1803. of the triennial settlement, has been realized.” * From such a representation as CHAP. IX. this, every man would conclude, that great contentment and satisfaction prevailed. Hear Mr. Ryley, who was appointed judge and magistrate of the district of Etaawah, in February, 1803, and there remained till 1805. Being asked, as a witness before the House of Commons, on the 20th of June, 1806, "Were the Zemindars, and higher orders of the people, attached to our government, during the whole period you were judge and magistrate of the Etaawah district?"-he answered; “Generally speaking, I believe the higher orders of people in our district were not at all well-inclined to the British government.-Do you not believe that they are ripe for a revolt if a favourable opportunity should offer?— They certainly showed that disposition once or twice during the time I held that office.-During your residence there, did the inhabitants become more or did they become less reconciled to the British government?—I conceive they were subsequently much less reconciled, certainly, than they were at first.-To what cause do you attribute that ?-To their being dissatisfied with the rules and regulations introduced into the country for their government.-Did that prevail principally among the Zemindars, or the inhabitants in general?-The inhabitants, in general, are so influenced by the conduct and desires of the Zemindars, who are independent princes, that their desire is principally that of the head men.- -Do you consider that the Zemindars, while they were nominally under the Nabob, considered themselves as independent princes, and acted as such?-Certainly, they considered themselves as independent princes."+-It by no means follows, that any blame was due to the government, on account of the disaffection of the Zemindars; because they were dissatisfied, from the loss of their power, and so long as they retained it, good government could not be introduced. Yet a desire * Papers, ut supra, p. 46. "The satisfaction," says the judicial letter from Bengal, in the department of ceded provinces, dated on the same 20th of October, " generally manifested by all descriptions of persons in the ceded provinces, at the transfer of these provinces to the authority of the British government, and the uninterrupted success which attended the measures adopted under the sanction of the Governor-General in Council, by the late Lieutenant-Governor, and the Board of Commissioners, for the complete establishment of the authority of the British governn:ent in these provinces, appeared to his Excellency in Council, to leave no room to doubt of the expediency of immediately introducing into the ceded provinces the system of internal government established in Bengal. It is with the highest degree of satisfaction, his Excellency in Council is enabled to add; that the tranquillity which has in general prevailed throughout the country, and the submission and obedience, manifested by all classes of people to the authority of the laws, afford abundant proof, both of the beneficial operation of the new form of government, and of the expediency of its introduction." Supplement, ut supra, p. 301. + Minutes of Evidence, p. 54-59. Book VI. existed, on the part of administration, to conceal the fact, to conceal it probably even from themselves. 1803. After several manifestations of a refractory spirit, the Zemindar of Cutchoura agreed to deliver up his fort. On the 4th of March, 1803, an English captain, and two companies of sepoys, were admitted within the outer wall, when the army of intimidation, which had accompanied them, was withdrawn. After they had been delayed, under various pretences, for several hours, a gun was run out from the upper fort to a position in which it could rake the passage in which the sepoys were drawn up, and the parapets of the walls, on each side, were lined immediately with about eight hundred armed men; when a message was received from the Zemindar, that unless they retired, they would all be destroyed. As nothing could be gained by resistance, the commanding officer obeyed, and was not molested in his retreat. When the army had taken up its position before the place, the Zemindar wrote a letter, in which he affirmed, that he had been treated with indignity by the gentleman who had arrived to demand surrender of the fort, that hostilities were begun by the English troops, and that so far from intentions of war, he was ready to yield implicit obedience. After what had happened, he was told, that nothing would suffice but the unconditional surrender of himself and all that appertained to him. The trenches were begun on the night of the 8th; the breaching battery opened on the morning of the 12th; and before night, had made such progress, that with two hours more of day-light, the breach would have been effected. Between seven and eight o'clock in the evening, the enemy rushed from the fort, with a resolution to force their way through the chain of posts which surrounded them. They were attacked, and pursued for several miles with considerable slaughter. The principal loss of the English was in Major Nairne, an officer of the highest promise, who was killed by a match-lock ball, as he was leading his corps to the charge.* The evidence of disaffection broke out, in a manner somewhat alarming, at the commencement of the Mahratta war. On the 4th of September, 1803, a party of Mahrattas, led by a French officer, made an incursion in the neighbourhood of Shekoabad, in the district of Etaawah. Mr. Ryley is asked by the House of Commons, "Did the Zemindars and the other people not show an inclination to join him?" He answered, "They not only showed an inclination, but they actually did join him." † * Papers, ut supra, Supplement, No. 2, to vol. iii. + Minutes of Evidence, p. 55. "From the general spirit of revolt which the Zemindars of this eountry exhibited, on the small check which our troops received at Shekoabad," says a letter of 1803. The Rajah Chutter Saul possessed the fort of Tetteeah, and had not only shown CHAP. IX. a refractory, but a predatory disposition; he was therefore considered in rebellion, and a reward offered for his person, either dead or alive. On the 30th of September, Lieutenant-Colonel Guthrie marched to Tetteeah; and, as it had been dismantled by a detachment of the British army a few months before, expected to take it by assault. After a severe contest of some hours, he was