XXI.] DEATH OF NANA FURNUVESE. 131 Lord Wellesley Directors rose to fever heat. But the Chairs assured Lord Castlereagh that they were not unmindful of his eminent services, and were alive to the importance of retaining them for another year. A despatch was sent out, officially asked to remain commending his zeal and ability, and requesting him to postpone his departure to January, 1804. Little did they dream of the momentous results of this request, and of the great revolution to which it would lead, in the irretrievable prostration of the Mahratta powers, to whose history we now return. 12 months, 1803. CHAPTER XXI. LORD WELLESLEY'S ADMINISTRATION-MAHRATTA AFFAIRS, Death of Nana Furnuvese, 1800 1800-1803. The destruction of Tippoo's power, and the complete ascendency established at Hyderabad, left the Company with no antagonist but the Mahrattas, and the two rival powers now stood front to front. It was the firm conviction of Lord Wellesley that the peace and tranquillity of India could be secured only by the extension of British supremacy over all its princes, by means of defensive and subsidiary alliances, which recognized the British Government as the arbiter in every dispute. But nothing could be more unpalatable to the Mahrattas chiefs than this policy. The peace and tranquillity of India implied the termination of that system of plunder and aggression which was the foundation and element of their power. They believed, and not without reason, that these subsidiary alliances would extinguish their independence, and deprive them of the respect of their subjects. The offer of such an alliance, which was made in the first instance to the Peshwa, in July, 1799, was therefore declined, 132 CONFUSION AT POONA. [CHAF under the prudent advice of Nana Furnuvese. In March, 1800, that great statesman closed his long and chequered career. For more than a quarter of a century he had been the mainspring of every movement in the Mahratta empire. By the vigour of his character and the wisdom of his councils, he had controlled the disorders of the times, and he wanted only the addition of personal courage to render him supreme. He was distinguished by the rare, and among the Mahrattas of that age, the incredible qualities of humanity, veracity, and honesty of purpose. While he admired the English for their sincerity and their energy, he had a patriotic jealousy of the increase of their power, which it was his constant endeavour to restrain. "With him,” wrote Colonel Palmer, the Resident, "has departed all the wisdom and moderation of the Mahratta government." He had been the only check on the growing ascendency of Sindia at Poona, who was left by his death without a rival and without control, and now ventured so far to indulge his spirit of domination, as on one occasion, when he feared that Bajee Rao meditated an escape, to surround his palace and place him temporarily under restraint. It was not, therefore, without secret delight that the Peshwa contemplated the rising power of Jeswunt Rao Holkar, by whose assistance he hoped to free himself from the tyranny of Sindia. In proportion as this hope increased, his inclination towards the alternative of a British alliance, which Lord Wellesley continued to press on him with great importunity, was slackened. The Holkar family. To elucidate the rise of this celebrated chief, who played an important part in the transactions of the next five years, it is necessary to bring up the history of the Holkar family. Mulhar Rao Holkar, who raised himself from the condition of a shepherd to the dignity of a prince, died at the age of seventy-six, after a brilliant career of forty years. His only son died soon after the battle of Paniput, leaving his widow Aylah-bye, with a son and a daughter. The son died in 1766, and his widow, a woman of extraordinary powers, steadfastly resisted all the entreaties of the chiefs to adopt a XXI.] VIRTUES OF AYLAH-BYE, 133 son and retire into obscurity, and resolved to undertake the government of the state herself, in the capacity of regent. With singular discernment she selected Tokajee Holkar, a chief of the same tribe as Mulhar Rao, though not of his kindred, to take the command of the army. It was scarcely to be expected that in a country like India, and in a period of unexampled turmoil, an arrangement which placed the military power in the hands of a great soldier, while the civil government was administered by a female, would be of long continuance. But the gratitude and moderation of Tokajee, and the commanding genius of the Bye combined to perpetuate it for thirty years. He never failed in the homage due to her position, and was never known to encroach on her authority. She sat daily in open durbar, and gave public audiences without a veil, and dispensed justice in person to all suitors. She laid herself out to promote the prosperity of the country by the encouragement of trade and agriculture. She acquired the respect of foreign princes by the weight of her character, and in an age of extreme violence succeeded in maintaining the security of her own dominions. She raised Indore from a mere village to the rank of a noble capital. Like