over all the northern provinces of India from Agra to the Sutledge, and was followed by sixteen battalions of well-disciplined infantry, and 100,000 horse; but Scindiah persevered in his proud humility, and drawing forth a pair of slippers from a bundle which he carried under his arm, said, "this was my father's occupation; it is now mine." After the death of Madhajee, the grandson of his brother named Dowlet Row became heir to the possessions of his great-uncle, and increased every day the domains and influence of this powerful family.

Mulhar Row, the progenitor of the race of Holkar, was originally, like Scindiah, of humble birth. From being a shepherd in the service of the Peishwa, he rose to the rank of a great military commander. His son, Kundee Row, had by his wife Ahalya Baee, a son and daughter, the former of whom became insane. Ahalya, a woman of spirit and ability, resolved to reserve in her own hands the right of nominating a successor. She seems, indeed, to have been eminently fitted for the task. Justice and moderation were the leading principles of her government. She heard every complaint in person, and investigated even the most trifling matter with unwearied diligence and impartial equity. Profoundly religious, according to her light and knowledge, she might have been proposed as a praiseworthy example to many nominal Christians. She rose daily at one hour before daybreak, devoting the entire morning to prayer, to the ritual ablutions prescribed by her creed, and to the perusal of the sacred volumes of her faith. Before she broke her fast, she distributed alms; and her morning repast, as indeed all her meals, consisted of the plainest possible food. After breakfast she again gave up a considerable time to devotion, and having taken a brief interval of repose, applied herself unremittingly during the remainder of the day to the business of the state. Prayer and meditation closed a period, every moment of which had been devoted to the service of heaven or the welfare of mankind.

1802.]

AHALYA BAEE,

169

Under this great princess, a chieftain named Tukajee commanded the troops who served beneath the banners of the race of Holkar. His tried fidelity induced Ahalya to grant him a share in the government, and after his decease, a natural son, Jeswunt Row overcame his legitimate brethren, and rendered himself the leader of the family. He was engaged in continual petty contests with Dowlet Row Scindiah, and they met at last in a great action near Poonah, on the 25th October, 1802. Some of Holkar's cavalry retreated, whereupon their chief addressed the others with the sentiments of an ancient Roman, "Let those," he said, "who do not mean to conquer or die, return to their wives and children. As for me, I have no intention of surviving this day; If I do not gain the victory, where can I fly?"

The troops of Holkar proved victorious, and the Patan auxiliaries, under Ameer Khan, rushed off to plunder Poonah. Although seriously wounded in the action, Jeswunt threw himself on horseback, galloped up to the marauders, and transfixed three of them with his formidable lance. When he returned, Ameer Khan, who was not distinguished for his personal bravery, approached to congratulate his victorious ally. "We have indeed had a severe action," said the boasting Mahommedan; "behold, the head trappings of my horse have been broken by a cannon-ball." "You are most fortunate, truly," replied Jeswunt with grave irony, "since the shot seems to have passed between your horse's two ears without touching either."

By the treaty of Bassein, the Peishwa entered into the strictest possible alliance with the British Government. The destruction of Scindiah, and the complete subjugation of his possessions, were among the chief objects contemplated. This chieftain had, from the first, exhibited a marked predilection for French counsels and French manners, and it was firmly anticipated that he would seize the earliest opportunity of allying himself

with the European enemies of the English. At this juncture, however, the treaty of Amiens obliged the French to suspend their schemes of conquest, but the officers of that nation did not conceal their feelings of rivalry, or their intention of making a hostile movement, in combination with the native powers, as soon as the present insecure truce should be at an end. In virtue of the recent pacification, Pondicherry and their other factories had been restored to them, so that a centre of operations in India was not wanting, from which they might, in a very short time, renew their communications with Scindiah and other native allies.

Amrut Row, the adopted son of the late Peishwa's father, was in league with Holkar, who invited him to Poonah, the Peishwa having fled from thence. His departure had been represented as an abdication, but Lord Wellesley determined that he should be forthwith restored to his former dignity. General Wellesley took the command of the army destined for this undertaking. On the 12th of March he crossed the Tumboodra, and receiving intelligence that Amrut Row intended to burn Poonah, he made a forced march thither of sixty miles, between the morning and night of a single day. The reishwa re-entered Poonah under the auspices of the English, but his professions of amity were insincere, he felt jealous of European influence, and desired to maintain an independence that was no longer practicable.

Moreover, Scindiah and his ally the Berar Rajah, still held out, and refused to adopt any definitive terms. Weary of these protracted negotiations, which only seemed calculated to waste time, General Wellesley marched northwards. Before he passed the Tumboodra, Colonel Stevens had advanced simultaneously from Hyderabad towards Poonah, while General Lake hastened to engage Scindiah's army under the French commander Perron in Northern Hindoostan. At the same time, an expedition was despatched from Bombay against Baroach and

1803.]

CAPTURE OF AHMEDNUGGUR.

171

Guzerat, the object of these combined movements being to obtain possession of the coasts, and thus prevent the landing of French auxiliaries.

General Wellesley captured the strong fortress of Ahmednuggur, and marched from thence in the direction of Aurungabad. The enemy made a feint at Hyderabad, but being obliged to return northwards, Wellesley came up with them near the village of Assaye. Their troops amounted to upwards of 50,000 men, while his own force did not exceed 4,500. The Mahrattas commenced the battle by a furious cannonade, which considerably injured the opposite ranks: but the English infantry charging up to the very teeth of the guns, overthrew the artillerymen, and, rushing with impetuous fury on the lines behind, soon put the enemy's infantry to flight. Their cavalry made a bold attempt to retrieve the fortune of the day, but they were in turn overpowered by the English horse. As the victors pressed forward to follow up their vanquished foes, many of the Indian artillerymen, who had thrown themselves as if dead beneath their gun-carriages, suddenly leaped up, and opened a fire upon the English rear. General Wellesley, however, ordered some of the corps to face about, and attack their assailants, who were speedily cut to pieces, while the vanguard, with the remainder of the troops, continued the pursuit. The village of Assaye itself fell into the hands of the English, after a desperate struggle that lasted until near midnight.

Its

Such was the battle of Assaye, the first of a series of brilliant victories, which terminated at Waterloo, and developed, in wonderful succession, the gigantic energies and abilities of the greatest captain of his age. results were the establishment of the British dominion in India, upon a much firmer basis than any on which it had hitherto rested. The great powers of the Hindoo continent encountered us successively, only to be finally vanquished and overthrown. First came the Mohammedan princes, the descendants of the conqueror of

Then suc

Ghuznee, the heirs of Baber and Timour. ceeded the hardy mountaineers of the south; the astute and politic Hyder, the daring and inflexible Tippoo, aided in the struggle by European civilization and the instruments of occidental warfare.

But when these had fallen, there still remained a race of heroes before whom it was thought the northern invaders might learn to tremble. Since the days of Aurungzebe, their very name had been a terror to the Indian races, from the rajah or nabob on his luxurious musnud, to the starving peasant whose little harvest was destined to be reaped by the Mahratta sabre. For a time, these warlike tribes refused to acknowledge the supremacy of England, and it even appeared that the white conquerors of Hindoostan engaged in the conflict with manifest reluctance. That flattering prestige was now for ever destroyed; the invincible tribes, with their French officers and well-served artillery, their numbers and obstinate valour, had been routed by a force about ten times inferior to them in numerical strength. From this day an impression gained ground among all classes, and stamped itself indelibly upon the native mind, that the English were invincible, and that they, and they alone, appeared destined by Providence to become the future rulers of Hindoostan.

The reduction of Burham poor and Asseerghur, two strongholds generally considered impregnable, obliged Scindiah to sue for peace. An armistice having been agreed upon, the English marched against Berar, and defeated its rajah on the plains of Argaum. They next laid siege to Ghawil-Ghur, a rock fortress, which at first offered a stout resistance, but fell eventually into the hands of the besiegers. During this period, the labours of the troops proved intensely severe. They cut roads through the mountains, carried the ordnance and stores by hand up rugged paths, and along almost impassable ravines, where only a few savage hunters had ever pene