ruled at Tanjore eight years, and his title had been recognised by the English authorities at Madras, when, in 1749, Syagee presented himself at Fort St. David, and solicited the aid of the governor to replace him in the possession of that throne from which he had been unjustly driven, offering, as a reward for that assistance, to make over to the English the fort of Devi-Cottah,* situated at the mouth of the Coleroon river, forty-two miles to the southward of Pondicherry, and 127 miles south-west of Madras, with the territory immediately surrounding it. There is no question that Syagee was the right inheritor; but, as the English had acknowledged the title of Pertab Sing, it was highly inconsistent in them now to take the part of his opponent for "a consideration," valuable though it might be; and Devi-Cottah was valuable, as affording the best harbour between Masulipatam and Cape Comorin. However, they assented to the request of Syagee; and a force was sent into Tanjore, under Captain Cope, consisting of 100 Europeans and 500 sepoys, to take possession of Devi-Cottah. They met with no support from the inhabitants, and found no party formed in favour of Syagee, as he had informed them was the case. The main part of the artillery, and the provisions, for this expedition were sent round by sea; but, when Captain Cope arrived before the fort, nothing was to be seen of the ships. He took up his position there for a few days, and threw some shells into the fort; but the troops, having suffered from ambuscades of the Tanjorians, he retired somewhat precipitately, without producing the slightest effect. Another expedition was immediately dispatched under Major Lawrence, in which 800 Europeans and 1,500 sepoys were engaged. In this expedition Robert Clivet went as a lieutenant; and to him may mainly be attributed its on the opposite side of the river, and, in three days, they made a practicable breach in the walls. Before it could be made available, however, the broad and rapid stream of the Coleroon had to be crossed, and that in the face of the enemy: this difficulty Major Lawrence was enabled to overcome by the daring ingenuity of a ship-carpenter, named John Moore. He constructed a raft capable of taking over 400 men; and, in the night after it was completed, he swam across the stream to the opposite shore (the attention of the garrison and of the army being directed from that spot by the manœuvres of the artillery), and fastened one end of a rope to a tree, the other end being attached to the raft: by this means the latter was warped across without difficulty, and the troops were landed on the opposite bauk. A platoon of thirty-four Europeans, with 700 sepoys, was set apart as the storming party, and Lieutenant Clive volunteered to head it. He led the Europeans briskly on to an intrenchment thrown up by the enemy, which it was necessary to take, with the intention of attacking it in flank. This little body was not followed by the sepoys, as it ought to have been; and it was assailed in the rear by a party of horse, concealed, till that moment, between the projections of the towers; and only four, of which number Clive was one, escaped. On reaching the sepoys, he found them drawn up in order; but they had not advanced a step in support of the platoon. Major Lawrence then attacked the intrenchment with the entire force of Europeans; and, as soon as the grenadiers reached it, the infantry stationed there fled. The Tanjore horse again showed themselves from behind the tower; the platoon reserved its fire till they got within fourteen yards, when a discharge of musketry was poured in upon them, which put hors de combat so many men, that the rest turned and fled. The English soldiers then rushed at the breach, and, on entering it, found the garrison making their escape from a gate on the opposite side of the fort, which thus fell into their hands fierce and imperious-qualities which distinguished † Robert Clive, whose name is so intimately con- him, more or less, through life; and, from childhood, nected with subsequent events in India, was the son he was very fond of fighting. He made little proof Richard Clive, solicitor, who was lord of the gress in his scholastic pursuits: this induced his manor of Styche, in the parish of Moreton Say, near father, when he was eighteen years of age, to procure Market Drayton, Shropshire. His mother was Re- for him a writership in the service of the East India becca Gaskill, daughter of Mr. Gaskill, of