is to deal with the 
 military occupation of India, it has been found impossible to avoid 
 touching on trade matters, carried on with extraordinary zeal and 
 courage, struggling with enormous difficulties, by the civil servants 
 of the Company, who from the earliest times of British Indian 
 history to the anxious days of the Indian Mutiny (when they gained 
 the admiration and esteem of the army, the members of which 
 were proud to fight by their sides against immense odds) have been 
 intimately associated with the military element, which in the early 
 days of the Company consisted solely of the factors themselves and 
 of the officers and crews of the armed trading ships, despatched 
 from England to the Eastern Seas. The training of these crews 
 during the long and dangerous voyages, together with courage 
 and love of adventure, rendered them especially fitted for the 
 task before them, and constituted, perhaps, the best fighting 
 material of the day. 
 
 In the first chapter it has been shown how, in 1612, a factory had 
 been established at Surat, on the west coast of India, by Captain 
 Best, commander of the Company's eighth voyage. 
 
 To Mr, Kerridge, commander of the ship Hoseander, belongs 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BOMBAY AND MADRAS. 31 
 
 the credit of opening the first actual commercial transactions 
 between the Company and the natives of India at Surat.* 
 
 In spite of the armed opposition of Portugal, the Mogul 
 Emperor's firman, or permission, to the English to establish a 
 factory at Surat, was granted in December 1612, and delivered to 
 Captain Best, with due ceremony, on the llth January 1613. 
 
 In the meanwhile, a ninth voyage had been undertaken, and 
 entrusted to Captain Newport, the profits of which are said by 
 Bruce to have amounted to 160 per cent. 
 
 Up to this time the several voyages appear to have been con- 
 ducted by individuals, partners in the Company, who fitted out the 
 expeditions on their own particular portions of stock. It was 
 therefore resolved that in future all trade with the East should be 
 carried on with a joint stock, only the sum of 429,000 being 
 subscribed for the purpose. With this sum the tenth, eleventh, 
 twelfth, and thirteenth voyages were undertaken with various 
 success. They concluded in 1617, with an average profit, after 
 deducting all expenses, of 87 per cent.f 
 
 During this period the Company was already experiencing oppo- 
 sition from the Dutch in the Spice Islands, which laid the 
 foundation of that trade jealousy which in later years produced 
 recrimination and ended in bloody struggles for commercial supre- 
 macy between two nations, natural allies. 
 
 The assistance given to the Mogul by the English fleet in 1614, 
 whereby the Portuguese were defeated, induced the Emperor 
 Jehanghir to protect the Company's factors and trade, although 
 permission to build a fort to ensure the safety of the Company's 
 goods against Portuguese aggressions does not appear to have been 
 granted. But Mr. Edwardes visited the Imperial Court at Agra, 
 and he and Mr. Kerridge at this time procured a general firman 
 granting permission for perpetual trade in the Mogul's dominions. 
 
 A second attempt was made to trade with Persia, Jask being 
 suggested as a suitable position for a factory, and a third experi- 
 
 * Brace's Annals of the East India Company, 
 f Brace's Annals, 
 
32 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 ment was made to open out trade with Bantam and the Spice 
 Islands. 
 
 In 1615 Captain Keelinge obtained permission from the Zamorin, 
 or Prince Governor of the Malahar Coast, to settle a factory at 
 Cranganore, when a treaty was agreed to between them, by which 
 the English were to assist the Zamorin in expelling the Portuguese 
 from Cochin, which was to be ceded to England ; the Zamorin 
 and English sharing the expenses of the expedition. 
 
 In the same year the Company's agents attempted settlements in 
 several places among the islands, when, although invariably opposed 
 by tbe forces of the Dutch, Captain Best established a factory at 
 Tekoo, in Sumatra. 
 
 It has already been mentioned how the Company's ships had, 
 by assisting the Persians against the Portuguese, established their 
 trade at Ormuz and enjoyed certain advantages on condition of 
 keeping armed ships in the Gulf to counteract the influence of 
 Portugal. To this arrangement Sir Thomas Roe, the King's am- 
 bassador at the Mogul's Court, objected, as leading the Company 
 into needless expenses, and possibly because, being on the spot, 
 he noticed signs of jealousy at Court regarding the rising power of 
 the Company. 
 
 In 1617 the second joint stock was formed ; this amounted to 
 over one million sterling. 
 
 At this period the Company had formed factories at Surat, in 
 India; at Acheen, Tekoo, and Jambeein Sumatra; Bantam in Java; 
 and traded with Succadania and Baujarmassin in Borneo, Macas- 
 sar in the Celebes, Banda, Amboyna, and other Spice Islands, and 
 with Persia, Siam, and Japan. 
 
 To conduct this trade they owned thirty-six ships, of from 100 
 to 1,000 tons, duly armed to resist Dutch and Portuguese aggres- 
 sion, and overcome opposition from the natives and pirates who 
 at that period swarmed at sea. 
 
 The above list of countries traded with offers some idea of the 
 vast enterprise of our countrymen nearly 300 years ago, and yet 
 it must be borne in mind that they followed the beaten track of 
 
EARLY HISTORY OP BOMBAY AND MADRAS. 33 
 
 the Portuguese and Dutch, especially of the former. Even in these 
 days of ocean steamers the beautiful islands of the Malay Archi- 
 pelago are but seldom visited by Englishmen ; and although the 
 voyage to India and Japan are holiday trips, a journey from Lon- 
 don to Ispahan, and thence to the Persian Gulf and India, is a 
 feat accomplished by few. 
 
 The year 1617 dates the establishment of the first Dutch factory 
 at Surat, thus bringing the English merchants face to face with two 
 rivals in the Indian market that is to say, Portugal and Holland. 
 The Dutch also possessed a factory at Masulipatam, on the Coro- 
 mandel or east coast of India. Surat was still unfortified, and the 
 Company's goods in constant danger; and the Dutch, supreme in 
 the Malayan Archipelago, seized and destroyed one of the Com- 
 pany's ships, corrupted the crew of another, and captured two 
 French traders. This is the earliest mention of attempts in 
 France to establish an Eastern trade, the French East Indian 
 Company being formed many years later (in 1664.) 
 
 In 1618 Sir Thomas Koe entered into a treaty with the Mogul 
 Court to resist the pretensions of Portugal ; among the articles of 
 the treaty the following are of interest for the purpose of this 
 narrative : The native Governor of Surat was to lend armed ships 
 to the English for the better defence of the port, and to permit ten 
 armed men of the Company's ships to land at one time, and the 
 resident merchants to bear arms*; trade was also opened with 
 Mocha, on the Ked Sea. 
 
 The same year, in retaliation for years of oppression, the English, 
 under Sir Thomas Drake, in treaty with the native authorities, took 
 Batavia from the Dutch. The English, however, did not remain long 
 in possession, for in 1619 the Dutch fortified the position, and made 
 it, as it is to this day, the capital of their East Indian possessions. 
 The same year, in defiance of a treaty entered into between England 
 and Holland, a Dutch fleet of six sail attacked and sank one 
 English ship, and captured three others, after a severe action, in 
 the Port of Tekoo, in Sumatra. 
 
 * Bruce's Annals. 
 
 3 
 
34 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 The year 1620 is interesting for the fact of Saldanha Bay, on 
 the south-east Coast of Africa, being taken possession of hy Cap- 
 tain Shillinge, of the Company's service, whereby the right of 
 England to the territory about the Cape of Good Hope was 
 established, years prior to Dutch occupation of that locality. 
 
 In the following year Captain Shillinge lost his life in an 
 action off Jask, with the Portuguese, whence he had been de- 
 spatched with four armed ships from Surat. The action was 
 obstinate, and terminated in favour of the English, whereby their 
 naval renown was raised in Persian estimation, and the Company's 
 trade with that country facilitated. 
 
 The Company's attempts during this year to establish trade on 
 the Coromandel coast were frustrated by the Dutch, who owned a 
 fort and garrison at Pullicat. 
 
 In 1622 the agents of the Company at Surat suffered greatly 
 by the aggressive conduct of the Dutch, who made prizes of several 
 of the Mogul's ships. The native Powers, being unable or un- 
 willing to distinguish between the several European nations, im- 
 prisoned the English factors and agents at Ahmedabad and Surat, 
 the Company having to pay heavy ransoms for the release of their 
 servants. In retaliation it was proposed to seize the Mogul ships 
 carrying pilgrims to Mecca ; a course vetoed at the time, but, as will 
 be seen, carried out in future years. 
 
 It was in this year that the Company's fleet wrested Ormuz 
 from the Portuguese, and obtained from Persia a portion of the 
 customs of Gombroon. 
 
 At the same time the Company's servants in Java were allowed 
 to assume the title of President and Council, a distinction subse- 
 quently conferred on their agents in India, from which the great 
 divisions of their future Indian territories derived the designation of 
 Presidencies. 
 
 In spite of titles, the English did not flourish in Java, for in 
 this year occurred the atrocious massacre of the Company's servants 
 by the Dutch at Amboyna, by which Captain Towerson, the Agent, 
 and nine factors, besides Portuguese and Japanese, were put to 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BOMBAY AND MADRAS. 35 
 
 death under incredible tortures, those who survived being handed 
 over to the executioner. 
 
 At this time the factories in Japan and Siam were withdrawn, but 
 a ship was sent from Java to try and establish a factory at Tanjore, 
 on the east coast of India; the project was, however, opposed and 
 frustrated by new rivals, the Danes, who are now heard of for the 
 first time in India. 
 
 In 1624 the King granted power to the Company's agents and 
 commanders to try their servants by common and martial law. 
 
 The news of the Amboyna massacre did not reach England until 
 early in 1624, when it produced an immense sensation. The am- 
 bassador at the Hague demanded satisfaction and compensation ; 
 and the Lord High Admiral, the Duke of Buckingham, received 
 orders to fit out a fleet to seize the Dutch homeward-bound India- 
 men and to keep them until reparation was accorded. 
 
 No satisfaction was obtained from the Dutch, who, indeed, a 
 little later had the audacity to appoint Van Speult (their servant 
 who had conducted the massacre) to be the agent at Surat; he 
 appears to have died in an unsuccessful attempt to reduce 
 Mocha, in the Red Sea, in 1626, the expedition having started 
 from Surat. The popular cry was for war ; a step not carried out 
 under the varying foreign policy of James, whose weak reign ended 
 by his death in March 1625. 
 
 Charles I. now reigned in England, and civil war was, before 
 many years Jiad passed, to distract the nation. The affairs of the 
 Company, no longer receiving the support of the Crown, rapidly fell 
 into serious difficulties. Many stations in the Archipelago were 
 abandoned, and trade generally suffered from the oppression of the 
 Dutch ; who, taking advantage of the state of affairs in England, 
 lost no opportunity of insisting on their supremacy ; but the Com- 
 pany had too much at stake to meekly give way ; they persevered 
 against all difficulties, and as one factory was abandoned another 
 was established. 
 
 Thus, in 1625, the example of Captain Hippon was followed, and 
 a factory founded at Armegon, on the east or Coromandel coast of 
 
 3 * 
 
36 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 India. Some time previously trade had been carried on at Masuli- 
 patam, on the same coast, hut the site was changed to Armegon, 
 where fortifications were allowed to-be erected; this is remarkable 
 as the first fortified position occupied by the Company in the 
 peninsula of India. It is mentioned by Bruce that in 1628 it was 
 defended by twelve pieces olf cannon and by a guard of twenty-three 
 factors and soldiers. Some years after this event, favourable 
 terms having been offered by the native ruler, the factory was 
 again removed to Masulipatam. 
 
 In 1626 the English agent at Surat proposed to the Dutch the 
 advisability of a joint attack on Bombay (then held by the Portu- 
 guese), on the understanding that if the island was reduced it should 
 be divided between them and fortified, so as to render them indepen- 
 dent of the native powers. From this it will be seen that even in 
 those early days the importance of Bombay was fully recognized. 
 
 Up to this time the Company were mere dependants of the Crown; 
 but, Dutch oppression continuing, and no redress being obtainable 
 from Charles, the Company determined to appeal to Parliament 
 direct. This action could not fail to give deep offence at Court. 
 
 The Dutch, emboldened by the unsatisfactory condition of affairs 
 in England, became powerful at Surat, and the Portuguese, rein- 
 forced with nine ships and 2,000 troops, even threatened the recapture 
 of Ormuz, and the destruction of the Company's trade with Persia; 
 and Bantam, hitherto so important as the emporium of trade with 
 the Spice Islands, sank into insignificance and became dependent 
 on the Surat Agency. 
 
 The Company even failed in the management of their own 
 subordinates, and a system of wholesale smuggling, carried on by 
 the crews of their trading vessels, greatly diminished the small 
 profits that remained to the association. For this the Company 
 were alone to blame, as private trading had long been recognized 
 as the right of the humblest of those employed, each seaman and 
 fighting-man being permitted to fill, on his own account, a chest 
 four feet long and one and a half feet wide and deep.* 
 
 * Beyeridge's History of India, 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BOMBAY AND MADRAS. 37 
 
 But, in spite of many disadvantages, the Company did not de- 
 spair, and small grains of comfort helped them to persevere. 
 
 In 1631 the third joint stock was subscribed, and the Company's 
 affairs were ordered to be regulated at home by a Governor, Com- 
 mittee, and Court of Adventurers; this is the first mention of 
 what was afterwards known as the Court of Directors. 
 
 In the same year the Company's factories were placed under 
 the control of the President and Council at Surat. 
 
 In 1632 a firman was obtained from the Persian monarch Shah 
 Sophie, confirming the Company in their trade with Persia, and 
 that of the Coromandel Coast was authorized by the King of 
 Golconda, one of the conditions being that the Company should 
 import Persian horses ; thus a trade was established which is now 
 so important as a source of supply of remounts for the British 
 Native Cavalry in India. 
 
 In 1634, by firman from the Emperor Shah Jehan, factories were 
 established in Bengal with a port at Piplee. The importance of 
 this concession will be dealt with at length in a future paper. 
 
 In 1635 Charles was undertaking the experiment of governing 
 England without the assistance of his Parliament; and possibly 
 out of ill-feeling arising from the action of the Company in ap- 
 pealing direct to Parliament, in 1628, as before mentioned, or as 
 a means of increasing his own revenues permitted rival traders, 
 known as Courten's Association, to compete with the established 
 Company, in spite of former charters granted by James and 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 It is unnecessary to enter into the particulars of this transaction, 
 which is very fully discussed in Beveridge's History of India, vol. i.; 
 and it is sufficient to say that the encroachment of their rivals, 
 and the continued aggressions of the Dutch, served to bring the 
 Company to a very low ebb ; while the certainty of a civil war 
 rendered it difficult, if not impossible, to raise the capital necessary 
 for the prosecution of further ventures on a large scale. 
 
 The same reasons affected the transactions of the rival traders, 
 who, after some successes and depredations, which subjected them 
 
38 THE 1>EESIDENT1AL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 to severe reprisals, disappeared from the field, but not before, they 
 had been amalgamated with the old Company under a joint stock 
 arrangement, which was the subject of many quarrels, and was 
 finally settled by Cromwell in favour of the original traders. 
 
 In 1635 a factory was established in Scind. In 1640 the Com- 
 pany made a great stride in the acquisition of Madrasapatam, which 
 soon became the first independent position of the English in India, 
 which they acquired on very favourable terms from the native ruler 
 of that part of the Coromandel Coast, and where they obtained 
 permission to build a fort, which exists to this day as Fort St. 
 George. Madras was at the same time made subordinate to the 
 President and Council at Bantam. 
 
 Difficult as was the position of the Company during the Civil 
 War, its agents in India were not idle, but, exerting themselves in 
 the interest of their employers, succeeded in obtaining permission 
 to establish a fortified factory at Balasore, on the north-west coast 
 of the Bay of Bengal, within reasonable distance of the port of 
 Piplee. The trade with Madras, thanks to the security ensured by 
 its fortifications (which in 1644 had already cost nearly ,3,000, 
 and were calculated to cost a further sum of 2,000),* continued to 
 increase, and promised to become even more valuable than Bantam 
 as a factory. 
 
 In 1645 the first mention is made of the Company's trade with 
 Suakin, in the Bed Sea; for some years after this event the annals 
 of the Company, compiled by Mr. Bruce, deal exclusively with 
 trade matters, which need no notice in these pages. The agents 
 at the various factories continued, however, to be harassed by 
 the Dutch and discredited by the piratical acts of Courten's Asso- 
 ciation, or the Assada Merchants, as they were now termed. 
 
 In 1650 the Company petitioned Parliament for redress of their 
 grievances against the Dutch, and estimated their losses through 
 Dutch hostility at two millions sterling.! 
 
 The vigorous rule of Cromwell greatly altered the position of 
 
 * Brucc's Amats 
 t Ibid. 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BOMBAY AND MADRAS. 39 
 
 the Company for the better. A fresh petition was presented to 
 Parliament, consisting principally of the old complaint against the 
 Dutch. This was favourably received, not on its merits only, but 
 because Dutch arrogance, in pretending to the sovereignty of the 
 seas, and the encouragement they had given to the House of Stuart, 
 had greatly incensed the Protector. War was declared, which 
 resulted in humbling Holland ; but not before she had gained 
 several maritime successes over the Company in Indian waters, 
 notably at the entrance of the Persian Gulf, where four ships were 
 captured and destroyed, and the trade with Persia and Gombroon, 
 for the time being, greatly damaged. 
 
 To show how powerless the Company was in India during 
 this period, it may be mentioned that when the news reached Surat 
 of open hostilities between England and the States General, the 
 president at Surat sent an envoy to Delhi to pray for the Mogul's 
 protection against the Dutch, and petitioned the Home Government 
 to despatch four or five large vessels of war and eight or nine smaller 
 ships for the protection of the factories and to act offensively against 
 the common enemy. The Company also petitioned Parliament to 
 allow them to fit out men-of-war for their own protection. 
 
 Peace with Holland was concluded in 1654, when satisfaction 
 was demanded and obtained for the massacre of Amboyna, whereby 
 the Dutch Company was to pay to the heirs of the victims the 
 small sum of ^3,600, and to the London Company ,85,000 for 
 damages sustained ; small compensation indeed for so barbarous 
 an act ! 
 
 Affairs in Bengal were now in a more satisfactory state, a firman 
 having been obtained for free trade from the Emperor Shah Jehan, 
 and Madras was raised to the dignity of a Presidency (1653),* 
 having control over the affairs of the Bengal factories, besides 
 those of the Coromandel Coast ; whilst the Persian trade was to 
 be subordinate to Surat. At the same time Bantam was to pre- 
 side over the affairs of the insular factories. Private trade among 
 the servants of the Company was also prohibited, but without effect. 
 * Brace's Annals, Beveridge gives the date as 1654. 
 
40 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Pending the signature of the treaty with Holland the Company 
 petitioned Cromwell, pointing out the importance of the Indian 
 trade to the English nation at large, and suggested Bassein and 
 Bombay as the most convenient position for the foundation of 
 factories. 
 
 In 1654 the Company was so distressed by the action of private 
 traders (hardly better than pirates) that it was determined to 
 reduce all establishments, and orders were issued for the reduction 
 of the garrison of Fort St. George from twenty-six to ten men ! 
 and this command was received at a time when the Dutch were 
 predominant in the Indian Seas, and the armies of Golcondah and 
 Visiapore were waging war against the Nabob of the Carnatic, who 
 had thrown off his allegiance to the former monarch. 
 
 In 1656 the Dutch took possession of the Island of Ceylon. 
 This year is also important as being that in which the Marathas, 
 under their great leader Shivaji, invaded the Carnatic. 
 
 1657 saw Surat placed at the head of all the Company's Presi- 
 dencies and factories, Bengal being immediately subordinate to 
 Madras. The death of Shah Jehan also occurred in this year; 
 this event plunged India into civil war, which ended in the 
 accession of Aurungzebe to the Mogul throne. Surat Castle was 
 seized by one of the claimants to Sovereign power, whose general 
 pillaged the town. 
 
 In 1658 Cromwell granted to a Mr. Bolt licence to export to 
 India 3 mortars and " 20,000 rounds of shells " for Aurungzebe, 
 the Company at the same time exporting large quantities of ord- 
 nance stores to counteract Mr. Bolt's proceedings.* Cromwell's 
 death, which occurred the same year, seriously affected the interests 
 of the Company. 
 
 In 1659, the Company being embarrassed by the uncertainty of 
 the political situation in England, sent their homeward-bound 
 ships, as a fleet, with orders to touch at St. Helena, and there to 
 await tidings; and should these be unsatisfactory, they were to 
 proceed to Barbadoes, where they were to remain until they 
 
 * Bruce's Annals. 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BOMBAY AND MADRAS. 41 
 
 received intelligence from home. The President at Surat again 
 urged that Bombay should be secured, if necessary by purchase, 
 from Portugal. 
 
 The reign of Charles II. opened with important concessions to 
 the Company ; a new charter was granted confirming all previous 
 charters, and exclusive privileges for ever (instead of for 15 years, 
 as in the charter granted by Elizabeth), and conferring judicial 
 and military power on the Governors* of Presidencies, more espe- 
 cially for the suppression of the private traders now generally 
 known as "Interlopers." Among other matters of importance, the 
 Kestoration was the signal for the conclusion of treaties of peace 
 between England, Spain, and the States General, which tended to 
 secure the Company's trade in India. 
 
 In 1660 an instance occurred of the Presidency of Surat exer- 
 cising its power over the Bengal agency ; the agent at Hoogly 
 having seized a country vessel in the Ganges, for which act retali- 
 ation was threatened by the Mogul's commander, Mir Jumla, 
 orders were issued by the Surat President in Council for its imme- 
 diate restoration. 
 
 In this year pagodas were coined at the mint at Fort St. George, 
 under the agency of Sir Edward Winter, from bullion received from 
 Europe. The Bombay value of the pagoda was ^63 10s. 
 
 In 1661 Bombay became the property of Charles, ceded by the 
 Crown of Portugal as a portion of the marriage settlement of his 
 queen, the Infanta Catherine, and in the following year a fleet sailed 
 from England under the Earl of Marlborough, having on 
 board an official of high rank from Portugal, who was to arrange 
 the cession of the island, and put the English in possession. A 
 force of 400 soldiers was also embarked, under the command of Sir 
 Abraham Shipman, who was to remain at Bombay as Governor. 
 The affair was not brought to the immediate conclusion anticipated, 
 owing to the claims of the English Governor, who, in 1662, 
 
 * Although Governors of Presidencies are, according to Bruce, mentioned in 
 the text of the Charter, the first Governor (Sir George Oxinden) was not appointed 
 until 1668. 
 
4 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 demanded, with Bombay, the cession of the neighbouring island of 
 Salsette. This demand was resisted, and the English, not being in 
 a position to force an occupation, applied to the then President of 
 Surat, Sir George Oxinden,* for permission to land the troops at 
 that station. The fear of giving offence to the Mogul Emperor 
 by the disembarkation of so considerable a force, produced a refusal 
 which forced Sir Abraham Shipman to disembark on the Island of 
 Anjedivah, south of Goa. 
 
 In the meanwhile the admiral, with his fleet, had sailed for 
 England, much to the disappointment of the Company's agents in 
 India, who had, by the presence of the ships of war on the Indian 
 seas, hoped to intimidate the Dutch, who still aspired to supremacy 
 on the coast. 
 
 In 1662 another event occurred of importance to the Company. 
 It will be remembered that in association with Courten's Company 
 or Assada Merchants, the India Company had obtained certain 
 possessions on the coast of Africa. Charles II., in spite of the 
 Company's right, granted to his brother, the Duke of York, a 
 charter to form a new African Company. The Directors of the 
 original Company being under obligations to the Crown, and per- 
 haps not being particularly anxious to keep their position in Africa 
 (the Cape of Good Hope at this period being in the possession of 
 the Dutch), made over its rights on the Gold Coast to the new 
 African Company, and so confined their trade exclusively to the 
 Eastern Seas ; but they still retained St. Helena, which they had 
 colonized since 1657, and possession of which had been granted to 
 them by Charles II. in 1661. 
 
 In 1663 the Company was much alarmed at the equipment of a 
 considerable French fleet, reported to be destined to proceed to 
 the East Indies. Fort St. George was ordered to be placed in the 
 best possible position for defence, and the Portuguese soldiers 
 
 * He was appointed with a salary of 300 a year, and a gratuity of 200 a year, 
 " for the purpose of removing all temptation to engage in private trade. " He was 
 granted a warrant under the privy seal authorizing him to seize all private traders 
 and send them to England. Bruce's Annals. 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BOMBAY AftD MADRAS. 43 
 
 lately employed, but distrusted, were to be discharged on the receipt 
 of a re-inforcement of thirty English recruits.* 
 
 In 1663 Surat was invested by the Marathas. It was in those 
 days surrounded by a mud wall, but was in no position to repulse 
 a determined assault. The native inhabitants were plundered, but 
 the English and Dutch defended their factories with such deter- 
 mined gallantry that the siege was abandoned. Aurungzebe, who 
 then reigned at Delhi, was so impressed with the power of the British 
 that he granted a firman exempting them for ever from transit 
 charges, and a portion of the usual custom duties. At the defence 
 of the Surat factory the Company employed no regular troops, the 
 defending force consisting of the president and his subordinates, 
 assisted by the European crews of the ships. 
 
 In the same year Sir Abraham Shipman, finding the accommo- 
 dation for his troops on the island of Anjedivah insufficient, and 
 seeing little hope of settling the dispute with the Portuguese 
 regarding the cession of Bombay, offered to cede the Crown rights 
 to that island to the Company. 
 
 The President and Council at Surat declined the offer, for the 
 following valid reasons : first, it was doubtful whether the Viceroy 
 of Goa would consent ; second, they were unprovided with sufficient 
 force for the occupation ; third, no one but the King himself had 
 power to transfer the rights of the Crown to the Company. 
 
 It is now time to turn to another illustrious nation, an aspirant 
 for power in the East, whose intrigues were one of the promi- 
 nent causes by which the Company rose, from an association of 
 merchants, to the position of conquerors. It is true that up to the 
 time now brought under notice, the commerce of the Company had 
 not been carried on without bloodshed, but it had been in defence 
 of their trade even then not always excusable and not with a 
 view to territorial conquest in India; but the arrival of the French, 
 and their rise to power, in a very few years completely changed the 
 
 * This order was not carried out, as the Portuguese (known as Topasses) proved 
 their fidelity when Fort St. George was threatened by the King of Golconda, before 
 the order was received. 
 
44 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 peaceful occupations of the English Company to one of bitter and 
 incessant war, which ended in the overthrow of France in India. 
 
 In 1642 France had established its power in the island of Bour- 
 bon (which had been discovered by the Portuguese in 1545) and 
 named it in honour of Louis XIV. Having thus acquired a footing 
 in the Indian Seas, the French, following the example of Portugal, 
 Holland, and England, turned their eyes to the commercial riches 
 of the East.* 
 
 Colbert, one of the most able ministers of Louis XIV, obtained 
 the permission of that sovereign, in 1664, for the establishment of a 
 French East India Company, to which exclusive privilege for fifty 
 years was granted, and never renewed. The King not only sanc- 
 tioned, but supported the Company by a contribution of six millions 
 of francs to its funds, and invited the co-operation of the wealthy. 
 The Queen and Court subscribed 200,000 francs, the merchants 
 650,000 francs, and various financiers 2,000,000 francs. The nation 
 generally seconded the efforts of its master, f 
 
 The year 1664 is moreover eventful for the British occupation 
 of Bombay. The troops under Sir Abraham Shipman had suffered 
 greatly since their occupation of the island of Anjedivah, the com- 
 mander himself falling a victim to disease. To save the lives of 
 the survivors, numbering about 100 men out of the original 400, 
 the little territory of Bombay was accepted by Mr. Cooke, Sir 
 Abraham's Secretary, on the original terms offered by the Portu- 
 guese.! 
 
 In 1665 England was at war with both Holland and France, to 
 the grave detriment of the Company's trade. Agents of the 
 French East India Company arrived in India through Persia, and 
 sent an envoy to the Mogul. This is the first recorded appearance 
 of the French in India. 
 
 * Voltaire's Le Siecle de Louis XIV. 
 
 f Ibid. 
 
 % The original numbers embarked for occupation of Bombay was 4 companies of 
 100 men each, exclusive of officers, at a cost of 13,166. The survivors landed at 
 Bombay were : Mr. Cooke (Q-overnor), 1 ensign, 4 sergeants, 6 corporals, 4 drum- 
 mers, 1 surgeon, 1 surgeon's mate, 2 gunners, 1 gunner's mate, 1 gun-smith, 97 
 privates 22 cannon. Bruce's Annals. 
 
EARLY HISTORY OP BOMBAY AND MADRAS. 45 
 
 The year is also memorable for the extraordinary conduct of Sir 
 Edward Winter, the agent at Fort St. George, who, having for- 
 feited the confidence of the Directors at home, was superseded by 
 Mr. Foxcroft; on the arrival of that gentleman at Madras, Sir 
 Edward Winter seized him and his son, and, having accused them 
 of sedition and treason, placed them in confinement and himself 
 retained the command of the Agency, and, instead of referring his 
 grievances to his superior, the President at Surat, confided in Mr. 
 Cooke, the King's Governor at Bombay, and addressed a letter 
 direct to His Majesty, professing loyalty. These matters were the 
 more serious as Fort St. George was at the time threatened by the 
 King of Golcondah. 
 
 In 1666 Sir Gervase Lucas arrived at Bombay as Governor, 
 appointed by the Crown. Inducements were held out to native 
 merchants to settle in the town, and preparations were made to 
 fortify the position. The cost of maintaining the island as a 
 dependency of the Crown was soon found to be excessive, 
 the profits little or nothing, and the claim advanced by Sir 
 Gervase Lucas for precedence, as an officer of the King, over 
 the Company's president at Surat, was the cause of violent dis- 
 putes ; these circumstances combined, determined Charles to offer 
 Bombay to the Company. The offer was accepted, and the island 
 was made over by regular charter on the 27th March 1668, 
 on condition that a yearly rent of ~LQ in gold should be paid 
 regularly on the 80th of each September, for ever. Sir George 
 Oxinden was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief, with 
 a deputy governor, who was to reside in Bombay. 
 
 On these remarkably easy terms the Company became posses- 
 sors of the finest, and, if Karachi is now excepted, the only sea- 
 port on the west coast of India. The garrison of Bombay 
 consisted of some 285 men, mostly French, Portuguese, and natives, 
 there being only 93 English, including officers. This is the first 
 mention of native troops.* 
 
 Shortly before this event twenty recruits were sent to Fort St. 
 
 * Bruce's Annals, 
 
46 THE PEESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 George, and a small detachment to re-inforce the King's troops 
 at Bombay. Aurungzebe also made a demand on the Governor 
 of Surat for artillerymen and engineers to assist him in his wars 
 in the Deccan. This demand could not be complied with, for the 
 reason that the Governor did not ppssess any troops, even for his 
 own protection. 
 
 For some time after its first occupation Bombay was subordi- 
 nate to Surat, which still continued the residence of the Governor, 
 a member of his council being appointed as deputy governor, to 
 administer the affairs of the island ; the Fort, or Castle, was 
 strengthened for the protection of the rapidly-growing town, and 
 inducements were held out to settlers, who were permitted the 
 free exercise of their respective religions ; the harbour was greatly 
 improved, and docks were ordered to be constructed. 
 
 Having brought the history of the rise of the Presidencies down 
 to the Company's occupation of Bombay, it becomes necessary to 
 make a short digression, to go back a few years, and give a brief 
 sketch of the rise of the great Maratha Power under Shivaji this 
 is the more necessary as it will hereafter be seen how, in future 
 years, the destinies of Bombay were to be intimately connected with 
 the Marathas. 
 
 The possessions of this great native power were studded over the 
 whole of India, and, says Thornton,* " required compactness only 
 to constitute them a mighty empire." Their rise from a tribe of 
 barbarous hillmen, whose origin is lost in the obscurity of Hindoo 
 antiquity, to a position so powerful as to rule the destinies of the 
 Great Mogul himself, is sufficiently remarkable, and it may be truly 
 affirmed that the Presidency of Bombay owes its present greatness 
 to the wars with the Marathas, which subsequently caused the over- 
 throw of the Rajas of Satara, and their ministers, the Peshwas, and 
 brought the whole of the Konkan and Deccan under the sway of 
 the Government of Bombay.f 
 
 * Thornton's British Empire in India. 
 
 f This short account of Shivaji is taken from a native source, published by 
 Professor Forrest in his Bombay State Papers, printed for the Bombay Government 
 in 1885, 
 
EAELY HISTORY OF BOMBAY AND MADRAS. 47 
 
 The Maratha power owes it rise to Shahaji, and his son Shivaji. 
 The father of Shahaji was a man of no consequence, but of good 
 family, who took service with the Nizam Shahi. He managed, 
 by stratagem, to marry his son Shahaji to the daughter of an 
 officer of rank in the service of the Mogul. The progeny of this 
 marriage was Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire, who was 
 born in 1626. 
 
 Shahaji, after some vicissitudes, became a man of consequence 
 under the King of Bijapur, who bestowed on him the territories of 
 Junnar and Poona, with the villages of Wai and Serol, so well- 
 known to all travellers visiting Mahableshwar, the sanitorium and 
 summer retreat of the Bombay Government. He afterwards held 
 other properties in the districts of Ballapur and Kolar, in the 
 Carnatic, and gained possession of the fortress and district of 
 Tanjore. 
 
 Shivaji was brought up on his father's property at Poona, and 
 was trained in military exercises, in which he excelled ; on the 
 death of his guardian and tutor, Dadoji Pant, his father being 
 then absent in the Carnatic, Shivaji seized on the Poona estates 
 and provided himself with troops from among the Mavalis, or hill 
 people, to the number of 25,000 men. 
 
 Shahaji, far from being incensed at this conduct, expressed his 
 warm approval, bestowed upon Shivaji full powers for the govern- 
 ment of the country, and sent him assurances of his regard. 
 
 At this time Aurungzebe (1653) had been sent by his father, 
 Shah Jehan, the Mogul Emperor, with an army to conquer Bijapur ; 
 he was unsuccessful, but succeeded in capturing Daolatabad, and 
 founded the city of Aurungabad. 
 
 Aurungzebe greatly resented the growing power of Shivaji, and 
 determined to chastise and humble him. This ill-feeling is said by 
 native historians to have been the origin of the wars carried on 
 between the Mogul Emperor and the Marathas. 
 
 Shivaji seized on the strong fortress of Purandhar by treachery, 
 and possessed himself of the hill forts of Singhur (which overlooks 
 Poona), Torna, Chandraghur, Rajghur, Kaighur, and others, and 
 
48 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 by this time had 60,000 Marathas in his service. Now, conscious 
 of his power, he attacked and seized Jaival from the King of Bija- 
 pur. The King complained of this conduct to Shahaji, who replied 
 that he possessed no power over his son Shivaji, hut recommended 
 that an army should be sent to punish him. This was accordingly 
 done, the command being given to a Mahometan noble, Afzul Khan, 
 in 1652. 
 
 The story of how Afzul Khan* was treacherously murdered by 
 Shivaji on the slopes of Pratapghur, and his army cut to pieces, is 
 too well known to require repetition here. In revenge for this 
 defeat another army was sent from Bijapur, under the command 
 of Fazil Khan, Afzul's son, to invest Shivaji in the fortress of 
 Panala, near Kholapur ; but although some slight successes were 
 gained, the difficulties of hurting Shivaji in his hill fastnesses were 
 so great that Fazil Khan reluctantly gave up the attempt and 
 retired to Bijapur. 
 
 Shivaji now built many forts, and constantly raided the outlying 
 territories of the Mogul Empire. Aurungzebe at once despatched 
 an army to destroy him, but Shivaji gained a complete victory 
 over the Imperial forces, at a place between Poona and Aurung- 
 abad. 
 
 After this victory Shivaji constructed many strong forts on the 
 coast, notably Savarndurg (afterwards the pirate Angria's strong- 
 hold), built vessels to keep "the Feranges" in order, and pos- 
 sessed himself of the Konkan, from Kalyan to Sondah. 
 
 Aurungzebe sent another army, consisting of 80,000 men, against 
 Shivaji ; after investing and taking the fort of Chakan, the Mogul 
 commander-in- chief, Shahisti Khan, installed himself in Shivaji's 
 palace at Poona, from whence he sent him a message calling him 
 a " hill-monkey," incapable of fighting a fair battle in the open 
 field. Such, indeed, was not the Maratha mode of warfare. Shivaji 
 replied in person by coming to Poona in disguise, by night, for the 
 purpose of assassinating the Mogul chief. Having gained an 
 
 * For a full account of the life of Shivaji. and the murder of Afzul Khan, see 
 Tara, by Meadows Taylor. 
 
EAELY HISTOEY OF BOMBAY AND HABEAS. 49 
 
 entrance into his palace, he, by mistake, murdered the chiefs son, 
 whom he found asleep. In the fight that ensued he cut off the 
 thumb of the father and made good his escape. 
 
 After this Shahisti Khan was recalled, and Mirza Kaja was by 
 Aurungzebe appointed Subhedar of the Deccan. After many unsuc- 
 cessful attempts to reduce Shivaji's fastnesses, Mirza requested an 
 armistice, and a treaty was ratified. Among other things it was 
 agreed that Shivaji, accompanied by his son Sarabhaji, should visit 
 the Emperor at Delhi. Shivaji remained ten months a guest, or 
 rather a state prisoner, at Delhi, after which he made his escape 
 disguised as a religious mendicant, and visited Allahabad and 
 Benares. Shortly after Shivaji's return to his own country, 
 where he was received with every demonstration of joy, the 
 Prince Shah Alum was appointed to the subhedarship of the 
 Deccan. Shivaji sent a deputation to him at Aurungabad, and 
 concluded a peace on the following terms : Shivaji was to give up 
 twenty-seven forts and receive in exchange the territory of Birar, 
 Balapur, and other districts. This peace lasted three years, after 
 which all the forts were wrested from the Imperial troops. 
 
 In 1667 Shivaji again threatened Surat, and in 1670 he attacked 
 and plundered the town and factories, from which he obtained 
 much treasure, to which the East India Company probably con- 
 tributed, although they defended their factory with a spirit worthy 
 of the national character.* 
 
 In the meanwhile Shahaji had managed to gain possession of 
 most of the Bijapur fortresses, when, his power being dreaded, he 
 was seized by stratagem ; but his life was spared, and he was per- 
 mitted to retire to Tanjore, from whence he wrote to Shivaji to 
 avenge him, which he immediately did by laying waste the terri- 
 tory of Mudhol, in the Deccan. 
 
 After the death of Shahaji, which occurred from an accident out 
 hunting, Shivaji attacked and plundered the territories of Haider- 
 abad and Bijapur, from whose rulers he received a yearly tribute 
 
 * Thornton's British Empire in India. Shivaji used to call Surat his " treasury." 
 
 4 
 
50 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 of nine and seven lacs of pagodasf respectively. From these facts 
 some idea of his enormous power and influence may be gained. 
 
 After the death of his father, Shahaji, he invaded, the Carnatic, 
 seized Vellore and forced his half-brother Venkaji to share with 
 him his father's Carnatie possessions. He took the title of Raja 
 in 1674, and died in 1680. 
 
 Shivaji was succeeded by his son, who possessed none of his 
 father's talents ; he was captured and put to death by Aurungzebe, 
 who seized nearly all the Maratha strongholds. By these means 
 the Maratha power was sorely crippled, but not crushed. 
 
 On the death of the Mogul Emperor, Shahu Raja assumed the 
 Maratha sceptre ; he was a weak young man, and allowed all his 
 power to be wielded by his Minister, the Peshwa Balaji, which 
 office then became hereditary. 
 
 Balaji was succeded as Peshwa by his son Bajirav, who deprived 
 Shahu Raja of every sign of power, and even detained him a state 
 prisoner. 
 
 The usurpation of Bajirav set the example of independence to 
 several of the great officers of state, who, rising from insignificant and 
 even menial offices, became the founders of regal dynasties. The 
 commancler-m-chief, Raghoji Bhonsla, declared himself master of 
 the province of Berar and settlement at Nagpur ; in the same manner 
 Mulhaji Holkar (Raghoji's lieutenant), a cavalry officer, Nanoji 
 Sindia, the slipper-bearer, and Pilaji Gaekarwar, the cowherd, set 
 up independent governments of provinces,* and their descendants 
 are, to this day, established at Indore, Gwalior, and Baroda 
 respectively. They held commissions in name from the Peshwa, 
 and bound themselves to keep up armies for the support of the 
 Maratha Empire ; but, their Government being far removed from 
 central control, they soon commenced conquests on their own 
 account. 
 
 To return to Bombay : the bargain concluded between the King 
 and the Company, by which the island was transferred to the 
 
 * Bombay State Papers, Professor Forrest 
 
EARLY HISTORY OP BOMBAY AND MADRAS. 51 
 
 latter for the payment of W annually, was eminently favourable 
 to the Company. Sir Gervase Lucas, who died in 1667, had, by 
 his wise administration, greatly improved the revenues of the 
 island, which his successor, Mr. Gary, reported to the King and 
 Secretary of State as amounting to ^66,490 a year, or 75,000 xera- 
 phins, at the rate of 13 xeraphins to twenty-two shillings and six- 
 pence.*" 
 
 Sir Edward Winter still kept possession of Fort St. George, and 
 held Mr. Foxcroft and his son prisoners ; he was supported in 
 his usurpation by Mr. Gary. Sir George Oxinden, however, ap- 
 pears to have taken a very different view of the conduct of the 
 Madras ex-agent; for. he withheld the stock originally intended 
 for investment at Madras, fearing that it might be seized by Sir 
 Edward Winter and used for purposes detrimental to the interests 
 of the Company. 
 
 With troubles in Bengal and Madras, and war raging between 
 the Mogul Emperor and Shivaji, which rendered Surat liable to 
 attack at any moment, Sir George Oxinden must have had an 
 anxious command; he was, moreover, engaged in carrying out the 
 regulations framed by the Court of Directors at home, for the admi- 
 nistration of Bombay, the most interesting of which are briefly as 
 follows : The fort was to be strengthened, and the town built on a 
 regular plan, under its guns. Europeans were to be encouraged 
 to settle, and were exempted for five years from the payment of cus- 
 toms. Religious freedom was to be permitted ; docks were to be con- 
 structed, and the harbour improved; recruits, with their wives, were 
 to be sent regularly from England ; and an armed ship was to be 
 specially detached for the protection of the trade of the island, and 
 to assist in its defence.f The Commissioners, sent by Sir George 
 Oxinden to take over the island, received from Mr. Gary property, 
 including plate, jewels, and ready money, to the amount of nearly 
 ^5,000. The King's troops were offered service under the Com- 
 pany, retaining their rank and pay those who declined being 
 
 * Bruce's Annals. t Ibid. 
 
 4 * 
 
52 THE PEESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 accommodated with passages to England. Bruce says that the 
 offer was generally accepted. The force consisted of two companies, 
 commanded by captains ; the first company was composed of 
 2 commissioned officers, 66 non-commissioned officers and privates, 
 and 28 Topasses ;* and the 2nd company was made up of 3 com- 
 missioned officers, 73 non-commissioned officers and privates, and 
 26 Topasses ; there were also 21 pieces of cannon, and two 
 gunners, with ordnance stores in proportion. This small force 
 formed the nucleus of the present Bombay army. It was con- 
 sidered inadequate to the duties required of it, as the com- 
 missioners informed Sir George Oxinden, that 300 additional 
 men with 30 pieces of cannon were necessary to form a reliable 
 garrison. They also requested that Engineers might be sent from 
 home, to superintend the construction of the fortifications, and 
 that a Judge Advocate might be appointed. 
 
 Sir George Oxinden personally visited the island early in 1668, 
 to establish a system of civil government and to draw up a code 
 of military regulations ; the senior captain was appointed to the 
 command of the troops, and obedience was enjoined to the orders 
 of the Civil Government, breach of duty in the inferior ranks being 
 punishable with death, the commissioned officers, for a like offence, 
 being liable to deprivation of rank only. This code was the foun- 
 dation of the existing regulations, which, however, were much 
 modified on the subsequent arrival of the King's troops in India. 
 
 Although matters were progressing favourably, the condition of 
 Bombay was not altogether happy, supplies being obtainable with 
 difficulty ; the Portuguese, who placed every possible obstacle in 
 the way, being in possession of Salsette, whilst the opposite coast 
 was under the rule of Shivaji. The trade, also, was exposed to 
 
 * The Topasses were Christians, generally of mixed blood, but claiming Portu- 
 guese origin. Orme, in his Military Proceedings of the East India Company, says 
 that they were armed, clad, and disciplined after the European style, and incorpo- 
 rated among the English Companies. From wearing a hat (topie), instead of the 
 turban, as generally used by the natives, these half-caste troops acquired the nick- 
 name of "Topasses," and were generally considered inferior in courage to the 
 higher caste of natives and the Mahometans of India, 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BOMBAY AND MADRAS. 53 
 
 the depredations of the Malabar pirates ; so much so, that the 
 Deputy Governor and Council applied to the Court at home for 
 three armed ships for its protection. 
 
 During these proceedings in Bombay, the state of affairs in 
 Madras was becoming more settled ; for on the 22nd of August 
 1668, Sir Edward Winter handed over Fort St. George to Com- 
 missioners appointed by the Court of Directors, on condition that 
 his personal safety should be assured to him ; these terms were 
 agreed to, and bore bitter fruit in the future. The Commissioners 
 at once released Mr. Foxcroft from the confinement that he had 
 suffered for nearly two years, and placed him in possession of the 
 fort and agency. On his release Mr. Foxcroft acted with great 
 moderation, and Sir Edward Winter was permitted to retire to 
 Pullicat, and subsequently to reside at Masulipatam. The follow- 
 ing year he returned to England : no punishment appears to have 
 followed his extraordinary behaviour, and breach of discipline and 
 duty. 
 
 It may be of interest to mention that in 1668 the Company 
 ordered its Bantam Agency "to send home 100. Ibs weight of the 
 best tey that you can gett." Beveridge, in his History of India, 
 remarks that the language used implies that the plant was already 
 understood, but that this is the first public order for an article 
 that subsequently proved of such enormous value as an invest- 
 ment.* 
 
 
 
 The application of Sir George Oxinden for engineers and armed 
 ships was, in 1669, agreed to by the Directors, and they appointed 
 a Mr. Pett, a practical ship-builder, to construct two vessels for 
 the defence of the island, and the two captains commanding the 
 companies at Bombay were detailed to act as engineers for the 
 construction of fortifications, which were to overawe the Portu- 
 
 * Within a century of the first order the Company imported nearly three mil- 
 lions of pounds of tea, and in 1834 (the last year of the Company's monopoly) the 
 imports exceeded twenty-three millions of pounds, and paid duty to Government 
 in the sum of 3,589,361 (Beveridge). Since then the importation of this article 
 to England has more than doubled, the consumption in 1885 being computed at 
 182,455,000 Ibs, or at the rate of 4-98 Ibs per head of the population. 
 
54 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 guese in Salsette and the Marathas on the opposite coast, ^61,500 
 being authorized for the purchase of land in the immediate vicinity 
 of the existing fort. At the same time, the Governor was in- 
 structed to exact customs from the Portuguese " till they could 
 bring them to a reasonable accommodation of trade."* 
 
 Sir George Oxinden, who had proved himself so valuable as an 
 administrator, died on the 14th July 1669, and was succeeded by 
 Mr. Aungier, afterwards eulogised by Orme for his bearing during 
 a threatened attack by the Dutch on Bombay, when he acted with 
 " the calmness of a philosopher and the courage of a centurion." 
 One of Mr. Aungier's first applications to the Court at home was 
 for recruits to fill existing vacancies at Bombay, and for accommo- 
 dation for the European troops and their families. 
 
 The Siddee of Kajahpore (the Mogul's admiral), greatly em- 
 barrassed the Governor by asking for an asylum in Bombay, in 
 the event of his being obliged to abandon that stronghold (described 
 as impregnable except from an attack by sea) to Shivaji. Com- 
 pliance with this demand might offend Shivaji, and non-compliance 
 the Mogul. Mr. Aungier, therefore, suggested that it might be 
 advisable to gain possession of Rajahpore, which could easily be 
 held by a small garrison. 
 
 The Governor's next act was to form two courts at Bombay for 
 the administration of justice,t and to reduce the small garrison 
 from two companies to one ; he also formed a court, consisting of a 
 civilian and three military officers, for the administration of martial 
 law. 
 
 Fort St. George was in this year besieged by the Nabob of the 
 Carnatic, but the force was shortly after withdrawn without inflict- 
 ing any serious damage. 
 
 The following year sees the garrison of Bombay again increased 
 to two companies, and two brigantines were sanctioned to strengthen 
 the ships already constructed for the defence of the Island, and the 
 
 * Brace's Annals. 
 
 t Trial by jury was ordered to be introduced into the courts in Bombay in 1670. 
 Bruce's Annals. 
 
EAELY HISTORY OF BOMBAY AND MADRAS. 55 
 
 Malabar trade. Captain Shaxton was appointed to command the 
 troops, he was also given rank as Factor, and was to combine his 
 civil with his military duties ; the court also sanctioned the esta- 
 blishment of a Mint, and despatched two vessels to trade with Japan. 
 
 Shivaji's attack on Surat has already been alluded to. Although 
 the English defended themselves gallantly, the French factors 
 compounded with the Mahratta Chief, and by their co-operation 
 enabled him to plunder the Mogul's Persian factory. The Dutch 
 do not appear to have been attacked. 
 
 The fortifications of Bombay in these troublous times are thus 
 described by Bruce : " The bastions and curtains of the fort 
 towards the land had been raised to within nine feet of their 
 intended height, but towards the sea batteries only had been con- 
 structed, as bastions would be the work of a subsequent year." 
 Mr. Bake was appointed Engineer and Survey or- General of Bom- 
 bay ; a re-inforcement of 800 recruits was demanded, and it was 
 suggested that they should be enlisted for a term of years, "that 
 being under martial law their discipline and services, in case of 
 attack, might be relied on. In answer to this suggestion, 150 
 recruits were sent from England. 
 
 At the same time, the authorities at Fort St. George were desired 
 to fill the existing vacancies in its garrison by volunteers from the 
 Company's ships. The Court of Directors also determined to fix 
 factories at Tywan, Tonquin, and in Japan, where the agents were 
 directed to wear dresses of English cloth, with gold or silver lace, 
 whereby it was hoped to impress on the native authorities an idea 
 of their rank and importance. Negotiations were begun with 
 Shivaji for re-opening trade with Rajahpore, and at Bombay the 
 Governor reported that he had divided the old soldiers between the 
 two companies, that their example might have an effect on the dis- 
 cipline of the recruits; but that as the mortality in the ranks had 
 been great, it would be necessary to send at least 50 men annually 
 to supply vacancies, and, moreover, that additional armed vessels 
 were required for the protection of trade. All these events occurred 
 in 1671. 
 
56 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 The alliance entered into between Charles II. and Louis XIV. 
 against Holland, induced the Company to invest Mr. Aungier with 
 discretionary powers to remove the factory from Surat to Bombay, 
 and the trading fleet was greatly strengthened. It consisted of 
 ten ships, of about 4,000 tons in all, carrying from 30 to 36 guns 
 each, and fully manned, commanded by an admiral, assisted by a 
 vice, and rear-admirals. 
 
 In anticipation of an attack from the Dutch fleet, the fortifica- 
 tions of Bombay were strengthened, and the inhabitants enrolled 
 as a militia, to assist the troops in defence of the fort and town ; 
 this militia consisted of some 1,500 men, armed with muskets and 
 lances. An attempt was made at the same time to increase the 
 two existing companies to 130 men each, by the addition of natives, 
 but even this force was justly considered inadequate to defend the 
 position against a disciplined European enemy. Consequently, an 
 immediate reinforcement was demanded of 500 men, with an annual 
 supply of 100 recruits.* 
 
 The necessity of these precautions was soon exemplified by the 
 appearance of a Dutch fleet under Van Goens ; the alarm at Bombay 
 was very great, and many of the inhabitants took refuge in flight, 
 some seeking protection in the Portuguese settlements. The Go- 
 vernor in this crisis of affairs endeavoured to secure the assistance 
 of 500 Kajpoots. The firm attitude of Mr. Aungier averted an 
 attack, and the Dutch fleet disappeared from the vicinity of Bombay 
 and Surat. 
 
 The same year (1672), the French, then in alliance with Eng- 
 land, sent Monsieur de la Haye to India with a considerable 
 force, which although of value in reducing Dutch pretensions, 
 raised a dangerous rival to the Company. De la Haye, after esta- 
 blishing himself at Trincomalee, in Ceylon, landed 300 men and 
 took St. Thome (now known as St. Thomas' Mount), near Madras, 
 by storm. This is the first recorded appearance of the French on 
 the Coromandel Coast, an event full of future trouble to the 
 Company. 
 
 * Bruce's Annals. 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BOMBAY AND MADKAS. 57 
 
 A few words regarding the early efforts of our great rivals in 
 India, the French, may prove of interest, and be useful for the 
 better understanding of events about to be noticed. 
 
 The French Company's first factor in India, at Surat, was a 
 Monsieur Caron, a merchant of French extraction, and a former 
 servant of the Dutch. He had served that Company in Japan, 
 where, having given offence to the native authorities by secretly 
 fortifying his factory, he was expelled the country. His cold re- 
 ception by the Dutch in Java, after this event, filled him with 
 disgust for his former masters, and induced him to offer his services 
 to the French, who gladly availed themselves of his experience. 
 
 Caron justly objected to Surat as the chief centre of French 
 trade, the place being already in English and Dutch occupation, 
 whose trade was established, and with whose riches the young 
 French company could not compete ; and wishing to find an inde- 
 pendent port, he fixed on the Bay of Trincomalee in Ceylon which, 
 to-day, is the head-quarters of Her Majesty's ships forming the 
 naval command in the Indian Seas as a position in every way 
 suitable to his purpose. On the arrival of De la Haye's squadron 
 in India, which was placed under Caron's orders, he proceeded to 
 Trincomalee, then in possession of the Dutch, which surrendered 
 after some resistance. 
 
 Here the French occupied a small fort, but their acquisition cost 
 them dear, for the greater part of the crews of the ships and of the 
 land forces perished by want and sickness. This compelled them 
 in turn to surrender to the Dutch. With the remains of what was 
 once a fine force, De la Haye, in 1672, as before-mentioned, at- 
 tacked and took St. Thomas, which had been built and fortified by 
 the Portuguese a century before. The French retained this position 
 for two years only, when it was wrested from them by the Nabob 
 of the Carnatic, assisted by the Dutch. 
 
 After this reverse the French, under Martin, a merchant who had- 
 joined De la Haye's expedition, settled at Pondicherry, south of 
 Madras, which place became theirs by purchase in 1683, and which 
 they retain to this day as the head-quarters of France in India. 
 
58 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 From this position, more than half a century after its first occupa- 
 tion, the celebrated French Governor, Dupleix, became, for years, 
 a thorn in the side of England. 
 
 Although it is outside the objects of this work, it is interesting 
 to follow the movements of the French soon after their arrival in 
 India, as throwing light on their Eastern Foreign Policy of to-day. 
 No sooner were they firmly established at Pondicherry than they 
 opened trade with Siam, in those early days almost absolutely 
 governed by a Greek adventurer, one Constantine Faulkon, who 
 had become Prime Minister to the King, at whose invitation the 
 French visited the country. They soon became possessed of the 
 fortress of Bankok at the mouth of the Eiver Menan, and of 
 the Port of Mergui, from which they opened trade with Pegu, Ava, 
 and Arracan.* 
 
 From Siam the French endeavoured to establish themselves at 
 Tonquin, in which they followed the footsteps of the Portuguese 
 and the Dutch, than whom they were not more successful ; they 
 also turned their attention to Cochin China. Their success in Siam 
 was not destined to be of long duration, for with the fall of Faulkon 
 from power they lost both Bankok and Mergui, which, although 
 defended by French troops, fell to the attack of the outraged 
 Siamese, described by Abbe Kaynal, " as the most cowardly of all 
 people." 
 
 Driven from Siam the French concentrated their energies for a 
 time on the fortifications of Pondicherry ; but Martin, ambitious 
 for his country's honour, aspired to establish a great French power 
 in Madagascar, proclaimed a French possession by Louis XIII. in 
 1642. He despatched from Pondicherry an expedition consisting 
 of 1,600 troops and settlers, who, expecting fortune, found death. f 
 
 To summarise . The year 1672 sees the Portuguese power much 
 
 * AbbeRaynal. 
 
 t Cochin China (a province of Annam) was ceded to France in 1862 and 1867 ; its 
 capital is Saigon. Annam fell under her Protectorate in 1884 (the northern por- 
 tion of this is Tonquin), Madagascar was declared a French Protectorate in 1885 
 thus, after a lapse of more than 200 years, France has gained the objects aimed at 
 by Martin. 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BOMBAY AND MADBAS. 59 
 
 reduced, but still established at Goa, Surat, Salsette and other 
 places in India ; the Dutch at Surat, Tranquebar, and in other 
 positions, but more especially masters of the Malay Archipelago, 
 and of the spice trade. The English at Surat, Bombay, Fort St. 
 George (Madras), Masulipatam, Piplee in Bengal, and other small 
 factories j and the Mogul Empire at war with Shivaji, the great 
 leader of the Maratha Power. Here, for a time, they must be left, 
 and attention invited to the Company's affairs in Bengal, which 
 will form the subject of a future paper. 
 
60 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE EARLY HISTORY OP THE BENGAL PRESIDENCY. 
 
 IN a former chapter the infancy of the Honourable East India 
 Company has been lightly touched upon, and the origin of two 
 out of the three great Presidencies has been briefly described. 
 Attention is now invited to the Company's factory in Bengal, which, 
 although the last to be established, was destined before the lapse of 
 many years, in consequence of its favourable position for trade 
 with the rich countries adjoining it, to eclipse both Bombay and 
 Madras, and to become the seat of government for all India, with 
 its capital at Calcutta. 
 
 As far back as 1620, an attempt had been made by the Com- 
 pany's agents to fix a factory at Patna. Bengal at that period 
 was ruled by a Native Governor, under the title of Soobah, imme- 
 diately responsible to the Mogul court, the then Soobah being 
 Sooltan Shoojah, the second son of the Emperor Shah Jehan. 
 
 It was not until 1624 that a Firman was granted by the Mogul 
 Emperor permitting trade with Bengal ; even then the shipping 
 was restricted to the Port of Piplee ; this trade was partly esta- 
 blished in 1642, but the factory was made dependent on Madras. 
 From this period to the year 1661, the date of the grant of the 
 famous Firman to Mr. Boughton, the affairs of Bengal, as de- 
 scribed by Bruce, were confined entirely to trade matters which 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BENGAL. 61 
 
 were carried on with but small success, as at the time now alluded 
 to, the trade of the Company in Bengal was, owing to restrictions 
 placed upon it from Delhi, so insignificant, and attended by so 
 much difficulty and such small profit, that it was under serious 
 consideration whether the factory should not be abandoned. 
 
 Mr. Boughton, the surgeon of the Company's ship Hopewell, 
 successfully cured the daughter of Shah Jehan from injuries 
 received from fire, and obtained from the grateful Emperor a Fir man 
 to trade on advantageous terms. Mr. Boughton visited the Soobah 
 of Bengal and was again successful in the medical treatment of a 
 Zenana favourite ; as a reward for his success he received assistance 
 from Sooltan Shoojah in re-organizing the Company's affairs in 
 Bengal, and in 1651-52* the Firman was confirmed, giving the 
 Company the privilege of trading free of duty in that province, on 
 payment of the nominal sum of Rs. 3,000 a year ; a factory was 
 established on a sound footing at Hoogly, and an agent appointed 
 to Patna, the factory and the agents being subordinate to that of 
 Madras.f 
 
 Factories were also some years later established at Bellasore and 
 Cossimbazar. 
 
 Affairs progressed quietly until 1660, when the agent (as men- 
 tioned in a former paper) seized a vessel belonging to the Mogul, 
 which was subsequently returned with an apology, by order of the 
 Resident at Surat. 
 
 Permission to fortify Hoogly, frequently solicited, was persis- 
 tently refused by the Mogul Emperor, and the armed force of the 
 agency limited to an ensign and thirty men (Europeans) to do 
 honour to the principal agent.J This small body of men may be 
 regarded as the nucleus of the Bengal army. There is no evidence 
 
 * Various dates are given for the establishment of the Hoogly factory. Stewart 
 says 1640 ; Mill and Bruce say 1651-52. Professor Wilson agrees with the latter, 
 so that date has been accepted for this work. 
 
 f The details of the Firman are recorded by Bruce, but he makes no mention 
 of Mr. Boughton's disinterested conduct, whose magnanimous action in preferring 
 the welfare of his employers to his own aggrandizement is alluded to by Orme, 
 Abbe Raynal, Broome, Stewart, and others. 
 
 J Orme's Military Transactions in Hindostan. 
 
62 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 that this force was at the moment increased, but it must have been 
 so, quietly, and unostentatiously in course of time, as in 1663-4 
 the Soobah is found asking for the assistance of English gunners 
 in a war against the King of Arracan. These gunners must have 
 been those belonging to the armed cruizers of the Company, as 
 many years later the " gunner and his crew"* are referred to as 
 the only artillery in Bengal. 
 
 In 1669, Bengal was still subordinate to Madras, but was allowed 
 a chief agent and six members of council, similar to those at the 
 latter agency. Trade was then so flourishing that a pilot service 
 for the intricate navigation of the river Hoogly was established. f 
 
 The French made their appearance for the first time, in Bengal, 
 in 1672. The Company's agent, and the investments for the 
 season, were much disturbed by this event, and by an outbreak of 
 hostilities between the Dutch and the Nabob of Dacca. In 1674, 
 it is recorded that the agent at Fort St. George complained of the 
 inattention of the Bengal agent to his orders. 
 
 In 1675 the Company placed the three Agencies, Surat, Madras, 
 and Hoogly on an equal footing, and similar gradation was granted 
 to its servants. 
 
 Irregulari ties having been discovered in the affairs of the Agency, 
 Mr. Masters (afterwards himself dismissed the Service for gross 
 irregularities) was sent from Madras to remodel the Bengal factory. 
 This occurred in 1676. The next item of importance in the 
 Bengal annals of the Company, is the fact of the Danes procuring 
 commercial privileges from the Mogul. Nothing of interest as 
 regards the subject of this work occurred for five years. 
 
 The importance of the Bengal agency, which, among its other 
 factories, now included Malda and Dacca, rapidly increased, and in 
 1681 the stock allotted for its trade alone amounted to 230,000. 
 Its agent was dignified by the title of Governor, and it was 
 declared independent of Madras. Mr. Hedges was appointed to 
 the Government and sent out from England, taking with him from 
 
 * Browne's History of the Bengal Army. 
 t Brace. 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BENGAL. 63 
 
 Madras, which place he visited en route, " a corporal of proved 
 fidelity and twenty soldiers " as body guard, and to strengthen him 
 against " interlopers and free-traders," * a term synonymous with 
 that of pirates, the outcome of Charles the Second's breach of 
 faith with the Company, by which individuals were permitted to 
 compete with that association. 
 
 The Mogul Emperor now began to oppress the flourishing Com- 
 pany, possibly seeing in its success signs of coming power, and 
 ordered 3J per cent, to be levied on all the goods as customs ; this 
 event, the forerunner of serious complications, occurred in 1682. 
 
 The small force at Hoogly, the agency having been advanced to 
 the dignity of a Presidency, was again augmented in 1683, when 
 the successor of Mr. Hedges, a Mr. Gyfford, brought from Madras 
 a whole company of troops, with arms and accoutrements for a 
 second company to be formed from the seamen of the ships serving 
 in Bengal waters.f 
 
 The same year saw a further change, for Mr. Gyfford was ap- 
 pointed agent at Fort St. George with the title of President over 
 both the settlements of Madras and Bengal. Thus Bengal became 
 again subordinate to Madras. 
 
 Freebooters and interlopers were becoming so troublesome, that, 
 in 1684 the directors at home reiterated their orders to the Govern- 
 ment of Bengal, to secure some place of safety (for which the sum 
 of Rs. 30,000 was authorized to he expended) like those existing at 
 Bombay and Madras, but permission to raise fortifications was still 
 refused by the Great Mogul ; a war ship of 72-guns was conse- 
 quently despatched from England to cruize the Bay of Bengal.]: 
 
 It will be remembered that the Firman secured by Boughton in 
 1651-52, granted the Company free trade in Bengal, for the pay- 
 ment of the nominal sum of Rs.3,000 annually; a breach of this treaty 
 was destined to bring about a crisis in the affairs of the now pros- 
 perous merchants, and involve them in a struggle with the power 
 
 * Bruce's Annals. 
 f Ibid. 
 Broome. 
 
64 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 of the Mogul Empire. Native governments, and especially those 
 subordinate to higher authority, are ever open to corruption, and 
 there can be little doubt but that each succeeding Soobah of 
 Bengal had to be " squared " by the Company's agent or governor 
 established at Hoogly. 
 
 Nuzzars, or complimentary presents, are always exchanged on all 
 important occasions ; these are supposed to be of equal value, but it 
 need hardly be remarked that the party wishing to obtain a favour 
 always gets the worst of the exchange, and by these means the 
 custom by easy degrees descends to a practice of bribery on a large 
 scale. The nuzzar, moreover, must always be proportionate to the 
 dignity, real or imagined, of the individual sought, and thus be- 
 comes a fruitful source of dispute. Whatever may have been the 
 real reason for his action, whether his dignity had been insulted or 
 other cause of enmity given, it is recorded that, in 1685, the 
 Soobah of Bengal imposed an unjust duty on the Company's goods 
 in contravention of the conditions of the Firman of 1651 ; and on 
 the plea of the Company's agents being in league with an impostor, 
 who at that time laid claim to the throne of Delhi, threw the Patna 
 agent into prison.* 
 
 The idea that an association of merchants who, unlike Cortes, 
 Pizarro, and others in the conquest of Mexico and Peru, had 
 landed as traders and not as^conquerors, who were absolutely with- 
 out fortifications, and whose troops did not amount to more than a 
 couple of companies of infantry, should seek to overturn the ruling 
 Emperor of Delhi, was sufficiently preposterous; yet on this base- 
 less supposition they were oppressed, their trade for a time para- 
 lyzed, and their ships had to leave India without cargoes. The 
 Company at home, alarmed at these proceedings, which might at 
 any time be renewed at the will of the native ruler, having censured 
 their Bengal agents for the timidity they had shown in dealing 
 with the Nabob, applied to Aurungzebe for permission to occupy 
 certain uninhabited islands in the Hoogly, or at the mouths of the 
 Ganges, and taking the initiative, they ordered the fortification of 
 
 * Stewart's History of Bengal. 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BENGAL. 65 
 
 a position at Ingellee, which was immediately carried out without 
 permission being accorded. 
 
 This energetic action, necessary as it was, is proof that the 
 Directors of the Company were beginning to be conscious of their 
 growing strength ; and if further evidence of this is necessary, it is 
 found in an intimation from the Directors in London to their 
 agents in India, which was as follows, that "a plan had been 
 formed for re-asserting the Company's rights of trade in Bengal, 
 and for preventing in the future the oppression of their agents, 
 either by the Nawab or the Dutch, in the exercise of those rights 
 which they had acquired by Phirmaunds" (Firmans).* 
 
 In this order is discovered the first signs of the Company's 
 ambitious design of becoming an independent Power in India, a 
 design frustrated by Aurungzebe at the time, and not destined to be 
 carried out until many years later, for, as will be seen further on, 
 the Government of Bombay is found addressing the Maratha Kuler 
 as late as 1734, and describing the Company as merchants only, 
 without any view of conquest, and whose sole business was trade.f 
 
 This bold decision to risk the wrath of Aurungzebe, and involve 
 the Company in open war with the Mogul Empire, soon bore fruit; 
 a fleet of ten ships was fitted out in England and placed under the 
 command of Captain Nicholson, of the Company's service, under 
 certain conditions, which in these days appear sufficiently curious. 
 Nicholson was by Koyal sanction granted the rank of Vice-Admiral, 
 but on his arrival in India he was to be subordinate to the chief 
 agent or governor, who was to assume command as commander-in- 
 chief and admiral. { 
 
 On board these ships were six companies, which, with men added 
 from among the seamen of the fleet, it was intended to augment 
 to ten companies of 100 men, or 1,000 in all. The six companies 
 were duly furnished with subaltern officers, those for the four extra 
 companies were to be provided in India, but the command of the 
 
 * Bruce's Annals. 
 
 t Bombay State Papers. Professor W. G. Forrest 
 Bruce's Annals. 
 
66 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 companies was to devolve on the members of the Governor's 
 Council, as captains ! Application was made to the King (James 
 II. Charles II. having died in 1685) to transfer a company of 
 King's troops to the service of the East India Company, which was 
 accordingly done from the Marquis of Westminster's Regiment, the 
 company being placed under the command of Captain Clifton, 
 who, together with all the other captains of companies, was to 
 have a seat in the Governor's Council. 
 
 Commissions were granted by the King to all the naval com- 
 manders, who were, however, to rank as junior to the commanders 
 of the King's ships with which they might come in contact. The 
 point of immediate attack was to be Chittagong, where the disem- 
 barkation was to take place, and for the armament of which 200 
 pieces of cannon were supplied. A treaty was to be entered into 
 with the King of Arracan, and the Government of Bombay was 
 desired to open negotiations with Rajah Sambhaji (the then 
 Maratha ruler, and son of Shivaji), on the West Coast, to assist in 
 annoying the Mogul Emperor, whilst the agent at Fort St. George 
 was directed to assist the King of Golcondah, then at war with the 
 Dutch. This order could scarcely be obeyed, as Madras had fur- 
 nished every available man, about 400, leaving a slender garrison 
 of about twenty Europeans and a few Portuguese for the defence of 
 Fort St. George;* orders were likewise issued for the fleet to punish 
 the King of Siam for his unfriendly behaviour towards agents who 
 had failed to establish trade with his country, and it was to be used 
 against the Portuguese, for the purpose of seizing Salsette, which 
 the English Court still insisted had been ceded, with Bombay, to 
 Charles II., but never given up; thus the Company boldly entered 
 into war all along the coasts of India. 
 
 Sir John Child, the then Governor of Bombay, was appointed 
 Governor General of all the Company's settlements in India, and 
 invested with powers to visit Madras, and, if necessary, Bengal, and 
 carry on war or make peace according to circumstances. 
 
 Nicholson, with a portion of his fleet, arrived in the river Hoogly 
 
 * Broome's History of the Bengal Army. 
 
BABLY HISTORY OP BENGAL. 67 
 
 in October 1686. The Soobah, then better known as the Nawab of 
 Bengal, alarmed at the preparations of the English and their bold 
 attitude, offered terms. Whilst these were under negotiation, an 
 accident caused the first collision between the troops of the Nawab 
 and the English. It originated in a bazaar quarrel, which by 
 degrees assumed large proportions and ended in a fight, in which all 
 the troops on both sides were engaged, leaving the English, in spite 
 of inferiority of numbers, completely victorious, the enemy losing 
 60 killed, and many wounded, besides a battery of 11 guns. 
 Nicholson also bombarded Hoogly from his ships, and destroyed 
 some 500 houses. 
 
 The Foujdar, or native official of Hoogly, requested a cessation 
 of arms; this was granted on the condition of the payment of sixty- 
 six lacs of rupees, about 660,000.* 
 
 The Nawab had, however, by this time collected a large force, 
 and ordered the seizure of all the Company's goods and agents in 
 the outlying factories, which consisted of Bellasore, Dacca, Malda, 
 Kossimbazaar and Patna. Seeing his danger, the agent seized 
 upon the village of Chuttanutee (the site of the present Calcutta), 
 where he intrenched himself. This determined front induced the 
 
 * Bruce & Broome give a detailed list of claims as follows : 
 
 Rs. 
 
 For what Bulchund forced from Mr. Vincent at Cassumbuzar - - 14,000 
 ,, Sief Cawn plundered out of our factory at Pattana by 1,000 
 
 Foot and 500 Horse, and putting Mr. Meverill in irons - 80,000 
 
 For detaining y e agent with y e silk at Cassumbuzar - - 400,000 
 
 For protecting Haggerston from justice - 45,000 
 
 For what forced out Dacca factory, account Picars - 44,000 
 
 ,, ,, from our Merchants at Hughly - - 12,000 
 
 For demolishing and plundering Malda factory - - 150,000 
 
 For customs paid at the Mint at Hughly contrary to our Phirmaund - 150,000 
 
 To demorage of shipping y e last three years - - 2,000,000 
 
 For what extorted from us in presents, &ct. - - 200,000 
 
 For debts remaineing and owing us in the country - - 800,000 
 
 For besieging of Hughly factory, y e death of y e Agent and 4 men - 300,000 
 
 For burning y e old factory and y e goods in it, in y e latter skirmish - 300,000 
 
 For charge of 1,000 men and 20 ships for ye war - - 2,000,000 
 
 For y e charges of our factorys and buildings if we leave y e country - 130,000 
 
 6,625,000 
 
 5 * 
 
68 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Nawab to again offer terms, one of the most important of which was 
 the grant of a tract of land, with permission to build a fort. 
 
 Having thus lulled the suspicions of the agent-governor, the 
 Nawab busied himself in collecting a more powerful force with 
 which to exterminate the British. Heing made aware of his danger, 
 the agent, early in 1687, abandoned Chuttanutee and occupied 
 Ingellee, which was already fortified, and his fleet, taking the 
 initiative, seized many of the Mogul's vessels, destroyed his fort at 
 Tanah on the Hoogly, and, attacking Belasore, captured and burnt 
 forty ships belonging to native merchants. 
 
 In the meanwhile hostilities had been declared at Bombay, and 
 carried on with great energy by Sir John Child, by which the 
 Mogul's shipping suffered severely, and his revenues were consider- 
 ably curtailed. 
 
 The native Governor of Surat had, however, in the temporary 
 absence of Sir John Child, at Bombay, imprisoned the English 
 agent, Mr. Harris, and seized all the Company's goods, offering a 
 reward for Sir John Child, alive or dead. Bombay was at the 
 same time attacked by the Mogul fleet, under the Seddee, * or 
 Admiral, who, although always repulsed by the European garrison, 
 managed to gain possession of the outlying lands, known as 
 Mazagon, Mahim, and Sion. 
 
 Ingellee, frequently attacked, offered a stout resistance, so much 
 so that the siege was abandoned. 
 
 The English successes by sea, especially off the coast of Malabar, 
 and the inability of the Nawab's troops to crush the gallant band in 
 Bengal, induced Aurungzebe to order his subordinates to offer 
 terms ; a treaty was concluded in August 1687, and early in 1688 the 
 Company's agents re-occupied Chuttanutee, where they were again 
 subjected to the hostility of the disappointed and incensed Nawab. 
 
 * The Seddee was the hereditary title of the Mogul's Admirals. These chiefs 
 were of African origin, and gained their important office by undertaking the safe 
 conduct of the Mahometan pilgrims to Mecca. The principal seat of their power 
 was Jingeerah, on the coast near Bombay. The African stokers employed by the 
 great steamship companies trading with India are to this day known as Seddees or 
 Seddee boys. 
 
EARLY HISTORY OP BENGAL. 69 
 
 By all that has gone before, it will be seen that the English, 
 although able to hold their own, had gained no practical advantage. 
 Their losses had, indeed, been heavy, as the climate of Ingellee was 
 pestilential. The news of Nicholson's want of success in firmly 
 establishing the Company's power in Bengal, and overawing the 
 Emperor's deputy, determined the directors to further strengthen 
 their agent at Hoogly and Chuttanutee ; a reinforcement consisting 
 of two ships and 160 men was accordingly despatched under Captain 
 Heath, with orders to carry out the original instructions of the 
 Company, and, should he find himself incapable of so doing, he was, 
 in communication with the Agent-Governor, to retire to Madras. 
 
 In October 1688,* Heath arrived in Bengal ; hostilities were 
 again commenced, which proving useless in re-establishing trade, 
 he, with the Company's servants, embarked with all its wealth 
 in November of the same year ; and having taken and pillaged 
 Belasore, where he captured a battery of thirty guns, touched at 
 Chettagong, whence an alliance against the Emperor was again 
 offered to the King of Arracan, and again was rejected. After this 
 failure the fleet sailed for Madras, which place was reached in March 
 1689. Thus was the Company's trade in Bengal for a time 
 absolutely abandoned. 
 
 Aurungzebe, furious at the pillage of Belasore, and other losses 
 he had sustained, ordered, with all the assurance of a despot, the 
 utter extermination of the English in India. He gained some 
 successes on land, notably in the Company's territories of Bombay ; 
 but finding his revenues suffer severely from the absence of trade, 
 and seeing the utter impossibility of his Mahometan subjects being 
 able to continue their pilgrimages to Holy Mecca whilst the 
 English were all powerful at sea, he at length agreed to negotiate 
 with the delegates sent by Sir John Child shortly before that 
 energetic Governor-General's death in February 1690, when peace 
 was arranged on moderate terms, considering the despot with whom 
 they had to deal, although accompanied by a firman couched in 
 language most humiliating to the English. This firman was dated 
 February 1690, and among other things demanded a fine of 
 
70 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Rs.150,000 for mischief done, and the dismissal " of Mr. Child, who 
 did the disgrace."* Permission was granted to re-occupy Chuttanutee 
 on the old terms of free trade, for the payment of Rs.3,000 a year, 
 but permission to fortify was again refused. Mr. Charnock (the 
 founder of Calcutta) arrived in the Hoogly with thirty soldiers, 
 which number was by the end of the year increased to 100, and 
 took possession of Chuttanutee ; so that, after a war lasting for four 
 years, the Company, in 1690, found themselves in the status quo 
 ante of 1686. 
 
 Thus was frustrated for a time the Company's ambitious design 
 of becoming an independent power in India. 
 
 Having seen the Company firmly established in Bengal, attention 
 is again invited to the Island of Bombay, and the proceedings of 
 the Company's servants on the West Coast of India. 
 
 Since the year 1672, Bombay, for many years, had been of but 
 small service to the English, and had acquired an evil reputation for 
 unhealthiness, so much so as to give rise to the proverb, " That at 
 Bombay a man's life did not exceed two monsoons/'t The un- 
 wholesomeness of the air was attributed to the bad quality of the 
 water, the low marshy ground, and to the offensive smell of the 
 manure used at the roots of its innumerable cocoa-nut trees. 
 
 As sanitary precautions prevailed, the inhabitants increased, and 
 the extraordinary value of the harbour, then the finest, if not the 
 only one except Goa, in possession of the Portuguese deserving 
 the name in India, soon became acknowledged, and it was utilized 
 by the merchant vessels frequenting the Malabar coast as a place of 
 refreshment, and as a winter station and rendezvous for the armed 
 squadrons sent from England. The Company made it the mart 
 of all their trade with Malabar, Surat, and the Persian and Arabian 
 Gulfs. Its importance was of slow growth ; but to-day, after 200 
 years of varying success, it with justice proudly claims to be the 
 richest city, although not yet the capital, of India. { 
 
 * Bruce'a Annals. 
 f Abbe Raynal. 
 
 J The population of Bombay is about 774,000. It is, next to London, the most 
 populous city in the British Empire, 
 
EARLY HISTOEY OF BENGAL. 71 
 
 In 1672, and for many years after, the Company's possessions on 
 the West Coast of India consisted of Bombay alone, with a few 
 factories, notably Surat, scattered along the coast. The neigh- 
 bouring Island of Salsette, with its forts of Bandora and Thanna, 
 and Bassein on the main land, were occupied by the Portuguese. 
 Although frequently called upon to defend themselves, peaceful 
 trade was the sole object of the British, and territorial extension 
 was neither aimed at nor desired ; the only force maintained as yet 
 consisted of but a few European troops, seamen from the fleets, 
 some Portuguese, and a body of peons charged with the care of the 
 valuable merchandise. 
 
 But the Company's Governor at Bombay, whilst having no 
 pretensions to strength on shore, was powerful at sea. 
 
 Although the Treaty of Westminster, dated February 1673, con- 
 cluded the war with Holland, Bombay was in this year threatened with 
 invasion by the Dutch. Recruits were sent from home, and orders 
 reiterated to strengthen the fortifications, which now mounted 100 
 guns, and were defended by two companies of 200 men each, 3 
 companies of Militia, and about 100 men employed in the Marine 
 service. 
 
 Negotiations were also opened with Shivaji, who, whilst promis- 
 ing protection to the English, evaded their just demands for losses 
 sustained by Maratha incursions, especially on the factories of 
 Kajahpore and Hubely. 
 
 The position of affairs at Madras was far from satisfactory, as 
 St. Thome was in French possession, and was threatened by the 
 Dutch ; by whichever side retained, it would always remain a menace 
 to the English, for the French force was estimated at 1,300 men, 
 the Dutch at 4,000, whilst the garrison of Fort St. George consisted 
 of 250 Europeans only, and a few peons ; consequently Fort St. 
 George was further strengthened, and the officers of the garrison 
 encouraged by additional allowances according to rank. 
 
 An important event occurred in 1674 in the coronation of 
 Shivaji, which establishes the date of the Maratha sovereignty ; 
 Mr. Oxinden attended the coronation on the part of the Company, 
 
72 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 and obtained trade privileges from the Maratha king, in spite of 
 which, and former promises of protection, Surat was again 
 threatened, and a small English factory at Dungum, was attacked 
 and plundered by Maratha Horse. 
 
 Whilst these events were happening a dangerous mutiny occurred 
 among the troops at Bombay, under Captain Shaxton, who appears 
 to have encouraged the mutineers. It is evident that the troops 
 had cause for complaint, as their demand for a month's pay (which 
 they declared had been promised them in lieu of discharge at the 
 end of three years' service, which had expired) was granted by the 
 President, Mr. Aungier, who, however, brought the ringleaders to 
 trial by court-martial, which sentenced three of them to death, a 
 sentence carried out in one case only, by the execution of a Corporal 
 Fake, who was shot on the 21st October 1674. Shaxton was also 
 found guilty and sent to England to await the decision of the Court 
 of Directors and of the King on his case. This is the first instance 
 of the servants of the Company exercising their power of martial 
 law. After this event Mr. Aungier considered it advisable to dis- 
 miss the Portuguese portion of the garrison and replace them with 
 recruits at that moment arriving from England. He conferred the 
 vacant command, with a seat in Council, on Captain Langford. 
 The regulations of this year provided that one per cent, of the 
 Company's revenue might be spent on the fortifications. 
 
 Mr. Aungier considered it necessary to point out to the Court of 
 Directors, that their European rivals in India, the French, Dutch, 
 Portuguese and Danes, although nominally at peace with England, 
 were their bitter enemies in all trade questions, which might at any 
 moment have to be decided by an appeal to arms, and therefore 
 demanded additional garrisons for all the principal factories, as 
 being a matter of the first and most urgent necessity. Mr. Aungier 
 also suggested that the two companies at Bombay might well be 
 commanded by lieutenants, thus saving the pay of two captains, and 
 recommended that the companies should be called the Governor's 
 and Deputy-Governor's Company respectively.* 
 
 * Bruce's Annals, 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BENGAL. 73 
 
 The regulations framed by the Court of Directors in 1675 were 
 of great importance to their servants, civil and military. Seniority 
 was established as the rule of succession to all offices of trust. The 
 chief authority was vested in the civil service, the duties of the 
 military being subservient to the promotion of trade, after attending 
 to the defence of the settlement. At the same time the civil 
 servants were to acquire a knowledge of military discipline, and, if 
 found better suited for the military than the civil service, they were 
 to be granted commissions. These regulations were applicable to 
 all the presidencies. Captain Langford was to be allowed to retain 
 his seat in the Council, but this was not to be considered as a 
 precedent on the occurrence of future vacancies. 
 
 Forty additional recruits were received at Bombay, and twenty 
 were sent out for Madras, whose garrison in future, it was deter- 
 mined, should be composed of Europeans only ; their pay was fixed 
 at twenty-one shillings a month, including rations and necessaries. 
 The former order for the civil servants to be trained to the use of 
 arms was rescinded, and the removal of any servant from a civil 
 to a military post was prohibited. 
 
 About this period the garrisons received German recruits, and 
 as they had behaved with " sobriety and regularity"* it was intended 
 to make a larger use of this nationality, and it was further resolved 
 to raise a troop of horse, and place it under the command of Cap- 
 tain Keigwin (formerly Governor of St. Helena). The Militia of 
 the Island now amounted to 600 men, and it is, perhaps, worth 
 mentioning that in this year orders were received to establish a 
 mint at Bombay, at which " .Rupee, pice, and budgrooks " were to 
 be coined. 
 
 Although the garrisons of the Company were daily growing in 
 strength of numbers, and more important still, in the power of 
 discipline and system, the directors had always been consistent 
 in enjoining their servants to avoid the errors of the Dutch and 
 Portuguese, and to conduct their enterprise with humanity and 
 fair dealing, and so gain, if possible, the respect and love of the 
 
 * Bruc. 
 
74 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 people.* These philanthropic intentions were not attended by the 
 success they perhaps deserved, and the foregoing chapters have, it is 
 hoped, tended to show how the Company had been oppressed where- 
 ever it had settled; it is, therefore, not surprising to find that in 
 1677 the directors, although they still recommended temporizing 
 expedients, empowered Mr. Aungier to employ force where neces- 
 sary to enforce the observation of treaties and grants. 
 
 Bruce in his Annals takes a harsh view of these discretionary 
 powers, and considers that they were granted by the directors to 
 enable them, in the event of questions arising between the King 
 and the Company, regarding possible hostilities, to throw the 
 blame on their servants. This opinion seems unjust, for when 
 the great distance between England and India is considered, dis- 
 tance rendered far greater by the slow sailing of the ships of the 
 day it taking eighteen months to two years to receive an answer 
 on questions of importance the discretionary powers appear to 
 have been absolutely necessary, and to show proper trust in able 
 and deserving servants, who being on the spot, and having a force, 
 although a very limited one, at hand, would be better able to 
 judge of the necessities of the moment, than their masters at home. 
 
 The troops at this period were enlisted for a term of seven years, 
 and an order is extant, permitting soldiers of approved character, 
 and whose terms had expired, to be promoted to small posts of 
 civil trust. This was a wise method for keeping tried servants in 
 their service, as at the time the Company had extended their trade 
 to Tonquin and Amoy in China, and were contemplating the estab- 
 lishment of a factory at Canton.f 
 
 Mr. Aungier died in 1677, universally regretted, and was suc- 
 ceeded by Mr. Kolt, who at once applied for 150 recruits from 
 England, as he could place no reliance on the Portuguese Topasses 
 or the militia, reporting at the same time the completion of the 
 
 * Abbe'Raynal. 
 
 t This system has been again tried in the present day, in England for the British, 
 and in India for Native, troops discharged the service with good characters. The 
 scheme has not yet received the measure of success it deserves. 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BENGAL. 75 
 
 Fort, except the eastern bastion, which, however was under con- 
 struction. 
 
 The year 1678 opened with orders for unreasonable measures 
 of economy, which shortly after led to unhappy results. Not 
 only were the rank and allowances of the President and Council 
 at Surat, and the Deputy Governor of Bombay, to be reduced, 
 but considerable reduction was ordered in the Military Establish- 
 ment, which was in future to consist of 2 lieutenants, 2 ensigns, 
 4 sergeants, 4 corporals, and 180 privates; the troop of horse 
 was to be disbanded, and Captain Keigwin dismissed, and the 
 militia was to be discharged ; 2 European and 4 Native gunners 
 only were to be allowed for the batteries ; all the armed ships, 
 except one frigate, were to be sold, and no further improvements 
 were to be made in the fortifications. The extra allowance granted 
 to thirty men detached as a guard on the Surat factory, was no 
 longer to be allowed ; this is the first recorded mention of 
 " batta," which in after years was a frequent cause of discontent 
 and mutiny among the troops of the Company. 
 
 These injunctions conclude, as Beveridge well says, " ludicrously 
 and insultingly," by recommending the Governor to maintain strict 
 discipline, so as to have the garrison always ready for a vigorous 
 defence. These orders do not appear to have been extended to 
 Madras. 
 
 The wholesale reductions caused, not unnaturally, immense 
 discontent, civil and military, the former with the greater justice, 
 as the Presidency which had rendered such good service to 
 the Company, was degraded to an agency, and the salary of 
 its highest servant reduced to 300 a year, that of a Member 
 of Council being proportionally diminished, the junior member 
 receiving 40 only ; on this pittance, it cannot be a matter for 
 surprise if the Company's servants are found indulging in private 
 trade, greatly to the disadvantage of their masters. 
 
 The following year still greater cause of discontent was given to 
 the garrison of Bombay. The Directors at home, possibly alarmed 
 at their dangerous reductions, gave orders that two auxiliary com- 
 
76 THE PKESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 panies should be raised, composed of the principal inhabitants, 
 each to be commanded by a captain ; by this means superior rank 
 was granted to the auxiliary or volunteer companies, to that enjoyed 
 by the regular troops, whose companies were commanded by lieu- 
 tenants. The garrison of Fort St. George was next diminished, 
 by reducing the strength of the companies from 100 to 60 men. 
 
 With reduced military establishments Bombay was, in 1679, 
 threatened with imminent danger. Shivaji seized on the island of 
 Kenery, situated at the mouth of Bombay Harbour, and the Siddee, 
 the Mogul's Admiral, occupied the island of Henery. Under 
 these circumstances, the Bombay Agent at once applied for a re- 
 inforcement of at least 200 men, with proper officers. This 
 demand was partly complied with the following year, the services 
 of Captain Keigwin being again engaged; he was given the rank of 
 Captain-Lieutenant, with pay at six shillings a day, but with no 
 extra allowances, and proceeded to Bombay with seventy men and 
 eighteen small cannon ; the garrison was further strengthened by 
 the arrival of twenty-eight recruits, and by the return of the thirty 
 men detached to Surat. The year was also memorable for the 
 death of Shivaji, which occurred on the 5th of April 1680, and 
 the succession of Sambhaji, his son. 
 
 The year 1681 saw Surat again raised to a Presidency, and Mr., 
 afterwards Sir John, Child appointed President. 
 
 On the 30th August 1682 the English were ignomiuiously 
 expelled from Bantam (where they had traded with varying success 
 for eighty years) by the Dutch. Notwithstanding this alarming 
 episode, and the continued threatening attitude of the Marathas 
 (who still held the Island of Kenery) and the Mogul Admiral, the 
 garrison of Bombay consisted of 100 Europeans only, with but 
 one armed ship for the protection of the trade and settlement, and 
 this at a time when Bombay was declared by the Directors to be an 
 independent English settlement, and the seat of power and trade of 
 the English in India. Thirty recruits were this year sent to Madras. 
 
 In 1683, the King and Court of Directors determined to avenge 
 the insult put upon them by the Dutch in the seizure of Bantam. 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BENGAL. 77 
 
 A fleet was consequently fitted out under the command of Sir John 
 Wetwang, as Admiral, and Sir Thomas Grantham, as Vice-Admiral. 
 The Abbe Raynal says that there were 8,000 troops on board, and 
 that the Dutch, alarmed at this evidence of the determination of the 
 English, entered into a compact with Charles II., who, for the sum 
 of about 100,000 undertook to forbid the sailing of the united 
 squadrons of the King and Company, and thus sacrificed the 
 honour and trade of his nation. 
 
 The Abbe may have exaggerated in his statement, but be that as 
 it may, an agreement was entered into between the Dutch and 
 English in Europe, by which Bantam was to be restored under 
 certain conditions. 
 
 A portion of the Fleet, under Sir Thomas Grantham, actually 
 sailed, and was subsequently employed in suppressing the interlopers 
 in the Bay of Bengal, and by its presence strengthened the hands 
 of the Company on the coasts of India. 
 
 It had originally been intended that the troops embarked for 
 Bantam should, after the restoration of that place, proceed to 
 Bombay, and a portion of them be formed into a third company of 
 infantry ; this intention does not appear to have been carried out, 
 but forty recruits were sent to Bombay, and it was ordered that two 
 companies of Rajpoots, each of 100 men, should be embodied, to 
 be commanded by officers of their own, and to use their own arms. 
 This is the first mention of the enrolment of regular companies of 
 Natives selected from a warlike race. The fortifications of Fort 
 St. George were likewise strengthened and extended. 
 
 Whilst the above-mentioned increase of military establishment at 
 Bombay was being carried out, and whilst discontent was still rife 
 among both the soldiers and civilians, an event occurred, which, 
 under the circumstances, should not have been quite unexpected. 
 Captain Keigwin lately appointed to command the garrison, possibly 
 encouraged by the Company's former leniency to Sir Edward 
 Winter, seized the Government of Bombay, annulled the authority 
 of the Company, and claimed it in the King's name. He im- 
 prisoned the Deputy-Governor and other members of the Govern- 
 
78 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 ment, appointed bis own officers in their place, and, assisted by 
 tbe troops, mentioned by Bruce as consisting of 150 Europeans, 
 2,000 Topasses, and tbe militia or volunteer companies, he seized 
 on the Company's frigate Hunter, tbe ship Return, and treasure to 
 the amount of Ks. 60,000. 
 
 Captain Keigwin excused himself in letters to the King for the 
 course he had taken, by complaining' of tbe weakness of the Com- 
 pany's Government, and declaring that the revolt was necessary 
 for the safety of the Island, as, unless strong measures were 
 adopted, it would certainly fall an easy prey to either Sambhaji or 
 the Siddee. Negotiations were opened between Keigwin and Pre- 
 sident Child, who arrived at Bombay for the purpose, but without 
 effect. 
 
 The Company now suffered for former weakness, and found 
 themselves deprived, not only of Bombay, but of Bantam, which, 
 towards the end of the year (1683) was abandoned by the Agents, 
 and the trade of its dependencies Jambee, Tonquin, Siam and 
 Canton consequently lost. 
 
 In the meanwhile the news of Keigwin's mutiny had reached the 
 startled Directors at home. Their disappointment and anger were 
 the greater, as at this time they were contemplating the removal of 
 the seat of Government from Surat to Bombay. A petition was 
 presented to the King, praying for a Commission under the Great 
 Seal for the restoration of the Island ; this was immediately 
 granted, and the Company empowered to receive Bombay from the 
 mutineers, and to offer a free pardon to all except the ringleaders. 
 The fleet under Sir Thomas Grantham was ordered to assemble at 
 Surat and embark such troops as could be mustered. President 
 Child was appointed Captain-General and Admiral of the Company's 
 forces by sea and land. Keigwin's immediate surrender was to be 
 demanded, and, in case of refusal, he and all his adherents were ta- 
 be proclaimed traitors, and a reward offered for the apprehension of 
 the ringleaders. His Majesty's ship Phoenix, commanded by 
 Captain Tyrrel, was sent as a reinforcement to Sir Thomas 
 Grantham, against Keigwin and the interlopers. It was" also 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BENGAL. 79 
 
 determined that on the restoration of Bombay the European force 
 should be augmented to three companies of infantry. 
 
 During the time occupied by these arrangements, Captain Keigwin 
 had been active, and his Government, as is often the case with that 
 of usurpers, appears to have been a strong one. He negotiated a 
 commercial treaty with Sambhaji, and actually succeeded in inducing 
 him to pay the compensation for losses sustained by the Company, 
 so often applied for with no success from his father Shivaji ; he also 
 raised the strength of the garrison to over 500 men. 
 
 On the 19th November 1684, Keigwin delivered over the island 
 to Sir Thomas Granthatn, as the King's representative, and by him 
 it was at once restored to the Company, represented by Dr. St. 
 John, as King's Judge, and Mr. Zinzan, the temporary governor. 
 Keigwin was subsequently pardoned, his successful negotiations 
 with Sambhaji, and the fact of the treasure he had seized being intact, 
 having probably influenced this merciful, though weak, decision. 
 
 The Court's orders for Madras at this season were, that the fort 
 was to be improved, the garrison strengthened, and a troop of 
 cavalry raised from among such of the European residents as 
 kept horses. The extra expenses for fortifications were to be 
 defrayed by an anchorage tax of one dollar and a barrel of gun- 
 powder on all vessels, and by a tax on the inhabitants. A wall 
 was to be built round the town of Madras, and the land round 
 about, including St. Thome, was to be purchased. 
 
 In February 1685, Charles II. died, and was succeeded by his 
 brother, the Duke of York, as James II. Charles, ever impe- 
 cunious, doubtless extracted large sums from the Company for the 
 preservation of their trade ; but it must be admitted, from a study 
 of the records of the period, that the Company was uniformly pro- 
 tected by that monarch. Some writers, especially Abbe Raynal, 
 say that he secretly encouraged the interlopers. He certainly per- 
 mitted the Duke of York and others to oust the Company from its 
 African possessions, and his action regarding Bantam is doubtful ; 
 but, in spite of these drawbacks, the Company owed the posses- 
 sion of Bombay to him, although His Majesty was probably un- 
 
80 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 aware of the value of the concession, or he would hardly have sold 
 it for the annual payment of W in gold. 
 
 The Company entertained great hopes of support from James II., 
 who, as Duke of York, had been a holder of Indian Stock ; nor were 
 the Directors disappointed in the expectation, for more effectual 
 means were at once adopted for the prosecution of interlopers. 
 
 The code of martial law, us used in the Royal Army, was in 
 future to be applied to the Company's forces, and President Child, 
 now created a baronet, was granted a body-guard of thirty men 
 under command of a captain; 200 recruits were embarked for 
 Bombay, and orders were given for the entertainment of Europeans 
 in India willing to enter the Company's military service. The seat 
 of Government was finally transferred from Surat to Bombay, and 
 Sir John Wyborne was appointed deputy-governor, on a salary of 
 250 a year.* All these events occurred in 1685. 
 
 Sir John Child, now Governor and General,f and resident at 
 Bombay, was, in 1687, granted an increased body-guard of fifty 
 Grenadiers : 120 recruits were sent from England, and orders were 
 given to make Bombay as strong as possible. It was, moreover, 
 contemplated to acquire the Island of Salsette from Portugal, an 
 idea not carried out until many years after (1774), when it was 
 wrested from the Marathas, who had ousted the Portuguese. 
 Madras was declared an independent power,J the fortifications were 
 again strengthened, and 300 men, drafted from the Royal troops in 
 Ireland, were sent as a reinforcement; and it was ordered that for the 
 future the King's Union Flag should always be hoisted on the walls. 
 
 * He was dismissed the service two years later for disputing the authority of the 
 Governor- General, Sir John Child. Bruce's Annals. 
 
 f Attention is invited to the fact that the original title of the Company's principal 
 officer in India was that of Governor and General, that is, Governor of the Settle- 
 ments, and General of the Forces, not Governor-General as in the present day ; so 
 the title has its origin in the dual duties, civil and military, performed by the 
 Company's chief functionary. 
 
 J The term Independent Power does not imply that Madras was not still subject 
 to the Governor-General at Bombay ; it means that Madras was declared a power 
 on the Coromandel coast, independent of the native rulers, and prepared to defend 
 itself and enforce treaties and grants. 
 
 Bruce. 
 
EARLY HISTOBY OP BENGAL. 81 
 
 The war in Bengal at this period, and events connected with it 
 at Bombay and Madras, have already been described in the short 
 account given of Bengal affairs at the commencement of this chapter. 
 
 In February 1689, the Prince of Orange and his consort ascended 
 the English throne as William and Mary, James IT. having been 
 deposed, and were proclaimed at Bombay the following year. The 
 accession of a Dutch prince to the English throne was alarming to 
 the Directors of the Company, who could never forget the many 
 calamities they had suffered from Dutch aggression. 
 
 In February 1690, as before mentioned, Sir John Child died. 
 In him the Company lost a valued servant. His character is 
 variously described. Bruce extols him for energy and a provident 
 concern for the interests of his masters ; Beveridge censures him 
 for duplicity, and for playing unsuccessfully a double game with 
 the Mogul, and his officers, themselves masters in deceit ; and 
 in the opinion of Abbe Raynal, nothing can be worse than his 
 character. The Abbe describes him as an " avaricious, turbulent, 
 and savage man," and as one " who was as cowardly in time of 
 danger as he had been daring in his piracies/' The chances are 
 that he was bold and utterly unscrupulous in carrying out the 
 tortuous policy of the Court of Directors, then presided over by 
 his brother, President Josiah Child ; at any rate, the many details 
 of his work at Bombay and Surat, as given by Bruce in his 
 Annals, ascertain the fact of his value as a public servant. 
 
 Towards the end of 1689, or early in 1690, Sambhaji, the 
 Maratha King, was captured and put to death by Aurungzebe ; he 
 was succeeded by the Ram-Rajah, second son of Shivaji. 
 
 The proclamation of the accession of William and Mary was 
 made at Bombay on the 22nd June 1690, and Bruce says the fact 
 is the more memorable from its having taken place on the very day 
 that the Mogul army, in command of the Siddee, evacuated the Island 
 of Bombay, under the provision of the Treaty already mentioned as 
 having been entered into between the English and Aurungzebe, 
 and the Company's forces again took possession of Mahim. Sir 
 John Child had been succeeded by Mr. Harris, but with shorn 
 
 6 
 
82 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 power and title, he being appointed governor, not governor-general ; 
 150 recruits were sent to him, with orders to render Bombay im- 
 pregnable ; this order was the more necessary as, in alliance with 
 the Dutch, William III. had declared war against France. Instruc- 
 tions were issued to Bombay, Madras, and St. Helena, to seize all 
 French ships, and the garrison of Fort St. George was to attack 
 the French at Pondicherry. The Company had, moreover, to face 
 domestic troubles, for the interlopers, encouraged by the Mogul's 
 attack on Bombay, and the evacuation of Bengal, received the 
 support of Parliament to the formation of a new Company, as a 
 rival to the existing association. 
 
 In these early days the position and responsibilities of the 
 Company's servants in India could have been no sinecure, for, with 
 England at war with France, the year 1691 sees the garrison of 
 Madras reduced by one company of infantry, although increased in 
 artillery and a small augmentation of the troop of horse. The 
 fortifications of Bombay were also described as being in a ruinous 
 condition, a fact to which the Governor ascribed the late attack of 
 the Siddee, and the humiliating Firman of Aurungzebe. The 
 garrison he reported as reduced by sickness to 35 Europeans only ; 
 and although he had a sufficient force of Topasses, they were not 
 to be depended on. A favourable estimation had been formed of 
 the native (Rajpoot) troops lately raised ; but recruits were urgently 
 needed, and permission required for necessary expenses of repairing 
 fortifications and building a defending wall round the town. Mr. 
 Harris also informed the Directors that, suspecting the Portuguese 
 Jesuits resident on the Island of having assisted the Siddee in 
 his late attack, they had been seized and their lands confiscated. 
 
 Information was received from Madras, of an indecisive naval 
 action off the coast between the allied English and Dutch fleets and 
 that of the French, which was supposed to have sailed for Bengal. 
 This is the first mention of actual hostilities between the French 
 and English in India. 
 
 The attitude of the Mogul at this period appears to have been 
 more conciliatory, as he agreed to pay a sum of Rs. 80,000 for 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BENGAL. 83 
 
 damage inflicted at Surat in the late war, and granted the Firman 
 for the reconstruction of the Company's trade in Bengal, although 
 it was couched in humiliating terms. 
 
 It is interesting to note that in this year the Company was 
 firmly established at Bencoleen, in Sumatra, and had built Fort 
 York, which was garrisoned by negroes imported from Madagascar. 
 
 The following year Captain (afterwards Sir John) Goldesborough 
 was appointed Commissary and Superior over all the Company's 
 affairs in India. He arrived at Madras in November 1692. The 
 infantry of the garrison, now reduced to two companies, com- 
 manded by lieutenants, was in future to be commanded by the 
 Governor and the First Member of his Council as captains ; they 
 were to receive no pay in time of peace. Land was purchased at 
 Tegnapatam, and Fort St. David erected,* an event which aroused 
 the jealousy of the Dutch. The agent in Bengal was still 
 unprovided with a fortified position, but was allowed a force of 100 
 European soldiers, whilst orders were issued to Bombay to enlist 
 Armenians, Negroes, and Arabs. It is worthy of notice that in 
 this year great encouragement was given to Armenian merchants, 
 both at Bombay and Madras. 
 
 In 1693 a French man-of-war captured th e British ship Elizabeth, 
 fifty miles from Bombay. The extraordinary want of discipline 
 among the Company's servants at Bombay is exemplified by the 
 fact that Mr. Vaux, the then Deputy-Governor, purchased the prize 
 from the French, and used it for the purpose of carrying on private 
 trade ; for this act he was suspended. The Company's good name 
 also suffered from the depredations and outrages committed by 
 pirates, who swarmed at sea. These freebooters sailed under 
 English colours, which made it impossible for the natives whom they 
 plundered, and often massacred, to distinguish the vessels of their 
 captors from those of the Company, on whom they threw the blame 
 of their losses. 
 
 A new charter (not a confirmation of existing charters) was 
 granted to the Company by William and Mary, differing little from 
 
 * A few miles south of Pondleherry. 
 
 6 * 
 
84 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 that granted by Elizabeth, but with certain trade restrictions that 
 need no notice here. An attempt was made to absorb the inter- 
 lopers by purchase of their vessels and supposed rights ; the hands 
 of these illegitimate traders having been immensely strengthened 
 by a decision of the House of Commons, which declared that " it 
 was the right of all Englishmen to tr.ade to the East Indies, or any 
 part of the world, unless prohibited by Act of Parliament."* 
 
 Sir John Goldesborough was appointed Governor and General of 
 all the Company's Indian possessions and trade. Thus Madras 
 superseded Bombay as the head-quarters of Indian Government. 
 Sir John Gayer was appointed Lieutenant-General and Governor of 
 Bombay, and chief of all factories in Northern India ; he was to 
 succeed Sir John Goldesborough in the event of that officer's death. 
 150 recruits were sent to Bombay with orders from the Court that, 
 in future, the native troops were to be enlisted from the same caste. 
 Trade was again opened with China. 
 
 The most eventful occurrence of the war with the French that 
 took place in India during this year, was the conquest of Pondicherry 
 by the Dutch. 
 
 The following year opened with the death of Sir John Goldes- 
 borough, whose action in Bengal will be noticed under the account 
 of the proceedings in that Presidency. In the meanwhile the power 
 of the Mogul Empire in Southern India was on the wane, owing 
 to the great age of the Emperor Aurungzebe. His General, 
 Zulfiker Khan, however, formed a scheme by which the English 
 were to be deprived of their possessions of Forts St. George and St. 
 David, and determined to effect their capture by stratagem. The 
 first attempt was made on Fort St. David, which, it was arranged, 
 should be given into his hands by a Doctor Blackwell, who had 
 been bribed to undertake this ignoble act, by valuable presents and 
 promises of future employment under the Mogul. Dr. Blackwell's 
 treachery was fortunately discovered in time; he was seized and 
 taken to Madras, there to await the decision of the Court at 
 home. 
 
 * Bruce, 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BENGAL. 85 
 
 As regards Bombay, Sir John Gayer arrived to assume his 
 government about the time of the death of Mr. Harris, who was 
 succeeded as President at Surat, by Mr. Annesley. 
 
 The French were now conducting the war with activity at sea, 
 and had captured five English ships off Gal way. Ihey also 
 equipped a fleet of nine ships, said to carry 1,200 troops, and 800 
 seamen, with Bengal for its supposed destination. Forts St. George 
 and St. David were at once ordered to be strengthened ; Cafres or 
 Blacks from the Mozambique were entertained to augment the 
 garrison, and considerable reinforcements of English and Swiss 
 troops were despatched from home ; at the same time orders were 
 reiterated to enlist, if possible, Armenians, as it was found that each 
 English recruit cost the Company dG30. The Volunteer Horse of 
 Madras was kept in readiness to scour the coast and bring intelli- 
 gence of the arrival of the French fleet ; the assistance even of the 
 Mogul's General was asked for. 
 
 Bombay in this year (1695) having received ten recruits only, 
 and the strength of the small garrison having been again reduced 
 by disease, a lieutenant and 70 men were despatched from home. 
 Sir John Gayer was active in looking after the Bombay defences ; 
 the out forts were reduced to five, that is to say, Mahim, Sion, 
 Mazagon, Worlee and Suree, but it was proposed to complete the 
 sea defences by constructing batteries on Malabar Hill,* in those 
 days covered with jungle, but now the abode of fashionable 
 Bombay, and the site of one of the residences of His Excellency 
 the Governor. Whilst these improvements were being carried out, 
 it is curious to find the garrison again reduced ; a portion of the 
 auxiliary troops were dismissed, and the native levies reduced to 
 seven subadars and 400 men. 
 
 But Sir John Gayer had other anxieties. A piratical ship, 
 
 * In February 1886, when the writer left Bombay, the defences of Malabar Hill 
 consisted of two 18-ton guns, mounted in battery at Government House, Malabar 
 Point, and two others in battery at Mahaluxmee. These were mounted during, or 
 soon after, the despatch of the Malta Expedition, in 1878. A battery mounting 
 small obsolete guns existed before that date on Malabar Point, but it was of latf 
 construction. 
 
