Disputed succession in Tanjore—New settlement of this country—Proceedings in regard to Surat—Deposition of the Nabob of Arcot—Proceedings in Oude—Subsidiary treaty with the Nizam—Expedition of Egypt.
On arriving at Madras on his outward voyage, Lord Mornington, as has been mentioned, spent a short time in endeavouring to induce the Nabob of Arcot to remedy the defects of the arrangement made with his father by Lord Cornwallis in 1792, and in finally settling a disputed succession in Tanjore. He failed in the former object; the proceedings in regard to the latter will now be detailed.
Tuljajee, Rajah of Tanjore, died in 1786, leaving a half-brother, Ameer Sing, and an adopted son, Serfojee or Sarbojee, the latter under the guardianship of the celebrated missionary, Swartz. Both claimed the succession, and appealed to the Madras government. Ameer Sing denied his brother’s right to cut him out of the succession by adopting a son, and moreover maintained that the adoption itself was, from the want of some essential requisites, null and void. For Serfojee, who was only a boy of about ten years of age, it was pleaded both that the adoption was valid and that Ameer Sing was illegitimate. To settle these points, several questions were submitted to learned pundits. Their answers were favourable to Ameer Sing, who was accordingly preferred. He was a man of bad character, and behaved in a way which made it doubtful if he were of sound mind. Possibly all this might have been overlooked had he yielded to the demands of the Company instead of imitating the nabob, and refusing like him to enter into an agreement for the assignment of his revenues. Meanwhile, doubts arose as to the soundness of the opinion given by the pundits, and it was proposed as a kind of compromise, and a check on Ameer Sing’s proceedings, that Serfojee should be declared his presumptive heir. This was strongly objected to by Mr. Swartz, who, in consequence of Ameer Sing’s outrageous treatment of Serfojee and the late rajah’s widows, had been permitted and assisted by the presidency to bring them to Madras. In a letter addressed to Sir Charles Oakley, the governor, on 27th January, 1793, he thus expressed his views:—“When I heard that the honourable board was resolved to proclaim Serfojee, the adopted son of the late Rajah of Tanjore, presumptive heir of the present rajah, and that he was to succeed him in case the present rajah should die without having a son born of his lawfully married wife (for that seems to be the meaning of the word presumptive heir), the following thoughts occurred to my mind, which I beg leave to disclose to your honour. I thought if Serfojee is proclaimed presumptive successor or heir to the throne of Tanjore, then he stands a poor, or perhaps no chance at all, of inheriting the country, for his excellency the present rajah is but forty-three years old, and is now marrying one, or as some say two wives—he may therefore have a son. But if he does not have a son, he may take an infant, declaring him to be his own son, born of his wife; his hatred and jealousy of Serfojee makes this conjecture very probable. The same has been done at Tanjore by Aperoop, the lawful but barren wife of Serfojee Rajah. Or the present rajah may adopt another man’s son. This is more than a conjecture; he has already declared it to be his intention, being resolved to adopt Nana Sahib’s son. This Nana Sahib is the son of a concubine.” In the subsequent part of the letter, Mr. Swartz argues that the present rajah, having no legal right to the throne, was not entitled to dispose of it in any way. “Can he give away that which is not his own? And shall an error once committed to the prejudice of the lawful heir be continued, so as to supersede the true and lawful heir for ever, or annihilate his right? It may be said that it would reflect on the decision formerly made in favour of the present rajah; but in my humble opinion that decision was conditional, supposing the justice of the opinions given by the pundits; but as their opinion is found to be ill grounded, the decision built upon it, one might think, would cease to be valid.”
Lord Cornwallis acknowledged that Mr. Swartz’s sentiments, in addition to other circumstances, had made him very doubtful of Ameer Sing’s right, while he was entirely persuaded of his personal unworthiness. He considered it necessary, however, “to proceed with great circumspection and delicacy in impeaching a right that has been sanctioned by a solemn decision, passed in consequence of the answers that were made by fifteen pundits to the questions that were referred to them,” and therefore only recommended that at present Serfojee should be proclaimed presumptive heir to the throne, and that in the meantime the question of right should again be opened up, by submitting the substance of the questions formerly considered by the Tanjore pundits to other pundits at Calcutta and Benares. Their opinion was contrary to that formerly given, and Sir John Shore having informed the directors that he concurred in it, they formally decided in Serfojee’s favour. Still the final steps were not taken when Lord Mornington arrived. After an investigation at Madras, the first act of his administration in Bengal was to lodge a minute declaring his belief that Serfojee was the lawful heir, and his determination forthwith to place him on the musnud. This was only an act of justice, though it is needless to deny that policy, fully as much as justice, prompted to it. Ameer Sing had been twelve years in possession when he was deposed to make way for Serfojee, whose greatest recommendation to the governor-general and the Company undoubtedly was, that he was not in a condition to refuse any terms that might be dictated to him. Accordingly, by a treaty dated 25th October, 1799, he was taken bound to resign the whole administration, civil and military, into the hands of the Company, and rest satisfied with a nominal sovereignty, and a pension of a lac of star pagodas (£40,000), drawn from the revenues, together with one-fifth of the net sum drawn from the remainder.
