charged, while the expenditure of the last two years the war against the Pindarees and Mahrattas, the Wagars of Okamandal, a Goojerat district, about thirty miles in length by fifteen in breadth, surprised Dwarka, its principal town, and another named Beyt; and as there was no force to oppose them, made themselves masters of all the adjacent country. For several months they had been in undisputed possession, when the Hon. Colonel Leicester F. Stanhope, C.B., and QuartermasterGeneral in India, a son of the Earl of Harrington, BOMBAY BUNDER BOAT. also a distinguished officer, who had served at Buenos Ayres and throughout the Mahratta war, was sent against them by sea, at the head of an expedition, consisting of H. M. 65th Regiment, two regiments of native in fantry, the 1st Light Cavalry, and a requisite train of guns. This force arrived off Dwarka, famous alike then as a nest of pirates and as a resort for pilgrims to the shrine of Krishna, and landed on the 26th of November, 1820. The garrison, consisting of Arabs and natives of Scinde, retired into the great temple, the shrine of which was a source of abundant wealth to the Brahmins, and the sulted before any expense of magnitude was in- solid walls of which seemed to mock all ordinary means curred." The sea-coast of Goojerat, from the Gulf of Cambay to the river Indus, is full of creeks and inlets; these are occupied by different independent chiefs, who were generally addicted to piracy, but are now kept in awe by British naval superiority; while the north, north-western, and even central quarters of the province, were until very late years unexplored, and were over-run or occupied by numerous hordes of armed banditti, who were thieves not so much by profession as by nation; and against these an expedition was undertaken in 1820. of attack. Over the roof of an adjoining house an entrance was effected by the bayonet, the 65th (or 2nd Yorkshire) leading the way, and of 500 armed men who garrisoned the place, and were driven out, only 100 escaped death. This punishment, by its extreme severity, so intimidated the rest, who, with their chiefs, were posted in a neighbouring thicket, that they surrendered at discretion. The robbers who garrisoned Beyt also surrendered, and thus the piratical insurrection in Goojerat was completely crushed. Between the Nabob of Oude, Sadut Ali, and Major Baillie, the Resident at his court during the Tempted by the withdrawal of our troops for time Lord Minto was in office, there had been 1814.] MAJOR BAILLIE. 547 fect truth he avoided personal intercourse with him, but allowed members of his staff to do so, and through them he was informed-at second-handthat the nabob was not treated by Major Baillie with the deference due to his royal rank. He therefore gave Baillie instructions to treat the nabob, "on all public occasions, as an independent prince; to be strict in the observance of all public ceremonials; and to confine advice or remonstrance upon any mismanagement in the nabob's adminis several discussions and disputes, which, after being | ventured to express on paper, to arrive at the perput an end to, began anew on the arrival of his successor. Their chief source of contention was, the amount of interference which the major was entitled to have in the internal government of Oude. The Earl of Minto had decided in favour of the Resident; but before any steps could be taken in accordance with that decision, he had sailed for Europe. The death of the nabob, on the 11th July, 1814, ended their jealousies. Throughout his life he had been avaricious, and now his treasure almost amounted to thirteen millions sterling. tration to such occasions as might endanger British interests." had not been long issued when the major was desired to obtain another million sterling from the nabob, as a supply in season for the war in Nepaul. He gave the money, but with unconcealed constraint and annoyance; and he felt more than ever irritated at Baillie, as being the medium or instrument through whom it was exacted. He became more than ever hostile to the Resident, turned a deaf ear to his suggestions, and removed from his court and councils all persons who favoured him. Aware of all this, and somewhat irritated by not taken his own way; and, while full of this con- | the course the Governor-General had pursued, the viction, he paid a visit to the Governor-General, major forwarded to him a letter, in which he gave then Earl of Moira, who had come to Cawnpore during our war with Nepaul, and on that occasion Ghazee-ud-Deen offered a million sterling as a free gift to the Company. Moira declined it as a gift, but accepted it as a loan, to bear interest at the government rate of six per cent. That all this was meant as a bribe was evident; for at the time the nabob made his handsome offer, he delivered to the earl a document, which, though expressing the greatest personal regard for Major Baillie, hinted pretty plainly at a desire to be less controlled by him. Having, by some means, discovered that the sentiments of the