This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the information in books and make it universally accessible. Google books https://books.google.com Google Digitized by Google Digitized by Google Digitized by Google Digitized by Google CONSIDER AT IONS ON INDIA AFFAIRS. Price TWELVE SHILLINGS in Boards. Digitized by Google p A G E 12, Line 38, for mpartial read impartial. Page 20,1. 9, for ancint, r. ancient. * Ibid. 1. 37>for fpontaneonfly, r. fpontaneoufly. Page 25, 1. 26, fur Suhahdar, r. Su-bahdar. Page 29, 1. 22^ for lllahabad, r. lllahabad. Page 38, L u, note, for In, r. in. Pag* 5r> !• 9» for Guezrat, r. Guze rat. Page 56, 1. 3, for furnflied, r. furnifhed. Ibid. 1. 30, at the beginning, add of. Page 102,1. 29, for confinement, r. confinement. Page 112, laft line, note, for awriter, r. a writer. Page 129', 1. 12, for after, r. after. Page 132, L 4, for voluuury, r. voluntary. Page 137, 1. 12, for forts, r. forts. Page 163, 1. 7) for frequently, r. frequently. Ibid, laft line, note, y$r inhabitnts, r. inhabitants. Page 178, 1. 12, for therefore, r. therefore. Page 190, 1. 23, for repetions, r. repetitions. Page 194, 1. 17, for natures, r. nature. Page 202, 1. 5, note, for wrier, r. writer. Ibid. 1.11, ibid# for thep, r. they. Page(203, ibid, for individuls, r. individuals. Page 204, line 4, /w au-fpices Lord Clive, r. aufpices of Lord Clive.-Appendix. Page 4,1. 19, for privileges, r. privileges. Page 5, 1. i,for Companny’s, r. Company’s. Page 6, 1. \^9 for Caclutta, r. Calcutta. Page 15, line laft but one, for leived, r. levied. Page 20,1.5, for Gvernor, r. Governor. Page 23, 1.10, for extraordinary, r. extraordinary. Page 42, line the third from bottom, for boen, r. been. Page 48, J. 5, for hunble, r. humble. Page 56,1. 15, for aply, r. apply. Page 58, 1. 5, for bounds, r. bonds. Page 104, 1. 1, for poin, r. point. Page 107,1, tenth from bottom, for him, r. him. Page 121,1. eleventh from ditto, for foreoging, r. foregoing. Page 125. 1. fixteenth from ditto, for bim, r. him. Page 126, 1. fifth from ditto, for uuto, r. unto. Page 131, 1. 4, for himtelf, r. himfelf. Ibid. 1. 29, for fain, r. faid. Page 134,1. 13, far cf, r. of. Page 141, 1. 30, for appears, r. appear. Page J 44, 1- ^)for fame, r. fome. Page 145, 1. 1,/^revenues, r. revenues. P*ige 149, i. 34, for Vafinttart, r. Vanfittart. Page 152, 1. i8f for A (burner, r. Athburner. Ibid. 1. 34, for (ha!l, r. Ihall. Page 153, 1. 15, for makng, r. making. Page 154, I. w^for lawful, r. lawful. Page 157^ 1. 21, for abitrators, r, arbitrators.——Preface. Page 9, J. *3, for of, r. to. Page 13,1. 3, for misfortunes, r. misfortunes. Digitized by Google C ON S I DERATION S O N INDIA AFFAIRS; PARTICULARLY RESPECTING THE DEPENDENCIES. TO WHICH IS PREFIXED. A MAP OF THOSE COUNTRIES, CHIEFLY FROM ACTUAL SURVEYS. TH E SECOND EDITION, WITH ADDITIONS. BY WILLIAM BOLTS, MERCHANT, AND ALDERMAN, OR JUDGE OF THE HON. THE MAYOR’* COURT OF CALCUTTA. LONDON: PRINTED FOR J. ALMON IN PICCADILLY, P. ELMSLY IN THE STRAND, AND BROTHERTON AND SEWELL IN CORNHILL. MDCCLXXII. Digitized by Google fKONINKL.) BIELIOTIIEEK < IE'S II AGE. J Digitized by GOO^I^ PREFACE. IT is time the attention of the Legiflature of this kingdom fhould be awakened to the concerns of Britifh fubjeds in the Eaft Indies, which, notwithftanding all that has been laid or written concerning India affairs, feem to have lain negleded, as if thofe diftant individuals were not members of the fame body-politic, or did not deferve the care of the mother-country, while this government as yet receives every advantage it choofes from them as fubjeds. All the inquiries which have hitherto been made, either by Government or the Eaft India Proprietors, have flopped fhort at fome temporary expedient. No permanent fyftem has been yet adopted for the fecurity of thofe dominions; and the knowledge which the members of the Legiflature have had the opportunities of obtaining, upon thofe inquiries, has been in general very infufficient for forming a right judgment of the internal danger to which thofe poffeflions are expofed, or oF the remedies necefiary for removing the evils felt, or to prevent fuch as may be dreaded ; but if due care be not fpeedily taken, the nation will not only be foon deprived of the re-fources at prefent furnifhed, but the pofleflion of the very Afiatic territories themfelves muft be endangered. Unequal as the Writer deems himfelf to this talk in other refpeds, yet as far as his own local experience could furnifh fads, or his induftry materials which might contribute towards a right knowlege, he has been induced to undertake a 2 Lthis Digitized by k OQle iv PREFACE. this inadequate performance, which he now lays with all deference and humility before the refpectable tribunal of the Public. The importance of the objects will plead his excufe for the attempt; and if the facts herein related with all the li'm-plicity of truth fhould, before it be too late, awaken the attention of Government to thofe Weighty concerns, or be happy inftruments for relieving at prefent, or protecting in future one British fubject in thofe diftant dominions from mifery and Opprcffion, the Writer will think himlelf amply rewarded for his trouble. In fpeaking of Britilh fubjects, we would be understood to mean his Majefty’s newly-acquired Aliatic fubjects, as well as the Britifh emigrants reliding and eftablilhed in India. Whatever odium fome among the latter may have incurred, they are not all Nabob-makers ; they are not all revolutionijls. And notwithftanding the prevailing notions of the eale with which immenfe fortunes are acquired in thofe parts, from the examples that have been lately exhibited, there are at this time in Bengal many poor and induftrious Britons deprived even of the means of getting an honeft livelihood by their belt endeavours, who are defervihg of a more maternal care from their native country. Let not his Majefty’s fubjects in Alia lay they have been fold to the leaders and chiefs of an incorporated trading body of their own fellow-fubjects, for the fum of four hundred thouland pounds fterling per annum I Much more valuable and permanent advantages may be derived from thence with equity and eale, as well as with dignity to Government; while the profperity of thofe Aliatic dominions might be fe-cured in the happinefs of the inhabitants, and the commercial, and therefore only true interefts of the milinformed proprietors of Eaft India ftock be rendered profperous and fecure. From a fociety of mere traders, confined by charter to the em- Digitized by GooQle PREFACE. v employment of fix (hips and fix pinnaces yearly, the Company are become fovereigns of extenfive, rich and populous kingdoms, with a (landing army of above fixty thoufand men at their command. In this new fituation of the fociety, fo widely different from its original inftitution, their true commercial in-terefts appear almoft entirely mifunderftood or negle&ed; and it may be fafely faid, there is fcarcely any public fpirit apparent among their leaders, either in England or India. The loaves and fifties are the grand, almoft the foie objeeft. The queftions, How many lacks (hall I put in my pocket ? or. How many fons, nephews, or dependents (hall I provide for, at the expence of the milerable inhabitants of the fubjeefted dominions ? are thole which of late have been the foremoft to be propounded by the Chiefs of the Company on both fides the ocean. Hence the dominions in Afia, like the diftant Roman provinces during the decline of that empire, have been abandoned, as lawful prey, to every fpecies of peculators ; info-much that many of the fervants of the Company, after exhibiting fuch feenes of barbarity as can fcarcely be paralleled in the hiftory of any country, have returned to England loaded with wealth; where, intrenching themfelves in borough orEaft-In-dia-ftock influence, they have fet juftice at defiance, either in the caufe of their country or of opprefled innocence. The affairs of the Eaft India Company are therefore now become an objeeft of the utmoft importance to this nation, which it is to be feared may be involved in great difficulties whenever the Indian dominions are loft; or, what is the lame thing, whenever they are fo impoverilhed and ruined as to render the pofleflion of them unprofitable. Bengal and the dominions dependent thereon are entirely commercial countries, which can only flourilh while trade is profperous, the princi--ples of which are invariably the fame in all climates. But when the affairs of Bengal and its dependencies get into a • ruinous Digitized by Google vi PREFACE. ruinous courfe, the affairs of the Company, which lb greatly depend on thofe provinces, muft of neceflity do the fame. And nothing can be more certain than that thofe countries will not profper while the Company continue there the Merchant-fovereign and the Sovereign-merchant, even were it poflible, without altering their prefent conftitution, to free their affairs from the numberlefs inconveniencies arifing from the diftance between the feat of government and the fubjeded provinces ; the mifinformation or ignorance among Proprietors and Directors, the constantly fluctuating ftate of parties, the confe-quent abfurd and contradictory orders which are continually fen't out to India, and likewife from the want of due power in the Company for controlling their fervants abroad: which power it is conceived can never be given to them, becaufe it would be ereCting imperium in imperia. Monopolies of all kinds are in their natures unavoidably pernicious ; but an abfolute government of monopolifts, fuchas at prefent that of Bengal in faCt is, muft of all be the moft dreadful. The foil, revenues, juftice and interior government of thofe countries are entirely in the hands of the Englifh Eaft India Company; the prince, whom they call the Grand Mogul, being the mere inftrument of their power, fet up by them, and fupported by a penfion for the ferving of their own private purpofes ; the pretended Nabobs of Bengal and Bahar being 7 the aCtual ftipendiary fervants of the faid Company, and the Dewannee, under which title they pretend to hold thofe territorial poffeflions, being a mere fiction, invented for the private purpofes of the Company and their fervants ; and particularly intended, if poflible, to fcreen their feizing on the fove-reignty of the country, by impofing on the Britifh nation ; though the difguife was too flimfey to deceive either the inhabitants of Hindoftan or other European nations who have Settlements in thofe countries. There Digitized by Google PREFACE. vii There is in Bengal no freedom in trade, though by that alone it can be made flourifhing and importantly beneficial to the Britifh ftate. AU branches of the interior Indian commerce, are, without exception, entirely monopolies of the moft cruel and ruinous natures; and fb totally corrupted, from every fpe-cies of abule, as to be in the laft ftages towards annihilation^ Civil juftice is eradicated, and millions are thereby left entirely at the mercy of a few men, who divide the fpoils of the public among themfelves; while, under fuch delpotifm, fup-ported by military violence, the whole interior country, where neither the laws of England reach, or the laws or cuftoms of thofe countries are permitted to have their courfe, is no better than in a ftate of nature. In this fituation, while the poor in-duftrious natives are opprefled beyond conception, population is decreafing, the manufactories and revenues are decaying, and Bengal, which ufed not many years ago to fend annually a tribute of feveral millions in hard fpecie to Dehly,. is now reduced to fo extreme a want of circulation, that it is not improbable the Company (whofe fervants in Calcutta have already been neceffitated, in one feafon, to draw above a million fterling on the Directors, for the exigencies of their trade and government) will foon be in want of fpecie in Bengal to pay their troops, and in England feen pleading incapacity to pay the very annual four hundred thoufand pounds which is; now received from them by Government. The natives of Bengal, whofe miferies have of late been greatly increafed by a calamitous famine, have long looked up to heaven and to this nation for relief; which if much longer with-held, while they bewail the inefficacy of a conftitution fo much boafted of to them, they may be rendered defperate in * the purfuit of redrefs, and made to join hand and heart with the firft power that happens to oppofe the Englifti in thofe dominions, Let fuch who place their fecurity in the pretended dege- Digitized by GOOQle viii PREFACE. degeneracy or effeminacy of the natives recoiled:, that they are thofe very natives who right our Indian battles ; which they have fometimes done without a fingle mufket being fired by our European troops, to whom they have, on many occafions, fhewn themfelves no way inferior in perfonal courage. Perhaps it may appear to a confiderate man, upon reflection, that it is only the exaggerated fame of what has pall which pre-ferves the pofleflion of things at prefent, and that the power of the Englifh in India may ceafe to be formidable as foon as that power becomes well underftood. The fame caufes will ever produce like effects in all countries; the many muft in time get the better of the few, by the fame means whereby the few got the better of the many. Let thofe who defpife the Afiatics farther refled, that the moft defpicable reptiles will turn when trod upon; and that hiftory abounds with inftances of nations driven into madnefs by the cruelty of oppreflion. It muft certainly be beft to avoid giving occafion for fiich extremities. Be it then the more laudable objed, as moft worthy of this nation, to fecure the hearts of the natives by eftablifhing a due adminiftration of juftice, and by encouraging manufadories and a free trade in the inland parts of the fubjeded provinces, without which they can never profper. Happily for the European invaders of India, there is fiich an equipoife between Mahomedans and Hindoos, as makes the government of the whole, by a few foreigners, more pradicablc in Bengal than it would be in any other part of the world; fo that if Juftice -did but hold the fcale, that fiiperiority might perhaps be for ages maintained. The revenues of the provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and part .ofCrifla, which the Company colled, were in the year 1765 eftimated to amount to upwards of three millions fix hundred -thoufand pounds fterling per annum, and by proper management they might with cafe have been improved by this time - to fix millions. Befides, there are immenfe commercial ad. vantages Digitized by GooQle PREFACE. ix vantages which might be made of thofe territories by this kingdom; but at prefent, under the ridiculous plan of a double government, they are every way exhaufted by plunder and oppreffion; and while this nation is gazing after the fruit, the Company and their fubftitutes are fuffered to be rooting up the tree. The different interefts of the Company, as fovereigns of Bengal and at the fame time as monopolizers of all the trade and commerce of thofe countries, operate in direft oppofiti-on, and are mutually deftruftive of each other; fo that without a new fyftem, the progrefs muft be from bad to worfe. The Company, if left of purfue its prefent fyftem, will foon ruin itlelf; the pofleflions in Bengal will be beggared, and this kingdom deprived of the advantages of thofe pofleflions which might be the means of greatly relieving the circumftances of the nation, and of railing it to a ftate of profperity and power almoft beyond example. An’ unlimited power can fcarce exift without oppreflion; and governments, when at a great diftance from the controlling power, are naturally fubjeft to a corrupt adminiftra-tion of Juftice ; where the oppreflions of the governed will in general be ever found proportionate to the degree of power poffefled by the Governors. Such is the nature of huiiian frailty: and none have ever exhibited greater proofs of this frailty than fbme of our European Bafhaws in India. The meafures neceflary to be taken for the prevention of fuch evils, and for eftablifhing the permanent profperity of the fubjefted provinces, can never be expefted from the Company; and particularly while it continues with a con-ftitution fo defeftive, and fo inadequate to the prefent altered ftate of its affairs. It is the wifdom and power of the Legiflature alone that can prevent the total impoverifhment or lofs of the Bengal provinces, either of which misfortunes might now prove fatal in its confequences to this kingdom. This can only be effefted b Digitized by CnOOQle x PREFACE. by laws for fecuring the impartial adminiftration of juftice throughout thofe dominions; for preventing the commiflion of thofe oppreflions and irregularities which have of late years prevailed, to the difgrace of a Britifli government; for more #afily and effectually punifhing in India the authors of fuch enormities when committed, and for improving and rendering permanent thofe refources which the nation has a right to expert from the conquered countries. Such laws would equally . tend to promote the laudable and defirable objeCt of regaining and fecuring an intereft in the hearts of the fubjeCted natives, who wifh only to receive their protection and happinefs from a Britifli‘Sovereign : in which ftate of things this nation might long poffefs the Bengal provinces, even againft the combined efforts of Indian enemies and European rivals. If objects like thefe fliould not be thought unworthy of the ferious attention of the Britifli Government, then will the following flieets, for the information they contain, however un-deferving in other refpeCts, merit the perufal of every member of the legiflature. And it fliould be hoped, that all pleas * grounded on fuch charters as are not wholly conftitutional, will be treated with the contempt they deferve, when fet up as a defence for obftruCting the inquiries, or preventing the moft effectual intervention of parliament, for fecuring thofe grand objeCts of true national policy, which by fuch means can only be fecured. And it ought equally to be hoped, that the wifdom of parliament will eftablifli due fecurity againft any unconftitutional influence of military power ; becaufe it would, in its effects, prove equally ruinous to thofe countries, the Company and this kingdom, in the prefent fitu-ation of Britifli affairs. The Writer of thefe flieets, who was many years in the fer-vice of the Company in Bengal, and is an Aiderman or Judge of the Mayor’s Court of Calcutta, agreeably to the charter, writes not with any view of advantage to himfelf. He has felt the iron rod of oppreflion from the Company and their fer-vants, in many inftances equally grievous with any that axe herein Digitized by Google PREFACE. herein laid before the public; but having appealed for juftice to the laws of this country, (though it muft be fome years before he can obtain it) he forbears at prelent to fay more of himfelf or his caufe than, that he was marked out for vengeance in Bengal, for his profeflional abilities, even fmall as they were, and his fuccefs in fuch mercantile undertakings as rather entitled him to the bleflings of the natives and the approbation of this country, as they were ufefully obftrudive to mifchievous monopolifts, and of fervice to the Company, though offenfive to their principal fervants. During the whole period of his fervitude, he never had violated a law of this kingdom, or been guilty of any bad practice ; but had always been faithful and zealous in the fervice of the Company, whofe Directors he defies to lay before their conftituents fo much as a fingle charge that can vindicate their proceedings againft him, or any accufation, grounded on truth or realbn, to convidt him of a breach of duty in any moral capacity or connexion, or that will ftand the teft of candid fcrutiny by any one man of real honour and underftanding. Neverthelefs, by the oppreflions under which, fingle and unfupported, he has patiently fuffered, he has actually loft fixty out of ninety thoufand pounds fterling of a fortune acquired by many years induftry in lawful and laudable com-jnerce. Thus much the Writer has prefumed he was in juftice authorized to lay of himfelf, in order to obviate calumny, which is often added to perfecution, for the fake of juftify-jng it. He is fenfible that this publication will even endanger his getting pofleflion of a great part of the remainder of his icattered fortune: neverthelefs, moderate and contented with what will remain to him, let what may be the confe-quence, he has at this critical juncture, preferred to every temporizing view, the difcharge of his confcience, from a real and fincere regard to the welfare and rights of mankind in general, and to the interefts of this kingdom in particular ; for tho’ he has not the honour of being a natural-born fub-b 2 ject Digitized by GOOQle xii P R E F A C E. jed of Great Britain, yet being from his infancy bred in it, and having always lived among the natives of this happy . country, he is in heart an Englishman, and wiihes to be no other, fo long as the oppreffed can obtain, from Engliih laws, ' juftice adequate to their injuries. Many gentlemen of the profeflion of Nabob-making, perhaps not a few who have in view the entering upon that profeflion, and even fome Directors, who may be ftiled the makers of Nabob-makers, who together may poflefs a powerful mafs of wealth, will naturally be the underhand arraigners or oppo-fers of what is advanced or recommended in the Several parts of this work: but as fads are obftinate things, the Writer does not much apprehend they will venture openly to difpute the truth of fuch as he now offers to the confideration of the public. He has confined himfelf as much as poflible to Rich public ads of Indian government