# A History of the Military Transactions of the British Nation in Indostan/Volume 1/Book 2

BOOK II.
THE squadron, soon after the raising of the siege of Pondicherry, left the coast to avoid the stormy monsoon: five ships went to Achin, and the rest to Trinconomalee; but Mr. Boscawen himself remained with the land-forces at Fort St. David. In November news arrived, that a cessation of arms between Great Britain and France had been proclaimed in the preceding April: but Mr. Boscawen was, notwithstanding, instructed to remain in India until he should receive intelligence that the general peace was concluded. In the beginning of January 1749, the squadron returned to Fort St. David, and about the same time Mr. Bouvet, with the same squadron which had eluded Mr. Griffin, came again from Mauritius to Madrass, where he landed a large sum of money, together with 200 soldiers.
The sword was sheathed, and it depended on the agents of the two companies to re-assume in tranquillity their mercantile occupations: but the war had brought to Pondicherry and Fort St. David a number of troops greatly superior to any which either of the two nations had hitherto assembled in India; and as if it were impossible that a military force, which feels itself capable of enterprizes, should refrain from attempting them, the two settlements, no longer authorized to fight against each other, took the resolution of employing their arms in the contests of the princes of the country: the English with great indiscretion, the French with the utmost ambition.
An unfortunate prince, who about seven years before had been dethroned at Tanjore, came to Fort St. David, and implored the assistance of the English to reinstate him, asserting with great confidence that he should no sooner appear in the kingdom, supported even by a moderate force, than his standard would be joined by numbers, and his title acknowledged by thousands. The succession of the ​princes of his family had been so complicated, that it was difficult to ascertain to whom the crown rightfully belonged.
In the year 1680, the king of Tanjore, attacked and well-nigh overpowered by the king of Tritchinopoly, called the Morattoes to his assistance. The famous Sevagee, who at that time reigned over all the Morattoe nations, sent his brother with a strong army, which soon left the king of Tanjore nothing to fear from his enemy, but every thing from these free booters; for they made out so large an account of expences, that all the riches in the kingdom would have been insufficient to discharge what they demanded: under pretence therefore of collecting this money, they took possession of the government, and shortly after the brother of Sevagee declared himself king of Tanjore. He reigned six years, and left three sons. The eldest, Sevagee, was succeeded by the next brother, Serbogee, and he by the third, Tuccogee. Each of the three brothers left children; and after three irregular successions which took place amongst these cousingermans in less than seven years, Saujohee, who now appeared at Fort St. David, was deposed, and his brother Pratop-sing, born of one of the inferior wives of their father Serbogee, was placed on the throne, by the general concurrence of the principal men in the kingdom, which had suffered much from the weak administration of Saujohee. The English had certainly no right to interfere in cause. But the offers he made of concessions to the company in the kingdom of Tanjore, the favourable account given of him by the interpreters who introduced him to the presidency, and the belief too hastily entertained of a false narration of his misfortune, induced the English to think they should acquire as much honour as advantage by their efforts to reinstate him in the throne. It was stipulated that Saujohee should give the company the fort and territory of DeviCotah, and pay all the expences of the war, if it proved successful.
The kingdom of Tanjore extends about 70 miles from north to south, and about 60 from east to west. The river Coleroon bounds it to the north; the sea-coast, running nearly north and south, to the east: to the south it is bounded partly by the sea-coast extending east and west, and partly by the country of Morawar: to the west ​it is limited by the kingdom of Tritchinopoly and the country of Tondiman: the capital, bearing the same name as the kingdom, lieth about 30 miles east of Tritchinopoly.
The force appointed for the conquest of Tanjore consisted of 430 Europeans, and 1,000 Sepoys, with four field pieces and four small mortars: the battering cannon and provision for the troops were sent in four ships, two of which were of the line. The army, accompanied by Saujohee, left Fort St. David in the latter end of March, and on the 13th of April encamped on the bank of the river Val-aru, which disembogues itself at Portonovo. In the evening the northern monsoon changed, and the southern commenced with a hurricane, which lasted with such violence until four o'clock the next morning, that the tents of the English camp were blown into rags, many of the draught bullocks and horses were killed, and all the military stores were so much damaged, that the army was obliged to march to Portonovo in order to repair the detriments it had sustained. Here they were informed that the storm had committed much greater ravages at sea: two of the company's ships were stranded between Cuddalore and Fort St. David: the Apollo hospital ship was lost, with all her crew: the Pembroke, a 60 gun ship, which sailed on the expedition, was wrecked, and only six of the crew saved: and the Namur of 74 guns, in which Admiral Boscawen hoisted his flag, and which was the finest ship of her size belonging to the navy of England, perished, with 750 men. Fortunately most of the other ships were either at Trinconomalee, or in parts of the coast to which the greatest violence of the hurricane did not extend.
The army having repaired its damages, left Portonovo, and marching by the great pagoda of Chilambaram, arrived at the bank of the northern arm of the Coleroon. Here Captain Cope, who commanded, encamped and intrenched, resolving to learn the state of affairs on the opposite shore before he proceeded any farther. The intelligence he received was very different from what he expected: no persons of any rank offered to declare for Saujohee, and not a single squadron appeared ready to join him: on the contrary, a great number of troops belonging to the king of Tanjore were seen moving up and down ​the opposite bank, and seemed determined to dispute the passage of the river. Thus disappointed, and ignorant of the enemy's strength as well as of the nature of the country, Captain Cope did not think his force sufficient to prosecute the enterprize, and waited until he was reinforced from Fort St. David with 100 Europeans and 500 Sepoys: he then crossed the river, which, although a mile broad, was fordable, and, contrary to his expectation, the army met with little resistance from the enemy whilst they were passing it; but difficulties increased as they advanced: the road in which they attempted to march led through a thick wood, and the enemy from behind the bushes began to, annoy them with arrows, and the fire of their matchlocks; whilst large bodies of horse and foot appeared in the circumjacent plains, moving in the rear and on the flanks. This being the first expedition in which the English troops were engaged against the forces of an Indian prince, the soldiers were struck with no small degree of fear, on comparing the superior numbers of the enemy with their own; but the artillery-men preserved their resolution, and fired with so much spirit and aim, that they kept the enemy at a distance, and restored the courage of their own troops, who being ordered to march back, gained the bank of the river without confusion. Here the army drew up, the field-pieces securing the flanks, and the river the rear. A council of war was held to deliberate whether they should proceed, or wait for more favourable advices than those hitherto received out of the Tanjore country; but whilst the council were sitting, a messenger arrived with positive orders from Mr. Boscawen to continue the march, and attack the Fort of Devi-Cotah at all events. In the interval some of the soldiers had discovered a road leading along the bank of the river towards the sea-coast; and the army began to march this way. although very little of it had been reconnoitred: it led through a much more open country than the other, and the river defended the troops from being surrounded. This lucky discovery saved them from destruction; for it was afterwards found, that by persisting in the first road, they would, from the nature of the country, have been involved in inextricable difficulties, into which the Tanjorines had hoped to intice them, by making no resistance at the ​passage of the river. They still continued to move within random shot of the English; their squadrons sometimes threatening to attack, but always retiring as soon as the field-pieces began to fire. After a march of ten miles the troops halted, late in the evening, a mile to the eastward of Devi-Cotah: where they neither saw, nor received intelligence of the ships; for not a man of the country ventured near the army; and the lowness of the ground, together with the thick woods that covered it, prevented the ships from being discovered, although they were at anchor near the mouth of the river, within four miles of the camp.
The army, relying on the ships, had brought no more provision than were necessary for the consumption of three days, and were deterred, by the numbers of the enemy, from sending detachments to procure any; at the same time they were without battering cannon. Under these inconveniencies there appeared no means of reducing the fort, excepting by a sudden assault, and the walls were too high to be easily escaladed. Some proposed to advance the field-pieces in the night, and batter down the gates; which indeed was the only practicable method of attack; but being deemed too desperate it was determined to endeavour to terrify the enemy by bombarding the place with cohorns. Shells were thrown until the morning, when the fire ceased until the next night: and before the next morning all the shells were expended, without having done any damage to the fort, or made any impression on the minds of the garrison. It was therefore resolved to retreat without delay.
The army returned by the same road it came. During the first mile the country was covered with woods, from which the enemy galled the flank of the line, not only with musquetry, but also with some pieces of heavy artillery, which they had brought into the thickets; and some platoons of Europeans were detached to dislodge them. The thickets extended to the bank of a rivulet which the troops had crossed in the march to Devi-Cotah, during the retreat of the tide: the rivulet was at that time fordable, and no one had examined it sufficiently to form an idea of the depth of the channel, which was now filled with water by the rising of the tide, and the stream ​ran very rapidly. The Coolies, who carried the less bulky parts of the baggage, marched before the troops, and as soon as they came to the bank of the rivulet, were fired upon with great vivacity from the. thickets. Timorous, as are all the lower casts of Indians, they plunged into the stream, which was seven or eight feet deep, and pressing upon one another with outcries and confusion, lost by their fears the strength necessary to save themselves, and in less than a quarter of an hour 400 of the poor wretches were drowned. The troops, spectators of this disaster, halted, and fired to dislodge the enemy, until the tide had ebbed sufficiently; when they passed the rivulet without interruption, and continuing their retreat unmolested, arrived at Chilambarum late at night, much fatigued with the skirmishes they had sustained, and with a march of 15 miles: the next day they returned to Fort St. David.
The intelligence gained during this expedition, convinced every one that the cause of Saujohee was destitute of abettors amongst his countrymen. The presidency nevertheless determined to continue the war; but this resolution did not now proceed so much from the intention of restoring Saujohee, as from the desire of wiping out, by some success, the reproach of having retreated before the arms of an Indian prince, and from the views of making some acquisitions to compensate the expences which had already been incurred. The Fort of Devi-Cotah is situated in a populous country, in which manufactures of linnen proper for the company's trade are fabricated; and the neighbouring territory is the most fertile part of the coast of Coromandel. On this coast, from Masulipatam to Cape Comorin, there is no port capable of receiving a ship of 300 tons burden; which defect subjects the navigation of these parts to great risques at particular seasons. The mouth of the river Coleroon, near Devi-Cotah, is indeed generally obstructed by sands, but the channel within the bar is deep enough to receive ships of the largest burden; and it was thought that the bar itself might with some labour and expence be removed: if this should be effected, the greatest advantages would accrue to the European nation which should obtain the exclusive possession ​of this harbour. It was therefore determined to make the reduction of Devi-Cotah the principal object of the new expedition, which it was thought would be amply compensated by gaining possession of this place, even if no farther advantages accrued from the war.
The whole body of the company's troops, amounting with the artilery-men to 800 Europeans, together with 1,500 Sepoys, were ordered on the expedition, under the command of major Lawrence. From the difficulties already experienced in approaching Devi-Cotah by land, it was determined that the army should now proceed by sea: the Europeans, with the artillery and baggage, were embarked on board six ships, three of the line and three belonging to the company, and the Sepoys accompanied the ships in large boats, used by the people of Coromandel to carry on their traffick along the coast. The vessels arrived at the same mouth of the Coleroon where the ships of the former expedition had anchored; and the troops and stores passed in boats up the arm of the river which led to Devi-Cotah, and were landed on the opposite shore, from which it was determined to batter the fort, because the ground on the other side was marshy and covered with woods, and the king of Tanjore's army was encamped under the walls.
The fort was about a mile in circumference, having six unequal sides; and the walls were about 18 feet high, built with bricks, the masonry of which was in most parts broad enough to form a rampart, without any addition of earth: and were flanked at unequal distances by projecting towers, some of which were circular, and others square. The English fired across the river obliquely upon the eastern side of the fort from four 24 pounders, which in three days made a practicable breach. The enemy did not return the fire, nor attempt to repair the breach, but employed themselves in carrying on an entrenchment from the bank of the river across the side of the fort which the English attacked.
The passage of the troops over the river was rendered dangerous, both by the rapidity of the stream, and by the numbers who had taken possession of the thickets which covered the opposite shore. John Moor, a carpenter belonging to one of the men of war, offered his service, and made, a stage capable of receiving 400 men, which was ​launched at some distance below the battery, and towed up to it against the stream. The raft could not be moved across the river unless by a rope fixed on the opposite bank; but the stations of the enemy rendered this a very hazardous enterprize: the same carpenter who had made the raft, offered to execute this service likewise, and in the middle of a very dark night swam over the river, carrying the end of a rope with him, which he fastened to the root of a large tree within a few yards of jone of the enemy's advanced guards, by whom he was not discovered.
The rope was sunk in the water, that the enemy might not perceive it; and the next day, at two in the afternoon, the first detachment of 400 Europeans, with three field pieces, embarked upon the raft; at the same time the four pieces of battering cannon, with six field pieces, began to fire with great vivacity upon the opposite thickets, to deter the Tanjorines from approaching the bank near enough to discover the rope. They were so much surprized at this new and unexpected manner of approach, that, fortunately, none of them guessed the means by which it was performed. The walls and towers of the Fort were manned with multitudes, who, as well as those under cover of the thickets, fired irregularly, but without intermission, from their matchlocks: but the detachment, although much galled, refrained from returning the fire, lest the bustle of handling their arms should overset the raft, which in a quarter of an hour gained the shore. The troops advanced immediately to dislodge the Tanjorines posted in the thickets, who retreated as soon as they were fired upon, and took shelter either within the fort, or behind the projections of the towers. The raft was sent back, and in the space of two hours made several passages, during which the enemy kept up a continual fire, both on the troops that were landed, and on those on the raft, and killed 30 Europeans and 50 Sepoys before the whole army had passed the river.
