GEORGE III. 1786-1787
A RETROSPECTIVE VIEW OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.
Hitherto, to avoid embarrassing the narrative of the American war, no notice has been taken in this “Continuation” of the progress of the British arms in India. The last event recorded in the history, was the capture of Pondicherry by Colonel Coote, by which event the French power in India was destroyed. An attempt, however, was made to revive this power in the province of Bengal, About the middle of the year 1760, the year in which Pondicherry was captured, an adventurer, named Law, nephew of the celebrated projector, at the head of some French fugitives, persuaded the Mogul, Shah Zada, who had lately sealed himself on his father’s throne, to invade this province. Law had previously rendered some important services to the mogul against some native princes who had opposed his elevation; and it was thought that nothing could resist the progress of his arms. With his French fugitives and 80,000 natives, Law made incursions into the province of Bahar, which province suffered so severely that Major Carnac was sent by the council of the East India Company to assist the rajah Ramnarrain in restraining his ravages. It was in January, 1761, when Carnac advanced with 20,000 Asiatic allies on this service, and in three days he arrived at Gyah Maunpore, where the enemy was encamped. An engagement took place soon after his arrival, and both the mogul and his rash adviser, Law, were taken prisoners. Law was treated by his captors in a manner which his bravery on the field of battle demanded, and which greatly exalted them in the estimation of the Asiatics.
The fate of Count Lally, who had bravely defended Pondicherry against Colonel Coote, was very different from that of Law. Though he had been the most active partisan that ever attached himself to the French cause in India, yet he was doomed, on his arrival in France, to suffer both indignities and death. His sufferings are thus described by Mr. Mill:— “By the feeble measures of a weak and defective government, a series of disasters, during some preceding years, had fallen on France; and a strong sentiment of disapprobation prevailed in the nation against the hands by which the machine of government was conducted. When the loss of the boasted acquisitions of the nation in India was reported, the public discontent was fanned into a flame, and the ministry were far from easy with regard to the shock which it might give to the structure of their power. Anything, therefore, was to be done which might have the effect of averting their danger; and, fortunately for them, many persons arrived from India, boiling with resentment against Lally, and pouring out the most bitter accusations. Fortunately for them, likewise, the public, swayed as usual by first appearances, and attaching the blame to the man who had the more immediate guidance of the affairs on which ruin had come, appeared abundantly disposed to overlook the ministry in their condemnation of Lally. The popular indignation was carefully cultivated; and by one of those acts of imposture and villany, of which the history of ministers in all the countries of Europe affords no lack of examples, it was resolved to raise a screen between the ministry and popular hatred by the cruel and disgraceful destruction of Lally. On his arrival in France he was thrown into the Bastille, and this place being deemed too honourable for him, he was subsequently thrown into a common prison. An accusation, consisting of vague or frivolous imputations, was preferred against him; and nothing whatever was proved, except that his conduct did not come up to the very perfection of prudence and wisdom, and that he had displayed the greatest ardour in the service, the greatest disinterestedness, fidelity, and perseverance, with no common share of military talent and of mental resources. The grand tribunal of the nation, the parliament of Paris, found no difficulty in seconding the wishes of the ministry, and the artificial cry of the day, by condemning him to an ignominious death. Lally, confident in his innocence, had never once anticipated the possibility of any other sentence than that of an honourable acquittal; and when it was read to him in his dungeon, he was thrown into an agony of surprise and indignation, and taking up a pair of compasses with which he had been sketching a chart of the Coromandel coast, he struck at his proud, indignant heart; but his arm was held by one of the functionaries in attendance. With indecent precipitation he was executed on that very day. He was dragged through the streets of Paris in a dung-cart, and, lest he should address the people, a gag was stuffed into his mouth, so large as to project beyond his lips. Voltaire, who had already signalized his pen by some memorable interpositions in favour of justice and the oppressed, exerted himself to expose, in a clear light, the real circumstances of this fearful transaction, which Mr. Orme scruples not to call ‘a murder committed by the sword of justice.’”
In the meantime Colonel Clive, who had deposed the Surajah Dowla, Nabob of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, and had raised Meer Jaffier Ali Khan to that dignity, as recorded in a previous page in Smollet’s division of this history, and who had rendered other important services to the British cause in India, had arrived in England, where he was received with all honour. He was raised to the Irish peerage by the title of Baron Clive of Plaissey—the name of the place where he had defeated the nabob—and was flattered by the prospect of a speedy elevation to the English peerage, which would give him a seat in the British house of peers. While in England he was involved in a dispute with the company on the Jaghire rents, which had been conferred on him by Meer Jaffier, whom he had raised to the throne of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa. His most active opponent was Mr. Sulivan, but Clive eventually gained his point; and not only were the Jaghire rents confirmed to him for ten years, if he should live that period, but he was nominated governor and commander-in-chief of the British possessions in Bengal, with the express understanding that no other officer, of whatever rank, should have the power of interfering with his command.