An arrangement similar to the above was shortly afterwards made in regard to Surat. In 1759, when this important town, in which the Company had long possessed a factory, was suffering by a state of anarchy, they were induced to attack the castle, and succeeded in gaining possession of it. The nabob, finding it impossible to oust them, entered into a treaty by which a double government was established, the Company undertaking the defence, while the nabob retained the civil administration. This arrangement was afterwards confirmed by the Mogul. Their rights thus derived from the same source were consequently equal, but British influence ultimately established a complete ascendency, and it was perfectly understood that the nabob could neither be appointed nor be able to retain his office without the concurrence of the Company. The expense of maintaining the castle was not met by the revenue set apart for it, and various attempts were made to induce the nabob to increase it. The plan proposed by the Company, to diminish expense by improving the government, was to disband the nabob’s undisciplined soldiery, and substitute three of their own battalions to be maintained at the nabob’s expense. To this he manifested the greatest repugnance, objecting that his funds were not adequate, and that the proposal was a violation of the treaty of 1759. He had agreed, however, to make some important concessions, but the treaty was not concluded when he died in January, 1799. His only son, an infant, survived him only a few weeks, and the succession was claimed by his brother.
The Company, before consenting to recognize him, insisted on new stipulations in their favour, but the utmost that the claimant would agree to give was a lace of rupees annually, because the revenue, he averred, would not afford more. This sum was deemed insufficient, and the governor-general cut the matter short by simply ordering that the nabob should be displaced, and the government and revenues be transferred to the Company. The security and good government of Surat “can only be attained,” he said, “by the Company taking the entire civil and military government of the city into their own hands.” This looks very like “necessity, the tyrant’s plea,” and we question if his lordship improved the plea much by arguing that “the operation of the treaty of 1759 ceased on the demise of Mayen-ed-din” (the nabob with whom it was made), and “the power of the Mogul, having also become extinct, it follows that the Company, not being restricted with respect to the disposal of the office of nabob by any specific treaty, are at liberty to dispose of it as they think proper.” They certainly had the power, but just as certainly they had not the right to do it, and there need not, therefore, be any hesitation in saying that the whole proceeding was characterized by tyranny and injustice. Governor Duncan of Bombay made his appearance at Surat with a treaty ready drawn, and the nabob had no choice but to sign it. By its terms he devolved the whole government on the Company, in return for a pension of a lace of rupees with a fifth of the net annual revenue secured to himself and his heirs.
The Nabob of Arcot’s turn came next, but the arrangement forced upon him, though similar in kind, was rested on very different grounds. Among the papers found in the fort of Seringapatam, were documents which seemed to establish a secret correspondence between the nabobs Mahomed Ali and Omdut-ul-Omrah and Tippoo, for objects hostile to the interests of the Company. When Tippoo’s two sons were carried off as hostages to Madras, they were accompanied by his two vakeels or ambassadors, Gholam Ali Khan and Ali Reza Khan, who, as may be supposed, made good use of their opportunities, and maintained a regular correspondence with their master. Their residence at Madras gave them opportunity of frequent intercourse with Mahomed Ali and his son, and the part of their correspondence detailing what passed during this intercourse constituted the main strength of the evidence on which a charge of treachery was brought against these nabobs. In addition to this correspondence only two other letters were produced, the one from a subsequent vakeel of Tippoo at Madras, and the other under a fictitious name, but supposed to be from Omdut-ul-Omrah. The most suspicious circumstance connected with this correspondence was the discovery of a cipher and a key to it. The key was found among Tippoo’s secret records, and was written in the same hand as that in which the letters from the nabob to the government were written; at the foot of it was a note by Tippoo’s head moonsha, stating it to be from Omdut-ul-Omrah. The fictitious names of the cipher had been used in the correspondence, and the meaning of them as ascertained by the key gave evidence of the feelings which had dictated the correspondence. Thus the English were designated by the name of teza wareeds or new comers, the Nizam by that of heech or nothing, and the Mahrattas by that of pooch or contemptible.
The correspondence in itself was by no means decisive. Much of it was complimentary, and probably meant nothing more than figurative and high-flown oriental expressions are understood to do. Religion was talked of, and the duty of making common cause against the infidels, and hints were given to Tippoo as to the necessity of using caution in his intercourse with the French and the Mahrattas, of doing nothing rashly and biding his time. Nothing stronger than this was found, and it must be remembered that even this was not brought home to the nabobs, since the statements were not made directly by them, but only reported at second hand. On this subject it was justly observed by the Persian translator employed by the government:—“The accuracy of reports from agents, natives of India, to their principals, cannot under any circumstances be implicitly relied on; and in one of the reports of the vakeels, which contains the substance of a conference between themselves, the princes and the nabob, at which Colonel Doveton was present, a speech is ascribed to that gentleman which is evidently fabricated—a circumstance which tends to weaken the validity of all their reports; and if the evidence of the nabobs’ conduct rested solely upon them, the proofs might be considered as extremely defective and problematical.” Additional evidence therefore was necessary, and no means of obtaining it were omitted. A list of witnesses was produced, and Mr. Webbe, secretary to the Madras government, and Colonel Barry Close, resident in Mysore, were appointed commissioners to examine them. The most important were the two vakeels, who were still living, and being now pensioners of the Company could have no interest in concealing the truth, after they were assured that nothing which they said would criminate themselves, and had on the contrary an intelligible interest to assist in making out a case which they knew that their paymasters were anxious to establish. Ali Reza, who was residing at Vellore, was first examined, and in the opinion of the commissioners evinced “an earnest disposition to develop the truth.” Gholam Ali, resident at Seringapatam, impressed them less favourably, and seemed even to feign dotage as a means of concealment. Both the vakeels testified that the complimentary expressions employed in their reports were, conformably to the custom of the country, much exaggerated, and gave other evidence which weakened rather than strengthened the proof of criminal intention in the nabobs. Several other witnesses were examined, but those of them who from their position were most competent so completely failed to establish any fact, that the commissioners “thought it unnecessary to record their evidence.”
