corrupt and inefficient, that he received a sharp caution in regard to its management, and in regard to the waste of his resources. The affairs of the Nizam were next in order: they involved questions of great importance. The Guntoor Sircar Negotiations Nizam. Tippoo had not been surrendered, and on the conclusion of with the the Nizam's war with Tippoo, in 1788, the governorgeneral dispatched a demand for it by the hands of Captain Kennaway, an officer of his own personal staff. Some opposition had been apprehended, and troops had been collected to advance into the territory; but the Nizam made no objection whatever to its surrender, though on the other hand he called upon the English for the troops specified in the treaty of Masulipatam, and for the recovery of his districts seized by Hyder and Tippoo Sooltan. Not content with this, how- The Nizam's ever, the Nizam at the same time sent an embassy to embassy to Tippoo, bearing a splendid copy of the Koran; warned Sooltan. him of the power of the English, and urged a mutual treaty of defence on the common grounds of religion and interest. Upon this invitation Tippoo proposed an alliance by marriage, as a preliminary; but this was haughtily rejected by the Nizam, who had no sympathy with an upstart family. The negotiation, therefore, had only the effect of increasing mutual resentment and it was equally certain that action upon the treaty of Masulipatam would be considered an offence by Tippoo, the more especially as his name, either by design or accident, was omitted from the enumeration of the powers against whom the British brigade was not to be employed by the Nizam. Its effects. It has already been detailed, that Tippoo had concluded a sudden peace with the Mahrattas and the Nizam; and views of he expected perhaps that, in ensuring their neutrality, Tippoo. he should be at liberty to break again with the English-with whom, as he assured the governor of Pondicherry, he should again go to war on the first opportunity. The English were, he always considered, as his father had done, the only obstacle in the way, not only of the conquest and possession of the whole of the south of India, but of the Nizam's dominions. In short, there was no bounds to the ambition of Tippoo, except the conquest of the whole of India, if indeed even that would suffice. While these events were pending, and even the Government in war. England were rapidly coming to the conclusion that Tippoo the English in India could not remain a neutral power, prepares for Tippoo had decided on war. The territory of Travancore, by the treaty of Mangalore, was declared to be under English protection; and the rajah had recently purchased two towns on the coast, Cranganore and Ayacotta, from the Dutch. These Tippoo demanded, on the ground that the sale by the Dutch was invalid, and that they belonged to his ally, the Rajah of Cochin. Lord Cornwallis was prepared to support the Travancore purchase, and directed Mr. Holland, the president at Madras, to make the necessary communication to Tippoo; but he withheld it, and instead, tried to extort a sum of money from the Rajah of Travancore for himself. Notwithstanding the reforms in Bengal, the corruption of Madras does not appear to have been as yet affected, and carried with it corresponding weakness and irresolution. The Rajah of Travancore had thrown up lines of fortifications on his northern frontier, between the mountains and the sea; and Tippoo, whose forces had been for some time watching an opportunity, attacked them on the night of December 28, 1789. He was gallantly repulsed, with heavy loss, when he called up reinforcements, and a siege train, and prepared to carry on the war with Against this violent proceeding, the Government of Madras made no effort or protest: and Governor Holland even deserted his post, and sailed for England. But Lord Cornwallis, who was prepared to hear at any time of an outbreak on the part of Tippoo, hesitated no Treaties with longer. On receiving news of the attack of Travancore, Nana Furnawees immediately offered an alliance the Mahrattas and the Nizam. with the English against Tippoo, which was accepted, and concluded in the month of March 1790; and specified the number of troops to be employed in the war, with many other necessary conditions. A treaty with the Nizam was also concluded, to the same purport, in July of the same year. The finances of Bengal were in a most flourishing condition, and a large surplus remained in the treasury; and General Medows, now governor, as well as commander-in-chief, of Madras, was appointed to the conduct of the war now declared. General Medows had been delayed longer than he anticipated in the equipment of his forces; but he opened the campaign by marching from Trichinopoly on May 26, 1790, at the head of 15,000 fine troops; and on July 21, the army reached Coimbatoor, having captured several forts during the march. By the end of September, Pálghautchery and Dindigul, both deemed impregnable, had surrendered. This completed the occupation of the low country: and the army was at the foot of the passes preparing to ascend into Mysore, when Tippoo, by a masterly movement, interposed between two portions of it, fought Colonel Floyd, and forced him to retreat. But it was impossible to bring the sooltan to action again, and the subsequent movements of both sides have little Travancore attacked by Tippoo, who is repulsed. vigour. Governor Holland deserts his post. General Medows' campaign. Incidents of the campaign. interest. In Malabar, however, Colonel Hartley defeated the Mysore general, Hoosein Ally, and forced him to surrender, and General Abercrombie had reduced Cannanore, by which means the coast province was secured. Little's Nor had the Mahrattas been idle. Joined by a detachment of Bombay troops, under Captain Little (the narrative Mahratta of whose operations, written by Lieutenant Moore, is movements. extremely interesting, and should be perused by the Captain student), Puréshrám Bhow Putwurdhun opened the narrative. campaign on August 25, 1789. He was opposed by two Mysore officers, Budr-ool-Zemán Khan and Kootub-ood-deen; the former with 8,000 men occupied the strong fort of Dharwar, while the other operated in the field. Dharwar was invested on October 30, 1789, but owing to the inefficient Mahratta artillery, Dharwar and the absence of English siege guns, the place held capitulates. out till April 4, 1790, when Budr-ool-Zemán Khan and his garrison-who had defended the place valiantly-capitulated, and marched out with the honours of war. During the whole of this period, the Nizam's forces had been comparatively inactive: and their sieges of Kopuldroog, and Bahadur Bunda, had been ineffective. ducts