86 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 under English colours, having captured a Pilgrim vessel belong- 
 ing to the Mogul, the Governor of Surat seized the President 
 and other servants of the Company, numbering 63 persons, 
 imprisoned and placed them in irons. To effect their release Sir 
 John Gayer proposed to take upon himself the responsibility of 
 the safe conduct of the Pilgrims to Mecca. 
 
 The year of 1695 is also memorable in the annals of the Com- 
 pany for the establishment of the Scotch East India Company, 
 in the month of June, under the auspices of the King and the 
 Parliament of Scotland.* 
 
 About this time, and when the Company was at low ebb, a 
 general clamour arose in England against the monopoly of Indian 
 trade, which, it was contended, should be thrown open to the 
 whole nation, and not be left at the mercy of a mere company 
 of merchants. The Company defended itself, and maintained 
 that it was not possible to carry on a profitable trade with the 
 East, without exclusive privileges; but their enemies added this 
 to their other arguments, that the charter under which the Com- 
 pany carried on their business was insufficient, as it had been 
 granted by successive rnonarchs, who had no right to grant or 
 to renew it. Both sides had their partizans, but the national 
 voice was against the Company, which was, however, supported 
 by Court favour. Corruption,f intrigues, and libels were the 
 common tools of each party, the Company offering large sums 
 for the renewal of their charter ; their adversaries paying freely 
 for its revocation. The dispute, that had been carried on with 
 great violence, was finally settled by Parliament, which declared 
 in favour of open trade ; but the old Company had permission 
 to continue its operations until the expiration of its charter. 
 
 * The Scotch Company ceased to exist in 1697. 
 
 f The sum expended on bribes or " gratifications " at this period amounted to 
 234,258, acknowledged by Sir Thomas Cooke before a Parliamentary Committee. 
 It was stated in evidence that 10,000 and 50,000 had been offered to, and had 
 been refused by King William III. , and it was explained that the former and smaller 
 sum was " customary," it having been given for many years to the reigning 
 monarch, especially to Charles II The Duke of Leeds, President of the Council, 
 narrowly escaped imprisonment for receiving 5,500 guineas. Bruce's Annals. 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BENGAL. 87 
 
 The year 1696 witnessed the release of President Annesley and 
 the English factors at Surat. Trade was, however, but partially 
 re-established. The garrison of Bombay was so reduced by con- 
 tinued sickness, that, out of the three companies of infantry, 
 four file only could be mustered to form a guard of honour to 
 receive a Dutch Commissary on his way to Surat.* In this year 
 an indecisive action was fought between seven Dutch and five 
 French ships off Vingorla, on the west coast south of Bombay, 
 by which it will be seen that the French were holding their 
 own at sea. No fewer than eight piratical vessels were known 
 to be cruising off the West Coast of India. The successes 
 and enormous plunder secured by these deep-dyed scoundrels, 
 gave rise to serious disaffection among the Company's troops 
 and seamen, many of whom deserted to join the black flag. 
 But worse was to follow. The crews of the Company's frigate 
 Mocha, and of a smaller vessel named the Josiah, mutinied, 
 murdered their officers, seized the ships and became pirates. 
 The trade of Bombay, Madras, and Bengal was equally de- 
 pressed by the united action of these marauders, and the loss to 
 the country commerce was estimated at half a million sterling. 
 The following year the Company lost their ship Hannibal by 
 the mutiny of the crew, who turned pirates. Matters had now 
 come to such a pass, that the King's cruisers were ordered to 
 engage all pirates at sea, and the Company offered a reward of 
 ^50 for any man captured and brought to justice, and dGlOO for 
 Captain Amery, a notorious leader. 
 
 With trade at a standstill, and garrisons reduced to dangerous 
 weakness, the Government of Bombay, now again supreme in 
 India, Sir John Gayer having succeeded, on the death of Sir John 
 Goldesborough, as Governor and General, was greatly embarrassed 
 by an application of the Shah of Persia for assistance against the 
 Arabs, with whom he was at war. To this appeal " an evasive 
 answer " was given, a term of frequent occurrence in the future 
 annals of the Company. 
 
 * Bruce. 
 
88 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Not only were the affairs of the Company depressed, but the 
 peninsula of India generally was in a distracted state. Sultan 
 Akbar, son of Aurungzebe, had invaded Northern India with the 
 assistance of Persia ; Zulfiker Khan was waging a relentless war 
 with the Ram Rajah and the Marathas ; a Mogul army was 
 invading the Carnatic, and another force had seized and destroyed 
 the fortifications of St. Thome, thereby alarming and seriously 
 endangering Madras itself ; and in Bengal, Rajah Subah Sing had 
 made himself master of Rajmahal, in spite of the resistance offered 
 by the Mogul's Governor. 
 
 The French successes by sea still continued, for in 1697 they 
 captured two of the Company's ships, which, among other valuables, 
 were carrying eighty recruits for Bombay. To supply this loss, 
 a full company under a lieutenant was embarked. Fort St. David 
 was in this year strengthened by a redoubt, and Mr. Pitt was 
 appointed Governor of Madras independent of Bombay for one 
 year, to enable him, by summary action, to re- arrange affairs at 
 Fort St. George, which, owing to the distance of the supreme 
 Government at Bombay, and dissensions among its servants, had 
 become dangerously unsettled. Orders from- home wisely enjoined 
 strict neutrality in the Civil War between Aurungzebe and his 
 sons, which, already begun, was expected to spread. 
 
 The peace of Europe was happily restored this year by the 
 Treaty of Ryswick (signed 20th September 1697); this, of course, 
 concluded the war in the Indian seas. French authority says* 
 that 4,200 English merchant vessels, valued at twenty-nine and a 
 half million sterling, fell into the hands of the war-vessels and 
 privateers of France, and that the greater part of these vessels were 
 returning from India laden with rich cargoes ; but the good Abbe 
 fails to enumerate the French losses at the same period, by English 
 and Dutch reprisals. Accepting his statements cum grano salis, 
 there can be no doubt that the loss of the Company at sea was 
 considerable, and tended much to cripple its resources. 
 
 Peace with France gave leisure for the better suppression of 
 
 * Abbe Raynal. 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF BENGAL. 89 
 
 piracies, which were daily increasing in audacity. Captain Kidd, 
 of evil notoriety, may, in 1698, be said to have ruled the Indian 
 seas ; he introduced considerable organization among the free- 
 booters, thereby rendering them much more formidable, and told 
 off their vessels into squadrons; the Company's old frigate, Mocha, 
 being chosen as consort to his own ship. Besides inflicting 
 enormous damage on the country trade, Kidd, among other prizes, 
 seized two of the Company's and three ships belonging to the 
 Dutch, all richly laden. He established fortified positions in 
 several islands, especially in Madagascar, where he refreshed his 
 crews and stored his ill-gotten gains. 
 
 The English, Dutch and French entered into an alliance against 
 the marauders, charge of the Indian seas being entrusted to the 
 English, while France was responsible for the Persian Gulf, aud 
 Holland for the Bed Sea. 
 
 It was in the month of September of this year that the new 
 Company, generally known as the English Company in contra- 
 distinction to the old or London Company, obtained its charter. 
 It proved a serious rival to the existing association of merchants. 
 There were now two companies sanctioned by Parliament (besides 
 the Scotch Company sanctioned by the Parliament of Scotland, 
 then a separate kingdom) in the place of one company chartered 
 by royal authority. 
 
 The new Company was granted privileges in some respects greater 
 than those enjoyed by the old Company ; for instance, its principal 
 officers were permitted to assume the title of King's Consuls, 
 which gave them precedence over the officials of the old Company. 
 
 The principal factors of the new association arrived in India in 
 1699. They were Sir Nicolas Waite, appointed to the Malabar 
 coast; Mr. Pitt* (a notorious interloper), appointed to the Coro- 
 mandel ; and Sir Edward Lyttelton, appointed to Bengal. The two 
 
 * Not to be confounded with Governor Pitt of Madras, -who, according to Dr. 
 Nolan, in bis History of the British Empire in India and the East, was his cousin, 
 and grandfather of the illustrious statesman, William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. 
 Governor Pitt was also the possessor of the celebrated Pitt diamond. 
 
90 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 former immediately claimed superiority over Sir John Gayer at 
 Bombay, and Governor Pitt at Madras. Both these gentlemen and 
 Mr. Colt, lately appointed President of the Old Company at Surat, 
 in place of Mr. Annesley dismissed the service, naturally refused to 
 recognize the so-called superior rank of the new comers. This op- 
 position produced animosity if not actual hostilities, a state of affairs 
 at once taken advantage of by their commercial rivals, the French 
 and Dutch, and very seriously embarrassed the old Company which 
 now found itself responsible in the eyes of the natives (who would 
 not or could not understand that the two associations were trading 
 in separate interests), for the acts of their rivals as well as those of 
 the interlopers sailing under English colours, and the depredations 
 of Kidd and his brother pirates. 
 
 It now becomes necessary to revert to affairs in Bengal. 
 
 It will be remembered that after the insulting and humiliating 
 Firman of Aurungzebe, Mr. Charnock resumed the Presidentship 
 at Chattanutee in 1690-91. Things appear to have progressed 
 peacefully, and no event of importance from a military point of view 
 occurred until the visit of the Governor and General Sir John 
 Goldesborough, who arrived on a tour of inspection from Madras 
 in 1694. He at once reduced the military establishment to the 
 smallest proportions, and allowed a force of two sergeants, two 
 corporals, and twenty men only. The pay of the rank and file 
 was fixed at Ks.4 (say eight shillings) a month, with clothing and 
 rations, which Sir John considered to be "a salary more ample 
 than the troops in any other establishment received."* When it is 
 considered that this was the pay of Europeans, and was, presum- 
 ably from the above quotation, higher than that of the men serving 
 in Bombay or Madras, some idea may be formed of the extraordi- 
 nary cheapness of the necessaries of life in those early days. 
 
 In spite of these wholesale reductions, defensive arrangements 
 generally were strictly enjoined. An anticipated French attack 
 about this period, and trouble with interlopers and pirates, was not 
 
 * Broomc's History <>f ' \hc Bengal* Ar my. 
 
tiARLY HISTORY OF BENGAL. 91 
 
 the only cause the Bengal President had for alarm, for a rebellion, 
 the consequences of which it was impossible. to foresee, had broken 
 out in the Mogul's Bengal Provinces. The President again applied 
 to the Nawab for permission to fortify his factory ; and the latter, 
 alarmed at the state of affairs, and probably anxious to enlist the 
 sympathies of the English in the event of further difficulties, gave 
 the President permission to " defend himself."* 
 
 This concession, somewhat vague in itself, was immediately taken 
 advantage of, and masonry walls, with bastions and flanking 
 defences were erected. Thus originated the defences of Calcutta.f 
 At the same time the President ordered the enlistment of native 
 soldiers for the protection of the Company's goods at outlying 
 factories. These men were probably merely peons, or badly armed 
 police, but the fact is mentioned as it is the first recorded mention 
 of native troops in Bengal. 
 
 In 1699 Sir Edward Lyttelton, the President and Consul of 
 the New Company, arrived in India and established his factory at 
 HoogJy. He brought with him a company of troops as body- 
 guard. He appears to have been at first conciliatory in his 
 attitude towards the President of the old Company, but animosity 
 from trade rivalry soon took the place of friendly relations. 
 
 The fortifications of Calcutta had now assumed some strength, 
 and were named Fort William in honour of William III. 
 
 Aurungzebe was at this time very feeble, and disturbances were 
 looked upon as certain for the possession of Delhi in the event of his 
 demise. He, however, survived seven years, but the possibility of 
 his early death gave the Company an excuse for again strengthen- 
 ing the Calcutta defences, where barracks were ordered to be 
 erected for the accommodation of reinforcements expected from 
 England. Orders were also reiterated to look to the defences of 
 all outlying establishments. 
 
 * Bruce. 
 
 f The actual site of the present Calcutta was not acquired by the Company 
 until the following year, when the villages of Govindpore and Kaleeghata (of 
 which Calcutta ia a corruption), were purchased from the Xawab for Rs.16,000. 
 
92 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Space does not admit of any account being here given of the 
 transactions of the new century (1700), so eventful in the annals of 
 the East India CompaDy. They will form the subject of a separate 
 chapter. Suffice it to say that the close of the seventeenth century 
 discovers the hostility between the rival companies to have been so 
 great, that their mutual destruction was only prevented by the 
 distracted state of the Mogul Power, on whose ashes the united 
 companies were destined to raise a mighty empire. 
 
93 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PROGRESS OF THE ENGLISH IN INDIA FROM 1700 TO 
 THE PEACE OF A1X-LA-OHAPELLE, 1748. 
 
 FORMER chapters have described briefly the proceedings of the East 
 India Company from the first landing of its agents at Surat in the 
 beginning of the seventeenth century to the end of 1699, and in 
 the present chapter it is proposed to follow the Company's military 
 enterprises during the first half of the eighteenth century. The 
 various histories of India are strangely silent regarding this 
 period, and what little is known relates chiefly to Bombay, and the 
 factories of the West Coast. 
 
 In the course of nearly one hundred years, the Association of 
 Merchants Adventurers had succeeded in firmly establishing their 
 trade in India. This trade was protected at three fortified positions, 
 namely, on the Island of Bombay, at Fort St. George, Madras ; 
 and at Fort William, Calcutta ; besides minor positions, the most 
 important of which was Fort St. David, south of Madras, and 
 distant only a few miles from the French stronghold of Pondi- 
 cherry. 
 
 Although of the three principal fortresses in the possession of 
 the Company, Madras was the oldest, and of great value as the 
 emporium of trade on the East Coast of India, it yielded to 
 Bombay in point of strength and importance, which the latter 
 
94 THE PEESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 owed to its insular position and to its magnificent harbour, whilst 
 both Bombay and Madras had to acknowledge Fort William, 
 Calcutta, their superior in commercial riches. 
 
 Bearing in mind these facts, it will be acknowledged that the 
 seventeenth century had borne fruits, the value of which cannot 
 be exaggerated, but the eighteenth century opened pregnant with 
 events of still vaster importance events which were destined here- 
 after to raise the Company from its position of peaceful merchants 
 to that of conquerors, rulers of an immense territory, and to 
 bestow on its members a power unparalleled in the history of 
 mercantile adventure. 
 
 It will be remembered that in 1699 there were two chartered 
 companies in India, the Old, or London, and the New, or English, 
 and that the agents of the latter having consular powers, arrogated 
 to themselves superior rank and authority over the servants of the old 
 established company, whose original charter would expire in 1701, 
 when the New Company entertained the hope that supreme autho- 
 rity in India would fall into their hands; these aspirations were, 
 however, frustrated, for in 1700 an Act of Parliament was passed, 
 whereby the Old, or London Company, was constituted a corpora- 
 tion, with possession of Bombay and St. Helena for ever.* 
 
 The bitter quarrels of the agents of the rival companies were 
 the means of seriously impeding the trade of both, and were 
 carried to such a pitch, that the London Company sent an order 
 to its servants in India not to acknowledge the consular powers of 
 the English Company, whose pretensions they declared should be 
 rejected as illegal ; whilst on the other hand the English Company 
 proceeding to extremities, seized the goods of the London Company 
 arriving in England, which produced an action at law, the case 
 being tried by jury, and given in favour of the former, which 
 decision raised the value of its stock to 130 per cent. The hatred 
 of the rival agents was, according to Dr. Nolan,f carried to such an 
 extent, that the rites of Christian burial were denied to the 
 
 * Bruce's Annals. 
 
 f The History of the British Empire in India and the East, 
 
PROGRESS OF THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. 95 
 
 deceased members of the New Company by tbe authorities of the 
 London Company, and but for the charity of the Armenian inhabi- 
 tants of Surat, the dead Englishmen would have remained unburied. 
 
 About this period Mr. Davenant was sent from England to 
 establish a Court of Admiralty in Bombay for the trial of pirates, 
 of whom a Captain Gillam and nine others had already been 
 brought to justice and executed in England. Harassed by con- 
 stant disputes and petty jealousies, although a coalition between 
 the rival companies had been agreed to in December 1700, Sir 
 John Gayer, the able governor of the Old Company, desired to be 
 relieved of his command, but was induced by the Board at home to 
 continue in office, as hopes were entertained that his temperate 
 conduct would go far to counteract the proceedings of Sir Nicolas 
 Waite, the agent of the English Company at Surat, whose illegal 
 acts were tending to widen the breach already existing between the 
 Mogul Emperor and the European traders on account of repeated 
 acts of piracy in the Indian seas, for which acts he demanded 
 eighty lacs of rupees * in compensation from the London Company 
 (which he alone recognized), whose agents were in no way 
 responsible for the depredations complained of, or in a position to 
 pay so heavy a price for piracies, which, they more than suspected, 
 had been encouraged by Sir Nicolas Waite for the purpose of 
 ruining his rivals in commerce. 
 
 In November 1700 Sir John Gayer visited Surat in hopes of 
 deciding disputes between the rival agents (Sir Nicholas Waite 
 and Mr. Colt), the former of whom had offered heavy bribes to 
 the Mogul Governor to embarrass the trade of the Old Company. 
 Sir John Gayer' s efforts were, however, frustrated by the arrival, in 
 December of the same year, of Sir William Norris, appointed by 
 William III., on the part of the English Company, as Ambas- 
 sador to the Mogul Court, who, on arrival at Surat, grossly in- 
 sulted the London Company by striking the union flag on board 
 Sir John Gayer' s ship. 
 
 * About 800,000. 
 
96 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Sir William Norris had reached Masulipatam, on the Coro- 
 mandel coast, as early as September 1699, but not being permitted 
 to travel overland to the Mogul Court, via Golcondah, had been 
 obliged to proceed by sea to Surat. He reached the Mogul camp 
 at Panala, a hill fortress near Kholapur, in the Deccan, in April 
 1701, accompanied by a large retinue, consisting of 60 Europeans 
 and 300 natives, his object being to obtain for the New Company 
 a firman, granting trading rights and protection. After the usual 
 delays of native courts, he was received with much state, and his 
 negotiations were on the point of success, when news was received 
 of the capture and pillage by English pirates of three Mogul ships 
 on their voyage from Mecca with pilgrims. Aurungzebe imme- 
 diately demanded a guarantee for the future safety of all Mogul 
 shipping from pirates or other causes. Sir William Norris was in 
 no position to sign any such guarantee, he having no power over 
 the other trading nationalities or the pirates, who might at any 
 moment molest the Mogul's fleets. Consequently, having declined 
 to give any guarantee or promise of compensation, he was informed 
 that " he knew his way back to England."* Considering this as a 
 dismissal, he left the Emperor's camp in November 1701, but was 
 forcibly detained at Brampore until a letter and sword for William III. 
 had been delivered to his safe-keeping. He reached Surat in 
 April 1702, and, having embarked for England, died at sea. 
 
 The negotiations entered into by Sir William Norris were sub- 
 sequently rendered unnecessary by the partial union of the two 
 companies in 1702. The cost of the mission is said to have been 
 immense, a sum of three and a half lacs of rupees, or 35,000, 
 having been expended in bribes alone, the total cost being com- 
 puted at thirteen and a half lacs of rupees, or about 135, 000. f 
 
 Shortly after this event, the Mogul Emperor pressing his 
 demands on the London Company for payment of the compen- 
 sation, mentioned in a preceding paragraph, without success, Sir 
 Nicolas Waite seized two members of the London Company's 
 
 * Bruce's Annals, f Ibid, 
 
PROGRESS OP THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. 97 
 
 Council and their Secretary at Surat, and handed them over to the 
 Mogul's Governor with their hands tied ; and, subsequently, Sir 
 John Gayer himself and other servants of the Old Company were 
 imprisoned at Surat, by order of the Mogul, for the same reason. 
 At the same time Madras was blockaded ; the agents at Patna and 
 Rajmahal, in Bengal, were made prisoners, and Calcutta was 
 threatened. 
 
 The probability of this action of the Great Mogul had been partly 
 anticipated, and before his departure for Surat Sir John Gayer had 
 again urged the strengthening of the Bombay defensive works, and 
 local efforts had been made in this direction by additional forti- 
 fications at Mahim ; but the garrison of Bombay and its outpost 
 were reported as ridiculously weak. Fort St. George, Madras, had 
 already been strengthened by native labour ; the labourers being 
 exempted from taxation during the progress of the works of 
 defence ; whilst the force at Calcutta was augmented by 120 
 Europeans, besides seamen from the vessels in harbour, who were 
 engaged for the purpose of working additional guns; these precau- 
 tions were everywhere the more necessary, the Mogul power not 
 being the only one the Company had to dread at that moment, as 
 the Muscat Arabs had become insolent at sea, and the Marathas, and 
 a fleet of six Portuguese men-of-war, threatened the safety of 
 Bombay. 
 
 Shortly after his confinement at Surat, Sir John Gayer was 
 offered his release on the payment of 2j lacs of rupees ; * but justly 
 considering that this payment would be a tacit acknowledgment 
 that compensation was due to the Mogul for acts of piracy, the 
 offer was refused, and the servants of the Old Company continued 
 in captivity. In informing his masters of his decision, Sir John 
 Gayer proposed that the Company's trade should be withdrawn 
 wholly from Surat. 
 
 During Sir William Morris' embassy at Panala, the union of 
 the London and English Companies was partially effected ; the Old 
 
 * About 25,000, 
 
98 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Company offered to pay off the stock of the New Company at 5 per 
 cent., when the rival associations were to join hands under the 
 name of " the United Company of Merchants of England trading 
 with the East Indies." The capital of the United Company was 
 proposed at two millions sterling, and the dead stock was valued at 
 400,000 ; this occurred in January 1702, and the transaction was 
 to be completed in seven years.* 
 
 Early in 1702 the Indian Seas were well rid of a pest that had 
 infested them for years. Captain Kidd, the notorious pirate, was 
 seized, and executed at Tilbury. 
 
 In March 1702 William III. died, and was succeeded by Queen 
 Anne, shortly after whose accession war was declared with France. 
 Orders were at once despatched to make Bombay and Fort St. 
 George very strong, and to complete the wall round the town of 
 Madras, whose agent demanded additional recruits and a powerful 
 fleet, as he felt convinced that at the first sign of trouble the 
 natives would join the French, who would blockade the coast with 
 the aid of the Arab fleet. Fort William, Calcutta, had already 
 been ordered to be built as a regular pentagon with bastions, and 
 sufficiently increased so as to allow of the reception of all the 
 establishments of out-factories in case of need. 
 
 In 1703, shortly after the partial union of the Companies, the 
 New Company's factors, Sir Nicolas Waite at Surat, Sir Edward 
 Lyttelton at Hoogly, and Mr. Pitt at Madras, were deprived of 
 their consular titles, which had been such a source of grievance to 
 the servants of the Old Company. Mr. Pitt, of the Old Company's 
 service, was appointed Governor and President at Madras; and Mr. 
 Pitt, of the New Company's service, was removed to Fort St. David, 
 
 * Mill's History of British India. At the Union of the Companies the following 
 were the principal factories in possession of the Company : 1. Bombay had factories 
 at Surat, Swally, Broach, Alimedabad, Agra, Lucknow, Carwar, Tellicherry, 
 Anjengo, Calicut. In Persia, at Gombroom, Shiraz, Ispahan, 2. Madras (Fort 
 St. George) had factories at Gingee, Orixa, Cuddalore, Porto Novo, Petipolee, 
 Masulipatam, Madapollam, Vizagapatam. In Sumatra (Port York), Bencoleen, 
 Indrapore, Sillebar. In China, Tonquin. 3. Bengal (Fort William) had factories 
 at Ballasore, Chuttanuttee, Cossim-bazar, Dacca, Hoogly, Malda, Patna, Rajmahal ; 
 besides the above, there were possessions in Java. Borneo, and Polo Condove 
 
PEOGEESS OP THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. 99 
 
 and made subordinate to Madras ; he died soon after his appoint- 
 ment. Calcutta was ordered to be the head-quarters of the United 
 Company in Bengal. 
 
 Pirates continued their depredations at sea to such an extent, 
 that the Home Government sent two men-of-war, the Severn and 
 Scarborough, to cruise about the coasts of India ; the Marathas and 
 the fleet of the Sidee added to these pests, and the safety of Bombay 
 was constantly threatened ; consequently additional Topasses were 
 enlisted, together with sufficient seamen to man a small fleet 
 destined to act against either. 
 
 To add to the troubles of Bombay, the Portuguese, who held 
 possession of Salsette, obstructed the importations of necessary pro- 
 visions, and the Mogul's army being at the moment engaged in 
 the siege of Singhur, the Maratha hill fortress overlooking Poona, 
 was within a few days' march of the coast. A plague broke 
 out in the city, causing the death of hundreds of natives, and 
 reducing the European garrison to 76 men ; and a great storm 
 about the same time caused infinite damage to the shipping. 
 
 The social condition of the Company's servants in India is 
 described by contemporary writers as truly horrible, and Dr. 
 Nolan, in his History of the British Empire in India and the 
 East, says, Surat and Bombay were perfect hells, while, as regards 
 the military discipline of the period, it appears to have existed in 
 name only. Officers and men were rendered insubordinate by 
 vexatious regulations and illiberal treatment. A Captain Carr, 
 even insulted the Deputy-Governor of Bombay in his Council 
 Chamber, and when asked for an explanation of his absence from 
 two successive morning parades, treated his superior to " good 
 mouth-filling oaths/' and shook his fist in his face ! Such was the 
 general disorganization, that the Governor could not find a man 
 whom he could trust with promotion to non-commissioned rank ! The 
 Company's ships were strongly suspected of piracies at sea; the 
 chief factors acted as tyrants and oppressors to the military ; the 
 agents cheated the Company and the natives, and all were eager 
 for plunder by sea and by land. 
 
 7 * 
 
100 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Sir John Gayer was still detained at Surat, and Fort St. George 
 was threatened with an attack by the native powers. Its fortifica- 
 tions were pronounced as sufficient, but additional garrison was 
 urgently needed, and permission was asked for and obtained to 
 raise a troop of 60 horse; mortars were also demanded from 
 home, as the shells terrified the natives ; and Fort St. David was 
 strengthened. 
 
 In 1703 the Marathas again besieged Surat, and demanded a 
 quarter of the revenue as the price of peace. 
 
 In 1704 Sir John Gayer was nominated from home, Governor and 
 General for the united interests of the Company, and the anxieties 
 of his office quickly accumulated, as the Mogul again seized the 
 Company's servants at Surat, and a Mogul army, under General 
 Bond Khan, threatened Fort St. David, but retired on the pay- 
 ment of 300 pagodas. Dond Khan then made a demonstration 
 towards Madras, which induced Mr. Pitt to complete the wall pre- 
 viously ordered round the town. A small detachment of recruits 
 was at the same time received from England, but twelve out of 
 sixteen of the men died soon after landing. The necessity for 
 strong reinforcements was constantly urged, as the war with France 
 was progressing and the French at Pondicherry were well supplied 
 with men and material, their strength being numerically stronger 
 than the garrisons of Forts St. George and St. David together. 
 Application was made to Bencoleen Factory for 50 Buggesses, or 
 Javanese soldiers, in exchange for whose services it was proposed to 
 send an equal number of Topasses. 
 
 The progress of the war in Europe prevented the despatch of 
 armed cruisers for the suppression of the pirates, who, in 1705, 
 had it all their own way, and the same reason rendered the filling 
 up of garrison vacancies by fresh troops almost impossible. 
 
 During this year the servants of the old associations became re- 
 gularly engaged in the service of the United Company, and the 
 appointment of Sir Edward Lyttelton, as President in Bengal, was 
 revoked. 
 
 Sir John Gayer being still detained by the Mogul's Governor at 
 
PROGRESS OF THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. 101 
 
 Surat, Sir Nicolas Waite represented himself as his successor, in- 
 sinuating that Sir John Gayer had been superseded. There was a 
 certain amount of truth in his statement, for he had been appointed 
 by the United Company to act during Sir John Gayer's detention. 
 Instead of using his powers for his rival's restoration to freedom, 
 he instigated the native Governor to greater severity, and Sir John 
 and the agent of the late London Company were still more closely 
 confined. Sir Nicolas Waite was, in course of time, severely cen- 
 sured for his conduct, but those of the members of the Court of 
 Directors who had lately belonged to the English Company secretly 
 approved his proceedings. 
 
 Sir Nicolas Waite visited Bombay and reported the wall round 
 the town as unfinished, and recommended that in future the 
 garrison should consist of 200 Europeans, formed into 3 companies, 
 and 50 gunners. 
 
 Forts St. George and St. David were again threatened by native 
 forces, and recruits were urgently demanded, especially for the 
 latter, which had been greatly increased, and a wall had been built 
 round Cuddalore. The absolute necessity for powerful reinforce- 
 ments was again and again urged, as the French at Pondicherry 
 were now very strong, their supply of troops and recruits having 
 been carried out with the utmost regularity. 
 
 It is interesting to note that Exchange fluctuated considerably 
 even in those early days in India, for Mr. Pitt, the Madras Pre- 
 sident, was severely blamed for having paid certain debts due by 
 the Company, at the rate of 10s. 6d. the pagoda, instead of 9s., 
 the rate formerly current. The value of the pagoda in 1706 was 
 reported as 11s. 
 
 The state of the garrison of Bombay at this time was sufficiently 
 hopeless; with the Mogul army within three days' march of its 
 walls, the number of European troops was but 40 ! The native 
 Governor of Surat was also becoming more troublesome, and 
 threatened the destruction of all the European nationalities trading 
 at Surat. This conduct induced the Dutch factory to take action : 
 the agent blockaded the harbour and seized Mogul shipping to 
 
102 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 the value of 2,000,000 of rupees. This energetic behaviour brought 
 the native Governor to his senses. 
 
 The following year, the Marathas having defeated the Mogul 
 army near Ahmedabad, again attacked Surat, and for nine days 
 plundered the villages in the neighbourhood.* 
 
 With all these troubles, 8 recruits only were received in Bombay 
 during 1706, and 3 companies of natives were disbanded for neg- 
 lect of duty. Sir Nicolas Waite urged the necessity of despatching 
 at once from England 200 Europeans at least, with a double pro- 
 portion of officers. Madras was no better off, having been re- 
 inforced by 3 men only, at a moment when a French attack from 
 Pondicherry was daily expected ! At Fort William, Calcutta, 16 
 recruits had been received, raising the garrison to 129 men, of whom 
 66 were Europeans, besides the gunner and his crew in charge of the 
 artillery.f By this time the whole of the stock of the united 
 Companies in Bengal had been removed to Fort William. The 
 smallness of the garrisons above mentioned proves how little 
 aggressive were the agents of the Companies ; indeed, so modest 
 were the ideas emanating from Fort William regarding its garrison, 
 that the President recommended that the troops for its protection 
 and that of the valuable property of the Company should never 
 be allowed to fall below the strength of 100 men, this very 
 moderate force being considered the smallest number capable of 
 efficiently working the defences in case of attack. 
 
 To increase the troubles and anxieties of the Agents in India, 
 news was received of the massacre of the Company's servants at 
 Pulo Condore, near Borneo, by Malays. Trade was everywhere 
 almost at a standstill, that of the Malabar coast being ravaged by 
 the Maratha pirates, of whom more will be said hereafter. 
 
 The year 1707 was of immense importance to the Company and 
 to India generally, for it witnessed the death of the Mogul 
 Emperor, Aurungzebe, which took place in February, and was the 
 signal for civil war of the fiercest character. 
 
 * Bruce's Annals. 
 
 f Broome's History of the Bengal Army. 
 
PROGRESS OF THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. 103 
 
 During the last few years of the reign of Aurungzebe, Hindostan 
 had been fast going to ruin. From his death the fall of the 
 Mogul Empire dates, and the history of modern India may be said 
 to begin. 
 
 Although it is not the province of this work to enter into the 
 politics of Hindostan, it may be mentioned, that Aurungzebe, 
 whose imperial title was, by the way, Alumgheer, " the conqueror of 
 the world," had at his death reached the advanced age of ninety-one. 
 He had by will some, especially Stewart, in his History of Bengal, 
 say verbally divided his Kingdom between his three sons: to 
 Mahomed Muazim, the eldest, he assigned Cabul, and the provinces 
 of Lahore and Multan ; to Mahomed Azim, the second son, he 
 gave the central portion of Hindostan ; and to the youngest, Khan 
 Bukhsch, the southern provinces, or Deccan. 
 
 Immediately after the death of Aurungzebe, Azim seized the 
 royal camp and treasure, and having confirmed all the ministers of 
 the late Emperor in their appointments, marched on Delhi to 
 secure it against his elder brother Muazim, then known as Shah 
 Alum. Muazim had, however, with the assistance of his son Azim 
 Ooshan, the Governor of the Bengal Province, seized upon Agra, 
 where was stored all the treasure of Shah Jehan, besides which, 
 Azim Ooshan supplied him with 9 crores of rupees.* With Agra in 
 his possession, and this great treasure, he raised a powerful army 
 and utterly defeated Azim in an action near Agra in which the 
 latter and his two sons were killed. 
 
 Muazim then assumed the title of Bahadur Shah, and mounted 
 the throne of Delhi ; his first act was to reward the fidelity of 
 Azim Ooshan by nominating him Governor of Bengal, Behar and 
 Orissa, to which he added the province of Allahabad ; but being 
 desirous of keeping him for a time near his person at court, he 
 desired him to nominate Mooshad Cooly Khan, his deputy in 
 Bengal and Orissa, and to appoint his own nominees to the charge 
 
 * Nine millions sterling; but Stewart values the crofe at 1,250,000 in thos 
 days, which, if his calculation is correct, would make the value of the 9 crores, 
 11,250,000. 
 
104 THE PRESIDENTIAL ABMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 of Behar and Allahabad. This gave him the opportunity of 
 rewarding two of his most faithful adherents, the brothers Syed 
 Abdullah Khan and Syed Hussein Alii Khan, boasted descendants 
 of the Prophet, and afterwards famous in the political history of 
 Bengal ; to the former he entrusted the province of Allahabad, and 
 to the latter Behar. 
 
 On the death of Bahadur Shah in 1712, Azim Ooshan seized 
 the royal treasure, but was defeated and killed in a general action 
 by the sons of the late Emperor, the elder of whom ascended the 
 Mogul throne under the title of Jehandar Shah. Jehandar Shah 
 was in turn defeated and put to death by Ferrokshere, son of Azim 
 Ooshan in an action near Agra. Ferrokshere assumed the imperial 
 title in January 1713. 
 
 In an article in the Nineteenth Century, May 1887, Sir W. W. 
 Hunter, K.C.S.I., gives some interesting details of the pay of the 
 Native troops in the service of Aurungzebe ; a trooper (one horse 
 silladar) received about J62 10s. a month ; a four-horse silladar * 
 about 16 ; a matchlock man .2 4s. ; a native artilleryman 
 about 3 10s.; a European artilleryman (generally Portuguese) 
 22 a month ; whilst a commander of 5,000 horse received as much 
 as 15,000 a year. This was high pay in a country where grain 
 food cost about Jd. a pound, although it is said to have risen to 
 5d. a pound during Aurungzebe's southern campaign in 1705. 
 
 In 1707 Sir Nicolas Waite, who still continued in command at 
 Bombay, Sir John Gayer not having up to that time obtained his 
 release, applied for recruits from home, and for twelve commissioned 
 officers, the three regular companies being kept up with the greatest 
 difficulty. Military stores were also urgently needed. 
 
 In Madras affairs were even worse. Forts St. George and St. 
 David were menaced by the neighbouring Nabobs, but a Maratha 
 invasion of the Carnatic country, called off the armies. Four 
 recruits only were received where 400 were required. 
 
 * A four-horse silladar is a cavalry soldier who furnishes four horses and accou- 
 trements, which he lets out to troopers called Bagheers ; the system is, to a modified 
 degree, still carried out in the Native cavalry of India. 
 
PROGRESS OF THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. 105 
 
 Bengal was little affected by the civil war, and Calcutta, now 
 regularly built and under the protection of the guns of Fort Wil- 
 liam, rapidly grew in importance ; but its garrison was still weak, 
 consisting of 125 men only, forty-six of whom were Europeans 
 besides the " gunner and his crew." As the company grew in impor- 
 tance, one of the principal cares was the building of strong factories, 
 capable of withstanding any attack from neighbouring Native 
 powers, and training the Agents, factors, and other inhabitants 
 for self-defence. In all these factories, many of them far distant 
 from Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta, the three great strongholds, 
 regular troops in small numbers were maintained. Whenever per- 
 mission could be gained, or the apathy of the Native Governors 
 rendered the permission unnecessary, the factories were regularly 
 fortified. Towards the end of the year, however, the most stringent 
 economy was enjoined, and many factories in Western India were 
 withdrawn. Forts and factories were still maintained at Carwar, 
 Tellicherry, Ajengo and Calicut, and factories at Surat, Swally, 
 Broach, Ahmedabad and Cambay. Bombay, besides its principal 
 fortress, Bombay Castle, was further defended by small forts at 
 Worlee, Sion, Mazagon, Mahim, and Sewree.* 
 
 In 1708 the complete union of the Companies was carried out, 
 when it was determined that the three Presidencies should be separate 
 and distinct, each being absolute within its limits ; the President 
 of each, who was also Commander-in-Chief of the military forces, 
 being responsible to the Directors at home. The forces now con- 
 sisted of men sent as recruits direct from England, deserters from 
 the French and Dutch factories, Portuguese or Topasses, and Native 
 Sepoys. All the Europeans were dressed and armed after the 
 military fashion of the day ; but the Native troops, although drilled 
 in the use of the musket, were chiefly armed with the sword, the 
 spear and shield, wore their native dress, and were commanded by 
 Native officers. It is not known what was the actual number 
 of the Native troops at the period of the amalgamation of the 
 
 * Since those early days, Bombay has so extended that all these places form 
 districts of the great city of to-day. 
 
106 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Companies, but Mill, in his History of British India, vol. ii., 
 says, that in 1707 an effort was made to raise the Sepoys at 
 Calcutta to 300 men. ' 
 
 An early act of the Court of Directors of the United Company 
 was the dismissal from their service of Sir Nicholas Waite, a Mr. 
 Aislahie being appointed in his place. About the same time 
 Sahoji, the Maratha Chief, applied to the Governor of Bombay for 
 arms, ammunition, money, and European troops, to aid him in his 
 wars against the Mahometan powers which had divided the country 
 between them on the death of Aurungzebe, and had cut themselves 
 adrift from the rule of Khan Bukhsch, the son of the late Emperor, 
 and King of Viziapore and Golcondah. This demand could not be 
 complied with.* 
 
 Comparative security had so increased the numbers of the inhabi- 
 tants of Bombay, that the population, in 1715, was computed by 
 the Kev. Mr. Cobb, in his account of Bombay, at 16,000 souls. 
 
 During this year an important event occurred in Bengal; an 
 embassy laden with costly presents to the value of 30,000 was 
 sent to the Imperial Court at Delhi for the purpose of obtaining 
 additional trading privileges from the Emperor Ferokshere.f The 
 mission was completely successful, but it was two years before the 
 patents were despatched, and the embassy returned to Calcutta. 
 The success of the Ambassadors was due mainly to a lucky acci- 
 dent. Ferokshere was suffering from a disease that baffled the 
 skill of the native physicians. Mr. Hamilton, the medical officer, 
 attached to the embassy, was then called in, and succeeded in 
 curing the Royal patient, who conferred on him large presents, 
 and, as a further reward, granted the privileges asked for, which, 
 among other things, included permission to purchase a district con- 
 
 * Bruce's Annals. 
 
 f Some of the presents are enumerated by Dr. Nolan, who quotes a letter from 
 the Ambassadors dated Delhi, or Shah Jehanabad, July 8th, 1715. 
 
 " We prepared for our first presents, viz. one hundred gold mohurs ; the table 
 clock set with precious stones ; the unicorn's horn ; the gold scrutoire bought from 
 Tendy Caun ; the large piece of ambergris ; the aflo and chelumche manilla work ; 
 and the map of the world ; these with the honorable the Governor's letter were 
 presented, everyone holding something in his hand as usual." 
 
PROGRESS OF THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. 107 
 
 taining thirty-seven towns and villages, and extending ten miles 
 from Calcutta on either side of the river Hoogly. Thus for a 
 second time, was the Company indebted to its medical officers for 
 important grants, the reward of their skill and self-abnegation.* 
 
 In 1716 the low wall was completed round the town of Bombay ; 
 this was carried out by voluntary subscription of the inhabitants, 
 who agreed to extra taxation for the completion of this most 
 important work. 
 
 In 1717 the Ostend Company came into existence, much to the 
 annoyance of the Court of Directors in England, who, from time 
 to time, obtained Acts of Parliament prohibiting foreign adventure 
 in India under severe penalties. The Ostend Company disappeared 
 in 1726. 
 
 In the meanwhile the forces of the Company must have been on 
 the increase, for in 1718 an Act of Parliament was obtained, 
 authorizing the Company to seize the persons of all interlopers 
 found within their limits, and send them to England, where they 
 were to be subject to a penalty of 500 for each offence against 
 the trading rights of the Association.f 
 
 Dr. Nolan from contemporary records describes the civil adminis- 
 tration of the military department as the worst possible, robbery 
 in every form being perpetrated upon the soldiers, British and 
 Native, by purveyors and others with impunity. Yet they were 
 not inactive, for in 1718 the Dessaree, a rajah whose territory 
 bordered on Carwar, besieged that fort during a period of two 
 months, when reinforcements were received from Bombay. He 
 raised the siege and was afterwards defeated. As the native forces 
 continued to hover about Carwar, a force of nearly 3,000 men was 
 despatched from Bombay, which, according to Alexander Hamilton 
 in his New Account of the East Indies, behaved disgracefully, 
 
 * The presents given to Hamilton by the Emperor were, as quoted by Dr. Nolan, 
 as follows : 
 
 "The Bang was pleased to give him in public, viz. a vest, a culgee set with 
 precious stones, two diamond rings, an elephant, a horse, and 5,000 rupees, besides 
 ordering, at the same time, all his small instruments to be made in gold, viz. gold 
 buttons for coat, waistcoat, and breeches, set with jewels." 
 
 f Mill's British India. 
 
108 THE PKEStDENTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 retired in front of an inferior force, and only managed to escape 
 under cover of the guns of the fort.* 
 
 The following year saw the English embroiled with the Portu- 
 guese, the subject of quarrel being the expulsion of intriguing 
 Portuguese priests from Bombay, and ill treatment of English 
 subjects at Thanna in retaliation. A small force from Bombay on 
 two occasions shelled Bandora and exacted humble apologies from 
 the Portuguese. The troops of the Company, moreover, found their 
 work cut out for them in attempts to suppress the growing power 
 of the Maratha pirates, who constantly threatened the trade of 
 India in general, and Bombay in particular, by sea. A short 
 description of these pirates may prove of interest, as their subse- 
 quent overthrow by the British in alliance with the Maratha nation 
 was destined, in the future, to greatly increase the power of the 
 latter, and pave the way to the Maratha wars and the downfall of 
 the Maratha Kingdom. 
 
 As far back as the end of the seventeenth century, one Konoji 
 Angria, Admiral of the Maratha fleet, a man of ability, and a 
 courageous soldier, having declared himself independent of the 
 Maratha power, seized the small island of Suvarndurg near the 
 coast, south of Bombay, and built himself swift vessels and rowing 
 boats capable of carrying fifty or sixty armed men, with which he 
 attacked the rich merchant-ships trading along the coast. These 
 piracies were first confined to the native traders, but the fame of 
 his courage and success soon called many daring adventurers to 
 his standard, and enabled him to undertake larger enterprises. 
 His dominions extended from near Bombay to Goa, and pene- 
 trated some twenty to thirty miles inland, and included many of 
 the strongholds fortified by the great Shivaji, the founder of the 
 Maratha Empire. 
 
 As Angria grew in strength, being master of the coast-line, he 
 attacked the flags of the Dutch, Portuguese, and other European 
 
 * It is but just to say that Hamilton's statements should be received with caution, 
 as in his writings he is generally inimical to the Company and its servants, he, him- 
 self, having been a notorious " Interloper." 
 
PROQBESS OF THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. 109 
 
 nations at sea, and took from the French the Jupiter, and at one 
 time three Dutch ships, one of which carried an armament of fifty 
 guns. At first the Government of Bombay viewed these depreda- 
 tions with satisfaction, as being themselves powerful at sea, and 
 well able to cope with the pirates the attacks on the weaker 
 European powers tended to throw the carrying trade into English 
 bottoms ; but when the thieves became sufficiently audacious to 
 attack and actually capture the Company's ships Derby and Restora- 
 tion, their forces were joined with those of Portugal for the over- 
 throw of the Angrias. 
 
 In 1719 an attempt was made to seize Cavery, one of the many 
 strongholds of the pirates, but the enterprize failed, probably 
 through treachery. In 1720 the English ship Charlotte, was seized 
 and taken as a prize to Gheria, which place it was determined to 
 attack. Mr. Walter Brown was detailed to command the expedi- 
 tion ; he reached Gheria without opposition. A number of the 
 pirate ships were destroyed, and some of the pirates were killed ; 
 but finding the fortress too strong for the force at his command, 
 Mr. Brown was obliged to re-embark his troops.* 
 
 In 1722 a combined expedition against the marauders proved 
 abortive, and the Dutch, two years after, met with no better success. 
 Perhaps one of the most memorable sea fights off the coast of India 
 was the engagement of the English merchant ship Morning Star 
 with a pirate fleet of five ships, manned by 2,000 men. The English 
 fighting crew is said to have consisted of seventeen men only, 
 although there were other men on board. With this small force, after 
 being twice boarded, and three times set on fire, her captain and 
 all the crew wounded, she managed to make good her escape to 
 Bombay, leaving the pirates with heavy loss, entangled and in 
 confusion after a final effort to board. 
 
 In 1728 Angria captured the Company's ship, King William, 
 and held its commander a prisoner until a heavy ransom was paid. 
 
 * The records of the Royal Bombay Fusiliers say, that in 1720, a Troop of 
 Dragoons was attached to the Infantry force, and was reduced and incorporated into 
 the Grenadier Company in 1727, 
 
110 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Further attempts to reduce the power of Angria were made without 
 effect. In 1730 a treaty was entered into with the Sawant Ware 
 State for the purpose of holding the pirates in check. The death 
 of Konoji Angria the same year did not improve matters ; he was 
 succeeded by his two sons, Sukaji and Sambaji; the former ruled 
 in Colaba close to Bombay, and the latter held the Southern coast. 
 Sukaji died in 1733, when Colaba fell into the hands of an illegiti- 
 mate brother, Toolaji, who formed alliances, and rapidly grew in 
 power. He attacked the Fort of Ageen, and this event led to a 
 treaty between the English and the Sidee of Jingeera ; * this 
 proved as abortive as other attempts to suppress these pirate 
 pests. This modern Angria even went so far as to seize the 
 town of Rewaree on the River Pen, which flows into Bombay 
 harbour, and thus commanded the communication between Bombay 
 and the main land.f 
 
 A squadron from Bombay managed to intercept the pirate fleet 
 in 1734 ; but the enemy escaped, owing to the irresolution of the 
 British commanders, the result of a divided command. In 1736 
 some small successes were gained by Bombay troops in Canara. 
 In 1738 operations were again undertaken against the Angrias 
 under the command of Commodore Bagwell ; again the pirates 
 escaped, but suffered some damage from the fire of the English 
 ships. The conduct of the Company's forces, naval and military, 
 in these trying expeditions, always acting against vastly superior 
 numbers, is said to have been excellent. Shortly after these 
 events a fleet of four armed merchant ships of the Company were 
 attacked by a powerful pirate squadron ; the attack was repulsed, 
 and is mentioned to show how daring these sea kings had become. 
 Internal dissensions and family quarrels somewhat weakened the 
 powers of the Angrias, and were taken advantage of by the Governor 
 of Bombay, who despatched Captain Inchbird to endeavour to 
 foment disputes between the brothers, and to gain by diplomacy 
 
 * One hundred Europeans and some Artillery under Capt. Inchbird were sent to 
 strengthen his forces. 
 
 f Xolan's History of the British Empire in India, 
 
PROGRESS OP THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. Ill 
 
 that which Bombay had failed to secure by force of arms. Cap- 
 tain Inchbird, however, soon saw the necessity of again appealing 
 to force, and seized many of the Angrias' ships, in spite of which 
 the latter boldly established a foot-hold on the Island of Elephanta. 
 Here the Angrias must be left for a while, and attention invited to 
 another and more powerful section of the Marathas, the Rajahs of 
 Satara, successors of the celebrated Shivaji. 
 
 In a former chapter it has been mentioned how, after the death 
 of Shivaji, the power of the Eajahs of Satara was usurped by the 
 Peshwa Balaji. He was succeeded by his son Bajirav, the most 
 renowned of the Peshwas, who, by his conquests, greatly extended 
 the Maratha Kingdom. In 1724 he conquered the fertile province 
 of Guzerat, and ten years later he gained possession of that of 
 Maldwa. In 1738 he threatened Delhi itself, and actually 
 encamped under its walls, greatly to the alarm of the weak 
 Mogul Emperor, Mahomed Shah, although he did not attempt 
 an assault. The same year he inflicted a series of disasters 
 on the Nizam, whom he forced into a humiliating peace, and 
 among other demands obtained from him the sum of half a million 
 sterling. 
 
 The conquests of a brother of Bajirav first attracted the attention 
 of the Government of Bombay. This able commander had seized 
 many of the isolated forts belonging to the Portuguese, and taken 
 by assault the strong fortress of Thanna, on the Island of Salsette, 
 close to Bombay, in spite of the vigorous defence of its European 
 garrison. Greatly alarmed, the Governor and Council of Bombay 
 wrote to Bengal expressing their fears that Bombay itself was in 
 danger. This expectation was shared by the Portuguese Governor 
 of Bassein, who, with some truth, pointed out that Bombay, already 
 celebrated for its riches and prosperity, could not long hope for 
 freedom from molestation, if the Marathas were permitted to 
 establish a firm footing in Salsette. He also suggested an alliance 
 against that power ; this the Bombay Government declined, declar- 
 ing itself neutral, notwithstanding which declaration 50 European 
 troops were sent to the assistance of Bandora ; these were, however, 
 
112 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 withdrawn when a Maratha attack was threatened, a half measure 
 which occasioned future trouble.* 
 
 In 1739, Bassein, then in Portuguese possession, was invested ; 
 the Governor applied to Bombay for assistance, which, with the 
 exception of 200 barrels of powder and 4,000 projectiles, was 
 refused. An urgent appeal for money was then made ; church 
 plate, and even the guns of the fortress were offered as security, 
 but sympathy alone was offered, and " a handsome excuse" sent.t 
 Eventually Rs.15,000 was supplied, but this scanty assistance did 
 not prevent the subsequent capitulation of the garrison (in May,) 
 which was allowed to march away with all the honours of war, so 
 greatly had the Marathas been impressed with the gallant defence. 
 The losses of the Portuguese are said to have been 800 officers 
 and men besides many of the civil inhabitants. The Maratha 
 losses were estimated at 5,000 men at least. Shortly before this 
 event the Portuguese defences atBandora were destroyed to prevent 
 them falling into the hands of the enemy ; the fortress of Versova 
 was also abandoned, and on the 14th of February, 1739, the 
 Marathas were complete masters of Salsette. 
 
 These events caused serious anxiety at Bombay. The defences 
 of the Presidency town of Western India were of the slightest ; 
 armed boats in the Thanna Creek or river, and in the harbour, 
 formed the outer line, but the town wall (subscribed for by the 
 native merchants among others) was but 11 feet in height, and 
 quite unsuited to resist artillery-fire. With danger of invasion so 
 near at hand, the further strengthening of the defences was taken 
 into urgent consideration, and a petition dated July 1739 is extant, 
 in which the Native merchants offer the Government the sum of 
 Rs. 30,000 to be expended in carrying a ditch round the town.| 
 
 Up to this time the Deccan was quite unknown to the European 
 masters of Bombay, and little or no communication, and certainly 
 no commercial treaty had ever been entered into with the Maratha 
 
 * Bombay State Papers, Professor W. Gr. Forrest, 
 f Ibid. 
 Ibid 
 
PROGRESS OF THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. 113 
 
 Power, except that of Captain Keigwin, in 1684, which was 
 noticed in a former chapter. Envoys were now sent to the Kajah 
 at Poona, and to his commander-in-chief at Bassein, and the non- 
 aggressive character, or indeed the humility, of the Company, and 
 the arrogance of the Peshwa cannot be better set forth, than by 
 quoting extracts from the instructions given by the President in 
 Council to the Envoys, and the Peshwa's reply. 
 
 Captain Gordon, who was deputed to the Rajah at Poona and 
 Satara, was instructed to point out "that although we prefer peace 
 and good harmony with our neighbours, we are determined to 
 defend ourselves in the best manner we are able in case we are 
 attacked . . .Our nation has never meddled with their religion, 
 or had any view of conquest or extending our dominions in these 
 parts, where trade is our sole business and end of residence." * 
 
 Captain Inchbird, who was sent to the Commander-in-Chief at 
 the same time, was desired to say : " The real end of our occupation 
 of Bombay is to circulate free trade round us ... our force now 
 maintained as well by land as sea, is merely intended for our 
 preservation." f 
 
 These missions were both despatched in the middle of the year 
 1739. 
 
 The mission to the Rajah was resented by the Peshwa, the real 
 power, who considered himself slighted, but it nevertheless pro- 
 duced the following from Shahu Rajah to Bajirav. 
 
 " The procedure or policy of the English is of merchants, and 
 they have always carried it with sincerity to our nation, and their 
 desire is to continue to observe the same in the future, that they 
 may deserve my favour which I likewise very much and without 
 fail desire." J 
 
 Bajirav's egotistical reply to Bombay was as follows, the tone 
 of which speaks for itself: 
 -"The contentment which the victorious successes actually 
 
 * Bombay State Papers, Professor W. GK Forrest, 
 t Ibid. 
 | Ibid, 
 
 8 
 
114 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 obtained by my arms has given your Excellency, and which you 
 congratulate upon, is just. Your Excellency writes me that your 
 island subsists by trade, to the great benefit and advantage of the 
 neighbouring countries, and that in regard to the interest of the 
 subject and the improvement of the good of the country I should 
 concur with the favour of my assistance thereto, and my desire is 
 that the subject should be advantaged, the trade be continued, and 
 that our State have its interests and profits, and your Excellency 
 will, I hope, with the continuance of your friendship, contribute 
 to the above ends more and more every day." * 
 
 Twenty years later, as will be seen in its proper place, the tone 
 of the British communications to the Maratha Empire was of a 
 very different character. The result of these several diplomatic 
 notes was the first commercial treaty (with the exception noticed 
 above) dated July 1739, entered into between the English and the 
 Marathas, by which the former gained permission to trade free in 
 the Maratha dominions. 
 
 This period is also celebrated for the invasion of India by 
 Thamas Cooly Khan, better known as Nadir Shah, who in 1737 
 had usurped the throne of Persia. In 1738 he invaded the Punjab 
 at the head of an immense army, and entered Delhi after defeating 
 the Imperial forces, which made but a feeble resistance, in March 
 1739. The ill-fated city was, two days after its capture, given over 
 to the tender mercies of the veteran Persian army. Orme puts 
 down the number of inhabitants massacred at one hundred thou- 
 sand, and Beveridge says that " at the most moderate estimate the 
 amount carried off in money, jewels, and plate could not have been 
 less than 30 millions sterling." This included the famous Peacock 
 throne. Nadir Shah remained at Delhi only fifty-six days, after 
 which he returned to Kandahar, laden with treasure, to which, it 
 is said, the Company's President in Bengal was forced to contribute. 
 Mahomed Shah also ceded to the conqueror all his territories to 
 the West of the Indus, which included Sind. 
 
 * Bombay State Papers, Professor W. G. Forrest. 
 
PROGRESS OF THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. 115 
 
 The Mogul Empire was now fast tottering to its fall. Several 
 provinces, including Bengal and Oude, had declared their indepen- 
 dence. The Rohillas ruled a free state to the East, and within 
 100 miles of the walls of Delhi. The Sikhs, a semi-religious sect 
 of adventurers, usurped authority in the West. Prior even to the 
 Persian invasion, the Nizam-ul-Mulk, Regulator of the State, had 
 succeeded in freeing himself from the Court of Delhi, and shared 
 with the Marathas the sovereignty of Southern India. 
 
 At this period of Indian history, the Company's territorial 
 possessions in Western India consisted of Bombay alone, together 
 with the ground actually occupied by its outlying trading factories, 
 the neighbouring islands of Salsette being in the hands of the 
 Marathas, and that of Kuranja, immediately opposite Bombay, 
 and between it and the mainland, being a stronghold of the 
 Angria pirates. 
 
 These islands, together with those of Elephanta and Hog, in the 
 harbour of Bombay, became the property of the Company by con- 
 quest as late as the year 1754, an account of which campaign will 
 be found in a future paper. 
 
 In 1741 the Bombay Army began to assume some sort of organi- 
 zation, for in that year is found the first mention of a regular regi- 
 ment as part of the garrison of the Castle. The Bombay Quarterly 
 of 1857 states that the regiment was composed as follows : 
 1 captain, 9 lieutenants, 15 ensigns, 1 surgeon, 2 sergeants-major, 
 82 sergeants, 82 corporals, 26 drummers, 319 European privates, 
 31 Mustees or half-castes, 900 Topasses, 27 servants, 2 Native 
 paymasters, 1 interpreter, and 1 armourer; in all 1,499 men, divided 
 into seven companies ; the pay of this force being 10,314 rupees 
 a month.* In addition to the above there were 700 Sepoys, but 
 neither their arms nor dress were uniform. These latter were largely 
 employed in attendance on the Civil Servants of the Company 
 in the capacity of peons, orderlies, and frequently in more menial 
 offices. Nolan says that it was not until 1752 that this class of 
 
 * Nolan. 
 
 8 * 
 
116 THE PBESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 men was struck off the military roll, and became a charge on the 
 Civil Department of the Government.* 
 
 The European officers were, as a rule, uneducated, and of 
 humble origin ; they were badly paid, were looked down upon by 
 the Civil Servants, and used curious expedients to fill their pockets, 
 little caring whether the results obtained were contributed by the 
 Native traders or by the European troops they themselves com- 
 manded. For instance, a document is extant in the Custom 
 Department of Bombay, prohibiting the officer on guard from 
 dealing in fish at the fort gate, he having obtained his stock in 
 trade by confiscating the tenth fish from each of the Native 
 fishermen licensed to sell that article of food within the precincts 
 of the Fort. 
 
 In 1742 the European force in Bombay was augmented from 
 Bengal by the arrival of one ensign, two sergeants, four corporals, 
 and fourteen privates.f 
 
 The same year Bengal was invaded by the Marathas, and Hoogly 
 sacked. The authorities at Calcutta now dug a ridiculous ditch 
 as a means of defence against these powerful invaders, and more 
 especially against their numerous cavalry. This ditch, as origi- 
 nally designed, was to have surrounded the town, a circumference 
 of seven miles ; but as the Marathas did not advance to Calcutta, 
 the work was discontinued, three miles only being completed at 
 great cost and labour. A more sensible defence was, however, 
 organized in the enrolment, for the first time, of a militia, com- 
 posed of all the European inhabitants without distinction, 
 together with the Armenian traders, and a body of Lascars was 
 
 * It is to this day a common occurrence in Bombay to hear the Peon or Putta- 
 wallah called "Sepoy." The writer has never heard the term used in Bengal, 
 where the Peons are known as Putta-wallahs and Chuprassies ; both derive 
 their names from a badge they wear, formed of brass or silver, on which is inscribed 
 the office or department to which they belong. These men are fairly paid and clothed, 
 receive a small pension, and may be numbered by many thousands. A scheme - 
 has within the last few years been set on foot in all the Presidencies, to recruit this 
 useful class of public servants, often employed in positions of trust, from among 
 the Army pensioners. 
 
 j- East India United Service Journal, January 1838, 
 
PROGRESS OF THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. lit 
 
 enlisted to help work the guns under the " gunner and his 
 crew." 
 
 The year 1743 is memorable in the annals of the East India 
 Company for the appearance on the scene of Robert Olive, a young 
 " writer/' employed in the Madras Agency, who, in a few years, 
 was destined to expel the French from India, and to reduce the 
 Mogul Empire from its once lofty state to a mere dependency of 
 the Company, his masters, and of whom the great minister, Pitt, 
 spoke in the following terms : " A heaven-born general, who, 
 without being versed in military affairs, had surpassed all the 
 officers of his time." * 
 
 Attention is now invited to events that were occurring in 
 Southern India. 
 
 In 1744 war was declared between England and France ; at this 
 time Monsieur Dupleix f was the Governor of Pondicherry, the 
 head-quarters of the French power in India, and Monsieur La 
 Bourdonnais was Governor of Mauritius, and independent of India. 
 The lands occupied by the English, at Madras, Fort St. David, 
 Tellicherry, and other places on the coast, and by the French at 
 Pondicherry, were within the territories of the Nabob of the 
 Carnatic, Anwar-oo-deen, who, in 1744, had been appointed by the 
 Nizam-ul-Mulk. 
 
 In 1745 a British squadron, under the command of Admiral 
 Barnet, appeared in the Indian seas. Dupleix, alarmed for the 
 safety of the French settlements, induced the Nabob to insist that 
 the force on board the English ships should not seek hostilities 
 within his territories. The Nabob accordingly desired the Com- 
 pany's agent at Madras to arrange that the fleet should confine itself 
 to the sea, and not molest the French at Pondicherry, at the same 
 time promising Madras and other English factories immunity 
 from French aggression. Barnet, being a King's officer, was quite 
 
 * Military Journal, vol. i., 1799. 
 
 t Dupleix was appointed a member of the French Conncil at Pondicherry as early 
 as 1720. La Bourdonnais distinguished himself at the siege of Mahe', near Calicut, 
 in 1727, and became Governor of Mauritius and Bourbon in 1734 (Abbe Raynal). 
 
118 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 independent of the Madras authorities, but, not wishing to involve 
 the English and French in hostilities on land, complied with the 
 agent's request, refrained from attacking Pondicherry, and left the 
 coast. 
 
 In 1746 he returned and encountered the fleet of La Bourdon- 
 nais, which had been equipped at Mauritius. The French had the 
 superiority in point of numbers, but this was counterbalanced by 
 the weight of the English armament, its sailing qualities, and skill. 
 After an indecisive action, the English squadron retired, leaving 
 La Bourdonnais free ; he at once determined to seize Madras. 
 
 The English agent now called on the Nabob to fulfil his 
 promise, and prevent the French attack. The Nabob, although he 
 did not actually encourage the French, took no active precautions 
 to prevent hostilities, and on the 18th August the siege commenced. 
 
 Madras, at that period, was, as to-day, divided into White and 
 Black Town ; the former was surrounded by a slender wall, with 
 four bastions and 4 light batteries. Black Town was undefended. 
 The English mustered a force of about 300 men, of whom 200 
 only were soldiers of the garrison, a force which, without the co- 
 operation of Barnet's fleet, which, for some unexplained reason, 
 never appeared, was wholly inadequate to resist the powerful 
 French squadron. 
 
 La Bourdonnais landed 1,100 Europeans, 500 Caffres, and 400 
 natives, disciplined after the European system, and to this over- 
 whelming force, besides the guns of the fleet, Madras surrendered 
 on the 10th September. The French loss was nil, that of the 
 English four or five men only. La Bourdonnais accepted ransom 
 for Madras (afterwards a fruitful source of dissension between him 
 and Dupleix), and the President paid in cash 240,000, and gave 
 hostages for the further payment of 200,000, to be paid in full 
 by October 1749.* Besides the ransom, La Bourdonnais seized 
 185,000 in stores and material. On the day of the surrender of 
 Madras, the Nabob sent an indignant message to Dupleix at Pon- 
 
 * Thornton's History of the British Empire in India. 
 
PROGRESS OF THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. 119 
 
 dicherry, asking how the French had presumed to enter into open 
 hostilities against his express command ? Dupleix appeased the 
 wrath of the Nabob by promising that, in the event of the French 
 being permitted to retain, for the present, the advantage they had 
 gained, Madras should eventually be restored to him. With usual 
 native duplicity, the Nabob was satisfied with these promises, and 
 rendered no assistance to the English in their necessity. 
 
 In October the French fleet off Madras suffered severely by a 
 storm, and on the 12th of the same month La Bourdonnais, after 
 quarrelling with Dupleix regarding the terms that had been offered 
 to the English,* returned to his government in the Mauritius, 
 leaving Madras in French occupation. 
 
 It is needless to say that Dupleix had no intention of handing 
 over Madras to the Nabob, according to promise, so that potentate 
 decided to wrest it from the French by force. This attempt was 
 unsuccessful, his army being routed by the French under Mon. 
 Paradis. 
 
 Dupleix, always dissatisfied with the terms offered to the Eng- 
 lish by La Bourdonnais, now determined to annul them ; this 
 perfidious action was promptly carried out, the property of the 
 merchants was confiscated, and the Governor and leading men of 
 the little community marched as prisoners to Pondicherry. 
 
 The English settlement of Fort St. David was situated twelve 
 miles to the south of Pondicherry ; its territory was more exten- 
 sive than that of Madras, and its fort was, of its size, the best in 
 India. The authority of Madras having collapsed, the responsi- 
 bility of conducting the affairs of the Company on the Coromandel 
 Coast devolved on the Agent at Fort St. David. The garrison, 
 including refugees from Madras, consisted of 200 Europeans and 
 100 Topasses only ; and the Agent, feeling no confidence in the 
 friendship of the Nabob, which had been tendered and accepted 
 
 * The terms offered by La Bourdonnais were favourable to the English; these 
 Dupleix refused to carry out, on the plea that La Bourdonnais had no right to offer 
 them. La Bourdonnais, not being in a position to coerce Dupleix in this matter, left 
 India in disgust. 
 
120 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 after his defeat by the French at Madras, hired 2,000 Peons for 
 the protection of the Company's goods at Cuddalore. 
 
 Dupleix now undertook the reduction of the English stronghold, 
 and sent an expedition, under Mons. Bury, consisting of 1,700 
 men, mostly Europeans, 50 cavalry, and some companies of dis- 
 ciplined Caffre slaves left by La Bourdonnais, to carry out his 
 designs. Bury, by want of caution, allowed himself to be sur- 
 prised by the Nabob's army, and was forced to retreat with the 
 loss of his baggage and military stores. An attack on Cuddalore 
 was also unsuccessful. As the Nabob had now plainly shown 
 his friendship for the English, and as his army remained in 
 the vicinity of Fort St. David, Dupleix retaliated by invading the 
 Nabob's territories, burning villages, and carrying away all the 
 plunder he could lay hands on.* 
 
 The unaccountable non-appearance of the English fleet now 
 raised suspicion in the mind of the Nabob, regarding the courage 
 and power of the English ; whereas the well-timed audacity of the 
 French in carrying the war into his territories, served to raise them 
 in his estimation; consequently he laid himself open to the in- 
 trigues of Dupleix, who, having been reinforced by the arrival of 
 a small fleet from Acheen, easily detached him from the English 
 by a payment of Ks. 50,000, and presents to the value of 
 Rs. 100,000.f 
 
 At this time the garrison of Fort St. David was suffering from 
 want of money and provisions, when, unfortunately, the hands of 
 the French were further strengthened by the seizure of an English 
 ship, laden with a valuable cargo and 60,000 in gold ; but in 
 February of the same year (1747), timely aid was rendered by the 
 arrival of another vessel with treasure and a reinforcement of 20 
 Europeans.^ 
 
 In March, another attempt to reduce Fort St. David was under- 
 taken by the French, under Paradis, which was on the point of 
 success, when the English squadron, so long absent, appeared. 
 
 * Thornton. t Ibid. j Ibid, 
 
PEOGRESS OF THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. 121 
 
 Paradis at once retreated to Pondicherry, fearing an English attack 
 on that place by sea. Thus encouraged, and reinforced by 100 
 European troops, 150 marines, and 500 seamen from the fleet, the 
 English determined on attacking Pondicherry. The attempt had 
 no greater measure of success than that which attended the French 
 attacks on Fort St. David. 
 
 In June 1747 the English were again reinforced by the arrival 
 of 100 Europeans, 200 Topasses, and 100 Sepoys from Bombay, 
 where a force of 2,000 natives had been enrolled in 1746 ;* 
 400 Sepoys were received from the settlement of Tellicherry, and 
 during the course of the year an additional 150 Europeans 
 arrived from England.f 
 
 In September the fleet visited Madras, and burnt the French 
 ship Neptune", but in October, owing to the force of the monsoon, 
 the Admiral was obliged to retire to Trincomalee on the coast of 
 Ceylon, from which harbour he returned in January 1748. 
 
 In this year the Company decided to place their artillery on an 
 efficient footing, to do away with the " gunner and his crew," and 
 model it on the European system ; the rules promulgated were 
 applied to the three Presidencies, each of which was ordered to 
 maintain one company of artillery with the following complement 
 of officers and men : 
 
 Rank. Salary. 
 
 1 Second Captain .... dG150 a year. 
 
 1 Captain-Lieutenant and Director of Labora- 
 tory . . . . . 100 
 1 First Lieutenant Fireworker . . 75 
 1 Second ,, . . . 60 
 
 1 Ensign . . . . . 50 
 
 4 Sergeants-Bombardiers . . .2s. Od. a day. 
 
 4 Corporals ... Is. 6d. 
 
 2 Drummers , . . . .Is. Od. 
 100 Gunners . . . . .Is. Od. 
 
 * This is the first mention of native troops being detached on service from their 
 Presidency, 
 f Thornton. 
 
122 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 A captain and chief engineer was appointed to command 
 the three companies on a salary of 200 a year, and was to 
 reside wherever his presence should be most desirable.* These 
 salaries are witness to the cheap living of those days, the salary 
 of the sub-lieutenant of cavalry and infantry of the present day 
 being respectively Ks. 310 and Ks. 256 a month, or, taking them 
 at the value of 2s. the rupee, 372 and 307 a year, against 
 J200 a year received by the chief artillery officer of 1748 ! 
 
 In January 1748 Major Lawrence arrived at Fort St. David, 
 having been appointed from home to command all the Company's 
 forces in India ; from this moment the Presidential Armies begin 
 to assume some sort of organization, a Commander-in-Chief and an 
 Inspector-General of Artillery in India having thus been esta- 
 blished, and the artillery having been remodelled. Promotion was 
 ordered to be by seniority, a rule not to be departed from without 
 special sanction of the Governor of the Presidency. The European 
 infantry does not appear, except in Bombay, to have been, up to 
 this time, formed into battalions, but worked in separate com- 
 panies ; the Sepoys, although in some cases supplied with arms, 
 and disciplined to some very small extent, being little better than 
 peons, that is to say, an inferiorly armed police, destined, however, 
 soon to assume bolder proportions, and take their share in many 
 a hard-fought field. It is also worthy of remark that the force 
 of Sepoys was commanded by their own officers, native gentlemen 
 of position, and wore their own native costume. A Major Good- 
 year was appointed to command in Bombay, on a salary of 250 a 
 year. 
 
 In the same year that witnessed the appointment of the first 
 Commander-in-Chief, is recorded the first instance of disaffection 
 among the Sepoys. The Mahometan commander of the native 
 troops of Tellicherry was discovered to be in treacherous corre- 
 spondence with Mons. Dupleix, and to have formed a plot by which 
 the Sepoys under his command were to desert to the French. He 
 
 * Broome's History of the Bengal Army, 
 
PROGRESS OF THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. 123 
 
 and ten other native officers were banished to the island of St. 
 Helena, a lenient punishment for so gross a crime.* 
 
 In the month of June the French made another unsuccessful 
 attempt to seize Guddalore, from which they retreated, with some 
 loss, to Pondicherry. 
 
 In August, Fort St. David was reinforced by a powerful squadron 
 from England under Admiral Boscawen, when the siege of Pondi- 
 cherry was decided upon. The force told off for this purpose 
 consisted of King's Troops from the fleet, 12 companies of 100 
 men each, 800 marines, and 80 artillerymen Company's Troops, 
 a European force t of 750 men including 300 Topasses, and 70 
 artillerymen. The Dutch factory at Negapatam supplied 120 
 Europeans, and Admiral Boscawen was prepared to land 1,000 
 seamen from the fleet. Two thousand Sepoys were also attached 
 to the force ; the latter were, however, of little use, and were used 
 only to guard the camp. The Nabob promised a force of 2,000 
 horse which never joined. 
 
 The French force defending Pondicherry was 1,800 Europeans 
 and 3,000 Sepoys.J 
 
 As the rainy season was approaching, no time was to be lost ; 
 but several days were wasted in attacking the small fort of Arian- 
 copang, defended by the French captain, Law. The first assault 
 failed with the loss of 150 men ; the second assault, also unsuc- 
 cessful, was commanded by Lawrence in person, who was taken 
 prisoner ; but the French evacuated the works during the night, 
 when the English took possession. 
 
 Discouraged by these failures, the English proceeded to invest 
 Pondicherry, which they found strongly fortified ; the information 
 gained regarding the position and strength of the enemy was 
 meagre and faulty; the Engineers were incapable; and the siege 
 which commenced on the 30th August and terminated on the 
 80th September, was, in spite of the assistance received from the 
 cannonade of the ships, an utter failure. 
 
 * Thornton. f Thornton calls this force a battalion. J Ibid* 
 
124 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 On the 6th October the English commenced their return march 
 to Fort St. David, with a loss of 757 European infantry, 43 artil- 
 lerymen, and 265 seamen ; the Sepoys, for reasons already stated, 
 suffered little. The French loss was estimated at 200 Europeans 
 and 50 Natives.* 
 
 Monsieur Dupleix, naturally elated at his success, communicated 
 it to all the surrounding Native Prfnces, and despatched messen- 
 gers to the Mogul Court, receiving in return the congratulations 
 of the Emperor. France had now reached a position of great 
 power in India, when in November 1748 peace was declared in 
 Europe, hostilities ceased, and Madras, considerably strengthened 
 and improved, was restored to the Company on the 21st August 
 1749. 
 
 * Thornton. 
 
125 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 PROGRESS OF THE BRITISH ARMS IN INDIA FROM THE PEACE 
 OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, 1748, TO THE FALL OF DUPLEIX, 1754. 
 
 IN a former chapter, the first collision between the English and 
 French forces in India was briefly touched upon, and it has been 
 shown how in the beginning of the war the unaccountable dis- 
 appearance of the British fleet, the superior activity of the French 
 under Dupleix, the capture of Madras, and the successful defence 
 of Pondicherry had greatly raised the prestige of France in the 
 eyes of the natives, to the detriment of the importance of England. 
 
 Bombay had played but a small part in the war with France, and 
 daily expected to share the fate of Madras at the hands of Labour- 
 donnais. The fortifications were consequently strengthened, and 
 the Governor and Council were much relieved to hear that a fleet, 
 that had actually been sent against them, had been scattered by a 
 storm. 
 
 In March 1748 they gained some small advantage over the 
 French at Mahie, where they destroyed the ship St. Louis. 
 
 Bengal took no part whatever in the war, the French at Chan- 
 danagore being weak and consequently conciliatory. 
 
 With the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in November 1748, the 
 sword was for a time sheathed ; but the war had brought to India 
 a European force on both sides, far greater than any that, up to 
 that period, had been seen in Hindostan. Military ardour had 
 been awakened, and the value of the native Sepoys as auxiliaries 
 
126 THE PEESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 had, although not as yet fully developed, begun to be appreciated. 
 The impossibility of supplying the fighting material entirely from 
 Europe, rendered it absolutely necessary for each side to employ 
 these native troops, so that at any rate, whatever their disadvan- 
 tages, both parties suffered alike, and it still remained to be seen 
 whether the English or French would be able to inculcate the 
 greater degree of discipline in a body of men which, it was gene- 
 rally acknowledged, supplied excellent, if raw, material for a 
 fighting force. If the Sepoys, by want of discipline, physique, and 
 proper armament, were unable to cope with the better organized 
 European troops, their value in guarding convoys and baggage 
 from native attack, and saving their European companions-in-arms 
 many of the arduous duties of an army in the field, could not be 
 exaggerated ; and for these, if not for higher reasons, they were 
 henceforth to be largely employed. 
 
 The campaigns they were now to enter upon will be described in 
 some detail, although a twice told tale, because they fully illustrate 
 the successive steps by which the native Sepoy rose to the high 
 position he now deservedly occupies. 
 
 With ambition aroused, and forces partly organized, one elated 
 with recent success, the other burning under a sense of discomfi- 
 ture if not actual defeat, it is not to be wondered that two nations, 
 enemies from the earliest times, should be ready and willing to try 
 conclusions by arms at the first opportunity, and should gladly 
 seize any pretext for again drawing the sword. If with peace at 
 home it was impossible to wage war abroad, some other means 
 must be found ; and the will being eager for the fray, the way was 
 not long wanting. 
 
 Mahomed Shah, the Mogul Emperor, who had been forced, in 
 1739, to acknowledge the power of Persia under Nadir Shah, 
 had again, in 1748, seen his dominions invaded from Kandahar by 
 Ahmed Abdalli, the treasurer of -Nadir -Shah, at whose death, by 
 assassination, the previous yfpy^he had made himself master of all 
 the provinces of Hindostan ceded by Mahomed Shah to the victorious 
 Persians in 1739. Ahmed Abdalli was opposed by Ahmed Shah, the 
 
PROGRESS OF THE BRITISH ARMS IN INDIA. 127 
 
 eldest son of the Mogul Emperor, with various success, but with the 
 loss of the Vizier Kummir-ud-deen, a faithful and devoted servant 
 of Mahomed, which event hastened the death of that weak monarch. 
 He was succeeded without opposition by Ahmed Shah, who was 
 acknowledged at Delhi in April 1748. Even before this event, the 
 Mogul power was almost a thing of the past, and was daily de- 
 creasing ; on all sides governors of provinces had declared them- 
 selves independent of Delhi, and had planted the seeds of civil war 
 concerning the succession to their usurpations. 
 
 The ambitious mind of Dupleix saw in all these dissensions an easy 
 road to power. Long continued commerce had greatly increased 
 the cost, and consequently lessened the profits, of many of the 
 trade commodities hitherto most valuable ; besides which, to supply 
 an increased demand, the fabric had greatly deteriorated. In all 
 these circumstances the French Governor felt satisfied that trade 
 was no longer worth prosecuting, and that intrigue, and possible 
 conquest, was the quickest and easiest road to power and wealth, 
 more becoming a great nation like France, than the humbler path 
 of peaceful commerce. If the military power he already possessed 
 could not be used against his legitimate enemies, the English, it 
 might yet be employed with immense profit to help in the disputes 
 of rival native potentates, and turn the scale in favour of the one 
 that paid the best. His mind once made up, it did not take long 
 to discover an object worthy of his assistance, but not before 
 ]<the authorities of Madras had taken the initiative in mixing them- 
 selves up with the complicated disputes of the neighbouring native 
 states. To write even this short account of the armies of the 
 Presidencies, without touching on the political events which 
 actually caused their rise from a small ill-disciplined body of 
 Europeans and badly-armed native peons, intended to guard walls 
 surrounding valuable merchandize, to the proud position of the 
 conquerors of Hindostan and exterminators of the French power in 
 the great Peninsula of India, is impossible, so no excuse is needed 
 for entering very briefly into the politics of India in so far as they 
 affected the services of the Company's forces. 
 
128 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 The events that induced the Government of Madras, which still 
 had its head-quarters at Fort St. David, to use their newly- 
 acquired and now that the war with France was at an end com- 
 paratively useless military forces, were briefly as follows, and are 
 useful to these papers as showing the origin of the first expedition 
 by land, undertaken against a native prince, and bringing promi- 
 nently forward the services of Clrve, the founder of to future 
 military system of the Company in India. 
 
 As far back as 1670, the then ruler of Tanjore, being threatened 
 with destruction by the more powerful prince of Trichinopoly, 
 solicited the armed assistance of the Marathas under -Shivaji. The 
 assistance was granted, and the country saved from its foes only to 
 fall a prey to the insatiable greed of the Maratha leader, wha 
 demanded so great a price as the reward of his succour, that the 
 entire revenue of the kingdom was insufficient to defray the debt. 
 Shivaji, therefore, seized on the Government, which he bestowed on 
 one of his brothers, who, after a short reign, died, leaving three 
 sons. Each of these in turn ruled for a short period and left 
 sons, the Government finally falling to one Sanjohi, who in turn 
 was deposed in favour of Pratop Sing.* Sanjohi presented himself 
 to the authorities at Fort St. David, and sought their assistance 
 for his restoration to the throne of Tanjore, assuring them that 
 on the first signs of an advance, thousands would flock to his- 
 standard, and, agreeing to pay, as the price of European assistance,' 
 all the expenses of the expedition, which, if successful, was to be- 
 further rewarded with the cession to the Company of the fortress 
 and territory of Devicotah. 
 
 Orme thus describes the country of Tanjore. " The Kingdom 
 of Tanjoref extends about seventy miles from north to south, and 
 about sixty miles from east to west. The River Coleroon bounds 
 it to the north ; the sea coast, running nearly north and south, to 
 the east ; to the south it is bounded partly by the country of 
 Morawar ; to the west, it is limited by the Kingdom of Trichino- 
 
 * Orme's Military Transactions. 
 
 f On the East coast of India, South of Madras. 
 
PKOGRESS OF THE BRITISH ARMS IN INDIA. 129 
 
 poly and the country of Tondiman. The capital, bearing the same 
 name (Tanjore) as the kingdom, lieth about thirty miles east from 
 Trichinopoly." 
 
 The Government of Madras, little caring for the legitimacy of 
 the title of Sanjohi, but eager for the possession of valuable 
 territory capable of returning a handsome revenue, lent a willing 
 ear to his appeal, and in the month of March 1749* despatched a 
 force from Fort St. David, by land, under the command of Captain 
 Cope, consisting of 430 Europeans and 1,000 Sepoys, with four 
 field-pieces, to re-establish their protege on the throne of which he 
 had been deprived. The force had hardly taken the field, accom- 
 panied by Sanjohi, when it was overtaken by a hurricane, which 
 destroyed its means of transport, and greatly damaged its military 
 stores and camp equipage, so much so, that it was forced to march 
 to and halt at Portonovo for the repair of damages. 
 
 But this was not the only loss it sustained ; the fleet of Admiral 
 Boscawen, on which it depended for the transport of many of its 
 stores, was dispersed ; two of the Company's ships were stranded 
 between Cuddalore and Fort St. David; the Admiral's flag-ship, 
 the Namur, 74 guns, sank with her crew of 750 men ; and the 
 Apollo, hospital ship, and the Pembroke, 60 guns, were also lost ; 
 a few only of the crews being saved from the disaster.f After 
 repairing damages sustained. Cope's small force continued its 
 march, but was disappointed in receiving no assistance from the 
 natives of the country who were supposed to be eager to join the 
 cause of Sanjohi. Cope, under these circumstances, determined to 
 await reinforcements, which shortly afterwards arrived from Fort 
 St. David, and consisted of an additional- 100 Europeans and 500 
 Sepoys, raising his strength to 580 Europeans and 1,500 Sepoys, a 
 not inconsiderable force for those days. 
 
 Thus strengthened, Cope advanced on the Fortress of Devicotah, 
 
 * At this period, the Madras European force consisted of seven companies of 
 eighty-four officers and men, or 589 in all, and 500 volunteers formed into four 
 companies, who were subsequently drafted into the original seven companies. 
 Wilson's History of the Madras Army. 
 
 t Orme's Military Transactions. 
 
130 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 and crossing the northern arm of the Coleroon river, found himself 
 within a mile of its walls, which he discovered to he eighteen feet 
 high and defended with flanking bastions, or towers, and strongly 
 held hy the Tanjorine army. Being short of provisions, having but 
 four small field-pieces wherewith to batter solid walls of brick and 
 masonry, and seeing no prospect of being re- provisioned by the 
 fleet, Cope determined to secure his retreat, the more so as his 
 troops, brought face to face for the first time with the army of a 
 native Prince, were struck with no small degree of fear when they 
 compared the overwhelming numbers of the enemy with their own 
 small force. 
 
 The retreat nearly proved disastrous ; galled on each flank by 
 hovering cavalry and a dropping musketry fire, a small river or 
 tidal creek was reached, which, under the influence of the rising 
 tide, was from seven to eight feet deep. On attempting to cross 
 this impediment, the native coolies employed in transporting the 
 light portion of the baggage, became panic-stricken, and, dashing 
 into the swollen waters, perished to the number of 400 men, in 
 sight of the army that could do little or nothing for their succour, 
 except by dislodging the enemy from the banks with their musketry 
 fire. With the ebb tide the stream was crossed without further 
 opposition, and the weary troops, after a march of fifteen miles, 
 during which they had maintained a running fight, halted for the 
 night, and next day reached the shelter of Fort St. David. 
 
 The discomfiture of Captain Cope and his force, although it 
 dismayed the Government at Fort St. David, did not determine it to 
 abandon the cause of Sanjohi ; another expedition on a somewhat 
 larger scale was immediately organized, and placed under the 
 command of Major Lawrence, the Commander-in-Chief, in person ; 
 nor was it altogether in the interest of Sanjohi that the new expedi- 
 tion was undertaken, but rather to wipe out the disgrace to the 
 Company's arms, which had been forced to retire in the face of a 
 purely native enemy ; besides which, the Company's servants, 
 always with an eye to business, were well aware that the country 
 promised to them as the reward of success, was populated by many 
 
PEOGEESS OF THE BEITISH ARMS IN INDIA. 131 
 
 of the linen workers, the produce of whose looms was one of the 
 principal manufactures valued by the Company in their trade 
 transactions on the Coromandel Coast. 
 
 Again : the expedition and the treaty with Sanjohi had been 
 undertaken without the authority of the Directors at home ; and 
 non-success, without any advantage to show, was certain to bring 
 down on the authorities of Madras the resentment of their masters. 
 
 The difficulties of the land route experienced by Cope's expedi- 
 tion, determined the Government to despatch the force under 
 Lawrence by sea ; the mouth of the River Coleroon, although to a 
 certain extent blocked by a sand-bar, affording an excellent harbour 
 for the ships if once this impediment could be overcome. The 
 force consisted of 800 Europeans,* 1,500 Sepoys, four battering 
 cannon and six field-pieces; the Europeans and artillery were 
 embarked on board three ships of war, and three of the Company's 
 vessels; the Sepoys in large boats used by the natives in the 
 Coromandel trade.f 
 
 In a few days the expeditionary force found itself close to 
 Devicotah, but separated from that fortress by a branch of the river, 
 on the further bank of which the siege guns (24 pounders) were 
 erected in battery, which, by their well-sustained fire, soon rendered 
 the breach practicable, when an immediate attack was determined on. 
 The passage of the river was a matter of no small difficulty, and 
 cost the British, from the fire of the enemy, thirty Europeans and 
 fifty Sepoys.J Lieutenant Clive volunteered to lead the storming 
 party, an offer gladly accepted by Lawrence, who placed confidence 
 in that rising young soldier. The forlorn hope consisted of thirty- 
 four Europeans and 700 Sepoys. 
 
 Between Clive's little force and the breach lay a rivulet which 
 had to be crossed, and four out of the thirty-four Europeans were 
 
 * Onne's Military Transactions. 
 
 f The European force included the detachment of the Bombay battalion. It is 
 from this battalion, the nucleus of which dates as far back as 1668, that the late 
 Bombay Fusiliers (now the 2nd Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers) claim their origin. 
 (Vide Records of the W3rd Royal Bombay Fusiliers.) 
 
 J Orme's Military Transactions. 
 
 Ibid. 
 
 9 * 
 
132 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 killed before the opposite bank was reached. Olive then advanced 
 boldly, confident that the Sepoys were following close at the heels 
 of the European attack. In this he was deceived ; the Sepoys, a 
 part of whom had already crossed the rivulet, waited until joined 
 by the remainder of their companions, thus leaving a gap between 
 themselves and the Europeans who had advanced with Olive. The 
 enemy, perceiving their advantage^ immediately detached a party of 
 cavalry, which, skilfully handled, fell upon the rear of the advan- 
 cing British, who, before they could turn and defend themselves, 
 were cut down almost to a man, twenty-six of their number being 
 killed. Olive himself escaped narrowly, and retired on the Sepoys 
 whom he found drawn up on the rivulet bank hesitating to advance. 
 Lawrence, seeing the ill success of Olive's attempt, immediately 
 determined to attack with the whole of his European force, when 
 the fortress was carried almost without opposition. A small force 
 was at once detached under Captain Cope to take possession of 
 the Pagoda of Atchaveram, five miles south-west of Devicotah, 
 which was at once surrendered to the British by the attendant 
 Brahmins who alone occupied it ; but it was shortly afterwards 
 attacked by a force of 5,000 Tanjorines, eager to avenge the insult 
 offered to their gods by the seizure of their temple. The British, 
 knowing that they could expect no mercy if obliged to surrender, 
 fought with determined gallantry, and being sheltered behind the 
 massive walls, suffered but little loss, and eventually drove off the 
 enemy, who are said to have sacrificed 300 men in the attack, 
 which they conducted with great determination. 
 
 The loss of Devicotah, and other troubles that loomed ahead, 
 induced the King of Tanjore to offer terms ; these, in spite of the 
 promises made to the unfortunate Sanjohi, were promptly accepted 
 by the Government of Madras; they included the cession to the 
 Company of Devicotah, with as much land adjoining as would 
 produce an annual revenue of 9,000 pagodas, and a pension of 4,000 
 rupees to Sanjohi, who, in future, was to reside in British terri- 
 tory, the Company's servants rendering themselves responsible for 
 his future good conduct, by which means, from being the protectors 
 
PROGBESS OF THE BRITISH ARMS IN INDIA. 133 
 
 of the unhappy prince, the Government of Madras became his 
 jailors.* 
 
 Thus ended the first campaign conducted on land by the Com- 
 pany's forces against a native sovereign ; it was brought to a close 
 with but little glory to their arms, and immense discredit to their 
 honour, being undertaken without proper inquiry into the claims 
 of their protege ^ whom, their object gained by the possession of 
 Devicotah with its adjoining territory, they cast aside without 
 hesitation and without excuse for their double dealing, more 
 worthy of the natives against whom they fought, than of the great 
 European Company which they represented. 
 
 In coming to terms with the Government of Madras, the King 
 of Tanjore had other reasons than those dictated by the success 
 of their arms ; a new danger threatened, and one in which the 
 French were partly involved through the ceaseless intrigues of 
 M. Dupleix. 
 
 A few months after the death of the Mogul Emperor, Mahomed 
 Shah, who, as before mentioned, had died in 1748, the Nizam- 
 ul-Mulk, the ruler of the Deccan, passed away at the advanced 
 age, according to Orme, of 104 years. His sons, rival claimants 
 to the vacant Soubahship, now in reality a Government entirely 
 independent of the Court of Delhi, at once took the field to 
 contest the succession ; Ghazi-oo-deen, the eldest son and heir to 
 his father, was at that time at Delhi, filling an honourable and 
 lucrative post near the person of Ahmed Shah ; he at once 
 obtained the confirmation of the Emperor to his title, which, 
 although practically unnecessary, would at least strengthen his 
 hand in the event of a disputed succession, especially as he was 
 unable at once to join his Government and claim his rights. His 
 younger brother, Nazir Jung, being on the spot, did not hesitate 
 to seize the treasure of his father, and thus secure the favour of 
 the army to his claims, whilst Muzzufer Jung, a favourite grandson 
 
 * After the fall of Devicotah, the Bombay detachment, under Captain Andrews, 
 which had joined the Madras force in May 1747, returned to Bombay in March 
 1751, reduced to less than one-third of its original strength, which had been 300 
 Europeans and 115 Sepoys. Records of the Royal Bombay Fusiliers. 
 
134 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 of the late Nizam, prepared to dispute his uncle's pretensions. 
 Both claimants used all the means known to Eastern diplomacy 
 to secure the disputed succession, and at last appealed to arms. 
 
 After various vicissitudes, into which it is not necessary for the 
 purpose of these papers to enter, the cause of Muzzufer Jung became 
 almost hopeless, when he was unexpectedly joined by a powerful 
 auxiliary in the person of Charidah Sahib, a soldier of fortune, 
 who, in 1741, had been made prisoner by the Marathas at the 
 siege of Trichinopoly, and who had ever since remained a captive 
 in their hands. This man, at the instigation of M. Dupleix, and 
 on payment of 700,000 rupees, was not only set at liberty by those 
 intrepid mountaineers, but was supplied with the nucleus of an 
 army, in the shape of 3,000 of their own men.* 
 
 During his imprisonment, the family of Chandah Sahib had 
 lived in Pondicherry, and had been kindly and honourably treated 
 by Dupleix, who saw in the captive chief a probable tool for his 
 own aggrandizement. On his release, Chandah Sahib at once enter- 
 tained the idea of entering into competition with Anwar-oo-deen 
 Khan, the then unpopular ruler of Arcot, and in this ambitious 
 scheme he was supported by Dupleix. Consequently he joined 
 forces with Muzzufer Jung, who promised, if successful, to confirm 
 him in the coveted Nabobship. 
 
 The combined forces, numbering 40,000 men, joined by a power- 
 ful reinforcement of 400 Europeans and 2,000 Sepoys under Mons. 
 d'Auteuil and Bussy from Pondicherry, at once attacked Anwar-oo- 
 deen, who, trusting to his own strength, had neither asked for nor 
 obtained the assistance of the English Company, and who, with an 
 army of 12,000 cavalry and 8,000 infantry, had taken up a strong 
 position, with his right flank resting on the hill fortress of Amboor. 
 The fight which took place on the 23rd July 1749, was obstinate, 
 and was brought to a conclusion favourable to Chandah Sahib and 
 Muzzufer Jung by the gallantry of the French detachment which, 
 although twice repulsed, eventually carried the position, leaving 
 Anwar-oo-deen dead on the field. 
 
 * Orme's Military Transactions* 
 
PROGRESS OF THE BRITISH ARMS IN INDIA. 135 
 
 Arcot was immediately seized, when Chandah Sahib assumed the 
 title and dignity of Nabob, and Muzzufer Jung was proclaimed 
 Nizam; after which, to gratify the vanity of Dupleix, the new rulers 
 proceeded in triumph to Pondicherry, the guests and allies of 
 France. 
 
 In the meanwhile, Mahomed Ali, a younger son of the unfortu- 
 nate Anwar-oo-deen the elder, Maphuze Khan, having been made 
 prisoner during the late action had effected his escape from the 
 fatal field of Amboor, and had shut himself up in the strong fortress 
 of Trichinopoly, and, claiming the title of Nabob of Arcot in 
 succession to his father, implored the assistance of the British, who 
 at first, probably disheartened by the losses in the recent Tanjore 
 campaign, refused all aid, but subsequently adopted the half 
 measure of sending him a detachment of 120 Europeans, thereby 
 committing themselves to the interests of Mahomed Ali. At the 
 same time, when they saw themselves thus virtually on the verge of 
 another war with the French in India, the Government of Madras, 
 at Fort St. David, agreed to the departure of Boscawen with his 
 fleet from the Indian seas, on the 21st October 1749, although it 
 is said that the Admiral offered to remain and render any assistance 
 in his power,* and left a detachment of 300 Europeans to strengthen 
 the garrison.f It is needless to say that these weak proceedings 
 suited well the schemes of Dupleix. 
 
 At the conclusion of the ceremonials at Pondicherry, Dupleix 
 urgently besought his new allies, Muzzufer Jung and Chandah 
 Sahib, to march on Trichinopoly and crush Mahomed Ali before 
 assistance could reach him ; this they promised to do, but at once 
 altered their designs and determined on a campaign against Tan-r 
 jore, which promised j little military difficulty, and a presumed 
 certainty of replenishing their almost empty treasury. 
 
 This, indeed, was the threatened danger, before alluded to, that 
 had caused the ruler of Tanjore to come to terms with the British 
 after the fall of Devicotah. 
 
 * Beveridge's History of India, 
 f Orme's Military Transactions. 
 
136 THE PBESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 The King of Tanj ore at once opened negotiations with his new 
 enemies with all the skill of a native diplomatist, and protracted 
 them until such time as he heard of the arrival of Nazir Jung 
 (Muzzufer Jung's rival for the Soubahship of the Deccan) in 
 the vicinity of Arcot ; hut in spite of negotiations and delays, the 
 city was bombarded by the French, who, notwithstanding the fire 
 of the Tanjorine guns, manned and fired by twenty Europeans from 
 Fort St. David, assaulted and carried one of the gates. 
 
 This success so terrified the King that he came to terms with 
 Chandah Sahib, and agreed to pay him seven lacs of rupees as 
 Nabob of Arcot; to distribute two lacs of rupees amongst the 
 French troops, and to cede to France eighty-one villages : but the 
 news of the approach of Nazir Jung induced Muzzufer Jung to 
 break up his camp and retire to Pondicherry. These events 
 occurred in December 1749. 
 
 Nazir Jung had, as a matter of course, espoused the cause of 
 Mahomed Ali, and was now at the head of an army estimated at 
 300,000 men, of whom 30,000 were Maratha horse under Morari-Kav, 
 800 guns and 1,300 elephants, and a body of 6,000 cavalry, com- 
 manded by Mahomed Ali in person. The timely arrival of Nazir 
 Jung on the scene, at length determined the wavering policy of the 
 authorities at Fort St. David, who now made up their minds to 
 cast in their lot with Nazir Jung and Mahomed Ali, and despatched 
 600 Europeans under Major Lawrence, who reached their camp on 
 the 22ud March 1750.* ' 
 
 Thus were established in Southern India two factions striving 
 for the inheritance of the Nizam-ul-Mulk and the Nabobship of 
 Arcot, each assisted by a European power; that is to say, Nazir 
 Jung and Mahomed Ali,f supported by the arms of the English 
 Company and led by Lawrence ; and Muzzufer Jung and Chandah 
 
 * At this time the Directors at home, finding difficulty in obtaining recruits, 
 offered a bounty of 10 to each time-expired man who would re-enlist for five 
 years. 
 
 t This prince made over the town and lands of Mylapore, better known as St. 
 Thomas, in the immediate vicinity of Fort St. George, to the Company in October 
 1749. Wilson's History of the Madras Army. 
 
PROGRESS OF THE BRITISH ABMS IN INDIA. 137 
 
 Sahib, assisted by a Frencb force under the command of d'Auteuil, 
 and guided by the powerful and scheming brain of Dupleix. 
 
 It must not be supposed that the ambitious schemes of Dupleix 
 met with the entire approval and sanction of the Government of 
 France. The French King well knew the power of England, and 
 fully recognized that, if forced into a war, the English would 
 be slow to lay down their arms and sheath the sword ; but Dupleix 
 artfully represented that the British were bent on territorial aggran- 
 dizement in India, as shown by their recent action at Tanjore, 
 and declared it absolutely necessary for France to counteract their 
 rapidly growing influence, by intrigue and negotiations with the 
 rival native potentates; consequently, whilst pretending amena- 
 bility to the King and Company, he prepared to contest with 
 England the sovereignty of Southern India. 
 
 To oppose the formidable host of Nazir Jung before alluded to, 
 the French under d'Auteuil took up a strong position from which 
 it would have been difficult to dislodge them, even with the assis- 
 tance of Lawrence and his small British detachment, had it not been 
 for a mutiny among the French officers, thirteen of whom threw 
 up their commissions whilst in face of the enemy. Thus discou- 
 raged, d'Auteuil retired on Pondicherry, and Muzzufer Jung 
 looking upon his cause as now desperate, determined to give up 
 his person to Nazir Jung on the promise of personal safety. He 
 was, as a matter of course, imprisoned in spite of promises, his 
 army attacked, defeated, and scattered. Chandah Sahib, more 
 fortunate than his weak partner in the game for power, escaped 
 with the French to Pondicherry. 
 
 On the arrival of the disorganized French troops at the capital, 
 Dupleix, undaunted at the reverse suffered by his arms, at once 
 opened negotiations with Nazir Jung, whose shifty behaviour with 
 the French ambassadors so disgusted Lawrence that he, with his 
 small following, at once retired to Fort St. David. 
 
 In the meanwhile the French were active. In July 1750, with a 
 force of 200 Europeans and 300 Sepoys, they seized on Masuli- 
 patam and Travadi. The latter place being within the territory 
 
138 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES Ob' INDIA. 
 
 claimed by Mahomed Ali, its seizure was at once resented by 
 the British. Mahomed Ali advanced with an army of 20,000 men 
 assisted by 400 Europeans and 1,500 Sepoys from Fort St. David, 
 under Captain Cope, burning to recover his lost possessions. With 
 characteristic want of energy and decision, Mahomed Ali declined 
 to force a general action, whereupon Cope was recalled, and the 
 French, taking advantage of the absence of the only portion of the 
 adversary's force at all formidable, attacked Mahomed Ali on the 
 15th August, and completely crushed his undisciplined rabble, 
 Mahomed himself escaping to Arcot with difficulty, where he, with 
 a few followers, joined Nazir Jung. 
 
 Dupleix continued to pursue his advantage, and despatched a 
 small force under the command of Mons. d'Auteuil and Bussy to 
 seize the celebrated fortress of Gingee, situated eighty-five miles 
 south-west of Madras, and thirty-five miles north-west of Pondi- 
 cherry. This fortress, which in the hands of the gallant Marathas 
 had for years withstood the entire force of the Mogul Empire 
 under Aurungzebe, fell to the French with but little resistance. 
 
 Nazir Jung, at length awakened by this important conquest 
 from a life of debauchery at Arcot, prepared to take the field. 
 Beveridge enumerates his army at 60,000 foot, 45,000 horse, 700 
 elephants, and 360 pieces of cannon; it was, moreover, swelled to 
 utter unwieldiness by camp-followers, the whole numbering pro- 
 bably not less than 300,000 souls. 
 
 In spite of numbers, being without assistance from the English, 
 his heart seems to have failed him, for he despatched two trusted 
 officers to negotiate with Dupleix, who now became imperious and 
 extravagant in his demands. The huge army, after marching a 
 few miles in many days, found itself overtaken by the periodical 
 rains, and encamped between two rivers in full flood and impass- 
 able. Ketreat being impossible, the Nizam granted all the demands 
 of the French despot, but procrastination had sealed his fate. 
 Some time before, Dupleix had managed to gain over a powerful 
 party in the Nizam's camp, consisting of chiefs, principally Patans, 
 who were, or pretended to be, indignant at the treatment of the 
 
PROGRESS OF THE BRITISH ARMS IN INDIA. 139 
 
 prisoner Muzzufer Jung ; with their aid he proposed to seize the 
 person of Nazir Jung and place his own puppet on the throne. 
 
 Monsieur de la Touche, then in command at Gingee was, with a 
 force of 800 Europeans and 300 Sepoys, ordered to attack the 
 Nizam's camp whenever the traitors declared themselves ready. 
 Early in October 1750 he set out from Gingee. Nazir Jung, who 
 but the day before had signed the treaty with Dupleix, could not 
 believe in a French attack, and thinking that the firing was 
 probably some local disturbance, went in person to quell it; 
 he was slain in his howdah by the Chief of Kurpa, one of the 
 discontents. 
 
 On the death of Nazir Jung, the prisoner Muzzufer Jung was 
 at once liberated by the French and proclaimed Nizam. He pro- 
 ceeded in triumph to Pondicherry, where he was received by 
 Dupleix with considerable state, and duly installed in power. His 
 treasure is said to have amounted to two million sterling in cash, 
 and half a million in jewels. Half the treasure was to be the price 
 of the Patan treachery, but, of course, was not forthcoming when 
 demanded. Dupleix was made governor of all the provinces from 
 the Kristna River to Cape Comorin, and further dignified with the 
 command of 7,000 horse, an oriental compliment of high honour ; 
 he moreover received 200,000 in cash and some fine jewels as a 
 personal reward, whilst 50,000 were distributed to the gallant 
 conquerors of Gingee, and another like sum was paid to the 
 French for the expenses of the late campaign ; they also received 
 considerable territory round Pondicherry and Masulipatam. 
 
 The reign of Muzzufer Jung was destined to be of short con- 
 tinuance. In January 1751 he left Pondicherry, accompanied by 
 Monsieur Bussy in command of a French force of 300 Euro- 
 peans and 2,000 Sepoys for Golconda, the discontented Patan 
 chiefs, with their respective followings, forming a portion of his 
 escort, and determined on his overthrow. A camp quarrel soon 
 gave a pretext for open hostilities ; a battle ensued, in which the 
 mutinous chiefs, with the aid of Bussy's detachment, were easily 
 defeated, but the victory cost Muzzufer Jung his life ; in the heat 
 
140 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 of the action he was killed by the Chief of Kurnool in a personal 
 encounter. 
 
 It is curious to note that the rival claimants for the Soubah- 
 ship of the Deccan, Nazir Jung and Muzzufer Jung, both met 
 their death by the treachery of the same Patan chiefs, thus show- 
 ing how little reliance could be placed on the alliance and good 
 faith of the petty states dependent on great native powers. 
 
 Monsieur Bussy, although dismayed at the untimely end of the 
 protege of France, lost not a moment in supplying his place. The 
 choice fell on Salabut Jung, the eldest of three brothers of Nazir 
 Jung, who were then prisoners in the camp. He at once con- 
 firmed all the grants made to the French by his predecessor, when 
 his elevation to the vacant throne received the sanction of the now 
 all-powerful Dupleix. 
 
 In the meanwhile the affairs of Mahomed Ali were becoming 
 desperate; he had already lost the province of Madura, and was 
 now threatened with a siege of Trichinopoly, his only remaining 
 stronghold, by Chandah Sahib, his rival for the Nabobship of the 
 Carnatic, who, contrary to the advice of Dupleix, was at the 
 moment employing his forces in the reduction of Arcot. 
 
 Mahomed Ali, fearing the worst, had offered to resign to the 
 French, an offer which was strongly resented by the Government 
 at Fort St. David, who pointed out to him the madness of so 
 suicidal a policy, which would in reality make France supreme in 
 Southern India. 
 
 An arrangement by which Chandah Sahib should be acknow- 
 ledged Nabob of the Carnatic, and Mahomed Ali retain Trichi- 
 nopoly, was proposed to the French by the hesitating English, and 
 by them refused with scornful insolence. A fresh alliance was 
 then suggested and gladly accepted by Mahomed, who was at once 
 furnished with a detachment of 280 Europeans and 300 Sepoys 
 under the command of Captain Cope. 
 
 The opening act of the new campaign was an attempt by Cope 
 to reconquer Madura with a force of 150 Europeans, 600 Native 
 Cavalry, 5,000 foot belonging to Mahomed Ali's army, one old 
 
PROGRESS OF THE BRITISH ARMS IN INDIA. 141 
 
 battering gun of native manufacture, and three small field-pieces. 
 The attempt was gallantly sustained but failed, and Cope returned 
 to Trichinopoly. 
 
 In April 1751, a force of mixed nationalities, consisting of 500 
 Europeans, of whom 50 were cavalry, 100 Caffres, including 
 natives of Mauritius and Madagascar, and 1,000 Sepoys, with 
 8 field-pieces, under Captain Gingens;* was assembled with the 
 object of attacking Chandah Sahib, who was at the time encamped 
 near the fortress of Volconda with 12,000 horse, 3,000 Sepoys, 
 and a strong French battalion. Captain Gingens having been 
 reinforced with 100 Europeans by Captain Cope, and 2,000 horse 
 and 2,000 foot by Mahomed Ali, the latter under the command of 
 his brother, prepared for a general action on June 20th; his 
 intention was frustrated by the disgraceful behaviour of his 
 European detachment, which, consisting largely of foreigners, 
 deserters from the French and Dutch, declined to face the enemy, 
 and actually fled in terror and confusion in spite of the jeers and 
 openly expressed disdain of the native allies. 
 
 Under these distressing circumstances retreat became a matter of 
 imperative necessity, and was conducted in confusion until safety 
 was gained under the walls of Trichinopoly. The whole country 
 was now abandoned to Chandah Sahib, who, pursuing leisurely, 
 and possessing himself of the island of Seringham (formed by the 
 Eivers Cauvery and Coleroon), which important and easily defended 
 position the English evacuated without firing a shot, encamped 
 with the main body of his victorious force to the east of Trichi- 
 nopoly, the walls of which were defended by Cope and 100 
 Europeans, whilst Mahomed Ali occupied a position to the south, 
 and Gingens, with his disheartened troops, encamped west of the 
 city and under its walls. 
 
 Clive is said to have been present at the disgraceful affair of 
 Volconda, when he did his best, by personal gallantry, to give 
 
 * There was a spirit of discontent among the officers of this force, who had 
 applied for additional allowances whilst in the field, and had been refused The 
 whole correspondence is published by Wilson in his History af the Madras Army, 
 
142 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 confidence to the panic-stricken troops, after which he appears to 
 have returned to Fort St. David where the Government were in 
 despair at the non-success of their arms. 
 
 Mr. Saunders, the then Governor, a cool and shrewd-headed 
 man, plainly saw the danger of the situation, and that if Trichi- 
 nopoly fell to Chandah Sahib and the French, the ambitious 
 designs of Diapleix would be almost accomplished and France be 
 supreme in Southern India. He at once determined to despatch 
 Mr. Pigot, a member of his council, with 80 Europeans, 300 
 Sepoys, and a large convoy of military stores as a reinforcement. 
 Olive, who had left the military service, accompanied this force in 
 his civil capacity of commissary. The convoy and its guard 
 reached Trichinopoly in safety after crossing a difficult country, 
 and defeating a hostile chief encountered en route. 
 
