mode of reconciling among Raj AD 1806 policy now in favour was too selfish and cowardly to attach any weight to these representations, and the British government looked on with indifference, Horrible and kept boasting of its moderation in standing aloof, while whole provinces were falling into a state of anarchy. One effect of this policy was to seal the dissensions fate of the beautiful Krishna Koomaree, Princess of Odeypoor. The Rana, her poot chiefs father, deprived of all other support, was driven to enlist the services of Ameer Khan, and assigned to him a fourth of his revenues as the permanent hire of one of the Patan adventurer's brigades. Availing himself of the influence thus acquired, Ameer Khan, who had discovered in the Rana a character as heartless and unprincipled as his own, ventured to suggest, that as the marriage feud still continued to rage, the only effectual mode of terminating it would be to remove its cause by putting the princess to death. Strange to say, the inhuman proposal, instead of being rejected with horror, was listened to, and according to Ameer Khan's account, the Rana replied as follows:-"If you will pledge yourself to get for me Khalee Row (a coveted tract of territory), from Rajah Man Sing, I will in that case contrive to get rid of my daughter after you shall have gone, using such means as shall create as little odium as possible." The means adopted were to mix poison with his daughter's food. The quantity taken proved insufficient, but the princess, divining what had been intended, sent to her father to say that if her living longer was deemed inconsistent with the interest of his family, there was no necessity for going secretly to work. She accordingly dressed herself in gay attire, and procuring a bowl of poison, drank Tragical fate it off, exclaiming, "This is the marriage to which I was foredoomed." Her Koomaree. mother, unable to survive the tragical fate of her beloved daughter, died shortly after of a broken heart. The father continued to live and reap the full fruits of his infamy. According to the account given by Sir John Malcolm, the untimely death of the princess was no sooner known in Odeypoor, than "loud lamentations burst from every quarter, and expressions of pity at her fate were mingled with execrations on the weakness and cowardice of those who could purchase safety on such terms." The difficulty of finding any redeeming trait in this diabolical atrocity, will justify the insertion of Sir John's narrative of the conduct of "Sugwant Sing, chief of Karradur, who, the moment he heard of the proceedings in the palace, hastened from his residence to Odeypoor, and dismounting from a breathless horse, went unceremoniously into the presence of his prince, whom he found seated with several of his ministers in apparent affliction. 'Is the princess dead or alive?' was his impatient interrogation; to which, after a short pause, Adjeit Sing replied, by entreating him 'not to disturb the grief of a father for a lost child.' The old chief immediately unbuckled his sword, which, with his shield, he laid at the feet of the Maharana, saying, in a calm but resolute tone: My ancestors have served yours for more than thirty generations, and to you I cannot utter what I feel, but these arms shall never more be used in your service.'" Sugwant Sing kept his of Krishna word. Though he lived eight years longer, and did not actually renounce his A.D. 1816 allegiance, he did not again bear arms for the Rana. Rajpoot ties. of the general to resume the It was impossible that permanent peace could be purchased by such Subordinate inhuman means, and war and rapine, the effect partly of foreign aggression principali and partly of intestine dissension, prevailed in almost every part of Rajpootana which held out any hope of plunder. Besides the three Rajpoot principalities, of which some account has been given, there were many others, some of them like those of Bikaneer and Jessulmeer, though of great extent, situated so far to the north and west, and of so sterile a character, as to be almost beyond the reach of military operations; and others, like Kotah, Boondee, and Mackaree, of comparatively small extent, but from their immediate proximity to the eastern frontier, of considerable military and political importance. Mackaree was the only one of these which had a subsisting alliance with the Company; but it was perfectly obvious that until they were all brought into the same position, the predatory system could not be successfully combated. Such then was the first task to which the governor-general considered it necessary to address himself. It was not very difficult, for such was the state of insecurity Resolution and wretchedness to which most of the chiefs had been reduced, that nothing governormore than the intimation of a readiness to abandon the non-interference policy was required, in order to induce them to apply for the benefits of the better policy about to be resumed. The Rajah of Jeypoor, who, from the unjustifiable manner in which he had been thrown off, was considered as having a prior claim, made the first application, and the resident at Delhi, to whom it had been presented, was authorized in April, 1816, to negotiate an alliance. The Rana of Odeypoor and the Rajah of Joudpoor followed his example. So anxious was the Rajah of Kotah for protection, that he offered beforehand to submit to any terms which the governor-general might dictate. The Rajah of Boondee, taking a similar course, pleaded services which ought not to have been forgotten; while a number of petty chiefs on the frontiers of Bundelcund or Malwah prayed to be taken within the pale of protection. Even Ameer Khan, as if carried away by the current, or conscious that he would be unable to resist it, offered to desist from pillage if guaranteed in his actual possession, and to assist in dispersing the Pindarees. Nuzur Mahomed also, the Nabob of Bhopaul, notwithstanding the little encouragement formerly given, renewed his application with more success, and concluded a preliminary engagement. alliance policy. procedure of Holkar. Some doubt was felt as to the course which Scindia might take. The Pin- Dubious darees had been accustomed to take part in all his expeditions, and deemed Scindia and themselves so necessary to him, that Namdur Khan, on hearing of the projected crusade against them, addressed a letter to Scindia, in which he asked, "What, if we are destroyed, will become of you?" Nor was this question so extravagant as it may at first sight appear. Scindia himself was doubtful if he could dispense with their assistance, and several of his most distinguished officers VOL. III. 204 The Pindarees Policy of the A.D. 1816. not only patronized the Pindarees, but believed that, if duly supported, they might prove a match for the British, and be the means of re-establishing the mode of warfare which the Mahrattas originally pursued, and to the abandonabandoned ment of which not a few ascribed their more recent disasters. It was therefore by Scindia. not without alarm and deep mortification that Scindia, shrinking from a new contest, felt constrained to abandon the Pindarees to their fate, and even to profess his desire to assist in any measures that might be adopted for their extermination. While Scindia was thus afraid to show any countenance to the Pindaree, little was to be apprehended from the troops of Holkar, whose musnud was now occupied by a child, while an unprincipled woman acted as regent, and had difficulty in maintaining her position among contending factions. In regard to the Peishwa, there was more room for doubt. He had long submitted with the utmost reluctance to the yoke which the subsidiary alliance had imposed upon him, and ever since he had been compelled to allow his favourite, Trimbukjee, to be carried off to an imprisonment which was apparently to be for life, his bitter animosity to the British had scarcely been disguised. Loud and incessant were his complaints of harshness and injustice. He had given up Trimbukjee, he alleged, only that he might be brought to trial, and in the belief that if found guilty he would be returned to him for punishment. He was also sustaining severe pecuniary loss, as Trimbukjee, who had been intrusted with his treasures, was the only person who could show where they were concealed. While daily importuning the resident on this subject, and enlarging on many other imaginary grievances, the startling intelEscape of his ligence arrived that Trimbukjee had made his escape on the 2d of September, Trimbukjee. 1816, from the Fort of Tannah. For greater security, the garrison of the fort consisted entirely of European soldiers, and this circumstance was proved to have aided the means used for setting him at liberty. He was allowed every afternoon to take exercise for an hour or two on the ramparts, and it was remembered when too late that a Mahratta groom who had the charge of an officer's horse, used about the same time to be busily employed immediately below in currying and cleaning him. He was often singing snatches of Mahratta songs, the meaning of which the sentries did not understand, but which Bishop Heber, from the account given to him, has exhibited in the following verses: favourite "Behind the bush the bowmen hide, The horse beneath the tree, Where shall I find a knight will ride The jungle paths with me? There are five-and-fifty coursers there, And four-and-fifty men; When the fifty-fifth shall mount his steed, The Deccan thrives again.” A hole cut in the wall of the stable where the Mahratta groom kept his |