when the Nuwáb, unable to contend against the excited passions of his followers, was forced, nominally at least, to cast in his lot with the rebels. The same charge was made against the unfortunate Ráo of Kírwí, a small state in the Bandah district. Though the territories of the chief were overrun by rebels, his sympathies were with his British overlord. He was a minor, and had no more power to repress the insurrection than a child has to knock down a prize-fighter. Yet the time was to come when, because he and others had not repressed the rebels, they were classed and punished as rebels. This was particularly the case with the innocent Ráo of Kírwí.
Speaking generally, it may be said that, in July and during the following months of 1857, the Ságar and Narbadá territories, and the country to the west of the Jamnah generally, Rewah and the town of Ságar excepted, were in the hands of the rebels. It seemed to depend upon the result of the operations before Dehlí as to whether the rebellion would assume a more aggressive form.
To the south-west of Jhánsí lay the territories of Mahárájá Holkar. These territories comprised the important city of Indur, situated on a tributary of the Siprá, with a population of 15,000; the British cantonment of Máu, between thirteen and fourteen miles[1] distant from the Residency at Indur; Mándu, an ancient and famous city, with numerous ruins, once the capital of Dhár, and at a later period the residence of the Muhammadan kings of Málwá; Dipálpur, twenty-seven miles to the north-west of Máu; and Mehidpur, on the right bank of the Siprá, a town garrisoned by a contingent composed of the three arms, officered by British officers.
At Máu there were stationed, in 1857, the 23d Regiment N. I., a wing of the 1st Native Cavalry, and a field-
- ↑ A new road has since been made, reducing the distance to ten miles.
