regiments of infantry, two of cavalry, and a brigade of guns. Meantime, Carnac, now a colonel, had no respite from Scindia, and after he had endured for seven consecutive days an unremitting cannonade, he resolved to retire and cut his way out at all risks. Amid the darkness of midnight, on the 7th of March, his troops began their route in the strictest silence; but by daybreak they were discovered, pursued and galled by clouds of hostile horsemen for two successive days, till they reached Mahantpoor, where they obtained a supply of provisions, after which they halted and prepared to make a resistance.

Scindia also halted at a distance of five miles, as if awaiting an attack, and finding none made, his guards became less on the alert; this apparent apathy was the result of a suggestion made by Bruce, the hero of Gwalior; and on the night of the 24th, when Scindia was least expecting such a thing, Carnac broke, sword in hand, into his camp, and put him completely to rout, with the loss of thirteen pieces of cannon, three elephants, twenty-one camels, many horses, and his principal standard-a result that rendered him somewhat more disposed to think of measures for On the 4th of April, Colonel Muir came in with his little division, and as senior took command of the whole. While the troops remained encamped where they were, attempts were made to attach some of the Rajpoot chiefs to our cause, but in vain; and now, in the true spirit of Indian gratitude, the Rana of Gohud having gained all he wanted, in the possession of Gwalior, thought to make terms with Scindia for himself.

The latter, seeing he had nothing more to hope for, and considerably cooled by his late defeat, made overtures of peace to Colonel Muir, and as his demands were moderate, they were accepted. Colonel Muir was to recross the Jumna, and Scindia was to retire to Oujin (or Ujjain) in Malwa, an ancient city, once the capital of Bickermajit, a rajah who reigned over Hindostan 57 years before the birth of our Saviour; Scindia's possessions west of the Jumna were all to be restored to him, with the exception of Gwalior, which was to be retained by the rana "so long as he behaved himself." At Salbye (in the province of Agra), a town on a mountain twenty-seven miles south-eastward of Gwalior, on the 17th of May, 1782, a treaty was eventually concluded, by which we were certainly not much the gainers.

"By the Treaty of Salbye, which consisted of seventeen articles," says Beveridge, in summarising it, "the Company resigned everything for which they had engaged in a long, bloody, and expensive

war, and returned to the same state of possession as at the date of the Treaty of Poorundhur. Salsette and a few small islands in the vicinity of Bombay were confirmed to them, but they lost Bassein, on which their hearts had long been set, and all the districts and revenues which had been ceded to them in the Guicowar territory, and other parts of Goojerat. Ahmedabad, too, which had been guaranteed to Futteh Sing, returned to the peishwa, and all the territory acquired west of the Jumna was restored to Scindia. In this last cession Gwalior was not excepted, because the Rana of Gohud, by attempting to make separate terms for himself, was held to have forfeited the privileges of an ally. Ragobah, entirely abandoned by the Company, was to receive 25,000 rupees a month from the peishwa, and have the choice of his place of residence. The only articles which might be considered favourable to the Company were a very vague agreement, that Hyder should restore his recent conquests from them and the Nabob of Arcot, and an exclusion of all European establishments except their own and those of the Portuguese, from the Mahratta dominions. Though no part of the treaty, Broach and its valuable district were made over to Scindia, in testimony of the service rendered by him to the Bombay army at Wurgaon, and of his humane treatment of the two English gentlemen left as hostages on that occasion. These were the ostensible grounds of this extraordinary gift, though different grounds were taken by the Governor-General and Council in justifying it to the directors. It would have the important effect, they said, of attaching so distinguished a chief to the Company's interests; while the expediency of retaining what was given was doubtful, inasmuch as the expenses were nearly equal to the revenues, disputes about boundaries might arise, and the price of cotton, the staple of the district, had risen in Bombay, after the Company had obtained possession of it. This last fact, of which more charitable explanations might have been given, was characterised by the Governor-General and Council as the natural consequence of a commercial place (being) possessed by men who are dealers in the specific article of trade it produces."

"

The Bombay Government did not view this treaty with favour, and openly insinuated that they could have made better terms; but, great though the advantages were on the side of the Mahrattas, the tortuous policy of their minister, Nana Furnavese, made him affect to be not fully satisfied with it. Hence the ratifications were not finally exchanged till the 24th of February, 1783—a delay owing to "Comp. Hist. India," vol. ii.

1783.)