Clive returned to India, where he arrived in May, 1705. On his return he found everything in a complete state of confusion and disorganization. Before his departure for Calcutta, the seat of his government, it was rumoured that the Shah Zada had collected an army, and was advancing against Patna, which was under the jurisdiction of the Hindu governor, Itamnarrain. The Shah Zada pretended to take up arms against Ghazee-u-Deen, the vizier and master at Delhi, and Ghazee-u-Deen, enraged thereat, in a fit of desperation murdered the Great Mogul. After this tragical event the Shah Zada took the state and title of emperor, and conferred the office of vizier upon Soujah-Dowla, the powerful ruler of Oude. The new emperor assumed the name of Shah-Alum, or “King of the World,” and he had no sooner ascended the throne than he advanced against Patna. Ramnarrain was defeated, but Colonel Calliaud soon after arrived on the scene of action, with about three hundred English and one thousand sepoys, and Shah-Alum was routed, and compelled to take refuge in flight. The young emperor, however, being joined by Mr. Law, with his small body of French, and by the sub-governor of Purneah, soon returned to Patna; and the town being almost wholly destitute of troops, he would have captured it, had not Captain Knox appeared to its relief. The besiegers were driven, by the gallantry of Knox, from their works, and a few days after he completely defeated the sub-governor of Purneah, who fled northwards for his life. He was followed by Colonel Calliaud, with his English soldiers and sepoys; the latter of whom were commanded by Meeran Calliaud, under the belief that he was carrying all the treasures of Purneah with him, pursued the sub-governor hotly; but on the fourth day of the pursuit a tremendous storm occurred, in which Meeran was struck dead with lightning, and the sepoys, from this cause, becoming unmanageable, he was obliged to return to Patna. Meeran’s people hastened to Moorshedabad, where, in order to obtain payment of their arrears, they surrounded the palace, and threatened the life of the nabob Meer Jaffier. Other bodies of men, also, about the same time, took up arms against Meer Jaffier: and to complete his misfortunes, as Mr. Vansittart, the new governor at Calcutta, found the treasury empty, and the English troops and sepoys almost mutinous for want of pay, he concluded a treaty with Meer Cassim Ali, son-in-law to Meer Jaffier and general of his army, engaging that he should be invested with full power as Nabob of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, on condition that he made over the fruitful provinces of Burdwan, Midnapore, and Chittagong to the company. Meer Jaffier was compelled to resign, with permission to retire to Calcutta, and Meer Cossim Ali was forthwith proclaimed nabob. Meer Cossim procured six or seven lacs of rupees, which he sent to Calcutta, and made professions of dependence on the council; but he soon exhibited signs of a refractory spirit; and Mr. Vansittart, with the other members of the council, found that they had made a mistake, when they imagined that he would suit their purpose better than Meer Jaffier.
It has been seen, that in the month of January, 1761, Major Carnac, who had succeeded Colonel Calliaud in the command of the company’s troops in Bahar, defeated the emperor Shah Alum, and took Law, on whom he placed his chief hopes, prisoner. The young emperor retreated towards Delhi, whence he sent Meer Cossim Ali his investiture as Nabob of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa; and likewise offers to the English of the dewannee, or receivership of these provinces, if they would send an army into central India to secure him in possession of Delhi, and of a throne that had been tottering for generations. Want of money prevented the council from accepting these offers, and Meer Cossim had no more to give them. Meer Cossim had, indeed, become as poor as Meer Jaffier had been when he was deposed, and he cast his eyes on the wealth of Ramnarrain, the celebrated Governor of Patna, At first, Mr. Vansittart instructed Major Carnac to protect Ramnarrain, but he soon after listened to the suggestions and promises of Meer Cossim; and in order to aid his rapacious designs, Colonel Coote, the conqueror of Pondicherry, was sent to supersede Major Carnac, at Patna; he being averse to the desertion of a governor who had received so many pledges from, and had rendered many services to, the English. Colonel Coote, however, had as high a sense of honour as Major Carnac, and Mr. Vansittart, discovering this, recalled him, and thus left Ramnarrain to the mercy of Meer Cossim. Ramnarrain was in consequence thrown into prison, and his house was broken open and plundered, while his servants were put to the torture, in order to make them confess where his treasures, which chiefly existed in the imagination of his enemies, were deposited. This base act on the part of the council of the company met with its reward. All friendly correspondence between the English and native nobility now ceased, and Meer Cossim had offers of services and money made him on every hand, if he would consent to resist the foreigners. Encouraged by this circumstance, and conceiving that he would soon be able to defy the English authority, Meer Cossim complained of the abuses of the dustucks, or permits, by which he had been recently impoverished; and when no notice was taken of his complaints, he ventured to stop and search the company’s boats, as they sailed up the Ganges. Nothing was done to prevent his conduct; and growing more bold by impunity, Meer Cossim at length seized two boats that were proceeding to Patna with arms, and made preparation for getting that place into his own hands. Apprised of this, the council gave directions to Mr. Ellis, the chief at Patna, to anticipate Meer Cossim’s designs by seizing upon the citadel. This was done, and Meer Cossim, enraged thereat, murdered Mr. Amyatt, who had formerly been chief at Patna, with two Hindu bankers attached to the English interests, and then marched upon the town with a great army, of which he took possession. The English troops at Patna fled by boats up the Ganges to Chuprah, where they were surrounded, and taken prisoners. About the same time, also, the troops of Meer Cossim attacked and plundered the factory of Cossimbuzar, where likewise he captured many English.