all wealthy Hindoo females, she fell under the dominion of the priesthood, and expended large sums on religious edifices and establishments in every part of India, from Ramisseram to Hurdwar. Relays of porters were daily employed at her expense in conveying the water of the Ganges to the sacred shrines in the Deccan, however remote, and she was rewarded by the brahmins with the title of an avatar, or incarnation of the deity. Whatever opinion may be formed of these acts of superstitious devotion, she was in other respects the purest and most exemplary of rulers, and added one more name to the roll of those illustrious females who have adorned the native history of India with their genius and virtues. Death of Aylah bye and Tokajee, 1795-97. Aylah-bye died in 1795, and Tokajee in 1797, and the reign of anarchy began, not to close but in the entire submission of the state to British 134 RISE OF JESWUNT RAO HOLKAR. CHAP. authority, twenty years later. Tokajee left two sons by his wife, Kashee Rao and Mulhar Rao, and two by a concubine, Jeswunt Rao and Wittoojee. Kashee Rao was weak in mind and deformed in body, and his brother Mulhar Rao assumed the command of the army, and the government of the state. Kashee Rao repaired to Sindia at Poona, and he espoused his cause, and made a treacherous attack on the army of Mulhar Rao, who fell in the engagement. The house of Holkar, which had long been the rival of Sindia, was thus enfeebled and brought into complete subordination to his power, and another step was gained in his ambitious endeavours to obtain the universal control of the Mahratta commonwealth. Jeswunt Rao, who had taken part with Mulhar Rao, fled from the field of battle to Nagpore, but the raja, anxious to conciliate Sindia, placed him in confinement. He contrived, however, to make his escape, and sought refuge at the court of Anund Rao, the chief of the ancient principality of Dhar, to whom he was enabled to afford material assistance in coercing some of his refractory subjects. The enmity of Sindia still pursued him, and the raja was constrained to discard him, but, to compensate for this breach of Rajpoot hospitality, bestowed on him a parting gift of 10,000 rupees. He quitted Dhar with seven mounted followers, and about a hundred and twenty ragged, half-armed infantry, with the resolution to trust his future fortunes to his sword. Fully aware of the strong prejudice which existed against him on account of his illegitimacy, he announced himself as the champion and minister of his nephew, Khundeh Rao, the youthful son of Mulhar Rao, and called upon all the adherents of the house of Holkar to rally round him, and resist the encroachments of Sindia. The freebooters, who swarmed in Central India, Bheels and Pindarees, Afghans and Mahrattas, hastened to join his standard, and thus commenced the career of this predatory chieftain. Soon after, he was joined by Ameer Khan, a Rohilla adventurer, then about thirty-two years of age, who had just taken service Rise of Jeswunt Rao Holkar, 1795. XXI.] HOLKAR DEFEATS SINDIA. 135 with the Chief of Bhopal, but quitted it in 1798 with a body of free lances to traverse the country, and levy contributions on his own account. For eighteen months the combined forces of the two chiefs spread desolation through the districts on the Nerbudda, but were obliged to separate when they were completely exhausted. Ameer Khan proceeded eastward to the opulent city of Sagor, belonging to the Peshwa, where he subjected the inhabitants to every species of outrage, and acquired incredible booty. Jeswunt Rao entered the province of Malwa, which had enjoyed repose and prosperity for thirty years, and dispersed his predatory bands in every direction, and the country was half ruined before Sindia could take measures to protect it. That chief was now obliged to quit Poona, where he had continued to reside for eight years, ever since his accession to the throne of his uncle, domineering over the unfortunate Peshwa, from whom he extorted the sum of forty-seven lacs of rupees on taking his departure. The notorious Sirjee Rao Ghatkay was left as his representative to maintain his authority with five battalions of foot, and 10,000 horse. Holkar defeats 1801. Nothing can give the mind a clearer idea of the Sindia's army, anarchy and misery which prevailed in Hindostan at this period than the ease with which Jeswunt Rao was able, by the allurement of plunder, to organise an army of 70,000 men within two years. With this force he laid waste the districts of Malwa, and then advanced against the capital, Oojein. To this city the widows of the deceased Mahdajee Sindia had fled with a large military force and their treasures, to avoid the violence of Dowlut Rao. Under the pretence of espousing their cause, Holkar contrived to lull them into security, and in the dead of night opened his guns on their encampment, and constrained them to fly for their lives, while he took possession of all their property, and of their valuable park of artillery. Two bodies of Sindia's troops were immediately pushed forward from the south to avenge this insult, and expel Jeswunt Rao. One of these armies, |