as were neceflary to be exhibited in proof of what he has in many places aflerted, wherein it is hot men but meafures, when bad, that he wifhes to expofe, in order only for reformation; efteeming it his undoubted right, in common with all others, to fcrutinize into the public tranf-adions of all men in public ftations, but particularly as they may appear calculated for the good or hurt of the fociety of which he is a member. The India Directors, will fcarce tax . the Writer with ingratitude, after having treated him with the moft extreme cruelty, or blame him for expofing their fecrets, when national benefit is theobjed in view; • but if they fhould ■ deem him adverfe to the Company’s intereft, which he really is not, as the prefs is the fureft teft of truth, it muft be allowed, that he who refers the merits of his arguments and fads to that fevereft of trials, does not ad like an ungenerous adverfaty. After perufing the many extraordinary accounts contained in thefe fheets, the impartial reader will naturally wonder, how fuch things could fo long be concealed from the public. The reafon of which however has been, that the perfons capable of informing them have been interefted in with-hold Digitized by Google PREFACE. xiii ’ ing fuch information. Even the friends * in England of injured men abroad will not often venture to make their letters public, for fear of heaping heavier misfortunes on the op-prefled, or thofe conneded with them, who are in the power of the Company, or their fubftitutes in India; as the Court of Directors have always ftridly prohibited f, to their dependents, the communication of any accounts of their affairs in India to private perfons in England. Sometimes the injured who come home for redrefs, hold their tongues in order to make their terms with the Company, and go out again to India iii advantageous ftations: and, in fliort, among almoft all the gentlemen who have once been in thofe countries there is fuch a powerful ftring of connexions, and fuch hopes or fuch fears prevail, either for themfelves or their friends, as make the obtaining of authentic vouchers very difficult. If this had not been the cafe, we fliould have had it in our power to have laid before the public many documents of a more curious and interefting nature than even thole we have produced, and which muft now remain concealed, till time, the difcoverer of all truth, gives us an opportunity for exhibiting them in another volume. • A narrative of the murder of an Englilh gentleman, by the fervants of a-Zemindar in the diftritts of Sutalury, eaftward of Calcutta, which happened in December 1766, was with-held from the writer upon this very principle. ' t In the 96th and 97th paragraphs of a letter from the Honourable Court of Eaft India Directors to the Prefident and Council at Bengal, dated the 29th February 1766, are the following words. , “ We have frequently reprefented the bad tendency of fending to private per-“ fons accounts of our affairs in India, and forbade fuch practices, particularly “ in our letters to you under date of the 1 ft April 1760, par. 116; the 19th Felx <( 1762, par. 57 j and the ift June 1764, par. 48. And as the like notices-•‘ were communicated to our other PreGdences, no perfon can with propriety “ plead ignorance of them. In order intirely to put a ftop to thefe prejudicial* “ praftices, we now confirm, in the ftrongeft manner, the directions we have “ given in our before-mentioned letters; and we enjoin you, our Prefident and 0 Council, to take care that they are ftriftly carried into execution for the future; “ and you are to make thefe our orders as pubhckly known as poflible, that no “ perlon, in whatever ftation he may be, can have it in his power to plead igno-“ rance.”—And the general inftroAions of the Directors to their faid Prefident and Council have of late years always been, that if any perfon or perfons Ihould be guilty of the fmalleft contravention of their orders, they were to have the Company'i protection withdrawn from them, and be [ent prifoners to England, Digitized by )OQle ADVERTISEMENT. IIE papers contained in the Appendix are many of them copies ■* of very imperfect tranfations of treaties,Jucb as are in the pojfejfion of the Eaft India Company, and being all the work cf others, we are not anfwerabk for their incorreClnefs. We have taken the liberty of al- tering the titles of fame of thofe papers, andfometimes of correbling the Jpelling of proper names and other untranfated Afiatic words, for the writing °J which in European characters there has been no fettled mode of Jpelling, every one having written fuch words as they firuck his own ear, or according to his own peculiar way offpelling ; though it muft be confejfed the founds of fome Afatic letters cannot be exprcjfed by European characters. The want however of a competent knowledge in reading and writing the Indian languages has been the principal caufe of this variety of/Jelling, and has of ten occajioned the ufng of wrong words : fuch as Subah, which, although it means the diftriCl under a Subahdar, is not unfrequently, though erroneoujly ufed for the latter word, even by Eajl India Directors. In quoting authentic papers, or the writings of others, we have frequentfy been neceffitated to retain the Afiatic words; and in writing them, in the body of this work, we have'endeavoured to adhere to the orthography of the natives where it could be praCtifed-, excepting in words now commonly known among us, which would thereby be fo difguifed as to become unknown. For example, though we have thought proper to write Jagueer (aperfon) injiead of Jaghire, Dehly (the capital of Hindoftdn} injiead ^fDelly, we have not ventured to write Ahmedabad Jbr Amadavat, the capital of Guzerdt, or Sipahy injiead of Seapoy or Sepoy, the words by which the Black Irfantry are now universally known. Another reafon has alfo obliged us to retain feveral of the Afatic words, as ufed by others. There are many names, particularly of the offices of government, which cannot be tranfated into Englijh without much circumlocution. 7b fubftitute that Englijh word which appeared nearef to the Afiatic, would be conveying to the mind of the reader a very inadequate idea of the objeCl. Such words, therefore, as occur in the text unexplained, the reader will be pleafed to feek in the following Glojfary, wherein we have given fuch explanations, according to the Bengal isfage, as have been adopted by others, together with fome that rre new t end we have alfo accented the words, to direct the pronunciation. " Notwithfanding the utmofi attention of the Writer in fuperintending the prefs, many errors have crept in, which be has not had in bis power to xorreCl. Some are taken notice of in the fubjoined Err at a j and fueb others, not noticed, * as will appear evidently to be errors of the Prefs, be muft leave to the correction of the indulgent reader, to wbofe candor he *1/° fbmits the many errors in compoftion which may occur to him: the objects of tbe Writer having been only to convey to the reader a knowledge of falls in plain Englijh, as a merchant, in tbe beft manner the little leifure be is miller of would enable him. Digitized by ogle GLOSSARY of HINDOSTAN WORDS, AS USED IN BENGAL. A ^NNA. The fixteenth part of a Rupee. Aumeen. An officer employed by the government to infpe& the ftate of the revenues of ' anydiftri#; a fupervifor. Alfo fometimes an arbitrator, or umpire. Aumil. | An officer inferior to, or under the Auman, employed on the fame bufinefs of the Aumildar.f revenues. ’ Gurung. A manufacturing town, or village. B ‘ Bd^ait. See chapter IX. page 83. _ Bafta. The extraordinary allowance paid die mil teary, when on field-duty. Alfo the agio, allowance, or rate of exchange between rupees of different Ipecies. Bazar, A market place.—A daily market • . Beetle-kaf. The aromatic leaf of a fhrub growing like a vine, whteh is always chewed, together with the nut called beetle-nut. It is called Paan by the natives. Beth-nui. A nut produced by a very tall, flender, and upright tree: which, with other ingredients, is conftantly chewed by all ranks of people, from the king to the beggar; infomuch that it is efteemed a neceflary of life. It is called Soopary by the natives. Begum. A princefs. Any great man’s wife. Some have erroneoufly tranflated it, queen ^ ■ whereas the king’s lady is called Mbkekab. Bercundax. A foot-fold ier, armed with a matchlock. Buckjhy. Pay-mafter of the troops. Alfo pay-mafter, in general, for all dilburfements of government Buciferree. A foot-foldicr, armed with fword and target, or a fpear; generally employed as a guard in conducing treafure or goods* Bunder. A fea-port.—Alfo fometimes ufed for a cuftom-houfe. Buxbunder. The office of cuftoms at Hoogly. Calidry. Properly Kballary.—A falt-work: commonly called &it*panv. Canongo. The officer appointed by the fovereign as regifter of a province^ Cb^ey. A watch-houfe.—Alfo a place appointed for the receipt of cuftoms, or duties. Cboieyddr. A watchman.—Alfo the officer of a Cbbkey. ' Cbout. A fourth part. Commonly ufed for the tribute of the fourth part of the revenues which the Marahtahs claim from many governments in India. Alfo the duty col-le&ed upon judicial decifions in the Cutcherry-courts of Hindoftan. Cboutarry. A Bengal corruption of Chut. Chawdry. A chief of land-holders, or farmers. Properly he is above the Zemindar in rank : but according to prefent ufage in Bengal, he is deemed the next in rank to Afi Zemindar., Chowdrawy. Property Cbowdrdyet. The jurifdidion of a Cbbwdry. Cbubdar. A ftaff-bearer. A neceflary attendant in the train of a great man, who proclaims the approach of vifitors, &c. He generally carries a large Xu ver ftaff of about five feet long in his hands : and among the Nabobs he proclaims their praifos aloud, as hi runs before their palanqueens. CbucHab. An aflemblage of the fmaller divifions of a province, generally the jurifdidion of. a Fowzdar. , Cbunam. Lime made of {hells or ftones. Such as the natives eat with thejr beetle, is made of the former. Cooky. A porter, or labourer of any kind. Cowry, Digitized by Google »i ’ GLOSSARY. Cwy. A fma)l (hell, which pafles for money, of which, from 4000 to 4 8 0 0, go to a rupee. The cheapuefs of provifions in Bengal makes it convenient to have fo very low a medium for dealings among the poor. Crore of Rupees. One hundred lacks. Croory. Properly Karooree. An officer who colle&s the revenues under a lord-lieutenant of a province ; for which he makes himfelf refponftble, in confideration of a commiffion of 2 or 3 per cent. . . Cu^re. The allowance, or agio upon the exchange of rupees, in contradiftindtion to Batt#. Batta is properly the fum deducted, and Cuffort the fum added. Cutcherry. A court of juftice. Alfo an office into which the rents are delivered j or for the , tranfaflion of any other public bufinefs. CutwaL An officer who in all cities has the careof punching thieves; thofe who drink or fell intoxicating liquors and keep diforderly houfes ; and who takes cognizance of fuch other matters as are not of confequence enough to he brought before the Fowzddr. D Dadney. The money paid in advance to a merchant or manufacturer, on a contract for goods. Dallal. A broker. . . Daroga. An overfeer. Dai^t. Poftmen Rationed at Rages, of about 10 miles diftance from one another, for the conveying of letters. Dufter Khana. An office for keeping the government-accounts. In common ufage, any office or counting-houfe. Durbar. The court of a Mogul, Nabob, or any great mam Sometimes it means the palace, and fometimes the levee only. Duftbre. A cuftomary allowance. In Bengal generally underftood to be that which the Banyan receives on all Tales and purchafes. Dufucb. A paflport, permit, or order. In the Englifh Company’s affairs k generally means the permit under their broad feal, which exempts goods from the payment of duties. Endm. A gift from a fuperior to an inferior. * Etmaum. A divifion of a province under the fuperintendency of an Etmaumdar^ Eimaumdar. AI and-holder, or fuperintendant of the revenues of a fmall divifion of a province, called Etmaum. F Firmalm. A grant, order, decree, or command of tjie emperor. In Bengal, it is commonly ufed for the patent of the Emperor Furrukhfeer, granting to the Englifh a liberty of trading duty-free. Fewzdar. An officer in all great cities, originally appointed by the emperor, who has charge of the police, and takes cognizance of all criminal matters. Sometimes it is one who receives the rents from the Zemindars, and accounts with the government for them : The diftrid of lands under his jurifdi&ion, or fuperintendency in Rich cafe, is called a Chucklab. G Ghat. An entrance into a country over mountains, or through any difficult paffage.—Alfo a landing place on a river fide—particularly where duties are colle&ed. Ghdtbarry. A tax upon boats, collected at the Ghats or Chikeys. Golah. A warehoufe, of which the walls are generally raifed of mud and thatched, for keeping grain, fait, &c. Gomafab. An agent. In Bengal it is generally underftood to be thofe who are fent into the country to purchafe goods, on monthly wages : commonly Gentoos. Gunge. A granary, or market for grain. Guxerbaun. An officer who collects duties on the high roads and at the ferries. ' ' Hacker"' Digitized by Google G L O S S A R Y< ivii - . . H Id ackeree. A fpccies of cart, drawn by oxen. * Ffagee. One who has performed the pilgrimage to Mecca, which every true Mahomedan • thinks himfelf bound To do once in his life. * Haut. A market kept on ftated days. . Havaldar. A fubal tern officer of feapoys, of the rank of a ferjeant. . Higera. The flight of Mahomed from Mecca, from which the Mahomedan ./Era commences. ft begins the 16th July, A# D. 622. Hu/bulbookum. . An official confirmation, under the feal of the vizier, enforcing obedience to the Emperor’s Firmaun. - ' Huzzoor. The prefence.—Applied, by way of eminence, to the Mogul’s court. According to polite ufage it is now applied to the prefence of every Nabob, or great man. Huzzoor brevets. The fecretary who refides at court, and keeps copies of all Firmauns, records, or letters. I Imaum, An ordinary prieft. IJldm. The true faith, according to Mahomedans. Jagueer. Any penfion from the Grand Mogul, or King of Dehly ; generally fuch as are • affigned for military fervices. Jagueerddr. The holder, or poffeffor of a Jagueer. It comes from three Perfian words, Jaf a place ; gueriftun, to take; and dajhtun, to hold : quafia placeholder, or penfioner. In the times of the Mogul empire, ail the great officers of the court, called Omrabs, were allowed Jagueers, either in lands of which they collected the revenues, or affignments upon the revenues for fpecified fums, payable by the lord lieutenant of a province ; which fums, were for their maintenance, and the fupport of fuch troops as they were neceffitated to bring into the field when demanded by the Emperor, as the condition of their Jagueers, which were always revocable at pleafure. . Jamaddr. An officer of horfe, or foot.—Alfo the head, or fuperintendant of the Peons in the Sewdury, or train of any great man. . • K Kdzy. A Mahomedan judge, ormagiftrate ; appointed originally by the Count of Dehly to adminifter juftice according to their written law; but particularly in matters relative to marriages, the fales of houfes, and tranfgreffions of the Koran.—He attcfls or authenticates writings, which under his feal are admitted as the originals, in proof. Kiftbundee. An account agreed to of payments to be made at ftated times, in difeharge of a fpecified fum. Khdlfah. Belonging to the king. Kbdfab-L^nds. Crown Lands. Khafah Shereef. The office* in which the king’s accounts were parted. * L Lack of Rupees. One hundred thoufand rupees; which fuppofing them ftandard, or Jiccas, at two {hillings and fixpence, amounts to 12,500!. fterling. ' M Mahal. A name given to every fund producing any particular revenue, or duty ; as the fait or nimuck-mahdl is* that on which arife the duties on fak. • Mangon. An impofition colleded by the officers of the Chokeys and Ghats, as a perquifite for themfelves, or the Zemindars. , Maund. A variable weight. In Bengal from 72 to 80 lb. Mahir. A feak—Alfo a gold rupee. M'ohuree. Any writer, or under-clerk among the natives in- Bengal. Molunguee. A worker of fait, a fak-maker. Mootccbphil. An officer who examines accounts, and puts his feal on them, when parted Ln the fubordinate Cutcbcrries, before they are fent to court. . ‘ [cj ‘ JA^ Digitized by GOOQle xviii GLOSSARY. 7 Mouza. A parifl).—Sometimes a hamlet only. Muckhaudum. A fuperior officer of the revenues in a village; the fame as Chowdry. Mufty. A high prieft. It fignifies properly, interpreter of the law.—He is under the Kdzy. Mullah. A Mahomedan judge.—An interpreter of the Koran. Likewife a School-matter, Munjhy. A fecretary for the Pcriian language. , Munfub. A title, or dignity ; poft, or office. Mujnud. An elevated place of diftinftion in the Durbar for the prince to fit on. A throne. MutchUcah. An obligatory, or penalty-bond, generally taken from inferiors by an aft of com-pulfion. Mutfeddee. A general name for all officers employed in taking the accounts of the SAbah^ or government; it is alfo ufed for the clerks of any great man. ♦ N Nabob. Properly Navib, the plural of Naib. As ufed in Bengal, it is the fame as Nizim. It is a title alfo given to the wives and daughters of princes, as well as to the princes themfelves. Naib. A deputy. Nancar. An allowance in an affignment upon the revenues, or the lands themfelves, originally given as charity for the relief of the poor ; but generally taken by the rich. Nazim. The lord lieutenant, vice-roy, or governor of a province: the fame as Subahdar) or Nabob. . Neabut. The poft, office, or jurifdiftion of a Naib^ or deputy. Nizamut. The poft, office, or jurifdiftion of a Nazim, or Viceroy of a Province. Nuzzer, 2 A prefent, or offering from an inferior to a fuperior. In Hindoftin no man Nuzzeranah. 5 ever approaches his fuperior for thefirft time on bufinefs, without an offer- ing, of at leaft a gold or filver rupee in his right hand ; which if not taken, it is cfteemed a mark of disfavour, ^uxzcranab is alfo ufed for the fum paid to the government, as an acknowledgement for a grant of lands, or any public office. O Obdahdar. An officer of the revenues, the fame as Croory. Omrah. A man of the firft rank in the Mogul empire. A nobleman. It is the plural of the Arabic Ameer. P Padjhab. Emperor. King. Palanqueen. A vehicle carried on men’s ffioulders, commonly ufed for riding in. They are of two forts, one for fitting in like a fedan, and the other containing a bed, on which * the perfon extends himfelf at full length. Peon. A foot-foldier, armed with fword and target. In common ufe it is a footman fo armed employed to run before a Palanqueen.—Piadah is the proper word, from which Peon is a corruption. . PergAnnhb. The largeft fubdivifion of a province, whereof the revenues are brought to one particular Head Cutcherry, from whence the accounts and cafh are tranfmicted to the general Cutcherry of the province. Perwanah. An order, warrant, grant, or even a letter from a fuperior to a dependent. PeJhcujh, A fine, tribute, or quit-rent paid to government, as an acknowledgment for any tenure. Podar. A money changer, or teller, under a Shroff. Pykar. A broker, inferior to thofe called Dallals* who tranfafts the bufinefs at firft hand with the manufafturer, and fometimes carries goods about for fale. Pyle. A watchman employed as a guard at night. Likewife a footman, or runner, on bu-finefs of the lands. They are generally armed with a fpear. R Rabadar. An officer who has charge of the highways, the examination of pafiengers, and tbe-colleftion of cuftoms where any are there collefted. Recayab. Digitized by GOOQle GLOSSARY. xi* Recbyah. Itis fo written io the Company’s Treaties but it Should be Reayah, which is the plural of the Arabic Ryot. Refaula. A command. A regiment. Rowdna^ A certificate from the colle^qr of the cuftome. Rupee. A filver coin worth about two (hillings and fixpence. Ryot. A tenant, who is generally both a hufbandman and manufacturer. S Seapoy. A foldier. This word is generally ufed for the Indian Infantry difcipltned after the European manner. Seer. The fortieth part of a Maund. Serai. A building on the high road, or in large cities, ereAed for the accommodation of travellers. Sewdury. The train of attendants who accompany a Nab6b, or other great man oti the Toad. Sezawul. An officer employed at a monthly falary to colled the revenues. Shah. The king. Shah Alltan. The king of the world.—The title given to the India Company’s Grand Mogul, the Prince Ally Gohar. Shajirb. The religious books, or Scriptures of the Brahmins. It is alfo ufed in common for any book of Science. Shereef. Noble, or magnificent. Shroff. A banker, or money-changer: properly Seraf. Sicca. Any new coin. It means flampt or fealed; but is particularly ufed for the ftandard filver-rupee. Siddee, or St dee. An Arabic title, by which the Abiffinians,orH^/?