\ -( 
' ; v 
ENGLAND. 
756 
The caufe by its own energy (hall turn upon the force 
that oppreffes it, and (ting to deftruCtion the vulnerable 
heel that endeavours to keep it down.” 
Another important tranfaCtion, of which the new conn- 
fellors were for the fird time apprized at their arrival in 
India, gave further fcope to their fyftem of policy. In 
the folenin treaty of peace, concluded Auguft 1765, at 
Illahabad, between the nabob vizier of Oude and the 
Eaft-India company, it is (tipulated, that the Mogul em¬ 
peror, Sha Allum, (hall remain under the guarantee of 
the company in full pofleflion of the provinces of Corah 
and Illahabad, as a royal demefne ; in confideration of 
which the dewannee or fovereignty of Bengal was granted 
by the Mogul emperor in perpetuity to the company. 
About the year 1772, the emperor, who had hitherto 
redded at Illahabad, removed to his ancient capital of 
Dehli; but unhappily engaging in unfuccefsful hoftilities 
with the Mahrattas, this people compelled him, while in 
their power, to grant funnuds for the furrender of Corah 
and Illahabad to them. But Mr. Haftings, in his letter 
of March 1773 to the court of directors, fays, “ In no 
fhape can this compulfatory ceilion by the Mogul king, 
releafe 11s from the obligation we are under to defend the 
provinces which we have fo particularly guaranteed to 
him;” and they were accordingly occupied by the troops 
of the company, and taken under its immediate protection. 
In a fhort time, however, the ideas of Mr. Hadings fuf- 
fered a total change ; for by an uCt of the governor and 
council, paffed in June following, the engagements be¬ 
tween tlie company and the emperor are declared to be. 
did'olved, by his alienation from them and their intereds, 
manifefted by his removal to Dehli. Neverthelefs, “ if 
the Mogul king fhould make overtures to renew his former 
conneCtion, his right to reclaim the oiftricts of Corah and 
Illahabad could not (fay they) be difputed ; and the go¬ 
vernor is authorifed to reftore them to him, on condition 
that he (hould renounce his claim to the annual tribute of 
twenty-fix lacks of rupees, referved to the emperor out of 
the revenues of Bengal, and to the arrears which might 
be due.” Yet, in the treaty concluded in perfon by the 
governor-general with the vizier of Onde, in September 
1773, it is aderted, “ That his Mogul majefty having 
abandoned the didriCts of Corah and Illahabad, and given 
a fnnnud for Corah and Currah to the Mahrattas, had 
thereby forfeited his right to the faid diftridts.” And 
in his fubfequent report of this interview and negociation 
witli the vizier Sujah ul Dowla, the governor declared, 
“ That the adminidration would have been culpable- 
in the higheft degree for retaining pofleflion of Corah 
and Illahabad, for any other purpofe than that of making 
an advantage by the difpofal of them, and therefore he 
had ceded them to the vizier for fifty lacks of rupees ; 
the nett annual revenue of thefe provinces being eftimated 
at twenty-five lacks.” At the fame time the governor 
and council determined to withhold the tribute of twenty- 
fix lacks of rupees from the emperor, pretending “ That 
they were not fatisfied of his amicable intentions, and 
that the reduced date of their treafury rendered fuch 
payment impracticable.” Such was the unaccountable 
treatment which the emperor of Hindooltan received from 
the fervants of a foreign mercantile company; although 
Mr. Hadings himfelf, in a minute recorded in the coun¬ 
cil-book on another occadon, declared, “ That fallen as 
the houfe of Timur is, it is yet the relic of the mod il- 
ludrious line of the eadern world ; that its fovereignty is 
univerfally acknowledged, though the fubdance of it no 
longer exids ; and that the company itfelf derives its con- 
ditutional dominion from its odenfible bounty.” 
