A. D. 1805.

wounded on this fatal day, was 894 men. Next morning Gen. Lake appeared on parade, and severely reprimanded the Europeans, who had refused to obey orders. They all then offered to volunteer for another assault, which was made that day under Col. Monson. All that valour could achieve was performed; but there was in reality no breach, the fire of the garrison was murderous, and they flung down on the assailants as they clambered up the face of the bastion, large logs of wood, flaming cotton steeped in oil, and pots filled with gunpowder and other combustibles. Col. Monson at length ordered a retreat, when nearly 1000 men had been killed or wounded.

In these four assaults the British had had upwards of 3000 men killed and wounded, their guns were almost all become unserviceable, their ammunition was nearly expended, and their provisions exhausted, and the men were quite worn out with fatigue. It therefore became necessary to withdraw from before Bhurtpore, the only fortress in India that has successfully resisted the British arms. Gen. Lake assigned various causes for his want of success, such as the strength of the place, the number of its defenders, and, above all, the incapacity of his engineers. But surely the blame ought to rest with the man, who undertook the siege under such disadvantages, and who so wantonly squandered the lives of his men. The truth is, that like too many other British commanders, he relied on the valour of his men for covering his own want of skill and knowledge.

The rajah was, no doubt, elated with the success of his defence; but, on the other hand, he saw that Holkar could not hold out against the power of the British, and he resolved to endeavour to secure himself in time. His vakeels, therefore, soon appeared in the British camp (March 10), where they were favourably received, and negotiations were commenced. While they were going on, the British cavalry was employed in pursuit of Holkar's; and as the rajah appeared to be trying to gain time, the army was moved (April 8), and took up nearly its former ground, before Bhurtpore. This made him somewhat uneasy, and at length (17th) a treaty was signed, in which he agreed to pay twenty lacs of rupees for the expenses of the war, and give one of his sons as a hostage.

During the whole course of this war the conduct of Sindia had been very suspicious. He had entertained a vakeel of Holkar's in his camp; he required the British to put him in possession of Gohud and Gwalior; he demanded to be supplied with money, to enable him to march from Bûrhampur, where he then was, to Ûjein; and he even had the audacity to expect, that in the event of his joining a British force, he should have the command of the whole. While these points were in discussion between him and Mr. Webbe, the resident, his camp was entered by his father-in-law, Shirzee Râo, the most unprincipled man even among the Marattas, and a thorough hater of the English; and he soon gained unlimited power over the feeble mind of his son-in-law.

Sindia soon after put his troops in motion, entered the territories of the Nabob of Bhopal, and marched along the north banks of the Nerbudda for Sâgur, a city belonging to the Peishwa, in Bundelcund, on whom he pretended to have some un

149

settled claims. He invested that fort; but on the remonstrance of Mr. Jenkins, who, Mr. Webbe being dead, was acting as resident, he commenced his march for Ujein. He, however, made such delays, and such positive information was obtained of his being secretly engaged in a plan for a confederacy against the English, that the resident quitted his camp, and marched to a distance of fourteen miles from it. At Sindia's earnest entreaty, however, he returned, and during his absence Sindia's whole body of Pindarries fell on his camp, and plundered it of every thing of value, killing and wounding about fifty men of his escort. Sindia expressed great sorrow, but pretended that he had no power over the Pindarries. The resident still continued to accompany his march.

Sindia at length (March 22) nearly cast off the mask, by announcing to the resident that it was his intention to march to Bhurtpore, in order to mediate between the contending parties. Lord Wellesley, when informed of this design, resolved to be prepared for war, and in case of its accruing to reduce the power of Sindia, to what he terms "the lowest scale." With this view he directed Col. Close, to whom he gave the same extensive powers as had been held by Gen. Wellesley in the Deckan, to make preparations for reducing the southern part of Sindia's dominions; and he instructed the commander-in-chief (now Lord Lake) to oppose his march to Bhurtpore, and at the same time to provide for the safety of the resident.

