IN the conference at Benares, it was also stipulated, that the Vizier should confirm Cheyt Sing, the son and successor of Bullwunt Sing,

"men of the council, and the Company, nor shall it be broken or "deviated from.

"He shall pay to the Company fifty lacks of Sicca

Rupees, according to the currency of the province of

"Oude, viz.

50,00,000

"In ready money

20,00,000

"In two years after the date hereof viz. the first

"To prevent any dispute arising, concerning the payment * which shall be made by the Vizier for the Company's troops "that may march to his assistance, it is agreed, that the expences "of a brigade shall be computed at two lacks and ten thousand (2,10,000) Sicca rupees per month, according to the currency "of the province of Oude.-By a brigade, is meant as follows— "Two battalions of Europeans,

"Six battalions of Sepoys,--and

"One company of artillery.

"The expence of the said troops shall be defrayed by the Vizier, from the time they shall have passed the border of the province; "and exclusive of the above mentioned sum, no more on any ac "count shall be demanded from him. Should the Company and "the English chiefs have occasion to send for the troops of the Vi"zier, the Company, and the English chiefs, shall also pay their 06 expence in the like manner.-Signed, sealed, and solemnly sworn to, by the contracting parties, September the 7th, 1773.",

in the possession of Benares, and its dependencies. The Vizier acquiesced in this measure with reluctance, and marks of extreme disgust: not that he wished to deprive this chief of his possessions, but he was averse to a foreign interference in behalf of a person whom he considered his immediate vassal, and who, by obtaining so strong a support, would naturally deviate from that state of subordination in which such landholders are placed, under an effective Mahometan government. Shujah-udDowlah, though accomplished in his manners, and endowed with an address that distinguished him among the politest of his countrymen, could not suppress the indignation he felt, at the English Governor's desire to have Cheyt Sing seated in his presence. But the Vizier was then preparing a suit* of such an importance to his schemes, that had his resentments been keener, they would have been sacrificed to its accomplishment.

THAT he might the more effectually prevent English merchants or their agents from residing or negociating in his country, the Vizier obtained permission at this time to impose large duties on the importation of Bengal, and European merchandize. He had witnessed the

* A supply of troops for the conquest of Rohilcund.

rapacious monopoly which the servants of the Company had exercised in Bengal, and knew that many of the calamities which had befallen that country, might be justly ascribed to the European assumption of its commerce, which had been conducted on terms so partial to themselves, that almost every other trader was obliged to purchase an European name to cover his property. It is said, that when Shujah-udDowlah has been solicited to receive an English merchant into his country, he has offered him an immediate sum of money, rather than risk the admission of a system that appeared wholly destructive of the true principles of trade.

On the conclusion of the Benares treaty, the Vizier carried his arms against the Marhattah garrisons in the Duab, which he severally expelled; and extended his conquests as far to the westward as the Fort of Jaunsy*. The main body of the Marhattah army having moved into the Decan, without leaving a sufficient force to maintain their Duab possessions, they fell to the Vizier without resistance. A large division of the country which he acquired in this campaign, had pertained to Ahmed Khan Bunguish, the late chief of Furruckabad, who was succeeded by his adopted son, Muz

* Jaunsy stands on the western extremity of the Kalpy territory. See Rennell's map.

zuffer Jung; a youth, whom the Marhattas soon stripped of his most valuable districts. The Vizier, to induce the neutrality of the Patans of Furruckabad, during his Duab expedition, promised, in the event of the Marhatta 'expulsion, to restore to Muzzuffer Jung, all the territory that had been possessed by Ahmed Khan. That the conduct of an Indian prince, in pursuit of a favourite object, or in the gratification of his ambition, may be specifically viewed, I will insert the Vizier's treaty with Muzzuffer Jung, in which is seen a solemn protestation made to God, the most endearing terms of friendship and affection pledged to man, boldly used as the instruments of treachery and dishonour. The ceremony of an oath is esteemed amongst the present race of Mahometans, a shallow trite artifice, and is only adopted by those, who, from a want of stronger resource, are driven to the necessity of adopting secondary aids.

THE treaty sets forth, "That, in consequence "of the friendship that has for a long time "subsisted between Muzzuffer Jung, and my

ancestors, and me, I have adopted him for my "child. By the grace of God, I will do what

ever may be for his good or advantage. I "will consider his business, his friends, and "his enemies, as mine; and until our last

VOL. I.

"breath, we engage for ourselves, and for our "descendants and successors, that we will "remain united.-I swear, by the Almighty "God, by his Prophet, and the Holy Koran,

never to vary or depart from this treaty, upon "condition that my beloved son Muzzuffer Jung do adhere to it also on his part. In "witness whereof, these lines are written in the

66

style of a treaty. By the grace of God, "whenever the Marhattas are conquered, and “driven out of the country, and mine enemies "expelled, I will deliver up to my dearly be"loved son, Muzzuffer Jung, the territories he "formerly possessed, and which he has lost in "the war, to the Marhattas. Dated, according "to the Christian æra, January 1774."

SHUJAH-UD-DOWLAH did expel the Marhattas from the Bungush territory; but he did not fulfil the tenour of his treaty with Muzzuffer Jung, to whom, on the success of the Marhatta campaign, he gave a small sum of money, but no part of the country which had been so solemnly promised.

THE grand object of the Vizier's ambition had ripened into maturity, and was now publicly avowed he applied to the English Government for a body of troops, to assist in the conquest of Rohilcund, the chiefs of which, he represented, had refused to perform their en