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Art. II. A Memoir of Central India, including Malwa, and the adjoining Provinces; with the History and copious Illustrations of the past and present Condition of that Country. By Major-General Sir John Malcolm, G. C. B. K. L. S. 2 vols. 8vo. Second Edition. Map. pp. 1427. London, 1824.

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Tseems now to be a settled point, that every ruler in British India, from the prince who commands the resources of an extensive kingdom, to the petty rajah of some score or two of villages, is to hold his temporalities on terms of allegiance and feudality to the musnud of Leadenhall-street. This policy, however, has not been adopted without much hesitation; and, at one time, even after it had been acted upon to a considerable extent, it appeared to be rejected in favour of a more moderate and unambitious system. Two of the British governors of India, one an experienced soldier, the other conspicuous for wisdom in civil life, made considerable sacrifices, and abandoned settled alliances and contracts, in preference to maintaining a dominion so gigantic and so unsafe. They were of opinion, not only that the East India Company were masters of quite as much territory as could be governed with advantage to themselves and to their subjects, but that they occupied a station so well adapted both for defence and menace, as to give them an efficient control over the restlessness and turbulence of the native powers. The Marquesses Wellesley and Hastings, in their splendid-we believe this is the established formula-administrations, went into the opposite extreme, and adopted a system of federation which placed the whole surface of India under their inspection, and all its resources at their command. The result of this has been, such an arrangement and extension of territory, as to insulate and overawe the more formidable of the native states, and to support the petty rajahs whose fortresses hem in the frontiers of Malwa and Berar, in their independence on their former masters, and their consequent dependence on British supremacy. But its effect has also been, to impose the absolute necessity of maintaining this dominion in its complete and unbroken extent, and of watching with unrelaxing vigilance every wheel and lever of this immense machinery. Every native court has been virtually compelled to admit an English garrison, and, specifically, to hold its contingent in readiness for English service. The residents at the different capitals of the Nizam, the Nagpoor Rajah, Holkar, and Scindia, are surrounded by efficient guards, which, in two remarkable instances, have been proved fully equal to the defeat of the native armies by which they were assailed. As we shall probably have to bring this part of

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the subject forward in another article, we shall only observe, in this place, that such a rigid system of surveillance cannot but be most irksome and intolerable to those over whom it is exercised, and that their implicit acquiescence in its regular continuance must be considered as altogether out of the range of political calculation.

It is, perhaps, not within our competency to decide between the two systems. The first has appearances in its favour, and it is most in accordance with our notions of international relations. It presents an aspect of compact strength and honourable dealing, which strongly recommends it to moral preference, as well as of an abstinence from intrigue and intermeddling, that identifies it with sound policy. On the other hand, the peculiarities of local circumstances, habits, and opinions, are not to be overlooked. The institutions of a large proportion of the native governments are essentially adverse to a state of peace; and as Europeans can appear to them in no other light than that of interlopers and usurpers, their expulsion would be an object continually pursued in every variety of predatory inroad and confederated attack. The feuds and jealousies which have continually armed the native chiefs against each other, have been the sources of that weakness and misgovernment which have made Hindostan an inviting and easy prey to every invader from Alexander to Nadir Shah; and if the supremacy of the East India Company shall so repress her agitations and consolidate her resources as to give internal quiet and external strength to those extensive regions, it will be the most illustrious example on record of beneficial conquest.

It would afford matter of curious and interesting specula tion, were we to retrace the history, and to determine the peculiar character of the different wars in which the present lords of Hindostan have been engaged, from the infancy to the consummation of their power. The fine military manœuvres of Lawrence and Coote, and the subtle policy of Clive, laid the foundation of the empire, whose armies, in the recent contest, advanced from all quarters of India to assert its supremacy, but whose commanders, at a period not far beyond the memory of aged men, were struggling, at the head of a few companies, for the insecure possession of a narrow district or a fortified rock. The contests which gave us the command of the Carnatic, were often of a doubtful kind. Hyder Ali had, probably, more decided military genius than any of the natives who have risen to permanent dominion, and his combined activity, courage, and skill, frequently drove his antagonists to the very edge of ruin. The defeat and death of his son, left the East

India Company without any immediately formidable antagonist, excepting such as might be raised up from the union of the Mahratta states; and the apprehensions from this quarter were, at one time, fraught with well-founded alarm. The advantages of European discipline had been duly appreciated by the native rulers; and one of the ablest of the Mahratta chiefs, Madhajee Sindia, had, with the aid of skilful French officers, succeeded in raising a numerous and well appointed army of effective regulars. This corps, formed by De Boigne, and subsequently commanded by Perron, was broken up by the victories of Wellesley and Lake, in the decisive campaign of 1803. It was quite obvious that the pacification which succeeded, rested on no ground more solid than that of reluctant submission to superior force, and that when the immediate pressure was withdrawn, the spirit of restlessness, intrigue, and uneasy subjection to a controlling power, would begin again to work. Nor were there wanting circumstances which might give to sanguine minds a prospect of ultimate success. The subsequent war between the English and Holkar, though terminating in defeat to the latter, was not only unmarked by that entire discomfiture which had usually attended the efforts of the natives against European discipline, but had been distinguished by events injurious to the reputation of the British arms. The disastrous retreat of Colonel Monson, and the calamitous failure at Bhurtpore, inspired the malcontents with new hopes, which the casualties and embarrassments of the war with Nepaul by no means tended to diminish. These elements of strife might, however, have long lain dormant, but for the unaccountable infatuation of the Paishwah, Bajee Row, the nominal head of the Mahratta league. This singularly weak and infatuated prince had been, after his defeat by Holkar, at the battle of Poonah in October 1802, replaced on his throne by British interference, and his dominions were most unfavourably situated for defence against the armies of the Company. But the considerations of prudence failed before the influence of Trimbuckjee, his unworthy favourite; and he engaged in a series of intrigues which brought on the late war, reduced him from the rank of a monarch to the condition of a prisoner at large, crushed the Mahratta power, put down the Pindarry system, and enabled Sir John Malcolm to present us with the admirable volumes before us.

