Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c56.s1: § 1. His early history
Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c56.s1
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§ 1. His early history
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Pierre-Francois Cuillier (who in India changed his name to Cuillier Perron, by which he is known) was born in Southern France and baptised on 6th August, 1753. Driven by poverty he enlisted in the French Royal service, first as a soldier, and later as a sailor in the East Indies. After running away from his ship when it touched at Pondicherry, he travelled to North India in search of fortune, and at first (in 1781) entered the corps which René Madec had raised and sold to the Rānā of Gohad. Its commandant at that time was a Scotsman named Sangster, a good mechanic. Perron had learnt the technique of casting guns, when a youth in France, and his first office was that of an artilleryman or at best an overseer in Sangster's cannon foundry.[*] When the Rānā of Gohad was crushed by Mahādji Sindhiā (in 1783), this corps was broken up, and Perron found employment in Lesteneau's battalion in the Bharatpur Raja's service, as a quarter-master sergeant on Rs. 60 a month (1784). When in January 1789, Lesteneau fled away with Ghulām Qādir's saddle-bags crammed with jewels looted from the Delhi palace, his sepoys mutinied for their
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[*] On 16 Dec. 1782 Perron married at Agra, Madeleine (aged 14) the daughter of the late Louis Déridan, a French Eurasian of Pondicherry. (Elle tenatt de ses parents plus de sang indien que de sang francais, Martineau, 97, 211-213.) Another daughter of Déridan, named Anne, was married to the Dutch colonet John W. Hessing (d. at Agra, 21 July 1803), whose son was George Hessing. The brother of these ladies, also named Louis Déridan, gave his daughter in marriage to Sutherland, a Scotsman. Another Miss Déridan, was married to the Eurasian J. B. Filose. We know of two Armenians in Sindhia's army, Jacob (whom Perron could not create a Captain in 1795, because his European officers refused to admit an Asiatic to their mess, and who then came away from Puna to Agra, where Hessing gave him a Captaincy), and Aratoon. We find both of them in Sindhia's service in 1813. (St. Genis, 367. PRC. xv.)
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arrears of pay, and the corps was broken up. But Perron found a new patron in De Boigne, whom Mahādji Sindhiā had authorised (in August 1789) to raise a brigade of infantry, and who had formed a favourable opinion of him. So, Perron was appointed commandant (styled captain-lieutenant in those days) in one of the new battalions. "Perron soon ingratiated himself with his chief by his courage, activity and great punctuality in his duties. He was a subordinate after De Boigne's heart, being diligent, energetic and indefatigable, taking a pride in bringing his battalion to the highest pitch of efficiency and discipline." (H. Compton.) His administrative capacity, industry, and cool calculating habits made him stand apart from the common run of European military adventurers in India, whose boisterous life of vice made them "a disgrace to any service."
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In April 1792, while Sindhiā's troops were besieging Kanud, Perron acted as De Boigne's deputy in receiving the surrender of Mirzā Ismail Beg (Ch. 39 § 2.) Thus, when a second brigade was raised for Mahādji Sindhiā by De Boigne (in 1793), Perron was appointed its brigadier (called major in those days.) Col. Frémont, an ex-officer of the French Royal service, who commanded Sindhiā's first brigade, was the senior officer under De Boigne; but he died on 8th July 1794, and the way was cleared for Perron's rise to the top.
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Towards the end of the year 1794, when a trial of arms with the Nizām was decided upon by the Peshwā, Daulat Rao Sindhiā called up Perron with his brigade to Punā, and this French general took the decisive part in the defeat of the Nizām at Khardā (11th March 1795.) So, it was only natural that when De Boigne resigned at the end of that year, Sindhiā gave Perron the independent command of the First Brigade, while the Second Brigade, (so long under Perron), was placed under Sutherland, but at first no commander-in-chief of the two Brigades was appointed to take De Boigne's place. (PRC. viii. No. 27, vi. 20.)
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Perron was created Colonel in 1796, and stayed with Daulat Rao Sindhiā at Punā till 22nd August 1797, when he was sent off to Northern India to take charge of the military jāgirs which Mahādji had assigned for De Boigne’s corps. As yet he was not viceroy of Sindhiā’s Hindustan dominions, the Agra—Delhi—Doab country, for that post was held by Lakhwā Dādā, whom Perron had to obey. We have seen in Chapter 43 the part played by Perron in the Widows’ War against Daulat Rao. After the first dismissal of Lakhwā Dādā, Sindhiā rewarded Perron’s loyalty by authorising him to wrest the fort of Delhi (and with it the custody of the Emperor) from Lakhwā’s agent Bhāu Bhāskar Tātyā, which Perron effected through his lieutenant Pedron, in October 1798. [PRC. viii. p. xv. Nos. 74-78. Martineau 61.]