Manches- Company; and, in 1743, he embarked for Madras. Robert was born at the manor-house of Styche, We have already seen how he left the civil for the September 29th, 1725. In his early years he re-military service. He returned to the former after sided at Hope Hall, near Manchester, with an uncle the fall of Devi-Cottah; but he soon rejoined the named Bayley, who had married a sister of Mrs. army, for which he was far better fitted than for the Clive. His temper is described by his uncle as more peaceful profession. success. Major Lawrence found the fort, which is situated on a marshy ground, covered with wood, surrounded by the army of Pertab Sing. The English batteries were erected ter. The "Fort of the Goddess." without any further loss.* Finding that tion of the Nizam; who, however, had inthey had been completely misled by Syagee, fluence enough at Delhi to prevent the with respect to the disposition of the Tan-Mogul from sending him the formal comjorians being in his favour, the English mission of appointment. Another nephew, shortly after concluded a peace with Pertab Sing; and, they agreeing to renounce the cause of his rival, he secured Devi-Cottah to them, with a territory of the annual value of 9,000 pagodas. Bûkir Ali, was governor of Vellore. The new nabob had several sons (the eldest named Sufder Ali) and daughters: one of the latter was married to a distant relative, named Chunda Sahib, who first brought The French soon became engaged in himself into notoriety-and an infamous transactions of much greater importance, notoriety it was-by his acquisition of in which the English also were ultimately Trichinopoly. Really independent, though involved. As rival chiefs had contended nominally subject, first to the Mogul, and for supremacy in Tanjore, so others were striving to obtain authority in the Carnatic-of which territory we must say a few words. It is a division of Southern India, extending along its east coast, between 8° 10′ N. lat., and 77° 20′ E. long. From its northern boundary to Cape Comorin, it extends 560 miles in length, its average breadth being 75 miles. It is divided into the Northern, Central, and Southern Carnatic. The former, extending from the Guntoor-circar and the Gundezama river to the river Pennar, includes a part of Nellore, Ongal, and some smaller districts, the chief towns being Ongal, Carwar, and Samgaum. -The Central Carnatic reaches from the Pennar to the Coleroon, and comprises part of Trichinopoly, Volconda, Palamcotta, Jingee, Wandewash, Conjee, Vellore, Chingleput, Chandgherry, Serdamilly, and part of Nellore. The chief towns are Madras, Pondicherry, Arcot, Wallajahbad, Vellore, Cuddalore, Jingee, Pulicat, Chandgherry, and Nellore. The South Carnatic lies south of the Coleroon, and is divided into Madura, Tanjore, Tinnevelly, Marawas, and the remaining part of Trichinopoly. The chief towns are Tanjore, Trichinopoly, Madura, Tranquebar, Negapatam,, and Tinnevelly.† It was in this district that the great struggle between the English and French, for supremacy in India, took place. From 1310 till 1717 the Carnatic had been partially or entirely subject to the Mogul emperors. In the latter year, the Nizam-ool-Moolk, soubahdar of the Deccan, extended his authority over it; but he found the nabob appointed by the Mogul, SadutOollah Khan, so popular, that he was afraid to interfere with him, and he remained at his post till his death, in 1732. He left no sons; but a nephew (Dost Ali) succeeded him as nabob, notwithstanding the opposi • East India Military Calendar. then to the Nizam, Trichinopoly found Sufder Ali, had not been discharged. This feeling reached such a height, that the young nabob was stabbed by one of the soldiers at a public festival; and notwithstanding the representations of his relatives and friends, the Nizam confirmed Anwar00-Deen as nabob. Anwar was certainly a remarkable man; for when he was thus made ruler of the Carnatic, he was 102 years of age. He was never popular: the people still longed to see the family of Sadut-Oollah restored; and notwithstanding the disgraceful breach of faith of which Chunda Sahib had been guilty, public attention was turned to him, as the only member of that family possessed of sufficient talent and energy to contest the supremacy of Anwar-00-Deen. But he was a captive; and this fact seemed to preclude all possibility of making him useful in the cause. And so it probably would, but for the assistance of the French. His wife and family had resided