The office were created the executive rulers of the Mahratta State, on condition of governing it in the name and on the behalf of the great Sivajee's posterity. Sukwar Bye, the widow of Peshwah's Shao, would no doubt have opposed this arrangement, confirmed but under the effect of a taunting message from the hereditarily. Péshwah, who had discovered her conspiracy against him, she burned herself with her husband's body. It was a base and cruel alternative, and was assisted by the unhappy lady's brother; but it secured the Péshwah's present power, and its hereditary descent to his successors. The news received by the Péshwah now was that Tara Bye, the grandmother of Rám Rajah, had, with the assistance of several great chiefs, made a revolution at Sattara, by which Rám Rajah was to be delivered from the power of the Péshwah; but the attempt proved abortive: the Rajah was kept in close confinement by Tara Bye herself, and the Gáikwar, who had aided her movement, was secured and imprisoned. and Salabut Mahrattas. The Péshwah was now at liberty to proceed against Salabut Jung, who, with M. Bussy, had reached Ahmed- war between nugger. Thence they advanced upon Poona, and the the Peshwal Mahratta army was defeated by a night attack on Jung. November 22, 1751. On the 27th, Salabut Jung was attacked in turn, and was saved only by the gallantry of the Defeat of the French; and the campaign continued, with occasional advantages, now to one side and now to the other, till Salabut Jung's troops, already discontented by arrears of pay, An armistice threatened to mutiny. Under Bussy's advice, there- ensues. fore, the Péshwah's overtures were accepted, and an armistice ensued. Although the terms of these overtures did not transpire, they may be readily imagined. The Péshwah had been in treaty with Ghazee-ood-deen, now on his way to the Deccan, and had been promised extensive territorial cessions for his assistance in the inevitable contest with Salabut Jung; and it is therefore probable, that these cessions were also promised by Salabut Jung should he succeed. Thus the Péshwah's neutrality was, for the present, apparently secured; while he evidently perceived that the side he should support in the contest must eventually prove victorious. Meanwhile, Rughoojee Bhóslay, during the campaign between Salabut Jung and the Péshwah, had invaded Western Berar, taken Gawilgurh and Narnalla, and occupied the country as far south as the Godavery. Ghazee-ooddeen was not opposed by his brother on his entry into the Deccan, and he was joined by the Péshwah, who, abandoning his promised neutrality, accompanied him to Aurungabad, and obtained from him the cession of the whole of the territory between the Tapty and the Godavery, which included Western Berar. While encamped near the city, Ghazee-ood-deen accepted an invitation from the mother of Nizam Ally, one of his father's widows who resided at Aurungabad, and partook of a poisoned dish, from the effects of which he almost directly expired. Whether the crime was instigated by Salabut Jung, or was one of the harem intrigues then only too common in great Mahomedan families, is nowhere explained; but no odium seems to have attached itself to Salabut Jung, now without a rival in the Deccan. As to confirmation from Dehly, it was not now needed as a matter of security, and would be acknowledged only as an honorary compliment. No opposition to Salabut Jung was offered, and under Bussy's advice, though unwillingly, he confirmed the grants to the Péshwah, already made by his brother, by which the Peyn Gunga became the southern boundary of the Mahratta possessions of Berar, the posts taken up by Rughoojee as far south as the Godavery being entirely withdrawn. Ghazee-ooddeen poisoned, 1752. Salabut Jung viceroy of the Deccan. Bussy's conduct throughout these events is entitled to the highest praise. It will be readily imagined that a foreigner, entirely unsupported, and dependent only upon a prince's precarious favour, would become a mark for jealousy and conspiracy. He had no private means of his own, and must depend upon what he could locally obtain for the pay of his troops. After some struggles with the executive minister, Syed Lushkur Khan, who desired the dismissal of the Europeans, Bussy, who had been obliged to go to Masulipatam for change of air, suddenly returned to Hyderabad, and marched to Aurungabad, where the court then was. His presence once more secured Salabut Jung, who dismissed his enemy; and, as a provision for the French auxiliaries, assigned to M. Bussy the whole of the eastern provinces, called the Northern Circars, the revenue of which amounted to fifty lacs, or 500,000l., per annum. No European power in India had ever acquired such a possession. It was fertile and productive; its coast was open for 600 miles, and communication with Hyderabad was easy and rapid. Nor did the convention of Pondicherry affect this possession, so long as M. Bussy remained the servant only of a native power. The country was well and moderately managed, and Bussy became as much distinguished by his civil administration as by his military talent. Bussy's conduct. CHAPTER VI. THE PROGRESS OF THE ENGLISH AND FRENCH (continued), and French and their native allies. ALTHOUGH the treaty of Pondicherry put an end to the actual war in the Carnatic between the French and English, situation of it did not prevent further undertakings in concert with the English native powers; while, on the other hand, the late allies could not understand why they should be debarred from action by its provisions. Nunjeráj, the regent of Mysore, declared he would not depart till he had obtained Trichinopoly; while Mahomed Ally, the nawáb, considering he had a right to tribute from Madura and Tinnevelly, two small States to the southward, called upon the English for assistance. The Mysoreans were obliged to abandon their pretensions under an invasion of their dominions by the Péshwah; but the Madura expedition, which may be considered the first deliberate breach of the treaty, continued, and was prolonged by various The Peshwah circumstances for several years. In 1754, the Pésh- and Salabut wah proceeded to the Carnatic to levy the national the Carnatic. tribute, and Salabut Jung, accompanied by Bussy, also marched in the same direction. While Salabut Jung protected Mysore from the Mahrattas, he was bent upon exacting his tribute from that State, already impoverished by the expenses of the Carnatic campaign; and under these separate interests position. Bussy was placed