overpowered by the enemy, and sent to Captain Dalston to hasten to his relief. On the arrival of that officer, he found the force under Colonel Guthrie completely broken, and sheltering themselves in the ditch, immediately under the walls of the fort; while the people within, not able to take aim at them with their matchlocks, were throwing powder pots, which exploded among them in the ditch, and the people of the surrounding villages were assembling to attack them from without. Captain Dalston with his field-pieces soon cleared the tops of the walls. This enabled Colonel Guthrie and his party to make their escape from the ditch. The loss was serious. Colonel Guthrie and three other English officers were wounded, the first, mortally. Of the native officers nearly one third were either killed or wounded. They were unable to bring off either their gun or tumbril, of which the one was spiked, the other blown up. On the following night, the enemy evacuated the fort, and the Rajah fled to the other side of the Jumna. Whatever belonged to the offenders was, in these cases, taken, as forfeited to the government; for their persons all the more eminent among them found the means of escape.* Captain M. White, commanding at Etaawah, dated 12th September, 1803. Papers, ut supra * Ibid. 1800. CHAP. X. The Nabob of Surat deposed-The Rajah of Tanjore deposed-The Nabob of Arcot deposed. BOOK VI. THE city of Surat, situated in the province of Gujrat, on the south side of the river Taptee, was by far the greatest place of maritime commerce in India, when the Europeans first discovered the passage by the Cape of Good Hope. Communicating easily with some of the richest provinces of the Mogul empire, it was conveniently situated not only for the traffic of the western coast of India, but what was at that time of much greater importance, the trade of the Persian and Arabian gulfs. As it was the port from which a passage was most conveniently taken to the tomb of the prophet, it acquired a peculiar sacredness in the eyes of Mussulmen, and was spoken of under the denomination of one of the gates of Mecca. It acquired great magnitude, as well as celebrity; for, even now, after it has confessedly declined, it was estimated in 1796 at 800,000 inhabitants; and though it is probable that this amount exceeds the reality, Surat may at this time be regarded as the largest city in India. When the votaries of the ancient religion of Persia, of which the Zend, and its commentary the Pazend, are the inspired and sacred books, were driven from Persia, and the tolerating policy of Akbar drew a portion of them to India; Surat, as the most celebrated landingplace from Persia, became the principal place of their abode; and there, about 14,000 of their descendants still preserve their manners, and adhere to their worship. The history of The present fort, or castle of Surat, was erected about the year 1543, when Sultaun Mohammed Shah was King of Gujrat. As this kingdom soon after yielded to the Mogul arms, Surat became subject to the government of Delhi. It fell in with the Mogul policy, to separate the administration of the city, from the government of the castle. The Governor of the castle, and its garrison, were maintained by lands, jaghire; and tunka, or assignments on the revenue. The Governor of the town received the customs, or taxes on exports and imports; the taxes called mokaats, on almost all commodities; and the land revenue, subject to certain deductions for the Delhi treasury, of some surrounding districts. For the maritime protection of the western side of India, the Mogul govern 1800. ment established a fleet. Its expense, in whole or in part, was defrayed by CHAP. X. assignments on the revenues of Surat. Some time after the command of this fleet had fallen into the hands of the chiefs, called the Siddees of Rajahpoor, or about the year 1734, the Mahrattas, carrying their conquests over almost all the province, reduced the revenues of Surat to the taxes levied within the town, and the produce of a few remaining districts. The Nabob of Surat, thus straitened in his resources, began to fail in his payments to the fleet. Thereupon the Siddee blockaded the port; and compelled him to appropriate to those payments the revenue of the principal district from which any land revenue was now derived, as well as a considerable part of the duties collected within the town. In the year 1746, died the Nabob Teigh Beg Khan, and was succeeded in the Nabobship by Sufder Khan, whose son, Vukar Khan, entered at the same time upon the government of the castle. But Mea Atchund, who had married into the family of the late Nawaub, and was supported by his widow, and some of the leading men, contrived to possess himself of the castle, to the expulsion of Vukar Khan. He also applied to the Mahratta, Damagee, the ancestor of the present Guickwar princes; and promised him a portion of the revenues of Surat, if aided by him in expelling also the Nabob of the town. By this, commenced the Mahratta chout, which was afterwards shared with the Peshwa. An officer, as collector of chout, was established on the part of the Peshwa, and another on the part of the Gwickwar princes, who, under the pretence of its affecting the revenues, and hence the Mahratta chout, interfered with every act of administration, and contributed to increase the misgovernment of the city. Even when the English, at a much later period, conceived the design of forcing upon the Nawaub a better administration of justice, they were restrained by fear of the Mahrattas, to whom the chout on law-suits (a fourth part of all litigated property was the fee for government) was no insignificant portion of the exacted tribute. Mea Achund succeeded against the Nabob of the city, whom he expelled; was himself after a little time compelled to fly; but a second time recovered his authority, which he permanently retained. Amid these revolutions, however, the government of the castle had been acquired by the Siddee. But the use which he made of his power was so oppressive to the city, that several invitations were soon after made to the English to dispossess him; and take the command both of the castle and the fleet. Fear of embroiling themselves with the Mahrattas, and the danger of deficient funds, kept the English shy till 1758, when an outrage was committed upon some Englishmen by the people of the Siddee, and all redress refused. The Nabob agreed to assist them in any en |