CHAP. III.

Arrangement about troops and money with the Nabob of Oude-The Guntoor Circar obtained from the Nizam, and a new arrangement made with that Prince-Aspect which that arrangement bore to Tippoo Saib-Dispute of Tippoo with the Rajah of Travancore-Tippoo attacks the lines of Travancore-The English prepare for war-Form an alliance with the Nizam, and with the Mahrattas-Plan of the campaign-General Meadows takes possession of Coimbetore, and establishes a chain of depots to the bottom of the Gujelhutty Pass-Tippoo descends by the Gujelhutty PassAnd compels the English General to return for the Defence of Carnatic— End of the campaign, and arrival of Lord Cornwallis at Madras-Operations in Malabar-A new arrangement with Mahomed Ali, respecting the revenues of Carnatic.

LORD CORNWALLIS took in his hand the reins of the Indian government in CHAP. III, the month of September, 1786. And was guided by a pretty extensive code of 1786,

instructions, carried out from the joint manufacture of the Board of Control and the Court of Directors.

tion of Lord

measures of

transaction,

of internal

Of the two grand divisions into which the measures of this Governor-General Administra are distinguished; those which regarded the interior management of the empire, Cornwallis, and those which regarded its external relations; the one constitutes a subject dis- divided into tinct from the other; and we shall consult utility, by reserving the attempts which international he made to improve the state of the government, till after the narrative is presented and measures of the transactions which took place between him and the neighbouring powers. reform. The state of the connection with the Nabob of Oude was the object which The Nabob of Oude prays first solicited the attention of Lord Cornwallis. The preceding Governor-Ge- that his pecuniary burthen neral and Council had pledged themselves to Mr. Hastings for the support of should not be that arrangement which was one of the last measures of his administration. kept, as it always had But no sooner had Lord Cornwallis arrived in India, than the Nabob proposed been, higher to come even in person to Calcutta, and pressed in the most earnest manner for terms of the treaty last leave to send Hyder Beg Khan his minister. The object was, to represent as concluded with Hastings. insupportable the weight of the burthen which was still imposed upon his country:

than the

Book VI. and to entreat that the temporary brigade, now called the Futty Gur brigade, should, agreeably to the contract which Mr. Hastings had formed, but which had never been observed, now be withdrawn.

1787.

Gov. Gen. thinks one brigade of Company's troops insuf

ficient.

His tribute established at fifty lacs.

The Guntoor

de

To Lord Cornwallis, it appeared, however, by no means safe, to entrust the defence of the Nabob's dominions to the stipulated amount of the Company's troops, a single brigade at Cawnpore. In the minute which he recorded upon this occasion, he represented the discipline of the Nabob's own troops as too imperfect to be depended upon, even for the obedience of his subjects; who were retained in submission solely by their dread of the Company's arms: He described the character of the Nabob as a pure compound of negligence and profusion: And though, at that time, Oude was threatened with no particular danger; and the expense attending the continuance of the brigade at Futty Ghur exceeded the sum which he was entitled to exact of the Nabob; he adhered to the resolution that the troops should not be removed.

In the pecuniary burthen, however, he admitted some alteration. It appeared, that during the nine preceding years, the Nabob had paid to the Company, under different titles, at the rate of eighty four lacs of rupees per annum ; though by the treaty of 1775, he had bound himself to the annual payment. of only 31,21,000, and by the treaty of 1781, to that of 34,20,000 rupees.

It was agreed that fifty lacs should be the annual payment of the Nabob; and that this should embrace every possible claim. The Governor-General declared that this was sufficient to indemnify the Company for all the expense which it was necessary for them to incur in consequence of their connection with the Vizir. In other words, he declared that, for the nine preceding years, unjustifiable extortion, to the amount of thirty four lacs per annum, had been practised on that dependant prince. The relation now established between the Nabob of Oude and the Honourable Company was described by the Governor-General in the following words: "We undertake the defence of his country: In return, he agrees to defray the real expenses incurred by an engagement of so much value to himself: and the internal administration of his affairs is left to his exclusive management."

Among the instructions with which Lord Cornwallis was furnished for his circaded from government in India, he carried out with him explicit orders to demand from the Nizam the surrender of the circar of Guntoor. Bazalut Jung had died in

the Nizam.

* See Papers relating to the East Indies, printed by order of the House of Commons in 1806, No. 2, p. 1-14.

1782; but Nizam Ali retained possession of the circar; and the English had CHAP. III. withheld the payment of the peshcush. Upon the arrival of Lord Cornwallis 1788. in India, he was deterred from obeying immediately the peremptory orders of his European masters, with regard to the surrender of Guntoor, on account of the advantage which it appeared that a dispute with the Nizam might lend to the ambition of Tippoo, and the apprehension which was entertained of a rupture with France. In the year 1788, however, the prospect of uninterrupted peace with France, the great addition to the English military strength expected in the course of the season, and the general position of the other powers in India, presented the appearance of as favourable an opportunity for making the demand, as any which was regarded as sufficiently probable to form a rational basis of action. Immediately after the return of Tippoo from the siege of Mangalore, and the conclusion of his treaty with the English in 1784, he set up against the Nizam a demand for Beejapore. About the same time a dispute arose between Tippoo and the Poona ministers, respecting a part of those acquisitions, from the Mahratta territory, which had been made by Hyder, during the Peshwaship of Ragoba. These circumstances, together with the jealousy, if not the fears, which the power and character of Tippoo inspired into these neighbouring chiefs, produced a connection between them, in consequence of which a junction was formed between a Poona and Hyderabad army, in the beginning of the year 1786. The terms of reprobation, in which Englishmen in India were accustomed to speak of the peace of 1784, led the Poona ministers, according to the opinion of Colonel Wilks, to expect that the English would take part in this confederacy against. Mysore; and he is not well pleased with Lord Cornwallis, who lost no time in letting them know, that no project of an alliance, or any other measure of an aggressive nature, would be entertained by his nation. After a year of warring, attended by no considerable result, Tippoo and his enemies were both weary of the contest. A peace was concluded, on terms not very favourable to the Sultan, who was alarmed at the progressive accumulation of the instruments of war in the hands of the English; and desirous of an interval to settle his dominions on the coast of Malabar. In these circumstances, Lord Cornwallis was under no apprehension of a union between Tippoo, and the Mahrattas: He thought it by no means probable, that without the prospect of alliance with the French, he would provoke the dangers of an English war: And he concluded with some assurance that, with the support of Tippoo alone, the Nizam would not hazard the fate of resistance. Still, though not probable, it was by no means impossible, that a connection subsisted, or might in consequence of this