in a delicate position, as his nation was in alliance with Mysore; but he contrived to extricate himself from it with his usual address, claiming to Mysore that his presence alone had prevented the Péshwah from plundering the country-which, indeed, was true. Jung visit Bussy's Colonel Clive, who had been absent on leave in England, returned to India in 1755; being sent out to Bombay clive returns in command of a large detachment of troops. While to India. in England, he had afforded much information in regard to the effects of the treaty of Pondicherry, and the real His statestrength and position of M. Bussy in the Deccan; ments in and had shown clearly that, as he said, 'so long as there was one Frenchman in arms in the Deccan, or in India, there could be no peace. For his own part, he desired nothing better than to dispute the mastery of the Deccan with M. Bussy;' and it was perhaps then as privately clear to his England. The English character begins to be mind as it was avowedly so afterwards, that the whole of India must belong to the conqueror. At this time, the character of the English was fast rising in popular estimated in estimation in India. The faithful manner in which India. they had supported the Nawab of the Carnatic, in spite of their own weakness; the manner in which they had been reinforced, and their superiority by sea, were becoming gradually observed. The Peshwah Government In Bombay, their neighbour the Péshwah was not a person to neglect his own interests: and though he had not been and Bombay able to avail himself of English aid in reducing Surat, coalesce to re- another opportunity now presented itself. Toolajee press piracy. Angria, who held possession of the coast between Bancoote and Sawunt-warree, south of Bombay, had defied the Péshwah's authority, whereas his brother Manajee acknowledged it. Toolajee's piracies were very active and mischievous: and the Péshwah, as also the English at Bombay, had severely suffered from them. Independent of Toolajee Angria, the chief of Sawuntwarree and the Rajah of Kolapore employed piratical vessels; and by these means the coast had become extremely unsafe. In March 1755, the Péshwah prepared to co-operate with the English officers at Bombay for the reduction of these piratical forts; and though there were none of the king's ships present, they sent Commodore James on March 27, with a vessel of forty-four guns, Severndroog and a bomb-ketch, to be supported by the Mahratta captured. fleet, against Severndroog, which was gallantly attacked and captured. It was made over to the Péshwah, according to stipulation; and the English obtained from him Bancoote, which was their first territorial possession, except Bancoote. Bombay, on the western coast. The season was too far advanced for further operations, and the Bombay Council, as well on that account as their paucity of means, deferred them till the arrival of Colonel Clive's force, and the fleet under Admiral Watson. Even, then, the question of employing Clive against Bussy in the Deccan, in which the Péshwah would no doubt have joined, instead of against Angria, was some time under consideration. The Madras Council would have preferred action by land, and strenuously urged this measure, but the authorities of Bombay were doubtful whether, under the treaty of Pondicherry, they could enter on such a campaign against Salabut Jung and Bussy, and it was finally decided to reduce Angria. The armament was prepared and dispatched in February 1756. It consisted of fourteen vessels, three of which were Watson and ships of the line, and carried 800 Europeans and 1,000 native soldiers. Before the fleet sailed, the chief officers Clive against The Poshwah cedes Expedition of Admiral had met and determined to divide the prize-money without reference to the Mahrattas, who, independently of the English, had already taken several of Angria's forts; but they had not succeeded against Gheriah, which they had only invested by land. On February 12, Admiral Watson opened fire against the fort, and Colonel Clive, landing the troops, took up a position between the fort and the Mahratta army. There was an attempt on the part of the Mahratta commander to prevent the English getting possession of the place, by asserting that Toolajee Angria was already negotiating with him for its surrender; but this was disregarded, and next day Angria's fleet was burned, and the fort surrendered. About ten lacs of rupees-100,000l.—was Gheriah divided among the captors as prize-money, and for the surrenders. present Gheriah was retained. Bancoote was offered in exchange for it: but this was refused by the Péshwah, and the settlement of the question remained in abeyance. Colonel Clive now proceeded to assume command of Fort St. David, to which he had been appointed in England, and all schemes against ceeds to Fort M. Bussy, on the part of the English, were for the present necessarily postponed. Clive pro St. David. Intrigues M. Bussy. But there were other intrigues against Bussy in progress which were more important than the remote chance of a conflict with Clive. If the Bombay Government had consented against to allow Clive to join the Mahrattas, Bussy, as well as his master, Salabut Jung, would have been attacked by the Péshwah, in 1755. Disappointed at their determination not to assist him, the Péshwah applied to the Council of Madras for artillery and gunners; and on April 14, 1756, they wrote, that if he would send troops to meet them they would be forwarded. This, however, did not happen. The Péshwah was employed against the Nawab of Savanoor, who had defied both himself and Salabut Jung: and for the present they had united their forces in order to reduce him. During the siege of Savanoor, the success of Bussy's magnificent artillery won the admiration of the Savanoor. combined armies: and it is evident that he was thought too powerful for hostile influences to succeed presently against him. Certainly, so long as he was connected with Salabut Jung, it was clear to the Péshwah that he would have no chance of superiority, and Bussy was therefore, if possible, to be removed. Salabut Jung's minister, Shah Nuwáz Khan, had probably made his own terms with the Péshwah in this matter; but it is not clear how they combined to act upon Salabut Khan himself. Be this as it may, no sooner was Savanoor taken, than Bussy was informed that his services were no longer required, and he must retire with his European troops. Some of his Sepoys had Siege of EE Bussy is dismissed by Salabut Jung. |