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Chapter 12 – Progress of Events at Madras and Bombay, 1761–1772

State of affairs at Madras

To return now to the progress of events at the Madras Presidency. The extinction of the French power in India by the capture of Pondicherry, had given Mahomed Ali, the ally of the English, the undisputed title of Nabob of the Carnatic, and, though he had afforded them no assistance during the war, he regarded himself as the absolute ruler of the country. But be was conspicuous even among the princes of India for his imbecility; and his army was a mere rabble, which devoured the resources of a territory they were unable to protect. The Company thus found themselves, by the issue of the war, saddled with the defence of a province comprising 50,000 square miles, without any resources for the maintenance of a costly army, but the profits of their trade, which belonged to their constituents in London. They were constrained, therefore, to demand a contribution of fifty Lacs of rupees from Mahomed Ali, to discharge the obligations they had contracted during the recent conflict. But the Carnatic had been without any settled government for twenty years; every invader had desolated its districts, and the polygars paid no revenue but at the sword’s point. The country was, moreover, now in the hands of a court at once wasteful and neglectful, which had been subsisting for many years on loans raised on exorbitant terms at Madras, which impaired the strength of those who borrowed the money, and the morals of those who lent it.

Affairs of Tanjore, 1763

To meet this demand, the Nabob proposed to the government of Madras to despoil the governors of Vellore and the Marawars, and more particularly the rajah of Tanjore, whose principality had, to a certain extent, escaped the ravages of war, and which he was anxious to appropriate to himself. Tanjore was an independent province,

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which had never been incorporated with the Mogul empire, though it had often yielded to the pressure of invasion, and paid contributions when unable to evade them. The President at Madras, with an exhausted treasury, manifested the greatest reluctance to go to war with this state, and effected an amicable adjustment of the Nabob’s demand for a payment of twenty-two lacs of rupees in four instalments, and four lacs of rupees a year as tribute. But the Nabob derived little benefit from this arrangement, as the Court of Directors ordered the sums as they arrived, to be taken to the treasury at Madras, and placed to the credit of his account.

The peace of Paris, 10th February, 1763

The war between the French and the English was terminated by the peace of Paris, which restored to the former all the factories they had possessed in India. It likewise stipulated that in order to preserve future peace on the coast of Coromandel and Orissa. the English and the French should acknowledge Mahomed Ali for lawful Nabob of the Carnatic, and Salabut Jung, for lawful Soobadar of the Deccan. Clive was then in England, and endeavoured to convince the ministry, who knew nothing about Indian politics, of the danger and embarrassment which this clause would inevitably entail, but could only secure a slight and unimportant modification of it. It involved the double absurdity of disposing unceremoniously of territories belonging to the crown of Delhi, and of acknowledging the authority of Salabut Jung, eighteen months after he had ceased to reign. He had been deposed and confined on the 10th of July, 1761, by his brother, Nizam Ali, who, on finding that his rights were acknowledged by the two foreign European powers, so formidable to the princes of the Deccan, lost no time in causing him to be assassinated, and the treaty which was intended to secure to him the possession of the throne, became the cause of his death. Soon after, Nizam Ali invaded the Carnatic with a large army, laying waste the districts through which he passed, with the greatest barbarity. The English troops came up to the rescue, and

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faced the Nizam at Tripety, but he had no mind to try conclusions with them, and instantly evacuated the country. During these events, Clive happened to touch at Madras on his way to Calcutta, and was requested by the Nabob to obtain a firman from Delhi, releasing him from dependence on the Nizam; and on the 12th of August in the same year, Mahomed Ali was empowered by the emperor’s sunnud to hold his fief directly of the imperial crown.

Acquisition of the Northern sircars 12th Aug 1765

To meet the expenses of their military establishment at Madras, the Court of Directors were anxious to obtain a permanent right to the Northern sircars on the Coromandel coast, which had furnished the sinews of war to Bussy, and which were embraced in the districts ceded to Colonel Forde by Salabut Jung in 1758. The Madras President had, at one time, offered to farm them of the Nizam at a high rent, but the proposal was declined. Clive, however, during his second administration, disposed of the question in a very summary manner. On the memorable 12th of August, when he received the Dewanny from the emperor, he likewise requested an imperial grant of the Northern sircars for the Company, which was necessarily granted. The Nizam, who had already lost his hold on the Carnatic, was not disposed tamely to part with this province likewise, and on hearing that an English force had been sent to take possession of the districts, threatened to march down and exterminate them, and also made preparations for the invasion of the Carnatic. The timid Presidency of Madras, alarmed at these menaces, directed their commander, General Calliaud, to suspend all military operations, and proceed to Hyderabad to enter into negotiations with the Nizam.

Treaty with the Nizam, 12th Nov 1766

They resulted in the disastrous and humiliating treaty of the 12th of November, 1766, by which the Madras authorities agreed to hold the Northern sircars, which had been conferred on them by the paramount power in India, as a tributary tenure under the Nizam, at eight lacs of rupees a year, and, in addition, to make an immediate

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donation of five lacs. But what was still more objectionable, the President involved the Company in the intricate web of Deccan politics, by engaging to furnish the Nizam with two battalions of infantry and six pieces of cannon, “to settle, in everything right and proper, the affairs of his highness’s government,” well knowing that the first requisition for the troops would be to assist in attacking Hyder Ali, who had recently usurped the Mysore throne, and against whom a confederacy had been formed of the Mahrattas and the Nizam.

