A History of the Mahrattas v2.c53: Chapter XLV

A History of the Mahrattas v2.c53

Language: English

v2.c53.1 — 3 parts
v2.c53.17 — 3 parts

Chapter XLV

v2.c53.1.1

A.D. 1805.—THE Bengal army arrived before Bhurtpoor¹ on the second day of the new year. General Lake being accustomed only to success, without properly reconnoitring the (Jan. 4.) place, and with a very inefficient battering train, commenced the siege by taking possession of a grove which afforded a partial cover to his operations.² Bhurtpoor is a fortified town, six or eight miles in circumference, everywhere surrounded by a high strong mud wall and bastions planted with a numerous artillery, having a wide and deep ditch, capable of being rendered unfordable. It was strongly garrisoned by the whole of the Raja’s troops and the remainder of Holkar’s infantry. The Raja pressed a great proportion of the neighbouring villagers, many of whom were of his own cast, to assist in repairing the works; and having a very large treasury, nothing to obstruct his supplies on three sides of the town and Holkar’s cavalry to act upon those of the besiegers, his means of defence were proportionate to his resolution to use them. In addition to Holkar’s cavalry, Umeer Khan was summoned from Bundelcund, and during the progress of the siege, after making on one occasion a considerable but unsuccessful effort on an important convoy, where (Feb. 7.) a number of his men were killed, he went off to effect a diversion, crossed the Jumna and the Ganges, and invaded the Company’s districts in Rohilcund.

v2.c53.1.2

He was, however, so closely pursued by the British cavalry, detached by General Lake, under General Smith, that he had not time to effect extensive mischief. He was at last overtaken on the 1st March, and after a sharp skirmish routed with considerable loss. This defeat encouraged the people of the country to resist him, and his followers began to desert. Tired at length by a campaign less profitable and more hazardous than he expected, Umeer Khan, about the 20th March, returned to Bhurtpoor, which still defied every effort of the British general, who had by that time come to the resolution of suspending operations until the arrival of stores, and the junction of a more powerful artillery. The army had been repulsed in four assaults; the first, led by Colonel Maitland, who lost his life on the occasion, was made on the night of the 9th of January. Several causes were assigned for its failure;—owing to the irregularity of the ground, and the extreme darkness, a confusion took place at the outset, from which many of the men lost their way; the ditch was very deep, and the breach was not only imperfect, but defended with determined courage. A better breach induced General Lake to try the second assault on the 21st of the same month: it failed from the depth of water in the ditch.

v2.c53.1.3

Means had been taken to ascertain the extent of this impediment by a stratagem of three of the Bengal native cavalry, who, pretending to go over to the enemy, and being fired upon with blank cartridges from the trenches, had thus an opportunity of making their observations, and returned with a favourable report. The enemy, however, dammed up the ditch in front of the breach, which, on the part of the besiegers, rendered valour unavailing, and perseverance destruction. On the 10th February, the Bombay division under Major-General Jones joined the Bengal army, to assist in the siege, which was now going on by regular approaches. On the 20th of that month, another assault was made with no better success than the former. Two European regiments, one of them the hitherto brave 76th, refused to follow their officers, and thus gave the 12th regiment of Bengal Sepoys an opportunity of immortalizing themselves. Following the gallant remains of the flank companies of the 22d regiment of foot, the Sepoys advanced with the greatest alacrity, planted their colours on the top of a bastion, and it was supposed that an equal degree of ardour on the part of the 75th and 76th regiments would have made them masters of the place. Next day, the men of these regiments, when addressed by General Lake, were overpowered by shame and remorse; they volunteered to a man; and a fourth and last attempt was made on the 21st February.

v2.c53.2

¹ [Bharatpur (Bhurtpoor), in the Jāt State of the same name, is thirty-four miles west of Agra. The fortress was stormed by Lord Combermere on January 18, 1826. The fortifications were then dismantled. A large portion of the walls is now standing and presents an imposing appearance. They seem to have been repaired. (Sleeman’s Rambles, &c., ed. V. A. Smith, pp. 116 and 355 n.)]

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² [At this date and for many years afterwards the Indian Government did not attach sufficient importance to the engineering branch of the service. (O.H.I., p. 602 n.)]

