Page 80

Chapter III – From 1755 to 1756

The Peishwa’s troops, assisted by the English, reduce a part of Angria’s territory – The Peishwa proceeds against Savanoor – A secret plot between the Peishwa and Shah Nuwaz Khan alluded to – Particulars of the connection between Ballajee Bajee Rao and the English – their views on Surat – Expedition against Angria under Commodore James – Capture of Severndroog – Dastardly conduct of the Mahratta fleet – Second expedition against Angria under Ramajee Punt and Khundoojee Mankur, on the part of the Peishwa and under Admiral Watson and Colonel Clive, on the part of the English – Previous successes of the Mahrattas – Siege and capture of Gheriah – Reprehensible conduct of the English in regard to the prize property – They endeavour to retain possession of Gheriah – Siege and reduction of Savanoor – Plot developed – M Bussy’s corps dismissed from the service of Sulabut Jung – Bussy marches from Savanoor towards Mausulipatam – takes post at Hyderabad – is reinforced – Influence re-established with Sulabut Jung – Negotiation between the Bombay government and the Peishwa – Treaty of Poona, AD 1756

1755

The civil administration at the Mahratta capital, continued under the management of Sewdasheo Chimnajee. The Peishwa remained at Poona for nearly a year, and during that time, by the assistance of the English, in the manner hereafter explained, his troops had reduced a part of Angria’s country, including the important fortress of Severndroog. After the monsoon, the Mahratta army in the Concan was strengthened, in expectation of further aid from the Presidency

Page 81

of Bombay, but whilst the preparations were going forward, the Peishwa’s presence was again required in the Carnatic. Muzuffir Khan, an officer who had commanded M. Bussy’s sepoys, and had gone over to the Peishwa in 1752, accompanied the army, sent by the Peishwa in the preceding year into the Carnatic, under Mahadajee Punt. Having taken offence at some interference in the muster of his corps, he quitted the Peishwa’s service, and proceeded to Seringapatam, but afterwards joined the Nabob of Savanoor. As the Nabob refused to give him up, and was supported by his old allies the Ghorepurays of Gootee and Sondoor, the Peishwa assembled a great army, which was augmented by the junction of Janojee Bhonslay, with his contingent of ten thousand horse; the whole force crossed the Kistna, took Bagulkote, and then proceeded to attack Savanoor. The prime minister of Hyderabad, Shah Nuwaz Khan, who was, at this time, for a special purpose, in secret league with the Peishwa, observing this formidable assembly of troops on the part of the Mahrattas, with well dissembled alarm, collected troops for the avowed purpose of forming an army of observation on the Kistna. Wukeels were in due form sent by the Peishwa, to declare his pacific intentions, and to solicit aid against the Nabob of Savanoor, the subject of Sulabut Jung; whose conduct, he represented, as hostile to both states, and his power, if not instantly crushed, of a nature to threaten the subjugation of the Carnatic. Sulabut Jung and Monsieur Bussy having been brought to accede to an alliance, the Moghul army marched to

Page 82

assist the Mahrattas, then besieging Savanoor83.

1756

Leaving the combined army engaged in these operations, it is fit to revert to the affairs of the Concan, and the expeditions against Angria; for although, to the Mahrattas, the transactions on the west coast appeared, and comparatively were insignificant, they acquire an importance, because they explain the first continental acquisitions of the English in Maharashtra, of which the whole population are now subjects of Great Britain, or politically under its control.

1750

Mr. Richard Bourchier, on the 24th November, 1750, announced to the Peishwa, that he had succeeded to the government of Bombay and its dependancies, on the 17th of the same month; and from that period, a more intimate intercourse commenced between the Mahrattas and the English. They had for some years been mutually desirous of settling Surat, and suppressing the depredations of Toolajee Angria. Ballajee Bajee Rao, on the first service he had seen, in the year 1740, was impressed with a high idea of the English, from their conduct when they relieved Mannajee Angria, at Kolabah. The warfare in the Carnatic had greatly contributed to raise their military reputation, and their fidelity to their master (as Mohummud Ally was termed), whose cause they had once embraced, had much effect in raising their national character in the minds of the natives of India.