Rise of Hyder Ali

We turn, therefore, to the rise and progress of this extraordinary chief, who proved, eventually, to be the most formidable and inveterate foe the English ever encountered in India. The principality of Mysore was one of the provinces of the Hindoo kingdom of Beejuynugur, which was extinguished on the field of Tellicotta in 1564. In the confusion created by this event, it fell to the lot of a Hindoo prince, whose descendants continued, for two centuries, to maintain their independence and to encroach on their neighbours. About the year 1750, the old dynasty having become effete, the whole power of the state fell into the hands of the minister, Nunjeraj. It was at this juncture that Hyder appeared on the scene, and, in a few years, superseded both king and minister. His family came originally from the Punjab, and his father, Futteh Mahomed, gradually rose to be a sirdar of peons, or head constable, and then obtained the command of a small body of troops. Hyder was born about the year 1702, and, as he advanced in years, gave himself up to the pleasures of the chase, and plunged into voluptuous riot. Like Sevajee, he was never able to read or write, but this deficiency was in some measure supplied by an extraordinary memory. He remained in complete obscurity during forty-seven years of his life, and first entered the Mysore army as a volunteer at the siege of Deonhully, where his energy and self-possession attracted the notice of Nunjeraj.

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The foundation of his fortune, 1755

The minister immediately promoted him to the command of 50 horse and 200 infantry, with instructions to augment their number, and it was this commission which laid the foundation of his future fortune. In 1755, the difficult task of providing for the safety of the fortress of Dindigul, lying to the south of Trichinopoly, was committed to him, and it was while in command of this post that he appears first to have entertained those ambitious views which he was enabled to bring to a consummation in the brief space of six years. Dindigul became the cradle of his power, and it was there that he increased his resources by a system of plunder, of which there had been no example since the days of Sevajee. His troops were let loose indiscriminately on every one, friend or foe, who had anything to lose, and their zeal was sharpened by permission to retain half the booty for themselves. Hyder’s progress to power was aided in no small degree by his unrivalled power of dissimulation. Having on one occasion reported a great victory to Nunjeraj, that minister sent his commissary to bestow the usual pensions for wounds, when 700 men were exhibited to him, wrapped in bandages which had been steeped in turmeric, whereas only 67 had been wounded. By similar acts of deceit, and by the repetition of false musters, he was enabled to obtain large supplies of money, and to increase his force to 7,000. At the same time, he procured skilled artizans from the French settlements on the coast, and established an arsenal and a laboratory, and brought his artillery to a high degree of perfection.

The Peshwa besieges Seringapatam, 1757 Hyder’s acquisitions

In 1757, the Peshwa, Balajee Rao, made one of his periodical raids into Mysore, and, with the aid of the European engineers whom he had enlisted, laid close siege to Seringapatam. The minister was obliged to purchase a respite by the sacrifice of thirty-two lacs of rupees, and to pledge a large territory for the amount he was unable to furnish in money and jewels. The Mysore treasury was exhausted by this heavy drain, and the troops

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became mutinous for their arrears. Hyder hastened to the capital, and engaged to satisfy their claims, on receiving the assignment of fresh jaygeers. By this politic act he increased his resources, and at the same time obtained an influence over the troops, and all classes began to regard him as the guardian of order. Soon after, he persuaded the minister to expel the Mahratta officers from the districts which had been pledged to the Peshwa, who immediately entered the country with a large force. Hyder was appointed to the command of the Mysore army, and harassed the Mahrattas in their own style of warfare, with so much effect that they offered to relinquish the mortgaged territory for an immediate payment. Hyder raised the money from the bankers of the city on his own personal security, and the districts were transferred to him. Then came fresh mutinies, and the raja and the minister were besieged in their palaces. Hyder was at hand to satisfy the troops and received fresh assignments, till he found himself in possession of half the domains of the state.

Hyder assists Lally, 1760

Lally was at this time besieged by Coote in Pondicherry, and solicited the aid of Hyder, who engaged to furnish him with 8,000 horse and foot and a due proportion of artillery, on being put in possession of the important fortress of Thiagur. His relative and general, Mukdoom Ali, on his way to Pondicherry with the troops, fell in with a small English detachment, and defeated it. Hyder was so elated with this success, that he immediately ordered the strength of his contingent to be doubled. If this increased force had reached the French settlement while it was besieged, the war between the English and the French might have exhibited a very different result. But Hyder was suddenly obliged to recall the whole force for the protection of his own interests. His usurpation of authority had created great indignation at the court, and the queen-mother and the raja, in conjunction with his bosom friend, Khundeh Rao, determined to take advantage of the absence of these troops

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to crush his rising power. He was encamped under the fort of Seringapatam with only 1,600 men, when the guns were unexpectedly opened on him, and he was obliged to fly for his life. He retreated to Bangalore, and recalled his troops from Pondicherry, but was overtaken and signally defeated by Khundeh Rao.