Major Lawrence determined to storm the breach without delay. The entrenchment which the Tanjorines intended to throw up before it, was left unfinished; for the Coolies quitted the work as soon as it was advanced so far as to place them in the line of the shot battering the walls. The part which was finished was nevertheless of some service, for it commanded the ground over which the English troops were obliged to march to the attack, and likewise flanked the breach ​itself. About fifty yards in front of the entrenchment ran a deep and miry rivulet, which extended quite across the island on which Devi-Cotah is situated.
Lieutenant Clive offered his service to major Lawrence to lead the attack; and the major, who had remarked the rising military genius of this officer, very readily gave him the post of honour he requested. A platoon of 34 Europeans, with 700 Sepoys, were appointed for this service, who were to be supported by the whole army as soon as the entrenchment should be carried. The Europeans, marching at the head of the Sepoys, crossed the rivulet with difficulty, and four of them were killed by the fire from the fort before they gained the opposite bank. As soon as part of the Sepoys had passed likewise lieutenant Clive advanced briskly with the Europeans, intending to attack the entrenchment in flank at that end where the Coolies had discontinued the work. The Sepoys who had passed the rivulet, instead of following closely, as they were ordered, remained at the bank, waiting until they were joined by greater numbers. The enemy perceived this neglect, which left the rear of the Europeans exposed: a number of horse were concealed along the south side of the fort, between the projections of the towers; the nearest of which was not more than forty yards from that part of the entrenchment which lieutenant Clive was preparing to attack. Just as his men were presenting their muskets to fire, a party of horse rushed sword in hand from behind the tower, and by a rapid evolution, which manifested the excellence both of the horses and the riders, fell on the rear of the platoon with so much inpetuosity, that the men had no time to face about and defend themselves, and in an instant 26 of the platoon were cut to pieces. A horseman had his sword uplifted to strike at lieutenant Clive, who escaped the blow by stepping on one side whilst the horse passed him; he then ran towards the Sepoys, whom he had the good fortune to join, being one of four who were all that escaped from this slaughter. He found the Sepoys drawn up in order, but they had not advanced a step to support the platoon. The Tanjorine horse, satisfied with their success, did not prosecute their advantage by attacking the Sepoys, but returned to the stations from whence they had made the onset. ​Major Lawrence, on this disaster, determined to attack the trench with all the Europeans, who now crossed the rivulet, and advanced in a compact body, with a platoon of grenadiers at their head. The enemy kept up an irregular fire until the grenadiers came to the trench, and then they took flight along the southern side of the fort: The English troops immediately moved up to the breach, when the Tanjorine horse sallied again from, behind the tower; and were suffered to approach within fourteen yards before the first platoon gave its fire, which was so well directed that it struck down fourteen horsemen: this execution flung the rest into such confusion that they immediately fled back, and the troops mounting the breach, found it abandoned by the garrison, whom they discovered hurrying from all quarters of the fort to make their escape out of the opposite gateway: at the same time all the Tanjorine horse quitted their stations near the fort, and retreated to the westward.
Some of the officers examining the different buildings of the fort, found in one of the chambers a Tanjorine lying on the ground desperately wounded, whom, incapable of moving without assistance, the garrison in their precipitate flight had neglected to carry off, altho' he was an officer of rank, and an Indian of a very high cast. He was taken care of, but with a sullen obstinacy refused every kind of assistance, and would not submit to the necessary operations, until he found that the surgeon intended to use force. He was no sooner left alone than he stripped off the bandages, and attempted to put an end to his life, by tearing open his wounds: some persons were therefore appointed to watch him continually, and he was removed into a thatched hut in a distant part of the fort, that his rest might not be disturbed. Finding himself constantly watched, he behaved for three days with so much composure, that they, to whose care he was entrusted, thought he was reconciled to life, and relaxing their attention, left him in the night, as they imagined asleep; but they were no sooner got to some distance, than the Tanjorine crept to the corner of the hut, where a lamp was burning, and with it set fire to the thatch, which, in that dry season of the year, caught the blaze so fiercely, that he was suffocated before it could be extinguished. Tips Indian fell a ​martyr to his ideas of the impurity he had contracted by suffering Europeans to administer to his wants.
The troops were employed for a few days in repairing the breach, and in other works necessary to put the fort in a good state of defence; after which major Lawrence detached a party of 100 Europeans, with 300 Sepoys, to take possession of the pagoda of Atchaveram, lying five miles to the south-west of Devi-Cotah. All the pagodas on the Coast of Coromandel are built on the same general plan: a large area, which is commonly a square, is inclosed by a wall of 15 or 20 feet high, and in the middle of the area are the temples, which, as if it was intended that they should be concealed from public view, are never raised above the height of the surrounding wall. In the middle of one or more of the sides of this wall is a gateway, over which is built a high tower, not designed as a defence to the pagoda, but as an historical monument of the gods to whom it is dedicated; for the four faces of the tower are crouded with sculptures, representing the attributes and adventures of these divinities. The pagoda of Atchaveram is a square of which each of the sides extends about 300 yards: it was surrendered to the English detachment on the first summons by the Bramins, who intreated them not to enter the more sacred places: but the Tanjorine army no sooner heard that the English had got possession of it, than their horror of the pollutions to which their temple was exposed, inspired them with a resolution, which neither their attachment to their prince, nor their notions of military honour, would have produced. A party of 5,000 men marched from the camp, and as soon as it was night attacked the pagoda; some with ladders attempting to mount the walls, whilst others endeavoured to burn down the gate, by piling up against it large bundles of straw mixed with other combustible matters. The English, knowing they should all be put to the sword, if the Tanjorines retook the place, defended themselves vigorously: some were employed in oversetting the ladders, whilst others fired upon those who attempted to mount them. The guard who defended the gate opened the wicket, firing through it and pushing down the bundles of straw with their halberts: the enemy still persisted to bring more straw, and continued their attacks until break of day, when they retreated, having ​lost near 300 men: only five or six of the defenders were killed. The next day major Lawrence marched with the greatest part of the army to captain Cope's assistance, and the Taujorines made no farther attempts.
By this time admiral Boscawen and the government of Fort St. David had sufficient reason to believe, that any future undertaking against the kingdom of Tanjore would be attended with great difficulties. At the same time the king made proposals of accommodation. The English stipulated that the fort of Devi-Cotah, with as much land adjoining to it as would produce the annual income of 9,000 pagodas, should be ceded to the East India company for ever: that the king of Tanjore should reimburse the expences of the war; and that he should allow Saujohee a pension of 4,000 rupees; they obliging themselves to be answerable for his person, as likewise that he should never give any more disturbance to the kingdom. The king of Tanjore acceded without hesitation to these conditions; but his compliance did not proceed so much from his dread of the English arms, as from his sense of the danger with which his kingdom was threatened, in consequence of events which happened a few days before in the Carnatic, and which had struck the whole coast of Coromandel with consternation.
Chunda-saheb, made prisoner by the Morattoes, when they took the city of Tritchinopoly in 1741, was esteemed by them a prize of so much importance, that they not only kept him under the strictest confinement, but rejected all the offers he made for his ransom, as much inferior to what they imagined his wealth enabled him to pay. The richest prince in Indostan never hesitates to plead poverty whenever money is to be paid; and Chunda-saheb, either unable or unwilling to satisfy their exorbitant demands, remained in his confinement, corresponding for six years with his friends in different provinces, and suggesting to them the means of inducing the Morattoes to set him at liberty for a moderate sum.
The chiefs who were related to the former succession of Nabobs, which ended by the assassination of the young Seid Mahomed; retained their aversion to the reign of An'war-odean Khan; but they saw no one amongst themselves in the Carnatic endowed with sufficient ​power and reputation to attempt the recovery of the government into their own family. There existed indeed at Vandiwash a brother of Seid Mahomed, born after the death of their father, the Nabob Subder-ally; but the infancy of this prince rendered him unfit to appear at the head of a confederacy: And altho' Mortiz-ally, the governor of Velore, was a near relation to the former Nabobs, and possessed a large domain with great treasures, yet he wanted intrepidity sufficient to head a dangerous enterprize, and the knowledge of his treacherous disposition destroyed all confidence in the engagements he might enter into. Of the rest, none had great reputation as generals, nor great power as princes; but, collected under a proper head, their strength might become formidable.
Chunda-saheb had made his way to the highest offices of the government by the services of his sword, and was esteemed the ablest soldier that had of late years appeared in the Carnatic. His contempt of the sordid means by which most of the Indian princes amass treasures, had gained him the affections of the whole province; and an excellent understanding contributed to make his character universally revered. The rest of the chiefs therefore concurred in regarding him as the fittest person to enter into competition with An'war-odean Khan for the Nabobship; but this testimony of their deference for some time only served to rivet his fetters more strongly; for the Morattoes increased their demands in proportion as they found the character of their prisoner rising in importance.
The wife and son of Chunda-saheb had remained at Pondicherry from the time that he was carried away by the Morattoes; and the year after that event Mr. Dupleix arrived there, appointed governor-general of the French nation in India, He treated the family of Chunda-saheb, under his protection, with great respect; and by a frequent intercourse with the wife, very soon learnt the state of her husband's affairs, and the dispositions of his relations in the province. His sagacity distinguished, in these latent principles of future convulsions, a possibility of aggrandizing his nation in India, where many causes concurred to prevent their establishments from becoming so eminently advantageous as he was ambitious of rendering them.
The English, established in Indostan many years before the French ​had made any settlements in the country, had confirmed in the natives a prepossession in their favour, by the punctuality of their dealings, the goodness of the commodities they imported, and, above all, by the great extent of their trade; and this superiority perpetually interrupted the progress of the French commerce. At the same time the affairs of all the European colonies were controuled by the Mogul government almost as much as those of the natives themselves, who are subject to the most despotic sway; for their trade was liable to the interruption of every great and petty officer through whose district or department it passed; and in Bengal, where Mr. Dupleix had resided for a long time, there scarcely passed a year in which the Nabob did not extort large sums of money from each of the European settlements: garrisons were maintained, and other military expences incurred, which greatly diminished the profits of the trade; but such was the high, opinion of the military strength of the Indian governments, that the European troops were never employed in opposition to the will of the prince of the country. At the same time all the manufactures of India proper for the markets of Europe had, from a long suecession of importations of silver, risen so much in price, and diminished so much in the goodness of the fabrick, that they afforded much less profit than in former times. The concurrence of these disadvantages convinced Mr. Dupleix that the trade of Indostan was no longer worth the attention of France, nor indeed of any other nation in Europe. But discovering the unmilitary character of the natives, and the perpetual dissentions of their rulers, he was led to imagine, that by joining some of these competitors he might gain by conquest more advantages than any other European nation had hitherto derived from commerce. He therefore determined to prosecute this plan, by giving assistance to Chunda-saheb.
These ideas probably dictated those impediments which he flung in the way of Mr. De la Bourdonnais's operations, to prevent him from employing his troops, after the capture of Madrass, in other parts of India; for at that time Mr. Dupleix held a constant correspondence with Chunda-saheb in his imprisonment, and they were then concerting the means of accomplishing their mutual interests. The measure necessary to be first carried into execution, was the release of Chunda-saheb; and, Mr. Dupleix guaranteeing the engagement, the Morattoes were at last ​satisfied with 700,000 rupees^ and consented to furnish him with 3,000 of their own troops.
With this force, and the spirit of an adventurer, he left Sattarah in the beginning of the year 1748, intending to make conquests wherever opportunity presented itself, until he should acquire, by contributions, the treasures necessary to maintain an army sufficient to attack the province of Arcot. He arrived, during the siege of Pondicherry, on the western confines of the Carnatic, and found two Rajahs at war: he sided with one of them, who, betrayed by some of his officers, was totally defeated in a general battle, in which it is said that Chunda-saheb himself was taken prisoner, but that he was immediately released on producing a declaration from the king of the Morattoes, which enjoined all princes whomsoever to respect his person, on pain of incurring the resentment of the whole Morattoe nation. The greatest part of Chunda-saheb's troops, were dispersed after this defeat, and he was left with only 300 men, when he received an invitation from the Rajah of Chitterdourg, to come to his assistance, and take the command of his army against the Rajah of Bedrour. The territories of these two princes lie near the eastern confines of the country of Canara, which extends along the coast of Malabar between the rivers Alega and Cangrecora. Disasters could not depress the spirit of Chunda-saheb; he marched away, with the handful of men he commanded, and arrived just as the two armies were ready to engage. In this battle his courage and skill were so well seconded by the troops of Chitterdourg, that he obtained a compleat victory: three thousand of the enemy's horse, after the defeat, offered their service to him, whom he took into his pay, and likewise 2,500 of the troops of his ally: so that he was now at the head of 6,000 men: but this force being still insufficient to attempt the conquest of the Camatic, he found resources in the consequences of other events, which had lately happened at Delhi, and in the government of the soubahship of the southern provinces.
The Great Mogul Mahomed Schah. who had suffered in 1739 the humiliation of laying his crown at the feet of Thamas Kouli Kan, by whom he was again reinstated in the monarchy of Indostan, continued to govern the empire with so trembling a hand, that the principal officers of his court acted in their several departments without contraul: ​but the vizier Kimmir-ul-dien, who had held this office ever since the accession of Mahomed, continued inviolably attached to his sovereign. None of the subsequent events of the government of Delhi affect immediately the present object of our narrative, until the year 1748; when an army of Afghans from Candahar, invaded the northern provinces under the command of Ahmed the Abdalli, so called from his tribe. This man was treasurer to Nadir Schah, when assassinated on the 8th of June 1747, in Persia; on which event, he went off with all the treasure under his care, and in less than six months established himself in the sovereignty of all the provinces of Indostan ceded to the Persians in 1739, and of as large a territory on the other side of the mountains. Ahmed Schah, the eldest son of Mahomed, with the vizier, marched against the Abdalli; various encounters ensued with various success, and during a cannonade the vizier was slain by a straggling cannon ball, whilst at prayers in his tent. His death afflicted the emperor so violently, that after passing the night in lamentations, he expired the next day sitting on his throne, in a fit brought on by the agony of his grief. The prince Ahmed, leaving the command of the army to Munnu the son of the deceased vizier, immediately returned from the army to Delhi, and was acknowledged emperor without opposition, in the month of April 1748.