1788.

Book VI. requisition be formed, between the Nizam and Tippoo; which, "no doubt," said the Governor-General, "would bring on a war, calamitous to the Carnatic, and distressing to the Company's affairs." Yet if ever the claim upon the Guntoor circar was to be enforced, the time was now arrived; and, with regard to the result, should war ensue, it was, in the opinion of this ruler, impossible that for one moment a doubt could be entertained.*

4

The resolution being taken, the execution was skilfully planned. Captain Kennaway, a gentleman whose address was supposed well calculated to soften what might appear offensive in his commission, was sent to the court of the Nizam, instructed to employ conciliatory language, and to show the utmost liberality, in regard to every other point in regard to which adjustment was required. No intimation was to be given to the Nizam of the proposed demand, till after the arrival of Captain Kennaway at his court. At the same time, instructions were sent to the residents at the several durbars of the Peshwa, Scindia, and the Rajah of Berar, to give to these powers a full explanation of the proceeding before intelligence of it could reach them from any other source. The government of Madras, under specious pretences, conveyed a body of troops to the neighbourhood of the circar; and held themselves in readiness to seize the territory before any other power could interpose, either with arms or re

monstrance.

Captain Kennaway was yet on his journey to Hyderabad, when the following letter from the Governor-General, dated 3d of July, 1788, went after him by dispatch: "Sir-I have this instant received advice from Sir Archibald Campbell, that the Rajah of Chericka has actually committed hostilities on the Company's possessions at Tellicherry by order from Tippoo. Sir Archibald appears likewise to be decidedly of opinion, that Tippoo will immediately attack the Rajah of Travancore. This may, however, I think be doubtful. Unless this alarm should be blown over, previous to your arrival at Hyderabad, of which you cannot fail of having certain information, you will of course recollect that part of your instructions, and, instead of declaring the real object of your mission, confine yourself to the general expressions of friendship, and assurances of our earnest desire to cultivate a good understanding between the two governments.”

The situation of the Nizam was such, that he regarded himself as having more to hope, and less to apprehend, from a connection with the English, than

* Copy of a Letter from Earl Cornwallis to Sir Archibald Campbell, dated Calcutta, 30th of May, 1788. Ordered to be printed 1792. Wilks's Hist. Sketches, ii. 535–559, iii. 36.

1788.

with either of the other powers which bordered upon his dominions. Greatly CHAP. III. inferior to either the Mahrattas or Tippoo, he was ever in dread of being swallowed up by one or other of these formidable neighbours, and was no doubt protected from that destiny by the assistance which, in case of an attack from one, he was more than likely to receive from the other. An alliance with one of those powers threatened hostility with the other. An alliance with the English, though disagreeable to both, would not, he concluded, be able, with pretensions irreconcileable as theirs, to unite them for his destruction; while the effect of it would be to lessen his dependance upon both. Under the influence of these views, possibly, too, attaching no great value to the possession of Guntoor, which, under the bad management of his renters, had yielded little revenue, the Nizam manifested an unexpected readiness to comply with the Company's demands; and, without even waiting for a decision upon the other points which were to be adjusted between them, he surrendered the circar in September, 1788. The settlement of the arrears of the peshcush, which the Company had forborne to pay; and the set-off which was constituted by the revenue of the Guntoor circar, from the time of the death of Bazalut Jung, occasioned some difficulty and delay. To remove these difficulties, but more with a view to prevail upon the Governor-General to form with him at least a defensive alliance, which would raise him above his fears from Tippoo and the Mahrattas, he sent his confidential minister to Calcutta. A few amicable conferences sufficed to produce an adjustment of the pecuniary claims. But with regard to the formation of new and more comprehensive ties between the two governments, the English ruler was restrained, by two powerful considerations. In the first place, they were forbidden by the act of parliament. And in the next place, they could not fail to excite the jealousy and displeasure of the Mahrattas, the friendship of whom he was desirous to cultivate.*

The expedient, which suggested itself to the British Indian government, as happily calculated to answer all purposes, was, To profess the continued existence

"As his Highness's political situation with the Mahrattas has long approached almost to a state of dependance upon the Poonah government, we could make no alteration in the terms of our agreement with the Nizam, without its being construed by the Peshwa's ministers as an attempt to detach him from them." Lett. Cornwallis to Secret Committee, 1st of November, 1789. We are informed by Col. Wilks, that at the same time with this embassy to the English government, the Nizam sent one to Tippoo, to propose an alliance offensive and defensive; whether to supersede the agreement with the English, or as a further security, does not appear. Tippoo proposed the adjunct of a matrimonial connexion between the families; but this, not suiting the family pride of the Nizam, broke off the negotiation. Hist. Sketches, iii. 26, 36.