The National Register. — 1815-11-26 (London, England)

PROMINENT FEAVIRES OF THE WAR IN THE EAST INDIES.  Futtighur, 12th June, 1815.  1. The Sieks possess a large tract of country ; their tribes are headed by Runjeet Sing, a warlike and ambitious leader. Their usual military establishment may be estimated at 28,000 men. The Sieks under our protection can bring into the field about 17,000 soldiers. At the breaking out of the Napaul war, this state was fortunately engaged in a war with Kashmere, and threatened by the King of Cot hul. 2dly, Sindiah has about 40,000 soldiers; he is said to be in close alliance with the Rajah of Berar and with the Bhurtpon Rajah. He has acquired much strength since the Marhatta war, by bringing the feudatory States under his immediate controul.  311ly, Ameer Khan may have 28,000 soldiers; Muhomed Shah and Lall Sing, who generally act with him, can bring 20,000 more into the field. A Khan is generally in want of money, and when his troops become mutinous for being kept in arrears, he gives them perhaps half their pay, with authority to plunder to the amount of what is still due to them.  4thly, Hulka is poor, and has only 17,000 men. Ame r Khan, Mahunted Shah, and Lull Sing are nominally his Generals.  slhly, The Pindares are a tribe of military adventurers, who having followed the standards of different Chiefs, and from the present tranquil state of Ilindoostan, being out of employ, have joined with other brigands and have cemented themselves into one great body of 40000 soldiers. These hardy troops infest the neighbouring provinces for plunder, and will fight under any Chief who will hest pay them. They may be compared to the companies which infested the provinces of France in the time of our Edward 111. and who first drove Peter the Cruel of Spain from his throne, and then, under the Black Prince, replaced that monster. I have now given you an account of most of the principal States which I consider decidedly hustle to us; to those countries which subsidize from us t have not referred, because power is to a great degree taken out of their hands. You are aware that the immediate causes of the Nepali' war were the depredations, encroachments, and murders, which the Goorkahs committed on the British frontier, and which their Government refused to make any atonement for whatever. The reasons for bringing matters to an immediate issue were these—that the Goorkahs were becoming every day more powerful : that opinion, the great and good support of our power in India, would have been much weakened by the cowardly sufferance of such lawless cruelties and snob shameless aggressions. The general state of India too, presented a fortunate moment. The Sieks were engaged in a difficult war, and the other hostile powers though formidable, had not had time to coalesce against us; nor had they, nor could they derive aid or assistance from any European power. These circumstances are the more worthy of consideration, because the Nepaul nation possess all that bravery which characterises mountaineers; they have been enured to war, and they inhabit a country, which to subdue, even when divided into petty states, had baffled all the efforts of the most formidable of the Mogul conquerors ; so that by a superstitious people, this country was foolishly thought to be protected by magic. No sooner was the war decided upon, than stores were provided, by which timely arrangement, and by giving the soldiers money in lieu of half their rations, the expences of the war have not exceeded one half of the original estimate,