Sindia had advanced (29th) as far as Subdulghur on the Chumbul. Two days after he was joined by Ambajee Inglia, and some days later (Apr. 7), Ameer Khân left Bhurtpore with the avowed purpose of joining him also. On that same day, Shirzee Râo marched toward Bhurtpore with a large body of horse and Pindarries, thinking that the rajah was still at war. From Weir, a place within fifteen miles of it, he wrote to Lord Lake, to say, that he had been sent by Sindia to negotiate; in reply, he was desired not to advance on any account. He did however advance to within a short distance of that town; but on the rajah's refusal of a personal interview, he returned to Weir, where he was joined by Holkar with about 3000 or 4000 horse, and they proceeded together to the camp of Sindia, who received Holkar in a most cordial manner, and excused himself for it to the resident by his extreme desire of promoting peace. Holkar had been but a few days there, when, with Sindia's connivance, he seized and tortured Ambajee, till he made him pay him a large sum of money.

Lord Lake at length (21st) was enabled to leave Bhurtpore, and march in the direction of Sindia's camp. On the tidings of his approach, the confederates, in alarm, broke up, and marched for Sheopore, a town about half-way to Kôtah. Owing to the fatigue, the heat, and the want of water, a great number of their men perished before they reached it. Sindia, still afraid of war, kept the resident with him. From Sheopore they marched (May 10) for Kôtah, and they moved thence in the beginning of June toward Ajmeer. As Sindia still refused to let Mr. Jenkins depart, instructions were forwarded to Lord Lake to be prepared for war as soon as the season would permit.

There can be little doubt, that if military operations had been resumed, the object of Lord Wel

lesley, namely, making the English the conservators of the peace of India, would have been attained in a short time, and with little comparative expense. The restless, turbulent Holkar would have been totally crushed, and the weak, ductile Sindia have been rendered powerless for evil; while the rajah of Berår, even if so inclined, could not have succeeded in disturbing the tranquillity of the country. But India was not destined yet to enjoy the blessings of internal repose; the extensive and enlightened views of Lord Wellesley were not comprehended at home by the public, the directors, or even by the ministry; complaints were made of his ambition, and of the costliness of his administration; he was represented as a ruthless oppressor of the native princes: his tender of resignation was therefore accepted, and his successor appointed, and in the end of July he quitted India.

The Marquis Wellesley was one of the most brilliant statesmen that have adorned the British cabinet; the man, in our opinion, most resembling the great Chatham. He was the first governor of India who saw clearly that in that country the British power must be all or nothing. His policy, as we have said, was essentially pacific; and the wars in which he engaged, expensive as they were, were wars of necessity, of which the objects were the security of the British power, and consequent on it the promotion of the happiness of the people of India. In Lord Wellesley we have further to admire the noble confidence which he placed in those to whom the execution of his plans was committed, and the kindness and courtesy with which he always treated them; his zeal for the intellectual culture of the servants of the company; the lofty disinterestedness with which he rejected all share in the treasures of Seringapatam, though proffered by the crown, and the high-toned feeling which led him, on his return, to refuse to accept of office, though pressed on him, while menaced with impeachment for his conduct in India. Little prolific as Ireland has been in great men, she can boast that in Edmund Burke, she gave the profound and upright statesman, who first exposed the misconduct of the British in India, and gave origin to the plans formed for its improvement; in the Marquis Wellesley, the greatest of its governorsgeneral, and the founder of the system on which our Indian empire rests; and in the Marquis of Hastings the man who completed the system of his illustrious predecessor.

6 Mill, who is very hostile to Lord Wellesley, devotes scores of pages in the case of the wars with Tippoo and the Marattas, to showing their impolicy, and injustice, and iniquity. He is, of course, easily refuted by Wilson. A witness before the House of Commons, in 1832, thus expressed himself; "All our wars cannot, perhaps, be with propriety considered wars of necessity; but most of those, by which the territories we possess have been obtained, and out of which our subsidiary alliances have grown, have been wars, I think, of necessity, and not of choice. For example, the wars with Tippoo and the Marattas." The name of this witness was James Mill.

