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XX. MAHRATTA WAR, AND PEACE

I.

THAT by an act passed in 1773, it was expressly ordered and provided," that it should not be lawful for any president and council at Madras, Bombay, or Bencoolen, for the time being, to make any orders for commencing hostilities, or declaring or making war against any Indian princes or powers, or for negotiating or concluding any treaty of peace, or other treaty, with any such Indian princes or powers, without the consent and approbation of the governor general and council first had and obtained, except in such cases of imminent necessity as would render it dangerous to postpone such hostilities or treaties until the orders from the governor general and council might arrive." That nevertheless the president and council of Bombay did, in December, 1774, without the consent and approbation of the governor general and council of Fort William, and in the midst of profound peace, commence an unjust and unprovoked war against the Mahratta government; did conclude a treaty with a certain person, a fugitive from that government, and proscribed by it, named Ragonaut Row, or Ragoba; and did, under various base and treacherous pretences, invade and conquer the island of Salsette, belonging to the Mahratta government.

II.

That Warren Hastings, on the first advices received in Bengal of the above transactions, did condemn the same in the strongest terms; declaring that "the measures adopted by the presidency of Bombay had a tendency to a very extensive and indefinite scene of troubles; and that their conduct was unseasonable, impolitic, unjust, and unauthorized." And the governor general and council, in order to put a stop to the said unjust hostilities, did appoint an ambassador to the peshwa, or chief of the Mah

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ratta state, resident at Poona; and the said ambassador did, after a long negotiation, conclude a definitive treaty of peace with the said peshwa on terms, highly honourable and beneficial to the East India company, who by the said treaty obtained from, the Mahrattas a cession of considerable tracts of country, the Mahratta share of the city of Broach, twelve lacks of rupees for the expenses of the said unjust war, and particularly the island of Salsette, of which the presidency of Bombay had possessed themselves by surprise and treachery; that in return for these extraordinary concessions, the articles principally insisted on by the Mahrattas, with a view to their own future tranquillity and internal quiet, were, that no assistance should be given to any subject or servant of the peshwa, that should cause disturbances or rebellion, in the Mahratta dominions, and particularly that the English should not assist Ragonaut Row, to whom the Mahrattas agreed to allow five lacks of rupees a year, or a Jagbyre to that amount, and that he should reside at Benares; that, nevertheless, the presidency of Bombay did receive and keep Ragonaut Row at Bombay, did furnish him with a considerable establishment, and continue to carry on secret intrigues and negotiations with him, thereby giving just ground of jealousy and distrust to the Mahratta state that the late Colonel John Upton, by whom the treaty of Poorunder was negotiated and concluded, did declare to the governor general and council, "that while Ragonaut Row resides at Bombay, in expectation of being supported, the ministers can place no confidence in the council there; which must now be productive of the greatest inconveniences, and perhaps, in the end, of fatal consequences." That the said Warren Hastings, concurring with his council, which then consisted of Sir John Clavering, Richard Barwell, and Philip Francis, Esquires, did, on the 18th of August, 1777, declare to the presidency of Bombay, that "he could see no reason to doubt that the presence of Ragoba at Bombay would continue to be an insuperable bar to the completion of the treaty concluded with the Mahratta government, nor could any sincere cordiality and good understanding be established with them, as long as he should appear to derive encouragement and support from the English." That Sir John Clavering died soon after, and that the late Edward Wheler, Esquire, succeeded to a seat in the supreme council. That, on

the 29th of January, 1778, the governor general and council received a letter from the presidency of Bombay, dated 12th December, 1777, in which they declared, "that they had agreed to give encouragement to a party formed in Ragoba's favour, and "flattered themselves they should meet with the hearty concurrence of the governor general and council in the measures they might be obliged to pursue in consequence." That the party so described was said to consist of four principal persons in the Mahrarta state, on whose part some overtures had been made to Mr. William Lewis, the resident of Bombay, at Poona, for the assistance of the company to bring Ragoba to Poona. That the said Warren Hastings, immediately on the receipt of the preceding advices, did propose and carry it in council, by means of his casting voice, and against the remonstrances, arguments, and solemn protest of two members of the supreme council, that the sanction of that government should be given to the plan which the president and council of Bombay had agreed to form with the Mahratta government; and also, that a supply of money (to the amount of ten lacks of rupees) should be immediately granted to the president and council of Bombay for the support of their engagements above mentioned; and also, that a military force should be sent to the presidency of Bombay. That, in defence of these resolutions, the said Warren Hastings did falsely pretend and affirm, "that the resolution of the presidency of Bombay was formed on such a case of imminent necessity, as would have rendered it dangerous to postpone the execution of it, until the orders from the governor general and council might arrive; and that the said presidency of Bombay were warranted by the treaty of Poorunder, to join in a plan for conducting Ragonaut Row to Poona, on the application of the ruling part of the Mahratta state;" whereas the main object of the said treaty, on the part of the Mahrattas, and to obtain which they made many important concessions to the India company, was, that the English should withdraw their forces, and give no assistance to Ragoba, and that he should be excluded for ever from any share in their government, being a person universally held in abhorrence in the Mahratta empire; and if it had been true (instead of being, as it was, notoriously false) that the ruling part of the administration of the Mahratta state solicited the return of Ragonaut Row to Poona, his return, in that

