Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

E

C

1707

THE EMPIRE OF THE MOGULS

759

provoked a reaction against his Mahomedan empire in his own lifetime, and the Hindoo chieftain Sivaji founded a powerful Hindco state amongst the Mahrattas of the highlands of the western Deccan. When Au

[graphic]

rungzebe died, in 1707,
his vast empire fell to
pieces. His lieutenants
were known as Subah-
dars, or viceroys, under
whom were Nawabs or
governors of smaller
districts. Both Subah-
dars and Nawabs, and
even Hindoo Rajahs,
who had hitherto been
allowed by the Great
Mogul to rule in de-
pendence on himself
over territories which
their ancestors had
governed as sove-
reigns, now raised them-
selves to practical sove-
reignty. Yet they con-
tinued to acknowledge
nominally their de-
pendence on the feeble
successors of Aurung-
zebe at Delhi, just as
a king of Prussia or an
elector of Bavaria no-
minally acknowledged
the supremacy of the
Emperor. Each ruler
quarrelled and fought

with his neighbour, and

Uniform of Militia, 1759.

the Mahratta armies gained post after post, and the Mahratta horsemen plundered and devastated far and wide.

21. The Mahratta Confederacy. 1707-1744. The Mahratta power seemed likely to become predominant in the whole of India, when it was threatened with disintegration in consequence of the decadence of the House of Sivaji, as marked as the decadence of

the Moguls. After an interval of anarchy, power was grasped by an official known as the Peishwah, who ruled at Poonah, and whothough a descendant of Sivaji was always counted as the nominal sovereign-practically controlled the forces of what now became the confederacy of the Mahratta chieftains. Whether the Mahratta

Uniform of a Light Dragoon, about 1760.

power would, under any circumstances, have mastered the whole of India, it is impossible to say. It was checked by the existence of a French settlement at Pondicherry and of an English settlement at Madras. Both these places were on the coast of the Carnatic, and consequently far removed from the centre of the Mahratta power. There were still Mahomedan rulers in that part of India who were the enemies of the Mahrattas, and whose disputes amongst who might strengthen Dupleix, the French perceive this, and was

[graphic]

themselves offered advantages to a European himself by taking part in their quarrels. governor of Pondicherry, was the first to also the first to enlist native soldiers, who came to be known in England as sepoys, and to drill them to fight after the European fashion.

22. La Bourdonnais and Dupleix. 1744-1750.-When war was declared between France and England in 1744, the French force in the East was superior to the English; but the French, unfortunately for them, had two commanders, La Bourdonnais, governor of the Isle of France-now known as the Mauritiusand Dupleix, governor of Pondicherry. In 1746 La Bourdonnais captured Madras, but Dupleix hampered his move

1748-1751

CLIVE

761

In

ments and drove him to return to France, where the Government, instead of giving him the honour due to him, threw him into prison. In 1748 Dupleix, who was as able as he was unscrupulous, successfully defended Pondicherry against an attack from the British, who were now supported by the arrival of a fleet. 1748 the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle compelled him to surrender Madras; but it did not compel him to refrain from pushing his fortune further. The Subahdar of the Deccan, the Nizam-ul-Mulk (whose successors are known by the title of Nizam, which they have derived from him), died in 1748, and left rival claimants to his power. Dupleix sent French sepoys to support one of the claimants, whilst the English sent English sepoys to support the other. The French candidate defeated his rival, and was installed as Nizam, whilst Dupleix was himself appointed governor of the Carnatic, from the river Kistna to Cape Comorin, by his own puppet the new Nizam. The native Nawab of the Carnatic was subordinated to him. The English settlement at Madras seemed to be incapable of offering further resistance to the French.

23. Dupleix and Clive. 1751-1754.-The English were still traders, not warriors, but amongst the clerks in Madras was a young man of twenty-five, Robert Clive. He early showed his undaunted bravery. Having accused an officer of cheating at cards, he was challenged to a duel. His antagonist walked up to him, held his pistol to his head, and bade him withdraw the accusation. "Fire!" cried Clive. "I said you cheated, and I say so still, and I will never pay you." The officer threw down his pistol, saying that Clive was mad. In 1751, when Dupleix, paying no attention to the treaty of peace which had been signed in Europe between England and France, threatened Madras, Clive, having volunteered as a soldier, was sent to seize Arcot, the capital of the Nawab of the Carnatic, who was dependent on Dupleix. Clive carried with him a force of sepoys, and as he ap proached Arcot continued his march, though a violent thunderstorm was raging. The garrison of Arcot was so astonished at his fearlessness in facing the storm that they fled in a panic, leaving the place in his hands. Shortly, however, a vast force of the native allies of France laid siege to Arcot, and Clive and his men were all but starved. So complete was the ascendency which Clive had gained over his sepoys that when they discovered that all the provisions except a little rice had been exhausted they begged that he and the few Englishmen with him would take the rice. As for themselves, they would be content with the water in which the rice

III.

3 D

had been boiled. Before the siege, Clive had sent to Morari Rao, a Mahratta chief, for aid. The Mahratta held aloof till he heard of the brave defence of Arcot. "I never thought till now," he said, "that the English could fight; since they can, I will help them." Morari Rao came to Clive's help, and Clive gained one success after another. So fearless was he that he became known amongst the natives as Sabat Jung (the daring in war). In 1753 he returned to England, having established English supremacy in south-eastern India. In 1754 Dupleix went back to France, only to suffer the same ill-treatment which had been the lot of Le Bourdonnais.

24. The Black Hole of Calcutta. 1756.-Clive was the servant of a trading company, and his successes were not won like those of Wolfe, a few years later, by the support of the British Government and the valour of a British army. In 1755, when a war with France was imminent, the East India Company sent him out as the governor of Fort St. David, near Madras. When he arrived in 1756 he heard bad news from Calcutta. Surajah Dowlah, the Subahdar of Bengal, knowing that the English merchants were rich, seized all their property and thrust 145 Englishmen and one Englishwoman into a room measuring only eighteen feet by fourIn a space so small, many would have been suffocated even in an English climate. Under the scorching Indian sun few could expect to live. The prisoners called for water, and, though some was brought, the skins which contained it were too large to pass through the bars of the window. The prisoners struggled madly for the smallest drop, trampling one another down to reach it. All through the day, and through the night which followed, men were dying in agony. When morning came the doors were thrown open, and of the 146 who entered, only twenty-three staggered out alive.

teen.

25. The Battle of Plassey. 1757.-Clive hastened to Bengal to avenge this outrage. He had now with him a regiment in the king's service, and his whole army consisted of 900 Europeans and 1,500 sepoys. On June 23, 1757, he won a great victory at Plassey over 50,000 men of Surajah Dowlah's army. Clive mingled treachery with force, and had won over Surajah Dowlah's chief officer, Meer Jaffier, to promise to desert his master. Meer Jaffier, however, doubting on which side victory would fall, held back from the fulfilment of his promise till Clive's men had all but won the victory. Meer Jaffier was installed as Subahdar of Bengal, though, in consequence of his virtual dependence on the Company, he and his

[ocr errors]

1757

THE RESULTS OF PLASSEY

763

successors are usually known by the inferior title of Nawab. In return for his promotion he was compelled to pay large sums of money to those who raised him to power. Clive received as his

[graphic]

The third Eddystone Lighthouse; built by Smeaton in 1759.

share more than 200,000l., besides a grant of land worth 27,000l. a year. Long afterwards, when he was called in question for his part in despoiling Meer Jaffier, he told how he had walked through the treasure-house of the Subahdar at Moorshedabad, where gold

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »