Lord Wel lesley's work ;. in the north; in the south. Treaty with the Nizám, 1798. Third war, 1799. His work in Northern India was at first easy. By the treaty of Lucknow in 1801, he made us territorial rulers as far as the heart of the present North-Western Provinces, and established our political influence in Oudh. Beyond those limits, the northern branches of the Maráthás practically held sway, with the puppet Emperor in their hands. Lord Wellesley left them untouched for a few years, until the second Maráthá war (1802-04) gave him an opportunity for dealing effectively with their nation as a whole. In Southern India, Lord Wellesley quickly perceived that the Muhammadan Nizám at Haidarábád stood in need of his protection, and he converted him into a useful follower throughout the succeeding struggle. The other Muhammadan power of the south, Tipú Sultán of Mysore, could not be so easily handled. Lord Wellesley resolved to crush him, and had ample provocation for so doing. The third power of Southern India—namely, the Hindu Maráthá confederacy-was so loosely organized that Lord Wellesley seems at first to have hoped to live on terms with it. When several vears of fitful alliance had convinced him that he had to choose between the supremacy of the Maráthás or of the British in Southern India, he did not hesitate in his decision. Lord Wellesley first addressed himself to the weakest of the three southern powers, the Nizám at Haidarábád. Here he won a diplomatic success, which turned a possible rival into a subservient ally. The French battalions at Haidarábád were disbanded, and the Nizám bound himself by treaty 1 not to take any European into his service without the consent of the English Government,-a clause since inserted in every leading engagement entered into with Native Powers. Wellesley next turned the whole weight of his resources against Tipú, whom Cornwallis had defeated, but had not subdued. Tipu's intrigues with the French were laid bare, and he was given an opportunity of adhering to the new subsidiary system. On his refusal, war was declared, and Wellesley came down in viceregal state to Madras to organize the expedition in person, and to watch over the course of events. One English army marched into Mysore from Madras, accompanied by a contingent from the Nizám. Another advanced from the western coast. Tipú, after a feeble resistance in the field, retired into Seringapatam, and, when his capital was stormed, died fighting bravely in the breach, 1799. Since the battle of Plassey 1 Dated 1st September 1798.-Aitchison's Treaties and Engagements, vol. v. pp. 173-176 (ed. 1876). WELLESLEY'S SOUTHERN WARS. 397 Seringapa no event had so greatly impressed the native imagination as Fall of the capture of Seringapatam, which won for General Harris a tam, 1799. peerage, and for Wellesley an Irish Marquisate. In dealing with the territories of Tipú, Wellesley acted with moderation. The central portion, forming the old State of Mysore, was restored to an infant representative of the Hindu Rájás, whom Haidar Alí had dethroned; the rest of Tipu's dominions was partitioned between the Nizám, the Maráthás, and the English. At about the same time, the Karnátik, or the part of South-eastern India ruled by the Nawáb of Arcot, and also the principality of Tanjore, were placed under direct British administration, thus constituting the Madras Presidency almost as it has existed to the present day. The sons of the slain Tipú were treated by Lord Wellesley with paternal tenderness. They received a magnificent allowance, with semi-royal establishment, first at Vellore, and afterwards in Calcutta. The last of them, Prince Ghulam Muhammad, was long well known as a public-spirited citizen of Calcutta, and an active Justice of the Peace. He died only a few years ago (about 1877). áthás in The Maráthás had been the nominal allies of the English The Marin both their wars with Tipú. But they had not rendered 1800. active assistance, nor were they secured to the English side as the Nizám now was. The Maráthá powers at this time were five in number. The recognised head of the confederacy was the Peshwa of Poona, who ruled the hill country of the Western Ghats, the cradle of the Maráthá race. The fertile Province of Gujarát was annually harried by the horsemen of the Gaekwár of Baroda. In Central India, two military leaders, Sindhia