at Pondicherry since his imprisonment. They were noticed by Madame Dupleix; and through her M. Dupleix obtained a knowledge of the position of affairs. With her assistance he kept up a correspondence with Chunda Sahib, and with several discontented Hindoo chiefs; and he also obtained the liberation of the former in 1748, on payment to his Mahratta captors of seven lacs of rupees (£70,000) as a ransom. Shortly after the Nizam died. He left several sons; but a son of his favourite daughter, named Moozuffer Jung,* came forward as a competitor for the succession, under the authority of a will of his grandfather, which his enemies say was forged. His cause was taken up by Chunda Sahib, and the French sent 400 Europeans, 100 Kaffres, and 1,800 sepoys to his aid. Anwar-oo-Deen supported the sons of his deceased patron; and a battle took place near a fort called Amboor, about fifty miles west of Arcot, in which the nabob was defeated and slain, his eldest son taken prisoner, and his second son, Mohammed Ali, who was governor of Trichinopoly, with difficulty escaped to that town, accompanied by the wreck of the army. The victors gave their French allies eighty-one villages in the neighbourhood of Pondicherry, and then marched to Tanjore. Before anything was effected with Pertab Sing, the announcement that Nazir Jung,† the second son of the late Nizam, was on his march with a "Victorious in war." "Triumphant in war." considerable army to attack the allied force, compelled them to retreat precipitately to Pondicherry. There were now (1749) two claimants for the soubahdarship of the Deccan-Nazir Jung and Moozuffer Jung; and two for the nabobship of the Carnatic-Mohammed Ali and his elder brother. Nazir Jung pretended that his elder brother, Ghazi-00Deen, who held an important position at the court of Delhi, had yielded his pretensions to the Deccan to him. This was not the case: nevertheless, the English supported his claims, and those of Mohammed Ali, the French espousing the cause of the rival candidates for power. At first, success seemed to be against the latter; for Major Lawrence having joined Nazir Jung with 600 Europeans, and the two armies being encamped within a short distance of each other, they drew up, the day after Major Lawrence arrived, in order of battle. A cannonade ensued with little result, and ceased in the evening. It was not renewed. Dissensions had arisen among the French auxiliary troops, the officers complaining that they had not been sufficiently paid for their previous services; and thirteen of them threw up their commissions. M. d'Auteuil, who commanded the French, determined, in consequence, to retreat to Pondicherry; and Moozuffer Jung, despairing of success, and having received a solemn promise of good treatment, gave himself up to his uncle, who kept his word by putting him in irons. Chunda Sahib, more fortunate, escaped to Pondicherry with his troops. Thus far, Nazir Jung was completely successful; and nothing but a little prudence, and some energy and courage, were wanting, to place him permanently in the seat of his father. But the new Nizam did not possess one of these requisites. He gave himself up to the pleasures of the harem and the chase; quarrelled with three of his father's old officers (the nabobs of Kudapa, Kurnoul, and Savanoor); refused to keep his agreement with the English, to give them up a tract of land in the neighbourhood of Madras, which occasioned Major Lawrence to quit the camp in disgust; and so weakened his army, by the disaffection of some, and the bad discipline of all, his troops, that Dupleix and Chunda Sahib had no difficulty in recovering the advantages they had lost, and gaining more. The united armies took Masulipatam and the pagoda of Trivadi (fifteen miles from Fort St. David); whilst the French, under M. | ernor of the settlement, ordered them to Bussy-one of the best commanders they withdraw to Fort St. David. ever had-captured the fort of Jingee, situated at the top of an almost inaccessible rock; and which was deemed impregnable. Nazir Jung, alarmed, wished to treat with the French, who sent emissaries into his camp-but it was to tamper with his disaffected nobles. Major Lawrence, though he had withdrawn from the camp, heard of this treachery, and endeavoured to warn the Nizam, but in vain. He concluded a treaty with the French, who treacherously encouraged the disaffected nabobs and their Patan troops to attack him the very next day; and whilst endeavouring to rally the men