 Olive again returned to Fort St. David, and again set out with 
 a small reinforcement for Trichinopoly (he having at this period 
 rejoined the army with the rank of captain), which was augmented 
 from Devicotah by a detachment of 100 Europeans, 50 Sepoys, and 
 one field-piece under Captain Clarke, who, as senior officer, assumed 
 command. This detachment reached Trichinopoly in safety after 
 a successful skirmish with a French force near to the fortress of 
 Coilady. 
 
 In August 1751, Olive, who once more found himself at head- 
 quarters, represented to the Government of Fort St. David, that, in 
 spite of all efforts to reinforce Trichinopoly, the army of Chandah 
 Sahib out-numbered that of Mahomed Ali by ten to one, and that 
 the French mustered 900 Europeans at least against the English 
 600. Olive now proposed a diversion by an attack on Arcot, at 
 the time garrisoned by. about 1,000 of the enemy. His suggestion 
 was adopted and every effort made to collect a sufficient force, so 
 much so, indeed, that the garrison of Madras was reduced to 50 
 men and that of Fort St. David to 100. In spite of all efforts, 
 200 Europeans, 800 Sepoys, and 3 field-pieces, were all that could 
 be mustered, and with this insignificant following Olive set out for 
 what ultimately proved a career of victory. 
 
PROGRESS OF THE BRITISH ARMS IN INDIA. 143 
 
 On the 31st of August 1751, Olive entered Arcot in triumph 
 almost without resistance, and at once prepared for the siege which 
 he anticipated and hoped for, as a relief to Trichinopoly. His 
 first act after fully provisioning his position, was to follow up his 
 recent success by an attack on the late garrison, which he dis- 
 covered encamped some few miles from Arcot ; twice he engaged 
 the enemy with partial success, and finally dispersed them in a 
 night attack made on the 14th of September. About this time he 
 was strengthened by the timely arrival of two 18-pounder guns, a 
 few Sepoys, and a convoy of military stores. 
 
 On September 23, the anticipated siege by Chandah Sahib com- 
 menced. He had drafted 4.000* men from Trichinopoly, and was 
 assisted by 150 French, and 3,000 Natives, collected in the 
 neighbourhood, the whole under the command of his son Rajah 
 Sahib. With this force the city was at once occupied, Olive 
 retaining the Fort. Determined to dislodge the enemy from the 
 streets, a sortie of the garrison was ordered; it failed with serious 
 loss of European life, 14 men being killed, and 16 wounded, 
 besides Olive's only artillery officer. 
 
 The garrison, already greatly reduced by sickness, was quite insuffi- 
 cient for the defence of the walls, which in many places were in a 
 ruinous condition, and were of considerable extent ; 126 Europeans 
 and 200 Sepoys only, could be mustered against the army of the 
 besiegers, numbering quite 10,000, of which, however, only 150 
 Europeans and 2,000 Sepoys could be called really effective, the 
 remainder being composed of a rabble of undisciplined peons and 
 irregular cavalry. Both stratagem and hard fighting were resorted 
 to ; but still the siege continued, and on the 24th October, the French 
 opened a battery, which soon dismounted one of Olive's valued 
 eighteen-pounders, and made a practicable breach in the rotting 
 walls. In retaliation, the British with immense exertion, succeeded 
 in mounting a big gun, throwing a ball of 72 Ibs. weight, said to have 
 been transported to Arcot by Aurungzebe, with 1,000 yoke of ox n n : 
 it burst at the fourth discharge. An attempt to reinforce Arcot 
 
 * Monsieur Law in his narrative says 5,280 men. 
 
144 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 with 100 Europeans and 200 Sepoys from Fort St. David, under 
 the command of Lieutenant Innes failed, when Olive opened 
 negotiations with the Maratha Chief, Morari Rav, who, with a 
 force of 6,000 men, was hanging about the neighbourhood in 
 the hope of plunder. He accepted the proposed alliance in terms 
 flattering to the bravery of the English, and soon after arrived in 
 the vicinity of Rajah Sahib's camp, where he captured a convoy of 
 ammunition. 
 
 In the meanwhile, further efforts were being made to relieve 
 Olive. Major Kilpatrick was despatched from Madras to assume 
 command of Lieutenant Innes' detachment, which was further 
 reinforced. Rajah Sahib, made aware of Kilpatrick's advance, and 
 of the Maratha alliance, determined on an assault before assistance 
 could arrive, and on the 14th November delivered his attack at two 
 breaches, which, according to Mill, were defended by eighty 
 Europeans and 120 Sepoys only, the behaviour of both being beyond 
 praise. The attack failed with the loss to the enemy of at least 400 
 men, and, during the night, Rajah Sahib raised the siege, which had 
 lasted for fifty days. The following evening Kilpatrick arrived with 
 his detachment, too late to share in the glory of the gallant defence. 
 
 Olive did not lose a moment in following up his hard-won 
 success. Leaving Kilpatrick with a slender garrison in Arcot, he, 
 with 200 Europeans, 700 Sepoys, and three field-pieces, marched 
 on Timery, which at once surrendered. He next, with the assistance 
 of 600 Maratha Horse, engaged the French, numbering 300 
 Europeans, 2,000 Native Cavalry, and 2,500 Sepoys, at Arnee, 
 gaining a complete victory, and capturing Rajah Sahib's treasure 
 chest containing a lac of rupees. 
 
 His next feat was the siege and capture of Conjiveram from the 
 French, after which, having re-garrisoned Arcot with 200 Europeans 
 and 500 Sepoys, he returned in triumph to Fort St. David. 
 
 No sooner had the British force retired, than Rajah Sahib 
 began to ravage the country, an act that induced the Government 
 to again assemble a small force which was again entrusted to 
 dive ; it consisted of 380 Europeans, 1,300 Sepoys, and six field- 
 
PBOGBESS OF THE BRITISH ABMS IN INDIA. 145 
 
 pieces, a formidable force in the hands of so skilful a commander. 
 The enemy, numerically stronger, could not be induced to risk an 
 engagement, their object being the capture of Arcot by treachery, 
 they having gained over two native officers of the garrison, who 
 had promised to open the gates to a night attack ; the plot was 
 discovered in time and, happily, failed. 
 
 Shortly after this event Olive came up with the enemy, vastly 
 superior in artillery, at Coverypauk ; by a skilful rear attack he 
 captured the French guns, and gained a decisive victory, the fruits 
 of which, besides many French prisoners, being nine field-pieces, 
 three mortars, and the surrender of the fort of Coverypauk. In 
 this action, Clive was assisted by a detachment from Bengal, con- 
 sisting of a full company of European infantry, made up to 100 
 men, who afterwards went to Trichinopoly, and were finally 
 incorporated into the Madras army.* 
 
 Being recalled to Fort St. David, Clive, en route, had the 
 immense satisfaction of destroying the town of Dupleix-Futteh- 
 abad, where the French Governor had erected a monument 
 with a pompous inscription in French, Persian, and several 
 native languages commemorating the treacherous victory over the 
 unfortunate Nazir Jung in 1750. 
 
 The conduct and success of Clive in his late campaign, was 
 highly appreciated and commended by the Government of Fort St. 
 David, and his fame spread throughout southern India, so much so, 
 indeed, that friends and foes shared the belief in his invincibility ; 
 even the hardy Marathas expressed their opinion that Clive's 
 soldiers, European and native, were made of sterner stuff than 
 those with whom they had before come in contact. Clive appears 
 to have possessed an extraordinary power over the native mind, 
 which enabled him to gain, not only the admiration and respect of 
 his troops, but also their affection. Ever ready to face the greatest 
 danger in person, he was, on account of many hair-breadth escapes, 
 looked upon as invulnerable, and they willingly entered into the 
 most desperate enterprises under his command, feeling confident 
 
 * Broome, 
 
 10 
 
146 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 that his holdness in attack and skill in all the tricks of war would 
 assuredly lead to ultimate victory. 
 
 Meanwhile, the siege of Trichinopoly by Chandah Sahib and his 
 French allies continued. The latter had a battery of two eighteen- 
 pounder guns 2,000 yards from the city walls on the east side, in 
 position at a place known as the French rook ; another on the 
 banks of the Cauvery, which had taken the form of a regular 
 redoubt ; and a third on the Island of Seringham which commanded 
 the north gate of the city. These batteries were badly placed and 
 did but little damage. The cannonade returned by the British was 
 little more effective than that of the French, much time and 
 ammunition being expended in a useless artillery duel. 
 
 Mahomed Ali casting about for fresh allies soon discovered one 
 in the Regent of Mysore (the reigning Rajah being at the time an 
 infant) who, in October 1751, furnished a few men. His contingent 
 was followed by an army of 8,000 foot and 12,000 cavalry, 4,000 
 of whom were Marathas, under Morari Rav, who had formerly 
 assisted Clive. 
 
 The Mysorean alliance was soon followed by one with Tanjore, 
 which State supplied 3,000 horse and 2,000 foot. The affairs of 
 Mahomed Ali now assumed a more healthy complexion, but the 
 inactivity of the English garrison gave cause for discontent to their 
 native allies, and it was strongly suspected that the Mar at ha chief 
 was actually in secret correspondence with the French. 
 
 But reinforcements were on their way from Fort St. David, 
 which were eventually to turn the tide of success completely to the 
 side of the British. Major Lawrence, lately returned from leave in 
 England, was advancing in command of 400 Europeans, 1,100 
 Sepoys, and eight field-pieces, assisted by Clive, who was his second 
 in command. In March 1752 he reached the outskirts of Trichi- 
 nopoly, where, after a narrow escape of being surrounded by the 
 French under Monsieur Law, he was joined by a detachment of 200 
 Europeans and 400 Sepoys from the garrison, and a great part of 
 Mahomed Ali's army. 
 
 Jhe French attempt to oppose the advance was defeated with loss. 
 
PROGRESS OF THE BRITISH ARMS IN INDIA. 147 
 
 and the victory would have been more decisive if the native allies 
 had played their proper part in the action; but they remained 
 inactive and sulky under Morari Kav and other Chiefs. The 
 advent of Lawrence and Olive, his recent defeat, and another attack 
 delivered the same night, although only partly successful, so 
 disheartened Monsieur Law that he retreated to the Island of 
 Seringham, in spite of the protests of Chandah Sahib, and so, with 
 the loss of a great portion of his baggage and military stores, 
 virtually raised the siege. 
 
 Their recent successes determined the British to try bolder 
 measures. It was decided that the army should be divided into 
 two divisions, under command of Lawrence and Olive, to act south 
 of the Cauvery and north of the Coleroon respectively. The risk of 
 the enterprise was fully recognized, for it was well understood that 
 the defeat of one division would probably result in the destruction 
 of both ; but with characteristic courage the risk was accepted.* 
 
 In April 1752, Clive set out with 400 Europeans, 700 Sepoys, 
 3,000 Marathas, 1,000 Tanjorine horse, two heavy guns, and six 
 field-pieces, and took possession of the pagodas of Samiaveram on 
 the high road to Ootatoor. In the meanwhile, a reinforcement, 
 under Monsieur d'Auteuil, consisting of 120 Europeans and 500 
 Sepoys, was advancing to the assistance of Monsieur Law, who 
 detached a small force to attack Samiaveram. This attack, in 
 reality a surprise, was for a time successful, and Clive had more 
 than one narrow escape for his life, but the French were ultimately 
 defeated, with the loss of 700 Sepoys and some European prisoners. 
 
 The immediate effect of this defeat of Law's detachment, was to 
 induce d'Auteuii to retreat to Volconda, after abandoning the 
 greater part of his stores, where he shortly after surrendered to 
 Clive. These reverses had such an effect on the native allies 
 that they gradually deserted the cause of Chandah Sahib, and 
 
 * In 1752, the number of disciplined Sepoys considered sufficient for the pro- 
 tection of the Madras possessions by the Court of Directors was 1,300 men, i.e. Fort 
 St. George 600, Fort St. David 600, Fort Davi Cotah 100, all over that number were 
 maintained at the cost of Mahomed Ali. Wilson says they could not have numbered 
 less than 3,000, including the garrisons of Trichinopoly and Arcot. 
 
 10 * 
 
148 THE PEESIDENTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 2,000 horse, and 1,500 of the best Sepoys joined the victorious 
 British. 
 
 Monsieur Law, blockaded in Seringham, depending as it did on 
 d'AuteuiFs force entirely for stores and assistance, surrendered to 
 Lawrence on the 31st May 1752, whereby 820 French, and 2,000 
 Sepoys became prisoners of war, and 11 heavy guns, mostly 
 eighteen-pounders, 20 field-pieces, 4 mortars, 2 petards, with 
 plentiful ammunition, and some stores fell into the hands of 
 the victors, and Chandah Sahib was delivered over to the tender 
 mercies of the Commander of the Tanjorine army, who, in spite 
 of promises of protection, put him to death ; thus ended the 
 career of a brave soldier, and Mahomed Ali at last reigned, for 
 the moment, supreme as Nabob of the Carnatic without a rival to 
 his claims. 
 
 Before these successes could bear fruit, a fresh difficulty arose. 
 It appeared that Mahomed Ali in soliciting the alliance of Mysore 
 and the Marathas, had promised to both, as the reward for their 
 aid, the territory and city of Trichinopoly, of course without 
 the smallest intention of keeping faith with either ; nor, indeed, 
 would the British have allowed him to pursue such a course, 
 although, according to Dr. Nolan, Lawrence, foreseeing difficulties 
 in the future, advised that the claims of the chiefs should be 
 considered, or that their persons should be seized. A hollow 
 truce was patched up with the discontented and deluded allies, 
 and a force of 200 Europeans and 1,500 Sepoys was left as a 
 garrison to prevent the city falling a prey to the Mysoreans or 
 Marathas. The necessity for this course greatly weakened the 
 little army needed to complete the subjugation of the Carnatic, 
 which, in June 1752, set out, consisting of 500 Europeans, 2,000 
 Sepoys, and 2,000 Native Horse to undertake a task needing far 
 greater numbers for its proper completion. 
 
 Volconda immediately acknowledged Mahomed Ali ; but Law- 
 rence, whose health had broken down in consequence of the 
 hardships and anxieties he had undergone, was forced to give up 
 the command of the force, which he left to Captain Gingens, and 
 
PROGBESS OF THE BEITISH AEMS IN INDIA. 149 
 
 retired to Fort St. David for rest. At this time the Government 
 was again established at Madras. 
 
 Dupleix, disheartened hut not confounded by recent French 
 reverses and the death of Chandah Sahib, soon began new intrigues 
 which were greatly assisted by the tortuous policy adopted by 
 Mahomed AH in his behaviour to the Chiefs of Mysore and of the 
 Marathas, who had sworn vengeance. These latter now received 
 encouragement from the crafty Dupleix, who, at the same time, 
 proclaimed a son of Chandah Sahib, Nabob of the Carnatic. He 
 had, moreover, another puppet to his hand, Salabut Jung, who, 
 it will be remembered, had succeeded Muzzufer Jung as Nizam, 
 and was, at the moment, at Golconda under the protection of 
 Monsieur Bussy, who, in command of a French battalion and 
 5,000 Sepoys, did with him what he pleased. The pay of these 
 men had for various reasons been in arrears, when Bussy insisted on 
 territory, the annual revenue of which was (including that of 
 Masulipatam already ceded) 855,000, being made over to the 
 French Company to ensure regular payment of the troops. This 
 territory consisted of the Northern Circars, and, with Masulipatam, 
 made the French masters of the coast for 600 miles, from Medapilly 
 to Juggernaut, and virtual masters of the Deccan.* 
 
 Gazi-oo-deen, who was the true heir to the Nizamship, and who had 
 been formally acknowledged by the Mogul Emperor, now appeared 
 on the scene, and had reached Aurungabad, where he had entered 
 into an alliance with the Maratha Peshwa, Balaji, who, however, 
 did not hesitate to desert him and join the cause of Salabut Jung, 
 on the promise of substantial reward. The death of Gazi-oo-deen 
 removed the only obstacle to the succession of the French protege. 
 Here, then, Dupleix had two trump cards, Salabut Jung and the 
 discontented chiefs of Mysore and of the Marathas, which, if 
 properly played, might yet win the game, the stake of which was 
 the supreme power in Southern India, and the expulsion of the 
 British. 
 
 Affairs were in the state described, when Mahomed Ali, puffed 
 
 * Mill's History of India. 
 
150 'THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 up with recent successes, due entirely to his English allies, deter- 
 mined, against the advice of Lawrence, to wrest Gingee from the 
 French. Assisted by a British force of 200 Europeans and 1,150 
 Sepoys, he set out; the expedition failed utterly, and the French 
 gained a decisive victory at, or near, Vicravandi. A hasty retreat 
 now ensued, which brought the disheartened and defeated troops 
 into the territory of Fort St. David ; when Dupleix immediately 
 reinforced the much elated French, who, mustering 450 Europeans, 
 1,150 Sepoys, and a body of 500 well-disciplined horse, appeared 
 under the walls of the Fort. 
 
 The previous year, the Company at home finding the greatest 
 difficulty in procuring recruits, had ordered the purchase of 600 
 slaves in Madagascar, and had raised two companies of Swiss 
 troops, numbering 8 officers and 231 men ; these had arrived in 
 Madras in 1752.* The Government of Madras, anticipating 
 trouble at Fort St. David, after the defeat of the expedition 
 against Gingee, despatched one company of Swiss by sea to 
 reinforce the garrison ; the whole company was captured by a 
 French cruiser, and taken as prisoners of war to Pondicherry. 
 Curiously enough, this was deemed by the Government of Madras 
 a gross violation of treaties, because the two nations were not at 
 war, but only fought on the sides of rival native claimants for 
 power. Dupleix naturally replied, that he saw no difference 
 between his seizing the company of Swiss troops at sea, and the 
 English making prisoners of Monsieur Law's force at Seringham. 
 
 Lawrence was at once despatched by land with the remaining 
 Swiss company to the relief of Fort St. David, where he found 
 himself in command of 400 Europeans, 1,700 Sepoys, and 4,000 
 of Mahomed Ali's troops. In August 1752, he, by stratagem, 
 induced the French to accept battle at Bahoor, when the latter 
 were completely routed, not, however, before the French and 
 English had met at the point of the bayonet, when the former 
 gave way. In this action the French commander, Monsieur de 
 Kerjean, 13 officers and 100 Europeans were made prisoners, a 
 
 * Wilson's History of the Madras Army. 
 
PROGRESS OF THE BRITISH ARMS IN INDIA. 151 
 
 great number being killed. The Frencb, besides, lost all their 
 artillery, ammunition and stores ; the English loss was 4 officers, 
 and 78 men killed out of the European force of 400.* 
 
 In September 1752 Olive was again in the field with 200 Euro- 
 pean recruits, and 500 almost undisciplined Sepoys. In the face 
 of the greatest difficulties he reduced the fortress of Covelong and 
 Chingleput, after which exploits a visit to England, to recruit his 
 shattered health, became absolutely necessary, after an absence 
 of ten years. Dr. Nolan well says that he had indeed done much 
 for his country in India ; during the absence of his friend Law- 
 rence, he had redeemed the military reputation of England, and 
 humbled Dupleix, and he and Lawrence together had saved the 
 Carnatic from becoming practically a French province, at least for 
 a time. 
 
 Whilst Madras was taking the most active part in the affairs 
 of Hindostan, Bombay was by no means idle or without its 
 troubles ; the force at Tillicherry, consisting of some 600 Euro- 
 peans, of whom 500 were Topasses, had encountered the French 
 in September 1751, and had been compelled to retreat. The small 
 town of Edicote was, however, successfully defended against 
 repeated attacks, and the enemy repulsed with heavy loss. A 
 dispute having arisen between the Mogul's representative, the 
 Siddee, and the Bombay authorities, regarding the appointment of 
 a native Governor for Surat, a force of 200 Europeans and 400 
 Sepoys was sent there to support the British Agent. Affairs came 
 to a crisis in March 1752, when the Siddee commenced hostilities 
 by opening his batteries on some of the British Sepoys : a Euro- 
 pean detachment took the battery, and spiked the guns. On the 
 3rd April the British took the initiative, and attacked the Siddee's 
 forces with a detachment of 60 Europeans and some Sepoys; the 
 latter behaved badly, and the Europeans had to retreat with a loss 
 of 37 men.t After repeated attacks on the Siddee's defences, the 
 British became themselves besieged in their factory, and, being 
 
 * Wilson's History of the. Madras Army. 
 t Records of the Royal Bombay Fusiliers. 
 
152 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 betrayed by one Cojah Latiff, who admitted the enemy into the 
 factory, had to accept the mediation of the Dutch, who, early in 
 April, secured a cessation of arms, and on the 14th of the same 
 month peace was concluded. In the same year 160 European 
 recruits were received besides a company of Swiss.* 
 
 To return to Madras ; the shifty behaviour of Mahomed Ali 
 regarding the reward to be paid "to the Mysorean and Maratha 
 Chiefs, for their assistance in the late campaign, had induced them 
 to cast aside their late ally and to enter into open alliance with 
 Dupleix. A desultory war was the consequence, which, with French 
 assistance, was waged at Trichinopoly, in which the small English 
 garrison under Captain Dalton suffered some losses, and was after 
 a time reduced to famine owing to the scandalous behaviour of a 
 brother of Mahomed Ali, who, representing the Nabob, had sold for 
 his own advantage the stores on which the garrison depended for 
 their support. The city was fortunately relieved in May 1753 by 
 the indefatigable Lawrence, who, however, found himself sur- 
 rounded with difficulties and dangers. 
 
 The French, again established on the Island of Seringham, 
 mustered 450 Europeans, 1,500 Sepoys, 3,500 Maratha horse, 
 8,000 Mysore horse, and 16,000 Mysore infantry. Against this 
 formidable array, Lawrence could only show 500 Europeans and 
 2,000 Sepoys. With a force so superior in numbers, the French 
 and their Allies, under the command of Monsieur Astruc, were 
 able to cut off all communication with the surrounding country, 
 and consequently provisions again began to fail. A brilliant affair 
 with the French on the 26th of June, at the Golden Rock, near 
 Trichinopoly, in which Lawrence, with 300 Europeans and 500 
 Sepoys, defeated nearly the whole of the allied forces, enabled him 
 to supply the city with food for two months' consumption, and to 
 himself march away with the greater portion of his force into the 
 
 * Records of the Bombay European Fusiliers, and letter from the Surat Agent to 
 the Government of Bombay. The Swiss mentioned were probably artillery ; for 
 Wilson says that in 1752 the Directors revised the artillery establishment, and that 
 in 1753 Madras received a whole company of artillery, composed entirely of 
 foreigners, principally Swiss. 
 
PROGRESS OF THE BRITISH ARMS IN INDIA. 153 
 
 territories of the Chief of Tanjore, for the purpose of securing the 
 assistance of that potentate. In this, he was fortunately success- 
 ful, and again advanced on Trichinopoly, reinforced by 170 Euro- 
 peans and 300 Sepoys from Madras, besides 3,000 Tanjore horse 
 and 2,000 foot. On the 9th August was fought a battle near the 
 Golden and Sugar Loaf Eocks, three miles south-west of Trichi- 
 nopoly, which position, strongly held by a French detachment, 
 was stormed by a party of the English grenadiers assisted by 800 
 Sepoys, whilst Lawrence, with the remainder of his force, attacked 
 the main body of the French under Monsieur Brenier, who had 
 superseded Monsieur Astruc, utterly routed them and forced them 
 back to Seringham. 
 
 Both forces now received considerable reinforcements; 237 
 Europeans and 300 Sepoys joined Lawrence, whilst Brenier 
 received no less than 400 Europeans, 2,000 Sepoys, six field-pieces, 
 and a large body of Maratha horse.* Undeterred by disparity of 
 numbers, Lawrence, on the 21st September, again attacked the 
 enemy, strongly posted at the Sugar Loaf Rock, three miles south- 
 east of the city. His victory was again complete, Monsieur 
 Astruc and 100 Europeans being taken prisoners. The French 
 lost, besides 100 Europeans killed, 11 pieces of cannon and all 
 their tents, ammunition, and baggage ; the English loss being 40 
 Europeans killed and wounded. Lawrence followed up his success 
 by storming the fort of Weycondah, situated three miles west of 
 Trichinopoly, on the 23rd September. On this occasion the 
 British sepoys particularly distinguished themselves, meeting those 
 of the French at the point of the bayonet, slaughtering many, and 
 obliging 400 to lay down their arms; and in October, a small 
 force of 40 Europeans and 200 Sepoys, sent from Madras, defeated, 
 near Trepatti, a disturber of Mahomed Ali's government at the 
 head of 5,000 men. After these severe reverses the French 
 remained inactive at Seringham, and permitted Trichinopoly to 
 be re-provisioned with stores sufficient for six months, when 
 Lawrence, not wishing to consume what he looked upon as his 
 
 * Beveridge's History of the British Empire in India. 
 
154 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 supply for the rainy season, removed the greater portion of his 
 little army to the Tanjore frontier where supplies were plentiful. 
 
 In November, the French, having received a further reinforce- 
 ment of 300 Europeans, 200 Topasses, and 1,000 Sepoys, deter- 
 mined, during the absence of Lawrence, to take the city by assault. 
 On the 27th of the month the attempt was made, and, owing to 
 the English neglecting the duty of guarding the point of attack, 
 very nearly proved successful, but was ultimately repulsed with 
 slaughter, the French losing 400 Europeans ; that is to say, 
 1 officer and 40 Europeans killed, and 8 officers and 364 Euro- 
 peans taken prisoners.* 
 
 In January 1754, Dupleix and the Government of Madras 
 opened negotiations for peace ; the terms demanded by both sides 
 were such as to render the negotiations useless, and the war was 
 continued with aggravated intensity. 
 
 In spite of continued reverses, the ever active Dupleix managed 
 to supply his forces at Seringham with ample reinforcements. 
 Early in 1754 the French mustered 600 Europeans, 400 Topasses, 
 6,000 Sepoys, and 30,000 Maratha and Mysore troops, against 
 600 Europeans and 1,800 Sepoys commanded by Lawrence, the 
 Chief of Tanjore having failed to supply any further contingent 
 in aid of the cause of Mahomed Ali. The great disparity of 
 number was, in February, increased in favour of the French, by a 
 serious disaster that befell the English, who lost to the enemy a 
 convoy valued at many thousands of pounds, laden with necessaries 
 for the garrison, and guarded by 8 officers and 180 Europeans and 
 800 Sepoys, all of whom were killed, wounded, or taken prisoners. 
 These numbers included 100 of the European grenadiers, whose 
 courage, as Orme remarks, had decided every victory a loss soon 
 after partly repaired by the authorities of Madras, who sent 180 
 men to replace the victims of the former fight. It is worthy of 
 notice that the Mysore horse that took part in this action on the 
 side of the French, were commanded by Hyder Ali, who was destined 
 
 * Wilson-Orme puts the killed at 37 and the prisoners at 360. 
 
PROGRESS OF THE BRITISH ARMS IN INDIA. 155 
 
 for years afterwards to be a thorn in the side of the English in 
 India. 
 
 During the many actions that had taken place at and near 
 Trichinopoly, the loss of English officers in proportion to the men 
 had been so great, that the Government of Madras found itself 
 obliged to apply to Bombay for officers, several of whom volunteered 
 and did good service."* 
 
 In the month of May 1754, Captain Calliaud in command of 120 
 Europeans, 500 Sepoys, and 2 field-pieces, having started from 
 Trichinopoly to meet and escort a convoy of provisions, unexpectedly 
 found himself opposed by a French force of 250 Europeans, 1,000 
 Sepoys, and 4,000 Mysore horse ; an action ensued, both sides 
 being strongly reinforced, until the French, numbering 700 Euro- 
 peans, 5,000 Sepoys, 50 European cavalry, and 10,000 Mysore 
 horse, gave way before a little force of 360 Europeans, 11 troopers, 
 and 1,500 Sepoys, commanded by Lawrence.f The victory was 
 decisive, and the French, who had lost 200 Europeans and 300 
 Sepoys, fled with precipitation to their old position on the Island 
 of Seringham. The English loss was also severe, being 72 Euro- 
 peans killed, 6 officers and 48 men wounded, and 150 Sepoys killed 
 and wounded. 
 
 During the same month the Government of Madras, at its wits' 
 end for troops, applied to Bombay for every man that could be 
 spared. The call was promptly responded to, and two companies of 
 the European battalion, 100 Topasses from Tellicherry, and fifty 
 from Anjengs, besides Sepoys, divided into three companies, were 
 collected, in all 750 men. Of this number, 450 were men of the 
 European regiment, viz.: 200 English, 100 Swiss, and 150 
 Topasses. The force sailed in May, and arrived at Madras in June. 
 On the 7th June, 400 of the Bombay Europeans, that is to say, 
 half European and half Topasses, in battalion, with 300 Sepoysf 
 proceeded with Maphuze Khan, Mahomed Ali's brother, to Tanjore ; 
 
 * Records of the Royal Bombay Fusiliers. 
 f Orme's Military Transactions 
 % Orme says 500 Sepoys. 
 
156 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 but as he delayed his advance, Captain Forbes, who commanded 
 the force, left him and joined Lawrence, who was encamped at 
 Atchempettah on the 15th August.* Thus reinforced, Lawrence 
 commanded 1,200 Europeans (including Topasses), 3,000 Sepoys, 
 and fourteen field-pieces, with which once again to try conclusions 
 with the French on the plains of Trichinopoly.t 
 
 On the 16th of August 1754, the French army under Monsieur 
 Maisin, numbering 900 Europeans, 4,000 Sepoys and 10,000 
 Mysore cavalry, the latter under Hyder Ali, was found in position 
 eastward of Trichinopoly ; an indecisive action ensued in which 
 the French lost 100 Europeans and the English eight only, as well 
 as some carts which formed a portion of the baggage train ; these 
 latter fell to Hyder Ali and the Mysore horse, who thought more 
 of plunder than of taking part in a regular action. The enemy, 
 who again retired to Seringham, could not be induced to risk 
 another battle, and the rains setting in, hostilities ceased ; the 
 British going into cantonments at the Warriore pagodas. J On 
 llth October a cessation of arms was proclaimed between the 
 French and English, which was to last three months ; and Lawrence, 
 having returned to Madras, had the gratification of receiving a 
 Koyal Commission of Lieut. -Colonel, and a sword set with diamonds, 
 valued at <750, as an acknowledgment of his field services. Clive 
 was similarly rewarded. 
 
 The events that led to the cessation of arms were as follows: 
 The recent campaigns had not only been costly in men and money 
 but had greatly affected trade ; moreover, the British Government, 
 at peace with France in Europe, interfered, and opened negotiations 
 with deputies sent from Paris ; so little progress was however 
 made, that, to bring matters to a speedy conclusion, the Home 
 Government prepared for war and equipped a strong squadron for 
 India. This spirited action had the desired effect and determined 
 the policy of France ; terms were at once arranged and a French 
 
 * Records of the Royal Bombay Fusiliers. 
 
 f Orme's Military Transactions. 
 
 % Records of the Royal Bombay Fusiliers 
 
PBOGBESS OF THE BBITISH ABMS IN INDIA. 157 
 
 Commissary appointed to carry out the settlement of affairs in 
 India. 
 
 Aware that Dupleix would be most unwilling to act in the 
 cause of peace, and that he would probably throw every impedi- 
 ment in the way of an adjustment of difficulties, the French 
 Government and Company decided to supersede him. Monsieur 
 Godehen was accordingly appointed in his place, and arrived at 
 Pondicherry in August 1754, armed with supreme power to act for 
 France in India. 
 
 Mill, in his History of India, defends the conduct of Dupleix 
 during his Governorship ; there can be no doubt that he was a 
 man of immense ability, ambitious for his own and his country's 
 glory, and that sooner than face war in Europe he was sacrificed 
 by the French Government. There can also be no doubt that, by 
 his schemes and intrigues, he involved the French in a sanguinary 
 war, with all the consequent sacrifice of life and vast expenditure. 
 
 Monsieur Godehen brought with him from France 1,200 troops, 
 of whom, according to Orme, 600 were Hussars, a powerful rein- 
 forcement that might have turned the scale of events in his favour, 
 had it not been for the arrival off the coast of Admiral Watson with 
 three ships of the line and one sloop, carrying a reinforcement 
 of 1,000 British. This timely arrival gave the Government of 
 Madras a preponderance of power, and so much determination was 
 shown by the authorities in England to further increase the 
 forces in India, if necessary, that Monsieur Godehen found himself 
 compelled to give in on all points. 
 
 Two of the most important clauses of the treaty were, firstly, the 
 recognition of Mahomed Ali as Nabob of the Carnatic; and 
 secondly, the restoration to the Nizam, by France, of the 600 
 miles of coast line and vast territory already mentioned. 
 
 Thus, in October 1754, ended the second phase of the war with 
 France in India; but peace was not destined long to endure. To 
 quote the words of Dr. Nolan in his History of the British 
 Empire in India : 
 
 " The French had placed themselves in such a position that they 
 
158 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OE INDIA. 
 
 must go on in a career of conquest and intrigue, until the thrones 
 of the Indian Chiefs were at their disposal, or sink into mere 
 traders, craving permission to traffic, and in constant danger of 
 losing all chance of mercantile success, in consequence of the 
 superior trading capacity which the English and Dutch everywhere 
 displayed ; the roots of French diplomacy had so spread and 
 fastened among the courts of southern India, that there they must 
 remain, unless cut out by the sword. The English eventually 
 found that solution of the difficulty the only one, and did not 
 shrink from undertaking the laborious task." 
 
 With the fall of Dupleix the power of France was on the wane, 
 although she fought hard to recover it; her efforts and her failures 
 will form the subject of another chapter, which will deal with the 
 third campaign against the French and their native allies, and the 
 further progress of the Sepoys in the art of war. 
 
159 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES. 
 
 IT is a pleasure to commence this chapter by recording the gallant 
 behaviour of the Sepoys on several occasions in the campaigns 
 described in the last chapter. Major Lawrence spoke highly 
 of their conduct during the attack on Cuddalore by the French in 
 1748; at the defence of Arcot, 1751; and at the battle near Volcondah 
 in the same year, when the European troops retired in panic, their 
 behaviour was also excellent, and Orme praises them for being very 
 well to the front at the second battle of Volcondah, in 1752, under 
 Olive. At the siege of Trichinopoly in 1753, and at the repulse of 
 the night attack in November of the same year, they also fought 
 gallantly,"* and many instances of personal bravery and devotion on 
 the part of native officers have been placed on record ; the names 
 of Subadahr Sheik Ibrahim, and Subadabr Meer Munsoor are 
 particularly brought into notice by Colonel Wilson in his History of 
 the Madras Army. In the Quarterly Review, January 1818, No. 
 XXXVI., in a paper by Sir John Malcolm, the story is told, how, 
 at the siege of Arcot, provisions being very low, the Sepoys 
 requested Olive to give the European soldiers all the rice remaining 
 in store, contenting themselves with the water in which it had been 
 boiled, an act of devotion that cannot be too highly praised. 
 Strange to say, Malcolm quotes Orme as his authority for events 
 that happened during the siege, and Orme does not mention any want 
 
 * Wilson's History of the Madras Arny, 
 
160 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 of provisions; indeed, according to his account, there was a 
 sufficient supply when the siege was raised. Wilson alludes to 
 this, and says, that from the tenor of Olive's correspondence, it may 
 he asserted that the garrison at no time suffered from famine ; 
 hence he concludes that the incident did not occur at Arcot ; but 
 that does not prove that it did not occur at all. 
 
 The reinforcements brought out 'by Admiral Watson in 1754, 
 as mentioned in the last chapter, consisted of 700 men of the 39th*" 
 Regiment under the command of Colonel Adlercron (who, by reason 
 of seniority, superseded Lieut.-Colonel Lawrence in command of 
 the army), 40 men of the Royal Artillery, and 200 European 
 recruits belonging to the Company ;f the fact is interesting, as it 
 establishes the date of the first appearance of the royal troops in 
 India since the arrival of the Bombay Regiment in 1662, 
 although the service for which they were originally intended was 
 that of marines on board the ships of war. The arrival of the 
 King's troops brought into force the Mutiny Act (27th Geo. II.) 
 On the 1st September 1754 the garrison of Madras was paraded in 
 the presence of the Governor and Council, and the Act of Parlia- 
 ment for the punishment of mutiny and desertion, and for the 
 better discipline of the Honourable Company's forces was duly read ; 
 after which the officers were asked if they were willing to serve on 
 the terms of the Act, to which they returned an affirmative reply. 
 Agreeably to the Act, all men were enlisted in England for His 
 Majesty, and were transferred to the Company's service previously 
 to embarkation. 
 
 In the eighteenth century treaties appear to have been as easily 
 evaded as they are at the present time. The treaty signed in 
 1754 by Mr. Saunclers on the part of England, and Monsieur 
 Godehen as the representative of France, distinctly laid down that 
 the rival Companies were in future to abstain from interference in 
 
 * Now the 1st battalion Dorset Regiment. According to the Naval and Military 
 Magazine, March 1827, this regiment had served at home as a marine battalion for 
 five years prior to its despatch to India (Broome). 
 
 f Onne. 
 
THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES. 161 
 
 the affairs of the various native Powers. The ink was hardly dry 
 when this particular clause was treated as a dead letter by both 
 parties. 
 
 Early in 1755, Mahomed Ali, finding himself free from French 
 aggression, and caring little for the Mysorean force that still 
 occupied Seringham, in hopes of obtaining possession of the much 
 coveted Trichinopoly, determined on an expedition to Madura and 
 Tinnevelly, for the purpose of collecting arrears of revenue, and 
 applied to the English for assistance. In defiance of the treaty 
 obligations of 1754, this was immediately granted, and 500 
 Europeans, among whom were included the detachment of the 
 Bombay European Regiment, and 2,000 Sepoys, under Lieut.- 
 Colonel Heron, were despatched to join his forces. Madura and 
 Tinnevelly surrendered without opposition, and the surrounding 
 country professed submission, more nominal than real. The 
 fortified pagoda of Coilgoody was successfully carried without loss, 
 and some booty belonging to the temple was secured, after which 
 200 Europeans and 500 Sepoys were detached to reduce the fort of 
 Nelli Cotah, forty miles south of Tinnevelly, which place they 
 reached in a march of eighteen hours, and immediately stormed 
 with complete success.* On the 22nd May the whole force 
 returned to Madura, and on the 23rd, on its way to Trichinopoly, 
 was attacked by one of the Polygars of the Colleries in the densely 
 wooded pass of Nuttum, who looted the baggage and carried off the 
 idols and treasure taken from the Coilgoody pagoda. The force 
 reached Madras in November, when the Bombay detachment 
 embarked for their own Presidency, having lost 123f Europeans 
 out of the number sent to Madras in the previous year. 
 
 Tn the meanwhile the French disregarded the treaty of 1754 after 
 the example of the British. Salabut Jung was, with Bussy and 
 his French battalion, marching against Mysore, to enforce arrears 
 of tribute, whilst Balaji Rao threatened the frontier at the head of 
 a Maratha force. This double danger induced the Mysorean 
 
 * Records of the Royal Bombay Fusiliers. 
 f Ibid. 
 
 11 
 
162 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 commander to evacuate Seringham and hasten to his own country; 
 thus at length leaving Trichinopoly free. At this period the whole 
 of the Sepoys of the Madras establishment were commanded in 
 chief by Mahomed Issoof, a gallant soldier who had greatly distin- 
 guished himself under Lawrence, by whom he was brought forward, 
 being promoted by the Government of Madras in 1754. Early in 
 1756 a disturbance having broken, out in Tinnevelly, Mahomed 
 Issoof was sent to assist Maphuse Khan, who had been left in 
 charge by his brother, Mahomed Ali, the Nawaub. He was entirely 
 Successful in reducing the Polygar chiefs for a time. It is 
 interesting to note that at this period of Indian history much trust 
 and confidence was placed in native commanders, for besides 
 Mahomed Issoof, it is recorded by Orme that in an action near 
 Tinnevelly, fought on the 21st March 1756, against the Polygars of 
 Madura, 1,000 of the Company's Sepoys were commanded by 
 Barnaul Sahib. The victory was complete, the enemy losing 2,000 
 men. The conquest of the Polygars having been effected, Maphuse 
 Khan marched to Madura, where his troops mutinied and detained 
 him on account of arrears of pay due. They, moreover, hauled 
 down the British colours and turned the garrison, consisting of 
 three companies of British Sepoys, out of the fort,* and Madura 
 was again lost. 
 
 The course of history now renders it necessary to revert to the 
 military proceedings of the Government of Bombay. The depre- 
 dations of Toolaji Angria, the descendant of Kanhoji Angria, 
 whose exploits have already been described/)- had determined the 
 Government of Bombay, in conjunction with the Marathas, as long 
 ago as 1751, to undertake his destruction ; but the intention was 
 not carried out until 1755. In March of that year the Peshwah 
 Balaji Rao (Toolaji having failed to pay the customary tribute) 
 requested the promised assistance of the British for the extermina- 
 tion of this ocean pest. The request was promptly acceded to, and 
 on the 22nd March, Commodore James, the commander of the 
 
 * Wilson's History of the Madras Army. 
 f Chapter IV, 
 
THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES. 163 
 
 Company's naval forces, left Bombay in the Protector, 44 guns, 
 accompanied by a smaller ship of 16 guns, and two bomb-vessels, 
 and was shortly afterwards joined at Chaul, by the Maratha 
 squadron, consisting of seven grabs and sixty gallivats carrying 
 10,000 men.* 
 
 It was agreed that the enemy should be attacked both by sea and 
 land, the latter to be undertaken by the Maratha force, their guns 
 being worked by a detachment of James' European gunners. On 
 the 2nd of April operations commenced against Severndroog, one of 
 the pirates' strongholds, and the adjacent forts of Gora, Futtehdroog, 
 and Connoidroog, when, the Maratha land attack being of the 
 feeblest, the Commodore determined to try the effects of bombard- 
 ment from the sea. This had the desired result ; the land batteries 
 surrendering on the 3rd, and Severndroog on the 4th April 1755,t 
 without any loss on the side of the British. The next attack was 
 directed against the island of Bankot, six miles to the north, which 
 surrendered without resistance. For these exploits the Commodore 
 was rewarded with a gold medal and 1,000 Es. ; and the British 
 force, naval aud military, received two months' pay as a gratuity. 
 All the fortresses enumerated above were, as by previous agree- 
 ment, handed over to the Marathas, Bankot to be kept for the 
 English until they should be prepared to occupy it. The 
 Marathas, delighted with these successes, offered 200,000 Rs.J to 
 the British if they would continue the conquest and attack the 
 fortified position of Dabul ; but the offer, greatly to James' 
 disappointment, was declined. In the following May the Marathas 
 were assisted in an unsuccessful attack on Ratnagiri, on the coast 
 south of Bombay, and in October the British occupied their recent 
 conquest, Bankot. 
 
 Toolaji Angria, after the fall of Severndroog, took refuge in the 
 strong fortress of Gheria, situated on the sea-coast 170 miles 
 
 * Bombay State Papers, Professor Forrest. 
 
 t Ibid. 
 
 J Beveridge. 
 
 Bombay State Papers, Professor Forrest. 
 
 11 * 
 
164 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 south of Bombay, which owing to exaggerated reports was supposed 
 to he impregnable. 
 
 In the meanwhile Admiral Watson, with his fleet, finding him- 
 self without occupation on the Coromandel coast, by reason of the 
 treaty concluded with the French, in the beginning of November 
 sailed for Bombay. There he found a considerable force assembled, 
 recently arrived from England, destined, in alliance with the 
 Peshwah Balaji, to attack the Nizam's fortress of Aurungabad, 
 in retaliation for his support of French designs. The expedition 
 which had been arranged in England previous to the signing of 
 the Treaty of 1754, had to be abandoned. It was, therefore, 
 determined to use the strong force at hand for the utter extinction 
 of the Angria, so well commenced by Commodore James. 
 
 Olive arrived from England in the Streatham in time to take 
 part in the expedition ; * he rejoined in India with the rank of 
 lieutenant-colonel in the King's service, and with the appointment 
 of Deputy Governor of Fort St. David,f and by virtue of his 
 seniority assumed command of the land forces. 
 
 In February 1756 the expedition started for Gheria; in addition 
 to a powerful naval force under Admiral Watson, Olive commanded 
 800 Europeans, 600 Sepoys, and a company of the King's Artil- 
 lery. J 
 
 Commodore James in command of the Company's fleet had 
 previously rendered good service by reconnoitring the enemy's 
 position, which he found to be very strong, but by no means 
 impregnable. The fortifications were placed on a sea-washed 
 precipice fifty feet high, and consisted of a double wall flanked with 
 
 * Mr. Gleig, in his Life oj Clive, says he brought with him six companies of 
 artillery. 
 
 f Some historians call him Governor of Fort St. David, but in a letter of remon- 
 strance regarding a certain court-martial, dated Bombay, 15th April 1756, 
 addressed to the Honourable Richard Bouchier, Esq., the Governor and Council, 
 Olive distinctly announces his rank and dignities in these words, " and considering 
 the rank I bear of Lieut. -Colonel in His Majesty's service, of Deputy Governor 
 of Fort St. David, and of a member of the Committee of this place." (See Dr. 
 Nolan's History of the British Empire in India, vol. vi. p. 240). 
 
 \ Bombay State Papers, Professor Forrest. Beveridge says 1,000 Sepoys, 
 
THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES. 165 
 
 towers,* to the north of which was the harbour, where lay the 
 pirate fleet. The land attack, it was again arranged, should be 
 conducted by the Maratha army under Ramaji Punt, to whom 
 Toolaji in vain offered terms on the approach of the British fleet. 
 The fort having been summoned to surrender by Watson without 
 effect, next day the bombardment commenced from 150 cannon, 
 from the broadsides of the fleet and several mortars, when, having 
 sustained the fire for some hours, the Angria guns were silenced. 
 Olive then landed with the troops and prepared to take the place 
 by storm, as it was feared that the Marathas would be beforehand 
 with them, and so seize on any treasure that might be stored in 
 the fortress ; that this was their intention seems to be proved by 
 the fact of the Maratha commander offering the British officer in 
 command of the advance picket 80,000 Rs. to allow him and his 
 troops to get in. 
 
 The bombardment being renewed the next day the fort sur- 
 rendered to Olive, who took possession of 200 guns, six mortars, 
 quantities of stores, and money to the value of ^120,000, the whole 
 of which was divided among the British troops to the exclusion of 
 their Maratha allies, and was afterwards a fruitful source of dispute 
 among the English commanders. Sir John Malcolm in his 
 Life of Clive censures " that spirit of plunder and that passion 
 for the accumulation of wealth which actuated all ranks." 
 
 Thus were the Angria pirates crushed with, at the end, little 
 trouble. Gheria was subsequently, after many disputes between 
 the Marathas and the Bombay Government, given over to the 
 former, according to a previous agreement. 
 
 In April 1756, Clive, with Admiral Watson, sailed for Madras, 
 where they arrived in May, and Olive soon after took up his 
 appointment at Fort St. David on the 20th June 1756, a date 
 memorable as that on which Calcutta and its garrison fell victims 
 to Surajah Dowlah, the Nabob of Bengal. 
 
 For many years the English in Bengal had flourished in regard 
 
 * Beveridge 
 
,166 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 to their trade under the just and mild rule of AH Verdy Khan the 
 Nawaub of Bengal. Unlike their countrymen in Madras they had 
 not interfered in the affairs of the native states, nor had they come 
 to any open rupture with the French company, whose head-quarters 
 and factory were at Chandernagore some miles higher up the river 
 Hoogly than Calcutta, and not far from the Dutch factory at 
 Chinsurah. In 1753 Ali Verdy Khan, growing old, had appointed 
 his grandson, Suraj-ad-Dowlah, more commonly known as Surajah 
 Dowlah, heir to the Nabobship of Bengal. The boy being of a 
 perverse and cruel disposition grew up infamous and profligate, 
 and when quite a young man had been guilty of rebellion against 
 his benefactor, of secret assassination and open murder. On the 
 death of Ali Verdy Khan in April 1756 Surajah Dowlah took 
 possession of the Government of Bengal, and filled many of the 
 highest appointments with the worthless companions of his 
 pleasures, by the removal of the trusted administrators of his 
 grandfather. Among others deprived of office was Meer Jaffir 
 Khan the paymaster-general, who, although subsequently reap- 
 pointed, never forgave the insult. The young Nabob immediately 
 proceeded to fill his treasury by the open robbery of his relatives 
 and also demanded a large sum from Rajbullut, Deputy Governor 
 of Dacca, who in alarm removed his family and treasure to Calcutta. 
 Surajah Dowlah had from his earliest youth looked upon the 
 English at Calcutta with hatred. In them he saw a growing 
 power likely to prove dangerous if permitted to expand, and he, 
 not unnaturally, although as it ultimately proved unwisely, deter- 
 mined to be rid of them. A pretext for quarrel was easily found. 
 He demanded that the family and treasure of Rajbullut should be 
 given up, a demand that was refused by Mr. Drake the Governor 
 of Calcutta ; this was the first cause of offence. As rumours of a 
 war with France were rife, the fortifications which had been allowed 
 to fall into a disgraceful state of disrepair, the very cannons sent 
 out in former years for defence, lying dismounted and uncared 
 for under the walls, were strengthened. The Nawaub ordered Mr. 
 Drake to stop the work and to demolish that which had already 
 
THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES. 167 
 
 been done; non-compliance with this order filled him with fury, 
 and led to the war which caused his downfall and early death.* 
 
 Determined to chastise the rebellious British, the Nawaub assem- 
 bled an army and marched a detachment of 3,000 men against the 
 factory of Cossimbazar presided over by Mr. Watts, and garrisoned 
 by twenty-two Europeans and twenty Topasses. 
 
 On the 1st June the Nawaub with the whole of his army arrived. 
 The place was utterly indefensible, and at once capitulated, the 
 garrison being sent as prisoners to Morshedabad, whilst Mr. Watts 
 and one of his Council were detained in the Nawaub's camp. Mr. 
 Drake, alarmed for the safety of the settlement, despatched daily 
 letters to Mr. Watts instructing him to express to the incensed 
 Nawaub his willingness to comply with all his demands ; to these 
 letters no reply was returned. In the meanwhile the defences of 
 Calcutta were neglected, and the Nawaub continued his advance. 
 Under these circumstances intimation of the distressed condition 
 of Calcutta was despatched to Madras and Bombay, and assistance 
 asked for, although it was well recognized that none could be 
 expected to arrive under two months. Application was also made 
 to the Dutch at Chinsura, and the French at Chandernagore. The 
 Dutch declined to interfere, whilst the French, who had previously 
 supplied the Nawaub on his advance with 200 barrels of gunpowder, 
 insultingly intimated that if the English would evacuate Calcutta 
 they might take refuge in their settlement. 
 
 Thrown on his own resources, Mr. Drake now showed some 
 activity. Defences were hastily improvised, provisions, were col- 
 lected ; the Sepoys were augmented to 1,500 ; a militia wa.s enrolled 
 and mustered 250 men, among whom were many Armenians and 
 Portuguese, but on these little reliance could be placed ; whilst 
 the regular garrison consisted of 264 Europeans only, of whom but 
 174 were English. 
 
 The British now took the initiative. To secure retreat in case 
 of disaster it was deemed necessary to gain possession of the native 
 
 * Stewart's History of Bengal. ., _.__.,_-, 
 
168 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 port of Tanna on the Hoogly, five miles below Calcutta, which 
 commanded the narrow channel leading to the distant sea. The 
 native garrison was easily dislodged, on the 13th June, by a small 
 force, (sent in four armed vessels) who spiked the guns, instead of 
 preserving them for future defence. 
 
 On the 14th June, the British detachment was in turn attacked 
 by 2,000 men of the Nawaub's army, and forced to retire with its 
 ships to Calcutta. 
 
 On the 15th June, Surajah Dowlah reached Hoogly, and trans- 
 ported his army to the Calcutta side of the river. 
 
 On the 16th June, the attack on Calcutta commenced. Stewart 
 thus describes the fortifications : " The factory or fort was situated 
 on the bank of the river ; its length from east to west was 210 
 yards ; its breadth on the south side was 180 yards, and on the 
 north only 100 yards ; it had four bastions, mounting each ten 
 guns, but the curtains were only four feet thick, and the terrace 
 which was the roof of the store-rooms, formed the top of the 
 ramparts ; the gateway on the eastern side projected and mounted 
 five guns ; and along the bank of the river was a line of heavy 
 cannon, mounted in embrasures of solid masonry, so that the 
 place might have made a long defence against such an enemy, had 
 not the houses of the principal Europeans, and the church over- 
 looked and commanded the fort." 
 
 On the 17th of June the enemy made an attack on the east 
 side of the town, broke into the Company's bounds in large 
 numbers, set fire to the bazaar and took possession of the native 
 quarters. 
 
 An attack on the outposts of the fort was delivered on the 18th 
 of June, and before evening all the outer defences were in the 
 hands of the enemy, in spite of many gallant attempts to resist 
 their overwhelming numbers. The defenders of the lost batteries 
 included several of the civil servants, and Orme particularly men- 
 tions Messrs. Charles Smith and Wilkinson, who, being separated 
 from their comrades, fell into the hands of the enemy, but not 
 before the former had killed five men with his own hand, when he 
 
THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES. 169 
 
 succumbed to his wounds. Mr. Wilkinson then surrendered, and 
 was immediately cut to pieces.* 
 
 On the evening of the 10th June it was decided to send the 
 European women on board the Company's vessels lying off the 
 fort. This was accordingly done under the direction of two 
 members of the Governor's Council, and a party of the militia 
 who not only declined to return to their duty, but actually deserted 
 their comrades and dropped down the river to Govindpore, three 
 miles below the fort, an example followed by all the other vessels, 
 leaving the garrison without means of escape, except by one vessel 
 lying higher up the river, in the event of disaster which now 
 appeared almost certain. 
 
 On the 19th June the enemy succeeded in occupying the Church, 
 the Governor's house, and another building commanding the fort, 
 and dire confusion reigned within the walls of Calcutta. An 
 attempt was made to embark the Portuguese women and children, 
 but the remainder of the militia and others hastening to escape 
 at the same time caused overcrowding of the boats, several of 
 which were upset and many persons drowned. It is painful to 
 relate that the fugitives included the Governor, Mr. Drake, who 
 had hitherto shown coolness under fire, Captain Minchin, the 
 commander of the troops, four members of Council, four commis- 
 sioned officers of the regular army (Grose says three), many civil 
 servants, and 100 soldiers and militia. The garrison now reduced 
 to 190 men (for the Sepoys, or rather the armed peons, had 
 deserted at an early period of the siege), fell under the command 
 of Mr. Holwell, and gallantly repulsed many vigorous assaults, 
 but the fort commanded on all sides was no longer tenable. The 
 last hope of escape rested in the Company's ship St. George, 
 already mentioned as lying higher up the river, which, coming to 
 the assistance of the distressed garrison, struck a sandbank and 
 remained hard and fast. Signals were exchanged with the vessels 
 
 * Very full descriptions of the siege of Calcutta are to be found in Orme and 
 Brooine. 
 
170 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 near Govindpore, which were still in sight, but as Broome well 
 says, to the eternal infamy of those on board, not an effort was 
 made to render any assistance, and for this cowardly and inhuman 
 conduct there can be no palliation. 
 
 On the morning of the 20th June the Nawaub renewed the attack 
 with vigour, and the small garrison was further reduced by twenty- 
 five men killed and seventy wounded, whilst others broke into the 
 spirit stores, and became hopelessly intoxicated. Under these 
 circumstances capitulation became unavoidable, and was offered by 
 Mr. Holwell, but no reply was vouchsafed. At noon the enemy 
 ceased firing, and the weary garrison hoped for terms, but at 2 P.M. 
 the bombardment recommenced. At 4 P.M. an officer of the Nawaub, 
 the bearer of a flag of truce, was seen approaching, and the order 
 was given to cease firing. A parley ensued, during which the 
 enemy treacherously forced the Eastern Gate, and cut down the 
 palisades of the south-west bastion, and attempted to escalade 
 the southern side of the fort. In the meanwhile, some of the 
 soldiers, worn out with fatigue, tried to escape by the western gate, 
 but the enemy rushed in and the fort was lost. Further resistance 
 being impossible, the troops laid down their arms. The victorious 
 Nawaub entered the fort an hour afterwards, and Mr. Holwell 
 and other principal Europeans were brought before him with their 
 hands bound. Surajah Dowlah ordered them to be unloosed, and 
 on the word of a soldier promised them protection ; he then took 
 his departure, and the unhappy prisoners were shortly after 
 confined in the common dungeon of the fort, generally known 
 as the Black Hole, and used for the punishment of refractory 
 soldiers. The story of the horrors of the night have been so 
 frequently and well told that little need here be said except that 
 the chamber was but eighteen feet square, and had two small 
 windows barred with iron on the leeward side, and even these 
 were obstructed by a low verandah which kept off every breath 
 of air. In this chamber, at the hottest season of the year, 146 
 persons, including one lady, were thrust. Scenes of unparalleled 
 suffering ensued, and on the morning of the 21st June, twenty- 
 
THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES. 171 
 
 three only emerged alive.* Bad as he undoubtedly was, it is but 
 fair to say that it is generally accepted that Surajah Dowlah 
 was unaware of what was occurring in the fort, as in spite of the 
 agony of the unhappy prisoners the native officer of their guard 
 refused to disturb the Nawaub who had retired to rest. The 
 miserable remnant of the garrison were set at liberty, and allowed 
 to join their comrades at Govindpore. In Orme's words, " Here 
 their appearance, and the dreadful tale they had to tell, were the 
 severest reproaches to those on board, who, intent on their own 
 preservation, had made no efforts to facilitate the escape of the 
 rest of the garrison ; never, perhaps, was such an opportunity of 
 performing an heroic action so ignominiously neglected ; for a 
 single sloop, with fifteen brave men on board, might, in spite of 
 all the efforts of the enemy, have come up, and anchoring under 
 the fort, carried away all those who suffered in the dungeon." 
 
 Meanwhile the Nawaub's army was employed in plundering 
 Calcutta, where, however, comparatively little was found. The 
 fugitive English reached Fulta, a town with a market near the 
 sea, and the station of all the Dutch shipping. Here they were 
 joined by the agents and junior servants of many out-stations, 
 and employed their time in mutual recrimination. 
 
 Surajah Dowlah, in his ignorance, believed that he had exter- 
 minated the English, and never imagined that his late actions 
 could induce an invasion of his territory from Madras or Bombay. 
 He consequently failed to follow up his success, and instead of 
 pursuing the Calcutta fugitives, he allowed them to remain 
 unmolested at Fulta. To perpetuate the memory of his victory he 
 
 * Broome's History of the Bengal Army. He quotes from Orme. The following 
 is the list of officers who perished : Captains Clayton, Buchanan, and Witherington ; 
 Lieutenants Bishop, Hop, Blagg, Simpson, and Bellamy ; Ensigns Piccard, Scott, 
 Hastings, and Wedderburn ; also Ensigns Coles and Dumbleton of the Militia ; 
 74 non-commissioned officers and privates of the regular forces and militia. This 
 list, with the 23 who survived, leaves 35 persons unaccounted for, they were 
 probably civilians and merchants. The survivors included Messrs. Holwell, Court, 
 and Burdet, Ensign Walcott, the only officer who escaped, and thirteen men of the 
 regulars and militia. The lady, Mrs. Carey, also survived. 
 
172 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 ordered the name of Calcutta to be changed to Alinagore, meaning 
 the Port of God, and on the 2nd of July left the city. 
 
 Whilst these events were occurring in Bengal the French were 
 losing ground in the Deccan. In May 1756 Mons. Bussy, who 
 had so long ruled Salabut Jung, the Nizam, was with the whole of 
 his troops, at the instigation of the Nizam's Prime Minister, 
 dismissed from the service of that* potentate. Mons. Bussy, with 
 his force consisting of 600 Europeans in battalion, 5,000 well- 
 disciplined Sepoys, a well-appointed train of artillery, two troops 
 of hussars, and one of dragoons, retired to Hyderabad (Deccan), 
 escorted on his march by a considerable Maratha force. He 
 reached Hyderabad on the 14th June, after a march of considerable 
 danger and difficulty, and soon after found himself besieged in his 
 position at Charmaul, a walled garden near Hyderabad, by the 
 army of his former protege, Salabut Jung, who, moreover, had 
 now thrown himself into the arms of the British at Madras, the 
 latter receiving his propositions and request for assistance with the 
 greatest possible pleasure as affording them a most favourable 
 opportunity of striking a blow at French influence in the Deccan. 
 Salabut Jung was at once assured that troops would be despatched 
 to his assistance, and 300 Europeans and 1,500 Sepoys were 
 on the point of taking the field when, in the middle of July, 
 the news of Surajah Dowlah's advance on Calcutta was received 
 from Bengal. It was at once recognized that to save the Bengal 
 possessions from utter destruction, every man who could be 
 spared from the Coromandel force would be required ; and the 
 expedition to assist the Nizam was consequently, with much 
 regret, abandoned. Four hundred and fifty men, mostly Euro- 
 peans, under the command of Major Kilpatrick were at once 
 shipped on board the Company's vessel Delaware, and sailed for 
 Fulta on the 20th of July. 
 
 On the 5th August full details of the capture of Calcutta were 
 received with feelings of horror and resentment at Madras. 
 
 On the 15th June, the very day on which the first news of the 
 difficulties in Bengal reached Madras, the French had detached a 
 
THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES. 173 
 
 force of 500 Europeans and a train of artillery from Pondicherry to 
 the assistance of Bussy. 
 
 The troops maintained by the English and French on the 
 Coromandel coast were at this time nearly equal, and consisted of 
 about 2,000 Europeans and 10,000 Sepoys; but the French force 
 was weakened by the 500 men detached to the assistance of Bussy, 
 nor had they any squadron in the Indian seas to oppose to that of 
 Admiral Watson ; but letters from England, received in August, 
 informed the Government of Madras that war with France at an 
 early date was considered inevitable, and that the French were 
 preparing to send a fleet of nineteen ships-of-war, and 3,000 
 troops, from Brest to Pondicherry. 
 
 Under these circumstances the question arose, which was the 
 more important course to adopt, to assist Salabut Jung and crush 
 French influence in the Deccan, or to regain the Company's posses- 
 sions in Bengal, punish Surajah Dowlah and retrieve the national 
 honour ? It was plain that to try both would be to separate the force 
 and to court disaster; on the one hand the firm establishment of 
 French influence in the Deccan meant future trouble, on the other 
 hand it was recognized that the loss of the Bengal investments and 
 revenue for even three years meant ruin to the Company. It was 
 finally determined to undertake the expedition to Bengal. 
 
 The consequence of this decision was that Salabut Jung, after a 
 war that had lasted some months, became reconciled to Bussy, and 
 the French found themselves again virtually masters of the Deccan. 
 
 The resolution of the Government of Madras to despatch an 
 expedition to Bengal was communicated to Admiral Watson, who 
 consented to it. Many days were, however, spent in discussions as 
 to the disposal of captures that might be made by the squadrons, 
 and as to who was to command the expedition ; what should be 
 his authority in military operations and in negotiations with the 
 Nabob ; in what relation he ought to stand to the Government of 
 Calcutta on its re-establishment, &c. &c. 
 
 After much discussion it was decided to entrust the command of 
 the expeditionary force to Clive, as Lawrence was suffering severely 
 
174 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 from asthma, and Colonel Adlercron was inexperienced in Asiatic 
 warfare. The Government of Madras wisely invested their well- 
 tried and gallant servant with independent powers in all military 
 matters and operations, and instructed him to prosecute the war 
 with vigour so as to return with the troops to Madras in six months 
 time. They, moreover, furnished him with ample treasure, and 
 empowered him to draw bills on the Presidency. It was further 
 determined that Mr. Drake, the ex-Governor of Calcutta, should be 
 entrusted with all power in civil and commercial matters. A sloop 
 of war was despatched to Fulta with the cheering news of the 
 intended expedition for the subjugation of Surajah Dowlah. 
 
 On the 16th October 1756 the fleet set sail from Madras Roads. 
 It consisted of the Cumberland, 70 ; the Kent, 64 ; the Tyger, 60 ; 
 and the Salisbury, 50; the Bridgwater, 20 guns; a fire-ship, three of 
 the Company's ships, and two smaller vessels to act as transports. 
 The troops embarked were as follows : 
 
 Detachment 39th Regiment . . . 250 
 
 Madras Europeans 528 
 
 Madras Artillery Company . . . J09 
 
 Lascars 160 
 
 Sepoys 940 
 
 12 field guns and one howitzer. 
 
 Another detachment of 250 Sepoys embarked on the 28th 
 October.' 35 ' Admiral Watson hoisted his flag on the Kent, and 
 Clive sailed with him ; Admiral Pocock hoisted his on the 
 Cumberland. Clive's instructions were to attack Surajah Dowlah 
 in his capital itself, if necessary, if he would not come to terms and 
 make full reparation for all injuries he had inflicted. He was 
 also to capture Chandernagore from the French, provided war was 
 declared with France during his absence in Bengal. It should be 
 here mentioned that Clive does not appear to have been in command 
 of the detachment of the King's 39th Regiment which Colonel 
 Adlercron stipulated should act as marines only, as will be made 
 
 * Wilson's History of the Madras Army 
 
THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES. 175 
 
 more clear in the account of the capture of Calcutta. There was 
 also much friction between him and Admiral Watson not of a 
 personal nature, but rather as regarded the authority of Olive, the 
 Admiral being inclined to support that of Mr. Drake and the 
 Calcutta Council. 
 
 Before following Clive in the campaign in Bengal, it will be 
 convenient to describe the events that occurred in southern India 
 during the remaining months of 1756, which can be done very 
 briefly as they were not of any remarkable military character or 
 importance ; indeed, Madras had been so denuded of troops, that 
 any expedition on a large scale in the Coromandel was rendered 
 impossible. What troops remained were mostly at Trichinopoly, 
 under the command of Captain Caillaud, but were unable to do 
 more than protect that city, as towards the end of October news 
 was received that war with France had been declared in Europe. 
 The French occupied their old position on the island of Seringham, 
 but no hostile proceedings appear to have been taken before the 
 close of the year 1756, although the French force was superior to 
 that of the English, and amounted to 530 Europeans and 1,500 
 Sepoys. 
 
 Shortly after the Company's troop had been turned out of 
 Madura, as before mentioned, the Polygars became very troublesome, 
 but sufficient troops were not available to coerce them. Although 
 more than one attempt was made to secure the rendition of Madura 
 by negociations, they ended in failure. On the 1st December 
 Mahomed Issoof, in command of about 1,500 Sepoys and six field 
 pieces, defeated, at Gangadoram, about twenty miles north of 
 Tinnevelly, a Polygar army of 10,000 men, of whom 1,000 were 
 cavalry. This was the only affair of any importance that occurred 
 in southern India before the close of 1756. 
 
 The squadron carrying the expeditionary force to Bengal did not 
 arrive at Fulta until the 15th of December, having encountered 
 heavy weather in the Bay of Bengal.* On that day the Kent and 
 
 * The officers of the 39th Regiment were : Captain Grant in command, assisted 
 by Captains Eyre Coote, and Weller j Lieutenants Waggoner, Corneille, Carnac ; 
 
176 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 the Tyger reached their destination, and on the 20th December 
 were joined by all the other vessels of the squadron except the 
 Cumberland, 70 guns, and the Marlborough, one of the Company's 
 ships. Their absence caused considerable anxiety, as the Cumber- 
 land carried 300 of the European troops, and nearly all the field 
 artillery had been shipped on board the Marlborough* Kilpatrick's 
 detachment had reached Fulta on -the 2nd of August, but before 
 the arrival of Admiral Watson's fleet, one half of the 230 men 
 originally sent from Madras, had fallen victims to the deadly 
 climate, and of the remainder 30 only were fit for duty ;f but 
 many were so far recovered before hostilities commenced, that they 
 were all able to take part in the campaign ; the little force was, 
 moreover, strengthened by seventy volunteers, embodied at Fulta.J 
 
 The following facts connected with the march to and recapture 
 of Calcutta are taken from Olive's journal of his proceedings, 
 forwarded by him to the Government of Madras. 
 
 On the 16th December the European troops disembarked from 
 the Kent and Tyyer, and the Sepoys from the transport Walpole, 
 where they were found by Kilpatrick's detachment. On the 22nd 
 they were joined by the troops disembarked from the Salisbury 
 and Bridgewater ; the whole force remained in camp until the 
 27th December, when, pursuant to the decision of a council of war, 
 they re-embarked, and the fleet proceeded up the river towards 
 Budge-Budge. Two field-pieces with eighty artillerymen, under 
 Captain Barker, followed the fleet in boats, and seven companies of 
 
 Ensigns Jorke, Donnellan, and Broadbridge. The officers of the Madras Infantry 
 were : Captains Gaupp, Pye, Fraser ; Lieutenants Campbell, Rmnbold, Adnet ; 
 Ensigns Knox, MacLean and Oswald. Captain Briggs was A.D.C. to Clive ; Mr. 
 Walsh was Paymaster to the force (Broome). 
 
 * Wilson's History of the Madras Army put the Europeans on board the Cumber- 
 land at 250. Broome says the Cumberland carried 300 Europeans, of whom 90 
 belonged to the 39th Regiment, and the latter would appear to be correct, as 
 Orme distinctly states that 90 men were subsequently landed for the defence of 
 Vizagapatam, and 100 at Madras, leaving 90 men only on board belonging to the 
 39th Regiment. 
 
 f Orme. Mr. Ives, Medical Officer of the Kent in his voyage and narrative 
 says 30 men only remained alive, and that 10 only were fit for duty. 
 
 | Malcolm's Memoirs of Lord Clive, 
 
THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES. 177 
 
 Sepoys, commanded by a native officer, Keser Singh, proceeded 
 by land, keeping the ships in sight. 
 
 On the 28th December the whole force, with the exception of 
 the King's troops, disembarked at Myapore and joined the seven 
 companies of Sepoys under Keser Singh, and at 6 P.M. marched 
 northwards with the object of gaining the road leading from 
 Budge-Budge to Calcutta, and thus cutting off the enemy's 
 communications with the latter place, which was garrisoned by 
 3,000 men under the Governor, Monick Chund, whilst the Nawaub's 
 army was advancing from his capital, Moorshedabad. The road 
 was gained with the greatest difficulty by forced marches during the 
 night, the troops, and guns dragged by the men, passing over tidal 
 creeks and deep morasses. From a private letter of Olive's 
 addressed to Mr. Pigot, the Governor of Madras, it appears that 
 Olive objected to this dangerous land march, and requested Admiral 
 Watson to send the troops in his boats to the very spot which they 
 afterwards reached. The request was, however, not entertained.* 
 At 8 A.M. on the 29th the force entered the Calcutta road, about 
 three miles north of the fort of Budge-Budge. At 9 A.M. the 
 European Grenadiers and all the Sepoys were detached towards the 
 fort, whilst the remainder held the road. The force having reached 
 Budge-Budge, found that the King's troops, under Captain Coote, 
 had landed and had silenced the enemy's fire. During this time 
 the Europeans formed in battalion, and the company of European 
 volunteers had been posted on the road, and feeling excessively 
 fatigued, were allowed to rest and quit their arms. According to 
 Orme, no precautions against attack were taken. They were 
 surprised by Monick Chund at the head of 1,800 men. The 
 skirmish lasted an hour, during which time the battalion lost 
 one officer and nine men killed, and eight men wounded, the 
 guns, moreover, were for the moment abandoned, but were 
 subsequently recovered by the volunteers.f The enemy is said 
 to have lost fully 200 men, four officers, and one elephant. Clive 
 then recalled the Grenadier company and the Sepoys detached to 
 
 * Malcolm's Memoirs of Lord Clive. f Orme. 
 
 12 
 
178 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Budge-Budge, and ordered the pursuit of the enemy, who were 
 by that time in full retreat towards Calcutta and Hoogly, twenty- 
 three miles above Calcutta, and adjoining the Dutch settlement of 
 Chinsura. At noon the whole force marched on the fort, which, 
 in the meanwhile, had been battered by the guns of the fleet ; but 
 no breach had been made. The troops being greatly fatigued, it 
 was determined to storm the fort at daybreak on the 30th December ; 
 the party told off for the purpose being the King's troops, the 
 Grenadier company of Europeans, and 100 seamen. At 8 P.M. a 
 drunken sailor having wandered into the fort, found that it had 
 been abandoned, when the whole party entered in confusion, and 
 Captain Campbell was accidentally shot by one of the seamen or 
 Sepoys."* In the fort were found 22 cannon, 33 barrels of powder, 
 and some grain. After destroying the walls and spiking the guns, 
 the European troops disembarked on the 30th December ; whilst 
 the Sepoys, again under the command of Keser Singh, advanced by 
 the land route, keeping the fleet in sight. The artillery was again 
 embarked in large boats. On the 31st December the ships pro- 
 ceeded up the river. 
 
 At 10 A.M. on the 1st January 1757 the fleet came in sight of 
 Tanna near Calcutta, and at 2 P.M. arrived abreast of the fort, 
 which they found evacuated by the enemy. At 3 P.M. the fort, 
 together with the small fort of Alighur opposite, was occupied by 
 seamen of the ships. In these forts were found 31 guns of 
 24 Ibs., 13 smaller cannon of sizes, and a small quantity of 
 ammunition. 
 
 On the 2nd January, at six in the morning, the European troops 
 of the Company under command of Clive landed and joined the 
 Sepoys, and at 8 A.M. advanced on Calcutta with two field-pieces. 
 The enemy abandoned their batteries as the troops approached. 
 
 * Mr. Ives tells us an amnsing story of this affair. The sailor's name was 
 Strahan. That day he was had up before Admiral Watson for irregularity and 
 severely reprimanded, and threatened with the "cat." He remarked: "Well, if I 
 am flogged for this 'ere action, I will never take another fort by myself, as long as I 
 live, so help me God." He was not punished, and lived for many years after on a 
 pension ; the height of his ambition being to be a cook on board a fast vessel. 
 
THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES. 179 
 
 At 10 A.M. the fleet came up abreast of the fort, and opened fire. 
 The enemy made a show of resistance, and by their fire killed nine 
 men on board the Kent, and seven on board the Tyger,* but soon 
 deserted their guns, and escaped by the eastern gate. At 11 A.M. 
 Fort William was in possession of Captain Coote, and a detach- 
 ment of the King's troops and seamen. Olive on arriving with 
 the Company's Europeans and Sepoys naturally desired to assume 
 command of the fortross, when, to his astonishment, Coote pro- 
 duced a commission from Admiral Watson appointing him Governor 
 of Fort William in the King's name. Clive remonstrated with 
 Watson, but without avail, and the dispute threatened serious 
 consequences, when the matter was arranged on the 3rd January 
 by the admiral landing, and handing over the fort and all stores 
 and goods found therein to representatives of the Company. It 
 is clear from private letters from Clive to Mr. Pigot that Mr. 
 Drake and the Bengal Council greatly resented the independent 
 powers entrusted to Clive, and desired that he would consider 
 himself subordinate to themselves, a position that Clive declined 
 to accept. Admiral Watson supported the demands of the 
 Council, and this was the cause of friction between the two com- 
 manders and of the slights that Clive was made to endure. 
 
 The greater part of. the merchandise belonging to the Company 
 was found intact in Fort William, it having been put aside as 
 the Nawaub's share of the plunder ; but all private property had 
 been removed or destroyed, and most of the best houses had been 
 demolished or damaged by fire. Thus many of the Company's 
 servants found themselves reduced to ruin, the only means remain- 
 ing to them being the ridiculously small pay received from the 
 Company for their services. 
 
 The 21st January was employed in mounting the guns on the 
 ramparts, and repairing the defences and preparing for the expe- 
 dition. The force consisted of the King's troops, 200 seamen, 
 the Company's Europeans and 200 Sepoys, which, at 8 P.M., 
 embarked on board the Bridgeivater and several small vessels for 
 
 * Orine. 
 
 12 * 
 
180 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 the purpose of following up the success of the 2nd January by an 
 attack on Hoogly. The command of this expedition was 
 entrusted to Major Kilpatrick, who was accompanied by Captain 
 Coote. The Bridgewater having grounded on a sandbank, the 
 expedition was delayed some days, and did not arrive before 
 Hoogly until January 10th. The fort was found to be garrisoned 
 by 2,000 men, and 3,000 more lately arrived from the Nawaub's 
 army held the town, but retreated as the Europeans landed from 
 the ships. The latter bombarded the fort until the evening when, 
 the breach being hardly practicable, it was determined to storm 
 at daybreak on the llth. A false attack on the main gate drew 
 off the enemy's attention from the breach, which Coote, with 
 a few Europeans, some seamen, and a body of Sepoys, stormed, 
 losing three Europeans and ten Sepoys killed, before the place was 
 fully gained. 
 
 It was during the attack on Hoogly that news of the declaration 
 of war with France in Europe reached the authorities at Fort 
 William. Fearing that the French, who had a force of 300 Euro- 
 peans and a train of artillery at Chandernagore would at once 
 join the Nawaub, the Council at Calcutta determined to try nego- 
 tiations with the latter, but all efforts were unavailing, and the 
 Nawaub continued his advance on the city. Strange to relate, far 
 from joining forces with the Nawaub, the French refused their 
 assistance, and proposed to the British that the two nations should 
 agree not to molest one another during the continuance of the 
 war in Europe.* 
 
 In the meantime the English at Calcutta were preparing for the 
 Nawaub's expected attack and had established a fortified camp 
 about one mile to the north of the town, and half a mile from the 
 river, from which position it was Clive's determination to oppose 
 the enemy's advance. Clive, moreover, had made up his mind to 
 the important step of training the Sepoys under his command who 
 had hitherto fought in companies, generally under their native 
 leaders, and forming them into regular battalions with European 
 
 * Orme. 
 
THE PKESIDENTIAL AHM1ES. 181 
 
 officers. He raised some 400, men with due care to physique and 
 military qualifications. These men he dressed and armed in a 
 manner somewhat similar to the European troops. The battalion 
 was possibly recruited from among the Madras Sepoys ; the officers, 
 according to Williams, being selected from the Madras detachment. 
 The corps thus raised was called by the natives Lull Pultun, or 
 the Bed Battalion ; Pultun being a native corruption of the word 
 platoon, itself derived from the French Peloton, being a detach- 
 ment of about thirty men. The battalion was officered by one 
 captain, two subalterns (Europeans), who acted as field officers, 
 assisted by a sergeant-major and several sergeants also European ; 
 there was a native commandant, who took post in front with the 
 captain, and a native adjutant who remained in rear with the 
 subalterns. The battalion consisted of ten companies, two being 
 grenadiers, each company had a subahdar, 3 jamadars, 5 havil- 
 dars, 4 naiks, 2 tom-toms or drummers, 1 trumpeter, and 70 
 sepoys with two colours, one bearing the subahdar's device, the 
 other, belonging to the grenadiers, having the Union Jack in the 
 upper corner. This is the first mention of a Sepoy battalion. 
 
 On the 30th January the Nawaub's army crossed the river ten 
 miles above Hoogly, and on the 3rd February his advance guard 
 appeared before Calcutta. During the afternoon of the same day 
 the enemy in force began to entrench themselves in a large garden 
 about a mile and a half south-east of the British camp. A skir- 
 mish ensued, in which two artillerymen and three Sepoys of Olive's 
 force were killed. 
 
 On February 4th the main body of the Nawaub's army appeared ; 
 Surajah Dowlah himself being present. He took up his head- 
 quarters in a large garden, situated in the north-east portion of the 
 Company's territory, and within the Maratha ditch, belonging 
 to a native merchant, one Oruichund, who previous to the attack 
 on Calcutta by the Nawaub had enjoyed the confidence of the 
 Company's servants, with whom he had large dealings. His guns 
 not having yet arrived, the Nawaub intended to amuse the English 
 with negotiations until he was ready to attack. This fact having 
 
182 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 been made known to Clive, he determined to take the initiative 
 and attack the Nawaub's camp. 
 
 On the morning of the 5th February Clive set out with 650 
 Europeans formed in battalion, 100 artillerymen, 600 sailors from 
 the fleet, 800 Sepoys, and some 6-pounder field-pieces. The 
 order of march was remarkable, for the Sepoys led, 400 Sepoys 
 forming the advance guard, followed by the European battalion, 
 after which came the remainder of the Sepoys. In rear were the 
 guns and Lascars carrying the ammunition, and guarded by the 
 seamen who also dragged the guns. A portion of the Nawaub's 
 army was encamped within the Maratha ditch, and near Omi- 
 chund's garden, but the greater part was spread over the country 
 without any particular order. A very thick fog, common in the 
 cold season in India, enabled the British to advance to the walls 
 of the garden with but small opposition, but with the loss of some 
 ammunition accidentally exploded, which caused momentary con- 
 fusion. A charge of Persian cavalry was gallantly awaited, fire 
 being withheld until the troopers were within thirty yards of the 
 line, when one discharge was sufficient to drive them back in 
 confusion, and with considerable loss. 
 
 The fog continued to thicken, and in an attempt to gain the 
 rear of the enemy's position the troops found themselves in con- 
 fusion, and under the fire of two heavy guns loaded with grape. 
 The fire of these guns, at 200 yards distance, killed and disabled 
 no less than twenty-two of the European force at the first discharge. 
 The line was at once extended, and the troops ordered to make for 
 the high road leading across the ditch into the Company's territory. 
 Before this could be accomplished, many rice fields had to be 
 crossed, where the labour of dragging the guns under a heavy fire 
 became excessive, and the advance was further impeded by the fire 
 of two additional guns mounted a quarter of a mile to the south. 
 Two of the field-pieces had to be abandoned. At 9 A.M. the fog 
 cleared, and the British force did not reach the road until 10 A.M., 
 when they were attacked in front and in rear by large bodies of 
 cavalry, which, however, were always gallantly repulsed. 
 
THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES. 183 
 
 Olive, seeing the exhausted condition of his troops, determined to 
 abandon the attack, and at noon reached Fort William, having 
 suffered the very serious loss of 27 Europeans, 12 seamen, and 18 
 Sepoys killed; 70 Europeans, 12 seamen, and 35 Sepoys wounded. 
 The killed included 2 captains (Pye and Bridges) of the Company's 
 service, and Mr. Belcher, Olive's secretary. The enemy's loss was 
 estimated at 22 officers, 600 Sepoys, 4 elephants, besides many 
 horses and draught bullocks. Strange to say, the unsuccessful 
 British attack was viewed in quite a different light by the Nawaub, 
 who, looking upon it as an act of remarkable intrepidity, 
 prepared to retreat, and actually moved his army three miles away, 
 and opened negotiations with Olive. 
 
 On the 9th February a treaty very favourable to the British was 
 concluded, by which all former grants were confirmed, and all the 
 factories and plunder restored. Permission was also given to 
 fortify Calcutta in whatsoever manner the English should consider 
 expedient. But whilst the negotiations were in progress Surajah 
 Dowlah opened communications with Mons. Bussy in the Deccan, 
 and invited him to join forces and extirpate the British from 
 Bengal. On the llth February the Nawaub, who had now entered 
 into an alliance offensive and defensive with the British, moved his 
 army further to the north, and Clive employed Omichund to sound 
 Surajah Dowlah, whether he would resent an attack on the French 
 settlement of Chandernagore. Having received no positive injunction 
 to the contrary, Clive made up his mind to prosecute the enterprise. 
 On the 18th the British crossed the river a few miles above Calcutta, 
 but the attack was for a time deferred by the positive orders of the 
 Nawaub. 
 
 Early in March the good news reached Clive that Commodore 
 James had arrived in the river with three ships conveying three 
 companies of the Bombay European Infantry, 1 * and one of Artillery 
 as a reinforcement from Bombay, and that the Cumberland, 74 
 
 * Orme. The Records of the Bombay Fusiliers says that two companies of the 
 battalion, 400 strong embarked on the 29th October 1756, and it took them four 
 and a half months to sail round India. 
 
184 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 guns, so long looked upon as lost, and which carried 250 European 
 infantry, had arrived off Balasore. 
 
 Thus powerfully reinforced, the attack on Chandernagore was no 
 longer to he delayed, in spite of the Nawaub's objections, and the 
 Bombay detachment having joined, hostilities commenced against 
 the French on March 14th. 
 
 Chandernagore was strongly fortified, although a portion of the 
 defences, commenced at the first news of the declaration of war in 
 Europe, was as yet incomplete. It possessed many heavy guns, 
 24- and 82-pounders. The fort was about 130 yards square, with 
 4 bastions, each mounting 10 guns, and the garrison consisted of 
 600 Europeans and 300 Sepoys ; of the former 300 only were 
 regular troops, the remainder being composed of the merchants, 
 inhabitants, and seamen of the trading ships. Several vessels had 
 been sunk in the channel of the river, with the object of preventing 
 the approach of ships of war. The French had obtained promises 
 of assistance from Surajah Dowlah, but Omichund succeeded in 
 bribing the Native Commandant of Hoogly to withdraw his forces 
 on the approach of the British. The troops under Clive entered the 
 French territory from the west and by the high road leading to the 
 north face of the fort. On the first day of the attack the French 
 retired from all their advanced batteries with the loss of the guns 
 of one battery, which they spiked. 
 
 On the 16th of the month the English opened fire from their 
 batteries and the bombardment continued with activity, with the 
 loss of some 20 men, European and Sepoys, until the 23rd, on 
 which day it was determined to attack with the ships which, with 
 the assistance of a French deserter and a plucky reconnaissance 
 conducted under a heavy fire, had managed to find a navigable 
 passage between the sunken vessels. Admiral Pocock, finding that 
 it would not be possible to bring the Cumberland up the river in 
 time to join in the assault, embarked in his barge, and, rowing day 
 and night, reached the scene of action a few hours before the 
 attack and hoisted the flag on board the Tyger. 
 
 The Tyger was detailed to bombard the N.E. angle of the fort, 
 
THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES. 185 
 
 the Kent to act against the ravelin before the middle of the curtain, 
 and the Salisbury against the S.E. bastion,* the land batteries, 
 two in number, supporting the naval attack on the bastions with 
 five 24-pounders. The Kent, coming within 50 yards of the 
 enemy's guns to take up. position, was for a moment thrown into 
 confusion by the fire of the enemy, which swept the deck, wounding 
 Captain Speke, the Commander, and mortally wounding his son, a 
 midshipman. In the confusion that ensued the Captain's order 
 was misunderstood, and the cable allowed to run out to its full 
 length, whereby the ship passed her position opposite the ravelin, 
 and brought up beyond the S.E. bastion, the position to be occupied 
 by the Salisbury, which thus remained out of action. The Kent 
 was exposed to the fire of the S.E. bastion as well as to that of the 
 S.W. bastion. 
 
 The cannonade on both sides was kept up with great fury, the 
 ships losing heavily as every shot told; but the land batteries, 
 fortunately, drew off a certain amount of the fire. At 9 A.M. the 
 fort held out a flag of truce. Captain Coote, of the 39th Regi- 
 ment, and Lieutenant Brenton, the only officer of the Kent 
 unwounded, were sent on shore to open negotiations, and at 3 P.M. 
 the fort surrendered, several officers and some 70 men escaping 
 northwards in hopes of joining the Nawaub's army. 
 
 The terms of the treaty were simple: all civilians were permitted 
 to depart with their clothes, the officers were granted parole, the 
 European troops became prisoners of war, and the Sepoys were 
 allowed to return to their homes. Many of the Europeans 
 subsequently enlisted under Clive. 
 
 The British loss had been very severe, as the French defence 
 had been most gallant under their Governor, Monsieur Kenault, 
 and Monsieur Deviques, commander of the French ship Sainte 
 Contest, who took charge of the artillery and directed its fire 
 with coolness and ability. The loss of the land attack was on the 
 day of assault comparatively small, one European only being killed 
 and 10 wounded ; the total loss during the siege being but 40 01 
 
 * Orme. 
 
186 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 50 killed and wounded, Europeans and Sepoys. It was, however, 
 far different on board the ships of war ; the Tyger lost Mr. Phillips, 
 the Master, and 14 men killed, Admiral Pocock, Mr. Pater (mate), 
 beside Midshipmen Wilkinson, Thompson, and Cribble, and 41 
 men wounded. On board the Kent, the 1st Lieutenant Perrean was 
 killed. Mr. Hey, 3rd Lieutenant and Midshipman Speke were 
 mortally wounded ; Captain Speke,- the Commander, Mr. Staunton, 
 2nd Lieutenant, Mr. Barnes (Purser), Mr. Lister, Admiral's 
 Secretary, and Midshipmen Marriot and Wood were severely 
 wounded ; 37 men were killed and 74 wounded ; three of the lower 
 deck guns were dismounted, and the gallant ship received six shots 
 in her masts and 142 in her hull.* 
 
 f The Soubah had, at any rate, been consistent in forbidding 
 in the most peremptory terms any attack upon the French. An 
 Afghan invasion, news of which reached Bengal about the time of 
 Surajah Dowlah's retreat from Calcutta, had greatly disturbed the 
 intriguing mind of the young despot. Eastern flattery had 
 assured him that any foreign attack from their old western 
 enemies must, although ostensibly delivered against Delhi and 
 the tottering Mogul Empire, have for its real object the invasion of 
 Bengal. In the contemplated attack on North-Western India there 
 was some degree of truth ; the invasion of Bengal, however, might 
 be looked upon as chimerical. Under these circumstances the 
 Nawaub knew not which way to turn ; his deeply-rooted hatred for 
 the English, although he had good reason to acknowledge their 
 power not only in arms but in diplomacy, pointed them out as the 
 most valued allies. The news of the constant success of the 
 British arms in native alliance against those of the French in 
 Southern India, had by this time reached, with many exaggerations, 
 to Bengal. The very fact of the apparent French weakness, con- 
 firmed by their defeat at Chandernagore, pointed them out to the 
 
 * Broome's History of the Bengal Army ; also Orme, who does not, however, give 
 all the names. 
 
 f From here was written by me from Colonel Rivett- Carnac's dictation, from 
 his memory without notes. I believe facts and dates are correct. SOPHIA RIVETT- 
 CAKNAC. 
 
THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES. 187 
 
 native mind as allies valuable in spite of their comparative weakness, 
 provided always that the handful of British could, with their aid, 
 be extirpated from Bengal ; because they themselves would be more 
 easily coerced when the lime arrived, and they would suffer the 
 same degradation as their more powerful adversaries, and thus 
 render Bengal free from the hated foreigner. 
 
138 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL* 
 
 CHANDERNAGORE PLASSEY CHINSURAH OPERATIONS IN 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 AFTER the disposal of his native as well as European opponents, 
 nothing could have been better than the dauntless Olive's attack 
 on the French, and capture of Chandernagore. It was indeed a 
 glorious victory, and it brought out the character of our greatest 
 early Indian soldier and statesman in a clearer light than ever. 
 The distinguished Captain who had carried on so many struggles 
 against French supremacy in the Madras Presidency, making us 
 frequently wonder how he had not exhausted nature as well as 
 glory long before he came to succour Bengal, did a really valuable 
 service against his old enemies at this time by dispossessing them 
 of Chandernagore. When, on the 14th of March 1757, hostilities 
 began, it was little thought by the proud but gallant French in 
 India that in nine days the capture of the place would be effected, 
 or that the fort would hang out a white flag and capitulate 
 ringing the death-knell of supreme French power in the East. 
 
 The assistance of a " French deserter " at the conclusion of this 
 remarkable siege which gave rise to the severest struggle in which 
 the English had yet been engaged in India has already been 
 alluded to.f The story is short, but interesting. It has been 
 
 * Here begins the continuation of Colonel Rivett-Carnac's narrative, which will 
 be chiefly devoted to the operations of our Indian armies, 
 f Pago 184. 
 
CHANDEBNAGOftE PLASSET CHTNSTJRAR BENGAL. 189 
 
 frequently hinted that the loss of Chandernagore arose from 
 treachery ; and that the English corrupted the French soldiers or 
 officers. This report arose from the following circumstances : 
 The French Governor, to prevent the progress of the English ships, 
 had blocked up part of the river by sinking boats, but had left one 
 narrow channel open, which was known to but few. One Terreneau 
 an officer in the French service, disgusted for some cause with 
 Renaud (" Renault"), the Governor, went over to Olive and pointed 
 out the channel to him. This man afterwards made a little money 
 in the English service, and sent some of it home to his aged father 
 in France; but he returned it with contempt, as coming from a 
 traitor. This so affected Terreneau that he hung himself with his 
 own handkerchief at his own door.* 
 
 On no other occasion of Olive's brilliant career can it be more truly 
 said than after Chandernagore, "that the views of no statesman of 
 the times (if we except Burke, who is an exception to everything) 
 contain more political and practical foresight directed to Indian 
 affairs." So wrote his famous biographer, Sir John Malcolm ; 
 and preceding this decisive opinion of the great Indian " Political," 
 comes another highly deserved eulogium, which is even more true 
 at the present time : " India has produced many illustrious men 
 both in his time and since ; but none of them has yet obscured or 
 equalled the fame of Olive." t The nearest approach to him in 
 " practical foresight " is probably to be found in four most able 
 and successful Viceroys the Marquess Wellesley, Marquess 
 of Dalhousie, Lord Lawrence, and the Marquess of Dufferin and 
 Ava. Among strictly military statesmen and soldiers might also 
 be mentioned the "lion-hearted" Outram, and the admirable Sir 
 Henry Lawrence. It is the doing of so much good work single- 
 handed, with such strong opponents as Dupleix, Bussy, perfidious 
 Nabobs, and even perfidious European acquaintances at home and 
 in India, which sheds such a peculiarly bright lustre over Olive's 
 character. The Navy and Army in India could certainly not have 
 
 * Marshman. 
 
 f Sir John Malcolm's Life of Robert, Lord Clive, vol. iii. 
 
190 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 found two fitter instruments to re-establish the interests of the East 
 India Company in Bengal than Admiral Watson and Colonel 
 Clive ; and the Presidency armies may well be proud of them. 
 Bombay, with the exception of the attack on Gheriah (the pirates' 
 stronghold to the south of the Western Presidency), saw or heard 
 but little of Clive; his immortal work was all done in Madras and 
 Bengal; but the " heaven-born General" no doubt owed a portion 
 of his success to the gallant Bombay European Regiment, of which 
 two strong companies and a company of Artillery from the same 
 Presidency served at Chandernagore, and eventually at Plassey. 
 Again, with reference to this siege, it may be interesting to state, 
 what is not generally known, that while Calcutta was found unable 
 to stand for two days the assault of so contemptible a rabble as the 
 Viceroy's army, it required all the resources of European strategy, and 
 the assistance of three men-of-war, besides a large land force (under 
 Clive) to reduce the Bengal Paris of the East to submission.* And 
 it is well said that if the infuriated Nabob had turned his arms 
 against the French settlement, he would have been obliged igno- 
 miniously to raise the siege, and would probably have been pursued 
 by the French to his own capital; and the foundation might then 
 have been laid of a French monarchy in Bengal,f if not of a French 
 Empire in India. 
 
 A sum of 130,000 was acquired by the fall of the French 
 capital, and it paved the way for the destruction of the Nabob of 
 Bengal. By the capture of Chandernagore (FortD'Orleans) Olive's 
 steady resolution to extinguish all European influence in Bengal, 
 except that which he himself directed, was fully carried out; and, 
 as has been well remarked, "it inflicted a blow on the prosperity 
 of the French from which they never recovered," 
 
 The palmy days of Chandernagore extended only from the 
 arrival of Dupleix to its capture by the English, during a period 
 of little more than thirty years. As the star of England rose on 
 
 * Chandernagore is about twenty miles above Calcutta, on the right bank of the 
 Hooghly. 
 
 t Calcutta Review, No. VIII. (1845) ; "Notes on the Right Bank of the Hooghly." 
 
CHANDERNAGORE PLAS8ET CHINSURAH BENGAL. 191 
 
 the horizon of India, that of the French declined.* There was no 
 lack of " political and practical foresight directed to Indian affairs " 
 to produce such a happy consummation ; so why should there be 
 such a general indifference to, or neglect of them, one hundred and 
 thirty years from the fall of Chandernagore, under the present Queen 
 Empress ? It is difficult to reconcile the fact of the lamentable want 
 of interest felt on the production of the last Indian Budget in the 
 House of Commons, concerning upwards of one-sixth of the human 
 race, with the glowing terms in which the Marquess of Dufferin and 
 Ava spoke at Belfast (September 19, 1889) of our Indian Empire. 
 The noble Marquess, on being entertained to a dinner, said of 
 India : " The history of the world did not exhibit a more splendid^ 
 example of the way in which the material and moral condition of a 
 vast congeries of nationalities might be elevated and improved than 
 did our Eastern Empire." Alluding to the governing capacities of 
 his countrymen an important subject in these Home-Kule days of 
 would-be Governors Lord Dufferin, having at the commencement 
 of his speech spoken of the mighty dead those illustrious Ulster 
 men who had served England and India so well during the great 
 Mutiny, for the preservation of the Empire, remarked, with a touch 
 of humour which even the highly gifted Sheridan might have envied, 
 that we could never get on without Irishmen. Not only our Indian 
 but our Colonial Empire plainly showed that " Irishmen had a 
 positive genius for governing, if not themselves, at all events other 
 people ! " Just before this pleasant sally, his Lordship had cited 
 the names of various illustrious Irishmen, emphatically declaring 
 that both Ireland as a whole and Ulster as a province had im- 
 parted a vast amount of ability, industry, and valour into the 
 Indian Military and Civil Service. The present Viceroy was a 
 Kerry man, and the Governor of Madras was a Burke of Mayof ; 
 
 * " Notes on the Right Bank of the Hooghly," by the late distinguished J. C. 
 Marshman, O.S.I., who founded The Friend of India. He was son of Dr. 
 Marshman, the famous missionary of Serampore, and in all local matters was one 
 of the strongest contributors to the Calcutta Review in its most palmy days. 
 
 f Brother of the admirable Viceroy, the Earl of Mayo, who was assassinated at 
 Port Blair, in February 1872. 
 
192 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 while the Commander-in-Chief of the Queen's armies in India, 
 Sir Frederick Eoberts (Bengal Artillery), the victor of Candahar, was 
 an Irishman. Sir Frederick and Clive would have done well to- 
 gether ; at least, so far as energy or a determined nature in the way 
 of conquest was concerned. 
 
 Every well-wisher of India may, even at the close of the nine- 
 teenth century, with justice exclaim : Would to God we had more 
 statesmen with political and practical foresight directed to Indian 
 affairs ! 
 
 Having, as above, digressed to our Indian governors, suggests a 
 return to Chandernagore, where reigned by far the greatest French 
 governor who ever came to India, who threatened to reduce Madras 
 and Calcutta to their original state of fishing towns,* and con- 
 sequently the local terror of our early Presidential armies M. 
 Dupleix, or Le Sieur Dupleix, as he was styled by the French ; a 
 character to which, during the early portion of an Indian career, 
 we gave some attention after visiting scenes immortalised in history 
 by French energy and enterprise in the East. 
 
 The motto of this extraordinary Frenchman this would-be Great 
 Mogul was simply : " When France is contented with her Indian 
 possessions, the East will remain at peace ! " just as used to be said 
 but what shrewd journalists tell us cannot be affirmed now 
 " When France is contented Europe is tranquil." The story of 
 Dupleix's admirable administration of Chandernagore has been 
 often told, but the French governor far from sufficiently appre- 
 ciated. The would-be Paris of India was under his direction 
 from 1730 to 1742 ; and he increased its prosperity beyond all 
 precedent. From being an extensive merchant, he had improved 
 the trade of the town by his vast energy and private enterprise ; 
 and he had no fewer than twelve ships of his own, with which 
 he traded to every port in India. " During his government," 
 writes Marshman, " two thousand brick houses were built at 
 Chandernagore, and the influence of the French was greatly 
 extended in Bengal." 
 
 * Orme. 
 
OHANDERNAGORE PLASSET CHINSUUAH BENGAL. 193 
 
 This extraordinary man, who so evidently wished to extinguish 
 our Presidencies of India governors, writers, soldiers, and all at 
 one fell swoop, had the good fortune to possess an excellent father, 
 who was a Director of the French Company (as before stated, 
 founded by Colbert in 1664), and in 1720 the accomplished son 
 had come out to India, with the titles of " Premier Conseiller du 
 Conseil et de Commissaire des Guerres."* In 1742 Dupleix was 
 promoted to the government of Pondicherry (Madras Presidency), 
 and proclaimed Governor of all the French settlements in India. 
 Thus the French in both Madras and Bengal had the full advan- 
 tage of his political sagacity and government, before which all the 
 wretched attempts of France in our day to found a sort of Eastern 
 Empire sink into nothing. His fall (1754) has been already re- 
 lated ; and the amiable, industrious historian of the Madras Artillery 
 gives as one chief reason for such a catastrophe his removal from 
 Pondicherry his " mixing up European and Asiatic politics 
 together." 
 
 Of such a man as Dupleix it is scarcely credible to read after 
 being informed that at the Saidabad factory, where he lived a long 
 time, he was the Louis Philippe of the French interests in Bengal, 
 his great aim being to raise French power through the influence of 
 French commerce that with all his attention to business he in- 
 dulged in frivolity, having (we presume during his " griffinage ") 
 been seen in the streets of Chandernagore with a fiddle in his 
 hand and an umbrella over his head, " running half naked with some 
 other young fellows and playing tricks at every door/'f This 
 is apt to remind us of Cowper's adventurous Frenchman in the 
 last century, with " his lass, his fiddle, and his frisk," laughing 
 " the sense of misery far away." 
 
 Doubtless his mad companions little thought that their pro tern. 
 frivolous comrade would one day gain twenty lakhs of rupees 
 (200,000) in India, and originate French private trade in the 
 
 * See also page 117 of the present narrative. 
 
 f Calcutta Review, 1846, The Banks of the Bhagarathi." 
 
 13 
 
194 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 country. But so he did, as well as taught us how to conquer and 
 partly keep India with its own inhabitants.* 
 
 By readers fairly well up in the history of the French in India 
 and we are afraid they are very few Lord Macaulay's intense 
 admiration for Dupleix is easily understood, for it is really well 
 deserved. There could not possibly be a more correct estimate of 
 the talents and experiences of the great Franco-Indian political 
 than what is given in the immortal essay on Lord Olive ; and the 
 student of Indian history should ever bear in mind that " the man 
 who first saw that it was possible to found an European empire on 
 the ruins of the Mogul monarchy was Dupleix." And "he clearly 
 saw that the greatest force which the princes of India could bring 
 into the field would be no match for a small body of men trained 
 in the discipline and guided by the tactics of the West." Again, 
 " he saw that the natives of India might, under European com- 
 manders, be formed into armies such as Saxe or Frederic would be 
 proud to command." It is good, also, to reflect on a statement by 
 the discriminating historian and essayist, in these days when English- 
 men are apt to think too little of what the Queen-Empress and her 
 Indian Empire owe to Madras, especially while the great commercial 
 companies of Europe had long possessed factories in Bengal, and the 
 French were settled, as they still are, at Chandernagore, that " the 
 servants of the Company at JMadras had been forced by Dupleix 
 
 * " Look there, sir," said the sailor Governor of Pondicherry to the present 
 writer (1845-46), who was paying his respects at Government House during a brief 
 residence among the French in India, pointing to a marble bust of Dupleix at the end 
 of the room ; "there is the man who taught you how to conquer India with its 
 own inhabitants. You are, of course, aware that Olive took his idea of the Native 
 soldier (Peon) entirely from this clever Frenchman. " The conversation had turned 
 on the Afghan political exploits of Lord Ellenborough, and our wonderfully con- 
 stituted Bengal native army ; for no one ever dreamt then that, in another twelve 
 years, such a large mutinous crew would nearly ruin our power in Hindustan. 
 There has been nothing like it in the world's history. The Bengal army in 
 particular went on increasing till 1857, when the grand explosion took place ; so 
 what (with a few European troops) served our purposes, and those of others in the 
 East, during early European conquests, was no longer to be relied on. And it is 
 curious to note how, after the Mutiny (as if out of compliment to Olive, who won his 
 first glories in Madras), the order of faithfulness to British rule in the Presidency 
 native armies was clearly seen to run Madras, Bombay, Bengal. 
 
OHANDERNAGORE POA.SSBY OHIN"SaRA.H BENGAL. 195 
 
 to become soldiers and statesmen, while those in Bengal were still 
 mere traders, and were terrified and bewildered by the approaching 
 danger."* Returning to Olive; he knew well that war had broken 
 out in Europe between the English and French. At Chanderna- 
 gore, before the siege, the French had as many European troops 
 as Olive had under his command; and we cannot help admiring 
 the foresight of the great British leader in being well assured that 
 Calcutta could not be safe while the French kept so large a 
 garrison at their chief post. He was consequently anxious to free 
 himself entirely from the Nabob before proceeding to attack the 
 French. Clive and Admiral Watson, however, held firmly to their 
 plans, as is well known to readers of Indian history ; and both 
 distinguished fire-eaters were quite contented with the order to 
 attack which they found in Suraj-ood-dowlah's words, " Whatso- 
 ever you think right, that do." It should be kept in mind that 
 both the Admiral and Clive were expecting Bussy with a great 
 army. " Is it to attack you ? Is it to attack us ? " asked the 
 Admiral. " I see but one way/' he wrote. " Let us take Chan- 
 dernagore, and secure ourselves from any apprehension from that 
 quarter, and then we shall assist with every man in our power, 
 and go with you even to Delhi," he said to the Nabob, " if 
 you will." 
 
 Admiral Watson appears to have resembled our Commodore 
 Lambert during the Second Burmese War. Watson had written, 
 just before the last remarkable reply, to the Nabob, saying that the 
 troops which he expected had arrived, and that he would kindle 
 such a war in his country that all the water in the Ganges would 
 not put it out. We recollect our Commodore (1852) remark- 
 ing to a Burmese "Admiral," that if he brought his ship any 
 nearer to the Fox or the Serpent, he would blow him out of the 
 water ! Such was the good old style of being decisive with our 
 enemies. 
 
 It is somewhat difficult to understand why the French did not 
 
 * Essay on Lord Clive Critical and Historical Essays, vol. iii., p. 144. 
 
 13 
 
190 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 attack the Presidency town, destined to become so famous, nearly 
 twenty years before; for, as stated in tbe " Notes " before quoted, 
 so far back as 1740, while Calcutta was in a state of comparative 
 insignificance, Chandernagore had risen to great opulence and 
 splendour under the most enlightened and energetic administration 
 the French have ever had in India. " It was in the mansion on 
 the banks of the river," writes the graphic Calcutta reviewer, " on 
 the site of which stands the present Government House, that 
 Dupleix contemplated the establishment of a French power in the 
 country, and determined himself to lay the foundation of it ; but 
 Providence had otherwise determined the destiny of India." It is 
 also said that travellers who visited Chandernagore between the 
 peace of 1763 and the commencement of the French Revolution 
 in 1793, reported that every effort to restore its former splendour 
 proved unsuccessful. The chief aim of the French being the 
 establishment of a political power in India, when all their schemes 
 had been defeated by the genius of Clive they sunk into compara- 
 tive insignificance, and were outstripped in the race of commercial 
 enterprise by their hard-working, plodding neighbours, the Dutch. 
 
 It is curious to notice that, during the French Revolution of 
 1792 and 1793, the infection of revolutionary principles extended 
 even to the distant possession of Chandernagore. The French 
 populace determined to enact on a small scale the proceedings of 
 Paris, and revolutionize the Government. When they had suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining possession of the public authority, the 
 Governor fled to his country house at Giretty.* When it was 
 announced that the mob of Paris had proceeded to Versailles and 
 conducted the King as a prisoner to the capital, the mob of Chan- 
 dernagore are said to have gone to Giretty and brought back the 
 Governor in triumph to the town, where he was subjected to much 
 
 * The French Garden of Giretty where stood the famous house in which the 
 French governors were wont to show their hospitality, and the Dutch from Chin- 
 surah, and Clive, Verelst, Warren Hastings, and Sir William Jones, from Calcutta, 
 had all been magnificently entertained is about one-third the extent of the great 
 Barrackpore Park, the tasteful country seat of the Governors-General, founded by 
 the Marquess Wellesley. 
 
CHANDERNAGOEE PLASSET OHINSUEAH BENGAL. 1 97 
 
 indignity. He was at length released by the English Government, 
 who sent a party of soldiers to put down the revolution ; and soon 
 after, formal possession was taken of the town on the declaration 
 of hostilities in Europe. 
 
 The latter event is alluded to in the following brief summary of 
 the ups and downs of the French in India, when, after Chanderna- 
 gore, they had ceased to give our presidencies and their armies any 
 anxiety : In 1768, Pondicherry, Karikal, Mahe, and Chanderna- 
 gore were restored to the French ; but with a very limited 
 territory. Yanaon was likewise restored. Pondicherry partially 
 regained its former splendour, but was retaken by the English in 
 1778, and again given up to the French, with their other posses- 
 sions, by the treaty of peace of the 20th of January 1783. These 
 possessions fell again, after a few years, into the hands of the 
 English; and Pondicherry, on the 20th day of August 1793, 
 ceased to be a French capital. 
 