^yj are always difiinguifhed in the courts of Hindoftan; where being in great repute for firmnefs and fidelity, they are generally employed as commanders of forts, or in poftsof great truft. Sircar. Any office under the government. It is fometimes ufed for the ftate, or government itfelf. Likewife a province, or any number of Pergunnahs placed under one head in the government-books, for conveniency in keeping accounts. In common ufagc in Bengal, the Under-Banyans of European gentlemen are called Sircars. Sirdar, pr Surdar. A chief, leader, or commander. < Soontaburflar. An attendant, who carries a filver bludgeon in his hand, of about two or three feet long, and runs before the Palanqueeii. He is inferior to the Chubddr ; the propriety of ap Indian Sewaury requiring two Soontaburdars for every Chubdar in the train. Sub ah. The general name of the vice-royfhips, or greater governments, into which the Mogul empire was divided, confining of feveral provinces. The jurisdiction of a Su~ bahdar; the fame as Subafyhip, Subahddree or Nizamui. Subahdar. The viep-rqy, lord lieutenant, or governor, holding a Sabah •> the fame as Nabob, or Nazim. Alfo the black commander pf p cpmpapy of Seapoys. Subahdaree. * Subahddry. £ See Subah. Subahjhip. J , ’ Sultanut. The crown; throne; empire, or government. ’ Sun. The year: thus Siccas of the i ft, 2d, or 3d Sun, are the ftandard filver rupees of the ift, 2d, or 3d year of a princess reign ; which is marked on the coin. Sfanud. A grant, charter, or patent from any great man in authority. Sunptt. Rupees of old dates, on which a difepunt is allowed, are fo called ; properly it ffioyld be Starwat. T Tagdbey. Money lent to a hufbandman at intereft, to enable him to cultivate his land; for payment of which the enfuing crop is bound. * ^alookdafy | ^ fu^ivifipn of the l^ods of a Zemin^ary, held by a Tqloohdfr, ( c 2 ] Tahoka Digitized by GOOQlt • XX G L * O S S A R Y. Talukdar' A renter under a Zemindar^ of the fubdivifion called Takoh Tankfall. A mint. Tanna. A fmall fort. Teep. A note of hand. In Bengal particularly ufed for thofc notes given before-hand for money to be paid for fervices to be performed. Tunkhaw. An alignment of lands, or the revenues of them, for any particular difturfe* ments, or purpofe of government. U UltumgaU' An allowance paid from the revenues, as a largefs, to religious men, dodtors# or profeflbrs of fcience. It fhould be writted Altumgbau. V Vakeel. An agent, or charge des affaires. Vizdrut. The poft, or office of a vizier. Y Yefdwul. A ftate-meflenger. Z Zemindar. Literally a land-holder, who is accountable to government for the revenues; Zeminddry. The jurifdi&ion of a Zemindar: the lands held by him. Zenana. Belonging to women.—The women’s apartments. The Seraglio. CONTENTS. chap. I. Introduction, — Page r CHAP. II. ON the MOGUL EMPIRE before the Invasion of Nader Shah, ----- — — — 12 CHAP. III. ON the State of HINDOSTAN fince the total Subversion of the EMPIRE, and the prefent Condition of the Prince whom we now. call the GREAT MOGUL, *--------- ------ 22 CHAP. IV. On the Nature of the Office called DEWANNEE, and the Motives for the East India Company’s pretending to hold the Ter-Iitories of BENGAL under that Title, — —— 33 CHAP. V. OF the NABOB, otherwife called the NAZIM, or SUBAH- DAR of BENGAL, ----------- -------- ----------- 37 CHAP. VI. REMARKS on the Foregoing CHAPTERS, 48 CHAP. VII. ON the MOGUL’S F1RMAUNS, the Passports . called DUSTUCKS, and the early Possessions of the ENGLISH in BENGAL, 54 CHAP. VIII. ON the EARLY TRADE of EUROPEANS to IN- DIA, and in the INTERIOR PARTS of INDOSTAN; and on the present DIFFERENCE between the TRADE of the ENGLISH COMPANY and that of BRITISH INDIVIDUALS and OTHER NATIONS in BENGAL,' ------ --------- 64 CHAP. IX. OF the COURTS of LAW cftablilhed by the CHAR- TER Digitized by GOOQle CONTENTS. xxi TER granted to the COMPANY; and of the Government, Police, and Administration of Justice in BENGAL, --------- -------- 75 CHAP. X. OF the different COVENANTS and LICENCES under which British Subjects refort to the EAST INDIES, for the Purpofe of residing there, ------ --------- — —— 11 2 CHAP. XI. ON the affumed RIGHT of the East-India COMPANY to feize their fellow subjects in INDIA, and fend them by force Prifoners to ENGLAND; on their Abufes of Power in fo doing, and on the Evil Effects thereof, ----- --------- ---------- —— 125 CHAP. XII. OF the REVENUES of BENGAL and its Dependencies, - and of the methods of collecting them, — --- 148 CHAP. XIII. ON the late MONOPOLY of SALT, BEETLE-NUT and TOBACCO, ---- ------------ — 164 CHAP. XIV. ON the General MODERN TRADE of the English. in BENGAL; on the OPPRESSIONS and MONOPOLIES which have been the Causes of the DECLINE of TRADE, the DECREASE of the REVENUES, and the prefent ruinous condition of AFFAIRS in BEN- GAL, ——----------------------------------- 190 CHAP. XV. ON the NATURE and DEFECTS of the CONSTITU- TION of the ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMPANY, --------------- 209 CHAP. XVI. CONCLUSION. ------------------ --------- 217 CONTENTS of the APPENDIX. N° I. Copy of a Treaty between Colonel Robert Clive, on the part of the English Eaft India Company, and Serajah al Dowlah, Nabob ef Bengal in February 1757, ----- ---------- -------- ------- Page 1 N® II. Copies of Perwanahs from Serajah al Dowlah, Nabob of Bengal, granted to the Eaft India Company, for ereding a mint at Calcutta, and for the Currency of their Bufinefs: with a copy of the Nabob’s Duftuck, dated in Mar«h 1757, ------ ——. —.----- j N° III. Copy of a Treaty between Colonel Robert Clive, on the part of the Englifh Eaft India Company, and Meer Jaffier Ally Khawn, upon the Colonel’s placing that Officer in the Naboblbip of Bengal, in June 1757, *— — $ N° IV. Copy- of the General Sunnud from the Nabob, Meer Jaffier Ally Khawn, for the Currency of the Company’s bufinefs, and relative to the Mint, dated the 15th July 1757, ---- ----------- ----------- 7 N® V. Copy of a Perwanah from the Nabob; Meer Jaffier Ally Khawn, for the currency of Gold and Silver coined in the Company’s Mint at Calcutta, dated the 28th July 1757, ----- ----------'----------- ----------- 8 N° VI. Copy of a Perwanah from the Nabob, Meer Jaffier Ally Khawn, dated the 2oth December 1757, relative to the Zemindary of the Lands fouth of Calcutta, granted to the Company by the Treaty with the faid Nabob, g Digitized by Google ™i CONTENTS. N* VII, Copy of the Mutchukah, or obligatory Bond, given by the Company upon their being appointed Zemindar# of the Lands fouth of Calcutta, dated io N° VIII. Copy of a Treaty between Meer Mahomed Cofiim Ally Khawn, and the Engliht Eaft India-Company, on their depofing of Meer Jaffier, and making Meer Coffim Nab6b of Bengal, dated the 27th September 1760 —• 11 N® IX. Copies of the SGnnuds given by the Nabob, Meer Mahomed Cofiim Ally Khawn, to the Company, granting them the provinces of Burdwan, Midni-pore, and Chittigong, or Iflamabadt alfo the Chunam (or lime) produced at Silhett for three years, —— —— —_ 1 j N° X. Copy of a Treaty between the Englilh Eaft India Company and Meer Jaffier Ally Khawn, on their reinftating him in the Naboblhip of Bengal, dated the loth July 1763, ■ —— ----- ------------- 15 N® XI, Copy of the Demands made by the Nabob, Meer Jaffier Ally Khawn, and agreed to by the Governor and Council, upon the Treaty of the 10th July 1763 (N° Xjj and alfo Copy of the Nabob’s Agreement to pay the Company 500,000 rupees per month during the War with the Nabob, Sujah al Dowlah, dated the 16th September 1764, -™- —~- ——।— 17 N° XII. Copy or the Petition, or Propofals, made by the Prince Ally Gohar, otherwife called the Kino or the Emperor Shah Allum, to Major Hedtor Munro, then Commander of the Company’s Troops at Banaras-, as inclofed in a Letter from the Major to the Governor and Council at Calcutta, dated 22d November 1764, —_ — ----- ------------- 20 N’ XHI. Copy of the Articles fent on the 6th December 1764, by the Governor and Council of Calcutta, to be executed by the Prince, Ally Gohar, in the Charafter of Emperor j as inclofed for that purpofe to Major Hedtor Munro, Commander in chief of the Army, -------------------- -------------- 20 N° XIV. Copy of the Imperial Grant, or Firmaun of the Emperor Shab Jllunt j granting to the Company the Zemindary of Ghazipore, Banaras, &c. held by the Rajah Bulwant Sing, dated 29th December 1764, --- 21 N’ XV, Copy of a Treaty between the Englilh Eaft India Company and Najim al Dowlah, on their invefting him with the Naboblhip of Bengal, upon the death of his father Meer Jaffier Ally Khawn, dated 25th February 1765, 22 N° XVI, Copy of the Sunnud from the Nab6b, Najim al Dowlah, for the rever-fion, in perpetuity, of Lord Clive’s Jagueer to the Company, dated the 23d June 1765, —— ---- ------------- —7 26 N9 XVII. Copy of the new Agreement, or Treaty, jointly entered into between the Nabdb, Najim al Dowlah, the Nabdb Sujah al Dowlah, the Emperor Shah Ali»vm, and Lord Clive and the Secret Committee at Calcutta} upon the latter’s revoking all former Treaties, and new-modelling the affairs of the Company, by affuming the Dewannee, dated the 16th Auguft 1765, -------- 27 N* XVIII. Copy of the General Firmaun from the Emperor, Shah Alium, granting to the Company the Dewannee of Bengal, Bahar and Orifla, dated the 12th Auguft 1765, —-— —— ------ 29 N* XIX. Copy of the Firmaun from the Emperor Shah Allum, confirming to the Englilh Company the Provinces of Burdwan, Midnipore and Chittigong, and the 24 PergOnnahs of Calcutta, &c. before cedtd to them by the Nab6bs Jaffier Ally Khawn and Cofiim Ally Khawn, dated the 12th Auguft 176^ 31 Digitized by Google CONTENTS. xxiii N* XX. Copy of the Firmaun from the Emperor, Shah Allum, confirming the reverfion, in perpetuity, of Lord Clive’s Jagueer to the Company, dated the 12th Auguft 1765, ------ —— —— 33 N° XXI. Copy of the Firmaun from the Emperor, Shah Allum, granting to the Company the five northern Sircars of Sicacole, &c. dated the 12th Auguft '765 ----- — • ----- ---------- ----------- 34 N° XXII. Copy of the Agreement whereby the Right Honourable Lord Clive, on the Part of the Englilh Eaft India Company, agrees to pay the King, Shah Allum, from the revenues of Bengal, Bahar, and Orifia, the fum of twenty-fix Lacks, or 325,000/. per annum., in gratitude for the favours which his Lordfliipi’ and the Company had received from his Imperial Majesty, dated the 19th Auguft 1765, ———. ------ ----------------- 36 N° XXIII. Copy of the Articles of Refignation agreed to in July, 1765, where-* by the Nabob, Najim al Dowlah, agrees to accept of the fum of 51386,131 rupees nine annas, or 673,226 pounds fterling, for the fupport of his government and dignity', becaufe his Imperial Majesty, Shah Allum, had been pleafed to give the revenues of his Nabobjbip to the Englilh Eaft India Company, ' 37 N° XXIV. The Memorial of Mr. Thomas Hamilton, to the Honourable the Mayor’s Court of Calcutta, dated the 3d June 1769, —----- 38 N° XXV. The Answer of Cornelius Goodwin, Efquire, Aiderman, and late Mayor of Calcutta, to th$, Memorial of Mr. Thomas Hamilton; addrefled to the Honourable the Mayor’s Court ef Calcutta, dated the 27th June 1769, 40 N° XXVI. The Memorial of Alexander Jephfon, Efquire, to the Honourable the Court of Directors of the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the Eaft Indies; with the Opinions of Sir William de Grey, Sir Fletcher Norton, and Charles Sayer, Efquire, thereon, ------------- ---------- 43 N° XXVII. The Case of Mr. Richard Whittail5 with the Opinion of John Dunning, Efquire, thereon, ——— —. ------ 55 N° XXVIII. The Petition of Mr. Richard Whittail to the Honourable Court of Directors of the Eaft India Company, ----- ------------ 73 N° XXIX. Copy of a Proclamation ifiued at Calcutta by the Governor and Council, dated the 18th May, 1768 ----- —— ----- 80 N° XXX. A Narrative of the Cases of Benjamin Wilding and John Petrie of Bengal, Enquires, as contained in a Letter from an Officer there to his Friend in England, ------------- ----------- —— ----- 81 N° XXXI. The Narrative of Mr. Vernon Duffield, relative to his own Cale, and the Cafe of Mr. Francis Robertson of Bengal, —— 97 N° XXXII. A Narrative of the Cafes of Mr. James Nicol and Mr. Thomas Davie of Bengal; abridged from their own original Narratives, 1 ir N° XXXIII. The Case of John Nevill Parker, Efquire, of Bengal; with Sir Fletcher Norton’s Opinion thereon, ---------- —— 12 r N° XXXIV. Copy of the Indenture executed by Free Mariners, on their going out to India with Licence from the Eaft India Company, —— 126 N° XXXV. Copy of the Indenture executed by the Eaft India Company’s civil, or covenanted Servants; whereby they engage not to receive from the Country Princes. Digitized by Google xxiv CONTENTS. Princes in India any Prefents in Money, Jewels, Lands, Revenues, of othef Effects, but fuch as are permitted by the faid Company, ------- 128 N’ XXXVI. Copy of the Indenture of Covenants executed by Gentlemen emigrating to India, in the Military Service of the Englilh Eaft India Company, 130 N° XXXVII. Copy of a Letter from Francis Sykes, Efquire, Refident at the Durbar, to the Secret Committee at Calcutta, dated the 24th July 1765, 133 N° XXXVIII. Copy of a Letter from Francis Sykes, Efquire, Refident at the Dm bar, to the Secret Committee at Calcutta, dated the 28th July 1765 135 N° XXXIX. Copy of a Letter from Francis Sykes, Efquire, Refident at the Durbar, to the Secret Committee at Calcutta, dated the 31ft. October 1765 139 N 0 XL. Copy of a Letter from Francis Sykes, Efquire, Refident at the Durbar, to the Secret Committee at Calcutta, dated the 17th November 1765, 143 N0 XLI. Copy of a Letter from the Right Honourable Robert Lord Clive to the Directors of the Eaft India Company, dated Berkley-Square, the 27th April V6+» ----- ------------ . -------- ---------- ' -^. *4$ N° XLII. Copy of the Contrafl: entered into by Harry Verelft, Efquire, Supervi-. for of Burdwdn, and the Junior Servants of that Faflory, with the Committee of Trade at Calcutta ; whereby they engage to deliver to the Committee all the Salt produced in that province, -------- --------— ----- —■— 151 N° XLIII. Copy of a Deed of Aflignment, or Sale, whereby the Right Honourable Robert Lord dive fejls to fundry Gentlemen of the Council, at Cal-. cutta, his five (hares in the public Monopoly of Salt, &c. and alfo his (hare in a private Society, in Partnerfhip with William Brightwell Sumner, Harry Verelft, and Francis Sykes, Efquires, for Thirty-two Thoufand Pounds Sterling, —------ ——. ------— 158 N? XLIV. Copy of an Indenture, or Deed of Indemnity, whereby the Right Honourable Robert Lord Clive and the Gentlemen of the Commutes and Council at Calcutta engage not to obey the Orders of the Court of Eaft India Directors, refpefliing the Salt Monopoly: and toftand by and indemnify each other for fuch Disobedience, ------------- —----------- ---- — 161 N" XLV. Copy of the Proceedings of the Mayor's Court of Calcutta, on the ift of OHober, 1766, upon an Indenture and Affidavit of the Right Honourable Robert Lord Clive; which were carried in folemn Procefllon, by the Council and a numerous Train of Inhabitants, to the faid Court, to be executed, sworn to, and recorded, —— ---- 165 N'^ XLVI. Copies of His Majesty’s Advocate, Attorney, and Sollicitor General’s Reports, on the Applications made by the East India Company, in 1757, relative to the Divifion of Captures and Booty made by the faid Company, and their Power of holding, or parting with, Territorial Possessions, acquired by Conquest, or Grants from Indian Princes : with Copies of the Company’s Petition to His Majesty, and His Majesty’s Warrants thereupon, ------ 175 C ON S 1- Digitized by GOOQle Digitized by Google Digitized by GOOQle ( r 0 N » ?J r a the degrees fcope and encouragement are given to induftry, __ country will naturally grow populous and wealthy: but though the great objects of nations, as of individuals, are profperity and power, tire means either of acquiring- or preferving them are not unfrequently miftaken. . . . ■ ’ Induftry will be belt applied to agriculture, manufacturing and commerce. Of thefe, the two former are mutual fupports of each other; and when made to co-operate with commerce and navigation, they, all together, will lay the moft lafting foundations of opulence and might. Thefe arts, with efficient laws for' individual protection and due puniffi-ment, and an able and upright adminiftration of juftice, if made all fully to operate under a wife, moderate and beneficent government, will con-ftitute what may be called the perfection of human policy ^ and prove equally the fource of abundant wealth, power and felicity. . Agriculture, fingly, perhaps never did materially enrich or ftrengthen. any country; as, in fuch cafe, even the commerce and navigation arifing from it will be carried on by other nations. Manufactories, beyond all other means, ferve to populate and enrich a country: but I A 1 thofe Digitized by Google 2 CONSIDERATIONS thole duly which are moft laborious * add greatly to its ftrength. Navigation, on the other hand, ftrengthens more than it enriches: and commerce introduces not only abundant wealth, but likewife much ufeful knowledge. Hindoftan, from time immemorial, pradlifed agriculture and manu-fafturing in an extraordinary degree; and they ferved to make her populous and wealthy almoft beyond example. But by neglecting foreign commerce flic has continued deficient in various kinds of ufeful knowledge $ and from her want of many laborious arts, and not praCtifing navigation in any confiderable degree, flie never grew fufficiently powerful to be fecure of her own defence. The extraordinary religious fuperftitions of the Hindoos, or Gentoos -f, and the very unfociable manners that naturally were confequent thereof, proved infuperable bars to their vifiting foreign countries. They therefore principally confined themfelves to agriculture and manufacturing, leaving remote commerce and navigation to thofe who would go and deal with them in their own country: fo that, as hath already been ob-ferved, the induftry which fo abundantly augmented their wealth, did not ferve to increafe, in any proportional degree, either their general knowledge or national power. From very ancient times, we hear much of far-diftant nations going to trade with the Indians, but nothing of the people of India ever going to trade with them. In like manner, the writers in remote times make frequent mention of the great wealth of the Indians, but fay little of their power: nor indeed could the latter have ever been very confiderable, becaufe we know they were eafily fubdued at different periods of time. 4 Perhaps the principal provinces of Hindoftan, while they continued unconquered by any foreign power, were never much farther united than by religion and manners. Their original population, which muft have been extremely ancient, was manifeftly of the primitive or patriarchal kind. Communities grew out of families, which continually were branching off; and with but little variation from each other, they * All fitting employments are apt to debilitate the human frame, and thofe which are excef-fively toilfome too fa ft exhauft its ftrength ; but fuch as are moderately laborious ferve greatly to invigorate both the body and mind, as is apparent from the pra&ice of hufbandry, navigation and moft of the handicraft*arts ; for they generally make men animated, vigorous and robuft. f Gentio is a Portuguese word* meaning Gtntile^ in the Scriptural phrafe; by which general appellation, they at firft called all the natives of India, whether Mahomedans or Hindoos. From them the Englim have adopted the term Gentoo ; by which, according to the prefent ufage, they diftinguilh the Hindoos, or followers of Brimha, from the Mahomedans, or Muflulmen, whom they commonly, though improperly, call Moors, or Moormen, lived Digitized by Google ON INDIA AFFAIRS. 3 lived by fuch rules as were prefcribed by an original Lawgiver, Chief, or Rijah, by whofe name each refpeftive country was originally known. One caft, or tribe, were appointed to inftrud, another to protect and rule, and the reft to fuch profefiions and occupations as were ufeful ‘and neceflary $ in which modes of prefcribed practice, as far as they were able, they have fince continued to live. ' The Hindoos, like the Chinefe, pretend to the honour of exiftenee, as a nation, for a great abundance of ages before the Chriftian calculation of the commencement of time, or creation of the world. But as every thing which they fay of fuch fuppofed times is confidered as far bulous, the writers, who moft favour their pretenfions to antiquity are not inclined to believe they can have any hiftorical accounts of their coun* try, to be relied on, fo far backward as five thoufand years. . • The Samfcrit, or Shanfcrit *, a moft noble and ancient, though now a dead language, underftood only by the Brahmins, has been hitherto the impenetrable repofitory of the literary treafures of that order of men. They aro known to have many books that treat of religion and philofophy, and it is faid likewife of hiftory. Their four books of Divine Laws and Inftrn&ions, called Bhades, are written in poetic ' ftanzas ; and they are held fo facred, that no other order pf their own people are permitted to read them, ihould they be able fo to do. And fuch * The curious reader will excufe the following extrads relative to this language from parts Of a letter of the father Pons, a French miffionary, written from India in the year i;|0> as contained in Letties Edifiantes. Paris edition, 1743, Vol. a6, pages 221 to 232. “ Les fciences & les beaux arts, qui ont etc cultives avec autant de gloire & de fucces par les Grecs & les Romains, ont fleuri pareillement dans FInde 5 & toute Fantiquite rend temoinage au merite des Gymnofophiftes, qui font evidemment les Brahmancs, et fur-tout ceux qui parmi cux renoncent au monde, & fe font SaniaJJL La Grammaire desBrahmanes peut etre mife au rang des plus belles fciences; jamais Fanalyfe &iaSynthefe ne furent plus heureufement employees, quedans leurs ouvrages grammaticaux * de la langue Samjiret ou Sam/krouian. 11 me paroit que cette langue ft admirable par fon harmo* nie, fon abondance, & fon energie, etoit autrefois la langue vivante dans les Pays habites par les premiers Brahmanes. ' , 11 eft etonnant que Fefprit humain ait pu atteindre a la perfeSion de Fart, qui eclatte dans cet grammaires : les auteurs y ont reduit par Fanalyfe la plus riche langue du monde, a un petit nombre d’el emens primitifs, qu’on peut regarder comme Ie Caput mortuum de la langue. Ces ele-mens ne font par eux-memes d* aucun ufage, ils ne fignifient proprement rien, ils ont feulement rapport a une idee; par exemple, Kru a Fidee d’aftion. Les elemens fecondaires qui afFedent le primitif, font, les terminaifons qui le fixent a 6tre nom ou verbe; celles felon lefquelles il doit Ip decliner ou conjuguer; un certain nombre de fyllabes a placer entre Felement primitif & les ter-minaifons quelques proportions, &c.