who remained true, to repel the attack, he was shot through the heart by the Nabob of Kudapa. The army now went over to Moozuffer Jung, who, released from prison himself, became the custodier of his three uncles, and found himself at the summit of his wishes. And so was M. Dupleix; who was appointed governor of the Mogul possessions on the coast of Coromandel, from the river Krishna to Cape Comorin; Masulipatam and its dependencies, with other territories, being ceded to the French in perpetuity. The Nizam having made Chunda Sahib his deputy at Arcot, went to Pondicherry to be installed: Dupleix, in the costume of a pacha, entered the city, borne in the same palanquin with the soubahdar; a high military rank was conferred upon him, and he received permission to bear on his banners the insignia of the Mahi, or Fish" whilst the patronage of the court and the army was at his disposal. Nor were honours unaccompanied by wealth. Large sums of money were transmitted to France; and Dupleix received, as his share of the spoil, £200,000 in money, with jewels, and rich robes of silk and tissue, the value of which was immense.-Up to this time, the English had done little or nothing to arrest the triumphant career of their rivals. We have seen that Major Lawrence left the camp of Nazir Jung, because that prince would not keep his engagements; and a similar result attended a force sent in June, 1750, to the aid of Mohammed Ali. Captain Cope, with 400 Europeans and 1,500 sepoys, proceeded to Trichinopoly at the request of Mohammed, who promised to pay their expenses. When the money was required, however, it was not forthcoming; and Major Lawrence, who was then the senior military officer, and temporary gov Moozuffer Jung did not long enjoy the dignity he had acquired. In the midst of his triumph, discontent again broke out among the nobles, who were dissatisfied with their share of the spoil. After some stay at Pondicherry, he left with his followers for Hyderabad, M. Bussy accompanying him with 300 Europeans and 2,000 sepoys. Their presence did not prevent the Patans from breaking out in open rebellion. They left the army, and took possession of an important pass, where they opposed the progress of the Nizam, the troops that remained faithful to him, and his allies. The French artillery was brought into play, and soon opened a passage for the horse and foot, who dashed on in pursuit of the retreating rebels. The Nizam himself was in advance; and, riding on an elephant, came in contact with the Nabob of Kurnoul, who was also on one of those massive beasts. The Nizam challenged his rebellious nabob to single combat; but he was immediately struck by the javelin of his opponent, which pierced his brain. The nabob was instantly cut to pieces; and the chiefs of Kudapa and Savanoor also perished-one on the field, and the other of wounds received in the contest. Victory thus remained with the friends of Moozuffer Jung and the French; but there was no Nizam-he was slain. M. Bussy undertook to find a new one. The three uncles of the late Nizam were in the camp; and liberating them, the French commander took the eldest, Salabut Jung, and proclaimed him the soubahdar of the Deccan. He was at once acknowledged by the army and by the people, and signalised his inauguration to his new dignity by confirming all the honours and privileges granted to the French. This was the culminating point of the progress of the latter: very soon after they had thus accomplished the object of M. Dupleix's ambition, by giving a soubahdar to the Deccan and a nabob to the Carnatic, they commenced that downward career which, in India, they never were enabled to reverse. M. Dupleix did not bear his honours meekly; and he displayed his exultation in a manner which drew forth all the latent indignation of the English, who had hitherto been too indolently regarding the advances of their rivals, "The inhabitants of Fort St. David and Madras, who had observed nothing out of the way in the vicinity of these settlements over-night, awoke one morning to observe that a number of white flags had been planted close to their bound hedges, and here and there within them; an unmistakeable token that Dupleix claimed, as the property of France, all the fields which lay on his side of these epitomes of the Bourbon standard. This was indeed to add insult to injury: and the authorities of Fort St. David could no longer resist the conviction, that the consolidation of French supremacy in the Deccan was