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In October 1798, Daulat Rao Sindhiā nominated Ambāji Inglé as his viceroy of Hindustan in the place of the rebel Lakhwā Dādā, and Perron acted in loyal co-operation with Ambāji. His reward was that Daulat Rao raised him to the same status that De Boigne had enjoyed, with the title of General. At the same time Sindhiā influenced the puppet Shah Alam II to confer on Perron (on 12th February 1799) the rank of a commander of 7,000 (haft-hazāri mansabdār) with the hyperbolical oriental titles, of Nāsir-ul-mulk, Intizām-ud-daulah, Bahādur, Muzaffar Jang. His military fiefs at this time, had an annual income of 27 lakhs of rupees. (Martineau, 65-66. PRC. viii. No. 123.)
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General Perron’s first task was to gain possession of the Sindhian forts in the North still held by Lakhwā Dādā’s partisans. Thus, on 16th April 1799, he succeeded in taking delivery of Agra fort from Vishrām Bhāu by paying the dues of the garrison, and of Aligarh fort on the 27th of the same month.* Perron now made Aligarh his head quarters.
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∗ Agra, PRC. viii. 131-135. Aligarh, Ibid. 136-137. Khurjā, the last fort held by the Widows’ party, submitted to Ambāji Inglé on 1st May. Ibid.
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¹⁴² Perron’s Doab campaign, Ibid. 141-153.
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Leaving Aligarh on 2nd May, Perron joined Ambājī Inglé near Siyānā on the 8th, and the two marched together subduing the refractory zamindārs of the middle Doab—Siyānā, Parichitgarh, Sāharanpur, &c., and even trying to force Begam Samru to acknowledge herself as his vassel. But this last attempt was given up, on the strong objection of the Emperor and Sindhiā. So they retired to their bases at the end of June.
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But Lakhwā Dādā returned to Sindhiā’s favour and was restored to his office of viceroy of Hindustan, on 15th September. Perron was now called upon by Daulat Rao to co-operate with him in the projected campaign for exacting tribute from Rajputana.
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Near the end of September Perron followed by Ambājī arrived at Delhi and had his audience with Shah Alam II. Early next month the two marched from Delhi, first to settle the Rewāri-Narnaul district belonging to the military fief of Filose, and then to advance to Jaipur and meet Lakhwā Dādā for concerting the means of collecting its Raja’s tribute long overdue to Sindhiā. Perron offered to effect a reconciliation between Lakhwā Dādā and Ambājī, his displaced predecessor in the viceroyalty of Hindustan. On 27th October, the three chiefs met together at Muazza-mābād, and their quarrel was settled on terms which have been described in chapter 43, § 6. Thus Perron was allowed to keep the forts of Delhi, Agra and Aligarh, until Daulat Rao’s final decision should be known.
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Perron next made a journey to Jaipur (c. 10 Nov.), visited the Raja and held a parley about the tributes due to his master, receiving paper orders for their payment. Leaving Jaipur on the 22nd of that month, he returned to his head quarters at Aligarh.*
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In December 1799, Perron had to detach a force which defeated and expelled the Ruhelā raiders from the Sāharan-pur district in his jāgir. A large detachment from his army, under Pohlmann supported Lakhwā Dādā in defeating the Jaipur Raja in the battle of Mālpurā on 15th April 1800. (Ch. 43 § 8.)
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∗ Perron at Rewāri (11 Oct. 1799), Mālpura (21 Oct.), Muazzamābād (27 Oct.), Jaipur (10-22 Nov.). PRC. viii. 171-188.
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Less than a month after this victory, Lakhwā Dādā fell out of Sindhiā's favour and went into rebellion. The final eclipse of such an able and patriotic chief had the effect of leaving Perron without a rival as the most powerful servant of Daulat Rao in North India, though he was not yet invested with the office of Viceroy. On 15th April 1800, Perron left Aligarh on a tribute-collecting expedition to Rajputana and gathered the fruits of Lakhwā's victory at Mālpurā.
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Next year (1801), Perron personally marched south of the Chambal and crushed Lakhwā Dādā in the battle of Seondha, on 3rd May. (Ch. 44 § 5.) Soon afterwards he gained the fort of Ajmer from Lakhwā's partisan, through his lieutenant, Louis Bourquien (8th May). The result was that this French adventurer now held the seven most important forts in Sindhiā's northern territories,—Agra, Ajmer, Delhi, Aligarh, Khurjā, Sāharanpur and Firuzābād. Added to this, in July he was appointed subahdār of the Delhi province, an office which he exercised through his deputy Drugeon. The last three months of this year saw Perron's hard-won triumph over George Thomas, and the extinction of that Irish adventurer's dream of planting the British flag on the bank of the Satlaj. (Ch. 46. § 14.)