took place, and was not terminated till the end of 1754, when a treaty, much to the disadvantage of the French, was concluded. The Mysore commander, Nanjráj, played a double part, intriguing both with the English and the French, but eventually siding with the latter. Foiled in his attempts to obtain possession of Trichinopoli, owing to the treachery of Muhammad Alí, he was at last compelled to return to Mysore in 1755, having spent large sums of money unprofitably.
During the course of the military operations in this campaign Haidar seized several guns belonging to an English convoy which was cut off in the Pudukottai territory between Tanjore and Trichinopoli, and largely increased his force of Bedars. His nominal command now aggregated 1,500 horse and 3,000 infantry, besides less disciplined troops. To assist him in organizing the system of plundering, which he carried on for many years, he took into his service a Maráthá Bráhman, named Khande Ráo, whose literary qualifications made amends for his own want of education. But although compelled to have recourse to this extraneous aid, Haidar had a most retentive memory, which, added to his acute penetration, made it very difficult to deceive him.
In the same year that witnessed the withdrawal of the Mysore troops from their abortive expedition, that is in 1755, Haidar was appointed Fáujdár or military governor of Dindigal, now in the Madura district of Madras, a stronghold which the Mysore State had