Ballajee had early promised to assist Mr. Bourchier in restoring order in Surat, where, from the

Page 83

weakness of the Moghul Government, there were three or four authorities, besides the agents of Dummajee Gaekwar and the English factory. Seedee Musaood, an officer of the Seedee of Jinjeera, who had command of that part of the Seedee’s squadron, whose proper duty was to protect the trade of Surat, having part of the revenue assigned for that sole purpose, was a principal cause of the many broils which took place in that city. The English at Bombay had always maintained a friendly intercourse with the Seedees of Jinjeera, because theirs was the only territory, in the vicinity, from which they could procure beef for supplying their ships. In other parts of the Mahratta coast, cows and bullocks were sacred; for to prey on human flesh would not be more revolting to the feelings of a European, than eating beef to the prejudices of a Hindoo. Seedee Musaood had taken advantage of the distractions in Surat, and the confusion in the government at Jinjeera, virtually to throw off his dependance on all authority; and like most of the African race, who have attained power in India, he was overbearing in his deportment, and tyrannical in his behaviour.

The depredations of the pirates on the coast were still continued; for although Sumbhajee Anglia was dead, and Mannajee remained in nominal obedience to the Peishwa, and generally pacific towards the English, Toolajee, who had succeeded to the territories of his half-brother, Sumbhajee, situated between Bancoote and Sawunt Waree, disavowed the Peishwa’s authority, and seized and plundered all ships, not bearing his own

Page 84

passport, which he could overpower. The Raja of Kolapoor, and the Sawunts of Waree, followed a like system; and by the English, were indiscriminately termed Malwans; a name given to them from the fort of Malwan, or Sindeedroog, which commanded the principal fort on their coast, and belonged to the Raja of Kolapoor.

The war which took place between the Mahrattas and the Moghuls, subsequent to the murder of Nasir Jung, prevented the Peishwa from effecting the settlement in Surat. An agreement was made with the English, for their co-operation against that place, through Ramajee Punt, Sur-soobehdar of the Concan, at the time when Rugonath Rao was recalled (1751.), to assist in the war against Sulabut Jung. This derangement of their plan was a great disappointment to the Bombay government, after the expectations they had formed, and, therefore, that their expensive preparations might not be abandoned without some effort, they entered into an agreement84, independent of the Mahrattas, with Nek Alum Khan, Nabob of Baroach; but the scheme proved unsuccessful.

The occupation of Guzerat, the siege of Ahmedabad, and the Carnatic expeditions, prevented the Peishwa from joining to reduce Surat, or from cooperating in attacking Toolajee Angria, until the beginning of the year 1755. The Mahrattas had then a short interval of leisure, and the Presidency of Bombay, when unexpectedly called on, in the month of March, although such an expedition was to them in the highest degree

Page 85

desirable, began to start difficulties respecting the lateness of the season, though these objections may have been purposely raised, as they certainly made the Mahrattas more urgent in their application. Ramajee Mahdeo Furnuwees, the Sur-soobehdar of the Concan, was deputed by Ballajee to settle a plan of operations, and conclude the agreement. The council, although they had no king’s ship at Bombay; resolved to make the attempt, and Commodore James, of the Company’s Marine, was selected for the command of the expedition, which consisted of a forty-four gun ship, a ketch of sixteen guns, and two bomb vessels. Six or seven articles were subscribed by the contracting parties, by which the English were to have the command of the marine, but mutual approbation was necessary in the conduct of all operations. The vessels that might be taken from Angria, were to be divided by the captors, but the guns and stores were to belong entirely to the Peishwa. Bancoote with the fort of Himmutgurh, and the sovereignty of the river on which it stands, with five villages, were to be ceded in perpetuity to the English. But the President and Council seem to have considered these stipulations as pledging them too far, and therefore one of the articles guardedly states, that the English only engage to keep the sea, and prevent Angria’s fleet from throwing succours into the northern forts of Severndroog, Anjenweel and Jyegurh.

