Page images
PDF
EPUB

tioned,* and it continued to extend its importance, notwithstanding the opposition experienced during the viceroyalty of Jaffer Khan. Their situation became greatly improved when the office of nabob was occupied by Sujah; but on the death of that prince, his son Suffraze Khan, a weak and imprudent ruler, was dethroned, and his place usurped by Aliverdi Khan, a chief of Patan or Afghan extraction, possessed of great military talents. Notwithstanding the irregular elevation of the latter, he administered the government, not only in an able, but a mild and beneficent manner. This he did under difficult circumstances; for the Mahrattas, invited it is said either by the Mogul court or the subahdar, found their way in vast bodies into Bengal ; and, though often repulsed, repeatedly renewed their inroads. The prudence and valour of Aliverdi preserved his dominions from conquest, but not from ruinous depredation. He secured the attachment of his Hindoo subjects, as well by protecting their property, as by employing them in all the civil departments of government. He was thus not likely to oppress industrious strangers settled in his dominions. The English had only to complain that amid the severe exigencies of his situation, he made repeated demands for remuneration in return for the protection granted to their trade; yet his entire exactions, during an administration of twelve years, did not exceed 100,000l. He made no objection, when there was an alarm of invasion, even to their enclosing Calcutta with a ditch, meant to extend seven miles in circuit; though, as soon as the danger passed by, they discontinued the work, which was afterward known by the name of the Mahratta ditch.

Considerable uneasiness, indeed, is supposed to have been felt by him at the accounts which he received relative to the ascendency of the English and French in the Carnatic, who created and deposed governors at their pleasure. Finally, the downfall of Angria, of whose naval strength he had been led to form an exaggerated idea, made him begin to look on them as somewhat too formidable neighbours.

When Aliverdi died, he was succeeded by his grandson Surajah Dowlah, a dissolute and tyrannical prince, who adopted these jealousies with much greater vehemence.

* Vol. 1. p. 267.

SIEGE OF CALCUTTA.

15

He was also irritated by the protection afforded, seemingly without design, by the English to a young man whom he viewed as a pretender to the office of nabob. Lastly, his very exaggerated conceptions of the wealth to be found within their factory made him seek with avidity any ground on which he could be justified in plundering its contents. The ostensible cause of complaint arose from a report that they were making certain additions to the fortifications around Fort William. Mr. Drake, the English governor, on being called upon to account for this proceeding, defended it by stating the hostile relations of his countrymen with the French on the coast of Coromandel, and the danger lest the war should spread thence into Bengal. This ill-judged explanation inflamed at once the pride and the fear of the nabob; who considered it an insult to suppose that he, in his own dominions, was unable to protect them, and who was also alarmed at the idea of the war being transferred from Coromandel to Bengal. He immediately began his march from Rajemahl towards Calcutta, stopping at Cossimbuzar, where the company had a factory very slightly fortified, without ditch or palisade, and of which the curtains formed the outer wall of a range of apartments. Under these circumstances, the nabob having summoned first Mr. Watts, the governor, and then the two other members of council, to repair to his camp, these gentlemen judged it vain to decline; and though Mr. Holwell in one place seems to arraign their conduct for not having attempted a few days' defence, yet the danger of a general massacre was in that case so great, and the probable benefit so small, that we do not perceive any good ground for censure. They were then required to sign a paper, promising compliance with all the nabob's demands; yet, instead of being allowed to return to the presidency, they were detained as prisoners, while the troops of Surajah entered and plundered the factory.

The council at Calcutta, sensible of their weakness, had hitherto made every possible effort to conciliate the nabob; and as his chief ground of complaint respected the new fortifications which they were adding to Fort William, they suspended these works, and thus lost twenty precious days, during which they might have placed themselves in a posture of defence. As soon, however, as they learned the capture

of the factory at Cossimbuzar, they gave up all hopes of accommodation, and thought only of increasing their means of resistance, which were very slender. The garrison did not muster above 514 men, of whom only 174 were Europeans, and of these not ten had ever seen service beyond the parade; for even this duty had been enforced so negligently that many, according to Mr. Holwell, did not know the right from the wrong end of their muskets. The fort, though of some extent, was defended by a wall only four feet thick, which in many parts, as at Cossimbuzar, enclosed chambers whence windows opened, and whose terraced roofs formed the top of the rampart. Around the fort were erected warehouses, clusters of buildings, and even little streets; some commanding the castle, others affording cover for the operations of an enemy. Under these circumstances the officers determined to draw their defensive line around the whole range of buildings, and endeavour to prevent the enemy from penetrating into them. This plan seems justly censured by Orme, since they had no force to defend so extensive a circuit pervaded by so many avenues. They ought to have demolished the houses round the fort; or, if time did not allow this operation, have removed at least the roofs and upper floors, while a few buildings, that were defensible and commanded the works, should have been occupied by strong bodies of troops, and a ditch and palisade then drawn round the whole. They might thus, in our author's opinion, have kept their ground till the annual fleet arrived, which would at least have secured their retreat. They importuned the French and Dutch, in this extremity, to make common cause against the Indian tyrant; but they only received from the former the insulting offer of shelter in Chandernagore.