While these events were transpiring, the council at Calcutta entered into new arrangements with Meer Jaffier, in order to restore him to the musuud or throne of Bengal. Meer Jaffier not only confirmed the grants of territory made by Meer Cossim, but also granted an exemption to the company’s servants from all search, and from all duties, except upon salt, and engaged to pay to the company thirty lacs of rupees for the expenses of the war, and to maintain an army of 24,000 men at his own charge. Having done this Meer Jaffier issued his mandates to the chiefs, and to the cities of the three provinces, and then joined the English, who were advancing upon Moorshedabad. In their route they were met by three of Meer Cossim’s generals, whom they defeated, and arriving at Moorshedabad they took possession of it without opposition. Another battle was soon after fought with the troops of Meer Cossim, on the plain of Geriah, when Meer Jaffier and his English allies were again victorious. Those of Meer Cossim’s troops, who escaped the slaughter, fled to an intrenched camp at Odowa, which, after three weeks, was carried, and then the whole army of the nabob was scattered. Meer Cossim fled with a few troops towards Patna, and the English laid siege to and captured Monghir, recently made his capital in preference to Moorshedabad, the old residence of the nabobs of Bengal. On hearing of the capture of Monghir, Meer Cossim ordered the execution of all the English who had been taken at Patna, and one hundred and fifty, with Mr. Ellis their chief, were massacred in cold blood. Patna was soon after taken by the English, and in the meantime Meer Cossim had taken refuge at Allahabad, with Soujah Dowla, the powerful ruler of Oude. On his arrival at Allahabad, Shah Alum was with his vizier, and the three Indian rulers marched with a large army to Benares, and encamped not many miles from the English. Major Carnac, who had by this time arrived to take the command, thought it prudent to retreat to Patna; the more so, because a mutiny had broken out in his own camp. The major was attacked under the walls of Patna by the confederated Indians; but after a severe contest, he defeated his assailants with great loss. Soujah Dowla now opened a correspondence with Meer Jaffier, and offered to support him in Bengal and Orissa, if he would cede the country of Bahar to Oude; and about the same time Shah Alum offered to abandon both Soujah Dowla and Meer Cossim, for English protection and alliance. These negociations, however, were broken off; and in the month of October, 1764, Major Munro, who had recently assumed the command of the army at Patna, led his forces against the enemy, which entirely broke the power of Soujah Dowla, the only Indian ruler that the English had to fear. Major Munro was now empowered to treat with Shah Alum; and a treaty was concluded with him, by which it was agreed that the English should be put into the possession of the country of Gazzipore, with all the rest of the territory of Bui want Sing, and that Shah Alum should be put into possession of the city of Allahabad, and the whole of the dominions of Soujah Dowla. Thus deserted by the emperor, Soujah Dowla applied to Ghazee-u-Deen, vizier and murderer of Shah Alum’s father, and this chief descended into Oude with a great army of Mahratta horse. A battle was fought in the month of May, 1765, near Corah, when Major, now General Carnac, who again commanded the English forces, gained a great victory over the confederate army, and chased them across the river Jumna.
On the very day that General Carnac gained this victory, Clive arrived at Calcutta, with full powers to settle all disputes. Meer Jaffier had recently died, and one difficulty in the way was thereby removed. Clive set about his work in right good earnest. A few days after Soujah Dowla’s defeat at Corah, that nabob having announced his intention of throwing himself upon the mercy of the English, repaired to the camp of General Carnac, by whom he was received with much distinction. On hearing of these events, Clive set off for Allahabad, to settle all disputes; and when he arrived, he decided that Shah Alum should rest satisfied with the possession of Allahabad and Corah, and that all the rest of Oude should be restored to Soujah Dowla, on conditions that he should oppose the Mahrattas and defend the frontiers of Bengal. On his part, Shah Alum, for the possession of Allahabad and Corah, granted the collection of the revenues in Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa to the English, in return for which he was to receive twenty-six lacs of rupees per annum, in addition to the revenues of Allahabad and Corah. The young emperor, moreover, confirmed the right of the company to all the territory which they possessed in any other part of India.