The strongest forts which Toolajee Angria possessed, were Severndroog and Viziadroog. The latter, as already mentioned, was better known in

Page 86

those days by its Moghul name of Gheriah. On account of the approaching monsoon, it was deemed inexpedient to reduce Gheriah, or any of the forts south of those three specified in the articles. The small squadron under Commodore James, sailed from Bombay harbour in the evening of the feed March. A wanton delay on the part of the Mahratta fleet, enabled Angria’s vessels at Severndroog to avoid the English ships. Commodore James, after a fruitless chace as far as Jyegurh, returned to Severndroog, where he commenced operations on the 2d April; stood close under the fortifications, and by noon of the fourth day from the commencement of the attack, was in possession of the four distinct forts of which Severndroog consists, without the loss of a man: an achievement, which from the previous idea entertained of the pirate Angria, and the strength of the fortifications, was matter of surprise even to those who accomplished it. The whole success was justly attributed to the vigour and judgment of Commodore James, and the resolution of his handful of troops and sailors. The Peishwa’s fleet never ventured within gun-shot, and Naroo Punt, a carcoon of Sebundees, who commanded, being unaccustomed to the sea, although he had headed several assaults on land, behaved in the most dastardly manner. Shumsher Buhadur, the Peishwa’s half-brother, was sent down from Poona, with a body of troops, to reinforce Ramajee Mahdeo, and several of the forts in the neighbourhood of Severndroog surrendered to him. Elated by this success, the Mahrattas pushed on to Rutnaguiry, but the

Page 87

stay of the ships was limited to the end of April, and although subsequently directed, at the Peishwa’s earnest solicitation, to continue till the 15th of May, the season was too far advanced to permit of their acting with effect, owing to the heavy swell which is caused by the setting in of the southerly winds, about a fortnight before the rains. Commodore James, finally returned to Bombay, on the 18th May. Severndroog was punctually made over to the Mahrattas; but Bancoote, by the wish of the English, was not given over till after the ensuing October, when they got possession. The reason of requiring this cession, was to obviate that dependance on the Seedee, which has been explained. The Peishwa was assured by Mr. Bourchier, that the assistance he desired should be granted at the opening of the season, when the expected arrival of the king’s ships from the opposite coast, under Admiral Watson, would place more powerful means at his disposal.

Before that time, however, the Presidency obtained aid on which they had not calculated, by the arrival of Lieutenant Colonel Clive, with a large detachment of soldiers from Europe. The French establishments in the Deccan had created a jealous alarm in England, and it was there projected to send a force to Bombay, with the view of entering into an alliance with the Mahrattas, which had for its object the expulsion of the French from their districts in the Deccan, and from the service of Sulabut Jung. The articles of the truce agreed to by Mr. Saunders and Monsieur Godeheu, in the preceding year, on the coast of Coromandel, precluded,

Page 88

in the opinion of the Bombay Government, the employment of this force on its original destination, until accounts should be received from Europe, approving or annulling the articles in question85. The Madras Presidency were of a contrary opinion, but on this subject, their arguments and their whole design certainly more resemble the sophistry and artifice of a Dupleix, than the strong straight forward sense, which distinguished the general conduct and deliberations of that government86.

