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RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE MAHRATTA POWER.

(Continued from page 358.)

JAGADEVA, Shahji, Sirja Khan, and Ranaulla Khan opposed him at the head of eighty thousand men; the troops of Dowlatabad sustained so severe a defeat, that their escape from total annihilation is attributed by native writers solely to the miraculous good fortune of Malik Amber, who caused the swoln and rapid current of the Bhima to separate whilst his army passed.

Shahji's party, now become the invaders, obtained a more effectual victory in the vicinity of Poona. Morar Jagadeva, in a moment of elation on the field of battle, vowed to give a weight of gold, equal to that of his elephant, in charity to the Brahmans; on making known his prodigious liberality to the chiefs around his canopy, doubts, forcibly illustrative of the state of the arts, were expressed on all sides respecting the feasibility of weighing so bulky an animal; to Shahji Raja it was an opportunity of evincing his superior readiness of discovering expedients, a qualification of vital importance where the irregularity of politics and the inorganization of military tactics render promptness of judgment and resolution absolutely requisite for success. Requesting the Muhammadan Khans to betake themselves to their ablutions, Shahji conducted the elephant on board a large boat lying close by his quarters, which, as a Hindu, he had chosen at the Prayag, or holy junction of two streams. Having marked ac*curately the water line, the elephant was disembarked, and the vessel was loaded with iron and stones, until it was again depressed to the mark of the animal. When brought separately to the scales, the weight of the stones and iron was of course that of the elephant. This little incident was quickly rumoured among the troops, and was extremely serviceable to Shabji's future prospects.

Incessantly occupied with forming or repelling schemes of aggression and conquest, the court of Dowlatabad had not for many years found leisure to arrange the internal affairs of the realm; at this period the districts were overrun with banditti, the very officers of government

being provided with fastnesses for the depositing of plunder, formed by the acclivities of the mountains and the luxuriance of the forests. Two Despandis, or district registrars of Poona were among the most notorious and refractory; although Malik Amber had considerably circumscribed their excursions by occupying a neighbouring fort. After his death, not content with extorting tribute from the districts confided to their care, they had plundered to the gates of Ahmednagar and other cities. Morar Jagadeva, the minister of the pageant Shah of Vijayapoor, granted about this time, Poona and other considerable districts in Jaghire to Shahji; his earliest step was to clear the country of its despoilers; their lurking places being traced, they were examined by torture; the mode adopted is said to have been by drawing needles through their nails. The use of torture for the punishment of crime or the purposes of government, does not indicate an unfeeling barbarity of disposition in the social body more strongly, than it does a misapprehension of the springs of human action which is almost that of total ignorance. It is scarcely necessary to warn the reader from being betrayed into an erroneous estimate of the justice of those who on such occasions preside over the rack, it is not that the peace of the subject, but that the property of the monarch may be secured; that the hard plunder of the peasantry may find its way to its legitimate depository, the royal treasuries. This process was continually going on; the extortions of the revenue officers were greatly facilitated by the state dues being taken in kind, and the influence the collector acquired from the armed attendants, of indispensable necessity present at the division of the crop. Thus circumstanced, it was to be expected that the cultivator would neutralize or repel as far as possible the injustice of his superiors by counterplots. The prince, how ever, was equally induced by experience as the subject, to contemplate the revenue officer as capable of peculation and oppression. Well aware that he must cer

tainly refund his opulence, the obstinacy with which he pursues his schemes of avarice, and sometimes retains under torture, treasures he can never hope for an opportunity of enjoying, are sufficient to create astonishment, even when proper allowance is made for the operation of revenge and other considerations. In general, the miserable culprits are, to use the language of an eastern judge," wrung as dry as a spunge."

As a future check to such marauders, Dawlatmangal was fortified by Shahji's Diwan. Jesao and the young Sivaji were also recovered, and Dadji Kondeva a village registrar of proved fidelity being appointed to the superintendence of his new acquisitions, was instructed to prepare a dwelling suitable to their rank, and particularly charged with the education of his son; but Shahji with apparent inconsistency would never see him or Jesao more. Whether prudence or resentment prevented his forgetting the en mity of Jadoo, or absence and another passion, or political inducements lead to this singular conduct, we have no means of judging, but we presently find him contracting marriage with another lady, a Mahratta.

The Prince of Vijayapoor had been a considerable time a mere pageant in the hands of an aristocracy. Morar Jagadeva had usurped the functions of royalty as prime minister, and Randulla Khan was in command of the forces; their ambition not satisfied at home had gained possession of the country to the vicinity of Bednore, and had made an incursion as far as Seringapatam. In 1638, a wider invasion of the Carnatic and Drauveda (Dravirs) was commenced; Shahji occupied the second military command. At the siege of Kanakagiri, Sambhaji, his eldest son, was struck by a musket-ball and died, leaving a widow and son.* Randullah Khan perceiving it necessary to return and uphold his interest at Shahji's court, was constituted the governor of the conquered provinces. This event totally changed his prospects, and opening to his ambition the means of the fullest gratification, no doubt reminded him of

See a register of the almost incredible early age at which Hindus occasionally become parents, in the account of the living Divinity dear Poona, in the Asiatic Researches.

the prophecy of Bhavani, which, with his father, he had perhaps frequently made the subject of derision. Here however we cannot but admire the extent of Maloji's arrangement, his knowledge of human nature evinced by his accurate valuation of moving principles and their bearings, his comprehension of the constitutional habit of the social body in which he was placed; who, on a platform in the village rice fields, planned the elevation of his family to the throne of an empire to be constructed.

