Hislop, Sir John Malcolm, Generals Doveton, Smith, Floyer, and Pritzler, held important commands.

In the course of October, or early in November, all the different divisions of the grand army had arrived at the different positions assigned them on the Nerbuddah, and they were preparing to continue their movements, and to advance into Malwa, for the purpose of driving the Pindarees out of that country. But this plan was suddenly interrupted by the intelligence which reached Sir Thomas Hislop, of the Peshwa, or prince of Poonah, an ally and dependent of the British, having risen in arms against their authority.

This prince was one of those with whom the British had concluded a subsidiary alliance, by which they agreed to furnish a military force, for the support of the sovereign's authority, receiving in return a subsidy in money, or a territorial cession, and it was further provided that no political negociation should be carried on with any foreign power, except in concert with the British Government, to whose arbitration all claims and disputes of every sort were to be submitted. To this state of degrading dependence, which left them the mere shadow of sovereign authority, the princes of India were naturally averse, and it was generally from necessity that they submitted to any foreign interference in their internal concerns. Bajee Rao, the prince of Poonah, had been long impatient of the British yoke; but each new effort that he made to emancipate himself only brought him under more severe, arbitrary, and degrading stipulations; so that, though he was naturally a weak prince, and wavering in his counsel, he at last resolved on hostility. The Company's troops being mostly engaged in the north against the Pindarees, and only one brigade left at Poonah, the occasion was deemed

favourable for striking a decisive blow; and during the whole of October, Bajee Rao, the prince, continued to recruit his armies from all quarters; so that towards the end of the month, there was an immense accumulation of Mahratta troops at Poonah, and the situation of the Company's brigade, surrounded on every side, became still more alarming. Mr Elphinstone, the British resident at the court of Poonah, though fully aware of the Peshwa's hostile views, was unwilling to be the first to commence hostilities. He had remonstrated to no purpose, against such a concentration of troops in the capital, and on the 21st October, every thing bore such a menacing appearance, that the resident resolved to prepare for the worst, by moving the brigade from the position which it usually occupied, to one more advantageous at the village of Kirkee, where it was protected by the Moola river in the rear and on the left, and was support. ed on the right flank by the village. After the movement of the brigade to this position, every day produced more decisive symptoms of approaching hostilities. An officer on his way to Bombay, was attacked and plundered, and escaped with difficulty, after being severely wounded. Early in the month of October, Brigadier-General Smith had proceeded northwards according to the general plan of the campaign, and by his absence the brigade at Poonah was deprived of the support which it derived from the troops which were usually stationed at Seroor, about 30 miles to the northwest. On learn. ing, however, the situation of affairs at Poonah, a light battalion was ordered back to Seroor, and towards the end of October, the Brigadier-General himself concentrated his force on the Godaveree. He had arranged with Mr Elphinstone, that if he did not hear daily from Poonah, he would con

sider the communication cut off, and would hasten immediately to his as sistance.

The resident, seeing no possibility of avoiding hostilities, sent orders to the light battalion at Seroor, together with a corps of 1000 auxiliary force, to move towards Poonah. The light battalion left Seroor on the 5th November, and Bajee Rao the Peshwa, on hearing intelligence of its approach, immediately put his army in motion, and took up a position between the residency, and the brigade at Kirkee, with the intention of cutting off the communication between. Mr Elphin stone remonstrating against this hos tile movement, the Peshwa assigned as his reason the march of the troops from Seroor to Poonah, and demanded that all the Europeans who had lately arrived at his capital, should be sent back to Bombay; that the brigade should be reduced to its usual strength, and be cantoned at such a place as the Peshwa should select; and finally, a categorical answer was required to these demands. Mr Elphinstone disputed the right of the Peshwa to make these demands, and added, that if his Highness joined his army he would proceed to his brigade, and that if his troops advanced to the brigade, they would be attacked. After receiving this message, the Peshwa mounted his horse and joined his army, and Mr Elphinstone immediately left the residency which was attacked and plundered; and he had some difficulty in joining the brigade by the bridge of Kirkee.

The fighting commenced a few minutes after, chiefly by a distant cannonade. Immense bodies of the enemy's horse appeared in front of the British line, which they attempted to out-flank, and having partly succeded in this manœuvre, they made a spirited charge against the left of the line; but were driven back after a short con

test. The British troops charging in their turn, and too eager in the pur suit, were thrown into some confusion, when they were attacked by the enemy's horse, which had got round both their flanks. The battle was restored by the advance of a body of European troops, under Colonel Burr, and by the fire of the two guns on the left, which were served with great effect. This was the only instance in which the enemy attempted to come to close quarters. At the approach of night the troops retired to Kirkee, and were no further molested, having had 18 killed and 57 wounded; while the loss of the enemy amounted to about 500. This action was fought on the 5th of November.