—AFapproche des elemens fecondaires le primitif change fou-vent de figure ; Kruy par exemple, devient, felon cequilui eft ajoute, Kar, Kar, Kri, Kir, Ker, &c. La fynthefe reunit & combine tous ces elemens & en forme une variete infinie de termes d’ufage. Ce font les regies de cette union & de cette combinaifon des Semens, que la grammaire en* feigw,defortc qu’un Ample ecolica, qui ne i^auroit rien que la grammaire, peut en operant felon I A 2 J 1? Digitized by Google 4 CONSIDERATIONS' fuch is the influence of prieftcraft and fuperftition over their minds, that they have been made to believe any endeavour at the acquifition of fuch knowledge would be an unpardonable fin : they therefore never feek to obtain it. And fhould a Brahmin be known to communicate any part of thofe books to men of other tribes, his puniihment would be immediate, excommunication, or expulfion from his own, which would be a degradation and infamy that they confider to be far worfe than death. No ftronger proof can be furniflied of the infuperable difficulties to be encountered in fuch an undertaking, than the faft, well known in India, of an Emperor of Hindoftan, the great Akbur, mifcarrying in an artful endeavour for that purpofe *. He impofed a well-inftrudted youth on the Brahmins, as an orphan of their tribe, to be educated by them, in order to acquire a knowledge of their fecrets, language and learning: but his defigns were all fruftrated. Great difficulties muft occur in all attempts to acquire the Samfcrit language, as well from the great referve of the Brahmins, as from the total want of fuch books as muft be neceflary for that purpofe ; the utmoft of what has been publifhed in Europe thereon, extending no farther than to the letters of its alphabet -|-, and their combinations. It has however often been undertaken by feveral Englifh gentlemen, though' hitherto without. fuccefs, from the want of fufficient helps. During two years refidence at Banaras, the writer could find no books in any other language that would ferve in any degree as a medium for acquiring it, though there are, in it, very good ones for that purpofe j fo that whoever undertakes to learn this language, muft frame his own les regies, fur une racine ou Element primitif, en tirer plufieurs milliers de mots vraiment Sam-/krets; c’eft cet art qui a donne Ie nom a la langue, car Sam/kret fignifie fynthetique ou compose. Peut etre que depuis le venerable Pere de Nobilibus, il n’y a eu perfonne aflez habile dans le Sam/kret, pour examiner les chofes par foi-meme. J’ai vu dans un manufcrit du Pere de Bourzes, que dans certain Pays de la Cote de Malabar, les Gentiles celebroicnt la delivrance des Juifs fous ERher, et qu’ils donnoient a cette Fete le nom de Yuda Tirounal, Fete de Juda. Le feul moyen de penetrerdans 1’antiquite Indienne, furtout en ce qui concerne Phidoire, c’eft d’avoir un grand gout pour cette fcience, d’acquerir une connoiflance pArfaitedu Sam/kret, Sc de faire des depenfes aufquelles il n’y a qu’un grand Prince qui puifie fournir: jufqu’a ce que ces trois chofes fe trouvent reunies dans un meme fujet, avec la fantd neceffaire pour foutenir 1’etudedans Plnde, on ne fjaura ricn, ou prefqueri^n de 1’hiftoire anciennede ce vafteRoyaume.” It is our misfortune that we have no European whatever who hath acquired a knowledge of this primitive, noble, and perhaps antediluvian language, fufficient to read and tranflate (without being expofcd to the impofitions and ignorance of the modern Brahmins) thofe ancient works, which, however blended with fable and fuperftition, might ferve to throw new and important lights upon ancient hiftory and fcience, and alfo furnifn us with what is much wanted, a true and genuine account of the ancient Hindoos ; fomeof whofe principles and dodtrihes of religion, morality and fcience, feem in the remoteft antiquity to have been eagerly adopted by far diftant nations, even from Japan and. China to Egypt and Greece. . . * Dow’s History of Htndostan. Vol. I. page 25 of the Diflertation, firft edition. 4 See Kircher’s China Illustrata. Printed in Amfterdam, 1667, Pages 161, &e. ‘ - grammar. Digitize! Goc Ie O N I N D I A A F F A I R S. 5 grammar and dictionary : in order to effect which, he will be under a ne-ceffity firft to learn, as a medium, either the Perfian, or one of the many dialedts now ufed in the different parts of Hindoftan, of which that of Bengal, of all the fouthern provinces of India, is neareft to the Samfcrit; one fourth part of its words, the forms of feveral of its letters, and the names and order of the whole alphabet, agreeing exactly therewith. As fo much time then muft be fpent in the attainment of a language not requifite for bufinefs, there can be little reafon for expecting it will ever effectually be accomplifhed by any one whofe great objeCt, from going to India, is the acquifition of wealth. It is therefore an undertaking that probably never will be properly engaged in, unlefs by the ' encouragement of fome government, or great feminary of learning $ and as it might prove the means of making many difcoveries that at leaf!: would be curious, it fhould be thought deferving of the patronage of the favourers of fcience. ' The moft ancient hiftorical account we have of the Hindoos, is from the tranflation of a poem from the Samfcrit into the Perfian language : and perhaps they have few other kinds of very ancient records of their country, than verfifications of old, but very current tradition's of tranfactions, by men like the ancient Welch, Irifli, Highland, orEnglifh bards, who have generally every where been the hiftoriographers of rude ages, for even .Homer was no more. Farther literary treafures, therefore, of very ancient times of this at leaft, or perhaps any other kind, may not be in the pofleflion of the Brahmins: and indeed were there others, they might be matters more of curiofity than utility. But there may be fome of later times greatly more important, as that tribe of Indians, if not generally learned, have at leaft been always ftudious. The Englifh nation know little more of their anceftors in the times of the Druids than what has been learned from fuch other nations as happened then to be more enlightened. Yet the Druids, like the ancient Brahmins, were priefts and philofophers ; , between whom there was a fimilarity in manners and practice, both : orders being fecret, myfterious and referved, how widely foever they might differ in their principles of religion. The Brahmins however affert, and with fome appearance of reafon, that the lawgivers of other nations have borrowed from the infti— tutes of Brimha, as they judge from what they have feen of the Mahome-dans and Jews, and probably from what they may have heard of the Heathens * and Roman Catholics. ' * The Hindoos pay a kind of divine honours to fuch perfons as were diftinguifhed by extraordinary merits: which were really the Heathen motives for many deifications, and are pretended fo to be for moft PopKh canonizations* _ - ‘. . . • Concerning Digitized by GOOQ1C 6 CONSIDERATIONS Concerning the hiftories which we have hitherto been furniffied 'with of Hindoftan, it may with truth be faid, that they have not been properly of -the Hindoo nations or people, but of fuch foreign invaders as fucceffively fubdued and ruled over them. The ancient Rajahs were probably Sovereigns of the feveral provinces, or diftritfts of India, being lords of the foil, warriours by profeffion, and of courfe protestors from intereft; and their government being on the arbitrary principles of parental defpotifm, they were never oppofed, but from the irrefffiible im-pulle of nature to withftand intollerable oppreffion; beyond which the people of India do not appear, from their practice, to have ever had any idea of public right or liberty. It is natural to fuppofe, in the progrefs of ages, that Rajahs, like all other Sovereigns, became infedted with ambition, when difputes led to conquefts, by which fway grew extended; fo that there might have been temporary power acquired that was even enormous. But probably there never was a native government of all Hindoftan: nor indeed has there f nee been entirely fuch of any race of invaders who eftabliffied themfelves at Dehly. Some of the provinces of India were long tributary to the Perfians ; as they afterwards were to the Afgan, or Patan Tartars, whofe feat of government was Ghifni, in the mountainous country between Perfia and Hindoftan j from whence they made frequent inroads into the neareft Indian provinces, to plunder and impofe tributes, till the beginning of the fourteenth century, when they eftabliffied themfelves at Dehly. Of this Tartar government it may be faid, as of the race of Tamerlane which fucceeded it in Hindoftan, that it never was complete over the whole country ; was frequently refilled even by tributary Rajahs, and fometimes difinembered of its principal provinces. We ffiall enlarge no farther here on the ancient ftate of Hindoftan, than juft to obferve, that among the defeendants of Shem, named in the tenth chapter of Genefis, there is mention made of an Ophir, in the fourth generation ; who probably gave has name to the place from whence Solomon afterwards obtained his large returns of gold *. All thofe generations from Shem, mentioned by Mofes, are faid by him to • Some learned writers have conjedured the antient Ophir to have been the port which in later ages has been called Sofala, fituated on the continent of Africa, oppofite to Madagafcar; but that port is not eaftward of the country which was firft peopled after the Flood. It may not then be thought prefumptuous to hazard fo contrary an opinion, as to fuppofe the ifland of Sumatra was the place to which Solomon’s fleet failed ; as there is a mountain on the north end of it, which is to this day called Ophir, where much gold ever has been and is yet found ; the dif-tancc of which likewife better agrees with the time Solomon’s fleets took to perform thofe voyages in, than by fuppofing them to have gone no farther than to Sofala. have Digitized by GOOQle ON INDIA AFFAIRS. 7 have been peoplers of countries in the eaftern parts of the World; which, even according to the Jewilh and Chriftian fyftems, makes the population of thofe regions extremely ancient, though infinitely ihort of the fabulous ages fuppofed by the Hindoos. In our next chapter, by the help of better lights, we Ihall treat with more certainty of the affairs of Hindoftan, while under the dominion of the Moguls; and then proceed in our confiderations to the prefent ftate of the Bengal provinces, which have for feme time been a part of the Britifh territories. But many having of late perfuaded the public to believe, that we may fecurely rely on the paffive and refigned difpofition of the natives of the acquired countries, and the timid difpofition of Indians in general for our fecure pofleffion of thofe provinces, it may be neceflary in this place to fhew fuch opinions to be erroneous; and that the prefervation of them muft depend more on our wifdom and juftice than on our military aad maritime power. There can be no juft grounds for our fuppofing there have not at all times been people of valour in India. It is at this time well known, that many of the Indian powers have large and well-difeiplined native armies of both horfe and foot. So likewife the feapoys in the fervice of the Englifh Eaft India Company are brave, well-trained# and able-bodied men. Perhaps no people have more diftinguifhed themfelves by fortitude and refolution, in a variety of fufferings, than the Eaft Indians. The feverities of their voluntary religious penances are almoft incredible. They have frequently fubmitted to be maimed, nay would often die under torture, rather than difcover concealed wealth, to the ruin of their families. Even their very women, who live fequeftered from the world, and of courfe are unexperienced in fiich difficulties and misfortunes as ferve to fortify the mind and heart; or fuch diftrefles as will render life irkfome; or impel to defperation, often manifeft fuch fortitude as amazes Europeans but to hear of, in the horrid deaths which they voluntarily brave, of burning alive with the dead bodies of their hullbands in funeral fires. There are feveral nations in India, now living under diftindt governments of their own, who never were fubdued by the Moguls, though indeed moft of them, at times, have been their tributaries. They, however, were never able to make the Marahtahs either their fubjedts or tributaries. . Thefe people are governed by an ariftbcracy of Rajahs of the Hindoo religion, who for many ages have done more than defend themfelves, for they have impofed tributes on moft of their neighbours; and at Digitized by Google 78 CONSIDERATIONS..' at laft they even obliged the famous Mogul Aurengzebe to fubmit to the mortifying and difhonourable terms of paying them a Cbout *, or annual tribute, of the fourth part of the revenues, of the Deckhan: fo that it might be faid, the emperor thereby not only acknowledged their independency of himfelf, but likewife their joint right of fovereignty ' with him over thofe provinces that produced the revenues out of which the Cbout was paid. . This Cbout, or tribute was continued to be received by the Marahtahs from the Mogul even long after the revenues of the Deckhan provinces had ceafed to be paid into the royal -f- treasury at Dehly: for in the year $ 1740, when the deputies of the Sahoo RAjah (King of Sittarah) arrived as ufual at Dehly to receive the Cbout, they were told by the Mogul’s miniftry, “ That Nader Sbah had lately fo exhaufted the trea-** fury, that the Emperor was rendered utterly incapable of Satisfying “ their demands, the more efpecially as the revenues of the Bengal “ provinces had been withheld from the year 1738 by.the rebellion of *‘ A/iaverdy Kb awn, who, in conjunction with his brother Hagee Ahmed, “ had ufurped the government of that Subahdary; they requefting at " the fame time, that the deputies would entreat their mailer, in the “ Emperor’s name, to fend an army, of fufficient force to exaCt the “ amount of the Cbout that was due to them, and alfo to take the heads “ of Allaverdy and his brother, and reftore the family of Sujah. Khawn to “ the Subahihip; as the diilraCted ilate of the empire put it out of his “ power to fend a force ilrong enough to reduce the two rebels.” Thus power was given to the Marahtahs by a real Mogul, upon the lofs of the Deckhan, to levy their tribute on the Bengal provinces, in lieu of what they had received as their Cbout from the Deckhan revenues. But the truth was, the revenues of both Subahs were alike loft to the Mogul 5 fo that his minifters may be fuppofed to have given fuch an anfwer merely to get rid of a troublefome demand, though even made without juftice. However, the Marahtahs accepted of the tranf-ferred pledge, with the fervice annexed to it, which had the appearance of giving them likewife a new title to their Cbout; and they accordingly proceeded to aCt from thofe powers for both purpofes. An army of eighty thoufand horfe was expeditioufly fent by them into the, Bengal provinces, under the command of Bojkbar Pundit, who, after explaining the nature of his powers ||, demanded of the ufurper, A/iaverdy * Hoiwell’s Historical Events, Part I. pages 104—107, 4 Ibid, page 108. | Ibid, pages id8 and 109. j| Ibid, page 113. - Khawn, Digitized I: GOOQle ON INPIA AFFAIRS- $ Khawn, “ Three years arrears of the Chout, the treafurcs of the two late “ Subahdars, and that in future an officer of their own fhould have a “ feat in every cutcherry throughout the provinces, to collect the fourth “ part of the revenues pn their behalf.” Thefe demands being refufed with extreme indignation, preparations were of co.urfe made for a decifion by arms. The firft confequence of which was, that AUaverdy found himfelf in fo dangerous a fituation, as, with twenty-five thouiand Patan and Bengal foldiers, to be neceffi-tated to force his way defperately through the whole Marahtah army, and make a fighting retreat from Burd wan to the oppofite fide of the river at Cutwah ; which he effeded in three days, with the lofs of all his men, except five-and-twenty hundred Patons and fifteen hundred of his Bengal. forces. • During the continuation of this war, which was to the latter end of the year 1747, one of the brothers, Hagee Ahmed, was put to death in a very cruel and ignominious manner. The other, Allaverdy Khaivn, though not unfuccelsful in the field, after performing many extraordinary exploits, from immenfe profufions of blood and treafure, found it necef-fary to purchafe peace of the Matahtahs with the ceffion of Cuttack, and the payment of an annual Chout of * twelve lacks of rupees. The Englifli Eg# India Company have fince got pofleffion of Bengal, Bahar, and fo much of Orifia gs had been preferved by the latter Nabobs ; and there have been negociations entered into by their fervants with the Marahtah R£jah% particularly Janoogee and Ragoonaut Row> concerning the Chout 5 the latter of whom, the Court of Directors were informed from their Prefident and Council in Bengal, under date of the 5th January 176^ had alfembled an army at Berar; and, by dif-patches of the 29th pf (he following month they were farther advifed, that “ The Prefident, fince Mahomed Reza Khawn’s arrival in Calcutta, “ had in conjunction with that minifter, had feveral conferences with “ the Marahtah Vakeel on the fubjeCt, who aflured them, that his *‘ mafter would not liften to any accommodation for the ceffion of Cut** tack and confideration for the Chout, on any other terms than the “ annual payment of-J- Jwteea lacks of rupees, to be accounted for from “ the time the Company took charge of the Detvannee of thofe provinces, •‘ and the feleCt Committee on their behalf, to he guarantees for the Na** bob's faithful performance f the treaty. In fupport of the propriety ** of thefe demands, he recited the promife made to his mafter by Mr. * One .huqdred and fifty thoufand pounds fterling. + Two hundred thoufand pounds fterling. ^ [BJ 625 10 0 2,038,579 5 ° 1,426,697 13 o 2,581,661 16 8 1,007,274 10 0 6 70,13 4 3 6 503,248 o o 718,473 2 4 1,899,529 j 6 1,639,488 5 o 1,272,3 78 2 6 2,911,866 7 6 446,312 10 o 3,358,178 17 6 •———— 286,927 IO o 3,234,203 9 o 1.262,192 13 6 1,918,828 2 6 1,401,969 0 o 2,165,545 o o 3*479»25O 6 o 3>3^9>7°3 2 6 L. Sterling 37,724,615 2 6 ' Every perfon well acquainted with Hindoftan will allow, if the above fum found its way into the King’s treafury at Dehly, that it may, with great moderation, be admitted, twice that fum at leaft was collected from the tenants, or hulbandmen, as will be made to appear evident to the ■ * In the account of the embafly of Captain William Hawkins to Debly, it appears the yearly revenue of the Mogul, Shah Seleem, fon and fucceflbr of the peat Akbur, in the year 1610, was rated at fifty minion# fterling ; and Sir Thomas Roe, another of King James’s am-bafladors to the Mogul, afterwards confirmed that eftimation : but the provinces which were then poffeffed by the Mogul are not enumerated. See Purchas’s Pilgrimes, printed at London 1625 a°d 1626. f The land revenues were computed at the court of Dehly by dams, which are here reckoned, according to Mr. Frafer, at forty for each ftandard, or ficca rupee, and each rupee at two (hillings and fix-pence. . [ C"] reader Digitized by Google i8 CONST D E RATIONS . reader in a following chapter, which wiH treat of the revenues and methods of collecting them in thofe countries. • Mr. Holwell, formerly Governor of Bengal *, aflerts, that M the re-“ venues of the lands are very nearly in a quadruple proportion to the “ rents of them.” We are therefore certainly fecure in eftimating them at only half that value; by which calculation we have the fum given us of upwards of feventy-five millions four hundred thoufand pounds fterling, for the annual produce of the farmed lands of the Mogul empire in Hindoftan about the year 1707. . In further proof of the late grandeur of this empire, it will not be foreign to our purpofe to put the reader in mind of fome circumftances, as’ related by others -I*, attending Nader Shah’s invafion of Dehly about the beginning of the year 1739* Th6 throne of the then emperor, Mahomed Shah, known throughout Hindoftan by the name of I’ukhte-Taoos, or the Peacock Throne* as taken by that invader, was valued at ten crores of rupees, or about twelve millions and a half fterling; which, together with the other rev galia, treafure and valuables that-Nader and his nobles carried away with them, amounted, in the whole, to no lefs than from feventy to eighty millions fterling. The computation of the damage otherwife done to the capital and its inhabitants on this occafion would fcarcely be believed, if it was not fo well vouched by Mr. Frafer in. his tranfla-tion of Mirza Zuman of Dehly’s very particular journal of the tranfafti-ons of that period, and alfo by the concurrent teftimonies of many reputable perfons ftill living in Hindoftan. . The foregoing particulars, it is hoped, will be deemed fufficient for our prefent purpofe of (hewing, in a compendious view, what have been the revenues and fplendor of this empire,, even at fo late a period of time as hath been mentioned. If any one would wifli to fee a more particular account of the riches and magnificence of the court of Dehly,. when in its profperity, let him read the accounts of Monfieur Bernier ^,. who was an eye-witnefs of what he relates of Aurengzebe’s court. With refpeCt to the ftate of Juftice in the Hindoo governments, we might, be induced to form the moft roriiantic notion of it from the ingenious performance of the writer before quoted, who, from having been many years in the Eaft India Company’s fervice,. and for fome time their * Historical Events, Parti, page 219. By Rewntue is here meant the fam paid tothe-fovereign; and by Rente, the fum collected from the original cultivator of the foiL + See Dow’s Hindostan, the firft edition* page 26 of the Appendix: and Orme’s Indostan, page 23 of the Diflertation. See alfo Letters EjhfianteS, Parit edition 1741*. Vol. 25, pages 444, 452, &c. t Voyages de Francois Bernier, printed at afw/?rrdiwn 1699. Governor Digitized by GOOQle ON INDIA AFFAIRS. 