 At the peace of Amiens, in 1802, the French possessions were 
 again restored ; but, on the llth of September 1803 that 
 memorable year in which Bonaparte was making such vast strides 
 to universal power Pondicherry, with a garrison of only 152 
 European soldiers, capitulated, and passed, for the fourth time, 
 into the hands of the English. The beautiful little city, like 
 Niobe, now began to weep for her children. The treaties of 1814 
 and 1815 replaced the French in possession of their East Indian 
 establishments (now considerably reduced by former stipulations), 
 which consist of mere points widely separated from each other, 
 situated on the coasts of Coromandel, Orissa, Malabar, and in the 
 interior of Bengal. Their population used to be about 195,000, 
 of which less than one thousand were Europeans. 
 
 It would be useless to deny that the presence of the French in 
 the Bengal and Madras Presidencies during so long a period has 
 had a strong, though indirect, influence on the action of our Pre- 
 sidency armies in India. Forty-four years ago it was said, with 
 reference to Chandernagore and its capture by the English in 1793, 
 that though it was restored twenty-two years after, it had since 
 
198 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 that time existed as a French establishment without any object, 
 political or commercial ; and the only advantage it conferred on 
 the parent state consisted in the patronage of an overgrown 
 establishment. While the affairs of the Danish Serampore had 
 been managed with great ease by two European civilians, the 
 administration of Chandernagore embraced no fewer than ten 
 European officers. The same anomaly was visible on the coast, 
 in the settlement of Pondicherry, which contained an establish- 
 ment of officers altogether disproportioned to the size of the 
 territory or the requisitions of public duty. 1 * It is interesting to 
 relate that the famous Talleyrand's forethought procured the 
 restoration of the three hundred chests of opium from the British 
 Government for the support of the settlement of Chandernagore, 
 which privilege was effected at the Congress of Vienna. 
 
 The French at home condemned the political measures of Dupleix 
 with about as much reason as he would have had in questioning the 
 proper government of France. The English Company encouraged 
 Clive " Encourage Ensign Clive," they said at the beginning of his 
 marvellous career and all his bold adventures, leaving the fate of 
 India entirely to the bravery and wisdom of their servants in the 
 East by far the most prudent plan at such a period. Clive 
 wisely took advantage of the neglect of Dupleix by his countrymen. 
 The keen eye of the rising soldier and statesman saw how well 
 the clever Frenchman understood how to form an army of 
 natives, and make mere puppets of princes : to do these well 
 formed the grand secret of firmly establishing European power 
 in India. 
 
 Earl, afterwards Marquess, Cornwallis, having defeated various 
 schemes of the French to resuscitate their power, sailed for England 
 in 1793. In the Hyderabad dominions and the Mahratta terri- 
 tories, nevertheless, Frenchmen were still plentiful. It was one of 
 the first steps in the policy of that admirable and determined 
 statesman, the Marquess Wellesley, as will be seen here- 
 after, to order the Nizam of Hyderabad, his ally against 
 
 * Calcutta Meview, No. VIII., p. 510. 
 
CHANDERN AGORE PLASSET CHINStJRAH BENGAL. 1 99 
 
 Tippoo Sultan, to dismiss all French officers from his service. 
 This was obliged to be done by force of arms; and, in 
 1798, the commanders of the Nizam's army French officers 
 who had ruled fourteen thousand men were compelled to 
 leave India for France. The troops were immediately officered 
 by the British. Nothing could have been wiser than this active 
 measure by Lord Wellesley. Had it not been carried out, 
 the English might have had some difficulty in becoming the heroes 
 of Seringapatam in May 1799. The French had even become 
 popular instructors as far north as the magnificent cities of Agra 
 and Delhi ; and to prevent their leaguing with the Mahrattas, or 
 any other shifting native power, at such a period, must always be 
 considered as an admirable stroke of policy. It appears strange 
 that Scindiah, the Mahratta chieftain, should have regarded the 
 French attached to his army with a jealous eye. Even Monsieur 
 Perron, his great coadjutor, was not to be trusted. Scindiah pro- 
 bably fancied that, French power having fallen, French self-interest 
 would now be the ruling principle ; and it is impossible to imagine 
 that Perron was much grieved, in a political point of view, when 
 Lord Lake annexed the cities of Agra and Delhi to the dominions 
 of the English East India Company. The chief power of the 
 Mahrattas fell in 1803. 
 
 The Presidency armies were, as we know, kept well alive by all 
 such important transactions. Before proceeding with further 
 operations in Bengal, succeeding Chandernagore, it may be well 
 to relate that, in 1871, after writing a sketch of Pondicherry 
 (Pont-dechire, like our Pontefract, and styled by the natives 
 Puducheri) and the French in India, public attention was drawn 
 to a fair little isle, though hardly "the fairest isle breathed on by 
 Heaven," one of the British Possessions in Europe, which Campbell 
 has made immortal in his wild but beautiful poem ol " The Death- 
 Boat of Heligoland/' The subject of purchase of the French 
 possessions in India long occupied our attention particularly 
 during the Franco-German war and the exchange of Heligoland 
 having come forward in the above year prompted us to say a few 
 
200 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 words on the subject, in connection with the French in India, 
 for a repetition of which a slight digression may be pardoned : 
 
 By the treaty of peace between Great Britain and Denmark, 
 Heligoland is ours " in perpetuity." It is a small island in the 
 German Ocean, opposite to the mouth of the Elbe, about nine 
 miles in circumference. "Heligo's Isle," then, had been attracting 
 attention ; and the first week in June (1871) the rumoured cession 
 of Heligoland to Germany brought forth some remarks from Sir 
 J. Hay in the House of Commons : t( It would be in the recollec- 
 tion of the House that at the time the treaty of peace between 
 France and Germany was in progress, a statement appeared in the 
 newspapers that Pondicherry was about to be ceded by France to 
 Germany ; and within the last few weeks statements had been 
 made in some of the German papers that Heligoland was to be 
 added to Germany." Viscount Enfield informed the gallant 
 member that no proposal had been made for the cession of 
 Heligoland to Germany. But, although no correspondence had 
 yet passed on the subject, it was quite possible that the occupation 
 of this island had for some time been an important subject with 
 the acute and far-seeing Prince Bismarck before, on account of 
 Prussia's triumph over Denmark ; and now, more than ever, since 
 the Emperor and his Chancellor had become lords of the 
 ascendant. Of Pondicherry it was said, in February 1871, that it 
 was to have been exchanged for Heligoland. Although it would 
 seem to be politically necessary for us to retain the island, yet, we 
 wrote, for the sake of our gaining Pondicherry, and, of course, all 
 the French settlements in India, the bargain might have been 
 struck. But since it had been officially stated that Germany 
 did not intend to acquire through peace with France any posses- 
 sions in India, Asia, or any Transatlantic country whatever, 
 it seemed to be our bounden duty to negotiate at once for 
 the French possessions in India. " If ' German unity,' ' 
 we wrote, " is ever to be advanced by the possession of Heligo- 
 land, why not British in the East by Pondicherry ? We must 
 avoid even the shadow of the possibility of revolution and disorder 
 
CHANDERNAGORE PLASSEY CHINSUEAH -BENGAL. 201 
 
 through the agency of any European Power in Hindustan. And 
 no European Power should have any influence there save our own."* 
 Chandernagore is first mentioned as a French settlement in 1700, 
 just seventeen years after M. Martin founded Pondicherry (1683), 
 destined to play such an important part in the Madras Presidency. 
 There is little more of interest to be related of Chandernagore, 
 except, perhaps, that it used to have two Catholic churches. The 
 fine old church of St. Louis, we read, on which four pieces of 
 cannon were mounted in the siege of the town in 1757, was 
 demolished during its progress. A magazine in rear of it was 
 afterwards fitted up as a church, in which for many years divine 
 service was performed. Churches in India have frequently been 
 put to strange uses, as, in the above instance, converting one into 
 a battery ; while the construction of at least one sacred edifice has 
 a touch of humour about it not often surpassed in the history of 
 ecclesiastical architecture. Mr. Marshman, of Serampore, has 
 told us, regarding the church at Chinsurah where we shall arrive 
 with a Presidency army in due course that it stands immediately 
 above the ghat at the entrance of the town from the south, and was 
 the joint gift of Mr. Sichterman and Mr. Vernet. Sichterman 
 erected the steeple, with a chime clock, in 1744, and Vernet added 
 the church twenty-four years afterwards ; thus reminding us of the 
 popular remark that the Frenchman invented the frill, and the 
 Englishman added the shirt.f We are afraid that this, or a 
 similar assertion, is entirely applicable to colonial progress among 
 more than one of the great European Powers. A portion of the 
 force employed against Chandernagore has already been named ; 
 but the Presidencies of India, at any period, have never sent forth 
 to war, or included in their armies, two finer corps that the 1st 
 Madras and 1st Bengal European Regiments. It was in the 
 
 * The French Possessions in India : Reasons for an Endeavour to Purchase them, 
 &c. In a Letter to His Grace theDuke of Argyll, K.T., Secretary of State for India 
 (1871). It may be here also mentioned that in 1883 there was a rumoured purchase 
 of Chandernagore. It was said that the Government of India were in treaty with 
 the French for the purchase ; but nothing was known for certain on the subject. 
 
 f " Notes on the Right Bank of the Hooghly." 
 
202 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES' OF INDIA. 
 
 year 1755 that the Madras Artillery and the 1st Madras 
 European Regiment were first regularly incorporated, the sepoys 
 regimented, and the pay established. " It appears quite clear/' 
 writes Colonel P. E. Innes, " from Colonel Clive's Diary, despatched 
 officially to the Court of Directors in February 1757, that ' the 
 Bengal European Kegiment' was organised by him on, or imme- 
 diately prior to, the 22nd December 1756 ; for he noted that, on 
 that date the Grenadier and the Artillery Companies, from the 
 Salisbury and Bridgewater, in which vessels they had arrived from 
 Madras, joined the battalion which was in the camp. The 
 ' battalion ' referred to must have been the ' Bengal European 
 Battalion,' which he had just formed ; for there was no other 
 battalion in the camp, or indeed with his army." 
 
 Two strong companies of the Bombay European Kegiment and 
 the detachment of Artillery from that Presidency, being reinforce- 
 ments which left Bombay in October 1856, did not arrive on the 
 scene in Bengal till February 1757. The Bombay European 
 detachment was, after the battle of Plassey, incorporated with the 
 Bengal European Kegiment. The detachment of Madras Artillery 
 was also incorporated with the Bengal army,f as if prophetic of 
 the huge Bengal Presidency swallowing up to some extent the 
 minor ones and their armies in times to come ! 
 
 We must not leave Chandernagore without recurring once more 
 to the French garrison ; and Major Innes's recent excellent work 
 on the Bengal European Regiment seems to contain the best 
 account of it which has come under our notice. It consisted of 
 146 European Infantry, 300 Sepoys, and about 300 Militia 
 formed from amongst the European inhabitants of the town ; and 
 there were, in addition, a number of French sailors, drawn from 
 the ships lying under the guns of the fort. With reference to the 
 number of European Infantry, the Major has noted: "Various 
 authorities place the French garrison at a much higher figure ; but 
 
 * History of the Bengal European Regiment, now the Royal Munster Fusiliers, 
 pp. 16 17. 
 
 f Begbie's (General P. J.) Services of the Madras Artillery, vol. i., p. 88. 
 
CHANDERNAGORE PLASSEY CHINSURAH BENGAL. 203 
 
 Malleson " the well-known colonel, and probably our greatest 
 living light in Anglo-Indian literature and research " who has 
 examined the old records at Chandernagore, ascertained they only 
 had 146 French Infantry in the garrison." Again, the English 
 force consisted of the Bengal European Regiment, the detachments 
 of the Bombay and Madras European Regiments ; these, after 
 leaving sufficient men to garrison Calcutta and the outposts, 
 amounting in all to about 700 European infantry. Besides, Clive 
 had 150 European artillery and 1,500 Sepoys ; but the most 
 important part of the expedition was the ships of war. There were 
 the Kent (64), the Tiger (60), and Cumberland (70), the detach- 
 ments of the 39th Regiment (Primus in Indis) still acting as 
 marines on board ship.* It will be remembered that, on the depar- 
 ture of the force from Madras to retrieve the fallen fortunes of the 
 Bengal Presidency, Clive does not seem to have been in actual 
 command of the detachment of the King's 39th Regiment, which 
 Colonel Adlercronf stipulated should act as marines only ; and this 
 absurd arrangement, when every fighting soldier was required on 
 land, was caused by the Madras Council refusing command of the 
 force to Adlercron, quite unskilled in Asiatic warfare, and giving it 
 to Clive, the only man in India except Colonel Lawrence (who, 
 as before remarked, f was ill) fit for the all-important duty. 
 Thus, as is occasionally the case in war particularly in India 
 the second in command was by far the better man, which was 
 clearly seen from the day of Olive's landing in Calcutta in com- 
 mand of the first real Bengal Presidency army to the fall of 
 Chandernagore. The great event was followed up by the most 
 decisive action against Suraj-ood-Dowlah (according to Sir John 
 Malcolm, Suraj-u-Dowlah). 
 
 When Chandernagore fell, the Nabob, notwithstanding his 
 flattering congratulations to Clive on such a successful issue, 
 
 * History, &c., p. 42. 
 
 f Commander -in-Chief, whose complete independence of all local authority was 
 " one of the anomalies of the times." 
 J P. 173. 
 
204 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 marched a large army to Plassey, which he interposed between the 
 English and his capital. Olive, affecting alarm at the attitude thus 
 assumed, kept his troops together in and about the new conquest. 
 Of course, Olive had as little confidence in the Nabob as the Nabob 
 had in him. And now the time for action arrived. In spite 
 of all their care, " a suspicion of the fidelity of Meer Jafifier 
 and his colleagues " had been roused in the mind of Suraj-ood- 
 Dowlah. 
 
 The Admiral with his ships and Olive with his troops had gone 
 back to Calcutta. Chandernagore was garrisoned chiefly by sailors 
 and a few sepoys. In the arrangements for his advance, Olive 
 ordered all the troops which could be spared to march from Cal- 
 cutta, " on the 12th of June, leaving only some sick Europeans 
 and Sepahis to guard the French prisoners."* On the 13th the 
 army, with 150 sailors, marched, the English troops, with one 
 field-piece and ammunition, being towed up the river in 200 boats 
 and the sepoys marching along the right bank. 
 
 " The English army,'' writes Major Innes, " on the 16th June 
 reached the town of Pulti, about twelve miles from the Nawab's 
 fort of Kutwah. The governor of this fort was believed to be in 
 league with Mir J'affar Khan's partytj but when Major Eyre 
 Coote, with an imposing force, including a detachment of the 
 Bengal European Regiment, summoned the garrison, the Governor 
 refused to surrender. Major Coote, first opening fire, despatched a 
 body of Europeans, who effected a passage across the river, when 
 the enemy, firing some buildings adjoining the fort, took to 
 flight." 
 
 The Madras and Bombay European regiments also assisted in 
 this smart affair, which ended in the British occupation of the town 
 and fort hardly so important as the materials for carrying on war 
 and the possession of " a very large supply of grain and a consider- 
 able quantity of military stores, as well as fourteen pieces of 
 artillery." Clive, then, was now within a few miles of the plains 
 of Plassey. He had received a letter from Meer Jaffier, which 
 
 * Innes. See History) p. 64. f To dethrone the Nabob. 
 
CHANDERNAGORE PLASSET CHINSTJRAH BENGAL. 205 
 
 gave an account of his " reconciliation with the Nawab, and 
 how he had sworn to assist him against the British ; but he 
 concluded by saying that the purport of his engagement with the 
 English must be carried out."* Truly, the character of Meer 
 Jaffier, which Lord Macaulay has drawn so strongly and vividly, 
 is one of the most extraordinary in Indian or any other history ; 
 and if he did nothing else, he was the cause of teaching us the 
 value, in the foundation of our Indian Empire, of a really good 
 Presidency army, and of such a military genius to lead it as 
 Robert, Lord Clive. Meer Jaffier was an adept in the art of 
 serving two masters. The Nabob, too, was a very strange com- 
 pound ; but no Indian official of his time could see through him 
 so well as Clive. The grand art of governing men will ever consist 
 in seeing through them ; after a fashion it may be, but still they 
 must in some way penetrate into the very cranny of their natures. 
 We recollect, many years ago, after the Southern Mahratta war, 
 asking a brother officer what was his impression of Outram. " His 
 eye was everything/' was the reply ; " he looked as if he could see 
 through you ! " And this was also the case with the "Iron Duke," 
 Sir Charles Napier, and other brave and independent military 
 leaders. 
 
 Sir John Malcolm has clearly given the sentiments Clive had 
 formed of the Nabob's character and policy. In a private letter to 
 Mr. Pigot, Governor of Madras, written a month after the fall of 
 Chandernagore, he gives a vivid description of the Nabob's 
 character and " of the motives and feelings which he sup- 
 poses to agitate his weak and vacillating mind at a period critical 
 both for himself and for the Company's establishment in Bengal." 
 Notwithstanding his signing articles of peace, from his tyranny, 
 cowardice, and suspicion, no dependence could be had upon him. 
 "No consideration," wrote Clive to Mr. Pigot,f "could induce 
 him to deliver up the French. It is true he has ordered them out 
 of his dominions, and they are at some distance from his capital ; 
 
 * History, p. 55. f 30th April 1757. 
 
206 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 but he has retained them secretly in his pay, and has certainly 
 written to Monsieur Delegrit and M. Bussy to send men to his 
 assistance. One day he tears my letters and turns out our vakeel 
 (agent), and orders his army to march; he next countermands it, 
 sends for the vakeel, and begs his pardon for what he has done." 
 Twice a week he had threatened to impale Mr. Watts.* In short, 
 he was a compound of everything bad, kept company with none but 
 his menial servants, and was " universally hated and despised by 
 the great men." Olive next informs the Madras Governor of 
 " a conspiracy going on against him by several of the great men," 
 and that there can be neither peace nor security while such a 
 " monster " reigns. The proofs that dive's conclusions were just 
 are to be found in various documents, but particularly in the letters 
 from Mr. Watts and in the communications made by the Nabob to 
 the French officers Bussy and Law (the French agent at Cosim- 
 bazar, who enjoyed pre-eminent influence at the Moorshedabad 
 Durbar), some of which were intercepted at the time, and others 
 found after the battle of Plassey.f In the now famous " Memoirs " 
 there is no more interesting or amusing passage than that in a 
 letter to M. Bussy, February 1757, where the Nabob observes : 
 " These disturbers of my country, the Admiral and Colonel Olive 
 (Sabut Jung), whom bad fortune attend ! without any reason what- 
 ever, are warring against Zubat-ul-Toojar (M. Renault), the 
 Governor of Chandernagore. This you will learn from his letter. 
 I, who in all things seek the good of mankind, assist him in every 
 respect, and have sent him the best of my troops that he may join 
 with them and fight the English ; and if it become necessary, I 
 will join him myself. I hope in God these English, who are 
 unfortunate, will be punished for the disturbances they have raised. 
 Be confident ; look on my forces as your own. I have wrote you 
 before for two thousand soldiers and musqueteers under the com- 
 mand of two trusty chiefs. I persuade myself that you have 
 already sent them, as I desired ; should you not, I desire you will 
 
 * Resident at the Nabob's Court at Moorshedabad. 
 f Memoirs of Lord dive, vol. i., p. 208. 
 
CHANDERNAGORE PLASSEY -CHItfSURAH BENGAL. 20 
 
 do me the pleasure to send them immediately. Further particulars 
 you will learn from M. Renault." 
 
 Zubat-ul-Toojar, the title of the French Governor or Chief, is 
 explained as meaning " the essence or excellence of merchants " ; 
 while Sabut Jung, " the daring in war," is applied to Olive, " by 
 which title," writes Sir John Malcolm,* " he is to this day known 
 among the natives of India." In their professions, at any rate, 
 Suraj-ood-Dowlah had evidently a high opinion of both Frenchman 
 and Englishman. For the Admiral he had no epithet of praise or 
 condemnation loud enough, or he might have said that Watson, 
 like our gallant Rangoon Commodore, was all thunder and light- 
 ning, with a dash of the earthquake in him !f 
 
 We may here incidentally mention that a namesake of the 
 gallant Admiral, Colonel Watson, established the first dock- 
 yards in the Bengal Presidency at Kidderpore in 1780. But now 
 let us proceed to the famous battle which did so much for other 
 peaceful triumphs in India. At length Clive marched down with 
 his army to Plassey. The troops were set in motion early in June 
 1757. The scene of the celebrated and decisive battle which fixed 
 the destiny of India, or gave us an Indian Empire, is thus graphi- 
 cally described : " Following the tedious and shifting windings of 
 the river (the Bhagirathi), we come to the field of PLASI (Plassey), 
 so called from Palasa, a tree counted very holy ; Sir W. Jones 
 states that there was a grove of these trees at Plasi formerly, and 
 they were to be seen at Kishnagur in Jones's time. Of the 
 famous mango grove, called Lakha Bag, from there having been a 
 lakh J of trees in it (this tope was about a mile to the east of Ram- 
 nagar Factory), all the trees have died or been swept away by the 
 river, excepting one, under which one of the Nawab's generals, 
 who fell in the battle, is buried ; the place is called by the natives 
 Pirha Jaya, and is held sacred by the Hindus and Musalmans, but 
 particularly by the last. 
 
 * 1835-36. 
 
 f We believe this, or something like it, was said by an American at Rangoon of 
 Commodore Lambert. 
 I 100,000. 
 
208 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 " This grove was 800 yards long and 300 broad ; it existed at the 
 time of the battle ; there is only one tree left.* The river has so 
 changed its course as to have swept away everything which was on 
 the surface at the time the battle was fought ; as late as 1801 
 there were 3,000 mango trees remaining, and the place was 
 notorious for dakoits, who lurked in jungles there." An English 
 traveller of 1801 thus writes aboufPlasi : " The river, continually 
 encroaching on its banks in this direction, has at length swept the 
 battle-field away ; every trace is obliterated, and a few miserable 
 huts, literally overhanging the water, are the only remains of the 
 celebrated Palassi." Murders and "dakoitis" were formerly very 
 common in the neighbourhood of Plasi, the jungly state of the 
 country affording shelter to marauders of every description ; it is 
 now a cultivated plain. 
 
 There is always something melancholy to the reflective mind in 
 wandering over what has once been a field of battle. We have had 
 this feeling in Europe as well as in Asia. Visiting Waterloo many 
 years ago, it was impossible not to feel the utter desolation of the 
 place, when knowing that " glorious war " had once so revelled 
 there. The infantry squares, the cavalry charge, and the horse 
 artillery 
 
 Rivalling lightning's flash in ruin and in speed ! 
 
 Napoleon, with his wonderful command of masses of men; and 
 the Iron Duke's pathetic exclamation of, " Would to God that 
 night or Blucher would come ! " the entire scene at Waterloo, 
 which secured the peace of Europe, finds some sort of a parallel 
 in Plassey, which decided the fate of India. The intense anxiety 
 of Olive to fall in with Meer Jaffier, who had arranged that he 
 should separate his troops from his master (the Nabob) and join 
 the English as they advanced ; the terrible fear of the Nabob on 
 thinking his end was nigh ; the swarthy master in the art of 
 subtlety, Meer Jaffier himself, on his caparisoned charger, darting 
 
 * This was in 1846. Colonel Malleson, in his Decisive Battles of India (note to 
 page 61), informs us, on the authority of Mr. Eastwick, that even this last his- 
 torical remnant vanished some years ago. 
 
OHANDEBNAGORE PLASSEY CHINSURAH BE NGAL. 209 
 
 about, like a treacherous spectre of indecision, halting between 
 two opinions the masses of men wearing " the shadowed livery 
 of the burnished sun " in motion, and the thunder of artillery on 
 both sides, with that fearful din and confusion inseparable from 
 Oriental warfare all might even now come to the mind of the 
 reflective traveller while strolling over the scene of the old grove 
 at Plassey. 
 
 Olive marched with an army * of about three thousand men and 
 nine pieces of artillery, and was for some days after the com- 
 mencement of operations " in a state of extreme anxiety, from 
 there being no appearance of Meer Jaffier's separating himself and 
 his adherents from the Nabob/' 
 
 The Nabob's force consisted of the flower of his army, which he 
 concentrated at Plassey, and brought, according to one authority, 
 50,000 infantry, 18,000 horse, and an enormous train of artillery 
 with him ; while, as related by another, the opposing army con- 
 sisted of 15,000 horse, 35,000 foot, and forty pieces of cannon.f 
 Here was an overwhelming force bent on the destruction of our 
 small Presidency army. As soon as the morning of the 23rd 
 June dawned, the engagement began. According to Olive's 
 biographer : 
 
 At sunrise the enemy about a mile off now aware of Olive's 
 march, issued from their camp in all their force with their artillery, 
 and soon commenced a heavy cannonade. Olive, who expected a 
 communication from Meer Jaffier, looked anxiously for its arrival; 
 but the messenger who, on the morning of this eventful day, was 
 charged with a note from that officer never delivered it. Still, 
 however, Olive watched with anxiety to see his friends separate 
 from his foes, ready to take advantage of that trepidation and 
 
 * According to Sir John Malcolm, Olive's force consisted of six hundred and 
 fifty European infantry, about two hundred Portuguese troops, one hundred and 
 fifty artillery, including fifty seamen, two thousand one hundred Sepoys, eight six- 
 pounders, and one howitzer. With this force the British marched out of Chander- 
 nagore, on the 13th June, to measure themselves with "the entire force of a 
 populous nation. " 
 
 f The latter numbers, being the same as Olive's in his letter to the Directors, 
 must be correct. 
 
 14 
 
210 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 confusion which such movements must produce. The charge of 
 the English forces was accelerated by one of the Nabob's principal 
 commanders (Moodeen Khan) being killed : Olive advanced to " an 
 easy victory." 
 
 On reaching Moorshedabad, a month after, he wrote a full 
 descriptive letter of the battle, preceding events, and occur- 
 rences which gave rise to his success and its results, which he 
 forwarded to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors. 
 The conclusion of Clive's great epistle to the Directors is well 
 worthy of being borne in mind by all Indian administrators 
 and by the British public, at the present time, and by genera- 
 tions yet unborn. It is just what might have been expected 
 from the " heaven-born general," after such a fortunate con- 
 summation as Plassey. " I persuade myself the importance of 
 your possessions now in Bengal will determine you to send out, 
 not only a large and early supply of troops and good officers, 
 but of capable young gentlemen for the civil branches of your 
 business." 
 
 As, out of a population of 250 or 260 millions, it is quite 
 possible especially in these Congress days or of excess in self- 
 government for an inconvenient Asiatic army of 80,000 or 
 100,000 men, at very short notice, to assemble near any one of 
 the three Presidencies for action, Clive's advice becomes almost 
 as useful in 1889 as it was in 1757, although we can now procure 
 troops by telegraph and railway from up country when required. 
 It should be kept in mind that Clive was not only a brave and 
 skilful soldier, but a far-seeing statesman. There is a fine passage 
 in the Memoirs which touches conclusively on these points : 
 "It is only by considering the circumstances in which he was 
 placed that we can understand the hesitating conduct of Clive 
 previous to his advance to Plassey, the defensive character of the 
 action, and the solicitude which he showed to repress that ardour 
 and forward spirit in those under him, which, on ordinary occa- 
 sions, it was his habit and his pride to stimulate and encourage. 
 It is obvious that his qualities as a soldier, in this short and almost 
 
OHAN 7 DERNAGORE PLASSEY CHItfSURAH BENGAL. 21 1 
 
 bloodless, but eventful campaign, were rendered strictly sub- 
 ordinate to the talents of the statesman." 
 
 In the battle . of Plassey the English lost only twenty of their 
 European troops, and fifty of their Native sepoys, in killed and 
 wounded. With reference to Olive's " solicitude," just referred 
 to, there is an interesting anecdote : Major Kilpatrick, observing 
 an opportunity of attacking an advanced party under a French 
 officer, by whom the troops in the grove were annoyed, put himself 
 at the head of two companies and two guns, to charge. Olive, 
 being informed of it, hastened to the spot, commanded the party 
 back to the grove, and severely reprimanded the Major for acting 
 without his orders. It was stated by Olive's detractors that he was 
 asleep in a hunting-house, his head-quarters, when Kilpatrick's 
 attack was made known to him. This assertion has been denied ; 
 but, if admitted, " it will prove no more than that this extraordi- 
 nary man could give, amid such scenes, a few minutes to necessary 
 repose." * We have read that Napoleon and the Duke of 
 Wellington, in their wars, and General Grant (the famous 
 American) in our time, possessed the happy knack of snatching 
 half or even quarter of an hour's sleep when under trial and 
 anxiety, of which neither of these heroes had more than 
 Olive. 
 
 A pleasing incident in the battle of Plassey is thus briefly nar- 
 rated : The army of Olive had come in sight of the camp, and the 
 cannonade had rather alarmed the Nabob. Before the armies came 
 into contact Olive observed Meer Jaffier filing off his troops, 
 which made him sure both of the glory and the gain : he gave the 
 word " Forward!" The Nabob fled; his masses of men were 
 scattered, and India was lost and won.f The story of the turban 
 of the deposed Nabob in esse and Meer Jaffier is also a good one, 
 and it appears in the pages of Marshman, Malleson, and other 
 writers on India, the latest being Oolonel Innes in his History of 
 the Bengal European Regiment. As already stated, Moodeen 
 
 * Memoirs of Lord Clive, vol. i.. pp. 260-61. 
 f Mudie's Picture of India. 
 
 14* 
 
212 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Khan (or Meer Mudun), one of Suraj-ood-dowlah's best generals, 
 had been killed, having lost both his legs by a cannon ball. When 
 he was conveyed into the Nabob's tent he expired in bis presence. 
 The Nabob was now thoroughly alarmed, and began to suspect all 
 his servants of treachery. He sent for Meer Jaffier, his once 
 supposed faithful treasurer of the army and commandant, or com- 
 mander-in- chief, and placing his turban at his feet begged, in the 
 most abject manner, that, for the sake of his grandfather,* he 
 would forgive him and stand by him in the hour of need. Jaffier 
 promised to be faithful, and as a proof of it advised the Nabob to 
 recall his troops, as the day was advanced ! " To-morrow," said 
 he, " with the blessing of God, we will draw up the troops and 
 prepare for the battle." 
 
 Colonel Malleson writes that the Nabob reminded Meer Jaffier 
 of the loyalty he had always displayed towards his grandfather, of 
 his relationship to himself; " then taking off his turban, and 
 casting it on the ground before him, he exclaimed, * J'afar, that 
 turban thou must defend.' Those who are acquainted with the 
 manners of Eastern nations will realise that no more pathetic, no 
 more heart-rending, appeal could be made by a prince to a subject. 
 Mir J'afar Khan responded to it with apparent sincerity. Placing 
 in the respectful manner which indicates devotion his crossed 
 hands on his breast, and bowing over them, he promised to exert 
 himself to the utmost. When he made that gesture, and when he 
 uttered those words, he was lying. Never had he been more firmly 
 resolved than at that moment to betray his master." f On leaving 
 the Nabob, Meer Jaffier galloped back to his troops. 
 
 Mohun Lall, the Nabob's general, was fully engaged with the 
 English when he received orders to fall back, which he obeyed 
 with reluctance. His retreat damped the minds of the soldiers, 
 and they began to fly in every direction. It was a sauve qui pent 
 flight with a vengeance ; and " Olive thus obtained a complete and 
 
 * Ali Verdi KMn. 
 
 f The Decisive Battles of India. By Colonel G- B. Malleson, C.S.I., (1888) pp. 
 66-67. London : W. H. Allen & Co. 
 
CHANDERNAGORE PLASSET OHINSURAH BENGAL. 213 
 
 easy victory,"* of which, from its magnificent results, the Bengal 
 Presidency will ever have reason to he proud. One cause of the 
 defeat of the Nahoh's troops is said to have been that their match- 
 locks did not fire owing to the rain having wetted the powder. 
 But Madras and Bombay also did their share of work right well, 
 and therefore share in the laurels of the crowning conquest of 
 India. PLASSEY is inseparable from the colours of the 1st Madras 
 and Bombay European Regiments, as well as from the brilliant ser- 
 vices of the Bombay and Madras artilleries. " Plassey " was the 
 first decoration emblazoned in the colours of " The Bengal 
 European Regiment; " and it has been inherited by "The Royal 
 Munster Fusiliers."f 
 
 " What 's in a name ? " A great deal in the Army ! And it is 
 pleasing to observe, in these days of innovation, the custom held 
 sacred of heading the lists of regiments with their victories. 
 Among the "Line Battalions" in the Army List (1881) we find 
 the 101st (Royal Bengal Fusiliers), or old 1st Bengal European 
 Regiment, greeting us with a long list of immortal names : 
 "Plassey," " Buxar," " Guzerat/' " Deig/' " Bhurtpore," " Af- 
 ghanistan/' "Ghuzni," " Ferozeshuhur," " Sobraon," "Pegu," 
 "Delhi," '' Lucknow." And the 102nd (Royal Madras Fusiliers), 
 the old 1st Madras European Regiment, meets our eye with " The 
 Royal Tiger" Spectamur agenda " Arcot," "Plassey," " Con- 
 dore," "Wyndewash," " Sholingur," " Nundy Droog," " Am- 
 boyna," " Ternate," " Banda," " Pondicherry," Mahidpoor," 
 " Ava," " Pegu," " Lucknow." [This was the regiment of Neill, 
 the avenging angel of the great Bengal Sepoy Mutiny.] 
 
 Now Bombay comes with the 103rd (Royal Bombay Fusiliers), 
 or 1st Bombay European Regiment, with "Plassey " and "Buxar " 
 (with the Royal Tiger), "Carnatic" and "Mysore" (with the 
 Elephant), " Guzerat," " Seringapatam," " Kirkee," "Beni Boo 
 Ally," "Aden," "Punjab," " Mooltan," " Goojerat." These, 
 with the numerous useful and brilliant services of the three Presi- 
 
 * Marshman. 
 t Colonel Innes. 
 
214 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 dency Artilleries, and eventually of the Engineers,* form, with those 
 of our Native Cavalry and Infantry, a record probably unequalled 
 in the world's history. What Bulwer (the first Lord Lytton) styled 
 " the nursery of Captains," could hardly fail to be proud of her 
 Presidential Armies, with such troops and assistance from England, 
 to fight for her interests and support. 
 
 After the battle of Plassey, Suraj-ood-dowlah mounted a camel, 
 and marched all night with 2,000 horse. He reached Moorshe- 
 dabad the next morning. But here all his former friends forsook 
 him and fled. He remained alone and deserted in his palace. 
 But eventually he embarked in some boats, from Bhogwangola, and 
 proceeded up the river, intending to join M. Law, the French 
 general, to whom he had written to come down from Patna. 
 
 After the engagement, Meer Jaffier visited and congratulated 
 Clive on his victory. They then marched together into Moorshe- 
 dabad ; and Meer Jaffier took possession of the royal palace. The 
 chief men of the city and officers of State assembled there. A 
 Durbar was held, and Clive, rising, took Meer Jaffier by the hand, 
 and, seating him on the throne, saluted him as Nabob of Bengal, 
 Behar, and Orissa. 
 
 They then proceeded to the treasury. Clive received sixteen 
 lakhs of rupees (160,000), and the other members of council a 
 fair share. A large gratuity was also paid to the army and navy ; 
 and 100 lakhs were paid to the Company for public losses, besides 
 large sums to English gentlemen, Natives, and Armenians. 
 
 Vast possessions of land were given to the Company ; and the 
 French were never again to be permitted to reside in the 
 province. 
 
 The English had, indeed, recovered their misfortunes. By order 
 of the son of Meer Jaffier, Suraj-ood-dowlah was murdered at Moor- 
 shedabad, on the very spot where he had so often shed innocent 
 blood. 
 
 By the treaty with the late Nabob, the English were permitted 
 (9th February) to erect a mint, and, as already mentioned, a fort. 
 
 * Raised in or about 1770. 
 
CHANDERNAGOKK PL ASSET OH1NSUEAH BENGAL. 215 
 
 The first English coin of Bengal was struck on the 19th August, 
 1757.* 
 
 Calcutta had sought these privileges for sixty years. 
 
 We have purposely refrained from entering into details regarding 
 the operations at Plassey, as they have been so well told by many 
 writers, including Olive himself; but we cannot leave this most 
 decisive battle without citing Colonel Malleson's summing up of 
 the results, as it is so clear and masterly, and has not been 
 equalled by any other Anglo-Indian writer of our time : 
 
 "From the very morrow of the victory the English became 
 virtual masters of Bengal, Bihar, and Orisa. During the century 
 which followed but one serious attempt was made to cast off the 
 yoke virtually imposed by Plassey, whilst from the base it gave 
 them, a base resting on the sea, and, with proper care, unassailable, 
 they were able to extend their authority beyond the Indus, their 
 influence amongst peoples of whose existence even Europe was at 
 the time profoundly ignorant. It was Plassey which made England 
 the greatest Muhammadan power in the world ; Plassey which 
 forced her to become one of the main factors in the settlement 
 of the burning Eastern question ; Plassey which necessitated the 
 conquest and colonization of the Cape of Good Hope, of the 
 Mauritius, the protectorship over Egypt; Plassey which gave to 
 the sons of her middle classes the finest field for the development 
 of their talent and industry the world has ever known ; to her 
 aristocracy unrivalled opportunities for the display of administra- 
 tive power ; to her merchants and manufacturers customers whose 
 enormous demands almost compensate for the hostile tariffs of her 
 rivals, and, alas ! even of her colonies ; to the skilled artisan 
 remunerative employment; to her people generally a noble feeling 
 of pride in the greatness and glory of the Empire of which a little 
 island in the Atlantic is the parent stem, Hindustan the noblest 
 branch ; it was Plassey, which, in its consequences, brought con- 
 solation to that little island for the loss of America, and which, 
 
 * Marshman. Olive's Fort William cost two crores of rupees about two, millions 
 sterling. 
 
216 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 whilst, in those consequences, it has concentrated upon it the envy 
 of the other nations of Europe, has given to her children the 
 sense of responsibility, of the necessity of maintaining a great 
 position, the conviction of which underlies the thought of every 
 true Englishman. 
 
 {< Yes ! As a victory, Plassey was, in its consequences, perhaps 
 the greatest ever gained. But, as a- battle, it is not, in my opinion, 
 a matter to be very proud of. In the first place, it was not a fair 
 fight. Who can doubt that if the three principal generals of Siraju 
 M-daulah had been faithful to their master Plassey would not have 
 been won ? Up to the time of the death of Mir Mudin Khan the 
 English had made no progress ; they had even been forced to 
 retire. They could have made no impression on their enemy had 
 the Nuwab's army, led by men loyal to their master, simply main- 
 tained their position. An advance against the French guns meant 
 an exposure of their right flank to some 40,000 men. It was not 
 to be thought of. It was only when treason had done her work, 
 when treason had driven the Nuwab from the field, when treason 
 had removed his army from its commanding position, that Olive 
 was able to advance without the certainty of being annihilated. 
 Plassey, then, though a decisive, can never be considered a great 
 battle."* 
 
 There is matter enough here to expatiate on, so as to form an 
 interesting little volume of itself. Considering the numbers of 
 Mahomedans in our Presidencies, as well as in our Presidential 
 Armies, the fact of our being the greatest Mahomedan Power in 
 the world, which would-be " Members for India," and others 
 interested in our Eastern Empire would do well to " inwardly 
 digest," is a truth worthy of thorough and attentive study ; and 
 we shall have no great or even tolerable Anglo-Indian statesmen 
 while this gravid subject remains, as at present, neglected and 
 unmastered. It is the very life-blood of our Indian policy ; and 
 its importance goes on increasing from year to year. Mahomedan- 
 ism, like Popery, will ever be a great riddle. The latter, even 
 
 * The Decisive Battles of India, pp. 72-73. 
 
CHANDERNAGORE PLASSEY CHINSURAH BENGAL. 217 
 
 zealous Protestants must admit, though reduced to a spiritual 
 power only, has still the principle of life strong within her ; and 
 although the Crescent must eventually give way to the Cross, there 
 are certainly no very strong signs at present of Islam withering away. 
 
 A well-known writer, in one of the early numbers of the 
 Calcutta Review, commences a learned and brilliant article on a 
 great " Controversy " at the time by remarking that " Mahom- 
 medanism is perhaps the only undisguised .and formidable antago- 
 nist of Christianity." And Englishmen should never forget that 
 the fourth grand era of Christianity in connection with Mahome- 
 danism arose with the dominion of Europeans in India,* who 
 certainly have never, to the wonder of the Turk and Persian, half 
 improved their advantages for evangelizing the East. 
 
 Even as to moral and general conduct, England, in the 
 eighteenth century, was fearfully neglectful of her responsibility 
 in India ; at one time our religion there was almost nil ; and in 
 both the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries astute Mahomedans, 
 as well as enlightened Hindus, have too often considered us 
 <{ spectacles of men without a faith," or, apparently, " infidel con- 
 querors." Of course, all this has vastly improved in our time. 
 Education and a tolerant Government have tended to show the 
 people our virtues and our failings ; while the stern fact remains 
 before us of India possessing over 50 millions of Mahomedans in 
 her population, against 187 millions of Hindus, and about 14 
 millions of other races, including upwards of 1,800,000 Christians.f 
 India has truly seen Mahomedan glory and decay ; and while the 
 young student from school or college beguiles his leisure hours by 
 reading how once the banners of Islam approached close to the 
 Papal See, and " the Crescent, almost within sight of Imperial 
 Eome, shone brightly upon Spain, Turkey, and Sicily," he may 
 think that none of his creed, in Asia or Europe, ever enjoyed so 
 much peace and security as he enjoys under the Government of the 
 British Queen-Empress. 
 
 * " The Mahommedan Controversy." Calcutta Review, No. VIII., 1845, vol. iv. 
 t The total population, in a statistical report, is given at 253,891,820. 
 
218 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Truly, it is difficult to fully appreciate the significance of 
 England's being the " greatest Mahomedan power in the world," 
 so ably brought forward by our distinguished Anglo-Indian 
 historian as one of the magnificent results of the Battle of 
 Plassey. 
 
 We left Meer Jaffier seated on the throne of the Three Pro- 
 vinces; and a more weak, cruel, "and rapacious sovereign could 
 hardly be conceived. He plundered everywhere and everybody, 
 especially Omichund, the Hindu merchant; having been a chief 
 party in cheating him out of thirty lakhs (^9300,000), falsely 
 promised him as an indemnity for loss at Calcutta. It is pitiful 
 to think that, in this wretched business the great Olive was con- 
 cerned, on the principle that it is fair to deceive a man who tries 
 to deceive others. Cheated and ruined, the " Hindu friend " of 
 the Calcutta Council went deranged a melancholy beginning of 
 the British foundation of power in Bengal. It was while Clive 
 and the Council were reaping their golden harvest that the second 
 war with the French took place in the Carnatic, and the famous, 
 rash and unfortunate Count Lally appeared on the scene. But we 
 must now proceed to another great victory, won by Clive's Presi- 
 dency Army, over the Dutch at Chinsurah (Fort Gustavus). 
 
 It has been well affirmed that, important as the Battle of Plassey 
 was to the English interests, there was another equally so, the 
 battle of Biderra,* near Chinsurah (Chinsura) ; for, as Holwell 
 remarks, had the Dutch gained the victory they would have been 
 joined by the " Nawab," and " not an individual of the colony 
 would have escaped slaughter." The struggle with the sturdy 
 Dutch was brought about in this fashion. Clive ever kept before 
 him the wise resolution that, as English power had been estab- 
 lished in Bengal by force, it should be maintained by force ; not 
 allowing any other European power to have a footing in the 
 country. 
 
 * This decisive battle has been admirably described by Colonel Malleson. 
 Biderra is about midway " between Chandernagore and Chinsurah a position com- 
 manding the road to the latter place. " 
 
CHANDERNAGORE PLASSEY CHINSURAH BENGAL. 219 
 
 In 1758, Meer Jaffier (nicknamed Olive's ass), from his weakness 
 and misconduct, must have given serious trouble to the victor of 
 Plassey. He had brought on no less than three rebellions, all of 
 which had been quelled by Olive, who had also assisted Meer 
 Jaffier in the all-important matter of the projected invasion of 
 Behar by the Prince of Delhi, and when two powerful Soubahdars, 
 in league with the Prince, sought a share of the lower provinces. 
 For such great service, and being relieved from his fears, Meer 
 Jaffier gave Olive, as a jaghire, the quit-rent which the Company 
 had agreed to pay for the Zemindary of Calcutta, worth three 
 lakhs of rupees (30,000) a year. The Mogul of Delhi created 
 Olive an Omrah, or noble of the Empire. 
 
 After various transactions, Meer Jaffier paid the Governor a 
 visit at Calcutta, where he was received with high honours. While 
 residing there a large Dutch armament, consisting of seven ships 
 with fifteen hundred troops, anchored at the mouth of the Hooghly. 
 They had evidently not come without the consent of the Nabob, 
 who had been intriguing for some time with the Dutch at Chin- 
 surah, with the hope of counteracting the influence of the English. 
 These intrigues were carried on by various means, a principal actor 
 being Khoja Wajeed, a Cashmere merchant, and former agent of 
 the French at Moorshedabad. After the revolution, finding that 
 his hopes from the English were not fulfilled, he determined to 
 bring a large Dutch force into Bengal to oppose them. Mr. 
 Bisdom, a friend of Olive's, and Governor of Chinsurah, was very 
 anxious for the continuance of peace, while the head of another 
 party, Mr. Vernet, would hear of nothing but war. The English, 
 for their own sakes, had just before prevented the Dutch from 
 having their own pilots in the river; letters had, in consequence, 
 been sent to Batavia, and a large force asked for, which had now 
 arrived. 
 
 Olive got out of the great dilemma with his usual dexterity ; 
 and there was only one way of getting rid of the Dutch force, and 
 that was by destroying it. It was the action of Siva the Destroyer. 
 The English and Dutch were at peace; but, having destroyed the 
 
220 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 French interests in Bengal, it would have been far from politic to 
 allow the Dutch to remain, Olive, therefore, prepared to act to 
 use his own phrase with a rope (" halter ") round his neck. He 
 demanded that Meer Jaffier should instantly order the Dutch troops 
 to depart. Olive at once saw through his tool's usual artifice for 
 delay ; so he determined that the Dutch vessels should not come 
 up the river. Although he strengthened the works below Calcutta, 
 he was determined not to strike the first blow. At length the 
 Dutch came up to the fort, and at once commenced an attack, but 
 were repulsed. They then dropped down the river, and landed 
 seven hundred European and eight hundred Malay troops, " who 
 marched up by land on the right bank of the river towards Chin- 
 surah." Olive's European troops were not more than a third of 
 those which the Dutch had now under their command. The little 
 Presidency Army had previously been sent up, under Colonel Forde, 
 to take position between Fort Gustavus and Chandernagore.* The 
 Dutch army advanced, and encamped two miles south of Chin- 
 surah. 
 
 Forde, one of Olive's best and tried officers,f knowing that 
 the two nations were at peace, wrote for a distinct Order in 
 Council before he attacked the Dutch. Clive received the letter, or 
 note of demand, when playing at cards. Without quitting the 
 table, he wrote an answer in pencil: " Dear Forde, fight them 
 immediately. I will send you the Order of Council to-morrow.'' 
 No wonder it has been said that there is nothing greater than this 
 in all Livy. The forces met ; Forde conquered the Dutch, and 
 their ambition in India though not of such a resolute nature as 
 that of the French was quenched for ever, " by the daring genius 
 of Clive/' as that of the French had previously been. 
 
 About the same time as Forde's victory, the Dutch ships in the 
 river were captured by the English ; and so Holland's great enter- 
 prise ended in smoke. 
 
 Another account of the Dutch armament, or the large fleet 
 
 * The Dutch settlement of Chinsurah lies within three miles of Chandernagore. 
 t Who had been so successful against the Northern Circars in September 1758. 
 
OHANDERNAGOEE PLASSEY OHINSURAH BENGAL. 221 
 
 which arrived from Batavia, is that it consisted of seven ships, 
 three of thirty-six guns, three of twenty-six, and one of sixteen, 
 with 1,100 troops, European and Malay. It was given out that 
 the armament was intended for the Dutch settlements on the 
 Coromandel Coast, but had been obliged to run up the Hooghly. 
 A man of Olive's penetration, however, could not mistake its 
 object, which was to take advantage of the breaking up of the 
 Mahomedan power, and endeavour to supplant the English in 
 Bengal.* But even setting this aside, the presence of a foreign 
 force in the vicinity of Calcutta, of so many European soldiers, it 
 is obvious could not be permitted. 
 
 The policy of Clive had been fully carried out. " By vigour, 
 decision, and daring," writes Colonel Malleson, in his account of 
 Biderra, "a danger greater than any which since January 1757 
 had threatened the British settlement in Bengal had been en- 
 countered and overthrown." The Colonel also is of opinion that 
 Clive never entertained a doubt of the secret understanding 
 between Meer Jaffier and the Dutch. 
 
 Colonel Forde, immediately after the action, invested Chinsurah 
 (November 1759) ; but the Dutch hastened to make an apology to 
 Clive. On agreeing to pay the expenses of the war, he released 
 their ships. Soon after these events, in February 1760, he 
 embarked for England, rich in glory and money, but with an 
 impaired constitution, after his great labours, leaving the Govern- 
 ment in the hands of Mr. Vansittart.f 
 
 We have already alluded to the French Governor's country house 
 at Giretty, where, in 1775, were assembled the beauty and fashion 
 of Chinsurah, Chandernagore, Serampore, and Calcutta. As details 
 concerning society and manners give animation to a picture, we 
 shall therefore conclude these few remarks on Chinsurah and the 
 Dutch whose Indian trade was in its most palmy state between 
 1770 and 1780 with the following sketch, from a description by 
 Captain Stavorinus (February 1770), of a visit by the Dutch and 
 
 * Notes on the Right Bank of the Hooghly. 
 f Outlines of the History of Benyal. 
 
222 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 their Director to the French Governor's seat of Giretty : The 
 party set off from Chinsurah at four o'clock, in six carriages, and 
 reached the chateau at six, where they were received at the bottom 
 of the steps and conducted into a large saloon, in which the prin- 
 cipal ladies and gentlemen of Chandernagore were assembled. At 
 seven, the Dutch guests were invited to witness a play in a slight 
 building erected for the purpose. After this, a hundred ladies and 
 gentlemen sat down to an elegant supper. The party broke up at 
 one, and returned to Chinsurah. The entertainments at Giretty 
 are said to have been little inferior to those of the old Government 
 House in Calcutta, where hospitality was the rule ; and, for the 
 time, the officers of the Presidency Army, with those of the Royal 
 Navy and mercantile services, thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and 
 forgot they were in India. 
 
 There can be little doubt that the famous Commander-in-Chief 
 and Governor of Bengal was as fond of dancing as any dashing 
 young officer under him, and that he had, years before the above 
 entertainment, figured at Giretty in the ball-room. During his fur- 
 lough-life (1763), as if not yet perfection in the Terpsichorean art, 
 we find him learning dancing in Paris "to please the French ladies " 
 thus becoming the daring in love as lie ever was the dauntless in 
 war. The following interesting facts regarding the elder Pitt's 
 "heaven-born general " are still little known ; and they are not to be 
 found in Malcolm's Life of C live* \ Many of the French nobility, 
 who despised all the mercantile class, contemned Clive for having 
 been in a mercantile office ; he forbade all the Company's servants in 
 India the use of palankins, and the junior servants the use of even 
 an umbrella; he rose early, and then executed a good part of his 
 business, afterwards breakfasted, and then took exercise. He was 
 rather reserved in company ; he was a great enemy to interlopers, 
 and during his governmentf he issued orders that all free mer- 
 chants should be recalled to Calcutta and should not quit it. Clive 
 knew nothing of the vernaculars ; and he would say that if he had 
 
 * Calcutta Review. 
 
 f Shortly before leaving India in 1767. 
 
CHANDERNAGORE PLASSEY CHINSTJRAH BENGAL. 223 
 
 been a linguist, he might have believed many of the lies that were 
 told him, and would never have conquered India for us. Olive, 
 the warrior of India, and his famous historian Orme, were 
 appointed writers on the same day. After the battle of Plassey 
 he proposed to the authorities the conquest of China, in order to 
 pay off the national debt!* An East India director once asked 
 Clive whether Sir Roger Dowler (Suraj-ud-Dowlah) was not a 
 baronet ; and this was considered as good as Lord George 
 Bentinck's stating that if the price of sugar were raised the 
 hundred millions of Hindustan would not be able to sweeten their 
 tea. When Clive went home, he was exposed to various insults 
 from civilians or military men whom he had offended in India ; and 
 once he was obliged to disguise himself three times in one day to 
 avoid the pursuit of some of his enemies. Thus the future great 
 benefactor of officers' widows for all time, and others who depended 
 on the military profession, became for a season the victim of male- 
 volence and scandal. The sense of duty in some men is so strong 
 that the wielder of it is ever sure to make rancorous opponents ; 
 and Clive's regard for DUTY was certainly not inferior to that of the 
 Iron Duke. Before a few remarks on Clive's Fund one of the 
 greatest boons ever offered to the Presidency Armies of India we 
 must note the principal events which occurred, as affecting Bengal, 
 especially as a few great military operations took place, from Clive's 
 departure for England to his resuming power in Calcutta as 
 Governor in 1765. 
 
 In 1760 the young Prince, son of the Emperor of Delhi, Shah 
 Allum, for the second time invaded Behar, having been amicably 
 disposed of by Clive on the first occasion (1758). His father 
 having been murdered, he now became Emperor. The English 
 and Meerun, the infamous son of Meer Jaffier, marched against 
 him. This adventurous Emperor, without power or subjects, had 
 
 * The people of Miirshidabad (Moorshedabad) expected to be plundered after the 
 battle, and were therefore greatly surprised when no contribution was levied on 
 them. Clive remarked that when he entered Moorshedabad at the head of 200 
 Europeans and 500 Sepoys, the inhabitants, if inclined to destroy the Europeans, 
 might have done it with sticks and stones. 
 
224 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 threatened Patna, which the brave Ramnarayan put in a state of 
 defence, and wrote to Moorshedabad entreating that troops might 
 be sent to his assistance. Colonel Caillaud, who had succeeded to 
 the command of the army, was in command of the English troops, 
 which, with the Nabob's soldiery, made up the force. No better 
 argument for the substitution of British for Mahommedan rule can 
 be found than in the facts that Meerun had already put to death 
 two of his own officers, and decapitated two of the women of his 
 seraglio with his own sabre. Just as Meerun was setting out on 
 this expedition, he ordered two widows, living in obscurity at 
 Dacca, to be put to death. The Governor of Dacca refused ; but, 
 under pretence of conducting them to Moorshedabad, orders were 
 issued to sink them and the boats. And now comes an affecting 
 incident, which stamps Meerun with eternal infamy : Just as the 
 murderers were pulling out the plugs to sink the vessels, the 
 younger sister exclaimed, " Oh ! God Almighty, we are both 
 sinners and culprits; but we have committed no sin against 
 Meerun. On the contrary, he owes us everything in this world." 
 Meerun, we are informed, had the names of three hundred indi- 
 viduals down in his note-book for murder or execution on his 
 return; but, fortunately, he never returned. And this was the 
 wretched son to whom Meer Jaffier, the lazy, had deputed his 
 power. Colonel Caillaud had requested Ramnarayan not to engage 
 the Emperor till he could come up ; but, neglecting this advice, he 
 went out and was completely defeated. Patna was defenceless when 
 Caillaud arrived with his troops. He wished to fall on the enemy 
 immediately, but Meerun said the stars would not be favourable 
 before the 22nd of February. On the 20th the Emperor attacked 
 the united army. Meerun's fifteen thousand horse were soon 
 broken and fled, but Colonel Caillaud steadily and boldly attacked 
 the Emperor, and speedily routed him. The Emperor soon after 
 emerged from the hills, and lingered about the country, having lost 
 the chance of taking Moorshedabad. Colonel Caillaud had marched 
 down in pursuit of him. The two armies were now in sight of 
 each other, and the English offered battle ; but, taking a sudden 
 
CHANDEENAGOEEPLASSEY CBINSUKAH BENGAL. 225 
 
 panic, the Emperor marched back to Patna, to which he laid close 
 siege. Assistance was now offered him by the Governor of Piir- 
 neah. The attack on Patna was continued for nine days ; and the 
 city was just about to fall, when Captain Knox arrived with a few 
 troops. He had been sent up by Colonel Caillaud, and had 
 marched up from Burdwan in thirteen days. Knox fell on the 
 Emperor's troops when they had retired to their afternoon's nap. 
 The defeat was inevitable; and the once hope of Delhi set his 
 camp on fire and ignominiously fled. Soon after a large army 
 (16,000 men) from Purneah, under the Governor, arrived, and 
 preparations were made to attack Patna; but Captain Knox, with a 
 small force (about 1,000) of European and Native troops, crossed 
 the river, boldly attacked, and completely defeated him. 
 
 (< This." writes Marshman, " was one of the most gallant actions 
 fought in this war, and gave the natives the highest opinions of 
 the English. It was on this occasion that Eajah Setabroy so 
 distinguished himself by his bravery as to acquire the highest 
 praise."*" Clive himself could hardly have done the work better. 
 Doubtless he read the despatch with unfeigned delight ; and so 
 more laurels were added to those already gained by the Bengal 
 Presidency Army. 
 
 After the defeat the Piirneah Governor joined the Emperor, 
 whose watch-words might now have been, "Save me from my 
 friends ! " Caillaud and Meerun followed his steps. The English 
 Commander continued the pursuit, although the rains had just set 
 in. On the night of the 2nd of July 1760, a terrible thunder- 
 storm occurred ; and while Meerun was hearing stories in his tent 
 after the time-honoured Oriental fashion the lightning struck 
 him and two of his attendants dead. Colonel Cailiaud was now 
 obliged to give up the pursuit, and to return to Patna, where he 
 quartered his troops for the season. And so Meerun, the profligate, 
 but the main-stay of his father's government, never returned. 
 
 Now came the distress of the English and Meer Jaffier for want 
 of funds ; and, to mend matters, Mr. Vnnsittart resolved to 
 
 * History of Bengal 
 
 15 
 
226 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 appoint the talented and energetic Meer Cossim, the Nabob's 
 son-in-law, Deputy in Bengal. He had played his part well ; for 
 an instance, when the administration fell into disorder, and the 
 troops surrounded the palace and became clamorous for their 
 arrears of pay, Meer Cossim came forward and promised to satisfy 
 them from his own purse. The English, too, had an expensive 
 war on their hands. They had received large sums unexpectedly, 
 and spent them without thought. In short, Clive was never so 
 much wanted in India as when he was absent in Europe. 
 
 Meer Jaffier had sent Meer Cossim on a mission from Moorshed- 
 abad to Calcutta, where Mr. Vansittart and Warren Hastings now 
 directed the affairs of the Company. To these distinguished states- 
 men his talents became at once apparent ; and it was thought by 
 the Governor that he was the only man who could give a new 
 aspect to affairs in Bengal. Meer Jaffier objected to the appoint- 
 ment of a Deputy was in consequence deposed ; and Meer Cossim 
 became Nabob of the three provinces. He was eventually invested 
 with the government by the Emperor. 
 
 This important proceeding, as well as British reconciliation with 
 Shah Allum, came about in a somewhat strange fashion. 
 
 As soon as the rains of 1760 were over, Major Carnac advanced 
 against the Emperor, on the borders of Behar, and completely 
 defeated him. After the battle Carnac offered peace, to which he 
 very readily consented, and the English Commander paid his 
 respects to the Emperor in his camp. 
 
 When Meer Cossim heard of this intercourse he became alarmed, 
 and went in haste to Patna. 
 
 Although suggested by Carnac, the Nabob was too proud to 
 wait upon the Emperor. At length it was arranged that the two 
 parties should meet in the English factory. " A temporary throne 
 was erected/' writes the historian, " and there the Emperor of 
 Hindustan, the descendant of Timur, a fugitive in his own 
 dominions, took his seat. Meer Cossim entered with the usual 
 ceremonies, and the Emperor invested' him with the Soobahdary of 
 Bengal, Behar, and Orissa, and he promised to pay twenty-four 
 
CHANDERNAGOKE PLASSEY CHINSUEAH BENGAL. 227 
 
 lakhs of rupees a year of tribute. The Emperor then set out 
 towards Delhi, and Caruac accompanied him to the hanks of the 
 Kurumnassa. On taking leave of him there, the Emperor offered 
 to grant the English the dewanny of the three provinces whenever 
 they might desire it."* 
 
 We should have noticed that, as considerably affecting the Pre- 
 sidency Army at this period, there was an innate desire on the part 
 of MeerCossim feeling that all real power in the country remained 
 with the English to deliver himself from subjection to the Council 
 of Calcutta. And the only way to do this was by force. He there- 
 fore determined to improve his army, and placed at its head an 
 Armenian, a native of Persia Gurghin Khan, or Gregory Khan. 
 The Nabob's army was to be disciplined after the model of the 
 English ; but, strange enough, this Oriental military genius, once 
 a mere seller of cloth, and now a Commander-in-Chief, steadily pur- 
 sued the plan of making his master independent of the English. 
 He manufactured muskets, cast cannon, trained up artillerymen ; 
 and the army he commanded was considered the best Native army 
 ever seen in Bengal. 
 
 To facilitate his plans, and keep away from the all-searching eye 
 of the English, which Clive, though absent, still kept busy, Meer 
 Cossim forsook Moorshedabad, and made Monghir his capital. It 
 was there that the Armenian general established his gun manufac- 
 tory, and the reputation of the town for its muskets was to be 
 traced to the scientific talent of the young Armenian Gurghin 
 Khan.f 
 
 The year 1761 was an unimportant one in Bengal; but, in 
 1762, disputes arose between Meer. Cossim and the English on the 
 subject of duties as affecting private trade. Both civil and military 
 officers had now begun to engage in the latter; but while Clive 
 remained in the country they paid the same duty as the native 
 merchants. 
 
 They now resolved to become free-traders in the strictest sense, 
 by paying no duties at all. 
 
 * Marshman. t History of Bengal. 
 
 15 * 
 
228 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 Fierce debates in the Calcutta Council took place, till at length 
 private free-trade seemed to become as important a matter as the 
 conquest or keeping of Bengal. 
 
 Meer Cossim wanted money, and was obstinate to the last in the 
 subject of all duties. And so the authority of the Nabob's Govern- 
 ment was destroyed, the native merchants were ruined, and the 
 English gentlemen made " very large fortunes." 
 
 The revenues of the Viceroy being diminished, although he had 
 large sums to pay his masters, was of no apparent consequence 
 whatever. 
 
 Warren Hastings, of the Council, said, with at least some justice, 
 " that there was no reason why a sovereign Prince, like Meer Cossim, 
 should not do good to his own subjects." The chief of the Dacca 
 factory said that such " language was more fit for a Nabob's Agent 
 than for a Member of Council." To this Hastings replied, that 
 " none but a rascal would hold such language." 
 
 Thus were civilities exchanged in the Bengal Presidency Council 
 nearly one hundred and thirty years ago. 
 
 At length it was resolved to send Mr. Amyatt and Mr. Hay to 
 Meer Cossim to insist on his laying the former duties (which he 
 had just taken off) on the Native trade. At first there was a 
 chance of success; but Mr. Ellis, the violent chief of Patna, 
 destroyed all hopes of peace. He (1763) surprised and took the 
 city of Patna. But the town was soon re-taken by the Viceroy's 
 troops, and Mr. Ellis and all the Europeans were placed in con- 
 finement. Meer Cossim now knew from this affair at Patna that 
 war was inevitable ; and he proceeded to take his vengeance at 
 leisure. Amyatt, when near Moorshedabad, en route to Calcutta,* 
 was killed in a scuffle. 
 
 When news of Mr. Amyatt's death, and of the confinement of 
 Mr. Ellis and his companions, reached Calcutta, the Council, not- 
 withstanding the opposition of Mr. Vansittart and Warren Hastings, 
 determined on instant war. 
 
 * Mr. Amyatt had been dismissed by the Nabob at the interview at Monghir, 
 leaving Mr. Hay as a hostage for his own officers who were in custody. 
 
CHANDERNAGORE PLASSEY CHINSURAH BENGAL. 229 
 
 " Oh, for an hour of Olive ! " was muttered by not a few 
 Europeans in Bengal, on learning the resolution of the Council ; 
 for the Bengal Presidency Army was still indeed very small. 
 
 There is no finer or truer passage in Sir John Malcolm's most 
 excellent Life of Lord Clive than where it is said of him, on sailing 
 from India (25th February 1760), that he left a blank that could 
 not be filled up, " It appeared" (to use the strong and expressive 
 language of a contemporary observer) "as if the soul was 
 departing from the body of the Government of Bengal."* Such 
 was the vast intrinsic power evinced by the once " merchant's clerk/' 
 who had so raised himself to celebrity .f 
 
 The majority of the Calcutta Council had ordered the English 
 army to take the field. At the same time they determined to raise 
 Meer Jaffier, for the second time, to the throne, on his agreeing to 
 the imposition of duties on the native trade, and the private trade 
 of the European gentlemen to be exempt. So the old man of 
 seventy-two, scarcely able to move for the leprosy, left Calcutta, 
 and accompanied the English army to Moorshedabad, his old 
 capital. Meer Cossim had taken the utmost pains to discipline 
 his troops, and, as before remarked, they were the best that any 
 Native prince in Bengal ever possessed ; of course, all owing to 
 the great military talent of his General-in-chief, Gurghin Khan, 
 the Armenian. The war, however, did not last long ; owing to 
 discord among the Viceroy's generals, his troops were defeated at 
 Cutwa on the 19th July 1763, and on the 24th the English, after 
 storming the lines constructed for the defence of the city, took 
 Moorshedabad. A distinguished officer who commanded the 
 troops, Major Adams, at length discovered the Soubahdar with his 
 whole force drawn up (2nd August) in the plain of Geriah. The 
 troops are said to have presented the aspect of a European army. 
 They were brigaded, clothed, and accoutred in the English style, 
 and "supported by a fine train of artillery." There were 20,000 
 horse and 8,000 foot ; but to oppose this force Major Adams a 
 
 * Memoirs of Lord Clive, vol. ii, p. 143. 
 
 f Lord Brougham, in Lives of Eminent Statesmen. 
 
230 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Sir Charles Napier of his day had only 3,000 men. The Major 
 led them on most gallantly, however ; the assailants carried every- 
 thing ; and the native warriors fled, abandoning all their artillery 
 and provisions. 
 
 Colonel Malleson has described the battle of " Gheriah ''* in his 
 
 usual graphic style, telling us that the village, about a mile distant 
 
 from -the scene of action, gave its name to the plain. We learn 
 
 also that Major Adams, assisted by Major Carnac, placed his 
 
 Europeans, composed of the 84th and Bengal European Kegiment 
 
 (the present Royal Munster Fusiliers), in the centre, "with three 
 
 battalions of sipahis on each flank, the guns in the intervals, and 
 
 one battalion of sipahis as a reserve. The action began with a 
 
 discharge of artillery from both sides. Under cover of this, the 
 
 infantry advanced, and the European troops, in the centre, were 
 
 soon engaged " with the enemy. This additional triumph of the 
 
 Bengal Presidency Army was immediately followed up by a really 
 
 decisive battle. Meer Cossim had thrown up a strong entrenchment 
 
 at U'ndwah Nala, near Rajmahl, and thither his troops now retreated. 
 
 During these transactions he had remained at Monghir; but he now 
 
 resolved to join his army. Before leaving Monghir, in a fit ol 
 
 brutality, the Nabob put to death all his native prisoners, including 
 
 Rajah Ramnarayan, the former Governor of Patna. He was 
 
 drowned in the river " with a bag of sand " ; and two wealthy 
 
 bankers (setts) were brought out and thrown from a tower of the 
 
 Fort of Monghir into the river. The boatmen as they passed along, 
 
 says Marshman, continued long after to point out the spot where 
 
 the unfortunate men perished. After these vile murders, Meer 
 
 Cossim joined his army at U'ndwah Nala. Early in October the 
 
 English attacked his camp, and completely defeated him. This 
 
 entrenched camp on the U'ndwah was so strongly enclosed between 
 
 the river, the mountains, and a swamp, that its reduction detained 
 
 * This spelling of " Gh " would seem to be generally applied to Gheriah, the 
 pirate Angria's stronghold, south of Bombay, already alluded to. It is thus spelt 
 by Malcolm, Macaulay, Gleig, and other writers. The battle in the plain of Bengal, 
 above noticed, is spelt by Marshman, Innes, and others, " Geriah," which we have 
 adopted. 
 
CHANDERNAGORE PLASSEY CHINSDEAH BENGAL. 23l 
 
 the army nearly a whole month. One historian writes : " In the end 
 it was surprised and carried ; after which Meer Cossim never again 
 attempted to face his adversaries in the open field." But for a full 
 and vivid description of this battle, we must refer our readers to the 
 pages of Malleson,* who thus sums up the grand result : 
 
 The battle of the U'ndwah Nala " was one of the most glorious, 
 one of the most daring and most successful feats of arms ever 
 achieved. It was, in every sense of the word, a most decisive 
 battle. Adams did not merely defeat the army of Mir Kasim, he 
 destroyed it. The blow had been so great that a rally henceforth 
 was impossible. In one morning, with an army 5,000 strong, of 
 whom one-fifth only were Europeans, Adams had stormed a position 
 of enormous strength, defeated 40,000 and destroyed 15,000 men, 
 captured upwards of a hundred pieces of cannon, and so impressed 
 his power on the enemy that they had no thought but flight/' 
 
 And again, as regards the hero of the war : " In little more than 
 four months Major Adams had begun and brought to conclusion 
 a campaign which did more than confirm the advantages which 
 Olive had gained for the country by the victory of Plassey."f We 
 must now retrace our steps in the drama. A day or two after 
 Meer Cossim's defeat at U'ndwah Nala, he retired to Monghir ; but 
 finding he was unable to oppose the English army, which was in 
 pursuit of him, he fled with his troops to Patna. The English 
 gentlemen, it is said, who had fallen into his hands, he dragged 
 along with him. The second day after leaving Monghir, his army 
 was encamped on the banks of the Rewah. Suddenly there was a 
 commotion in the camp ; everyone seemed eager to cross the river ; 
 then some men were seen carrying a dead body across the fields to 
 be buried. It was the body of the General-in-Chief, Gurghin Khan, 
 and it was " the Nabob's pleasure." Three or four Moguls had 
 rushed into his tent, towards the close of the day, and put him to 
 death. The Nabob had been told that his able and scientific 
 General was a traitor. " Within twenty-four hours after," writes 
 
 * For full account see Decisive Battles of India, p. 161-164, 
 t Ibid., pp. 171-172. 
 
232 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Marshman, " GeorghiD, the Armenian General, was a corpse."* 
 Meer Cossim now fled in haste to Patna. Adams immediately 
 marched and laid siege to Monghir, which the Soubahdar had (as 
 before stated) made his capital, and which was now found strongly 
 fortified. After nine days of regular operations the place capitu- 
 lated, which threw the Indian chief into a dreadful paroxysm of rage, 
 and he found that he must leave Patna and quit the country. His 
 hatred towards the English being intense, he resolved, before he 
 left, that all his prisoners should die. He had already given notice 
 that on the advance of the British troops he would murder all his 
 captives. A former sergeant in the French service, now serving 
 Meer Cossim, became the executioner. He proceeded with a file of 
 soldiers, who fired upon the defenceless men, and put them all to 
 death, with the exception of Dr. Fullarton (or Fullerton), who was 
 spared on account of his medical skill. Forty-eight English 
 gentlemen, including Mr. Ellis, Mr. Hay, and Mr. Lushington 
 members of Council and a hundred and fifty soldiers, fell 
 in this terrible massacre at Patna ; perhaps only equalled by that 
 at Cawnpore during the great Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. 
 
 Patna fell into the hands of the English on the 6th of November 
 1763. At the investment the garrison had been reinforced with 
 10,000 men, and the defence supported by strong bodies of irregular 
 cavalry. There was a vigorous resistance ; the garrison took one 
 of the English batteries and blew up their magazine, yet in eight 
 days a breach was effected and the place taken by storm. f Meer 
 Cossim fled to the Soubahdar of Oudh for protection; and thus 
 ended a short and decisive war, well conducted, and adding greatly 
 to the glory of the Bengal Presidency Army, as well as to that of 
 the British name throughout the presidencies of India. 
 
 After the flight of Meer Cossim there was great discontent 
 among the British forces. At the Soubahdar of Oudh's court the 
 fugitive Viceroy of Bengal was well received; but Sujah Dowlah 
 had then a still more illustrious refugee, ono who bore the mighty 
 name of the Great Mogul. Sujah, with a view to his own interest, 
 
 * History of Bengal. f History of British India. 
 
CHANDERNAGORE PLASSEY CHINSURAH BENGAL. 233 
 
 undertook to support the Viceroy's cause ; and at length these three 
 distinguished personages marched, with united force, to attack the 
 British army. Our troops were then very ill prepared to sustain 
 so formidable an encounter. 
 
 We read that the troops, composed in a great measure of 
 foreigners and sepoys, complained that, after such a series of 
 brilliant victories, they were left not only without reward, but 
 suffering severely from the climate and scarcity of provisions. 
 The later days of batta, prize-money, and good rations were yet 
 far distant ; so no wonder at the discontented state of our forces. 
 They broke forth into open mutiny ; numbers even separated from 
 the main body. Major CarnaCj who had now assumed the com- 
 mand, not feeling himself in a position to undertake offensive 
 operations, waited the attack in his camp near Patna. The soldiers, 
 when engaged in battle, it is pleasing to relate, forgot their 
 mutinous propensities, and only thought of duty. The utmost 
 steadiness prevailed, and, after a protracted conflict, they com- 
 pletely repulsed the enemy, though, from extreme fatigue, they 
 could not follow up a pursuit. Sujah Dowlah was obliged to 
 retreat into Oudh. 
 
 In May 1764 Major Hector Munro assumed command. He was 
 a bold and enterprising officer, and was determined to follow up 
 the advantages gained by his predecessors. He firmly resolved to 
 put down a spirit of insubordination which began to lurk in the 
 Native army. A battalion of sepoys having left the camp soon 
 after he had joined, he ordered them to be pursued and brought 
 back, when he had twenty-four of the ring-leaders " blown from 
 the mouth of a cannon." No disposition to mutiny was thence- 
 forth manifested. 
 
 It may be safely affirmed that had there been one Olive and a 
 few Hector Munros during 1857, the great Indian mutiny would 
 have been far sooner stamped out. But too long peace is apt to 
 produce especially in India a foolish security, and consequent 
 serious danger, for which we must ever be prepared, recollecting 
 Olive's immortal words : " We won India by force, and must ever 
 
234 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 be prepared to keep it by this stern, yet unavoidable, auxiliary ! " 
 "Globe-trotters" and so-called " peace-makers " may argue to tbe 
 contrary ; but, in fact, the latter possess a more ready and 
 dangerous food for war than the well-conducted and well-disciplined 
 regiments of the Queen-Empress. 
 
 On the 23rd of October Munro met the troops of Oudh at 
 Buxar, and completely defeated them. During retreat they lost 
 an immense quantity of stores, and 130 pieces of artillery. The 
 Emperor had already made overtures to Major Carnac, which he 
 did not think proper to accept; these he now renewed, complaining 
 that Sujah Dowlah had treated him with indignity. Major Munro 
 gave a favourable answer, and only delayed the final acceptance of 
 his proposals till they should receive the sanction of the Presidency, 
 which was readily granted. The Mogul now marched under the 
 banner of his allies. An arrangement was made with the Vizier 
 after the victory. As for Meer Cossim, to whom Oudh had given 
 an asylum, he was eventually plundered of his treasures and 
 allowed to escape. Throughout the Bengal Presidency, and espe- 
 cially in the army, it is well said that, "by liis barbarities," about 
 as atrocious as any to be found in Indian history, " he forfeited the 
 interest which his spirited conduct and hard treatment would other- 
 wise have excited." The Nabob never troubled Bengal again. 
 
 Meer Jaffier, having been raised to the throne a second time, as 
 was to be expected, found it impossible to pay the sums which he 
 had promised to the English. He was now well advanced in life. 
 The leprosy gained ground on him, and he expired at Moorshed- 
 abad in January 1765, at the age of seventy-four. The Delhi 
 Emperor should have appointed his successor, but, as he had 
 neither means nor authority, the English did as they pleased. 
 The members of Council, as usual, received large sums of money 
 from Nujun-ood-dowla, the son of Meer Jaffier ;f and so they 
 made him Nabob. Thus, as in English history we read of King- 
 makers, so in Indian we have had Nabob-makers, who too often 
 " fleeced " their poor kings of a day. 
 
 * Memoirs. t By Munny Begum. 
 
CHANDERNAGORE PLASSEY CHINSUEAH BENGAL. 235 
 
 It may be well to conclude this chapter which we have greatly 
 diversified, in order to excite a love of Indian history and geo- 
 graphy among students of the present generation, subjects far too 
 much neglected in educational work by remarking that the 
 fugitive Meer Cossim, from his retreat in the interior of his domin- 
 ions, obtained the aid [of a body of Mahrattas under Mulhar Kao, 
 and of Shazee-ud-deen, who were once the most powerful adherents 
 of the Mogul throne. With such mighty auxiliaries he hoped to 
 make another stand against the victorious English. But Sir 
 Kobert Fletcher, who held the temporary command, laid siege to 
 Allahabad (1765), which, as soon as a breach was effected, sur- 
 rendered. Carnac, now raised to the rank of General, succeeded 
 him, and advanced to attack the army of the Vizier (of Oudh), 
 which was completely defeated, and the prince compelled to abandon 
 all his dominions. In this, what has been styled " a splendid 
 British campaign," the Bengal European Regiment was ever to the 
 front, and Major Innes has done wisely in giving at the beginning 
 of his work a table of " War Services," of more than usual 
 excellence. The dates of the various actions fought may be seen 
 at a glance, from the capture of the Fort of " Baj-Baj " (Budge- 
 Budge), re-capture of Fort William, Calcutta, and capture of the 
 Fort of " Hugli " (1757), down to the siege and capture of Luck- 
 now (1858), numbering over eighty actions, battles, expeditions, 
 sieges, and other brilliant operations.* The Madras and Bombay 
 
 * After perusing such a list of services, few will be disposed to quarrel with the 
 author of the History of the Bengal European Regiment (the Royal Munster 
 Fusiliers) for putting on his title-page, " How it Helped to Win India." From one 
 hundred years of glory we take the following facts : Battle of Plassey, 1757 ; 
 Battle of Condore, 1758; Occupation of Rajahmundri ; Capture of the French 
 Position at Narsurpore; Storm and Capture of the French Fortress of Masuli- 
 patam ; Relief of Patna, 1759 ; Defeat of the Dutch at Chandernagore ; Battle of 
 Bederra against the Dutch ; Defence of Patna, 1760 ; Defeat of the Emperor of 
 Delhi at Belkoss ; Relief of Patna ; Battle of Beerpore ; Battle against Shah Alam 
 and the French at Suan, 1761 ; Battle of Manjee, 1763 ; Kutwah ; Geriah ; Capture 
 of the Fortified Position at .Suti ; Storm and Capture of U'ndwah Nala ; Capture of 
 Monghyr ; Siege and Capture of Patna ; Defence of Patna, 1764 ; Battle of Buxar ; 
 Assault of the Fort of Chunar ; Storm of the Nawab Vizier's Camp near Benares ; 
 Capture of the Fortress of Allahabad, 1765 ; Capture of the Fort of Chunar ; 
 Action at Karrah ; Battle of Kalpi ; Battle of Kutra, 1774 ; Battle of Patuta, 
 
236 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 Presidency armies also, in the services of their first European 
 regiments, with the admirahle and devoted artillery and engineers 
 of the three Presidencies of India, in like manner furnish immortal 
 rolls of victories won, the actions in them affording bright examples 
 of Anglo-Indian and Native heroism and devotion, not excelled in 
 the histories of the ancient and modern world. 
 
 1781 ; Capture of the Fort of Bridge-ghur, also in that year. The regiment now 
 went again to the Madras Presidency, to be employed in the ' ' war against Haidar 
 All in the Carnatic." 
 
237 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF OUR INDIAN ARTILLERY LORD 
 
 OLIVE AND THE ARMY. 
 
 LOOKING at the progress which has been made in Artillery science, 
 as well as in the quantity and quality of the material in our day, 
 it is interesting to go back upwards of two hundred and fifty years 
 and think of the artillery of that army which, " originating in a 
 few gunners' crews and factory guards," had, before the Bengal 
 Sepoy Mutiny, " swollen to that gigantic and well-disciplined host 
 known as the Company's army."* 
 
 At the Armegon factory, on the coast of Coromandel, in 1628, 
 the garrison consisted of twelve pieces of ordnance and twenty- 
 eight soldiers, of what arm does not appear, but it seems probable 
 that they were trained as Infantry, and also " to work the guns in 
 time of need." Mr. Day, the enterprising mercantile chief of the 
 factory, must have had the greatest confidence in his artillery, as 
 we thus find as many guns as a few more than half the number of 
 the garrison. When, in 1640, he removed the factory to Madras- 
 napatam, just thirteen years before Fort St. George (Madras) was 
 raised to the rank of a Presidency, he was employed in the 
 very natural and useful work of raising a fortification ; and, in 
 1644, the early inhabitants of Madras must have hailed with joy 
 the landing of thirty recruits and a considerable number of 
 
 * Begbie's History of the Services of the Madras Artillery (Madras 1852). 
 
238 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 ordnance and military stores, with the promise of twenty more 
 "recruits " in the following year.* 
 
 Even sixty-seven years after this, we find the grand deficiency 
 with the artillery to be in draught cattle, of which there were none 
 available for the attack on the fort of Budge-budge, already narrated ; 
 and, in consequence, the two field-pieces and a tumbril with the force 
 were drawn by the troops themselves. Even Clive, who could 
 fight with anything, complained (January 1757), not only of the 
 want of draught cattle, but of the guns being " mounted on wrong 
 carriages, with neither tubes nor portfires ! "f Now, at the close of 
 1889, we all know of the splendid equipment of our batteries of 
 artillery in India, and read with pride and satisfaction that our 
 Indian Artillery for the ensuing year is fixed at 12,375, with 6,578 
 horses. 
 
 Truly, in such an all-important matter as Artillery draught, 
 when in a country swarming with bullocks (as has sometimes been 
 the case at later periods), there were none available, toil, in the 
 strictest sense, has built on toil, and age on age improved ! 
 
 Colonel Carnac has already remarked on the formation of com- 
 panies in our Indian Artillery ; but we now hope to present a few 
 more interesting notes on its origin and progress. 
 
 While writing this " Continuation," Alexander III., Czar of 
 Eussia, has just celebrated the introduction of Artillery into Russia 
 five hundred years ago. It may, therefore, be pardonable to remark, 
 that as the Czar believes the Artillery branch of the Eussian 
 Army would distinguish itself, in case of need, as highly in the 
 future as it has done in the past, the same may be said of 
 the Indian Artillery, which, long before it came directly under 
 the Crown, had attained a state of great perfection. 
 
 The first company of Bengal Artillery, we are told, was raised 
 in 1749 ; the orders were received, it is believed, from Bombay, 
 then the chief presidency. A company was ordered, at the same 
 
 * In 1690-91, a company of European Artillery and a troop of horse constituted 
 a part of the garrison of Fort St. George ; and in the same year Fort St. David, 
 near Cuddalore, was built. 
 
 f Begbie thinks their equipment may have been left on board the /Salisbury. 
 
ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF OUR INDIAN ARTILLERY. 239 
 
 time, at each presidency, in the Court of Directors' general letter 
 of 17th June 1748. A copy of the warrant for that at Madras 
 will be found in the Artillery Records for October 1843, and for 
 Bombay, in one of a series of papers entitled " Three Years' 
 Gleanings," which appeared in the E.I. United Service Journal 
 in 1838; the entire warrants are too voluminous for insertion. A 
 similar one was most probably sent to Bengal, but all records 
 perished when Calcutta was taken. Admiral Boscawen was re- 
 quested to supply such aid in raising the companies as he could 
 spare from the fleet, for gunners ; and the master gunner was 
 appointed to the Bombay company. The companies were to be 
 completed as early as possible, and all the gun-room's crew, who 
 were qualified, were to be included. 
 
 The "gun-room's crew" appears to have been the denomination 
 given to a certain number of men set apart for the duties of the 
 artillery; their officers were called gunners, gunner's mates, &c., 
 and combined the magazine duties with the more properly called 
 duties of artillerymen. 
 
 The new company was to consist of one captain, one second 
 captain, one captain-lieutenant, and three lieutenant fireworkers; 
 four sergeants, four corporals, three drummers, and one hundred 
 gunners. This list slightly differs from that already given.* 
 There is also a discrepancy in the dates of formation of the 
 Bengal and Madras artilleries, as well as in the pay of the com- 
 panies. In a Minute of Council, dated Fort St. George, 1755, it 
 is written : " Artillery Companies, conformably to the Orders of 
 the Hon'ble the Court of Directors in their Letter dated 15th 
 December 1752." Here the captain receives 200 per annum, the 
 first lieutenant 100, and the second and third 90. The sergeants 
 received 2s., and the gunners Is. 6d. a day.f But let us return to 
 Captain Buckle. 
 
 In an old and rather curious volume of travels in India, entitled 
 
 * Page 121. In the list of salaries, Captain Buckle puts down the " Captain 
 and Chief Engineer at " 200 per annum. 
 
 f Begbie. Captain Buckle has a Captain, lieutenant, and Director of Labora- 
 tory at 1 00 per annum. 
 
240 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Account of the Trade in India, by Charles Lockyer, published in 
 1711, and relating to a period a little antecedent to this date, we 
 find a notice of the " gun-room crew" at Madras, with the rates of 
 pay received by the different grades. 
 
 " The garrison," he writes, " consists of about 250 European 
 soldiers, at ninety-one fanams (1 2s. 9d.) per month, and 200 
 topasses, or Black Mongrel Portuguese, at fifty or fifty-two 
 fanams a month. The ' gun-room crew ' is about twenty expe- 
 rienced Europeans to manage the guns, at 100 fanams per month. 
 The Captains are paid fourteen pagodas per month, Ensigns ten 
 pagodas, Sergeants five pagodas, and Corporals the same pay as 
 the gun-room crew. Chief gunner of the inner fort, fourteen 
 pagodas; gunner of the outworks, twelve pagodas; and their 
 mates in proportion." These rates of pay appear to be sufficiently 
 liberal, seeing that, at that time, the Governor had only 200 per 
 annum salary, and 100 gratuity ; the councillors had from 100 
 to 40 per annum. Senior merchants drew 40, junior merchants 
 30, factors 15, and writers 5. There were in those days at 
 Madras, " two ministers " at 100 per annum each ; one surgeon 
 at 36 ; two assay masters at 120 ; one judge at 100 ; an 
 attorney general at fifty pagodas (gratuity) per annum j and a 
 scavenger at 100. The scavenger, it would seem by this, ranked 
 above the Attorney General ! and, as we are told that " lawyers are 
 plenty, and as knowing as can be expected from broken linen-drapers 
 and other cracked tradesmen, who seek their fortune here by their 
 wits," we cannot be surprised that the legal dignitary was in no 
 very high repute. 
 
 " This by way of digression," as Mr. Lockyer says at the end of 
 a passage, which is much more to our purpose. He complains that 
 the European soldiers were a shabby-looking, stunted set of men, 
 because the Company would only enlist Protestants. tl I wish," 
 he says, "for the honour of the English nation, they would decline 
 sending such diminutive, dwarfish, crooked recruits as of late have 
 gone to supply their settlements. To say no better could be had 
 in time of war is an evasion my own experience proves altogether 
 
ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF OUR INDIAN ARTILLERY. 241 
 
 light ; for since 'tis no matter what country in Europe they are of, 
 let but three captains be sent to Ireland, in less than three months 
 they could raise a regiment of picked fellows, who would be able 
 to do them service ; besides, they look like men, which is enough 
 for them at Fort St. George. Objecting to their religion looks 
 like partiality ; for the topasses in India are all of the same prin- 
 ciples. The Queen's officers list none but Protestants to serve in 
 her troops, wherefore the country is quite overrun with lusty men 
 who are ready to starve for want of employ/' This exclusiveness 
 continued to a much later date. 
 
 One more passage, however, must we give from the old volume 
 before us, if only to show how little change the character of the 
 European soldier in India has undergone in a period of nearly a 
 century and a half. " New House is the soldier's lodging and 
 scene of many a drunken frolic. It fronts the main guard and has 
 a strong battery on the other side against the river. One company 
 at a time sleeps in it, of whom a corporal and two soldiers walk the 
 streets every hour in the night to suppress disorders and apprehend 
 any who cannot give an account of themselves. Pay-day comes 
 once a month, when they 'II be sure to have the enjoyment of the 
 few fanams left them by their creditors ; their debts, if within 
 due bounds, are all cleared at the pay-table. Every one keeps 
 his boy, who, though not above ten years old, is procurer and 
 valet de chamcre for seven or eight fanams a month." One need 
 not look for a more accurate description than this of the European 
 artilleryman of the present day. Fortunately our artillery officers 
 of the present day are very different from the occasional pictures 
 we find of them in the writings of the last century. Let us see 
 what they were when Colonel Pearse took command of the corps. 
 According to Captain Buckle, on the death of Major Kindersley, 
 28th October 1769, Lieutenant-Colonel Pearse succeeded to the 
 command of the regiment, and, as its organisation is much indebted 
 to that officer, it is fortunate that we are able to quote from letters 
 to his early friends his record of the state in which he found it : 
 
 " When I first came into command of the corps I was astonished 
 
 16 
 
242 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 at the ignorance of all who composed it. It was a common practice 
 to make any midshipman who was discontented with the Indian 
 ships an officer of artillery, from a strange idea that a knowledge of 
 navigation would perfect an officer of that corps in the knowlege 
 of artillery. They were almost all of this class, and their ideas 
 consonant to the elegant military education which they had 
 received. But, thank God, I have got rid of them all but seven ! " 
 
 We are still further informed : The strange idea above referred 
 to appears to have affected the Home Government at a still earlier 
 period, as, on the first formation of Artillery companies, " such 
 assistance as the fleet could spare " was given. To this idea are 
 we indebted for many terms which have hung about the corps till 
 the present day. Our tindals, lascars, serangs, cossibs, all came 
 from the naval nomenclature, and their etymology would most 
 probably be found in the Portuguese dialect, which has retained 
 its influence on shipboard. From the same fountain of " English 
 (not) undefiled " must have been drawn the " bankshall," a name 
 by which our gun-sheds are known throughout the regiment, but a 
 term of considerable mystification to the uninitiated."* 
 
 Various improvements were effected by Colonel Pearse, especially 
 in the materiel of the Corps of Bengal Artillery. The " Scientific 
 Corps" now formed as important a part of the social circle in India 
 ns it did in the Presidency army. The Calcutta reviewer of 
 Captain Buckle's History happily selected a passage for his 
 readers, in which there is a picture of the artillery officers in regi- 
 mentals, and a glimpse of certain social usages during the reign of 
 Warren Hastings : 
 
 " At this time the head-quarters of the regiment were quartered 
 in Fort William, moving out during the cold months to a practice- 
 ground at Sulkeah, nearly opposite the western mouth of the 
 Circular Canal ; the powder-works were between the canal and 
 
 * Calcutta Review, No. XXIV., December 1849: Review of Captain Buckle's 
 History of the Benyal Artillery. This famous military work, after the death of 
 its gifted and lamented author, was edited by J. W. Kaye, late lieutenant Bengal 
 Artillery, founder of the Calcutta Review (May 1844), and eventually Sir John 
 Kaye, K.C.S.I., F.R.S. 
 
ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF OUR INDIAN ARTILLERY. 243 
 
 Cossipore. The dress of the regiment consisted of a blue coat 
 faced with scarlet, and cut away in the fashion of the time ; white 
 cloth waistcoat and breeches, with buckles at the knees, and 
 gaiters, or half-spatterdashes, as they were called ; red leathern 
 belt, with swivels ; black silk stock, buff gloves, and regimental 
 hat, supposed to be a plain cocked hat, in the fashion of George 
 the Second's time. The hair was worn greased, powdered, and 
 tied in a queue, false hair being substituted when the natural was 
 not long enough." 
 
 The hours for parades, and, in fact, for everything, were early ; 
 parades were before gun-fire in the cold season; dinners were. in 
 the middle of the day, not only in private houses, but on public 
 occasions ; and invitations were given on a scale of hospitality 
 only practicable in a small society. The orderly-book was the 
 common channel of invitation used by the Governor-General and 
 the officer commanding the garrison. Many such entries as the 
 following will be found in it : " The Honourable the Governor- 
 General requests to be favoured with the company of officers and 
 gentlemen belonging to the army now in the garrison of Fort 
 William and the Chitpoor cantonment and the presidency, on Mon- 
 day next to dinner, at the Court House, and in the evening to a 
 ball and supper. The Governor-General requests that gentlemen 
 will not bring any servants to dinner, nor their hookahs to the ball 
 at night." Or, " Lieutenant-Colonel Wilding presents his compli- 
 ments to all the officers in Fort William, staff of the garrison, and 
 surgeons, and requests their company to breakfast, and dinner at 
 half-past two o'clock." 
 
 The great maidan at Dum-Dum* was first used as a practice- 
 ground in 1775. Captain Buckle gives us the following interesting 
 details relative to the growth of that important station : 
 
 " The Artillery, in 1775, appear first to have used Dum-Dum as 
 a practice-ground, and to have been encamped there, when, their 
 tents being wanted for the use of a brigade marching to Patna, they 
 were ordered into Fort William, and their practice cut short, with 
 
 * A short march from Calcutta. 
 
 16 * 
 
24:4 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 one fortnight instead of two months. In the following year, how- 
 ever, in December, they marched out with their tents and stores, 
 and began the practice (as the orders record) by firing a royal 
 salute, and after that one of nineteen guns for the Company. 1 " 
 
 It is not easy to ascertain what Dum-Dum was previous to its 
 occupation by the Artillery. The first mention made of it is by 
 Ormein the account of the action n'ear Omichund's garden in 1757. 
 He speaks of Olive crossing " the Dum-Dum road"; this road, 
 however, was only a cutchabund, leading to Dum-Dum, the name 
 of the place now occupied by Dum-Dum House, the origin of 
 which building is enveloped in mystery. It is said to have been 
 built by a Mr. (or Colonel) Home ; but who he was, or the date, 
 cannot be ascertained. Supernatural aid has been called into 
 play ; the mound on which it stands is reported to have been raised 
 by some spirit of the ring or lamp in the course of a single night, 
 and to this day visions of ghosts haunt the grounds. 
 
 At the practice season, the officers inhabited the house ; the 
 men's tents were pitched in the compound, and the natives' in 
 the " Montague lines," the ground now occupied by the Nya 
 Bazaar, called after Lieutenant Montague, the adjutant who 
 marked them out. The name is known to the present day. 
 
 It was not until 1783 that the cantonment was marked out by 
 Colonel Duff, who is said to have made, or rather widened, the 
 road from Sambazar to Baraset (probably the regular road to 
 Berhampore), and to have planted the avenue of mulseery trees 
 now running along the southern end of the small exercising ground. 
 
 Many villages were scattered over the ground occupied by the 
 cantonment; their sites were purchased up from time to time by 
 Government the last, that of Deiglak, in 1820.* Eventually the 
 Bengal Artillery head-quarters were transferred to Meerut. 
 
 In the year 1774 Colonel James, commandant of the Madras (or 
 Coast) Artillery, recommended that the Artillery practice-ground 
 should be removed from Fort St. George to St. Thomas' Mount,f 
 
 * Calcutta Review, No. XXIV., December 1849. 
 About nine miles from Madras, 
 
ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF OUR INDIAN ARTILLERY. 245 
 
 " instead of the guns firing into the sea " as had hitherto been the 
 custom ; and so the Mount became the permanent head-quarters of 
 the Madras Artillery. 
 
 The reduction of the Golundaz (Native) battalions of Artillery, 
 in 1779, is particularly noticed by Captain Buckle in his work, and, 
 it has been considered, with much justice and effect. 
 
 The danger of teaching the natives of India the use of artillery 
 was, at the time of which we write, seriously apprehended. But it 
 is useless to consider such apprehension " absurd." The Sikh 
 invasion of British India and the Sepoy mutiny were yet to 
 come. Still, it may be interesting and useful to quote Captain 
 Buckle's clear views and, in some respects, able reasoning on 
 the subject: 
 
 " Those who feared the native powers training up good artillery- 
 men by means of deserters from the British service do not appear 
 to have considered that, without the material, which is provided 
 and kept up at a heavy expense, the best artillerymen would be 
 useless ; and that, although artillerymen are taught the prepara- 
 tion of stores, still very few have that intimate knowledge, which 
 only results from constantly handling and making them up, and 
 which is in reality found in a much greater degree in the magazine 
 workmen a class who come and go at their pleasure and appear 
 to be little thought of, although the practical information they 
 could carry to an enemy would be worth more than hundreds of 
 mere well -drilled artillerymen. 
 
 " The Court of Directors, however, must be excepted ; for, in 
 their warrant (17th June 1748), they direct that * no Indian, black, 
 or person of a mixed breed, nor any Roman Catholic, of what 
 nation soever, shall, on any pretence, be admitted to set foot in the 
 laboratory, or any of the military magazines, either out of curiosity, 
 or to be employed in them, or to come near them, so as to see what 
 is doing, or contained, therein.' And to such an extent did this 
 fear then carry them, that another paragraph runs : ' And if any 
 person belonging to the company of artillery marry a Roman 
 Catholic, or his wife become a Roman Catholic after marriage, such 
 
246 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 person shall immediately be dismissed from the company of artil- 
 lery, and be obliged to serve the remainder of his time in one of 
 the other companies, or be removed to another of the Company's 
 settlements, to serve it out there, if the Council think fit.' And, 
 again, in their military letter to Bombay (6th April 1770), they 
 say : ' As it is very essential that the natives should be kept as 
 ignorant as possible, both of the theory and practice of the artillery 
 branch of the art of war, we esteem it a very pernicious practice to 
 employ the people of the country in working the guns ; and, if 
 such practice is in use with you, we direct that in future you attach 
 European artillerymen to the service of the guns, which may 
 belong to sipahi corps, and that no native be trusted with any part 
 of this important service, unless absolute necessity should require 
 it.' With these views, it is not to be wondered at that the Home 
 Government should have directed the Golundaz to be reduced ; but 
 Indian experience might even then have taught, that no more 
 dangerous ally can be found for a native army than a large and 
 imperfectly-equipped artillery. A native power will hardly bear 
 the heavy continued expense required to keep it efficient ; or, if the 
 state should supply the means, the want of integrity in its agents 
 will divert them from their proper course ; and consequently, in 
 the hour of emergency, the army is forced to fight a pitched battle 
 to protect the unwieldy train of cannon, which becomes an encum- 
 brance instead of a support ; so it had been at Plassey and Buxar, 
 and so it has been in every general action since. Assaye, Argaum, 
 Laswari, Mahidpur would have been avoided had there been no 
 artillery in the native armies: unencumbered, they could have 
 evaded the British; but the necessity of protecting their trains, 
 and, perhaps, the confidence which their presence inspired, induced 
 them to try the result of a battle. 
 
 " Instead of discouraging native powers from organising large 
 parks of artillery, our policy should have been the reverse, resting 
 confident that native parsimony and dishonesty would insure 
 inefficiency in that branch." On this passage the Calcutta 
 reviewer has some very able comments. 
 
ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF OUR INDIAN ARTILLERY. 24? 
 
 Captain Buckle attributes to a personal feeling against Colonel 
 Pearse* a share in the paternity of the " obnoxious measure." 
 
 As to those days of party strife in the chief Presidency, of course, 
 every great measure was immediately seized upon as a feeder. 
 
 And Colonel Pearse was an intimate friend and partisan of 
 Warren Bastings, and acted as his second when he fought the 
 celebrated duel with Philip Francis (Junius). Colonel Watson 
 officiated for Francis, the " turbulent knight/'f as the great 
 Governor-General styled him. 
 
 " As to the alleged reasons," we read, " for the reduction of the 
 Golundaz, it is impossible, in these days, not to recognise the 
 absurdity of the plea. But we are not altogether satisfied with 
 the reasoning. The war in the Punjab (1849) has taught us that 
 an extensive ordnance corps is not always an encumbrance and a 
 disadvantage to a native army. But that without the material of 
 artillery the best artillerymen would be useless, is a truth beyond 
 the reach of contradiction. Sound policy, it appears to us, dictated 
 that we should keep the native powers of India as much as pos- 
 sible in ignorance of the means of manufacturing ordnance for 
 themselves, and render such of them as were our own allies entirely 
 dependent upon us for the material of their artillery. They were 
 well content to purchase our old guns ; and so convinced was Lord 
 Cornwallis of the wisdom of supplying them from our own stores, 
 that, after the siege of Seringapatam, he presented half-a-dozen 
 pieces of ordnance both to the Nizam and the Peishwah. They 
 were not the most serviceable guns in his park ; but the gift was 
 appreciated, and Lord Cornwallis judged rightly, that it would 
 have the effect, for some time to come, of diverting them from the 
 thought of making guns for themselves, or going to other 
 European craftsmen to make them for their use." 
 
 It is curious to note that wherever, in the East, the casting of a 
 
 * Inherited by Sir Eyre Coote from General Clavering. 
 f Warren Hastings, " in slippers," wrote : 
 
 " A serpent bit Francis, that turbulent knight, 
 What, then ? 'Twas the serpent that died of the bite ! " 
 
248 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 good bell is performed, the casting of a fair piece of ordnance may 
 follow. And we specially noticed this fact during the second 
 Burmese War, in which some handsome brass guns (cast at Ava) 
 were used against us. And we all know that Burma, from time 
 immemorial, has been famous for the tone, graceful appearance, 
 and general excellence of its bells.* 
 
 The idea of the most scientific Oriental ever being able to turn 
 out even a slight approach to an Armstrong, a Whitworth, or a 
 Gatling gun is too preposterous to be entertained for one moment ; 
 so we may ever set our minds at rest regarding the future pieces of 
 ordnance of Eastern nations, should they ever be compelled to cast 
 or manufacture for themselves. f 
 
 While thus briefly considering the origin and progress of our 
 Indian artillery chiefly with reference to Bengal every reader of 
 Indian history must have observed with pride how very few have 
 been the mishaps to, and how many the triumphs of, our artillery in 
 action, from Plassey down to the artillery battle of G-oozerat. The 
 progress of excellence has been slow and sure, and the Bengal, 
 Madras, and Bombay, or the Presidency Artilleries of India, have 
 ever deserved well of the nation which reared them. Before 
 Plassey, at Budge-Budge, where draught cattle were wanting and 
 European gunners had to play the parts of horses and bullocks, 
 two guns were temporarily lost, but they were soon recovered 
 by a gallant body of volunteers. At Patna, as has already been 
 narrated, we nearly lost a battery ; but such and a few other small 
 clouds of insignificant result appear of little consequence in history's 
 bright and advancing prospect. Our tremendous cannonade at 
 Plassey, against a body of 50,000 men for a whole day, combined 
 with the bravery and endurance of Olive's small army, drawn from 
 the three Presidencies, and the treachery of Meer Jaffier, truly 
 
 * See a little work on Burma and Tonquin, by the present writer, which also 
 contains a popular account of Burma " Burmese Bells," p. 35. 
 
 f Having introduced the honoured name of Armstrong (best known as Sir 
 William), it reminds us that in the month we are writing (November) Lord Arm- 
 strong, " the revolutionise!- of modern artillery," was born seventy-nine years 
 ago. 
 
ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF OUR INDIAN ARTILLERY. 249 
 
 decided the fate of India, as already shown, for we were nearly 
 being overwhelmed -a military danger to which we are ever liable 
 in India by the enemy's vast host ; and then we certainly would 
 have lost Bengal, and probably the other Presidencies, for a time ; 
 while, without the action at Goozerat (1849), we might never have 
 possessed the mighty Punjab, with its now famous Sikh soldiery. The 
 glorious struggles in Afghanistan, and during the Bengal Sepoy 
 Mutiny, also add splendour to that ligne lumineuse which, from 
 first to last, has marked out the Bengal Artillery for fame ; while 
 the names of such " mighty men'' who rose in the corps (each 
 great in his peculiar province), such as Sir George Pollock, Sir 
 Henry Lawrence, Sir John Kaye; the ever zealous and able 
 Assistant Adjutant- General, Captain Buckle, who may be said to 
 have died in harness while writing his history or memoirs of his 
 distinguished regiment;* and our present renowned Comander-in- 
 Chief in India, Sir Frederick Roberts, will secure for the Indian 
 Artillery imperishable renown. We may yet have to chronicle a 
 few of its brilliant achievements which live in the page of history ; 
 but we must now go back and resume our acquaintance with the 
 great master in the art of Indian warfare and Indian administration, 
 about to re-visit Calcutta to assume the Herculean tasks prepared 
 for him by the Court of Directors, whom he had served so faith- 
 fully and fearlessly and well. But a word or two is here necessary 
 to carry on the chain of our historical sketch. With Nujum-ood- 
 dowla, Meer Jafner's successor, the Calcutta Council formed a new 
 treaty, and took the military defence of the country into their own 
 hands, obliging him to appoint a manager of the civil and criminal 
 affairs of the state. He begged that the profligate Nurdoo Koomar 
 might fill this post; but the Council flatly refused, and Mr. 
 
 * This excellent and lamented officer died off Ceylon (September 1846), en route to 
 England for his health, which was completely broken by the climate and hard 
 study. The amiable and learned reviewer of his work informs us that it was one 
 of his last expressions of earthly solicitude that the manuscript of the memoir of the 
 Bengal Artillery, on which he had been so long and anxiously employed, should be 
 given over to his executor, an old brother officer, to be dealt with as might seem 
 best to him. It was Buckle's known wish that the work should be published ; and 
 so it was given into the hands of the editor, Sir John Kaye. 
 
'250 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 VaDsittart wrote a long minute, detailing all the crimes of that 
 native, and left it " for the guidance of future Governors." 
 Mahomed Reza Khan, a relative of Ali Verdi Khan, was therefore 
 appointed in his place.* 
 
 The Court of Directors were now aware of the evil doings of their 
 servants in India, which were neither moral nor remunerative to 
 the great Company, They had heard of the war with MeerCossim 
 and the Vizier of Oudh, and of the dreadful massacre at Patna, and 
 naturally became much alarmed. They feared lest India should be 
 lost, and wisely thought that there was no man so likely to save 
 their conquests as he who had made them ; so they begged Lord 
 Clive, who had now been created a nobleman a peer of Ireland 
 under the title of Baron Clive of Plassey by the King, to go out 
 and retrieve their fallen fortunes. It is said that the Directors had 
 not treated him after his arrival in England as he deserved ;f but, 
 with his noble sense of duty, he agreed to proceed to India as 
 Commander-in-Chief, and Governor of Bengal, " with full powers 
 to act." He landed in Calcutta on the 3rd of May 1765. The 
 soul which had been so long wanting in the Presidency Council 
 had returned at last ; and impotence, or incapacity, and rapacity were 
 forthwith to die. Although the Court of Directors had exaggerated 
 the actual danger of things, still Lord Clive discovered there was 
 good cause for alarm. He found the government in the utmost 
 disorder. The good of the Company was set at nought by every 
 well-to-do man in Calcutta; even by the great Members of Council. 
 There was neither honour nor honesty in the government ; and 
 " the name of European," writes Marshman, c< stunk in the 
 nostrils of the people." The Court of Directors had positively 
 ordered that their servants should take no more presents. Meer 
 Jaffier was on his death-bed, and the Council did not choose to 
 enter the orders on the Council books; but, on his death, made a new 
 Nabob, and took enormous presents from him. Was ever such 
 
 * Marshman. 
 
 f They had even taken away the Jaghire which Meer Jaffier had given him. 
 His right to it had been long disputed ; and Mr. Pitt was very indignant at the con- 
 duct of the Directors. 
 
LOED OLIVE ANDJTHE AEMY. 251 
 
 rascality in a government subject to a Court of Directors heard of 
 before ! But, in the same letter stopping the presents, it was ordered 
 that the private trade of the Company's servants should cease. 
 