Hyder recovers his fortunes, and usurps the throne, 1761

Hyder’s fortunes now appeared desperate, but they were restored by his matchless tact and hypocrisy. Unarmed and alone, he suddenly presented himself before the minister, Nunjeraj, acknowledged his ingratitude with an appearance of the deepest penitence, and entreated that he might be forgiven, and allowed to serve under him in any capacity, however mean. Nunjeraj was so simple as to give faith to these professions and condone his offence, and Hyder was thus enabled to assemble an army, but Khundeh Rao still followed him with such vigour that his escape appeared impossible. In this emergency, he contrived to throw in the way of his pursuer letters addressed to his officers, with the seal of Nunjeraj, in which allusion was made to certain treacherous proposals. Khundeh Rao, considering himself betrayed by his own officers, quitted his army, and fled with precipitation to Seringapatam. Hyder was now enabled to assemble a powerful army, with which he ascended the ghauts, and on his arrival at the capital in May, sent a message to the raja stating, “that large sums were due to him from the state, which must be liquidated, after which, if the raja thought fit to continue his services, it was well; otherwise he would depart and seek his fortune elsewhere.” Such a message, backed by an overwhelming force, could not be misunderstood. The raja yielded to necessity, and in June, 1761, relinquished the government to Hyder Ali, on receiving an assignment of lands of the annual value of three lacs of rupees for himself, and one lac for Nunjeraj.

Augmentation of Hyder’s Power, 1763

Hyder, now master of the kingdom of Mysore, directed all his energies to its aggrandisement,

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and in the course of two years extended his frontier to the banks of the Kistna. In 1763, he invaded the territory of Bednore, on the summit of the ghauts, which overlooked the maritime province of Canara. The capital was eight miles in circumference, and the country had not been exposed to the desolation of war. The queen set fire to her palace, arid fled with a large portion of the inhabitants into the woods, and Bednore submitted without a struggle. It is said to have been the most wealthy city in the Deccan, and the plunder which Hyder acquired has been estimated at twelve crores of rupees. This sum is a manifest exaggeration, but he himself always attributed his subsequent prosperity to the treasure he acquired in this city. He had previously changed his name from Hyder Naik to Hyder Ali Khan Bahadoor, and he now introduced greater etiquette and splendour into the arrangements of his court, and moreover took advantage of the access he had obtained to the sea coast, to commence the construction of a navy.

Accession of Madhoo Rao, Peshwa, Sept, 1761

To turn now to the progress of affairs among the Mahrattas. On the death of Balajee Rao, after the fatal defeat at Paniput, his son, Madhoo Rao, a youth of eighteen, proceeded to Satara, in company with his uncle, Roghoonath Rao, known in British annals as Raghoba, and was invested with the office of Peshwa by the descendant of Sevajee, who was still held in confinement by his cruel grandmother, Tara-bye. Nizam Ali, the dewan, or prime minister of his brother Salabut Jung, who had usurped the whole power of the Hyderabad kingdom, resolved to take advantage of the crippled state of the Mahrattas, and the confusion of a new reign, to recover the district which the deceased Peshwa had wrested from him in the preceding year. He marched to Poona with a large army, but, on arriving within fourteen miles of it, was induced to relax his demands, and accept lands yielding twenty-seven lacs of rupees a year. Six months after, he placed his brother under restraint, and not long after, when intelligence

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arrived that he had been recognised soobadar of the Deccan, by the peace of Paris, caused him to be put to death. Before the cession of the districts was completed, the restless Raghoba assembled his troops to oppose Nizam Ali, who immediately formed an alliance with Bhonslay, the raja of Berar, and marched again to Poona which, on this occasion, he plundered and burnt. Raghoba retaliated on him by marching to Hyderabad, and laying it under contributions. The two armies met on the banks of the Godavery.

Nizam Ali defeated by Raghoba, 1763

The faithless Bhonslay was induced by the promise of lands, valued at thirty-two lacs of rupees a year, to desert Nizam Ali, and join Raghoba; and the result of this treachery was the entire defeat of the Nizam with immense slaughter. The raja of Berar, however, was not long permitted to retain the fruits of his perfidy. He had incensed the Peshwa by joining Nizam Ali, and Nizam Ali by deserting to the Mahrattas on the eve of the battle, and in 1766, the united armies of these princes invaded Berar, and constrained him to restore four-fifths of the territory he had gained by his treachery.

Mahrattas attack and defeat Hyder, 1765

Mysore had hitherto been considered by the Mahrattas a submissive province, paying chout, and affording a field for plunder when no other expedition happened to be on hand. The sudden rise and rapid encroachment of a new power roused the indignation of the Peshwa; and, having disposed of Nizam Ali, he determined to chastise the audacity of Hyder, who had already increased his force to 20,000 horse and 40,000 foot, one-half of which consisted of well-disciplined infantry battalions. It was his first regular encounter with the Mahrattas, and he was completely foiled in all his movements. At the close of the monsoon, the Mahrattas again took the field, and forced Hyder to a general action in which he was again routed, with the loss of 10,000 men. The Mahratta horse spread over the country and plundered it without mercy, and Hyder considered himself fortunate in obtaining peace by the restoration