7 A Mr. James Paull, who had been engaged in trade in Oude, and while there, was under obligations to Lord Wellesley, having purchased a seat in Parliament, exhibited articles of impeachment against him for his treatment of the Nabob of Oude. A dissolution took place, and Mr. Paull did not get into the next Parliament; but Lord Folkestone (the present Earl of Radnor) brought forward these charges in a milder form, with, however, no success.

CHAPTER VI.

Lord Cornwallis Governor-general a second time-His System-His Death-Sir George Barlow Governor-generalHis Policy-Massacre at Vellore-Lord Minto, Governorgeneral-The Sikhs-Rise of Runjeet Sing-The Afghâns -Embassies to Persia-Case of Ruddy Râo, at MadrasInsurrection in Travancore-Mutiny of Officers of Madras Army.

THE successor appointed to Lord Wellesley was a man of the most opposite character, and most opposite views of Indian policy. It was the Marquis Cornwallis, formerly Governor-general of India, and lately Lord-lieutenant of Ireland, where his conduct had gained him a name for temper and moderation. Though now far advanced in years, the public eye fixed on him as the man best qualified to restore tranquillity to India, and make it (that vain dream) a source of direct wealth to England; and his own ambition, or judgment, led him to accept the onerous office. But in truth he was a man of merely respectable talents, and of contracted views, yet obstinate in maintaining his own opinions. His system now was simply to reverse all that had been done by his great prede

cessor.

Lord Cornwallis landed at Calcutta on the 30th July. Two days after he wrote to inform the directors of his intention of proceeding to the upper provinces to prevent the renewal of war, by which, he said, nothing was to be gained. In a few days after (Aug. 9), we find him writing from his boats on the river. In this letter he says, that without a great and speedy reduction of expense, it would be impossible to renew the war with Sindia and his confederates.

It had been a part of the policy of Lord Wellesley to induce the inferior chiefs and their men, in the service of the Maratta princes, to quit it, by offering to take them into British pay. Such numbers of them had come over, that their pay amounted to a large annual sum, and their services were nearly worthless. Lord Cornwallis resolved to dismiss them, and in order to pay them their arrears, he had recourse to his old plan of retaining the bullion destined for China.

The system of subsidiary alliances, though it had in some measure originated with himself, Lord Cornwallis totally condemned. With respect to the Peishwa and the Nizâm, he hoped in time to be able to withdraw the British from the disgraceful participation, as he expresses it, in their intrigues, oppression, and chicanery. As to Sindia, his plan was "to compromise, or even to abandon the demand, which had been so repeatedly and so urgently made for the release of the British residency;" and also "to abandon our possession of Gwalior, and our connexion with Gohud." The Jyenugur tribute was also to be restored to him, and he was to be permitted to station a force in two districts, reserved to him in the Doab, as the private estates of his family. On his side, he was to renounce the jagheers and pensions granted to him in the former treaty, and to settle a pension on the rana of Gohud. As for Holkar, he was to get back unconditionally the whole of his territories. There now only remained the Rajpoot and Jât rajahs beyond the Jumna, most of whom had ·

6

3

་

A. D. 1805-6.

drawn on themselves the hatred of the Marattas, by their siding with the British. These, however, he resolved to abandon also, giving to them, in lieu of the British protection of which they had been assured, the territory to the west and south of Delhi, which had not been yet disposed of. He hoped that by union among themselves they would be able to resist the power of Sindia, and keep him from making any attempts on the British posses: sions; for, he adds, "his endeavours to wrest their territories from the hands of the rajahs of Macherry and Bhurtpore may be expected to lay the foundation of interminable contests, which will afford ample and permanent employment to Sindia." So, while the generous policy of the so-styled warlike Wellesley would preserve the British empire in India, by maintaining peace among the native princes, the Machiavellian policy of the pacific Cornwallis would repose it on the "interminable contests," the bloodshed and massacre, the invariable concomitants of Indian, especially Maratta, warfare.