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The men, marching over the dead bodies of their companions, which crowded the ditch and glacis, rushed on with a desperate resolution, which would have overcome any practicable obstacles. On this, as on every former occasion, none of the troops relaxed in their efforts; and for two hours, until ordered to desist, they persevered at the breach, or in climbing up a high bastion, which adjoined it. But as fast as the leaders got up, they were knocked down with logs of wood, or speared by rows of pike-men who crowded the tops of the parapets. The besieged took every precaution, and used every effort of prudence and resolution; the damage done to the mud wall by the shot was generally repaired during the night, their guns were drawn within the embrasures, to prevent their being dismounted, and during the assaults, particularly in the last, pots filled with combustibles, burning cotton bales steeped in oil, with incessant discharges of grape from the cannon, and a destructive fire of small-arms were poured upon the British troops, whose casualties were very great, and in the four assaults 3,203 men were killed and wounded, of whom 103 were European officers. The most afflicting circumstance attending these failures was the necessity of leaving many of the wounded behind, who were almost invariably put to death by a sally of the garrison.

v2.c53.5

The Mahratta horse made their appearance daily, endeavouring to obstruct the operations of the siege, and during the assaults afforded considerable assistance, particularly when the British cavalry was in pursuit of Umeer Khan. They occasionally cut off cattle, foragers and stragglers, and the foraging parties of the besiegers were necessarily so strong, and obliged to march to such a distance, that very considerable impediment was the consequence. Besides the attempt made by Umeer Khan, already adverted to, there was another serious but unavailing attack upon a convoy, which was made by both Holkar and Umeer Khan, assisted by some of the Jhat horse. On both occasions the convoys were saved by seasonable reinforcements from the British camp. Upon the return of the cavalry from the pursuit of Umeer Khan in Rohilcund, General Lake made two attempts to surprise Holkar, in the second of which he was particularly successful¹; a thousand of the Mahrattas were killed; and great numbers of the horsemen, their spirit being now completely broken, quitted their leader after this chastisement. To such a pitch of alarm had they now arrived, and so completely disheartened were these active tormentors of Monson's detachment, that they had not courage to fight for their lives; not one of the British cavalry was killed on the occasion. A few days after this event, three thousand of the remains of Holkar's regular infantry were intercepted by a detachment of British troops under Captain Royal, and defeated with severe loss.

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¹ In the first attempt the clattering of the steel scabbards worn by the cavalry gave the Mahrattas intimation of his approach; in the second, by leaving them behind he got nearer to their camp before being discovered.

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To complete Holkar's misfortunes, his ally, the Raja of Bhurtpoor, hoping to save himself, took advantage of the intermission of the siege, to testify his desire of reconciliation; offering terms, which, even after everything was prepared to renew the attack, many concurring reasons induced the British authorities to accept, although at the prodigious sacrifice of leaving a lasting impression of their failure. The Raja of Bhurtpoor paid twenty lacks of rupees, renounced his alliance with the enemies of the British Government, and his claims to advantages secured by the former treaty with the General, now Lord Lake.² The fortress of Deeg was to be restored, when the British Government had reason to be assured of his fidelity.

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² [The unsuccessful siege of Bharatpur was General Lake's one personal failure. He was born on July 27, 1744, and entered the army before he was fourteen. He served in the Seven Years' War in Germany, in the American War, in the French campaign of 1793, and against the Irish rebels in 1798. In 1801 he became Commander-in-Chief in India, and proceeded to Cawnpore, then a British frontier station. After his final defeat of Holkar, he sailed for England in February 1807, and on his arrival at home was created a Viscount. He died on February 21, 1808. (Note on p. 566, Sleeman's Rambles, ed. V. A. Smith, 1915.)]

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The principal cause which actuated the British authorities, in accommodating matters with the Raja of Bhurtpoor, was an apprehended rupture with Sindia. Doulut Rao, several days even before he signed the treaty of defensive alliance, had made strong objections to the restorations granted by the British Government to the Rana of Gohud, whom, as being long dispossessed of all territory, he affected to consider as a private individual, possessing neither rights nor independence, and therefore incapable of engaging in any treaty; consequently, it was unjust, he argued, to set up his antiquated claims as one of the independent Rajas or Jagheerdars, and absurd to pretend that this elected Rana could cede Gwalior to the Company. These arguments, though easily combated, were sufficiently ingenious for the immediate purpose of Sindia’s ministers, whose chief aim was to seek cause of present dispute, trusting to events for widening or repairing the breach, as they saw occasion.

