But they found a far more formidable enemy than they expected, and after suffering some reverses, they made peace with him, and returned to their own territories. The successful issue of this war greatly increased the fame of Tippoo. He was now at liberty to extend his dominions, and to propagate the Mohammedan faith. His father had conquered the country lying between the Ghat mountains and the sea, and Tippoo now resolved to convert the inhabitants to his own religion, declaring that "they were all born in adultery, and more shameless in their connections than the beasts of the forests." They, on the other hand, had a great abhorrence of the Mohammedan religion, and many of them fled from their country rather than submit to circumcision and eat beef. He carried on this war of proselytism till he boasted that he had destroyed 3,000 temples with all their idols. In extending his dominions, he made an attack upon the kingdom of Travancore, which was in the extreme southern part of the peninsula. The ruler of this province had some time before entered into a treaty, offensive and defensive, with the English, and by this attack, Tippoo incurred their displeasure. In his first attack upon the fortified posts of Travancore, Tippoo was repulsed with great loss. He was near being taken prisoner, and lost his weapons, seals, etc. Chagrined at being thus repulsed by an enemy he despised, Tippoo was greatly enraged, and collecting all his forces, prosecuted the war with great vigor and barbarity, and soon overrun the whole province.

The Marquis Cornwallis, at this time the governor-general of India, on hearing of this attack of Tippoo upon Travancore, resolved to commence hostilities as soon as possible, and with this view he formed an alliance with the Nizam and the Mahrattas against the Sultan. The command of the English force was intrusted to General Medows. The campaign was commenced in June, 1790. Dindigul, Paulgaut, and several other forts were taken, and the English force penetrated far into Mysore, but the disasters and reverses, originating chiefly in the severity of the monsoon and in ignorance of the country, soon compelled them to retreat with much loss. In the mean time, Tippoo, with a large body of cavalry, invaded the Carnatic, laying waste the country, or levying extreme contributions upon

the inhabitants. He also proceeded to Pondicherry, and attempted to form an alliance with the French. The governorgeneral, becoming dissatisfied with the manner in which the war was carried on, resolved to take the command himself. He arrived at Madras early in 1791, and having made the requisite arrangements proceeded by rapid marches to Bangalore, which was strongly fortified and contained the Sultan's harem and treasury. These Tippoo found means to remove before the English could invest the place. The governor-general, having taken Bangalore, resolved to proceed with as little delay as possible to attack Seringapatam, the Sultan's capital. When the English force reached Seringapatam, Tippoo, who had in vain endeavored to arrest their progress, resolved to hazard a general battle. The English were victorious, but the country around having been laid waste and all means of support destroyed or removed, they were soon in so great want of provisions and in such a sickly state, that Cornwallis was compelled to retreat to Bangalore, leaving behind him much of his baggage and the battering train which he had prepared to besiege Seringapatam.

Cornwallis remained at Bangalore for some time, making arrangements again to proceed to Seringapatam. All the resources of the English power in all parts of India, were now brought into requisition. The Nizam's force of 15,000 cavalry, and Purseram Bhow with a yet larger force of Mahrattas had arrived, but all these were so deficient in weapons and discipline that they added but little to the strength of the army. When the preparations for proceeding to Seringapatam were completed, the force under the command of Cornwallis amounted to 30,000. If to these the forces of the Nizam and of the Mahrattas are added, the invading army will appear to be large. On arriving in sight of Seringapatam the army of Tippoo, estimated at 45,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry, was seen encamped near it. Arrangements were made to attack this force in the night. The loss of Tippoo was great, and the state of his capital and the position of the English force soon became such that he earnestly sued for peace. After some days of negotiation a treaty was made in which Tippoo agreed to cede about half of his domin ions, to pay a large sum of money ($16,500,000), and deliver

up two of his sons as hostages. The conditions of this treaty were fulfilled on the part of the Sultan in due time, and his sons returned to him. For several years he was engaged chiefly in attending to the internal affairs of his own kingdom, a longer period of peace than had been known in the peninsula for a long time.