The death of Mahomed Schah was in a few months succeeded by another of greater consequence to Indostan: it was that of Nizam-al-muluck, Soubah of the Decan, who, notwithstanding his whole life had passed in the utmost intrigues, anxieties, and iniquities of oriental ambition, arrived to the uncommon age of 104 years.
He left five sons; the eldest, Ghazi-o'-dean, inherited all the ambition and wickedness of his father, with a more enterprising and intrepid spirit. Nizam-al-muluck, when returning to the Decan, after the retreat of Nadir Schah, had obliged the weak Mahomed to confer the offices of paymaster and captain-general of the army on this son; in which posts he continued at the court, employing his power, as his lather before him, against the authority of his sovereign, and soon became the patron of all the turbulent or disaffected omrahs in the empire. On the death of his father, he obtained the succession to the soubahship of the Decan from the emperor Ahmed Schah: but was too much engaged in other affairs at Delhi to proceed to this government. ​The second son Nazir-jing had once fled from his father's court, and appeared in arms against him. The father took the field; and when the two armies were near each other, confined himself to his tent so strictly, that by first makin his own army believe he was reduced to the point of death by sickness, the report was likewise believed in the camp of Nazir-jing, and by Nazir-jing himself, to whom messengers were continually sent with pathetic invitations from his father, desiring to embrace him before he died. The stratagem was so well conducted, that Nazir-jing at last determined to pay the visit, and no sooner entered Nkam-al-muluck's tent, than he was arrested, and put into fetters, and accompanied his father under this restraint during several months, until Nizam-al-muluck being persuaded of his contrition, accepted of his submissions, and set him at liberty; after which he was not guilty of any disobedience. The other three sons had not distinguished themselves either for good or evil, but had always remained constant attendants at their father's court.
The great men in Indostan bear great affection to their children during their infancy; but as soon as these arrive at the age of emancipation, the perpetual intrigues of an Indian court render them; from being a consolation to their parents, the objects of their mistrust: for there are never wanting those who endeavour to engage them in parties, and even in plots: from hence it often happens, that a prince, in his latter days, fives without affection to his own sons, and gives every kind of paternal preference to his grandchildren; and this recurs so frequently to observation, that one of the oriental poets has said, "that the parents have, during the life of their sons such overweening affection for their grandchildren, because they see in them the enemies of their enemies." Amongst the grandsons of Nizam-al-muluck was one born of his favourite daughter. This young man, called Hidayet mohy-o-dean, he had always kept near his person, and cherished with great affection, insomuch that, immediately after his death, a report prevailed, that he had in his will not only appointed this grandson to inherit the greatest part of his treasures, but had likewise nominated him to succeed in the Government of the southern provinces. It is very difficult to ascertain the authenticity of any of the written acts ascribed to the princes of Indostan, for using a seal as ​their signature, the impression is easily counterfeited; and this, as well as other methods of forgery, are commonly practised without scruple, whenever it is thought expedient to have recourse to them: so that we cannot determine whether the report of the bequest made by Nizam-al-muluck to his grandson was well grounded, or without foundation: it is certain, that it was generally believed. As a feudatory to the Mogul empire, Nizam-al-muluck had no right to bequeath even his treasures, much less his sovereignty.
Nazir-jing had for some time commanded his father's army, and availed himself of the power derived from his offices to oppose the pretensions of his nephew Hidayet mohy-o-dean. He began by seizing Nizam-al-muluck's treasures, and with them prepared to keep possession of the sovereignty: he pretended, that his father had named his eldest son Ghazi-o'-din Khan to be his heir: and that Ghazi-o'-din Khan preferring the employment he held at the court of Delhi, had ceded to him the soubahship of the southern provinces: and that this sovereignty was confirmed to him from the throne.
Amongst other instances of the contempt with which the majesty of the emperor has been treated, the governors of provinces have of late years not only counterfeited without hesitation, letters, orders, and patents, from the court, but have even hired men to act the part of officers invested by the Great Mogul with the power of conferring with them on the affairs of their government. These mock delegates are received with great pomp in the capital: the vice-roy or Nabob humbles himself before the pretended representative, who delivers in public his credentials, and the fictitious orders he has been instructed to enforce. These measures are practised to appease the minds of the people, who still retain so much reverence to the blood of Tamerlane, that I a vice-roy always thinks it necessary to create an opinion amongst them that he is a favourite with the emperor, even when he is in arms against his authority. Both Nazir-jing and Hidayet mohy-o-dean exhibited patents from the Mogul, and produced delegates from Delhi. Hidayet mohy-o-dean gave out that the emperor, on appointing him to succeed to his grandfather's estates, had dignified him with the name of Murzafa-jing, or The Invincible; by which he was afterwards distinguished ​But the wealth of which Nazir-jing had taken possession enabled him to keep his father's army in pay; and this was so numerous, that the forces which Murzafa-jing had collected were not sufficient to oppose him with any probability of success. This prince therefore kept the field in the countries west of Gol-condah, with an army of 25,000 men, waiting for some lucky event that might enable him to attack his uncle with more advantage.
Chunda-saheb, soon after his success at Chitterdourg, heard of the situation of Murzafa-jing's affairs, and regarding him as a prince, who, like himself, from the similarity of their fortunes, was obliged to try the chance of bold and desperate enterprizes, he determined to join, and offer him the service of his sword: his military reputation caused him to be received with open arms, and the troops which he brought with him were taken into Murzafa-jing's pay. Chunda-saheb highly acknowledged his light to the soubahship of the southern provinces, and soon gained his confidence by the zeal he expressed for his cause: he then explained his own pretensions to the government of the Carnatic, and easily prevailed on his new lord to confirm his titles by letters patent, appointing him to the Nabobship of Arcot but the obtaining of this favour was not the only proof of the great ascendance which he had acquired over the young prince's mind. He represented that the countries near Gol-condah were too much awed by the terror of Nazir-jing's army to declare in Murzafa-jing's favour, until he could collect a much greater force than that which accompanied him at present; and that the same dread would be a perpetual obstacle to the augmentation of his army in the countries where he now kept the field; but that his force was fully sufficient for the conquest of the Carnatic against his own rival An'war-odean Khan; that this conquest, by putting them in possession of the extensive territories which lie between Arcot and Cape Comorin, would furnish such resources both of men and money, as might enable him to return and attack Nazir-jing with equal force. Chunda-saheb then offered himself as the companion and conductor of Murzafa-jing, until this hardy enterprize should be accomplished, or, if fortune frowned, until they should both perish in the attempt. The romantic cast of this project could not fail of making the strongest impression on the mind ​of a young prince naturally brave, and ambitious of acquiring a sovereignty. Murzafa-jing now looked upon Chunda-saheb as bis guardian angel, and agreed implicitly to follow all his views.
Mr. Dupleix very soon received intelligence of these resolutions, and was invited to take part in the project, with assurances of receiving considerable advantages for himself and the French East India company, if it succeeded. Nothing could be more conformable to his views than such an opportunity of aggrandizing at once his own reputation and the interests of his nation in India. As soon as he heard that Murzafa-jing's army approached the confines of the Carnatic, he ordered 100 Europeans and 2,000 Sepoys to march and join them. This body was commanded by Mr. d'Auteuil, and accompanied by Raja-saheb, the son of Chunda-saheb, who had resided at Pondicherry during the whole time of his father's imprisonment.
An'war-odean, the Nabob of Arcot, from his accession after the murder of Seid Mahomed, had governed the Carnatic without receiving any disturbance from intestine commotions, and very little from foreign hostilities; for all the military operations of his reign had consisted in the reduction of certain Polygars, who, from territories confining on the Carnatic, had made some predatory incursions into the province. But his attention had been constantly fixed on the person of Chunda-saheb: he kept emissaries at Sattarah, to observe him during his confinement, which it is probable he protracted by bribing the Morattoes. As soon as Chunda-saheb was set at liberty, the Nabob never doubted, how much soever be dissembled, that the time approached when he should be obliged to maintain his government by his sword. He reformed his army, which, like those of most Indian princes in times of peace, was composed of an undisciplined rabble; and enlisted none but the best men and horses, of which he composed a well-appointed army, consisting of 12,000 cavalry and 8,000 infantry, and with this force determined to defend the entrance of the Carnatic to extremity: but another measure equally necessary to his preservation he emitted; for he neglected, probably from the parsimony of his disposition, to ask from the English the assistance of a body of their troops; and the English, employed ​in supporting a much less important cause, were equally blind to their real interest, in neglecting to join the Nabob of their own accord, as soon as they found the French determined to support his rival.
Chunda-sabeb and Murzafa-jing approached, levying contributions in the countries thro' which they passed, in virtue of the quality of Soubah, assumed by Murzafa-jing. In their progress they likewise augmented the number of their troops, which, when arrived at the borders of the Carnatic, amounted to 40,000 men. The troops sent from Pondicherry crossing the western mountains, at a distance from the Nabob's army, joined Murzafa-jing without opposition; who immediately proceeded to attack the Nabob, and found him encamped, with 20,000 men, under the fort of Amboor, lying 50 miles west of Arcot, and about 30 to the south of Damal-cherry, where Doast-ally Khan was killed fighting against the Morattoes in 1740. This fort of Amboor is built on the summit of a mountain, between which and a large lake at some distance from it is one of the principal passes leading into the Carnatic. The Nabob had thrown up across the pass a strong entrenchment defended by cannon, which was served by about 60 vagabond Europeans: and he had likewise caused the ground in front of the entrenchment to be swamped with water from the lake, which, although it might bemire, was not sufficiently deep to prevent the passage of determined troops.
Mr. d'Auteuil offered to Chunda-saheb to storm the entrenchment with the troops sent from Pondicherry, without the assistance of any part of Murzafa-jing's army; and Chunda-saheb, glad of an opportunity to shew that prince the great services which the European allies he had procured him were capable of performing, readily accepted the offer. The French soldiers were animated by exaggerated representations of the great treasures and other valuable plunder in the Nabob's camp, and advanced with the Sepoys resolutely to the attack; but they were repulsed, chiefly by the Nabob's artillery which the first discharge was well pointed, and did execution: they rallied and made a second attack, which lasted more than half an hour, and many of them had mounted the breast-work of the entrenchment; but they were again beaten off and obliged to retire; and in this attack Mr. d'Auteuil was ​wounded. Stimulated by the expectations which were entertained of their prowess by Chunda-saheb and Murzafa-jing, who with the whole army under their command had been spectators of the repulses they had sustained, and equally encouraged by the intrepidity of their own officers, especially of Mr. Bussy, they called out to be led on again: at the same time the courage of the defenders had been staggered by the progress. which the French troops had made in the preceding attack; who in this found less resistance than they expected, and got over the breast-work with little loss. The different bodies posted to defend the entrenchment took flight as soon as they saw the French in possession of it: these formed, and advanced in order towards the enemy's main body, where the Nabob's standard was displayed. He was here in person, mounted on an elephant, and surrounded, according to the Indian military array, by the chosen cavalry of his army, whom he was animating with great spirit to stand their ground, when numbers of the troops of Murzafa-jing, led by Chunda-saheb, having crossed the entrenchment, joined the French battalion, and appeared advancing with them. In this instant the Nabob was informed that the standard of Maphuze Khan, his eldest son, who commanded a wing of the main body, had disappeared, and that Maphuze Khan himself was slain by a cannon shot. In the first agitations caused by this disaster, he perceived the elephant of Chunda-saheb, and knew the ensigns of his rival: more than one passion was now excited; and the Nabob, furious by the sight of the author of this calamitous day, ordered the conductor of his elephant, with the promise of a great reward, to push directly against the elephant of Chunda-saheb. A part of the French battalion was in the way: they fired; a shot from the musquet of a Caffre went through the Nabob's heart, and he fell from his elephant dead on the plain. As it generally happens in the battles of Indostan on the death of the commander in chief, all those troops who had hitherto appeared determined to stand by the Nabob's standard, fled as soon as he fell, and the rout became general. Murzafa-jing's troops pursued the fugitives, took many, and killed more. Amongst the slain were three or four principal officers; and amongst those who surrendered was Maphuze Khan the Nabob's eldest son: his son Mahomed-ally was likewise in the battle; but he saved himself by flight. Twelve ​of the French battalion were killed, and 63 wounded: and about 300 of their Sepoys were either killed or wounded: of Murzafa-jing's army very few were lost. This decisive battle was fought on the 23d of July: the victorious army found the tents of the defeated standing, and great quantities of baggage in the camp, which they plundered: the booty was valuable; sixty elephants, and a great number of horses, were taken; which, with the artillery, arms, and military stores, Chunda-saheb and Murzafa-jing reserved to themselves, and permitted their soldiery to take the rest of the spoil: the French battalion had their reward in money. The next day the army set out for Arcot, the capital, and took possession of the city, and its fort, without meeting any opposition.