young nabob in this matter were much stronger than he had free utterance to all he felt on the subject. A rupture was the consequence; Major Baillie was removed, and the nabob was left uncontrolled in the internal administration of Oude. In May, 1816, the loan of the second million was discharged by a treaty, which commuted it for a piece of territory which belonged to Britain, but was situated to the north-west of Oude, on the Nepalese frontier; and now, encouraged by the apparent cordiality subsisting between the two governments, the Earl of Moira ventured to recommend a change of title, which would give Oude more the character of an independent kingdom. The nabobs of that country (properly called Ayodhya), since its conquest by the Mohammedan | and belt studded with diamonds, with a sword-knot, kings of Delhi in the thirteenth century, had been to which was appended an emerald, said, by the content with the title of Nabob-Vizier, thereby London papers of the time, "to be the largest exintimating that they held themselves to be only the tant, and nearly the size of an egg." In the same hereditary viziers, or prime ministers, of the Great ship was brought home a bird of paradise, alleged Mogul, and, as such, the servants, but not the to be the first that ever reached Europe alive. equals, of the King of Delhi. Ghazee-ud-Deen, whose ambition was fired, and whose pride was flattered by the suggestion of the Governor-General, lost no time in acting upon it; and thus, in 1819, greatly to the indignation of the court of Delhi, and to the extreme dissatisfaction of the Mohammedan population of India, he issued a proclamation, announcing that, in all time coming, his designation was to be, Abu Muzufar, Maiz-udDeen, Shah-i-Zaman, Ghazee-ud-Deen, Hyder Shah, Padishah-i-Awadh, meaning, "the Victorious-the Upholder of the Faith-the King of the Aya, Ghazee-ud-Deen Hyder Shah, King of Oude." In all this the Marquis of Hastings committed a mistake so far as concerned the condition of Oude, which did not justify the flattering pictures that he drew of the consequences resulting from the uncontrolled internal management of the nabobking. The absence of Major Baillie began to be speedily felt, and British troops were repeatedly called out to assist in the reduction of refractory zemindars. Thus, in 1822, a British column was compelled, in the neighbourhood of Sultanpore alone, to capture and dismantle the forts of seventy of those landholders; while bands of Dacoits, and other armed robbers, countenanced by them and connived at by the police, infested the topes and jungles, and often crossed the frontier to pillage in British territory. Of the weakness of the King of Oude's character there are several anecdotes in the "Journal" of Bishop Heber, who records that, "like his father, he has already taken to drink spirits. We passed one evening the royal suwarree of a coach, several elephants, and some horse guards, waiting to convey him back from one of his summer palaces, where he had been dining. On returning from our drive we found these going away without him, and learned that he had resolved to sleep there. I thought nothing of the circumstance at the time," adds the bishop, "but on mentioning it to one of the persons best acquainted with his habits, he said, 'Ay; that means that his Majesty was not in a fit state to offer himself to the eyes of his subjects.'" When the Marquis of Hastings returned home in the Glasgow frigate, in 1823, he brought with him presents from the King of Oude to George IV., valued at £200,000. Among them were a sword. During the official reign of the Marquis of Hastings, some events took place in the Deccan, which require at least a brief notice. The administration of the government, nominally, was in the hands of the Nizam's favourite, Moonirul-Moolk; but the executive power was really wielded by the Hindoo, Chandoo Lal, in concert with the British Resident. Indignant to find himself deprived of all control, the Nizam allowed all things to take their own course; and whenever his opinion was asked by the ministers or Resident, he was wont to reply, sullenly, that it was useless to give it, as he had no interest in anything that occurred. Chandoo Lal was keen-witted and active, but aware that his post was precarious, in consequence of the hostility that existed against him at court, made such friends as he could there by a liberal distribution of treasure to all who possessed influence, or could yield him useful intelligence by acting as his spies. So magnificent were those bribes, that a portion of them are said to have found a way into the pockets of the Nizam himself; and it was alleged that every one of the latter's servants, and even his mother-in-law, were in the pay of Chandoo Lal, to whom she sent a daily report of all that occurred in the inmost chambers of the palace. To uphold this singular mode of retaining office, a vast expenditure was requisite, and this Chandoo strove to meet, partly by rapacious exactions, and partly by loans, at enormous interest, from