 These orders the Council also defied, and got the new Nabob by 
 treaty to agree to the old trade, as before, duty /free, Clive 
 determined, on his arrival, to carry the orders of the Directors into 
 execution.* Sir John Malcolm says truly, that never had an 
 individual a more arduous task of reform; but Clive came to it with 
 great local knowledge, " with a full acquaintance of the characters 
 of those by whom he was likely to be aided or thwarted, and with a 
 mind determined at all hazards to execute the great work to which 
 he had been called, almost by acclamation." The once daring 
 ensign whom the Court of Directors wrote out to " encourage,'' was 
 now a Major-General in the army, and a Companion of the Bath. 
 The Council tried to bully him, as they had Vansittart ; but Clive 
 was made of a very different stuff. He insisted that all should 
 sign the covenants against taking presents, and those who refused 
 were at once dismissed. Some signed, others refused and 
 returned home; but, as a natural consequence, all became his 
 enemies. As if for a reward on his having put down the miscon- 
 duct of the members of Government and others, on his journey to 
 the Western Provinces, Lord Clive was, on the 12th of August, 
 invested by the Emperor with the Dewanny (grant of all the 
 revenues of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa), in order to make peace 
 with the Native states and a treaty with the Nabob of Oudh 
 (eventually concluded), as war was eating up all the revenues ; 
 this generous act being performed on behalf of the Company ; 
 and Clive promised to pay two lakhs of rupees a month 
 (20,000) out of the revenues to the Emperor. Clive, on 
 meeting him at Allahabad, had asked the fulfilment of his 
 promise before alluded to, which was now granted.f The Emperor 
 
 * Marshman. 
 
 f It is thought worthy of remark that, as the Emperor was a fugitive in his own 
 dominions, he had no state pageantry with him. Before this great event of the 
 Dewanny, Clive had determined to restore Sujah Dowlah of Oudh to his dominions, 
 having conceived a favourable opinion of him on a personal acquaintance, and thinking 
 
252 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 made over thirty millions of his subjects with two crores of annual 
 revenue (two millions sterling) to the English. The Mahomedan 
 historian observes on this event, that a business of such importance, 
 which at other times would have required the sending of wise 
 Ministers and able Envoys, and much discussion, was done and 
 finished in less time than would have been taken up in the sale 
 of a jackass or a herd of cattle ; and this was the most impor- 
 tant event which had happened to the English since the battle 
 of Plassey. By this magnificent gift they became legally pos- 
 sessed of the three great provinces ; and the Nabob of Moor- 
 shedabad dwindled to a mere cypher.* 
 
 On the 7th of September, Olive returned to Calcutta. Private 
 trade was now interdicted, and a Commercial Society set up, and 
 put down by the Court of Directors. Clive's Commercial Society, 
 unlike the universal co-operative store traders of our own time, 
 was confined to carrying on a trade in salt, betelnut, and tobacco. 
 A large duty of 35 per cent, was to be paid to the Company's 
 treasury, and the profits were to be divided among the whole 
 service, civil and military. The then badly paid civilians growled 
 apace. The military, on their small pay, became inclined to mutiny ; 
 but all discontent was of no avail, for the great Company's mandate 
 had gone forth that their servants should not touch the internal 
 trade of the country. Then, as has frequently been the case in 
 our time, it was clearly found that the great expenses of the govern- 
 ment in India had swallowed up all the revenues. And the chief 
 source of expense, although the most necessary, was the army. 
 
 The strides in five or six years made by the Bengal Presidency 
 army to fight the battles of Adams, Carnac, and Hector Munro 
 and, of course, in proportion, by the Madras and Bombay armies 
 are really wonderful to relate. We can hardly believe the state- 
 ment of the European force in Bengal early in 1759, given by 
 Clive a few months later to his old friend and commander, Colonel 
 
 he would be more formidable as an enemy, and effective as an ally, than the daring 
 Mogul. 
 
 * Marshman. 
 
LORD OLIVE AND THE ARMY. 253 
 
 Lawrence. He tells him of the surprise with which he had heard 
 of M. Lally's setting himself down before Madras, "not," Olive 
 says, " with an intent to besiege it in form, or carry on approaches; 
 if he does, I think he must be either mad or his situation despe- 
 rate ; at all events, I hope it will be the means of adding fresh 
 laurels to those already gained by my dear old friend." Orders 
 had been given to Colonel Forde to join him with his forces, and 
 an endeavour was being made to send a complete company of one 
 hundred rank and file from Calcutta. Clive hoped also that Mr. 
 Bouchier (local governor and commander-in-chief) would spare 
 some men from Bombay. " I enclose you a short sketch," he 
 adds, " of our strength in these parts ; and, considering how much 
 depends upon keeping up our influence in Bengal, you will say 
 there never was a smaller force to do it with/' 
 
 State of the European Force in Bengal, 6th February 1759.* 
 
 Doing Duty. Captains. Lieuts. Ensigns. Serjeants. Corporals. Drummers.Privates. 
 
 Military .669 36 29 20 314f 
 
 Artillery .180 5 2 86 
 
 In a letter to General Carnac, dated 6th May 1765, Clive 
 observes : " Having met in Council, after some debates, the field 
 officers were established as follows : General Carnac, Colonel 
 Smith, and Sir "R. Barker are colonels of the first, second, and 
 third regiments of Infantry; Sir K. Fletcher,! Major Peach and 
 
 * It is interesting to compare the small force here given, for 1759, with the 
 grand armies we now possess in Bengal, Madras, and Bombay, in 1889. Of the 
 European Army, in 1885-86, there were, in Bengal : Royal Artillery, 261 officers 
 5,948 non-commissioned officers and privates, total 6.209 ; Cavalry, 144 officers 
 2,724 non-commissioned officers and privates, total 2,868 ; Royal Engineers, 204 
 officers; Infantry, 928 officers, 28,294 non-commissioned officers and privates, total 
 29,222; Invalid and Veteran Establishment, 9 officers, 5 non-commissioned officers 
 and privates, total 14 ; Staff Corps, 445 officers ; General List, Cavalry, 24 officers ; 
 General List, Infantry, 86 officers ; Unattached Officers, 1 officer ; General Officers 
 unemployed, 18. Total European Army in Bengal, 2,120 officers, 36,971 non- 
 commissioned officers and privates ; total 39,091. Native Army in Bengal, 66,827. 
 Total of European and Native Army of British India, say, 189,000. 
 
 f Whereof 140 are recruits. 
 
 J This gallant officer, with the first brigade, garrisoned Monghir. He also com- 
 manded the troops at the famous battle of Kalpi, 21st May 1765. Sujah Dowlah, 
 though defeated in successive battles, and driven beyond his frontier, still held out. 
 
254 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEM1ES OF INDIA. 
 
 Major Chapman, lieutenant-colonels; Majors Champion and 
 Stibbart, majors." What would Clive, so contented with the 
 ranks held by his field officers, headed by the one general, have 
 done, had he been able to select from the numerous " active " 
 generals of the present day ? In his perplexity of numbers, how 
 many would he have taken how many passed over? Clive 
 appears to have thought highly of Major Champion, and was 
 anxious for his advancement."* He also writes to the General 
 regarding Madras and Bombay : " I desired the Board would 
 order those paragraphs relative to the power of the Committee to 
 be transmitted to the chiefs and council of the subordinate settle- 
 ments, to the comm an der-in- chief of the army, and to the two 
 presidencies of Madras and Bombay, that they might know what 
 powers the Committee were invested with." Lord Clive, Verelst, 
 Sykes, and Sumner were clearly to have it all their own way ; and 
 no one, save " the heaven-born general," was to interfere with the 
 army, which, beyond all question, was correct. 
 
 We must now pass on to one of the most serious events of his 
 wonderful career, a state of mutiny, or, at least, military insubor- 
 dination, in the great body whose interests he had so much at heart. 
 Before doing so, however, it may be interesting to give a letter 
 written by Clive seven or eight years before, or after the battle of 
 Plassey, on the occasion of the division of the spoil among the 
 officers of the army and navy, and the remonstrance of those of 
 the arrny, for his haying, in their opinion, too much favoured 
 
 Having collected his scattered troops, and obtained a reinforcement from the 
 Mahrattas, he formed an army, with which he again ventured to face General 
 Carnac. The General had great confidence in Sir R. Fletcher, and had appointed 
 him to command the troops in the field. The battle of Kalpi was fought on the 
 21st of May (1765), the Mahrattas having appeared in great force on the plain, 
 offering battle. "By a judicious manoeuvre," writes Major Innes, "our Cavalry 
 and Infantry encircled the enemy, whilst our Artillery concentrated its fire on his 
 position with such effect that, with their front and both flanks threatened, they 
 were forced back into a morass, and ground intersected by deep ravines, which com- 
 pletely crippled the movements of the Mahratta army, formed jnostly of cavalry." 
 See History of the Bengal European Reyiment, p. 221. 
 
 * Regarding this officer's unknown merits, Clive writes, with reference to his 
 standing next in rank to colonel : " Major Champion is satisfied with an assurance 
 from me, that whatever the Directors shall order on that head shall be complied 
 with." Memoirs of Lord Clive, vol. ii., p. 320. 
 
LORD OLIVE AND THE ARMY. 255 
 
 Admiral Watson and the fleet, which will show, in an eminent 
 degree, the character of the man, his splendid decision, and how 
 fit he was to quell the deadly spirit of mutiny. 
 
 " GENTLEMEN, 
 
 "I have received both your remonstrance and protest. 
 Had you consulted the dictates of your own reason, those of 
 justice, or the respect due to your commanding officer, I am per- 
 suaded such a paper, so highly injurious to your own honour as 
 officers, could never have escaped you. 
 
 " You say you were assembled at a council to give your opinion 
 about a matter of property. Pray, Gentlemen, how comes it that 
 a promise of a sum of money from the Nabob, entirely negotiated 
 by me, can be deemed a matter of right and property? So very 
 far from it, it is now in my power to return to the Nabob the 
 money already advanced, and leave it to his option whether he will 
 perform his promise or not. You have stormed no town, and 
 found the money there ; neither did you find it in the plains of 
 Plassey, after the defeat of the Nabob. In short, Gentlemen, it 
 pains me to remind you that what you are to receive is entirely 
 owing to the care I took of your interest. Had I not interfered 
 greatly in it you would have been left to the Company's generosity, 
 who perhaps would have thought you sufficiently rewarded in 
 receiving a present of six months' pay ; in return for which I have 
 been treated with the greatest disrespect and ingratitude ; and, what 
 is still worse, you have flown in the face of my authority, for over- 
 ruling an opinion which, if passed, would have been highly 
 injurious to your own reputation, being attended with injustice to 
 the navy, and been of the worst consequences to the cause of the 
 nation and the Company. 
 
 " I shall therefore send the money down to Calcutta, give 
 directions to the agents of both parties to have it shroffed [or 
 banked] ; and when the Nabob signifies his pleasure (on whom it 
 solely depends) that the money be paid you, you shall then receive 
 it, and not before, 
 
256 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 ''' Your behaviour has been such that you cannot expect I should 
 interest myself any further in your concerns. I therefore retract 
 the promise I made the other day of negotiating either the rest of 
 the Nabob's promise, or the one-third, which was to be received 
 in the same manner as the rest of the public money, at three yearly 
 equal payments. 
 
 "I am, Gentlemen, 
 
 " Your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 "ROBT. CLIVE." 
 
 Olive's apportioning so much of the gifts of Meer Jaffier to 
 Admiral Watson and the Fleet, there can be no doubt, shows a 
 generous nature. The army was vastly indebted to the services of 
 the navy for its brilliant successes; and to show that the officers 
 then in Bengal really had this feeling, they acknowledged their 
 error, and to their letter Olive nobly replied : 
 
 " GENTLEMEN, 
 
 " I have ever been desirous of the love and good opinion 
 of my officers, and have often pursued their interest in preference 
 of my own. What passed the other day is now forgotten, and I 
 shall always be glad of an opportunity of convincing you how 
 
 much 
 
 " I am, Gentlemen, 
 
 " Your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 "(Signed) ROBT. OLIVE." * 
 
 Seven years after, Olive was quite aware of all the odium and 
 hostility his sudden and great reforms would bring upon him in 
 India and in England. "But," writes his truthful biographer, 
 " it is obvious that the knowledge of this, so far from dispiriting, 
 only encouraged him to the great efforts he made." In a letter to 
 Mr. Sykes, of the 29th June 1765, on the subject, he says, with 
 amusing candour : " I fear the military, as well as civil, are so far 
 gone in luxury and debauchery that it will require the utmost 
 
 * Moorshedabad, 9th July 1757. 
 
LOED OLIVE AND THE ARMY. 257 
 
 exertion of an united Committee to save the Company from 
 destruction."* 
 
 In an army as well as in civil society as Clive well knew 
 nothing tends so much to serious disorder as dissipation. But the 
 grand crisis was now the mutinous combinations among the officers 
 of the Bengal array, far more difficult to manage than any abuses 
 in the civil administration. The reduction of the military expendi- 
 ture was now the " burning question." 
 
 To carry it into execution, according to the peremptory orders of 
 the Court of Directors, it was thought advisable to reduce the 
 allowances of the officers of the army of the Bengal Presidency. 
 While the English troops had been employed in fighting in Meer 
 Jaffier's name, he allowed them to draw a gratuity, which was called 
 double batta.t 
 
 They had so long received this large allowance that they 
 came to consider it as their right. Lord Clive, at the period 
 of this grant, warned the army that it must be considered as an 
 indulgence on the part of the Nabob, which the Company would 
 not be inclined to continue. It turned out as he supposed, and 
 the double batta was ordered to be abolished. The whole army 
 had been formed into regiments, and, according to Olive's plan, 
 divided into three brigades, at Monghyr, Bankipore, and Allahabad. 
 The peace which had been established, and the regimenting the 
 troops, offered a favourable opportunity for carrying into effect 
 the positive commands of the Directors, and accordingly an order 
 was issued by the Select Committee that, from the 1st of January 
 1766, double batta to the European officers of the army should 
 cease, except at Allahabad, where, on account of the distance 
 from Calcutta, the second brigade was allowed double batta so 
 long as it should be actually in the field. At Patna and Moughyr 
 the troops were allowed half batta when not on service, while those 
 at the Presidency were put upon the same footing as the troops on 
 
 * Memoirs, vol. ii., p. 331. 
 
 f This was first introduced after the battle of Plassey. 
 
 17 
 
258 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 the coast of Coromandel, who drew no batta except when marching 
 or serving in the field.* 
 
 The story of this famous mutiny is thus clearly and succinctly told : 
 " Lord Olive knew that any plan of reduction would be violently 
 opposed ; but he was a man of the firmest mind, and at once issued 
 orders that the double batta should cease. The military officers 
 took great offence at this. They said that the country had been 
 conquered by their arms, and that they ought to benefit by the con- 
 quest. But Olive was inflexible ; he was prepared to give them a 
 liberal allowance, but was still determined that the expenses of the 
 army should be lessened. The officers now formed a conspiracy among 
 themselves to oblige him to yield to their views. They carried on a 
 secret correspondence with each other, and resolved, one and all, to 
 lay down their commissions on the same day. As soon as the officers 
 of the first brigade had thus resigned the service, intelligence was 
 conveyed to Olive, and it embarrassed him not a little. He sus- 
 pected that there was a general confederacy throughout the army. 
 He had passed through many scenes of trouble, but this was the 
 most severe trial he had yet met with. The Mahrattas (50,000) 
 were preparing to invade the country again, and the English army 
 was without officers. Olive, however, acted with his usual energy. 
 He ordered up officers from Madras. Some of the Bengal officers, 
 who had not gone so far in rebellion as the rest, retracted. The 
 ringleaders were seized, dismissed the service, and sent back to 
 England. By this severity he reduced the army again to obedience, 
 and thus delivered the Government from the greatest danger which 
 it had ever felt."t 
 
 Although he had not yet been two years in India, with that mens 
 aequa in arduis of his to which motto he is perhaps even more 
 entitled than Warren Hastings, who came out with him in the 
 Civil Service in 1749 Lord Olive had restored order to the 
 Company's affairs; he had reduced the expenses; and, by the 
 Dewanny, had increased the income to nearly two cores of 
 
 * Memoirs of Lord Clive, by Major-General Sir John Malcolm, G.C.B., F.R.S, 
 ( History of Bengal, by John C. Marshman, C.S.I, 
 
LOED OLIVE AND THE AEMY. 259 
 
 rupees a year, or two millions sterling. He had subdued a formid- 
 able rebellion in the army, which he brought into a good state 
 of discipline. But, in those various labours his health broke down ; 
 so the great founder of the British empire in India, and, we may 
 fairly say, the founder of the Presidency armies, was obliged to 
 return to England. Now, even more than before, the soul was about 
 to leave the Bengal governing body ; but this time to return no 
 more. 
 
 The blow had nearly been struck, and in a few years the com- 
 manding genius of Olive, chiefly from the worry of envious, ungrate- 
 ful, and malignant foes, would be shattered, and the golden bowl, 
 which for India was beyond all price, irredeemably broken. 
 
 Lord Olive embarked in February 1767, about ten years after 
 he first landed in Bengal, with Admiral Watson, from Madras. 
 
 There is a fine passage in Carlyle's Lectures on Heroes, we think, 
 especially applicable to Olive, who, many of our readers will admit, 
 had nearly all the elements of a good king in him ; and in his own 
 way he did as much work, and, perhaps, generally better, than either 
 Cromwell or Napoleon : " The Commander over Men ; he to whose 
 will our wills are to be subordinated, and loyally surrender them- 
 selves, and find their welfare in doing so, may be reckoned the 
 most important of Great Men. He is practically the summary for 
 us of all the various figures of Heroism."* 
 
 It is painful to think of such a mighty spirit as Olive's being 
 eclipsed, and a violent death provoked by a rancorous pack of 
 imbeciles, not one of whom was worthy to hold his charger while 
 he was preparing for certain distinction on a well-fought field. 
 
 England's chief hero of the time expired on the 22nd of 
 November 1774, in Berkeley Square, after completing his forty- 
 ninth year.f And such is fame ! 
 
 There is nothing better in the entire Memoirs of Lord Clive than 
 the description of his character. A more faithful biographical 
 portrait was never drawn ; and Sir John Malcolm has done with 
 
 * On Heroes, Hero-worship, and the Heroic in History. Lecture VI. 
 f Sir John Malcolm, 
 
 17 * 
 
260 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 pen and ink what strong painters like Dance, Reynolds, and 
 Eaeburn would have desired to represent on the canvas.* 
 
 In the following picture, the conqueror of India, the founder of 
 the Presidency armies, comes vividly before us: " Lord Olive was 
 one of those extraordinary men who give a character to the period 
 and country in which they live. His name cannot be erased from 
 the history of India, nor from that of Britain. Born in the rank 
 of a private gentleman, and launched out early in life into the wide 
 sea of Indian adventure, he soon far outstript all his competitors in 
 the race of fortune and fame. He was trained in the best of 
 schools; a state of danger, of suffering, and activity. He could 
 not be said to have any master in the art of war ; he was, to adopt 
 the language of the great Chatham, a ' heaven-born general '; and it 
 was by the boldness and novelty of his measures, the impetuosity of 
 his onset, and the imperturbable obstinacy of his defence, that he 
 confounded his enemies, and changed the hesitating troops under 
 his command into a band of heroes. He left nothing to chance ; 
 he foresaw and provided for everything. Victory seemed to attend 
 him wherever he turned, and no enterprise was too arduous where 
 he was the leader. The same success and the same renown which 
 distinguished him in the Carnatic attended him in Bengal. From 
 the date of the battle of Plassey, his reputation in that country was 
 established ; and all his negotiations with the native princes were 
 from that day forward concluded more by the influence of his great 
 name than by the energy of his determined character." 
 
 It may now be well to add that one of the grandest characteristics 
 of Olive was charity unaffected, genuine, practical charity. It 
 was generosity in the highest sense; there was no hypocrisy 
 or sham about it. It was ever deeds, not words, with him. 
 From his cradle he was a soldier ; and he loved the military 
 profession for its own sake. On the officers and soldiers of his 
 own army he was ever ready to bestow gifts; and, even after 
 
 * At the end of the third volume of the original edition (1836), it is pointed out as 
 an Erratum that Sir Joshua Reynolds painted the admirable portrait which is given 
 as a frontispiece, whereas it was by Dance, R.A., who, though not equal to Rey- 
 nolds, or Raeburn, was one of the best portrait painters of his time. 
 
LORD OLIVE AND THE AEMY. 261 
 
 Chandernagore, he lent money to a party of French officers 
 for their expenses, although they told the conqueror they could 
 never repay him ; so he would surely be out of pocket.* He gave 
 his dear old friend and commander a pension of 500 a year for 
 life, advising his bankers strictly to " pay to Colonel Lawrence, or 
 to his order." But the noblest act of his charity unparalleled in 
 the history of the British or Anglo-Indian Army was the estab- 
 lishment of Lord Olive's Fund, from which widows whose husbands 
 have died while serving in the latter branch of the Queen-Empress's 
 forces derive so much benefit. 
 
 A legacy of 70,000 was bequeathed by Meer Jaffier Aly Khan, 
 Nawab of Bengal, in 1765, to Lord Olive, and paid by his Lordship, 
 n the year 1766, into the Company's treasury at Fort William, to run 
 at interest at the rate of 8 per cent., as an annual fund for the support 
 of European officers and soldiers who may be disabled or decayed 
 in the Company's service in Bengal, and for the widows of officers 
 and soldiers who may die on service there. 8th June 1766. 
 
 The Company extended this donation afterwards to the benefit of 
 all invalided, disabled, or superannuated officers and soldiers, and 
 the widows of such officers and soldiers as may die in their service 
 in any of their settlements in the East Indies, pursuant to an 
 agreement stipulated between them and Lord Olive in the year 
 1770, by which the former establishment of shares was altered to 
 the present moieties or proportions specified as follows : 
 
 All commissioned or warrant officers shall have half the ordinary 
 stated pay they enjoyed while in the service. 
 
 Sergeants belonging to the Artillery shall receive 9d. per day, 
 and such as have lost a limb Is. per day ; private men Qf the Artil- 
 lery 6d. per day, and such as lose a limb 9d. per day. All other 
 non-commissioned officers and private men shall receive 4fd. per 
 day. 23rd July 1771. t Such was the munificent gift from a true 
 friend of the Indian army ! 
 
 * To the captains he gave 1,000 rupees each. 
 
 t Life of Lord dive, pp. 16-17, vol. iii. When the mutinous officers at Monghyr 
 (1766) were informed that Lord Olive was coming, the precursors of the army, 
 seeing their determination not to yield, remarked strongly " on their ingratitude 
 
262 
 
 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 To some Anglo-Indians it may appear that a tinge of romance 
 hangs around Mutijil* or the lake of pearl, and the old palace whence 
 issued the order for Olive's charitable bequest to the army. The 
 place is thus described : Mutijil is a lovely spot south of Murshid- 
 abad ; there are only a few arches now left of the magnificent 
 palace erected here of black marble brought from Gaur. It was 
 built by Suraj-ood-dowlah, at an enormous expense, in order " to 
 indulge his vicious pleasures beyond the reach of control ; " he 
 quitted this palace in order to fight the battle of Plassey, and from 
 the same place (1766) Olive wrote a letter making over five lakhs, 
 bequeathed to him by Mir Jaffier,to a fund since called Olive's Fund.t 
 " His gift of 70,000, for the support of officers and men invalided 
 in the Company's service in India, must rank among the noblest 
 of living benefactions."! Colonel Innes (late 1st Bengal European 
 Regiment) also, in his new work, alludes to the famous bequest 
 known as " Lord Olive's Fund," which proved a sterling boon to the 
 Bengal army, which enjoyed its benefits for nearly one hundred years. 
 " In 1859, the capital sum was claimed by Lord Olive's heirs on 
 the plea that, the British possessions in India having been 
 transferred from the East India Company to the Crown of Eng- 
 land, the Bengal army had ceased to exist. The claim was held to 
 be valid in law, and the amount of the fund, 50,000, was made 
 payable to the claimants." This most philanthropic institution is 
 now styled " The Military Fund, lately called Lord Clive's " ; 
 although, of course, it is quite distinct from the Military 
 Funds of the three Presidencies. By the Regulations we 
 are informed : 1. " Officers' widows will be required to sign a 
 declaration to the effect that their husbands did not die possessed 
 of real and personal property to the following amounts, and that 
 they themselves do not, with what their husbands left, and from all 
 other sources, possess, if the widow of a colonel, 4,000 ; a lieut.- 
 
 towards a person who had lately given up 70,000 to form a fund for invalids and 
 
 widows." 
 
 * A favourite name applied to a lake in Kashmir, and another in Lahore, 
 t " The Banks of the Bhagirathi," in Calcutta Review, vol. vi., p. 441. 
 J Sir John Malcolm. 
 
LORD OLIVE AND THE ARMY. 9,ftX 
 
 colonel, 3,000; a major, 2,500; a captain, 2,000 ; a lieutenant, 
 1,000." The pensions vary from 23 to about 114 per annum. 
 Such, then, is the memorable fund first instituted by the charitable 
 mind of Lord Olive, ever ready to help " the widow and the 
 fatherless," as well as to aid the weak and restrain the strong. 
 
264 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 LALLY IN THE CARNATIC COLONEL FORDE IN THE NORTHERN 
 
 CIROARS SUCCESSES AND REVERSES OF LALLY BUSSY 
 
 BOMBAY. 
 
 IN connection with the work cut out for the early Presidency 
 armies, we shall now make a retrogressive movement, and go back 
 to Count de Lally in the Carnatic (1758). We have already briefly 
 alluded to this clever but rash and eccentric hero of the French in 
 India. Had Olive been in the Madras Presidency at the end of 
 April, when he arrived at Pondicherry* with a considerable force to 
 expel the English from Southern India, it is needless to say that, 
 notwithstanding his energy and heroism, short work would have 
 been made of him ; but such not being the case, he gave us a vast 
 deal of anxiety and trouble at a very critical time. Dupleix, 
 Bussy, and Lally were the three grand French haters of British 
 rule in India; while Olive and Watson spoke of hunting or turning 
 out the French as if they had been so many hares or wily foxes 
 infesting the land. 
 
 The French, with all their astuteness and talent, were never the 
 right people in the right place in India, as they are now certainly 
 not the Europeans we care to see at Tonquin. There, no hunters 
 like Olive and Watson ever pursued them. When Chandernagore 
 
 * Pondichery is the spelling of Colonel Malleson one r, as in " pont dechire," the 
 origin of the name. 
 
LALLY IN THE CARNATIC FORDE IN THE CIRCARS. 265 
 
 was taken, Olive sought to root out the French from this quarter 
 of India, as it was his confirmed opinion that the English and 
 their European rivals could never have co-existence, as political 
 powers, in Hindustan. 
 
 The Admiral was even more impressive ; for, after giving the 
 Nabob of Bengal a severe lecture for his frequent evasions, and 
 for siding with Bussy and M. Law against us, instead of being our 
 ally, as he promised, and assisting with his forces against the 
 French, the gallant Admiral says scornfully : " I have already 
 told you, and now repeat it again, that while a Frenchman remains 
 in the kingdom, I will never cease pursuing him ; but if they 
 deliver themselves up they shall find me merciful."* 
 
 Lally would certainly not have written to the Nabob in this 
 style. It is more probable that, had he been a conqueror, he 
 would have shot Suraj-ood-dowlah, or blown him from a gun (one 
 of his favourite modes of execution) ; and so lost Bengal. 
 
 For generations it has been a common, and, on the whole, a fair 
 opinion, that Olive exhibited far greater qualities as a statesman 
 and a ruler than as a general, with the great praise, " that he never 
 shrank from responsibility." Olive was not exactly a great tacti- 
 cian in the art of war ; but, in our opinion, he was equally great 
 as a statesman and a soldier. His actions and his policy just 
 suited the times ; and in no case was this more clearly shown than 
 when he set about, from his office in Calcutta, curbing Lally, and 
 assisting Madras in time of great need. Like "the worn war- 
 horse/' he was naturally eager for the fray, and desirous to be in 
 Southern India once more, with a glorious battle-field before him, 
 that he might mingle with European and Native soldiers, and lead 
 our men on to certain victory, as he had done before in the Car- 
 natic, for which brilliant services the Court of Directors had voted 
 him a diamond-hilted sword. But he could not possibly leave his 
 post in Bengal without injuring the interests of the Company. It 
 has been justly observed that had he at this moment left the helm, 
 the ship would have speedily foundered ; the French would have 
 
 * Malcolm. 
 
266 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 triumphed at Madras, or the Dutch might have driven us, bag and 
 baggage, from Bengal. " But Clive remained ; and taking advan- 
 tage of the opening presented by the Kajah of Chicacole and 
 Rajahmundri, who solicited the aid of the English against the 
 French, he fitted out an expedition, under Colonel Forde (the 
 victor of Chinsurah), and sent it to Vizagapatam to cause a 
 diversion there, and thus indirectly to aid Madras, which was 
 then hard pressed by Monsieur de Lally."* 
 
 The Court of Directors again had hardly used Clive well. They 
 had appointed a Government of Rotation, or named a rotation of 
 Governors, for the future management of their affairs in Bengal ; 
 but, although Clive had before been named as head of the General 
 Committee, his name as Governor was omitted from the list. The 
 Calcutta Council, however, knowing the real value of the con- 
 queror of Plassey, urged them to make him the offer of being 
 President of the Company's affairs in Bengal, "till a person is 
 appointed by the Honourable Company." Clive was naturally 
 hurt at such conduct of the Court ; so he determined not to accept 
 the high station offered. But the representations of all ranks and 
 parties led Clive to alter his resolution. A kind and highly 
 appreciative letter from Mr. Payne, Chairman of the Court of 
 Directors, had much to do with altering the decision of the 
 <e heaven-born general," who now became Governor and President 
 of the chief Presidency. 
 
 "The Court of Directors," writes his biographer, "had formed 
 this Government of Rotation at a period when they could not have 
 anticipated the great changes which had taken place in Bengal ; 
 that this was the case is proved by the fact of the subsequent 
 appointment of Clive to the station of Governor the moment they 
 heard of the battle of Plassey. They appear also to have recog- 
 nised the high and disinterested motives which induced the 
 Council to invite him to be their President."! 
 
 * Review of Broome's History of the Bengal Army Calcutta Review, No. 
 XXVIII., December 1850. 
 
 f Memoirs of Lord Clive, vol. i., pp. 362-63. 
 
LALLt IN THE CARNATIC FORDE IN THE CIRCARS. 267 
 
 A well-known historian, writing on this subject, has remarked : 
 " Convinced that Olive alone had sufficient authority to over- 
 come the Nabob into the performance of his obligations, the 
 Council (including the four gentlemen who were appointed 
 governors) came to a resolution highly expressive of their own 
 disinterestedness and patriotism, but lull of disregard and con- 
 tempt for the judgment and authority of their superiors.''* But, 
 according to Sir John Malcolm, the Court never viewed the setting 
 aside of their arrangement in this light. It was indeed an extra- 
 ordinary and unprecedented occasion. 
 
 On accepting the Government of Bengal, dive's very first object 
 was to assist the Presidency of Fort St. George. His view of the 
 danger of that settlement, and the measures he adopted to afford it 
 relief, are fully given in the pages of Orme, the contemporary 
 historian, and no one doubted that Madras would be besieged as 
 soon as the monsoon had sent the squadron to sea if reinforce- 
 ments should not arrive before. " The preference," says Orme, 
 " which each of the Company's Presidencies was naturally inclined 
 to give to its own safety, as the only ground on which the property 
 and fortunes of the whole community were established, suggested 
 apprehensions that Madras, in the same manner as it had been 
 treated by the Presidency of Calcutta, would, whatever might be 
 the necessity of Bengal, detain in their own service whatsoever 
 troops might be sent to their assistance." The destination of the 
 force was called the Northern Circars, the country, usually known 
 by this name, which had been ceded by the Soubahdar of the 
 Dekhan, Salabut Jung, to the French. It runs along the sea- 
 board from the Kistna to the Mahanuddi river, approaching, on its 
 northern border, within two hundred miles of Calcutta. M. Bussy 
 had been the leading spirit there, with his forces settling the 
 country (1755) ; and the Nabob, before the fall of Chandernagore,f 
 had hoped that the famous chevalier, after keeping with such a 
 
 * Mr. Mill, in his History, vol. iii. , p. 244. Quoted by Sir John Malcolm, 
 f At that time, also, the French had several hundred Europeans at Cossimbazar, 
 under M. Law. 
 
268 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 strong hand the city of Hyderabad for the Soubahdar of the 
 Dekhan, would come over and settle Bengal also. 
 
 The Marquis de Conflans, who now commanded the French 
 force in the Northern Circars, had under him a European battalion 
 of 500 men, with thirty or forty guns, 500 Native Cavalry, and 
 6,000 Sepoys. On the other hand, we are told that Colonel 
 Forde could only muster 470 Europeans, 1,900 Sepoys chiefly 
 from the Upper Provinces of Bengal, trained by Clive and six 
 field-pieces ; on the whole, a very creditable little Presidency army ; 
 while his ally, the Rajah of Chicacole and Rajahmundri, had 5,000 
 foot and 500 horse a rabble that even the immortal Sir John 
 would have disowned, and which would hardly have been allowed to 
 march (to use Macaulay's language) " in the tail of Genseric." The 
 sepoys under Forde were really well trained, better men, and pro- 
 bably better equipped, than the French native troops ; " and they 
 advanced with the prestige of victorious troops, as some of them 
 had assisted to conquer or recover Bengal.'' Forde landed with his 
 little army"* on the 20th of October, at Vizagapatam ; and, after 
 some delay and much difficulty, having made his arrangements with 
 the Rajah, he marched against the enemy on the 8th of December. 
 
 But we have left Count Lally, probably in the verandah of Govern- 
 ment House, Pondicherry, " with his long sword drawn/' ready to 
 expel us from India. This extraordinary Frenchman is really an 
 interesting study; but Anglo-Indian history gives us few recollec- 
 tions of him. We have written of him elsewhere.f The brave 
 Lally had done his best for his masters ; but it is said he was dis- 
 liked by his troops, which, perhaps, was a principal cause of his 
 reverses. Lally, in France, was considered one of the bravest yet 
 most whimsical men in the French service. An Irishman by birth, 
 he had worked his way up in a service open to any dauntless adven- 
 turer, fought against England, and suffered a cruel death on return 
 to the land which had cherished him. We have also read of the 
 famous Count, that the French Ministry fitted out an extensive 
 
 * Which came over in six vessels. 
 
 f Brief View of the French in India. Calcutta, 1847. 
 
LALLY IN THE CAENATIO FOEDE IN THE CIECAES. 269 
 
 armament, under the command of Lally, an officer of Irish extraction 
 who at the battle of Fontenoy had added to his many brilliant dis- 
 plays of personal valour by taking several English officers with 
 his own hand. Cherishing the strongest attachment to his late 
 master, James II., he felt also the most deadly antipathy to the 
 people who had expelled him ; and he looked, as his highest pride, 
 to being the chief instrument for the subversion of their Eastern 
 dominion. On board the French vessels were 1,080 men of Lally's 
 regiment, he himself being with them in the capacity of Governor- 
 General of the French Settlements, fifty artillerymen, and several 
 officers of distinction, amongst whom was Count D'Estaign. Such 
 was Lally's energy and activity, that the day after his arrival at 
 Pondicherry he despatched, by sunset, 1,000 Europeans and 1,000 
 Sepoys, under Count D'Estaign, for the reduction of Fort St. 
 David (Cuddalore),* distant about eight miles from the French 
 territory. Next day, firing from the English and French squadrons, 
 under Admiral Pococke and Count D'Ache respectively, was 
 distinctly heard. The French naval force was 5,000 and that of 
 the English 3,200. After an hour and a half's fighting, the French 
 lost 500 killed and wounded, and the English 29 killed and 89 
 wounded, total 118. It was almost a useless naval action, which 
 crippled both parties, without securing any great advantage to 
 either. Although the French vessels suffered very severely, their 
 superior rate of sailing, going three feet to one of the English, 
 prevented their falling into the hands of the victors.t 
 
 M. de Soupires arrived from Pondicherry with a reinforcement 
 and battering train ; and on the 1st May, Count Lally himself joined. 
 Lally's purpose was so far served that the English squadron, 
 damaged in its rigging, withdrew from the coast to refit, which 
 enabled the sanguine Count to make himself master of Cuddalore, 
 and eventually of Fort St. David. The fort, garrisoned by upwards 
 of 2,000 regular troops, of whom upwards of 600 were Europeans, 
 
 * The old Fort St. David's ; purchased in 1685 by the English, from the 
 Mahrattas, for 90.000 pagodas, or 315,000 rupees =3 1,500 sterling. The English 
 cantonment of Cuddalore was, and, we believe, is now, a very pleasant one. 
 
 t Begbie. 
 
270 THE PEESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 with 1,600 Sepoys, was placed in a state of siege, made a bad defence 
 Clive sadly wanted and fell, or surrendered, on the 2nd of June 
 1758. All hopes of relief from the British squadron had been aban- 
 doned, as adverse winds and currents prevented its approach to 
 Cuddalore. The French force employed against Fort St. David 
 was 2,500 Europeans and 3,000 Sepoys. 
 
 The fall of Fort St. David alarmed'the whole Presidency of Fort 
 St. George ; for the Government conceived that the French would 
 now march against Madras ; so withdrew their garrisons from 
 Carangooly, Chingleput, Conjeveran, Cauverypauk, and Arcot, 
 leaving only those at Poonamallee and Tripassore, as they covered 
 a rich tract of country from the incursions of the Polygars, and, from 
 their proximity to the Presidency, could be withdrawn on the 
 approach of the French. The propriety of abandoning Trichinopoly 
 was now seriously debated in Council. In short, the prospects of 
 the Madras Presidency and its army were of a very gloomy nature 
 indeed. The relieving Presidency for Bengal might well have been 
 called "benighted''' at this period. Fortunately, however, Pondi- 
 cherry could not furnish the means of transporting by land the vast 
 siege train requisite for operations against Fort St. George ; and so 
 long as the English held the sea, the other mode of transport was 
 equally impracticable. Lally, therefore, turned his attention to " an 
 easier conquest and a richer harvest."* He had found in Fort St. 
 David a prisoner, by name Gatika, unole of the dethroned Rajah of 
 Tanjore, whom the British had engaged not to molest the reigning 
 prince. Lally now set him up as the lawful sovereign, and marched 
 on the 18th June to Tanjore to support his pretensions, leaving 
 only 600 Europeans and 200 Sepoys under M. de Soupires for the 
 protection of French territory. 
 
 As in the expedition against Fort St. David, Lally experienced 
 great difficulty in procuring carriage, which made him press all the 
 natives he could lay hands on into his service as coolies quite 
 regardless of caste causing the French name to be execrated 
 wherever this injudicious system was put in action, Although 
 
 * Begbje, 
 
LALLY IN THE CABNATIC FORDE IN THE CIRCA11S. 271 
 
 so totally repugnant to the feelings of the people, he continued to 
 pursue this arbitrary system during his wild career in India. The 
 art of conciliation, as practised by Olive and Wellesley, was quite 
 unknown to Lally ; and, as already hinted, he thought nothing of 
 blowing a Brahman from the mouth of a gun if he disobeyed him. 
 Partly owing to this arbitrary practice, the heavy guns and baggage 
 had to be sent round by sea; and the brave regiment of Lorraine* 
 was obliged to leave its tents behind at Cuddalore. On arrival 
 at Devicottah, his men had been twelve hours without food. 
 
 When Lally entered the picturesque Tanjore country, the Kajah 
 endeavoured to treat with him ; but it was hopeless, owing to the 
 extravagant demand for the immediate payment of 5,600,000 rupees 
 with interest. At his earnest request, Captain Calliaud, comman- 
 dant, had sent the Tanjore Eajah 500 of his best sepoys, 10 Madras 
 artillerymen, and a few thousand " Colleries " (a thieving tribe) 
 whom he had induced to enter the Tanjore service. 
 
 While the French remained at Trivalore, they swept the country 
 of the cattle, and despatched them to the coast. " But the 
 Colleries," says Begbie, " were more expert thieves than even the 
 French, and managed to recapture nearly every head, selling them 
 again, however, to the highest bidder." On the 18th July the 
 French arrived within six miles of Tanjore, and the rajah again 
 expressed a desire to treat. This time he paid an instalment of 
 50,000 rupees (5,000). On the 29th the battering train arrived 
 from the French settlement of Karical, which made the rajah 
 conclude a treaty, by the terms of which he was to pay 500,000 
 rupees in three instalments, and furnish a force to co-operate 
 against Trichinopoly. But, as no proper force appeared, Lally 
 became convinced that the Tanjore rajah was playing with him in 
 order to gain time ; so he entered on a violent altercation, which 
 terminated in a total rupture. f Captain Calliaud, who had been 
 
 * In September 1757, 983 men of the regiment of Lorraine, 50 artillerymen, 60 
 volunteers from Bourbon, 20 battering guns, some mortars, and abundance of shot 
 and shell, arrived in the roads of Fort St. David, for Pondicherry, under the com- 
 mand of the Marquis de Soupires. 
 
 f Begbie, 
 
272 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 afraid to trust any more of bis men at Tanjore, on the 6th of 
 August sent a further reinforcement of 500 of his best sepoys and 
 " two excellent sergeants of artillery " (Madras), with twenty-seven 
 gunners. At length, early in August, the French opened a useless 
 fire of batteries; but everything appeared to go wrong. Cart- 
 ridges for the guns, and sufficient ball ammunition were not 
 forthcoming, without which sinews- of war even Lally's bravery 
 could do nothing. Worse than all, only two days' provisions 
 remained in camp. On the 8th intelligence arrived of another 
 action between the English and French fleets. The English fleet 
 had anchored off Karical, ready for a descent; but nothing could 
 be heard of the French. Lally deemed it prudent, therefore, to 
 retreat, after providing for his sick and wounded. Before his 
 departure, however, Monackjie, the Tanjore general, determined 
 to beat up his quarters, and proceeded with a large body of horse 
 and foot, after midnight, for that purpose. This scene of confusion, 
 and even disaster, is thus described : A party of the horse 
 penetrated as far as Lally's tent; the Count was thrown down and 
 trampled upon, but rescued.* A body of the English sepoys 
 seized three field-pieces, which they were obliged to abandon after 
 having lost 75 of their number in killed and wounded in the effort 
 to bring them off. Great confusion prevailed for an hour, but in 
 the end French discipline triumphed ; and, if the French account 
 be true that they lost only ten men, and their assailants nearly 
 400, Monackjie had not much reason to congratulate himself on 
 his exploit. That night Lally, having first spiked and dismounted 
 all his battering guns, commenced his retreat, harassed by the Tan- 
 jorines as far as Covilonil, 15 miles from Tanjore. The next march 
 was to Trivalore, 20 miles distant, in which the not uncommon 
 obstruction in Southern India of two adjacent rivers occurred. 
 Had the Tanjoriues taken proper advantage of these rivers, all 
 Lally's field-artillery would have fallen into their hands; but they 
 discontinued pursuit before they came to the first, evincing a sad 
 want of tact and foresight in the Tanjore general. 
 
 * Services of the Madras Artillery, p. 103. 
 
LALLY IN THE CARNATIC FOftDE IN THE CIRCARS. 273 
 
 M. D'Ache, despite of all Lally's remonstrances, who wished 
 him to try the result of another engagement, sailed with his fleet 
 on the 3rd September for the Mauritius, leaving, however, 500 
 sailors those invaluable accessories to warfare on or near a coast 
 and marines to act on shore. The English troops returned to 
 Trichinopoly after the retreat of the French. Intelligence of the 
 treaty between the Tanjore rajah and the French for an attack on 
 Trichinopoly having reached the Presidency on the 14th August, 
 Colonel Lawrence marched on the 18th with eight field-pieces, 620 
 Europeans, and 1,200 sepoys. On the 24th, after a march beyond 
 Chingleput, Lawrence heard of the retreat of the French, and 
 returned to Madras, where he arrived on the 31st. At this time 
 Trevalore and Trinomallie were taken from the enemy during the 
 French retreat, " by the Nuwab's troops." * Major Caillaud had 
 been obliged to withdraw his outposts, including that on Sering- 
 ham (at Trichinopoly), when he despatched his reinforcements to 
 Tanjore ; and the brother of Hyder Ali, who had recently been 
 driven from it, re-occupied it with his Mysoreans. 
 
 On the return of Caillaud's detachments he was as speedily dis- 
 lodged again. CailJaud was a clever " political " as well as soldier ; 
 and he knew the value of such an ejectment. 
 
 In September the intelligence of the fall of Fort St. David 
 reached Calcutta, as well as the failure of Lally's expedition against 
 Tanjore and the subsequent operations ; and, as already remarked, 
 Governor and President Clive preferred making a diversion in 
 the Northern Circars to sending direct assistance to the Madras 
 Presidency. 
 
 Colonel Forde had quitted Adlercron's regiment (the 39th), and 
 had been invited by the Madras Government to assume the com- 
 mand, of course' at the suggestion of Clive, who, among all his 
 distracting cares in Calcutta, kept a steady eye on the scene of his 
 pristine glory. 
 
 In August, the French had reduced all the small outposts in the 
 neighbourhood of Madras, except Chingleput, which still held out, 
 
 * Begbie. 
 
 18 
 
274 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 and was reinforced with three companies of sepoys under Lieutenant 
 Airey. 
 
 On the 14th September, seven Company's ships, escorted by two 
 men-of-war, arrived in the Madras Koads. On board these vessels 
 were embarked 1,000 King's troops (Colonel Draper's regiment, 
 under the command of that officer) ; but fifty of these had died on 
 board the Pitt of the Brest fever, contracted from some French 
 vessels. With such augmentation of strength, more sepoys could 
 now be spared to strengthen Chingleput. The impending siege of 
 Madras rang through the length and breadth of the Presidency. 
 Caillaud, with all his spare troops, was ordered from Trichmopoly, 
 the command of that important fort 200 miles from Madras 
 having been delivered over to Captain Joseph Smith with Gallon's, 
 honoured names of " the rock " whose garrison had been in- 
 creased by 2,000 sepoys from Tinnevelly. Chingleput was again 
 strengthened, and four more field-pieces sent on the 2nd October. 
 
 Lally now opened his eyes to the importance of this position 
 and the traveller cannot help surveying it with interest at the pre- 
 sent day which, twenty days before, he might have taken by 
 escalade in open day, and now resolutely determined to march 
 against it in force. 
 
 Intelligence of Lally's move reached the Presidency a few 
 hours after a large convoy had left Fort St. George for Chingleput. 
 It was resolved to take the field with 1,200 Europeans and 1,800 
 sepoys, by far the greatest portion of the garrison of Madras. 
 
 One half of this force marched on the 7th under Draper, with 
 orders to halt ten miles from Chingleput, at Vandalore Choultry, 
 the remainder being held as a reserve at St. Thomas's Mount, 
 under Colonel Lawrence. The intelligence reached Lally ; he 
 abandoned his design, and Chingleput was safe. 
 
 We now return to Colonel Forde, anxious to measure swords 
 (or guns) with M. de Conflans, according to Colonel Malleson, 
 younger brother of the general who commanded at the same period 
 the French army of Germany. According to the same authority 
 (also quoted by Colonel Innes), the troops under the command of 
 
LALLY IN THE CAENATTC FORDE IN THE CIRCARS. 275 
 
 the General and Marquis were " the most seasoned and the best 
 disciplined of all those who served the French Company in Southern 
 India." The troops now marched in good earnest, and early 
 in December came within sight of the enemy, who were en- 
 camped near Condore, about forty miles on this side of Kajamundri. 
 The following is a graphic and animated description of this decisive 
 battle of India, by Captain Broome : 
 
 " Colonel Forde took up his position, determined to be 
 guided by the movement of the enemy. Condore was as far 
 from the French camp as the old position at Chambole, but with 
 more advantageous ground to advance upon, and with a village 
 half way which would serve for an advanced post. M. Conflans, 
 imagining that the possession of this village was the object of the 
 English movement, pushed forward with his whole force to antici- 
 pate this supposed intention ; and he attributed Colonel Forde's 
 inaction, in letting him seize this post without an effort, to a con- 
 sciousness of inferiority. Fearing that the English might now 
 attempt to regain their old position, he determined upon an imme- 
 diate attack, and, hastily forming his troops in line, advanced 
 towards Condore. His European battalion was in the centre, as 
 usual, with thirteen field-pieces divided on their flanks; immediately 
 to the left of the battalion were the 500 cavalry, and, on either 
 wing, 3,000 sipahis, supported by five or six heavy pieces of 
 cannon. 
 
 " Colonel Forde drew up his force in like manner, with the Euro- 
 pean battalion in the centre, and the six field-pieces divided, three 
 on each flank ; to the right was the 1st battalion of sipahis, com- 
 manded by Captain Knox, with half of the Madras sipahis ; to the 
 left, the 2nd battalion of sipahis, commanded by Captain Lieutenant 
 MacLean, with the remainder of the Madras sipahis ; extended on 
 either flank were such of the Rajah's troops as possessed fire-arms, 
 and the remainder of the rabble in the rear. Captain Bristol, with 
 his party and four field-pieces, took post with the three guns to the 
 left of the European battalion. 
 
 " Both sides now advanced the English steadily and deliberately, 
 
 18 * 
 
276 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 without firing a shot; the French moving more rapidly, but keeping 
 up a hot cannonade from their artillery as they approached. When 
 they came near, the impetuosity of the French infantry carried 
 them in advance of their guns; upon which the English halted to 
 receive them, and both sides commenced a fire of musketry which 
 lasted for some minutes. 
 
 " It so happened that, when the.English line halted, the European 
 battalion was immediately in rear of a field of Tndian corn, which 
 grew so high as to intercept them from the view of the enemy ; but 
 the sipahis on either flank were fully exposed. Colonel Forde, 
 probably with the view of leading the enemy into the very error 
 into which they fell, ordered the sipahi battalions to furl their 
 small colours, of which one was allowed to each company, and to 
 lay them on the ground. This circumstance, and the men being 
 dressed in scarlet uniform, resembling that of the Europeans, for 
 which the French were unprepared the English sipahis on the 
 Madras side wearing the native dress led them to suppose that 
 the Europeans were divided on the flanks; the French battalion, 
 as their line advanced, instead of moving directly forward, obliqued 
 to the left, to engage the 2nd native battalion, which they thus 
 mistook for Europeans. When they arrived within the distance 
 of 200 yards, they halted, dressed their ranks, and commenced 
 firing by platoons. Colonel Forde, who perceived their error, 
 rode up to the 2nd battalion to encourage the men to stand ; but 
 the latter, observing the enemy's line of sipahis outflanking them 
 to the left and gaining their rear, and being dismayed at finding 
 themselves opposed to Europeans, began to fire in a hurried and 
 irregular manner, and finally to give ground, retreating in the 
 direction of the village of Chambole. Flushed with this success, 
 the French battalion advanced rapidly, though in a disorderly 
 manner, to follow up their advantage. Colonel Forde, who antici- 
 pated what would occur, had hastened to the European battalion, 
 and forming them in line to the left, upon the left company, com- 
 manded by Captain Adnet, advanced and took the French in flank, 
 just as they were clearing the field of Indian corn. As the several 
 
LALLY IN THE CAttNATIC FOEDE IN THE CIBCAES. 277 
 
 companies came up into their new alignment, they poured in a 
 deadly fire of musketry upon the enemy, which did great execution. 
 Half the French grenadiers went down at the first volley from 
 Captain Adnet's company ; and, heing taken completely hy sur- 
 prise and thus roughly handled, the whole French battalion went 
 about in great confusion, and hastened to regain the support of 
 their field-pieces, which they had left nearly half a mile behind. 
 . . . The French rallied at their guns, thirteen in number, which 
 were scattered about the plain in details, as they had been left 
 when the advance commenced ; these guns opened their fire on the 
 English, as soon as their own troops were clear, and killed and 
 wounded several men. Captain Adnet fell mortally wounded at 
 the head of the leading company ; but the men were not to be 
 denied : the enemy's fire only induced them to hasten to the 
 charge ; and, forming line, they rushed on with the bayonet, drove 
 the enemy from their guns, and once more put the French battalion 
 to flight. 
 
 " The day, if not completely gained, was at least secured from 
 reverse by the possession of the enemy's field artillery and the 
 flight of their European battalion. When the European battalion 
 advanced, its field-pieces had been left with this corps. Encouraged 
 by this support, and the spirit of their gallant commander, Captain 
 Knox, the sipahis, though opposed by nearly four times their own 
 number, stood their ground nobly; taking advantage of the cover 
 of some embankments in their front, they kept up a warm fire 
 upon the enemy to which the latter replied with great spirit, 
 until they saw their own European battalion driven from the guns, 
 and in disorderly flight, when they also began to retreat. Captain 
 Knox now advanced with his battalion and the six field-pieces, to 
 join the Europeans. The enemy's right wing of sipahis and the 
 cavalry had retreated, as soon as they saw the French battalion 
 defeated, without making any attempt to follow up the 2nd native 
 battalion which, having rallied, also joined the advance. Colonel 
 Forde now determined to push on, and complete his success by 
 attacking the enemy's camp, to which they had all retreated; and 
 
278 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 he sent to the Rajah to beg that he would advance, particularly 
 with his cavalry, which would have been of the greatest use in 
 following up the broken troops of the enemy ; but the Rajah and 
 all his force were cowering in the hollow of a large tank during the 
 action, and could not be induced to stir. Colonel Forde, having 
 made his arrangements, now advanced with his own troops ; but, 
 the ground being very bad, the guns, drawn by bullocks, were 
 unavoidably left considerably in the rear. A deep hollow way 
 passed along the skirt of the camp, behind which all the French 
 troops had rallied, supported by their heavy guns, placed so as to 
 command the line of advance. But just as the English troops had 
 taken up their position to attack, and the leading company had 
 stepped out to give their fire, the field-pieces came in sight and 
 the enemy, as if panic struck, went to the right about, and fled 
 again in the utmost confusion, leaving their camp and the remainder 
 of their guns in the hands of the victors ; but the English follow- 
 ing them up rapidly, many threw down their arms, and surrendered 
 themselves prisoners. No victory could have been more complete. 
 The enemy were totally routed and dispersed. Thirty-two pieces 
 of artillery, including seven mortars of from 13 to 8 inches calibre, 
 50 ammunition carriages, a large supply of shot and shell, 1,000 
 draught bullocks, and the whole of the camp equipage and stores 
 were captured ; 6 French officers and 70 Europeans were killed or 
 mortally wounded, and about 50 more slightly wounded; 6 officers 
 and 50 Europeans, rank and file, were taken prisoners, and the 
 loss of their sipahis must also have been considerable. ' 5i 
 
 " Thus," adds Captain Broome, " ended the battle of Condore, 
 one of the most brilliant actions on military record ; which, how- 
 ever, is generally but little known or mentioned in the service ; 
 and, by a strange chance, not one of the corps employed has ever 
 received any distinction for this most important victory ; whilst the 
 1st Madras European Fusiliers, of which not an officer or man, 
 excepting Captain Callender, was present, have the word ' Condore' 
 emblazoned on their colours and appointments. The corps pro- 
 
 * History of the Bengal Army, pp. 215-220. 
 
LALLY IN THE CAENATIC FORDE IN THE CIROARS. 279 
 
 perly entitled to this distinction are the present 1st Bengal 
 European Fusiliers, the 1st Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry, 
 and the Bengal Artillery. The 2nd Native Battalion is no longer 
 in existence, and the Madras Sipahis present were never organised 
 as a regular corps." 
 
 The old Calcutta reviewer asserts that there is a slight error, or 
 misprint, in the above excellent description of the battle of Con- 
 dore ; thus the French battalion is described as obliquing to the 
 left to engage the 2nd Native Battalion, instead of to the right, 
 which it actually did. Such an error involves in obscurity an 
 important movement in the action which might " puzzle a young 
 military reader." 
 
 Colonel Innes is as indignant as Captain Broome at the omission 
 of the distinguishing mark " Condore " from the colours and 
 appointments of his regiment, that of a battle ranked by Colonel 
 Malleson amongst the " Decisive Battles of India," for " it was a 
 battle between the English and French for supremacy in India." 
 The author of the History of the Bengal European Regiment, is 
 very emphatic on the subject. He says:* " Whilst reviewing the 
 subject of ' Decorations,' prominent reference must be made to 
 ' Condore ' having been placed on the colours of the Madras 
 European Regiment, and inherited by the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 
 in place of on those of the Bengal European Regiment, which was 
 the only British Regiment employed in the campaign in the 
 Northern Circars under Colonel Forde, during which the 
 memorable battle of ' Condore ' and the celebrated siege of 
 ' Masulipatam ' were fought. It is a crying injustice to the 
 ' Royal Munster Fusiliers ' that it should be denied the decora- 
 tion ' Condore,' to which it is clearly entitled." f 
 
 The question was submitted to the India Office for report. 
 
 * Appendix A, p. 544. 
 
 t Colonel Innes's list of services slightly differs from that before given, as in the 
 Army List, when he says : The Decorations to which " The Royal Munster Fusi- 
 liers," as successor to the 1st and 2nd Bengal European Regiments, is entitled, 
 are: "Plassey," "Condore," "Buxar," " Rohilcund," Sholingur," "Deig," 
 "Bhurtpore," "Afghanistan," "Ghuznee," "Ferozshuhur,'' "Sobraon,""Punjaub," 
 ; ' Chillianwallah," " Goozerat," ' ; Pegu," " Delhi," " Lucknow." 
 
280 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 Lord Kiiiiberley's opinion is that " The Bengal European Regi- 
 ment" was present at the action at Condore, but "The Madras 
 European Regiment" was not; and that, in his opinion, 
 " Condore " should be placed on the colours of the Royal Munster 
 Fusiliers.* 
 
 We should have remarked that in the battle of Condore, of the 
 British, " Captain Adnet and 15 men of the Bengal European 
 Regiment were killed, 4 officers and 30 men wounded, amongst the 
 latter Mr. Johnson political officer serving as a volunteer with 
 the Grenadier Company of the Bengal Europeans ; and about 100 
 men of the Bengal Native Infantry were killed or wounded." 
 
 The Cavalry, under Anandraz, were employed as scouts. In the 
 pursuit of the enemy the 1st battalion and other regiments of 
 Native Infantry were engaged, and Colonel Forde came up last 
 with the Bengal European Regiment and " Bristol's " Artillery. 
 This select portion of the scientific arm is thus described by 
 Begbie : " The Rajah (as an addition to his forces) had four field- 
 pieces worked by forty renegade Europeans, commanded by 
 an Englishman of the same class, named Bristol. The advanced 
 force reached Rajamundri on the morning of 10th December, and 
 occupied the town; the French having vacated it on our 
 approach." 
 
 The crafty Chief, or Rajah, Anandraz, appears to have given the 
 British commander a vast deal of anxiety and trouble. Although 
 a treaty had been made with him, he would not keep his engage- 
 ments. 
 
 On this point, Colonel Innes remarks : The Chief's crafty 
 policy became apparent when Forde was anxious to push on 
 as quickly as possible to " Masulipatam the principal fortress and 
 town in the Northern Circars where it was evident the French 
 Army would make a desperate resistance, and gain time for the 
 arrival of reinforcements/' Anandraz wished to drive the French 
 from his territories, " but," says Colonel Innes, " being unequal to 
 the task, he induced the English, under false pretences, to under- 
 
 * Innes, p. 544. 
 
LALLY IN THE CAKNATIC EORDE IN THE CIRCARS. 281 
 
 take the hazardous work, hoping afterwards to starve out the 
 victors, and derive the benefit of their conquest for himself." * 
 
 Forde waited at Rajamundri for the funds which Anandraz had 
 promised him, and were due under the treaty. But this treaty he 
 now ignored, and a fresh or supplementary one had to be drawn 
 up, to the effect " that whatever sums the Eajah should furnish 
 should be considered as a loan, and that the revenues of the districts 
 south-west of the Godavery, which might be reduced, should be 
 equally divided between the East India Company and the Kajah," 
 who now agreed to assist the British in the attack on Masulipatam. 
 
 Hitherto, it is justly remarked that Colonel Forde's success was 
 due to the "masterly precision of his strategic movements"; and, 
 again, " Condore formed only a part an essential one it is true 
 of our brilliant successes in the Northern Circars ; and, considered 
 politically, it marked the first step in the decline of French power 
 in India, as opposed to that of the British. "f 
 
 At the conclusion of the capture, M, Conflans appears to have 
 lost his head. From his contradictory orders, confusion reigned 
 everywhere among the French troops. At length he received 
 a report from his principal officers that all his batteries had 
 been captured ; and he now offered to capitulate on honourable 
 terms. But Forde would have no half measures, and said if the 
 garrison did not surrender at once, unconditionally, he would put 
 them all to the sword. 
 
 And so Conflans surrendered the important fortress ; the British 
 flag was hoisted in front of the French prisoners, J on the parade- 
 ground ; and on the morning of the 8th April, 1759, the town and 
 fortress of Masulipatam passed into the hands of the East India 
 Company. The district afterwards became, as it is now, one of 
 the most important collectorates of the Madras Presidency. 
 
 * History of the Bengal European Regiment, p. 81. 
 
 t /&., p. 80. 
 
 { Placed under a guard of 100 Europeans and 200 sepoys, with two field-pieces. 
 History, p. 01. 
 
 For details of the operations in the Northern Circars, see the graphic pages of 
 Colonels Malleson, Innes, and others. 
 
282 THE PBESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 The same may be said of another Circar, to which there is an 
 interesting little piece of history of a later period attached. 
 
 The relations between the Madras Government and the Soubahdar 
 of the Dekhan, Nizam Ali, had been somewhat confused not an 
 uncommon occurrence in the early days of our Indian history. 
 This prince having dethroned his brother, Salabat Jung, made over 
 to him the province of Guntoor, one of the Northern Circars, which 
 the dethroned soubahdar found difficulty in reducing to order with- 
 out calling in the aid of the English. Now Nizam Ali did not 
 wish the bond of union between his brother and the English to be 
 drawn very tight. He therefore forbade their marching to the 
 assistance of Salabat Jung, and was very angry when they dis- 
 regarded his prohibition. He was pacified, however, by a promise 
 that they would assist him against any other enemy that might 
 attack him ; and, in consideration of that engagement, he confirmed 
 the Mogul's deed, brought about by Clive, by which the rest of the 
 Northern Circars became a province of Madras.* 
 
 After the capture, Masulipatam and the adjacent districts were 
 ceded to the British; and Forde continued in command. The 
 brave little army in the Northern Circars was broken up ; and the 
 Right Wing of the Bengal European Regiment, which, as such, 
 had been greatly distinguished during the operations, returned 
 to its own Presidency. 
 
 Colonel Forde, it is said, saw that the taking of Masulipatam was 
 the main object of the campaign ; and, like a good general, he 
 sacrificed everything to gain that vital point. One hundred and 
 twenty pieces of ordnance were found in the fort, and a large 
 supply of military stores, which were of great value to the Eng- 
 lish. The conduct of our troops in the assault was admirable ; the 
 sepoys " emulated the Europeans," and much of our brilliant suc- 
 cess was attributable to their gallantry. 
 
 Salabat Jung, and, doubtless, the combined army of M. du 
 Rocher, and the Dekhan troops, were astonished and surprised at 
 
 * British India. Edited by the Rev. G. R. Gleig, M. A. , late Inspector-General of 
 Military Schools. 
 
LALLT IN THE CAENATIC FORDE IN THE CIRCARS. 283 
 
 the fall of the place. Probably, Salabat Jung thought that, had 
 his old friend, counsellor, and captain, M. de Bussy,* been there, 
 there would have been a different tale to tell; but, considering that 
 it was a British foe they had had to deal with, he thought no more on 
 the subject. He re-advanced to within fifteen miles of the fort; 
 but finding it impossible to re-take it, he concluded a treaty with 
 the English, and hastily retraced his steps, his presence being 
 urgently required in his own dominions, in consequence of the 
 preparations that had been made by his brother, Nizam Ali, to 
 seize the subahdari. Thus everything fell out as Colonel Forde 
 had hoped and anticipated. The most effectual aid was given to 
 the English cause by the capture of Masulipatam, and the French 
 interests in that part of the country were entirely destroyed. We 
 must pass over the rest of the gallant acts of this detachment ; but 
 we give our readers Captain Broome's admirable summary of the 
 effects of this expedition, which returned to Bengal in March 
 1760 :- 
 
 " Thus terminated this brilliant expedition, during which the troops 
 obtained all the objects contemplated, diverted the attention and 
 means of the French from the prosecution of the war at Madras, 
 gained one glorious and complete victory in the field, took one of 
 the strongest forts in that part of India, captured upwards of 200 
 pieces of cannon, acquired a most valuable and extensive tract for 
 the Company, drove the French completely out of the Northern 
 Provinces, and destroyed their influence at the court of the Nizam ; 
 and all this, in the face of a superior force of regular troops, and in 
 spite of difficulties and obstacles of the most serious nature. 
 Viewed under all the circumstances attending it, and the results 
 
 * The better to strengthen his hands on opening his arduous campaign, Lally 
 had recalled M. de Bussy from attending on Salabat Jung, Soubahdar of the 
 Dekhan. The key-stone of his government was now gone. On account of this 
 impolitic step, various rajahs and petty chiefs at once rose against Salabat, and one 
 of them had captured Vizagapatam, which we eventually re-took. During his full 
 command of the Circars, this town had originally been reduced to one factory by 
 Bussy. Lally in ordering him to quit the court of the Soubahdar, was anxious to 
 unite his forces, to reduce Madras, and attack our new settlements in Bengal. The 
 parting of M. de Bussy from Salabat is given at page 81 of Colonel Malleson'a 
 admirable work : Decisive Battles, Kondiir and Machhlipatanam. 
 
281 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 obtained, this may be considered one of the most successful and 
 important expeditions ever undertaken by this army, although the 
 details have been slightly passed over by historians generally."* 
 
 Of course, while his great lieutenant, Forde, was assaulting 
 Masulipatam, Olive was not idle in Bengal. When was Clive ever 
 idle ? Certainly never in India. But we have given so much space 
 to the Chief Presidency that we must at once return to Lally. 
 
 While military operations were being carried on in the Northern 
 Circars, Count Lally with his whole force was advancing to the 
 siege of Madras. 
 
 Captain Joseph Smith, Commandant of Trichinopoly, under 
 orders from the Presidency, equipped 2,000 sepoys of his garrison, 
 and sent them with a couple of field-pieces across the Coleroon, 
 under the command of \ Usoff Cawn, on the 21st November, to act 
 on his rear. On the 29th November, the French army advanced 
 from Conjeveram, along the high road towards Madras ; a large 
 detachment, under the command of M. de Soupire, being sent 
 along the banks of the Palaur river, with orders to halt between 
 the river and Chingleput.f 
 
 On the 4th December, Lally in person reconnoitred Chingleput. 
 He had the audacity to do so within musket-shot; but, finding it 
 impracticable, save by regular approaches, he committed the 
 dangerous error of leaving it hanging in his rear. 
 
 On the 12th December, the enemy marched from St. Thomas's 
 Mount, and their European cavalry came suddenly upon a choultry 
 on the Triplecane road, garrisoned by three companies of sepoys, 
 who fired a volley and fled to join the main body. But Lawrence's 
 field-pieces, commanding the road, opened upon the cavalry, and 
 compelled them to quit their position, on which they galloped up 
 the St. Thome road, with the view of gaming the Triplecane bridge ; 
 but they were again met with a fire from artillery " from behind a 
 barrier thrown across the road, on which they retreated out of 
 range." 
 
 * Calcutta Review, No. XXVIII. . December 1850. 
 
 t Begbie's Services of the Madras Artillery, vol. i., pp. 109-110. 
 
SIEGES OF MADRAS AND POND I CHEEKY BOMBAY. 285 
 
 The main body of the French had advanced, cannonading as they 
 went along, to which Lawrence replied with his six field-pieces ; 
 and, at length, calling in his outposts, he gradually retired within 
 the walls of the fort. The cannonade had occasioned some loss to 
 English as well as French. Simultaneously with this advance, 300 
 Europeans, with two 12-pounders, had been despatched under 
 Lieut. -Colonel Murphy an Irish officer in the French service 
 against Poonamalee. This officer summoned Ensign Crowley to 
 surrender ; and of course he refused, on which the guns were em- 
 ployed till night-fall in the attempt to effect a breach. But little 
 or no effect was produced on the stone walls of the fort ; and Crow- 
 ley, with the pluck of a Olive, marched his sepoys out at midnight 
 by an unguarded point, and reached the north part of Black Town 
 by daybreak, where his 300 men were joined by the 200 who had 
 constituted the garrison of Tripasore. With the arrival of these 
 the British muster-roll stood thus: the European military, in- 
 cluding the officers, 64 topasses (Portuguese), and 89 Caffres, 
 incorporated in the companies, amounting to 1,758 men ; sepoys, 
 2,220; amongst the Europeans were 24 mounted troopers; "the 
 Nawaub's rabble of horse," 200. The European civil inhabitants 
 of Madras amounted to 150, who were told off, irrespective of rank, 
 to serve out stores and provisions to the garrison. 
 
 On the morning of the 14th the French troops were in motion. 
 At length the whole French army appeared in the southern parts 
 of the town, Lally's regiment taking up their quarters on the 
 beach, and Lorraine, with the battalion of India, on the rising 
 ground to the west. A number of natives of Black Town, we learn, 
 who, with their usual apathy, had remained in their houses till the 
 last moment, now came crowding upon the glacis, requesting admis- 
 sion to the fort, but were refused. These people reported that the 
 French were plundering in all directions, and intoxicated themselves 
 with all the liquor that they could lay their hands on ; and, in fact, 
 parties of them could be seen from the fort, staggering in every 
 stage of intoxication.* Colonel Draper proposed that advantage 
 
 * Begbie. 
 
286 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 should be taken of their helpless condition to attack them ; and 
 500 of the best men were accordingly draughted for that purpose, 
 and marched under his command, followed by two field-pieces, at 
 11 A.M., out of the western ravelin, 100 more following shortly 
 afterwards under Major Brereton as a support. Eventually, a very 
 hot fire, both of guns and musketry, commenced on both sides, and 
 lasted for twenty minutes, but with constantly increasing effect 
 from the French, whose numbers augmented every moment. 
 Draper, apprehensive that the arrival of Lally's regiment might cut 
 off his communication, directed the retreat to be beaten, but the 
 drummers were now nowhere to be found ; and the consequence 
 was that a party of 100 men, of whom 80 were grenadiers, who 
 were in a large enclosure, were ignorant of the measure until too 
 late. The enemy pressed upon the retreating column so closely 
 that the two field-pieces had to be abandoned, while the men in 
 the enclosure surrendered themselves as prisoners. Lally's regi- 
 ment, which now came up, would have annihilated the detachment, 
 but fortunately it was too drunk to act with effect, and the remainder 
 made good their escape in great disorder to the fort. 
 
 After various sallies, on the 28th December another was made 
 from the fort, with no other result than that of the interception of 
 a despatch from Pondicherry ; and the year closed with the com- 
 pletion of two batteries of the enemy, called respectively, "Lorraine's 
 and Lally's batteries/' 
 
 We could not in the space allotted to us narrate even a small 
 portion of the events connected with the famous siege of Madras. 
 Suffice it to say that Lally and Bussy deemed it expedient to carry 
 it on for upwards of two months, under very great difficulties. 
 
 The garrison, already alluded to, was commanded by Governor 
 Pigott, and the veteran Colonel Lawrence ; and it made the most 
 gallant defence. The blockade was terminated, to the intense satis- 
 faction of the Madrassis, by the appearance, on the 16th February 
 1759, of an English squadron with 600 fresh troops. When this 
 fleet hove in sight, the French army, without waiting their com- 
 mander's orders, began to retreat precipitately, and Lally had not 
 
SIEGES OF MADRAS AND PONDICHERRY BOMBAY. 287 
 
 time to execute his " cruel purpose " of leaving the Black Town in 
 ashes. And thus the siege of Madras, which had lasted sixty-seven 
 days, was raised. The proud, energetic, daring, but too rash Lally 
 was destined to return vanquished to Pondicherry ; but still the old 
 Irish fire in him was far from extinguished. After their defeat by 
 Colonel Coote at Wandewash, which was essentially an artillery battle, 
 and in which General Bussy was taken prisoner (January 1860), 
 on our reconquest of the Carnatic, it had been evident that French 
 dominion in India was fast drawing to a close. "Their general/' 
 writes the historian, "has acknowledged that if, after their late 
 successes, our countrymen had marched direct upon their chief city, 
 they might have become masters of it in a few days." Having 
 obtained repeated reinforcements keeping up a succession of Pre- 
 sidency armies which the enemy looked for in vain we were 
 enabled to close in around Pondicherry, and make preparations for 
 its actual siege. 
 
 Lally, by high promises, obtained an auxiliary force from Hyder 
 Ali, now master of Mysore ; but his troops soon departed, after 
 witnessing the manifest weakness of their French allies. In a state 
 of desperation, the brave Lally made a spirited midnight attack on 
 the British camp; but after carrying some important posts, he met 
 with a final repulse. 
 
 By the end of September 1760, Pondicherry was closely 
 blockaded by sea and land. The horrors of starvation set in, and 
 all was terror and dismay. War in itself is bad enough, but famine 
 in war is far more terrible. 
 
 On the 27th November, the French commander insisted on ex- 
 pelling the native (or black) inhabitants of Pondicherry. To the 
 number of 1,400, they were thrust out of the gates ; but as they 
 relieved the garrison, enabling them to hold out for a longer period, 
 they received no sympathy at first from the besiegers. The un- 
 happy creatures wandered about the glacis picking up roots and 
 plants to eat, and imploring either an entrance to the city, or 
 a passage through the army. After a week the British commandant, 
 Colonel Coote, humanely gave leave to the whole to retire into the 
 
288 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 country, which they did iri the most exhausted state, and nowhere 
 to look for refuge. However, we read that they were extremely 
 grateful even for this chance of preservation. 
 
 On the 12th January 1861, the trenches were regularly opened. 
 The enemy had only provisions for two days left. At length, on 
 the 14th, came deputations, " one from Lally, and the other from 
 the governor and council." The latter asked some favourable 
 terms for the inhabitants; " but, as matters stood," writes the his- 
 torian, " everything rested with the discretion of the conquerors, 
 who, however, promised to act with consideration and humanity/' 
 
 Colonel Coote (the famous Sir Eyre) entered Pondicherry on its 
 surrender Lally and his garrison having become prisoners of war. 
 Three days after, the defeated French general, held by the Brah- 
 mans to be the scourge of Southern India, set sail for France. 
 And thus ended the stormy military career of one of her most 
 extraordinary, bravest, and ill-used sons. 
 
 It is impossible to view with sufficiently deep execration the vile 
 treatment Lally received from his countrymen on arrival in Paris. 
 But, after the disgraceful treatment awarded to Dupleix and LaBour- 
 donnais, who had done so much to establish French power in India, 
 it was quite to be expected. However, in the case of Lally, there 
 was murder as well as ill-treatment and man's ingratitude to the 
 full. He was accused of ruining French affairs in India, and of 
 high treason ; and although, doubtless, he did some harm to the 
 former from his native Irish impetuosity, or blind and headlong 
 zeal, of the latter he was certainly not guilty. Rashness and im- 
 prudence were characteristics of the age in which he worked, 
 especially in India. Among the French there, the great Bussy 
 alone had little, it any, of these qualities;* and, through a 
 miracle, he had heeu well treated on leaving India, and on reaching 
 the French capital. Lally, on his arraignment, was removed from 
 the Bastille to a humbler prison. He was denied the aid of counsel, 
 
 * Next to him may be ranked La Bourdonnais, best known as Governor of the 
 Mauritius (Isle of France), the scene of Bernardin St. Pierre's beautiful tale of 
 f ' Paul and Virginia." 
 
SIEGES OF MADRAS AND PONDICHERRY BOMBAY. 289 
 
 " according to the ungenerous practice of France." The 
 Parliament pronounced sentence of death, against which two of 
 their most humane and distinguished members protested, and which 
 Voltaire, in his eloquent indignation, pronounced to be a judicial 
 murder. The ever magnanimous biographer of Olive, Sir John 
 Malcolm, says well : The Count Lally was the victim offered by the 
 Ministers of France to an incensed public. The principles of 
 justice and the feelings of humanity appear to have been alike 
 violated by this act, which a philosopher of France (Voltaire) truly 
 denominated, at the period of its perpetration, " A murder com- 
 mitted with the sword of justice." Before this, Sir John, quoting 
 Orme, the historian, informs us : " When Lally heard his sentence, 
 he threw up his hands to heaven, and exclaimed, * Is this the reward 
 of forty-five years service ? ' and snatching a pair of compasses, 
 which lay with maps on his table, struck it to his breast; but it did 
 not pierce to his heart. He then gave loose to every execration 
 against his judges and accusers. His scaffold was prepared, and 
 his execution appointed for the same afternoon. To prevent him 
 from speaking to the spectators a large gag was put into his mouth 
 before he was taken out of prison, whence he was carried in a 
 common cart, and beheaded on the Greve. He perished in the 
 sixty-fifth year of his age." This foul murder, by a pack of 
 biassed Government administrators, would never have been perpe- 
 trated had the French Government put Bussy, in the place of 
 Lally, in supreme military command at the most critical period 
 of French political and military action in India. There is no act 
 more grievous to a distinguished soldier than supersession ; and 
 when the superseded officer, from general to captain, is well known 
 and appreciated, such an act of useless despotism may be fatal to 
 that army. On this point, according to Sir John Malcolm, how 
 different was the conduct of the great Chatham ! When the troops 
 of his sovereign were ordered to India to support the national 
 interests, he at once decided that neither Lawrence nor Clive should 
 be superseded in their command.* And what was the consequence? 
 
 * Memoirs of Lord dive, vol. ii., p. 30. 
 
 19 
 
290 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 The two experienced local captains, between them, conquered 
 Southern India and Bengal for all time. 
 
 We cannot part with Lally and Bussy who threatened the very 
 existence of our two Presidencies and their armies without a few 
 more remarks. There can be no doubt that Olive viewed Lally as 
 a distinguished man, and able if not very excellent soldier. 
 When he first became an actor in the wide Indian theatre of war, 
 the " heaven-born general " writes of him, as if implying some 
 slight doubt as to his real rank : " Although M. Lally is a colonel 
 in the Irish Brigade, I do not find any of that corps have come 
 out with him." And again, with his usual foresight : " The cap- 
 ture of St. David's ought to add nothing to our apprehensions of 
 his succeeding in future enterprises." So Olive wrote to his friend 
 Mr. Pigot, Governor of Madras. And again, after the famous 
 siege : " Your defence of Madras," Olive observes in a letter to 
 Mr. Pigot of the 21st August 1759, " and your foiling a man of 
 Lally's rank, will certainly gain you much honour at home; but 
 what affords me most pleasure is the principal part you have acted 
 in this famous siege. I always said my friend (Colonel Lawrence) 
 would shine whenever an opportunity offered." 
 
 It is well affirmed by Sir John Malcolm that the delight of Olive 
 was heightened by his warm feelings of friendship towards those 
 who had so nobly supported the reputation of the service of Fort 
 St. George, to which he had a pride in belonging ; and to none 
 of these friends had he greater pleasure in writing than to 
 Governor Pigot.* 
 
 Too much cannot be said in praise of Bussy. He appears to 
 have had the happy knack of thoroughly understanding and 
 
 * This distinguished Anglo-Indian of the old time appears to have been a 
 remarkable man. We have briefly alluded to him in another work. In those days, 
 or in the earlier years of the Presidencies, the commissions of Governors also bore 
 the title of Commanders-in-Chief. Arriving in Madras, 1737, he became Governor 
 in 1755, and embarked for England in 1763. As the Right Hon. Lord Pigot he 
 became Governor for the second time in 1775, when he was placed under arrest by 
 the Madras Council, and detained at St. Thomas' Mount in 1776 ; allowed to return 
 to Garden House for change of air in April 1777, and there died on 20th May 1777. 
 Was ever distinguished Governor so treated before ? 
 
SIEGES OF MADRAS AND PONDIOHEBRY BOMBAY. 291 
 
 gaining the favour of great Indian princes, on which, after all, 
 the secret of good government in India so much depends. In this 
 respect, among the French in India, he was the Metcalfe, Munro, 
 or Malcolm of his time. He seems to have ever had the words of 
 Clive to Mr. Payne, the Chairman of our Court of Directors, before 
 him: " It cannot be expected that the princes of this country, 
 whose fidelity is always to be suspected, will remain firm to their 
 promises and engagements from principle only." It is absolutely 
 necessary, therefore, to keep up a strong force. At a later period 
 he wrote to the Court, the practical wisdom of which may have in 
 our future Indian policy to be more fully appreciated than at 
 present : " Either the princes of the country must, in a great 
 measure, be dependent on us, or we totally so on them." On this 
 Sir John Malcolm remarks that Clive's clear and practical mind 
 puts the question on its real basis ; and there is no other alterna- 
 tive. Bussy must have thought likewise. Lally was deaf to 
 Bussy's good advice. 
 
 On one occasion, when it was thought prudent to put Basalut 
 Jung, brother of the Soubahdar of the Dekhan, on the throne of 
 the Carnatic, he being a warm supporter of the French, Lally pre- 
 cipitately proclaimed the son of Chunda Sahib Nabob, who was 
 quite useless, as an ally. 
 
 The influence of Bussy at Salabat Jung's court was truly 
 wonderful. With his followers we read that he dictated or directed 
 every movement ; and surely France had reason to be thankful to 
 a man who had been the chief means of giving her a territory on 
 the coast of Coromandel and Orissa, including the Northern 
 Circars, of some hundreds of miles in extent, and yielding, with 
 what she already possessed, a revenue of some <800,000. 
 
 It is curious to observe, while Bussy was at the height of his 
 power (1754-55), and Dupleix had ceased hoping one day to become 
 Great Mogul, that " the heads of the two European presidencies " 
 (as they are styled by the historian), under instructions from home, 
 were ordered to bring their differences to a termination. They 
 began by examining the titles by which each held their respective 
 
 iy * 
 
292 THE PEESIUENTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 possessions from the native powers, especially the Mogul ; but 
 the English alleging that the documents produced by the French 
 were forged, proposed to reject this mode of arbitration, and 
 determined to use actual force alone in settling their differences. 
 The Indian war became a theme of interest in Europe ; commis- 
 sioners were sent out, and such was the state of affairs when 
 Godheu, the French envoy, arrived at Pondicherry to succeed 
 Dupleix. 
 
 Five or six years after these events, Bussy was made prisoner at 
 the battle of Wandiwash (January 1760), but, writes Olive's 
 biographer, " was instantly released by Colonel Coote, from respect 
 for his character, and as a return for that kindness and considera- 
 tion which he had invariably shown to English prisoners."" The 
 Nabob Muhamed Ali wrote to Governor Pigot that the capture of 
 M. Bussy " was of itself equal to any victory, and suggesting the 
 propriety of his being sent to him, when he would take great care 
 of him ! " Soon after this occurrence he returned to France, 
 " leaving behind him a name as fondly cherished by the natives of 
 India as by his countrymen." 
 
 Bussy's courage and conduct as a soldier were not less con- 
 spicuous than his great qualities as a statesman ; and they stood 
 high before the genius of Dupleix, appreciating his character, sent 
 him into the Dekhan.* 
 
 We cannot better conclude these few remarks on this distin- 
 guished Franco-Indian statesman and soldier than in the words of 
 Colonel Malleson, in one of his brilliant chapters on the Decisive 
 Battles of India, while alluding to French influence in the 
 Dekhan, that such influence was maintained " by the presence at 
 Haiderabad of a considerable body of French troops, commanded 
 by an officer of rare intelligence and capacity, the Marquis de 
 Bussy." f 
 
 It is like proceeding from Romance to Reality, with both of which 
 Indian life abounds, when we take a stride from M. Bussy to 
 
 * Memoirs of Lord Clive. 
 
 * The Decisive Battles oj India, p. 77. 
 
SIEGES OF MADRAS AND PONDICHEEEY BOMBAY. 293 
 
 Bombay. A good deal has already been said aboutBengal and Madras; 
 but, latterly, not mucb concerning the famous Western presidency 
 of India or its capital. The chief reason for such indifference 
 must be on account of its good behaviour, or being the least 
 troublesome of the three Presidencies, either with regard to its 
 trade or its army. The Portuguese title, therefore, buona bai<s 
 (the good bay), from which the name is derived, is decidedly well 
 earned. In an earlier chapter, Surat and Bombay have been duly 
 alluded to ; how the latter superseded the former, on becoming the 
 magnificent gift of King Charles to the East India Company,* and 
 the chief seat of the now great Bombay presidency for trade. 
 But the first measure that enabled the Company to get the sovereign 
 power which they sought was a rebellion at Bombay, the com- 
 mandant having declared that he held that island for the King. 
 The Company had the power of keeping their own servants in sub- 
 jection, and of defending themselves; so they removed their seat of 
 government to Bombay, prepared to contend with Arungzebe him- 
 self, as they had hitherto done with the Moguls and Mahrattas 
 collectively. 
 
 While the settlement of Bombay was taking place in India, a 
 remarkable man Sir Josiah Child was discoursing upon Indian 
 trade in Europe. This most energetic and distinguished of all the 
 Company's supporters and the interloper's enemies was giving a fresh 
 impulse to the notion of the value of Indian commerce. Sir Josiah 
 did this towards the end of the seventeenth century ; and this impulse, 
 to which the fair and gentlemanly, and always business-like Parsis 
 have given such a commercial charm in Bombay in the nineteenth 
 century, has gone on steadily increasing till the present time.f 
 
 * See pp. 45-46. 
 
 t We find in the Selections (1887) that measures were so far back adopted for 
 the encouragement of trade in Bombay (1671) ; the prices of horses procurable in 
 Bombay for the cavalry ; of Captain Richard Keigwin appointed first commander 
 of the Bombay Cavalry ; of the situation of Bombay in an excellent latitude and 
 the excellence of its harbour ; of the instructions from the Company to make 
 Bombay " an important port " for the exportation and importation of goods ; of 
 the probability of the French attacking it, and the measures taken to defend 
 Bombay against the French. Such and many other useful subjects will be found 
 in Professor George W. Forrest's splendid volumes, to which Colonel Rivett-Carnac, 
 
294 THE PEESIDBNTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 About the middle of the eighteenth century, the preparations of 
 the troops forming the small Bombay Presidency army to defend 
 their island against the French occupied much attention. But, 
 with reference to the events of 1759 in Madras and Bengal, Bom- 
 bay did not become seriously affected by them. There must have 
 been a sense of security in the western presidency, unknown to the 
 others at this time, for we find dive's biographer writing that 
 " the affairs of the small but important settlement of Bombay 
 appeared as prosperous as those of Madras." Sir John Malcolm, 
 in a slight historical retrospect, also relates how, in a distracted 
 state of affairs, or division of authority, the Government of 
 Bombay (1759) listened with approbation to an overture by the 
 principal officers and merchants of Surat (who had occupied that 
 port for a century and a half), inviting them to take the castle, to 
 expel the Seedee (governor or chief), and on receiving an assign- 
 ment, with the sanction of the officers of the Emperor of Delhi, 
 to become the future protectors of the commerce of the port. 
 Such events added both to the strength and the fame of the settle- 
 ment of Bombay, and rendered it better able to cope with the 
 predatory Mahrattas. " The principal chiefs of that nation, how- 
 ever," it is remarked, " were at this period more occupied with the 
 affairs of the northern than of the western parts of India." * We 
 shall conclude this rambling chapter with a few remarks on the 
 Parsis, to which they may not object, as we have casually alluded 
 to them, and they have so long been under the protection of our 
 Presidential armies. 
 
 We recollect the now well-known colonial governor, Sir Henry 
 Norman, saying at a great meeting, that to speak of Burma was to 
 speak of Sir Arthur Phayre.f In the same manner it may be said, 
 that to speak of Bombay is to speak of the Parsi community, 
 
 in the ever-laudable desire to do his work thoroughly, has already referred in this 
 volume. 
 
 * Memoirs of Lord Clive, vol. ii., pp. 101, 102. 
 
 f We have lately been much pleased to behold the beautiful statue in bronze of 
 this most distinguished Chin-Indian statesman, by Mr. Maclean, which is to adorn 
 1 augooD. 
 
SIEGES OF MADRAS AND PONDICHERRY BOMBAY. 295 
 
 which stands out as the most celebrated Oriental community of the 
 time. It is unique in every way, and to it the old Roman quota- 
 tion may be gracefully applied of wearing a thousand ornaments, 
 and in all being pleasing. It is a community of deeds, not words ; 
 of unceasing charity and benevolence, and ever-growing excellence. 
 In a splendid work, The History of the Parsis, sent us from 
 Bombay by one of their most distinguished sons (the Hon'ble. Sir 
 Dinshaw Manocjee Petit, of Malabar Hill), we get a capital idea 
 of this wonderfully enterprising and energetic people : 
 
 "No authentic records exist to show the exact date of the 
 arrival of the Parsis in Bombay, nor can we authoritatively explain 
 what was the motive that first led them there. It seems probable 
 that the English merchants of Surat induced some of them to 
 settle in Bombay for purposes of trade. This much may, however, 
 be safely affirmed, that their first settlement in that island was a 
 little before the time when it was ceded to the British by the Crown 
 of Portugal, as the dowry of Catherine, Princess of that country, 
 who became the wife of Charles the Second of England, A.D. 1668. 
 Dr. Fryer, who visited Bombay in the year 1671, says: ' On the 
 other side of the great inlet to the sea is a great point abutting 
 against Old Woman's Island, and is called Malabar Hill, a rocky 
 woody mountain, yet sends forth long grass; on the top of all is a 
 Parsi tomb lately raised.' The first work of the Parsis wherever 
 they settle is to construct a tower of silence, or what Doctor Fryer 
 calls a tomb, for the reception of their dead ; and his statement that 
 the tomb in question had been recently raised is a sufficient proof 
 that no considerable number of the Parsis could have settled in 
 that island prior to its cession to the English."* 
 
 Mr. Dosabhai Framji also gives the following interesting 
 information : 
 
 " In an account of the distinguished Parsi families of Surat the 
 Bhavnagris may be mentioned. 
 
 * History of the Parsis, by Dosabhai Framji Karaka, C.S.I. (London: Mac- 
 millan & Co., 1884), vol. i., pp. 51, 52. Sir Dinshaw Manocjee Petit has now been 
 created a Baronet by the Queen Empress ; and we believe his last munificent act of 
 charity to be the founding or construction of a leper hospital. 
 
296 THE PEESIDENTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 " Jamasji Framji Bhavnagri (1744) was a wealthy ' jaghirdar,' 
 and he caused to be built at his own expense a large tank of solid 
 stone for the use of the public at Bhavnagar. 
 
 <e Another very wealthy, influential, and public-spirited citizen of 
 Surat, who deserves mention in these pages, was Nasarvanji Kohi- 
 yar, who died in 1797 at the age of eighty. He was the agent of 
 the Dutch factory at Surat, and carried on an extensive business in 
 maritime insurance as the representative in his city of an eminent 
 firm of Bombay merchants. He traded on his own account, among 
 other countries, with Persia, which he twice visited. He was of a 
 deeply religious nature, and his public work, which mostly took a 
 religious form, survives to this day in a fire-temple which he estab- 
 lished at Yezd in Persia, and for which he sent the sacred fire all 
 the way from Surat by land, an especially hazardous and difficult 
 undertaking in those days. He endowed this fire-temple with 
 'jaghirs/ and instituted in connection with it an annual religious 
 feast which is still known as Kohiyar's Gahambar. He also built 
 a fire-temple at Surat, and revived among his co-religionists in 
 India the ancient Persian institution of the Jamshedi Naoroz, or 
 the feast of the vernal equinox. Towards the persecuted Zoroas- 
 trians of Persia who sought a refuge in India, or who came there 
 in quest of an opening for their talents, his hospitality was un- 
 bounded. Nor were his sympathies confined to his own race or 
 creed. He was versed in the tenets of the Kabir Panth, or the 
 philosophico-religious sect founded by the well-known Hindu 
 reformer Kabir, for whose teaching he had a great predilection. 
 He was well read in the Persian and Arabic languages, and he 
 was one of the most enlightened citizens of Surat of his time."* 
 Mrs. Graham, in her journal of a residence in India in the years 
 1805 and 1806, says: "The Parsi merchant Ardeshir Dadi fed 
 5,000 people, besides contributing in other ways towards the sup- 
 port of the starving population." This recent evidence is amply 
 borne out by that of an earlier period. The Rev. Mr. Ovington, 
 who published an account of his voyage to Surat in the year 1689, 
 * History, vol. ii. , pp, 38, 39. 
 
SIEGES OF MADRAS AND PONDICHERRY BOMBAY. 297 
 
 has said that " the Parsis are ever ready to provide for the sus- 
 tenance and comfort of such as want them. Their univeral kind- 
 ness, either in employing such as are needy and able to work, or 
 bestowing a seasonable bounteous charity to such as are infirm and 
 miserable, leaves no man destitute of relief, nor suffers a beggar in 
 all their tribe ; and herein they so far comply with that excellent 
 rule of Pythagoras, to enjoy a kind of community among friends." 
 
 Major Moore, in his narrative of the operation of Captain 
 Little's detachment, says : " The benevolence of the Parsis is 
 not restricted to persons of their own sect. Their industry and 
 extensive mercantile spirit have enabled many of them to amass 
 considerable fortunes, which they spend with generous profusion in 
 acts of charity and hospitality."* Especially during the last forty 
 or fifty years these have been patent to all Englishmen ; and we 
 cannot think too much of the Parsi as one of the grand living 
 agents in the prosperity of India, who has so long appreciated and 
 enjoyed security under our Presidency armies. Whatever Maho- 
 medan or Hindu may think of us, it is quite certain that the Parsi 
 thinks us the best masters he could possibly have. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone, in a more general way, with his accustomed 
 eloquence, has delivered himself (January 13, 1890) on this 
 matter. While speaking on the subject of India, he urged that 
 the people of England, who now had the control of the destinies of 
 that great dependency, should deal with India on the same princi- 
 ples of justice as they demanded for themselves. "He believed 
 that the natives of India would not exchange the sovereignty of 
 this country for that of any other power." To anyone who knows 
 India, or has carefully studied Indian history, the truth uttered by 
 the great and versatile statesman becomes at once palpable. 
 
 But there is another argument to be considered, to say nothing 
 of the magnificent inheritance being so long in our possession, 
 even if we lost it to-morrow, no other European Power could keep 
 India for a year. The nation that stood the Sikh invasion of 
 
 * History, vol. ii., pp. 265-66. 
 
298 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 1845-46, and that severest trial, the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, has 
 Indian security indelibly stamped upon it ; so, as Lord Dalhousie 
 said of Pegu, we may safely repose on the assertion, that " as long 
 as the sun shines in the heavens " the British flag shall wave over 
 India. 
 
299 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 WAR WITH, AND CONQUEST OF, MYSORE BRIEF RECORD OF 
 A DISTINGUISHED BOMBAY INFANTRY REGIMENT. 
 
 THE Company having obtained the firman of the Emperor of 
 Delhi for possession of the Northern Circars, which formed part 
 of the Kingdom of the Dekhan, under the Nizam (lit. putter in 
 order) of Hyderabad, made, in 1766, a treaty with that prince, 
 wherein they engaged to pay him annually nine lakhs of rupees 
 (90,000), and held a body of troops in readiness to co-operate 
 with him for the five Circars ; besides which, they ordered the 
 Nabob of Bengal to find him five lakhs more, to be paid down, 
 their own not to be forthcoming till they were in actual and sure 
 possession of the Circars. The bargain that they had made in 
 Bengal, it has been well said, " even where they had the whole 
 revenue, might have made them pause as merchants in this one ; 
 but it did not ; neither did they appear to make any calculation of 
 the extent to which the league with the Nizam might lead them/' 
 The renowned Hyder Ali now comes fairly on the field. The 
 Company had been already skirmishing with him ; and he had 
 set himself up in Mysore. He was, indeed, the Mysore sovereign, 
 and one of the most remarkable men in Indian history. Doubtless 
 it was an unwise provision in the treaty of 1763 which gave back 
 to the French all their old settlements in the Carnatic; for it was 
 productive of much injury to the rising Madras Presidency. Had 
 it not been for this piece of liberal folly, or unstatesmanlike con- 
 
300 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 duct at home on our part, the British flag might now have been 
 waving over Pondicherry a Madras presidency Brighton, as well 
 as a splendid depot for cotton cloths to delight and enrich the 
 cotton lords of Manchester for many generations ! 
 
 The restless and intriguing French were no sooner restored to 
 "as you were" in Pondicherry than they began to stir up the 
 native powers against their British -rivals ; and in Hyder Ali they 
 found a chief well suited to their purpose. By " the force of talent 
 and unscrupulous hardihood," he had made his way to the throne. 
 After the Nizam had quelled a mutiny of his troops with the ready 
 money furnished by the Nabob, the new allies marched to reduce 
 the fort of Bangalore. But Hyder had the address to detach the 
 Nizam from the English, and to make an ally of him. The 
 British commander, having sustained a sharp attack, was obliged 
 to hasten to Trincomalee ; and Hyder proceeded on a short 
 plundering excursion to Madras. The Nizam offered to negotiate 
 with us ; but, not agreeing, a battle was fought near Vellore, in 
 which Hyder and the Nizam were defeated. This brought the 
 temporising Nizam again over to the English, who made him 
 reduce the price of the Circars. Hyder sought for peace ; but the 
 Presidency of Madras, " who had lately, with not a little con- 
 sternation, seen him at their door, waxed valiant, took the field, 
 controlled the officers, and would have their Nabob put on the 
 throne of Mysore." 
 
 The army, commanded by civilians, was non-effective ; and it 
 wasted the season of 1768 in unavailing trifles. At length, to the 
 dismay of the Presidency army, Hyder dashed on by marches of 
 forty miles a day, and showed himself with a large army of horse* 
 so close to Madras that he could have pillaged all without the fort 
 before the English army could have come up. Hyder stipulated 
 for " mutual restitution and mutual aid in war," which was agreed 
 to by the governor or president. Hyder was next attacked by the 
 Mahrattas, and applied to the English for the stipulated assist- 
 ance, which was not given ; and so he became a bitter enemy of 
 
 * About 5,000. 
 
WAR, AND CONQUEST IN MYSOEE. 301 
 
 the English, on the plea of a broken treaty. To add to our 
 troubles, the Nizam could not be relied on. "He had' no sooner 
 reached his own dominions than a triple alliance was proposed 
 between himself, Hyder, and the Mahrattas. Hyder was to invade 
 the Carnatic ; the Nizam the Circars ; the Mahrattas of Berar were 
 to lay waste Bengal and Behar ; and the Poonah Mahrattas were to 
 attack the British army in Gujerat." Thus a fair piece of work 
 was cut out for each of the three Presidency armies. All the 
 parties were quite willing to go to war where they might find 
 plunder ; but, as usual among thieves, they fell out and did not 
 act in concert. Hyder was the only chief who went seriously to 
 war, under the plea of the broken treaty. The Nizam made peace. 
 The Berar Mahrattas would not come to the front ; the Poonah 
 Mahrattas were beaten; and had it not been for the diversion 
 created in their favour by Hyder, this warlike people would have 
 been completely subdued. 
 
 The immediate cause of the war with the Poonah, or Western 
 Mahrattas, which originated in India Proper in 1773, is well 
 known to the readers of Indian history. We shall, therefore, 
 leave the eventual annexation of Rohilkund (1774) to the pro- 
 vince of Oudh to remark that when the Mahrattas returned in 1773 
 from laying waste Hyder's country, they made demonstrations of 
 moving northward. An army was accordingly marched from 
 Bengal westward in 1778 ; but a portion of it was forced to capitu- 
 late the following year, though the rest passed on, reducing the 
 greater part of the country from thence to Concan, penetrating 
 into the very heart of Malwa. In 1780, Hyder again appeared in 
 the Carnatic, and approached near to Madras, which occasioned 
 the western army to retire and give up all their conquests, except a 
 few in Bombay. The Mysore sovereign actually declared war on the 
 20th July 1780; and, sweeping down from his fastnesses in Mysore 
 with swarms of horse, rushed over the plains of the Carnatic, 
 making himself master within fourteen days of the forts of 
 Trincomalee, Chitpett, Arnee, Gingee, Chillumbrum, Cauvery- 
 pauk, and Carangooly, a complete chain of frontier British 
 
302 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 garrisons ; but the possession of which now ensured his com- 
 munications with the Mysore country. 1 * Before the council of 
 Madras had awoke from their dream of security, hordes of pre- 
 datory horse had devastated the country in the immediate vicinity of 
 the Presidency, and the smoke from burning villages arose in every 
 direction. At length, at the close of July, the council aroused 
 itself from its lethargy, and decided on forming a camp at 
 Poonamallee (as the most central position), under Lord Macleod, 
 who had by that time arrived with H.M. 73rd Highlanders. 
 Accordingly, on 'the 1st August 1780, about 800 Native infantry, 
 and 400 European infantry and artillery, were marched from 
 Madras and the Mount to join the 73rd, then about 800 strong. 
 St. Thomas's Mount was now the headquarters of the Artillery of 
 the Madras Presidency. 
 
 In 1774, Colonel James, Commandant of Artillery, recommended 
 that the practice ground should be removed to the Mount, "instead 
 of the guns firing into the sea, as had hitherto been the custom." 
 The recommendation was at once attended to ; and so the Mount 
 in Madras became what Dum Dum was in Bengal. 
 
 The war against Hyder Ali, in the Carnatic, was now the leading 
 event in "the state of affairs in the Madras Presidency." The cry 
 of Madras for assistance was nearly as loud as that from Calcutta 
 on its capture and the tragedy of the Black Hole. The famous 
 Bengal European Regiment was again to be in the front in Southern 
 India, and ready to cover itself with fresh glory. f 
 
 * Begbie. 
 
 t In a former chapter (Note) we have given a list of the brilliant services of the 
 Be: gal European Regiment (Royal Munster Fusiliers) down to 1781 ; and now we 
 have to chronicle the Capture of the Fort of Kurungalli ; Relief of Wandiwash ; 
 Assault of Chillumbrum; Battle of Porto Novo says Major Innes, " against Hyder 
 Ali and the French " second relief of Wandiwash ; Battle of Sholinghur ; and 
 relief of Yellore all in the same year. Next, the Battle of Arnee, 1782; Siege of 
 Cuddalore, 1783 ; Battle of Boetura (Rohilkund), 1794 ; Capture of Gwalior, 1804 ; 
 Battle of, and Storm and Capture of, Deig, same year ; four assaults on the Fortress 
 of Bhurtpore, 1805 ; Expedition to Macao, 1808 ; Operations in Java, 1810-17 ; 
 Nepal War, 1814; Pindari War, 1817; Storm and Capture of Bhurtpore, 1826; 
 Campaign in Afghanistan, 1838 ; Storm and Capture of Ghuzni, 1839 ; Battle of 
 Ferozshuhur, 1845 ; Sobraou, 1846 ; Campaign in the Punjab, Battle of Chillian- 
 
WAR AND CONQUKST IN MYSORE. 303 
 
 Taking a brief retrospect, we find that, in August 1778, " two 
 European battalions of Artillery were ordered to be raised, tbe 
 gunners to be selected by lot from the Bengal European regiments ; 
 at the same time, the Grenadier Companies were reduced to half 
 their strength, the Light Companies being increased in proportion, 
 and, on the 26th September 1779, the three regiments of Bengal 
 Europeans were each formed into two battalions; the total strength 
 of European infantry in Bengal being at this time about 3,000."* 
 
 We may here state that, on the 1st January 1779, Lieutenant- 
 General Sir Eyre Coote returned to India as Commander-in-Chief 
 at Madras. f Never was a Presidency, or its army, in greater 
 tribulation than now, at a time when it seemed, especially after 
 our various misfortunes, including Colonel Baillie's crushing defeat 
 by Hyder (or, more strictly, by his son Tippoo), when the Colonel's 
 detachment, partly through the injudicious conduct of Sir Hector 
 Munro, was cut to pieces, and Hyder having Frenchmen attached 
 to his army, the British became dispirited and had to retreat. 
 Assisted by his French allies, Hyder really " out-generalled the 
 British troops " ; while the resources of the country were well- 
 nigh exhausted, provisions scarce, and the treasury empty. 
 
 Immediately on the distressed condition of the Madras Pre- 
 sidency being conveyed to Bengal, Sir Eyre Coote, then Com- 
 mander-in-Chief in India, left with reinforcements, in order to 
 direct the subsequent operations in person. He arrived at Madras 
 on the 5th November. His force consisted of 300 or 400 Euro- 
 pean infantry, 200 European artillery (Bengal), and some guns, 
 whilst a few companies of Native infantry were drawn together from 
 Musulipatum and Ongole. A further detachment of ten battalions 
 
 wallah, 1848 ; Battle of Goozerat, 1849 ; Capture and Relief of Pegu, 1852 ; Storm 
 and Capture of Delhi, 1857, and minor actions during the Mutiny ; and 
 Siege and Capture of Lucknow, 1858. Certainly a grand trio is formed by this 
 gallant corps, and the equally devoted First Madras and First Bombay European 
 Regiments, never to be surpassed in India. 
 
 * History of the Bengal European Regiment, p. 254. 
 
 f Sir Eyre held this post for a short time only. He is not even down in Prinsep's 
 List of Madras Commanders-in-Chief. He should have come between Major- 
 General Hector Munro and Lord Macartney, K.B. , also Governor, 1781-85. 
 
304 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 of Native infantry, and twenty-two guns was expected from Bengal, 
 where Warren Hastings, since 1774, had been the first Governor- 
 General. According to Major Innes, the European battalion 
 selected for this service was the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Bengal 
 European Begiment. On the authority of one Indian historian, 
 Sir Eyre Coote arrived with 7,000 troops, took the command, 
 restored the spirits of the Madras afmy, and beat Hyder in several 
 actions.* Hyder's army, commanded by him in person, consisted 
 of 80,000 men, including his best cavalry ; and " amongst his 
 infantry," writes Major Innes, "were numbers of those men whose 
 descendants may be seen to this day in the Mysore and Madras 
 districts, running without any apparent effort their ten miles an 
 hour for many hours consecutively. He had also a complete corps 
 of Frenchmen, ably commanded ; whilst his artillery was second to 
 none in India." This heroic and enterprising, though unscrupulous, 
 Mahomedan sovereign and soldier died in 1782. Tippoo, who 
 had been more successful than his father in most actions with the 
 British, succeeded to the throne. His attention was first called to 
 the west part of Mysore, where General Matthews had made him- 
 self master of Canara. The unfortunate Matthews was beaten, and 
 capitulated ; but he and twenty of his officers were poisoned, and a 
 large portion of his army massacred by order of Tippoo. The 
 Mahrattas at length showed hostility ; the French deserted, and, 
 in 1784, Tippoo made peace, no change of territory on either side 
 having been produced by the war. 
 
 The year 1784 has been considered a remarkable one in the 
 
 * Sir Eyre Coote, having entrusted the care of Fort St. George and the town of 
 Madras, St. Thome and St. Thomas' Mount to General Stuart, took the field on the 
 17th January 1781 at the head of " the largest force which had ever been assembled 
 at that Presidency." It consisted of H.M. 73rd Highlanders, 600 strong ; 350 
 Bengal, and 250 Madras, European infantry; 200 Bengal, and 200 Madras, artillery, 
 with 62 guns ; making a total of 1,600 Europeans ; ten battalions of Native infantry, 
 each 500 strong ; making a total of 7,400 effective men. There were left for the 
 protection of the Presidency under General Stuart 200 European infantry, 50 
 artillerymen, and 400 native infantry, and, as this force was totally inadequate, 
 mud defences were thrown up for the protection of Black Town. Such was the 
 way in which we defended our Indian Presidencies upwards of one hundred years 
 ago. 
 
WAR AND CONQUEST IN MYSORE. 305 
 
 history of the British since they had begun to acquire territory in 
 India. And, strange enough, after all that had happened, they 
 were at peace with all the native powers, which allowed the Presi- 
 dency armies to take that rest to which they were so well entitled. 
 This year is also important in the history of British influence in 
 India as being that in which the change was made which rendered 
 the Court of Directors in a manner subservient to a Board of 
 Control. It is distinguished also by a change in the manner of 
 acquiring territory, and in the conduct of our Indian armies. 
 Hitherto the former had, though unaccompanied by fighting, been 
 more upon the mercantile than the military system. 
 
 In the wars with Hyder and the Mahrattas but little territory 
 had been acquired, and success had always been uncertain. 
 "Intrigue and money," says an interesting writer,* "had done the 
 business ; and, though the natives had been made to pay, there is 
 not much that can be said to come under the ordinary definition 
 of military conquest. The conquests that have followed have been 
 of rather a different character, and may be considered as a second 
 era, as they began under Cornwallis, who was sent out ostensibly 
 to correct the abuses of which former rulers had tolerated the 
 existence." 
 
 As affecting the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the 
 Madras Presidency, it may be here stated that the close of the 
 year 1783 was marked by "highly arbitrary and vexatious pro- 
 ceedings on the part of Lord Macartney towards General 
 Burgoyne of H.M.'s Light Dragoons, and other officers, by which 
 the discipline of the army was so materially shaken that, had not 
 Tippoo Sultaun made peace at this juncture, matters might have 
 worn a very unfavourable aspect." f 
 
 This Lord Macartney appears to have been able and energetic, 
 but a self-willed and obstinate Governor. Being also Commander- 
 in-Chief, he seems to have enjoyed proclaiming war with a portion 
 of mankind, preferring to fight with them in Government House 
 
 * Mudie. 
 
 t Begbie's Services of the Madras Artillery. 
 