Murzafa-jing here assumed all the state and ceremonial of a Soubah; and, as the first mark of his authority, issued letters patent, appointing his friend Chunda-saheb Nabob of the Carnatic, and of all the other dominions which had been under the jurisdiction of An'war-odean Khan. This sudden revolution naturally struck with consternation all the chiefs and princes of the coast of Coromandel, who wished ill to the cause of Chunda-saheb. Foremost of these was the king of Tanjore, whose ancestor, at the time that the Moors conquered the Carnatic, submitted on condition of governing his country by its ancient customs; and for the enjoyment of this privilege agreed to pay an annual tribute, as well as to furnish a contingency of troops whenever the government of the Carnatic should be at war in support of the interest of the great Mogul. When Chunda-saheb, in 1736, was confirmed in the government of Tritchinopoly, he summoned the king of Tanjore to account for arrears of tribute, and pretended that he had in other respects offended against the sovereignty of the emperor. A war ensued, in which Chunda-saheb besieged the capital of Tanjore, but without success. The dread entertained of his ambition by the princes of the southern parts of the peninsula, together with their detestation of the violations committed by his troops in their temples, induced these princes, and above all the king of Tanjore, to solicit the Morattoes to invade the Carnatic, at the same time that Nizam-al-muluck, from other motives, was instigating that people to attack it. The disasters brought on the reigning ​family at Arcot, and the detriment which Chunda-saheb himself had suffered by the incursion of the Morattoes, were such as left no hopes of reconciliation in those who had contributed to bring about that revolution. The news of the battle of Amboor reached Tanjore whilst the English troops under the command of Major Lawrence were in the country, and struck the king with so much terror, that, to gain their friendship, or even to make them cease hostilities at this critical conjuncture, he would, if insisted on, have agreed to much harder terms than those which the English imposed. After the ratification of the treaty by which Devi-Cotah was ceded. Major Lawrence, leaving a garrison in that fort, returned with the rest of the troops to Fort St. David, where news had been lately received that a peace was concluded in Europe between Great Britain and France.
The revolution at Arcot did not fail to create much solicitude in the English at Fort St. David; and the part which Mr. Dupleix had taken in it sufficiently explained his ambitious views: but unfortunately their own proceedings at this very time against the king of Tanjore destroyed the propriety of any protests against Dupleix's conduct; for they could accuse him of nothing, which they had not done themselves. Avoiding therefore any discussions on the battle of Amboor, they confined themselves for the present to demand the restoration of Madrass, which the French, by an article in the peace of Aix la Chapelle, were obliged to deliver up. Mr. Boscawen, with a part of the squadron, sailed thither to take possession of the town: it was evacuated in the middle of August; and the English received it in a condition very different from that in which they had left it. The buildings within the White Town had suffered no alteration; but the bastions and batteries of this quarter had been enlarged and improved. The French had utterly demolished that part of the Black Town which lay within 300 yards from the White: in which space had stood the buildings belonging to the most opulent Armenian and Indian merchants: with the ruins they had formed an excellent glacis, which covered the north side of the White Town; and they had likewise flung up another to the south side. The defences, nevertheless, remained still much inferior to those of Fort St. David, where the fortifications had been so much improved, that the East India company ​had ordered the presidency of their settlements on the coast of Coromandel to be continued here.
Mr. Boscawen, during his stay at Madrass, discovered that the Indian Roman Catholics residing at St. Thomé, who composed the greatest part of the inhabitants of this place, were, by the influence of their priests, attached to the French, as brethren of the same persuasion. By the constant intercourse arising from the vicinity, the priests of St. Thomé were enabled to get intelligence of the transactions of the English at Madrass, and never failed to communicate them to Mr. Dupleix, who gave out that Murzafa-jing had made over the property of St. Thomé, to the French company. Mr. Boscawen, to remove the present inconveniencies, and to prevent the greater detriments which would arise by the establishment of a French garrison in the town, took possession of it for the English company. The town had for many years belonged to the Nabobs of Arcot; and after the death of An'war-odean Khan seemed to belong to nobody, for there were no officers either civil or military acting with authority in the place. All the suspected priests were banished: and one of them, who had been sent by Mr. Dupleix from Pondicherry, was transported to Europe. The English flag was hoisted in the town, and a small redoubt, capable of containing about 30 men, was raised at the mouth of the river.
In the mean time Murzafa-jing and Chunda-saheb were employed at Arcot in settling the affairs of their new government: they summoned all the chiefs of districts, and governors of forts, friends as well as foes, to pay a contribution, which they received from many, and, amongst the rest, Mortiz-ally, the governor of Velore, paid 700,000 rupees. After having thus established the reputation of their authority as sovereigns, they proceeded with the greatest part of their army, accompanied by the French battalion to Pondicherry, and made their entry into the city with great pomp. Mr. Dupleix received them with all the ostentatious ceremonies and oriental marks of respect due to the high rank they assumed, and spared no expence in his entertainment of Murzafa-jing, to raise in him a high opinion of the grandeur and magnificence of the French nation. Here they settled the plan of their future operations: and Chunda-saheb presented ​Mr. Dupleix with the sovereignty of 81 villages in the neighbourhood of Pondicherry: after which he took the field with Murzafa-jing, and encamped about 20 miles to the west of the city.
Mahomed-ally, the second son of An'war-odean Khan, fled from the battle of Amboor directly to Tritchinopoly, where his mother, with the greatest part of his father's treasures, had been sent for security, on the first news of Chunda-saheb's approach to the Carnatic. This city was much better fortified than any place of the same extent under An'war-odean Khan's government; nevertheless there remained little hopes of defending it against Murzafa-jiug. assisted by the French troops, unless the garrison was reinforced by a body of English; and Mahomed-ally, not doubting but they would be convinced of the necessity of stopping the progress of the French, applied to them, as soon as he arrived at Tritchinopoly, for assistance. He asserted, that both Murzafa-jing and Chunda-saheb were rebels to the empire: that Nazir-jing was the real Soubah appointed by the Great Mogul; that he himself was the real Nabob of the Carnatic, having obtained the reversion of the Nabobship from Nizam-al-muluck; and that he daily expected to receive the confirmation from Nazir-jing: a few days after he affirmed that he had received the patents of his appointment.
Whilst Mr. Dupleix was prosecuting a plan which he knew to be entirely agreeable to the views of the monarch and ministers of France, the agents of the English East India company were not authorized from the court of directors to involve their affairs in the risk and expences of military operations: for having neither suspected the views of Mr. Dupleix, nor, until the transitory expedition to Tanjore, entertained any such views themselves, they had neglected to ask, and consequently the directors to give, such a power to exert themselves as the present emergency of affairs required: at the same time they retained their ancient reverence to the Mogul government. Murzafa-jing, for ought they knew, might be the Mogul's representative, and so might Nazir-jing: they were in the same uncertainty of Mahomed-ally's title; and therefore dreaded the risque of subjecting the company's settlements in all parts of India to the resentment ​of the court of Delhi, if, by interfering in the present war of Coromandel they should chance to take the wrong side. Necessity was their justification for having taken possession of St. Thomé; aud they already repented severely of their expedition to Tanjore: and relinquishing all views of conquest, they imagined that the restitution of these places would at any time satisfy the Mogul government, which they were very unwilling to offend any farther. Restrained by this spirit of caution, at the same time that they fully saw the dangers to which they were exposed, they were incapable of taking the vigourous resolutions which the necessity of their affairs demanded. They should have kept Mr. Boscawen with his force on the coast, and joined their whole strength to Mahomed-ally, without considering who was or was not authorized to fight in the Carnatic: whereas they only sent 120 Europeans to join Mahomed-ally at Tritchinopoly, and suffered Mr. Boscawen to return to England with the fleet and troops, notwithstanding he had declared that he would remain, if the presidency publickly requested his stay at this critical conjuncture.
On the 21st of October the fleet sailed from Fort St. David, leaving behind 300 men, to reinforce the garrison. The French were so sensible of the great advantages they should derive from Mr. Boscawen's departure, that they could not immediately bring themselves to believe he intended to quit India; but imagined that he had only left the coast to avoid the stormy monsoon, and purposed to return as soon as that season was passed. However, they were prepared to take advantage even of this absence, short as they supposed it; and the very next day Murzafa-jing's army, accompanied by 800 Europeans, 300 Caffres and Topasses, with a train of artillery, began to march from Pondicherry, and crossing the river Coleroon, entered the kingdom of Tanjore.
Mr. Dupleix had strongly recommended to Chunda-saheb to suffer nothing to divert him from proceeding directly to attack the city of Tritchinopoly; since it was evident, that until this place was reduced, the family of An'war-odean Khan would always be enabled to make efforts to recover the Nabobship. Chunda-saheb acquiesced in the truth of this reasoning: and, not to discourage the ardour with which ​Mr. Dupleix supported his cause, solemnly promised to follow his advice, when at the same time he intended to act contrary to it. From the dread of lessening his own importance, as well as that of Murzafa-jing, he had carefully concealed from Mr. Dupleix that their treasures, notwithstanding the large contributions they had raised, were almost exhausted by maintaining so numerous an army; and fearing that the siege of Tritchinopoly might be protracted so long, that their troops would desert for want of pay before the place was taken, he had determined to open the campaign by the siege of Tanjore, which being ill fortified, he hoped in a few days either to take, or to reduce to such extremities, as would induce the king to pay a large sum of money to save his capital and his crown.
As soon as the army entered the kingdom, Chunda-saheb summoned the king to pay the arrears of tribute from the death of the Nabob Subder-ally Khan in 1742; asserting, that whatever he might have paid in the interval to An'war-odean Khan was not a tribute to the Mogul government, but a contribution to support a rebel. It is the custom in Indostan to make the conquered pay all the expences of the war; and Chunda-saheb adding to the account of the arrears an exaggerated account of the charges of Murzafa-jing's expedition into the Carnatic, made the total of his demand amount to 40 millions of rupees. The King, upon the first approach of the enemy, had shut himself up in his capital, and now seeing the storm, which he had for some time apprehended, ready to break upon his head, lost courage, and offered to pay a ransom: this was more necessary to Chunda-saheb, than either the reduction of the city, or even the conquest of the kingdom; for in the first case the treasures, as is the custom in times of danger, would be buried, and in the other no revenue, in the confusions of a revolution, could be collected for some months. In order therefore to convince the king of his readiness to enter into a negociation, he did not suffer his army to approach nearer than three miles of the city; and he requested the commander of the French battalion not to commit hostilities during the treaty. The wily Tanjorine knew that by protracting time he should increase the distress of his enemies, and in his letters expressed himself with so ​much seeming humility, that Chunda-saheb suffered himself to be amused to the middle of December, without having settled the terms of accommodation. In the mean time the king, corresponding with Mahomed-ally at Tritchinopoly, joined with him in exhorting Nazir-jing, at Gol-condah, to come and settle the affairs of the Carnatic in person, after the example of his father Nizam-al-muluck. He likewise solicited the assistance of the English, who exhorted him to defend himself to the last extremity; but sent to his assistance no more than 20 Europeans, who were detached from Tritchinopoly and entered the city of Tanjore in the night.
Mr. Dupleix beheld with great anxiety this detention of the army before Tanjore, and continually sent letters, representing to Chunda-saheb the superior importance of Tritchinopoly: and finding that his exhortations had no effect, he ordered the commander of the French battalion to endeavour to break off the treaty, by committing some signal hostility. By this time Chunda-saheb likewise thought it necessary to attack the place, and, in order to intimidate the Tanjorines, made his whole army march round the walls sounding their military music. This procession was repeated four days successively, but without effect. The Tanjorines fired from the walls upon the troops, whilst they were making this parade; and on the fifth day the French troops attacked three redoubts, about 600 yards from the walls, and carried them with the loss of five Europeans. Early the next morning some of the king's ministers came to the camp, and entered into conference with Chunda-saheb, who made his proposals, and allowed the king two days to consider of them; but finding that no answer was returned on the third, he directed the French commandant to bombard the town: a few shells fell near the king's palace, and frightened him so much, that he immediately sent deputies to the camp; who renewed the conferences, which continued three days longer without concluding any thing. The French commandant, more weary than Chunda-saheb of these delays, renewed the 'bombardment; and the enemy, assisted by the English soldiers, answered it by the fire of many pieces of cannon, which they had brought from different part fortifications to that which was opposite the French attack. Exasperated by this unexpected resistance, ​they assaulted one of the gates of the city, and carried it; but were nevertheless prevented from entering the town by strong entrenchments. However, this success thoroughly intimidated the king and he now, for the first time, entered seriously into the discussion of Chunda-saheb's demands, and ratified the treaty on the 21st of December; by which he agreed to pay Chunda-saheb, as Nabob, 7,000,000 rupees, and 200,000 immediately in hand to the French troops; he likewise ceded to the French company the sovereignty of 81 villages, which had formerly depended on the town of Karical, where the French had established themselves, and built a fort, against his will, in the year 1736.
We are not exactly informed of the sum stipulated to be immediately paid; but in these military collections the first payment rarely exceeds a fourth part of the whole assessment. The king paid the money with the same spirit of procrastination that he had employed in making the agreement. One day he sent gold and silver plate, and his officers wrangled like pedlars for the prices at which it should be valued; another day he sent old and obsolete coins, such as he knew would require strict and tedious examination; and then he sent jewels and precjous stones, of which the value was still more difficult to be ascertained. Chunda-saheb saw the drift of these artifices, and knowing them to be common practices, submitted to wait, rather than lose the money, of which he was so much in want. In these delays several weeks more elapsed; and the king of Tanjore had not completed the first payment when Mr. Dupleix informed Chunda-saheb, that Nazir-jing was approaching from Gol-condah, and advised him at all events to take possession of Tanjore as a place of refuge. But this news struck Murzafa-jing with so much terror, that he immediately broke up his camp with precipitation, and marched back towards Pondicherry.
