have devoted themselves; as, Srotriya, one skilled in the Vesta;-Smarta, learned in the law;-Jyautisha, an astrologer, &c. &c.

The

Brahmins exercising these functions, and distinguished by these appellations, are found over every part of India at this day. But, exclusive of the occupations assigned by Menu to the sacerdotal class, multitudes of Brahmins are now found in the army and engaged in commerce. This deviation is not the consequence of distinctions among them, but the result of the general license granted by Menu, in times of distress, to seek a subsistence by the duties of inferior classes, when it cannot be procured by their own. The permission and its restrictions are contained in the tenth book of the Institutes of Menu. whole period that has elapsed since the conquest of India, by the Mohammedans, is considered by Hindu casuists as a time of distress; and individuals have sought a subsistence, or fortune, by professions from which they were originally excluded. In a country where every man pursues the profession of his father, this naturally led to certain families of Brahmins becoming, in their occupations and pursuits, entirely secular, though this circumstance does not at all detract from the respect they personally require from the inferior classes, or exempt them from restrictions in regard to diet, from mixing with other tribes, or from the observance of other rules originally prescribed to their class.

NOTE C.

(Referred to, vol. i. p. 301.)

Historical Sketch of the Mahrattas.

THE first person upon record, who distinguished himself as chief of the Mahratta nation, and who may be considered as the founder of their empire, was Seeva, or Seeva-jee, who began to flourish so lately as about the middle of the 17th century. His great grandfather, Bhaugah Booslah, is said to have been an illegitimate son of Rana Bheem, sovereign of the Rajahpoot State of Oudiapoor, and of the most ancient race of Hindu princes. Booslah finding himself, on account of the illegitimacy of his birth and the obscure origin of his mother, of no consideration at Oudiapoor, went into Candeish, where, after having acquired considerable wealth and reputation in the service of a Rajah of that province, he quitted it, and purchased a tract of land near to the city of Poonah. Booslah left a son, named Maulo-jee, who, after the death of his father, entered into the service of a chief, named Jaddoo Roy. His son, named Shah-jee, married the only daughter of Jaddoo. From that marriage was born Seevajee, in the year 1628. In consequence of a dispute between Jaddoo Roy and his son-in-law Shah-jee, the latter, quitting him, entered into the service of the King of Beejapoor, who gave him the command of 10,000 horse, and, as is frequently practised in India, a Jagheer for the

charge of maintaining them. Shah-jee married a second wife, named Toka Bee, by whom he had a son, named Eko-jee, who was afterwards Rajah of Tanjore. Shahjee was killed, in 1667, by a fall from his horse in hunting, and was succeeded by his son, Sceva-jee. The King of Beejapour dying, Seeva-jee, taking advantage of feuds that then prevailed, resolved to make himself independent; he accordingly took arms, and, having made himself master of several important places, they were afterwards, together with their territories, ceded to him by his late master's widow, who exercised the office of Regent.* Seeva-jee established his chief residence at Sattarah, about fifty miles from Poonah. Having declared hostility to the Mohammedans, numerous Hindus resorted to his standard. Aurengzebe, unable to subdue him, and finding some of his finest provinces constantly exposed to his incursions, entered into an accommodation with him, by which the Mahrattas pretend, that he consented to their having a certain part of the clear revenue of the Deckhan, which has been denominated Choute. This real or pretended arrangement, furnished them with a pretext for invading the territories of the different princes and viceroys of the southern provinces of the empire, in order to levy what was claimed by them.

Seeva-jee, who had taken the title of Rajah of Satarah, dying in the year 1680, left the extensive territories he had acquired to his son Samba-jee. In 1689, Samba-jee was assassinated, and, it is alleged, at the instigation of Aurengzebe, with whom war had been renewed. He was succeeded by his son Saho-jee, or, as named by some, Rajah

* Tavernier mentions his having seen this Queen-Regent.

Sahou, who, as he advanced in life becoming infirm and indolent, delegated to his minister, Balla-jee Bishwanaut, a Brahmin, born at Gokum, the cares of government and the entire exercise of his power, with the title of Mookliperdhaun, or chief civil magistrate.*

Rajah Sahou, or Saho-jee, died without issue in 1740, after a reign of fifty years, leaving nephews by his brother. The wisdom of the administration of Balla-jee Bishwenaut, during the time he had enjoyed the office of Mookh, or Peishwah, had gained him the love and confidence of the people and army; but the sentiments of gratitude and loyalty were absorbed by ambition to rule.-He made use of the influence he had acquired under his benefactor, so firmly to establish his power, that he not only retained the high office of Peishwah during his life, but transmitted it to his posterity, and this form of government has subsisted ever since. On the death of a Peishwah, his son, or in failure of a son, his next male relation, succeeds to his title and authority.

Saho-jee, during the latter years of his life, having shut himself up in the fortress of Sattarah, was never seen by the public; and the Mahrattas, forgetting his rights with his person, looked up to and obeyed his vicegerent only. The mean capacity of his successor, Ram Rajab, was another favourable circumstance for consolidating the power of Bishwanaut, who, on his decease, was succeeded in the full enjoyment of the authority he had exercised by his son, Bajee-Rao. At that time Rago-jee

* The Persian word Peishwah, responding to Mookh, is generally employed in speaking of this office, but Mookh only is engraved on the seal of the person who holds this office.-Marquis of Wellesley's History of the Mahratta War, Appendix, p. 5.

Booslab, of the family of Seeva-jee, was Buckshi, or chief commander of the Satarah troops, and held the province of Berar as a Jagheer. Discontented at the usurpatious of the Peishwah, he retired to Berar, which he retained under his own dominion, acknowledging, however, the Satarah Rajah as his liege lord and chief.

The descendants of Seeva-jee still exist, and reside in the fortress of Satarah; where, though in fact prisoners, the eldest in succession is nominally considered as sovereign of the Mahratta nation. The Peishwah, on succeeding to that office, receives a dress of honour from him; before he takes the field in person he goes to Satarah, to have an audience of leave from him, and the country, to a certain extent round Satarah, is secure against all military exactions, and held in respect.

All negociations, on the part of the Mahratta nation, generally considered, are carried on, and the treaties that may result from them concluded, by the Peishwah only; they are held to be obligatory upon all Mahratta chieftains and feudatories, even though not consulted in regard to them, as being made in the name of the supreme head of the state, the Peishwah apparently acting by his authority. But several of those chiefs, in consequence of the weakness of the Peishwal's government, for some time past, and of the frequent contentions, which have arisen among the members of the family itself, are in fact become independent, although they still continue to acknowledge the Peishwah as the exécutive minister of state.

"They possess no acknowledged right, however, to conclude separate engagements with foreign states, unless the tacit permission to make conquests* should be thought

* "When the province of Malwa was assigned to Holkar and Scindiab, for the payment of their troops, it was stipulated, that of the