of Gwalior and Holkar of Indore, alternately held the pre-eminency. Towards the east, the Bhonsla Rájá of Nagpur reigned from Berar to the coast of Orissa. Wellesley laboured to bring these several Maráthá powers Welleswithin the net of his subsidiary system. In 1802, the necessities ley's dealings with of the Peshwá, who had been defeated by Holkar, and driven the Maras a fugitive into British territory, induced him to sign the áthás. treaty of Bassein. By this he pledged himself to the British to hold communications with no Power, European or Native, except ourselves. He also granted to us Districts for the maintenance of a subsidiary force. This greatly extended the English territorial influence in the Bombay Presidency. But it led to the second Maráthá war, as neither Sindhia nor the Rájá of Nágpur would tolerate the Peshwa's betrayal of Maráthá independence. Second war, The campaigns which followed are perhaps the most Maráthá glorious in the history of the British arms in India. The 1802-04. general plan, and the adequate provision of resources, were due to the Marquis of Wellesley, as also the indomitable spirit which refused to acknowledge defeat. The armies were led by Sir Arthur Wellesley (afterwards Duke of Wellington), and General (afterwards Lord) Lake. Wellesley operated in the Deccan, where, in a few short months, he won the decisive victories of Assaye and Argaum, and captured Ahmadnagar. victories, Lake's campaign in Hindustan was no less brilliant, although it has received less notice from historians. He won pitched battles at Aligarh and Láswárí, and took the cities of Delhi and Agra. He scattered the French troops of Sindhia, and at the same time stood forward as the champion of the Mughal Emperor in his hereditary capital. Before the end of 1803, both Sindhia and the Bhonsla Rájá of Nágpur sued for peace. British 1802-03. Additions to British India, 1803. Sindhia ceded all claims to the territory north of the Jumna, and left the blind old Emperor Shah Alam once more under British protection. The Bhonsla forfeited Orissa to the English, who had already occupied it with a flying column in 1803; and Berar to the Nizám, who gained a fresh addition by every act of complaisance to the British Government. The freebooter Jaswant Ráo Holkar alone remained in the field, supporting his troops by raids through Málwá and Rájputána. The concluding years of Wellesley's rule were occupied with a series of operations against Holkar, which Later dis- brought little credit on the British name. The disastrous retreat of Colonel Monson through Central India (1804) recalled memories of the convention of Wargáum, and of the destruction of Colonel Baillie's force by Haidar Alí. The repulse of Lake in person at the siege of Bhartpur (Bhurtpore) is memorable as an instance of a British army in India having to turn back with its object unaccomplished (1805). Bhartpur was not finally taken till 1827. asters, 1804-05. India after 1805; in the north; in the south. Lord Wellesley during his six years of office carried out almost every part of his territorial scheme. In Northern India, Lord Lake's campaigns, 1803-05, brought the NorthWestern Provinces (the ancient Madhya-desha) under British rule, together with the custody of the puppet Emperor. The new Districts were amalgamated with those previously acquired from the Nawáb Wazír of Oudh into the 'Ceded and Conquered Provinces.' This partition of Northern India remained till the Sikh wars of 1845 and 1848-49 gave us the Punjab. In South-eastern India, we have seen that Lord Wellesley's con LORD MINTO-LORD HASTINGS. 399 quests constituted the Madras Presidency almost as it exists. at this date. In South-western India, the Peshwa was reduced to a vassal of the Company. But the territories now under the Governor of Bombay were not finally built up into their present form until the last Maráthá war in 1818. The financial strain caused by these great operations of Lord Wellesley had meanwhile exhausted the patience of the Court of Directors at home. In 1805, Lord Cornwallis was Marquis of sent out as Governor-General a second time, with instructions Cornwallis again, to bring about peace at any price, while Holkar was still unsub- 1805. dued, and with Sindhia threatening a fresh war. But Cornwallis was now an old man, and broken down in health. Travelling up to the