sovereign of India, are there more profuse records than those of Mysore, nor have any Indian monarchs, not even Babur or Hoomayoon, left more copious memoirs than Tippoo, in his own handwriting. French, English, and native accounts differ little in details of murder, torture, and mutilation, which marked the savage; while the strange records of visions and dreams, the contemplated construction of a new sect, of which he should be the prophet and teacher; the wild doctrines he propounded, and his horrible superstitions, mark indeed but too strongly the mental aberrations' noted by his biographer. His father prophesied he would lose the kingdom he had gained: and he lost it, dying bravely in defence of what he had made the strongest fortress in India. Mr. Mill, strange to say, takes a high view of Tippoo's character in many respects; but it is difficult to receive it in the face of his own admissions and records, and those of his servants and biographers, who were at least uninfluenced by foreign considerations. Division of The ancient kingdom of Mysore restored to its rajal. The Mysore territory was now to be divided. Portions were set aside on their several frontiers for the British, the Nizam, and the Péshwah; for though the latter had taken no part in the contest, he could not, in the face of the former tripartite treaty, be entirely ignored; and the remainder, which consisted of the ancient kingdom of Mysore, was made over to the real rajah of the country, a boy of five years old, who was found with his family in confinement. Lord Wellesley appointed English commissioners to arrange the details of administration during his minority; and Poornea, the able finance minister of the late kingdom, was associated with them in the executive detail. The family to the family of Tippoo Sooltan was removed to Vellore, and an allowance of 240,000 pagodas, about 84,0002, per annum assigned to them, payable from the revenues of the British portion of the conquest, the balance of which was indeed inferior to that allotted to the Nizam. The portion to be assigned to the Mahrattas brings the narrative of history again into connection with them. Allowances of Tippoo. Mahratta affairs. Sindia still, as has been related, remained at Poona; but he was really desirous of returning to his dominions, and a further advance of money by Nana Furnawees enabled him to do so. This aroused the fears of Bajee Ráo, who, so long as he could play off one against the other, conceived himself secure, and he now visited Nana secretly by night, reiterating his promises of good faith, and laying his head onthe feet of his minister-the most sacred oath he could take-swore to be true to him. Nana, therefore, retained his office; but shortly afterwards The Peshwah declines a subsidiary understood from Sindia himself that the Péshwah was faithless, and was trying to persuade him to arrest him. The Péshwah, upbraided by Nana, denied the accusation; but Nana's suspicions were not removed, and, to an unavoidable extent only, he continued the duties of his office. While these intrigues had been in progress, the Nizam had concluded the new subsidiary alliance with the governor-general; and a similar one was offered to the Péshwah, but declined, alliance. on the grounds that the former treaties were sufficient, and that he was ready to afford his aid in the war with Tippoo. The Péshwah was still uncertain whether his interests lay Mahratta in a junction with Tippoo, whose agents were at his intrigues. court, or with the English against him. The Mahratta force, therefore, which had been assembled avowedly to co-operate with the English and the Nizam, was kept inactive. After much irresolution, the Péshwah finally determined to side with Tippoo; and a scheme was prepared with Sindia to attack the Nizam, which must necessarily, they considered, cause a diversion of the British forces; they hoped, also, that Rughoojee Bhóslay of Berar would join their confederation. Of these intentions the governor-general was completely advised and before any action could be taken by the Péshwah and Sindia, the death of Tippoo, and distribution of his territories, had occurred. On this event, the Péshwah and Sindia both tendered their congratulations to the governor-general, though Sindia, at the same time, had dispatched messengers into Mysore to stir up disaffection. The Péshwah agreed to receive the territory allotted to him,‘as an equivalent for the demands of chouth on the Mysore State;' but as he still distinctly refused to accede to the mediation of the English in regard to his claims on the Nizam, or to recognise the treaty of Mhar, the negotiations with him entirely broke down, and the reserved territory was ultimately divided between the English and the Nizam. Nizami. Advantages With his highness a new treaty was concluded on October 12, 1800, by which the subsidiary force was increased to New treaty eight battalions; and for their payment the districts with the obtained from Mysore were ceded by him in perpetuity. On their part, the English contracted to defend the Nizam's territories from all aggression. This treaty was necessarily the death-blow to the schemes of the Péshwah gained by the and Sindia, who, in the event of any movement on the Nizam, would be attacked by the British forces. On the other hand, the Nizam, by the cession of territory just acquired for the payment of the British forces, was in no worse pecuniary condition than before, was removed from all demands and liabilities for NN Nizam. Death of His character. 6 money, and was protected from his hereditary enemies. The possession of the ceded districts brought up the British frontier to the Krishna river, which, with the exception of a small portion of the Mahratta territory in the west, formed a well-defined line of frontier. Omitting details of a war between the Péshwah and the Rajah of Kolapoor, which desolated the Southern Mahratta provinces, and in which the gallant Puréshrám Bhow was killed, the death of Nana Furnawees must be mentioned, which occurred on March 12, 1800. With him,' wrote Colonel Palmer, the Resident at Poona,' has departed all the wisdom and moderation of the Mahratta Government.' He had consistently been opposed to the political progress of the English as subversive of Mahratta power, and he objected to the employment of foreign troops under any conditions; but he was faithful to his political engagements, and his devotion to the maintenance of the honour of his own nation is attested by the respect of all his contemporaries. The faithless materials with which he had to deal at the close of his life threw him into intrigues and combinations for his own preservation, which would otherwise have been