incompatible with the continuance of their existence." the Carnatic; an enterprise of which the governor approved: and the execution of it was entrusted to the man who had the courage to suggest it. besieged. He accompanied this convoy, which reached its destination in safety. On his return with Mr. Pigot, one of the council, who had been his companion, escorted by twelve sepoys, they were attacked by a troop of the Polygar's men ; seven of the sepoys were slain, and Messrs. Clive and Pigot only escaped by the fleetness of their horses. Clive soon resumed his military character, and was promoted to the rank of They had seen one place after another captain. His first employment was to lead fall to Chunda Sahib; and soon after the a second relief party to Trichinopoly, which elevation of Salabut Jung, Trichinopoly was increased the number of the English with the only place left to their ally, Mohammed Mohammed Ali to 600; but there were 900 Ali; and that town, in the spring of 1751, French with Chunda Sahib, whilst his native was closely besieged. Mohammed Ali had troops outnumbered those of the nabob's repeatedly urged them to come to his assist- by ten to one. On his return to Fort ance, but they hesitated; for whilst the St. David, he represented to Mr. Saunders rank and file of their army were much in- the impossibility of Mohammed Ali's referior to the French, who were with the trieving his own fortunes; and he suggested nabob, they had no officer whom they con- to him a bold and daring enterprise as a sidered capable of contending with M. diversion in favour of the beleaguered town Bussy; Major Lawrence having, in October, namely, the siege of Arcot, the capital of 1750, left Fort St. David for England, to attend to his private affairs.—Mr. Saunders had succeeded him as governor; and he induced Mohammed Ali to join him in an offer to acknowledge Chunda Sahib nabob The capital of the Carnatic at this period of all the Carnatic, with the exception of consisted of a town and a citadel. It had Trichinopoly and its dependencies. The only been built a few years, having been French refused their assent to these condi- founded by the Mohammedans in 1716, tions; and then Mr. Saunders resolved to after the capture of Jingee, which they found send an English force to the assistance of extremely unhealthy. It is said to stand Mohammed Ali. Accordingly, in Accordingly, in May, on or near the site of the capital of the 1751, a body of 500 Europeans, 100 Kaffres, Sorae, or Soramundalum of Ptolemy, from and 1,000 sepoys, was dispatched, under whence some eastern antiquaries derive the Captain Gingen, to raise the siege of Trichi- term Coromandel, instead of from Chola nopoly. Clive accompanied this force as a Desa.§ The citadel was not well calcucommissary, and therefore could not take lated for defence. It was surrounded on all any part in military operations: had he sides by the town, "of which the houses been enabled to do so, the result might came up to the foot of the glacis, and comhave been different. "A fatal spirit of manded the ramparts. It was very extendivision reigned among the officers;" and sive, too, measuring upwards of a mile in when encountered, near Volconda, by circumference; and of the towers which Chunda Sahib's force, the corps was de- flanked the defences at intervals, several feated, and reached Trichinopoly with diffi- were in ruins; while the remainder were so culty, where the fugitives took shelter. circumscribed in their dimensions, as not to Chave had separated himself from them, and admit of more than a single piece of ordreturning to Fort St. David, was mainly in-nance being mounted on each. The walls, strumental in inducing Mr. Saunders to send a convoy of stores to the relief of the Life of Clive. So says Major Lawrence, in his Military History. badly built at the first, were already loose, and portions had fallen down; the ramparts Madura on the south, by Tanjore and the sea on the east, and by Dindigul on the west-had acquired the distinctive appellation of the Polygar's The Polygars of the Carnatic were military chiefs, territory, although the name was common to every of different degrees of power and consequence, bear-military chief in the south of India. The men who ing a strong affinity to the Zemindars of the Northern attacked Clive are supposed to have belonged to the Circars. A district in the South Carnatic-bounded Polygar of this district. by Trichinopoly on the north, by Marawas and § See ante, p. 34. |