Siyar al-mutaʾakhkhirin 25.5
A Translation of the Seir Mutaqherin (Haji Mustafa) 25.5
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25.5.1
The Marhatta Empire which has still its two seats or Capitals in those southern regions, had been for a length of time governed by Baladji-rao, who on the demise of Saho-radja, had assumed the administration, and become Sovereign of the Marhatta dominions, where he cut so great a figure, that we shall be obliged to make full mention of him in the sections relative to Decan, as much at least, as his affairs are come to our knowledge. On his demise, his son succeeded him of course. But the deceased had also a brother, and it was Ragonat-rao; who thinking his pretensions much superior to those of the young Prince, his nephew, undertook to support them. This produced some civil dissensions, which ended by putting the uncle under some confinement; and he was thought well secured, when he found means to gain his guards, and by treason and artifice, to kill his nephew, after which he took possession of the administration, and sate in his stead. But as a great difference of sentiments prevailed amongst the Grandees of that Empire, whilst several of them took party with Ragonat-rao, the greatest number, however, sided with the relict of Baladji-rao's son, who was left pregnant. Her party raised the Princess to the supreme command, displayed the standard of contention, and having vanquished Ragonat-rao in battle, they confined him again. Nevertheless, after some time, they concluded a treaty of friendship and union between the Princess and the uncle;
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but the latter dissatisfied with the terms imposed upon him, found an opportunity of escaping again; and he fled to the English of the factory of Bombay, where he entered into an agreement with them, and was received under their protection. Nor is this a novel event. It is in consequence of such and the like divisions that most of the strongholds, nay, almost the whole of Hindostan, have come into the possession of the English. For instance, two Princes contend for the same country, and one of them applies to the English, and informs them of the way and method of becoming masters of it. By his insinuations and by their assistance, he draws to himself some of the leading men of the country, who being his friends, are already fast attached to his person; and meanwhile the English having concluded to their own mind some treaty and agreement with him, they for some time abide by those terms, until they have acquired a good insight into the government and customs of the country, as well as a thorough acquaintance with the several parties in it; and then they discipline an army, and getting themselves supported by one party, they soon overcome the other, and little by little introduce themselves into the country, and make a conquest of it. And although their introductor should prove too shrewd for them, and should give them the slip, still they never dispute with him;
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but being a set of men always wise and always in temper, they patiently wait until by his death some unworthy son comes to succeed him; at which time under his name and without opening any dispute with him, or creating any ill renown to themselves, they complete the conquest, and have the art to finish their business in such a sly manner, that no reproach can be made to them. By which means the downfall of the people of those parts, especially of the great and powerful ones, is soon obtained by the hands of one another; and all this is brought about so artfully, that the idiots set up by them, unaware of the above management, do of their own accord and motion work at the ruin of their equals; and meanwhile the English who seem quite passive, as if suffering themselves to be lead, are in fact giving motion to the machine, and turning those sots into so many objects of endless contempt and raillery, both in Hindostan and in Europe. Meanwhile those fools fancying themselves shrewd in business, plume themselves and strut about, until the seeds of mischief planted by them, coming to shoot up, the day of retribution and vengeance comes with them, and they pay and smart in their turn for having squandered away the little money they had scraped together in working themselves into those honours and those stations they so little deserved. They seem to be the centre of a mighty bustle, but in fact do nothing more than ruin still more, a country already ruined;
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fall at last under the lash of outstanding ballances; and after paying into the treasury of the English as an equivalent, all the money they have before hoarded, they are now obliged to sit down with the odious character of having been the carriers and porters of exaction and tyranny. So that those glorious rulers, after ruining all the world, and burrving their own feathers, now become sensible of their losses, turn repentants; but it is only at a time when repentance cannot mend their circumstances, and when they have become already so infamous and so odious, that this distich becomes quite applicable to their case: "Have you seen what has done that jackass of a little man? "He has borne all the odium of the exaction, and another has run "away with all the profit." To return to our narrative, the Governor of Bombay gave notice of all these troubles to Governor Hushtin; and it was at a time when the disputes between the French and English, disputes which were of old standing, were revived again on account of the assistance which the former had given to the men of America. These men, who are of the same race with the English, had these two or three hundred years past settled in America, which is a New-found-land called Yengbi-Dunia, much resembling England, and where those men lived, bred children, spent their lives, and died. Only they were under the jurisdiction of the King of England, and yielded obedience to his orders.