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Ambajee Inglia, who was insincere from the first in his treaty with the English, and who claimed and obtained merit with his master for what he had done by retaining possession of some of the districts in Jagheer, is said to have been the deviser of this scheme in regard to Gohud,¹ and to have been the active abettor of Shirzee Rao Ghatgay in endeavouring to excite Doulut Rao to a union with Holkar. No Mahratta doubts, and the Governor-General must have known, that Bappoojee Sindia and Sewdasheo Bhow Bhaskur joined Holkar with Doulut Rao’s consent. Whilst disavowed, it was not expedient to charge him with such an act of treacherous hostility, and therefore, in the event of their being apprehended by General Lake, he had instructions to try them by a court-martial for their treason and desertion, and to carry into execution whatever sentence might be passed. Sindia, in a long letter of frivolous and unjust complaint, which he addressed to the Governor-General on the 18th October, 1804, had the assurance to adduce the desertion of those officers as one of his grievances, originating in his not having received pecuniary aid from the English, to enable him to co-operate against Holkar; and that they had only feigned to join the enemy for the purpose of obtaining subsistence for their troops.

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¹ Oral information from Ambajee’s son-in-law and others.

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At the period of the date of this letter, Sindia was on his march from Burhanpoor towards Malwa, professing an intention of proceeding to his own capital, Oojein, agreeably to frequent recommendations from the British Government. But under the influence of Shirzee Rao, who from the first earnestly promoted the union with Holkar, Sindia was fully bent on joining that chief, and in addition to various acts of a hostile nature against the allies of the British Government, committed a gross outrage by attacking, plundering, and detaining Mr. Jenkins, the acting Resident, in his camp.

v2.c53.13

A division of the British army under Colonel Martindell in Bundelcund had been directed to reinforce the army at Bhurtpoor, and had advanced for that purpose as far as Gwalior; but on receiving intelligence of this outrage, Colonel Martindell fell back on Jhansee to frustrate any scheme which Sindia might have formed of invading the Company's provinces, which from Kalpee to Calcutta were completely exposed; but Sindia moved on gradually to the northward, until his approach to the Chumbul produced a strong remonstrance from the British Resident, to whom Sindia declared that he was unable to proceed to settle his own country from the state of his finances, and that he was only marching towards Bhurtpoor to mediate a peace. He agreed, however, if assisted by the British Government in the removal of his pecuniary embarrassments, to return to the southward and act as they might desire; he also promised to make reparation for the plunder of the British Resident. At the interview where these assurances were given, the demeanour of Sindia and his ministers was much more conciliatory than it had been for some time before, and it being of great importance to prevent Sindia from joining the confederacy at Bhurtpoor, the Governor-General accepted this promise as an atonement for the outrage on his representative, and agreed to advance some pecuniary aid, provided Sindia would return and employ himself in taking possession of Holkar's unoccupied districts in Malwa. Sindia pretended to acquiesce, and retired eight miles towards Subbulgurh; but still, on pretence of mediating, sent on a part of his cavalry and all his Pindharees towards Bhurtpoor. The treaty, however, was concluded previous to their arrival; the Raja declined an interview with Sindia's wukeel, and the troops, joined by Holkar with the remains of his cavalry, returned to Sindia's camp, where Holkar met with a cordial reception, as did Bappoojee Sindia and Umeer Khan. Sindia, in regard to Holkar, endeavoured to justify himself to the British Government, by telling the Resident that Holkar, who had intended to plunder the British territories, had, at his request, abandoned that design, and consented to his mediation for the attainment of peace.¹

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¹ Mill’s History of British India.

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Lord Lake, in consequence of this junction, moved from Bhurtpoor with his whole army towards the camp of Sindia and Holkar, desiring the Resident to quit Sindia’s camp. The Resident, however, was still detained on various pretexts, whilst the two chieftains, on Lord Lake’s approach, retreated in a south-westerly direction towards Kotah with great precipitation. Their whole force consisted of five thousand infantry with one hundred and forty guns, twelve thousand Sillidar horse, and twelve thousand Pindharees. From the advanced state of the season, Lord Lake did not deem it advisable to pursue them, and therefore directed the army to take up positions during the monsoon. The Bombay troops under General Jones occupied a centrical situation at Tonk-Rampoorah. Colonel Martindell’s division returned to Bundelcund; a detachment was placed at Gohud; and the main body of the Bengal army was stationed at Agra and Muttra.