 20 
 
306 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 to leading or assisting his army on the field. We find that his 
 lordship came out to Madras in June 1781, and in June 1785 he 
 resigned by letter from Vizagapatam. His first getting into hot 
 water hegan at the conclusion of 1782 (the year of Hyder Ali's 
 death). There was a grievous famine at Madras, which nearly 
 led to a mutinous rising against the Governor, who had laid an 
 embargo on several ships laden with rice lying in the roads, but 
 refused to allow of the grain being sold at a moderate price. The 
 Madras Artillery, however, remained firm to their allegiance, and 
 the guns of Fort St. George eventually over-awed the disaffected. 
 Early in the year Lord Macartney had fought some battles royal 
 with one of our most distinguished Anglo-Indian soldiers, Sir 
 Eyre Coote, whose dangerous illness arose partly in consequence 
 of bodily fatigue, but chiefly from mental anxiety, owing to the 
 disputes in which he was daily involved with the new Governor of 
 Madras.* 
 
 As connected with the Southern Presidency army at the com- 
 mencement of the year 1783, it may also be mentioned that Madras 
 beheld the English army under General Stuart encamped at St. 
 Thomas' Mount on the 2nd of January. This force consisted of 
 the 73rd, 78th, and 101st Foot, 400 Hanoverians, the Madras 
 European Regiment (1st Madras Fusiliers) in all, about 1,900 
 Europeans, 21 battalions of native infantry, 4 regiments of native 
 cavalry quaintly termed by a German author Koodry\ sepoys 
 making 11,000 native troops, and a large park of artillery, 70 
 guns, besides a division of 3 pounders attached to each infantry 
 regiment. Of the native regiments (infantry), five of two battalions 
 each belonged to Bengal. Prior to the army being put in motion, 
 two battalions of native infantry, with a detachment from the 
 102nd Regiment, were detached to join a body of native infantry 
 under Major-General Jones at Ellore, and designated the Northern 
 Army. 
 
 General Sir Eyre Coote, on his way from Bengal, died on the 
 22nd April 1783 in the Madras roads, " universally regretted " 
 
 * Begbie. f Koodry, the Tamil term for horse. 
 
WAR AND CONQUEST IN MYSORE. 307 
 
 a great leader of men on the field, and, as one of Olive's best 
 captains, probably ranking next to the " heaven-born general " in 
 tact and daring. 
 
 We must now present our readars with an anecdote of the period, 
 although it is one of a very cruel nature. One of General Stuart's 
 objects was to demolish the forts of Carangooly and Wandiwash, 
 the latter being that where the gallant Coote distinguished himself 
 by besieging and taking it many years before, and which had so 
 repeatedly changed masters. Pursuing its march, the army, 
 especially the rear guard, suffered severely from the enemy's horse 
 and rocket men, the loss in killed and wounded, on one day, being 
 about 200 men. According to Begbie, quoting from a Hanoverian 
 officer's memoirs, General Stuart offered a : reward of five pagodas 
 (a pagoda 3J rs., or 7s.) for every rocket-man captured. The light 
 cavalry, having captured one of them, brought him in, bound hand 
 and foot, sitting backwards in a cart, and having his crime painted 
 in large white letters, in English and Tamil characters, on a black- 
 board hung round his neck. He was thus led through the camp 
 at noon up to the gallows, where he was to be hanged, "when he 
 obtained the special favour of having his sentence commuted into 
 four hundred lashes and deprivation of his ears and nose, after 
 which act of barbarity the poor devil (der arme leufel), as the 
 Hanoverian emphatically calls him, was hunted out of the camp." 
 Well may the writer remark that the English authors are silent on 
 this gross violation of the rules of civilised warfare. It is difficult 
 to believe that our countrymen, even in the last century, could have 
 made such inhuman brutes of themselves ; but, unfortunately, 
 having perused even worse acts of barbarity in the records, with 
 which we shall not shock our readers, we firmly believe this cruel 
 and cowardly incident. In fact, if we are to credit history, and 
 not look upon it as " a fable agreed upon," we are at once the 
 most humane and inhuman nation on the face of the earth. 
 
 The death of Hyder Ali, and of Sir Eyre Coote, who had so 
 brilliantly checked his career, left Tippoo almost master of the field 
 in Mysore. We had made preparations to ascend the Ghauts, 
 
 20 * 
 
308 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 and march upon Seringapatam, when the officer commanding was 
 directed to stop, and ordered to restore all his recent conquests. 
 Tippoo had applied for two English commissioners to proceed to 
 his camp and treat for peace ; and with a courtesy which Colonel 
 Wilks considers blameable, the Madras Government had acceded to 
 his request. These envoys, on discovering Tippoo's proceedings 
 with regard to Mangalore, which had been so gallantly defended 
 for many months by Colonel Campbell, sent orders to suspend 
 restoration. At length a treaty was concluded, founded on the 
 basis that each party should retain his former possessions, and 
 "that the Sultan should release such of his prisoners as had 
 survived the cruelties with which they had been treated."* 
 
 We shall now briefly touch on the conquest of Mysore. There 
 is certainly reason for the historian's remark, that " after this treaty 
 Tippoo had become the most prominent personage in the political 
 world of India." The power of Tippoo was immense ; and in him 
 Hyder seemed to live over again for the time. But the day of 
 reckoning was nigh. 
 
 The conquest of Mysore forms one of the most interesting 
 chapters in Indian history. In 1786, the Marquess Cornwallis 
 arrived as Governor-General. This able statesman was to effect a 
 complete change in our Indian policy, and to avoid, as much as 
 possible, war with the native powers. But to show how so-called 
 wisdom at home may become practically useless and even destruc- 
 tive in India, the very first efforts of the noble Marquess were 
 directed towards the complete humbling of the power of Mysore. 
 He knew the worth of Tippoo's treaties as well as did Lord 
 Dalhousie, sixty-six years after, the value of those made by the 
 Kings of Burma. The restless nature of the Mysore ruler would 
 not allow him long to preserve the peace made early in 1784 ;f and 
 
 * History of India. 
 
 f From Bombay Castle, on the 17th January of the above year, we have copy of an 
 interesting letter from Warren Hastings to Lord Macartney, Governor of Fort St. 
 George (President and Council), regarding the Treaty of Peace with Tippoo Sultan, 
 in which, in a rather sharp letter by the great Pro-consul, the greatest anxiety is 
 evinced not to offend " the Maratha and other states with whom we are in friendship." 
 
WAR AND CONQUEST IN MYSORE. 309 
 
 as he well knew that such an attack would bring on war, on the 
 29th of December 1789 he attacked the lines of Travancore, 
 which were under British protection. Major-General Medows 
 arrived at Madras as Commander-in-chief on the 12th February 
 
 1790, and, the army being again ordered to take the field, by the 
 14th March he had assembled a small force at Conjeveram, and a 
 larger one of 15,000 men of all arms at Trichinopoly, of which he 
 assumed command in person on the 24th May. Two days after- 
 wards he made his first march in the direction of Mysore, it being 
 intended that his troops, after the reduction of the Coimbatoor 
 country, should ascend the Gujelhully pass, whilst the Bombay 
 column a select portion of its Presidency army operated against 
 its western side, and a small but efficient force, under Colonel 
 Kelly, observed the passes leading down the Baramahal. In 1790, 
 armies had taken the field on both sides. It should here be men- 
 tioned that the Peishwa and the Nizam both stood pledged to 
 assist the English in the coming struggle. Even in 1786 there 
 had been a powerful confederacy of the Mahrattas and the Nizam 
 against Tippoo's influence and lofty pretensions, with the view of 
 getting for themselves the new southern kingdom and the division 
 between them of all its possessions. The first campaign was un- 
 satisfactory. In the second, Lord Cornwallis, on the 29th January 
 
 1791, himself assumed the command, won battles and took 
 fortresses ; among other strong and important places being the 
 town and fortress of Bangalore. To all Madras artillery officers 
 the storming of this military position, an eventually favourite 
 military cantonment, is an interesting historical episode. It began 
 the second Mysore Campaign/" The centre division of General 
 Medows' army in the first which army had been reinforced by 
 Bengal sepoys may be here given. It consisted of H.M.'s 74th 
 
 Tippoo is also expected to abstain from hostilities against us and our allies, the 
 " Nabob Nizam-ul Mulk, the Nabob Walau- Jah, and consequently against the 
 
 Rajahs of Tanjore and Travancore, whose territories are dependencies of the 
 
 Carnatic." Bombay State Papers, vol. ii., p. 305. 
 
 * A large portion of the army had been recalled to Madras at the termination of 
 
 the iirst Mysore campaign. 
 
310 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Regiment, the 3rd and 4th battalions of the Madras Europeans, a 
 powerful train of artillery, and some native regiments ; in all a force 
 of some 10,000 strong, the whole commanded by Colonel Maxwell 
 of H.M.'s 74th Regiment. 
 
 On the 5th February the army was put in motion, and by the 
 llth was near Vellore. Lord Cornwallis entered Tippoo's terri- 
 tories without opposition, and -encamped within 90 miles of 
 Bangalore. On the 5th March the army was encamped before the 
 town. The following tight little force was at once detailed by his 
 lordship for attack. One regiment from the 1st Brigade ; one 
 battalion from the 3rd; four iron 18-pounders; two iron 12- 
 pounders ; European pioneers; 400 native pioneers. "Major 
 Maule with such officers of the Engineer Corps as he may judge 
 necessary. Lieutenant-Colonel Moorhouse to command the 
 Artillery of this detachment. The regiment's field-pieces to carry 
 their limber boxes only." 
 
 On the 7th March the pettah gate of Bangalore was assaulted, 
 and the pettah carried. There was an obstinate attempt to recover 
 the pettah on the following day, when the enemy was repulsed 
 with the loss of 2,000 killed and wounded. The British lost 131 
 killed and wounded in the two days ; and amongst the fallen in 
 the assault on the 7th was the gallant Lieutenant-Colonel Moor- 
 house, of the Madras Artillery. A well-deserved tribute was paid 
 to the memory of this distinguished officer by the Madras Govern- 
 ment. After a resolution that the remains of the gallant and 
 devoted Anglo-Indian gunner should be publicly interred in the 
 church of Fort St. George, at the Company's expense, and a 
 " marble tablet fixed over his grave, with a suitable inscription 
 in commemoration of his merits," it was resolved likewise "that a 
 letter be written to Earl Cornwallis to inform him of this inten- 
 tion, and to request his Lordship will be pleased to direct that the 
 body of the late Lieutenant- Colonel Moorhouse be moved to the 
 Presidency as soon as the situation of affairs will admit." * 
 
 A framed and glazed print representing the death of Colonel 
 
 * Begbie. 
 
WAR AND CONQUEST IN MYSORE. 311 
 
 Moorhouse hangs (or did hang) "on the walls of the old Madras 
 Artillery iness-house at St. Thomas' Mount. 
 
 The Madras Commander-in-Chief also distinguished himself in 
 this assault, showing his coolness, good humour, and knowledge of 
 men, qualities so requisite in all great military leaders. Before 
 his Madras career, the appointment of Major-General William 
 Medows as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Bombay had 
 been thus announced : " Bombay Castle, 6th September 1788. 
 This day about noon Major-General William Medows landed from 
 the Hon'hle. Company's ship Winter ton, and was received by His 
 Majesty's 71st Regiment and a party of artillery," and then "pro- 
 ceeded to the Government House." * The Bombay authorities 
 were, doubtless, proud of their new Governor and Commander-in- 
 Chief " of the town and castle of Bombay, and of all the forces 
 and territories belonging to or under the management and control 
 of our Presidency of Bombay aforesaid." 
 
 Among many of the old school of Anglo-Indians the quaint, 
 despotic expressions of the East India Company, so frequently to 
 be found in the Records, alone seem to excite a love and admira- 
 tion of our former munificent masters. There never was such a 
 Company before ; and there never will be any approach to it again. 
 Anglo-Indians may say reverentially, or in the spirit of Tim 
 Linkinwater when he praised the " books " of Cheeryble Brothers : 
 There never were, and never will be, such Letters, Despatches, and 
 Books such stores of knowledge concerning honourable mer- 
 chants, interlopers, civil and military officers, as the books of the 
 old u John Company," who, if he had not died after the Mutiny, 
 could not have long survived " Limited " being written after his 
 name a consummation which, in these so-called days of commer- 
 cial morality and general progress, would have been sure to 
 come ! 
 
 Asking pardon for this? digression, we shall return to Bangalore 
 
 * Bombay State Papers, vol. ii., p 354-5. The brief extract following is from 
 the clear but verbose document (Commission) from the Court of Directors of the 
 " United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies." 
 
312 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 for a few minutes to relate an anecdote of Major-General Sir 
 William Medows, K.B. We have given the little story elsewhere ; 
 but we think it will bear repetition. 
 
 It was at the storming of Bangalore (1791 ) } just after the 
 gallant Colonel Moorhouse had received his fatal wound, when the 
 principal gate was almost torn in pieces by our determined troops, 
 Lieutenant Eyre, a man of diminutive stature, forced his way 
 through it. Medows, who preserved " an inspiring gaiety " in 
 the midst of battle, called out : " Well done ! Now, whiskers, try 
 if you can follow or support * the little gentleman.' ' The result, 
 of course, was, after a most gallant resistance, our eventual occu- 
 pation of the pettah (town) of Bangalore.* While this was being 
 carried out by our troops, it is recorded that Tippoo likewise 
 threw in a strong corps, which renewed the contest by a heavy 
 fire of small arms; but the British bayonet with irresistible 
 dash soon drove the enemy through the streets and lanes, com- 
 pelling them to evacuate. The loss on our side, as already 
 stated, amounted to 131. And thus, to his great sorrow, Tippoo 
 lost Bangalore. 
 
 After this triumph, Lord Cornwallis forced his way within sight 
 of the Mysore capital, Seringapatam. But, having no provisions, 
 although victorious in every encounter, he could not besiege the 
 place ; so the British commander was forced to retire to Bangalore 
 for the rainy season. He was in hopes of obtaining supplies, and 
 of being joined by 10,000 horse, which the Nizam had promised. 
 When these " strange auxiliaries " arrived, however, their grotesque 
 appearancef gave little hope of their utility. His lordship was 
 
 * See Distinguished Anglo-Indians, first series, p. 296 ; also Murray's History of 
 British India, p. 447. 
 
 t In this motley crowd, writes the Indian historian, quoting Colonel Wilks, 
 could be traced "the Parthian bow and arrow, the iron club of Scythia, sabres of 
 every age and nation, lances of every length and description, and matchlocks of 
 every form, metallic helmets of every pattern." There was a total absence of every 
 symptom of order or obedience ; every individual seemed an independent warrior, 
 self-impelled, affecting to be "the champion whose single arm was to achieve 
 victory" very different from the Nizam's cavalry, in the middle of the present 
 century, when commanded by such dashing officers as Mayne, Beatson, and 
 Macintire. 
 
FIRST SIEGE OF SERINGAPATA.M. 313 
 
 anxiously desirous to terminate the war ; and he clearly saw that 
 this could only be effected by an advance on the capital. On 
 again taking the field, he soon drove the enemy out of their 
 entrenched camp, and proceeded to invest Seringapatam. To 
 carry out this object, at the end of January 1792, the British, 
 Nizam's and Mahratta armies effected a junction near Severndroog. 
 Early in February the army advanced towards the capital " in 
 three parallel columns, the battering train and ammunition carts 
 composing the centre one, the infantry and light field-pieces the 
 right next to the enemy, and the store carts and baggage, protected 
 by some cavalry and strong advance and rear guards, consisting of 
 cavalry and infantry." On the 5th the army took up a position 
 within six miles of Seringapatam, when the Sultan's army could 
 be descried. On the night of the 6th the British stormed the 
 Mysore lines in three columns. General Medows, with the right 
 column, after encountering a determined resistance, carried the left 
 of the enemy's line; the centre, under Lord Gornwallis, did the 
 same with the centre. On the 7th the enemy made several 
 unsuccessful attempts to dispossess the British from the footing 
 which they had obtained, night terminating the contest. On the 
 8th preparations for the siege commenced ; and on the 16th the 
 Bombay army, under General Abercrombie, consisting of four 
 European and seven native regiments, joined the force. Already 
 thirty-six brass and forty-four iron guns had fallen into the hands 
 of the British, and Tippoo's loss was estimated at 4,000 killed and 
 wounded. At length, by the 23rd, the second parallel was com- 
 pleted, and batteries within five hundred yards of the fort. The 
 artillery, under Colonel Duff, was in the highest state of efficiency; 
 and Lord Cornwallis would have shortly been enabled to open and 
 fire from sixty heavy guns on the fort. On the 24th his lordship 
 announced, in a General Order, that preliminaries of peace, upon 
 terms highly advantageous to the British, had been agreed upon, and 
 that hostilities were to cease. Tippoo's heart had failed him ; and, on 
 the 25th, his two sons entered the camp as hostages for the fulfil- 
 ment of the treaty, which was definitely settled on the 19th March. 
 
314 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 The campaign was now ended ; and the troops shortly after- 
 wards withdrew from the Sultan's territories. Even for those who 
 have seen something of the " splendour and havoc of the East," it 
 would have been an imposing sight to behold the promising sons 
 of Tippoo, as they rode through a vast and motley assembly on 
 elephants richly caparisoned, dressed in white muslin robes, having 
 round their necks large pearls and other valuable jewels. And 
 then, to complete the picture, the Marquess, at the request of 
 Tippoo himself, receiving the young princes at the door of his tent. 
 With his accustomed courtesy and urbanity he took their hands in 
 his and led them in, when the chief vakeel (prime minister) said : 
 " These children were this morning the sons of the Sultan, my 
 master; their situation is now changed, and they must look up to 
 your lordship as their father." Doubtless the shrewd vakeel felt 
 that he was playing a part in a splendid farce ; for at heart he 
 believed, in spite of temporary reverses, that nothing could long 
 disturb the mighty ruler and kingdom of Mysore. 
 
 In 1793, war having broken out with France, a force, under 
 Colonel Brathwaite, marched against Pondicherry, which sur- 
 rendered on the 23rd August. In 1794 an expedition was 
 organised against the Isle of France; but it was delayed to a later 
 period.* The first battalion of Artillery, under Lieut. -Colonel 
 Geils, had been nominated for this foreign service. In July 1795, 
 a company from the 1st battalion and one from the 2nd, of Artil- 
 lery, under Captain Campbell, were ordered to embark with the 
 expedition against the Dutch settlements of Malacca, Amboyna, 
 Banda, and Ternate, all of which fell in due course. In January 
 1796, the Court of Directors issued Orders for the Peace Estab- 
 lishment of the Madras Presidency, which included " two battalions 
 of artillery." These, and other events, probably served to draw off 
 attention from Tippoo's doings. No events of importance affecting 
 Madras occurred during the next two years, although, writes 
 Begbie, " the lowering aspect of affairs in Mysore indicated, as early 
 as June 1798, the necessity for another campaign in that quarter.'' 
 
 * 1810. 
 
ADVENT OF THE MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 315 
 
 By the cession of territory in the negotiations with Lord 
 Cornwallis, Tippoo's power had been considerably weakened. 
 
 On the hostages being delivered, and a lakh of rupees paid, a 
 serious difficulty arose about the surrender of one-half of the 
 Sultan's dominions, which question was left in an unsatisfactory 
 state. This, of course, did not tend to improve his temper. It is 
 also interesting to note, at the termination of the last campaign, 
 that the war had been conducted on truly economic principles, the 
 extraordinary expenses scarcely amounting to two millions sterling. 
 The prize money different from that in the conquest of Bengal 
 in three campaigns amounted only to ^93,500, which, after Corn- 
 wallis and Medows had given up their shares, and the Company 
 had added a large gratuity, only allowed to a colonel 1,161 12s., 
 and to a private 14 11s. 9d. It is also stated that the losses 
 sustained by Tippoo during the period of hostility were estimated 
 by General Dirom an eminent financier and statistician of the 
 period at 49,340 men, 67 forts, and 801 guns. 
 
 Tippoo had sent an embassy to the Mauritius to treat with the 
 French on the subject of driving the British out of India ; but it 
 turned out that the vain-glorious governor of the island had " not 
 a single soldier " to give. There was also a powerful French 
 force* and faction at the Nizam's Court of Hyderabad. The new 
 Governor-General, Lord Wellesley (successor to Lord Teign- 
 rnouth), and who arrived in Calcutta 18th May, on ascertaining 
 how Tippoo stood affected to the British interests, issued his final 
 orders on the 20th June 1798, for the immediate assembly of the 
 Coast and Bombay Presidential armies. 
 
 We should have remarked, with reference to the Nizam, that 
 Lord Wellesley wisely prevailed upon the former potentate to 
 disarm his troops and dismiss his French officers. This was the 
 more necessary as the French and Tippoo together were in league 
 with the Mabrattas. Explanations were demanded from Tippoo, 
 but without effect, and the war began. 
 
 * Or rather disciplined by the French, amounting, as stated in a former chapter, 
 to 14,000 well-trained soldiers. 
 
316 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 The preliminary arrangements having been made, the Bombay 
 army, consisting of 6,420 men, of whom 1,617 were Europeans, 
 marched from Cannanore, under the command of Lieutenant- 
 General James Stuart, on the 21st February 1799. He was 
 directed to protect large supplies of grain and other articles which 
 had been collected in the Coorg territory ; and the force was 
 to await the junction of the Madras troops. 
 
 The Southern army, under Lieutenant-General Harris, had 
 assembled at Vellore in the month of January ; but it could not 
 move towards Mysore till the middle of February. According to 
 Wood's War in Mysore* General Harris's force consisted of 
 5,000 Europeans (including the Bombay European Eegiment, 
 103rd "Royal Bombay Fusiliers"), 13,900 Natives, battering 
 train, 40 guns, light field guns 57, and howitzers 7. On the 
 18th of February, it was joined by the Nizam's contingent, con- 
 sisting of 6,000 Company's subsidiary troops, the same number of 
 the Nizam's own infantry, including a portion of the late French 
 corps t (Perron's), commanded by British officers, and a large 
 body of cavalry. 
 
 It is interesting to note that, in order to give the greater 
 efficiency to the late French corps of sepoys belonging to the 
 Nizam, it was divided into battalions, and the command given to 
 Captain, afterwards Sir John, Malcolm, and H.M's. 33rd Regi- 
 ment was brigaded with the Nizam's army, the command of the 
 whole being given to the Honourable Colonel Arthur Wellesley 
 (the future Duke of Wellington). 
 
 Colonel Beatson, in his War in Mysore, gives an official abstract of 
 General Harris's force, slightly differing from, and with more detail 
 than, the above. In this " General Abstract" we have the Grand 
 Total : Main Army, 20,802 ; Nizam's Contingent, 6,536 ; Nizam's 
 Infantry (formerly French corps), 3,621; Grand total, 30,959. 
 
 * Quoted by Begbie. 
 
 f Under Lord Wellesley, the Nizam signed a fresh treaty, the leading features 
 of which -were an increase of 4,400 men to the British Subsidiary Force, and the 
 summary dismissal of the French officers. Marquess Wellesley ratified this treaty 
 in September 1798. 
 
SECOND SIEGE AND FALL OF SERINGAPATAM. 317 
 
 " Beatson," says Begbie, " agrees with Wood as to the 
 ordnance." 
 
 Tippoo had at his disposal over 100,000 men, numerous guns, 
 and, as usual, excellent cavalry. And so all was nearly ready for 
 the grand " tug of war " at Seringapatam. 
 
 Early in March, General Harris sent a letter from the Governor- 
 General to Tippoo, from Koyacottah ; commencing hostilities by 
 capturing a few hill-forts; and a few days after the whole army 
 had encamped at Kelamurgalum, contiguous to Royacottah, and 
 the nearest station in British territory to the Mysore country. 
 
 Advancing towards the capital, on the 14th, the army encamped 
 within sight of Bangalore, when, a body of 4,000 Mysore horse 
 showing themselves, they were at once dispersed by the Field 
 artillery. Continuing his march, the General, after sharp 
 encounters by the way, on the 7th of April took up a final posi- 
 tion against Seringapatam. By the 10th, a strong posting of 
 batteries had been concluded; and the Bombay army, which joined 
 on the 16th, took up its ground on the north side of the river 
 Cauvery.* The Presidential armies had now a good deal of tough 
 work before them ; and we have all known from our boyhood that 
 that they performed it " fearlessly and well/'' 
 
 It would be treading on the ground of well-known writers to 
 repeat the oft- told story, yet a few remarks may be made. There 
 is no more interesting drama in the wide range of modern history 
 than the siege of Seringapatam and the overthrow of Tippoo 
 Sultan, or Tippoo Saib (Sahib) as he is generally styled. The 
 whole life of this remarkable man is a rare study, showing the 
 greatness and the meanness, the glory and the disgrace, the kind- 
 ness and the cruelty that lurk in human nature. Ambition and 
 superstition were also strong in him. What a grand picture comes 
 before us, if, instead of the mock embassy, on its return from 
 Mauritius, going through the burlesque of founding a " Jacobin 
 Club" in the Mysore capital, and planting " the tree of liberty," 
 surmounted by the "cap of equality," and hailing the bigoted 
 
 * Begbie's Services of the Madras Artillery. 
 
318 THE PEESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Mahomedan as " Citizen Tippoo," they bad come with a large 
 French army to drive the British out of India which would 
 only have given more work to the Marquess Wellesley and General 
 Harris a picture of " Citizen Tippoo's " reception at Government 
 House, Pondicherry, or Chandernagore, with the strange 
 diversity of character around him, well put on the canvas by 
 some master-hand ! Another picture: the future hero of Water- 
 loo leading, as Colonel Wellesley, his first storming party during 
 the siege, when he drove the enemy from the entrenchments 
 " with great spirit/' And then, near the last scene of all, 
 the principal storming party of 4,000 men, with the commanding 
 figure of General Sir David Baird at its head the gallant and 
 distinguished soldier who had spent four years in the gloomy 
 dungeons of Mysore, and of whom, when his shrewd mother heard 
 that her son was chained to a fellow countryman, she exclaimed, 
 " The Lord have mercy on the man that's chained to my Davie ! " 
 the principal figure on the parapet encouraging the two divisions 
 of his party ; till at length, in the face of a heavy cannonade, 
 British batteries covering the advance,* the forlorn hope, closely 
 followed by the storming party, crowned the breach, and planted 
 the British colours on its summit, f And the last picture : 
 Sir David Baird finding the body of Tippoo the subject of 
 a well-known painting in the Royal Academy a good many 
 years ago. Tippoo's dream concerning the persecution of the 
 Christians, or some other event in his life auguring future 
 greatness as the result of his energy and bravery had a great 
 effect upon him. 
 
 After the capture of Seringapatam, among Tippoo's repositories, 
 along with " treaties, State papers, and political correspondence," 
 was found a record of his dreams and their interpretation, of 
 which the distinguished Anglo-Indian of the olden time, Colonel 
 (General) Alexander Beatson who had a large share also in 
 
 * General Baird led on the storming party under a shower of rockets and mus- 
 ketry from the enemy. 
 4th May 1790. 
 
AFTER THE CONQUEST OF MYSORE. 319 
 
 concocting the plan of attack on Seringapatam preserved some 
 curious specimens. We can only afford space for one little 
 dream-story, as given by a pleasant and graphic Indian historian. 
 At one time, when Tippoo was threatened with an invasion 
 of the Mahrattas, he dreamed that a young man came up and 
 accosted him, who in the course of conversation proved to be 
 a female. Hence he sagely inferred that his enemy, who at 
 first had a manly and formidable appearance, would in battle 
 prove " no better than women." These, and similar lucubrations, 
 writes the historian, form a strange contrast to his display of 
 talent on other occasions ; nor can it be wondered that public 
 measures, resting upon such conclusions, should not always have 
 proved very prosperous.* 
 
 After the complete conquest of Mysore all future arrangements, 
 including the appointment of an heir of the ancient rajahs, were 
 entirely at the disposal of the British Government. The Pre- 
 sidency armies had done most excellent service during this long 
 and most important war, success in which, in a great measure, 
 preserved to us the whole of Southern India. The Rajah of My- 
 sore, under British friendship and protection, became no insig- 
 nificant member of Asiatic royalty. 
 
 In late years, our highly accomplished and versatile historian, 
 Colonel Malleson, was, it is well known, the zealous tutor to the 
 Rajah of Mysore, in which romantic region he won " golden 
 opinions from all sorts of people." This reminds us of the pleasant 
 fact that the best description of the battle of Porto Novo to be 
 found in Indian history is from the pen of this distinguished Anglo- 
 Indian, t This decisive battle, which gave the death-blow to 
 Hyder Ali's schemes of conquest, was fought on the 1st July 
 1781 ; and it was not only against the great Mahomedan warrior 
 himself, but against the French also. The English General in 
 chief command, Sir Eyre Coote, nobly did his duty, and was well 
 supported by his seconds, Sir Hector Munro and General Stuart. 
 
 * Murray's History of British India 4i Conquest of Mysore.*' 
 f rhe Decisive Battles of India, pp. 222-74 (new edition). 
 
320 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 In our brief sketch we could not especially notice this famous 
 battle. Porto Novo is a village close to the sea, seven miles from 
 Chellumbrum so celebrated for its massive and splendid pagoda 
 and not very many marches from the famous rock of Trichinopoly. 
 It is not enough to say that the battle of Porto Novo decided the 
 fate of Madras. 
 
 " That battle," writes Colonel Malleson, " crushed the aggressive 
 schemes of Haidar, forced him to act on the defensive, and paved 
 the way after his death to the destruction of the mighty power he 
 had created. Under his rule Maisiir had become a robber's strong- 
 hold a stronghold the existence of which was only possible when 
 the paramount power was inert. The British never effected a work 
 more truly beneficial to the people of India than when they destroyed 
 that stronghold, and, expelling the dynasty of the robber, substituted 
 the mild sway of the Hindu ruler for the empire of the sword." 
 
 Mysore under Hyder Ali was pretty much Jike Upper Burma 
 under Theebaw, a den of thieves (dacoits) ; and which province con- 
 tinued to be so a considerable time after we had wisely taken upon 
 ourselves the overthrow of the troublesome and cruel Golden Foot. 
 
 With reference to the battle of Porto Novo, to which brilliant 
 chapter by Malleson we would refer our readers, according to 
 Colonel Innes, " Haidar had in his camp at this time twenty-five 
 battalions of regular infantry, between 40,000 and 50,000 horse, 
 above 100,000 matchlockmen, peons, polygars, and forty-seven 
 guns, besides a corps of 400 Frenchmen. The British force, on 
 the other hand, consisted only of 2,070 Europeans, and 6,400 
 Sepahis, with fifty-five field-pieces." 
 
 Sir Eyre Coote separated his army into two " lines " or divi- 
 sions. " The first consisted of H.M. 73rd (71st), the Bengal and 
 Madras European Regiments, one troop of European cavalry, two 
 regiments of Sepahis, and thirty guns, under General Sir Hector 
 Munro. The second ' line ' or division was commanded by General 
 James Stuart." * 
 
 * History of the Bengal European Regiment (Royal Munster Fusiliers}, and 
 how it Helped to Win India, pp. 260-61. 
 
A DISTINGUISHED BOMBAY REGIMENT. 321 
 
 We shall now, having said comparatively little about the Bombay 
 army, proceed to give an " Outline " of the "Historical Kecord " 
 of the "Prince of Wales' Own Grenadier Eegiment of Bombay 
 Infantry," which may interest many of our readers as the "Record" 
 of such a distinguished regiment of the Bombay Presidency. The 
 volume containing the brochure is entitled Tracts: Military, and 
 belongs to the India Office library. It was piinted in Bombay in 
 1887 .* There is another far more lengthy "Historical Kecord " 
 published, on the first page of which appears : " The Prince of 
 Wales' Own Grenadiers, the 2nd Regiment of Bombay Native 
 Infantry, was raised on the 26th January 1796 as the 13th Bat- 
 talion on the Bombay Establishment/' According to the minor 
 "Record" : The Prince of Wales' Own Grenadier Regiment 
 Bombay Infantry, formerly the 2nd battalion of the 1st Regiment, 
 was raised in 1796 at Bombay, and proceeded on foreign service to 
 Egypt in 1801. It returned to Bombay in 1802. " As a lasting 
 memorial of the glory acquired by the zeal, discipline, and intre- 
 pidity of the troops engaged " in this campaign, the regiment was 
 permitted to bear on its colours the word " Egypt " with the 
 " Sphynx." 
 
 The regiment was next engaged in 1802 and 1803 at the sieges 
 of Baroda and Powanghur. It further served in Hindustan from 
 1804 to 1806, and was present at the siege of Bhurtpoor under 
 Lord Lake, whence it was detached to Agra. It was greatly 
 harassed both going to and returning from this place by Holkar's 
 troops. 
 
 It then served in 1813 at the reduction of Pahlunpoor, and was 
 engaged at the battle of Kirkee in 1817, when the Peshwa's army, 
 consisting of 18,000 cavalry, 8,000 infantry, with 14 guns, was 
 signally defeated. The force on this occasion was composed of 
 2,800 men, of whom 800 were British soldiers. For this service the 
 regiment bears the word " Kirkee " on its colours. The regiment, 
 however, is chiefly distinguished by its memorable defence of 
 Koregaum on the 1st of January 1818. The history of this 
 
 * At the Education Society's Press, Byculla, 
 
 21 
 
322 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 heroic event may be found in the pages of Lieut.-Col. Valentine 
 Blacker's Memoirs of the Operations of the British Army in 
 India during the Mahratta War of 1817-19, p. 179, and also of 
 the historian, Grant Duff. The regiment, 600 strong, with 4 
 British officers, under the command of Captain Staunton, sup- 
 ported by a small detachment of British artillery, consisting of 2 
 officers and 27 men, with two 6-pounders, and 250 of the Poona 
 Auxiliary Horse, suddenly found itself, after a long and fatiguing 
 march, in the presence of the entire army of the Peshwa, estimated 
 at 25,000 horse, with 5,000 picked infantry and two siege guns. 
 Captain Staunton immediately took post in the village of 
 Koregaum, and throughout the day sustained and defeated a series 
 of the most sanguinary attacks to dislodge him. The desperate 
 nature of this conflict may be gathered from the losses incurred in 
 officers and men of the Grenadiers. 
 
 Two British officers and 50 men were killed, and 2 British 
 officers and 105 men were wounded. Of the Artillery, 1 officer 
 and 8 men were killed, and 12 were wounded. The Poona 
 Auxiliary Horse were reported to have lost one-third in killed and 
 wounded. So eager was the Peshwa for the destruction of this 
 small force that he offered 20,000 rupees for the guns and 4,000 
 rupees for the colours of the regiment, to stimulate his troops to 
 the attack. 
 
 To commemorate this glorious defence, the regiment was created 
 "Grenadiers," and a monument was erected by Government, record- 
 ing the names of those who fell on this occasion, inscribed as 
 follows : " This column is erected to commemorate the defence 
 of Koregaum by a detachment commanded by Captain Staunton, 
 of the Bombay Establishment, which was surrounded on the 1st of 
 January 1818 by the Peishwa's whole army under his personal 
 command, and withstood throughout the day a series of most 
 obstinate and sanguinary assaults of his best troops. Captain 
 Staunton, under the most appalling circumstances, persevered in 
 his desperate resistance, and, seconded by the unconquerable spirit 
 of his detachment, at length achieved the signal discomfiture of 
 
A DISTINGUISHED BOMBAY REGIMENT. 323 
 
 the enemy, and accomplished one of the proudest triumphs of the 
 British Army in the East. To perpetuate the memory of the 
 brave troops, to whose heroic firmness and devotion it owes the 
 glory of the day, the British Government has directed the names 
 of their corps and of all the killed and wounded to be inscribed on 
 this monument." The corps was permitted to inscribe the 
 word " Koregaum " on its colours, and the native soldiers were 
 granted six mouths' donation batta, besides being allowed to count 
 five years for service towards pension between 1818 and 1823. 
 The regiment was actively employed in Guzerat against the Bheel 
 tribes from 1825 to 1839. It was engaged on various arduous 
 services, the most remarkable of which appears to have been a sur- 
 prise and dispersion of a body of Meeanees towards the Kun of Cutch, 
 after a forced march of sixty-four miles in twenty-seven hours. In 
 1839 the regiment proceeded to Scinde, where it suffered severely 
 in officers and men at the affairs of Nuffoosk and Khujjuck. 
 Three British officers and 32 men were killed, and 68 wounded. 
 But it was not under the excitement of active service alone that 
 the regiment sustained its losses; it was decimated in 1841 at 
 Kotree, and in the space of four months 4 British officers, 1 native 
 officer, and 60 rank and file fell victims to its deadly climate. 
 The patient endurance and fortitude displayed by the sepoy were 
 never more conspicuous than on this occasion. The corps returned 
 from Scinde at the close of 1841, and was shortly afterwards 
 stationed at Sattara, from whence it was ordered to form part of 
 the force collected for the suppression of the insurrection in the 
 Southern Mahratta country in 1844-45. It was engaged at the 
 storm and capture of the forts of Panalla and Powanghur. In 
 1857 the left flank company served in the expedition against 
 Persia, as part of the light battalion, and for this service the regi- 
 ment was permitted to bear the word "Persia" on its colours. 
 During the eventful years of 1857-58 the Grenadiers were actively 
 employed against local insurgents in Guzerat, and formed part of a 
 flying column in pursuit of Tantia Topee. In connection with this 
 period, it may be mentioned that the loyal and gallant conduct of 
 
 21 * 
 
324 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 the then Subedar Major of the regiment was made conspicuous 
 by his having, when on leave in Hindustan, secreted and saved the 
 life of a British officer pursued by the rebels, for which he was 
 made Sirdar Bahadoor of the First Class of British India, and was 
 granted a " jagheer " for life and a " khillut.' 
 
 The regiment was selected as part of the force which proceeded 
 to Abyssinia under Lord Napier in 1868 ; it landed at Zoola on 4th 
 February 1868, and was employed from that date up to the 9th 
 May 1868 on the railway works between Koomaylee and Zoola, for 
 which duty the regiment was broken up into two detachments, the 
 head-quarters being generally at Koomaylee. Their services on 
 this occasion were duly appreciated in General Orders of the 
 Army by Lord Napier.* The regiment suffered much from the 
 exhausting climate, and on arrival at Bombay most of the men were 
 unfit from scurvy. A great many escorts were furnished during the 
 Abyssinian campaign, and at its termination Lord Napier presented 
 to the Officers' Mess a curious old brass cross engraved with a 
 history of the Crucifixion ; this cross was captured at Magdala, 
 where it was used as a processional cross in the Cathedral Church 
 of " St. Michael." 
 
 The regiment embarked at Zoola for Bombay by detachments on 
 the 12th, 17th, and 23rd May 1868 respectively, and were stationed 
 at Sattara, from whence they marched to Poona the following year. 
 
 In 1873 the regiment left India for Aden, and during the tour at 
 that station furnished detachments to Perim and took part in the 
 " Lahej '* expedition. 
 
 On the 1st November 1875, H.K.H. the Prince of Wales landed 
 at Aden en route to India and inspected the Regiment. H.R.H. 
 remarked that he was " very pleased to find such a distinguished 
 corps as the 2nd Grenadiers was the first to receive him on Her 
 Majesty's Indian possessions, one that had served in Egypt, Persia, 
 Abyssinia, had taken part in many campaigns and sieges in India, 
 and had fought the ever-memorable battle of Koregaum." 
 
 In 1876 the regiment arrived at Belgaum, and on the 10th 
 * For sketch of Lord Napier's services, see Appendix A. 
 
A DISTINGUISHED BOMBAY EEGIMENT. 325 
 
 March of that year, Her Majesty appointed H.R.H. the Prince of 
 Wales Honorary Colonel to the corps and bestowed on it the title 
 of "The Prince of Wales' Own," with permission to wear "the 
 Plumes " on colours and appointments. 
 
 Portraits of the Queen and the Prince Consort were presented to 
 the corps by Her Majesty, and of himself and the Princess of Wales 
 by the Prince. 
 
 In 1878 the regiment marched to Vingorla, thence by steamer to 
 Bombay, and rail to Ahmedabad, en route to Nusseerabad, where 
 in the following year they were inspected by the Viceroy, Lord 
 Lytton, and on the last day of 1880 had new colours presented by 
 the Governor of Bombay, Sir James Ferguson, the old colours 
 being, at the special desire of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, sent to 
 H.R.H.'s residence at Sandringham. 
 
 In November 1881 the regiment marched to Rajcote, where it re- 
 mained only fifteen months, starting in February 1883, by wings, on 
 its long march via Porebunder, Kurrachee, the Indus Valley and the 
 Bolan to Quetta, which the second wing reached in Marcli 1883. 
 
 During the stay of the regiment in the Quetta district it furnished 
 outposts to Goolistan, Pishin, the Quas valley (where the men built 
 " Fort Albert," a large stone- walled redoubt), held all the Bolan 
 posts, marched 1,000 miles through the Reran country with Sir 
 Robert Sandeman, 140 miles to Thull, via Pui and Smallan with a 
 Field Force under Colonel James, and finally 800 miles with Sir 
 Oriel Tanner's Force through the Zob Valley, where the regiment 
 was present at the action at Dowlutzaie on the 24th of October. 
 
 On the departure of the P.W.O. Grenadiers from Quetta in 
 February, the following complimentary District Order was published 
 by the General : 
 
 " The Brigadier- General desires to place on record the excellent 
 service the P.W.O. Grenadiers have performed whilst under his 
 command and especially in the late Zob Valley expedition, where 
 they compared favourably with regiments of the Bengal and Madras 
 armies and did their work cheerfully and well." 
 
 The regiment marched from Quetta in February, and was over- 
 
326 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 taken by a severe snowstorm, and generally suffered through the 
 cold weather both then and in Zob, the thermometer often regis- 
 tering 24 Fahr. of frost, and many baggage animals being frozen to 
 death. 
 
 In the interval of two years, between leaving Eajcote in February 
 1883 and arriving at Ahmedabad in 1885, from the records it 
 appears that the regiment marched over 4,100 miles, all musketry 
 and drill having necessarily been suspended for that period. 
 
 In 1886 H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught was appointed Com- 
 mander-in-Cbief of the Bombay Army, and on the 29th of January 
 1887 their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Connaught 
 inspected the regiment, with which H.R.H. expressed himself 
 " very satisfied/' Their Royal Highnesses did the Regiment the 
 honour of dining at the Mess, during their stay at Camp Ahmed- 
 abad, where they were the guests of Colonel James, the Comman- 
 dant of the regiment. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 16th February 1887, was held throughout 
 India the celebration of the Jubilee of Her Most Gracious Majesty 
 Queen Victoria, Empress of India. A salute of 101 guns was fired 
 at a grand parade of the troops. In the afternoon the " Queen's " 
 colour of the Grenadiers with a guard of honour and the band 
 marched to the city, taking with them the picture of Her Majesty 
 (presented to the regiment by Her Majesty in 1876). The picture, 
 placed on an easel surmounted by the colour, with a Grenadier 
 havildar as sentry on either side, formed the principal object on a 
 raised dais at the end of the Grand Durbar Hall in the " Budhur " 
 or palace yard in the city, where were assembled all the Rijahs, 
 Chiefs, Talookdars and principal men of the city and surrounding 
 country. 
 
 In honour of Her Majesty, garlands were placed on the Queen's 
 colour by the Rajah of Patri, the descendant of the ancient kings of 
 Gujerat, and by the Chiefs of Kote and Amod on behalf of the 
 Talookdars, and by the " Nugger Seth," Rao Bahadur Premabhoy 
 Hemabhoy, on behalf of the 160,000 inhabitants of Ahmedabad, 
 all present standing, and the band playing the National Anthem. 
 
A DISTINGUISHED BOMBAY REGIMENT. 327 
 
 The garlanded colour was then marched slowly down the Durbar 
 Hall to the entrance, where it was received with a " present arras" 
 by the guard of honour and marched home through the city to the 
 tune of 
 
 " There 's a land that bears a well-known name 
 Though 't is but a little spot." 
 
 On the 24th of February 1887 the battalion was reviewed by 
 Major-General A. Carnegy, who was pleased to express himself 
 " highly satisfied " with all that he saw of the P.W.O. Grenadiers, 
 and promised to make a most favourable report of the corps to 
 H.K.H. the Commander-in-Chief. 
 
 In the month of March about 30 men volunteered for temporary 
 service in Burma. The following table gives the general state and 
 composition of the P,W.O. Grenadiers in the year 1887 : 
 
 Average height 5ft. 8-|- in. 
 
 Average chest measurement . . . 35^ in. 
 
 Average age ...... 27 years 
 
 Average length of service .... 8^- ,, 
 
 Castes. 
 
 Christians and Jews ...... 40 
 
 Seiks and Punjabis ...... 50 
 
 Brahmins and Rajpoots ..... 60 
 
 Mahomedans ....... 70 
 
 Purwaries .... .... 100 
 
 Purdasies and Marwaries 200 
 
 Mahrattas 300 
 
 Recruited from 820 
 
 The Concan and born in the regiment . . . 500 
 
 TheDeccan 80 
 
 The Central Provinces 70 
 
 Delhi . 60 
 
 Oude and N.-W. Provinces 50 
 
 Punjab 50 
 
 Scind ... . .10 
 
 820 
 
328 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 List of Campaigns, Battles and Sieges. 
 
 Egypt - 1801 
 
 Baroda 1802 
 
 Jooria 1803 
 
 Powanghur .... ... 1803 
 
 Malwa . - 1804 
 
 Parich 1805 
 
 Bhurtpoor . . 
 
 Pahlunpoor ... .... 181c 
 
 Kirkee .... ... 1817 
 
 Koreganm ... . 1818 
 
 Akulkote . 
 
 Nuffoosk ... .... 1840 
 
 Kujjuck ... - 1841 
 
 Panulla .... ... 1844 
 
 Powanghur . ..... 1845 
 
 Persia ... - 1857 
 
 Guzerat 1858 
 
 Abyssinia ... 1868 
 
 Lahej . . - 1873 
 Dowlutzaie-Zob 1884 
 
329 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE BENGAL ARTILLERY ASTONISHING MARCH TO BAMIAN THE 
 MADRAS SAPPERS AND MINERS. 
 
 ACCORDING to the Calcutta reviewer of the History of the Bengal 
 Artillery, Captain Buckle investigated the long rolls of the regi- 
 ment, which he found tolerably perfect, with a view to ascertain 
 the mortality in the artillery fifty or sixty years ago,* and the 
 result, as compared with later times, is not so unfavourable to the 
 earlier period as might be expected : 
 
 " It will not be uninteresting at this period to examine the 
 casualties of the regiment, with a view to ascertaining the relative 
 health enjoyed in those days and at present. Fortunately, the 
 long rolls of the regiment are tolerably perfect at this period, and 
 the following is an abstract : 
 
 Strength on 1st Nov. 
 
 1788. 
 
 1789. 
 
 1790. 
 
 1791. 
 
 1792. 
 
 1793. 
 
 1794. 
 
 1795. 
 
 969 
 
 980 
 
 1,176 
 
 133 
 7 
 9 
 21 
 
 1,155 
 
 1,162 
 
 1,083 
 
 844 
 
 755 
 
 Died 
 
 Deserted 
 Discharged 
 Invalided 
 
 Total 
 
 51 
 3 
 
 25 
 26 
 
 80 
 6 
 30 
 15 
 
 146 
 11 
 
 7 
 25 
 
 102 
 14 
 10 
 35 
 
 83 
 10 
 11 
 31 
 
 65 
 10 
 5 
 15 
 
 8 
 65 
 
 7 
 37 
 
 105 
 
 131 
 
 170 
 
 189 
 
 161 
 
 135 
 
 95 
 
 117 
 
 This gives an average of 138 casualties per annum to a strength 
 of 1,016, or about 13 per cent, per annum almost the same pro- 
 portion of casualties as has taken place from the same causes 
 during the last three years : their amount is 368, and the strength 
 
 * As the article in the Calcutta Review was written in 1849, it is now (1889-90) 
 about one hundred years ago. 
 
330 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 of the regiment in Europeans maybe taken as 3,000. The average, 
 however, of a longer period will be more favourable to modern 
 times, as the losses during the Afghanistan war, the destructions of 
 the 1st troop, and mortality from disease at Sukhur, all tend to 
 swell these years beyond their predecessors." 
 
 The fluctuations in the above table are very great. "It will be 
 seen," writes the reviewer, " that "in 1788 the mortality was not 
 much above 5 per cent., whilst in 1791 it was 12 per cent. This, 
 we presume, is to be accounted for by a reference to the operations 
 during the latter year in the Mysore country. The average 
 mortality in the regiment, we believe, exclusive of war casualties, 
 is now (1849-50) about 4 per cent." 
 
 With an anecdote or two taken at random, and a passage de- 
 scriptive of the extraordinary march to Bamian, the reviewer con- 
 cludes the notice of this interesting Memoir. From a narrative 
 of the services of Lieut.-Colonel Montague, who was killed at the 
 siege of Seringapatam in 1799, we take the following illustration of 
 the opinion which was entertained of him by Lord Cornwallis : 
 
 The following conversation took place between the Deputy 
 Adjutant-General and Major Montague, as the latter passed head- 
 quarters on his march. " Lord C. has it in contemplation to give 
 Colonel Smith the command of the artillery to be employed against 
 Severn-drug, and he wishes to know if that circumstance will be 
 any impediment to your exertions." The Major replied that his 
 lordship might rely on his utmost exertions for the public service 
 under Smith. TheDeputy Adjutant-General did not think that answer 
 sufficiently explicit, and said, " Lord C. wished to know whether 
 Major M. could act with more effect when independent of Colonel 
 Smith than when under his command?" The Major answered, 
 "that he could certainly carry a plan of his own into execution, in 
 the same time that it would require to suggest and explain it to 
 another." The Deputy Adjutant-General therefore concluded that 
 Major M's. real opinion was, that he should prefer to conduct the 
 business by himself, and informed ^him that " his Lordship was 
 disposed to give Colonel Smith an opportunity of knocking down 
 
BENGAL ARTILLERY ANECDOTES. 331 
 
 the walls of the place, where he had been so long confined in a 
 former war ; but, as it might be attended with some risk to the 
 service, he was at length determined to appoint Major M. to 
 command and conduct the artillery against that important place, 
 as the capture of it was absolutely necessary to the further progress 
 of the campaign." 
 
 There is an anecdote most creditable to the character of 
 Lieutenant Mathison, a very gallant officer, who distinguished 
 himself greatly both in the Nepal and the Pindarri campaigns 
 (1815-17-18). In the former, on one occasion when all his men 
 were killed or wounded, he did good service by working a gun 
 with his own hands. The following relates to the affair of Jawud, 
 in January 1818 : *' During the most severe part of this affair, a 
 circumstance occurred truly creditable to the character of this 
 officer, and fully substantiated by the testimony of an eye-witness. 
 An European horse-artilleryman fell deadly wounded, and, on his 
 comrades attempting to carry him to the rear, he entreated them to 
 desist, adding, ' I know I must die, and I only wish to shake 
 Lieutenant Mathison by the hand before I die.' His wish was 
 immediately gratified ; and he expired uttering ' God bless you.' ' 
 
 Captain Buckle speaks of the march of the 4th troop, 3rd brigade, 
 across the Hindu-Kush as " the most extraordinary ever performed 
 by horse artillery." He had left a blank space in his manuscript 
 for the insertion of the details of this interesting movement, and the 
 narrative has been supplied very effectively by another writer : 
 
 " We have now to notice perhaps the most extraordinary march 
 ever performed by artillery, that of a native troop of horse artillery 
 across the Hindu-Kush to Bamian ; extraordinary both from the 
 obstacles overcome, and the circumstance of the men of this troop 
 being natives of Hindostan. The 4th troop, 3rd brigade, was 
 ordered for this trip in September 1839, and, Captain Timmings 
 having just died, it was under the command of a subaltern, 
 Lieutenant M. Mackenzie, with whom was Lieutenant E. Kaye. 
 
 " The valley of Bamian lies about N.W. from Cabul, distant only 
 112 miles ; but it is separated from the valley, in which the Capital 
 
332 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 is situated, by a broad belt of stupendous mountains, the highest 
 range of which exceeds in altitude 12,000 feet. The troop entered 
 upon its mountain road, near the village of Urghundi, and, while 
 toiling up the first laborious ascent (steep in itself, but rendered 
 still more difficult by huge stones and fragments of rock), it was 
 met by Major Thomson, of the Engineers, and some other officers,* 
 who were just returning from an excursion to Bamian. Major 
 Thomson immediately declared the road to Bamian to be im- 
 practicable for guns, and that the passes in advance were still more 
 difficult in their nature than that of Urghundi ; and he said that he 
 would, immediately on arrival at Cabul, report to the envoy that it 
 would be useless to attempt to reach Bamian. The troop, however, 
 continued its march, and, the passage of the Urghundi ghat accom- 
 plished, descended into the beautiful valley of the Cabul river, 
 along the banks of which the route continued for three marches, 
 passing Julraiz and Sir-i-Chusmeh. The road was at times difficult, 
 being frequently in the rocky bed of the stream, and always 
 ascending, gradually becoming steeper and more toilsome. 
 
 "The summit of the Unai pass is said to be 11,400 feet in eleva- 
 tion; at this great elevation, even in September, the cold was 
 intense. The passage of the range was a work of great toil, as the 
 ascents and descents were numerous. The summit of the range is 
 in general a table-land, gradually sloping towards the north-west ; 
 not one continuous table-land, but intersected by numerous deep 
 glens, running parallel to each other, with steep precipitous sides 
 difficult to ascend or descend. On the 21st a small mud fort, 
 named Youatt, was reached; and on the 23rd the troops, after 
 crossing several spurs from the range just surmounted, descended 
 to the banks of the Helmund, beyond which towered the snow- 
 capped peaks of Koh-i-Baba. 
 
 "In consequence of the report received from Major Thomson, of 
 the impracticable nature of the road to Bamian, the envoy had sent 
 instructions for three guns and all the ammunition- waggons to 
 
 * Major (Colonel) Salter of the cavalry, and Lieutenant Sturt (afterwards killed 
 action). 
 
ASTONISHING MARCH TO BAMIAN. 333 
 
 return to Cabul the other three guns to halt until elephants, sent 
 from Cabul, should arrive ; it was then intended that the three guns 
 should he dismounted, and carried over the remaining passes on 
 elephants. These instructions were received at Youatt ; but, the 
 neighbourhood being entirely destitute of forage, it was considered 
 advisable to move the troop on to Gurden Dewal, on the river 
 Helmund. Having arrived there, the troop halted, and Lieutenant 
 Mackenzie went forward and examined the pass over the Hindu 
 Kush range. This officer, having considered the passage 
 practicable, forwarded a report to that effect to head-quarters, 
 and requested permission to proceed with the whole of the troop. 
 Permission was at length received, and on the 30th the march was 
 resumed. The foot of the Irak pass was attained in three difficult 
 marches, the ascent being constant and fatiguing. The passage 
 was commenced immediately, nearly all the guns and carriages 
 being pulled up by hand (the horses being taken out). At this 
 work, the artillery and infantry soldiers, and some 200 Hazarehs, 
 were employed during the whole day, and it was not until dark that 
 the entire battery had reached the foot of the western face of the 
 mountain, which was found to be considerably steeper than that up 
 which the ascent led. On the following day the march was 
 resumed through a deep and dreary defile, abounding in rocks, and 
 the precipices enclosing it so steep and lofty that the sun's rays 
 scarcely ever penetrated to its lowest depths. Through this 
 tortuous glen the troop wound its way, until, after many an inter- 
 ruption from rocky ledges of dangerous descent, the small valley of 
 Miani Irak was reached on the 4th of October, and vegetation and 
 human habitations were once more seen, The whole of the 5th 
 was occupied in passing the Kuski ghat, over a range of no great 
 elevation (a spur only of the Hindu-Kush), but of great difficulty. 
 The ascent was occasionally so steep (at an angle of 45) that the 
 men working at the drag-ropes could not keep their footing ; horses, 
 of course, were out of the question. The ascent was, however, 
 accomplished in the afternoon ; and the descent, by the edge of a 
 precipice, where a false step would have ensured instant destruc- 
 
334 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 tion, commenced. This too was effected; but night found the 
 troop in a defile so narrow, and enclosed by such steep walls, that 
 it seemed to be but a fissure in the mountain, caused by some con- 
 vulsion of nature. Nothing further could be done till daylight, 
 Early on the morning of the 6th of October, the troop crossed the 
 last intervening ridge, and entered the valley of Bamian at Zohak. 
 Next day the troop reached Bamian, and encamped close to some 
 mud forts, which were destined now, for the first time, to become 
 the dwelling-places of British officers and soldiers. 
 
 "This march to Bamian (1840) has been dwelt upon somewhat 
 longer than is altogether suitable to the pages of a work of this 
 nature, but, within a smaller space, it would have been scarcely 
 practicable to give an idea of the service performed. It was certainly 
 one of the most arduous undertakings ever accomplished by horse 
 artillery."* 
 
 With this passage, descriptive of a march such as " no troop of 
 artillery had ever before accomplished/' the writer brings his 
 extracts to a close. 
 
 Among the war services of officers of the Madras Artillery, we 
 find a rapid march set down against those of Major (now General) 
 J. D. Mein when servingf with the Saugor Field Division. After the 
 battle of Banda (19th), on the 25th April 1858, at the relief of 
 Kirwee, the Madras horse artillery and cavalry marched eighty-four 
 miles in thirty-seven hours. And now we may note the celebrated 
 march of all arms to relieve Candahar, under the Bengal Artillery 
 commander General Roberts, now Commander-in-Chief in India. 
 
 " In June 1880, Ayub Khan set out from Herat in hopes of 
 becoming master of Kandahar. As he neared the Helmand his 
 orce was strengthened by the very troops which the Wali or 
 Governor of Kandahar had sent out to intercept him. The rout of 
 a British brigade at Maiwand in July placed Kandahar itself for a 
 time in serious danger. 
 
 * The highest point surmounted, the Irak Pass, was 12,000 feet above the sea 
 t Under that distinguished officer, Brigadier afterwards Major-General) W. H 
 Miller, C.B. 
 
GENEEAL GEOEGE CAMPBELL, C.B. 335 
 
 " Happily Stewart and Roberts were both at Kabul, and they 
 resolved between them to lose no time in relieving the weakened 
 garrison of Kandahar. Placing the best of his own troops under 
 Roberts' command, Stewart sent him off in August, with a compact 
 force nearly 10,000 strong, to make the quickest of his way to the 
 scene of danger, In twenty days Roberts marched the whole 
 distance of 310 miles. This feat of energy was crowned on the 1st 
 September by the brilliant victory which Roberts gained near 
 Kandahar over an army well posted for defence. Ayub fled with a 
 handful of followers back to Herat, and Kandahar was safe from 
 further attack."* 
 
 INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF GENERAL GEORGE CAMPBELL, C.B., 
 ROYAL HORSE ARTILLERY. 
 
 There have been few more distinguished and adventurous Anglo- 
 Indian officers in our Presidential armies than the late General 
 Campbell, Bengal Artillery, who died at No. 1 Byng Place, 
 Gordon Square, where he had resided for some years, on April 25, 
 1882, t at the ripe age of 78. A friend has sent us the following 
 interesting matter for publication : 
 
 On the occasion of the first meeting of the Governor-General 
 and the Maharajah Runjeet Sing, at Rupar, on the Sutlej, 
 in 1832, the former ordered a couple of 6-pr. guns, waggons, 
 horses, ammunition, &c. &c., complete, to be held in readiness by 
 the Native Troop H.A., to be presented to the Maharajah on the 
 close of the meeting, after the review of the British troops assembled 
 in honour of the occasion, in presence of Maharajah Runjeet 
 Sing. 
 
 The British force amounted to some 10,000 men of all arms ; 
 while the Sikhs had a force of some 30,000 across the river, 5,000 
 picked men accompanying the Maharajah to the interview. The 
 latter begged as a favour to see the Native Troop Horse Artillery 
 
 * History of India under Queen Victoria, from 1836 to 1880, vol. ii., pp. 405-6, 
 by Captain Lionel J. Trotter. 
 
 t This correct date of death should be substituted for that given at page 191 of 
 Distinguished Anglo-Indians (Second Series). 
 
336 THK PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 alone, put through some movements, which were carried out at a 
 gallop, in first-rate style, under Captain Johnson, commanding. 
 
 The two guns, waggons, horses, &c., complete for service, were 
 then presented, before both armies, by Lord Bentinck, to Maharajah 
 Runjeet Sing, to his great delight and satisfaction. The latter 
 remarked that he could lay a gun well, and would now put his 
 umbrella upon the ground, and strike it with these two guns sooner 
 than any officer on the parade. The offer was accepted, the guns 
 loaded, and I was called out as Senior Sub. of the Troop, to open 
 fire on the umbrella, some 500 yards in front (at a guess). This 
 created much excitement. I loaded both guns, when the Maharajah 
 looked over them, which act, I observed to him, was as good as a 
 shot to begin with. He smiled and said, "That is true." The first 
 gun fired grazed through the circumference of the umbrella, the 
 second (elevation of which, in the smoke, I quickly lowered) struck 
 full the middle, 4 inches below the pin which kept it open, sending 
 it some yards to the front, collapsed like a parachute, as the ball 
 passed through it, shivering the entire handle to fragments. The 
 guns, instantly reloaded, awaited the Maharajah's turn, who walked 
 up and embraced me, saying " He dare not venture a trial where 
 the chance of failure was so great, in presence of his army, to be 
 beaten by a boy/' He asked my name, shook me by the hand, and 
 asked Lord Bentinck permission there to allow me to take charge 
 of the guns to his Sikh Camp across the river ; to be permitted to 
 enter his service for one year to teach his gunners to lay a gun 
 as I had just done. All was sanctioned by the Governor-General, 
 but entirely left to my option. I took the guns over, packed and 
 repacked the ammunition, explaining all personally to himself and 
 chiefs and showing how all was done for various ranges, &c., till 
 we all retired to the great Durbar of Chiefs, held in honour of the 
 great meeting at Roopin. He made me sit on his right hand till 
 the Durbar concluded, when he repeated his offer to enter his service, 
 with the Governor-General's permission granted for one year. 
 I declined firmly, as I was ignorant of the language, and might fail 
 in giving satisfaction. He urged, his only desire was to teach his 
 
GENERAL GEORGE CAMPBELL, O.B. 387 
 
 men to lay a gun as I had this morning ; that he would supply me 
 with everything, with 5,000 Ks. a month pay, with a handsome 
 present tc emam," to commence with, and the same on leaving him, 
 &c. All in vain. He then presented me with a valuable "killut," 
 worth some 6,000 Ks. with a bag of 1,000 Ks., for the men of the 
 troop and last, not least, he presented me with the umbrella, hoping 
 I would keep it in memory of him and the good shot that day, 
 &c. I then left the Durbar and his presence, moving to my Arab, 
 standing to take me home. The Maharajah stealthily followed 
 me alone, touched my arm as I was mounting, again urging his 
 service more pressingly on me for one year, adding further increase 
 of pay, and presents, horses, servants, food everything necessary 
 and that he would send for my tents and baggage, so I need not 
 leave him then. I remained still firm. He asked me the value of 
 my handsome Arab. " 12,000 rupees," I replied. <c Well, stay with 
 me and you shall have finer and more valuable Arabs than that ! " 
 I shook my head ; he shook my hand. I dropped my sword, and 
 galloped to camp, thanking my luck in getting away. 
 
 The " killut," according to the rule of the service, was placed at 
 the disposal of the Governor-General, who, on this occasion, 
 personally begged me to retain it, as well earned on parade that 
 day. 
 
 These very two guns above mentioned were subsequently 
 captured from the Sikhs at the battle of Ferozshah, 21st-22nd 
 December 1845, where they came opposed, among others, to the 3rd 
 troop 3rd Brigade H.A., then under my command as Major. 
 
 The umbrella, yellow silk, lined green, with long green fringe, 
 diameter six feet, in good keeping, I presented to the K.A. Institute, 
 Woolwich, in 1875, where it now rests with the two round-shot 
 holes most apparent. 
 
 The cash, 1,000 rupees, I made over to Capt. Johnson, who saw 
 it fairly divided among the native officers and men of the entire 
 troop ; the senior N.I. officers receiving the turbans and silk 
 dresses comprising the " killut." The ornaments, seals, &c., I still 
 retain, which are very handsome. 
 
 22 
 
338 THE PRESIDENTIAL AHMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Few smarter officers ever wore the " jacket 3 ' than General 
 George Campbell, C.B., K.A. ... He passed all his regimental 
 service in the Bengal Horse Artillery ; and, as soldier or sportsman, 
 none was better known in India than he. 
 
 List of Services of General George Campbell, R.A., C.B., 
 Bengal. First Commission, June 1823. Served in Burmese 
 War, Horse Artillery, 1824-25-26, including siege of Donabew, 
 actions of " Prome " " Maloon " "Pagammew" (Medal and 
 Clasp). Gwalior Campaign, Battle of Punniar, Horse Artillery, 
 1843 (Bronze Star and Brevet Major). Sutlej Campaign, Horse 
 Artillery, 1845-46 Battles of Ferozshah, &c., Sobraon (Medal 
 and Clasp, and Brevet Lieut.-Col.). Commanded Artillery Division 
 " Lahore," Punjab Campaign, 1848-49 (Medal). Commanded 
 Artillery Division, Cawnpore, 1853. Commanded Artillery 
 Division, " Agra," 1853. Commanded 1st Brigade Horse Artillery 
 and Meerut Division Artillery, 1854. Promoted to Brigadier- 
 General, (C Rawal Pindee *' Punjab, 1856. Served through 
 "Mutiny" (Medal), 1857. Promoted to Major- General, and 
 commanded " Benares Division " during Mutiny, 1858."* Com- 
 mand expired, 1863. Received Distinguished Service Pension, 
 1865. Appointed Companion of the Bath, 1867. Promoted to 
 Lieut.-General, 1868. Returned to England, 1871. Promoted to 
 General, 1874, and commanded Royal Artillery. 
 
 From Colonel \V. J. Wilson's admirable Historical Record-^ 
 we take the following notes on the 
 
 " QUEEN'S OWN " SAPPERS AND MINERS. 
 Each of the Presidency armies may well be proud of this useful 
 
 * Campbell killed his hundredth tiger in 1861 when in command of the Bennrcs 
 Division. He was a light-weight and a splendid horseman rather trying to some 
 members of the divisional staff ! See also Distinguished Anglo-Indians, Second 
 Series, p. 191. 
 
 f Madras 1877. Procured from the India Office Library. 
 
<c QUEEN'S OWN" MADRAS SAPPERS AND MINERS. 339 
 
 and distinguished arm of the Service. On the first page of 
 historical sketch of the Madras Corps is recorded 
 
 The Royal Cypher within the Garter. 
 
 " Seringapatam," " Java," " Assay e," " Mahidpoor," 
 
 "Nagpore," "Ava," " Lucknow," "Central India." 
 A Company bears on its appointments a Dragon wearing an 
 
 Imperial Crown, with the words " China/' "Pegu," " Taku 
 
 Forts," "Pekin." 
 
 B Company, the Dragon, " China/' " Pegu," " Persia." 
 C Company, " Meanee," " Hyderabad" 1843, " Pegu." 
 E Company, " Pegu." 
 F Company, the Dragon, " China." 
 G and H Companies, " Abyssinia." 
 K Company, " Taku Forts," " Abyssinia." 
 
 Honorary Colonel H.R.H. Albert Edward, Prince of Wales 
 and Duke of Cornwall, K.G., K.T., G.C.B., G.C.S.I., Field 
 Marshal. 
 
 The Madras "Sappers and Miners" were originally a corps of 
 Pioneers, officered from the line. They were first raised in 1780, 
 and were maintained until 1831, when, in conformity with instruc- 
 tions from the Court of Directors, the 1st battalion was placed 
 under the command of Engineer officers, and regularly instructed 
 as Sappers and Miners, which designation the corps has since con- 
 tinued to bear. The 2nd battalion of Pioneers continued on the 
 establishment until early in 1834, when the European officers were 
 sent to rejoin their respective regiments, and the Native commis- 
 sioned arid non-commissioned officers and men were incorporated 
 into the " Sappers and Miners." 
 
 1761 to 1780. Between 1761 and 1780 companies of Pioneers 
 and of Miners were formed from time to time of volunteers from 
 the European Infantry and the Native battalions, and were broken 
 up when no longer required. 
 
 Early Services of Volunteer Pioneers and Sappers. During 
 the period above specified these companies were frequently 
 
 22 * 
 
340 THE PBESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 employed, viz. at the siege of the Fort at Vellore in 1761 by the 
 force under Colonel John Caillaud, commanding the army ; with 
 the expedition against the Spanish Settlements in the Philippine 
 Islands in 1762; at the storm of the town of Manilla and the 
 capture of the citadel on the 6th October of that year; at the 
 siege and surrender of Tanjore in 1771, on which occasion their 
 conduct was highly praised by General Joseph Smith ; at the 
 second siege and storm of the same place in 1773 ; at the siege 
 and capture of Pondicherry in 1778 by the army under Sir Hector 
 Munro ; and at the capture of the French Settlement at Mahe in 
 1779. 
 
 1780. The existence of Pioneers as a permanent branch of the 
 army appears to have commenced in September 1780, when an 
 order was issued directing the formation of two companies of the 
 under-mentioned strength, viz. 2 sergeants, 3 corporals, 5 havildars, 
 5 naigues, and 100 Native privates. The men were dressed in 
 blue, fifty of each company were armed with light pistols, and the 
 remaining fifty with pikes six feet long. The havildars were to 
 receive 3|- pagodas each per mensem, the naigues 2J pagodas, and 
 the privates 2 pagodas. 
 
 1781. Sir Eyre Coote's Campaign. The Pioneers marched 
 with the advanced guard of Sir Eyre Coote's army from St. 
 Thomas' Mount for the relief of Wandiwash in January 1781, and 
 were present at the battle of Porto Novo, near Cuddalore, on the 
 1st July. Their position on the line of march the day before 
 the battle was determined in an order dated 29th June, from which 
 the following is an extract : 
 
 " One company of Pioneers to march at the head of the line, 
 and the other to be divided among the divisions of guns in the 
 line." 
 
 No further separate notice of the Pioneers during this campaign 
 has been found, but there can be no doubt that they were present 
 with the army at the battle of Polliloor on the 27th August, and 
 that of Sholinghur on the 27th September 1781, inasmuch as 
 Colonel Owen, oi the Bengal Army, who was sent into the Chitoor 
 
" QUEEN'S OWN " MADEAS SAPPERS AND MINERS. 341 
 
 hills with his brigade shortly after the battle last mentioned, and 
 who was attacked by Hyder with nearly his whole army at the pass 
 of Veeracandeloor, on the 23rd October, mentions a company of 
 Pioneers, under Lieutenant Innes, as having been present at that 
 action. 
 
 Capture of the Dutch Settlement at Negapatam. At this time 
 a detachment of Pioneers, under Lieutenant Abbott, was serving 
 with the Southern Army, commanded by Sir Hector Munro, and 
 was present at the siege and capture of Negapatam from the Dutch 
 in October and November. 
 
 1782. Capture of Trincomalee and Fort Ostenlurgh from the 
 Dutch. About the 1st January 1782 the detachment under 
 Lieutenant Abbott, augmented by volunteers from the 9th and 
 23rd Native battalions, embarked at Negapatam with the expedi- 
 tion against the Dutch possessions in Ceylon, and were present at 
 the capture of Trincomalee on the 5th January, and at that of 
 Fort Ostenburgh on the llth idem. 
 
 Sir Eyre Coote's Army. It may fairly be presumed that the 
 companies serving with Sir Eyre Coote's army in 1781 continued 
 with it during the remaining operations of that year and those of 
 1782, viz. the relief of Vellore in November 1781, and again in 
 January 1782 ; the skirmishes with Hyder on the marches to and 
 from that place, and the battle of Arnee on the 2nd June. 
 
 1783. Attack on the French Lines at Cuddalare. A detach- 
 ment of the corps served with the army under Major-General 
 James Stuart, in 1783, and was engaged in the operations against 
 the French at Cuddalore in the month of June. Intelligence of 
 peace with France having been received early in July, hostilities 
 ceased at Cuddalore, and the army returned to Madras in August. 
 
 War in the South against Tippoo. Capture of Dindigul and 
 other Forts. During this year a force under Colonel Ross Lang, 
 of the Madras Army, was employed to create a diversion against 
 Tippoo by attacking his districts of Dindigul and Coimbatore, and 
 to this force a small body of Pioneers was attached. The fort at 
 Caroor was taken on the 3rd April, that at Averacoorchy on the 
 
342 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 16th idem, and that at Dindigul on the 5th May. Shortly after- 
 wards Colonel Lang was superseded by Colonel William Fullarton, 
 of H.M. 98th Regiment, and the force was augmented to the 
 strength of about 13,600 men, of whom about 2,000 were Euro- 
 peans. The Pioneers, amounting to 147 men, under the command 
 of Ensign Cunningham, proved remarkably useful during the 
 continuance of the service. 
 
 Capture of the Forts at Panjalamcoorcliy, Palghautcherry, fyc. 
 They were engaged in the attack and capture of the fort at Panja- 
 lamcoorchy on the 12th August ; in that of the stronghold of the 
 Shevagherry Polygar on the 2nd September ; at the reduction of 
 the forts at Camalum, Chucklegherry, and Annamally in October; 
 at the siege find capture of the fort at Palghautcherry on the 13th 
 November ; and the surrender of Coimbatore on the 26th idem. 
 The services of the Pioneers at Panjalamcoorchy were thus 
 acknowledged by Colonel Fullarton : 
 
 " Our next object was to remove a strong hedge fronting the 
 breach, and surrounding the whole fort, as is the practice in the 
 Polygar system of defence. This dangerous service was effected 
 with unusual skill by Ensign Cunningham, commanding the 
 Pioneers, and about ten at night, with the advantage of bright 
 moonshine, the storm commenced." 
 
 The following extract, from the report of the same officer, relates 
 to the operations against the stronghold of the Shevagherry 
 Polygar, at that time the most powerful of the southern chiefs, 
 and who had on former occasions beaten off considerable 
 detachments : 
 
 " After reconnoitring, we found that the comby could not be 
 approached in front. We proceeded, therefore, to cut a road 
 through the impenetrable thickets for three miles to the base of 
 the hill that bounds the comby on the west. The Pioneers, under 
 Ensign Cunningham, laboured with indefatigable industry. 
 
 We continued to cut our way under an unabating fire from 
 
"QUEEN'S OWN" MADRAS SAPPERS AND MINERS. 343 
 
 eight thousand Polygars, who constantly pressed upon our ad- 
 vanced party, rushed upon the line of attack, piked the bullocks 
 that were dragging the guns, and killed many of our people. But 
 those attempts were repulsed by perseverance, and before sunset 
 we had opened a passage entirely to the mountain." 
 
 The Pioneers also proved most efficient during the march from 
 Annamally to Palghautcherry, which is thus described by Colonel 
 Fullarton : 
 
 " March through the Annamally Forests to Palghautcherry. 
 From Annamally our progress became truly laborious; we had to 
 force our way through a forest twenty miles in depth, extending 
 thirty miles across the pass of Palghaut. Our object was to reach 
 Calingoody, a post on the western side of the forest within fifteen 
 miles of Palghautcherry. The frequent ravines required to be 
 filled up before it was possible to drag the guns across them; 
 innumerable large trees which obstructed the passage required to 
 be cut down and drawn out of the intended track, and then the 
 whole road was to be formed before the carriages could pass. The 
 brigades were distributed to succeed each other at intervals, pre- 
 ceded by Pioneers, in order to clear what the advanced body had 
 opened, for the guns and stores that were to move under cover of 
 the rear division." 
 
 1784. Peace with Tippoo. 1788. Guntoor Circar taken 
 possession of. In March 1784 peace was made with Tippoo, and 
 the Pioneers do not appear to have been again employed on field 
 service until September 1788, when a small detachment under a 
 European officer was attached to the force under Lieutenant- 
 Colonel James Eidiugton, which took possession of the district of 
 Guntoor. 
 
 1789. Field Service in the Shivagunga country. In March 
 1789 a detachment of eighty Pioneers was sent from Trichinopoly 
 to join the field force assembled under Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart, 
 H.M. 72nd Regiment, for service in the Shivagunga country. It 
 was present at the capture of Collargoody on the 14th May, and 
 of Ranarnangalum and Calacoil on the 1st and 2nd June, respec- 
 
344 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 tively. The following order was issued by Government on the 
 conclusion of the service : 
 
 " Fort St. George, 11 th June 1789. 
 
 " The service for which the detachment was sent into the Shiva- 
 gunga country being nearly accomplished, Colonel Stuart is 
 desired to take the necessary measures for the return of the troops 
 to their respective stations, excepting one battalion of native 
 troops, which the Colonel will dispose of in the Shivagunga 
 country in such manner as he may judge expedient. 
 
 " Government take this opportunity of returning thanks in this 
 public manner to Colonel Stuart for his gallantry and good conduct 
 in the command of the detachment, and they desire he will com- 
 municate to the officers and men their perfect approbation of the 
 spirited and regular behaviour of the whole of the detachment 
 during the service." 
 
 Campaigns of Lord Cornwallis against Tippoo. The Pioneers 
 served with the army under General Medows and Lord Cornwallis 
 in the war with Tippoo during 1790, 1791, and 1792. 
 
 1791. Storm of Bangalore. They were actively employed in 
 the operations at Bangalore from the 5th to the 21st March 1791, 
 on which day the place was carried by assault. 
 
 Their loss during that time was twenty-four killed and twenty- 
 five wounded, being greater than that of any other individual corps 
 engaged, with the exception of H.M. 36th Foot, which had ten 
 killed and fifty-eight wounded. They were present at the action near 
 Seringapatam on the 15th May, and at the capture of several hill 
 forts in the Mysore country during the year, the principal of which 
 were Kahmandroog and Nundidroog, the former of which fell on the 
 17th September, and the latter on the 19th October. The following 
 is an extract of that part of the order issued by Lord Cornwallis, 
 on the occasion last referred to, which concerns the Pioneers : 
 
 " Storm of Nundidroog. Although the services of Pioneers are 
 less brilliant than those of the troops, they are of peculiar value 
 in all such operations, and His Lordship thinks himself called upon, 
 in justice to Lieutenant Dowse and all the noncommissioned 
 
"QUEEN'S OWN" MADRAS SAPPERS AND MINERS. 345 
 
 officers and men of the Pioneer Corps, as well as to Ensign 
 Stokoe, of the Engineers, who assisted with so much ability in 
 directing their labours, to declare that their behaviour on this 
 occasion has deserved his highest commendation." 
 
 Order by Lord Clyde on the Return of the Madras and Bombay 
 Troops to their Respective Presidencies. L Company, Sappers 
 and Miners. The services of this Company were mentioned by 
 Lord Clyde, in his Order of the 28th November 1859, in the fol- 
 lowing words : 
 
 " The Corps named in the margin, under Major-General Sir G. 
 C. Whitlock, partook of the various operations under the direction 
 of that officer, and have since been employed in the reduction and 
 occupation of Bundlecund and Saugor." 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 "The whole of these troops now leaving Bengal (whether of 
 Madras or of Bombay) have gained additional credit for the armies 
 to which they belong, and Lord Clyde congratulates them on being 
 about to return to their own Presidencies after a career of honour- 
 able service elsewhere." 
 
 We should here not omit to mention the very useful services of 
 the Madras Sappers and Miners in the First and Second Burmese 
 Wars, during the Mutiny, and in Persia, in which campaigns they 
 contributed essentially to the success of our arms. 
 
 1860. Second War in China. A and K Companies. The A 
 and K Companies served with the second expedition to China with 
 the force under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir James 
 Hope Grant, G.C.B., and were present at the action in front of the 
 entrenchments at Sinho on the 12th August 1860, at the capture 
 of the lines at Tongkoo on the 14th, and that of the Forts at Taku 
 on the 21st idem. On the afternoon of that day the sappers, 
 divided into four parties, accompanied the stormers, viz. the pon- 
 toon party under Lieutenant Pritchard, E.E., the ladder party 
 under Lieutenant Heine, R.E., the party for removing obstacles 
 under Lieutenant Trail, R.E., and the party with the powder- 
 bags under Lieutenant Clements, also of the Engineers. 
 
346 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Surrender of Pekin. The A Company marched with the army 
 from Tientsin in September, and was present at the surrender of 
 Pekin on the 13th October. 
 
 The following is an extract from the Order issued by the 
 Governor-General on the conclusion of the war : 
 
 !, Julbulpore, the 17 'th January 1861. 
 
 " His Excellency the Viceroy and Governor-General of India has 
 much satisfaction in publishing for general information the sub- 
 joined letter, dated the 21st November 1860, from Lieutenant- 
 General Sir J. Hope Grant, G.C.B., Commander of the Forces in 
 China, bringing to notice the services, during the campaign in that 
 country, of the Native troops of all arms which proceeded to China 
 from Bengal, Madras, and Bombay. 
 
 " The Governor-General congratulates the troops on the high 
 testimony which they have earned for themselves from their dis- 
 tinguished commander by their exemplary conduct in Camp and 
 Garrison, and by their valour in the Field." 
 
 * * * 5j; * 
 
 "Head-Quarters, the Tientsin, Zlst November 1860. 
 " MY LORD, Peace having been concluded with this country, 
 and many of the Native troops serving in the Expeditionary Force 
 being about to return to India, it becomes my duty to bring to your 
 Excellency's notice the services of the Kegiments and Corps of 
 Her Majesty's Indian Army which have been serving during the 
 
 campaign. 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 " The two Companies of Madras Artillery under Captain Hicks, 
 and the two Companies of Madras Sappers under Captain Shaw- 
 Stewart, rendered good and useful services in the operations which 
 preceded and led to the fall of the Taku Forts. The latter 
 Corps was most energetic in working without relief at the construc- 
 tion of the batteries, and have always shown themselves to be 
 cheerful and willing workmen. 
 
 " (Signed) J. HOPE GRANT, Lieut.-General, 
 
 " Commander of the Forces" 
 
u QUEEN'S OWN " MADRAS SAPPERS AND MINERS. 347 
 
 Captain Shaw-Stewart, R.E., was recommended to favourable 
 notice for his exertions in trench duty, and he was accordingly 
 promoted to the rank of Major in the army from the 15th February 
 1861. 
 
 The other officers who served in China with the Sappers were : 
 Lieutenant A. J. Filgate, Royal Engineers; Lieutenant D. H. 
 Trail, Royal Engineers ; Lieutenant H. F. Dakeyne, 22nd Regi- 
 ment, M.N.I. ; Lieutenant N. Swanston, 37th Regiment Grenadiers; 
 Lieutenant M. E. Foord, 23rd Regiment L.I. Assistant-Surgeon 
 R. E. Pearse. 
 
 Reduction of the Corps to 10 Companies. Early in 1862 the 
 number of companies was fixed at 10 instead of 12, and the two 
 junior companies, viz. the L and M, were accordingly reduced. 
 The reduction was carried out by pensioning such men as were not 
 in every respect fit for active service in the field, provided they 
 had completed the prescribed period of service. Short-service men 
 considered to have established special claims on account of service 
 in the field, were granted donations in proportion to their supposed 
 merits. Those not having any such claims were paid up and dis- 
 charged with the ordinary gratuity and travelling allowance. 
 
 Abyssinia. 1867-68. G, H, and K Companies. The K Com- 
 pany arrived in Abyssinia on the 8th, and the G and H Companies 
 on 12th December 1867, under the command of Major H. N. D. 
 Prendergast, R.E., V.C., with Captain M. E. Foord as Staff 
 Officer to the Detachment. 
 
 The following is an extract from the Report of the Commanding 
 Engineer at the close of the campaign: 
 
 " G Company. The G Company was posted at Zoula and 
 Kumayli during the whole campaign. The services performed by 
 this Company on the Public Works at Zoula, on the Railway, and 
 on the Kumayli Waterworks, have been excellent. 
 
 "The sepoys of this Company excavated a well on the Railway 
 line 85 feet in depth, without lining of any kind, and proved 
 themselves very skilful workmen. 
 
 " I have much pleasure in recording the good services rendered 
 
348 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 by Lieutenant Morris, K.E., commanding this Company, in super- 
 intending the water arrangements at Kumayli. 
 
 " These services have proved most beneficial to the Transport 
 Train Establishment at that post. 
 
 te I bring to favourable notice the services of Lieutenants Prothero 
 and Main waring, assistants to Lieutenant Le Messurier, who was 
 in charge of the water-supply of the expedition. 
 
 " H Company. The H Company was employed during the 
 whole campaign on the Public Works at Zoula, and was most 
 industrious, ever ready and willing to undertake any work required 
 of it. Lieutenant Pennycuick, K.E., conducted his duties 
 efficiently. Lieutenant Cunningham, E.E., was detached to Antalo, 
 and Cornet Dalrymple was sent to the front in charge of stores. 
 
 " K Company. The K Company commenced work on the 
 Sanafe Pass after a short stay at Zoula ; and afterwards, when joined 
 by head-quarters, improved the track route between Antalo and 
 Magdala, rendering it suitable for laden mules and elephants, and 
 was present at the action of Arogie and taking of Magdala. 
 Captain Elliot, N.I., commanded, Lieutenant Bird being subaltern 
 officer." 
 
 Action at Arogie, near Magdala. On the 10th April 1868 the 
 action of Arogie was fought on the platform before Magdala. The 
 K Company was on the right of the British line, and, aided by the 
 rockets of the Naval Brigade, it prevented a detachment of the 
 enemy from turning the flank of the 1st Brigade, and dispersed it. 
 
 Assault and Capture of Magdala. The force that assaulted 
 Magdala on the 13th April consisted of the 2nd Brigade, led by 
 the 33rd Regiment, headed by the Koyal Engineers and Sappers 
 and Miners. Before an entrance was forced, Captain Elliot, Cornet 
 Dalrymple, and Sergeant Balding had received contusions, and 
 Havildar Kistnasamy had been severely wounded in the arm. 
 
 In Sir Eobert Napier's General Order of the 22nd April 1868, 
 he addressed the force as follows : 
 
 " You traversed, often under a tropical sun, or amidst storms of 
 rain and sleet, 400 miles of mountainous and rugged country. 
 
" QUEEN'S OWN " MADRAS SAPPERS AND MINERS. 349 
 
 You have crossed ranges of mountains (many steep and precipitous) 
 more than 10,000 feet in altitude, where your supplies could not 
 keep pace with you. In four days you passed the formidable 
 chasm of the Bashilo, and when within reach of your enemy, 
 though with scanty food, and some of you were for many hours 
 without either food or water, you defeated the army of Theodore, 
 which poured down upon you from its lofty fortress in full con- 
 fidence of victory. 
 
 " A host of many thousands have laid down their arms at your 
 feet. You have captured and destroyed upwards of thirty pieces 
 of artillery. . . . You stormed the almost inaccessible fortress of 
 Magdala, defended by Theodore and a desperate remnant of his 
 chiefs and followers." 
 
 Acknowledgment of the Services of the Madras Sappers and 
 Miners by Sir Robert Napier. In his despatch, dated 1st June 
 1868, Sir Robert Napier wrote as follows: 
 
 " The works of the Madras and Bombay Sappers and Miners, 
 under Major Prendergast, V.C., R.E., and Captain MacDonnell, 
 R.E., have been singularly valuable and important "; and again, 
 '* I desire to express my very high appreciation of the services 
 of the officers commanding the several corps of the Expeditionary 
 Force, and of the officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers 
 who have served under them during the campaign." 
 
 The undermentioned officers of the Sappers were favourably 
 mentioned in the Report of Sir Charles Staveley, viz. : 
 
 Captain Elliot, commanding the K Company ; Captain Foord, 
 Lieutenant Bird, and Cornet Dalrymple. 
 
 Acknowledgment by the Secretary of State of the Services 
 of the Madras Sappers and Miners in Abyssinia. On the con- 
 clusion of the war the following extract from a military despatch 
 from the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for India was 
 published in the Fort St. George Gazette of the 4th August 1868 : 
 
 " I transmit, for the information of your lordship's Government, 
 a copy of a despatch which, in accordance with the command of 
 Her Majesty, I have this day addressed to the Governor-General 
 
350 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 in Council, conveying to the Government and Army of India the 
 thanks of Her Majesty for the service rendered by them in the 
 conduct of the operations in Abyssinia, the termination of which 
 in the most satisfactory manner has been recently reported to Her 
 Majesty's Government. I especially desire to record the high sense 
 which Her Majesty's Government entertain of the zeal and alacrity 
 displayed in the despatch of the detachment of the Madras Sappers 
 and Miners to take part in the expedition, and of the excellent 
 service rendered by that body of men during the campaign, in the 
 course of which they well maintained the high reputation of the 
 Madras Army, no less than of the distinguished corps they repre- 
 sented." 
 
 1876. In March 1876 the Sappers and Miners were distin- 
 guished by being made a royal regiment, and also by the appoint- 
 ment thereto of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales as 
 Honorary Colonel. 
 
351 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 AVA, CITY OP THE NEW MARQTTISATE. 
 
 TOWARDS the end of October 1888, the following announcement 
 was published in London : " The Queen has conferred the dignity 
 of a marquisate upon the Earl of Dufferin, who will take the 
 titles of Marquess of Dufferin and Ava and Earl of Ava. The 
 title of Ava after the ancient capital of Burma has been 
 assumed by Her Majesty's special command." 
 
 At this intelligence one might almost imagine the ghost of the 
 great Marquess of Dalhousie, or during his tasting on earth a 
 political " apotheosis rapturous," stalking forth and declaring in 
 his own unrivalled way : "Well and gracefully bestowed. I knew 
 exactly, when I annexed Pegu, thirty-six years ago, what the ' force 
 of circumstances ' would produce ; and with Earl Dufferin the time 
 came, and the man ! " Doubtless, the remains of the old " Secret 
 Committee " were of the same opinion when they heard of the 
 annexation of Upper Burma (1886). The "force of circum- 
 stances " had been decidedly fatal to the old Burmese kingdom, 
 sweeping away in its rush the whole Burman Empire ; and neither 
 the transcendent talents of Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright, nor the 
 talking and writing powers of other most able but less well-known 
 anti-annex ationists, could possibly have averted the downfall. 
 
 In the very middle of the nineteenth century the Burmese king 
 was, after long forbearance on the part of the British Government, 
 
352 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 "weighed in the balances," and almost entirely " found wanting ; " 
 and thirty-four years after, what Lord Dalhousie, perhaps wisely, 
 thought it imprudent to encumber ourselves with in his time, as" a 
 useless rind," has now a fair chance, after the nearly utter extermi- 
 nation of dacoity, and the stronger desire of border tribes for 
 British rule, of becoming, like his pet annexation of Pegu that 
 " princess among the provinces" -'a flourishing and smiling land. 
 
 To those who have been interested in the welfare of the Burmese 
 people originally formed by union of Mongoloid tribes since the 
 beginning of the second Burmese war (April, 1852), the kingdom 
 of Burma or Ava, the Burmese Army of Ava, and our " Army of 
 Ava," then assembled at Rangoon, under the gallant old chief, 
 General Godwin, for conquest, to say nothing of the widely-spread 
 saying in Ashe Pyee Burma, the Eastern or foremost country 
 that nothing good could possibly be found out of the province of Ava 
 the brief word has a strong significance about it, almost amount- 
 ing to a charm. It has been well described by that most admirable 
 Anglo-Indian General Sir Arthur Phayre by far the greatest 
 Chin-Indian (or Indo-Chinese) statesman England ever had. 
 
 It may first be remarked that, in A.D. 1322, great events were 
 taking place in the then new Shan kingdom of Sagaing; events as 
 interesting and important in their way to the Burmese race, as 
 those which shortly after took place in England and France were 
 to the English people under Edward the Third. The line of 
 kings of Shan race reigned at Sagaing for forty-nine years. In 
 the year 1364 a famous chief, with the high-sounding name of 
 Thadomengbya, became the leading actor in the wide theatre 
 which was now fairly opened in this part of Chin-India. He was 
 indeed, in every sense, without a rival. He was said to be 
 descended from the ancient kings of Tagaung ; and, through his 
 mother, he was grandson of a Shan king of Sagaing. And, 
 strange enough, Sagaing was now added to his conquests. It may 
 here be interesting to remark that the oldest city said in Burmese 
 chronicles to have been built by Indian princes is Tagaung, on the 
 eastern bank of the Upper Irawadi. This may be styled the 
 
AVA, CITY OF THE NEW MAEQUISATE. 353 
 
 first Burmese capital, the ruins of which still exist. "Colonel 
 Yule," writes Sir Arthur Phayre, "is of opinion that it may be 
 identified with the Tugma metropolis of Ptolemy/' (Ptolemy, as 
 some of us know, wrote in the second century of the Christian 
 era.) It is scarcely credible that cities such as those of which 
 there are existing remains should have been founded independently 
 by people in the rude condition of the Mongolian tribes, even as 
 we see them in the present day in remote places. The tradition, 
 therefore, as to the building of cities and the first commencement 
 of the Burmese monarchy by Indian settlers, may be accepted as 
 probably true. It ought to make us more interested in our highly 
 important possession of Burma, when we consider the fact "that 
 those Indians should have arrived by a northern or north-western 
 route, and not have ascended from the delta of the Irawadi, is 
 rendered certain from the history of Pegu/' And, again, in a few 
 generations, the Indian settlers " became merged in the mass of 
 Mongoloid tribes whom they found in the country." 
 
 Before proceeding to notice the foundation of the city of Ava, 
 it is proper to mention, on the high authority of Sir Arthur 
 Phayre, that " only a few of the names by which the indigenous 
 tribes were called in the remote past are now known ; but the 
 Indian settlers gave to them, and adopted themselves, the name of 
 Brahma, which is that used in Buddhist sacred books for the first 
 inhabitants of the world. This term, when used to designate the 
 existing people, is now written Mrammd, and generally pronounced 
 Bama ! " And hence the European word Burma, which should 
 never be spelt with an h. There is no harm in telling the world 
 that " the people known to Europeans as Birman, Burman, or 
 Burmese, dwell in the western region of Indo-China, which is 
 watered by the river Irawadi ; " but the name of their country 
 to say nothing of the expense of an additional letter, which in 
 these days of economists and calculators is a consideration has 
 no more right to the final h than Asia, Russia, Chinn, or India. 1 * 
 
 * See also Our Burmese Wars and Relations with Burma, p. 17. 
 
 23 
 
354 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Many tribes then gradually became Mramma, or Burma, a corrup- 
 tion of the original appellation. 
 
 Let us now return to the redoubtable chief, Thadomengbya. 
 His ambition prompted him at once to set about the restoration 
 of the Burmese kingdom, which had been broken up into many 
 fragments. Thadomengbya determined to found a new capital, and 
 selected a site near the mouth of an affluent of the far-famed 
 Irawadi.* " The city was called Awa, or Ava, the Pali or classical 
 name being Katanapura, or city of gems/'f The work com- 
 menced A.D. 1364 was carried on with great energy. Swamps 
 were drained, golden pagodas built, and the city wall marked out ; 
 the palace, in the centre, was the " Citadel of the Defences." And 
 no ordinary defences were required for the " City of Gems/' which 
 might have been styled the City of Jewels the probable taste and 
 splendour displayed by the arrangement of the gems from all parts 
 of the country, being only outdone by a famous spectacular piece 
 at the Lyceum, played some five hundred years after the brilliant 
 performance of King Thadomengbya, and which old play-goers 
 may recollect as one of Madame Vestris's grandest scenic displays 
 the Island of Jewel. 
 
 Little the conqueror thought that the city he so religiously and 
 carefully founded would one day be called upon, by our Queen- 
 Empress, to give a marquisate to one of the shrewdest, most 
 accomplished, and versatile statesmen of our time, on his leaving 
 the stage, where, like a well-graced actor, as Viceroy of India, he 
 had, through good and evil report, so nobly and fearlessly played 
 his part. While the building of Ava was in progress, the new 
 king set out to subdue the country to the southward. During the 
 campaign, Thadomengbya caught the small-pox, and departed on 
 his return to Ava, ordering his queen to be put to death, that, in 
 case of his own demise, she might not fall to his successor. He 
 died soon after; and thus the first King of Ava, after a brief reign, 
 
 * Derived from Airdvati vati (Sans.), " like," and aira, " moisture " Indra's 
 female elephant. See Ash Pyee, p. 81. 
 
 f Sir Arthur Phayre's History of Burma, p. 63. 
 
AVA, CITY OF THE NEW MAEQUISATE. 855 
 
 ended his life by an act of cruelty, not unlike some of those which 
 disgraced King Theebaw in our time " the beginning of the end " 
 of a wild career, which eventually lost him his throne and country ; 
 till at length, as already noted, old Ava was honoured with the 
 dignity of furnishing a well-earned and appropriate marquisate. 
 This first monarch of Ava is denounced in Burmese history as a 
 man of cruel disposition, who altogether disregarded religion. 
 History in King Theebaw studiously repeated itself in the latter 
 particular; for, as well set forth by a most intelligent officer of 
 the Royal Welsh Fusiliers during the Third Burmese War 
 (1885-86-87), after a correct and concise account of education 
 under the priesthood of Burma, King Theebaw was once a priest ! 
 thus bringing to mind Shakspeare's well-known saying, that 
 " the devil can cite Scripture for his purpose." 
 
 We now pass on to the year 1416, when a Chinese army was 
 before Ava. With this move on the grand chess-board of Chin- 
 Indian strife and events, comes forth a most interesting incident, 
 which, if the like could be established in our time, would save 
 much of the expense caused by the large armaments of Europe. 
 Only that the two champions were pretty equal in size and 
 strength, the incident also tends to carry our thoughts back to the 
 days of David and Goliath. During continual war, caused by 
 fruitless expeditions to Pegu, came this serious danger which 
 threatened the Burmese King. Two Shan chiefs had attacked 
 Myedu, which was subject to Ava. The King sent a force against 
 them, and they fled to the Chinese territory, while their wives and 
 children were made prisoners. A Chinese army marched down to 
 Ava, and required that the wives and children of the two chiefs 
 should be released. According to the Burmese chronicle, the 
 point whether they should be surrendered or not was left to be 
 decided by the result of a battle between two champions. A 
 Talaing (Pegu) chief, who was prisoner at Ava, was allowed to 
 represent the Burmese side. He killed the Chinese champion, who 
 was clad in armour, and the Chinese army then withdrew without 
 the demand for the prisoners being enforced. Meng-Khaung, the 
 
 23 * 
 
356 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Burmese King, then unremittingly gave himself up to good works 
 in the city of Ava and the surrounding country. 
 
 It may now be briefly remarked that the Burmans were, in a 
 manner, subject to Pegu until about the middle of the 16th 
 century. A revolution having taken place, the Burmese acquired 
 and retained the superiority until A.D. 1740, when, the brave 
 Peguers having revolted, a fierce civil war ensued, which was 
 carried on with savage ferocity until A.D. 1752, when the Peguers 
 captured the city of Ava, and completed the conquest of the whole 
 Burmese kingdom, thus becoming masters of Ava's jewels as well 
 as of the gold and jewels of Pegu. The King of Pegu, after many 
 victories, returned to his own capital, and the Burmans again took 
 up arms under the command of the far-famed Alornpra the 
 " hunter-captain " a man of low origin, but of a brave and enter- 
 prising character, who not only expelled the Peguera from Ava, 
 but invaded and conquered Pegu itself, which remained subject to 
 Burma until, from the Second Burmese War, it came under 
 British rule. 
 
 The great Alompra, who was the founder of the historically 
 important dynasty which was disgraced by and ended with King 
 Theebaw, died shortly after his invasion of Siam, A.D. 1760. Both 
 generals, Sir Arthur Phayre and Albert Fytche, give very interest- 
 ing particulars regarding this most distinguished Burman, quite 
 worthy of attention, though not of our worship, in the study of 
 Eastern heroes. Kemarking on this famous captain in the intro- 
 ductory pages of Our Burmese Wars, the writer was led to observe 
 that it was during Alompra's reign that the British Government 
 was first brought into political relationship with the King of Ava or 
 Burma (p. 8). Had his descendants served their country as faith- 
 fully and well as he did, it is quite certain there would have been 
 no Marquess of Dufferin and Ava in 1888, or as little chance of 
 such a title as of an Earl of Bankok, or even a Duke of Pekin ! 
 There was really something of William Wallace or William Tell 
 about Alompra. It may be interesting to give a few particulars of 
 the doings and sayings of this famous national hero, who, as will 
 
AVA, CITY OF THE NEW MARQTJISATE. 357 
 
 have been seen, flourished when there seemed every likelihood of 
 the rule of the Talaing King being established in Upper Burma, or 
 the upper country, to distinguish it from Pegu, the lower or 
 southern region. 
 
 Before the fall of Ava, Uva Raja, brother of the Talaing 
 sovereign, had issued a proclamation, summoning the administra- 
 tive officers in the country north of the city to submit and swear 
 allegiance to the King of Pegu. Alompra (or more properly 
 Alamghpra, signifying " embryo Buddha," a title which the patriot 
 hero assumed)* " dared to disobey and ventured to resist." 
 Although in a subordinate position, it is stated among the narra- 
 tives of his career that he was of royal race, and that signs and 
 wonders in heaven and earth, which took place at his birth, had 
 foreshadowed his future greatness. The intense nationality of 
 Alompra was remarkable. It presents a noble contrast to the 
 hollowness of many professed patriots, in Europe as well as in 
 Asia, at the present day. His native village, of which the name 
 is unknown, was situated about sixty miles north of Ava a few 
 miles from the west bank of the Irawadi. The village became 
 famous as the home of the Muthsovo or hunter-captain, " as being 
 the scene of his successful resistance to the invader, and eventually 
 the capital of the kingdom." From the beginning of the national 
 troubles, he was determined to resist the Talaing or any other 
 invader ; and Sir Arthur Phayre, in his admirable history a 
 perfect monument of Indo-Chinese research relates that when his 
 father and mother entreated him to submit, he declared that he 
 could never swear allegiance to a Talaing king, adding : " When 
 fighting for our country, it matters little whether our band is large 
 or small ; it is, rather, important to have a few comrades with true 
 hearts and strong arms to will and work." On this brief speech 
 Sir Arthur Phayre remarks : " These noble words are a key to his 
 conduct in the early part of his career, before success and irrespon- 
 sible power had roused selfish ambition and hardened his heart."! 
 
 * Sir Arthur Phayre. 
 t History, p. 150. 
 
358 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Alompra, then, was no exception to the general rule in every 
 country that heroes, or rather public men, as well as angels have 
 fallen, and may yet fall, through ambition. It should have been 
 remarked that, on Alompra's conquering the whole of Pegu, with 
 the intuitive genius of a true conqueror he founded the now well- 
 known modern seaport of Kangoon, which, as styled elsewhere, is 
 the Liverpool or Glasgow of Chin-India. 
 
 About this time English envoys were sent to Alompra at Ava 
 one in 1755 and another in eventful 1757. General Albert Fytche 
 has given certain details in his valuable work,* related by the two 
 envoys, which he well considers " of singular interest." These 
 details serve to bring out the individuality of Alompra in a 
 surprising or wonderful degree. The first envoy described the 
 Burmese monarch as about forty-five years of age and nearly six 
 feet in height, " rude in his manners and hasty and vain-glorious 
 in his temper." Doubtless his somewhat " barbarous intelligence " 
 was of a very high order. One of his excellences appears to have 
 been that of being able to see through, or " take stock " of, men 
 not an uncommon attribute among the distinguished servants who 
 helped to build up the mighty structure of our own Indian empire. 
 The second envoy found Alompra less boasting or vain-glorious, 
 and consequently more sensible ; but the former hunter-captain was 
 now (1757) " brimming with curiosity." Among the "endless 
 questions " put to our envoy by the most famous type of a 
 Burmese monarch and warrior, no doubt causing the former to 
 consider himself in a rather ticklish position, the following are 
 given by General Fytche : " Does your King [George II.] go to 
 the wars and expose himself to danger as I do ? Could you fire a 
 cannon and kill a man at a great distance ? Is there as much rain 
 in England as there is in Burma ? Why do you wear that thing 
 (a shoulder-knot) on your shoulder ? How much money does the 
 Company pay you a month ? Why do not the English tattoo their 
 bodies and thighs as we Burmese do ? Is there any ice in your 
 country ? Are the small creeks ever frozen over as they are here ?'' 
 
 * Burma Past and Present, Vol. i., pp. 192-93. 
 
AVA, CITY OF THE NEW MARQUISATE. 359 
 
 Alompra's questions, it must be confessed, were brief and to the 
 point, qualities not always observable among our public men in 
 this often superficial and, from irrelevant questions, frequently too 
 inquisitive age. The gallant General remarks that " the envoy 
 answered the questions as he best could. As regards the freezing 
 process, he stated that he had seen the river Thames frozen over, 
 and an ox roasted whole upon the ice. This statement was received 
 by the King and his great men with a roar of laughter ; but whether 
 they were only tickled with the story, or disbelieved it altogether, 
 was not known." 
 
 The second envoy appears to have fared much better with 
 Alompra than the first, with whom His Majesty of Ava was highly 
 indignant when asked, on the part of the East India Company, if 
 he wanted any help against his enemies. The only blot to be 
 observed by Englishmen in this strong King of Ava's distinguished 
 career, was the sad tragedy of the massacre of our countrymen at 
 Negrais island. It took place shortly after the massacre or suffo- 
 cation of the Black Hole which followed the capture of Calcutta ; 
 and when Alompra heard of Clive's great victories, which restored 
 the prestige of the East India Company, he naturally became 
 alarmed, and suspected that the English had secretly helped the 
 people of Pegu. His fears, which, of course, had no foundation, 
 were worked upon by French and Armenian adventurers. These 
 unprincipled men in Burmese history kept hovering about Ava and 
 the royal court, even down to and after 1852 ; and while on the 
 field before Rangoon, in the burning month of April, an officer or 
 soldier was anxious to gain as a trophy a Burman's dah (sword), 
 or a broad gilt hat, worn by the King of Ava's "Invincibles," he 
 would be suddenly reminded that he was mortal by the approach 
 of a round shot, well directed, and, as was stoutly affirmed, the 
 piece laid by a scientific French or Armenian gunner. 
 
 After these few historical remarks, it may be interesting to turn 
 very briefly to the geography of the province and city of the new 
 marquisate. As already stated, it is believed that Ptolemy, the 
 Egyptian geographer and astronomer, in the second century of the 
 
360 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Christian era, alluded to the ancient city of Tagoung, the first 
 Burmese capital, founded about 500 B.C. And, before the middle 
 of the nineteenth century, we have a learned Anglo-Indian Ptolemy, 
 in the person of the Kev. A. R. Symonds,* who gives ten or 
 twelve pages to the kingdom of Ava, a greater and more famous 
 capital than old Padoung, and founded nineteen hundred years 
 later. 
 
 The chapter on Ava is a remarkable one, and does the zealous 
 head-master infinite credit ; and the number of places mentioned 
 therein, when the present or new capital, Mandalay, had no exist- 
 ence, warrants the supposition that he had an eye to teaching 
 English as well as Indian gentlemen, as well as boys, Indian geo- 
 graphy ; so that there might not, in future years, be any chance 
 of a speech such as the brilliant and jaunty veteran statesman, 
 Lord Palmerston, once uttered to his private secretary, after 
 receiving a long-winded deputation that unavoidable bore of a 
 Minister's life : " Now, then, just hand me down that atlas, and 
 let us see where the deuce all those places are ! " 
 
 By Europeans the country was generally called Ava, from the 
 common name of the capital, but by the natives themselves it was 
 named Burma (Mrumma). The boundaries are given thus : north, 
 Assam; north-easterly, China; east, Siam; south, Siam and the 
 sea; and west, the sea, Arracan (Arakan), and Bengal. Some 
 forty-five years ago, Ava had for many years been divided into the 
 following chief provinces : Ava, Pegu, Martaban, Tavoy, and 
 Teuasserim, of which the latter two only were subject to the 
 British Government. The province of Ava extended to Prome, 
 which was the southern boundary of the empire previous to the 
 Burmese conquest of Pegu. Its principal districts were Cassay, 
 Mogaong, Ava, and the Shan country. The principal river is the 
 Irawadi, which intersects the country. 
 
 It may add to the importance of the new marquisate, in a geo- 
 graphical point of view, if we keep in mind that Ava, so named 
 
 * M.A., Wadham College, Oxford, and head-master of Bishop Corrie's Grammar 
 School, Madras (1845). 
 
