21 



English resident in the city, which, with the surrounding dis- 

 trict, was then under the dominion of a Mogul prince named 

 Mohman Caun, styled nabob of Cambay; his father was nabob 

 of Ahmedabad, the capital of Guzerat, when it was conquered 

 by the Mahratlas; on that catastrophe he fled to Cambay, 

 then only a sea-port to Ahmedabab; there he established his 

 government, and at his death was succeeded by his son, whose 

 tyranny had lessened the number of his subjects, and reduced 

 the remainder to poverty and degradation. His territory was 

 small, and badly cultivated; after paying the Mahratta choute, 

 or tribute, his annual revenue did not exceed two lacs of rupees: 

 which enabled him to keep only a small establishment, and to 

 maintain two thousand Scindian and Arabian infantry, and five 

 hundred cavalry. 



The nabob was a Mogul of the middle stature, well made, and 

 with good features; but his countenance was a true index to a 

 heart cruel, revengeful, and suspicious; to this malevolent disposi- 

 tion, it was said, his only son had a few months before fallen a 

 sacrifice. The nabob was then about fifty years of age, a good 

 soldier, and reckoned a consummate politician, on the narrow- 

 system of oriental manoeuvring. These are the distinguishing cha- 

 racteristics in an eastern sovereign, who is generally a stranger 

 to magnanimity, generosity, and all the nobler virtues which con- 

 stitute a good prince. Far from aspiring after the happy title of 

 the " father of his people," an Asiatic despot studies every mode 

 of oppression which avarice can suggest, or intrigue and craftiness 

 carry into execution. 