19 Governor in Bengal, might reafonably be fuppofed to have had good intelligence. Speaking of Biffenfore, the dominions of Gopaul Sing, a Rajah to the weftward of Burdwan, who was then faid to have pre-ferved the antient independence of his country, Mr. Holwell fays *, 0 In this diftrift are the only veftiges of the beauty, purity, piety, re-“ gularity, equity and ftriCinefs of the ancient Hindofdn government. ‘‘ Here the property as well as the liberty of the people are inviolate. ?* Here no robberies are beard-of, either private or public: the tra-** veller, either with or without merchandize, on his entering this dif-“ triCt, becomes the immediate care of. the government, which allots *‘ him guards, without any expence, to conduct him from ftage to ** ftage; and thefe are accountable for the accommodation of his per‘-* fon and effects,” &c. &c. • . - But whatever may have been the ancient ftate of that country, there are others in England who have long reiided in many parts of India, and do not remember ever to have feen in any part of Modern Hindofdn, which they have traverfed, fo much as one example of fuch purity of manners as this gentleman here mentions ; though, from evidence that Ihould be thought indifpwjable, it may be admitted, that there is no reafon to think the natives of Hindoft^n have not in former times been as virtuous and happy as any people whomfoever. With regard to later times, another modern writer on this fubjeCt,. aflures us •j', “ that the laws of Hindoftan were wifely inftituted as bar-*‘ riers againft oppreffion, and continued in force till the invalion of ** Nader Shah ; till when there was fcarce a better adminiftered govern** ment in the world. The manufactures, commerce and agriculture ** flouriffied exceedingly; and none felt the hand of Oppreffion, but “ thofe who were dangerous by their wealth or power. Yen, till •within “ thefe very few years, merchants were no where better protected, nor « more at their cafe than under this government: nor is there a part of “ the world where arts and agriculture have been more cultivated, of “ which the vaft plenty and variety of manufactures, and the rich “ merchants were proofs fufficient.” During the Mogul government, though they had no laws in Hindoftan like Engliffi aCts of parliament, they had various books, written by learned and religious men, containing collections of the Mahomedan immemorial ufages and cuftoms, founded on reafon and the Koran, which, as in other countries, may be properly called their civil and * Holwell’s Historical Events, Parti, pages 198 and 19g. t Luke Scrafton’s Reflexions on the government of Hindpftan. Printed 1770, P?g^M^5a^26. .......... * 1 [ C 2 ] religious Digitized by Google 20 CONSIDERATIONS religious laws ; particularly thofe written, or compiled by Baha al Open Mahomed Aumly, Malek Shafeej Hanbal, and Abul Haneefaj by which the officers of the government were ufually guided in their deci-fions. In cafes not capital or criminal, where Hindoos, or Gentods alone were concerned, particularly in affairs of their cafts, or tribes, which are of the moft confequence to Hindoos, the matters (excepting where the Mahomedan Governor or the Kazy were more than ordinarily bigotted) were generally left to their own Brahmins to be decided according to their Shaftros,. or ancint Scriptures, of which, as before obferved, we have but little knowledge 5 and, upon decilion, a certain duty or line was levied for the government. The tenacioufnefs of the Hindoos to their own ancient cuftoms forced the new comers to this expedient; for as, on the one hand, it was im-poffible that Mahomedans could conform to the cuftoms of the Hindoos, id, on the. other, it was equally impoffible for the Hindoos, from the peculiarities of their own civil and religious conftitution, to adopt the manners and cuftoms of the Mahomedans, or to receive thofe invaders into their cafts or tribes. But whatever expedient might have been adopted to lefien the great confufion andTfcjferder which muft naturally have been introduced on the mixture of two nations fo widely different in every religious and political fentiment, it is certain, as we may judge from prefent experience, that nothing could prevent therefrom a corruption of manners. All the offices and forms of government at the Court of Hindoft&n, during the empire of the Moguls, have ever been imitations of the Perfian, as the names of them evince; to the keeping up of which, the conftant ingrefs of adventurers from that kingdom, who generally met with a favourable reception at Dehly, muft greatly have contributed. Thole, therefore, who are defirous of knowing what the Hindoftan government, as inftituted by the Moguls, fhould be, if the original were well imitated, may fee it in the Chevalier Chardin’s * very particular account of Perfia. Hindoftan is in many places greatly favoured by nature for commercial advantages; and the provinces of Bengal, which are the more immediate objects of our confiderations, above all others. This Subah of the empire, which was emphatically ftiled by the Emperor Aureng-zebe, the Paradife of Nations, fpontaneonfly produces, in great abundance, almoft every thing requifite for the fupport and even high enjoyment of mankind. No country can be better watered, by a variety of • Voyage co Rerfe, du Chevalier Chardin. confiderable Digitized by Google ON INDIA AFFAIRS. 21 confiderable ftreams falling into or from the great rivers Pudda and BrimbafuiPe, which render the inland navigation very extenfive and convenient for the purpofes of trade f. This great facility of obtaining water, and the natural fertility of the foil, every where affifted by the periodical rains from May to September, render the cultivation of the earth an inviting talk, and fo eafy as to afford the hufbandman great leifure for application even to the arts of manufacturing. . Deity, without the aid of filver or gold mines, was in her times of profperity a receptacle into which the gold and filver of the greateft part of the world had been flowing by regular channels for ages, till foreign invaders interrupted its courfes. This great influx of wealth was owing, firft, to the extraordinary fruitfulnefs of the dependent dominions j fecondly, to the fober induftry of the inhabitants, either applied to agriculture, which was greatly encouraged, or to: manufacturing thofe commodities which have for many ages been inefteem throughout the world; and, thirdly, to the ftrong protection that was granted to merchants. . ; The encouragement of foreign and domeftic trade was more particularly neceflary in the Subah of .Bengal, which, riot containing mines of diamonds, gold, or filver, depended folely upon its manufactories for that very large balance of trade in its favour, which alone could enable it to pay fo confiderable a tribute, as hath been (hewn, annually to the court of Dehly. Accordingly, as Mr. Scrafton hath exprefled it, u till *• of late years," inconceivable numbers of merchants, from all parts of Afia in general, as well as from the reft of Hindoftan in particular, fome-times in bodies of many thoufands at a time, were ufed annually to refort to Bengal with little elfe than ready money, or bills, to purchafe the produce of thofe provinces. The caufes.and effedts of the unfortunate failure of fuch commerce fince, will hereafter be made appear. t The Indians of Bengal formerly carried on a confiderable trade by lea, and had fome fort of maritime power, as we read in many parts of Purchas’s Collection ; particularly, in the year 1607, an account is given of a fleet from the King of Bengal having invaded the Mal* divia Iflands. It is moft probable that this fleet was compofed only of coasting boats, fuch as are ftill built in fome parts of the Bay. But whatever might be the ftate of fuch navies heretofore, it is certain that the Indians have not figured in the maritime way fince the Porto* gueze found their way among them round the- Cape of Good Hope. However, the late Angria, whom we have before mentioned, at Gheria>on the Coaft of Malabar, gave many fignal proofs of what might be done, even by an Indian navy, in Indian Teas, under the direction of only'One able man; and our Eaft India Company may perhaps repent the furrender of that port, which they fo imprudently and ©afily gave up to the Marahtahsw C BAR Digitiz )y GOOQle 22 CONSIDERATIONS C H A P. III. ' < On the State of HINDOSTAN, fince the total Subversion of the EMPIRE ; and the prefent condition of the Prince whom we now call the GREAT MOGUL*. AFTER the picture exhibited in the preceding chapter, riothing can afford a more ftriking example of the inilability of human power than the contrail which will appear in this. From authors v^ho have particularly treated of this fubjedt, it is too well known to need being enlarged uj>on here, that after the invafion of Nader Shah, iri the year 1739, an imbecility fuCceeded, which foon difmembered the empire, under'the then Emperor Mahomed Shah. Every Subahdar, or governor of a province, regardlefs of the Firmauns from the Court of Dehly •f-, fet up for himielf, and murderers and ufurpers foon aboliihed all laws and eflabliihed ufages, and fpread de-vaftation and mifery throughout the empire. “ The J country was “ now torn to pieces by civil wars, and groaned under every fpecies ** of domeftic confufion. Villany was pradifed in every form; all ** law and religion were trodden under foot; the bands of private ** friendihips and connections, as well as of fociety and government, ** were broken ; and every individual, as if amidft a forefl of wild ** beails, could rely upon nothing but the ftrength of his own atm.” From the time of the Emperor Aurengzebe, there had been many princes of the blood kept in prifon at Dehly; from whence, in fuc-ceeding times, they were fometimes taken out and raifed to nominal dignities, only to be made ufe of upon occafion, as the ufurpers found convenient § for their own ambitious views; and in this imbecile Rate 1 * We make ufe of this title as being beft known in Europe, tho’ it appears to have been adopted on no other authority than that of the French miffionaries, who, in the firft publications of their travels to the Eaft, have been pleafed to ftile him the Grand Mogul. There is not the fandion of any authority for it, from any appellation or title at any time given this monarch in the empire, where he is called Amply Shah, or Padlhah, in Perftan meaning King. + The Moguls have at different times refided at other favourite cities, as Azmeer, Ca— nouge, Agra, and Futtehpoor; but the rites of coronation have been always performed at. Dehly, as well as in general all adbs of government. Purchas. t Dow’s Hindostan. Appendix, page 57. § The Hindoftanners have had frequent examples in Perfia of this treatment of kings for private purpofes fince the time of Nadpr Shah. See Lettres Edifiantes, Vol. 28, page 227.—In a letter from Pere Grimod, dated at Ilpahan the 20th Auguft 1750. *’ Depuis la “ mort de Nader Chah, il y a en cinq Rois, trois ont ete maflacres, le quatrieme aveugle, ** le cinquiemea ete proclamd depuis peu. C’eft un enfant. Il n’a ete fait Roi, dit on, que ** pour la mdntre et pour donner occafion a ceux qui I’obfcdent de tirer des ibmmes con** fiderables des villes eloigaces.” ' of Digitized by GOOQle O N I N D I A A F F A I R S. 23 of the government^ the Emperors themfelves became the tools of {heir own traitorous officers. Thus the Omrah, Gazi al Deen Khawn, who was Buckihy of the empire, or paymafter of the troops, in the year 1753, dethroned his matter the Emperor Ahmed Shah, who was the fon and fucceflbr of the before-mentioned Mahomed Shah $ from which period J the Mogul empire with the greatett propriety may be confidered as totally fubverted and not exitting. From that time, whatever pretenders there have been to the title, there has been properly no Emperor; almoft all the provinces which were then tributary to. Dehly having been difunited, and .become fa many feparate, independent governments, The rebellious Omrah, Gazi al Deen Khawn, after dethroning his Sovereign* lent him to prifon, where the feveral other Princes of the royal blood were alfo kept confined; and he afterwards obliged a furgeon who had been long in the Emperor’s fervice, named Yacoob Jan, and whois now retained in the employ of Mahomed Reza Khawn at Murfheda-bad, to put out his Majesty's eyes. . 1 ; • At the very time this rebel put out his matter’s eyes, he took another Prince, named Yaz al Deen, out of prifon, whom he placed nominally upon, the throne of Dehly, by the name of Allum Gueer; and after having ufed this prince as an inftrument till he found him grow trouble-fome, he then laid a fnare for him, and fome time in the month of December 1759, had him aflaffinated. , After the murder of Allum Gueer,the ambitious Gazi al Deen Khawn took another prince out of prifon, and placed him in like manner on the throne of Dehly, by the name of Shah Jehan; but ithe ambitious views of this traitor being defeated on the invafion of the Dehly provinces, engaged in by the Marahtahs in the year 1761, he then, thought fit to retire, from1 the ferae of public villainy, and fled into the country of the Jates. The mock Emperor, Shah Jehan,, having fat in ffiadowy greatnefs but a few weeks on the throne of Dehly, was fuddenly depofed, and again imprifoned by the conquering Marahtahs; who in his ftead placed, on the thrown Jewan Bukht the eldeft fon of Ally Gohar, another prince of the lin6 of Tamerlane, whom Gazi al Deen had, among the reft, kept a ftate prifoner.. This Prince, Ally Gohar,. who is the eldeft fon of the before-mentioned Allum Gueer, is the fome whom the Englilh Eaft. India Company afterwards cr^/fJ Emperor of Hindostan. Akhmet Abdalla, chief of the nation now called Durannies, or Abdallas, a native of Candahar, who had railed himfelf from being a Chubd^r of Nader Shah’s, and in the eonfufion which enfued upon Nader’S Digiti2 j by Google 24 CONSIDERATIONS Nader’s death, had ufurped all the northern provinces ceded to Perfia by Mahomed Shah, was at this time grown very powerful. He had already once invaded Hindoftsin, and fought feveral battles with the Marahtahs, with whom the contention in fad: was, who Ihould place a King on the throne of Dehly, as a tool of their own. Upon his fecond invafion of Dehly he gave them a total overthrow, on the 8 th of February 1760 : but was pleafed to confirm the appointment made by the Marahtahs of ’.the young Jewan Bukht to the throne, now circumfcribed in authority to the provinces of Dehly ; and after fettling the annual tribute to be paid by the youbg nominal King, -for the provinces thus conferred upon him, and putting him under the guardianship of a Rohilla Chief, one of hisdwn creatures, named Nigib al Dowlah, Abdallah returned to his own country. In the mean while, that is, fome time in the year 1758., the beforementioned Prince, Ally Goh AH, had found means to efcape from the prifon in which he and feveral brothers had been born, at Dehly; and it was his good fortune at laft to fall into better hands than, his predecef-fbrs had done, thofe of the Englilh Eaft India Company. But it was not, however, till after the unfortunate Prince had received many rebuffs, and experienced various calamities, that the Englilh Company condefcended to create him their Grand Mogul. After his efcape from prifon, he led a vagrant kind of life for about nine months, till he was drawn into a fnare by the famous Gazi al Deen, and again confined. By an aft of gallantly he freed himfelf from this fecond confinement, and fought refuge with a Marahtah Chief, named Ittul Row, who protefted him for fome months, plundering the country in his name. Tired of his fituation with this Chief, he next betook himfelf to the before-mentioned Rohilla Chief, Nigib al Dowlah, at Secun-dra ; who, not choofing to engage in his fchemes, was foon quitted by him, and he went over to Sujah al Dowlah *, Subahd^r of Owd, who alfo preferring the independence which the confufion of the empire had given him, made the Prince Ally Gohar a fmall prefent, and defired him to quit his dominions. Our wandering Prince, who was alfo known by the name of Shah-zada, during the life of his father, Allum Gueer, next took refuge with Mahomed Kuli Khawn, Nabob of Illahabad, with whom he concerted a plan for invading and taking poffeffion of the territories of * The fame who in 1764 was conquered and driven out of his dominions by the Englilh Company, fome time before the arrival of Lord Clive at Calcutta, by whom he was afterwards reftoreda | Bengal, Digitized by Google ON INDIA AFFAIRS. 25 Bengal, having for that purpole fome time before had the caution privately to obtain from his fatner a grant of that Subahihip, as a royal favour. Accordingly an army of deiperate adventurers and difaffefted Zemindars being collected together, about the end of December 1758, they marched from Illahabad towards Bengal, to take pofieffion of thofe provinces which, in fad, the Englifh Eaft India Company’s Governor, then Colonel Clive, had in June 1757 taken from the Nabdbof Bengal, -Serajah al Dowlah, and conferred on one of his officers named Meer Jaffier Ally Khawn. . Our Prince was very unfuccefsful in this expedition; and fo little refpe& did the Englifli in Bengal hold him in at this period, that Colonel Clive, at the requeft of his new made Subandar Jaffier Ally Khawn, marched to * puniih thofe Rajahs “ who bad dared to join him." The Prince reprefented to the Colonel in a very pathetic letter, “ that “ he had no intentions againft Meer Jaffier’s life or government; that all “ he aimed at was an army to make head againft the Vizier; and that “ if it pleafed God to favour his caufe, the Colonel might command •* any advantages for the Company or himfelf.” Colonel Clive having communicated this to the Nabdb’s fon and minifters, it was on aU hands agreed, that “ it would be dangerous to have a Prince of the “ blood in any of the provinces. The Colonel therefore fent back the " meflenger with a refpedtful letter and a prefent of about one tboufand “ pounds Jlerling; which behaviour fo charmed the Prince, that he fent ** word to Colonel Clive he would force himfelf under his protection, “ and dare him to deliver bim up; but the Colonel was neceffitated to " anfwer, that be atled under the Subabddr Jaffier Ally Khavin's, orderst “ and would therefore by no means advife him to put himfelf in bis ** power. Whereupon our Prince was obliged to feek fome other refuge; “ and the Colonel, to intimidate the neighbouring powers from ever ** difturbing the Bengal provinces again, thought fit to fliew his refent-** ment to Sujah al Dowlah (who had affifted the Prince) by reprefenting ** to him, that as he could not but know the inviolable friendihip fub-“ filling between him and Meer Jaffier, he wondered he fhould pre-“ fume to fend forces into bis country; that if he ftill perfifted in “ fentiments of enmity, he ought to own it frankly; in which cafe he “ (Colonel Qlive) would march up again after the rains, and appeal to “ the decifion of the fword.” It was not convenient to the Englifh in Bengal at this time to acknowledge the authority of this Prince. It may not however be amifs • See Mr. Luke Scrafton’s Letters, entitled, Reflettims on the Gtvernmtnt of Hin-doftan. Pages 117, u8 and 119. - . : [ D ] now Digitized by Google 26 CONSIDERATIONS' now to turn our eyes to the other fide of India, and fee the ufes made of Grand Moguls by the Company on the Malabar Coaft, in the curious reafons given by Mr. Spencer,, afterwards Governor of Bengal, in an apology to The Mogul, for taking his Majefty’s port and city of Surat in the year 1759. As an extract would do injuftice to the fubjeft^ we beg leave to refer the reader to the bottom of the page- for the copy at-large of Mr. Spencer’s reprefentation * to the Mogul on the occafion. Things continued quiet in Bengal for a. fhort time; but in the year 1760 the Prince renewed his attempts on thofe provincesj and though; . * A Representation made to The Mogul bv John Spencer, tn- behalf of the Honourable Englifli Eaft India Company^ 1/59. 