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of the greater portion of the districts he had usurped, and the payment of thirty-two lacs of rupees. These disasters shook his power in the other provinces he had recently conquered, and it required a full year to restore his authority. Early in 1766, his ambition led him to invade the maritime province of Malabar. The Nairs, or military chieftains, anxious to maintain their hereditary renown, and to preserve their independence, offered a noble resistance, but their chivalrous valour could not avert their fate, and the whole province was reduced to subjection. In his progress along the coast, Hyder reached the town of Calicut, memorable as the place where the Europeans first set foot on the soil of India. The district had never been invaded by the Mahomedan arms, and the Hindoo chief still bore the title of Zamorin, as in the days of Albuquerque. He was awed into submission by the overwhelming force of Hyder, but seeing his minister subjected to torture, he set fire to his palace, and voluntarily perished in the flames to avoid a similar fate.

Confederacy against Hyder, 1766

From these schemes of conquest Hyder was recalled to Seringapatam, to meet a confederacy which had been formed towards the close of 1766 by the Nizam and the Mahrattas, for the entire conquest of his country. Into this league the Madras Presidency was unfortunately drawn by the treaty concluded with the Nizam on the 12th of November in that year, which stipulated that the English should assist him with an auxiliary force, of undefined strength, “to settle the affairs of his government in everything that was right and proper,” though it was distinctly understood that the first service in which it was to be employed was the conquest or plunder of Mysore. The government of Madras was then under Mr. Palk, who had gone out to India as a chaplain, but renounced his orders to enter the more lucrative civil service of the Company, in which he amassed a large fortune, and on his return to England was created a baronet. It was this unfortunate treaty which involved the Presidency in a war with Hyder,

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and subjected them eventually to the greatest ignominy. The Mahrattas determined to forestal the Nizam, and without waiting for his co-operation, crossed the Kistna in January, 1767, and before the end of March had plundered the northern districts to the extent of seventeen lacs of rupees. Hyder discreetly bought them off by a payment of thirty lacs more. Madhoo Rao, the Peshwa, on his return from this successful expedition in May, met the Nizam’s army at Colar, and was requested to share the plunder with it, but ho treated the request with derision, and returned to his capital, leaving him and his English ally to settle with Hyder as they best could.

Nizam deserts the English and joins Hyder, 1767

Colonel Smith who commanded the contingent of British troops, found, on joining the Nizam’s camp, that this perfidious prince, had already entered into negotiations with Hyder, and the Colonel advised the Presidency to be prepared for the invasion of the Carnatic by their ally, as well as by their enemy. To remove suspicion the Nizam made the strongest protestations of inviolable good faith; but Colonel Smith, on entering the Mysore territory in May, 1767, perceived such unequivocal tokens of collusion, that he retired with the bulk of his force towards his own frontier, leaving only three bat-talons and some field pieces with the Nizam, at his special request. While this negotiation was in progress, the Nizam was intriguing with Nunjeraj, formerly minister of the old raj of Mysore, for the subversion of Hyder’s power. Hyder, who had discovered the plot, invited Nunjeraj to Seringapatam, after taking a solemn oath on the Koran to do him no harm, and, on his arrival, showed him that the oath had been taken on a book of blank leaves, and then stripped him of all his property, and consigned him to perpetual imprisonment. The bargain being now completed, the Nizam engaged to join in an attack on the English, on receiving an immediate payment of twenty lacs of rupees, and a promise of six lacs of tribute. But this scene of treachery was relieved by on act of generosity;

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the English contingent of three battalions was allowed to leave the Nizam’s camp without being attacked. The combined army of Hyder and the Nizam which now advanced against the English, numbered 42,000 cavalry, 28,000 infantry, and 100 guns, while Colonel Smith was only able to muster 1,030 sabres, and 5,800 bayonets, with 16 guns.

Battle of Changama, 3rd Sept, 1787

The first encounter with the English troops took place on the 25th of August, when a small detachment was surprised and discomfited. The honour of the British flag was, however, retrieved at Changama, where Colonel Smith totally routed the allied force; but as the Madras Council had entrusted the charge of the commissariat to their. Nabob, Mahomed Ali, and he had, as usual, disappointed them, Colonel Smith found his army straitened for provisions, and was obliged to fall back on Trinomalee, where, after various manoeuvres, he was able to offer battle to the allies. The engagement lasted two days, and ended in their total defeat, with the loss of 4,000 men and 64 guns. Their discomfiture would have been more complete, if the officer sent to improve the victory had not been led into a swamp by his guide, who, like most of the guides attached to this force, was one of Hyder’s spies. Meanwhile his eldest son, Tippoo, then seventeen years of age, was employed with a body of 5,000 horse, in plundering the country houses of the Madras gentry in the vicinity of the town, and the members of government escaped capture only by the eagerness of the Mysore troops for booty; but on hearing the result of the action at Trinomalee, he hastily retired and rejoined his father’s camp. For the next three months both parties were engaged in various operations, without interest or result, and Hyder was soon after called to the western coast, and deserted by the Nizam.

