A History of the Mahrattas v2.c38.6

v2.c38.6

² The history and character of the infamous Walter Reignard, generally known by the name of Sumroo, the instrument of the barbarous massacre at Patna in 1763, is sufficiently public. He entered the imperial service after that event, having in the interval served principally with the Jhats. [Reinhardt was a native of Trèves, in the Duchy of Luxemburg, and came to India as a sailor in the French Navy. Having deserted, he joined the first European battalion raised in Bengal. Thence deserting once more he entered the French garrison at Chandernagore, and after the capture of Law he entered the service of Mīr Kāsim (Kāsim Alī Khān). His name Samrū, or Sumroo, was a corruption of ‘Sombre,’ which was his nickname among his French comrades. For further details of him and his more famous Bēgam see Sleeman's Rambles, ch. lxxv, revised annotated edition (1915), by V. A. Smith. His tomb at Agra is described at pp. 124 and 271 of Keene's Mughal Empire. His name is spelt Reinhard on the tomb, and elsewhere Renard. Sleeman calls him a native of Salzburg.]