Nazir-jing, little regarding the schemes of Murzafa-jing, but very apprehensive of the intentions of his elder brother, Ghazi-o-dean, to supersede him in the soubahship of the southern provinces, was advancing towards Delhi with a considerable army, when he heard of the battle of Amboor. The conquest of the Carnatic rendered his nephew no longer a chimerical adventurer, but a formidable rival; he therefore desisted from his journey to Delhi, and returned to Gol-condah, where he immediately ​began to augment his army, and sent orders to all the Nabobs and Rajahs, whose territories lie to the south of the Kristna, to hold themselves in readiness to accompany him, with the number of troops which, either as princes paying tribute, or as feudatories of the empire, they were obliged to furnish in times of danger to the Mogul government. It is probable, from the implicit obedience which was paid to these orders, that he was generally believed to be the real representative of the emperor. For some time Nazir-jing imagined, that the report alone of these extraordinary preparations would intimidate his nephew, and induce him to make submissions: but finding that Murzafa-jing, pursuing his successes, had marched into the kingdom of Tanjore, he set out from Gol-condah, and advanced towards the Carnatic. His army, encumbered with all the preparations necessary to furnish the same luxuries in his camp as he enjoyed in his capital, made slow and dilatory marches, and was during its progress every day augmented by the coming in of the different troops summoned to join him. He had hired three bodies of Morattoes, of 10,000 men each, to act as the hussars of the army: one of these was commanded by Morari-row, the same man who was left governor of Tritchinopoly when the Morattoes took the city from Chunda-saheb in 1743. Morari-row was sent forward, and in the middle of February arrived on the bank of the Coleroon, the southern boundary of the Carnatic, before any other part of Nazir-jing's troops had entered the province to the north. They met near the Pagoda of Chillambrum the army of Murzafa-jing, returning with the French battalion; and being not strong enough to venture a general battle, they divided into different bodies, and continued to harrass the enemy's line of march, which extended three leagues: they were often repulsed by the fire of the French field pieces, notwithstanding which they continued to return to the charge, and accompanied Murzafa-jing's army until it arrived at Villanore. Murzafa-jing and Chunda-saheb went into Pondicherry to confer with Mr. Dupleix, who sharply reproached Chunda-saheb for having deviated from the plan of attacking Tritehinopoly, as also for not taking possession of Tanjore. It was now no longer time to dissemble, and Chunda-saheb confessed the motives of his conduct by representing the distress to which Murzafa-jing's ​affairs, as well as his own, were at that time reduced for want of money: he added, that what they had received at Tanjore had likewise been expended in the pay of the army, to whom such arrears were still due, that he every day apprehended some tumult, or perhaps a general defection to their common enemy Nazir-jing The known generosity of Chunda-saheb secured him from the suspicion of dissembling in this declaration, and Mr. Dupleix now shewed his ability to conduct the ambitious cause in which he was engaged, by not hesitating to employ the treasures of the French company to relieve the distress of his allies. He lent them 50,000 pounds, and gave out that he intended to furnish them with still larger sums: this welltimed assistance reconciled and pacified the army of Murzafa-jing. At the same time Mr. Dupleix augmented the French battalion to the number of 2,000 Europeans, and ordered this body to encamp, under the command of Mr. d'Auteuil at Villanore, where the army of Murzafa-jing was posted.
Nazir-jing on entering the Carnatic, summoned Mahomed-ally to join him from Tritchinopoly, and dispatched letters to Fort St. David, requesting the English to send a body of Europeans; and he ordered all the troops that marched from the northward to rendezvous under the Forts of Gingee, situated about 35 miles to the northwest of Pondicherry. Large bodies arrived there every day; and at length, about the middle of March, came up Nazir-jing himself with the main body. When the whole was assembled, his army consisted of 300,000 fighting men, of which more than one half were cavalry, together with 800 pieces of cannon, and 1,300 elephants. This force, and the number of great lords who followed his standard, convinced the English that Nazir-jing was the real Soubah of the southern provinces, and they ordered the detachment at Tritchinopoly to proceed with Mahomed-ally, who with 6,000 horse joined Nazir-jing at Valdore, about fifteen miles from Pondicherry. A few days after, on the 22d of March, major Lawrence, with a body of 600 Europeans from Fort St. David, came to his camp, which was now in sight of that of Murzafa-jing.
A member of the council, and captain Dalton, a military officer, accompanied major Lawrence, and were authorized, in conjunction ​with him, to treat with Nazir-jing on the interests of the East India company; he received this deputation with politeness, and, amongst other oriental compliments, desired Major Lawrence to take upon him the command of his whole army, and proposed to attack the enemy immediately. Major Lawrence represented, that the attack would cost the lives of many brave men, as the French occupied a strong post defended by a large train of artillery; but that, by moving his army between the enemy and Pondicherry, he might, by cutting off their communication, oblige them to fight at a greater disadvantage. Nazir-jing replied, "What! shall the great Nazir-jing, the son of Nizam-al-muluck, even for an advantage, suffer the disgrace of seeming to retreat before so despicable an enemy? No, he would march and attack them in front." Major Lawrence replied, that he might act as he pleased; the English would be ready to support him. The two armies were so near, that an engagement seemed inevitable; and there was so much disorder at this time in the French battalion, that had the advice of Nazir-jing been followed, the attack he proposed would have been successful.
The French officers who accompanied Murzafa-jing to Tanjore had taken care to receive, out of the first payments made by the king, the money that had been stipulated as their share of the contribution. On the return of the army to Pondicherry, most of these officers requested and obtained leave to quit the camp, and repose themselves from their fatigues in the city, and others were sent to supply their places. These entering upon service just as Nazir-jing's army assembled at Gingee, complained loudly that they should have been chosen to stand the brunt of danger, without any prospect of advantage, whilst those, who had without any risque got so much money at Tanjore, were suffered to retire from the field. They made remonstrances, and demanded a sum of money, to put their fortunes upon an equality with those to whose posts they succeeded. Mr. Dupleix attempted to bring them back to their duty by severity; but on arresting one, all the rest insisted on receiving the same treatment; and their numbers being too great to be spared from the servce of the camp at this critical time, the whole party were suffered to remain ​without punishment, and continued to sow faction and discontent. The soldiers, from this example of their officers, grew insolent, and became regardless of their duty.
Such was the confusion in the French camp, when Major Lawrence arrived at that of Nazir-jing. The next day the two armies drew out in view of each other, and a cannonade ensued. Mr. d'Auteuil having no reliance on his troops, and dreading the consequences of being attacked by the English, sent a messenger to acquaint Major Lawrence, that although the troops of the two nations were engaged in different causes, yet it was not his intention that any European blood should be spilt: and as he did not know in what part of Nazir-jing's army the English took post, he could not be blamed if any of the French shot came that way. Major Lawrence returned answer, that the English colours were carried on the flag-gun of their artillery, which if Mr. d'Auteuil would look out for, he might from thence discover where the English were posted. He added, that although he was as unwilling as Mr. d'Auteuil, to spill European blood, yet if any shot came that way, he should certainly return them. A shot from the French entrenchment flew over the English battalion; and Major Lawrence, imagining that it was fired by Mr. d'Auteuil's order, to try whether the English would venture to come to action with the French, directed it to be answered from three guns: the seditious French officers, instead of encouraging, disheartened their men, by exaggerated descriptions of the superior force of the enemy. The cannonade did little execution, and ceased in the evening.
As soon as the night set in, 13 officers went in a body to Mr. d'Auteuil, gave up their commissions, and immediately left the camp; and by this scandalous desertion confirmed the panic of the troops, who naturally imputed it to fear. Mr. d'Auteuil dreading the consequences of exposing his men in this confusion to a general action, took the resolution of withdrawing immediately from the field, and ordered the battalion to march without delay to Pondicherry. Murzafa-jing and Chunda-saheb knew of the sedition, but never suspecting that it would have produced this consequence, were overwhelmed with astonishment, when they found that their entreaties and remonstrances could not induce Mr. d'Auteuil to alter his determination. ​For some days before the cannonade, messengers had passed between the two camps, with overtures of accommodation; and several officers in Nazir-jing's army had assured Murzafa-jing, that if he submitted, they would protect his person, and guarantee the execution of any treaty which he might make with his uncle; but his reliance on the French troops and Mr. Dupleix. had hitherto prevented him from laying down his arms. There was now no time to be lost in deliberation, for every one was convinced that in consequence of the retreat of the French battalion, the whole army, before another sun was set, would provide for its safety, either by taking flight, or by going over to Nazir-jing. Chunda-saheb who had every thing, to fear from the resentment of Nazir-jing, took his resolution in the instant, to accompany the French troops to Pondicheny. Murzafa-jing still hesitated. His principal officers determined him, by representing the irreparable disgrace of exposing the standard of the empire, which he displayed, to retreat: for it is supposed that this ensign never retreats. He therefore refused to accompany Chunda-saheb; and relying on the assurances which had been made to him from Nazir-jing's camp, resolved to send deputies thither, with offers to surrender. After this gloomy conference, the two friends oppressed, but not so much overpowered by their misfortunes as to despair of meeting again in a better hour, embraced and separated with professions of inviolable attachment, which although made by princes in Indostan, were sincere. The French battalion, with some squadrons of horse led by Chunda-saheb, decamped at midnight in silence, but in such confusion, that they left behind forty gunners, with eleven pieces of cannon. At the same time the deputies of Murzafa-jing repaired to the tent of Shanavaze Khan, who with the principal officers of the durbar, or court, introduced them to Nazir-jing. This prince was so overjoyed at the prospect of having his nephew in his power, that it is said he did not hesitate to swear on the koran, that he would neither make him a prisoner, nor deprive him of the governments which he enjoyed during his grandfather's life.
On these assurances, Murzafa-jing left his camp, and proceeded to pay his respects to his uncle; but on approaching the head-quarters, was arrested, and carried under a strict guard into a tent near that of ​Nazir-jing, where he was immediately put into fetters: as soon as the prince was seized, his camp was attacked, and his troops surprised made little resistance: many were slain during the pursuit, for the Soubah's troops gave no quarter. A party of horse fell in with the French gunners, who had been abandoned by the rest of the battalion, and cut the greatest part of them to pieces. They would have destroyed the whole, had not the English rescued some of them from their fury; but most of these were wounded. The Morattoes commanded by Morari-row, pushed on in pursuit of the French battalion, and came up with it before it had gained the bound-hedge. Mr. d'Auteuil formed his men into a hollow square, which Morari-row attacked and broke into, with only 15 men, imagining that the rest of his party followed him; on seeing his danger when surrounded he immediately made another effort, and broke through the opposite side with six men, losing nine in this second attack. The Morattoes continued to harrass the army until they arrived at the bound-hedge: they killed 19 of the Europeans, and would have done more execution, had they not been vigorously opposed by the cavalry commanded by Chunda-saheb, who behaved with great activity and resolution during the retreat.
This victory intirely dispersed the army of Chunda-saheb and Murzafa-jing, and, together with the imprisonment of his rival, seemed to assure to Nazir-jing the quiet possession of the soubahship: but his capacity was unequal to the management of so great an employ, and treason began already to taint his councils. The Nabobs of Cudapa, Canoul, and Savanore, were the most considerable of the feudatory lords who had accompanied him into the Carnatic: they were all three, Pitans by birth, and possessed the daring temper which characterizes that nation. They had obeyed the summons of Nazir-jing, and taken the field without reluctance, because they made no doubt of obtaining, in reward of their military service, a remission of large sums they owed to the Mogul's treasury, as well as considerable immunities in their respective governments: but Nazir-jing, who assumed the full state of a soubah, paid no regard to their pretensions, and treated them as feudatories, who had done no more than their duty in joining the Mogul's standard. Disappointed in their expectations ​they grew weary of a war by which their interests were not benefited, and to put an end to it, had been the first to advise Murzafa-jing to submit. They were seconded in these intentions of bringing about a reconciliation by Shanavaze Khan the prime minister, and several of the principal servants of Nazir-jing's court: but these were actuated by better motives; for, owing their fortunes to Nizamal-muluck, their gratitude to his memory, and attachment to his family, made them behold with affliction a civil war between his son and grand-son. It was to these nabobs and ministers, as well as to the ambassadors of Murzafa-jing, that Nazir-jing had given those solemn assurances of not injuring his nephew, which he broke as soon as he got him into his power. This breach of faith hurt the minds of all who had interfered in inducing the young prince to surrender: but the ministers were content to make gentle representations to their master, whilst the Pitan Nabobs openly and loudly complained of the affront cast upon themselves, by his contempt of obligations, for the performance of which they had promised to be responsible; and from this hour they confederated, and meditated mischief, but agreed to shew no farther symptoms of discontent until they could carry their designs into execution.