bankers in Hyderabad. The revenues of the Deccan he let to the highest bidders; and those who contracted for them intent on great profit alone-employed so much cruel violence and heartless extortion, that the tillers of the soil abandoned their fields in despair, and the revenue and the population rapidly diminished together. And now, about this time-1816-occurred that which made some noise at the period, and was known as the case of William Palmer and Co. When Chandoo Lal became seriously and financially embarrassed, he had formed a connection with a mercantile house of that name in Hyderabad; and on the recommendation of Mr. Russell, then our Resident there, he succeeded in obtaining-as minister of the Nizam-considerable advances from it in 1814. But in 1816, William Palmer and Co. began to 1816.] CHANDOO LAL. doubt whether such transactions with the minister of the Nizam were not at variance with the Act 37, George III., c. 142. The 28th section of that Act, proceeding on the preamble, that the practice of British subjects lending money to the native powers of India, or borrowing from them, has been productive of much extortion and usury, enacted, that, from the 1st of December, 1797, "no British subject shall, by himself, or by any other person, directly or indirectly employed by him, lend any money, or other valuable thing, to any native prince in India, by whatever name or description such native prince shall be called; nor shall any British subject be concerned, either by himself, or by any other person, either directly or indirectly, in raising or procuring any money for such native prince, or as being security for such loan or money; nor shall any British subject lend any money or other valuable thing to any other person for the purpose of being lent to any such native prince; nor shall any British subject, by himself, or by any other person, either directly or indirectly, for his use or benefit, take, receive, hold, enjoy, or be concerned in any bond, note, or other security or assignment, granted, or to be granted, after the 1st day of December next, for the loan, or for the re-payment of money or other valuable thing." The violation of this law was to be treated as a misdemeanour, and all security given for money so lent was declared to be null and void. William Palmer and Co., on referring to this Act, were somewhat anxious about the moneys advanced, and for their safety in future; but, as British influence had placed Chandoo Lal in power, the Supreme Government felt themselves responsible for all his acts and transactions. If the first dealings of Palmer and Co. with him were illegal, it is difficult to see how any that were subsequent could be less so; yet the mercantile firm succeeded on application in obtaining, in virtue of a reserve clause in the Act, the consent of the GovernorGeneral in council, subject only to the condition that the Resident at Hyderabad should have ample permission to satisfy himself, at any time, as to the nature of the transactions in which Palmer and Co. might engage, in consequence of the permission then given to them. On finding that they were thus countenanced by the Governor-General and Supreme Council, they extended their monetary transactions with Chandoo Lal; and, with the full cognisance of the powers at Calcutta, undertook to provide for the pay of the troops in Berar and Aurungabad. The regular pay of those reformed forces being a necessity to their 549 efficiency, the sanction of those in authority was the more easily gained, on the assertion that the Hyderabad bankers would not advance the funds on the security offered the assignments of the revenue. On finding how readily all their wishes were complied with by the Supreme Government, Palmer and Co. waxed bold, and entered into a negotiation for a loan to Chandoo Lal of £600,000 sterling; and their application for sanction was recommended at Calcutta by the Resident, Mr. Russell, on the ground that such advantageous terms terms could be got through no other agency. Chandoo Lal, on his part, urged that the money was to be spent in paying arrears that were due to public establishments, reducing encumbrances held to native bankers, and advancing to the ryots the means of tilling the soil. Chandoo Lal's proposed modes of applying the loan were excellent; but as suspicion had now been kindled, the vote to sanction it was opposed by two members of council, but was carried by the casting vote of the Governor-General. was particularly unfortunate, as one of the leading members of the firm of William Palmer and Co. had married a ward whom the Governor-General had brought up in his family and loved like a daughter; and persons were uncharitable enough. to suggest that the relation thus established had clouded his judgment, and gained his consent to an arrangement of which he would otherwise have been the first to perceive the impropriety." The sanction of the executive at Calcutta to the new loan had barely been given, in 1820, when a despatch arrived from Leadenhall Street, disapproving, in