4-80 IILSTOHY OF INDIA. [Book III.
A. D. 1752. texts for evading the obligation. Trichinopoly wa« not his; it belonged t^j the Great Mogul ; he was only viceroy, and might be recalled at pleasure ; the My- sorean, when he took advantage of his distres-s to extort the promi.se, must have known that it was not in his power to perform it ; to give up Trichinf>poly to an Indian king would only be to involve himself and the British as his allies in a war with the whole Mogul empire. Mahomed j^ would be uselcss to explain the negotiations which ensued, and detail the
pctodby cunning tricks which the parties employed to outwit each other. The most
the Com- . . . ■
,,aiiy. important point is that the Company, while recommending mutual concession, agreed to stand by the nabob, and so far to .support him in his injustice by inti- mating to the Mysorean, that if he had recourse to force they would repel it. The effect was to patch up a hollow agreement, which neither party meant to keep. By this agreement the dalaway was put in posse-ssion of the revenues of the island of Seringham and some other districts, and promised the possession of Trichinopoly in two months ; in return he engaged to assist the nabob with all liis force in the complete reduction of the nabobship. When, in terms of this agreement, the Mysorean was asked to march, he made so many frivolous excuses as left no doubt as to his intentions. As the most effectual means of frustrating them, Captain Dalton was left in Trichinopoly with 200 Europeans and 1500 sepoys. This measure was doubtless necessary, since the Mysoreans and Mah- rattas still retained their old encampment in the vicinity ; but it greatly reduced the strength of the expedition intended for the Camatic, reducing the Com- pany's battahon to 500 men and 2500 sepoys, while the nabob was unable to accompany them with more than 2000 horse. Such was the whole army which set out on the 28th of June, to accomplish objects for which ten times their number would scarcely have sufficed. The first place of importance which they reached was Volconda, the governor of which, though he refused to deliver up Proceeding's the fort, took the oath of allegiance to Mahomed Ali, as nabob, and, besides
uatic. paying 80,000 rupees as arrears, gave security for the regular payment of the revenue in future. From Volconda the nabob sent his brother, Abdul Wahab Khan, with 1000 horse, to Arcot, appointing him deputy-governor of the districts north of the Paliar, and proceeded with the rest of the troops to Trivadi, about seventeen miles west of Fort St. David To thie settlement, now no longer the seat of government, which had been again removed to Madras, Major Lawrence repaired for the recovery of his health, leaving the command to Captain Gingen. The reverses sustained by the French in the south produced great consterna- tion at Pondicherry. These, however, were somewhat balanced by the successes of M. Bussy in the north. After the death of MuzzufFer Jung, Salabut Jung, the new soubahdar, appointed by Bussy's influence, proceeded with him for Karnool, by the hand of whose chief Muzzuffer Jung had fallen, and barbar- ously revenged the act by massacring a large number of the inhabitants, storming the fort, and putting the gan-ison to the sword. They then crossed
