principally composed of cavalry. .V. 1801. are not fordable, -as there are no bridges, and no means of passing them excepting by basket boats, which it is difficult and might be rendered impos- Gurwood. sible to procure, the fulness of the rivers operates &c. Jan. 1. as a barrier." He then proceeds to show with what facility a British army may pass the rivers, provided they have good pontoons. His next consideration is the state of the country after heavy rains, the effect they have on the roads,—the difficulty of moving heavy wheel carriages. The produce of the Mahratta country is considered; want of rice, which must be brought from Mysore or from Canara; the Mysore territory to be looked to for sheep and bullocks; forage every where abundant; means of defending the country trifling; Darwar the only place not liable to be easily taken by assault. He then furnishes a plan for operations; points out the most eligible situations for establishing posts; decribes a method by which Darwar might be taken by a coup de main, &c. &c. Such able documents, the result of personal experience and observation, are of great value; and though circumstances have wonderfully changed in the political state of India since they were penned, the statistical and military information therein embodied will remain a lasting memorial of Colonel Wellesley's active attention to subjects of so much importance, while his recorded opinions cannot fail to be of service so long as we shall retain dominion over our Indian empire. Colonel Wellesley continued undisturbed in the exercise of his important civil employments until 1802, when the political horizon began to darken Despatches, V. 1801. CHAP. in the direction of Poonah; and the first of a series of measures was entered upon early in the following year, which eventually led to the celebrated Mahratta war, in the conduct of which Colonel Wellesley burst forth in an enlarged sphere of action, as not only a consummate general, but likewise a most able politician. Our admiration has been in a greater degree excited by the study of the masterly manner in which his military operations were carried on through this glorious war, than by any of the brilliant campaigns during his after career in Europe; and we would entreat our readers to throw off that apathy with respect to transactions in India which prevails so generally in England, at least so far as to believe that great actions performed upon that remote theatre redound not less to the glory of our arms than if the scenes of victory lay in France or Spain. We beg of them also not to be alarmed at an array of Indian nomenclature. Ahmednuggur and Gawilghur do not, it is true, possess the euphony of Fuentes d'Onoro and Talavera de la Reyna; but the scenes of British exploits, however harsh their names, must still sound musical to British ears; and, provided a due attention be afforded to the relation on which we are about to enter, it is our opinion that a powerful interest will be excited amongst our countrymen respecting warfare in the East, at the period now under consideration. CHAPTER VI. ACCOUNT OF THE MAHRATTA EMPIRE. POLICY OF THE INDIAN GO- VI. 1802. A SKETCH of the territorial and political divisions of CHAP. India, at the period under consideration, was given in the Second Chapter; and it now becomes necessary to continue it, in order that the reader may have a general knowledge of the state of the Mahratta empire previously to perusing an account of General Wellesley's* celebrated campaign in the Deccan. The vast empire of the Mahrattas stretched, as we have elsewhere stated, from Delhi in the north to the Toombuddra in the south, and in width extended nearly across the Indian peninsula. It was founded by the warlike and enterprising Sevajee, who flourished in the time of Aurungzebe (17th century), and was originally one of those petty warrior-robbers of whom India has at all times been so prolific. The descendants, however, of that celebrated chieftain, abandoning themselves to sensual gratifications, resigned the reins of government into the hands of their prime minister, styled the Peshwah; and, like the succession of caliphs in Spain, and Merovingian kings of France, soon sank into insignificance; while the ministers, becoming all-powerful, rendered their office heredi * He obtained the rank of major-general on the 29th of April, 1802. VI. 1802. CHAP. tary. The rajah of Sattarah (title of Sevajee's race) still continued to be acknowledged as head of the Mahratta empire; although the Peshwah, acting in his name, had usurped all his authority, and established himself at Poonah with regal state. To secure the attachment of the principal military chiefs of the empire, Bajee Rao, the second who held the office of Peshwah, granted them extensive tracts of country in jaghire *; but these ambitious dependants speedily followed the example of the first Peshwah; and though still owning allegiance to the rajah of Sattarah, or rather to the Peshwah, who kept him a prisoner in his palace, exercised independent authority in their respective dominions ; going so far as not only to wage war among themselves, but even against the acknowledged head of their confederacy. The four great feudatory jaghiredars, who, with the Peshwah, now governed the Mahratta states, 1. The celebrated DowLUT RAO SCINDIAH, who ruled over an immense tract of territory, extending from the Indus to the Nerbudda; comprising the Punjaub (country watered by the five branches of the Indus), Agra, Delhi, and a large portion of the dooab between the Ganges and Jumna. † Ougein in Malwa was his capital. 2. JESWUNT RAO HOLKAR, who possessed a portion of Malwa, and whose capital was the ancient city of Indore, near Ougein. * Jaghire, a grant of territory from a sovereign prince to a subject; whence jaghiredar, the holder of a jaghire. Madajee, the uncle of Dowlut Rao Scindiah, possessed himself of the person of Shah Allum, the Great Mogul; and added to his hereditary dominions all the country between Delhi and the Indus, together with the dooab between the Ganges and Jumna. 3. ANUND RAO GUICKWAR, who held the fertile province of Guzerat. 4. RAGOJEE BHOONSLAH, rajah of Berar, whose capital was Nagpoor. Each of these princes maintained a formidable army; that of Scindiah was estimated at 40,000 disciplined troops, divided into brigades, and commanded by European officers, chiefly French. He was unquestionably the most powerful of the Mahrattas, and continued to preserve that ascendency over the councils of the Peshwah, which his predecessor, Madajee Scindiah, had established. Fortunately for the East India Company, jealousy, suspicion, and anxiety prevailed to a great extent amongst these powerful chieftains, which prevented their confederacies from being attended with any favourable results to themselves, and disposed them individually to lend at all times a willing ear to the overtures of their enemies, whenever any thing seemed likely to be gained by a change. It will be remembered that the Peshwah took no part in the late war against Tippoo, being then under the control of Scindiah, who carried on a secret correspondence with the sultaun of Mysore; but his vacillating disposition, and the natural distrust of a Mahratta, combined with a salutary dread of British power, prevented an alliance between them. But, although the Peshwah furnished no assistance to his allies the British in the late Mysore war, yet in the division of Tippoo's dominions a portion had been offered to him, on condition of his reviving the alliance between the Mahratta empire and the Company on a basis calculated to render it secure and efficient; but this proposal, like those of a similar nature made to CHAP. VI. .1802. |