Among the native powers the ability of a statesman is chiefly displayed in the measures he adopts for assuming or retaining an authority free from control. The instances of abortive attempts to establish independent chiefdoms are innumerable; Bhavani is either very frequently mistaken, or the rashness of her favorites prevents her good intentions. Not hurried by a weak anxiety to grasp an immediate benefit, the son of Maloji appears to have patiently conducted his design with a prospective wisdom, as comprehensive as it was ultimately successful; finding it necessary to remodel the revenue department, he seized the occasion to introduce a large body of Mahratta Brahmans to superintend the measure, and with them he familiarized his subjects to the use of the Mahratta terms for the officers and agents of government. Thus also he more easily provided a surplus revenue, the sinew of future rebellion.

Sultan Sekandar, the Padshah of Vijahapoor, died about this time. Morar Jagadeva, who had long exercised a controling influence over his master, was summoned to pay obeisance to the young princes, and was put to death before the throne, with scarcely time to perform the act of ablution required of the departing Musulman, and to tear from his head the sprig of gems, that dying a Fakir he might obtain the merits of voluntary poverty.* This effected, he was hewed in pieces.

Balapoor and Colar were during these events the stations of Shahji, his assist

For the water of ablution substitute extreme unction, and for fakir read monk, and we shall discover a very instructing and rather amusing doctrinal coincidence where we did not much expect it,

ance being solicited by a neighbouring twelve thousand horse, and organizing a

Raja against the chief of Chandaveri, a treaty was solemnly concluded, binding the Mahratta, when the fort was subdued, to deliver it and the annexed domains to his ally; Chandaveri was accordingly invested, and the Raja having fallen in battle, the fort was carried by storm. Very much wealth was found in it, and a conspicuous instance of Mahratta good faith was exhibited; nothing regarding the treaty, Shahji seized the fortress, and driving out the soldiery of his ally, placed a faithful garrison in it under the command of Ekoji his son by Tokabai his latter wife.

In the mean while Dadji Punt had regulated and cleared the country under his charge with diligence. The annals of those days affirm "that a thief or Decoit was not any where to be seen, and every instigator of tumult was destroyed." Villages began to spread into the wilds; the town of Shivapoor was settled and Dadji received a valuable token of approbation. Hitherto his reports of the conduct of Sivaji had been gratifying, but the youth apparently cherished with his mother an indignant resentment of his father's desertion; Dadji had given earnest attention to the treasury, the surplus collections of the Jaghire and much valuable property had been carefully stored against the day of demand, when Sivaji, now about sixteen years of age, began to display an activity of mind and courage which had they been more happily directed after the model of another state of moral principle in society, would not have degenerated into the audacity and cunning of a robber, for it has been well said, "that our character mainly originates and is formed by the circumstances in which we are placed."

Circumstanced as he was, the young man began to exercise himself in predatory excursions with a few vagabonds to the villages and surrounding country.

The ill report of these proceedings was not long concealed from his preceptor; Dadji overwhelmed with disappointment, it is said, destroyed himself; he had just before received an order from the Jaghiredhar to transmit the treasure to Vijayapoor. Whatever were the actual feelings of Sivaji, he appeared deeply to lament the fate of Dadji, but immediately secured the treasury and with that the services of

regular independent establishment he proceeded to rob like a monarch.

When information of the young man's conduct reached his father, far from expressing disapprobation or surprise he dispatched a Sunnud empowering him to take charge of the Jaghire.

The disturbances occasioned by such a numerous host subsisting for the most part on plunder speedily attracted the attention of the government, and it was imperiously demanded of Shahji that he should put a stop to the career of his son, he denied having any influence over the young man, with whom and his mother, he now pleaded, he had long since given up all connection. His exculpation however gained no belief, and the court began to perceive that the toils already encircled them ; for it must no doubt have struck them that the father held a government, a treasury, and the command of a strong army on one geographical side of the capital, the centre of the state, whilst the son was in similar circumstances on the opposite.

So convinced was the ministry of Vijayapoor, that Shahji was plotting their subjugation to his authority, that they did not scruple to resort to treachery; the chief of Mudkul undertook to secure him, which he affected at a public festival : hereupon it was discussed in the Durbar in what manner the prisoner was to be disposed of. In opposition to the dictates of fear and their own inclination, it was argued that Sivaji was surrounded by powerful friends, that his father's death would both exasperate him and furnish a plea for a dangerous and open rebellion, whilst his pardon might prove an act of conciliation. The friendship of Randulla Khan ultimately preserved the life of the Mahratta and returned him with honor to his station. That a secret understanding and co-operative alliance subsisted between the father and son, will appear more probable as we proceed with the narrative of the transactions between them. Sivaji received a message that it was incumbent on him to punish the enemy of his father, and he obeyed the summons with an alacrity somewhat too zealous for a repudiated child. A fierce assault was made on the fortress of Gorepora it was subdued, and the chief, his

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Contending sentiments the crowd divide,
And open clamors swell their mingled
tide,

Rose in defence, Apollo, and the roar
Soon hush'd, these words re-echoed on

the shore :

What law restrains, what rules untaught withstand,

This just correction of my erring hand;

Vain were such strictness, let my foe 'observe,

This law once made, be Phœbus last to

serve,

Henceforth but touch a man, that man

shall go,

Or black or white, to make or meet the
'blow.'