Lord Lake wrote strongly remonstrating against this unwise and disgraceful system of policy. But ere his letter arrived, the Governor-general was no more. He breathed his last (October 5) at Ghazipore, near Benâres.

As the British ministry does not seem to have contemplated the death of a man, who sailed for India, oppressed alike with years and infirm health, and no provision had been made for that event, the supreme power now devolved provisionally on Sir George Barlow, the senior member of council. The new Governor lost no time in replying to Lord Lake's letter, which had arrived the day after Lord Cornwallis' death. Lord Lake had urged strongly the ill-policy of withdrawing protection from the native princes on the frontier, and shown that the consequence of their contests would be, that a considerable military force should be kept up to guard the British provinces against the large armies of irregulars that would be contending on their frontiers. He also dwelt strongly on the loss of honour and reputation that would follow such conduct. Sir G. Barlow, in reply, announced his determination to carry out the views of his predecessor, which were those of the ministry and Court of Directors. "I am of opinion," he added, "that we must derive our security either from the establishment of a controlling power and influence over all the states of India [Lord Wellesley's system], or from the certain operation of contending and irreconcileable interests among the states, whose independence will admit of the prosecution of their individual views of rapine, encroachment, and ambition [Cornwallis's system], combined with a systematic plan of internal defence, such as has been uniformly contemplated by this government." This last he preferred; and surely the celebrated "Prince" does not contain any maxim of what is regarded as its diabolical policy, more coolly avowed.

No time was lost in giving effect to these principles. A treaty with Sindia was concluded by Col. Malcolm (November 23), and another with Holkar (December 24), on the banks of the Beyah, in the Punjab, whither he had retired in the hope of engaging the Sikhs to support him. The rajahs of Boondee and Jypoor, both faithful allies of the British, were sacrificed without a scruple. Even the request of Lord Lake, that the alliance with

151

the last should not be renounced till Holkar had passed his territories, on his way home, was rejected; the worthy Holkar was not to be deprived of an opportunity of plunder. These rajahs were weak, but those of Macherry and Bhurtpore had some strength; Lord Lake's representations in their behalf were therefore listened to, and matters were not precipitated.

The British government thus, in the words of the Jypoor vakeel, "made its faith subservient to its convenience ;" and Sir George Barlow, a man of limited mental powers, and apparently incapable of appreciating the Wellesley policy, to the expositions of which he had been listening for years, as far as in him lay overturned the British empire in India, by acting in blind obedience to the narrow, ignorant, and shortsighted policy of those who thought that an empire could be gained and kept without expense, and that the English could remain only one of the powers of India. It is gratifying to see that no policy has ever been more universally condemned; not a single writer, of any character, has, we believe, attempted to defend it. Lord Lake, who, though in vain, had made every effort to sustain the honour of his country at this dark period, quitted India as soon as he was able, leaving behind him a character for daring valour, and other high qualities, the memory of which is still cherished by the native army.

When the account of the death of Lord Cornwallis reached England, the Directors, with the consent of the Board of Control, appointed Sir George Barlow to be Governor-general. He now applied himself sedulously to what nature had best qualified him for, the reduction of expenditure, and the providing of the Company's investment of goods. The former he reduced to one-half, so that the finances were soon in a flourishing condition. He also introduced the British revenue and judicial arrangements into the newly-acquired territories in Cuttack, Bundelcund, and the Doab.