v2.c53.16

Sindia and Holkar repaired to Kotah, and afterwards moved towards Ajimere. Holkar was a decided advocate for continuing the war; Shirzee Rao was strenuous in support of this proposal, and whilst he continued to sway the councils of his son-in-law, Holkar had entire influence in Sindia’s administration. But the violence of Shirzee Rao defeated his own purposes, and Holkar was instrumental in removing him from power and placing Ambajee Inglia at the head of Sindia’s administration. Holkar, with Sindia’s connivance, had at first confined Ambajee, and after exacting from him a large sum of money, on which the troops subsisted for some time, he was released and appointed as has been just mentioned. Holkar expected to find in him a willing coadjutor, and from the reputation of his wisdom much more was hoped than from the rash violence of Shirzee Rao; but the temporizing policy of Ambajee, the rekindling rivalry of the two chieftains, the separation of their camps, and above all, Sindia’s conviction of their impotency to contend with the British Government, paved the way to a pacification which had by that time, owing to a change in the government, become the primary object of the British Cabinet.

v2.c53.17.1

Peace was no doubt of the greatest importance to British India at this period, but the power of the Mahratta chiefs was completely broken : the Peishwa, however inimically disposed, had as yet acquired no authority, and the Marquis Wellesley, without renouncing any advantages, would have soon been enabled to effect every arrangement for securing a long if not a permanent tranquillity ; but the protracted warfare and the popular clamour in England against his administration, arising chiefly from temporary embarrassments and a sudden accumulation of debt, began to influence the opinions, not only of the proprietors and Directors of the East India Company, but of the British Ministry.¹ The return of the venerable Marquis Cornwallis² to India was solicited by the highest authorities, as if the salvation of that country depended on his presence. He arrived in Calcutta on the 30th July, and on the same day assumed charge of the government. He showed, almost from the first act of his administration, that he disapproved of the system of defensive alliance conjoined with a subsidiary force, and evinced so great an eagerness to put an end to the war with Holkar, and to accommodate the differences with Sindia, that, had the power of these chiefs and of Rughoojee not been completely broken, it would probably have ensured a prolongation of hostilities, conducted with all the energy and activity of Mahrattas in success.

v2.c53.17.2

Lord Cornwallis was willing to overlook the outrage committed by Sindia on the British Resident, to give up Gwalior and its dependencies, and to make some provision for the Rana of Gohud from the disposable territories on the Jumna. To Holkar he proposed to restore the whole of the territories conquered from him during the war. He greatly disapproved of the treaties of defence and guarantee entered into with the petty Rajas of Joudpoor, Jeypoor, Bhurtpoor, Macherry and Boondee. As to the first, the Raja of Joudpoor having refused to ratify the treaty which his wukeel had made with General Lake, of course no agreement with that state existed. With regard to the second, the Raja of Jeypoor had not fulfilled the conditions of his agreement, and the Marquis Cornwallis at an early period had directed him to be informed that it was considered as dissolved; but the Raja’s subsequent conduct had in a great degree retrieved his previous neglect. With respect to the other three, the Governor-General proposed, as an inducement to their renouncing the alliance, to make over portions of the territory conquered from Sindia south of Delhi, and on the west of the Jumna, which river he intended should form the south-western boundary of the Company’s possessions in that quarter, and by this means exempt the British Government from all obligation to guarantee or defend the territory so assigned from the attack of Sindia or any other potentate.

v2.c53.17.3

In conformity with these sentiments, instructions were forwarded to Lord Lake on the 19th September; but, before their official transmission, Lord Lake, apprised of the pacific course of policy which the new Governor-General had determined to pursue, seized an opportunity, consequent to Ambajee’s appointment to the administration and to the dismissal of Shirzee Rao, to draw proposals from Sindia, —an important advantage in most negotiations, but particularly so in the present case. To the overtures made Lord Lake replied that he could listen to no proposition until the Resident was released, a preliminary to which Sindia now readily consented; and Lord Lake, in anticipation of the wishes of the Governor-General, had submitted, previously to the receipt of his instructions, a plan for the adjustment of differences with Sindia. In consequence of this favourable state of affairs, and the evils he conceived likely to result from abandoning the connexion with the petty states and permitting the Mahrattas to regain a footing in the northern provinces, he delayed acting upon the instructions, and represented the reasons by which he was guided.

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¹ [Attempts were made to impeach the Marquess Wellesley, but were not pressed. His merits were recognized by a later generation of Directors, and a year before his death they erected his statue as a mark of their esteem, and presented him with £20,000.]

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² [Cornwallis was a complete wreck when he accepted the appointment of Governor-General for the second time. ‘He was no longer the man,’ writes Dr. Smith, ‘who fifteen years earlier had sprung to arms in order to defend distant Travancore. He had come to regard almost the worst peace as better than the best war, and was willing to list n to the pleasant words of admirers who hailed him as the saviour of India.’ (O.H.I., p. 608.)]

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Before this representation was received, the mortal illness of the Marquis Cornwallis had rendered him incapable of attending to public business; and at his death, which happened (Oct. 5.) on the 5th October, the charge of the British Government in India devolved on the senior member of the Bengal council, Sir George Barlow.¹

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¹ [Lord Cornwallis died at Ghāzīpur. His successor, Sir George

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In the meantime Holkar, perceiving the change of politics on the part of Sindia, and that he had nothing to hope from him whilst his own fortunes were so low, quitted Ajimere early in the month of September, and, with about twelve thousand horse, two or three thousand infantry and thirty guns, took the route of the Punjab, giving out that he expected to be joined by the Seiks and the Afghans. Two divisions of the British army, the one under General Jones from Rampoorah, and the other under Colonel Ball in the Rewaree hills, made ineffectual attempts to intercept him; on which Lord Lake, having posted divisions to prevent his getting back, set out in pursuit of him with five regiments of cavalry and four battalions of infantry.

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These operations did not obstruct the arrangements with Sindia, which, under the immediate direction of Lord Lake, were concluded by a new treaty on the 22d November; Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm being the agent on the part of the Company, and Moonshee Kavil Nyne on that of Sindia.

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The treaty of Surjee Anjengaom was to remain in full force, excepting in such parts as might be altered by the present arrangements. The subsisting engagement between the British Government and the Rana of Gohud being inconvenient, or, as was declared, the Rana being found totally unfit for the exercise of sovereign authority, the agreement was dissolved, and the fortress of Gwalior with the Gohud territory were restored to Sindia. It was, however, stipulated, that an establishment should be provided for the Rana by the British Government; and in order to remunerate them for the expense of supporting it, Sindia on his part agreed to relinquish the pensions of fifteen lacks of rupees, granted to certain officers in his service, and to resign his enam districts of Dholpoor-Baree and Raj-Kerrah, which were reserved to him by the treaty of Surjee Anjengaom. The river Chumbul, from Kotah on the west to the extremity of the Gohud territory on the east, was declared the boundary of the two states, and in

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Barlow, has been justly described as ‘the meanest of the Governors-General.’ ‘His narrowness of view was made the more dangerous by the extreme personal dislike which he inspired.’ He was more active than Lord Cornwallis in reversing the Marquess Wellesley’s policy in Upper India, in pursuance of which policy he broke faith with Jaipur, and bound the British Government in India not to make any arrangement with the Rājpūt States for their protection against Marāthā oppression. Lord Lake protested in vain, and finding he could make no impression resigned his political powers and retired to Europe.]

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consideration of the benefits derived by the Company from this line of demarcation it was agreed to allow Sindia personally an annual pension of four lacks of rupees, and to assign Jagheers to his wife and daughter; the former to have two lacks, and the latter one lack of rupees annually, within the territory of the Company. The two small districts of Bhadek and Sooseporarah, on the right bank of the Jumna and south of the Chumbul, being necessary to the greater security of the Company's frontier, were made over to them. Sindia renounced all claim to tribute from the Raja of Boondee, or from any other state north of the Chumbul and to the eastward of Kotah. The British Government engaged to enter into no treaties with the Rana of Oudepoor, the Rajas of Joudpoor, Kotah, and other chiefs, the tributaries of Sindia in Malwa, Marwar, and Mewar; nor to interfere with the arrangements Sindia might make with them. In the event of peace with Holkar, the British Government engaged that they should not desire the restoration of such of the districts of Holkar, between the Taptee and Chumbul, as Sindia had taken, or interfere in any manner with their arrangements, wars, or disputes. The losses, public and private, sustained by the British Residency, were to be made good; and as it was notorious that Shirzee Rao Ghatgay was the instigator of this outrage, and that he had always acted with the most virulent hostility to the British Government, Sindia agreed never to admit him into his councils.¹ The negotiation of this treaty did not obstruct the active pursuit of Holkar; Lord Lake, joined by reinforcements as he advanced, followed him into the Punjab with unremitting perseverance. Jeswunt Rao, if he entered the territory of the Seiks in any expectation of assistance from them, was totally disappointed; but, whilst they preserved a strict neutrality, they were also anxious to become mediators for Holkar, whose hopes of resisting the British power were now completely crushed. Driven at length to extreme distress, he sent agents to Lord Lake's camp on the banks of the Beah,² to sue for peace; and as the instructions of the late Governor- General remained in force, under the authority of Sir George Barlow, it may be imagined that the negotiation of a treaty which restored conquered territories, to which Holkar had forfeited his right, even had he been the legitimate representative of his family, was very soon concluded. Holkar renounced all right to Tonk-Rampoorah, Boondee and all other places north of the Boondee hills, all claims on the province of Bundelcund, and on the British Government and its allies: he engaged never to entertain Europeans in his service, and never to admit Shirzee Rao Ghatgay into his councils or employment; he also became bound to return to Malwa by a prescribed route. The British Government engaged to have no interference with the possessions of Holkar south of the Chumbul; to restore the forts and districts of the family in the Deccan, excepting Chandore and its dependencies, and the districts of Amber and Sewgaom; but, in case of Holkar’s evincing amicable and peaceful intentions towards the British Government, Chandore, Amber, and Sewgaom were to be restored, and the district of Koonch, in Bundelcund, was to be given in Jagheer to his daughter; the former in eighteen months, and the latter in two years, from the 24th December, 1805, the day on which the treaty was dated.

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¹ [This exclusion of Sarjī Rāo Ghātgē was subsequently waived; and on February 9, 1809, Daulat Rāo Sindia met him on his return to Sindia's camp. Sarjī Rāo completely re-established his influence, and was formally appointed chief Minister on February 23, 1809 which position he enjoyed until his death a few months later (Broughton, *Letters from a Mahratta Camp*, Constable, 1892, pp. 44, 50.)]

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² [The Biās (the Hyphasis of the Greeks) is one of the five rivers of

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A.D. 1806.—Sir George Barlow, in whom the power of confirming treaties on the part of the British Government now rested, made an alteration in this treaty, as well as in that concluded with Sindia. Sir George Barlow conceived that the reasons adduced by Lord Lake for continuing the connexions with the petty states north of the Chumbul were outweighed by the political advantage of their dissolution. Lord Lake maintained that the alliance of these petty states interposed a strong barrier against the future encroachments of the Mahrattas; and that, at all events, the honour of the British Government was pledged to respect its engagements, until the treaties were infringed or renounced by the states in question. Sir George Barlow contended that the security of the British Government depended either on its controlling all the states of India, or on leaving them to the wars and disputes which were sure to arise if left to themselves; and that

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the Panjāb. Rising on the southern face of the Rohtang pass in Kulu, it traverses Mandi State, flows through the Kangra District, and after a total course of 290 miles joins the Sutlej at the southwestern boundary of Kapurthāla State. (I.G., 1907, vii. 138.)]

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if the British Government renounced its claims to the territory in which any petty state was situated, all obligation to protect it was dissolved. It is not clear, in the circumstances then existing, in what manner Sir George Barlow meant to apply this latter argument, excepting to the Raja of Boondee; but with respect to the former observation, as far as regarded the contentions of those states, Lord Lake had before expressed his opinion that, if left to themselves, they would quarrel with each other, call in the aid of the native powers in their vicinity, and large armies of irregulars would be contending upon the frontier of the most fertile provinces of the British Government, against whose eventual excesses there would be no well-grounded security, but a military force in a constant state of preparation. Had his Lordship’s life been extended to the term which might have been reasonably hoped, he would not only have seen his prediction verified, but that a military force, acting on the defensive, afforded no certain security against the incursions of swarms of brigands which were thus nourished.