Expedition from Bengal, and treaty with the Nizam, 1767–68

The government of Bengal had not only assisted Madras with money for the support of the war, but sent an expedition under Colonel Peach by sea into the Hyderabad territories to create

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a diversion. He landed in the Northern Sircars, and penetrated the country to Warungole, the ancient metropolis of Telingana, only eighty-six miles from Hyderabad. Nizam Ali began to repent of his affiance with Hyder, which had brought him neither plunder nor territory, but abundant disgrace. He began, moreover, to tremble for his own capital, on which Colonel Peach was steadily advancing, and he determined at once to abandon his ally, and come to terms with the English. After several weeks of negotiation with Colonel Smith, the President at Madras concluded that memorable Treaty of the 23rd of February, 1768, which was not less ignominious than that which had been made two years before. The Nizam had been twice defeated in the south; his dominions had been successfully invaded in the north, and his capital was threatened. The President was in a position to dictate his own terms, but he abandoned every advantage and voluntarily placed his government in the most humiliating position. Instead of insisting on the right to hold the Northern Sircars on the strength of the imperial firman, he agreed to pay tribute for them, and to postpone the possession of the Guntoor Sircar, till the death of Basalut Jung, the brother of the Nizam, to whom he had assigned it. Hyder Ali, moreover, who had been absolute master of Mysore for seven years, and was one of the greatest powers in the Deccan, was contemptuously styled Hyder Naik, and treated as a rebel and a usurper. It was also stipulated that the English should conquer the Carnatic Balaghaut from him, and hold it of the Nizam, subject to a tribute of seven lacs of rupees a-year, and, to the payment of chout to the Mahrattas, though they were no parties to the treaty. To crown their folly, the Madras Council again involved their masters in the labyrinth of Deccan politics, by agreeing to assist the Nizam with two battalions of sepoys, and six pieces of artillery, commanded by Europeans, whenever he should require them. The treaty was reprobated by their masters in Leadenhall Street, who indignantly remarked, “We cannot take a view of your conduct

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from the commencement of your negotiations for the sircars, without the strongest disapprobation, and when we see the opulent fortunes acquired by our servants since that period, it gives but too much weight to the public opinion, that this rage for negotiations, treaties, and alliances has private advantage for its object, more than the public good.”

Hyder on the western coast, 1768

Hyder’s presence was required on the western coast, to make head against a formidable expedition fitted out from Bombay against his ports and his naval power. Mangalore and Onore were captured, and the Mysore fleet destroyed; but in the month of May Hyder descended the ghauts with an imposing force, and completely turned the scale. The British commander at Mangalore, after a wretched defence, re-embarked his troops, 1,500 in number, abandoning, not only all his stores, but 260 of his wounded soldiers, among whom were 80 Europeans. Hyder, after wreaking his vengeance on the districts which had manifested a spirit of rebellion during the brief ascendancy of the English power on the coast, returned, after the lapse of seven months, to prosecute the war in the eastern districts. But the great opportunity which his long absence afforded to the British army in the Carnatic had been completely sacrificed by the imbecility of the Madras authorities. As if the kingdom of Mysore were already in their possession, they had given it away to their Nabob, Mahomed Ali, and he accompanied the army to take charge of the districts as they were occupied. The provision of the commissariat, on which the movements of the army entirely depended, was, by a fatal error, committed to him, and Colonel Smith, the commandant was controlled and hampered by the deputation of two members of Council to regulate its movements. In spite, however, of these embarrassments, his exertions were attended with such success, that nearly one-half the dominions of Hyder, together with eight of his principal forts, and the most important mountain passes fell into his hands. Hyde; after a calm consideration of the progress and prospects of the campaign,

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deemed it the part of prudence, in the month of September, to make overtures to Colonel Smith, offering to cede the Baramahal to the Company, and to pay down ten lacs of rupees. But the President and Council, inflated with recent success, made the most extravagant demands, and Hyder broke off the negotiation, and prepared for a mortal conflict.

The tide turns against the English, 1768

The tide of success now turned against the English. Colonel Smith was constrained by the skilful manoeuvres of Hyder to raise the siege of Bangalore, and it was with great difficulty that he was able to maintain his ground. The “field deputies” and the Nabob had remained at Colar, where a body of troops, equal to a division, was idly detained for their protection. They had managed between them to ruin the prospects of the campaign; the deputies, by their mischievous interference, the Nabob by his neglect in regard to the supply of provisions. On the appearance of a detachment sent by Hyder to terrify them, they hastened back to Madras, accompanied by Colonel Smith, who had been invited to return to the Presidency to make room for a more favourite commander, Colonel Wood. Thus ended all the bright visions of conquest, in which the Madras Council had been indulging during the year, and they were now obliged to limit their efforts to the defence of the Company’s territories. On the 6th of December, Hyder descended into the Baramahal, and in the course of six weeks recovered all the districts which he had lost. It was now the turn of the. Council to solicit an accommodation with him, but the terms they proposed did not suit him, and, after two months of fruitless negotiations, he resumed his ravages, marking his progress by the flames of villages, and the flight of the wretched inhabitants. Colonel Smith was placed at the head of the troops, and, by his rapid and skilful movements, so effectually baffled the plans of Hyder, that he determined to attempt, by one bold stroke, to bring the war to a termination.