At Pondicherry, the retreat of the French battalion, the news of Murzafa-jing's imprisonment, and the dispersion of his army, naturally created the greatest consternation. But Mr. Dupleix, although more affected than any one by these sudden reverses, had command enough over himself to suppress the emotions of his mind, and dissembled great serenity. He immediately ordered the army to encamp out of the bounds, sent other officers to command it, arrested the mutinous, directed Mr. d'Auteuil to be tried for retreating without orders, and by his own resolution re-established in some measure that of the troops. At the same time he knew that the number of his Europeans, unsupported by an Indian army, was insufficient to make a stand against the vast force of Nazir-jing, assisted by the English battalion; but his knowledge of the general character of the princes of Indostan, made him not despair of discovering, or even of creating some faction in the court of Nazir-jing, which, artfully managed, might contribute to re-establish the broken affairs of Murzafa-jing and Chunda-saheb. ​In order therefore to gain the time and intelligence of which he stood so much in need, he determined to enter into a negociation. He had some days before written a letter to Nazir-jing, in which he had offered to make peace, on condition that Murzafa-jing was re-instated in his former governments, and Chunda-saheb put in possession of the Nabobship of the Carnatic. To this letter Nazir-jing had returned no answer, and Mr. Dupleix made use of this neglect as a pretext to continue the correspondence. He asserted, that the retreat of the French troops had been executed in consequence of orders which he himself had given, in hopes of accelerating the peace, by that proof of his aversion to continue hostilities; and to convince Nazir-jing that the troops had not taken flight, as was believed in his camp, he boldly magnified the slaughter they made when attacked in their retreat. He reminded him of the hospitality and good treatment which his sister the mother of Murzafa-jing, received in Pondicherry; recommended this prince to his clemency, and desired leave to send ambassadors.
Nazir-jing consented to receive the embassy, and two of the council of Pondicherry went to the camp; one of them was well versed in the Indostan and Persic languages, which are the only tongues used in the courts of the Mahomedan princes. They had an audience of ceremony, after which they conferred, as usual, with the council of ministers, and after several higher demands, they made their ultimate proposals, which were, that the estates of Murzfa-jing should be invested in the son of that prince, until Nazir-jing could be prevailed upon to reconcile himself to the father; and that Chunda-saheb should be appointed Nabob of the Carnatic. The council of ministers, although many of them wished well to Murzafa-jing, would not venture to represent to their master the demands made by Mr. Dupleix in his behalf; and told the French deputies, that the pretensions of Chunda-saheb were still less admissible, seeing that the government of the Carnatic was bestowed on Mahomed-ally, the son of An'war-odean Khan. The French deputies left the camp, after having remained in it eight days; but although they failed in gaining the apparent ends of their mission, they obtained the real advantages Mr. Dupleix proposed from it, by making themselves acquainted with the state of Nazir-jing's court, and by establishing ​the means of carrying on a correspondence with the discontented Nabobs of Cudapa, Canoul, and Savanore.
Suspicions were entertained of the clandestine conduct of the French deputies, and major Lawrence was informed, that some design was carrying on in the camp against the Soubah, in which Shanavaze Khan, the prime minister, was the principal agent. The latter part of this report was not true, and the first could not be proved: however, the major, at an audience, endeavoured to acquaint Nazir-jing with what he had heard, but his interpreter had not courage to make a declaration, which would probably have cost him his life, and misrepresented what he was ordered to say. There was no other method of conveying this intelligence; for the state maintained by Nazir-jing, as Soubah, suffered no letters to be directly addressed to him, and no one was admitted to a private conference but his prime minister, who was involved in the accusation, or his domestics, who, as in all courts, were dependants on the minister.
On the return of the deputies, Chunda-saheb began to levy troops, and Mr. Dupleix thought it necessary to re-establish the reputation of the French arms by some enterprize, which might convince the allies he had gained in Nazir-jing's camp, that he was both prepared and determined to continue the war. Mr. d'Auteuil, who had taken the command again, marched before day, and attacked by surprize one of the quarters of the camp, into which the troops penetrated a mile, firing at fugitives: for, as it is the custom in an Indian army to make the great meal at night, and after it to smoke opium, and other soporiferous drugs, the whole camp towards morning is generally in so deep and heavy a sleep, that a few resolute and disciplined men may beat up thousands, before they recover alertness sufficient to make any vigorous resistance.
In the mean time Major Lawrence with the battalion remained in the camp, and with the other deputies sollicited Nazir-jing to confirm the grant, which Mahomed-ally, now esteemed Nabob of Arcot, had made to the East-India company of a territory near Madrass, in return for the assistance of their troops. He had often promised to comply with this request; but his minister Shanavaze Khan regarded ​such a cession as inconsistent with the majesty of the Mogul empire, and prevented the phirmaund, or patent, from being issued from his office. Wearied with prevarication, Major Lawrence insisted on a peremptory answer, on which he was assured that he should he immediately satisfied, provided he would march with the battalion to Arcot, where Nazir-jing had taken the resolution of going with his whole army. He did not think it prudent to comply with this proposal, lest the French and Chunda-saheb should take advantage of his absence and invade the English territory. He therefore endeavoured to divert the Soubah from this purpose, by representing that it would give the enemy an opportunity of recruiting their forces, and recommencing hostilities; whereas by remaining near Pondicherry, he might, by cutting off their communications with the country, reduce them to such distresses as would oblige them to accept of peace on his own terms. This reasoning producing no effect, the major returned with the battalion to Fort St. David, and in the latter end of April Nazir-jing broke up his camp at Valdore, and marched to Arcot.
From hence he sent orders to seize the houses and effects, which the French company had in the city of Masulipatnam, and at Yanam, a weaving town about 35 miles farther north. His officers proceeded without violence, plundered nothing, and sealed up what they took possession of. The detriment sustained was not considerable; but Mr. Dupleix, apprised of the defenceless condition of Masulipatnam, determined to revenge it ten-fold, by attacking this city, which he had for some months considered as an acquisition so necessary to his future views, that he had prevailed on Murzafa-jing upon his first arrival at Pondicherry to promise the cession of it to the French company. Masulipatnam is situated at the mouth of the river Kristna, which bounds the coast of Coromandel, and the ancient Carnatic to the north: it is the sea-port of Gol-condah and the western countries in that part of the peninsula, with which it has communication by the river Kristna, and by several high roads: it was formerly the greatest mart, and one of the most opulent and populous cities of Indostan; insomuch that several modern authors, first blundering in the acceptation and orthography of the termination Patnam, which ​signifies a town; and then forming conjectures on the reputation, of this place, have not hesitated to derive the whole Pitan nation, but also a race of kings at Delhi, from a colony of Arabians, who, about 400 years ago, as they say, founded Masulipatnam. The city is even at this day a place of considerable trade and resort, and famous for its manufactures of painted cloths; for the plants from which the dies are extracted grow no where in such perfection as in the adjacent territory. In the beginning of July a detachment of 200 Europeans and 300 Sepoys, together with several pieces of battering cannon and a quantity of military stores, were put on board two large ships, which, after a passage of three days, anchored in the road. The troops landed in the night, and attacking the city by surprize, took it with very little loss. They kept possession of it, and immediately began to put it into a better posture of defence.
In the mean time the French battalion had, soon after the retreat of the Soubah's army, formed their camp, as if in defiance of his authority, on the limits of the new territory ceded by Murzafa-jing to the French company; but this insult produced no effect on the mind of Nazir-jing, who deeming the imprisonment of his nephew a sufficient security against any farther commotions, indulged the bent of his nature, and gave his whole time to the pleasures of women, and hunting: but although he gave no application to business, he decided peremptorily on the affairs which his ministers reported to him; and his orders, howsoever absurd, were irrevocable: his caprices disgusted his friends, and his indolence rendered him contemptible to his enemies. The Pitan Nabobs insinuated themselves into his favour, by encouraging him in his vices, and at the same time advised Mr. Dupleix to proceed to action.
Dupleix followed their advice, and ordered 500 Europeans to attack the pagoda of Trivadi, lying about fifteen miles to the west of Fort St. David. The pagoda served as a citadel to a large pettah, by which name the people on the coast of Coromandel call every town contiguous to a fortress. Trivadi made no resistance, and the French having garrisoned it with 50 Europeans and 100 Sepoys, began to collect the revenues of the district. This acquisition carried them to the south of the river Pannar; and Mahomed-ally concluding ​that they would not hesitate to push their conquests still farther, requested Nazir-jing to permit him to take the field, and defend the territories of which he had created him lord, alledging that the English, for the sake of their own interests, would join his troops with their whole force. Nazir-jing was so exasperated against the English for having refused to accompany him to Arcot, that it was some time before he could be prevailed on to suffer his vassal to ask their assistance: at length however he consented, but without giving his own name as a sanction. The English, assured by Mahomed-ally that he would punctually defray all expences, ordered a body of 400 Europeans and 1,500 Sepoys to take the field, and the Nabob marched from Arcot with an army of 20,000 men, of which more than one half were the troops of Nazir-jing; but not thinking even this force sufficient to pass through the countries near Pondicherry, before it was reinforced by the English troops, he encamped and waited for them near Gingee, where they joined them in the beginning of July.
The army then moved towards Fort St. David, and encamped on the plain of Trivandaparum, waiting for two 24 pounders and military stores. As soon as these arrived, they marched on the 19th of July towards the French, whom they discovered in the evening about eight miles to the east of Trivadi, near the northern bank of the Pannar, which river was at this time fordable. The army halted on the south side of the river, and a large body of Sepoys, with the company of Caffres, were detached to attack the enemy's advanced posts, and to reconnoitre the situation of their camp. A skirmish ensued which lasted until night, when the detachment was recalled. They reported, that the enemy's camp was in a grove, enclosed by strong entrenchments, mounted with ten pieces of cannon. In order to draw them from this situation, captain Cope persuaded the Nabob to march against Trivadi; and the army appeared before the place the next day, and summoned the garrison, who refused to surrender. Captain Cope therefore proposed to the Nabob to order his troops to scale the walls, and make a general assault, whilst the English battered down the gates. The Nabob consented, but his troops refused to undertake so perilous an attempt; the army therefore marched back the next morning towards the French encampment, and halting, formed for battle ​within gun-shot of their entrenchments. The commander of the French troops sent a messenger to ask the reason why the English came so near their posts, and declared that if they did not immediately march away, he should in his own defence be obliged to fire upon them. Captain Cope replied, that the English acting as allies to the Nabob, were determined to accompany him into all parts of his dominions, and to assist him against all who should oppose his authority. The messenger was scarcely returned when a shot from the French entrenchment killed some of the English soldiers. It was answered from the two 18 pounders and four field pieces; and a cannonade ensued, which lasted from noon till night, when the English quitted their ground with the loss of 10 Europeans and 50 Sepoys, and 200 of the Nabob's troops were likewise killed: the French secured by their entrenchments, suffered much less. This ill success depressed Mahomed-ally as much as if the army had suffered a total defeat, and rendering him anxious to remove out of the neighbourhood of the enemy, he proposed to march to the west, pretending that his army could not subsist in their present situation, since all their provisions coming from Arcot, and the inland parts of the province, would be exposed to the French stations at Gingee, Valdore, and Trivadi. By accompanying the Nabob the English would have been of no other service than that of shewing him to the province in parade at the head of an army: but this, ridiculous as it may appear, was the very service he preferred to all others; since it would have produced not only the homage of the renters and farmers of the country, but likewise some money by the presents he would have obliged them to make. On the other hand, Captain Cope was instructed not to march beyond any of the French posts, lest his communication with Fort St. David should be cut off; and he was likewise ordered to endeavour by all means to bring the enemy to an engagement: he therefore insisted with the Nabob that the army should place themselves between the French camp and Pondicherry. There were no means of reconciling two opinions so directly opposite; and this disagreement indisposed the Nabob so much towards his allies, that when they demanded the money promised for their expences, he first made excuses, and at last declared he had none; having, as he said, ​exhausted his treasury by giving Nazir-jing two millions of rupees. Major Lawrence, who now commanded at Fort St. David, not only as the first military officer, but also as temporary governor of the settlement, was as much offended by these prevarications of Mahomedally as he had been by those of Nazir-jing, and with the same spirit of indignation which had dictated to him the resolution of quitting the Soubah, ordered the troops to leave the Nabob, and march back to Fort St. David, where they arrived the 19th of August.
As soon as they retreated, Mr. Dupleix ordered the main body at Valdore to march and join the camp near Trivadi: the whole force, when united, consisted of 1,800 Europeans, 2,500 Sepoys, and 1,000 horse, levied by Chunda-saheb, together with twelve field pieces. The army of Mahomed-ally consisted of 5,000 foot and 15,000 horse, variously armed: his camp extended between two villages which secured the flanks; the rear was defended by a river; in front were several entrenchments occupied by the infantry; and in the other intervals, where there were no entrenchments, cannon were planted; the cavalry, instead of being out on the plain, formed a second line within the camp. On the 21st of August the French advanced to attack this absurd disposition: their field pieces were distributed in front; the baggage-carts were ranged in a regular line in the rear, and the cavalry were on each wing: they made several halts, during which they gave a general discharge of their artillery, which was answered by the enemy's cannon and musketiy, not a shot of which did execution; but a rocket, which the Moors make use of to frighten cavalry, set fire to a tumbril, and this blowing up, wounded some of the sepoys. As soon as the French troops were within 200 yards of the camp, they marched up briskly to the entrenchments, which the Nabob's troops immediately abandoned, and at the same time deserted the cannon. The French having entered the camp, formed again, brought up their artillery, and began to fire upon the cavalry, who were soon flung into confusion. The rout became general, and horse and foot fled promiscuously and with such precipitation, that many pushed directly into the river, where they were drowned. They continued to fire upon the fugitives whilst any remained in the camp, and killed near a thousand men: the Nabob himself made his ​escape with great difficulty, and hurried away to Arcot, where he arrived with only two or three attendants. This victory was obtained by the French without the loss of a man, and none were even wounded, excepting those who suffered by the explosion of the tumbril.