The heavenly host assent, and mighty
Jove,

With secret power, rebuked the Queen of
Love,

Speechless stood Areas, for his troubled
breast

Was fir'd to madness, and with grief op

prest,

One momentary thought a solace yields, To sweep with spreading hands the chequered fields,

A mean revenge for undistinguished all, Both friends and foes in that dire crash would fall;

But soon he curbed this impulse of his heart,

First then a quivered youth he led to

fight,

In semicircle moving like a Knight,
Quick was his step, he glitters bright in
arms,

Bent to supply what then he lost, by

art.

Cold tremors mark the Amazon's alarms, But not his charge, tho' rapid as the wind,

Or dazzling arms, Apollo's sight could blind,

Grown doubly cautious of his rival's wiles,

He sees the craft, and cries with bitter smiles,

From arts like these let Mercury refrain, With me his cunning and his tricks are vain:

Come bowman, to your proper sphere retire,

Nor point against my Queen your shafts of fire."

A mask there is which some assume with ease,

At will put off, resume it when they
please,

This brazen-look, accustomed to deceit,
Then Areas feigned, an able hypocrite:
For if not closely watched when his the
right,

To move a black alternate for a white,
Heedless of honor or engagements due,
His rapid hand would urge to battle too,
Nor room for wonder, if the God of
fraud,

Nor rights of war, no sense of justice
awed.

Turn we to where a youth of silver

bow,

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REVIEW OF BOOKS.

Journal of the Proceedings of the late Embassy to China, comprising a correct Narrative of the Public Trans

actions of the Embassy, of the Voyage to and from China, and of the Journey from the mouth of the Pei-ho to the

return to Canton. By Henry Ellis, Third Commissioner of the Embassy. Second edition, two vols. 8vo. Loudon. Murray. 1817.

Voyage of his Majesty's Ship Alceste, along the coast of Corea, to the Island of Lewchew; with an Account

of her subsequent Shipwreck. By John McLeod, Surgeon of the Alceste. 8vo. pp. 323. Murray. 1818.

Account of a Voyage of Discovery to the West Coast of Corea, and the great Loo-choo island; with an Appendix, containing Charts, &c. By Capt. Basil Hall, Royal Navy, &c.; and a Vocabulary of the Loo-choo Language. By H. F. Clifford, Esq. Lieut. Royal Navy. 4to. Murray. 1818.

failure be attributable to accidental circumstances, or whether there be Chinese policy, which will require a radical error in the system of our to be corrected before success can be expected to ensue. The narrative must be interesting to the naturalist, as relating to a district, the productions of which have been hitherto little investigated; to the merchant, as describing a country, perhaps superior to any other in the extent of its internal trade; and to the politician, as exhibiting an empire, the political constitution of which has no parallel in the history of nations.

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But before we present our readers with a view of the proceedings of the embassy, we must introduce to their notice the works from which our information is drawn.

The relation of the occurrences

A Delicate Enquiry into the Embassies to China, and a legitimate Conclusion from the Premises. Lon-in China is chiefly to be found in don. Thomas and George Wadewood.

1818.

WE began the perusal of these volumes with an interest, in which we believe most of our readers will participate. An embassy to China, from the rarity of its occurrence, the peculiar character of the country visited, and our general ignorance with respect to it, is an event calculated to excite no ordinary degree of curiosity; and when to these sources of interest are added the importance of the objects of the expedition, the high expectations with which it left our shores, and the remarkable circumstances, attending its failure, we believe that few occurrences of the present day will be thought worthy of a more serious attention. If our expectations have been defeated, it becomes most necessary to enquire into the causes of their miscarriage; and, by a careful rea careful review of the proceedings of the embassy, to determine whether the Asiatic Journ.-No. 29.

the Journal by Mr. Henry Ellis; a gentleman, who from the office he held as Secretary, and eventually as third commissioner, enjoyed the best possible means of information, and whose authority is peculiarly valuable in all that relates to the diplomatic negotiations, and the views by which the embassy was actuated. In that part of the work which describes the journey through China, it is to be regretted that Mr. Ellis has not allowed himself to be more diffuse and particular in his descriptions. His book, indeed, forms rather a series of notes on Staunton's embassy, than a distinct and finished narrative of a voyage through the country. From the fear of repeating with tedious prolixity the observations of former travellers, he has fallen into the opposite error, and, by excessive conciseness, has deprived his work of some of that interest which it might have derived from a fuller VOL. V. 3 Q

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