On the following day, the British were joined by the light battalion and the irregular horse from Seroor, and on the 13th November, Brigadier-General Smith arrived at Poonah, having been harassed in his march by large bodies of the Mahratta horse. Next day, it was resolved to attack the ene my's camp, which was situated on the opposite side of the Moola-Moola river. The river was crossed after some opposition, and next morning, before day-break, the attack was commenced, as agreed on; but the camp was found deserted, the enemy having quietly re tired in the night. General Smith immediately commenced an unremitting. pursuit of the Peshwa, who was pursued from place to place by the dif ferent corps of the British army, and was finally obliged to surrender. He was deposed from his throne, a residence in a particular city was pointed out to him, and he was allowed a pension of 100,000l. per annum for his support. His dominions were taken under the administration of the British.

Appo Saheb, the Rajah of Nagpoor, who was held in the same degrading thraldom by the British, pursued a simi

larcourse, which terminated in like man ner in his complete overthrow. It was about the middle of November that the British resident first became suspicious of his intentions, and on the 24th he received a note from his minister, informing him, that a Khilat, or dress of honour, had arrived for the Rajah from Poonah, and that his highness intended next day to go in state to his camp, in order to be formally invested with it, and to assume the Juree Putka, or golden streamer, the emblem of high command in the Mahratta armies, which, with the title of general, had been conferred on him by the Peshwa. Mr Jenkins was invited to assist at the ceremony; which he declined, remonstrating at the same time against the Rajah's acceptance of any titles from a power at open war with the British. Notwithstanding this remonstrance, the Rajah was for mally invested with the Khilat and other insignia, and his troops immediately took such threatening positions that it was found necessary to make every preparation against any sudden attack.

The residence is separated from the city of Nagpoor by a small ridge of high ground, with two hills at its extremities, the one higher, but smaller than the other. On this elevation, the British awaited the attack of the enemy, which commenced at sun-set of the 26th November by the fire of the Arab infantry. The artillery then opened on the British position, from which the fire was returned, though not with equal effect; the men being much exposed, and galled besides by a welldirected fire from the Arab infantry, posted under cover of the huts and houses of a village at the foot of the hill. The firing continued with little intermission till two o'clock in the morning, by which time the small body of troops encamped at the residency had suffered severely, and on the

smaller hill particularly, had to sus tain some serious assaults, which they had repulsed with great difficulty.

The British troops were greatly discouraged by the issue of this day's fighting. They had to contend against fearful odds, and if the attack was renewed, as they had every reason to expect, with fresh troops, it was manifest, however bravely they might defend their post, that in the end they must be overpowered. The precious interval of the night was duly improved to strengthen their defences, and by day-break the firing recommenced with greater fury then ever; additional guns having been brought to bear on their position during the night. The enemy fought too with increased confidence; the Arabs were especially conspicuous for their courage, and to them was committed the assault of the smaller hill. The accidental ex. plosion of a tumbril having occasioned some confusion, they seized the critical moment, and rushing forward with loud cries, stormed the hill, putting all the wounded to the sword. The gun which they found in the position, with two others which they brought up, were immediately turned on the British with great effect. The Arabs too, flushed with this signal success, were seen advancing in great numbers along the ridge, as if with the design of making a general attack, while the enemy on the plain below assumed a more menacing attitude. An alarm was at the same time spread among the followers and families of sepoys, whose lines were to the west of the smaller hill, now occupied by the Arabs, and the shrieks of the women and children contributed not a little to damp the ardour of the native troops. At this critical moment a most brilliant and successful charge was made by Captain Fitzgerald on a large body of the enemy's horse. He had kept himself in reserve within the

residency grounds, while the enemy, accumulating round him on all sides, had brought ten light guns to bear upon his line. In this extremity he resolved to make a last and desperate effort to drive them back; and advancing across a hollow with a small party of horse, the enemy retired, leaving two guns in his possession; this small party of the British were now on the point of being surrounded, when it was joined by the remainder of the column of cavalry, who halting at the abandoned guns, turned them against the enemy with great effect, and effectually kept his horse in check. This success greatly encouraged the Company's troops, in proportion as it damped the courage of the assailants. The firing now recommenced from the larger hill with loud shouts, and the explosion of a tumbril on the smaller hill having caused some confusion among the Arabs, a party from the larger hill rushed forward, and drove them back with the loss of three guns. The battle was now entirely restored, and the enemy's troops were finally driven back at all points, from the the hills as well as from all the surrounding houses and villages in the plains below.