A singular specimen of the lamentable extent to which our judgments are biased by our wishes, may be found in the fact, that the leading authorities of the Indian government, both abroad and in this country, were ready on this imperfect evidence to hold the charge of treasonable correspondence completely proved, and in consequence to blacken the memory of the deceased nabob, and take signal vengeance on his successor, who could hardly be said to live, as he was pining away under a mortal disease. With nothing but the documents before him, and before a single witness was examined, Lord Mornington had evidently made up his mind, and wrote as follows:—“A deliberate consideration of the evidence resulting from the whole of these documents has not only confirmed in the most unquestionable manner my suspicions of the existence of a secret correspondence between the personages already named, but satisfied my judgment, that its objects on the part of the Nabob Wallajah (Mahomed Ali) and Omdut-ul-Omrah, and especially of the latter, was of the most hostile tendency to the British interests. The proofs arising from the papers would certainly be sufficient to justify the British government in depriving that faithless and ungrateful prince of all means of rendering any part of the resources of the territories, which he holds under the protection of the Company, subservient to the further violation of his engagements and to the prosecution of his desperate purposes of treachery and ingratitude.” Lord Clive, governor of Madras, after the witnesses had been examined, arrived at the same conclusion. “With this strong evidence of internal treachery, and of open opposition to our interests in the Carnatic, established by treaty,” it is my deliberate opinion that a further adherence to the letter of the treaty of 1792, while the Nabob Omdut-ul-Omrah has been and now is perfidiously betraying the spirit and substance of the alliance between him and the Company, would be as inconsistent with the true principles of public faith, as it would be obviously incompatible with the preservation of our just rights and interests. On these grounds I have no hesitation in recommending to your lordship the immediate assumption of the civil and military government of the Carnatic, under such provisions as your lordship may be pleased to authorize for his highness the nabob, his highness’s family, and the principal officers of his government."
The above letter of Lord Clive was written on the 23rd of May, 1800, but a full year elapsed before the final steps were taken. The governor-general had intended to proceed to Madras as soon as the season would permit, and personally perform this great act of retributive justice. Circumstances, however, occurred which made this impossible, and he directed that Mr. Webbe should come to Calcutta, in order that he might obtain the fullest information from him before issuing his final arrangements. This delay gave Lord Mornington an opportunity of learning the views of the home authorities on the subject of the Mysore correspondence. The Board of Control agreed in his lordship’s conclusions, and in the measures which he had declared his intention of adopting.
The secret committee of directors not only held the treachery of the correspondence proved, but stated that many other circumstances might in their opinion be urged to strengthen the doubts of the nabob’s fidelity to the fundamental engagements with the Company, and referred particularly to the mode in which he had evacuated a fort in 1796, than which, they remarked, “a more decided instance of disaffection can scarcely be imagined.” It would rather seem, however, that the directors only approved of demanding some more certain pledges of the fidelity of Omdut-ul-Omrah than the Company then possessed. In fact, it is impossible not to see that the discovery of the Mysore correspondence was held to be most opportune, and that it was determined from the first to use it for the purpose of forcing an arrangement, which was felt to be extremely desirable, but to which it had been found impossible to obtain the nabob’s assent. But for this the treachery said to have been discovered might easily have been overlooked. It was perfectly understood that Mahomed Ali and his sons had no real attachment to the Company, and submitted to the control exercised over them from necessity, and not from choice. They had repeatedly complained of being defrauded of what they called their sovereign rights, and there could not be a doubt that they would gladly have availed themselves of an opportunity of shaking off a galling yoke. Professor Wilson states the case very fairly, when he says in a note to Mills’ History (vol. vi. p. 324):—“It may be admitted that upon the face of the correspondence little appeared to convict the nawabs of the Carnatic of actual treachery against the British government, yet there can be little difficulty in crediting that they entertained hostile sentiments towards it, or that they expressed those sentiments to Tippoo’s vakeels. Although, then, the correspondence with Tippoo may not substantiate any conspiracy against the English power, it is impossible to question the inference that is reasonably drawn from it, an inference which scarcely required such testimony—that no reliance could be placed upon the fidelity or attachment of the nabobs of Arcot.” Thus far Professor Wilson states the case with perfect accuracy, but we think he is egregiously in error when he adds—“Their political position, and their religious creed, rendered them irreconcilable foes, and with this conviction it would have been folly to have intrusted them longer with any degree of political power.” Were this apology for the proceeding of the Company well founded, it would follow that they were entitled to overthrow and extinguish every native government in their vicinity, on the simple ground that political position, and difference of religion, made them irreconcilable foes. Then what is meant by saying that the Company had “intrusted” the nabobs with political power? When did the Company become the absolute sovereigns of the Carnatic, and when did the nabobs begin to hold it under them in trust? Is it not notorious that even in an European treaty the Nabob of the Carnatic had been formally recognized as a sovereign prince, and that the Company, besides entering into treaties with him on that footing, had proclaimed themselves his vassals, by soliciting and accepting a jaghire from him? There was indeed much “folly” in the intercourse of the Company with the nabob, but as they had never intrusted him “with any degree of political power,” there is no sense in speaking of the “folly” of prolonging the trust.