vehement terms, of all the transactions relating to the mercantile firm at Hyderabad, "and enjoining, both that the consent which had been given with the view of legalising their proceedings should be withdrawn, and that, in the event of any discussion as to the claims of the firm on the Nizam, the British Government should not interfere to enforce them." Thus the firm was interdicted from all future transactions with the Nizam or Chandoo Lal; and the result of the whole affair is thus summed up briefly by Beveridge* from several authorities: "Had William Palmer and Co. been acting in an honourable and straightforward manner, they might have complained, with justice, of the severity of this sudden interdict and the ruin in which it might involve them; but when the real state of the case was investigated, their explanations were considered shuffling and evasive, and the so-called * "Comprehensive History of India." loan of sixty lacs proved little better than a fiction and a fraud. Like Chandoo Lal, they had represented the loan as entirely a new advance for specific purposes, whereas Sir Charles Metcalfe, who had become Resident at Hyderabad, had little difficulty in discovering, notwithstanding the mysterious manner in which the accounts were stated, that there had been no real advance, and that the loan of sixty lacs was nothing more than the transfer of a previous debt of that amount, claimed by the firm of the Nizam, to a new account. They had thus obtained the sanction of the Supreme Government by false pretences. As soon as the real facts were discovered, the Governor-General became fully alive to the gross imposition which had been prac tised upon him, and characterised it as it deserved. For a moment, imputations affecting the GovernorGeneral's personal integrity were whispered in some quarters; but another dissipated them; and the worst that could be said was, that from not exercising due caution he had allowed his confidence to be abused." CHAPTER CI. THE PIRATES OF THE GULF-THEIR ORIGIN AND PROGRESS-END OF LORD HASTINGS' ADMINISTRATION. THE year 1821 witnessed the final destruction of those sea robbers who had so long infested the Gulf of Persia. All British commerce in these waters, says Captain Mignan, H.E.I.C.S., in his account of the Joassamee pirates, was, until a late period, at their mercy. In atrocity they surpassed the corsairs of Algiers, and were a race of Arabs descended from the people of Nedjd, an extensive tract of Arabia. They once possessed the principality of Seer, in the country of Oman, and from the earliest ages had been an independent tribe; but Oman contained many others, including the Zobairy, Kohasmi, Beni-Kutib, and Beni-Nain, For many years the last was the most powerful tribe, but the anarchy and strife which followed the death of Nadir Shah, compelled Moolah-Ali, the Governor of Ormuz, Gombroon, and Minau, to solicit the aid of certain Arabs to resist the unjust levy of tribute made by every claimant to the throne of Persia, heedless that it had already been collected by his predecessor. He therefore fixed on Rashid Ben Cassim, with whom he formed an alliance by marriage, and by the war-vessels under his command could render himself formidable by sea, whenever necessary. The Cassimees, or, as they were afterwards named, the Joassamees, retained the vessels occasionally sent to them, and having many opportunities for obtaining arms and ammunition, they soon acquired sufficient power to take possession of several towns upon the coast of the Persian Gulf, and to extend their conquests through the territories of Moolah Ali, till their career was checked by the Sheik Abdallah, who re-took Ormuz and Gombroon from Moolah Hassan, and Kishm and Luft from the Joassamees. In the year 1772, the Sheik Rashid of Ras-elKhyma, who had succeeded his father, Sheik Moolah, co-operated with the Sheik of Muscat, and destroyed two Persian vessels off Gombroon, with a magazine formed for the Persian troops at Linga. Three years subsequently, Sheik Rashid, who was fast becoming formidable, and was at feud with the Imaum of Muscat, captured some vessels belonging to Bushire, on the pretence that their cargoes were the property of the Imaum. After this, he resigned the Sheikdom to his son, Sugger, who espoused a daughter of Abdallah; and thus ended all their dissensions. The Joassamees now went forth ostensibly as traders, and by their undoubted activity carried on a very lucrative commerce; but their inborn treachery of character was constantly manifesting itself, and leading to hot disputes among themselves and their neighbours. The Persian influence being on the decline along the coast, the Ras-el-Khyma fleet caused every petty chief to fit out armed boats, manned by lawless crews, whose dependence was on plunder alone-a state of affairs that arose entirely out of the quarrels between Ras-el-Khyma and Muscat. The Joassamees remained tolerably quiet till 1796, and took no part in the quarrels that ensued between the Turkish Government and the Montfic |