While he was thus engaged, alarming tidings arrived from Madras. The fortress of Vellore, which was the residence of Tippoo's family, was garrisoned by portions of one European regiment, the 69th, and of two native regiments, the 1st and 23rd, the former being 370, the latter 1500 in number, the whole commanded by Col. Fancourt, of the 69th. They had separate barracks, and the officers resided in detached private houses. On a sudden, at about three o'clock on the morning of the 10th July, 1806, a general attack on the English posts was made by the native troops. The main body of them attacked the barracks, into which they poured volleys of musketry and discharges of field-pieces which they had placed opposite the doorway. Others watched the houses of the officers to shoot them as they came out, and others broke into the houses of the other Europeans and murdered all they met. They thus before day had killed thirteen officers, among whom was Col. Fancourt, and Lieut.-col. McKerras of the 23rd, and in the barracks there were eighty-two privates killed, and ninety-one wounded. Fear of the bayonet kept them from entering, and the men defended themselves against their fire as well as they could by the beds and furniture. At length some of the officers made their way to the barracks, and placing themselves at the head of the men forced a passage through the assailants and

reached the ramparts. They then proceeded to the magazine, but found it in the hands of the mutineers. Being thus disappointed in their hopes of obtaining powder, they returned to the ramparts, losing many men in their passage to and fro, and there maintained their ground with the bayonet. The Sepoys now began to disperse in search of plunder, and many of them who had either unwillingly joined the mutiny, or wished to secure what they had got, quitted the fort.

As Arcot is only nine miles from Vellore, intelligence of what had occurred reached that place at six in the morning. Lieut.-col. Gillespie of the 19th dragoons, immediately put himself at the head of a squadron of that regiment, and a strong troop of the 7th native cavalry, and set out for Vellore, directing the rest of the cavalry with the galloper guns to follow without delay. He reached Vellore at eight o'clock, and found the two outer gates of the fort open, the third closed; but some of the 69th who had taken shelter over it let themselves down and opened it. They were obliged to wait till ten for the guns, in order to blow open the fourth gate, and when that was effected the cavalry rushed in and joined the 69th, which with Col. Gillespie had already descended from the ramparts. The mutineers made no steady resistance; they were bayoneted by the 69th, or cut down by the cavalry. From 300 to 400 were killed, many were made prisoners, and the number was rapidly augmented by those whom the police or the country-people seized on their flight and brought in. Some were afterwards tried by courtmartial, condemned and executed, others discharged for ever from the service; the remainder were pardoned. The numbers of the two regiments were erased from the army-list.

Various causes were assigned for this outbreak. Some saw in it a plot to overthrow the English power, and raise one of the sons of Tippoo to the throne of Mysore. But none of these princes could be proved to have had any previous communication with the mutineers, and though some of their retainers joined them, and the standard of Mysore was brought from one of their houses during the insurrection, it did not appear that the princes had any knowledge of it. Besides, there were Hindoos as well as Mussulmen among the mutineers, who could not be suspected of any affection for the family of Tippoo. As little reason was there for another suspicion that was formed, of its being a general plan of the Mohammedan .princes of the Deckan for the expulsion of the English. There were only two of these princes, the Nizâm and the Nabob of Arcot, neither of whom could have done it without the knowledge of the English, and to whom the slightest suspicion of such a plot did not attach. The true cause was the alarm given to the religious feelings of the men by some silly and injudicious military regula

tions.

There have always been in the British army, more perhaps than in any other, a sort of officers in whose eyes the appearance of their men on parade seems to be of more consequence than their efficiency in the field; and who, therefore, attach wonderful importance to the minutiae of dress and accoutrements. Of this class was Sir John Cradock, who now commanded the Madras army. In his anxiety to assimilate the appearance of the

native to the European troops, he forbade the Sepoys to appear on parade with earrings or with coloured marks on their foreheads indicative of caste, and he ordered them to trim their beards and mustachios after a uniform model. They were also ordered to wear a particular kind of undress jacket, leathern stocks, and use a turnscrew somewhat like a cross in shape. These innovations made the men conceive that it was the intention of the government to make them gradually assume the dress, and eventually the religion of the Europeans; and their suspicions seemed converted into certainty when a new kind of turban, approaching in their eyes to the form of the hat, was decided on as being lighter, and more convenient; for in India the hat and its wearer are identified, and to wear a hat is to be a Christian. The men remonstrated firmly, though respectfully, against the use of the new turban ; but the general and the governor, Lord William Bentinck, were equally determined on its adoption, and the result was the massacre at Vellore. There were also symptoms of mutiny in the troops at Hyderabad and other places, but they were checked by the prudence of the commanding officer.

