46 



INDIA. 



IBiHiy. tarn, and itt dependant district*, which they had con- 



",-*^ quered from the French ; also the castle of Surat, the 



Jaghire, or territory round Madras, the Calcutta zemin- 



dary, and the districts of Burdwan, Midnapore, and 



Chittagong. 



[n the pursuit of Cosseim, the British army had 

 reached the interminous frontier of the territories of 

 Bengal and Oude : the fugitive prince had taken re- 

 fuge in the court of Sujah Dowlah, otherwise called 

 the Nabob Vizier, which, at the same time, harboured 

 a more illustrious exile, the young Mogul. The British 

 camp now became the scene of complicated negocia- 

 tions; an alliance was proposed to Sujnli Dowlah, which 

 h rejected. While these negociations were going on, 

 discontents prevailed in the British army. Encouraged 

 by this, Sujah Dowlah, who had already collected an 

 army on the frontiers of Oude, determined on hostili- 

 ty ; and he was joined by the Rajah of Benares. In 

 March 1764, Major Carnac took the command of the 

 British forces, and having restored discipline and su- 

 bordination, repulsed the vizier in an obstinate engage- 

 ment near Patna. The war was now carried into the 

 province of Oude, and Major Carnac was succeeded by 

 Major Monro. On the 24th of October, was fought the 

 Bttle of celebrated battle of Buxar, on the river Carumnasa, 

 Buxar, about 100 miles above the city of Patna. The British 

 A.D. 176*. arm y consisted of 856 Europeans, and 6215 sepoys; 

 the combined troops of Sujah Dowlah and Cosseim con- 

 sisted of 40,000 men. After an arduous contest of 

 three hours, the army of the vizier retired in disorder, 

 leaving on the field 133 pieces of cannon, and blowing 

 up some of their powder magazines ; 2000 troops were 

 slain on the field of battle. The loss of Major Monro' s 

 army was trifling, being only 87 Europeans and 712 

 sepoys. The flight of the allies was so rapid, that they 

 did not stop at Buxar, but hastened to a small river 

 beyond it. Over this was a bridge of boats, which, 

 however, they had not all crossed, when Sujah Dow- 

 lah directed the bridge to be destroyed. By this act 

 of generalship he sacrificed indeed the rear division of 

 his army, which, to the r.umber of nearly 2000 men, 

 were drowned ; but he saved his main body from cer- 

 tain destruction, and at the same time preserved from 

 capture the immense treasures of Cosseim as well as his 

 own. A native historian describes the camp of the 

 two chiefs in the following terms : " A bridge of boats 

 being thrown over the Ganges, the allied armies began 

 their march in numbers not to be reckoned ; but, from 

 the ignorance of the generals and want of discipline, 

 murdering and plundering each other. It was not an 

 army, but rather a moving nation." On the following 

 day the Mogul, who had taken no part in the battle, 

 sought and obtained the protection of the British, offer- 

 ing them terms highly favourable to their views and 

 plans of aggrandizement and extent of territory. 



Sujah Dowlah was now obliged to struggle for his 

 existence. He offered to negociate ; but as he refused to 

 deliver up Cosseim, his offer was rejected. At last hav- 

 ing dismissed his ally, who took refuge in upper India, 

 he voluntarily repaired to the British camp, and surren- 

 dered himself to the general. Terms were made with 

 him, by which the entire territory of Oude, except the 

 districts of Corah and Allahabad, were restored to him ;* 

 the ncepted districts were allotted to the Emperor, the 

 rt of Allahabad being assigned for his residence. In 

 Grants by return for these cessions, and for an annual stipend for 

 the Mogul his support, the Emperor, besides a confirmation of the 

 w the Eng- territorial acquisitions which the British had made, ei- 

 ther on the soubhadary of Bengal, or on the coast, con. 



ferred on them two important favours : he invested them 

 with the Dewaunee of the three provinces ot l-Vnga!, 

 Bahar, and Orissa ; the second grant was that, of the 

 five northern circars. Over these districts in-^ed he 

 had only a nominal claim, derived from their former 

 conquest, in the latter days of the Mogul e- : "rriment. 

 At this time, they belonged to the soubha.tar of the 

 Decan. In 1754, he had granted them to the French, 

 then his allies, and on their being defeated by the Eng- 

 lish, the circars reverted to him. After the general 

 peace of 1763, the French again endeavoured to gain a 

 footing in them ; and this induced Lord Clive, who ar- 

 rived in India for the second time, in 1765, to obtain 

 from the Mogul the proprietary grant of this territory. 

 In the year J766, four of the circars were given up by 

 the soubhadar ; the fifth, held by a brother of the Ni- 

 zam, was granted in reversion to the British. In return 

 for these cessions, the British promised the soubhadar 

 the assistance of their troops, whenever he might need 

 it, to settle the affairs of his government. About the 

 end of the year 1 766, having united himself with A 

 Mahratta chief against Hyder AH, sovereign of the 

 Mysore, he applied for these troops, which were grant* 

 ed him, even before his object or that of the Mahrattas 

 was known. As soon as the British troops had joined, 

 the united army entered the territory of Mysore. - 



It was on this occasion that Hycler AH first display- 

 ed those talents which afterwards rendered himself so 

 very formidable. He bought off the Mahrattas by large 

 bribes. Next he entered into negociations with the 

 Nizam with such effect, that in August 1767, the ar- 

 mies of the Nizam and Hyder actually united at Ban- 

 galore, from which place they made irregular incur- 

 sions into the Carnatic. Had Hyder adhered to his 

 own plan of the campaign, which was to elude a gene- 

 ral action, and to harass the British by his superiority 

 in cavalry, the latter must have suffered dreadfully ; 

 but on being accused of dilatoriness by the Nizam he 

 consented to change his plans. The result was fatal to 

 his interests and views ; for by a succession of obsti- 

 nate engagements and bloody defeats, the allied army 

 was driven out of the Carnatic. The Nizam deserted 

 Hyder in his misfortunes, made peace with the Madras 

 government, and retired to his' own dominions. This 

 defection, though it weakened Hyder, gave him greater 

 liberty of action, which he improved to the utmost ; 

 and partly by the nature of the country which was the 

 scene of warfare, and partly by the mode in which he 

 conducted the campaign, he baffled the British for a 

 considerable length of time. The intelligence of his be- 

 ing able to oppose an enemy hitherto invincible by the 

 Indian princes, so raised his reputation, that adventur- 

 ers flocked to him from all parts, and his cavalry were 

 soon increased to upwards of 90,000. | At last he was 

 induced to give up his plan of defensive and dilatory 

 warfare, in order to protect a fort besieged by the Bri- 

 tish. The consequence was an obstinate engagement, 

 in which, notwithstanding his vast superiority, he was 

 defeated. He still persevered, however; and in Janu- 

 ary 1769, having recovered his own provinces, marched 

 into the Carnatic, which he ravaged with fire and sword. 

 At this period the British were commanded by General 

 Smith, who, by a dexterous movement, cut off the ene- 

 my (rom his own country From the difficulties, how- 

 ever,' which seemed to be entangling him, Hyder was 

 extricated by his own spirit of enterprize ; for having, 

 by a variety of movements, contrived and executed with 

 great skill and adroitness, drawn the British forces to 

 a considerable distance from Madras, he directed bis 



History. 



who obtain 

 the Circars, 

 1766. 



Hyder All 

 flnt ap- 

 pears, 

 A.D. 178T. 



Defeated by 

 the Knirli.-!:, 

 A, D. 1769. 