207

THE military establishment of Bombay had its origin when the Company were first put in possession of that island; but the forces there deteriorated gradually from the first body of royal troops who garrisoned it under old Sir Abraham Shipman, in the time of Charles II., until the close of the first half of the eighteenth century. The local strength grew necessarily greater as the possessions and interests of the Company expanded.

In 1741, the Bombay troops consisted of one European regiment, having a captain, twenty-four subalterns, a surgeon, two sergeant-majors, 162 noncommissioned officers, twenty-six drummers, and 319 privates, the famous old "First Europeans." To these were added thirty-one Indo-Europeans, 900 Topasses, two native paymasters, a linguist, and an armourer-in all 1,470 men, divided into seven companies.*

Besides this corps, was a native militia of 700 men, having native officers, whose appearance must have been very remarkable, as they were all differently appareled, some being dressed as soldiers, some as sailors, while rude native costumes were worn by others.

"A few made themselves like South-sea Islanders, by bedizening themselves in the most fantastic manner; many wore scarcely any apparel at all, the usual piece of calico (the cummerbund) wound round the body, serving as raiment and uniform. Their arms were as various as their costumesmuskets, matchlocks, swords, spears, bows and arrows."

Of the latter weapons, the most remarkable were the fire-arrows, then, and for ages before, freely used by all the tribes of Hindostan-supposed to be identical with the same Greek fire which either launched in red-hot balls of stone and iron, or darted in arrows and javelins, twisted round *Bombay Quarterly, 1857.

was

with flax and tow, which had deeply imbibed the inflammable oil.” †

Naphtha was well known to the ancient Indians, and volcanoes of it, still in a high state of activity, exist at Baku, where the perpetual fire is worshipped on the western coast of the Caspian.‡ And naphtha for fire-arrows was also known to the Persians, while something like gunpowder is distinctly referred to at the sieges of Abulualid, in the year of the Hegira 712.

Save in war, the singularly-armed militia force we have mentioned were seldom mustered, but were used as peons, servants, and runners; and as such were badly paid, kicked, flogged, and smitten at the tyranny or caprice of the civilians, whose retainers they were; and it was not until 1750 that the military services of these unfortunate creatures were dispensed with.

In Madras and Bengal, the sepoys were of higher caste and better disciplined. Some of these were brought to Bombay, but they declined to serve there unless paid at a higher rate. The transfer of sepoy troops between the three presidencies ere long became an affair of custom; but among the directors at Leadenhall Street there existed a strong disposition to under-pay their troops, and they were for ever impressing upon their Indian officials the necessity of retrenchment. In this spirit a European regiment was removed from the island fortress of Sion, which commands the channel of Salsette, and replaced therein by a corps of Topasses, half Portuguese and half Indians, who were also half Christians and half idolaters. By this a saving of 14,364 rupees was effected, and the safety of the whole place endangered by a garrison of troops on whom so little reliance could be placed.

The officers of the Company's service were both + Gibbon. See Hanway's "Account." || Berrington's "Hist. Middle Ages."

when they were supplied with scarlet jackets of broadcloth and white linen turbans to distinguish them from native enemies; and in 1760, the uniform of the troops in the three presidencies, was assimilated; but all had to complain bitterly of the deductions made from their pay for these necessaries; while sometimes the Europeans were paid daily, and sometimes kept for months in arrears. The year mentioned was remarkable for the bitter hostility that existed between the Bombay army and the civil authorities, defiance of whom seemed to have become a principle among the troops. "The new code of military law," says a local periodical, "the importation of regular troops from Britain, the organisation of an army with European discipline and admirable appointments, had produced no better fruit than this. The spirit which animated the officers was active also in the ranks. Desertions were frequent, and Sir James Foulis estimated the annual loss from this cause and death, at ten per cent. So many men deserted from the factory in Scinde that sufficient were not left for its defence in case of a sudden surprise, and it became necessary to release some prisoners for want of a guard. Punishments were of frightful severity. At Surat, eight Europeans deserted during the military operations; all were retaken; one was shot, and the others received 1,000 lashes each. Of seven Topasses who deserted a little later, under extenuating circumstances, five were sentenced to be shot; but, as an act of mercy, were permitted to escape, with 800 or 1,000 lashes. Even the king's troops were contaminated; and at Tellicherry, when called into active service, loudly and insubordinately uttered the old complaint of want of beef, protesting against the fish rations supplied to them on four days of the week."*

As the native army increased, its form changed. In 1766, we find ten battalions of 1,000 each, with three European officers to each corps. In 1770, there were eighteen battalions of a similar kind; and in 1784, this army had increased to 2,000 native cavalry and 28,000 infantry.