4< That by virtue of royal Firmauns of your Majefty’s predeceftbrs, the English hitherto-w enjoyed favour at Surat, and carried on their bufinefs in a reputable manner, till in thefe <€ days, that the Siddees usurping an undue authority in the town, ufed it to the ruin of the 5°°1- Gerling. t See a comparative view of the different treaties in our frxth chapter. J It was this alteration of the Company’s affairs, and the confequences of it, which laid the foundation of all the inquiries and publications that have fince laid open their affairs, which fubjected them to the hufh money they now pay to the Government, and which in its further confequences will moft probably put an end, if not to the Company itfelf, at leaft to the pre^ fent fvftem of its affairs, as indeed is now become highly neceffary. || Dow’s Hindostan, Appendix, page 78. | This Dcuanwc is explained at large in the 4th chapter. revenues Digitized by GOOQle OR INDIA. AFFAIRS. ji avenues alto ; by which of courfe, all the treaties with the Nabobs of Bengal were rendered void, and new ones made neceflary. He was Mkewife to-confirm to the Company the lands before granted to them by the former Nabobs, Jaffier Ally Khawn and Coflim Ally Khawn, and to confirm Lord Clive’s jagueer. For all which our Mogul was to be paid, by the Hngliih Company, from Bengal, the annual fum of twenty-fix lacks for his expences and the fupport of his dignity : and he was to. be continued in the pofleflion of Corra and part of the province of Illahabad.. , The SeleCt Committee at Calcutta had not the leaft doubt of his Ma-jefys complying with all this very readily; becaufe, as they exprefled 44 it *, "The King is now dependent, on our bounty, his whole hopes of pro- 44 tetfion, and even of fubfffence, reft upon us j it cannot, therefore, be 44 fuppofed he will prove obftinate in denying a requeft, of little confe- 44 quence to him in his prefent circumfances, but advantageous to us, his 44 greateft benefactors,, and we may fay his only friends.” Thefe were not all the ufes which, upon this occafion, were to. be made of our Grand Mogul. Upon the fame principles as before,,, funnuds for the provinces of Sicacole, &c. in the Deckhan, valued at the yearly revenue of thirty lacks, or 375,000!. fterling, were to be obtained alfo;. in which Lord Clive was refolved to fucceed, as he informed his Select Committee,- at Calcutta, in the following words, •f* ‘^ I have been defired by the Prefident of Fort St. George to obtain 44 funnuds for the five northern, provinces, which being a. matter of 44 great importance, I fliall make a point of fucceeding in it; and as 44 the Nabob (of Bengal) intends purchafing his Majefty’s favours at the 44 price of five lacks of rupees, I make no doubt that all the funnuds ^‘ demanded on the Company’s account will be afforded gratis.” To be fure there was not the leaft doubt to be entertained, upon any of thefe occafions; for if the youngeft writer in the fervice had been fent with the authority of the Company to our Shah Allum, it was certain that his Majefy would have granted away the remainder of his empire, the whole world,, for the fake of a fubfiftence, and the fecurity of his perfon : accordingly, the grants required' of him were obtained under his Imperialfunnuds, orfrmauns, as given in the Appendix, Numbers XVII. XVIII. XIX. XX. XXI. and XXII. pages 27 to 36.. The reader will pleafe to obferve, that this is the fame Prince whom the fame Governor,, then Colonel Clive,, had. before oppofed, and even * The words of their proceedings at a Committee of the 21ft June 1765. f Loan Cxavf’s Letter to the-Select Committee, dated, MooteejiH, the 9th July 1765. cliaftifed. Digitized by Google 3i CONSIDERATIONS chaftifed the rebellious Rajahs for daring to join him j the Prince whole funnuds, firmauns, or grants, had on many former occafions been declared abfolutely invalid *, againft whom a formal treaty ^ had been entered into, between the Company and the Nabob of Bengal, on the 27th September 1760, and whofe pretenfions even the Directors J of the Eaft India Company themfelves had acknowledged to be extremely doubtful. The dependence, however, of this unfortunate Prince was not to be appropriated to thefe public ufes only. If we may believe the accounts from India, many others of a more private nature were likewife made of him; and it is faid, with the greateft appearance of truth, that he was not left to the free management of even thofe diftrids and the fti-pend which were ultimately allotted to him; nor of his mints or his fervants. As fuch matters would be proper objects of enquiry for Su-Eervifors, it Should be hoped, that the Direftors will, for their own onour and the fake of juftice, caufe fuch an enquiry yet to be made, in order that their fervants, if any of them have in this xefped grofsly abufed the authority of their ftations, may be made to Puffer fuch punifhments as they deferve. Upon the whole of what has been fet forth in this chapter, it may fairly be pronounced, on the moft rational grounds, that in reality there has not been for fome years paft, nor is at this time, any Grand Mogul, or real Emperor of Hindoftan; that the whole country is in a ftate of anarchy, where there is no law, but that of the longeft fword 5 and that we may agree with Mr. Dow, who fays, with apparent truth on this fubjed, ]| “ that Hindoftan is at prefent torn to pieces “ by fadions. All laws divine and human are trampled under foot. “ Inftead of one tyrant, as in the times of the empire, the country “ now groans under thoufands, and the voice of the oppreffed mul-“ titude reaches heaven. It would, therefore, be promoting the caufe “ of juftice and humanity to pull thofe petty tyrants from the height ** to which their villainies have iraifed them, and to give to fo many ** millions of mankind a government Pounded upon the principles of ** virtue and juftice/’ * Tn a minute of Governor Vanfittart, Colonel CaiUau J and other gentlemen of the Council at Bengal, entered on the confuitations, under 'late of the nth January 1761, it is faid, “ As to the Mogul'sfirmaun, there was a time wh n the orders of D-hly had fome weight at “ Bengal, but that time is no more. It is hard to f/.v who is King at Ochly, or who will be.” t See the 10th article of the treaty, No. VIII. in the Appendix, page 13. J General letter to Bengal, dated 19th February 1766, | Dow’s Hindustan. Appendix, pag e 39. As Digitized by GOOQle O M INDIA AFFAIRS. 33# As to the unfortunate, though very generous Prince §, who is more particularly the object of our prefent confideration, and whom we now call The Grand Mogul, we fee him dependent for his fubfiftence upon the fervants, in fait, of an incorporated fociety of Englilh merchants, who have raifed him to that exalted title for the ferving of their own purpofes $ that he is made no other than their tool, and muft, from neceflity, be what they pleafe to make him, at leaft while he continues among them, and the government of that country remains on the prefent iniquitous footing. § Amidft all his misfortunes this Prince has given feveral* inftances of great generality, particularly to the members of the Secret Committee, fortheir diftinguimed merit and difin-tercfted fervices. One inftance may be feen in Lord Clive’s Letter to the Court of Diredors, of the 30th of September 1765, where it appears his Imperial Majefty had prefented General Carnac with two lacks of rupees : See Authentic Papers concerning India Affairs, pages g/ and 10 —And another Inftance was given in the year 1767^ when his Majefty likewife prefented Colonel Richard Smith with two lacks more ; as appears from the following minute of the Council at Calcutta. At a confultation, held the 14th September 1767, prefent, Harry Verelft, Efquire, Prefident, John Cartier, Richard Becher, James Alexander, William Alderfey, Charles Ffloyer^ and Alexander Campbell, Efquires. •• Received a letter from Colonel Richard Smith at Illahabad, dated the 15th ultimo, in an-•* fwer to the Board’s letter, dated the 20th July, on the fubjeft of the two lacks of rupees he <* requefted their permiflion to receive as a gratuity from the King; offering feveral arguments “ to our confideration, and acquainting us with His Majesty’s abfolute refufal to receive “ back the Teep he had granted: therefore inclofing it for us to difpofe of, as might feenx <‘ moft equitable.”—The late Nabobs of Bengal have likewife, though diftrefled, given* frequent inftances of the like grateful generality to their benefactors. C HAP. IV, On the Nature of the OFFICE called DEWANNEE, and the Motives for the East India Company’s pretending to hold the Territories in Bengal under that Title. NOTHING could have been better calculated for a blind than this hard word Dewannee, which, while it ferved our Eaftern politicians to amuie even the Britifli legiflature, was no other than the name of an office, that in reality had not exifted for many years pail. In order to form the moft impartial judgment cf what it is, or rather was, we will have recourfe to the information of thofe gentlemen who, having ailed capital parts in the management of the affairs of Bengal, may naturally he fuppofed to be well acquainted with the matter. [ E ] Mr^ Digitized byC,OOQlC 34 CONSIDERATIONS Mr. Vanfittart, late Governor and intended Supervifor of Bengal, tells us, the Dewannec * is the office of the fecond ^ officer of the province, called Dewan ; whofe bufinefs it is to fuperintend the lands and collections : that he is appointed from the court of Dehly, and is in every refpeCt independent of the Nazim, or Nabob ; who, according to the original inf it ution of the empire, has no right to interfere in the manage-ment of the revenues. As explained in a letter J to the Court of India Directors, dated Cal- ■ cutta, the nth March 1762, from fundry members of their then Council in Bengal, the Dewannee is faid to be “ The collection of the reve-“ nues of all the provinces fubjeCt to the Nabob, which are to be ac-“ counted for with the Court of Dehly. It differs from the Subahdaree; “ the latter being the command of the troops, and the charge of the “ jurifdiCtion of the provinces, the expences whereof are paid out of “ the revenues by the Dewan. It was formerly a feparate office; but “ the Nabdbs of Bengal, taking advantage of the late commotions in “ the empire, have afumed it to themfelves. Mr. Holwell, alfo formerly Governor in Bengal, tells us, upon the fubjeCt of the Dewannee ||, that “ the rents of the lands are the property “ of the Emperor. In confequence of which he has a royal Dewan in every “ Nabobihip, who ought to be accountable to the royal treafury for the *‘ whole amount of the rents, as rated upon the King’s books: but as there “ is always a good underffanding between the Dewan and the Nabob, “ they never are at a lofs in pretending reafons for the' rents falling “ fhort, though the whole is ftriCtly and fully collected. What is di-“ verted from the royal treafury, is divided between the Dewan and the “ Nabob, of which the latter always takes the lion’s fliare.” . On another occaiion the Dewannee is explained to be, “ The col-“ leCting § of all the revenues ; and after defraying the expences of the “ army, and allowing a fufficient fund for the fupport of the Nizamut, “ to remit the remainder to Dehly, or wherever the King Jhall ref de or “ direhl.” This Dewannee, which was affumed by the faid Right Honourable Lord Clive and his SeleCt Committee, a little while before the writing * Vansittart’s Narrative, Vol. I. Explanation/page 23, and Introduction, page4. t The Vizier is the firft. j See the 27th paragraph of a Letttr figned Eyre Coote, Peter Amyatt, John Carnac, William Ellis, Stanlake Batfon, and Harry Perel/l, in UoLVf ELL?sTti&s, page yi. H Historical Events, Part I. page 220. § Paragraph 22d of a Letter horn the Select Committee in Bengal, dated 30th September, 1765, figned, Clive, William Brightwell Sumner, John Carnac, Hany Veref, and Francis Syles. Authentic Papers, page 83. of Digitized by GOOQle ON I N D I A A F F A I R S. 35 of the letter laft quoted, had been long before repeatedly offered to the Company, as hath been (hewn in* the preceding chapter, but was always rejected. The words of the Court of Eaft India Directors, as contained in a letter on this fubjedt to their then governor and Council at Calcutta, were thefe; * “Your refufal of the Dewannee of Bengal, “ offered by 7^ King” (meaning our Prince Ally Gohar) “ was certainly “ very right; and we are well fatisfied with the juft and prudent reafons “ you give for declining that offer.” The reafons for not taking it were then alledged to be, that it would be the fource of continual difputes with the Nabob, by occafioning too great a diminution of his power, be a continual caufe of jealoufy and contention with the country powers^ and the European nations who had fettlements in Bengal; might fubjedt the affairs of the Company to the interference of the Britifh legiflature, or in the end might be attended with other confequences highly prejudicial to the interefts of the Company. To inveftigate in this place all the private reafons which occafioned this Dewannee’s being thus affumed by Lord Clive and his Seledt Committee, would be foreign to the purpofe here intended: but of thofe publicly avowed or alledged in the aforefaid letter, from Lord Clive and his Committee, of the 30th September 1765, we will briefly take notice. - ■ “ The perpetual ftruggles for fuperiority between the Nabobs and “ your agents, together with the recent proofs before us of notorious “ and avowed corruption, have rendered us unanimoufly of opinion, ** after the moft mature deliberation, that no other method could be “ fuggefted of laying the axe to the root of all thofe evils, than that “ of obtaining the Dewannee of Bengal, Bahar and Oriffa for the Ciup* ** pany -f.” “ By this acqui/ition of the Dewannee, your poffeflions and influence “ are rendered permanent and fecure; fincew^fare Nabob will either “ have power or riches fufficient to attempt your overthrow by means “ either of force or corruption. The experience of years has convinced “ us, that a divifion of power is impofible, without generating difcon-“ tent, and hazarding the whole. All muft belong either to the Com-“ pany or to the Nabdb; and we leave you to judge which alternative “ is the moft defirable, and the moft expedient in the prefent circum-“ ftances $.'* . * Paragraph 55th of a General Letter, dated 9th March 1763. t Authentic PApers, part of paragraph aad, page 82, • X Ibid - - Part of paragraph 23d. Pages 84 apd 85, ■ [ E 2 1 z In Digitized by Google 36 CONSIDERATIONS In a feparate letter from the faid Right Honourable Lord Clive to the faid Directors, alfo dated the 30th September 1765, the motives for this fcheme of affuming the Dewannee are farther explained, in the following words. “ Though tbe revenues belong to the Company, yet were the “ Company’s officers to be the collectors, foreign nations would imme-“ diately take umbrage ; and complaints preferred to the Britilh court “ might be attended with very embarraffing confequences. Nor can it “ be fuppofed that either the French, Dutch, or Danes will acknowledge “ the Engliih Company Nabob of Bengal, and pay into the hands of “ their fervants the duties upon trade, or the quit-rent of thofe diftriCts •“ which they have for many years poffeffed by virtue of the royal fir-“ mauns, or by grants from former Nabobs *.” And again: ** In “ confidering the fubjeCt of the Dewannee, and the confequences of your •“ large increafe of revenues, I have already obferved, that our acquifition ** will give no umbrage to foreign nations with refpeCt to our territorial “ jurfdidiion, fo long as the prefent Appearance of tbe Nabob’s power is ** preferred ■f'.” Lord Clive and his SeleCt Committee, in their letter to the Court of Directors, of the 30th September 1765, before quoted, ipeak ftill more plainly, if poffible, of the difference in the Company’s fituation from the taking die Dewannee. Their exprefs words are in the 29th paragraph. ** You are now become the Sovereigns of a rich and potent king-“ dom J.” And in the 38th paragraph, “ You are now not only tbe col-“ lefiors, but tbe proprietors,” meaning of the revenues of tbe Nabob’s do-minions. Among the many private motives hinted at for this manoeuvre, we cannot conclude on this head, without taking notice, that a principal one was, to enable the gentlemen who planned and adopted this mode of government, to efablifh fuch monopolies if tbe trade of tbe country, and even of tbe common necefaries of Ife, for their own private Emolument, and to the fubverfon f the natural rights of all mankind, as to this day remain unparalleled in the hiftory of any government, and of which we fhall treat more particularly hereafter. From what has already been faid, we prefume it will appear evident to every impartial perfon, that the Dewannee, whatever it had been, was an office which, when affumed, had no exiftence; the grant of it being received, or pretended to be received, from a Prince who, in faCt, never had it in his gift; whofe authority, on other fimilar occafions, • Authentic Papers, Paragraph 12th, ad finem. page 26. t Ibid - - - Paragraph 14th. page 28. j Ibid - - - pages 92 and 103. had Digitized by GOOQle ON INDIA AFFAIRS. 37 had been publicly and wholly difavowed by the prefent receivers of the grantj and that the whole was a mere fiction, invented for the private purpofes of the Company or Directors, and their fervants or confederates : and to fcreen their feizing on the fovereignty of the country, by impofing upon and deceiving, if they could, not only the inhabitants of India and foreigners, but even the Britifh nation j as we hope farther to prove by the corroborating fads contained in every fubfeque^t part of this work. CHAP. V. Of the NABOB, otherwife called The NAZIM, or SUBAHDAR, of BENGAL. FOR the better underftanding of our fubjedt, we will examine what this officer ought to be, according to the ancient inftitutions of the empire j what he has been for fome years paft, and what he now actually is; fupporting what we advance by fufficient teftimonies. “ Though by the ancient conftitution of the Mogul empire, of which ** the provinces of Bengal, Bahar and Oriffa are parts, the Nabob, or “ Subahdar of thofe provinces was nothing more than the Mogul’s “ Viceroy, yet for many years paft, as the ftrength of that conftitution ** has been gradually declining, the Subahdars of thefe and other pro-“ vinces have been, in like gradation, affuming an independence of “ the court of Dehly : and the Ihock which the empire received, or 0 rather the fubverfon of it (for it has never recovered, nor probably “ ever will, from the irruption of the Perfians under Nader Shah) has “ fo far confirmed that independence, that the relation between the 0 Nabob and the Mogul is at prefent little more than nominal *.” Mr. Vanfittart informs us, that “ The Nabob-f-, as he is ufually termed, *‘ or properly the Nazim of a province, is an officer of the Mogul go-** vernment, appointed to fuperintend the affairs of the province, dur-** ing the pleafure of the court. This commiffion extends not even to ' “ the life of the pofefor; and in the early times of the empire it was * See pages 21 and 22 of a Memorial to the King’s Mott Excellent Majesty, dated the 3d February 1762 ; from the Court of Eaji India Diretlors. Signed by Laurence Sullivan, Chairman, Thcmas Rous, Deputy, and Eighteen Dir (tiers. Printed for T. Brotherton, Cornhill. . t Vansittart’s Narrative, Vol. I. p. 4. ♦* ufual Digitized by Google 38 CONSIDERATIONS “ ufual to make frequent removals *, to prevent the dangerous effects “ of an increafing influence. Neither, according to the original infti-“ tution, has he any right to interfere in the management of the revenues “ which branch belongs to another officer called The Dewan” (of whole office we have treated in the preceding chapter) “ appointed alfo “ by the court, and in every refped independent of the Nazim. It is “ true, that fince the authority of the Emperors began to decline, the “ Nazims, taking advantage of the diftraftions of the flate, have ge-“ neraliy eftablifhed themfelves in fuch a degree of independency as to “ pay little more than a nominal obedience to the court. The forms “ are ftill kept up; but they ferve only to ffiew what was the original “ inftitution. Upon the death of a Nazim, the fucceffion, whether “ continued in the fame family, or feized by a ftranger, is notconfi-' “ dered as valid till confirmed by the imperial patent; but this the “ a&ual poffeffor finds no difficulty in obtaining -j-.” Such have been the Nabobs of Bengal fince the decline, or rather, as the Eaft: India Directors more properly fay, “ the fubverfiOn of the em-“ pire,” according to the above quotations. But had thofe gentlemen boldly told the whole truth, they might have juftly faid, that fince the period they refer to, the Nizamut or Nabobffiip of Bengal has, to this day, been continually poflefled by ufurpers and tyrants, who have been maintained therein by violence, fraud and murder. Upon the demife of the laf lawful Nabob, Sujah Khawn ||, in the year 1739, his fon Serfraz Khawn took pofleffion of this government, and maintained himfelf in it for about three years, until the rebellion of Allaverdy Khawn, who was then Governor of the Bahar province. This man, who had formerly been Sujah Khawn’s Hookahburdar, or * Mr. Orme tells us, there was a time when thefe changes were fo frequent, that a new Nabob left Dehly, riding contrary to the ufual manner, with his back turned to the head of his elephant, ana gave as a reafon for it, “ that he was looking out for his fucceffor,” See Orme’s Hindustan, Diflertation, page 18. f This alludes to a farce commonly praflifed fince the fubverfion of the empire, of obtaining patents from thefe nominal Moguls who have been fet up by the different ufurpers at Dehly, of whom we have treated in our third chapter. In thefe,times, a fum of money dif-perfed among the principal people about thofe ufurpers would obtain the confirmation of any funnud, grant, or office. It was receiving fo much clear gain for a fuppofed gift of what was not in the giver’s pofleffion, and by which he could lofe nothing. A ftriking inftance of this mode of negotiation is given by Mr. Vanfittart, In the third volume of his Narrative, page 418; where an intriguing Dewan, or minifter of the Nabob’s, named Nundcemar, obtains his own titles and feals before his maftar, Meer Jaffier, receives any afiurances whatever of the royal appointment to the Nabobfhip. Since Mr. Vanfittart’s government, the Grand Mogul's grants of that fort are become ftill cheaper; the domeftic black fervants of many gentlemen in the fervice of the Englifli Eaft India Company having been by him created Rajahs, or Princes ; and many Englifli Gentlemen have returned to Europe with the titles of Omrahs. | Vansittart’s Narrative, Vol. I, page 5. Digitized by Goo< le ON INDIA’ AFFAIRS. 