Another marked trait of the English character, and which, if ever we lose our Indian empire, will be one of the chief causes of the calamity, was strongly revealed on this occasion. It is that haughtiness, that supercilious contempt for the people of other countries, which even on the continent of Europe makes us so generally disliked, though held in respect. None of the officers seemed to have endeavoured to gain the affections of their men, or to have taken the trouble of acquiring a sufficient knowledge of their language to be able to communicate readily with them. The consequence was, that out of the whole 1500 Sepoys at Vellore only one man, a private named Mustafa Beg, proved faithful. He came to Col. Forbes, who commanded his regiment, on the 27th June, and informed him of the plot; but that indolent and supercilious officer referred the matter to a committee of native officers, who of course reported that Mustafa Beg was unworthy of credit, and he was placed under arrest.

Tippoo's family were removed to Bengal, and their allowance was diminished. Lord W. Bentinck and Sir J. Cradock were both recalled, as their blind spirit of military absolutism was justly regarded as the main cause of the disaster.

The whigs had now at length, on the death of Mr. Pitt, come into power, and no one who knows them will suppose that they would let so valuable a piece of patronage as the government of India go out of their hands. While young in office they, through their president of the Board of Control, Lord Minto, had consented to the appointment of Sir G. Barlow; but they soon found means to withdraw their consent, and nominated the Earl of Lauderdale to the office. To this appointment the Directors, on account of that nobleman's wellknown republican and free-trade views, objected in the strongest terms; and the matter was compromised by conferring the vacant dignity on Lord Minto himself, who, as Sir Gilbert Elliot, had been active in the proceedings against Warren Hastings and Sir Elijah Impey, and possessed a competent knowledge of Indian affairs. Sir G. Barlow was appointed to succeed Lord W. Bentinck at Madras.

A. D. 1807-9.

Lord Minto reached Calcutta in the end of July, 1807. The whigs were then out of power, but the tories who had succeeded them were generous enough not to recall him. He pursued as much as he was able the pacific policy of his immediate predecessors; but he soon had proof that such a course was not then practicable in India. It was found that nothing but force would keep the turbulent chiefs of Bundelcund in order; and troops under Col. Martindell were engaged for a space of five years in bringing them to obedience. The ablest of these chiefs was an adventurer named Gopal Sing; and it was found expedient to terminate the contest with him by a grant of a jagheer of eighteen villages. The most important event of this contest was the reduction of the hill-fort of Kalinjer, hitherto deemed impregnable. It surrendered to Col. Martindell in Feb. 1812.

The emperor Napoleon was now at the summit of power in Europe. He had for many years had vague ideas floating in his mind of transporting a French army to India and overturning the AngloIndian empire. If we may credit himself, he had when in Egypt formed the wild scheme of sending, when he should have made that country a province of France, an army of 60,000 men mounted on horses, camels, and dromedaries, across the deserts of Arabia, and those on the Persian gulf, to the banks of the Indus. Another no less wild project was that of sending a force of 16,000 men by sea, conveyed by thirty-two ships of the line. But Egypt had been lost, and Nelson had annihilated the navy of France at Trafalgar. The French emperor had lately, however, sent to the court of Persia a splendid embassy under Gen. Gardanne (Dec. 1807), and though the object of hostility really was Russia, with which both were at war, the British authorities in India fancied they saw a French invasion looming in the distance, and resolved to prevent its approach if possible by engaging the intervening powers in its interests. These were the Sikhs of the Punjâb, the Afghâns, and the Persians.