For recruiting their forces at home, in 1771, it would seem to have been arranged that the India Company were to pay to Government £60,000 for permission to build barracks in the islands of Guernsey and Jersey, for 2,500 men, where a regiment of recruits was to be formed for service in India, consisting of three battalions of 700 men each; one of Irish Roman Catholics, one of Germans, and one of Swiss Protestants, and hence, from the mixed nature of their forces in those days, originated the general term European for all whites. A battalion * Bombay Quarterly Review.

209

of artillery 400 strong was also to be formed of drafts from Woolwich, for which the Company were to pay £10,000 annually. The three battalions were to be constituted thus, as a brigade:-one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, one major of brigade, for the whole. Then, for each battalion :-one major, seven captains, eight lieutenants, seven ensigns, one adjutant, one quartermaster, twentyeight cadets, three surgeons, twenty-one sergeants, twenty-one corporals, thirty drums and fifes, 700 privates. The king's Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Guernsey was to command all these troops prior to their embarking for India.†

In Madras, the military system progressed very slowly, as there was a strong prejudice against the enlistment of natives, from a fear that the power thus created might be turned against ourselves; while among the Europeans the want of military spirit is said to have been remarkable. The factors were unwilling to carry arms, and for the young men who served under them, soldiering seemed to have but few attractions; for in those days the highest ambition of a Briton in India was to accumulate a fortune and return home; but, by the close of the half-century, when the French were off its coast, the military preparations at Madras were somewhat considerable; only a few hundreds of the troops were Europeans, while several thousands were sepoys and Topasses.

In Bengal, the process of raising a native army was similar to that in the other two provinces; but the natives were there sworn in-the Hindoo by the waters of the Ganges, and the Mussulman by the Koran-and organised as regular soldiers; but this took place at a later period than at Bombay or Madras, as, in 1707, when Calcutta became the seat of a presidency, the garrison consisted of about 300 sepoys only; but in 1739, the Mahratta incursions necessitated the enrolment of whole companies of natives, and in later years the discipline of the sepoys there was more complete, thoroughly organised on the European system, and the ranks were filled by men chiefly from the upper provinces, but often natives of Burmah, Assam, Malabar, and other places were found among them.

Of the three presidencies, Bombay alone arrived at the dignity of possessing a regular navy, for although Bengal had a marine service, in most respects it was more like a mercantile marine, each Indiaman being a species of armed letter of marque. Madras was without any naval establishment; but that of Bombay guarded the Malabar coast, and protected the interests of Britain and India in the Gulfs of Persia and Arabia.

+ Scots Magazine, 1771.

In the second quarter of the eighteenth century the condition of the Company's marine was at a somewhat low ebb; for as good officers and seamen were then invariably paid off in time of peace, it became difficult to procure either in time of war; but after the reductions consequent on a time of peace, in 1742, the Bombay navy was thus organised :

There was a superintendent, under whom were eight commanders (one being styled the com

twenty guns (6 to 12-pounders), five ketches carrying from eight to fourteen guns (4 to 6-pounders), eight gallivats, and one praam. The officers were increased in number, by two commanders, ten more lieutenants; and, to improve the morale of the whole, divine service was now first performed on board, and all gambling, swearing, &c., strictly forbidden; and in 1761, a regular uniform was adopted by the officers, who, by the Governor in Council, were "ordered to wear blue frock coats, turned up with

modore), three first-lieutenants, four third officers, and six masters of gallivats. In the first rank of fighting vessels were two grabs, the Restoration and Neptune's Prize, the former manned by eighty Europeans and fifty-one lascars; the latter by fifty Europeans and thirty-one lascars. On board of the praams were thirty Europeans and twenty lascars. Complaints of favouritism being common in those days, it was at last ordered that all promotions should be regulated by the dates of commissions.

After war broke out between France and Britain, the appearance of French men-of-war and privateers in Indian waters, in 1744, compelled Bombay to augment her marine, which was now ordered to consist of three ships of twenty guns each, a grab of

yellow, dress-coats and waistcoats of the same colour, and according to regulated pattern. Large boot-sleeves and facings of gold lace were the fashion for the superior grades, while the midshipmen and masters of gallivats were to rest contented with small round cuffs and no facings."

In 1824, the Honourable Company's marine consisted of fifteen sail, ships and brigs. Two of the former were named the Hastings and the Teignmouth. The total numbers of the crews were only 558 Europeans and 888 lascars, with 110 officers. The command of the whole was vested in a superintendent, who had the rank of rearadmiral. The internal economy was regulated by him also, with the aid of a Marine Board, which was