Central India, including Malwa and the adjacent provinces, had been, from various circumstances, nearly closed against the curiosity of Europeans, until thus laid open to their investigation. The jealousy, ferocity, and lawlessness of the Mahsattas rendered their country unsafe to travellers; and the

robbers of various castes, some occupying fixed stations, and others moving over large tracts with incredible rapidity, must have made it a miserable abode to its peaceable inhabitants. This is a part of the general subject to which we may have to recur, but we shall pause in this place to notice one of the most singular of these predatory combinations.

The Thugs are composed of all castes; Mahommedans even were admitted; but the great majority are Hindoos; and among these the Brahmins, chiefly of the Buldelcund tribes, are in the greatest numbers, and generally direct the operations of the different bands. Their principal residence is on the banks of the Chumbul and Kuwary, north east of Gwalior, where they have villages, and usually maintain a connexion, or at least an understanding, with the manager of the district. Their expeditions, which extend as far as Nagpoor and the Deckan, have of late years been very frequent in Central India; and more than three hundred of them were in that country in A. D. 1819. They have fixed rules, particularly as to the division of booty. Auxiliaries to their enterprises are sought for in all ranks, but the most abandoned of the officers of government of the countries to which they proceed, are those they chiefly desire; and after having ascertained, by letter or verbal report, that circumstances are favourable, they usually send as precursors, for the purpose of minute local information, spies disguised as religious mendicants, as tradesmen, or as soldiers looking for service, who connect themselves with the loose characters of the country, and all is prepared for the principal party, which often consists of three or four hundred; but these are never seen together, though the different bands travel in perfect communication with each other. Some of them have horses, camels, and tents, and are equipped like mer chants; others are dressed like soldiers going under a leader to take service; some affect to be Mahommedan beggars and Hindu Byragees or holy mendicants; they assume, in short, every disguise. Parties of the boldest and most active are always detached from the main band; these sometimes seek protection from travellers; at others, afford it: in either case, the fate of those who join them is the same. The Thugs have, concealed, a long silken cord with a noose, which they throw round the necks of their heedless companions, who are strangled and plundered. Their victins, who are always selected for having property, are, when numerous or at all on their guard, lulled by every art into confidence. They are invited to feasts, where their victuals and drink are mixed with soporific or poisonous drugs, through the effects of which they fall an easy proy to these murderers and robbers, the extraordinary success of whose atrocities can only be accounted for by the condition of the countries in which they take place. They attained great strength in Central India, and many gangs of this class passed annually through the country, on their way to the duminions of the Nizam and Parishwah. It is not six years ago since the manager of Mundissoor (Appah Gunghadur) surrounded a body of Thugs, who professed them

selves, and appeared to be, a party of horse and foot soldiers that were escorting their baggage on camels and bullocks from the Deckan. He had, however, gained information who they were, and commanded them to submit; they refused, and an action took place, in which the Thugs were routed, some of them killed, and others made prisoners. The whole of their booty was captured, amounting in value to more than a lac of rupees, and comprising every variety of personal clothes and ornaments, rich and poor, for they plunder all classes indiscriminately. Among other articles a great number. of their strangling cords were taken and exhibited.'

Vol. II. pp. 187-190.

The country described by Sir John Malcolm, may be taken loosely as lying between the twenty-first and twenty- -fifth de grees of North latitude, and the seventy-third and eightieth of East longitude, including the provinces situated between Harrouttee and the river Taptee, North and South, and extending from Guzerat West, to Bundelound East. Within these limits, the principal sovereignties are the Mahratta do minions of Sindia and Holkar, the Afghan principality of Bhopal, and the different Rajpoot states. According to a more strict definition, Malwa Proper comprises the lofty table-land supported to the North and South by the mountain ranges of Mokundra and Vindhya, and stretching East and West from Bhopal to Dohud. It may be generally described as an elevated plain, open and highly cultivated, intersected by hills and low ridges, abundantly irrigated by rivers and tributary streams, covered with a rich soil, and enjoying a mild and healthy climate. For this fine country Providence, it ap pears, has done every thing; but the malignant passions of man have blasted it with the miseries of war and misrule: desolation has been sent forth over its fertile fields, both by the oppression of governors, and the wasting incursions of fierce and rapacious aliens.

The same impenetrable cloud of fable which envelopes the primary facts of Indian history, rests, dark and dense, on the early annals of Malwa. It is, however, sufficiently clear, that this province was under the administration of Hindu rajabs, who resided at first in Oojein as their capital, but subsequently in Dhar. Ferishta affirms, that it was one of the fifty kingdoms into which India was divided at the origin of the Hindu rule. When the Mahommedan invasions had dispossessed the native rajahs of Hindostan, Dhar became the residence of a Mussulman sovereign of Malwa, and its most splendid pagodas were dilapidated to build palaces and mosques for the intolerant conquerors. In 1404, however, Alif Khan, afterwards celebrated as Hoshung Shah, removed

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