51 



INDIA. 



i! My. 



Wan with 



v ^ . ' i 

 in Itfll-IG. 



Present 

 state of the 

 native pew 



dia by the F.arl of Moira, now Marquis of Hastings, 

 who found himsi-lt' compelled to make war on the Rajah 

 ,,!' Ni-paul in I HI.'., in consequence of that chief having 

 invaded tin- British territories contiguous to his domi- 

 nion*. In thi> war, the British met with more hardy and 

 formidable opponents than ttey had been accustomed 

 to riu'ouiiler in India; but after surmounting many 

 dillu'ultirs pr.ncipally arming iVonr the mountainous 

 nature of the country "of NYpaul, and fretting possession 

 of the Itajah's capital, a treaty was concluded, by which 

 he agreed to give up certain districts deemed necessary, 

 by I.ord Moira, for the better protection of the British 

 territories. Scarcely, however, had the British army 

 been withdrawn from Nepaul, when the Rajah refused 

 to fulfil the treaty ; and a second war became unavoid- 

 able. The British in this were equally successful ; and, in 

 1816, the fulfilment of the former treaty was enforced. 



This year, also, the Pihdarees, tjr freebooters, taking 

 advantage of the Nepaulese war, traversed, to the num- 

 ber of several thousands, the whole of India ; and pe- 

 netrating to the bay of Bengal, laid waste the province 

 of Cuttack, in the immediate vicinity of Calcutta. 



The following sketch of the military strength of tlie 

 powers bordering on the British dominions, is supplied 

 by the latest intelligence from India : 



" 1. The Seiks possess a large tract of country. Their 

 tribes are headed by Runjet Sing, a warlike and ambi- 

 tious leader. Their usual military establishment may 

 be estimated at 28,00d. The Seiks under the British 

 protection can bring into the field about 1 7,000 soldiers. 



" 2. Scindinh hns about 40,000 soldiers. He is said to History. 

 be in close alliance with l\)f Rajah of Berar, and with ~" ~Y" 

 the Bhurtpoor Rajah. He has acquired much strength 

 since the Mahratta war, by bringing the feudatory states 

 under his immediate controul. 



"3. Meer Khan may have 28,000 soldiers. Mahomed 

 Shah and Lally Sing, who generally act with him, can 

 bring 20,000 more into the field. Meer Khan is gene- 

 rally much in want of money ; and when his troops 

 become mutinous from being kept in arrears, he gives 

 them perhaps half their pay, with authority to plunder 

 to the amount of what is still due to them. 



"4. Holkar is poor, and has only 17,000 men. Meer 

 Khan, Mahomed Shah, and Lally Sing, are nominally 

 his generals. 



5. " The Pindarees are a tribe of military adventurers, 

 who having followed the standards of different chiefs, 

 and, from the present tranquil state of Hindostan, be- 

 ing out of employ, have joined with other vagrants, and 

 cemented themselves into one great body, which is dai- 

 ly accumulating, so that at present, it is said, their force 

 amounts to nearly 80,000 men, most of whom are well 

 equipped, and all well mounted. Their nude of mak- 

 ing war is most destructive, as plunder is their only 

 object. They separate, for the purpose, into bodies of 

 from 100 to 4000 or ,5000 horse, and ravage a territory 

 of 50 miles, or more, in circumference ; whence, after 

 rendering it a perfect desart, they march elsewhere to 

 similar devastations. They will fight under any chief 

 who will best pay them." 



PART III. STATISTICS. 



Extent. 



CHAP. I. 



Extent, Boundaries, Divisions, Progressive Geo* 

 graphy. 



WE have already mentioned the grand divisions of 

 Statistics. Hindostan, into North Hindostan; Hindostan Proper; 

 y / the Decan ; and the South of India ; and the bounda- 

 ries of the whole, as well as of each division. We have 

 al>o mentioned, that this article will be confined to Hin- 

 dostan proper, the Pecan, and the south of India ; re- 

 ferring the reader, for information respecting Northern 

 Hindostan, to the articles CASHMERE, NEPAUL, BOOTAN, 

 TIBET, 6cc. 



Taking Hindostan in the largest acceptation of the 

 term, its area comprehends about one million geogra- 

 phical square miles, or an extent equal to the whole of 

 Europe, with the exception of Denmark, Norway, Lap- 

 land, Sweden, Russia, and Poland. Hindostan proper is 

 equal in size to France, Italy, Germany, Bohemia, 

 Hungary, Switzerland, and the Netherlands ; and the 

 Decan, and the south of India, are about equal to the 

 British islands, Spain, and Turkey in Europe. 



I. HINDOSTAN PROPER contains eleven provinces. 1st, 

 Lahore. The boundary of this province on the west is 

 the Indus, by which it is separated from Afghanistan ; 

 on the east the river Sutlege, a subsidiary stream of 

 the Indus, divides it from Northern Hindostan ; on the 

 north it is bounded principally by Cashmere ; and on 

 the south by the provinces of Multan, Delhi, and Aj- 

 meer. Its length is about 320, and its breadth about 

 _ 30 miles. From the 32 to the 34 of north latitude it 

 is mountainous ; from the 32 to the 30, its southern li- 

 mit, it is flat, constituting what is called the Punjab, a 



Provinces in 

 Hindostan 

 Proper. 

 Lahore. 



natural division of Hindostan proper, which we shall af- Statistics. 

 ter wards notice. The greatest part of Lahore belongs to SP "Y""~ I 

 the Seiks. The city of Lahore is the capital of the pro- 

 vince; but Amretsir is the capital of the Seik nation. 2. Multan. 

 Multan. which lies between the 28 and 31 of north lati- 

 tude. Is bounded by Lahore and Afghanistan on the north; 

 by Ajmeer and Sinde on the south ; by Belochistan on 

 the west ; and by Lahore and Ajmeer on the east. Its 

 extent is not accurately ascertained. It is possessed by 

 several petty princes, of whom the nabob of Multan is 

 one of the principal ; but they are continually exposed 

 to the incursions of the Afghans, Seiks, &c. and are also 

 almost always fighting with one another. Multan is 

 the capital of this province. Sinde is generally regard- Sinde. 

 ed as part of the province of Multan, though it ought 

 with more propriety to be regarded and described as a 

 separate province. Sinde lies on both sides of the In- 

 dus. The eastern division, the only one which we are 

 called upon to notice in this article, is bounded by Mul- 

 tan and Afghanistan on the north; Cutch and the sea 

 to the south ; Cutch, the Sandy Desart, and Ajmeer, 

 on the east ; and the Indus on the west. The whole 

 of Sinde is governed by a prince of the Talpoony fami- 

 ly ; but one of his brothers,' though nominally depend- 

 ent upon him, exercises all the powers of sovereignty 

 over the districts on the eastern banks of the Indus. 3. Guzerat. 

 Guzerat is bounded on the south chiefly by the sea, and 

 in a small part by the Decan ; on the north by Ajmeer ; 

 on the east by the Gulf of Cambay, and the provinces 

 of Malwah and Khandeish ; and on the west by the Gulf 

 of Cutch, the province of Cutch, and the Sandy Desart. 

 It lies between the 21 and 24 of north latitude. 

 Its length from north to south is about 320 miles ; its 