AVA, CITY OF THE NEW MARQUISATE. 361 
 
 from the capital, constituted what was originally the whole extent 
 of Burma proper. The country is generally described as consist- 
 ing of the great valley of the Irawadi, intersected by smaller 
 rivers and low hills, and having mountain ranges along its northern 
 and western sides ; another cross range separating it from the 
 Shan country. Concise as Mr. Symonds is in his descriptions, as 
 an Indian and Chin-Indian geographer, he is even excelled by 
 General Fytche, who gives the respective positions of Ava and 
 Pegu in a very few words : " The northern region was known as 
 Ava, and had a city named Ava for its capital. The southern 
 region was called Pegu (a corruption of Bagoo), whose chief town 
 and port was Kangoon."* In "coaching" his pupils in Indian 
 geography far from sufficiently attended to it will be well for the 
 coach of the day to make them bear these simple facts in mind, for 
 Ava and Pegu will now become household words. 
 
 After the massacre at Negrais, diplomatic intercourse ceased 
 with the Burmese Empire until 1795, when Colonel Symes was 
 sent to Burma, as ambassador, by Sir John Shore, the Governor- 
 General of India, afterwards Lord Teignmouth. The King of 
 Burma or Ava, since his conquest of Arakan the old battle-field 
 of the kings of Burma and Pegu in 1783, had been continually 
 threatening the Bengal frontier, which made our relations with the 
 Golden Foot of Ava of serious importance. The zealous and hard- 
 working Colonel, who published a narrative of his mission, visited 
 Pegu, and went up the river to the famous cities of Ava and 
 Amarapiira (the City of Immortals). But in the opinion of General 
 Fytche his mission was a complete failure, as he was unable to 
 estimate the real character of the people and had the crying fault, 
 so common among diplomatists when dealing with Eastern lands, 
 of overrating the government and resources of the country. 
 Nevertheless, he collected and published a vast deal of useful 
 information regarding the Ava kingdom, for which he deserves well 
 of posterity. His remarks on the mineralogy of the Burman 
 
 * The Irawadi is navigable for ships as far as Rangoon, which is about twenty- 
 eight miles from the sea. Rangoon is upwards of live hundred miles from Ava. 
 
362 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Empire alone are of great value ; and coupled with the present 
 interest attached by the mercantile communities to the Ruby Mines 
 of no small importance to the Indian Government as well as to 
 the new Company they come as landmarks, as it were, at the 
 present time; for, in a case of this kind, it may be taken for 
 granted that what once was, in some measure, must be now. 
 
 Coupling Ava with Amarapiira enforces the remark, made else- 
 where, that Amarapiira, in lat. 21 55' N., long. 96 7' E., and 
 Ava, in lat. 21 45' N., long. 96 E., have both been the capital 
 of the Burman Empire at different times, according to the nomadic 
 usage or caprice of the king. The capital was once nearly being 
 established at the city of Arakan, which would inevitably have 
 caused the annexation of Pegu and Ava in the early part, instead 
 of the middle and towards the end of the nineteenth century. 
 But the great Burman commander, Maha Bandoola, was quite 
 content, in the glory of his national arrogance, to march into 
 Arakan, provided with golden fetters, in which the Governor- 
 General of India was to be led captive to Ava. 1 * Fortunately, the 
 noble Marquesses of Hastings, Dalhousie, and Dufferin repre- 
 senting England, Scotland, and Ireland were spared a humiliating 
 march to the golden city of gems ; so they had not the honour of 
 encountering the "Lord of Earth and Air," of golden temples and 
 golden umbrellas, and (before Gautama's chief votary) of going 
 through various modes of worship of kotowing, shikhoing, bend- 
 ing or bowing to a monarch who considered himself so far 
 superior to any other in the grand list of mundane monarchies. 
 The lord of the white (or sandy-coloured) elephant also would have 
 been glad to have exhibited the strange "sacred" beast, with the 
 other glories of Ava, to either of the three renowned Governors- 
 General. 
 
 History also records that when Calcutta was in danger of being 
 approached from the Chittagong frontier, one of the Burmese 
 generals had gasconadingly announced his intention of taking 
 
 * Narrative of the First Burmese War. By Major Snodgrass. London: John 
 Murray, 1827. 
 
AVA, CITY OF THE NEW MARQUIS ATE. 363 
 
 possession of the town (city of palaces), preparatory to his march 
 to England ! Truly the assurance of the King and his nobles at 
 Ava, before and during the first Burmese war (1824-25-26), was 
 almost supernatural. It seemed as if the world were to be governed 
 from Ava or Amarapura. Strange enough, in all their rude notions 
 of military science, artillery was ever their boasted arm. Bandoola 
 himself was killed by a rocket, or a shell, at our attack on 
 Donnabew. Regardless of human life, the Burmese savants were 
 ever casting and bursting guns in the old capital. What they 
 thought of their skill in projectiles is amusingly set forth in a 
 little anecdote of the conclusion of the first Burmese war (February 
 1826). After the signing and sealing of the treaty of Yandaboo, 
 Sir A. Campbell and Mr. Eobinson (the Commander-in-chief and 
 Civil Commissioner) took the Burman chieftains to view some of 
 our troops and artillery. The "rebel English strangers" having 
 astonished them with the evolutions of our infantry, some field- 
 pieces were then brought out, and 50 rounds fired to show the 
 rapidity of our artillery movements. Finally, some shells and 
 rockets were thrown across the river. During the latter part of the 
 exhibition one of the rockets exploded at the moment it left the 
 tube, and scattered the shot around, but fortunately without doing 
 any injury. Sir A. Campbell then drew the attention of the 
 Burmese chiefs to the fact that we could make our shells explode 
 at any distance we pleased. After the exhibition was ended, one of 
 the mighty visitors, on being asked quietly what he thought of it, 
 replied : " Oh, we can do all this much better ourselves at 
 Ava!"* 
 
 During the second Burmese War, it was one of the writer's 
 amusements to collect a good deal of what was said and written 
 about the first; and, as directly pertaining to the subject of this 
 paper, the following notes, written at Rangoon in 1855, may be 
 
 interesting: 
 
 Ava and Amarapura. 
 
 As the British Embassy to the present (in 1855) amiable King 
 * From the writer's Second Burmese War Pegu, pp. 304-5 (1853). 
 
364 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 of Ava invests the above places with a peculiar interest the Com- 
 missioner with magnificent presents for the Golden Foot, accom- 
 panied by an artist and a geologist, paying his Majesty a State 
 visit of such celebrated cities, it may be noted that Old Ava, the 
 ancient capital, is four or five miles south-west from the new 
 capital, Amarapura, also styled " the Immortal City." Ava is 
 divided into the upper and lower city, both of which are fortified ; 
 but the walls are now in a state of decay. Travellers describe the 
 lower city as about four miles in circumference. The city is 
 protected by a wall thirty feet high, with the usual deep, broad 
 fosse. Ava was quitted by Alompra's fourth son, Minderajee 
 Pran, who, in 1783, founded Amarapura. What Amarapura once 
 was, Ava now is, for in 1824 the seat of empire was transferred 
 back again to the old capital, and Ava is now the centre of 
 Burman splendour, while the majestic edifices of Amarapura are 
 crumbling into ruins. The population is probably under 100,000. 
 Later writers also, including Colonel Symes, wrote in a similar 
 strain, at the end of the last and beginning of the present 
 century, on the desolation of Ava while Amarapura was in the 
 height of its glory. There are numerous temples, on which the 
 Burmans never lay sacrilegious hands, dilapidating by the corrosion 
 of time ; indeed, it would be difficult to exhibit a more striking 
 picture of desolation and ruin than that which the forsaken capital 
 of Ava presents and yet it was destined one day to be the city 
 of a marquisate ! Captain Havelock,* who accompanied the mission 
 to Ava, at the end of the first Burmese War, describes the royal 
 palace as enclosed within a vast quadrangular wall of brick, fenced 
 in at the distance of a few feet by a stockade of perpendicular 
 timbers. First portal opened, an oblong court seen ; a second 
 gate, another court ; right and left, stables for horses and 
 elephants ; leaves of a third portal rushed apart, then the full 
 splendour of the palace of the Golden Foot stood unveiled. 
 
 * Afterwards the famous Sir Henry, of Lucknow, who served throughout the 
 first Burmese War, in which served also the unrivalled sea Fielding, Captain 
 Marryat. 
 
AVA, CITY OF THE NEW MAEQUISATE. 365 
 
 At this stage, in an endeavour to bring forward sume interesting 
 facts regarding Ava, it will not do to omit mention of a fine 
 passage in Major Snodgrass's narrative, offering a proud reflection 
 for the historian of British valour. Ava itself, the golden capital 
 of the "Lord of Earth and Air," could have been easily reached; 
 but the object was not so much to conquer a country as to teach 
 a lesson of humility to a haughty people ; and so Sir Archibald 
 Campbell halted within four days' march of Ava, or say fifty miles 
 from the capital. On this the gallant Major the first writer of 
 a narrative of a Burmese war remarks : " One latent feeling 
 of disappointment alone remained. . . . We were only three 
 marches from the capital of the despot, the source from which 
 the war and all its lengthened misery had sprung, and from the 
 primary cause of so much suffering and bloodshed, and it was 
 not in the nature of a British soldier to turn his back upon 
 the Golden City without some feelings of regret." Ava would, 
 doubtless, have fallen to our arms ; and the conquest of the 
 capital of Alompra, as was argued by some judges who took a 
 more general view of the case, would have had a good effect 
 upon the whole Eastern world. Perhaps a similar feeling of 
 disappointment took hold of many of the troops engaged in the 
 second Burmese war, when Lord Dalhousie resolved to content 
 himself with Pegu, leaving Upper Burma until the force of cir- 
 cumstances propelled us onward, which took place a good part 
 of a century after British possession of his pet annexation. 
 
 Then came the third expedition to Burma it can hardly be 
 called a war the dethronement of the savage King Theebaw, and 
 a series of dacoity campaigns to follow up the annexation of Upper 
 Burma, campaigns of much endurance and suffering to our brave 
 troops, now, apparently, after a successful extirpation of so many 
 daring and wily dacoits, approaching a successful end. We have 
 never had so much fighting against robber chieftains and their men 
 before in the East ; and many who were steady anti-annexationists 
 now look with pride on the British possession of Upper Burma, 
 repudiating no longer " the force of circumstances," and ceasing to 
 
366 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 twit a prudent Government with Wordsworth's famous lines in 
 "Rob Roy":- 
 
 " The simple plan, 
 
 That they should take who have the power, 
 And they should keep who can." 
 
 It must strike the reflective mind that the disappearance even 
 of such a vain monarchy as that of Ava from the political scroll 
 of the Eastern world is no ordinary event in the history of our 
 time. The very idea of wiping out such a once famous kingdom, 
 however just the action, through the combined agency of a 
 Secretary of State in London and a Viceroy in India, says 
 much for the astonishing power of our Empire. Through 
 Lord Dufferin (the Marquess of Ava in esse) the fiat went 
 forth at the beginning of 1886, like that of Pegu, in the words 
 of Lord Dalhousie, at the end of 1852, that Upper Burma with 
 its 130,000 square miles was ours, irrevocable, immutable, and 
 final. And yet, while writing these words, towards the close of 
 1888, there is intelligence from the old land of the Golden Foot 
 that a belief exists among some classes of the Burmese people, 
 that, sooner or later, the kingdom will be restored ! Of course 
 this can never be. Pegu, at least, would far sooner have British 
 than Burman rule; and there can be no doubt that a ring of joy 
 went through many Pegu households at the beginning of 1855, 
 when Lord Dalhousie announced to the Burmese envoys in Cal- 
 cutta, who had come to ask for the restitution of Pegu and the 
 other conquered provinces, that (as rendered by Major (afterwards 
 Sir Arthur) Phayre, the interpreter), " as long as the sun shines 
 in the heavens, the British flag shall wave over these possessions." 
 
 The high-souled, chivalrous Earl of Mayo, some sixteen years 
 ngo (or not long before his lamented death), put this famous speech 
 in another form at Rangoon : " Arakan, Pegu, and Tenasserim are 
 British, and British they will remain for many generations of men/' 
 It is important to note that all three Viceroys, or Governors- 
 General, paid Burma the honour of a visit. Allusion has already 
 been made to a British Embassy to the Golden Foot, which was a 
 
AVA, CITY OF THE NEW MARQUISATE. 367 
 
 return compliment for that paid by the Burmese Envoys to the 
 Governor-General. 
 
 The transfer of the seat of Government, from Amarapura to Avn, 
 has nlso been mentioned. In 1824, a new palace was building at Old 
 Ava, of which the King took possession when finished ; and much 
 that was beautiful about Amarapura was removed to Alompra's 
 capital, which would not be a very difficult operation, the two 
 cities (on the left bank of the river) being only five miles apart. 
 
 In August 1855, an embassy, under General Sir Arthur (then 
 Colonel) Phayre, accompanied by a brilliant suite, including Cap- 
 tain, now Colonel, Henry Yule, C.B.,* the learned and highly 
 esteemed member of the India Council, proceeded up the Irawadi 
 to Amarapura, then the capital of the King of Burma. To 
 celebrate this august occasion, the gallant Colonel (Secretary) 
 wrote a narrative of the mission a splendid volume, beautifully 
 illustrated in which will be found much interesting information. 
 General Fytche, writing ten years ago, gives the following melan- 
 choly picture : " Ava, the capital of the kingdom for nearly four 
 hundred years from 1400 to 1783 as well as Amarapura, the 
 late capital, only abandoned in 1860, are almost entirely deserted, 
 and their sites overgrown with jungle." It is to be hoped that 
 under the new and vigorous administration of Upper Burma these 
 once famous cities will, ere many years, ring with the sound of 
 busy men English, Burmese, Chinese, and Indian merchants all 
 with " the quick pulse of gain," founding a Chin-Indian Bir- 
 mingham and Manchester in Eastern Asia ; and a Liverpool, in its 
 way, has long been flourishing at Rangoon. In fact, having got 
 rid of the selfish, monopolising King of Upper Burma, the 
 neglected, misgoverned, and undeveloped country, where nature 
 ever did so much, and man so little, there is no saying to what a 
 pitch of prosperity our new conquest may attain. And, as with 
 Lord Dalhousie in Pegu, it must ever be a pleasing thought to Lord 
 DufFerin, the Marquess of Avn, that he endeavoured to fan the 
 flame of a brighter day in the old kingdom during its second infancy. 
 
 * Afterwards Sir Henry Yule, K.O.S.I. This distinguished officer of the Bengal 
 Engineers famous also in Anglo-Indian literature died in 1889. 
 
368 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 To continue the slight narrative of events, it may be noted that, 
 in 1860, the seat of Government in Upper Burma was transferred 
 from Amarapiira to Mnndalay, the present capital, so called from 
 the hill on which it stands, and said to have been founded in 1853. 
 The city lies about three miles from the Irawadi; and it is stated 
 that one of the King's motives for quitting Ava, and selecting the 
 new site, "was to remove his palace from the sight nnd sound of 
 British steamers." Except as the scene of the unparalleled 
 atrocities of King Theebaw, and various episodes to be found in 
 published works on Burma, there is little to interest us about 
 Mandalay, of which Dr. Anderson, who accompanied the expedi- 
 tions* to Western China in 1868 and 1875, writes : " The city is 
 built on the same plan as the old capital, described by Yule." 
 He also mentions a remarkable incident: "When the King, in 
 compliance with a prophecy, was crowned a second time in 1874, he 
 made the circuit of the city in a magnificent war-boat, the splendour 
 of which eclipsed the traditionary glory of the Lord Mayor's 
 barge." Twelve years passed away, and Upper Burmn, with 
 Mandalay, chiefly from the combined action of Earl DufFerin and 
 Lord Randolph Churchill (Secretary of State), became a dominion 
 of the Queen-Empress. In Burma and India, as well as in Great 
 Britain, education, municipal institutions (and in India delusive 
 National Congresses), were taking the place of useless and expen- 
 sive show ; and a successful Viceroy of India was about returning 
 home, as Marquess of Dufferin and Ava but not of Mandalay, 
 from the scene of his triumphs, like another Ca3sar, having played 
 the Burmese and other games with a rare skill, to find the people 
 of these islands, while a tranquil day had not yet broken forth in 
 Ireland, more in earnest about public affairs than ever. From the 
 old "City of Gems" to the precious stones and minerals of 
 Burma, the transition is easy ; but before touching on jewels, or 
 jewellery, so much mixed up with the romance of life, a word 
 more must be said on the stern reality of our possession of 
 Upper Burma. Some years ago the writer had occasion to read a 
 * Under Colonel Edward B, Sladen and Colonel Horace Browne. 
 
AVA, CITY OF THE NEW MARQTJTSA/TE. 369 
 
 French view of Burma. It was originally published in the Paris 
 Nouvelle Revue, and M. Voissin, the author, with reference to 
 Burma and Tonquin, exhibited a better knowledge of our intentions 
 than we had ourselves. He was of opinion that as, in the interests 
 of commerce and humanity, England was endeavouring to establish 
 her supremacy in Burma, France should also definitely consolidate 
 (as has since been done) hers in Tonquin. In every sense, then, 
 the blow which we have struck in Eastern Asia redounds to the 
 glory of G-reat Britain, and, of course, greatly to the honour of 
 the existing British Government.* 
 
 * See Appendix B. 
 
370 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 i. 
 
 AMALGAMATION. BENGAL EUROPEAN REGIMENT.* A FUSILIER 
 
 ANECDOTE. 
 
 OWING to the immense interests at stake, and the vast numbers of 
 individuals who were concerned, the process of amalgamation, 
 commencing with the Royal Proclamation, November 1st, 1858, 
 was not finally carried out until after a lapse of upwards of two 
 years. During this interval serious complications arose, which at 
 one time threatened to assume the form of a European mutiny. 
 
 The troops, with some show of justice, put forward a claim to a 
 *' bounty " on transferring their services from the Company to the 
 Crown; but on its having been announced that the "bounty" 
 claimed was granted all discontent disappeared, and the process of 
 amalgamation was peaceably effected. His Royal Highness the 
 Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief then issued the following 
 general order : 
 
 " The General Commanding-in-Chief has received Her 
 Majesty's commands to make known to the British Army 
 serving in India that the arrangements for consolidating the 
 European forces of the Crown in that country have now been 
 completed. 
 
 " His Royal Highness hails with satisfaction an event which he 
 trusts may be conducive to the best interests of the Empire, whilst 
 it will be of advantage to the troops whom it may concern. 
 
 * "Now the Royal Munster Fusiliers." In the History of this distinguished 
 regiment, which " helped to win India," will be found the interesting and useful 
 notes now given, pp. 533-535. 
 
NOTES. 371 
 
 " He feels persuaded that the glorious deeds of arms for which 
 the line and local troops have been ever conspicuous will not be 
 forgotten by them now that they are about to join one united army, 
 and that the only feeling of rivalry which will henceforth exist 
 between the various corps will be a high spirit of emulation as 
 regards discipline and good conduct during peace, and of gallant 
 bearing and devotion should their services be hereafter called for 
 in the field. 
 
 "In the name of the Army, the Commander-in-Chief most 
 heartily and cordially welcomes to the ranks of the general service 
 of the Crown, the officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers 
 of the local services of the three Presidencies in India. 
 
 " GEORGE, 
 "General Commanding-in- Chief." 
 
 Lieutenant- General A. B. Roberts, C.B., who had for many 
 years commanded the Bengal European Regiment, was appointed 
 its Colonel ; and Lieutenant-Colonel (now Major- General) F. O. 
 Salusbury, C.B., who had served in the regiment since 1842, 
 shortly afterwards assumed command of H.M. 101st Royal Bengal 
 Fusiliers ; and under this latter officer the regiment took a promi- 
 nent part in the Umbeyla campaign, specially distinguishing itself 
 on the 13th November 1863, when, led by Colonel Salusbury, it 
 carried at the point of the bayonet the " Craig's picket/' a difficult 
 position in the upper heights, which had fallen into the enemy's 
 hands. H.M. 101st Foot evinced throughout this campaign the 
 same courage, discipline, and efficiency for which, as the " Bengal 
 European Regiment," it had ever been prominently distinguished. 
 On the 25th February 1862 new colours were presented to the 
 Royal Bengal Fusiliers in substitution of the last colours of the 1st 
 Bengal European Regiment (Light Infantry), which were handed 
 over to the custody of the 101st Foot, by whom they were, on the 
 18th July 1871, with all ceremony and reverence deposited in 
 Winchester Cathedral, where they now rest. In July 1881 a 
 general change in the nomenclature of the regiments of the line 
 took place ; the 101st Royal Bengal Fusiliers becoming the 1st, 
 and the 104th Bengal Fusiliers the 2nd, battalion of the " Royal 
 Munster Fusiliers." Thus history repeats itself; the 1st and 2nd 
 Bengal European Regiments are again united under one designation, 
 and although its new title bears no reference to the country or 
 
 24: * 
 
372 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 service in which these battalions gained such signal distinctions, 
 we may rest assured that the " Royal Munster Fusiliers " will 
 ever maintain the character for loyalty, discipline, and courage 
 inherited from its predecessor the Bengal European Regiment. 
 We cannot part with the Bengal Fusiliers, which, with the Madras 
 Fusiliers, Madras Artillery, and Bombay European Regiment, did 
 so much good and hard work for the early Presidential Armies of 
 India, without giving a little anecdote of General Godwin, at the 
 capture and occupation of Pegu, in November 1852. The force of 
 regimental rivalry always laudable could no farther go. About 
 to storm the pagoda, our gallant chief nobly harangued the troops, 
 in a practical style seldom surpassed. " Now," he said to the 
 Fusiliers, " you are Bengalies, and ijou are Madrassies ; let us see 
 who are the best men." A deafening cheer a rush and all was 
 over. Pegu had fallen ; but, we trusted, only to rise in greater 
 beauty than ever. (See Our Burmese Wars and Relations with 
 Burma, page 214.) 
 
 II. 
 
 FOURTH " PRINCE OF WALES' OWN " EEGIMENT MADRAS LIGHT 
 
 CAVALRY.* 
 
 " Seringapatam," "Assaye," " Mahidpoor." 
 
 Prince of Wales' Plume. 
 
 Honorary Colonel 
 
 H.B.H. Albert Edward, Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall, 
 E.G., K.T., G.C.B., K.P., G.C.S.I., Field Marshal. 
 
 This regiment was raised at Arcot in May 1785 as the 3rdf 
 Regiment of Native Cavalry, and placed under the command of 
 Captain William Augustus Younge, by whose name it was long 
 known among the native soldiery. The nucleus of the regiment 
 was formed of details belonging to the cavalry of the Nawaub of 
 the Carnatic, then serving south of the river Coleroon under 
 Lieutenant, afterwards Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Dallas, 
 
 * Historical Record, by Colonel W. J. Wilson (Retired List); formerly of the 
 43rd M.N.I., Madras, 1877. From India Office Library. 
 
 f Both the 1st and 2nd Regiments were received into the British Service in 1784. 
 Army List, 1848. 
 
NOTES. 373 
 
 G.C.B., and of a party of dismounted troopers doing duty at the 
 cavalry cantonment near Arcot. 
 
 The establishment of a regiment of Native Cavalry at that time 
 consisted of four troops of 124 men each, officers included, viz. : 
 
 1 Lieutenant. 8 Havildars. 
 
 1 Cornet. 8 Naiques. 
 
 2 Sergeants. 2 Trumpeters. 
 1 Subadar. 1 Farrier. 
 
 3 Jemadars. 97 Privates. 
 
 Staff not included in Troops. 
 
 1 Captain Commandant. 
 1 Native Commandant. 
 
 1 Trumpet-Major. 
 1 First Farrier. 
 
 Staff included in Troops. 
 
 1 Adjutant. 
 
 1 Quartermaster. 
 
 1 Sergeant-Major. 
 
 1 Quartermaster-Sergeant. 
 
 1 Native Adjutant. 
 1 Drill Havildar. 
 1 Drill Naique. 
 4 Line Men. 
 
 In April 1786 each of the six troops of a cavalry regiment 
 possessed an important personage, in addition to the surgeon's 
 assistant, enjoying the title of "Black Doctor." On the 20th 
 June of the same year, Government determined to raise a 
 fourth regiment of cavalry from the remaining supernumeraries 
 and Native officers on half-pay, supplemented by a draft of 
 seventeen men per troop from each of the existing regiments. 
 The 3rd Regiment accordingly transferred 68 men to the 
 new regiment, and Cornet Alexander Grant was also transferred 
 thereto at the same time as Adjutant. Two field-pieces were 
 attached to each regiment of European and Native infantry, or of 
 cavalry, when commanded to take the field for service. In October 
 1787 the 3rd Regiment furnished five Native officers, eight havildars, 
 nine naiques, and forty-eight privates towards the formation of the 
 5th Regiment (the present 1st Regiment M.L.C.), then being 
 raised. The number of privates in each troop was at this time 
 reduced from sixty-eight to sixty. In December of the same year. 
 General Sir Archibald Campbell ordered a riding-master to be 
 appointed to the Corps of Cavalry. In February 1788, standards 
 
374 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 were delivered to the regiments of cavalry for the first time, and the 
 form of ceremony prescribed. In the same month and year, 
 Younge's regiment became the 4th. Major Younge became fourth 
 on the list, and his regiment was numbered accordingly. This 
 was the last occasion upon which the extraordinary system of 
 altering the numbers of regiments so as to agree with the seniority 
 of the commandants was acted upon. In January 1789 a riding- 
 master was appointed to each cavalry corps. Early in 1790 the 
 strength of the cavalry regiments was increased to 600 privates, or 
 100 per cent. Early in October 1790, Tippoo moved towards 
 Caroon with his whole force for the purpose of cutting off a 
 detachment ; but the Commander-in-Chief (General Medows) 
 having received information of this design, moved forward in support, 
 and Major Younge joined him in safety with his whole detachment 
 at Cudimoody, on the river Cavery, on the 7th October. The 
 regiment (4th) accompanied the army during the remaining 
 operations of the campaign, and returned with it to the neighbour- 
 hood of Madras in January 1791. The regiment greatly distin- 
 guished itself in the Mysore campaign (1791) under Lord 
 Cornwallis, who had arrived from Bengal. The Cavalry Brigade 
 was commanded by the well-known Colonel (General) Floyd. On 
 the 5th January 1799, Government determined to attach a propor- 
 tion of Horse Artillery to each regiment of European Dragoons 
 and of Native Cavalry. [According to Major (afterwards General) 
 P. J. Begbie, by G.O.G., 8th April 1805, a troop of Madras Horse 
 Artillery was raised and commanded by Captain Noble whose 
 name was long a household word with all Coast Artillery officers, 
 and whose portrait, as Colonel Noble, adorned the walls of the old 
 Madras artillery mess-house ; and on the 29th of the same month 
 (1805) two companies of Golundanze, or native artillery, wen; 
 raised.*] In September 1799, orders were issued for the formation 
 of two new regiments of cavalry, the 5th and 6th, the former to be 
 raised at Trichinopoly, and the latter at Arcot. Drafts were made 
 from the existing regiments, and the six regiments of cavalry were 
 formed into two brigades, a colonel being appointed to each. The 
 
 * The tide of events in the Peninsula of India now chiefly bore on the Mahratta 
 war of 1803, and the three subsequent years. The 4th Regiment was actively 
 engaged during the Mahratta war of 1803-4, and was present at the relief of Poonah 
 by the Cavalry Division on the 20th April 1803 ; it also greatly distinguished itself 
 at the battle of Assaye (23rd September), where it charged side by side with the 
 19th Dragoons. 
 
NOTES. 375 
 
 2nd Brigade, consisting of the 2nd, 4th, and 6th Kegiments, was 
 under the command of Colonel James Stephenson. In consequence 
 of the increase of the establishment, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas 
 Dallas was posted to the 4th Kegiment. On the 29th June 1800, it 
 was directed that a 7th regiment of Native Cavalry should be raised 
 at Arcot, to which the 4th, as usual, contributed. In May 1804, 
 the 8th Begiment of Cavalry was raised, and the eight regiments 
 were then formed into four brigades of two regiments each, the 
 4th and 8th comprising the 4th Brigade. We should have men- 
 tioned that on the 27th June 1799, orders were issued for the 
 formation in Madras of a Body-Guard for the Governor-General, 
 and in May 1802, it was resolved that the Madras troopers serving 
 with the Governor-General's Body-Guard should be borne on the 
 strength of the Madras regiments. In the middle of 1819 the 
 designation of " Native Cavalry" was changed to "Light Cavalry,'' 
 which term has been used ever since. 
 
 The Native Cavalry, stationed at Arcot, were greatly distin- 
 guished by aiding to quell the Vellore mutiny of July 1806 ; and 
 their services (including those of the 4th) were fully acknowledged 
 by the Government. In 1817, during the great Mahratta war, 
 the 4th Light Cavalry highly distinguished itself (under Lieut. 
 Magnay) at the battle of Mahidpoor, fought by the Commander-in- 
 Chief, General Sir Thomas Hislop, on the 21st December.* The 
 Regiment, as will have been seen, bears the word " Mahidpoor " on 
 its colours and appointments in commemoration of this important 
 event. Fighting side by side with British Cavalry, it may here be 
 noted that, in 1813, the clothing of the Native Cavalry had been 
 changed from red to dark blue. In 1818 it was altered by order 
 of the Court of Directors to grey, which has been worn in Madras 
 ever since. 
 
 The capture of the fort of Chakun was a memorable event of 
 the year 1818, the victors being under the command of Lieut.- 
 Colonel Deacon, Madras Establishment. Here "judgment, spirit, 
 and decision " the three grand requisites for taking a fort, or 
 anything else were exhibited in an eminent degree. " The 
 Commander-in-Chief s approbation is also due to Captain Thew, 
 
 * " In August 1817," writes Colonel Wilson, ' the 4th and 8th Regiments, and a 
 detachment of H.M.'s 22nd Light Dragoons, all under the command of Major 
 Lushington, comprised the Cavalry Brigade serving with the first or advanced 
 division of the army of the Deccan." 
 
376 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 commanding the Bombay Artillery, Ensign Slight, of the Bombay 
 Engineers, employed in the service, as well as to the whole of the 
 officers and troops of this Detachment" one squadron 4th 
 Cavalry, one of 8th Cavalry, 2nd battalion 17th Regiment N.I. 
 (now 34th Chicacole Light Infantry), detachment Bombay 
 Artillery, and Elichpoor Contingent. 
 
 INDIAN REGIMENTS or CAVALRY.* 
 
 It may now be of interest to note that, in 1888, there were no 
 less than nineteen regiments of Bengal Cavalry, or twenty with the 
 Governor-General's Body-Guard. We have already alluded to the 
 distinguished guardians of our Indian pro-consuls of old, and our 
 more recent Indian viceroys ; but it is not generally known that 
 the Supreme Body-Guard carries marks of distinction for field 
 service. On the present occasion, with the uniform scarlet, and 
 the facings dark blue, we have " Java," " Ava," " Maharajpore," 
 "Moodkee," " Ferozeshuhur," " Aliwal," and " Sobraon." The 
 1st Bengal Cavalry, with yellow uniform and black facings, has 
 " Bhurtpore," " Candahar, 1842," "Afghanistan, 1879-80." 
 The 2nd, with blue uniform and light blue facings, " Arracan," 
 " Sobraon," "Punjab," " Egypt, 1882," and " Tel-el-Kebir." 
 The 3rd, with uniform drab and facings blue, " Afghanistan," 
 "Ghuzni," "Maharajpore," "Kelat," "Moodkee," "Ferozeshuhur," 
 "Aliwal," "Kandahar, 1880," " Afghanistan, 1879-80." The 
 4th, with scarlet uniform and blue facings honorary standard, 
 bearing a lion passant regardant for services in Sindh, 1844 
 " Afghanistan, 1879-80." The 6th (Prince of Wales's) Bengal 
 Cavalry, with uniform blue and facings red, " Nagpore," " Panniar," 
 " Moodkee," " Ferozeshuhur," " Sobraon," "Egypt, 1882," " Tel- 
 el-Kebir "; Honorary Colonel, Field-Marshal H.R.H. Albert 
 Edward, Prince of Wales, K.G., &c. 
 
 In May 1828, there were ten regiments of Light Cavalry on the 
 Bengal Establishment. It now has five regiments of Lancers on 
 its strength, including the 10th (Duke of Cambridge's Own) 
 Bengal Cavalry; the llth (Prince of Wales's Own) ; and the 13th 
 (Duke of Connaught's) Bengal Cavalry (Lancers). The pleasing 
 custom of naming Indian regiments after members of the Royal 
 Family is now in full operation. At the end of January 1890, at a 
 
 * Allen's India Lint, July 1888. 
 
NOTES. 377 
 
 grand parade, Muridki Camp, Lahore, in the presence of Prince 
 Albert Victor, Sir F. Roberts, after some practical remarks on the 
 use of cavalry weapons, said : He was authorised by the Queen- 
 Empress to say that the 1st Punjab Infantry should in future be 
 named after Prince Albert Victor of Wales. 
 
 There are now but four Madras light cavalry regiments, just 
 half the former number; the 1st and 2nd are Lancers, and the 4th 
 " Prince of Wales's Own" Light Cavalry. These all bear 
 " Seringapatam " on their appointments. The 1st also " Ava," 
 " Afghanistan, 1879-80." 
 
 Bombay has seven regiments of light cavalry, two of which, the 
 1st and 2nd, are Lancers. The 3rd (" Queen's Own ") bears a very 
 distinguished list of services : " Ghuznee," " Cabool, 1842," 
 "Hyderabad/' "Persia/' " Reshire," " Kooshah," "Bushire," 
 " Central India," " Abyssinia," " Kandahar, 1880," " Afghanistan, 
 1879-80." In May 1828, Bombay had only three regiments of 
 light cavalry, in addition to its two European regiments, its 26 
 of Native Infantry, and the Corps of Artillery and Engineers. The 
 uniform in the Bombay Cavalry is dark green and gold, the 
 regiments varying in the facings. 
 
 There are few more interesting or picturesque sights than 
 Native Cavalry on parade in India ; and on a field day their move- 
 ments are generally, as to quickness and precision, of a very 
 satisfactory character. In 1801-2, the effect the sight of the 
 Bombay column of the Indian Army had on the Egyptians and 
 Turks was, perhaps, equalled in our time, or in 1882. Of eighty 
 years before the latter date it is written, mentioning the hero of 
 Seringapatam, Sir David Baird : 
 
 " The Indian Army, in very fine order, disembarked and encamped 
 near Aboumandur. Whilst at Rhoda this army had attracted much 
 surprise and admiration. The Turks were astonished at the novel 
 spectacle of men of colour being so well disciplined and trained ; 
 indeed, the general magnificence of the Indian Army was so 
 different from what they had been accustomed to see in General 
 Hutchinson's, that the contrast could not fail of being striking. 
 But General Baird proved to them also that his troops were not 
 enfeebled, or himself rendered inactive, by superior comforts. 
 Every morning at daylight he manoeuvred his army for several 
 hours, and in the evening again formed his parade. Never were 
 finer men seen than those which composed this force, and no 
 
378 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 soldiers could possibly be in higher order." (History oj the 
 British Expedition to Egypt, by Lieut. Colonel Robert Wilson.) 
 As before remarked, the 2nd (Prince of Wales' Own Regiment 
 of Grenadiers) Bombay Native Infantry formed a part of the 
 Bombay column which did so much credit to our Presidential 
 Armies. For some interesting Notes on the Native Armies of 
 India, see Appendix C. 
 
379 
 
 APPENDICES. 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 LORD NAPIER OF MAGDALA. 
 
 THE death of Field Marshal Lord Napier of Magdala took place 
 on Jan. 14, at his house in Eaton Square, his serious illness from 
 influenza having been made public only on that date. His illness, 
 indeed, was of very short duration. He was in his usual health on 
 Jan. 11, but caught a chill in the evening, which led to an attach 
 of influenza, with great nerve prostration. His advanced age 
 Lord Napier was in his 80th year rendered such an attack 
 extremely dangerous, and the fears of his many friends were 
 unhappily realised by his death shortly after four o'clock on the 
 afternoon of the 14th. The whole country has reason to deplore 
 the loss of one who was so admirable an example of what may 
 be accomplished by untiring euergy, devotion to duty, and an 
 indomitable spirit of enterprise. 
 
 The Right Hon. Sir Robert Cornells Napier, G.O.B., G.C.S.I., 
 Lord Nipier of Magdala, was the son of Major C. F. Napier, of the 
 Royal Artillery, and Catherine, daughter of Mr. Codrington Car- 
 rington, of Barbadoes. Lord Napier was born in Ceylon, in the 
 year 1810. He was brought over to England and educated at the 
 Military College, Addiscombe. In December, 1826, he received 
 his commission as a second lieutenant in the Bengal Engineers. 
 Proceeding to India, he found himself at Calcutta, to use his own 
 language, " without friends or connections, and with nothing but 
 
380 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 his own stout heart, and his commission in his pocket." For many 
 years his brilliant talents did not find full opportunity for their 
 exercise. For almost a generation he was engaged in building up, 
 bit by bit, his great reputation as a military engineer. He ren- 
 dered important service in the construction of the magnificent 
 barracks at Umballa, and in 1845 he assisted Sir Henry Lawrence 
 in the foundation of the Lawrence Asylums, " in which hundreds 
 of orphan children of the British soldiers in the three Presidencies 
 are trained to habits of industry and morality." 
 
 In January 1841 Napier received his commission as captain, 
 and having afterwards served with distinction in the Sutlej cam- 
 paign he was advanced to the rank of Major. Chosen by Lawrence 
 for the responsible post of engineer to the Durbar of Lahore, he 
 had now an opportunity of acquiring special knowledge of the 
 Punjab, an opportunity which he fully embraced. At the two 
 sieges of Mooltan he acted as chief engineer, and was severely 
 wounded. On the fall of that place, Napier accompanied General 
 Whish in his expedition to join Lord Gough. He was present at 
 the victory of Goojerat, being commanding engineer of the right 
 wing of our army. He was also with General Gilbert at the sur- 
 render of the Sikh army. Napier's services having been frequently 
 mentioned in the official military despatches, he received the brevet 
 rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and the war medal with two clasps for 
 Mooltan and Goojerat. 
 
 When Colonel Napier returned to his duties as chief engineer 
 under the Punjab Administration, he executed his long-projected 
 plans of intersecting the country with military and commercial 
 highways. Having provided for the efficient administration of a 
 great province, he was summoned to Calcutta to assume the post of 
 chief engineer of Bengal. When the Mutiny broke out, Napier 
 acted as chief of the staff to Sir James Outram throughout the 
 operations conducted by Havelock for the relief of Lucknow. He 
 planned the bridging of the Goomtee river, which exercised an 
 important influence on the operations for the overthrow of the 
 enemy, and he was subsequently appointed to the command of the 
 force employed to destroy the rebels reunited under Tantia Topee. 
 The conduct of the latter undertaking, however, having been claimed 
 by Sir Hugh Rose, Colonel Napier acted as his second in command. 
 Napier, now Brigadier- General, gained a brilliant victory at Joura 
 Alipore, which he followed up by the reduction of the large and 
 
APPENDIX A. 381 
 
 strong fort of Powree. After the capture of Gwalior, be engaged 
 in the pursuit of Tantia Topee, who was eventually taken and 
 executed. The ribbon of the Bath was conferred upon Napier for 
 his services during the Indian Mutiny, and he also received the 
 thanks of Parliament. 
 
 The surrender of Pekin and the burning of the Summer Palace 
 are events intimately associated with the names of Sir Hope Grant 
 and Lord Napier of Magdala. In the Chinese war of 1860 he was 
 second in command under Sir Elope Grant. In the middle of 
 August the allied army of French and English began its march on 
 Pekin. At the assault on the Taku forts Napier's force was chiefly 
 engaged. Sir Hope Grant relied upon the experience of Sir 
 Robert Napier in his measures for the capture of these formidable 
 works. On Aug. 20 an attack was made on the Great North Fort 
 by the British regiments of the second division, commanded in 
 person by Napier. The day following, the fight waxed fierce, and 
 at seven o'clock the grand magazine of the fort exploded. The 
 defence, however, was stubbornly carried on until eight o'clock on 
 the following morning. At this hour the storming parties con- 
 sisting of the 44th and 67th Regiments, followed by the Marines, 
 with the pontoons gradually closed round the rear, opened a very 
 heavy fire on the parapet and embrasures, and in conjunction with 
 the French effected a footing on the walls, and ultimately killed or 
 drove the gallant defenders out of the fort at the point of the 
 bayonet. Napier was in the thickest of the fight, and narrowly 
 escaped death. One bullet knocked his binocular out of his 
 hand, and another ripped open his boot. He was struck five times 
 altogether during the assault. Sir Robert Napier followed Sir 
 John Michel's division in the advance upon Tientsin. They re- 
 mained in reserve upon the right bank of the Peiho, while Sir 
 Hope Grant pressed forward to Pekin with the first division. 
 Consequently, Napier was not in the action of Sept. 28 at Chang- 
 Ria-Wan nor in the fight, some days later, which placed the allied 
 army in position before Pekin. He was, however, sent for by Sir 
 Hope Grant, and on his arrival with the second division the army 
 moved forward on Pekin. The duplicity of the Chinese in the 
 antecedent negotiations had left the Allies no option but to advance 
 to the attack. On October 6 the Emperor's Summer Palace was 
 taken, the French being the first to enter. As a measure of retri- 
 bution for the sufferings of the European prisoners, it was set on 
 
382 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 fire by a detachment of British troops and totally destroyed. By 
 Oct. 12 every preparation had been made for bombarding Pekin. 
 Sir Robert Napier had brought his siege-guns into position, and 
 the Chinese Government were informed that the cannonade would 
 be opened on the following day at noon unless the city previously 
 surrendered. The demands of the Allies were at length uncondi- 
 tionally acceded to, and the gate was thrown open to the troops. 
 
 On Feb. 14, 1861, the thanks of Parliament were voted to Sir 
 Hope Grant, Sir Robert Napier, Admiral Hope, and others, for their 
 services during the brief but brilliant Chinese War. Sir Robert 
 Napier was rewarded for his services by being made Major General 
 and a K.C.B. He was also appointed successor to the late Sir J. 
 Outram as a military member of the Council of India. This post 
 he resigned in January 1865, when he was nominated to succeed 
 Sir W. Mansfield as Commander-in-Chief at Bombay, with the 
 local rank of Lieutenant-General. When the Order of the Star of 
 India was instituted he was made a Knight Commander, and after- 
 wards advanced to the dignity of a Grand Cross of that Order. 
 
 But the most remarkable military undertaking in the career of 
 Lord Napier of Magdala was the war in Abyssinia. His successful 
 conduct of that brief but dramatic campaign has rendered his name 
 memorable in history. A few words will suffice to explain the 
 origin of the war. In October 1862 Consul Cameron, who had 
 been appointed to succeed Mr. Plowden as our representative in 
 Abyssinia, was received by King Theodore. He was sent away 
 with a letter for the Queen, desiring alliance against the Turks. 
 This letter reached England in February 1863, but the Govern- 
 ment decided not to answer it. Captain Cameron was ordered by 
 Earl Russell to remain at Massowah, but he returned to Abyssinia 
 in June. The following October the Rev. H. Stern, an English 
 missionary, was beaten and imprisoned for an alleged intrusion 
 upon Theodore. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Cameron and all British 
 subjects and missionaries in Abyssinia were seized and imprisoned 
 for pretended insults. The prisoners were sent to Magdala and 
 chained like criminals. In July 1864, Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, a 
 Chaldee Christian and first assistant British political resident at 
 Aden, was sent on a peaceful mission to Abyssinia, Lieutenant 
 Prideaux and Dr. Blanc being appointed to accompany him. Mr. 
 Rassam having carried on fruitless negotiations for a year, Earl 
 Russell appointed Mr. Gifford Palgrave on a special mission to 
 
APPENDIX A. 383 
 
 King Theodore. Mr. Palgrave was proceeding on his mission, 
 when he was stopped and informed that Theodore had sent for Mr. 
 Bassam. In January 1866, Bassarn, Prideaux, and Blanc were 
 well received by the King, and on March 12 the prisoners were 
 released. Scarcely a month had elapsed, however, before they 
 were again seized and imprisoned. In December 1866 Theodore 
 received an autograph letter from the Queen, but he still did not re- 
 lease the prisoners. On April 16, 1867, Lord Stanley sent an ulti- 
 matum to the King, demanding the release of the captives within 
 three months ; a second formal letter from the British Government 
 was despatched to King Theodore ; but neither of these documents 
 arrived at its destination. 
 
 Meantime, the English Government determined to send a 
 military expedition to Abyssinia, with the object of releasing the 
 prisoners by force. Sir B. Napier was appointed to the command 
 of the expedition, which was fitted out in India. The march of the 
 army over the rocky highlands of Abyssinia was successfully and 
 rapidly accomplished, and the troops were soon beneath the strong- 
 hold of Theodore. So little did the King relish his first engage- 
 ment with the enemy that he sent Mr. Flad and Lieutenant Prideaux 
 to the British camp with a flag of truce, in order to make terms. 
 General Napier, however, insisted that the prisoners should be 
 unconditionally surrendered, and the result was that they were 
 all sent into the camp. Hostilities, however, continued, King 
 Theodore refusing to make his own submission. 
 
 Few episodes in the history of the British army can compare, 
 for rapid and startling effects, with the storming of Magdala. On 
 April 13 two brigades, consisting of 5,000 men, under Sir Charles 
 Staveley, moved forward to attack the King's stronghold. They 
 marched along the road which led up to Fahla and through what 
 had been Theodore's camp at Islamgee to Selassee and Magdala. 
 As they approached the stronghold the troops opened a hot fire 
 of shot, shell, and rockets, but this made no impression upon the 
 gateway, which was protected by a strong stockade. The King 
 had stationed himself here with a small band of his faithful fol- 
 lowers, but the rest of his army had abandoned the place. The 
 attacking troops resolutely forced their way over the stockade, and 
 rushing into the fortress cut down the few Abyssinians, who died 
 fighting bravely to the last. The King, nevertheless, retreated 
 to a spot higher up, and there shot himself with a pistol before the 
 
384 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 troops could reach him. His body was found dead on the ground. 
 There were three wounds upon him, one of which had been in- 
 flicted by his own hand. The slaughter of the enemy was great, 
 but our entire loss was only that of ten men wounded. Thus 
 ended one of the most brilliant and surprising of military campaigns. 
 In an address to the army, the victorious general congratulated 
 them on the way in which they had fulfilled the commands of their 
 Sovereign. 
 
 The Queen despatched a congratulatory telegram to Sir Robert 
 Napier and the army, and the news of the successful result of the 
 Abyssinian expedition was received with the liveliest satisfaction 
 throughout the country. On the return of General Napier, for a 
 third time in his career he received the thanks of Parliament. Mr. 
 Disraeli, in moving the vote, observed that happy was the man who 
 had thrice thus been honoured by his country; and he added, respect- 
 ing the expedition, that he had u transported the ordnance of Europe, 
 on the elephants of Asia, across the mountain ranges of Africa." 
 Mr. Gladstone, in seconding the motion, remarked that the expedi- 
 tion would stand upon record as a rare example among those 
 occasions when a nation resorted to the bloody arbitrament of war, 
 in which not one drop had been added to the cup of human suffer- 
 ing that forethought or humanity could spare, and in which the 
 severest critic would find nothing to condemn. 
 
 The Queen conferred on Sir Robert Napier the dignity of a 
 peerage, while the title of Lord Napier of Magdala, and an annuity 
 of d2,000 per annum was granted to the new peer, to be continued 
 to his next surviving male heir. 
 
 In 1870 Lord Napier was appointed Commander-in-Chief in 
 India, a post which he held for the usual period of five years. On 
 his return to England he was named Governor and Commander- 
 in-Chief at Gibraltar, from which post he retired in 1882. In that 
 year he was appointed a Field Marshal, and in 1886 Constable of 
 the Tower. In the middle of 1878, when there seemed every 
 probability of a war between this country and Russia, Lord Napier 
 was selected for the command of an expeditionary force, and he 
 was summoned to England to consult with the authorities of the 
 War Office on the preliminaries of the expected campaign. 
 
 All who knew Lord Napier, says the Times, will bear witness to 
 his high personal qualities. It has been pointed out by one writer 
 that he bore a great resemblance to his old commander and friend, 
 
APPENDIX A. 385 
 
 Sir James Outram. " There was the same gentleness, combined 
 with fiery valour, the same unassuming manner, coupled with a noble 
 contempt of danger, and withal, in a not less degree, did he possess 
 the fascination which bound to him by the ties of affection his 
 staff and others thrown into official contact with him, no less than 
 his personal friends." In short, in him were admirably blended 
 those typical virtues which have made the British soldier beloved 
 at home and feared abroad. Mr. Gladstone expressed but the 
 general sentiment when he said in the House of Commons that 
 "Burke would never have lamented tbe decay of the age of chivalry 
 had a Robert Napier flourished in his day." 
 
 The University of Oxford conferred the honorary degree of 
 D.C.L. upon Lord Napier of Magdala in 1878, and he was also 
 elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. His lordship was honorary 
 colonel of the 10th Volunteer Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps. 
 Lord Napier was twice married first, in 1840, to the daughter of 
 Dr. Pearse, of the Madras Medical Establishment. This lady, who 
 bore him six children, died in 1849. In 1861 his lordship 
 married, secondly, a daughter of General Scott, of the Bengal 
 Artillery, by whom he had a family of seven children. He is 
 succeeded in the peerage by the eldest son of his first marriage, 
 Colonel the Hon. Robert William Napier. 
 
 The Times, in a leading article, says : Great Britain loses in 
 Lord Napier of Magdala an illustrious soldier, and one of the 
 kindliest and most estimable of men. In the race for renown, 
 which he was far from despising, he was often outstripped. The 
 more rapid progress of others left no touch of bitterness on him. 
 He never scorned to be a lieutenant because he might reasonably 
 have expected to lead. By an experience which is almost more 
 extraordinary, when it was his turn to go manifestly and irreversibly 
 to the front, his ascendancy provoked no jealousy or envy. He 
 had been nobody's enemy or maligner. His reward was to enjoy 
 the somewhat unusual converse, and to be without detractors. 
 Goodness and graciousness such as his are not substitutes in a 
 campaign for professional intelligence and strategy. But in combi- 
 nation they become military virtues themselves. Troops believing 
 in their chief's fortunes and abilities will let themselves be con- 
 
 25 
 
386 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 ducted to victory by a Maryborough wbo grudges them their bread. 
 For one who sympathises with them, who would rather suffer than 
 they, for whom his subordinates are all of them comrades, they 
 will be heroic against desperate odds. Lord Napier of Magdala, 
 if he is not to be reckoned among the foremost captains of history, 
 had the true general's insight ; and he was, moreover, an admir- 
 able English gentleman. His countrymen are proud of him, and 
 will mourn sincerely for his death. They would be inconsolable if 
 they did not feel that he was a type of a class of British officers. 
 The Queen's army, both in India and at home, contains others as 
 capable as was he, as modest and as sympathetic, as equal to the 
 utmost demands which circumstances can make upon them, though 
 only now and then will a conjuncture happen which, like an 
 Abyssinian expedition, throws the light backwards along a soldier's 
 past, and shows him to have been through the whole, potentially, 
 as rightful an owner as was Kobert Napier of the Field-Marshal's 
 baton and of an Empire's regard. 
 
 Lord Napier had reached a ripe old age, remarks the Standard, 
 and yet had not outlived his fame. The great march over the 
 Abyssinian highlands to the heart of the mysterious kingdom of 
 Prester John is still among the most vivid of the memories 
 cherished by the present generation ; and though the opportunity 
 of distinction on this imposing scale came to the General when he 
 had already passed his prime, his name was familiar for many a 
 year after as one of the leading authorities on military policy. Of 
 all the great men who graduated in the school of Anglo-Indian 
 statecraft and war, none had a more honourable record than the 
 officer who, as Commander-in-Chief in Bombay, was nominated to 
 the command of the force to be despatched from that Presidency to 
 secure the release of King Theodore's captives. On this the 
 Standard says : <; That chapter of his life belongs to English 
 history. With what precision and smoothness the advance to 
 Magdala was made ; how admirably contingencies had been fore- 
 seen ; how waste was avoided on the one hand and a breakdown 
 prevented on the other all this is an old and familiar tale. It 
 may be confessed, without disparagement to the genius displayed 
 by the commander, that had not the mad Monarch of Abyssinia 
 chosen to bring everything to a definite end by his act of suicidal 
 dash, hostilities might have been prolonged in a most uncom- 
 fortable fashion, or, at any rate, the campaign would have been 
 
APPENDIX A. 387 
 
 without its dramatic climax. But luck generally goes with good 
 management, and everyone allows that Sir Robert Napier had fully 
 earned his triumph by his forethought and assiduous care. The 
 British public may be slow sometimes to discern merit that does 
 not thrust itself upon observation ; but when it is, for one reason 
 or another, deeply interested in an enterprise, it is not niggard of 
 rewards to the General to whose sagacity victory is due. The 
 vanquisher of King Theodore returned to England to find that an 
 ordeal awaited him hardly less formidable than that of leading his 
 columns through rocky defiles and over waste plateaus." 
 
 A correspondent, " Z," writes to the morning papers : 
 " Through this national and irreparable loss, the opportunity is 
 given to fill adequately the vacant place in Trafalgar Square. A 
 replica of the fine equestrian statue of Lord Napier executed for 
 Calcutta by Sir E. Boehm could probably be obtained for a 
 moderate price. Should a subscription be opened for this purpose, 
 I shall be glad to contribute one thousand pounds. I leave all 
 initiative to those entitled to take it ; but, in view "of such subscrip- 
 tion, I would venture to observe that Lord Napier was, above all, 
 the friend of those who needed help, and that many of those who 
 would most delight to give may be unable to do so as freely as 
 they would desire. Therefore, let such memorial be made truly 
 national by welcoming the smallest offering. Lord Napier belonged 
 to his country alone, and on principle, as a soldier, he refused 
 steadily to connect himself with any political party ; therefore, men 
 of all parties may conscientiously do him honour. The pedestal, if 
 necessary, could be rebuilt." 
 
 There is a desire among military men that the remains of Lord 
 Napier should rest side by side with those of distinguished soldiers 
 in Westminster Abbey notably Lord Clyde, Sir J. Outram, and 
 Sir G. Pollock, who was Constable of the Tower from October 
 1871 to October 1872, and was buried at the latter date in the 
 Abbey by the side of Lord Clyde. [Lord Napier of Magdala was 
 buried in St. Paul's Cathedral on January 21.] 
 
 The Berlin correspondent of the Standard says : The news 
 of the death of Lord Napier of Magdala has been heard with regret 
 in all military circles in Germany. In the German army the 
 deceased peer was regarded as perhaps the most eminent of con- 
 
 25 * 
 
388 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 temporary English generals. His achievements in Abyssinia were 
 very highly appreciated, the details of which campaign were well 
 known here from a German translation of Colonel Hozier's 
 excellent work. Supplement to " The Overland Mail," Friday, 
 January 17, 1890. 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 FIELD OPERATIONS IN UPPER BURMA.* 
 
 No. 295, dated Simla, the 14th May 1886. 
 
 The Governor-General in Council, in directing the publica- 
 tion of the despatches regarding the recent operations in Upper 
 Burma, which resulted in the capture of Mandalay and the 
 overthrow of King Thebau, desires to place on record his cordial 
 recognition of the admirable manner in which Lieutenant-General 
 Sir H. N. D. Prendergast, K.C.B., V.C., and the troops under his 
 orders, carried out the task set before them. By rapidity of move- 
 ment, by skilful strategy, and by the exercise of humane forbear- 
 ance, Sir Harry Prendergast has succeeded, with comparatively 
 little loss to the force under his command, and without unnecessary 
 bloodshed or undue severity towards the enemy, in occupying 
 Mandalay, in capturing its King, and taking possession of the 
 whole of Upper Burma. 
 
 For these services the warmest thanks of the Government of 
 India are due to Sir Harry Prendergast, to the officers and men of 
 the Naval Brigade, the British and Native Forces, the Volunteers, 
 and the Indian Marine. They are specially due to Brigadier- 
 Generals F. B. Norman, C.B., G. S. White, C.B., V.C., and H. 
 H. Foord, commanding the Infantry Brigades, to Captain R. 
 Woodward, R.N., commanding the Naval Brigade, to Colonel W. 
 Carey, commanding Royal Artillery, Colonel G. E. L. S. Sanford, 
 commanding Royal Engineers, Commander A. Carpenter, R.N., 
 Indian Marine Survey, and Captain A. Campbell, the senior officer 
 of the Indian Marine. 
 
 The Governor-General in Council also desires to record his 
 approbation of the manner in which the various departments of the 
 
 * From Tracts Military, 663. India Office Library. 
 
APPENDIX B. 389 
 
 force have carried out their duties during the campaign. The 
 Medical Department, under Deputy Surgeon-General J. McN. 
 Donnelly, M.D., the Commissariat and Transport Departments, 
 under Lieutenant-Colonel A. F. Laughton and Major R. H. T. 
 Hill, and the Ordnance Department, under Major V. C. Fisher, 
 have proved the complete efficiency of those departments under 
 circumstances of considerable difficulty. Lieutenant-Colonel E. 
 W. Begbie, the Superintendent of Army Signalling, also merits 
 the acknowledgements of the Government of India. 
 
 The Governor-General in Council is much indebted to Kear- 
 Admiral Sir F. W. Kichards, K.C.B., for the very complete and 
 prompt manner in which His Excellency placed the whole force 
 under his command at the disposal of the Government of India, 
 and for the admirable manner in which the Naval Brigade was 
 organised and equipped. 
 
 The Governor- General in Council expresses his hearty thanks 
 to Mr. C. E. Bernard, Chief Commissioner, British Burma, Colonel 
 E. B. Sladen, Chief Political Officer of the Force, and the other 
 Civil officers who have assisted them during the recent operations. 
 To Mr. Bernard His Excellency is much indebted for the valuable 
 assistance and personal energy which so much lightened the labour 
 of organising the force and the flotilla which carried it to Man- 
 dalay ; also to Colonel Sladen, to whose tact and knowledge of the 
 Burmese people and their language the peaceful surrender of the 
 king was in a great measure due. 
 
 The Governor-General in Council also records his appreciation 
 of the assistance rendered by the management of the Irrawaddy 
 Steam Flotilla Company, and the skill shown by the commanders 
 of their vessels. 
 
 During the operations which were being conducted in Upper 
 Burma troubles arose on the frontiers of British Burma con- 
 sequent on raids committed by lawless soldiery and dacoits. These 
 were very promptly suppressed by the troops of the British Burma 
 Division, who had not the good fortune to form part of the Ex- 
 peditionary force. The thanks of the Government are due for 
 these services, and specially to Major-General L. W. Buck, com- 
 manding the British Burma Division, and Mr. E. S. Symes, 
 Secretary to the Chief Commissioner, for the very efficient measures 
 taken by them to secure and maintain the tranquillity of the pro- 
 vince. The labours of the troops have not yet ended, and they 
 
390 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 may still be called on to undergo privations and to perform 
 harassing duties; but the Governor-General in Council confidently 
 hopes that, with the aid of the Civil officers, the work of pacifi- 
 cation and the suppression of dacoity will soon be effected. 
 
 It remains for the Governor-General in Council to place on 
 record his gratitude to the local Governments and Army Depart- 
 ments for the manner in which the Expeditionary Force was 
 organised and despatched. On the 19th October warning was 
 given to the Commander-in-Chief in India, the Government of 
 Madras, and the Director of Marine, that an Expeditionary Force 
 would probably be required for Burma; and on the 21st October 
 orders were issued for the despatch of a division of three brigades 
 of infantry, six batteries of artillery, six companies of sappers, and 
 a naval brigade, part of the force embarking at Calcutta and part 
 at Madras. Embarkation took place simultaneously from both 
 places on the 1st November, and by the 6th November the entire 
 force had sailed from India completely equipped for service. 
 On the 14th the force which was in course of concentration on 
 the British Burma frontier crossed the frontier and hostilities 
 commenced. On the 28th November, Mandalay had fallen and the 
 king surrendered. Few expeditions have been conducted to a 
 successful issue with such rapidity and completeness. 
 
 The Governor-General in Council desires to express his cordial 
 appreciation of the energy displayed by the Government of Madras, 
 the provincial Commander-in-Chief of the Madras Army, and the 
 Departments working under their orders, for the expeditious and 
 efficient manner in which every detail of the organisation and 
 embarkation of the Madras force was carried out. The Govern- 
 ment of Madras have very fully acknowledged the services of the 
 following officers as deserving of notice, and the Governor- 
 General in Council wishes now to add to these commendations 
 an expression of his own appreciation of their services : 
 
 Colonel H. P. Hawkes, Commissary-General. 
 
 Major-General S. H. E. Chamier, Inspector-General of 
 Ordnance. 
 
 Surgeon-General I. Irvine, M.D., Medical Staff. 
 
 Surgeon-General M. C. Furnell, Indian Medical Department. 
 
 Lieutenant I. H. Taylor, R.N.R., Master Attendant. 
 
 The Governor-General in Council also desires to thank the 
 Government of Bombay for their cordial response to the requisi- 
 
APPENDIX B. 391 
 
 tions made by the Government of India, and for the rapidity with 
 which their troops were equipped and despatched. 
 
 The Governor-General in Council takes this opportunity to 
 thank Sir Donald Stewart, who was Commander-in-Chief in India 
 when the Expeditionary Force in India was organised, for his 
 co-operation and advice; also His . Excellency Sir Frederick 
 Koberts for the assistance rendered since his arrival in India. The 
 Governor-General in Council also acknowledges the services ren- 
 dered by the Adjutant-General and Quartermaster-General in India, 
 and the Staff and Departmental officers who, under their orders, 
 have carried out the various details connected with the organisation 
 and despatch of the force. 
 
 The thanks of the Government of India are due to the following 
 officers and their subordinates for the energetic part taken by them 
 in the equipment of the force : 
 
 Colonel I. V. Hunt, C.B., Commissary-General-in-Chief. 
 
 Colonel R. C. Low, C.B., Commissary-General for Transport. 
 
 Major-General T. E. Hughes, C.I.E., Director-General of 
 Ordnance in India. 
 
 Surgeon-General C. D. Madden, Medical Staff. 
 
 Surgeon-General B. Simpson, M.D., Indian Medical Department. 
 
 Colonel B. Walton, C.I.E., Superintendent and Agent for Army 
 Clothing. 
 
 Captain I. Hext, R.N., Director of Marine, for the promptitude 
 and efficiency with which the transports were taken up and fitted ; 
 Captain G. O'B. Carew, C.I. E., Deputy Director; and Commander 
 H. A. Street, R.N., Assistant Director. 
 
 From Major-General Sir F. D. Baker, K.C.B., Adjutant-General 
 in India, to the Secretary to the Government of India, 
 Military Department. No. 1465 (camp), da ted Fort William, 
 the rd February 1886. 
 
 I am directed by the Commander-in-Chief to submit, for the 
 information of Government, the accompanying despatch from the 
 General officer commanding the Burma Field Force, detailing the 
 operations carried on by the troops under his command from the 
 date of embarkation at Rangoon to the capture of Mandalay and 
 the surrender of King Thebau. 
 
 2. His Excellency desires to record his appreciation of the able 
 
392 THE PRESIDENTIAL AttMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 manner in which Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Prendergast, 
 K.C.B., V.O., has carried out his orders; and considers that great 
 credit is due to him and all concerned for the rapidity with which 
 the operations have been brought to a successful issue with so 
 small a sacrifice of life. 
 
 From Lieutenant- General Sir H. N. D. Prendergast, K.C.B., 
 V.C., Commanding the Burma Field Force, to the Adjutant- 
 General in India, No. 38 L., dated Mandalay, the \th 
 January, 1886. 
 
 I have the honour to forward a despatch containing an account 
 of the operations carried on by the force under my command from 
 the date of the embarkation of the troops composing it at Ban- 
 goon until the date of the capture of Mandalay and surrender of 
 King Thebau. 
 
 2. I have the honour to transmit with the despatch the following 
 reports, returns, &c. 
 
 Return of casualties at Minhla and Gwegyaung-Kamyo. 
 Return of ordance captured. 
 
 3. My thanks are due to many for their assistance during the 
 Expedition, and I am only awaiting the lists of those whom the 
 Brigadier-Generals desire to bring specially to notice to submit 
 them for the favourable consideration of the Government of India. 
 
 From Lieutenant-General H. N. D. Prendergast, K.C.B., V.C., 
 Commanding the Burma Field Force, to the Secretary to the 
 Government of India, Military Department. No. 39 L., dated 
 Head-quarter '.v, Mandalay, the \kth January 1886. 
 
 On the 12th November, having arranged the embarkation of 
 troops and departments, and seen a considerable force on board the 
 river steamers and flats, I left Rangoon for Prorne. 
 
 2. On my arrival at Thayetmyo, on the evening of the 13th 
 November 1885, I received a message from the Foreign Depart- 
 ment informing me that, as the Burman reply to the ultimatum was 
 unsatisfactory, I should advance upon Mandalay when my military 
 preparations were complete. 
 
 8. Having heard from the Deputy Commissioner that the 
 
APPENDIX B. 393 
 
 Burman outposts had been strengthened on the frontier, that the 
 villagers within British territory were alarmed and deserting their 
 houses, and that a King's steamer with two flats had brought down 
 a great body of soldiers to within six or eight miles of the frontier, 
 and that the intention was to sink the flats as an obstruction, I 
 ordered the armed steamer Irrawaddy, of the Indian Government, 
 and the launch Kathleen to move at daylight on the 14th, to 
 reconnoitre the river to a distance of not more than 30 miles, and 
 to capture the King's steamer and flats. 
 
 4. On the 14th November I received His Excellency the Com- 
 mander-in-Chiefs orders to carry out operations with the utmost 
 vigour and rapidity possible ; and on that day the Irrawaddy, 
 under command of Commander W. K. Clutterbuck, R.N., of 
 H.M.S. Woodlarky and the Kathleen, under Lieutenant F. P. 
 Trench, of H.M.S. Turquoise, found the King's steamer, with the 
 attendant barges, near Nyaungbeumaw, on the right bank of the 
 Irrawaddy, about 28 miles above Thayetmyo ; and having 
 accepted and returned the fire of the enemy's shore batteries at 
 close quarters, the Irrawaddy cleared the decks of the steamer and 
 flats with her machine guns, and the crews jumped overboard. 
 The Italians, Camotto and Molinari, were among the fugitives. 
 The batteries were repassed at very short range, and the prizes 
 towed down by the capturing steamers. The operations were 
 rendered difficult by the rapidity of the current opposite the 
 batteries. Commander Clutterbuck, Lieutenant Trench, and the 
 officers and crews of the Irrawaddy and Kathleen deserve great 
 credit for their courage, and the Indian Marine officers and lascars 
 serving on board the former did their duty with perfect coolness 
 under fire. 
 
 5. The little Kathleen, with her crew of 16 men, repeatedly 
 engaged the shore battery of nine guns at 50 yards' range. Her 
 loss was one man severely wounded, namely, Robert Hutchison, 
 gunner's mate, of H.M.S. Turquoise. 
 
 6. The prizes were valuable not only as an addition to the 
 means of transport for the Expeditionary Force, but also because 
 their loss delayed the retreat of the enemy somewhat, and pre- 
 vented them from closing the channel near Nyaungbeumaw 
 according to the plans of the Italians, which were found in one of 
 the flats. On the afternoon of the 14th the . leading steamers, 
 containing the Bengal Brigade, anchored at Thayetmyo. 
 
394 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 7. On the 15th November, in order to give confidence to the 
 
 villagers near the fron- 
 
 No. 9-lst Cinque Ports Division, Royal Artillery. , -, . , ,. n 
 
 tier and to re-establish 
 
 3rd Infantry Brigade, under Brigadier-General telegraphic COinmunica- 
 Norman, C.B., namely A . , IP 
 
 Royal Welsh Fusiliers. tlon between the frontier 
 
 2nd Regiment Bengal Infantry. and Allanmyo, I posted 
 
 llth Regiment Bengal Infantry. %, ,, 
 
 two companies of the 
 
 2nd Battalion Liverpool Regiment. 2nd Bengal Infantry at 
 
 1st Madras Pioneers. T i ^.i f 
 
 12th Madras Infantry. Laingha, on the frontier, 
 
 and steamed 15 miles, 
 
 north of the frontier, with all troops that had come up, detail 
 as per margin. 
 
 8. On the 16th the steamers weighed anchor at daybreak, and 
 at 9.15 A.M. a landing was effected at Zaunygyandaung, a village on 
 the right bank, two miles below the batteries which had fired on 
 Irrawaddy and Kathleen on the 14th. The column commanded 
 by Colonel W. Rowlandson, of the 12th Madras Infantry, consisted 
 of the Liverpool Regiment, the 1st Madras Pioneers, and the 12th 
 Madras Infantry. 
 
 9. The country on the right bank consists of a series of small 
 steep hills, covered with trees and brushwood. The landing place 
 was selected so that the enemy could not see the debarkation. 
 
 10. Colonel Rowlandson was ordered to lead his force so as to 
 attack the rear of the batteries and prevent the escape of the 
 enemy. During the advance of the Infantry, the Irrawaddy, lying 
 3,000 yards below the enemy's batteries, fired occasional shells into 
 them, to which the enemy replied, but with no effect. Nothing 
 could be more picturesque than the advance of the Liverpool 
 Regiment from hillock to hillock, while the batteries were kept 
 amused by the shells from the Irrawaddy. The turning move- 
 ment was remarkably well executed, and would have been 
 successful had not the enemy been warned of their danger by 
 pongyis, or priests, who, protected by their yellow garb, had been 
 allowed to watch the operations of our regiments. 
 
 The Burmans fled from their batteries panic-stricken. I caused 
 the 11 guns and carriages found in the batteries to be destroyed, 
 as they could not easily be removed; and I saw the stockade and 
 barracks burnt. While these operations were on hand, the Mule 
 Battery, 9-lst Cinque Ports Division Royal Artillery, and 1st 
 Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers, under the command of Brigadier- 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 395 
 
 General Norman, C.B., landed, and by a circuitous march reached 
 the east face of the stockade of Singbaungwe, where it had been 
 reported that a large force had assembled. The stockade had, 
 however, been deserted, and was burnt. The force re-embarked 
 late in the afternoon. 
 
 11. The leading steamers anchored that night above Taunggwen, 
 about 34 miles above Thayetmyo, and at daybreak, on the 17th, 
 were directed to advance to Malun and Patanago, about 6 miles on 
 the right and left banks of the river respectively, and about 40 
 miles from Thayetmyo. 
 
 12. As the garrison of Gwegyaung-Karnyo were busily employed 
 in strengthening the works there, which are on the left bank, about 
 44 miles from Thayetmyo, it was deemed advisable to attack at 
 once. 
 
 The troops present were therefore told off as follows : 
 
 IST BRIGADE. 
 
 Liverpool Kegimerit. 
 
 1st Madras Pioneers. 
 
 21st Regiment Madras Infantry. 
 
 25th Regiment Madras Infantry. 
 
 Under Brigadier-General Foord, 
 to march from Patanago, 8 
 miles, in order to attack the 
 fort of Gwegyaung - Kamyo 
 from the east. 
 
 The head-quarters with the 1st Brigade. Brigadier-General White, 
 C.B., V.C., who arrived somewhat later, to bring up the Cinque 
 Ports Battery Royal Artillery, and Hampshire Regiment in sup- 
 port of General Foord's brigade. The landing of the troops at 
 Patanago could not be seen from the fort of Gwegyaung-Kamyo, 
 on account of intervening hills, and the landing of the brigade at 
 Malun could not, for a similar reason, be seen from Minhla. 
 13. The following troops 
 
 12th Regiment Madras Infantry, | 2nd Regiment Bengal Infantry, 
 llth Regiment Bengal Infantry, 
 
 under command of Colonel T. N. Baker, of the 2nd Bengal 
 Infantry, were ordered to march from Malun to endeavour to 
 capture the Wungyi, or Governor-General, in his palace, west of 
 Minhla, and were ordered to re-embark at Minhla, about 45 miles 
 above Thayetmyo. Majors Macneill and Hill were attached as 
 
396 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 staff officers, and Commander J. Durnford, R.N., with three seamen 
 of H.M.S. Mariner and three privates of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 
 were attached to effect demolitions. Brigadier-General Norman, 
 C.B., and the Royal Welsh Fusiliers had not arrived then, but he 
 took command before evening of the brigade on the right bank. 
 
 14. The I. M.S. Irrawaddy and the launch Kathleen were directed 
 to engage Gwegyaung-Kamyo at long ranges for two hours after the 
 landing of General Foord's brigade, or till the British flag should 
 be hoisted at the white pagoda of Gwegyaung, half a mile east of 
 the Kamyo. 
 
 15. The first brigade advanced from the landing place at Patanago 
 at 10 o'clock, and marched for about two hours and forty minutes by 
 a narrow path over the hills and through the thick jungle to the 
 white pagoda. Two pickets of the enemy were driven in, but no 
 resistance was made, the pickets retiring northwards ; not to the 
 fort. The Liverpool Regiment occupied the high ground east of the 
 fort which commands the works, and the enemy, being completely 
 surprised by the fire of the soldiers from the east, when they were 
 prepared for attack from the south, west, and north-west, but had 
 not a gun bearing eastward, promptly fled by the north-west gate as 
 the British soldiers advanced with a rush. 
 
 16. Of the 1,700 men who, under the command of Maung Sanhla 
 Sin Bo, garrisoned the fort in the morning, only Maung Sin Hie Sin 
 Sya, the second in command, and a lieutenant, both dangerously 
 wounded, and two wounded soldiers, remained in Gwegyaung- 
 Kamyo ; the other wounded men were carried off. Twenty-one 
 guns and ordnance stores were found in the fort. 
 
 17. At 11 A.M. Colonel Baker's force left Malun for the Wun's 
 palace, and after an hour's march the skirmishers of the 12th 
 Madras Infantry, which was the leading regiment, were suddenly 
 checked by a heavy musketry fire from apparently thick and thorny 
 jungle. While the 2nd Bengal Infantry turned the enemy's right 
 flank the 12th Regiment rallied, and reinforced by the llth Bengal 
 Infantry gallantly broke through the thorny screen, tore over the 
 entrenchment and breastwork of carts and bamboos which con- 
 cealed the enemy, and dislodged them from the village of 
 Yinna. 
 
 18. Thence the brigade moved towards the position which contained 
 the palace and Minhla pagoda ; the plinth of the latter was defended 
 by field artillery and musketry ; the country was difficult, and the 
 
APPENDIX B. 397 
 
 enemy's fire was hot; but the brilliant leading of the officers, and 
 the dashing onslaught of the men, prevailed against the undis- 
 ciplined bravery of the Burmans, who broke and fled, leaving six 
 guns as trophies to the victors. The llth Bengal Infantry bore 
 the brunt of the combat. 
 
 19. The brigade then advanced on Minhla redoubt as rapidly as 
 possible by winding paths between gardens and enclosures, the 12th 
 Madras Infantry on the right, the llth Bengal Infantry in the 
 centre, and the 2nd Bengal Infantry on the left, under the fire of a 
 7-pounder, two wall pieces, and the musketry of the defenders. 
 
 Before the redoubt had been completely surrounded by the 
 regiments which were trying to keep down the fire of the defenders, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel R. J. B. Simpson, of the 12th Madras Infantry, 
 getting together a few brave men of the 12th Madras Infantry and 
 llth Bengal Infantry, charged up a steep and broken ramp that led 
 from the ground west of the work to the terreplein of the work. 
 Foremost among the stormers were Lieutenants H. T. D. Wilkinson 
 12th Madras Infantry, and W. K. Downes, llth Bengal Infantry, 
 the former of whom was severely and dangerously wounded, receiving 
 no less than five sword-cuts. A footing having been gained within 
 the redoubt, supports immediately followed and a hot fire was 
 poured into the Burmans, some of whom found shelter in the 
 casemates, whilst others escaped by the east gate, but only to meet 
 the 2nd Bengal Infantry, to whose fire they were so exposed that 
 many were shot on land and the remainder, having taken to the 
 water, were either shot or drowned in the river. Within the 
 redoubt were taken 276 prisoners, six guns of cast iron, five brass 
 rifled guns, and two wall pieces. The redoubt was prepared 
 chiefly for attack on the river face. Our loss was, 1 officer killed 
 4 officers wounded, 3 men killed and 23 men wounded. All the 
 wounded, British and Burman, were on board the floating hospital 
 that night. The enemy's loss was about 170 killed and 40 
 wounded. 
 
 20. The navy were employed first in engaging the Gwegyaung- 
 Kamyo for two hours, afterwards the Irrawaddy and Kathleen 
 proceeded to attack the Minhla redoubt and a masked battery of 
 four guns on the right bank that opened on them half-a-mile 
 below the redoubt. The service thus performed of attracting the 
 attention of the Burmans was of great value to the force attacking 
 by land. 
 
398 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 21. On the 18th the detachments shown in the margin were 
 detailed to garrison Gwegyaung-Kamyo and Minhla respectively, 
 
 and orders were given for the 
 
 GWEGYAUNG-KAMYO. demolition of the former, and for 
 
 One company Liverpool Regiment. . r 
 
 Four companies 2nd Bengal Infantry. tne construction OI defensive 
 One company Bengal Sappers. works for the latter. 
 
 MINHLA. The I.M.S. Irrawaddy, Palow, 
 
 One company Liverpool Regiment. Ngawoon, and Kathleen, were 
 
 Two companies 2nd Bengal Infantry. sent ahead to rec onnoitre. The 
 
 Two guns Bombay Mountain Battery. 
 
 Italian officers, Commotto and 
 
 Captain Molinari, surrendered to Commander Carpenter, K.N., of 
 the Ngawoon. 
 
 22. On the 19th November the force advanced to Minbu, 58 
 miles from Thayetmyo. A harge, containing two 6'3" howitzers, 
 was unavoidably lost. 
 
 23. On the 20th November the force advanced to Yenangyaung, 
 78 miles from Thayetmyo. 
 
 24. On the 21st November the force advanced to Silemyo, 115 
 miles from Thfiyetmyo. 
 
 25. On the 22nd November the force advanced to Pagan, 145 
 miles from Thayetmyo. The T.M.S. Irrawdddy and the Ngawoon, 
 Palow, Yunan, and Kathleen, engaged the enemy's battery on a 
 cliff at Nyaungu, were uninjured by its fire, drove the enemy from 
 it, and having landed a party destroyed eleven guns and secured 
 two king's steamers that the enemy had sunk ; a flat that had been 
 towed by them was found aground some miles below Pagan. These 
 vessels would have been sunk in the channel if the enemy had had 
 time to place them there. 
 
 T . , 26. On the 23rd November the 
 
 Two companies Liverpool Regiment. 
 
 Two guns Bombay Mountain Battery. troops shown in the margin were 
 
 No. 5 company Bengal Sappers landed at Pagan, and the force 
 
 Four companies llth Bengal Infantry. 
 
 advanced six miles. 
 
 27. It may be well here to describe the usual formation of the 
 force during the advance. The I.M.S. Irrawaddy with the 
 Kathleen took up station some miles ahead to reconnoitre; 
 the Ngawoon, commanded by Commander Alfred Carpenter, E.N., 
 followed to survey and buoy the deep-water channels ; then came 
 the head-quarter steamer Doowoon ; and, following her in succes- 
 sion, the Palow, Yunan, Ananda, Ataran, Panthay, Shoaymyo, 
 Burma, Shintsawboo, Ashley Eden, Yankeentoun, Irrawaddy 
 
APPENDIX B. 399 
 
 (Trrawaddy Flotilla Company's), Aloungpyah, Thooreah, Talifoo, 
 Rangoon, Mindoon, Paulang, and Waikema, in signal column line 
 ahead at two cables distance. Owing to the difficulty of the navi- 
 gation, the steamers frequently went aground, and it was not easy 
 to keep station. Communication was maintained in a great 
 measure by the military signallers under Lieutenant-Colonel Begbie 
 of the Madras Army, and their devotion to duty by day and by 
 night was most praiseworthy. Without them it would have been 
 impossible to carry on operations with the necessary rapidity, as 
 there were but few launches with the force, and they were in con- 
 stant motion. 
 
 28. During the night the fleet was anchored in the same order at 
 distance of one cable apart, and two armed steam launches, manned 
 by blue-jackets, were sent a mile ahead as guard-boats with fire- 
 grapnels and blue lights on board. Crews were also held in readi- 
 ness to man all the boats of the Naval Brigade to proceed, if 
 necessary, to their assistance with gun-cotton charges, &c., so that 
 any floating obstacle might at once be destroyed or towed into the 
 bank. 
 
 29. On the 24th November the Hampshire Regiment and Sappers 
 landed at Kaunywa, 166 miles above Thayetmyo, to drive the enemy 
 from his entrenchments and to carry off the guns from a battery 
 that had fired on the Ngawoon, survey ship, the previous evening, 
 and had been silenced by the accuracy of her fire. There were 
 no casualties last night or this morning. 
 
 30. The force then proceeded to an anchorage near Myingyan, 
 180 miles from Thayetmyo, whence the enemy could be seen in 
 considerable force at a stockade about three miles from the left 
 bank of the Irrawaddy below Myingyan. Gold umbrellas were to 
 be seen moving about in the stockade, and columns of soldiers, 
 dressed some in scarlet, some in white, were evidently marching 
 towards the river. 
 
 31. Captain Woodward, R.N., gives the following graphic 
 description of what followed: "The Naval Brigade, assisted by 
 the Royal Artillery in the White Swan, with the Yunan, and a 
 gun-barge with the Ataran, were ordered to engage. Fire was 
 opened from the Palow's barge, and taken up by the other ships. 
 On nearing the bank, small improvised batteries were found armed 
 with small guns and riflemen. A hot fire was kept up for some 
 time, the enemy retreating into the tall grass in rear of the bat- 
 
400 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 teries. The ships slowly advanced, silencing the batteries as they 
 proceeded. On nearing the upper end of the town, the enemy was 
 found to be strongly entrenched and supported by a battery com- 
 manding the river. The enemy here showed a more determined 
 resistance, nnd it was not until 6 P.M. that the fire slackened. 
 During the night occasional shots were fired, and the enemy was 
 finally dislodged and routed at daylight next morning." 
 
 32. Late in the evening the Kathleen returned from her station 
 in front to the head-quarters' ship, and orders were issued for the 
 landing of the troops on the morrow. 
 
 33. On the 25th November part of the force disembarked to 
 dislodge the enemy, who were commanded by the celebrated Hie 
 Thin Atwiii Woon from his entrenchments ; but finding that his 
 ingeniously constructed works that commanded the river were 
 deserted, and hearing that the rear guard had left the stockade 
 inland, twenty guns were destroyed, and the troops re-embarked. 
 The detachment detailed in the margin was left in the entrench- 
 ments that had been laid out and 
 
 Two guns Bombay Mountain Battery. j i 1 j \ 
 
 Two Companies Liverpool Regiment: commenced during the day by 
 Four companies ilth Bengal Native the Suppers and Pioneers. The 
 
 Onl n c a om r p y any Bombay Sappers. force tben advanced to Yandabo, 
 
 194 miles from Thayetmyo, the 
 
 head-quarters' ship anchoring opposite the tree under which the 
 treaty of Yandabo was signed in 1826. 
 
 34. At daylight on the 26th November a large flat drifted down 
 towards the fleet; she was caught arid sent to My in gy an. At 
 7.30 A.M. the fleet, having been delayed by fog, started and passed 
 through a line of boats filled with stones prepared for sinking. 
 These boats were cast adrift before the steamers towing flats 
 advanced. 
 
 35. At 4 P.M. on the 26th November, near Nagaung, 223 miles 
 from Thayetmyo, a Burman state barge, flying the king's flag at 
 the stern and a flag of truce at the bow, paddled down the stream, 
 was taken in tow by one of the steam launches, and brought 
 alongside the Doowoon, head-quarters' ship. In the barge 
 were 
 
 (i.) Myaung Shoay-ak Myaung Atwin Wun, the Minister of 
 
 the Interior. 
 
 (ii.) U-Shoay-ak Watima Wundauk. 
 Colonel Sladen met the envoys at the gangway, and after being 
 
APPENDIX B. 401 
 
 presented to me they produced a note, unsigned, in a cover bear- 
 ing the Royal Peacock seal, of which the following is a transla- 
 tion : 
 
 " From His Excellency the Prime Minister to the Commander- 
 in-Ghief of the English War Vessels. Dated Uh decrease 
 of Tazaungmbn 1247 (25//* November 1885). 
 
 " 1. Although the treaty negotiated at Simla was not concluded, 
 the Burmese Government were under the impression that the former 
 friendly conditions would still prevail, and they could not, therefore, 
 believe that the English Government would make war on Upper 
 Burma. 
 
 " 2. The Burmese Government have always had at heart the 
 welfare and prosperity of the English people. They have all along 
 protected the interests of the Irrawaddy Company's teak trade, and 
 the general interests of all British subjects. 
 
 *' 3. We are desirous of still further protecting British inte- 
 rests as far as lies in our power, both at present and in all future 
 time. 
 
 " 4. The last letter (ultimatum) forwarded by the British Govern- 
 ment contained very important political matter, and our sovereign 
 regrets that the time allowed was too short to allow of serious 
 deliberation. 
 
 " 5. The English Government ought to have known that the only 
 reason why the Burmese Government in their reply to the said letter 
 did not freely concede all the demands made was because we 
 were not allowed sufficient time for deliberation. It must have 
 been apparent from the tenor of our reply that the Burmese 
 Government was desirous of remaining on terms of amity and 
 friendship. 
 
 " 6. The Burmese Government did not wholly reject the rights 
 and privileges claimed by the British Government, and we are 
 grieved to find that the English Government, which has always 
 been so friendly, should in the present instance have made 
 immediate war on us. We have simply resisted in order to main- 
 tain the reputation of the kingdom and the honour of the Burmese 
 people. 
 
 " 7. The English are renowned for their just and straight- 
 forward action in all matters (political). We look forward, there- 
 
 26 
 
402 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 fore, with confidence to their doing what is just and proper in the 
 present instance. 
 
 "8. The country of Burma is one which deserves justice and 
 consideration. We believe that it will receive this consideration at 
 the hands of the English Government. 
 
 " 9. If this is granted, the kingdom of Burma need not be 
 annexed. It is well to remember, too, that on a former occasion 
 Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen-Empress was pleased to 
 declare publicly that there was no intention on the part of the 
 English Government to annex Burma, unless such a step was 
 necessitated on good cause shown. As no such cause exists, the 
 Great Powers of Europe should not have it in their power to say 
 that the Koyal declaration has not been faithfully observed. 
 
 " 10. In addition to the rights and privileges already granted in 
 our reply to your ultimatum, His Majesty the King of Burma has 
 now declared his will to concede all the other demands which were 
 not at first allowed, because we had not sufficient time to bring 
 them under our consideration. 
 
 " 11. His Majesty the King is well disposed (in mind and 
 heart), he is straightforward and just, and expects the English 
 Government will act in accordance with the wishes expressed in 
 this letter. 
 
 " 12. By so doing the world will have no cause to say that the 
 English Government have acted unjustly, or with a disregard of 
 the rules of international law. 
 
 " 13. The English Government entered our country and attacked 
 us with a number of war vessels. We were obliged to resist. We 
 now desire that hostilities shall cease, and we trust the English 
 Government will meet us half-way, and enter into a treaty by 
 which friendly intercourse may be resumed between the two great 
 countries." 
 
 To which the following reply was sent : 
 
 " General Prendergast begs to inform the Ken Wun Mengyi, in 
 reply to his letter of this date, that, acting in accordance with the 
 instructions he has received from the Viceroy and Governor- General 
 of India, it is quite out of his power to accept any offer or proposal 
 which would affect the movement of the troops under his command 
 on Mandalay. 
 
 " No armistice, therefore, can be at present granted ; but if 
 King Thebaw agrees to surrender himself, his army, and his 
 
APPENDIX B. 403 
 
 capital to British arms, and if the European residents at Man- 
 dalay are all found uninjured in person and property, General 
 Prendergast promises to spare the King's life and to respect his 
 family. 
 
 " He also promises not to take further military action against 
 Mandalay beyond occupying it with a British force, and stipu- 
 lates that the matters in dispute between the countries shall be 
 negotiated on such terms as may be dictated by the British 
 Government. 
 
 " A reply to this communication must be sent so as to reach 
 General Prendergast by 4 A.M. to-morrow. 
 
 " By order, 
 
 " E. B. SLADEN, Col., 
 
 " S.S. Doowoon, " Chief Civil Officer, 
 
 " The 26th November 1885." " Burma Field Force. 
 
 36. While the note was being translated, the envoys stated that 
 the Europeans in Mandalay were uninjured. As both notes had 
 to be translated, and copies of the letter in English and Burmese 
 were requisite, the interview lasted about an hour. The Doowoon, 
 which had been leading the column, eased speed, and allowed the 
 fleet to pass on, so that the Burman officials could form some 
 estimate of the British force, and might feel assured that time would 
 not be granted for diplomacy. 
 
 37. After the interview, Colonel Sladen, with half-a-dozen 
 sailors of the Royal Navy, boarded a king's war steamer that had 
 been guarded by the Kathleen till his arrival. The envoys ordered 
 the crew to surrender her. She flew the Burmese standard, was 
 armed with six guns, her decks were barricaded, she had Burman 
 soldiers on board, and was lying with steam up close to the shore. 
 When the steamer approached, most of the soldiers deserted, but 
 fifty-seven of them were made prisoners, and a party of the Kath- 
 leen's crew took possession of her and brought her up to the fleet. 
 She is in good order, and a valuable prize. 
 
 38. The fleet anchored seven miles below Ava. Orders were 
 issued for the attack on Ava. 
 
 39. On the 27th November the force advanced at daylight, but 
 was delayed for an hour and a half by dense fog. After the landing- 
 place below Ava had been sighted, the envoys again came in 
 
 26 * 
 
404 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 their gilded boats with forty rowers, bearing a royal mandate received 
 by telegraph, of which the following is a translation : 
 
 " No. 1 sent by Royal Order. 
 
 " From the Riot Dau to Bo Mhu, Atwin Wun ; Peu Myosa 
 Maythit, Atwin Wun ; Kyauk-Myauny, Atwin Wun ; Wet 
 Ma Si/t, Wundauk ; Pendalai, Wundauk. 
 
 " When the English ships arrive you are on no account to fire 
 on them. Let all the troops keep quiet. Publish this abroad 
 everywhere. The King concedes unconditionally to all the demands 
 made by the Commander of English as contained in his letter of 
 yesterday's date. You are to let the English commander know 
 this as quickly as possible." 
 
 40. In addition to the redoubt of Ava, the fortified walls of 
 Ava, the Sagaing redoubt, and the redoubt of Thaybyadan, other 
 entrenchments and batteries had been prepared, and the river had 
 been blocked from bank to bank so that our vessels and troops 
 might be detained under the fire of the enemy's artillery. 
 
 41. Having explained to the envoys that I could not leave a 
 large force with artillery in my rear, I demanded the immediate 
 surrender of the arms in Ava and the adjacent works. They 
 considered reference to Mandalay necessary on this point ; but, 
 while awaiting the reply, the envoys accompanied me on board 
 the Palow to point out the easiest place for making a passage 
 through the barrier; and the Palow advanced to Ava, the other 
 ships keeping station. 
 
 42. After a channel had been found and buoyed out by Com- 
 mander Carpenter, K.N., I again demanded the arms, and when 
 there was still delay, I signalled to the ships placed under 
 Captain Woodward's orders to prepare to engage the batteries, 
 and to the troops to land. On this, one envoy went on shore 
 and at once returned with the royal mandate for the surrender of 
 the arms. 
 
 43. Colonel Sladen went on shore at Ava with the envoys to 
 give orders for the guns and muskets to be relinquished quietly ; 
 the Royal Welsh Fusiliers landed, and the Burmans filing past, 
 laid hundreds of muskets, rifles, and swords at their feet ; and 
 fatigue parties of his brigade were employed by Brigadier-General 
 Norman till after dark in carrying off guns from the batteries 
 
APPENDIX B. 405 
 
 and small arms from the places where they had been laid down. 
 So at Sagaing and Thabyadan the guns and small arms were taken 
 by Brigadier-General White and his brigade on the afternoon of 
 the 27th, and early on the 28th all the disbanded soldiers were set 
 free. A return of ordnance captured is appended. 
 
 44. The three redoubts were designed and built by the Italian 
 Barbieri. Those of Ava and Thabyadan are provided with excellent 
 casemates. Sagaing and Ava redoubts are very well placed for 
 disputing the passage of the river at the point where the fairway is 
 contracted by natural rocks and shoals. 
 
 45. On the 28th November the force advanced to Mandalay. No 
 soldiery appeared, but thousands of peaceful Burmans crowded to 
 the bank to see the fleet. In the afternoon the force marched 
 unopposed to the palace and took charge of the gates of the city 
 and palace. Colonel Sladen had a long interview with the King in 
 the palace. Brigadier-General White, C.B., V.C., remained with 
 Hazara Battery, Hampshire Regiment, and 1st Pioneers to guard 
 His Majesty. 
 
 46. On the 29th November, at 2 P.M., accompanied by my staff 
 and the principal Ministers of State, I visited the King in a 
 pavilion within the precincts of the palace, and assured him that it 
 was for the good of his country that he should leave it without 
 delay. The Queen-mother and Queens were present during the 
 interview. At 3.30 P.M. Thebaw and the ladies of his family were 
 led forth from the palace through the throne room, between avenues 
 of British soldiers, to the bullock carriages prepared to carry them 
 to the s.s. Thooreah, in which, guarded by two companies of the 
 Liverpool Regiment, and escorted by the Ngawoon, manned by the 
 Royal Navy, they were conveyed to Rangoon. Brigadier-General 
 Norman, C.B., commanded the escort, consisting of No. 9, 1st Bri- 
 gade Cinque Ports Division, Royal Artillery, the Mounted Infantry 
 Corps, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and the 23rd Madras Light Infantry. 
 
 47. At Mandalay were captured not only 1,177 guns, 369 wall- 
 pieces, and 6,723 stand of small arms, but also the royal dockyard, 
 powder factory, saw-mills, gun-factory, arsenal, and powder magazine, 
 some Crown jewellery, and more than a lakh of peacock rupees. 
 
 48. A return of casualties from all causes will be forwarded with 
 the next despatch. The enemy's casualties included about 180 
 killed, 333 prisoners, and 100 wounded, but cannot be correctly 
 estimated. 
 
406 THE PRESIDENTIAL AEMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 From Major-General Sir T. D. Baker, K.C.B., Adjutant-General 
 in India , to the Secretary to the Government of India , 
 Military Department. No. 1673 A., dated Simla, the ZSt/t 
 April 1886. 
 
 With reference to this office No. 1465 (camp), dated the 3rd 
 February 1886, submitting a despatch from Lieutenant-General 
 Sir Harry Prendergast relative to the military operations in Upper 
 Burma, and to the report of Major-General Buck with regard to 
 the operations in Lower Burma, received under Military Depart- 
 ment No. 352 B.B., dated the 5th March 1886, I am now directed 
 by the Oommander-in-Chief to forward, for submission to the 
 Government of India, the accompanying despatch from Lieutenant- 
 General Sir Harry Prendergast, in which the services of the 
 officers and troops engaged in the campaign are brought to notice. 
 
 2. The Commander-in-Chief considers that the eminent success 
 which attended this Expedition is attributable to the able manner 
 in which the General Officer commanding carried out his instruc- 
 tions, to the gallant and good service of the officers and troops 
 engaged, and to the efficient organisation of the force. 
 
 3. The Commander-in-Chief has much pleasure in bringing to 
 the notice of Government the excellent service rendered by the 
 Eoyal Navy and Royal Marines, and their cordial co-operation, 
 which tended greatly to the success of the Expedition. 
 
 4. In conclusion, I am directed to state, for the information of 
 Government, that in a supplementary despatch received from 
 General Prendergast, dated the 31st ultimo, the following officers 
 have been brought to notice : 
 
 Captain V. A. Schalch, llth Bengal Infantry, for good service 
 
 rendered as Brigade-Major. 
 Lieutenant C. P. Fendall, Royal Artillery. 
 Lieutenant W. H. Dobbie, 26th Madras Infantry. 
 
 From Lieutenant- General Sir H. N. D. Prendergast, K.C.B., 
 V.C., Commanding Forces in Burma, to the Adjutant- 
 General in India. Dated Rangoon, the %$th March 1886. 
 
 In continuation of my despatch dated 14th January 1886, 
 reporting the operations of the Burma Expeditionary Force from 
 their commencement to the surrender of Mandalay on the 29th 
 
APPENDIX B. 407 
 
 November 1885, T have the honour to solicit a reference to my 
 journal of operations since that date, from which it will appear 
 that the important towns of Mogaung, Bhamo, and Shwebo have 
 been occupied to the north of Mandalay, and the stations of 
 Ningyan, Yemethen, Mahlaing, and Kyaukse established to the 
 eastward towards the Shan frontier, Ava, Sagaing, Alon, and 
 Taungdwingyi being furnished with detachments. Several sub- 
 sidiary posts have also been located in places where the presence 
 of troops has been considered desirable. 
 
 2. The object in establishing these stations and posts has been 
 the assertion throughout the country of our military ascendency, 
 the maintenance of our lines of communications, the repression of 
 dacoity, and the protection of the well-behaved inhabitants. 
 
 Though the work upon which the troops have been engaged has 
 been of an important and arduous nature, it was not such as to 
 render necessary special despatches from me relating to the various 
 minor affairs which have occurred in different parts of the 
 country. 
 
 3. The rapid success which attended the expedition to Mandalay 
 was mainly due, firstly, to the efficient organisation of the force 
 employed ; secondly, to the very complete information on record 
 regarding the country and its resources ; and, thirdly, to the 
 hearty and efficient co-operation of all those who were engaged in 
 the campaign. 
 
 4. To the officers, soldiers, and sailors of the Burma Expedi- 
 tionary Force my acknowledgments are due for willing obedience 
 and cheerful discharge of duties under varied and often trying 
 conditions of service. 
 
 Discipline has been well maintained throughout, 
 
 5. I would now submit for the favourable consideration of His 
 Excellency the Commander-in-Chief and of Government the names 
 of officers and others who have more specially assisted me in the 
 conduct of this campaign : 
 
 Major-General L. W. Buck, commanding the British Burma 
 Division, who most loyally co-operated with me in pre- 
 paring the force fgr service in Upper Burma, and sub- 
 sequently organized the column which operated from 
 Toungoo. 
 
 Brigadier-General F. B. Norman, C.B., commanding the 3rd 
 Brigade. 
 
408 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Brigadier-General H. H. Foord, commanding the 1st Brigade. 
 
 Brigadier-General G. S. White, C.B., V.C., commanding the 2nd 
 Brigade. 
 
 To each of these officers and their staff my thanks are due. 
 
 The judgment and military experience of Brigadier-General 
 Norman, C.B., were highly valuable, and fully justified me in 
 entrusting the command at Bhamo to him at a critical juncture. 
 
 To Brigadier- General Foord was entrusted the duty of capturing 
 the redoubt of Gwegyaung-Kamyo. 
 
 Brigadier-General White commanded at Mandalay during my 
 absence at Bhamo, and by his energy and determination succeeded 
 in quelling the insurrection around Mandalay. He is an officer of 
 high military capacity. 
 
 Colonel D.Shaw, Madras Staff Corps, commanding at Thayetmyo, 
 protected my base at Thayetmyo by energetic action against the 
 insurgents on the frontier. 
 
 Colonel T. N. Baker, 2nd Bengal Light Infantry, commanded 
 effectively the column that successfully attacked Minhla on the 
 17th November 1885, and has since then commanded the garrison 
 at that station. 
 
 Colonel W. Carey, K.A., commanded the lloyal Artillery during 
 the campaign. From the first organisation of the siege-train he 
 has been conspicuous by the zeal and ability which he has brought 
 to bear on all matters connected with his arm of the service. He 
 contributed materially to the Intelligence Branch by publishing 
 notes taken when he was on a visit to Mandalay a short time before 
 the declaration of war. 
 
 Colonel P. H. F. Harris, llth Bengal Infantry, gallantly com- 
 manded his fine regiment at Minhla, and has commanded the 
 garrison of Myingyan since its establishment. He has shown 
 great energy and zeal in organising flying columns for the pacifica- 
 tion of the district, and has been well supported by the officers and 
 men of the detachments. 
 
 Colonel G. E. L. S. Sanford, K.E., Commanding Eoyal Engi- 
 neer to the force, has afforded me, in addition to his professional 
 assistance, very efficient aid as Chief Engineer of Public Works 
 after the occupation of Mandalay. As a Staff officer he is 
 invaluable. 
 
 Colonel H. M. Bengough, Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster- 
 General, so organised the staff and conducted his duties that there 
 
APPENDIX B. 409 
 
 has been no friction. He is an officer remarkable for energy, tact, 
 zeal, and knowledge of military affairs. 
 
 Colonel W. P. Dicken, Madras Staff Corps, Commandant, 3rd 
 Madras Light Infantry, commanded the Toungoo column, and 
 achieved a rapid and well-merited success. 
 
 Colonel J. C. Auchinleck, R.A., has commanded the line of com- 
 munication with firmness and discretion. 
 
 Colonel John Tilly, commanding the 1st Battalion Boyal Welsh 
 Fusiliers, has commanded his battalion with zeal and ability, and 
 when entrusted with an independent command accomplished satis- 
 factorily the duty confided to him. 
 
 Colonel W. H. B. Kingsley, commanding the 2nd battalion 
 Hampshire Regiment, returned to his post from sick-leave at 
 the earliest opportunity, and has ably commanded his regiment, 
 which has done excellent service throughout the late operations. 
 
 Colonel A. A. Le Mesurier, 2nd battalion "The King's" 
 Liverpool Regiment, has commanded his battalion throughout the 
 recent operations, and has been successful in action as a commander 
 of a field column. 
 
 Deputy Surgeon-General J. McN. Donnelly, I.M.D., as Prin- 
 cipal Medical Officer of the Force, has organised and administered 
 the very efficient hospital arrangements, afloat and ashore, to my 
 satisfaction. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel W. T. Budgen, R.A., deserves credit for the 
 good service performed by him and the officers and men of the 
 Royal Artillery under his command. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel A. F. Laughton, Assistant Commissary- 
 General, in commissariat charge. To this officer and to the officers 
 and men of the department my acknowledgments are specially 
 due. Owing to the numerous columns furnished by the force, the 
 strain on this department has been unusually severe ; but no 
 instance of failure has occurred, and this can only be attributed to 
 the untiring zeal and energy of Lieutenant- Colonel Laughton and 
 his subordinates. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel J. H. Gordon, Commandant, 23rd Madras 
 Light Infantry, deserves credit for the admirable state of the regi- 
 ment which he commands, and has distinguished himself when in 
 command of field columns. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel M. Protheroe, C.S.I., Deputy Assistant- 
 Adjutant and Quartermaster-General, served on the staff; of which 
 
410 THE PRESIDENTIAL AltMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 his ability, industry, tact, temper, and judgment made him an 
 invaluable member, and by his knowledge and official experience 
 has lent valuable aid to the department. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel R. J. B. Simpson, 12th Madras Infantry, 
 commanded the assaulting party at Minhla redoubt, and conducted 
 the attack on the rebels at Kado on the 18th January 1886, until 
 severely wounded. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel E. W. Begbie, Madras Staff Corps, has been 
 in charge of the Army Signalling of the Force. I have already in 
 my former despatches had the honour to place on record the great 
 value that the Expedition has derived from visual signalling 
 throughout the campaign. Lieutenant-Colonel Begbie, by his 
 sustained personal interest in and unremitting personal superintend- 
 ence of the working of his department, has conduced much to the 
 successful results attained. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel J. G. R. D. Macneill, Madras Staff Corps, 
 Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster-General conducted 
 the duties of the Intelligence Department until wounded when act- 
 ing as guide to the column at the attack on Minhla. It is to this 
 officer's previous labours in the Intelligence Branch that I was 
 indebted for the very complete information afforded me from the 
 office of the Quartermaster-General in India. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel G. Baker, Hampshire Regiment, commanded 
 the battalion till the arrival of Colonel Kingsley after the surrender 
 of Mandalay, and has been twice selected for the command of 
 detached columns. 
 
 Major F. W. Hemming, 5th Dragoon Guards, Deputy Assistant 
 Adjutant and Quartermaster-General, took over the charge of the 
 Intelligence Department on his joining the force, and showed zeal 
 and activity in acquiring and formulating information. 
 
 Major (now Lieutenant-Colonel) R. F. Williamson, Royal Welsh 
 Fusiliers, admirably commanded the detachment at the important 
 post of Shwebo. In this command he displayed high military 
 qualities, fought four successful actions with the rebels, and did 
 much to secure the pacification of the district. 
 
 Major W. P. Symons, Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quarter- 
 master-General, has proved himself possessed of the highest quali- 
 fications for staff duties in the field and in the office, and merits 
 recognition. 
 
 Major H. P. Law, Royal Scots Fusiliers, commanded for 
 
APPENDIX B. 411 
 
 some months the Taungdwingyi column with signal boldness 
 and success. 
 
 Major R. H. T. Hill, Madras Staff Corps, as Director of Trans- 
 port to the force, has rendered valuable service. Great demands 
 were made on the Transport Department for the many flying 
 columns despatched for the suppression of rebellion, and, thanks to 
 Major Hill's energy and resource in organising a local transport, 
 the wants of the Expeditionary Force have been satisfied. 
 
 Major W. B. Warner, 2nd Madras Lancers, commanded the 
 first cavalry detachment sent to Upper Burma. He has on several 
 occasions been selected for the command of columns, and has 
 exhibited zeal, energy, and knowledge of his profession. 
 
 Major E. C. Browne, Royal Scots Fusiliers, personally organised 
 a body composed of mounted Volunteers, mounted Infantry, and 
 mounted Native Police for service with the expedition, a force 
 which proved itself of great utility. 
 
 Major A. J. Stead, llth Bengal Infantry, commanded the 
 detachment at Pagan and successfully operated against the insur- 
 gents in the district. 
 
 Major E. P. Ommanny, llth Bengal Infantry, successfully 
 commanded a column against the enemy near Myingyan. 
 
 Major C. H. Sheppard, llth Madras Infantry, officiated as 
 Deputy Judge Advocate to the Force in the absence of any 
 regularly appointed officer of that department. 
 
 Major J. E. Collins, 2nd Hampshire Regiment, for skill and 
 energy in command of several expeditions against the enemy near 
 Mandalay. 
 
 Major C. C. Campbell, 23rd Madras Light Infantry, commanded 
 the expedition sent up the Chindwin to Kandat in December 1885, 
 and showed much ability and perseverance in carrying out his 
 mission. 
 
 Major C. W. Walker, 19th Madras Infantry, performed the duties 
 of Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster efficiently, both 
 in the field and in quarters. 
 
 Captain A. R. F. Dorward, R.E., commanded the Queen's Own 
 Sappers and Miners, and was a most efficient field engineer. He 
 showed eminent qualifications for command when selected to com- 
 mand a mixed force in the field. 
 
 Captain R. L. Milne, Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quarter- 
 master-General is a Staff officer of merit, and deserving of recognition. 
 
412 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 Captain D. A. A. Macpherson, Field Paymaster, has conducted 
 the duties of his department with much ability and courtesy. 
 
 Surgeon-Major C. Sibthorpe, in medical charge of the head- 
 quarter staff, has shown himself always ready to afford any pro- 
 fessional or personal assistance in his power. 
 
 Captain R. 0. Lloyd, R.E., owing to his knowledge of the 
 Burmese language, was very valuable as a field engineer. He was 
 severely wounded. 
 
 Captain W. Aldworth, Bedfordshire Regiment, has not only 
 efficiently performed the duty of aide-de-camp, but has also given 
 me most valuable assistance as Military Secretary. 
 
 Lieutenant G. A. Ballard, R.N., proved a most efficient aide-de- 
 camp. His knowledge of his profession, and his willing assistance 
 as secretary were of great advantage to me. 
 
 Lieutenant C. D. Learoyd, R.E., was a most useful Orderly 
 Officer. His professional knowledge and skill as a surveyor 
 enabled him to perform valuable service with detached 
 columns. 
 
 Captain T. P. Gather, R.E., is an invaluable Transport officer, 
 and has remarkable talent ior organizing and commanding 
 men. 
 
 The following junior officers have been brought to notice by 
 officers commanding brigades and heads of departments in this 
 force; and I would hope that His Excellency the Commander-in- 
 Chief will be pleased to take them into his favourable considera- 
 tion : 
 
 Captain K. A. P. Clements, South Wales Borderers, Brigade 
 Major ; severely wounded. 
 
 Captain M. C. Barton, R.E. 
 
 Captain J. E. Preston, 12th Madras Infantry. 
 
 Lieutenant W. K. Downes, llth Bengal Infantry ; distinguished 
 gallantry at Minhla. 
 
 Lieutenant Gr. L. Angelo, 23rd Madras Infantry. 
 
 Lieutenant J. A. Tanner, R.E. 
 
 Lieutenant H. E. Porter, 24th Madras Infantry, Transport 
 officer. 
 
 Lieutenant P. M. Carnegy, 12th Madras Infantry, severely 
 wounded. 
 
 Lieutenant W. A. Cairnes, R.E. 
 