After the death of Ahmed Shah Dûranee, the Sikhs being left to themselves, had organized a political confederacy in the Punjab. Their districts, named Misals, were twelve in number; each had a principal sirdar, or chief, who was to lead in war, and arbitrate in peace. Such a federation, however, could not long stand against individual talent and ambition. Charat Sing, the chief of one of the smallest Misals, began to encroach on his neighbours; his son Maha Sing made still further progress to dominion; and his grandson, Runjeet Sing, succeeded in bringing under his authority nearly all the chiefs west of the Sutlej. The Sikh rajahs to the east of that river had proffered their submission to the British; but as, though it was accepted, no promise was made to protect them, Runjeet Sing thought he might venture to reduce them. In Oct. 1806 he crossed the Sutlej, and dictated terms of peace to two contending rajahs; and finding that the British took no notice he returned in the following year. The chiefs, now alarmed, applied to the resident at Delhi for protection; but before an answer could arrive from Calcutta, Runjeet had repassed the river. As Lord Minto was apprehensive of a French invasion, he resolved to conciliate the Sikh if possible; and in Sept. 1808 Mr. (after

153

wards Sir Charles) Metcalf, appeared as the British envoy in his camp. He was received very courteously, but was told that the Jumna must be the boundary between the two states; and to prove that he was in earnest, Runjeet crossed the Sutlej, seized two forts, and exacted tribute. But unfortunately for his pretensions, the panic of a French invasion had ceased; and he was told that he should hold nothing beyond the Sutlej but some districts which he had reduced before the time of the submission of the chiefs; and as Col. Ochterlony had advanced with troops to Lûdiana near that river, and Gen. St. Leger was preparing to follow with more, he gave up his hopes of conquest, and signed (April 25, 1809) a treaty of perpetual friendship with the British government.

Ahmed Shah, the Afghân, had been succeeded by his son Timoor, whose reign was long and peaceful. On his death his numerous sons contended for the throne. Zemân, though not the eldest, with the aid of his younger brother, Shûjahul-mulk, succeeded in retaining the throne for about seven years; but having put to death the head of the Barukzye clan, which had aided powerfully in his elevation, Futeh Khân, the son of that chief, joined Zemân's brother Mahmûd, and Zemân being taken and blinded, Mahmûd mounted the throne. This prince being of an indolent temper, and too partial to his Persian guards, the Afghans rose against him and placed his brother Shûjah at their head. Mahmûd was defeated and taken, but not blinded, a piece of humanity which Shujah afterwards found reason to regret. After Shûjah had reigned about five years, Mahmûd escaped from prison, and joined his son Camran who was in arms in the west; they were also joined by the Barukzye chief, but Shah Shûjah gave them a defeat. Instead, however, of following up his victory, he returned to celebrate it at Peshawar.

It was at this time that a British embassy reached Peshawar (Mar. 15). It was headed by Mr. Mountstuart Elphinstone; and as matters were not then arranged with Runjeet Sing, it had come through the Sandy Desert and Mooltân. It was received with great courtesy, but nothing of any importance was effected. The news of Napoleon's invasion of Spain had ended all fears for India; and the money which Shah Shûjah asked for, and which the envoy advised to give, and which might have averted that prince's future calamities, was refused.

In order to counteract the French influence at the court of Persia, the British ministry resolved to send Sir Harford Jones, late resident at Bagdad, thither as ambassador, and meantime Lord Minto had decided on sending Col. Malcolm who had already been there in the time of Lord Wellesley. As the former did not reach Bombay till April, 1809, his Indian rival had already proceeded to Busheer; but finding that the Persian court still leaned to France, in the hope of getting her mediation with Russia, he returned to Calcutta, and on his report Lord Minto resolved to commence hostilities in the Persian gulf. In the mean time Sir Harford Jones had arrived at Busheer; and as the Persian monarch now saw the folly of trusting to France, he was allowed to proceed to Tehrân the capital; the French embassy quitted that city the day before he entered it (Feb. 14, 1809). Lord Minto denying the right of the