The arrangement ultimately made with regard to the Carnatic virtually acquitted the nabobs of the heaviest charges which had been brought against them. Had they been, as Lord Mornington asserted, prosecuting “desperate purposes of treachery and ingratitude,” or, as Lord Clive expressed it, “perfidiously betraying the spirit and substance of the alliance,” absolute expulsion was the proper sentence, since the very idea of compounding with traitors was absurd. And yet what was the course which it was resolved to follow? To begin with negotiation, for the purpose of obtaining a complete resignation of the civil and military government of the Carnatic to the Company. Could the nabob’s consent be obtained, no mention was to be made of his guilt, but on the contrary he was to be liberally pensioned, and treated as an old and faithful ally. It was only in the event of its being necessary to overcome opposition, that “the combination of fortunate circumstances” which had “revealed his correspondence” was to be turned to account, however painful it might be, “to expose the humiliating proofs of the ingratitude and treachery with which these infatuated princes had acted towards that power which had uniformly proved their guardian and protector.” The ultimate result of the proceedings was to secure a valuable end by very unworthy means.
When the final instructions of Lord Mornington reached Madras, it was too late to negotiate with Omdut-ul-Omrah. He was on his deathbed, and expired on the 15th July, 1801. When his recovery became hopeless, the tranquillity of his last moments was disturbed by intrigues for the succession among the different members of the family, and Lord Clive deemed it necessary to take military occupation of his palace, for the purpose both of preserving order and preventing the dilapidation of treasure. Among the claimants to the succession Lord Mornington had selected two—the one Ali Hussein, the reputed son of Omdut-ul-Omrah, and the other Azeem-u-Dowlah, the acknowledged son of his younger brother Ameer-ul-Omrah. To the former, and, in the event of refusal, to the latter, the succession was to be offered, on the previous condition of holding only a nominal sovereignty with a liberal pension. Omdut-ul-Omrah by his will declared his son Ali Hussein, a youth of eighteen years of age, his heir, and appointed Mahomed Nejeeb Khan and Tookee Ali Khan his guardians. With these two, therefore, a few hours after the death, Mr. Webbe and Colonel Close were deputed as commissioners to hold a consultation. It was continued for several days without result, the guardians positively declining the terms. The commissioners refused to take a final answer from the guardians, and demanded an interview with Ali Hussein himself. After many objections it was granted, but when it took place he simply referred them to his guardians, plainly declaring that “his counsels and theirs could never be separated.” He was not to be parted with in this summary way, and the commissioners therefore intimated that Lord Clive desired a personal interview, and would for that purpose receive him in the tent of the Company’s officer commanding the troops, which had been stationed at the palace. When the guardians retired to provide the necessary equipage and accessories, Ali Hussein whispered that they had deceived him. During the interview with Lord Clive he made the same statement against the guardians without hesitation, and declared his disapprobation of the issue to which matters had been brought by them. The proposal was then repeated to him in the most distinct manner, and he declared his readiness to accept of it. It was supposed that the whole business was now on the eve of being satisfactorily arranged, and the greater, therefore, was the surprise of the commissioners when, during an interview on the following day while the guardians were present, Ali Hussein retracted everything he had said to Lord Clive. A second interview with his lordship in private failed to change his resolution. His whole family, he said, had been convened for the purpose of assisting his judgment; his resolution was final; he was prepared to meet every danger rather than subscribe to the conditions proposed. Further negotiation being useless, Lord Clive retired, after intimating to him that he had forfeited all claim to consideration, and must await the extreme measures which his conduct had rendered unavoidable.
It now only remained to bring forward the other candidate who had gained Lord Mornington’s preference. The first difficulty was to obtain access to him, as he was kept in rigorous confinement, and the least hint of his intended elevation would probably have cost him his life. This difficulty was unexpectedly removed by the guardians themselves. Becoming impatient of delay they had of their own accord placed Ali Hussein privately on the musnud, and were reported to be preparing to repeat the ceremony publicly on the following day. Lord Clive immediately took the necessary steps to prevent them, and by occupying the palace with the Company’s troops, and removing all the late nabob’s guards, obtained possession of Azeem-u-Dowlah’s person. The sudden elevation from a prison to the musnud was too tempting to leave him any inclination to demur to the terms, and on the 25th of July, 1801, Azeem-u-Dowlah ascended the musnud with the title of nabob, and a pension of one-fifth of the annual revenues, while the Company gained the object for which they had long been striving, by becoming vested with the whole civil and military government of the Carnatic.
Mention has been made of the intention of Lord Mornington to visit Madras, and make the settlement of the Carnatic in person. The main cause of his being obliged to abandon this intention was the state of affairs in Oude. By Lord Teignmouth’s treaty, the Company were at liberty to increase the force serving in Oude, whenever it might be deemed necessary for the security of the contracting parties. The threatened invasion by Zeman Shah, and the disordered state of the government under the nabob’s mutinous and ineffective military establishment, determined the governor-general to make a large increase of the Company’s, and at the same time effect a corresponding reduction of the native troops. When the proposal was first made to the nabob, he acquiesced in its propriety, but on second thoughts, after finding how much it would lessen his consequence with his adherents, he withdrew his assent and began to throw every obstacle in the way.