The Mahratta dates are the only people of Hindoodan 
who were not fubdued by the Moguls, or who never ac¬ 
knowledged allegiance to the houfe of Timur. Secure 
arnidfl their inaccedible mountains, they preferved, un¬ 
impaired, their liberty and independency, and were at all 
times regarded by the mod powerful of the Mahomedan 
ernperots as very formidable adverfaries. This nation 
confided of a number of didinct tribes, go verned by their 
refpeCtive chieftains, but who all recognized, as their 
fupreme head, a prince dyled the Sou, or Ram Rajah, 
i. e. the great rajah, whofe throne was eftabliflied at Set- 
terah. Si^ce the decline of the Mogul power, that of 
the Mahrattas had rifen rapidly on its ruins. At this 
period their dominions extended from Travancpxe, near 
the fouthern extremity of the peninfula, to the province 
of Guzzerut, northward, divided from the Perfiau terri¬ 
tories by the river Paddar, the Jumna feparaUng them 
from the empire of the Mogul. To the ead they dretch 
to the Carnatic and the dominions of the Nizam of the 
Decan, the province of Catac carrying their po tie (lions 
irregularly acrofs the peninfula to the bay of Bengal. 
Their revenues were computed to amount to more than 
twelve millions derling; and their military edablidiment, 
which was compofed chiefly of cavalry, to three hundred 
thoufand men. It is a Angular circumflance in this go¬ 
vernment, that the fovereignty of the Sou or Ram Rajah 
exid, at this day, only in name. Nana Row, peifliwaor 
prime minider of the country, at a period not very re¬ 
mote, feizing the perfon of the rajah, confined him in a 
fortrefs near Setterah; and, ufurping the powers of the 
government, continued to adminider them in the name of 
the fovereign. Nana Row, dying, left the fucceflion to 
his foil Mada Row, who finding a rival in the perfon of 
Ragonaut Row, his uncle, a man of an intriguing difpo- 
fition and mod flagitious character, kept him in clofe con¬ 
finement till near the time of his own death ; when, being 
defirous to enfure the quiet fucceflion of the peifhwafhip 
to his brother Narrain Row, he became reconciled to 
Ragonaut, in confequence of the mod folemn promifes of 
the latter to aOid the young Narrain Row with his molt 
tender care, protection, and advice. The credulous Mada 
Row (lied tears of joy and fatisfaCtion at this happy event, 
and clofea his eyes in peace. But the vile and unnatural 
wretch, thus generoufly liberated, immediately engaged 
in new plots againd his nephew Narrain; and in a few 
months after his acccdion, September 1773, the young 
peilhwa was aflaflinated by the villainous contrivance of 
his uncle, who expected to have fucceeded without dif- 
dculty to the government. But the horror and detefta- 
tion excited by a crime of this enormous magnitude, 
occadoned an oppolition fo general, that the parricide 
Ragonaut was compelled to fly his country. Unhappily 
he directed his courfe to the lilaud of Bombay, the go¬ 
vernment of which not only granted him, without hefita- 
tion, their protection, but, affeCtlng to admit the validity 
of his claims, they commenced open hoftilities againd the 
Mahrattas, indulging the mod ambition^ and fanguine 
hopes, if the reftoration of Ragonaut Row could be ac- 
complidied by their aid, to rival Madras and Calcutta in 
opulence and power. 
The ifland of Salfette, and the city of Baroach, were 
quickly reduced ^by the valour of the company’s troops; 
but it does not appear that at this period the preddency 
of Bombay received any encouragement from Mr. Haftings 
to profecute thele projects of aggrandifement. On the 
contrary, the governor joined with the new counfellors, 
Clavering, Mpnfon, and Francis, in reprobating thele 
proceedings; declaring by an aCt of council, palfed May 
1775, that the meafures adopted by the preddency of 
Bombay had a tendency to a very extenfive and indefinite 
feene of troubles; and that their conduct was unfeafon- 
able, impolitic, urtjud, and unauthorized. And availing 
themfelves of the fuperiority vefted in them as confti- 
tuting the fupreme power in India, colonel Upton was 
ferit on an embalfy to the Mahratta court, for the purpofe 
of negociating a peace, which was concluded at Poonah, 
and ratified March 1, 1776, upon terms honourable and. 
advantageous. By this treaty Salfette, Baroach, and va¬ 
rious adjoining diflriCts in. the Guzzerat provinces, were 
ceded to the company, and the fum of twelve lacks of 
rupees allotted to them, as an indemnification for the ex- 
pences of the war. On the other hand, it was ftipulated 
that 
