King Edward's realm: Story of the making of the Empire

by C. S. Dawe

1. The Seven Years' War, which came to a close in 1763, left Britain everywhere triumphant. But she was not left long to enjoy her triumph. Days of darkness came upon her, bringing defeat and disaster, and the loss of her principal colonies. Everywhere she had to fight to hold her own. And how well this was done for her in India by one of her ablest sons our story shall now tell.

2. If Clive was the founder of British rule in India, Warren Hastings was its preserver. Like Clive, he began his career as a clerk in the service of the East India Company. In the Bengal war he shouldered a musket and fought at Plassey; but Clive's quick eye soon perceived that there was more in his head than his arm, and he employed him as his agent at the court of the new nawab, Meer Jaffier. From this time Hastings steadily rose in the Company's service, until, in 1774, he was made Governor-General of India, the first to hold that office.

3. India at this time was a medley of nations under the nominal headship of the "Great Mogul"; but his power was very limited, and the princes who ruled in his name did much as they pleased. The most powerful of these native rulers were the Mahratta chiefs, and for many years it was a question whether the Mahrattas or the British should be the leading power in India.

4. The original seat of this fierce and cunning people was the wild range of hills that run along the western coast of India. When the Mogul empire fell to pieces, some time previously, the Mahratta chiefs made themselves masters of the central provinces, with Poona as their headquarters. They founded states which spread from sea to sea, and their sword was always at the service of the highest bidder. They were almost equally dreaded by friend and foe; the former were ruined by the heavy pay they extorted, and the latter had their country ravaged by fire and sword. Their cavalry moved in large bodies with marvellous speed, and wherever "their kettledrums were heard the peasant threw his bag of rice on his shoulder, hid his small savings in his girdle, and fled with his wife and children to the mountains or jungles, to the milder neighbourhood of the hyæna and the tiger."

5. Such were the people with whom Hastings had to contend for the safety of the British dominions in India. Hearing that France had sent an envoy to form an alliance with them, our governor-general determined to strike a decisive blow before a French force could arrive. The first general sent by Hastings bungled and failed. A new commander was appointed who spread the military renown of the British through regions where no European flag had ever been seen. Captain Popham, in particular, gained great applause by his capture of the great rock-fortress of Gwalior—a feat which all had thought impossible. At dead of night he led his forces, their feet wrapped in cotton, to the foot of the fortress. By means of ladders they silently scaled a smooth wall of rock, sixteen feet high. Above, a steep ascent of forty yards was climbed. A few of the sepoys were then drawn up a wall thirty feet high by ropes let down by some spies, and on being joined by their comrades, rushed forward and overpowered the sleeping garrison, thus gaining possession of the far-famed fortress.

6. Meanwhile our governor-general made all ready for the French. He knew that France had declared war (1778), and that a great French expedition was on the way. To Hastings' great delight there arrived from England, to take the chief command of the forces, Sir Eyre Coote, the hero of Wandewash, and the idol of the sepoys who had fought under him. An incident is mentioned by an English officer, half a century later, which shows the high honour in which Coote was held by the native soldiers. One of his veterans came to the officer who tells the story to present a memorial. Seeing a print of Coote hanging in the room, he at once recognised the face and figure which he had not seen for fifty years, and, forgetting his salute to the living, halted, drew himself up, lifted his hand, and made a solemn bow to the dead.

7. Coote's services were soon required after his arrival at Calcutta. A swift ship flying before the south-west monsoon brought the news that a great army of 90,000 men, under the direction of French officers, had poured down through the wild passes that led from the table-land of Mysore to the plains of the Carnatic. They had swept down under the command of Hyder Ali, a soldier of fortune, who had raised himself to the throne of Mysore, and who now sought, with the help of the French and the Mahrattas, to drive the British out of India. His squadrons had burst upon the Carnatic like a furious storm, spreading desolation and ruin far and wide, routing the small British force that stood in their way, and driving all before them up to the gates of Madras.

8. Such was the state of things in Southern India when Sir Eyre Coote arrived from Calcutta with all the troops that the governor-general could collect. He happily reached Madras before the expected French fleet appeared in the Indian seas. Without an hour's delay Coote sought the enemy, and brought him to battle at Porto Novo, a haven some forty miles south of Pondicherry. Though he could only muster nine thousand men to oppose a force ten times as numerous, yet after six hours of conflict the enemy fled in dismay. Every town on the coast under French rule was seized at once, so that when the French fleet arrived it found no port where it could refit. Its nearest station was in the Mauritius, two thousand miles away.

9. Many forgotten battles, with varying fortune, were fought in the five years that followed this great victory; but by 1783 the war had burnt itself out, leaving the Carnatic a scene of desolation. In Bengal, however, our governor-general had been able to maintain peace and to insure to the natives the fruits of their labours. "Under the nawabs," says Macaulay, "the hurricane of Mahratta cavalry had passed annually over the rich plain of the Ganges. But even the Mahratta shrank from a conflict with the mighty children of the sea; and the rich harvests of the Lower Ganges were safely gathered in under the protection of the English sword." One homely instance may be given of the general security felt by the poor natives under British rule. "A good rain this for the bread," said one Indian peasant to another. "Yes," was the reply, "and a good government under which one may eat bread in safety."

10. In all his schemes for the success of his rule and the honour of his country, Hastings was constantly thwarted by a member of the Supreme Council, named Francis. The quarrel between them at last, according to the custom of those days, led to a duel. In this duel, we get a glimpse of the calm courage and high spirit of the man, who was as a pillar on which rested the whole fabric of our rule in India. The seconds in the duel had taken the precaution to bake the powder for their respective friends, nevertheless, Francis' pistol missed fire. Hastings obligingly waited until he had reprimed. This time the pistol went off, but the shot flew wide of the mark. Then Hastings coolly returned the shot, and the bullet entered the right side of his foe. As soon as he was well enough to travel Francis went home to England, and poisoned men's minds against him.