39 pipe-bearer *, aft.er promoting an unparalleled fcene of treachery among the perfidious fervants of his mafter, defeated him in a battle fought on the 28th January 1741-2, in which the Nabob loft his life. From that period the traitor ufurped the government of Bengal, and maintained himfelf in it againft the repeated invafions of the Marahtahs, (which lafted for about eight years to the great deftrudtion of the country and its manufactories) till, on the 10th of April 1756 J-, he died a natural death. This ufurper was fucceeded by his brother’s grandfon, the Tyrant Serajah al Dowlah, who, upon difputes with the'Englifli Eaft India Company’s fervants, circumftantially related by Mr. Hol well and others, difpoflefled them of all their factories, and on the 20th June 1756,. feized and facked their town and fort of Calcutta, or Fort William, when fuch of the Englifli and their dependents as efcaped the tyrant’s fury took refuge on board the trading vefiels then in the river, and dropped down to Fultah, where they led a moft miferable life till December x 756, when the Englifli fquadron, under the command of Admiral Watfon, and the troops under Lieutenant Colonel Robert Clive, arrived from the Coaft of Coromandel. Inconfiderable as this force was, they gallantly proceeded to the re-taking of Calcutta, and on the 3d January 1757, happily accompliflied the work, with fcarce any lofs; the enemy abandoning the fort on the very firft $ fummons from the guns of his Majefty’s Fhips, when brought up abreaft of it. The Nabob Serajah al Dowlah came down to oppofe the Englifli, who by unparalleled ihftances of bravery and intrepidity, attended with the moft extraordinary good fortune, baffled him in all his attempts, and forced him, witn his numerous army, to retire to his capital of Murfliedabad; having firft, that is on the 9th of February 1757, obliged him to make a very advantageous treaty with them, wherein he confirmed all the former pofleflions and immunities of the Company, and granted them feveral new privileges, as may be feen by the treaty at large, and his Perwanahs, in the Appendix, Nos-1, and IL pages 1 and 3, &c. This was the firft formal treaty that our Company had ever entered into with any Nabdb of Bengal. It was folemnly ratified in the ftrongeft manner, the Nabdb fwearing on the Koran, by God and Mahomed, and Colonel Clive pledging the names of God and our Saviour faithfully to obferve the fame.- * Scrafton’s RxHictions, page 31. + Ibid, page jo. j Ibid, page 60, Necefiity* Digitized by Google 4° CONSIDERATIONS Neceffity J, which in politics ufually fuperfedes all oaths, treaties, or form^ whatever > induced the Englifti Eaft India Company’s repre-fentatives, about three months after the execution of the former treaty, to determine, “ by tbe blefing of God,” upon difpoffefling the Nabob Se-rajah al Dowlah of his Nizamut, and giving it to another. Monfieur Dupleix, the French Governor of Pondicherry, who “ was “ the § firft difcoverer of the fuperiority of European difcipline” over the natives of this part of India, had already, with his fuccefles on the coaft of Coromandel, invented the traffic in Nabobihips. Accordingly Meer Jaffier Ally Khawn, who had been a Jammadar, or commander of a party of horfe under the late Allaverdy Khawn, and was now a General ||, apd related to the prefent Nabob by marriage with Alla-verdy’s lifter, having before manifefted a bold and traitorous difpofition, was the man pitched upon for our new Nab6b. He was preferred to another rebel-candidate, named Khoda Yar Khawn Laitty, and in con-fequence thereof, articles of agreement were privately fent to him by Colonel Clive, on the 2d May 1757. The particulars of this revolution are well known. The Nabdb Se-rajah al Dowlah, betrayed by his fervant Jaffier, was, with his numerous army of “ 20,000 J* borfe, 50,000 foot, and 50 pieces of heavy cannon” beat on the plains of Plafley, on the 23d June 1757, by a handful of men under the command of Colonel Clive, and the Nabob himfelf obliged to efcape in difguile. Happy it was for the Company that this numerous army made fo little refiftance that, according to Mr. Scrafton, there were only feventy men killed and wounded. In confequence of this vidlory, and the conditions which Mr. William Watts, the Company’s Refident at the city, had ftipulated, and in the evening of the 5th June 1757* privately executed with Meer Jaffier, on the 29th June 1757, he was by * Colonel Clive formally placed on J About this period the Engliib at Calcutta received news of war’s being declared againft France j and they at the fame time difcovered that tbe French were fecretly negotiating with * the Nabob Serajah al Dowlah. It was thereupon refolved to fet afide a neutrality with the French which had been at firft propofed, and to attack their fettlements immediately, a refo-lution no fooner taken than luckily executed. While the Nabob was artfully amufed, a fquadron of his Majefty’s (hips, under the commands of Admirals Watfon and Pocock, with the Company’s troops under the command of Colonel Clive, invefted Chandernagore, the principal fettlement of the French in Bengal, which, on the 23d of March 1757, they took, after a few hours cannonading from our (hips, and afterwards razed their town and fortifications level with the ground. § See A Letter to the Proprietors of East India Stock, from Lord Clive* Page 4> printed for J. Nourfe, 1764. U See Mr. Scrafton9$ character of “ Meer Jaffier,” in a Letter to the Proprietors of Eajl India Stocky from Mr. Henry Vanfittart. Page 44, &c. printed for J. Newbery, 1767.— And Mr. Scrafton s Reflexions, page 75, &c. t Scrafton’s Reflections, page 85 to 88* * Ibid. - • Page 93. the Digitized by Google ON INDIA AFFAIRS. 41 the Mufnud or throne of the Nab6bs at Bengal, at Murfhedabid^ A treaty *, confirmed as ufual by the oaths of the contrading parties, was alfo entered into between him and the Englifli Company, whereby he not only confirmed all their former poffeffions and privileges, and -the treaty lately made with his predeceffor, but granted alfo feveral confiderable new privileges and territories, befides paying immenfe fums of ready money, both to the Company and to individuals, as may be feen by the copies of the treaty and fubfequent agreements at large in our Appendix, No. III. to VII. pages 5 to 10. In the mean time, the expelled Nabdb Serajah al Dowlah was difeo-vered on his flight at Ragemahl, feized, and fent down by Meer Jaffier’s brother to the city of Murihedabad, on the 4th July 1757, where he was f privately murdered by order of our new Nabob. This was the firft Nazim or Nab6b created in Bengal by the Englifli, who, after their recent and repeated fucceffes againft the late Nabdb, the French, and the J Dutch, had acquired fo great a reputation, and fpread fuch terror through the country, that there is no doubt they might with eafe have marched to Dehly. Revolutions were now become a trade, or at leaft a fund to fupply the exigencies of the Englifli Eaft India Company and their fubftitutes : Meer Jaffier was foon judged * It was on this revolution that Colonel, now Lord Clive was created or G made an Om- I A A F F A I R S. 4$ Soon after the execution of this treaty, as we have mentioned in our foregoing chapter J, arrive^ the Right Honourable Lord Clive, with fome of the gentlemen appoined by the Court of Directors, to form a Select Committee; invcfted; with unlimited; powers' (as they chofe to interpret them) for managing the, affairs of the Company. And though at this time the country was in perfect tranquility, every enemy of the Company’ , actually fubdued, and fuch agreements as were thought requifite for the Company’s intereft fettled likewife with the Prince Shah Allum and the Rajah Bulwant Sing, yet thefe gentlemen refolved to undo all that had been done;, apd, as we have before obferved, to new model the affairs of the Company : and, in order to effect the intended alterations, it was determined among them to proceed, as if notreaties had been fettled, or peace had not exifted in Bengal, with fuppofing the Prince, Shah Allum, then really in poffeffion of the imperial crown of Hindoftin, and the expelled Nabdb, Sujah al Dowlah, actually * Vizier of the empire, and finally, to inveft themfelves, as Plenipotentiaries, with full and ample powers, on behalf of the Nabob', Najim al Dowlah, to do what they pleafed. The Emferor Shah Allum and the expelled NaMb Sujah al Dowlah, to whom the objects in view were of no lefs importance than the former’s being confirmed king of the world, and the latter’s being reftored to his loft dominions, readily agreed to every thing that was propofed by our Plenipotentiaries ; and new agreements wefe alfo made and entered into, by which our Nabdb, Najim al Dowlah, very meekly lays down his Nabdbfhip, which the Englifh take up, under the title of Dewannee;, and he agrees to accept of the annual fum of ficca rupees, fifty-three, lacks and eighty-fix thoufand (or about 673,2661. fterling) for the In a Letter to the Proprietors of Taft India Stocky from Lord Clive, printed for J. Nourfe^ 1764, p. 17, his Lordfhip had before apologized for his receiving of thofe prefects, upon his making the Nab6b Jaffier Ally Khawn, in the following words : •‘ The Nabob, agreeable to the known and ufual cuftom of Eaftern Princes, made pre-<( fents, both to thole of his own court, and to fuch of the English who by their rank and « abilities had been inftrumental in the happy fuccefs of fo hazardous an enterprize, fuio u able to the rank and dignity of a Great Prince. I was one amongft the many who f< benefited by his favour. I never fought to conceal it, but declared publickly, in my 6th Auguft 1765, in the Appendix, Nq XVII. p. 27. ibpporfc Digitized by Google 46 CON S I D E R A T I O N 3 fupport of his government. He alfo agrees to give the Emperor twenty-fix lacks, or 325,0001. per annum, for giving the Dewannee, or.revenues of his b{abobfhip to the Englifh 1 who, in confideration of his Majefty’s granting them this Dewannee, alfo engage to become Securities for the Nab6b Najim al Dowlah‘s regularly paying that fum to the Emperor. The abfurdity of thefe mock negociations will beft appear by a reference to the treaties themfelves ; for which purpofe, as well as for more clearly (hewing the entire fubjedtion of thefe Indian Princes, we muft crave the reader’! patience to turn to the Appendix, N° XVII. to XXIII. pages 27 to 37. With refpeft to the relation which the Englifh Eaft India Company at prefent bears to the Nabobs of Bengal, we cannot explain it in a better manner than Lord Clive has already done to the Directors of that Company, upon the fubjeft of this Nabob Najim al Dowlah, of whom we have been juft fpeaking. His Lordfhip’s words are thefe. f ** Confidering the exceffes we have of late years manifefted in our “ conduit, the Princes of Hindoftan will not readily imagine us capable “ of moderation, nor can we expert they will ever be attached to us by “ any other motive than fear. Meer Jaffier, Coflim Ally, the prefent “ Nabob, and even Mahomed Ally the Nabdb of Arcot (the beft Muf-“ fulman I ever knew) halve afforded instances fufficient of their inclina-" tions to throw off the Englifh fuperiority. No opportunity will ever “ be neglected that feems to favour an attempt to extirpate us, though “ the confequences, while we keep our army complete, muft in the end “ be more fatal to themfelves. This impatience under the fubjeition, “ as I may call it, to Europeans is natural ; but fo great is the infatu-** ation qf the natives of this country, that they look no farther than the “ prefent moment, and will put their all to the hazard of a fingle battle. “ Even our young Nab6b, wno is the iflire of a proftitute, who has little ** abilities, and lefs education to fupply the want of them; mean, “ weak, and ignorant as this man is, ne would, if left to himfelf and “ a few of his artful flatterers, purfue the very paths of his predeceflbrs. “ It is impoffible, therefore, to truft him with power and be fafe. If ** you mean to maintain your prefent pofleflions and advantages, tbe “ command of tbe army and receipt of the revenues mu/i be kept in your “ own bands *, 'every wifh he may exprefs to obtain either, be affured, “ is an indication of his defire to reduce you to your originalJlate of + Part of the 15th paragraph of a Letter, dated Calcutta, the 30th September 1765. Authentic Papes.#, p. 29. “ de- Digitized by GOOQle ON INDIA AFFAIRS. 47 “ dependency, to which you can never now return without ceasing to “ EXIST.” This our young Nab6b Najim al Dowlah, by the agreement * made between him and the Company in July 1765, was to have a fettled income, out of the revenues of the Bengal provinces* of confiderably more than fifty-three lacks of ficca rupees per annum. Within two or three months afterwards, in confequence of the penetrating infpe&ions that had been made by Lord Clive and Mr. Sykes, it was reduced to lefs than forty-two lacks J-: but he died fuddeniy on the Sth May 1766, within fifteen months after his exaltation to tne Mufnud. The allowance to his brother and fucceflbr Meer Kaneyah, alias Seyf al Dowlah, a youth of about fifteen years old, was reduced to thirty-fix lacks, which nowever he did not long enjoy, having, on the 10th of March 1770, alfo died fuddeniy. His youngeft brother Mobareck al 'Dowlah, a youth of about thirteen years of age, was the next Nab&b. His allowance upon his acceflion to this nominal Government was fettled by the Company’s fervants in Bengal, at thirty-two lacks a year ; but it was lefiened, in the lame year *770, to fixteen lacks by the Court of Directors ; who at the fame time tufo reduced the income of the minifter Mahomed Reza Khawn, from nine to five lacks per annum. Our prefent Nabob Mobareck al Dowlah, though a child, has already been furnifbed with a feraglio, which will fcarce contribute to promote a long life : but when, or how Mobareck may die, we pretend not to forefee. However, as he is the only remaining fori of Meer Jaffier, and confidering the late fatality among Nabobs, it is reafonable to imagine the race of them in Bengal is very nearly at an end. It is probable our prefent young Nabdb may prove the laft of his family, and he may likewife wind up the bottom of this office, with refpedt to the human, race. Whenever he dies, in any way, perhaps one of the date-elephants may be thought no improper fucceflbr, that being an animal of great fhew, very long-lived, equally $ tradable, and not fo expen-five to maintain as the pageant parts of the human race. * See Appendix, No. XXIII. p. 37. t See Lord Clive’s Letter to the Court of Director*. Authentic Paper* concerning India Affairs,' page 27. And Sykes’s Letter to the SelectCommitter rtCalcutta. .dj^endfr, N9JCXX1X. p. 139, &c. X Sec Sykes’s Letter -to the Select. Committee, ^>en^i^, .page 138. C H A P, Digitized by Google “CONSIDERATIONS : C H A P. VI. REMARKS on the foregoing CHAPTERS. MANY intelligent gentlemen in England, who are unacquainted • with the affairs of India, when they hear the Grand Mogul or -the Nabob of Bengal mentioned, imagine them to be independent Princes, poffefled of territories in their own right, and either ruling their fubjedts by their own will, or by the eftablifhed laws of India. The foregoing chapters, we hope, will fet thofe matters in a true light, and convince the impartial- reader, that nothing can be more diflant from truth at prefent than the idea of fuch independency. The Nabobs of Bengal are no other than the tools of the Englifh Eaft India Company and their Reprefentatives in Alia, through whom not only the natives, but even Englifhmen, in thofe remote parts, are expofed to every fpecies of oppreffion; for fo grievous is the prefent fituation of Britifh fubjeits in tnofe countries, that it is in fadt now eafily in the power of the Governor of Bengal, whenever he pleafes, to deprive any one of fo much of his property as lies within the Nabob's dominions, or even of his life, fhould he trufl himfelf there, without its being poflible for juftice to be procured againft fuch offenders by any laws now in bein^ there, or even here, according to the prefent ftate of things and con-ftitution of the Company. Every fubfequent chapter will ferve mort to convince the reader of the truth of thefe affertions. 1 The only land which the Englifh Eaft India Company ever legally held by a regular grant from a real Mogul, was what the Emperor Turrukhfeer granted them in the year 1717, which was not quite fif-'teen acres, wherever they eftablifhed their factories, as will be fhewn in the following chapter. And from all the concurrent teftimonies produced in our fourth and fifth chapters concerning the Dewannee and the Nabob, to which teftimonies even the Right Honourable Lord Clive himfelf has contributed, it appears clearly,, that, according to the injiitu-tions of the empire, the Nabdb, Nazim, or Subahdar of Bengal, or indeed of any other part of Hindoftan, had no power over the revenues, he being liable to be Called upon for the whole amount of them, after being paid the neceffary expences of the Nizamut. The Nabob therefore could have no right to difpofe of the revenues, jnuch lefs. to beftow the rank of nobility by creating Omrahs of the empire j Digitized by GOOQle ON INDIA .AFFAIR. .4$ tfmbire ; to alienate lands, or .grant away to another perfon, by a for, inai and public adt, any part or a jagueer which he might himfelf hare ' held only conditionally, in appearance, from the Emperor, as a Ja-gueerdar^ which being all imperial arts, could only be done by an Emperor eftablifhed on the throne of Dehly, and fuch an one there has not been for many years paft; confequcnfly all the tenures of fuch territories and revenues as have been taken by the Englifh Company, beyond what were granted them in 17x7 by Furrukhfeer, are not legally valid, according to the con/iitution fthe -Mogul empire, but pofieffions acquired and held either by violence or ufurpation. To fuppofe the exiftence of the old eftablifhed laws and actual form of government of the Mogul empire, and to argue therefrom, is highly abfurd in fpeaking of the prefent ftate of affairs, when no fuch laws or empire exifE In all the publications therefore which have lately been made of thofe matters, we meet with aumberlefs abfurdities and con-tradiftions ; the parties themfelves having made the conftitution of the Mogul empire appear Juft what they pleafed, by reprefenting things in fuch lights as beft ferved to promote their own temporary interefts. Thus in the memorial from the Court of Directors of the Englifh Company to the King’s Moft Excellent Majefty, on the fubjeit of complaints from rhe Dutch Eaft India Company, dated the 3d February 1762, the Directors by very ingenious arguments endeavour to convince their Sovereign, that the Nabob of Bengal was defaSio, whatever he might be -de jure, a * fovereign prince, and the Mogul nobody; be-caufe at that time it was xequifite for their purpofe that Jaffier Ally Khawn, our Company’s firft Nabob, ihould appear independent. The Right Honourable Lord Clive at that time fupported the fame doctrine, becaufe, in gratitude for his having fecured to that officer the Nabdb-fhip of Bengal, that Nabob had made his Lordfhip an Qmrah, and by * appointing him a Jagueer, made him a frgaeerddr, or Lord of the Company’s lands, ** who were thereby freed from all dependence, except on n his Lordjhip J-.” But when it becomes nectary to affume the Dewannee, as we have juft feen, then our Nabdb is nobody; and Shah Allum iffueshis Royal Firmauns with all //w^rwZ authority. The fadt is, that none of thefe revolutions or pretended grants can be fupported upon principles of juftice. In all the tranfaAions we have taken notice of, there was no right but that of the longeft fword, nor any law except the will of the conquerors j who could, upon all fuch ( * See A Defence, &c. printed for J. Brotherton, in Cornhill, 176a,.page 22. 