The Governor of Bombay, in consultation with Admiral Watson and Colonel Clive, resolved to seize the opportunity afforded by the presence of so large an armament, to reduce Toolajee Angria. A commission, consisting of Mr. Hough, one of the members of council, Admiral Watson, and Colonel Clive, was invested by the Governor in Council, with powers to conclude all necessary arrangements and agreements, according to instructions with which they were furnished. Three ships of the line, one ship of fifty, and another of forty-four guns, with several armed vessels belonging to the Bombay marine, amounting in all to fourteen sail, proceeded, in the month of February, on this expedition, having on board eight hundred European soldiers, and one thousand Native infantry. Since the month of November, a body of the

Page 89

Peishwa’s troops, under Khundoojee Mankur, had been successfully employed against Toolajee Angria, and had, with the exception of Gheriah, reduced the whole of his forts along the coast, to the northward of that place. No loss of any importance was sustained by them in the attacks, but at Rajapoor, one of the places which they took, after they had got possession, three hundred men were killed by an accidental explosion, owing to the careless manner in which the Mahrattas expose their gunpowder.

1756

When the English armament appeared off Gheriah, Toolajee repaired to the Mahratta camp, for the purpose of making the best terms he could: Ramajee Punt, and Khundoojee Mankur, were negotiating for the surrender, which was deemed by the British authorities, a violation of the agreement concluded in the preceding year; and therefore, in order to prevent their obtaining possession, Admiral Watson attacked the sea face on the 12th February, whilst Colonel Clive, landing with the troops the same night, invested it on the land side, so as to prevent the Mahrattas from having any communication with the garrison. If the Mahratta authorities intended to possess themselves of Gheriah, in the manner alleged, which, from several circumstances, as well as their known chicane, is more than probable, the British authorities might be deemed justifiable in anticipating them; but, on this point, and their subsequent attempt to keep the fort, the evidence is not so satisfactory as to allow our countrymen the merit of a decision entirely correct, or a disinterestedness wholly unimpeachable.

Page 90

Ramajee Punt had intimated, on the arrival of Admiral Watson, that he was in treaty, and promised to come on board for the purpose of obtaining the sanction of the commissioners. He did not come at the time appointed, and his car-coon had the assurance to offer Mr. Hough a bribe of any sum, on condition that he could get the admiral to suspend operations. The admiral, therefore, was certainly justified in commencing the attack; but it appears, that the property contained in Gheriah was well known, and a committee of ten officers, of which Admirals Watson and Pocoke, Mr. Hough and Colonel Clive, were members, had, before they left Bombay harbour, agreed to share the whole prize property, without reference to their allies87. If the Mahrattas had intelligence of this proceeding, they had an equal right to anticipate the English. Ramajee Punt, when he found Colonel Clive had occupied a position between him and the fort, perceived what was intended, and endeavoured to get in a few of his men by any means. With this view, he made secret overtures to Captain Andrew Buchanan, the officer on picket, offering him a bill on Bombay for eighty thousand rupees, if he would permit him and a few of his people to pass into the fort, an offer which was rejected as became a British officer, but it is a circumstance worthy of notice, as elucidating the character of the times, that the Bombay Government

Page 91

thought common honesty so rare, as to present Captain Buchanan with a gold medal, in consideration of his extraordinary good behaviour.

Gheriah surrendered to Admiral Watson, on the evening of the 13th February. During the bombardment, a shell thrown amongst Angria’s fleet, which lay at some distance up the river, burst in the Restoration, a vessel Angria had taken from the Bombay Government, set her on fire, and the flames rapidly communicating, his whole fleet, in the course of an hour, was totally destroyed. The captors of Gheriah declared, that the Mahrattas had no right to share in the prize property, and divided about ten lacks of rupees, according to the plan agreed upon before they weighed anchor. Toolajee Angria’s family were taken in the fort. Toolajee was also taken, put in irons, and thrown into one of the Peishwa’s hill forts, near Raigurh.

