with the English government, if he refused it, was very earnest with him to CHAP. III. wait till he received satisfactory letters from Calcutta. But, notwithstanding this solicitation, Goddard, on the 16th of January, began his march from the banks of the Nerbudda. He took the great road to Boorhanpoor and Poonah, and arrived at Charwah on the 22d, where he received intelligence that the army from Bombay had advanced as far as Boraghaut, a place fifty miles distant from Poonah. On the 24th, he received a letter dated the 11th, from the Field Committee, who conducted the Bombay expedition, representing, that in consequence of an alteration which had taken place in the state of affairs, it was not expedient he should advance; that he should either proceed to Surat, if he found himself in a condition to make his way, in spite of the Mahratta horse, by whom his march would be annoyed, or remain in the territories of the Rajah of Berar, till further instructions. This letter placed him in a state of perfect uncertainty, whether the Bombay army had sustained a disaster which cut off their hopes, or had so flattering a prospect of success, that all additional force was accounted unnecessary. On the next day a letter arrived from the Council at Bombay, apparently written without a knowledge of the circumstances which dictated the letter of the Field Committee, and urging him to proceed. Under the perplexity which this lack of information, and discrepancy of injunctions, inspired, he resolved to proceed to Boorhanpoor, in hopes of obtaining intelligence, and arrived at that ancient capital on the 30th. 1779. rives at Surat. There, on the 2d of February, he received another letter from the Field Com- Goddard armittee, dated on the 19th of January, more mysterious than any which had yet arrived. It shortly cautioned him against obeying the order in their letter of the 16th, which on better consideration they deemed themselves not competent to give. Goddard could ill conjecture the meaning of this warning, as he had not received the letter of the 16th; but he believed that it indicated evil rather than good; and saw well the dangers which surrounded him in the heart of the Mahratta country, if any serious disaster, which might produce a change in the mind of Moodajee himself, had befallen the army from Bombay. He waited at Boorhanpoor till the 5th, in hopes of receiving more certain information, when he was made acquainted with the nature of the disaster pretty exactly by Moodajee. He resolved to retreat to Surat, and marched on the 6th. On the 9th a vakeel arrived from the Poona government, bearing the letter written by the Field Committee on the 16th of January. It was the letter in which, under the dictation of the Mahrattas, they had commanded his immediate return to Bengal. This injunction it was the business of the vakeel to enforce. 1779. BOOK V. But Goddard replied that he was marching to Bombay in obedience to the orders of the Supreme Council; and with the most friendly intentions toward the Mahratta state. The march was conducted with great expedition. The troops were kept in such exact discipline, that the people, having nothing to fear, remained in their houses, and supplied the army by sale with many conveniencies for the march. They arrived at Surat on the 30th; a distance of nearly three hundred miles in nineteen days.* The Supreme Council disavow the treaty dictated by the Mahrattas to the leaders of the In consequence of these events, it was resolved at the Supreme Board, to vest Colonel Goddard with full powers for treating with the Poonah government; to disavow the convention concluded with the Poonah committee, but to express a desire for accommodation, on the basis of the treaty of Poorunder, if the Bombay army: Mahrattas, on their part, would afford encouragement, by relinquishing all claims founded on that convention, and by a promise of forming no connexion, negotiate upon either commercial or political, with the French. If they should reject these the treaty of proposals, Colonel Goddard, whom the Supreme Council now promoted to the rank of General, was empowered to renew the war, and if possible to form connections with the head of the Guicawar family, and the government of Berar. and authorize Goddard to the basis of Poorunder. Negotiation fails, and war resolved. Goddard had commenced his correspondence with the Poonah ministry, when Ragoba made his escape, and repaired to Surat, where he received an asylum. Discordance prevailed among the Mahratta chiefs, and much uncertainty hung over their proceedings. Dissension broke out between Nana and Scindia, by whose united power Siccaram and Moraba had been subdued. With professions of a desire for peace, they kept aloof from definite terms; reports were received of their preparations for war; and negotiation