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These men since some time, (which cannot be more than four or five years ago) had revolted from their King, on account of his demanding more of them than was customary. They had fought his troops; and having killed the people that had exercised in the King's name the power of binding and loosing, that is, the members of the Council of that land, they had set up of themselves a government like a Council. Not content with all that, they had more than once given battle to the King's troops, had come off victorious, and had occasioned to the King and Company losses to the amount of corors. The French, at all times sworn enemies to the English, resolved to ingratiate themselves with the Americans, and to turn their revolt to some account for themselves; and with that view they furnished them with cannon, muskets, powder and ball, and all the necessaries for warfare. The King of England, incensed at such an assistance given at a time, when the term of peace between two nations was not yet expired, declared war against the King of the French also. It was at a time when the English nation secure on every side in Hindostan, felt some inquietude on the side of the Marhattas and from Haider-naik. This Haider-naik had, ten or twelve years ago, waged war with the English in such a manner as to come off victorious, and to make some advantage of it. The Marhattas were full as dangerous;
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as they have a way of fighting of their own, and will ten times a day attack, and as many times again retreat or take to flight; and they are accustomed to reduce to great straits, for want of water and necessaries, such troops as are less handy than themselves at this work of plundering and running away. The English on those accounts reckoned a war with them to be a difficult piece of work; and they knew very well that Haider-naic was in correspondence with the French. On those two considerations Governor Hushtin who is by excellence the man of genius of his nation, and who displays everywhere a consummate skill and wisdom, thought it expedient to close with Ragonat-rao's proposals, an ally that put in his hands the great advantage of fighting the Marhattas in their own country; so great was his foresight. His project was to send an army into Decan, on pretence of assisting Ragonat-rao whom the English were to bring over to their camp; and by his means to engage the Marhatta nation to a peace and an alliance with them; which alliance would have put it in his power to grant Ragonat-rao the completion of his fondest wishes. After having brought the Marhatta rulers to submit and agree, he intended to draw both Ragonat-rao and his adversaries into such an alliance, as should bind them to a pact of never joining the French;
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and such a treaty he intended to strengthen by a paper signed and sealed by both Ragonat-rao and the Marhatta rulers, who were to secure it under their most solemn oaths. All that was intended to be done by art and persuasion. But in case the matter did not succeed to his wishes, then he hoped that so soon as he should have effected a junction with ragonat-rao, he might force the Marhatta rulers to a compliance with his views. For he knew that this Prince being himself a man of importance, and the son of a man of importance in that nation, there was no doubt but some great men would join him of themselves, and that some others would easily be brought to do the same, whether by persuasion or by force; and as the English led by a destiny, (that designed to make use of that nation for punishing a wicked, thoughtless race of men, unmindful of their God) had so successfully fought battles, made such amazing conquests, and with a deal of ease pushed their victories as far as almost within sight of Shah-djehan-abad, the Capital of Hindostan; so the Governor thought that the war in Decan would prove full as easy; and that after beating and dispersing the Marhatta armies, it would prove an easy task to reduce Haider-naic to straits. After which operation he might without any anxiety from the French, or other European Powers, and without much hindrance from the Princes of India, bring in a certain number of years, and with proper management, all Hindostan into submission;
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and then sit down in ease and content to enjoy his prosperity. All this scheme was founded upon much foresight and much knowledge of India; for the enmity of the French is of old standing, and that nation by joining the Americans had acquired so mighty an accession of hatred and power, that were they now to listen so far to their jealousy against the prosperity of the English in these countries, as to land in India with some thousand Europeans to the assistance of Haider-naic and the Marhattas, they would raise such commotions, as would be very difficult to quell; and there is no doubt but in such a case not a man from the Marhattas, and not a man of consequence from Hindostan, would side with the English. Whereas now Ragonat-rao himself, the pretender to the Marhatta Empire, was ready to join them of his own accord; and it was probable that those schemes of the Governor's would take place of themselves, and would be followed by further victories and by the subjection of all Hindostan, without much expense or trouble. In fact, the Governor's piercing genius having beheld as present all those contingencies, which were yet in the womb of time, had resolved to sow dissensions, and to encourage and nurse them by sending successively numerous troops towards Decan. It was reported that this scheme of the Governor's not having met with Mr. Francis's and Mr.
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Wheeler's approbation, two Members of the Committee, they contended that they ought to remain satisfied with so much dominion as they had already acquired, without stretching their feet out of their frontiers; and it may be that such likewise were the orders from the Council of Europe, and such the safest party. But the Governor disapproving of such timid opinions, took upon himself singly all the risks of this business, and set out in earnest with this war.