The President and Council on obtaining possession of Gheriah, were unwilling to relinquish it. They wished to give back Bancoote in exchange for Gheriah; but this offer the Mahrattas peremptorily refused, and urged their right in the clearest manner, to its unreserved surrender, according to the articles of agreement. The Peishwa, in the course of his representations, made repeated applications to Madras, and complaints to the King of England; but to all these remonstrances, Mr. Bourchier declared, that the articles had been infringed by the Mahrattas, that they had not fixed the limits of the Bancoote cession, that Toolajee Angria had not been delivered up to them, and, worse than all, that the Peishwa had

Page 92

contracted for a supply of goods from the Dutch. This last objection alluded not to the agreement made by Ramajee Punt, but to that settled with the Raja Shao, through the agency of Chimnajee Appa, in 1739; the two first were evasive, the last did not relate to the point in question. Mr. Bourchier even condescended to present five thousand rupees to the Carcoon of Ramajee Punt, in order to induce him to persuade his master to accede to the exchange, and he agreed to waive the question of Toolajee Angria, on the simple assertion of the Mahrattas, that he should be well treated, and never receive any territory within forty miles of the sea. In one respect they kept their word: Toolajee Angria, after long endurance of rigid captivity, in the fort of Wundun, near Satara, was removed to the fort of Sholapoor, where he died. Two of his sons made their escape twelve or fourteen years after their capture, and were protected at Bombay, during the government of Mr. Crommelin.

In the early part of these discussions, the Peishwa was employed at Savanoor. When he was urging Sulabut Jung to enter on that expedition, in order to excite the jealousy of Bussy, and blind his usual penetration, with regard to the design which was in progress, Ballajee Rao wrote to the Presidency of Madras, for a supply of European artillery-men and guns. The members of that government, were not quite certain who this Ballajee Rao was, “but as according to the best information they could obtain, he was said to be the head of all the Mahrattas;” they agreed to assist him, if he would

Page 93

send a detachment of his army, to meet and escort their troops to his camp88. The Peishwa’s whole object consisted in the application, and there the matter of course dropped. The army of Sulabut Jung having joined the Mahrattas, Bussy, than whom no Frenchman better knew the art of display, prepared his artillery, and in the face of the two armies, amounting to one hundred thousand men, opened a fire on Savanoor, so heavy and efficacious, as to intimidate the garrison, and excite the lasting admiration of the besiegers. Prior to this, the Peishwa, through the agency of Bulwunt Rao Mendlee89, one of his own officers had contrived to detach the Ghorepurays from the alliance90, and Moorar Rao, in consequence, it is said, of his former engagements with the French, procured the interposition of Bussy in his favour, with the government of Sulabut Jung91, of which this Mahratta chief was, it will be recollected, a dependant92. The Nabob of Savanoor was admitted to terms, and on giving up a part of his territory, and making due submission to Sulabut Jung and the Peishwa, a reconciliation took place. Muzuffir Khan was entertained, probably at first secretly, in the service of Sulabut Jung, and Moorar Rao,

Page 94

Ghorepuray, with his own and the Sondoor Mahrattas, returned to Gootee in the month of May.

A considerable part of these arrangements was preparatory to the secret scheme contemplated by the Peishwa93 and Shah Nuwaz Khan, of compelling the French to quit the Deccan. Shortly after the fall of Savanoor, it was intimated to M. Bussy, that the services of his corps were no longer required by the Soobehdar of the Deccan. This unexpected communication at once laid open to Bussy the extent of the machinations against him, and he took his measures for counteracting them with admirable prudence and decision. Few Europeans in India have been placed in greater difficulties, than those which were surmounted by M. Bussy on this occasion. His corps consisted of two hundred cavalry, and six hundred infantry, all Europeans, five thousand sepoys, and a fine train of artillery, enough to have made the whole army of the Deccan pay dear for their treachery; but Bussy knew the influence of the deserter Muzuffir Khan, over some of his oldest sepoys, and had great reason to doubt their fidelity. He was surrounded by a host of enemies, in a part of the country where he was an entire stranger, and he at once adopted a plan which divided his enemies, secured his retreat, and enabled him to recover his power at the

Page 95

court of Sulabut Jung.

14 June 1756

He accepted his dismissal from the service, demanded passports to Mausulipatam, and marched straight to Hyderabad, where, immediately on his arrival, he occupied some strong buildings, and prepared for defence.

