India Under British Rule from the Foundation of the East India Company

by James Talboys Wheeler

Pindhari war: Mahratta plots.

By this time Lord Hastings had planned his campaign against the Pindharies. The British force was overwhelming, for it was known that the three predatory powers—Sindia, Holkar, and Amir Khan—were bent on sheltering the Pindharies by enlisting them as soldiers or hiding them in the jungles until the danger had passed away. They had no conception of the scale on which Lord Hastings had planned his campaign. They knew that a force was advancing from the south, and that it would probably comprise an army from Madras, the Hyderabad Subsidiary Force, and the Poona Subsidiary Force; but they fondly imagined that, if the Pindharies were kept out of the way, the British forces would soon return to cantonments, and that the Pindharies would then revenge the attack on their homes by fresh raids on British territories.

Mortification of Sindia.

Lord Hastings, however, was bent on disarming Sindia, Holkar, and Amir Khan before exterminating the Pindhari gangs, and thus guarding against the possible revival of the gangs after the conclusion of the war. Daulat Rao Sindia was suddenly asked to give a friendly reception to the Madras army coming from the south. He hesitated, vacillated, and asked for time to consider the proposition. He was told that consideration was out of the question; that he was pledged to co-operate with the British forces against the Pindharies; that a large Bengal army was advancing from the north over the river Jumna, under the direct orders of Lord Hastings in person; and that the Pindharies would be environed and exterminated by the two armies. Sindia was utterly taken by surprise. He knew that it would be sheer madness to fight against the Governor-General. He hastened to receive the Madras army, and was lavish in his professions of loyalty. He was then charged with having violated treaties by carrying on secret negotiations with Nipal and Runjeet Singh. He solemnly protested his innocence, but two of his messengers to Nipal had been arrested on the way, and his own letters addressed to the Ghorka government were placed in his hands in open durbar by the British Resident, who simply stated what they were. The letters in question were damnatory. Sindia had proposed that Ghorkas and Mahrattas should join in a common attack on the British government.

Sindia submits.

Sindia bent to his destiny. He saw that he was checkmated at every turn. He was dumbfoundered, and made no attempt to defend himself. Nothing further was done. Lord Hastings left him in possession of his territories, but took the Rajput princes under British protection, and bound over Sindia to co-operate against the Pindharies, and to prevent the formation of any gangs for the future.

Amir Khan submits.

Amir Khan was growing old, and was glad to make any terms which would leave him in possession of his principality. He disbanded his battalions and sold his cannon to the British government, on condition of being recognised as hereditary ruler of Tonk. No cause for uneasiness remained, excepting the disaffected Peishwa of Poona, the mutinous army of Holkar, and some suspicious movements on the part of the Bhonsla Raja of Nagpore.

Destruction of the Pindharies.

When the rains were over the British armies began to move. There were 120,000 troops under arms, the largest force that had ever taken the field in India under British colours; twice as many as Lord Wellesley assembled in 1803-4, and four times as many as Lord Cornwallis led against Tippu in 1791-92. The Pindharies found themselves abandoned by Sindia and Amir Khan, and environed by the armies from Bengal and Madras. Many were shot down, or put to the sword, or perished in the jungle, or were slain by villagers in revenge for former cruelties. Others threw themselves on British protection, and were settled on lands, and became peaceful and industrious cultivators. Within a few years no traces of the Pindhari gangs were to be found in India.