who

was
Α

In 1798, the Earl of Mornington, subsequently the Marquis of Wellesley, became governor-general of India. He was instructed, when appointed to this responsible situation, "not to engage if possible in hostilities with any native power, and yet he waged deadly war with every one of them." Soon after reaching India, he learned that Tippoo had negotiated a treaty with the governor of Mauritius, in which it was stipulated that a large French force should be sent to India to assist Tippoo in regaining his lost dominions. As Tippoo was deceived by a French adventurer who induced him to send an embassy to Mauritius, and the governor had no authority to make any such treaty, nor power to carry it into effect, the whole affair showed the disposition of Tippoo more than any cause of danger to the English power in India. But the governor-general regarded this conduct as "a public, unqualified, and unambigu ous declaration of war," and his decided opinion was, that "an immediate attack should be made upon Tippoo Sultan." It was also believed, if not fully proved, that Tippoo had endeavored to excite the Mahrattas and the Nizam against the English, and that he had also sent an embassy to Zeman Shah, the ruler of Cabul, then contemplating an invasion of India. In these circumstances, the governor-general resolved to deprive Tippoo of those means and resources which made him so formidable an enemy to the English power in India. Some correspondence of a peculiar character and with mutually unsatisfactory results, was carried on for a while between the governor-general and the Sultan. In the mean time a large force under General Harris, was prepared at Madras to proceed to Mysore, and there cooperate with another force from Bombay under General Stuart. The Sultan fully aware of the force and plans of his enemies, endeavored first to encounter the army on the way from Bombay, and a severe battle was fought in which he claimed the victory, though his loss was much greater than that of the English.

The main army (the force from Madras) reached Seringapatam in April of 1799. For some time the Sultan had been discour aged, and having been disappointed by several movements of the English force, he at last resolved to take refuge in the city and defend it to the last extremity. The siege was urged for ward with all possible vigor, and all attempts at negotiation having failed, the place was attacked on the 4th of May, and the English became masters, though not without suffering severe loss and committing dreadful carnage of the Mysore troops and inhabitants. The Sultan's body was found among the slain, and all his family were made prisoners. The treasures of the Sultan, amounting to nearly $5,000,000, became the prize of the

conquerors.

With the fall of Seringapatam all resistance ceased, and the war closed. The English took possession of the kingdom, gave pensions to the members of the royal family, allotted some districts to the Mahrattas and to the Nizam, took the sea-coasts and some other districts for themselves, and placed a descendant of the original Hindu sovereigns over several internal districts under the title of the Raja of Mysore. This descendant was a child only 5 years old, and as the English retained all the essential powers of government in their own hands, he and his party had little but the name and pageantry of rank and dignity. Still the change from the state of poverty in which the family had lived for some years to the honor conferred upon them, was great, and conciliated the native population to other important changes now to be introduced. The war with Tippoo was the last great struggle of the English for ascendency in the southern part of the peninsula. The remaining native princes had not sufficient power to make much resistance, if disposed, and they generally submitted to such terms as were dictated to them.

The Nizam became now more than ever fearful of the power of the Mahrattas, and a treaty was made between him and the governor-general, in which he ceded to the English all the territory which he had lately acquired from the Mysore kingdom,

* "He assembled his principal officers in council, and closed his address, saying, 'We have arrived at our last stage, what is your determination?' To die along with you,' was the universal reply. All were deeply affected, and some could not refrain from weeping."

yielding $3,000,000 annually, and they in return engaged to support a certain specified force in his dominions, and to defend him from all aggressions from the Mahrattas or others. This subsidiary force the English were at liberty to use as they might have occasion in the event of any war. In such case he also bound himself to assist them with his own troops.

HISTORY OF BOMBAY TILL 1800.

In 1662, Charles II. married the Infanta Catharine of Portugal, and obtained the island of Bombay as part of her dowry. The king of England claimed Salsette as a dependency of Bombay, but the king of Portugal refused to allow the claims. In 1668, Charles ceded Bombay to the East India Company, and they soon removed their chief agency on the western coast of India from Surat to Bombay. The island was easily defended, and its excellent harbor made it important as a naval station. It was once besieged by the admiral of the Mogul fleet, but the island has never been taken by any hostile power since it first became an English possession. Salsette and Bassein continued in the possession of the Portuguese till 1739, when they were taken by the Mahrattas, who had possession of the coast opposite to Bombay for several hundred miles. This native power first became prominent in the history of India in the reign of Aurungzeb. When the Mogul empire fell into a state of anarchy on the death of this emperor, the Mahrattas, who for some years had been struggling for independence, commenced an aggressive warfare on all sides, and soon became the most formidable native power in India. For half a century they were united in one government under Sevajee, their first prince and his descendants. They then separated under different chiefs, who divided the original and acquired territories among them. Each of these chiefs was independent in the affairs of his own territory, and made war and peace with those around him as he pleased. But they still continued united under one nominal head, and though often at war among themselves yet like the Greek republics of old, they were ready to join their forces as often as there was any occasion for doing so against a common enemy. One of these Mahratta chiefs, Conajee Angria, had possession