Even this success of their arms was not sufficient to rouze Nazir-jing out of the luxurious indolence in which he passed his time at Arcot: Mr. Dupleix resolved to avail himself of his inactivity, and of the general consternation which the defeat of Mahomed-ally had caused in the neighbouring countries, and immediately ordered his army to march and attack Gingee. This place was formerly the residence of a race of Morattoe kings, whose dominions extended from hence to the borders of the kingdom of Tanjore: these princes were the ancestors of the famous Sevaeee, who became king over all the Morattoe nations; and it has long been a general, although erroneous notion, that Sevagee himself was born at Gingee. The fortifications, as well as those of Velore, bear the marks of the military character of the nation to which they belonged. A strong wall flanked with towers, and extending near three miles, incloses three mountains, which form nearly an equilateral triangle; they #re steep and craggy, and on the top of each are built large and strong forts; besides, there are many other fortifications upon the declivities: on the plain between the three mountains is a large town. The Indians, who esteem no fortifications very strong, unless placed upon high and difficult eminences, have always regarded Gingee as the strongest fortress in the Carnatic.
A detachment of 250 Europeans, 1,200 Sepoys, with four field pieces, commanded by Mr. Bussy, set out before the rest of the army, and advanced by slow marches, intending, it is probable, to attack the place by suprize; and the main body, commanded by Mr. d'Auteuil, followed at the distance of a forced march. When in sight of Gingee, Mr. Bussy found that 5,000 of the fugitives from the defeat at Trivadi had taken refuge here, and were encamped under the walls, with some pieces of artillery managed by Europeans. He therefore waited till the main body came in sight, and then advanced and attacked these troops, who made very little resistance, and quitted the field as soon as Mr. d'Auteuil came up. The French took their artillery. ​tillery, and killed most of the Europeans who served it. They then proceeded to petard one of the gates of the outer wall on the plain, and got possession of it a little before night, with the loss of only three or four men, and the troops with all the artillery and baggage entered the town; where they immediately fortified themselves by barricading the narrow streets with the baggage-waggons, and by distributing the cannon in the larger avenues. In this situation they were exposed to a continual fire from the three mountains: the Moors likewise threw great numbers of rockets, in hopes of setting fire to the combustible stores. The French bombarded the forts with mortars, and fired upon them with artillery until the moon set, which was the signal to storm the fortifications on the mountains. None but the Europeans were destined to this hardy enterprize, who attacked all the three mountains at the same time, and found on each redoubts above redoubts, which they carried successively sword in hand, until they came to the summits, where the fortifications were stronger than those they had surmounted; they nevertheless pushed on and petarded the gates, and by day -break were in possession of them all, having lost only twenty men in the different attacks. On contemplating the difficulties they had conquered, they were astonished at he rapidity of their own success, and the extreme pusillanimity of the defenders; and indeed, had the attack been made in day-light, it could not have succeeded; for the Moors, as well as Indians, often defend themselves very obstinately behind strong walls; but it should seem that no advantages, either of number or situation, can countervail the terror with which they are struck when attacked in the night.
The great reputation of the strength of Gingee naturally exalted the fame of the French prowess; and the loss of this important fortress awakened Nazir-jiug, and made him at last recollect that it was time to oppose the progress of an enemy who seemed capable of the boldest enterprizes. On his arrival at Arcot, he had sent back to Gol-condah two of his generals, with the greatest part of the troops in his own pay, and had likewise permitted many of the Rajahs and Indian chiefs to return home with their troops. He now recalled all these forces; but hoping that the news of these preparations, with offers of moderate advantages, would induce the French to lay down their arms, he determined ​to try the effect of negotiation before he took the field, and sent two of his officers to Pondicherry, to treat with Mr. Dupleix: who now not only insisted on the restoration of Murzafa-jing to his liberty and estates, together with the appointment of Chunda-saheb in the Carnatic; but required also, that the city of Masulipatnam, with its dependencies, should be given up to the French company, and that their troops should keep possession of Gingee until Nazir-jing returned to Aureng-abad.
He scarcely expected that Nazir-jing would agree to these imperious terms, and by proposing them had no other intention than to provoke him to take the field, for it was in the field alone that the projects he had formed against him could be earned into execution. His expectation was not disappointed, for Nazir-jing immediately ordered his troops to march towards Gingee, and in the latter end of September joined them himself. His army was now much less numerous than when he entered the Carnatic; for very few of the chiefs who had been permitted to return to their own countries rejoined his standard, and the troops which he had sent to Gol-condah were at too great a distance to march back into the province of Arcot before the rainy season. His camp however consisted of 60,000 foot, 45,000 horse, 700 elephants, and 360 pieces of cannon, and with the attendants, who in an Indian army always out-number the regular troops, contained a multitude little less than 300,000 men. This great body moved very slowly, and employed fifteen days in marching 30 miles; and when at the distance of sixteen from Gingee, were prevented from getting any farther by the rains, which setting in with great violence, overflowed the whole country. The notion of exposing the standard of the empire to disgrace, by appearing to retreat, prevented Nazir-jing from returning immediately to Arcot, and in two or three days his army was inclosed between two rivers, which were rendered almost impassable by the inundation. The communication with the neighbouring countries grew every day more difficult, provisions became scarce, and the army suffering likewise from the inclemency of the weather, sickness began to spread in the camp, and these distresses were likely to continue until the return of fair weather in December. The wavering temper of Nazir​jing grew impatient at these unexpected impediments, which protracted a war, in which he had already wasted a year, absent from the rest of the vast estates of his soubahship; and growing on a sudden as anxious to quit the Carnatic as he had hitherto been fond of remaining in it, he renewed his correspondence with Mr. Dupleix; and to avoid the disgrace of seeing the French maintain their pretensions in hostile defiance of his authority, he determined at last to give his patents for all the cessions they demanded, on condition that they should hold them as his vassals.
Mr. Dupleix, who well knew the little faith to be reposed in any engagements or professions made by the princes of Indostan, neither suffered the offers of Nazir-jing to slacken his machinations with the discontented confederates in the army, nor his reliance on these to interrupt his negociation with their sovereign. It was now the month of December, the rains were ceased, and the important moment was at hand, when it was absolutely necessary to make the option between two very different methods of accomplishing his views.
His correspondence with the Pitan Nabobs had been carried on seven months, and they had engaged in their conspiracy above twenty other officers of principal note; so that all together the confederates commanded one half of Nazir-jing's army: they represented, that if it was wonderful the secret had been so long kept by so many, every hour's delay now teemed with infinite risques, since, in order to make the dispositions necessary to insure the success of the enterprize, they were obliged every day to communicate to numbers of subaltern officers a secret, which, at the time of execution, must be known to all their troops.
At the same time came deputies from Nazir-jing to Pondicherry, Avho confidently affirmed that he would immediately sign the treaty, break up his camp, and march out of the Carnatic.
Assured of success by either of these events, Mr. Dupleix left chance to decide which should take place, and pressing Nazir-jing's deputies to produce the treaty ratified, he at the same time ordered the commander of the French troops at Gingee to march the very instant that the confederates should signify to him that every thing was prepared to carry the long-meditated scheme into execution ​The summons from the Pitan Nabobs arrived at Gingee before the ratification of the treaty at Pondicherry.
It was on the 4th of December that Mr. de la Tonche, who now commanded the troops, began his march from Gingee with 800 Europeans, 3,000 Sepoys, and ten field pieces. Some hints were given sufficient to inspire the soldiers with confidence, but Mr. de la Touche communicated the whole plan only to Mr. Bussy and three or four of the principal officers. A guide sent by the confederates conducted the army towards the quarter where the troops immediately commanded by Nazir-jing encamped, which, after a march of sixteen miles, the French came in sight of at four o'clock the next morning. The whole camp extended eighteen miles, every Nabob and Rajah having a separate quarter. Some cavalry going the rounds discovered the French battalion, and alarmed the advanced posts, which were very soon dispersed: the French then came up to the line of Nazir-jing's artillery, behind which were drawn up 25,000 foot. Here the conflict became sharper; for the first firing having spread the alarm, most of the generals devoted to Nazir-jing sent their troops to the place of action; so that one body was no sooner repulsed than another succeeded, and even many of the fugitives rallied, and formed again in their rear. The French never experienced with more success the advantage of field pieces managed with the dexterity of quick firing; for this alone preserved the troops in many a repeated charge from being broken by the cavalry. Thus surrounded, they gained then-way very slowly, and after passing the line of cannon, were three hours advancing three miles into the camp. They had already dispersed one half of the army, when they descried at some distance a vast body of horse and foot drawn up in order, which extended as far as the eye could reach; and the French troops were on the point of losing courage at the idea of having this formidable host still to encounter, when they perceived in the center of it an elephant bearing a large white flag. This was the signal of the confederates: it was immediately known by Mr. de la Touche, and explained to the troops, who expressed their joy by repeated shouts: they were ordered to halt, until some intelligence should be received from the Pitan Nabobs whose ensigns were now discerned approaching. ​Nazir-jing, who had the day before ratified his treaty with Mr. Dupleix, and sent it to Pondicherry, gave no credit to those who first reported to him that his camp was attacked by the French troops: when convinced of it, the majestic ideas in which he had been educated, together with some degree of natural courage, did not suffer him to apprehend any danger from such a handful of men, and calling their attack "the mad attempt of a parcel of drunken Europeans," he ordered the officers who were near him to go and cut them to pieces, and at the same time ordered the head of Murzafa-jing to be struck off and brought to him. Messengers arrived every minute to inform him of the progress which the French troops were making; and on enquiring what dispositions were made by the different Nabobs and chiefs who followed his standard, he was told, that the troops of Cudapah, Canoul, Candanore, of Mysore, together with 20,000 of the Morattoes, were drawn up in order of battle, but had not yet advanced to repulse the French. Enraged at this inaction of so large a part of his army, he mounted his elephant, and accompanied by his body-guard, advanced toward these troops; and the first he came to were these of Cudapah, whose Nabob was at their head. Nazir-jing rode up to him, and told him, that he was a dastardly coward, who dared not to defend the Mogul's standard against the most contemptible of enemies. The traitor replied, that he knew no enemy but Nazir-jing, and at the same time gave the signal to a fusileer, who rode with him on the same elephant, to fire. The shot missed, on which Cudapah himself discharged a carabine, which lodged two balls in the heart of the unfortunate Nazir-jing, who fell dead on the plain. His guards were struck with so much dismay at this sudden assassination, that few of them attempted to revenge it, and these few were soon dispersed, or cut down. The Nabob of Cudapah then ordered the head to be severed from the body, and hasted away with it to the tent of Murzafa-jing, concerning whose safety he had no anxiety; having engaged in the conspiracy the officer to whose care the confinement of this prince had been entrusted: he found him freed from the fetters which he had now worn seven months, and hailing him Soubah of the Decan. presented to him, as a confirmation of the ​title, the head of his uncle. Murzafa-jing ordered it to be fixed on a pole, and to be earned to the army of the confederates, whither he repaired himself attended by the Nabob.
The news was spread through the confederate army with great rapidity by the elevation of small white banners: Mr. de la Touche discovered these signals very soon after he had ordered the French battalion to halt, and knew the meaning of them: a few minutes after came a horseman at full speed, sent from Murzafa-jing; upon which Mr. Bussy was immediately dispatched to compliment him, and receive his orders. The death of Nazir-jing was no sooner known amongst his troops than the greatest part of them came in crowds to range themselves under the banner of his successor, and by nine o'clock in the morning every sword was sheathed, notwithstanding that three brothers of the murdered prince were in the camp. The new Soubah proceeded to the tent of state, where he received homage from most of the great officers, who the day before had paid it to his uncle. But the prime minister Shanavaze Khan was not of the number; he, dreading the resentment of Murzafa-jing, for having suffered him to remain so long in prison, made his escape to the fort of Chittapet: and Mahomed-ally, the open rival of Chunda-saheb knew he had every thing to apprehend from this revolution: fortunately his quarters were at a considerable distance from the scene of this catastrophe; and the instant he heard of it, he mounted the fleetest of his horses, and, accompanied only by two or three attendants, hasted with the utmost precipitation to gain his fortress of Tritchinopoly.
In the evening, Mr de la Touche, accompanied by all his officers, went in ceremony to pay his respects to Murzafa-jing, by whom they were received with demonstrations of gratitude worthy the important service they had rendered him. The oriental compliments paid to them on this occasion, were, for once, not destitute of truth; for, excepting the conquests of Cortez and Pizarro in the new world, never did so small a force decide the fate of so large a sovereignty. The dominions of the Great Mogul consist of 22 provinces, six of which, comprehending more than one third of the empire, compose ​the soubahship of the Decan; the viceroy of which division is, by a title still more emphatical than that of Soubah stiled, in the language of the court, Nizam-al-muluck, or regulator of the empire: his jurisdiction extends in a line nearly north and south, from Brampore to Cape Comorin, and eastward from that line to the sea. Gol-condah, one of these provinces, comprehends what Europeans call the Nabobships of Arcot, Canoul, Cudapah, Raja-mandrum, and Chicacole; so that there were under Nizam-al-muluck, thirty such Nabobs, besides several powerful Indian kings, and many others of lesser note: the number of subjects in the Decan probably exceeds thirty-five millions. Of this great dominion, Murzafa-jing, from a prisoner in irons, and condemned to death, saw himself in the revolution of a few hours declared almost the absolute lord, and with the prospect of maintaining possession of it; for his pretensions were highly supported by the Vizir at Delhi: but the sun did not set before the joy inspired by this sudden change of his fortunes was tainted with anxiety; for the Pitan Nabobs began to demand imperiously the rewards they expected for the parts they had contributed to his elevation: their pretensions were exorbitant, and even inconsistent with the principles of the Mogul government. It is not to be doubted that Murzafa-jing had, during his imprisonment, promised every thing they thought proper to ask, not intending to fulfil more than what the necessity of his affairs should oblige him to; but the presence of the French troops now rendered him little apprehensive of their resentment, and to them alone he entrusted the guard of his person, and the care of his treasures: however, not to irritate the Nabobs, by an absolute rejection of their claims, he told them that his engagements with the French nation would not permit him to determine any thing without the advice and participation of Mr. Dupleix, and encouraged them to hope that every thing would be settled to their satisfaction at Pondicherry.