After he quitted the allied camp, his design having been suspected, a detachment was sent in pursuit of him, accompanied by six thousand of Sulabut Jung’s Mahrattas, under Ramchundur, the son of Chunderseyn Jadow, and Janojee Nimbalkur (Rao Rumbha) of Kurmulla, but Bussy effected his purpose with little loss. One of his first acts, on discovering the conspiracy, was to write off an account of his situation to Pondicherry and Mausulipatam, where the French authorities used every possible exertion to reinforce him. He also expected a body of six hundred recruits, Arabs and Abyssinians, whom he had enlisted at Surat, but Janojee Nimbalkur, hearing of their approach, intercepted the party, and killed fifty of them, before they submitted as prisoners.

Shah Nuwaz Khan was with Nasir Jung, when he lost his life in the Carnatic, and although he had dissembled his enmity, he was never reconciled to the French. He had a better opinion of the English nation, and at his suggestion, an application was made to Madras, for a body of troops to assist in expelling Bussy. That Presidency would have taken advantage of an offer which accorded so entirely with their views, but the disastrous account of the capture of Calcutta, on the 20th June, by Shujah-ud-Dowlah, Nabob of Bengal, the grand-nephew

Page 96

and successor of Aliverdy Khan, arrived at Madras in July, and obliged the English to send every disposable man to recover their lost settlement, and avenge the fate of their murdered countrymen.

In the meantime, Bussy maintained his post at Hyderabad, against the army of Sulabut Jung, and contrived to secure in his interests, Ramchundur Jadow and Janojee Nimbalkur, the principal Mahrattas in the Moghul service. They did not oppose the advancing reinforcement from Mausulipatam, and although great efforts were made to cut them off; the troops joined Bussy in the middle of August94.

Page 97

A reconciliation with Sulabut Jung immediately took place, and Bussy, for the time, attained greater power than ever. Muzuffir Khan was not surrendered to the French, as Bussy desired, but he was dismissed from the service, and shortly after appeared at Poona, where, on making humble apologies to the Peishwa, and many promises of future good behaviour, he was again entertained, contrary to the advice of Sewdasheo Chimnajee95.

The Peishwa returned to Poona on the 20th July, and, in a conciliatory letter, announces that event to Mr. Bourchier; begs of him to send some gentlemen to Poona, for the purpose of settling several points of importance, but requests that Gheriah may be immediately restored. He also informs the Governor of an unsuccessful attack, by the Portuguese, upon the fort of Ponda; an attempt made, as afterwards appears, for the purpose of deterring the Mahrattas, from the projected conquest of Goa, contemplated by Sewdasheo Rao Bhow. The Portuguese viceroy lost his life at Ponda, by the misbehaviour of his troops, but other events prevented the Mahrattas from attacking Goa. Mr. Bourchier, amongst the arguments used to induce the Peishwa to take back Bancoote in exchange for Gheriah, lays great stress on its advantageous situation, as a barrier to the Mahrattas,

Page 98

against the Portuguese. Ballajee, in reply, does not conceal his contempt for that nation, and artfully parries the argument, by hinting at an effectual method of obviating the necessity of a barrier, by at once assisting to expel them96.

As soon as the weather permitted, Mr. John Spencer, accompanied by Mr. Thomas Byfield, both members of the Bombay Council, proceeded to Poona, according to the Peishwa’s request. Although Mr. Spencer was junior to Mr. Byfield, the executive part of the mission was committed to him, and he conducted it with ability. He had a long interview with the Peishwa, in the beginning of October, at which Rugonath Rao, and Sewdasheo Rao Bhow were present97. By that time, the restoration of Bussy’s influence at the Court of Hyderabad was known, and the Peishwa was sincere in a desire he expressed, of obtaining the services of a body of English troops. But Mr. Spencer was instructed by the President in Council, who acted upon fresh orders from the Court of Directors, to evade any solicitation of this nature that might be made, and to decline entering upon the engagement for which troops had been sent out in the preceding season; a scheme which was therefore never communicated to the court of Poona. Mr. Spencer told the Peishwa of the application, which the Madras Presidency had received from Sulabut Jung, for a body of English troops to assist in expelling the French, a connection,

Page 99

of which Ballajee Rao, unreservedly, expressed his disapprobation.