lingered till the 20th of October, when Goddard sent his declaration, that if a satisfactory answer to his proposals was not returned in fifteen days, he should consider the delay as a declaration of war. A reply arrived on the 28th. Without the surrender of Ragoba, and the restoration of Salsette, it was declared that the Mahratta powers would make no agreement. The General upon this broke off the negotiation, and repaired to Bombay to concert with that Council the plan of hostilities. The President and Council of Bombay had received, with considerable indignation, the intelligence of the power, independent of themselves, with which * It is worthy of remark, that Gazee ad dien Khan, formerly Vizir of the empire, and grandson of the great Nizam al Mulk, was at this time found at Surat, in the disguise of a pilgrim, and confined, till the Supreme Council, being consulted, disapproved of all acts of violence, but forbid his appearing within the territories of the Company. See the Letter from Gov.-Gen. to Directors, dated 14th January, 1780. Sixth Report to the Secret Com. Appendix, No. 246. 1780. the field. General Goddard had been vested at the Superior Board. They regarded it as CHAP. IH. an encroachment upon the rights conveyed to them, both by the act of parliament, and the commands of the Directors; and they had declared that they would sustain no responsibility for any of his acts. At first they alleged the great exhaustion of their resources as a reason against taking any considerable part in the war; but when the General held up, as the first object of his operations, the acquisition on which they had long attached their affections, of a territorial revenue adequate to all the demands of the Presidency, they agreed to supply as great a portion of their troops, as the security of Bombay could allow; and furnished him with powers and instructions to treat with Futty Sing Guicawar, whose assistance, as placing a friendly country in the rear, it was of the greatest importance to obtain. With regard to Ragoba it was proposed to feed him with such hopes, as would ensure the advantage of his name; but to engage themselves as short a way as possible for a share in the advantages of the undertaking, to the success of which it was so little in his power to contribute. On the 2d of January, 1780, General Goddard had crossed the Tapti, with Goddard takes a view both to stimulate the good inclinations of Futty Sing, and to reduce the fortress of Dubhoy. On the 19th the army appeared before the place. On the next day it was evacuated by the enemy, when the whole district, yielding by estimate a revenue of two lacs of rupees, was taken possession of in the name of the Company. On the 26th, Futty Sing was at last, with some difficulty, brought to trust so far in the power of the Company, as to accede to the terms proposed; and it was agreed that the Guzerat country should be divided between the Company and himself, the Company obtaining that proportion which had formerly accrued to the Mahrattas; and the remainder being rendered independent of the Poonah government, and freed from every exterior claim. Being joined by the cavalry of this chief, the General marched towards Takes Ahmedabad, the Ahmedabad, the capital of the province, before which he arrived on the 10th capital of of February, and in five days carried it by storm, with inconsiderable loss. The Guzerat. united armies of Scindia and Holkar, amounting to 40,000 men, were in the mean time advancing towards Surat. The English General, by rapid marches, arrived in the neighbourhood of their encampment, near Brodera, on the 8th of March, and intended to attack them in the night, but was prevented by a letter from one of the gentlemen, left as hostages with Scindia, signifying that professions were made by the Mahratta chiefs of a desire to establish amity with the English government. Of this, Scindia afforded a favourable indication the following day, by sending back the hostages, and along with them a vakeel, or 1780. camp of Scin dia, and puts his army to flight. BOOK V. commissioner, who acknowledged the hatred borne by his master to Nana Furnavese, and his desire of a separate arrangement with the English. Upon further explanation, it appeared that he was anxious to get into his hands Ragoba, and his son, as an instrument for aggrandizing himself in the Mahratta state; a proposition to which General Goddard would by no means accede. Scindia, at the same time, was offering terms to Govind Row, the brother and opponent of Futty Sing, and had actually received him in his camp. Not convinced of his sincerity, and suspecting his design to waste the season, till commencement of the rains, when he would return home to the business of his government, and to his intrigues, General Goddard was desirous of forcing him to a battle, which