Meantime the nabob marched upon Calcutta with such furious haste that a number of his men perished from strokes of the sun, or other accidents occasioned by excessive heat. Having left Cossimbuzar on the 9th June, 1756, he arrived on the 16th in view of Fort William. He was arrested for some time by the Mahratta ditch, not being aware that it extended round only part of the circuit. Having overcome this obstacle, the Indians, on the morning of the 18th, opened a general attack on the outposts, defended by three batteries, which were for some time vigor

CAPTURE OF CALCUTTA.

17

ously served. The enemy, however, having kept up a brisk fire from under the bushes, and also penetrated through avenues which had not been secured, all the three batteries in the course of the day were abandoned, and the whole garrison sought refuge within the fragile walls of the fort. From this time the most sanguine lost almost every hope of a successful resistance; and yet no measures were taken for withdrawing the troops. At night, indeed, the women and children were conveyed on board a vessel, and two members of the council, who superintended the embarkation, thought it most prudent not to return. At two in the morning a council met to deliberate whether they should immediately effect their escape, or delay it till next night. After much discussion, they broke up without any decision; which amounted practically to the adoption of the latter alternative. The attack was warmly renewed at daybreak, and the enemy continually gained ground. While affairs assumed every hour a more alarming aspect, the ship on board of which were the women and children was seen to weigh anchor and stand down the river, while the other vessels most culpably followed the example. The situation of the garrison became then truly critical. Drake, the governor, who had all along been very inefficient as a commander, was seized with a panic, threw himself into the last remaining boat, and left his troops to their fate. Struck with astonishment and indignation, they chose Mr. Holwell to fill his place; but all their concern now was how to effect their deliverance. One vessel being still within reach was ordered to approach; but it struck on a sandbank, and was deserted by the crew. The most earnest and repeated signals were then made to the ships that had gone down to Govindpore; but it is very mortifying to state, that not one of them, to save so many brave men, chose to encounter the danger, which was by no means formidable, of approaching the walls of the fort. Mr. Holwell then saw no alternative but to open a negotiation for surrender, and in the morning a letter was thrown over the ramparts, which was answered in the afternoon by a flag of truce. Meantime the troops, taking advantage of the confusion, had obtained access to the liquor, and were so intoxicated as to be incapable of action. The enemy, discovering how matters stood, stepped into the fort, and took possession of it without resistance.

The Indian army, in the first occupation of Fort William, did not commit any outrage; but when the nabob entered, accompanied by his general Meer Jaffier, he sent for Mr. Holwell, and burst into violent reproaches at his having attempted to defend the place against the ruler of Bengal. He expressed also the most extreme dissatisfaction at finding in the treasury only the small sum of 50,000 rupees. Yet, after three interviews, he dismissed him with assurances, on the word of a soldier, that no harm should be done him. Mr. Holwell then returned to his companions, and found them surrounded by a strong guard, who led them into a veranda, or arched gallery, constructed to shelter the soldiers from the sun and rain, but which excluded the chambers behind it from light and air. Some quarters of the fort being on fire, they were involved in so thick a smoke as inspired them with the apprehension that a design was formed to suffocate them; but the guard were merely looking out for a proper place of confinement. They pitched upon a chamber employed as the common dungeon of the garrison, called the black hole; it consisted of a space eighteen feet square, with only two small windows barred with iron, opening into the close veranda, and scarcely admitting a breath of air. Into this narrow receptacle, the whole of the officers and troops, 146 in number, were compelled to enter; and on their venturing to remonstrate, the commander ordered every one who should hesitate to be instantly cut down. Thus were they forcibly thrust into this fearful dungeon, into which the whole number could with difficulty be squeezed; the door was then fast barred from without. Their first impression, on finding themselves thus immured, was the utter impossibility of surviving one night, and the necessity of extricating themselves at whatever cost. The jemautdars, or Indian guards, were walking before the window, and Mr. Holwell, seeing one who bore on his face a more than usual expression of humanity, adjured him to procure for them room in which they could breathe, assuring him of a reward next morning of 1000 rupees. The man went away-but returned, saying it was impossible. The prisoners, thinking the offer had been too low, tendered 2000 rupees. The man again went,-and returned, saying that the nabob was asleep, and no one durst awake him.

« PreviousContinue »