Hyder dictates peace, 1761

Sending all his guns, heavy baggage, and infantry back to Mysore by the pass of Ahtoor,

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he placed himself at the head of 6,000 chosen horse, unencumbered by a single gun, and marched a hundred and thirty miles in three days and a half. Early on the morning of the 29th of March, his advanced guard appeared at St. Thome, five miles from Madras, and a messenger soon after announced to the bewildered Council that he had come to conduct the negotiations in person. Colonel Smith had been rapidly following in his track, and would shortly have reached Madras. Hyder therefore demanded that an order should be immediately sent requiring him to halt, wherever he might be, on the arrival of the communication, which was despatched by one of his own dromedaries, and the Colonel, to his great chagrin, was obliged to remain inactive during this disgraceful negotiation. Hyder likewise required that Mr. Dupré, who had recently arrived at Madras, to succeed to the office of President, should be sent to his camp to adjust the conditions of peace. On the 4th of April a treaty was concluded on the very moderate terms of a mutual restitution of conquests. But it was at the same time stipulated that “in case either of the contracting parties should be attacked, they should from their respective countries mutually assist each Other to drive the enemy out.” Thus ended this ill-managed and unfortunate war by a treaty dictated by Hyder, under the walls of Madras.

War between Hyder and the Mahrattas, 1770–71

Hyder, having concluded peace with the English, and obtained the promise of their support, began to set the Mahrattas at defiance, and not only withheld the payments due to them, but levied contributions on their districts. Madhoo Rao, the Peshwa. therefore, assembled a large army for the entire and final subjugation of Mysore. The forts in the eastern provinces were rapidly reduced, and the districts laid waste; and Hyder, knowing that his infantry, even with their high discipline, could ill stand the charge of the Mahratta horse, retired westward, and made overtures of peace, offering to pay chout, but refusing to surrender territory. Madhoo Rao

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demanded a crore of rupees, and the negotiation was broken off. In the month of May, 1771, he was constrained, by the state of his health, to relinquish the command of the Mahratta army, which devolved on Trimbuck mama. Hyder, who dreaded the abilities of the Peshwa, but held the new commander in contempt, advanced with 35,000 men and forty guns, to the pass of Milgota, where he found himself entrapped into a false position. After sustaining an incessant cannonade for eight days, he was constrained, on the 5th of March, to break up his encampment, and commence his retreat to Seringapatam, a distance of about twenty-two miles. The army commenced its stealthy march by night, but it was revealed to the Mahrattas by accident or treachery, and they instantly made a vigorous assault on the retiring force. Hyder, who had been drinking to excess, and had not been able to relieve the effects by his usual period of sleep, was in a state of helpless inebriety. Tippoo was nowhere to be found, and when he presented himself to his father, the next morning, was overwhelmed with abuse, and beaten without mercy, on which he threw his turban on the ground, and swore by the prophet that he would not draw sword any more that day. The rout was complete, and the carnage prodigious, and the army was saved from extermination only by the avidity of the Mahrattas for plunder. Hyder, on recovering his senses in the morning, mounted a swift horse, and did not draw rein till he reached his capital. The Mahrattas laid close siege to it, but as they managed it with more than usual absurdity, Hyder had leisure to collect his scattered forces. During these troubles, he repeatedly importuned the President of Madras for that succour which the English government was bound, by the recent treaty, to afford him. He offered to pay twenty lacs of rupees for a brigade of troops, and to cede the Baramahal, Salem, and Ahtoor, and threatened to throw himself into the arms of the French if the assistance was withheld. The President considered it of vital importance to the honour and interests of

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the Company to support Hyder. But he was paralysed by the presence and the interference of Sir John Lindsay, whom the ministry of the day had, by an act of incredible folly, sent out as the King’s representative to the court of Mahomed Ali, and that prince was thus relieved from the salutary control of the Madras government. It was two years before this mischievous mission was recalled, during which time the Nabob was enabled to indulge his extravagant propensities with perfect impunity, to the great delight and benefit of his European creditors. He insisted on an alliance with the Mahrattas, which was supported by Sir John Lindsay, and the Madras Council, not daring to act in opposition to one who was clothed with the royal authority, were constrained to abandon Hyder to his fate. The desolation of his districts, and the exhaustion of his resources, at length compelled him to sue for peace to the Mahrattas, which was not granted without the immediate payment of thirty-six lacs of rupees, besides the stipulation of fourteen lacs of rupees of annual tribute, and the cession of territory, which reduced the kingdom of Mysore to narrower limits than it comprised at the beginning of the century. Nothing exhibits the incapacity of the Madras authorities during the war with Hyder so conspicuously as the contrast between the disgrace which he inflicted on them and the humiliation he sustained from the Mahrattas two years later. The breach of faith to which he attributed his misfortunes he never forgot or forgave, and it resulted in establishing Mahratta garrisons on the northern frontier of the Carnatic.