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Agreeably to the system of policy he had determined upon, Sir George Barlow annexed declaratory articles to the treaties concluded with Sindia and Holkar, explaining away any obligation which by the treaty with the former might be inferred, of protecting the petty states north of the Chumbul, from Kotah to the Jumna, and restoring to the latter Tonk-Rampoorah and all the territory north of the Boondee hills; thus abandoning to his fate the Raja of Boondee, who on his part had maintained the alliance with honour and generosity.

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Lord Cornwallis, disapproving of the system of alliances, had, as already mentioned, taken advantage of a failure in his engagement on the part of the Raja of Jeypoor, to direct that alliance to be considered as dissolved; but Lord Lake had prevailed upon Lord Cornwallis to suspend this dissolution; because at that period the Raja had it greatly in his power to assist or incommode the British army; and from that time he had performed such essential service as to render himself obnoxious both to Sindia and Holkar; to whose vengeance he became exposed, should the British Government withdraw its protection. Notwithstanding these claims, and the earnest recommendation of Lord Lake, Sir George Barlow obstinately adhered to his determination, and declared the alliance at an end. This declaration, it may be observed, did not take place until subsequent to the treaties with Holkar and Sindia; so that without infringing its engagements with them, the British Government was still at liberty to extend its protection to Jeypoor if it should see fit.

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The engagements with the Rajas of Bhurtpoor and Macherry, though their dissolution was much desired by the Governor-General, remained in force.

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The treaty of Deogaom concluded with Rughoojee Bhonslay, 17th December, 1803, also continued in force; but by an engagement dated 24th August, 1806, Patwa and Sumbulpore were restored to him.

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By the definitive treaty with Sindia, it became necessary to provide for the Rana of Gohud; and the districts of Dholpoor-Baree and Raj-kerrah were assigned for that purpose.

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A definitive treaty of general defensive alliance had been concluded with the Gaekwar 21st April, 1805, for the purpose of consolidating the stipulations contained in three preceding agreements, drawn up in March, June, and July, 1802, and making some additions and alterations which were deemed expedient. The Gaekwar had previously received a subsidiary force of two thousand men, and he now engaged to maintain three thousand infantry and a company of artillery, which were to be stationed within his territory, but only employed on occasions of some importance. Districts yielding rupees 11,70,000¹ were assigned for their support. The districts of Chourassy, Chickly, and Kaira,²

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² [For Chourassy see page 321, ante. Chikhli (Chickly) is now the eastern tāluka of Surat District, containing an area of 168 square miles. The ceded territory in Kaira consisted of Kaira town and fort, Nadiād, Mātar, and Mahudha. In 1817 the Gaekwār ceded Mehmadābād, Alīna, Thāsra, Antroli and half the town and district of Petlād, while Kapadvanj and Bhālaj were received in exchange for a district in north Gujarāt. Thus the modern Kaira District is composed of lands partly acquired from the Pēshwā in 1802 by the Treaty of Bassein and partly transferred by the Gaekwār of Baroda

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| ¹ Viz. Dholka | . | R. 4,50,000 |
| Neriad | . | 1,75,000 |
| Beejapoor | . | 1,30,000 |
| Mahtur | . | 1,30,000 |
| Moondah | . | 1,10,000 |
| Tuppa of Kurree | . | 25,000 |
| Kheemkatodra | . | 50,000 |
| Wurat on Kattywar | . | 1,00,000 |
| | | R. 11,70,000 |

v2.c53.40

¹ Viz. Dholka . . . . R. 4,50,000 Neriad . . . . 1,75,000 Beejapoor . . . . 1,30,000 Mahtur . . . . 1,30,000 Moondah . . . . 1,10,000 Tuppa of Kurree . . . 25,000 Kheemkatodra . . . 50,000 Wurat on Kattywar . . 1,00,000 R. 11,70,000

v2.c53.41

together with the Gaekwar’s share of the Chouth of Surat, were ceded to the Company. The British Government having advanced or become security on account of the Gaekwar’s government to the amount of nearly forty-one and a half lacks of rupees, the revenue of districts yielding nearly fourteen lacks annually was appropriated for liquidating this debt. The Gaekwar agreed to submit the examination and adjustment of the outstanding accounts and debts, between him and the Peishwa, to the British Government; to receive no European into his service, and to commit no act of aggression against any other power without the acquiescence of the British Government.

A History of the Mahrattas v2.c53: Chapter XLV

Contents

Chapter XLV

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