north-west during the rainy season, he sank and died at Gházipur, before he had been ten weeks in the country. Barlow, His immediate successor was Sir George Barlow, a civil Sir George servant of the Company, who as a locum tenens had no alter- 1805. native but to carry out the commands of his employers. Under these orders, he curtailed the area of British territory, and, in violation of engagements, abandoned the Rájput chiefs to the cruel mercies of Holkar and Sindhia. During his administration, also, occurred the mutiny of the Madras sepoys at Vellore (1806), which, although promptly suppressed, sent a shock of insecurity throughout the Empire. The feebly economical policy of this interregnum proved a most disastrous one. But, fortunately, the rule soon passed into firmer hands. Lord Minto, Governor-General from 1807 to 1813, con- Earl of solidated the conquests which Wellesley had acquired. His Minto, 1807-13. only military exploits were the occupation of the island of the Mauritius, and the conquest of Java by an expedition which he accompanied in person. The condition of Central India continued to be disturbed, but Lord Minto succeeded in preventing any violent outbreaks without himself having recourse to the sword. The Company had ordered him to follow a policy of non-intervention, and he managed to obey his orders without injuring the prestige of the British name. Under his auspices, the Indian Government opened relations with a new set of foreign powers, by sending embassies to the Punjab, to Afghánistán, and to Persia. The ambassadors had been trained in the school of Wellesley, and formed, perhaps, the most illustrious trio of 'politicals' whom the Indian services have produced. Metcalfe went as envoy to the Sikh Court of Ranjit Singh at Lahore; Elphinstone met the Sháh of Afghán Lord istán at Peshawar; and Malcolm was despatched to Persia. It cannot be said that these missions were fruitful of permanent results; but they introduced the English to a new set of diplomatic relations, and widened the sphere of their influence. The successor of Lord Minto was the Earl of Moira, better (Marquis of known by his later title as the Marquis of Hastings. The Hastings), Marquis of Hastings completed Lord Wellesley's conquests 1814-23. in Central India, and left the Bombay Presidency almost The Gurkhas of Nepál. Nepál war, 1814-15. as it stands at present. His long rule of nine years, from 1814 to 1823, was marked by two wars of the first magnitudenamely, the campaigns against the Gúrkhas of Nepál, and the last Maráthá struggle. The Gurkhas, the present ruling race in Nepál, trace their descent from Hindu immigrants and claim a Rájput origin. The indigenous inhabitants, called Newars, belong to the Indo-Tibetan stock, and profess Buddhism. The sovereignty of the Gurkhas dates only from 1767-68, when they overran the valley of Khatmandu, and gradually extended their power over the hills and valleys of Nepál. Organized upon a military and feudal basis, they soon became a terror to their neighbours, marching east into Sikkim, west into Kumaun, and south into the Gangetic plains. In the last quarter their victims were British subjects (natives of Bengal), and it became necessary to check their advance. Sir George Barlow and Lord Minto had remonstrated in vain, and nothing was left to Lord Moira but to take up arms. The first campaign of 1814 was unsuccessful. After overcoming the natural difficulties of a malarious climate and precipitous hills, our troops were on several occasions fairly worsted by the impetuous bravery of the little Gurkhas, whose heavy knives or kukris dealt terrible execution. But in the cold weather of 1814, General Ochterlony, who advanced by way campaign. of the Sutlej, stormed one by one the hill forts which still stud the Himalayan States, now under the Punjab Government, and compelled the Nepál darbár to sue for peace. In the following year, 1815, the same general made his brilliant march from Patná into the lofty valley of Khatmandu, and finally dictated the terms which had before been rejected, within a few miles of the capital. By the treaty of Segauli, which defines the English relations with Nepál to the present Himálayan day, the Gurkhas withdrew on the south-east from Sikkim ; 1815. and on the south-west, from their advanced posts in the outer Second Treaty of Segauli; cedes tracts, |