This trying contest was terminated about noon on the 27th, after eighteen hours of unintermitted fatigue and anxiety. The Company's troops were greatly over-matched in point of numbere. They did not amount to more than 1400 fighting men, of whom one fourth were either killed or wounded; while the Rajah, it is said, had upwards of 10,000 infantry in the field, and at least an equal number of horse, though his chief reliance was placed on a body of between 3 and 4000 Arabs, who fought with great bravery. It is scarcely credible, however, that with numbers so immensely disproportion ate, the battle could have been brought to a successful issue.

Troops immediately poured into Nagpoor from every quarter, and the Rajah, dispirited by the ill success of his first attack, was disposed to accept almost any terms. Those proposed to him were sufficiently humiliating: That he should give up all his artillery, leaving it to the British to restore what they thought proper; that he should disband the Arabs and other mercenary troops: and that he should come over himself as an hostage for the performance of these conditions, unattended, to the British camp. He was allowed to deliberate on this offer till next morning at nine o'clock; which time being expired, the army, under General Doveton, advanced in order of battle to the attack. The fears of the Rajah now prevailed, and mounting his horse, he rode off with his ministers, and a few other attendants, straight to the presidency, where he delivered himself up to Mr Jenkins.

General Doveton halted on receiv. ing this information, and some time elapsed before the arrangements were agreed on for the surrender of the artillery. The minister of the Rajah at length returned from the army, and reported that every thing was in readiness for fulfilling the terms, and General Doveton was requested to dispatch a party to take possession of the abandoned guns. The general, on examining the messengers, suspected that some deception was intended, and in place of sending a detachment, advanced with his whole army. The moment the troops debouched from behind some trees, a heavy fire was opened upon them; they advanced in the face of this cannonade, and finally carried all the enemy's batteries, where they found 75 guns, mortars, and howitzers, of different descriptions. The camp was also taken, with 40 elephants belonging to the Rajah, and all his camp equipage. The Arab infantry

under the command of Meer Bhut Rhao, fled into the city, and occupied the fort, a place of considerable strength, containing the Rajah's palace, and other strong build. ings. It was in vain that the British endeavoured to persuade these troops to evacuate the fort, and to retire. They expressed their determination to defend themselves, and it became necessary to besiege them in form. In three days a breach was made which was considered to be practicable, and on the morning of the 24th December an assault was attempted. The gate, however, on which the assault was made, was found to be completely commanded by the inner walls, and the storming parties, after in vain endeavouring to penetrate farther, or to establish themselves, were at length recalled, after losing 90 killed, and 179 wounded. General Doveton now saw that it would be necessary to procure a more formidable train, in order to prosecute the siege to an issue. The Arabs, in the mean time, offered to surrender, on condition that they should be allowed to march out with their families, baggage, private property, and arms, which being agreed to, they evacuated the fort on the 30th December; and thus were brought to a close the military operations in this quarter.

In the mean time, the different divisions of the general army continued, according to the plan proposed, to advance against the Pindarees, and by the end of November they had completely driven them out of their haunts in Malwa. It had been the professed intention of the Anglo-Indian government to force the two independent chiefs, Scindia and Holkar, into an acquiescence with its views in regard to the Pindarees, and also the Patans, a species of infantry, better appointed, and more regularly disciplined than the Pindarees, but asso

ciated on the saine unlawful principle of indiscriminate plunder. Scindia was compelled to temporize, and to accede to the British propositions. Holkar, feeling strongly the disgrace of yielding to foreign threats, resolved to try the fortune of war, and as the British armies advanced for the purpose of attacking and circumventing the Pindarees, he gradually discovered his hostile dispositions. The same spirit was displayed by Scindia, who executed most reluctantly the treaty which had been forced upon him, while the Ghoorkas of Nepaul were collecting their forces, and were known to be in close communication with the other disaffected sovereigns. The growing ascendancy of the British, and the steadiness with which they pursued their schemes of universal dominion in India, had excited, when it was too late, the alarm of the native powers, and for their own security they had entered into a combination against these foreign intruders, whom they regarded as the common enemies of Indian independence. The boldness and energy of the British power, and that unity which pervaded all their movements, however extensive and complicated, enabled them to disconcert all these secret plots, and to break the confederacy which was forming against them, before it had assumed consistency and strength. The success at Nagpoor confounded all the calculations of their enemies, and revived the illusion of their invincible superiority. Holkar, however, shewed no disposition to recede, and the temper of his troops was decidedly hostile. They were eager to rally round the chief of the Mahratta nation, and to resist the farther extension of the British power.

In the mean time, while the British armies were taking such positions as were calculated to intercept the retreat of the Pindarees, and to keep the hos