case, might have been effected by acts of their own, without the interposition of the English power, and without our interference in their affairs. That it was the special duty of the said Warren Hastings, derived from a special trust reposed in him, and power committed to him by parliament, to have restrained, as by law he had authority to do, the subordinate presidency of Bombay from entering into hostilities with the Mahrattas, or from making engagements, the manifest tendency of which was to enter into those hostilities, and to have put a stop to them, if any such had been begun. That he was bound by the duty of his office to preserve the faith of the British government, pledged in the treaty of Poorunder, inviolate and sacred, as well as by the special orders and instructions of the East India company to fix his attention to the preservation of peace throughout India; all which important duties the said Warren Hastings did wilfully violate in giving the sanction of the governor general and council to the dangerous, faithless, and illconcerted projects of the president and council of Bombay, herein before mentioned, from which the subsequent Mahratta war, with all the expense, distress, and disgraces, which have attended it, took their commencement; and that the said Warren Hastings therefore is specially and principally answerable for the said war, and for all the consequences thereof. That in a letter, dated the 20th of January, 1778, the president and couneil of Bombay informed the governor general and council, that, in consequence of later intelligence received from Poona, they had immediately resolved that nothing further could be done, unless Saccarum Baboo the principal in the late treaty [of Poorunder] joined in making a formal application to them. That no such application was ever made by that person. That the said Warren

Hastings, finding that all this pretended ground for engaging in an invasion of the Mahratta government had totally failed, did then pretend to give credit to, and to be greatly alarmed by, the suggestions of the president and council of Bombay, that the Mahrattas were negoti ating with the French, and had agreed to give them the port of Choul on the Malabar coast, and did affirm that the French had obtained possession of that port: that all these suggestion and assertions were false; and if they had been true, would have furnished no just occasion for attacking either the Mahrattas, or the French, with both

28th

May, 1782. 15th Dec. 2775.

of whom the British nation was then at peace: that the said Warren Hastings did then propose and carry the following resolution, in council, against the protest of two mem-bers thereof, that, "for the purpose of granting you [the presidency of Bombay] the most effectual support in our power, we have resolved to assemble a strong military force near Calpee, the commanding officer of which is to be ordered to march, by the most practicable route, to Bombay, or to such other places as future occurrences, and your directions to him may render it expedient." And with respect to the steps said to be taking by the French to obtain a settlement on the Malabar coast, the said Warren Hastings did declare to the presidency of Bombay, "that it was the opinion of the governor general and council that no time ought to be lost in forming and carrying into execution such measures as might most effectually tend to frustrate such dangerous designs ;"that the said Warren Hastings, therefore, instead of fixing his attention to the preservation of peace throughout India, as it was his duty to have done, did continue to abet, encourage, and support the dangerous projects of the presidency of Bombay, and did thereby manifest a determined intention to disturb the peace of India, by the unfortunate success of which intention, and by the continued efforts of the said Hastings, the greatest part of India has been for several years involved in a bloody and calamitous war. That both the court of directors and rourt of proprietors did specially instruct the said Warren Hastings, in all his measures, "to make the safety and prosperity of Bengal his principal object," and did heavily censure the said Warren Hastings for having employed their troops at a great distance from Bengal in a war against the Rohillas, which the house of commons have pronounced to be iniquitous, and did on that occasion expressly declare, "that they disapproved of all such distant expeditions, as might eventually carry their forces to any situation too remote to admit of their speedy and safe return to the protection of their own provinces, in case of emergency." That the said Warren Hastings nevertheless ordered a detachment from the Bengal army to cross the Jumna, and to proceed across the peninsula by a circuitous route through the diamond country of Bundle Cund, and through the dominions of the rajah of Berar, situated in the center of Hindostan, and did thereby strip the provinces subject

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