avoided, and left him at liberty to continue the able administration he had conducted for twenty-five years. Disorders soon became prevalent in the DecDisorders in can. Sindia took the lead in them, in an attempt to possess himself of the estates of Puréshrám Bhow: Ghátgay was released, and renewed his horrible barbarities; and the Rajah of Kolapoor was at war with the Péshwah: Dhondia Wáug, who had passed from Tippoo's service to that of Kolapoor, left the latter, and commenced a career of plunder on his own account, which was cut short by a force under Colonel Arthur Wellesley, which pursued him for four months, and at last brought him to bay in an action, on September 10, in which he was killed. Sindia kept guard over the Peshwah, who probably, in order to be freed of him, would now have courted a more intimate English alliance; but, always wavering, and involved in petty intrigues and temporary expedients, he could decide upon no consistent course of policy. Meanwhile, the Holkar family were again rising into notice and power. Jes wunt Ráo, though illegitimate, was proceedings. bold and enterprising. He was joined by the Chevalier Dudrenec and his battalions, and he commenced to plunder Sindia's dominions in Malwah with so much pertinacity and success, that Sindia, at the close of 1800, was obliged to leave Poona, and advance into Malwah. Holkar was prepared to receive him, and in an obstinate battle near Oojein, in June 1801, Sindia's forces were defeated; but Holkar, who the Deccan. Dhondia Waug pursued and slain in action. Holkar's Sindia opposes him, and is defeated. Sindia. Holkar to Poona, afterwards attacked Sindia's convoy of artillery, was in turn repulsed. The departure of Sindia left the Péshwah entirely at liberty; but, instead of consolidating his authority, he began deliberately to destroy and despoil all families whom he conceived had ever opposed him. Among others, Wittoojee, the brother of Jeswunt Rao Holkar, was executed in his presence, by being dragged at the foot of an elephant. In Malwah, the war between Sindia and Jeswunt Ráo Holkar proceeded; and on Holkar October 14 the latter was defeated near Indoor, with defeated by the loss of ninety-eight pieces of cannon and the plunder of his capital. By this event, however, he was not discouraged. He soon afterwards attacked Sindia's possessions in Khandesh, and his operations had extended almost to Poona, when the Péshwah again besought aid from the British Government, but still refused the terms prescribed by the governorgeneral in regard to the Nizam, which were the only basis on which they could be obtained. After a variety advances of manoeuvres, Jeswunt Ráo advanced close to Poona, professing allegiance to the Péshwah, but demanding his interference in regard to Sindia; and this having been refused, the Péshwah's and Sindia's united armies drew up for battle on October 25. The forces on both sides were nearly equal; but Holkar, displaying great energy and valour, led charge and defeats after charge against Sindia's disciplined battalions, the Peshwah broke and defeated them, and the rest of the army fled," leaving all their guns and stores to the victor. The consequence of this victory was, that the Péshwah fled immediately to the fort of Singurh, and transmitted an engagement to the British resident, Colonel Close, to conclude a subsidiary treaty The Peshwah for the maintenance of six battalions of Sepoys. From executes the Singurh, the Péshwah proceeded to Mhar, and thence to Bassein, where he was joined by Colonel Close; and by December 31, the articles of a new treaty were completed. In substance, they comprised mutual defensive alliance, with the cantonment of six regiments of native infantry, and a proportion of European artillery, in the Péshwah's dominions; and districts yielding twenty-six lacs of rupees were to be assigned for their support. The Péshwah also confirmed the treaty of Mhar, and submitted his claims on the Nizam and the Gáik war to English arbitration, and finally contracted to enter upon no hostilities, without consultation with the British Government. The treaty was a virtual surrender of independence; but it arose out of a position into which his own intrigues had driven him. and Sindia. treaty of Bassein with the English. CHAPTER X. THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE MARQUESS WELLESLEY, Affairs of Surat. BEFORE he left Madras, the governor-general placed the State of Tanjore under British administration. The rajah had Tanjore and died in 1787, and having no natural heir, had adopted a boy named Syfajee. This adoption was set aside by the deceased Rajah's half-brother, Ameer Singh, as illegal: and his own succession was confirmed by the Court of Directors, upon the representation of the Madras Government. It was discovered afterwards, however, that the adoption had been perfectly legal, according to Hindoo law: and the court having admitted the fact, Syfajee was declared rajah, with an allowance of 40,000l. a year, and a fifth of the net revenues in addition. It will be remembered that this State had been founded by Shahjee, the father of Sivajee, in the time of the Beejapoor monarchy. Settlement of the Carnatic. About the same time also, the governor-general directed that the small State of Surat, in which the authority was divided between the Nawab, who was a descendant of the last imperial governor, and the English, should be managed on the same principle as Tanjore. The settlement of the affairs of the Carnatic followed. Suspicions had not been wanting that the present Nawáb, Oomdut-ool-Oomrah, as well as his father, had not been, at heart, well affected to the English; and a correspondence was found among Tippoo Sooltan's papers which confirmed the fact beyond question. Lord Wellesley did not hesitate to make this discovery the basis of a final settlement of the Carnatic affairs: and he wrote on May 28, 1801, to Lord Clive, the Governor of Madras, to proceed with it. Oomdutool-Oomrah, the Nawab, was then on his death-bed, and expired on July 15. It was found that he had appointed his reputed son, Ally Hussein, as his successor, who was now informed that the illness of the late Nawab had formed the only ground for action not having been taken upon the discovery of the traitorous correspondence with Tippoo, and that the only terms on which his succession could be recognised, would be his relinquishment of the administration, and acceptance of an allowance from the revenues of the country. The youth, acting under the influence of his advisers, rejected this; and there is hardly a doubt that he was counselled to resist by the clique of English and native money-lenders who still flourished at the court. Lord Wellesley's |