Mahratta expedition to Hindostan, 1769

The incursions of the Mahrattas into Hindostan were for a time checked by the battle of Paniput, and the discord of their chiefs; but in 1769, the Peshwa equipped a grand expedition to renew their ravages, and recover their authority. It was accompanied by a large body of horse belonging to Mandajee Sindia, the illegitimate son of Ranojee, the founder of the house; and also by Tokajee Holkar, who, though he bore the patronymic of the great chief by whom the dynasty was

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established, was not of his family, but was placed at the head of the army by Aylah-bye, the princess who, for thirty years, managed the state with consummate ability. The army, consisting of 300,000 horse and foot, and commanded by Visajee, the Peshwa’s general, burst like a flood on Rajpootana, and levied contributions to the extent of ten lacs of rupees. The Jauts, the next victims, were constrained to make a composition for sixty-five lacs, of which ten were paid down at once. During these transactions, the Mahratta chiefs invited the emperor to return to Delhi under their protection. That prince had continued to reside at Allahabad, after the arrangement concluded by Clive in 1765, in the tranquil enjoyment of the stipend allotted to him. The government of Delhi and of the districts still attached to the crown, were administered for seven years with extraordinary talent and success, by Nujeeb-ood-dowlah, the Rohilla chief, whom Mr. Verelst, the governor of Bengal, justly designated “a great and good man,” and on his death in October, 1770, by his son Zabita Khan. The emperor was naturally desirous of proceeding to Delhi, and mounting the throne of his ancestors. The Mahrattas were equally desirous of becoming the instrument of seating him on it, and turning the influence of his name to account The Council in Calcutta, however, strongly dissuaded him from this measure, feeling confident that it would involve the affairs of Hindostan in confusion, and eventually prove detrimental to his own interests. But the emperor turned a deaf ear to their remonstrances, and threw himself on the protection of the Mahrattas, by whom he was conducted to Delhi, and installed on the 25th of December, 1771.

Early in 1772, they entered Rohilcund, reduced the Dooab, and laid waste the whole province. The family of Zabita Khan was made prisoners, and the great wealth accumulated by him and his father they appropriated to their own use. The Rohilla chiefs, in their extremity, were driven to solicit the aid of the Vizier, though they were fully aware that the

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possession of their territories was the object which lay nearest to his heart. There are few transactions in the history of the times more complicated and obscure than the negotiations which ensued between the Rohillas, the Vizier, and the Mahrattas. As some approach to the truth, it may be stated that the Mahrattas agreed to retire for a sum of forty lacs of rupees, but insisted on the guarantee of the Vizier; that the Vizier required Hafiz Ruhmut, the chief of the Rohillas, to become responsible for the amount, and Hafiz requested the other chiefs to contribute their quota. These engagements appear to have been completed in June, 1772, and Hafiz paid the first instalment of five lacs to the Vizier, who, however, never paid the Mahrattas a cowrie, while the chiefs pleaded poverty for withholding their shares. As soon as the rains set in, the Mahrattas recrossed the Ganges for the season. Meanwhile, their arrogance and rapacity had become intolerable to the poor emperor, who determined to incur every risk to rid himself of them. His general, Nujeef Khan, a man of superior talent, and descended from the Sophi kings of Persia, led the imperial troops against them, but was totally defeated. It was a twelvemonth to a day after the emperor had entered his capital on the shoulders of the Mahrattas, that he was constrained to open its gates to their hostile battalions, and submit to all their demands. Among other exactions, they required him to cede the two districts of Corah and Allahabad, and they made preparations to occupy them. But the government of Calcutta wisely determined not to sanction the surrender of them to the Mahrattas, and thus introduce these unscrupulous marauders into the heart of the Gangetic provinces.

The Mahrattas retire to their own country, 1773

At the close of the monsoon of 1772, the Mahrattas resolved on the plunder of Oude, and offered Hafiz Ruhmut and the other Rohilla chiefs to make over to them the Vizier’s bond for forty lacs of rupees, and to share the territory which might be conquered with them, if they would grant a passage through

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their country, and make common cause in the expedition. The Vizier, in an agony of terror, offered, when the Mahrattas retired, to restore the bond Hafiz had given him. But the Rohilla chief needed no such inducement to refrain from an alliance with those whom he regarded as “the savage and infidel Mahrattas,” and resolved to co-operate with the Vizier in opposing them. That helpless prince, at the same time, implored the aid of the Council in Calcutta, who directed a brigade of troops to advance for the protection of the country. Several detachments of Mahratta horse laid waste a portion of Rohilcund, but the main body was held in check by the combined forces of the Rohillas, the Vizier, and Sir Richard Barker. Meanwhile, the young Peshwa, having planned an expedition to the south, required the presence of the troops employed in Hindostan, and the Mahratta general suddenly broke up his encampment in the month of May, and retired across the Nerbudda, laden with the booty of three campaigns. But, even before the disappearance of the Mahrattas, and while the Rohilla chiefs were cordially engaged in supporting the cause of the Vizier, that prince was plotting their expulsion from Rohilcund, and the appropriation of their estates. The sequel of these transactions, belongs to the history of Hastings’s administration, and we turn therefore to the progress of Indian affairs in England.