One of the methods which the nabob took to evade the reformation which he saw was about to be forced upon him, was to feign a desire to abdicate. Addressing Colonel Scott, the resident, at an interview, he said “that his mind was not disposed to the cares and fatigues of government; that as one of his sons would be raised to the musnud, his name would remain; and that he was possessed of money sufficient for his support, and the gratification of all his desires in a private station.” At a second interview, he returned to the subject of his abdication, and stated as his motives, “the refractory and perverse disposition of the people at large,” the “want of zeal and fidelity in the men immediately about his person,” the “arrogance of some of the aumils,” and “the open disobedience of others.” The resident was not blind to the advantages which the Company might derive from the abdication, but deemed it prudent to expostulate with the nabob on the subject, showing him that the remedy of the evils was within his own power. “A strong and just administration would,” he said, “insure the obedience of the bulk of his subjects,” and attach them “to his person and government,” and the “reform of the military establishment was the specific measure that would curb the arrogance of the aumils.” If he would only “reject the advice of interested favourites, and be guided by the impartial and friendly council” of the governor-general, “the affairs of his government would be conducted with ease to himself, to the acquisition of a high reputation, and to the prosperity and happiness of his subjects.” As he was about to resign, the nabob observed that it was unnecessary to enter on the subject of military reform. In this observation the resident acquiesced, and in consequence abstained from delivering a letter in which the governor-general had explained his views. There was afterwards reason to suspect that the delay which he thus gained was one of the main objects which the nabob aimed at when he announced his intention to abdicate. He made a grievous mistake when he thus attempted to trifle with Lord Mornington.
As soon as the proposal of abdication was announced to the governor-general, it was so much in accordance with his own wishes that he caused his military secretary, after only a week’s delay, to communicate with the resident respecting it. “The proposition of the vizier,” writes the secretary, “is pregnant with such benefit not only to the Company but to the inhabitants of Oude, that his lordship thinks it cannot be too much encouraged, and that there are no circumstances which shall be allowed to impede the accomplishment of the grand object which it leads to. This object his lordship considers to be the acquisition by the Company of the exclusive authority, civil and military, over the dominions of Oude.” The formal abdication his lordship did not consider necessary to this end. On the contrary, he thought that it might cause embarrassment by raising a question of succession; and he therefore proposed a secret treaty, by which the nabob should vest the Company in the civil and military establishment of the country, and in which his sons should be “no further mentioned than may be necessary for the purpose of securing to them a suitable provision.” In regard to the treasures and jewels left by the late nabob, the governor-general, on Sadat Ali’s agreeing to the above arrangement, would have “little difficulty in allowing his excellency to appropriate” them, under deduction of arrears of subsidy and of any other debts due to the Company.
A treaty embodying the above stipulations was forwarded to the resident, and on being submitted to the nabob was perused by him with great apparent calmness. He put some questions as to the authority which was to remain with his successor, and on being told that the plan did not provide for a successor, asked “whether a family, which had been established for a number of years, was to abandon the sovereignty of its hereditary dominions.” The resident could only refer to the ample provision made for the comfort and independence of that family. The impression left upon him is thus described:—“From this conversation I can hardly venture to draw any conclusion, and shall therefore only observe, that though his excellency is perfectly master of concealing his passions, yet if he had entertained an immovable repugnance to the basis of the treaty, he could scarcely have disguised it under smiles and an unaltered countenance.” Whether the professed desire to abdicate had been mere pretence, or the intimation that, if he should abdicate he must not expect to take with him the whole of his accumulated wealth, had induced him to abandon an intention once really entertained, it is certain that he soon began to retract. A few days after the above interview the resident was waited upon by the nabob, whose views appeared to have undergone a considerable change. After some preliminary remarks, wrote the resident, “his excellency proceeded to declare, that the proposition offered by your lordship was so repugnant to his feelings—departed so widely, in a most essential point, from the principle on which he wished to relinquish the government, and would, were he to accept it, bring upon him such indelible disgrace and odium, that he could never voluntarily subscribe to it. The sovereignty of these dominions had been in the family near a hundred years, and the transfer of it to the Company, under the stipulations proposed by your lordship, would in fact be a sale of it, for money and jewels; that every sentiment of respect for the name of his ancestors, and every consideration for his posterity, combined to preclude him from assenting to so great a sacrifice for the attainment of his personal ease and advantage.” His ultimate proposition was that he should appoint his successor; when this was objected to, he concluded with saying, that “he was ready to abandon his design of retirement, and to retain the charge of the government.” On being reminded that the military reform would still be necessary, the nabob observed “that the reform of his military establishment upon the principles proposed by your lordship would annihilate his authority in his own dominions.”
Lord Mornington, suspecting that “his excellency’s principal, if not sole view in the late transaction, has been to ward off the reform of his military establishment,” declared himself “extremely disgusted at the duplicity and insincerity of his conduct,” and determined to lose no time in enforcing his own plan of military reform. By the treaty concluded by Lord Teignmouth, the whole defence of Oude was undertaken by the Company. The amount payable by the nabob as subsidy was, under ordinary circumstances, fixed at seventy-six lacs, but if it should at any time become necessary to increase the Company’s troops beyond 13,000 men, the subsidy was to be proportionably increased. The necessity of an increase was, apparently by the letter, and unquestionably by the spirit of the treaty, left to the decision of the Company, and on this ground the governor-general held that they were entitled, without consulting the nabob, to burden him with the permanent payment of troops to any extent which they might choose to consider necessary. In the present instance, the number which the governor-general resolved to send fixed an additional burden of £500,000 sterling on the revenue of Oude, and made the whole sum permanently payable as subsidy amount to one crore and twenty-six lacs, or rather more than a million and a quarter pounds sterling (£1,260,000). Orders were accordingly given to move the troops forthwith to such points within Oude as might seem advisable, giving due notice to the nabob of the augmentation, and “calling upon his excellency to adopt the requisite measures for the regular payment of the additional force.” On being informed by the resident that the troops were on their march, the nabob entreated that no actual steps might be taken for their actual march into his dominions, till he had an opportunity of submitting to his consideration a paper which he was then engaged in drawing up, and some propositions which he had to offer. The resident told him that “it was totally impossible to delay the march of the troops, but that as it would require a day or two to arrange a place for their distribution; if his excellency would in that space come forward in an unreserved manner with any specific propositions,” he (the resident) would judge what weight to allow them, and how far they would authorize him to suspend the progress of the corps. The nabob having observed that he had not consented to the augmentation, and been told that the governor-general considered himself the proper judge of its necessity, made the following reply:—“If the measure is to be carried into execution, whether with or without my approbation, there was no occasion for consulting me.”
On the 14th of January, 1800, ten days after the above interview, the nabob put into the hands of the resident a paper in which he reminded him that the proposed plan had never received his approbation or acquiescence, and objected to it on various grounds, such as the thousands of people whom it would deprive of their subsistence, and the serious commotion which the disbanding of the native troops would in all probability produce in the capital. He concluded, however, with saying, that from dread of his lordship’s displeasure, and with the sole view of pleasing him, he was compelled to assent to the introduction of the plan. On the 18th of January, the resident transmitted to the governor-general another paper or memorial which the nabob had delivered to him on the 11th, and in which the whole question was argued with considerable ability. Referring to the 2d article of the treaty, he remarks:—“On my accession to the musnud, the force designed for the defence of those dominions was increased beyond what it had been on any former period; whilst on my part I agreed to defray the expense of the said augmentation. But in no part of the said article is it written or hinted, that after the lapse of a number of years, a further permanent augmentation should take place.” On the 7th article he remarks, that after the conclusion of the treaty “no further augmentation is to be made, excepting in cases of necessity; and that the increase is to be proportioned to the emergency, and endure but as long as the necessity exists. An augmentation of troops without existing necessity, and making me answerable for the expense attending the increase, is inconsistent with the treaty, and seems inexpedient.” Quoting a part of the 17th article, which stipulated that “the nabob shall possess full authority over his household affairs, his hereditary dominions, his troops, and his subjects,” he asks, “Where is my authority over my household affairs, over my hereditary dominions, over my troops, and over my subjects,” should the management of the army be taken from under my direction?
Some of the above arguments were not easily answered, and the governor-general found means of dispensing with the necessity of it. His letter, to which the paper purported to be an answer, was attested by the governor-general’s seal and signature. The reply ought, according to established usage, to have been executed with equal solemnity. The paper was therefore returned to the resident with instructions to replace it in the hands of the nabob, and at the same time inform him, that “the mode adopted in the present instance by his excellency, of replying to a public letter from the governor-general, attested by his lordship’s seal and signature, and written on a subject of the most momentous concern to the mutual interests of the Company and of his excellency, besides indicating a levity totally unsuitable to the occasion, is highly deficient in the respect due from his excellency to the first British authority in India.” It was added, that “if in formally answering his lordship’s letter, his excellency should think proper to impeach the honour and justice of the British government in similar terms to those employed in the paper delivered to you on the 11th, the governor-general will then consider how such unfounded calumnies and gross misrepresentations both of facts and arguments deserve to be noticed.”
It cannot be necessary to continue the detail of this altercation. The nabob, after interposing some impediments to the execution of the governor-general’s plan, was intimidated by a letter, in which he was charged with pursuing a course “nearly equivalent to positive hostility,” and told that “perseverance in so dangerous a course” would leave “no other alternative than that of considering all amicable engagements” between him and the Company “to be dissolved.” Thus menaced, he saw the necessity of giving way, and by the end of February, 1800, paid the money demanded on account of the additional troops. When the nabob subsequently complained of the difficulty he found in making these payments, the governor-general, in a letter dated 22d January, 1801, and addressed to the resident, rejoined:—“If the alarming crisis be now approaching in which his excellency can no longer fulfill his engagements to the Company, this calamity must be imputed principally to his neglect of my repeated advice and earnest representations. The augmented charges might have been amply provided for, if his excellency had vigorously and cordially co-operated with me in the salutary and economical measure of disbanding his own undisciplined troops. It is now become the duty of the British government to interpose effectively for the protection of his interests, as well as those of the Company, which are menaced with common and speedy destruction, by the rapid decline of the general resources of his excellency’s dominions.” He concluded with declaring, that “no effectual security can be provided against the ruin of the province of Oude, until the exclusive management of the civil and military government of that country shall be transferred to the Company, under suitable provisions for the maintenance of his excellency and his family. No other remedy can effect any considerable improvement in the resources of the state, or can ultimately secure its external safety and internal peace.”
Entertaining these views, the governor-general could not consistently make any proposal which did not embody them, and yet, as if conscious that an attempt to carry them out by violent methods would expose him to a charge of tyranny and injustice, he modified his measures so far as to give him the choice of two propositions. The one was to cede his whole dominions to the Company, reserving to himself and his successors only a nominal sovereignty; the other was to cede only as much of his dominions as would yield a revenue equal to the whole of the augmented subsidy of which he had been compelled to bear the burden. The whole revenue of Oude at this time fell short of two millions and a half sterling, and as the subsidy considerably exceeded one million, the only alternative left to the nabob was to allow himself to be deposed, or to allow the Company to seize and appropriate one-half of his dominions, in consideration of their undertaking to defend the other half, and control him in the management of it. This was in substance the option submitted to the nabob. Can we wonder that he complained bitterly, or deny that he complained justly of harsh and iniquitous treatment?