he constantly avoided, by retreating as the English Surprises the army advanced. To defeat this stratagem, the General, on the 3d of April, marched silently from his camp, about two o'clock in the morning, with four battalions of Sepoy grenadiers, four companies of European infantry, and twelve pieces of field artillery. The distance was about seven miles to the camp of the enemy, which he entered at dawn. He reached the very centre of the encampment before he was perceived. The enemy were thrown into their usual confusion; and, though some troops were collected, and made a show of resistance, they soon abandoned their camp, and occupied a neighbouring ground. The English made no delay in proceeding to charge them, when the Mahrattas dispersed, and left them masters, not only of the field, but of the country in which it was contained. A detachment from Bombay took possession also of Parsek, Bellapore, Panwel, and Callian, and extended the command of the Presidency along the coast and towards the passes of the hills in the way to Poonah. On the 6th of April the General was joined by six companies of European infantry, and a company of artillery, which had been sent to his assistance from Madras; and about the same time five companies of Sepoys arrived for him at Surat. As the rainy season now commenced, Scindia and Holkar withdrew into their own countries; and the General, after sending back Goes into can- the Bombay detachment, put his troops into cantonments, and prepared for the succeeding campaign. tonments. Treaty with the Ranna of Gohud. Sir Eyre Coote, who had been appointed to succeed General Clavering, both as Commander in Chief, and as a Member of the Supreme Council, had arrived at Calcutta in the beginning of April, 1779; and without showing an unvarying deference to the opinion of the Governor-General, commonly supported his measures. Early in November of that year, in consequence of an application from the Rajah of Gohud, commonly known by the name of the Ranna, a Hindu 1780. chieftain or prince, who governed a hilly district of considerable extent, lying on CHAP. III. the Jumna, between the territories of Scindia and the Nabob of Oude, the Governor-General proposed a treaty, by which the Ranna might be empowered to call for the assistance of the English against the Mahrattas, of whom he stood in constant danger, and should agree to assist the English with his forces, when they should undertake any enterprise against the adjoining powers. The Governor-general, who contemplated the continuance of the war with the Mahrattas, proposed this alliance, both as a barrier against an invasion, in that direction, of the territory of the Company or their allies; and as an advantage, by there invading the territory of the Mahrattas, for operating a diversion in favour of the enterprises which might be undertaken on the side of Bombay. The measure was opposed by the opposite side of the Board, both on the ordinary and general ground of the importance of abstaining from war, and also in consideration of the weakness of the Ranna, who had few troops, and not revenue to pay even those whom he kept. Of him, in consequence, the aid would be of little avail, and the protection a serious burden. In the objections of the opposing party, the General concurred; and even transmitted his protest against the terms of the connexion. But, as he was absent, the casting vote of the Governor-General gave his opinion the superiority, and the treaty was formed. ham distin In the mean time intelligence arrived by a letter from General Coote, dated Captain Popthe 20th of November, of an invasion of the territory of the Ranna, by a body guishes himof Mahrattas, whom his want of resources made it impossible for him to resist. self in defending the Ranna. Instructions were dispatched to afford him such assistance as the exigency of the case might require, and the state of the English forces permit. A detachment of the Company's army had been prepared in that quarter, under the command of Captain Popham, for the purpose of augmenting the forces of Goddard; but from the consideration, partly that they could not arrive in time on the Bombay coast, partly that they might contribute to the success of his operations by an attack upon the part which was nearest of the Mahratta frontier, they had not been commanded to proceed; and in the beginning of February, 1780, they were sent to the assistance of the Ranna of Gohud. Captain Popham found means in this service of distinguishing his enterprise and talents. With a small force, and little assistance from the Ranna, he expelled the Mahrattas from Gohud; crossed the Sind, into their own territory; laid siege to the fortress of Lahår, the capital of the district of Cutchwagar; and having effected an imperfect breach, which the want of heavy cannon enabled |