The strange anomaly of the Company’s government

The British Government in India, at this period was a strange and unprecedented anomaly. The agents of a London trading Company had in a few years acquired the sovereignty of provinces twice the size of England, and were employed in ruling a population twice as numerous as the subjects of their own king. The directors of a counting-house in London were making peace and war, setting up thrones and pulling them down, and disposing of princely revenues. Their servants abroad, with salaries of only three or four hundred pounds a year, were moreover, coming home, year after year, with colossal fortunes, made in four or five years, and setting up

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establishments which cast the ancient nobility of the country into the shade. Lord Clive was spending £40,000 a-year, and one retired member of Council was known to keep a dozen chariots. The time had not arrived for millionaire manufacturers and contractors, and the progress of national industry had not as yet trebled the value of landed estates. The servants of the Company presented to the envy of the country the only instances of sudden and enormous wealth. At the same time it was reported that the fortunes of the Indian Nabobs, as they were styled, had been acquired by the deposal of princes, the oppression of their subjects, and the most nefarious peculation, and a general feeling of indignation began to pervade the nation.

Vicious constitution of the company, 1770

The machinery of the Home Government of India had been constructed for the management of trade, and was utterly unsuited to the administration of government. The Directors were elected for only one year, and half their time was, therefore, devoted to the arrangements necessary for their re-election. The grand principle that the Directors should appoint men to the service, and that the government in India should appoint them to office, had not then been discovered. The offices in India, which afforded the means of amassing invidious wealth, were considered to be at the disposal of the Directors in London, and it was chiefly to the discreet use of this patronage, that they looked for the support of the Proprietors, and the retention of their office. The possession of £500 of stock gave one vote, and there was no limitation to the number of votes which might be held by a single individual. Stock was, therefore purchased not simply for investment, but for power and pelf. Those who returned from India with fortunes, found it useful to invest their property in India Stock, and thus acquire influence at the India House. In 1771, the ship’s husbands, a wealthy and powerful body, bought £150,000 of stock, to create 300 votes. Lord Shelburne laid out £100,000 for 200 votes, to secure the return of the factious Sulivan. The India House

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thus became a scene of jobbery and corruption, such as had never, perhaps, been seen in England before, and was scarcely paralleled by the depravity which prevailed among their servants abroad. The great marvel is, how the British power in India survived the crime and confusion which, with some brilliant exceptions, characterised the period of fifteen years, between the battle of Plassy, and the new organisation of 1773.

Parliamentary interference, 1771

In these circumstances there was a general demand for Parliamentary enquiry. It was seventy years since the House of Commons had interfered in the affairs of the Company; it was then only a commercial interest; it was now a political power. The first movement of the Minister was to claim for the Crown the sovereignty of the territories acquired by its subjects in India. The Company resisted the demand, and maintained that the possessions which had been obtained by their arms belonged exclusively to them. The dispute was for a time compromised by conceding the territorial revenues to them for five years, on the payment of forty lacs a year to the nation. It was likewise proposed to remedy the disorders in India by sending out three of the most eminent of the retired servants of the Company with unlimited powers, but the vessel in which they embarked foundered at sea.

Financial difficulties, and the Regulating Act, 1773

Meanwhile, the financial difficulties of the company brought on a crisis. All the golden dreams which the acquisition of the three soobahs had created, were rudely dissipated. Fraudulent bills in India for contracts, cantonments, and fortifications, and extravagant charges for travelling, diet, and parade, had exhausted the surplus revenue, and created a deficit. With a revenue of two millions and a half a year, there was a debt of a million and a quarter in London, and of more than a million in Calcutta. The Court of Proprietors, as if they were anxious to compete with the profligacy of their servants in India, chose this period of impending bankruptcy, to vote themselves a dividend of twelve and a half per cent. The Court of

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Directors borrowed repeatedly of the Bank of England, until the Bank would lend no more. They then applied to the minister, Lord North, for a loan of a million from the public, to prevent closing the doors of the India House, and he coolly referred them to Parliament, which was convened earlier than usual, to take their affairs into consideration. A Select Committee was appointed in 1772 to collect evidence, when the whole system of violence and iniquity, by which the British name had been tarnished in India, and individuals enriched, was laid bare to the nation. Parliament determined at once to take the regulation of Indian affairs into its own hands. The Directors protested against this violation of their chartered rights, as they termed the intervention of Parliament; but they had incurred universal odium and contempt, and the Minister was enabled to carry his measures with a high hand. The immediate necessities of the Company were relieved by the loan of a million sterling from the exchequer. The vicious constitution of the India House was corrected; the qualification for a single vote was raised from £500 to £1,000, and twelve hundred proprietors were thus disfranchised at one stroke; no individual was to enjoy more than four votes, whatever amount of stock he might hold; and six Directors only were to go out annually, which extended the tenure of office to four years. The Governor of Bengal was appointed Governor-General, on a salary of £25,000 a year, with four counsellors at £10,000, and they were in the first instance nominated by Parliament. At the same time a Crown Court was established in Calcutta, to administer English law on the model of the Courts in Westminster, with a Chief Justice at £8,000, and three Puisne Judges, at £6,000 a-year. The Act which embodied these provisions is known as the Regulating Act. Its enactments regarding the home government were highly judicious and beneficial; but those which referred to the government in India, concocted without knowledge or experience, only seemed to increase the complication of affairs, and shook the power of Britain in the East to its foundation.

This collection transcribed by Chris Gage
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