12 October 1756

A treaty was concluded with the Peishwa at Poona, on the 12th October. The exclusion of the Dutch from the trade of the Mahratta dominions; the surrender of Gheriah within twenty-four days after the departure of Mr. Spencer, and Mr. Byfield from Poona; and the cession of ten villages, including Bancoote, with the sovereignty of its river, to the East India Company, are the substance of eighteen articles of which the agreement consists. The Peishwa also consents to wave all claims on the Honourable Company, up to the date of the treaty; to give Toolajee Angria no territory below the Ghauts; to settle an equivalent with the Seeddee, for one-fourth of the customs levied by him from the vessels in Bancoote river; and to exact no additional inland duties on English merchandize98.

Footnotes

83. Mahratta MSS. Khuzaneh Amirah.

84. Bombay Records, Nov, 1751.

85. Letters from Mr. Bourchier to Mr. Pigot, 25th September, 1755. Bombay consultations, 21st January, 1756. Letter to the Court of Directors, 31st January, 1756.

86. Dispatch from the Madras Government to Bombay, 90th November, 1755.

87. Copy of their proceedings on the Bombay Records. The other officers who sign these proceedings are, Captains Knowles, Latham, Speke, and Harrison, of the navy; Major Chalmers and Captain Skeddy of the military service.

88. Letter from the Madras government, 14th April, 1756.

89. One MS. states that Ghorepuray made his peace through the agency of Holkar.

90. Mahratta MS. supported by a copy of a letter found in the Poona Records, from the Peishwa to Bulwunt Rao Gunput Mendlee, which alludes to his agency on that occasion.

91. Wilks.

92. Upon the surrender of Trichinopoly to Nizam Ool Moolk, in 1743, he was confirmed as Jagheerdar of Gootee.

93. The scheme, if we are to credit the evidence obtained by Mr. Spencer, who was at Poona, as an envoy from Bombay, a few months afterwards, originated with the Mahratta court, and the whole intrigue was managed by Amrut Rao the Wukeel of Bulwunt Rao Mendlee.

94. I have here gone more into events already well known than may appear altogether necessary, but having deviated in some degree from Mr. Orme’s account, and considerably from that of Colonel Wilks, where my authority is less clear than, under such difference of opinion, I could wish, I shall submit my reasons to the judgment of the reader. Colonel Wilks states that the Peishwa made overtures to Bussy the day after he quitted the camp, and adduces arguments, which, without evidence, do not appear to me satisfactory on this point. The Madras Presidency were apprehensive that the French might enter Ballajee Rao’s service, as appears on the Bombay Records, but on what. grounds is no where explained. Colonel Wilks also states, that the Peishwa sent a corps to protect Bussy; but the Mahrattas who followed him seem to have been entirely Moghul subjects. There is another point of some importance, as it regards a person whose character has always excited attention. Colonel Wilks mentions that M. Bussy was obliged by circumstances to take post at Hyderabad. If the fact be so it greatly detracts from Al. Bussy’s reputation. His great merit on that occasion certainly was, as a politician, in exerting the influence he had acquired, to maintain his post, facilitate the march of the reinforcement, and preserve opinion in his favor. If he intended to retreat to Mausulipatam, why was one of his first steps to write off for reinforcements both to Pondicherry and Mausulipatam? Had Bussy continued his march to Mausulipatam he could not have forced his way back to Hyderabad.

95. Mahratta MSS.

96. Original letters, Bombay records.

97. Mr. Spencer’s report of his mission on the Bombay records.

98. English Records. This treaty was published in the appendix to the 5th Report from the Committee of Secrecy.

This collection transcribed by Chris Gage
hosted by ibiblio Support Wikipedia