The nabob had no hesitation in rejecting the first proposition. “As it is impossible for me with my own hands to exclude myself from my patrimonial dominions (for what advantage should I derive from so doing?)—this therefore is a measure which I will never adopt.” To the second proposition he manifested the greatest repugnance, and urged an objection which was never answered. By Lord Teignmouth’s treaty, the Company were entitled on failure of payment of the subsidy to take such steps as might seem necessary to obtain it. Of course when there was no failure they had no right to interfere. The nabob accordingly argued thus:—“Since I have not in any way delayed or neglected to discharge the kists for the expenses of the troops, but have paid them with punctuality, where is the occasion for requiring any territorial resource?—I expect to derive the most substantial profits from bringing into a flourishing condition this country, which has so long been in a state of waste and ruin. By a separation of territory, my hopes of these substantial profits would be entirely cut off, and a great loss would accrue. How then can I assent to any territorial cession?” Instead of contradicting the statement that the kists had been punctually paid, or attempting to answer the argument founded upon it, the governor-general satisfied himself with such declamation as the following:—“I now declare to your excellency, in the most explicit manner, that I consider it to be my positive duty to resort to any extremity rather than suffer the further progress of that ruin, to which the interests of your excellency and the honourable Company are exposed, by the continued operation of the evils and abuses actually existing in the civil and military administration of the province of Oude.” To the resident he wrote:—“Any further reference to me from Oude is unnecessary. I therefore empower you to act under the instructions contained in this letter, without waiting for additional orders. If, therefore, his excellency should persist in rejecting both propositions, you will inform him that any further remonstrance to me on this subject will be unavailing; that you are directed to insist upon the immediate cession of the territory proposed to be transferred to the Company; and that in the event of his excellency’s refusal to issue the necessary orders for that purpose, you are authorized to direct the British troops to march for the purpose of establishing the authority of the British government within those districts.” To this, the ultima ratio to which the governor-general was always too ready to resort when dealing with native powers, the nabob could make no reply, and after some stipulations which he proposed had been disdainfully rejected, he declared that no other alternative was allowed him than that of “passive obedience” to whatever measures might be resolved on; “the utmost which could be expected from him was passive submission to those measures;” his lordship’s power could dispose of “the whole of his territorial possessions, and of his treasures;” “he neither had the inclination nor the strength to resist it; but he could not yield a voluntary consent to propositions injurious to his reputation.” Such were the circumstances under which the Nabob of Oude was compelled to conclude a treaty, which extorted from him one-half of his territories, and left him, in regard to the other half, nothing more than a nominal sovereignty.
Before the arrangements were concluded, Lord Mornington deemed it necessary to despatch his brother, the Honourable Henry Wellesley (afterwards Lord Cowley), on a mission to Lucknow, in the hope that his diplomatic talents, combined with his near relationship to the governor-general, might enable him to smooth down any difficulties which still stood in the way. Mr. Wellesley arrived on the 3d of September, 1801, and on the 5th placed in the hands of the nabob a memorial explanatory of the objects of his mission. The alternative of the two propositions was again tendered to him, and he was invited to a renewed discussion of the merits. He consented, but soon gave a peremptory rejection of the first proposition, on the ground that it would bring “an everlasting stigma on his name, by depriving a whole family of such a kingdom.” Mr. Wellesley and the resident endeavoured to reason him out of this belief, by telling him “that his excellency reasoned upon the first proposition as if the execution of it deprived him of the possession of the musnud, whereas the true extent and meaning of it, and indeed the primary object, was to establish him self and posterity more firmly and securely on the musnud, with all the state, dignity, and influence.” Can anything be more ludicrous and insulting? The proposition was that he should cede all his territories in perpetuity to the Company, and bind himself never to reside in them, and the effect of it, he is told, will be to establish him and his posterity more firmly and securely in the possession of all the state, dignity, and affluence of his exalted station. Had the nabob been simple enough to believe this representation and to act upon it, would it have been possible to deny that he had been swindled out of his dominions?
While the nabob positively rejected the one proposition and delayed his passive assent to the other, the governor-general lost patience, and caused intimation to be made to him that, in the event of further delay, he would not even have the privilege of choosing. The British government would choose for him by selecting the proposition to which he was known to be most repugnant. The nabob, now reduced to extremity, only begged to be allowed to depart on a pilgrimage, and appoint his son to act for him during his absence. He no longer withheld his consent, but he wished not to be present at the execution. He gives his reason:—“I should consider it a disgrace, and it would be highly unpleasant to me to show my face to my people here.” The indulgence thus asked was conceded, and the treaty was signed on the 10th of November, 1801. The possession of one-half of the territories of Oude thus passed to the Company by a stroke of the pen, and the possession of the other half was so imperfectly guaranteed to the nabob that the Company could be at no loss at any future time for a plausible pretext for seizing it. It is not unworthy of notice that the cession made to the Company included nearly the whole of the territories which the nabob’s father, Sujah-u-Dowlah, had acquired, partly from the Company and partly by their aid, at the cost of about a million sterling. By a singular reverse of circumstances the Company were able, after having pocketed the price, to seize the territories, and thus obtain possession both of price and subject. Mr. Hastings sold the provinces of Corah and Allahabad, and hired out British troops to make an iniquitous conquest with the avowed object of improving the frontiers of Oude, and interposing it as a barrier for the protection of the Company, and Lord Mornington had now taken possession of all the territories thus acquired with the avowed object of interposing the Company as a barrier for the protection of Oude. There is too much ground to believe that in both cases the avowed was very different from the real object, and both honour and justice were sacrificed to policy. At the same time, how much soever the means employed must be reprobated, it is impossible to deny that a very great boon was conferred on the inhabitants of the ceded countries when they passed from the government of Sadat Ali to that of the Company. Immediately after ratifying the treaty the governor-general provided for the settlement of the new territory by establishing a board of commissioners, composed of three civil servants of the Company, presided over by Mr. Henry Wellesley as lieutenant-governor.