 Lieutenant R. D. Burlton, 2nd Madras Lancers. 
 
APPENDIX B. 413 
 
 Lieutenant P. E. Mockler, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 
 
 Transport officer. 
 
 Lieutenant W. R. H. Beresford, Royal Welsh Fusiliers. 
 Lieutenant H. V. Cox, 21st Madras Infantry. 
 Lieutenant G. H. H. Couchman, Somersetshire Light Infantry. 
 Lieutenant H. T. D. Wilkinson, 12th Madras Infantry ; 
 
 dangerously wounded ; distinguished gallantry at Minhla. 
 Lieutenant H. L. Dodgson, 2nd Bengal Infantry. 
 Lieutenant R. D. Anderson, Royal Artillery. 
 Lieutenant R. C. B. Haking, 2nd Hampshire Regiment. 
 Lieutenant J. R. Dyas, 2nd Hampshire Regiment. 
 Lieutenant R. J. Forbes, 2nd Hampshire Regiment. 
 Lieutenant B. Holloway, 2nd Madras Lancers. 
 Lieutenant A. P. D. Harris, llth Bengal Infantry ; success in 
 
 command of a detachment. 
 
 Lieutenant A. G. P. Gough, Royal Welsh Fusiliers. 
 Lieutenant W. A. J. O'Meara, R.E., severely wounded. 
 Lieutenant C. C. A. Sillery, 12th Madras Infantry; severely 
 
 wounded. 
 Lieutenant R. A. P. Drury, Bengal Staff Corps ; attached to 
 
 llth Bengal Infantry ; killed. 
 Lieutenant H. P. Brooking, 21st Madras Infantry. 
 Lieutenant L. de R. Jervis, Royal Welsh Fusiliers. 
 Lieutenant J. H. Gwynne, Royal Welsh Fusiliers ; severely 
 
 wounded. 
 Lieutenant Q. G. K. Agnew, 4th Battalion Scots Fusiliers, 
 
 Transport officer. 
 
 6. I trust the European warrant officers, non-commissioned officers 
 and privates, and the Native officers, non-commissioned officers, and 
 men mentioned by Brigadier-Generals commanding and heads of 
 departments will receive suitable recognition of their services. 
 
 7. The Rev. E. T. Beatty and the chaplains of the Church of 
 England and priests of the Church of Rome appointed to serve 
 with the force have shown much zeal and earnestness in the 
 discharge of their duties. 
 
 8. To Captain R. Woodward, R.N., and to the officers and 
 crews of the Naval Brigade serving under his orders, my thanks 
 are specially due for valuable co-operation rendered afloat and 
 ashore with the heartiness and thoroughness characteristic of the 
 Royal Navy. 
 
414 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OP INDIA. 
 
 To Captain Woodward personally I am indebted for the energy, 
 willingness, and professional skill continuously placed at my 
 disposal. 
 
 I would beg to endorse the recommendations of Captain Wood- 
 ward of the officers and men serving under him, hoping that the 
 services of Commander W. H. Clutterbuck, R.N., Commander J. 
 Durnford, R.N., Commander C. J. Barlow, R.N., and Lieutenant 
 F. P. Trench, K.N., may receive special recognition. 
 
 Commander Clutterbuok, in command of Her Majesty's I.M.S. 
 Irrawaddy, in concert with Lieutenant Trench, in command of the 
 steam launch Katlileen, gallantly captured a King's steamer under 
 the fire of a battery, at the outset of the campaign ; and from that 
 time to the occupation of Mandalay, these two officers have led the 
 van of the river fleet. Commander Durnford served on my staff 
 until the occupation of Mandalay ; and his tact, energy, and pro- 
 fessional knowledge were of grent service to me. Commander C. 
 J. Barlow's march of 120 miles through the country, with a 
 detachment of blue-jackets, reflects great credit on that officer and 
 his party. The manner in which Commander A. Carpenter, Her 
 Majesty's I.M.S. Investigator, conducted the duties of the river 
 survey, is deserving of special recognition, and his labours will, I 
 am convinced, prove to be of great practical value. 
 
 Major W. M. Lambert, Royal Marine Artillery, and the non- 
 commissioned officers and men of the Royal Marines attached to 
 the Naval Brigade, have lent me very willing assistance whenever 
 possible. 
 
 9. The officers and men of the Indian Marine have worked 
 admirably throughout the expedition, and I trust some recogni- 
 tion of their excellent services may be afforded to the following 
 officers : 
 
 Captain A. Campbell, Her Majesty's Indian Marine. 
 
 Mr. C. W. Hewett, 1st grade officer, Indian Marine. 
 
 Mr. H. S. Black, 1st grade officer, Indian Marine. 
 
 Mr. W. Chandler, 1st grade officer, Indian Marine. 
 
 Mr. G. A. Lye, 1st grade officer, Indian Marine. 
 
 Mr. G. L'E. Mathias, 1st grade officer, Indian Marine. 
 Captain A. Campbell, Her Majesty's Indian Marine, as senior 
 Marine transport officer, was of invaluable service in organising 
 and marshalling the large fleet of river steamers that conveyed the 
 force to Mandalay. 
 
APPENDIX B. 415 
 
 10. I would beg to tender my sincere acknowledgments to Mr. 
 C. E. Bernard, O.S.I., Chief Commissioner of British Burma, for 
 the hearty support and co-operation which he has extended to me 
 from the commencement of the expedition ; and to Colonel Sladen 
 my thanks are due for the able assistance which his extended 
 acquaintance with Upper Burmah has enabled him to place at my 
 service. 
 
 11. I would also wish to acknowledge the services of Mr. 
 Kennedy, the Manager of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, and 
 of the commanders and crews of the steamers of the Company, 
 who, by their skill and willing co-operation, have contributed so 
 much to the safety and comfort of the troops and to the success of 
 the expedition. 
 
 12. I would solicit the attention of His Excellency the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief to the special opportunities afforded by this 
 campaign, in its latter phases, to officers of comparatively junior 
 rank, to show the military qualities that they possess, owing to the 
 great number of independent minor operations which have been 
 undertaken. It has thus been possible to select a considerable 
 number of junior officers as deserving of special notice, and I trust 
 that each may obtain some recognition of his services. 
 
 As regards the officers of the Madras Army thus brought to 
 notice, I would venture to invite His Excellency the Commander- 
 in-Chief to bear in memory that the Coast Army has lately had few 
 opportunities of seeing service, and I would very respectfully 
 submit that the present is a favourable opportunity to give pro- 
 motion to comparatively young officers who may appear to merit 
 it, thus infusing a new life into the army without injury to tha 
 professional feeling of those who have not been fortunate enough 
 to participate in the campaign. 
 
 [Let us now repeat Lord Dalhousie's famous words concerning 
 Pegu, and hope that "As long as the sun shines in the heavens, 
 the British flag shall wave over" Upper Burma! W. F. B. L.] 
 
416 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 " THE NATIVE ARMIES OF INDIA." * 
 
 BEFORE extracting the valuable matter on this subject, a few 
 words may be considered necessary. 
 
 Nothing can be more gratifying to an old Indian officer than to 
 see an interest taken at home, not only by those who have long 
 and faithfully served the great East India Company, but by officers 
 who have never been directly connected with it, yet have long been 
 fully alive to the merits and advantages it possessed, in the greatest 
 Eastern local military combination in days gone by, commercial 
 as well as military the world ever saw. And well may Major- 
 General Sir F. Goldsmid, at the beginning of a most interesting 
 article on " The Native Armies," remark that "it is pleasant to 
 see, on so enlightened a platform as that of the Royal United 
 Service Institution, an attempt made to call attention to the three 
 Presidency Armies of India, not only as they exist in figures or as 
 a statistical fragment, but as an actual living body, capable of 
 offence and defence, and not unlikely to be required some day to 
 furnish proofs of loyalty and devotion." 
 
 The three lectures, or " statements," delivered respectively on 
 the Bengal, Madras, and Bombay armies, by Major-General 
 Gordon, General Michael, and Major-General W. E. Macleod, 
 contained many suggestive remarks. The distinguished author of 
 the article himself rose in the 37th Madras Native Infantry 
 (Grenadiers), raised in that Presidency June 1800, and bearing on 
 its colours and appointments a " Dragon " and " China/' He 
 served with the expedition to China in 1840-42, and was present 
 at the taking of Chuenpee and Bogue Forts, on the 7th January 
 and 25th February 1841 respectively. As a brevet-major, in June 
 1860, he was still serving in Sindh as an assistant to the Com- 
 missioner for Jagheer Inquiries ; and eventually rose to a high 
 
 * Article by Major-General Sir F. J. Uoldsmid, K.C.S.L, C.B., Asiatic Quarterly 
 Review, vol. vi., p. 17. (1888.) 
 
APPENDIX C. 417 
 
 position as Director-General of Telegraphs, concluding a most 
 useful if not brilliant career, by, among his other literary labours, 
 writing a life of the "Lion-Hearted " General Outram a Bombay 
 Native Infantry officer who, as the Bayard of the Indian Army, 
 " lived not for an age, but for all time/' 
 
 " A plain, straightforward account of the Native Army of Bengal 
 was given by Major-General Gordon, who stated his case under 
 the a3gis of a well-qualified chairman, Sir Peter Luinsden. 
 Reducing his eight heads of exposition into three paragraphs, and 
 interpolating an occasional note or comment, we may summarise 
 the statement as follows : 
 
 " 1. His army, including the Panjab Frontier Force, consists of 
 twenty-four regiments of cavalry, sixty-four battalions of infantry, 
 a corps of sappers and miners, and four mountain-batteries of 
 artillery. These, with the Corps of Guides, may be considered, 
 for the sake of lucidity, as the Bengal army proper. There are, 
 however, besides, under the orders of the Government of India, six 
 regiments of cavalry, twelve battalions of infantry, and four field- 
 batteries, comprising the Haidarabad contingent, Rajputana and 
 Central India local levies, and the Central India Horse, all, except 
 the last-named, organised on the old irregular system, with two to 
 four British officers attached to each corps. Two-thirds of the 
 army of Bengal proper are recruited from Northern India and 
 Nepal, and one-third from the North-West Provinces. Of the 
 twenty-four cavalry regiments, three designated as * class ' arc 
 wholly Muhammadan, and two Hindu; the remaining nineteen 
 have ' class ' troops, formed separately as the regiments. ^_In the 
 infantry, twenty-two nf H 1P ciVfy-frmv Ttf Q i;^n C Le_ t-hiflfpfip 
 Gurkha, five Sikh, one Dogra. and three Muzbi, are * class,' and 
 forty-two have 'class' nnmpanifia r Thft sappers have * class' 
 ^companies. Of the mountain-batteries nothing is said in this 
 respect; but, according to the Army List, while there is one 
 Muhammadan among the three native officers of No. 1 Battery, 
 there are two Muhammadans out of the three in No. 2. The 
 cavalry regiments are numbered from 1 to 19 [as stated in 
 Note II.] as Bengal Cavalry; of these the 9th, 10th, llth, 13th, 
 14th, 18th, and 19th are Lancers; the remaining five are sepa- 
 rately numbered as Panjab Cavalry. Each regiment has eight 
 
 27 
 
418 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 troops or four squadrons, with a complement of 9 British officers 
 (including commandant and adjutant), 17 native officers, 64 non- 
 commissioned, 8 trumpeters, and 536 sowars. Among the native 
 commissioned one is rissaldar major, and one native adjutant. 
 Foot regiments are numbered 1 to 45 as Bengal Infantry ; 1 to 
 5 Gurkhas, each with two battalions ; 1 to 4 Sikh ; and 1 to 6 
 Panjab. There are eight companies to the battalion, and eight 
 British officers; but as these in-clude a commandant, two wing 
 commanders, an adjutant and a quartermaster, there are but three 
 left for ordinary regimental duty. Of natives there are 16 
 commissioned (including a subadar major and jemadar adjutant), 
 40 havildars or sergeants, 40 naiks or corporals, 16 drummers, and 
 800 privates. The Corps of Guides of the Panjab Frontier Force 
 consists of six troops of cavalry and eight companies of infantry, 
 under one commandant. It has 14 British officers, and a 
 strength of 1,381 natives of all ranks. The Corps of Sappers 
 has six service and two depot companies, 20 European officers, 
 inclusive of commandant, adjutant, superintendent of park and 
 superintendent of instruction, a warrant officer and non-commis- 
 sioned officers of Royal Engineers, and a total of 1,431 natives. 
 Each mountain-battery of six guns has with it 4 British officers 
 of Eoyal Artillery, 3 native officers, 98 gunners and non-commis- 
 sioned officers, and 138 drivers. A British medical officer, with 
 native hospital establishment, is attached to every regiment. The 
 question of reserves has not been lost sight of, and a system is 
 now under formation providing for two kinds active and garrison/' 
 
 " General Michael's paper on jihe Madras army takes us back to 
 1758, when the local Government began to raise regiments com- 
 posed of inhabitants from the Carnatic. First, companies of one 
 hundred men were duly formed and officered ; then these companies 
 became parts of battalions, of which there were ten in 1765, and 
 sixteen in 1767. In the re-organisation of 1796, the establish- 
 ment of native infantry was fixed at eleven regiments, each of two 
 battalions ; and in 1837, the year of Her Majesty's accession, 
 there were fifty-two single battalion regiments. Half a century 
 lat er or a t the present time the infantry of the Madras army is 
 found to consist of thirty-two regiments only. 
 
 " A battalion of native artillery, consisting of ten companies, 
 
APPENDIX 0. 419 
 
 was formed in 1784, prior to which date native Gun Lascars had 
 been attached to the European^artillery. This arrangement appears 
 to have been short-lived ; but in 1796 there were two battalions of 
 five companies each ; and in 1837, three troops of Horse Artillery 
 and one battalion of Foot Artillery. Now, we look in vain for the 
 Golundaz, or native gunners, in Madras. 
 
 ft Four regiments, taken over by the East India Company in 1780 
 from the Nawab of the Carnatic, and permanently enlisted by their 
 new masters in 1784, may be considered as forming the first nucleus 
 of Madras Cavalry. In 1796 the same number of regiments held 
 good, with much the same strength in troopers, but a slight reduc- 
 tion in native officers ; and in 1837 there were no less than eight 
 regiments. At present the number has been reduced to the old 
 standard of four. The Madras Sappers and Miners date from 1780, 
 when they were called * Pioneers ' and officered from the line. In 
 1831 Engineer officers were appointed to command and instruct 
 them ; and under the designation which it now bears, this dis- 
 tinguished corps has continued for more than half a century to do 
 credit to the presidency in which it originated. Two regiments on 
 the strength of the Madras Native Infantry, made * Pioneers ' in 
 1883, may be considered, in some sense, practically qualified to 
 act as sappers. 
 
 " The present strength of native regiments is put down as 
 follows : 
 
 "Cavalry. 9 European and 12 native officers; with 514 non- 
 dommissioned, rank and file. 
 
 " Sappers. 22 commissioned and 67 non-commissioned 
 European officers; with 24 commissioned and 1,384 non-com- 
 missioned native officers, rank and file. 
 
 " Infantry. 9 European and 16 native officers, with 873 non- 
 commissioned, rank and file. 
 
 " In the cavalry the proportion of Musalmans is beyond tbree- 
 fourths, or i^Ifi.r.'lfV 1 f & R * n f *** SUppP.ra morQ than an eighth 
 are Telingas, nearly a sixth are Christians, aboutjone-fourth are 
 'Tamils, and considerably more than a third are of unspecified 
 caste. In the infantry, while more than a third are Muhammadans, 
 more than a tenth Tamils, and more than three-eighths Telingas, 
 there are not a fifteenth part Christians. At tne same time it 
 should be noted t.W. nf f,frf> fnghpr nn.Hvft p^'fl^p.-. -Tiara designated 
 Brahman and Raput f^firfi i t. *" ^ fo""d nn ft m fln in thirty. 
 
420 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 " The standard height for recruits is 5 feet 6 inches for cavalry, 
 and 5 feet 5 inches for infantry and sappers; aged from sixteen to 
 twenty-two. Much the same discipline is exacted from the enlisted 
 sipahi as in Bengal. The British commandant, whose confidential 
 officer is the subadar major, is paramount in his regiment. Next 
 below him in rank is the second in command, who is the senior 
 wing or squadron commander. Wing and squadron commanders are 
 answerable for the appearance, discipline, and officering of their half 
 battalions or squadrons, and for the instruction of their officers, 
 European and native. The quartermaster of a native regiment 
 is responsible for all the public buildings used, and generally for the 
 lines and bazar. Subadars command their troops or companies on 
 parade, instruct them in drill, and are responsible for their order in 
 lines and barracks, and the due intimation to them of all legitimate 
 orders. Jemadars are the native subalterns, taking their turn of 
 duty with the subadars as regimental officer of the day. Punishments 
 awardable without court-martial are, with little exception, such as 
 extra drill within prescribed limits, inflicted by the commanding 
 officer. A prisoner has the option of being tried by European or 
 native officers. Public quarters are not provided for the sipahi, 
 who pays for his hut as well as his food, and receives a grant in aid 
 called hutting money, according to rank, on every change of station. 
 These huts, being the property of the men, are purchased by one 
 regiment from another on relief, at a valuation set upon them by a 
 committee of native officers. In order to encourage the establish- 
 ment, in the lines, of regimental bazars, advances to tradesmen for 
 the purpose are made under authority. The sipahi is nominally 
 allowed to have only two adult relatives living in his hut, or one 
 adult with unmarried daughters or young male children; but much 
 is left to the discretion of the commandant, and it often happens 
 that the native officer or soldier has several members of his family 
 living with and dependent on him. In the cavalry the pay is from 
 Us. 50 to Rs. 150 for commissioned officers not on the staff, with 
 an allowance for carriage of Es. 30 in the field or marching, and 
 Es. 50 more for a subadar major, or Es. 17a for a jemadar adjutant ; 
 while it ranges from Es. 9 to Es. 20 for rank and file and non-com- 
 missioned, with field batta from Es. 1 J to Es. 5, and staff allow- 
 ances from Es. 3J to Es. 21. For the infantry and sappers, the figures 
 are from Ks. 40 to Es. 100 ; commissioned officers, exclusive of 
 field batta, from Es. 7J to Es. 15, and staff allowances Es. 17j to 
 
APPENDIX 0. 421 
 
 Rs. 50; and Rs. 7 to Rs. 14 for rank and file and non-commissioned, 
 with field batta from Rs. 1^ toRs. 10. Promotion to the rank of 
 native officer is usually made by selection from the non-commis- 
 sioned ranks ; but Government has the power (exercised in two 
 instances only known to the lecturer) of bestowing direct commis- 
 sions on gentlemen of position." 
 
 " Major-General W. E. Macleod, an officer of regimental and 
 staff experience during an Indian service of thirty years, is the 
 lecturer on the Bombay army. He states that when he joined in 
 1838, the native cavalry was represented by three regiments of 
 regulars and Poonah Irregular horse ; the artillery consisted of 
 Golundaz. There were twenty-six regiments of regular infantry, 
 one marine battalion, and some local irregulars. In later years 
 the strength of the cavalry was increased by Jacob's Irregular 
 Horse, the Guzerat Irregular, and Southern Mahratta Horse; 
 and of the infantry by three native regular and two Baluch battalions. 
 A Sindh Camel Corps was also raised, and the ' Aden Troop ' 
 formed from drafts of irregular cavalry. It would be somewhat 
 foreign to the purpose of this sketch to follow General Macleod 
 in his account of the services of particular regiments until 1844, 
 when the withdrawal from Afghanistan has been effected and 
 Scind annexed to British India ; but we may extract a few 
 practical paragraphs, or portions of paragraphs,Jllustrative of the 
 old system, under the head of ' Interior Economy ' : ' Each com- 
 pany under a British officer was divided into sub-divisions and 
 sections, each sub-division under a native officer, and each section 
 under non-commissioned officers, responsible for the supervision 
 of the men. As to the state of their arms, accoutrements, ammu- 
 nition, equipment, and regimental necessaries, the cleanliness of 
 their lines, and all matters of duty and discipline conducive to 
 good behaviour, each section had a due proportion of ' caste ' and 
 ' country.' 
 
 "A return of ' country,' 'caste,' 'age/ 'height,' of each 
 rank in a company (prepared by company officers) was furnished 
 in ' one regimental form ' to army head-quarters periodically. 
 
 :t The periodical promotion rolls furnished by company officers 
 received the careful scrutiny and attention, of the commanding 
 officer before the promotions were confirmed and published in 
 
422 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 regimental orders; and this scrutiny had regard to length of 
 service; but the system which guided such promotions through 
 the different grades from lance-naique to native officer was dis- 
 tinctly that of selection, and with regard for efficiency and a due 
 balance of caste and nationality. 
 
 "The men's lines were subject to the supervision of the quarter- 
 master, but each of the company authorities were responsible, 
 through him and by constant inspection, to the commanding officer 
 as to their general cleanliness and neatness. No strangers were 
 allowed to live in the lines without (through the company autho- 
 rities) the permission of the commanding officer. 
 
 " In the Bombay army the men were never separated from their 
 arms, accoutrements, and ammunition, either in quarters, on the 
 march, or service, except at sea. when, according to the Bombay 
 army rules for such occasions, they were lodged in the places 
 pointed out for the purpose by the vessel's authorities. 
 
 "The word * fatigue duty.* in garrison, field, or board ship, in 
 the Bombay Native Army, included every employment under that 
 head as performed by British regiments, and the men were detailed 
 for it as they stood on the company roster, without any reference to 
 ' caste or cmintry ' ; and within my long experience of regimental 
 duty I. know of no ' fatigue duty ' that~has not been always per- 
 formed by the sepoys with readiness and cheerfulness. 
 
 "The adjutant of the regiment was responsible to the com- 
 manding officer for every detail of the regiment connected with 
 drill, duty, and discipline, theoretical and practical, and, except on 
 holidays, was expected to be on the * drill ' (recruit) ground or 
 parade every morning and evening. His immediate subordinates 
 were the native adjutant, havildar major ; and Jhe staff of drill- 
 masters (in proportion to the number of recruits) were selected by 
 ^him for efficiency and smartness, and without any reference to 
 ' caste.' Some of the old stamp of Bombay men were very smart 
 "Drills and good teachers 
 
 " Though no complete statement of the actual strength in these 
 days of the Bombay Army under the new organisation is given, 
 the number of infantry corps is alluded to in the following passage, 
 referring to the possible quarters of disturbance in Western 
 India : 
 
 " ' All these . . . may any day call forth again the services of 
 the Bombay Native Army, which in 1838 numbered twenty-six 
 
APPENDIX 0. 423 
 
 regiments for service within the strictly-speaking Bombay limits ; 
 again, now in 1888, twenty-two regiments only, with their service 
 extended to Scinde, Quetta, Southern Mahratta country, and Raj- 
 pootana ; for, of the present thirty regiments, three Belooch and 
 one marine battalion are, so to say, local, and four good old 
 faithful regiments have, for financial reasons, been recently swept 
 away from the Bombay native infantry/ 
 
 " Seven cavalry regiments (irrespective of the Aden Troop and 
 Body-guard), of which two are lancers, two ' Jacob's Horse,' one 
 is ' Poona Horse,' one light cavalry, and one so-called * Baluch 
 Horse.' ... A commandant, four squadron commanders, and 
 four squadron officers are attached to each as the European com- 
 plement. The strength in natives is seventeen commissioned and 
 608 non-commissioned officers and troopers. 
 
 " Two mountain-batteries of native artillery ; uniform dark blue 
 and gold, with scarlet facings. Strength : four European and 
 three native officers, with 98 non-commissioned trumpeters and 
 gunners ; drivers and others of all ranks, 208. 
 
 " Sappers and miners, of which there are four working com- 
 panies and one depot company. For these there is a commandant, 
 a superintendent of instruction and second in command, an ad- 
 jutant, an instructor in army signalling and telegraphy, five com- 
 pany commanders and five company officers, and five * unattached ' 
 all Eoyal Engineers. Uniform scarlet and gold, with blue 
 facings. Strength: one warrant officer, two staff sergeants, and 
 thirty-four European sergeants and others ; fifteen native commis- 
 sioned, eighty havildars and naiks, and 772 sappers, including 
 buglers and recruit boys. Of native infantry there are twenty-six 
 regiments, including the marine and three Baluch battalions men- 
 tioned above. Two of these are grenadiers, six light infantry, and 
 one is a corps of rifles. Ten have red uniforms with yellow facings ; 
 four red with emerald green ; four red with white ; three red with 
 black ; one red with sky blue ; three have dark green uniforms with 
 scarlet, and one rifle green with red facings. Strength : one com- 
 mandant, two wing commanders, and five wing officers ; sixteen 
 native commissioned, and 816 non-commissioned, rank and file, 
 and others." 
 
 Although space prevents any more extracts from Sir Frederick's 
 most interesting and useful essay, as regarding the Native Armies, 
 
424 THE PRESIDENTIAL ARMIES OF INDIA. 
 
 we cannot conclude without highly recommending the entire article 
 to our readers, and citing an excellent passage wherein, with the 
 dignity of a Whitefield while appealing for funds to build a church, 
 lie sends round the hat to Government for a suitable building one 
 in keeping with the now far-famed Koyal United Service Institution : 
 " Would it be State extravagance/' he says, " to give it a habita- 
 tion from the public purse worthy of the only representative society 
 of the interests generally of the British army and navy ? Would 
 it be State economy to throw the onus of a new building upon the 
 shoulders of naval and military officers, who, take them all in all, 
 can hardly be classed with the wealthiest sons of this wealthy 
 country ? It is no exaggeration to say that much time is given to 
 the discussion, by our legislators, of questions less weighty than 
 these/' The very fact of the Institution being the scene where so 
 much light was thrown on the " Native Armies of India," alone 
 shows its utility ; for, without it, such an important subject would 
 probably never have been brought before an intelligent public, in 
 general ignorant of, and indifferent to, even weighty Indian affairs. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abyssinian War, origin of, 382 ; storm- 
 ing of Magdala (1867), 383. 
 
 Acheen, in Sumatra, E. I. Company's 
 factory at, 24, 
 
 Adams, Maj., victor of Gheriah and 
 U'ndwah Nala (1763), 229-31. 
 
 Adlercron, Col., in command of Madras 
 army (1754), 160 
 
 Adnet, Capt., killed at Condore (1758), 
 277. 
 
 African Company, formed 1662, 42. 
 
 Afzul Khan, murdered by Shivaji 
 (1652), 48. 
 
 Ahmedabad, celebration of Queen's Jubi- 
 lee at, 326. 
 
 Ahmed Shah, son of Mahomed Shah, 
 succeeds his father (1748), 127. 
 
 Aislabie, appointed Governor of Bom- 
 bay (1708), 106. 
 
 Akbar, Emperor, his reign, 9. 
 
 Albuquerque. Alphonso, first Portu- 
 guese Viceroy in India, 12 ; his con- 
 quests and death, 13 
 
 Alexander the Great in India, 6. 
 
 Ali Verdy Khan, Nawaub of Bengal, 
 166. 
 
 Alompra, King of Burma, his per- 
 sonality, 358 ; his early career, 357 ; 
 conquers Pegu, 356 ; and founds 
 Rangoon, 358 ; receives English en- 
 voys (1755, 1757), 358 ; his massacre 
 of English at Negrais island, 359 ; he 
 invades Siam, and dies, 1760, 356. 
 
 Amalgamation of Presidential Armies 
 with the Imperial forces (1858), 370. 
 
 Amarapiira, sometime capital of Burma, 
 362, 363 ; founded by Minderajee Prau 
 (1783), 364 
 
 Amboor, engagement near (1749), 134. 
 
 Amboyna, Dutch massacre of British 
 at (1623), 29, 35 ; compensation paid 
 for same (1654), 39. 
 
 Amery, Capt., a notorious pirate 
 leader, 87. 
 
 Amoy, E. I. Company trade in, 74. 
 
 Anandraz, Rajah of Rajahmundri, ally 
 of English (1758), 266, 268; his 
 crooked policy, 280. 
 
 Andrews, Capt., commands Bombay 
 detachment at Devicotah (1749), 
 133. 
 
 Angria, Konoji, Admiral of the Mara- 
 tha fleet, takes to piracy, 108 ; 
 attacks European vessels, 109; died 
 1730, 110. 
 
 Angria, Toolaji, a Maratha pirate, 110 ; 
 efforts for his extermination (1755), 
 162-64. 
 
 Annesley, Mr., President at Surat 
 (1685), 85 ; seized and imprisoned 
 by Mogul governor (1695), 86 ; re- 
 leased 1696, 87; dismissed the ser- 
 vice (1699), 90. 
 
 Anwar-oo-deen, Nabob of the Carnatic, 
 ] 17 ; his conduct towards English 
 and French, 118 ; his army routed by 
 the French (1746), 119; siding with 
 the English, is attacked by the 
 French, 120 ; detached from English 
 by French intrigue, 120 ; defeated 
 and killed (1749), 134. 
 
 Arabs, their early commerce between 
 East and West, 3 
 
 Arab Mahometans in India (about 1500), 
 10, 11. 
 
 Arcot, taken by Chandah Sahib and the 
 French (1749), 134 ; seized by Clive 
 (1751), 142; besieged by Chandah 
 Sahib and the French (1751), 143. 
 
 Armegon, first fortified position in 
 India occupied by E. I. Company, 36. 
 
 Armenian merchants encouraged at 
 Bombay and Madras, 83. 
 
 Artillery, origin and progress of Indian, 
 237 et seq. ; the gun-room crew 
 (1711), 240; description of Euro- 
 pean artillerymen, 241 ; reduction of 
 
 28 
 
426 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Artillery cont. 
 
 the Native artillery (1779), 245-7 ; 
 some of its successes, 248. 
 
 Artilleryman (European), pay of, under 
 Aurungzebe, 104. 
 
 Asoka, Edicts of, 6. 
 
 Assada Merchants, or Courten's Asso- 
 ciation (*/. v.), 38. 
 
 Astruc, Mons. , in command of French 
 on Island of Seringham (1753), 152. 
 
 Aungier, Mr., Governor of Bombay 
 (1669), his administration, 54; deals 
 with mutiny (1674), 72; his death 
 (1677), 74. 
 
 Aurungabad, founded by Aurungzebe 
 (1653), 47. 
 
 Aurungzebe, his wars with Shivaji, 
 47-50 ; attempts extermination of the 
 English, 69 ; but grants another fir- 
 man (1689),69 ; his death (1707), 102; 
 his partition of his empire, 103. 
 
 Ava, the ancient capital of Burma, 351 ; 
 founded 1364, 354 ; Chinese army 
 before the city (1416), 355 ; captured 
 by Peguers (1752), and retaken by 
 Alompra (Y.>.), 356; English envoys 
 at (1755, 1757), 358; new palace 
 built (1824), 367 ; seat of Government 
 transferred to Mandalay (1860), 368 ; 
 description of the city in 1855, 364 ; 
 and in 1879, 367 ; its surrender to the 
 British (1885), 403 ; geographical de- 
 scription of the kingdom, 360. 
 
 Azim Ooshan, Mogul Governor of Ben- 
 gal, assists Bahadur Shah (about 
 1707), 103. 
 
 B. 
 
 Baber (Mahomed), establishes the 
 Mogul Empire in India, 9. 
 
 Bagwell, Commodore, commands opera- 
 tions against the Maratha Pirates, 
 110. 
 
 Bahadur Shah, rules at Delhi, 103 ; dies 
 1712, 104. 
 
 Bahoor, battle at (1752), 150. 
 
 Baird, Gen. Sir David, at storming of 
 Seringapatam (1799), 318, 377. 
 
 Baj-Baj=Budge-Budge (?.v.), 235. 
 
 Bajirav, Peshwa, leader of the Mara- 
 thas (</.u.)i greatly extends his king- 
 dom (1724-38), 111; his reply to 
 envoy from Bombay (1739), 113-14. 
 
 Bake, Mr., Engineer and Surveyor- 
 General of Bombay (1671), 55. 
 Balaji Rao, assisted by British in 
 operations against Toolaji Angria 
 (?.v.), 162. 
 Bamian, march of Bengal Artillery to 
 
 (1839), 331. 
 
 Bandoola, Maha, great Burman com- 
 mander, 362, 363. 
 
 Bangalore, storming of (1791), 309. 
 Bankot, Island of, taken and occupied 
 
 by English (1755), 163. 
 Bantam, E. I. Company's factory at, 24, 
 36 ; English expelled from (1682) by 
 the Dutch, 76 ; but restored, 77, 
 Barnet, Admiral, commands squadron in 
 
 the Indian seas (1745), 117. 
 Bassein, in Portuguese possession, be- 
 sieged by Marathas (1739), 112. 
 Batavia, disputed possession (1618-19), 
 
 33. 
 
 Batta, first mention of (1678), 75 ; ques- 
 tion of (1766), 257. 
 
 Belasore, Company's factory established 
 at (1661), 38, 61 ; taken and pillaged 
 by the Company (1688), 69. 
 Bells, Burmese, 248. 
 Bengal, E. I. Company establish fac- 
 tories in (1634), 37 ; state of affairs 
 in, 1620-50, 60, 61 ; and in 1654, 39 ; 
 French first appear in (1672), 62; 
 the Danes obtain commercial privi- 
 leges in, 62 ; its Agent first entitled 
 Governor (1681), 62; causes of war 
 with the Mogul (1685), 64 ; struggle 
 with the Nawab (16S6), 67 ; trade in 
 Bengal abandoned (1688) for a time, 
 69 ; military establishment reduced 
 (1694), 90 ; Calcutta fortified (1695), 
 91 ; and made head-quarters (1703), 
 99 ; President pays tribute to Nadir 
 Shah (1739), 114; invaded by Mara- 
 thas (1742), 116 ; Calcutta Militia first 
 enrolled (1742), 116 ; state of affairs 
 previous to 1756, 165 ; Dutch power 
 in, destroyed by Clive (1759), 220; 
 Meer Jaffier deposed and Meer Cossim 
 made Nabob (1760), 226 ; the Na- 
 bob's army improved by Gurghin 
 Khan, 227, 229; war between Meer 
 Cossim and the English (1762), 227- 
 32 ; war with Sujah Dowlah (<?.<'.) of 
 Oudh, 233; Nujun-ood-dowla (y.v.) 
 made Nabob (1765), 234; return of 
 Clive to (1765), 250 ; a Government 
 of Rotation, 266 ; first English coins 
 of, struck 1757, 215 ; first dockyards 
 in, established (1780), 207 ; notes on 
 Native Army of, 417. 
 Bengal Army, nucleus of (about 
 
INDEX. 
 
 427 
 
 Bengal Army cont. 
 
 1660), 61 ; increasing in 1683, 63 ; 
 army and navy strengthened for war 
 with the Mogul (1685), 65. 66 ; de- 
 tachment from, assists Clive at 
 Coverypauk (1751), 145 ; list of offi- 
 cers who perished in the Black Hole 
 (1756), 171n ; Bengal Regiments at 
 the battle of Condore (1758), 279, 
 280 ; defeat of Dutch near Chinsurah 
 (1759), 218-21 ; defeat of Shah Allum 
 at Patna (1760), 224-5 ; battles of 
 Geriah (1763), 230; and U'ndwah 
 Xala, 231 ; mutiny of the officers 
 (1766), 258. 
 
 Pay of rank and file (1694), 90; 
 strength (and officers) of, in 1759, 
 253 ; organization of, in 1766, 257 ; 
 and in 1778-79, 303 ; strength of, in 
 1889, 253; "Lord dive's Fund," 
 262. 
 
 Bengal Artillery, first company 
 raised in 1749, 238 ; state of, in 1769, 
 241 ; dress of the regiment, 243 ; 
 regiment improved by Lieut. -Col. 
 Pearse (1769), 241 ; practice-ground 
 at Dum-Dum (1775), 243-4 ; casual- 
 ties of the regiment (1788-95), 329; 
 anecdotes of officers, 330, 334, 335; 
 extraordinary march across the 
 Hindu Rush to Bamian (1839), 331. 
 
 Bengal Cavalry, regiments of, 376. 
 
 Bengal European Regt., organized by 
 Clive (1756), 202 ; list of services, 
 235 and n, 279rc, 302n ; notes on, 
 370. 
 
 Bengal Fusiliers, anecdote of, 372. 
 
 Bernard, Mr. C. E. , Chief Commissioner 
 of British Burma, 415. 
 
 Best, Capt. Thomas, commands E. I. 
 Company's expedition (1612), 27, 31. 
 
 Biderra, near Chinsurah, decisive battle 
 of, 218-21. 
 
 Black Hole, Calcutta, list of officers who 
 perished in (1756), 171n. 
 
 Blackwell, Dr., his treachery (1694), 
 84. 
 
 Bombay, origin of the name, 293 ; early 
 history of, 30 et seq. ; held by Portu- 
 guese, English propose to attack 
 (1626), 36 ; proposal to purchase, 41 ; 
 ceded to Charles II. by Portugal 
 (1661), 41 ; offered to the Company, 
 43 ; occupied by the English (1664), 
 44 and n; made over to the Company 
 (1668), 45 ; Sir G. Oxinden's adminis- 
 tration of, 51-54 ; threatened by the 
 Dutch (1672), 56 ; growth of its im- 
 portance, 70 ; war with the Mogul at 
 (1687), 68 ; wrested from the Corn- 
 
 Bombay cont. 
 
 pany by Capt. Keigwin in the King's 
 name (1683), 77; restored (1684), 
 79 ; seat of Government transferred 
 from Surat to (1685), 80; a plague 
 and other troubles in, 99 ; conquests 
 of the Marathas threaten Bombay, 
 111 ; operations against Toolaji 
 Angria (q.v.), 162 ; least troublesome 
 of the three Presidencies, 293. 
 
 Defences of in 1669, 53, 54; in 
 1671, 55, 56; in 1673, 71; in 1695, 
 85; in 1705, 101; and in 1739, 112; 
 small forts near (1707), 105; wall 
 round completed 1716, 107. 
 
 Military force in (1668), 45, 52; 
 dangerous measures of economy 
 (1678), 75 ; its garrison in 1671, 54- 
 56; in 1680, 76; in 1682. 76; in 
 1695, 85; and in 1706, 101, 102; 
 European force augmented (1742), 
 116 ; notes on Native Army of, 421. 
 
 Revenues of (1667), 51 ; population 
 of (1715), 106 ; present population 
 of, 70; the Parsi's of, 295; Mint 
 established at, 55, 73 ; courts of jus- 
 tice formed (1670), 54 and n ; Court 
 of Admiralty established for trial of 
 pirates, 95. 
 
 Bombay Army, nucleus of (1668), 
 52 ; military regulations, 52 ; troop 
 of horse raised (1676), 73; men en- 
 listed for seven years, 74 ; uureason- 
 . able reductions (1678), 75 ; com- 
 panies of Rajpoots enrolled (1683), 
 77 ; first regular regiment (1741), 
 115; first company of Artillery 
 (1748), 239; Swiss Artillery in (1753), 
 152n; pay in 1676, 73; and in 1741, 
 115 ; mutiny among troops (1674), 
 
 In engagement near Car war (1718), 
 107 ; detachment from, takes part in 
 expedition against Devicotah (1749), 
 131n, 133n : hostilities with the Siddee 
 at Surat (1752), 151 ; supplies troops 
 to Madras (1754), 155, 161 ; Prince 
 of Wales' O\vn Grenadier Regiment 
 of Bombay Infantry, record of ser- 
 vices of, 321 et seq. 
 
 Bombay European Regiment at Chan- 
 dernagore (1757), 183, 190. 
 
 Bombay Fusiliers, their origin, 13 In ; 
 note on, 109n. 
 
 Bombay Infantry, Prince of Wales' 
 Own Grenadier Regiment of, record 
 of services. 321 et set]. 
 
 Bombay Light Cavalry, regiments of, 
 377. 
 
 Boscawen, Admiral, with fleet, assists 
 
 28 * 
 
428 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Boscawen, Admiral cont. 
 
 the Company against the French, 
 123, 129.. 135. 
 
 Boughton, Mr., obtains firman for the 
 Company (1651-52), 61. 
 
 Brenier, M. . in command of French 
 near Trichinopoly (1753), 153. 
 
 Brenton, Lieut., conducts negotiations 
 at Chandernagore (1757), 185. 
 
 Bristol, Capt., at battle of Condore 
 (1758), 275, 280. 
 
 Britannia, derivation of, 2. 
 
 British Empire, extent, &c. , 2n. 
 
 Brooke, Lord, reports on trade with 
 the East (1600), 23. 
 
 Brown, Mr. Walter, attacks Maratha 
 pirates at Gheria (1720), 109. 
 
 Bryce, Prof., M.P., his visit to India, 
 ix. 
 
 Buckle, Capt., Bengal Artillery, his 
 death, 249 and n. 
 
 Buddha, his influence in India. 5. 
 
 Budge-Budge, anecdote of taking the 
 fort of (1756), 178/. 
 
 Buggesses, or Javanese soldiers, 100. 
 
 Burma, origin of the name, 353 ; its 
 ancient capital Ava (<7-v.), 351 ; civil 
 war in (1740-52), 356 ; English mis- 
 sion to (1795), 361 ; English Embassy 
 to (1855), 363, 367 ; capital trans- 
 ferred from Amarapiira to Mandalay 
 (1860), 368. 
 
 First Burmese War (1824-26), 363, 
 365; Second Burmese War (1852),. 
 352 ; Third Burmese War (1885-87), 
 355, 365 ; details of operations in 
 Upper Burma (1885-6), 388 et seq. ; 
 with names of officers mentioned in 
 despatches, 407 ; storming of Minhla, 
 397 ; engagement at Myingyan, 399 ; 
 letter from the Burmese Prime Minis- 
 ter, 401 ; the surrender of Ava, 403 ; 
 the British at Mandalay (1885), 405 ; 
 annexation of Upper Burma (1886), 
 351, 366. 
 
 Burmese, anecdote of, 363. 
 
 Bury, M., conducts French expedition 
 against Fort St. David (1746), 120. 
 
 Bussy, M. . commands French troops in 
 the Deccan (1749-51), 134. 138-40; 
 at. Golconda (1752), 149; letter of 
 kurajah Dowlah to, 206; taken pri- 
 soner at Wandewash, 287, 292; his 
 character and conduct, 288, 290-92. 
 
 C. 
 
 Cabral, Alvares, commands Portuguese 
 expedition to India, 11. 
 
 Calliaud, in action near Trichinopoly 
 (1754), 155 ; at Trichinopoly (1758), 
 273 ; Commander-in-Chief, at Patna 
 (1760), 224-5. 
 
 Calcutta, Chuttanutee, the site of, 67, 
 taken by Mr. Charnock (1690), 70 ; 
 origin of (1695-6), 91 and n; made 
 head-quarters in Bengal (1703), 99; 
 Surajah Dowlah quarrels with Eng- 
 lish at (1756), 166 ; the attack on, 
 168 ; siege of, 169 ; capitulation and 
 the Black Hole, 170 ; Olive's march 
 to and recapture of (1756-7), 177-9. 
 
 Defences of in 1742, 116 ; and in 
 1756, 167, 168 ; Militia first enrolled 
 (1742), 116. See also Fort William. 
 
 Calicut, Portuguese first land at, 10, 11. 
 
 Cameron, Capt., imprisoned in Abys- 
 sinia (1863), 382. 
 
 Campbell, Gen. Geo., incidents in the 
 life of, 335 ; list of his services, 338. 
 
 Carey, Mrs., survived the Black Hole 
 (1756;, 171n. 
 
 Ciirnac, Maj., in command at Patna 
 (1763), 230, 233, xix. 
 
 Carnac, Lieut. Jacob, xix. 
 
 Carnatic, Anwar-oo-deen (fj.v,\ Nabob 
 of, 117. 
 
 Caron, pioneer of the French in India 
 (1672), 57. 
 
 Carr, Capt., his insulting conduct, 99. 
 
 Carwar, Company's fort and factory at, 
 105 ; besieged by the Dessaree (1718), 
 107. 
 
 Castro, Don Juan de, Portuguese ruler 
 in India, his administration, 15. 
 
 Cavendish, Mr. Thomas, his expedition 
 to the East (1586), 22. 
 
 Ceylon, Island of, Dutch take possession 
 of (1656), 40. 
 
 Chancellor, navigator, attempted north- 
 east passage to India (1553), 21. 
 
 Chandah Sahib, a soldier of fortune, 
 supported by Dupleix for his own 
 ends, 134, 137; victorious at Vol- 
 conda, marches on Trichinopoly 
 (1751), 141 ; besieges Arcot without 
 success, 140, 143 ; his death (1752), 
 148. 
 
 Chandernagore, first mentioned as 
 French settlement 1700, 201, 198; its 
 defences, 184; French garrison of, 
 202; Clive's attack on (1757), 184, 
 188 ; English forces at, 203 ; story of 
 the French deserter, 188, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 429 
 
 Charnock, Mr., founder of Calcutta, 
 takes Chuttanutee (1690), 70. 
 
 Child, Sir John, Governor of Bombay, 
 appointed Governor-General (1686), 
 66, 80 ; conducts hostilities with the 
 Mogul, 68; dies 1690, 69, 81; his 
 character, 81. 
 
 Child, Sir Josiah, President of Court of 
 Directors, 81 ; on Indian trade, 293. 
 
 Childers, Mr., M.P., his visit to India, 
 ix. 
 
 China, Portuguese embassy to (1518), 
 
 Chinese War of 1860, storming of the 
 Taku Forts, 381. 
 
 Chingleput, fortress reduced by Clive 
 (1752), 151 ; strengthened against the 
 French (1758), 274. 
 
 Chinsurah, Dutch in, intrigue against 
 the English, 219. 
 
 Chuprassies, why so called, 116. 
 
 Churches in India, curiosities of, 201. 
 
 Chuttanutee, site of the present Cal- 
 cutta, 67. 
 
 Circars, Northern, ceded to the French 
 by the Nizam (1752), 149, 267; re- 
 stored to the Nizam by treaty (1754), 
 157 ; campaign in (1758-59), 274, 283. 
 
 Clarke, Capt. , with detachment at Tri- 
 chinopoly (1751), 142. 
 
 Clifton, Capt., commands company from 
 Marquis of Westminster's Regiment 
 for E. I. Company (1685), 66. 
 
 Clive, Lieut, (afterwards Lord), leads 
 storming of Devicotah (1749), 131 ; 
 at Volconda, 141 ; with reinforce- 
 ments for Trichinopoly, 142 ; seizes 
 Arcot, 142 ; and holds it during 
 siege, 143-4 ; makes alliance with 
 Morari Rao, 144 ; gains victory over 
 the French at Arnee, 144 ; besieges 
 and captures Conjiveram from the 
 French, 144 ; defeats the French at 
 Coverypauk, 145 ; at relief of Trichi- 
 nopoly, 146 ; defeats French at Sami- 
 averam (1752), 147. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel and Deputy 
 Governor of Fort St. David (1756), 
 164 and n ; with expedition to Gheria, 
 
 164 ; his division of loot taken there, 
 
 165 ; expedition to save Bengal from 
 Surajah Dowlah, 173-5; he attacks 
 the Nawaub's camp at Calcutta, 182 ; 
 his attack on Chandernagore, 183 ; 
 marches towards Plassey, 204 ; at 
 the battle of Plassey (1757), 208. 
 
 Governor and President of Bengal 
 (1758), 266; assists Madras against 
 the French, 266; destroys Dutch 
 power in India, 220 ; his return to 
 
 Clive cont. 
 
 England (1760), 221, 223; is en- 
 nobled, 250 ; goes out as Commander- 
 in-Chief and Governor of Bengal 
 (1765), 250; invested with the De- 
 wanny by the Mogul Emperor (1765), 
 251 ; suppresses mutiny of Bengal 
 officers, 258 ; again returns to Eng- 
 land (1767), 259 
 
 His services in India, 151 ; recog- 
 nition of his services, 156, 214 ; his 
 influence over the natives, 145 ; his 
 organization of the Sepoys, 180; his 
 administration of the Army, 254 et 
 seq. ; his reforms, civil and military, 
 251, 256, 258; letters to officers of 
 Bengal Army, 255 ; his death (1774), 
 259 ; his character and conduct, 188, 
 189, 205, 222, 260, 265 ; his charity, 
 260; " Lord Clive's Fund," 261. 
 
 Cochin, ceded to English (1615), 32. 
 
 Cochin China, French endeavour to 
 possess (17th century), 58 and n. 
 
 Coilady, skirmish with French near 
 (1751), 142. 
 
 Cojah Latiff, his treachery at Surat 
 (1752), 152. 
 
 Colt, Mr. , President at Surat (1699), 90. 
 
 Condore, decisive battle of (1758), 275. 
 
 Conflans, Marquis de, commanding 
 French in the Northern Circars 
 (1758), 268 ; at the battle of Condore, 
 275 ; surrenders Masulipatam, 281. 
 
 Conjiveram, taken from the French by 
 Clive (1751), 144. 
 
 Cooke, Mr., King's Governor of Bombay 
 (1664), 44 and n. 
 
 Coote, Capt. (afterwards Gen. Sir 
 Eyre), in the re-capture of Calcutta 
 (1757), 177-80; at Chandernagore, 
 185 ; takes fort of Kutwah, 204 ; de- 
 feats French at Wandewash, 287; 
 besieges Pondicherry _ (1760-61), 287 ; 
 returns to India as Lieut. -General Sir 
 Eyre Coote, Commander-in-Chief at 
 Madras (1779), 303; at war with 
 Hyder Ali, 304 and n; at battle of 
 Porto Novo (1781), 319-20; died 
 (1783), 306. 
 
 Cope, Capt., commands expedition to 
 Tanjore (1749), 129; takes the 
 Pagoda of Atchavaram, near Devi- 
 cotah, 132 ; attempts to reconquer 
 Madura (1751), 140 ; in campaign 
 against Chandah Sahib, 141. 
 
 Cornwallis, Marquess, arrives as Go- 
 vernor-General (1786), 308 ; cam- 
 paigns against Tippoo Sultan (1791), 
 309 ; first siege of Seringapatam 
 (1792), 313; anecdote of, 330. 
 
430 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Cossimbazar, Company's factory estab- 
 lished at, 01. 
 
 Courten's Association competes with 
 E. I. Company (1635), 37. 
 
 Covelong, fortress reduced by Clive 
 (1752), 151. 
 
 Coverypauk, Clive defeats the French 
 at (1751), 145. 
 
 Cuddalore. taken by the French (1758), 
 269. 
 
 D. 
 
 D'Ache, Count, commands French fleet 
 
 in Indian seas, 289, 273. 
 Dadoji Pant, guardian and tutor of 
 
 Shiva ji, 47. 
 Dalhousie, Lord, his annexation of 
 
 Pegu, 366. 
 Dalton, Capt., in command of garrison 
 
 at Trichinopoly(1753), 152. 
 Dance, his portrait of Clive, 260. 
 Danes, the, rivals of English in India 
 
 (1623), 35 ; they procure commercial 
 
 privileges from the Mogul (cir. 1676), 
 
 62. 
 D'Auteuil, M., commands French troops 
 
 in the Deccan, 134, 137, 138; sur- 
 renders to Clive at Volconda (1752), 
 
 147. 
 Davenant, Mr., establishes a Court of 
 
 Admiralty at Bombay for trial of 
 
 pirates, 95. 
 Davis, Arctic navigator, made voyage 
 
 to India, 21 
 Deccan, disputed succession in (1748- 9j, 
 
 133 ; intrigues of Dupleix, 134. 
 De Kerjean, M., taken prisoner at 
 
 Bahoor (1752), 150. 
 De la Haye, M., commands French 
 
 fleet, and lands in India (1672), 
 
 56, 57. 
 De la Touche, M., in command of 
 
 French troops at Gingee (1750), 139. 
 Delhi, taken by Kotb-od-deen, comes 
 
 under Mahometan rule, 7 ; ruins of 
 
 ancient city at Toghlukabad, 8; taken 
 
 by Timourlang, 8-9 ; E. I. Company's 
 
 embassy to (1715), 106 ; sacked by 
 
 Nadir Shah (1739), 114. 
 Deoghur, afterwards Dowlatabad, q.v. , 8. 
 D'Estaign, Count, French commander, 
 
 269. 
 
 Devicotah, storming of (1749). 131. 
 
 Diaz, Bartholemy, discovers Cape of 
 Good Hope, 4. 
 
 Dowlatabad, formerly Deoghur, Maho- 
 metan capital transferred from Delhi 
 to, 8. 
 
 Drake, Sir Francis, his expedition to the 
 East (1577-80), 21, 22. 
 
 Drake, Sir Thomas, takes Batavia from 
 the Dutch (1618), 33. 
 
 Drake, Mr. . Governor of Calcutta (1756), 
 166, 169. 
 
 Dufferin, Lord (Marquess of), his an- 
 nexation of Upper Burma (1886), 366 ; 
 on India, 191. 
 
 Dum-Dum, first used as Artillery prac- 
 tice-ground (1775), 243. 
 
 Dungum, English factory at, plundered 
 by Maratha Horse (1674), 72. 
 
 Dupleix, M., Governor of Pondicherry 
 (1744), 117 and n ; quarrels with La 
 Bourdonnais, 119 and n; prefers mili- 
 tary power to peaceful commerce, 
 127 ; sends expedition against Fort 
 St. David (1746), 120 ; and attacks 
 Nabob of the Carnatic, 120 ; in- 
 trigues with the Nabob and detaches 
 him from English, 120; his suc- 
 cess at Pondicherry, 124 ; his in- 
 trigues in the Deccan, 133, 137, 138 ; 
 he installs Muzzufer Jung as Nizam, 
 with advantages to himself (1750), 
 139 ; intrigues with Marathas, 149 ; 
 negotiates with Madras for peace, 
 154 ; is superseded (1754), 157 ; his 
 character and administration, 192-94, 
 196, 198. 
 
 Dupleix-Futtehabad, destroyed by Clive 
 (1751), 145. 
 
 Dutch, the, revolting from Spain, seek 
 trade in the East, 17 ; early settle- 
 ments, Java, &c., 18 ; the Dutch East 
 India Company (1602), 18 ; first Dutch 
 factory at Surat (1617), 33 ; struggle 
 with the Portuguese, 18 ; conflicts 
 with English, 33 ; massacre of Bri- 
 tish at Amboyna (1623), 29; for 
 which Dutch Company pay compensa- 
 tion (1654), 39 ; Dutch established in 
 Formosa (1624), 18, 19 ; trade with 
 Japan, &c. (1641), 19 ; extent of 
 their possessions, 19 ; decline of Dutch 
 power in the East, 20 ; Cromwell de- 
 clares war against, 39 ; they threaten 
 Bombay (1672), 563 ; Trincomalee 
 taken from the Dutch by the French, 
 57 ; projected English expedition 
 against (1683), 76, 77 ; British strug- 
 gle with, at Chinsurah (q.v.*), 218. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 431 
 
 E. 
 
 East India Company, origin of, 23 ; in 
 1600, 10 ; their early voyages and 
 establishments, 24-27 ; profits on 
 ditto, 24, 25, 28, 31 ; Emperor 
 Jehangir grants British free trade in 
 India (1613), 27, 31 ; joint-stock tra- 
 ding (1613-17), 27, 31 ; second joint- 
 stock formed (1617) ; Company's 
 possessions at this time, 32 ; progress 
 under protection of Mogul Emperor, 
 31, 32; establishment of trade in 
 Bengal (1620-50), 60, 61 ; difficulties 
 with the Dutch, 28, 29, 31 ; struggles 
 with Dutch and Portuguese, 36 ; third 
 joint stock subscribed (1631) ; Com- 
 pany's affairs to be regulated at home 
 by Governor, Committee, and Court 
 of Adventurers, 37 ; factories con- 
 trolled by President and Council at 
 Surat, 37 ; trade with Persia (1632), 
 37; factories established in Bengal 
 (1634), 37; acquisition of Madrasa- 
 patam (1640), 38; war with the 
 Dutch, 39 ; the new charter (Charles 
 II.), 41 ; rights on the Gold Coast 
 made over to new African Company 
 (1662), 42 ; Bombay made over to 
 (1668), 45; strength of trading fleet 
 (1671), 56 ; they obtain trade privi- 
 leges from Shivaji (1674), 72; im- 
 portant Regulations of 1675, 73; 
 dangerous reductions at Bombay 
 (1678), 75; the Mogul Emperor be- 
 gins to oppress the Company (1682), 
 63 ; Bombay wrested from the Com- 
 pany by Capt. Keigwin in the King's 
 name (1683), 77 ; restored (1684), 79 ; 
 seat of Government transferred from 
 Surat to Bombay (1685), 80 ; Soobah 
 of Bengal causes Company's first war 
 in India (1685), 64-66; trade in 
 Bengal abandoned (1688) for a time, 
 69 ; a new charter granted (William 
 and Mary), 83 ; their monopoly dis- 
 puted in England, 86 ; sums spent on 
 "gratifications," 86n; successes of 
 pirates cause mutiny on Company's 
 vessels, 87 ; depressed state of Com- 
 pany's affairs (1696), 87 ; they suffer 
 great losses at sea by the French, 88 ; 
 rivalry of a New English Company 
 (?.?;.), chartered 1698, 89, 90, 94; 
 partial union of the New and Old 
 Company (1702), 96, 97; complete 
 union in 1708, 105 ; embassy to the 
 Imperial Court at Delhi (1715), 106 ; 
 attempts to suppress the Maratha 
 
 East India Company cont. 
 
 pirates, 108, 109-1 1 ; missions to the 
 Maratha rulers (1739), 113 ; com- 
 mercial treaty with the Marathas, 114 ; 
 Madras taken by the French (1746), 
 119; but restored (1749), 124 ; expe- 
 ditions in Tanjore (1749), 129-33; 
 treaty with Nizam of Hyderabad 
 (1766), 299 ; Company passes to the 
 Crown (1858), 370. 
 
 List of principal factories in 1702, 
 98n ; ditto, maintained after reduc- 
 tions (1707), 105; their imports of 
 tea, 53 and n ; social condition of 
 Company's servants (about 1703), 99 ; 
 their dishonourable conduct in Ben- 
 gal, 250 ; dive's Commercial Society, 
 252; measures of self-defence, 105; 
 re-modelling of the Artillery (1748), 
 
 Edicote, defended from the French 
 (1751), 151. 
 
 Edward es, Mr., obtains firman for trade 
 in Mogul's dominions, 31. 
 
 Egypt, the Portuguese destroy her com- 
 merce with the East, 12. 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, origin of East India 
 Company under, 23. 
 
 English in India, early history, 20 et 
 seq. ; first English expedition to 
 India (1582), 22; East India Com- 
 pany's (g.r.) first factory in India, 25, 
 31 ; Emperor Jehangir grants the 
 British free trade in India (1613), 27, 
 31 ; defeat of Portuguese fleet by 
 British in Surat Roads, 27, 28 ; treaty 
 with the Zarnorin (1615), 32; treaty 
 with Mogul Court to resist Portu- 
 guese (1618), 33; conflicts with the 
 Dutch (1618), 33 ; troubles at Ahmed- 
 abad and Surat (1622), 34; Com- 
 pany's Agents granted power of com- 
 mon and martial law (1624), 35 ; 
 Madrasapatam, first independent posi- 
 tion of English in India, acquired 
 1640, 38 ; Madras made a Presidency 
 (1653), 39 ; chief Presidency at Surat 
 (1657), 40; occupation of Bombay 
 (<7.v.), 44 ; early history of Bengal, 
 q.v., 60 et seq. ; the Mogul Emperor 
 begins to oppress the E. I. Company 
 (1682), 63 ; the Dutch expel the Eng- 
 lish from Bantam, 76 ; the Company's 
 first war in India (1685-87), 64-68 ; 
 Aurungzebe attempts extermination 
 of the English (1689), 69; first 
 actual hostilities between French and 
 English (1691), 82; Madras (?.y.) 
 supersedes Bombay as head-quarters 
 of Indian Government (1694), 84; 
 
432 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 English in India cont. 
 
 Persia applies to the English for 
 assistance (1696), 87 ; state of affairs 
 in 1700, 93-95 ; death of Aurungzebe 
 (1707) and fall of Mogul Empire, 
 102, 103., 
 
 The three Presidencies declared 
 separate and independent (1708), 105 ; 
 military forces in 1708, 105 ; civil 
 administration of the military depart- 
 ment (1718), 107 ; quarrel with the 
 Portuguese (1719), 108 ; attempts to 
 suppress the Maratha pirates (1719), 
 108, 109-11 ; missions to the Maratha 
 rulers (1739), 113; commercial treaty 
 with the Marathas, 114. 
 
 Olive (q.v.} arrives in India (1743), 
 117 ; relations with the French (q.v.), 
 117 ; first campaign on land against 
 a native prince (1749), 128-33 ; rival 
 factions in the Deccan supported by 
 the English and the French, 136 ; 
 campaigns in Southern India (1750- 
 51), 140; campaigns (under Olive, 
 7.v.) against the French, 147; cam- 
 paign with French at and near Tri- 
 chinopoly (1753-54), 152-56; cessa- 
 tion of hostilities, 156 ; treaty with 
 France, 157 ; contrary to treaty, the 
 British again assist Mahomed All 
 (1755), 161; treaty with Surajah 
 Dowlah (1757), 183 ; struggles with 
 the Dutch at Chinsurah (</.v.)> 218; 
 Madras (^.v.) besieged by the French, 
 284-7 ; gift of the Dewanny from the 
 Mogul Emperor (1765), 251; war 
 with Hyder Ali (</.v.) of Mysore, 
 301. 
 
 English East India Company, a rival 
 to the old (London) Company char- 
 tered 1698, 89, 94; Sir William 
 Norris's mission to the Mogul Court 
 (1701), 96 ; partial union of the two 
 Companies (1702), 96, 97 ; new com- 
 pany's factors deprived of consular 
 titles (1703), 98 ; complete union with 
 the old East India Company (7.1*.), 
 1708, 105. 
 
 Exchange, rate of, in 1705, 101. 
 
 Eyre, Lieut. , at storming of Bangalore 
 (1791), 312. 
 
 F. 
 
 Fake, Corporal, executed for mutiny 
 (1674), 72. 
 
 Famine in Madras 1782, 306. 
 
 Faulkon, Constantino, a Greek ad- 
 venturer, Prime Minister of Siani 
 (about 1683), 58. 
 
 Fenton, Mr. Edward, has charge of 
 English expedition to East Indies 
 (1582), 22. 
 
 Ferrokshere, Mogul Emperor, 104 ; em- 
 bassy from E. I. Company to (1715), 
 106. 
 
 Fletcher, Sir Robert, besieged Allah- 
 abad (1765), 235; in command at 
 battle of Kalpi, 253. 
 
 Forbes, Capt., in campaign near Tri- 
 chinopoly (1754), 156. 
 
 Forde, Col., defeats the Dutch near 
 Chinsurah, 220; and invests that 
 town, 221 ; commands expedition 
 against the French at Vizagapatam, 
 268 ; in command of Madras Army. 
 273 ; campaign in the Circars, 274, 
 283. 
 
 Formosa, island of, Dutch established 
 in (1624), 19. 
 
 Fort St. David, site purchased 1685, 
 269;i ; erected 1692, 83 ; redoubt built 
 (1697), 88 ; its garrison (1746). 119 ; 
 French attacks on, 120 ; taken by the 
 French (175^), 269. 
 
 Fort St. George, built about 1640, 38 ; 
 threatened by King of Golcondah, 
 43n, 45 ; besieged by Nabob of 
 Carnatic, 54 ; its defences in 1683, 
 77; and 1703, 100; its garrison in 
 1654, 40; in 16 1 3, 71; in 1679, 76; 
 and in 1690-91, 238/<. 
 
 Fort William, Calcutta, its building 
 (about 1700), 91, 98; cost of, 215n ; 
 its garrison in 1706, 102 ; and 1707, 
 105. 
 
 Foxcroft, Mr. , appointed Agent at Fort 
 St. George, but imprisoned by Sir E. 
 Winter (1665), 45, 51 ; released 1668, 
 53. 
 
 French in India, fleet equipped for the 
 East, 1663, 42 ; their arrival in India 
 (1665), 43, 44; leaving Surat, the 
 French take Trincomalee and St. 
 Thome (1672), 56, 57 ; they purchase 
 Pondicherry and make it head- 
 quarters (1683), 57 ; their short- 
 lived success in Siam, 58 ; they try 
 for Tonquin, Cochin China, and Mada- 
 gascar, 58 and n. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 433 
 
 French in India cont. 
 
 First actual hostilities between 
 French and English (1691), 82 ; Pon- 
 dicherry conquered by the Dutch 
 (1694), 84 ; French capture two of 
 the Company's ships (1697), 88 ; posi- 
 tion of affairs in 1744, 117 ; Dupleix 
 (<?.v.) Governor, 117; French attack 
 and take Madras (1746), 118 ; attacks 
 on Fort St. David, 120 ; Madras re- 
 stored to the Company, 124 ; the Eng- 
 lish besiege Pondicherry (1748), 123 ; 
 French and English support rival 
 factions in the Deccan, 137 ; siege of 
 Arcot (1751), 143 ; and of Trichino- 
 poly, 146 ; Northern Circars ceded to 
 French by the Nizam (1752), 149 ; 
 French defeated in battle at Bahoor, 
 150 ; joined by the Marathas, 152 ; 
 war at and near Trichinopoly, 152- 
 54; cessation of hostilities, 156; treaty 
 with British, 157 ; contrary to treaty 
 the French assist Salabut Jung 
 (1755), 161 ; varying success in the 
 Deccan, 172, 173, 180; Chanderna- 
 gore attacked by Clive (1757), 184 ; 
 Count de Lally (g.v.) in the Carnatic 
 (1758), 264 ; decisive battle of Con- 
 dore, 275 ; Masulipatam taken by 
 British, 281 ; siege of Madras, 24-7 ; 
 French intrigue with and assist Hyder 
 Ali (?..), of Mysore, 300, 303; 
 French Revolution in Chandernagore, 
 (1793) 19^ ; vicissitudes of fortune 
 (1793-1815), 197 ; French officers of 
 Nizam's army compelled to leave 
 India, 199. 
 
 French East India Company formed 
 (1664), 33, 42 ; established 1665, 44. 
 See French in India. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gama, Vasco de, discovers sea-route to 
 India, 1, 4 ; his expedition and expe- 
 rience at Calicut, 10, 11. 
 
 Gary, Mr., Governor of Bombay (1667), 
 51. 
 
 Gayer, Sir John, appointed Lieut. -Gen. 
 and Governor of Bombay (1694), 84 ; 
 troubles with Mogul governor of 
 Surat, 86 ; becomes Governor and 
 General (1695), 87 ; troubles with the 
 New Company (1700), 95 ; is impri- 
 soned at Surat, by order of the 
 Mogul, 97, 1UO, 104. 
 
 Geriah, battle of, 229, 230n. 
 
 German element in Presidential Armies 
 (1676), 73. 
 
 Ghazi-oo-deen, son of the Nizam-ul- 
 Mulk, contests succession to the 
 Soubahship (1748-9), 133 ; his death 
 (1752), 149. 
 
 Gheria, Maratha pirates attacked at, 
 (1720), 109 ; expedition against An- 
 gria Pirates at (1756), 164; its forti- 
 rications, 164. 
 
 Gillam, Capt., a pirate in the Indian 
 seas (about 1700), 95. 
 
 Gingee, fortress of, taken by the French 
 (1750), 138; expedition against 
 (1752), 150. 
 
 Gingens, Capt, in campaign against 
 Chandah Sahib (1751), 141; takes 
 command of campaign south of Cau- 
 very, 148. 
 
 Giretty, Garden of, French Governor's 
 house at, 196. ; society at (1770), 221. 
 
 Gladstone, Mr. W. E., M.P.,on our rule 
 in India, 297 ; on the Abyssinian War, 
 384. 
 
 Goa, Portuguese at, 12, 15. 
 
 Godehen, M., replaces Dupleix at Pon- 
 dicherry (1754), 157. 
 
 Godwin, Gen. , in Second Burmese War 
 (1852), 352 ; anecdote of, 372. 
 
 Golden Rock, near Trichinopoly, battles 
 at (1753), 152, 153. 
 
 Goldesborough, Capt. (afterwards Sir 
 John), appointed Commissary and 
 Superior over all the Company's 
 affairs in India (1692), 83, 84; his 
 death (1695), 84. 
 
 Goldsmid, Maj.-Gen. Sir F. J., his 
 services, 416 ; on the Native Armies 
 of India, 416. 
 
 Goodyear, Maj., appointed to command 
 in Bombay (1748), 122. 
 
 Gordon, Capt., envoy to Maratha Rajah 
 (1739), 113. 
 
 Gordon, Maj.-Gen., on Native Army of 
 Bengal, 417. 
 
 Governor of Presidency, first appointed 
 1668, 41n. 
 
 Governor-General of Company's settle- 
 ments, first appointed 1686, 66. 
 
 Governor and General, original title of 
 Company's principal officer in India, 
 80 and n. 
 
 Grantham, Sir Thomas, English Vice- 
 Admiral (1683), suppresses Inter- 
 lopers in Bay of Bengal, 77 ; King's 
 representative at Bombay, 78, 79. 
 Greeks in India, 6. 
 
 Greville, Fulke, afterwards Lord 
 Brooke (?.v.), 23 
 
434 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Guntoor, one of the Northern Circars, 
 
 282. 
 Gurghin Khan, improves the Native 
 
 Army of Bengal (1760), 227, 229 ; his 
 
 death, 231. 
 
 Gwalior, taken by Hoomayoon, 9. 
 Gyfford, Mr., Agent of E. I. Company 
 
 (1683), 63. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hamilton, Dr., medical officer to an em- 
 bassy, cures the Emperor Feroksbcre, 
 and obtains important grants for the 
 Company (1715), 106-7 and n. 
 
 Harris, Gen., in war against Tippoo 
 Sultan (1799), 316. 
 
 Harris, Mr., E. I. Company's Agent at 
 Surat (1(587), 68. 
 
 Hawkins, Capt., establishes E. I. Com- 
 pany's first factory in India, 25. 
 
 Hay, Sir J., on the cession of Pondi- 
 cherry, 200. 
 
 Heath, Capt., commands E. I. Company's 
 ships (1688), 69. 
 
 Hedges, Mr., appointed Governor of 
 Bengal (1682), 62. 
 
 Heligoland, remarks on its exchange 
 with Pondicherry, 200. 
 
 Heron, Lieut. -Col., in command of 
 British forces (1755), 161. 
 
 Hindu Kush, march of Bengal Artillery 
 across (1839), 331. 
 
 Hippon, Capt., founds first English 
 settlement on east coast of India, 27. 
 
 Holkar, Mulhaji, sets up independent 
 rule, 50. 
 
 Hoi well, Mr., in the siege of Calcutta 
 (1756), 169. 
 
 Hoogly, Company's factory established 
 at (1651-2), 61 and n. ; details of 
 compensation demanded from Fauj- 
 dar of (1686), 67 and n. ; the New 
 Company establish factory at (1699), 
 91 ; sacked by Marathas (1742), 116 ; 
 fort taken by storm (1757), 180. 
 
 Houtman, commands Dutch expedition 
 to the East, 17, 18. 
 
 Hyderabad, Nizam of, his rabble troops, 
 312 and n. 
 
 Hyder Ali, ruler of Mysore, 299 ; com- 
 mands Mysore Horse against the 
 English, 154, 156 ; dashes upon 
 Madras, 300; at war with British 
 (1780), 301 ; died 1782, succeeded by 
 his son Tippoo (7.1'.), 304. 
 
 i. 
 
 Inchbird, Capt., sent with force to aid 
 the Si dee of Jingeera (1733), HOn; 
 his operations against the Maratha 
 Pirates, 110-11 ; his mission to the 
 Maratha at Bassein (1739), 113. 
 
 India, its ancient history and literature, 
 5 ; early Arab commerce with, 3 ; 
 various routes to, 21 ; invaded by 
 Persians, 5 ; and by Greeks, 6 ; Tar- 
 tars overthrow Greek power in, 7 ; 
 Sultan Mahmood's conquests in, 7 ; 
 commencement of Mahometan power 
 in, 7, 8; Moghul Empire in, 8-10; 
 Portuguese in (7.?'.), 4, 10-16; the 
 Dutch in (q.v.}, 17-20; the English 
 in (tf.t-)., 20 et seq. ; arrival (1665) of 
 the French in (q.v.), 44 ; Persian in- 
 vasion of (1737), 114 ; decay of 
 Mogul Empire (7.1'.), 115 ; extent, &c. 
 of British Empire in, 4 and n. 
 
 Indian Institute, Mr. H. S. King's fund 
 for, ix... x. 
 
 Ingellee besieged 1687, 68. 
 
 Innes, Lieut., in command of reinforce- 
 ments for relief of Olive in Arcot 
 (1751), 144. 
 
 " Interlopers," free traders in the East 
 so called, vi., 293; their suppression, 
 41; troublesome at Bengal (1684), 
 63 ; penalty for (1718), 107. 
 
 J, 
 
 Jains, origin of, 5. 
 
 Jamaul Sahib, commander of Company's 
 Sepoys (1756), 162. 
 
 James, Commodore, commands in opera- 
 tions against Pirates (1755), 162 ; in 
 command of Company's fleet at 
 Gheria (1756), 164, 183. 
 
 Java, Dutch settlements in, 18 ; the 
 English in, 34. 
 
 Jehangir, Emperor, his reign, 10; 
 grants the British free trade in India 
 (1613), 27, 31. 
 
 Justice, Courts of, established in Bom- 
 bay (1670), 54 and n. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 435 
 
 K. 
 
 Kalpi, battle of (1765), 25n. 
 
 Kaye, Lieut. E., with Bengal Artillery 
 (1839), 331. 
 
 Keeling, Capt., commands E. I. Com- 
 pany's third voyage (1607), 25. 
 
 Keigwin, Capt. , Governor of St. Helena, 
 has command in Bombay Army (1676), 
 73 ; dismissed, 1678, 75 ; but again 
 engaged, 1670, 76 ; wrests the Govern- 
 ment of Bombay from the Company 
 in the King's name (1683), 77 ; de- 
 livers it to King's representative 
 (1684), 79. 
 
 Kerridge, Mr., his first commercial 
 transactions with India, 30; obtains 
 firman for trade in Mogul's dominions, 
 31. 
 
 Kidd, Capt., notorious pirate (1698), 
 89; seized and executed (1702), 98. 
 
 Kilpatrick, Maj., at Arcot (1751), 144. 
 
 King, Mr. H. S., M.P., his visit to, and 
 action in, India, ix. ; his fund for 
 Indian Institute subscribed to by 
 Maharajah of Mysore, x. 
 
 Kirkee, battle of (1817), 321. 
 
 Kirkpatrick, Maj., with Madras de- 
 tachment to assist Bengal (1756), 172, 
 176, 180; at battle of Plassey, 211. 
 
 Knox, Capt., at battle of Condo're, 275; 
 at Patna (1760), 225. 
 
 Kohiyar, Nasarvanji, Agent of the 
 Dutch at Surat, 296. 
 
 Koregaum, defence of (1818), 322. 
 
 Kotb-od-deen, rules at Delhi, 7, 8. 
 
 Kutwah, fort of, taken (1757), 204. 
 
 L. 
 
 La Bourdonnais, M., Governor of 
 Mauritius (1744), 117 and n; attacks 
 and takes Madras (1746), 118; 
 quarrels with Dupleix, 119 and n. 
 
 Lakha Bag at Plassey, 207. 
 
 Lall Pultun, or Red Battalion, raising 
 of (1757), 181. 
 
 Lally, Count de, Governor-General of 
 the French Settlements, 269; his 
 previous services, 268 ; at war with 
 English in the Carnatic (1758), 264; 
 takes Cuddalore and Fort St. David, 
 
 Lally, Count de cont. 
 
 269; marches to Tanjore, 270; rup- 
 ture with the Rajah, 271 ; attack on, 
 and retreat from, Tanjore, 272 ; 
 operations against Chingleput, 274; 
 the siege of Madras (1758-9), 281-7 ; 
 besieged in Pondicherry (1760-61), 
 287 ; his end, 288. 
 
 Lambert, Commodore, anecdote of, 195, 
 207 and n. 
 
 Lancaster, Mr. James, commands expe- 
 dition to the East (1591), 23 ; and in 
 1601-2, 24. 
 
 Langford, Capt., has command of troops 
 at Bombay (1674), 72. 
 
 Law, M., defends fort of Ariancopang 
 (1748), 123 ; at siege of Trichinopoly 
 (1752), 146-7; surrenders to Law- 
 rence, 148. 
 
 Lawrence, Maj., appointed Commander- 
 in-Chief (1748), 122; taken prisoner 
 by the French, 123 ; with expedition 
 to Tanjore (1749), 130; at relief of 
 Trichinopoly (1752), 146; defeats 
 French at Bahoor, 150 ; campaigns 
 about Trichinopoly (1753-4), 152- 
 56 ; defeats the French at the Golden 
 Rock, 152 ; in the siege of Madras by 
 the French (1758-9), 285; acknow- 
 ledgment of his services, 156. 
 
 Lorraine, Regiment of, 27ln. 
 
 Lucas, Sir Gervase, Crown Governor of 
 Bombay (1666-67), 45, 61. 
 
 Lyttleton, Sir Edward, factor of the 
 (rival) English Company, 89 ; bis ap- 
 pointment revoked (1705), 100. 
 
 M. 
 
 Macartney, Lord, Governor of Madras 
 (1781-85), 305; his vexatious pro- 
 ceedings, 306. 
 
 Macaulay, Lord, his estimate of Du- 
 pleix, 194. 
 
 Mackenzie, Lieut. M., in command of 
 Bengal Artillery (1839), 331. 
 
 MacLean, Capt., at battle of Cendore 
 (1758), 275. 
 
 Macleod, Maj.-Gen. W. E., on Native 
 Army of Bombay, 421. 
 
 Madagascar, French expedition to (17th 
 cent.), 58 and n. 
 
436 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Madras, early history of the Presidency, 
 30 et seq. ; subject to President and 
 Council at Bantam (1640), 36; made 
 a Presidency (1653), 39; state of 
 affairs in 1668, 53 ; and in 1673, 71 ; 
 declared an independent power (1687), 
 80 and n ; supersedes Bombay as 
 head-quarters of Government (1694), 
 84 ; precautions against French fleet 
 (1695), 85 ; city attacked and taken 
 by the French (1746), 118; restored 
 to the Company (1749), 124 ; Govern- 
 ment again established at (1752), 149 ; 
 the French under Lally in (1758), 
 264 et seq. , 270; siege of the city by 
 French (1758-9), 284-7 ; war with 
 Hyder Ali (</.y.), 301; grievous 
 famine in (1782), 306. 
 
 Fortifications of the city in 1644, 
 38 ; defences strengthened (1684), 79 ; 
 garrison of in 1692, 83; in 1706, 
 102; and in 1746, 1.8; pay of the 
 garrison (1676), 73; Volunteer Horse 
 of (16, 5), 85 ; notes on Native Army 
 of, 418. 
 
 Madras Army, strength of European 
 force (1749), 129 ; number of Sepoys 
 in, 147 ; first company of Artillery 
 ordered, 239 ; the gun-room crew, 
 240 ; Madagascar slaves and Swiss 
 troops for, 150 ; Swiss Artillery in, 
 152n ; strengthened with troops from 
 Bombay (1754), 155 ; Royal troops 
 u nd the Mutiny Act introduced (1754), 
 160; organization of (1755), 202; 
 officers of the 39th Kegt., 175 ; and 
 of the Madras Infantry (1756), 176 ; 
 foimation of Governor-General's Body- 
 Guard (1799), 375 ; its services, 376 ; 
 Queen's Own Sappers and Miners, 
 notes on, 338-50; Fourth P.W.O. 
 Madras Light Cavalry, notes on, 
 372. 
 
 English expedition (1749) into Tan- 
 jore (fj-v.), 129; storming of Devi- 
 cotah, 131 ; attempt to take Madura, 
 140 ; expedition against Chandah 
 Sahib at Volconda, 141 ; siege of Ar- 
 cot (1751), 143 ; campaign (under 
 Clive, q.v.) against the French (1752), 
 147 ; war at Trichinopoly (1753-4), 152 ; 
 serious British losses, 154; expedition 
 to save Bengal from Surajah Dowlah, 
 173 ; campaign in the Northern Cir- 
 cars (1758), 274, 283 ; battle of Con- 
 dore, 275. 
 
 Madras Artillery, rapid march of 
 (1858), 334. 
 
 Madras Light Cavalry, regiments of, 
 377 ; notes on 4th P.W.O. Begt., 372. 
 
 Madras Sappers and Miners, Queen's 
 Own, details of services, with officers 
 mentioned in despatches. 338-50. 
 
 Madrasapatam, first independent posi- 
 tion of English in India, acquired 
 1640, 38. 
 
 Madura, English attempt to re-conquer 
 (1751), 140. 
 
 Magdala, the storming of (1867), 383. 
 
 Mahim, an out fort of Bombay, 85. 
 
 .Mahmood, Sultan, son of Sabaktagin, 
 his conquests in India, 7. 
 
 Mahomed Ali, son of the Nabob of 
 Arcot, asks aid of the British, 135 ; 
 gains their support, 136 ; defeated by 
 the French, joins Nazir Jung (1750), 
 138 ; ready to resign to the French, 
 still supported by the English (1751), 
 140 ; makes alliance with Regent of 
 Mysore, the Marathas, and Kajah of 
 Tanjore, 146, 148; defeated by 
 French at Vicravandi (1752), 150; 
 again helped by British contrary to 
 treaty (1755), 161. 
 
 Mohomed Issoof, commander-in-chicf 
 of Madras Sepoys (1754-56), 162; 
 defeats Polygar army (1756), 175. 
 
 Mahomed Reza Khan, civil and criminal 
 manager to the Nabob, 250. 
 
 Mahomed Shah, Mogul Emperor, his 
 power crippled by Persia (1739), 114 ; 
 his dominions again invaded by Per- 
 sians (1748), 126. 
 
 Maliomedanism in India, 216. 
 
 Malabar coast conquered by Portu- 
 guese, 13. 
 
 Malabar Hill, defences of (1695 and 
 1886), 85 and n. 
 
 Malacca, taken by Portuguese (1511), 13. 
 
 Malcolm, Sir John, in war against Tip- 
 poo Sultan (1799), 316. 
 
 Malleson, Col., tutor to the Rajah of 
 Mysore, 319. 
 
 Mandalay, made capital of Burma 
 (1860), 368. 
 
 Maphuze Khan, elder son of Nabob of 
 Arcot, taken prisoner at Amboor, 135, 
 155. 
 
 Marathas invest Surat (1663), 43 ; their 
 influence on Bombay, 46 ; division of 
 the Empire, 50 ; besiege Surat (1703), 
 100; threaten Delhi (1738), 111; 
 attack the Portuguese near Bombay, 
 111 ; commercial treaty with, by 
 Capt. Keigwin (1684), 113 ; they rule 
 in Tanjore, 128; join the French 
 (1753), 152. 
 
 Maratha Pirates, account of, 108-11. 
 
 Marryat, Capt., served in the first 
 Burmese war, 364. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 437 
 
 Martial law, Company's servants first 
 exercising (1674), 72 ; royal code of, 
 applied to Company's forces (1685), 80. 
 
 Martin, M., pioneer of the French in 
 India, 57, 58 ; founded Pondicherry 
 (1683), 201. 
 
 Masters, Mr, serves the Company 
 (1676), 62. 
 
 Masulipatam, E. I. Company's factory at, 
 36 ; taken by the French (1750), 137 ; 
 taken by British (1759), 281. 
 
 Mathison, Lieut., anecdote of, 331. 
 
 Matthews, Gen., murdered by Tippoo, 
 304. 
 
 Mazagon, an out fort of Bombay, 85. 
 
 Medows, Maj.-Gen. Sir W., Commander- 
 in-Chief at Madras (1790), 309 ; anec- 
 dote of, 312. 
 
 Meer Cossitn, made Nabob (1760), 226 ; 
 war with English over trade duties, 
 227 ; the last of him, 234, 235. 
 
 Meer Jaffler Khan, offended by Surajah 
 Dowlah, intrigues with English, 166 ; 
 at battle of Plassey (1757), 208 ; his 
 treachery to Surajah Dowlah (1757), 
 211; is made Nabob by Clive, 214; 
 intrigues with the Dutch, 219; his 
 death (1765), 234; his character, 
 205 ; his rule, 218 ; his legacy to 
 Clive, 261. 
 
 Meerun, son of Meer Jaffier, his in- 
 famous conduct, 224 ; and death, 225. 
 
 Mein, Gen. J. D., rapid march of Ar- 
 tillery under (1858), 334. 
 
 Meng-Khaung, Burmese King (1416), 
 355. 
 
 Michael, Gen., on Native Army of 
 Madras. 418. 
 
 Middleton. Capt. (afterwards Sir) Henry, 
 commands E. I. Company's fleet 
 (1604-6), 24; and again in 1610-14, 
 26. 
 
 Minchin, Capt., in the siege of Calcutta 
 (1756), 1(59. 
 
 Minderajee Prau, founder of Amara- 
 ptira, 364. 
 
 Minhla, storming of, 397. 
 
 Mint, established at Bombay (1671), 55. 
 
 Mirza Raja, Subahdar of the Deccan, 49. 
 
 Mogul Empire in India, its rise, 8 ; 
 reign of Akbar, 9 ; and of Jehangir, 
 10 ; conflict with the Marathas, 47- 
 50 ; civil war in, on death of Aurung- 
 zebe (1707), 103; decay of, 115, 127. 
 
 Monackjie, Tanjore General, his attack 
 upon Lally's camp, 272. 
 
 Monghir, siege of (1763), 232. 
 
 Montague, Lieut. -Col., killed at siege 
 of Seringapatam (1799), 330; anec- 
 dote of, 330, 
 
 Moodeen Khan, killed at Plassey 
 (1757), 210, 212. 
 
 Moorhouse, Lieut. -Col, at storming of 
 Bangalore (1791), 310. 
 
 Moorshedabad, taken by British (1763X 
 229. 
 
 Morari Rao, leader of Maratha Horse, 
 136 ; makes alliance with Clive at 
 Arcot (1751), 144. 
 
 Munro, Gen. Sir Hector, at battle of 
 Porto Novo (1781), 319-20 ; his stern 
 discipline, 233. 
 
 Mustees, or half-castes, 115. 
 
 Muti-jil, description of, 262. 
 
 Muzzufer Jung, son of the Nizam-ul- 
 Mulk, claims Soubahship of the 
 Deccan (1748-9), 133; assisted by 
 the French, is proclaimed Nizam, 
 134-5 ; he gives up, 137 ; liberated 
 by the French and proclaimed Nizam 
 (1750), 139 ; his death (1751), 140. 
 
 Mysore, Hyder AH (?.?'.), ruler of, 299 ; 
 war in and conquest of, 301, 308. 
 
 Mysore, Maharajah of, his subscription 
 to fund for Indian Institute, x. 
 
 N. 
 
 Nadir Shah, King of Persia, invades 
 the Punjab and sacks Delhi (1738), 
 114. 
 
 Napier of Magdala, Lord, obituary 
 notice of, 379-88 ; in the Chinese War 
 of 1860, 381 ; storming of Magdala, 
 383 ; his personal qualities, 384. 
 
 Native Cavalry, establishment of a 
 regiment of (1785), 373 ; notes on 
 regiments of, 376. 
 
 Native troops, first mentioned in garri- 
 son of Bombay, 45 ; regular com- 
 panies of, first enrolled (1683), 77; 
 to be enlisted from same caste (1694), 
 84 ; first enlistment of, in Bengal, 91 ; 
 constitution of, in 1708, 105; first 
 detached on service from their Presi- 
 dency, 1748, 121n ; confidence placed 
 in Native commanders, 162 ; for- 
 bidden the use of Artillery, 245 ; 
 reduction of Native Artillery, 245-7 ; 
 notes on Native Army of Bengal, 417 ; 
 of Bombay, 421 ; and of Madras, 418 ; 
 pay of those under Aurungzebe, 104. 
 
 Nazir Jung, son of the Nizam-ul-Mulk, 
 claims the Soubahship, 133 ; sup- 
 
438 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Na> 5r Jung cont. 
 
 ported by the British, 136, 137 ; 
 
 .signs treaty with the French, 138; 
 
 but is attacked by them, and killed 
 
 by traitors (1750), 139. 
 Newport, Capt. , conducts E. I. Com- 
 pany's expedition, 31. 
 Nicholson, Capt., commands fleet for 
 
 E. I. Company (1685), 65-67. 
 Noble, Capt., raises troop of Madras 
 
 Horse Artillery (1805). 374. 
 Norris, Sir William, ambassador to the 
 
 Mogul Court (1700). 95 ; his mission, 
 
 and death (1702), 96. 
 Nujun-ood-dowla. son of Meer Jaffier, 
 
 made Nabob (1705), 234; makes 
 
 treaty with Calcutta Council, 249. 
 
 0. 
 
 Omichund, a Hindu merchant useful to 
 the British, 181-84; cheated and 
 mined, 218. 
 
 Ostend Company, for trading in the 
 East (1717-1720), 107. 
 
 Oxinden, Sir George, President of 
 Surat (1662), 42; first Governor of 
 Presidency, appointed to Bombay, 
 1668, 41, 45 ; his administration of 
 Bombay, 51 ; and death (1669), 54. 
 
 Oxinden, Mr., attends coronation of 
 Shivaji(1674), 71. 
 
 P. 
 
 Pagoda, value of, 41,101, 307. 
 Panipat, near Delhi, battle at (1526), 9. 
 Parndis, M., defeats Nabob of Carnatic, 
 
 119; attempts to reduce Fort St. 
 
 David (1747), 120. 
 Parsis, in Bombay, account of, 295 ; 
 
 enrolled as Volunteers, vii. 
 Patan Chiefs, treacherous conduct of 
 
 (1750-51), 138-40. 
 Patna, attempt to fix a factory at (1620), 
 
 CO ; massacre at (1763). 232 ; siege 
 
 and storm of, 232 ; British victory 
 
 at (1760), 224-5. 
 
 Pearse, Lieut-Col., commands and im- 
 proves Bengal Artillery (1769), 241, 
 247. 
 
 Perez, Portuguese ambassador to China 
 (1518), 14. 
 
 Persia, E. I. Company's trade with, 28,29, 
 31. 37 ; applies to the Company for 
 assistance (1696), 87 ; early invasion 
 of India, 5 ; Nadir Shah invades India 
 (1737), 114. 
 'Persian Gulf, as trade route, 13. 
 
 Peshwa, office of, becomes hereditary, 50. 
 
 Petapoli, E. I. Company's factory at, 26. 
 
 Petit, Sir Dinshaw Manocjee, 295 and n. 
 
 Phayre, Gen. Sir Arthur, ambassador to 
 Burma (1855), 367 ; his account of 
 Ava (fj.v.), 352. 
 
 Phoenicians, trade between East and 
 West, 2-3. 
 
 Pigot, Mr., Member of Council, takes 
 reinforcements to Trichinopoly (1751), 
 142 ; Governor of Madras (1755-63), 
 286, 290 and . 
 
 Pilaji Gaekarwar, sets up independent 
 rule, 50. 
 
 Piplee, port of, in Bengal (1634), 37, 38. 
 
 Pirates, their successes off West Coast of 
 India (10%), 87 ; under Capt. Kidd 
 (1698), 89; the English, Dutch, and 
 French c mbine against the marauders 
 89 ; flourishing in 1703, 99 ; and in 
 1705, 100; Manitha pirates (r/.v.),l08 ; 
 memorable sea fight with (1722), 109 ; 
 extermination of the Angria Pirates 
 (1756), 162-65. 
 
 Pirha Jt/(;a, holy place at Plassey, 207. 
 
 Pitt, Mr., factor of the (rival) English 
 Company (1699), 89 ; appointed to 
 Fort St. David (1703), 98 ; dies, 99. 
 
 Pitt, Mr., Governor of Madras (1697), 
 88, 89n. ; appointed Governor and 
 President (1703), 98. 
 
 Plassey, description of place, 207 ; 
 battle of (1757), 209; results of , 214, 
 215. 
 
 Pocock, Admiral, with expedition to 
 save Bengal (1756), 174, 184; killed, 
 185. 
 
 Polygars of the Collerics, conquest of 
 (1756), 161, 162 ; again troublesome, 
 175. 
 
 Pondicherry, purchased by the French 
 (1083), 57 ; founded by M. Martin, 
 201 ; siege of (1748), 123 ; French 
 receive considerable territory round 
 (1750), 139: besieged by British 
 (1700-01), 287 ; restored to the French 
 (1703), 299; vicissitudes of (179:5- 
 1815), 197; remarks on its exchange 
 with Heligoland, 200. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 439 
 
 Porto Novo, decisive battle of (1781), 319 
 Portuguese discover sea-route to East, 
 3; land in India (1498), 4 ; at Cali- 
 cut under Vasco de Gama, 10, 11 ; 
 second expedition under Alvares 
 Cabral, 11, 12 ; Albuquerque, first 
 Viceroy, seizes Goa, 12; his further 
 conquests, 13 ; conflict with Egypt, 
 12; embassy to China, 14; and trade 
 with Japan, 14 ; extent of their 
 power in the East (1538), 15 ; the 
 administration of Don Juan da Castro, 
 15 ; decline of the Portuguese power, 
 15, 16 ; their fleet defeated by British 
 at Surat, 27, 28 ; English quarrel 
 with (1719), 108 ; attacked by 
 Marathas, 111; apply to Bombay for 
 aid (1739), 112. 
 
 Pratop Sing, rules Tan j ore, 128. 
 Prendergast, Lt.-Gen. Sir H. N. D., 
 commanding Burma Field Force 
 (1885-6), 388 ; his account of opera- 
 tions in Upper Burma, 392 et seq. 
 President and Council, titles first 
 assumed by Company's servants in 
 Java (1622), 34. 
 
 Presidential Ai'mies, organization of 
 (1748), 122 ; origin and progress of 
 Artillery (7.^.), 237 et seq. ; origin 
 of Artillery terms, 242 ; re-modelling 
 of the Artillery, 121 ; pay of officers 
 and men, 121-22 ; description of 
 European soldiers in India (1711), 
 240-41 ; officers in Society (about 
 1770), 243 ; discontent and mutiny 
 among troops, 232-3 ; mutiny of 
 Bengal officers (1706), 257 ; Bombay 
 and Madras detachments incorpo- 
 rated with Bengal Army, 202 ; notes 
 on Indian Regiments of Cavalry, 376 ; 
 standards first delivered to cavalry 
 regiments (1788), 374 ; Lord Clive 
 and the Army, 253 et seq. ; transfer 
 from Company to Crown (1858), 370 ; 
 Army of British India (1889), 253 n. ; 
 questions of re- organization, xi 
 
 Honours of Plassey, 213 ; victories 
 of certain regiments, 213 ; war with 
 Tippoo Sultan, 308, 316; second 
 siege and storming of Seringapatam 
 (1799), 316. 
 Prideaux, Lieut., with mission to 
 
 Abyssinia (1864), 382. 
 Prince of Wales' Own Grenadier Regi- 
 ment of Bombay Infantry, record of 
 services, 321 et xeq. ; state and com- 
 position of (1887,, 327. 
 Pulo Condore, near Borneo, massacre of 
 
 Company's servants at (1706), 102. 
 Putta-wallahs, why so called, 11 6. 
 
 Q. 
 
 Queen's Own Madras Sappers and 
 Miners, notes on, 338-50. 
 
 R. 
 
 Rajbullut, Deputy Governor of Dacca, 
 
 cause of quarrel between English 
 
 and Surajah Dowlah (1756), 166. 
 Rajpoots, companies of, first enrolled 
 
 for Bombay (1683), 77. 
 Ramnarayan, Rajah, Governor of Patna, 
 
 224 ; his end, 230. 
 Ram-Rajah, King of Marathas (1690), 
 
 81. 
 
 Rangoon, founded by Alompra, 358. 
 Rassam, Mr. Hormuzd, his mission to 
 
 Abyssinia (1864), 382. 
 Ratanapura, or Ava (<?.v.), 354. 
 Raymond, Mr. George, commands expe- 
 dition to the East (1591), 23. 
 Renaud, or Renault, Governor of Chan- 
 
 dernagore (1757), 185, 189. 
 Rivett-Carnac, Col. E. S., sketch of 
 
 career and services, xvii. 
 Rivett-Carnac, Mr. James, Director, xi. 
 Roberts, Gen. Sir Fredk. , his march to 
 
 Candahar (1880), 192, 334. 
 Roe, Sir Thomas. Ambassador to the 
 
 Mogul Court (1615), 10, 28, 32, 33. 
 Rolt, Mr., Governor of Bombay (1677), 
 
 74. 
 Royal Artillery, men of, reinforce 
 
 Madras Army (1754), 160. 
 Runjeet Singh, Maharajah, anecdote of, 
 
 336. 
 Rupee, value of, in 1707, 103n. 
 
 S. 
 
 Sabut Jung, Clive so entitled, 207. 
 
 Sagaing, seat of Shan kings, 352. 
 
 Sahoji, Maratha Chief, applies to Bom- 
 bay for aid, 106. 
 
 Salabut Jung, placed on throne of 
 Deccan by the French (1751), 140, 
 149 ; deserts the French and joins 
 the English, 172. 
 
 Saldanha Bay, taken possession of by 
 English (1620), 34, 
 
440 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Salsette, Islands of, taken by Marathas 
 (1739), 112 ; taken from the Marathas 
 (1774), 80. 
 
 Sambaji, son of Konoji Angria, Maratha 
 pirate (?.r.), HO. 
 
 Sambhaji, son of Shivaji, 49 ; succeeds 
 his father (1680), 76 ; commercial 
 treaty with (1683), 79; his death. 
 50. 
 
 Samiaveram, Olive defeats French at 
 (1752), 147. 
 
 Sanjohi, Maratha ruler of Tanjore, de- 
 posed, seeks aid from the English, 
 128; English expeditions into Tan- 
 jore on his behalf (1749), 129; sold 
 by the English, 132. 
 
 Saris, Capt., commands E. I. Company's 
 expedition (about 1611), 26. 
 
 Saunders, Mr., Governor of Madras, 
 sends reinforcements to Trichinopoly 
 (1751), 142. 
 
 Scind,E. I. Company's factory in (1635), 
 38. 
 
 Scotch East India Company established 
 1695, 86 and n. 
 
 Seddee, title of Mogul admirals, 68 
 and n. 
 
 Seleucus invaded India, 6n. 
 
 Sepoy, peons or puttawallah> so called, 
 115, 116n. ; organization of (1748), 
 122 ; Sepoys in Bombay Army, 115 ; 
 number in Madras Army (1752), 
 147n. ; services of, in Madras estab- 
 lishment, 162 ; their value as fighting 
 material, 126 ; their gallant beha- 
 viour on various occasion, 159 ; first 
 instance of disaffection among (1748), 
 122; Clive's training and organiza- 
 tion of, 180. 
 
 Seringapatam, capital of Mysore, first 
 siege of (1792), 313; second siege 
 and fall of (1799), 316. 
 
 Seringham, Island of, abandoned by 
 English (1750), 141 ; French again 
 established at (1753), 152 ; strength 
 of French forces at (1754), 154. 
 
 Shah Allum, Emperor, invades Behar 
 (1760), 223 ; defeated at Patna, 
 225. 
 
 Shah Jehan, Emperor, by firman from, 
 E. I. Company establish factories in 
 Bengal (1634), 37. 
 
 Shahaji, father of Shivaji, 47 ; his 
 death, 49. 
 
 Shahisti Khan, Mogul commander-in- 
 chief, 48. 
 
 Shaxton, Capt., Factor of Bombay, 55 ; 
 found guilty of mutiny (1674), 72. 
 
 Shillinge, Capt., takes possession of Sal- 
 danha Bay (1620), 34, 
 
 Shipman, Sir Abraham, appointed Go- 
 vernor of Bombay (1662), 41; ill- 
 success, 42, 43 ; and death, 44. 
 
 Shivaji, his early history, 47 ; his 
 conflicts with the Mogul, 37-50 ; 
 seizes on Tanjore (1670). 128 ; his 
 coronation (1674), 71; his death 
 (1680), 50, 76. 
 
 Siam, E. I. Company's factory in, 27 ; 
 French trade with, 58. 
 
 Silladar, a four-horse, 104 and n. 
 
 Sindia, Nanoji, sets up independent 
 rule, 50. 
 
 Sion, an out-fort of Bombay, 85. 
 
 Sladen, Col. E. B., with Burma Field 
 Force (1885-6), 389, 403, 415. 
 
 Smith, Mr. Charles, in defence of Cal- 
 cutta (1756), 168. 
 
 Soarez, Lopez, Portuguese Viceroy in 
 India, 14. 
 
 Solyrnan, Sultan, his fleet destroyed by 
 Portuguese (1538), 15. 
 
 Sophie, Shah, King of Persia, grants 
 firman to E. I. Company (1631), 37. 
 
 St. Helena, colonized (1657) and pos- 
 sessed (1661) by the E. I. Company, 
 42. 
 
 St. John, Dr., King's Judge at Bombay 
 (1684), 79. 
 
 St. Thome' (St. Thomas' Mount), taken 
 by the French (1672), 56 ; made per- 
 manent head-quarters of Madras Artil- 
 lery C 1774), 244. 
 
 Staunton, Capt., his defence of Kore- 
 gaum (1818), 322. 
 
 Staveley, Sir Charles, at taking of Mag- 
 dala (1867), 383. 
 
 Stavorinus, Capt., his description of 
 Giretty (1770), 221. 
 
 Stuart Gen. Jas., at battle of Porto 
 Novo (1781), 319-20; English forces 
 in Madras under (1783), 304n, 306 ; 
 story of the rocket-man, 307. 
 
 Stuart, Lieut. James, in war against 
 Tippoo Sultan (1799), 316. 
 
 Suakin, E. I. Company's trade with 
 (1645). 38. 
 
 Sugar Loaf Rock, near Trichinopoly, 
 battles at (1753), 153. 
 
 Sujah Dowlah, Soubahdar of Oudh, 
 opposes the British (1763), 232-34, 
 251??. 
 
 Sukaji, son of Konoji Angria, Maratha 
 pirate (q,v.), 110. 
 
 Sumatra, E. I. Company established in 
 (1691), 83. 
 
 Suraj-ad-Dowlah, or 
 
 Surajah Dowlah, quarrels with English, 
 166; his attack on Calcutta (175(i) 
 (q.v.), 168; he again marches on 
 
INDEX. 
 
 441 
 
 Surajah Dowlah cont. 
 Calcutta, 181 ; makes treaty with 
 British, 183; but sides with the 
 French, 183. 186 ; marches to Plassey, 
 203; his letter to M. Bussy (1757), 
 206 ; at battle of Plassey, 208 ; 
 Meer Jaffier's treachery to, 212 ; his 
 flight and death, 214 ; his character, 
 205. 
 
 Surat, E. I. Company's first factory in 
 India at, 25, 31 ; first Dutch factory 
 at (1617), 33; it is made chief Presi- 
 dency (1657), 40,41; invested by Mara- 
 thas (1663), 43; and attacked and 
 plundered by Shivaji (1670), 49, 55 ; 
 again raised to a Presidency (1681). 
 76 ; the seat of Government trans- 
 ferred from there to Bombay (1685), 
 80 ; besieged by Marathas" (1703), 
 100; troubles at, 1706, 101, 102; 
 hostilities with the Siddee (1752), 
 151. 
 
 Suree, an out fort of Bombay, 85. 
 
 Swiss troops in Presidential Armies, 
 150, 152 and n. 
 
 Symes, Col., his mission to Burma 
 (1795), 361. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tagaung, the first Burmese capital, 
 
 352. 
 Taku Forts, storming of, in Chinese 
 
 War of 1860, 381. 
 Tamerlane or Timourlang (<?.y.), 8. 
 Tanjore, description of, 128 ; falls under 
 
 rule of the Marathas, 128; English 
 
 interfere in native disputes, 128 ; 
 
 English expedition (1749) to assist 
 
 Sanjohi (q.v.}, 129; king of, comes to 
 
 terms with the French, 136 ; French 
 
 attack upon and retreat from (1758), 
 
 270-72. 
 Tea, first order to the E. I. Company 
 
 for, 53 ; the Company's imports of, 
 
 53n. 
 Terreneau, story of, at Chandernagore, 
 
 189. 
 Thadomengbya, a famous Shan chief 
 
 (1364), 352 ; founded the city of Ava 
 
 (?.!;.), 354. 
 Thamas Cooly Khan, better known as 
 
 Nadir Shah .v., 114. 
 
 Theebaw, King of Burma, 355 ; a curious 
 ceremony at Mandalay (1874), 368. 
 
 Theodore, King of Abyssinia, war 
 against (1867), 382. 
 
 Tillicherry, encounter at (1751), 151. 
 
 Timourlang (Tamerlane) takes Delhi, 
 8, 9. 
 
 Tippoo Sultan, son of Hyder Ali, suc- 
 ceeds his father in Mysore (1782), 
 304; treaty of peace with (1784), 
 304, 308, and n ; campaigns against 
 (1790-91), 309 ; comes to terms at 
 siege of Seringapatam (1792), 313, 
 315 ; his sons delivered as hostages, 
 31-1 ; intrigues with the French, 315; 
 second siege and fall of Seringapatam 
 (1799), 316 ; his character, 317 ; his 
 dreams, 319. 
 
 Toghlukabad, remains of ancient Delhi, 
 8. 
 
 Tonquin, the French try to establish 
 themselves at (17th cent.), 58 and n ; 
 E. I. Company trade in, 74. 
 
 Toolaji, a Maratha pirate (see Angria). 
 
 Topasses, who they were, 52n ; they 
 prove their fidelity, 43n. 
 
 Towerson, Capt., Agent at Amboyna 
 (1623), 34. 
 
 Trichinopoly, prince of, threatens Tan- 
 jore (1670), 128 ; preparations for de- 
 fence of (1751), 142; besieged by 
 Chandah Sahib and the French, 146 ; 
 war at (1753), 152. 
 
 Tyrrel, Capt., commands reinforcements 
 to the East (1683), 78. 
 
 u. 
 
 " Uncovenanted," the, vi., ix. 
 
 U'ndwah Nala, decisive battle of (1763), 
 230. 
 
 United Company of Merchants of Eng- 
 land trading with the East Indies, 98. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Van Speult, Dutch Agent at Surat, 35. 
 Vaux, Mr., Deputy Governor of Bombay 
 
 (1693), 83. 
 
 Velore, battle near, 300. 
 Vicravandi, French victory at (1752), 
 
 150. 
 
 29 
 
442 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Volconda, disgraceful behaviour of 
 European detachment at (1751), 141. 
 
 Von Neck, Admiral, commands Dutch 
 expedition to the East, 18. 
 
 W. 
 
 Waite, Sir Nicholas, factor of the (rival) 
 English Company (1699), 89, 95 ; his 
 treatment of the London (Old) Com- 
 pany's officers, 96 ; abuses his powers, 
 101 r dismissed (1708), 106. 
 
 Walcott, Ensign, the only officer who 
 survived the Black Hole (1756), 171n. 
 
 Wandewash, battle of, 287- 
 
 Warwyck, Admiral, Dutch pioneer in 
 the East, 18. 
 
 Watson, Admiral, brings reinforcements 
 for Madras (1754), 157, 160; with 
 English fleet in Indian seas, 164 ; 
 sent with expedition to save Bengal 
 (1756), 173, 190; at taking of Chan- 
 dernagore, 195. 
 
 Watts, Mr., President at Cossimbazar, 
 167; resident at Moorshedabad, 206 
 and n. 
 
 Wellesley, Lord, Governor General 
 (1798), 315 ; at war with Tippoo, 316 ; 
 his policy with the French in India, 
 198. 
 
 Wetwang, Sir John, English Admiral 
 (1683), 77. 
 
 Weycondab, near Trichinopoly, fortress 
 of, stormed (1753), 153. 
 
 Wilkinson, Mr., in defence of Calcutta 
 
 (,1766), 168. 
 Willoughby, Sir H. , English navigator, 
 
 20. 
 Winter, Sir Edward, Agent at Fort St. 
 
 George, coins pagodas (1660), 41 ; his 
 
 extraordinary conduct (1665), 45, 51 ; 
 
 and return to England (1669), 53. 
 Woodward, Capt. R., R.N., with Naval 
 
 Brigade in Upper Burma, 388, 399, 
 - 413. 
 
 Worlee, an out fort of Bombay, 85. 
 Wyborne, Sir John, Deputy Governor of 
 
 Bombay (1685), 80 and n. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yonge, Capt. W. A. , first commandant 
 of Madras Light Cavalry, 372. 
 
 Yule, Sir Henry, with mission to Burma 
 (1855), 367. 
 
 z. 
 
 Zamorin, the, or Prince Governor of the 
 Malabar coast, makes treaty with the 
 British (1615), 32. 
 
 Zinzan, Mr., temporary Governor of 
 Bombay (1684), 79. 
 
 London: Printed by W. H. Allen & Co., 13 Waterloo Place. S.W. 
 
THE SECOND SERIES OF "DISTINGUISHED ANGLO-INDIANS." 
 
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