Here the tidings of Nazir-jing's death, and of the enthronement of his nephew, arrived in the afternoon: it was first brought to Chunda-saheb, who forgetting the ceremonies and attendance without which persons of his rank never appear in public, quitted his house alone, ​and ran to the palace, where he was the first who announced it to Mr. Dupleix. They embraced with the agitations of two friends escaped from a shipwreck: the news was proclaimed to the town by a general discharge of the artillery; and in the evening Mr. Dupleix held a court, and received the compliments of all the inhabitants. The next day a Te Deum was sung in full ceremony, and three deputies were sent to compliment Murzafa-jing: and two days afterwards another deputation carried six costly Seerpaws; these are garments which are presented sometimes by superiors in token of protection, and sometimes by inferiors in token of homage; and with the Seerpaws was carried a white flag on an elephant, which were likewise presented. Murzafa-jing pretended to be so much pleased with the compliment of the flag, that he ordered it should in future be always displayed in the midst of the ensigns of his sovereignty.
On the 15th of December at night he came to the gates with a numerous and splendid attendance, in which were most of the principal lords of his court: he was received by Mr. Dupleix and Chunda-saheb in a tent without the city; and discovered great emotions of joy in this interview. It was intended, in deference to his rank, that he should have entered the town on his elephant; but the animal was too large to pass under the beam to which the draw-bridge was suspended; whereupon he politely desired to go in the same palankin with Mr. Dupleix to the palace: here they had a private conference, in which he explained the difficulties he lay under from the pretensions of the Pitan Nabobs, and afterwards retired to the house appointed for his reception, where he was expected with impatience by his mother, his wife, and his son.
The next day the three Pitan Nabobs came into the town, and desired Mr. Dupleix to determine what rewards they should receive for the services they had rendered: they demanded, that the arrears of tribute, which they had not paid for three years, should be remitted; that the countries which they governed, together with several augmentations of territory they now demanded, should in future be exempted from tribute to the Mogul government; and that one half ​of the riches found in Nazir-jing's treasury should be delivered to them.
It was known that all the lords of Murzafa-jing's court waited to measure their demands by the concessions which he should make to the Pitan Nabobs: if these obtained all they asked, the whole of his dominion would scarcely suffice to satisfy the other claimants in the same proportion; and, on the other hand, if they were not satisfied, it was much to be apprehended that they would revolt; Mr. Dupleix therefore postponed all other considerations to this important discussion, and conferred with the Pitans for several days successively. He acknowledged the great obligations Murzafa-jing lay under to them for their conduct in the revolution; but insisted that he himself had contributed as much to it as they, and was therefore entitled to as great rewards, and that if such concessions were extorted, the Soubah would no longer be able to maintain the dignity he had acquired: intending therefore to set the example of moderation, he, in the last conference, told them, that he should relinquish his own pretensions to any share of the treasures, or to any other advantages, which might distress the affairs of Murzafa-jing. The Pitans finding him determined to support the cause of this prince at all events, agreed amongst themselves to appear satisfied with the terms he prescribed: which were, that their governments should be augmented by some districts much less than those they demanded; that their private revenues should be increased by the addition of some lands belonging to the crown given to them in farm at low rates; and that the half of the money found in Nazir-jing's treasury should be divided amongst them; but the jewels were reserved to Murzafa-jing.
This agreement was signed by the Nabobs, who likewise took on the Alcoran an oath of allegiance to the Soubah; declaring at the same time that Nizam-al-muluck himself had never been able to obtain from them this mark of submission: and he on his part swore to protect them whilst they remained faithful.
All dissentions being now in appearence reconciled, feasts and entertainments ensued, in which Mr. Dupleix spared no expence to raise in his guests a high opinion of the grandeur of his nation by the splendour ​with which he affected to represent his monarch. Amidst these rejoicings was performed the ceremony of installing the Soubah, in the throne of the Decan: it was very pompous; and Mr. Dupleix appealed, next to the Soubah, the principal actor in it; for in the dress of a Mahomedan lord of Indostan, with which the prince himself had clothed him, he was the first who paid homage; after which he was declared governor for the Mogul of all the countries lying to the south of the river Kristna; that is, of a territory little less than France itself: he likewise received the title of Munsub, or commander, of 7,000 horse, with the permission of bearing amongst his ensigns that of the fish; neither of which distinctions is ever granted excepting to persons of the first note in the empire: It was ordered, that no money should be current in the Carnatic, but such as was coined at Pondicherry; and that the Mogul's revenues from all the countries of which Mr. Dupleix was now appointed vicegerent should be remitted to him, who was to account for them to the Soubah: and Chunda-saheb was declared Nabob of Arcot and its dependencies, under the authority of Mr. Dupleix. All the Mogul and Indian lords paid homage, and made presents: pensions, titles of honor, and governments, were bestowed on those who had assisted in the revolution, or had otherwise merited favour: but he granted none of these to any, excepting such as presented requests signed by the hand of Mr. Dupleix.
The immediate advantages arising to the French East India company by these concessions, were the possession of a territory near Pondicherry producing annually 96,000 rupees; of that near Karical in the kingdom of Tanjore, valued at 106,000; and the city of Masulipatnam with its dependencies, of which the yearly income amounted to 144,000 rupees; in all, a revenue of 38,000 pounds sterling, according to the accounts published by the French, which there is reason to believe are greatly extenuated. But these advantages were small in comparison of those which Mr. Dupleix expected to obtain from the extensive authority with which he was now invested; and altho' not one of these grants could, according to the constitution of the Mogul empire, be of any validity, unless confirmed by the emperor, he, without scruple, assumed them as lawful ​acquisitions: it is certain that, imperfect as they were, they served greatly to raise the reputation of his importance in the Carnatic, where the Soubah of the southern provinces is more respected than the great Mogul himself. Even Mahomed-ally appeared to be confounded by these concessions; and from Tritchinopolv, to which place he had escaped with great difficulty, impowered the Morattoe, Raja Janogee, to treat with Mr. Dupleix for the surrender of the city, and offered, as the French affirm with great confidence in more than one memoir, to relinquish his pretensions to the Nabobship of Arcot, provided Murzafa-jing would give him some other government in the territory of Gol-condah, and leave him in possession of his treasures, without demanding any account of his father An'war-odean Khan's administration. Mr. Dupleix agreed to these terms, and imagined that they would very soon be carried into execution: so that nothing now retarded the departure of Murzafa-jing to Gol-condah and Aureng-abad, where his presence became every day more necessary. As the power of Mr. Dupleix depended on the preservation of this prince, whose government in a country subject, to such sudden revolutions, probably would not be free from commotions, he proposed that a body of French troops should accompany him until he was firmly established in the soubahship; and from experience of the services they were capable of rendering, this offer was accepted without hesitation.
The treasures of Nazir-jing were computed at two millions sterling, and the jewels at 500,000 pounds: in the partition of this wealth, a provision for the private fortune of Mr. Dupleix was not neglected, notwithstanding the offer which he had made in the conference with the Pitan Nabobs to relinquish all pretensions to any such advantage by the revolution; for, besides many valuable jewels it is said, that he received 200,000 pounds in money. Murzafa-jing gave 50,000 pounds to be divided among the officers and troops who had fought at the battle of Gingee, and paid 50,000 pounds more into the treasury of the French company, for the expences they had incurred in the war. The long experience of Shanavaze Khan in the administration of the Decan rendering his knowledge necessary ​to the instruction of a new regency, he was invited by Murzafa-jing to enter into his service, and came from Chittapet and made his submission.
Mr. Dupleix and Murzafa-jing separated with professions of mutual gratitude and attachment, and the army left the neighbourhood of Pondicherry on the 4th of January; the French detachment was commanded by Mr. Bussy, and consisted of 300 Europeans, and 2,000 Sepoys, with ten field pieces. The march was continued without interruption until the end of the month, when they arrived in the territory of Cudapah, about sixty leagues from Pondicherry. There some straggling horsemen quarrelled with the inhabitants of a village, and, with the usual licentiousness of the cavalry of Indostan, set fire not only to that, but likewise to two or three other villages in the neighbourhood. The Nabob of Cudapah, pretending to be greatly exasperated by this outrage, ordered a body of his troops to revenge it, by attacking the rear-guard of Murzafa-jing's division. A skirmish ensued, and the troops of Cudapah, overpowered by numbers retreated to their main body. Their attack, whether by chance or design is uncertain, had been directed against that part of the army which escorted the women; so that this defiance was aggravated by the most flagrant affront that the dignity of an Indian prince could receive: for the persons of women of rank are deemed sacred, even in war. Murzafa-jing no sooner heard of this insult, than he ordered his whole army to halt, put himself at the head of a large body of troops, and prepared to march against the Nabob of Cudapah. Mr. Bussy, who had been instructed to avoid, if possible, all occasions of committing hostilities in the rout to Gol-condah interposed, and with much difficulty prevailed on him to suspend his resentment, until the Nabob should explain the reasons of his conduct. Messengers were sent both from Murzafa-jing and Mr. Bussy: to those of Murzafa-jing the Nabob of Cudapah answered, that he waited for their master sword in hand; but to Mr. Bussy he sent word, that he was ready to make submissions to the Soubah through his mediation. The difference of these answers stung this prince to the quick, and nothing could now stop him from proceeding to take ​instant revenge. He told Mr. Bussy, who still attempted to calm him, that every Pitan in his army was a traitor born; and in a very few minutes the truth of his assertion was confirmed: for his spies brought intelligence, that the troops of all the three Nabobs were drawn up together in battle-array; that they were posted to defend a defile which lay in the road of the army, and that several posts leading to the defile were defended by cannon, which had been brought thither some days before. These preparations left no doubt that the rebellion of the Nabobs was premeditated; and indeed they had began to concert it from the very hour that they had taken the oath of allegiance in Pondicherry. Murzafa-jing, in full march at the head of his cavalry, grew impatient of the slow pace of the French battalion, and hurried away to attack the rebels without their assistance. The Pitan Nabobs had in their service many of their own countrymen, who, although much inferior in number, stood the shock with great intrepidity, and had even repulsed his troops before Mr. Bussy came up. The fire of the French artillery, after a severe slaughter, changed the fortune of the day, and obliged the Pitans to retreat; when Murzafa-jing, irritated by the repulse he had sustained, rallied his troops, and heedless of the remonstrances of Mr. Bussy, pursued the fugitives, and left once more the French battalion behind, who endeavoured to keep in sight of him, but in vain: they soon after came up to some of his troops, who were cutting to pieces the body of the Nabob of Savanore dead on the ground. The Nabob of Cudapah had fled out of the field desperately wounded, and in pursuing him, Murzafa-jing came up with the Nabob of Canoul, who finding he could not escape, turned with the handful of troops that surrounded him, and pushed on towards the elephant of his enemy. Exasperated by this defiance the young prince made a sign to his troops to leave the person of the Nabob to be attacked by himself. The two elephants were driven up close to each other, and Murzafa-jing had his sword uplifted to strike, when his antagonist thrusting his javelin, drove the point through his forehead into the, brain; he fell back dead: a thousand arms were aimed at the Nabob, who was in the same ​instant mortally wounded; and the troops, not satisfied with this atonement, fell with fury on those of the Nabob, whom they soon overpowered, and cut to pieces. The French battalion was preparing to hail thern returning from the field with acclamations of victory, when the news of Murzafa-jing's fate struck them with the deepest consternation. They immediately marched back to the camp, which they found in the utmost confusion; for large arrears of pay were due to the army; and it was to be apprehended that the soldiery would mutiny and plunder, and every general suspected all the others of sinister intentions.
But this disaster affected no interest more severely than that of the French; for by it were annihilated all the advantages which were gained by the murder of Nazir-jing: and Mr. Bussy was left without pretensions to interfere any farther in the concerns of the Decan. This officer saw all the desperate consequences of his present situation without losing his presence of mind: he assembled the generals and ministers, and found them as ready as himself to admit of any expedient by which the loss of their sovereign might be repaired. Besides the son of Murzafa-jing, an infant, there were in the camp three brothers of Nazir-jing, whom that prince had brought into the Carnatic under strict confinement, to prevent their engaging in revolts during his absence; and after his death they were continued under the same restraint by Murzafa-jing. Mr. Bussy proposed, that the vacant dignity of Soubah should be conferred on the eldest of the brothers, by name Salabat-jing; and the generals, from a sense of the convulsions to which the reign of a minor would be exposed, readily acquiesced to the exclusion of Murzafa-jing's son, and unanimously approved of Mr. Bussy's advice. It was immediately carried into execution, the three princes were released from their confinement, and Salabat-jing was proclaimed Soubah of the Decan, with the universal consent of the army. His elevation, and the signal catastrophe of this day in which three of the conspirators of Nazir-jing's death fell in battle fighting against each other, were regarded as a retribution of the divine justice. ​ Mr. Bussy immediately advised Mr. Dupleix of this revolution, and of the dispositions which he had made in favour of Salabat-jing, who agreed to confirm all the cessions made by his predecessor, and to give still greater advantages to the French nation. On these conditions, Mr. Dupleix acknowledged his right to the Soubahship, with as much ardor as he had asserted that of Murzafa-jing; and as soon as this approbation was received, the army left the country of Cudapah, and continued its march to Gol-condah.
End of the Second Book.