the taken. The results of the first campaign had fallen short of Lord Cornwallis's anticipations, and he determined to conduct Lord Cornthe second himself. He accordingly proceeded to Ma- walls condras, where his first act was to re-attach the revenues second of the Carnatic, which, it will be remembered, had campaign. been assigned to the Nawáb, but had been scandalously mismanaged by him. On January 29, 1791, Lord Cornwallis assumed the command of the army: and having amused Tippoo by feints in the direction of the former passes into Mysore, ascended the Móglee Ghát without opposition, and marched direct upon Bangalore, where the petta, or native town, was taken Bangalore by assault, and an attempt to recover it by Tippoo was defeated with severe loss. The fort was afterwards breached, and carried by storm on the night of March 20. The Nizam's forces —about 10,000 cavalry-now took heart, and made a junction with Lord Cornwallis; but though eminently picturesque in appearance, they proved utterly useless in the campaign, and indeed became an inconvenience rather than assistance. The united The army forces then moved westwards upon Seringapatam, and Seringaat the same time General Abercrombie advanced from patam. the west coast. Tippoo, who had hitherto consistently avoided general actions, drew up his army to protect his capital, and took up a strong position at Arikéra, on April 13, and awaited an attack; but Lord Cornwallis, by a masterly manoeuvre, carried out through a tremendous storm, contrived to turn part of the position during the night, and by daylight of the 14th a general action ensued, which resulted in Tippoo's defeat. The victory, however, proved useless: Lord Cornwallis's supplies were so scanty and defective, that he was obliged to retreat, after destroying the battering-train and heavy stores; and he was perhaps only saved from serious disaster by the opportune arrival of the well-supplied Mahratta forces under Puréshrám Ráo, with Captain Little, whose messengers, announcing their progress, had all been cut off by Tippoo's spies. Hurry Punt, with another Mahratta force, reached camp soon afterwards; but Lord Cornwallis was in no position to renew the operatious, and took up a position at Bangalore. Thus ended the second campaign. Third For the third, a portion of the Mahratta army under Puréshrám Bhow, with Captain Little, was sent to the northcampaign. west. The Nizam's forces also, with an English detachment, were employed in reducing the country to the north-east, while the main army, with Lord Cornwallis, aided by Hurry Punt, remained for the central service. Before advancing again upon Seringapatam, and before the arrival of reinforcements, Lord Cornwallis directed the reduction of several of the stupendous mountain fortresses of Mysore: and the captures of Nundidroog, Savandroog, Ráyacotta, and other places were marked by a series of brilliant exploits, which gave a tone of confidence to the whole army. In the north-west also, the Mahrattas and Captain Little had been successful, defeating Tippoo's forces in a well-fought action near Simóga; but Coimbatoor was lost, after a long and valiant defence by Lieutenant Chalmers, and its capitulation shamefully violated. These operations, against which Tippoo took no part in the field, had occupied the whole of 1791. In January 1792, Lord Cornwallis had completed his preparations: and joined by a part of the Nizam's and Mahratta forces, advanced on Seringapatam, which he reached unopposed on February 5. He was joined on the 16th by General Abercrombie with the army of Bombay; but the fort had been previously invested, and was held by the sooltan in person at the head of the greater portion of his army. The operations of the Bombay army on the south side of the fort, and its now complete isolation, together with the rapid progress made by the besiegers, seemed to have combined to produce in Tippoo's mind a dread of British power which he had never before experienced. He had little thought when Lord Cornwallis retreated after the action of Arikéra, that the stores then destroyed could be replaced; but his second advance, at the General action at Arikéra. Tippoo is defeated. Want of supplies obliges Cornwallis to retreat. The army advances on Seringapatam. Siege of the fort. Tippoo for peace. head of a far more complete equipment, caused Tippoo to exclaim, It is not what I see of the English, that I fear; but what I do not see;' and it was true. On February 24, the sooltan sent Lieutenant Chalmers, a prisoner of war, to open negotiations for peace, which, after some interruption in negotiates regard to a stipulation in favour of the Rajah of Coorg, who had materially aided General Abercrombie, and dreaded Tippoo's vengeance, were concluded on the 24th; and on the 26th, the two sons of Tippoo, who were to remain as hostages for the fulfilment of the conditions, arrived in camp, and were very honourably welcomed. The terms of the treaty, which Terms of the was not finally executed till March 19, were hard but treaty. necessary. The sooltan ceded half his dominions to the allies, of which the English portion was Malabar, Coorg, and the Báráh Mahál. To the Nizam and the Mahrattas, districts contiguous to their own territories, of proportionate value, were allotted; and a sum of 3,300,000l., sterling was to be paid as expenses of the war, half in cash and half within a year. Although the Nizam's and Mahratta troops had been treated with scrupulous good faith by Lord Cornwallis, yet it was nevertheless discovered, in 1799, that their leaders had been in traitorous correspondence with Tippoo, during the actual negotiation of the treaty and that nothing short of Lord Cornwallis's energy, and ability in diplomacy, for which they were not prepared, had prevented their siding with Tippoo and attacking the English forces. This result was happily averted by the acceptance by the sooltan, after a long and anxious conference with his ministers and officers, of Lord Cornwallis's terms, and a determination to rely upon the good faith of the English commander alone. It may also be recorded, as a tribute to the memories of the two great commanders of the army, Lord Cornwallis and General Medows, that they refused any share of prize money, and gave up their portions to the forces. CHAPTER V. THE PROGRESS OF ADMINISTRATION, 1793. THE Mysore war having thus been brought to a triumphant conclusion, Lord Cornwallis returned to Bengal to carry out the final measures of his administration, which had been in gradual progress. Of the consolidation of English power in India, after the result of the Mysore war, there could be no doubt. The Mahrattas and the Nizam had dwindled in influence, in proportion |