Before the conclusion of the treaty the governor-general had set out on a tour to the north, and was at Benares when the treaty was sent to him for ratification. In a previous part of the journey a letter arrived from Mr. Wellesley, intimating that the nabob had some thoughts of imitating the example of his predecessor, and supplying the deficiencies of his revenue by plundering the begum his grandmother. As Mr. Hastings had sanctioned a similar proceeding, and drawn large sums by means of it, the Nabob of Oude, who had himself no scruples on the subject, imagined that the present governor-general would be equally unscrupulous, and proposed that, in the event of the territorial cession being carried out, he should be permitted in this way to compensate himself. The begum, who had a suspicion of the treatment which her grandson was preparing for her, endeavoured to avert it by not only soliciting the protection of the British government, but offering to constitute the Company her heir. The legality of such a proceeding was more than doubtful; but the governor-general, while admitting as a general rule “the justice and policy of preventing the transfer of individual property by gift or testament to a foreign state,” held that there were peculiarities in the position of the begum which might justify the Company in accepting the legacy. Any doubt which he might have had on the subject was removed by the above proposal of the nabob, to which his lordship, instead of imitating the unworthy example which Mr. Hastings had set him, ordered his secretary to return the following indignant answer:—“The inclination manifested by his excellency the vizier in the form of a conditional assent, to Lieutenant-colonel Scott’s proposal for a territorial cession, to degrade and despoil the most distinguished characters of his family and his court—a design, though under some degree of disguise, particularly directed to the begum—and his insidious and disgraceful attempt to obtain the sanction of the British name to such unwarrantable acts of proscription, have given additional weight in his lordship’s mind to the arguments above detailed, and have determined his lordship not only to acquiesce in the begum’s proposal to its full extent, if it should be revived on her part, but to encourage her highness to renew her proposition at the earliest period of time, and by every justifiable means.
Mr. Wellesley, in the course of his duties as lieutenant-governor of the ceded districts, had his attention called to the position of the Nabob of Furruckabad, who was a tributary of Oude, and had now, in consequence of the territorial cession, become a tributary of the Company. His territory, forming part of the fertile tract of the Doab, extended for about 150 miles along the right or western bank of the Ganges, and yielded a revenue of above ten lacs (£100,000). While subject to Oude the nabob had been under the special protection of the Company, and he naturally expected that when his allegiance was entirely transferred to it his position would be improved. The succession had devolved upon him in consequence of the murder of his father by his eldest son. He was then too young to undertake the government, and a regent had been appointed; but the young nabob was now approaching majority, and, as he had always had a dislike to the regent, he was in hopes of being permitted to take the administration into his own hands. Mr. Wellesley, as lieutenant-governor, had fixed his residence at Bareilly. Hither the nabob and the regent repaired with a view to a new arrangement. The regent arrived first, and took the opportunity of an interview to give the nabob a very bad character. This would not have told much against him; but, unfortunately for him, the governor-general had adopted a policy which he was determined to follow whenever he found it not absolutely impracticable. This was to pension the native ruler, as he had done in Tanjore and attempted to do in Oude, and assume the whole civil and military government in name of the Company. When this plan was submitted to the nabob, he requested that it should be put in writing, and after perusing it gave utterance to his feelings in the following terms:—“When I was in hopes that I should be put in possession of the country and property, this proposition is made to me. I am totally at a loss what to do. If I deliver over the country to the English government, all my relations and my neighbours, and all the nobility of Hindoostan will say that I have been found so unfit by the English government that they did not think it proper to intrust me with the management of such a country, and I shall never escape for many generations from the sneers of the people. If, on the other hand, I say anything in disobedience to your orders, it will be against all rules of submission and propriety.” In this dilemma he proposed that the English government should make one of its own servants superintendent of revenue, with power to send his agents into the villages and act along with the Furruckabad collectors. By this means, he said, “your wishes may be accomplished, and my honour and name preserved throughout Hindoostan.” Mr. Wellesley, acting under the instructions of the governor-general, turned a deaf ear to these remonstrances, and the nabob was compelled to submit to all the disgrace he had so earnestly deprecated, and cede his territories in perpetuity to the Company in return for a pension. Before the settlement of the territorial cessions in Oude was completed, it was necessary to have recourse to arms in order to reduce a refractory zemindar of the name of Bagwunt Sing, who maintained an army of 20,000 men. He had two strongholds, Bidgeghur and Sasanee, both of which stood sieges and made a good defence; Susanee, in particular, situated on the route from Agra to Alighur, repulsed a premature assault, and was not evacuated by its garrison till the siege was undertaken by the commander-in-chief in person and the approaches had been regularly advanced to the distance of 200 yards. In March, 1802, the settlement having been completed, the board of commissioners for Oude was dissolved, and Mr. Wellesley shortly after sailed for Europe.
The governor-general, amid the numerous subjects which occupied his attention in India, looked beyond its limits, and engaged in various measures which, while they were intended to give additional security to the Indian government, had a direct bearing on European politics. The earliest of these measures was the mission of Captain Malcolm to the court of Persia towards the end of 1799. The object was to enter into political and commercial treaties with the shah, by which the general interests of Great Britain might be promoted, and, at the same time, encourage him to make a diversion in Cabool, which would give Zeman Shah sufficient occupation at home, and oblige him to abandon his schemes of conquest in India. This mission, from the ability