1 See Loan Clive’s Latte* .to the Proprietors, printed for J. Nourfe, 1764, »*C«s 3+ » 36. [ G ] occafions. Digitized by Google 5o CONSIDERATIONS ©ccafions, have taken for themfelves, or given to the Company what they pleafed, having-no check but their own confciences, or feldom any rule but that of convenience. The Black Nabobs had the fame reafon for appearing to hold their Nabobfliips by virtue of Imperial Sunnuds, as the Englilh Company* had for pretending to hold their firft lands by grants from the Nabob,, and their Jubfequent Denvannee from the Mogul, though they fliould be under the neceflity for each purpofe relpe&ively to create their own Nabobs or Emperors; viz. the having fomething oftenfible to fcreen their ufurpation, in cafe their pretended right fliould be dilputed by any other powerj but as the fword alone would decide the point in India, this cloak feems to have been chiefly calculated for fervice in our northern climates. Perhaps Lord Clive had this idea principally in view, as a farther fe-curity for his Jagueer, when on his laft trip to Bengal he changed the ftate of the Company’s affairs fo fpeedily, by altering all the treaties then fubfifting, exalting the Prince Ally Gohar, and introducing the Company as deriving every thing immediately from this our new-created Emperor, by the manoeuvre of the Dewannee. In the then ftate of the Company’s affairs, it was poffxble that the litigation refped-ing his jagueer might be revived, or that even Government might inter— . fere therein; and his Lordfliip well knew that he could fcarce have continued in the enjoyment of it, if the Company had been averfe tali is fo doing; much lefs could he ever have obtained fatisfaiftion from. the laws or courts of Hindoftan, to which, in the- opinions of the ableft lawyers here, the point muft at laft have been, referred for decilion. Every ftep, therefore, tending farther to eftablilh the authority of this ut unfortunate Prince, as Emperor, and to. make the Company appear to hold all they poffeffed under that authority which was alfo made to-confirm his Lordfliip’s Jagueer, was adding weight to his own claim; and* the additional allowance of twenty-fix lacks per annum, which his Lordfliip provided for this our Emperor, was binding him by intereft to his Lordlhip’s fide; It is, fcarce poflible otherwife to account for this extraordinary and bold ftep of his Lordfliip, in affuming the Dewannee j which, as we have fliewn in our fourth chapter, had been fo pofitively rejected by the Company in March 1763 j ror it was -a ftep that was highly incompatible with the Company’s engagements then fubfifting with the Nabob, and injurious to that family from whom both the Company and: his Lordfliip had derived the greateft benefits i nay, and which could Bot fail of laying open and expofing the affairs of the Company to thofe national Digitized by Google O N INDIA A F F A I R S. 5t fcatlofial inquiries which followed; while in faft they had not in Bengal the appearance of receiving immediately any real advantage from the change. That the reader may perceive more clearly the truth of this lad aflertion, we will lay before him a ihort view of the advantages gained by the Company upon the treaties fubfifting when Lord Clive, and his Committee arrived in Calcutta, compared with thofe made by them upon their afiuming of the Dewannee. , In order to form a right judgment of this comparifon* the reader mud be fird informed of the true value of the Zemindary of the late Rajah Bulwant Sing. At the capital city .of Banaras, the judicious Governor Vanfittart and his Council had, towards the end of the year 1764, edablifhed a factory confiding of a Chief and Council, for the collection of the revenues of that Zemindary, which was likewife more advantageoufly fituated for extending and increafing the. tales of broadcloth and other daple articles imported by the Company, than any other factory they pofiefied. His Lordthip and'the Secret Committee (who appeared on this as well as on many other occafions, to have brought from England all knowledge of the date India was in on their arrival) upon relinquiftiing this-Zemindaryr refolded alfo to withdraw the fae-S tory j and without duly confultihg the fervants of, the Company employed in that'department, were pleafed .to fix th? , revenues of the ' country for the lad year they refolved the Company ihould hold it, ending the 27th November 1705, at twenty lacks of rupees. But it is well known that the Rajah, who died about two years ago, colle&ed hear four times that fum. His brother, the late SirnaanrSing, was actually on the point of making propofals to the'Cdmpaiiy for giving them forty-five lacks per annum for that Zemindary, about the time in which this country was given up by his Lordihip. In a very Ihort time the Company therefore might with the greated propriety, after making every equitable allowance to the Zemindar, have collected fifty lacks; and upon his demife, by keeping the lands in their own hands* upon the footing of the Calcutta Pergunhahs,'there is not the lead doubt to be entertained of their having foon yielded eighty lacks, dr one million fterling per annum, ' ’ -1 { G 2 ] Upon ^ ,3 .<* XI .; ’ \ '-I-' * Digitized by Google $2 CONSIDERATIONS Upon the treaties fcbfiftiftj in Governor Spencer’s time, February 1755 (See the Appendix, N°* XIV. and XV. pages 21, 22, &c. Sicca Rupees. Pounds Sterling, T he acceffion of five lacks of Sicca rupees per month ia confideration of the Com- pany’s military expences, is, per annum €,©©0,000 The revenues of Buohran, Midnipoce, and Chittigong, (exclufive of Calcutta and the 24 Pergunnahs) agreeably to an efti- mate of Lord Clive’s - * - 5,000,000' The revenues of Ghafeipore, Bandras, &c. diftrith of the Zemindiry of Bui want Sin^ which for the reafons before given may with- great moderation be eftimated at - - - - - - 4,500,000 r$,5oo,ooo Or, at as. 6d. each ----- - 1^43,750 - Upon Loan Clive’s Treaties in Auguft 176'5, (fee the Appendix, N- XVIL XVIII. XXII. and. MIU. pages 17, 29, 36 and 37.) Sicca Rugae*. Hi» Lerdfhip hiodeir * eftin&ated, that the whole revenues of the Company’s provinces in Bengal, Bahar and Orife, (ex-chiflve of Calcutta and the 24 Pergunnahs) Would amount to - - . * 25,000,000 From which muft he deduced. The annual ftipend provided by . his Lordfhip for w Emperor Shah Ahum - .- 2/00,000 The annual allowance to the. Nabdb of Bengal, which though afterwards reduced, was firft fixed at - 5,386,131 —— 7’986»I3I 17,013,869 Or, at 2s. 6d, each •• * • - - - . 2,126,733 182,983 • S«e Authentic Papers, page 26. Digitized by GOOQle , ON INDIA AFFAIRS, j$ The difference in favour of Lord Clive’s treaties, according to this eftimate, which comprehends every article of a permanent nature, is only one hundred and eighty-two- theuiand nine-hundred and eighty-three pounds fterling per annum, even admitting that, agreeably to his Lopdfhips eftimate, 250 lacks had been actually collected j which We believe, from- a variety of caufes, has net been the cafe in any one year from his Lordfhip’s eftablifhment to this day. It is true, that the Na-b6b, Sujah al Dowlah, upon his being reftored to his country, paid the Company fifty lacks of rupees, agreeably to the fixth article of the treaty, as an indemnification for their charges in the war. But this being only a temporary advantage, againft which muft be alfo placed riie extraordinary charge of that campaign, it cannot with propriety be included in our eftimate among the articles of a* permanent annual revenue, • If then-we place againft the before-mentioned iS^fi^l. the 400,000!. now paid annually to Government, and the additional improvements which might have been moft reafonably expeded from Bulwant Sing’s-Zemindfiry, it muft be allowed that hia Lordfhip’s alterations, upon af-foming the Dewannee, have been* no way for the intereft of the Company, even without bringing to account die amazing increase in the* charges of die civil and military eftablifliments, which has been another ill confequence, to- the almoft entire absorption of the revenues. Even the Court of Eaft India Directors feem to- have been foon fen-fibleof this greatly-increafing charge, by their letter to the Sele& Committee at Bengal^ dated,the 16th March 1768 j* wherein, after eftimat-ing what the various? articles of increafe in their military and other charges wduM amount! to, exelufive of what might be paid to the Ma-tahtant, if their treaty with that nation fhould come to a- conelufion,they thus proceed, in the- 140th paragraph. ** When thefe calculations are ♦* made, you wilt find we already' approach the utmof limits 'of what “ exfence can be afforded from the- revenues: and fhould there be occa-' ** fiomfor any military operations. It will be found we have not altered ** our fituation* much teour advantage 1 but Save only exchanged a 'certain “ profit in commerce for a precarious one in Revenue/’ CHAP. Digitized by Google 54 CONS 1DERATIONS CHA P. VII. 6m the MOGUL’S FTRMAUNS, the Passports called DUS-TUCKS, and the early POSSESSIONS of the ENGLISH in BENGAL. THE Portuguese, who after the firft difcovefies of Vafco de Gama, . in 1497, pofleffed the greateft power and trade in India for near a century, uninterrupted by any European rival, had fettlements eftabliihed at Surat, and other places on the Malabar coaft ; at Amadavat in the King-do • ., rv< < '* ■ Ider Majefty’-s letter, dated in February 1583* fent by Mn John Neww jbery to the Great Mogul, or Emperor Akbur, was as follows. : j. K Elizabeth, by the Grace of God, &c. To the moft Invincible and moft ” Mightie Prince, Lord Zelabdim Echebar, King of Cambaya, Invincible “ Emperor, &c. 0 The great afteeftion which our fubjeds have to vifit the moft diftant .** places of the world, not without good will and intention to introduce *‘ the trade of merchandife of al nations whatfoever they can, by which " meanes the mutual and friendly trafique of merchandife on both fides ** may Digitized by Google O N INDIA A FF AIRS. 55 « may come, is the caufe that the bearer of this letter, John Newbery, ♦• jointly with thofe that be in his company, with a curteous and honeft •* boldnefle, do repaire to the borders and countreys of your empire, wee •* doubt not but that your Imperial Majeftie, through your royal grace, will “ favourably and friendly accept him. And that ye would do it the rather “ for our fake, to make us greatly beholding to your Majeftie; wee fhould •‘ more earnefUy, and with more words, require it, if wee did think ’ ** it needful. But by the Angular report that is of your Imperial Majeftie*? “ humanitie in thefe uttermoft parts of the world, wee are greatly eafed of “ that burden, and therefore wee ufe the fewer and lefle words : onely w& x requeft, that becaufe they are our fubje&s, they may be honeftly in-*‘ treated and received. And that in refped of the hard journey which they ♦* have Undertaken to places fo far diftant, it would pleafe your Majeftie, “ with feme libertie and Security of votage to gtatifie it, with fuch pri-** vileges- as to you fhall feem good; which curtifie, if your Imperial *• Majeftie fhal to our fubjefts at our requefts performe, wee, accord^ ** ing to our royal honour, will recompence the fame with as many ** deferts as we can. And herewith we bid your Imperial Majeftie to fare-“ wcl V ’ ! Mr Ralph Fitch, who writes the narrative recorded in Hackl’uyt, mentions their having ftaid at the court of the Emperor Akbur, which was then* held at Futtehpore, until the 28th September 1585 ; but takes no notice ' of any privileges then obtained. The firft Engliihman, as may be gathered from Phrchas’s Collection, who obtained privileges from the Grand Mogul in favour of this nation, was a John Mildenhall J*. He let out from London in the year 1599, upon a voyage up the Streights; after which he proceeded over land from Aleppo,- through Perfia, to the Mogul’s court at Agra, (but was a confiderable time on his journey, the reafons for which delay he gives no account of) where he arrived in 1603. He was, as well as his letters,, very gracioufly received by the Emperor, to whom- he’ prefented a Nuzzer of twenty-nine fine horfes, and fome jewellery ; but met with great oppofition from the intrigues of the Jefuits, particularly the Italians, of whole enmity he complains much; and could do nothing for want of the language of the country. He therefore applied hard, and; made himfelf fufficiently mafter ®f the Perfian tongue, whereby He * See Richard Hackluy.t’s Collection, the 2d volume, page 245. Printed,.London, 1590. + SeePuRCHAs’s Pilgrims, jft Part of his 2d Book, page 114, a»w 1625. , • foundl Digitized byViOOQle $6 C O N $ I © £ RA T I 0 N $ , found mentis to ingratiate himfelf with the Mogul, and at laft obtained Firmauns much to . his fatisfa&ion, and which were faid to tend greatly to the profit and honour of this nation t but we are notfur jiflied with the copies of thofe Firmauns. During Mr. Mildenhall’s peregrination that is, on the 30th December in the year 1600, Queen Elizabeth had granted her firft letters patent to certain adventurers, for fifteen years, for the difcovery of the trade to the Eaft, by the name of The Governor and Company of Mer- • chants of London trading into the Eaft Indies.; which moft probably prevented Mr. Mildenhall’s Firmauns from appearing. Mr. Thomas Beft *, who went out .tolndia with the direftion of two (hips in ifi 11, carried letters likewife from King James, and prefents to the Great Mogul, Shah Scleera (afterwards called Noor al Deen Jehan-guoer) then at Agra. On the suft Qitober 1612, he fettled articles of trade with the Mogul Governor of Amadavat and Surit, of which he . afterwards received a confirmation from die Mogul, in a Firmaun, dated at Agra the 25th January 1613; whereby, among other things, it was ftipulated, " That there fhould be a perpetual .peace and free commerce ** between the Mogul’s fubjefts and the Englifli in all parts of his do-** minions; that all Englifli goods fliould pay cuftom after the rate of “ three artd a half percent, upon the Value or price they were worth “ when put into the ouftom-hoafe, and that it fliould be lawful for “ the Kiiig of England to keep and continue an ambaflador at the *' court of the Great Mogul, during the time of the faid peace and ** commerce; there tOicompound and ;cad all fuch great and weighty “ questions as might any way tend to -a breach of the faid peace.” In -the year 1614, Sir Thomas Roe J-, Knight, was appointed, and font by his Majefty, King James the Firft, as Ambaflador, with prefents, and a letter to the Grand Mogul, Shah Seleem, or Jehan-gueer, which letter the following is a copy. “ James, by the Grace of Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and « earth, King cd" Great Britain, See. &c. “ To the High and Mighty Monarch, the Great Mogul, King of the ** oriental Indies, of Candahar, Calhmeer, Khoraflaan, &c. Greeting. “ We have notice of your great favor towards us and our fubjedts; “ by your great Firmaun to all your captains of rivers, and officers of “ your cuftoms, for the entertainment of our loving fubjeds, the Eng-** lilh nation, with all kind refpeft, at what time foever they (hall • See Pvkchas’s Pilgrims, Boek II. page 456, &c. t !■»• P*ge 535» kc. •* arrive Digitized by Google ON INDIA AFFAIRS. “ arrive at any of the ports within your dominions, and that they may *‘ have quiet trade and commerce, without any kind of hindrance or “ moleftation, &c. as by the articles concluded by Sheik Suffee, Go-“ vernor of the Guzerats, in your name, with our loving fubjed Cap-** tain Thomas Beft, appeareth : having thought it meet to fend unto “ you our ambaffador which may more fully, and at large, handle and “ treat of fuch matters as are fit to be confidered of, concerning that «* good and friendly correfpondence which is fo lately begun between " us; and which will without doubt redound to the honour and uti-** lity of both nations. In which confideration, and for the furthering “ of fuch laudable commerce, we have made choice of Sir Thomas ** Roe, Knight, one of the principal gentlemen of our court, to whom ■ “ we have given commifiion under our great feal of England, together “ with directions and inftruCtions, further to treat of fuch matters as . “ may be for the continuance and increafe of the utility and profit ** of each other’s fubjeCts: to whom we pray you to give favor and “ credit in whatfoever he ihall move and propound towards the efta-** blifhing and enlarging of the fame. And for confirmation of our good “ inclination and well-wiihing towards you, we pray you to accept in ** good part the prefent which our faid ambaffador will deliver unto “ you: and fo do commit you to the merciful protection of Almighty “ God.” Sir Thomas Roe had his firft audience at court, then kept at Azmeer, on the ioth January 1616. He was very gracioufly received: and the anfwer which the Emperor Jehangueer wrote to King James’s letter, as delivered to Sir Thomas, was as follows. After the ufual preamble and compliments, " Your letter, which ** you fent me in the behalf of your merchants, I have received, where-“ by I reft fatisfied in your tender love towards me; and defire you “ not to take it ill, for not having writ unto you heretofore; for this my ** prefent letter I fend to renew our loves, and herewith do certify you “ that I have fent forth my firmauns through all my countries to this ** effcft, that if any Engliih ihips or merchants ihall arrive in any of “ my ports, my people Ihall permit and fuffer them to do what they “ will freely in their merchandizing caufes, aiding and affifting them “ in all occafions of injuries that ihall be offered them, and that the ** leaft caufe of difcourtefy be not done unto them, as alio that they be “ as free and freer than my own people. And as now and formerly I “ have received from you divers tokens of your love, fo I defire your [ H ] - *‘ mindful- Digitized by Google 5S CO N^ IDER AT IONS “ mindfulnefs of me by fome noveltys from your country, as an argument ° of friendfhip between us: for fuch is the cuflom of Princes here. ** As for your merchants, I have given exprefs order through all my “ country to fuffer them to fell, buy, tranfport, and carry away at “ their pleafures, without the let or hindrance of any perfon whatfb-“, ever, all fuch goods and merchandize, or other things, as they fhall “ defire to buy : and let this my letter as fully fatisfy you in the defired “ peace and love, as if my own fon liad been the mefienger to ratify “ the fame. And if any in my country, not fearing God, nor obey-“ ing their King, or any other, void of religion, fhould endeavour, “ or be an inftrument to break this league of friendfhip, I would fend , ■ “ my fon, Sultan Khourm, a fbldier approved in the wars, to cut him “ off, that no obflacle may hinder the continuance and encreafing of our M affeCtions.” Such was the nature of the firmauns and the encouragement at firfl granted to the. Englifh, at the fpecial requeft of the Sovereigns of England, in favour of the whole nation. By permiflion of the Mogul government, the Englifh Company fettled their firfl factory in Bengal, at Hoogly, where the Dutch had fettled about the year 1625; and the Englifh factors at Bengal were dependent upon the Company’s fettle-ment at Chinipatam, or Madrafs. Hoogly, which is now in ruins, was at this time a port of confiderable trade; to which all foreigners in general reibrted, as to the grand emporium for the purchafe and fale of aH commodities in Bengal: but no Europeans were then permitted to raife fortifications in Bengal, being juftly kept totally dependent upon that government, where they had procured themfebres admittance for the avowed purpofe of trade only. As the trade encreafed from die indulgences granted to foreign fettlers, they were naturally objeds of jealoufy to the natives; fb that caufes of difputes frequently afofe in many parts of the empire wherein the Europeans had eflablifhed their factories. The Englifhman frequently met with rebuffs that he could not reconcile to his notions of liberty, and the Mogul governors were as frequently difappointed in their expectations of Afiatic fervile obedience from Englishmen; fb that irregularity and disorder were as often committed on one fide, as violence and oppreflion on the other. Such contents were by no means favourable to the Company’s trade; . and they were unhappily carried to fuch lengths, particularly at the 3 Company’s fettlements on the Malabar coaft, that about tbe year 1685, j the Company thought they had no alternative, but either to withdraw I their trade, or refill by force the violences of the Nabobs; which were ‘ gfter- 1 Digitized by Google ON INDIA AFFAIRS. s9 afterwards not a little aggravated and exaggerated by their governor of Bombay. Having before them, from the tranfadions of the Portuguese, recent proofs of the very great advantages over the natives of India, which were to be had from an European naval armament, and the regular difcipline of European infantry, the Company determined upon trying what they could effect by force; and, having obtained permiffion from King James the Hd. they fitted- out and fent one fleet to cruize off Surat, and to take, plunder and deftroy all Indian /hips and' vcffels; and another fleet with troops to Bengal, to ait vigoroufly in that quarter. The fleet on the Malabar coaft made immenfe booty at fea, from in-dilcriminately plundering all Indian merchant-fhips, whilft the troops in Bengal, under the command of Mr. Job Chanock, the Company’s chief factor at Hoogly, experienced many changes of fortune. Sir John Child, the Company’s governor at Bombay, by his * imprudent conduit prolonged the war untu June 1690, which was fatal to the then Company, having cofl: them above four hundred thoufand pounds fterling, before they could get rid of it, befides the forfeiture of their privileges, and the lofr of their credit with the Indians and the Mogul; whofe governor of Surat, Sedee Yacoob, took Bombay, and imprifoned the Company’s faitors, obliging them to pafs through the flreets with irons about their -J* necks. “ The bad fuccefs of this war obliged the Engli/h to fue for peace and “ pardon from die then Emperor Aurengzebe; for which' purpofe they *‘ difpatched from Surat two of their faitors to Dehly, under the names 0 of Englifli Ambafladors: one, Mr. George Weldon, who was firft in “ commiflion,. arid Mr. Abraham Navaar, a Jew, who was fecond. •‘ They were brought to Aurengzebe’# prefence, after a new mode for “ ambafladors, their hands being tied by a fafh before them, and were •* obliged to proftrate themfelves. The King gave them a fevere repri-“ mand, and then aflced their demands. They firft made a confefiion of ,r their faults, and defired pardon; then, &at their Firmaun, which was * Hamilton-, Vol. Hl, pages <85 to 229, in his account of the Eaft ladies, where he commanded a veflel in the coafting trade for many years, gives a (hocking account nf the conduit of Mr. John Child, who was related to Sir Jofian Child, then at the head >f the Company’s affairs in England. This Mr. Child, appointed governor of Bombay about the year 1682, was foon afterwards made general in India, and created a Baronet: for money (fays our author), which the Company knew how to apply to the neeeflities of King Charles. He ia reprefented to haye been guilty of every fpeciea of tyranmr, oppreffion, injuftice and plunder, alike towards the natives of the country and his own fellow*fubje£ls; and to have involved the Company in this war, whieh at laft ended asdifgracefully to himfelf as to the Company and the Kingdom. . f Account of the East Indus by jfkxatultr Hanibm, 1727. See alfo Harris, Vol. Ift, pages 901, &c. [ H 2 J