should have occasion to occupy any of the returning tonnage with military or naval stores, they shall have a right to fill up one half of each ship's tonnage, at the rate of 41. per ton, and also to send out troops on the same allowances as is made to regular ships.

On these outlines, or something similar, we humbly conceive a considerable increase would speedily take place in the exports of Bengal, all of which would centre in England; to the improvement of cultivation here, and the extension of commerce and revenue in both countries.

Should these suggestions meet a favorable reception, there are many whose signatures appear to this address, that are ready to step forward with tenders of ships and cargoes, conformable thereto; but, if what we have ventured to propose is inconsistent with the regulations of the Company here, we take the liberty of requesting, that you will forward this address to the Court of Directors for their consideration.

It is evident, from the records of past times, that, both before and since the ascendancy of the Mussulmen arms in Hindustan, those potentates who were possessed of the northern provinces, have ever maintained a superiority over the nations that inhabited the Deccan; their victorious armies having, from time to time, invaded and overrun that extensive territory, and laid it waste as far as the island of Lenka,

or Ceylon. In the present age alone has it been seen, that Mahratta armies, issuing from thence, have performed extraordinary exploits in Hindustan; and, not content with seizing the whole Deccan for themselves, have also got absolute possession of Malwa, Guzerat, and other provinces of the empire. That of Oude has, indeed, remained uninjured, being indebted for its security partly to the intervention of the

river Ganges, and partly to the spirited resistance of Burhan ul Mulk* and his sons. The provinces of Multan and Tatta, on account of their distance from the Deccan, have also remained unsubdued by them; for, though a Mahratta governor + was once actually sent into the former of those provinces, the sudden approach of the Duranny Shah allowed him no time to effect a regular establishment. Nor did they ever obtain an absolute footing in the provinces of Patna or Bengal; for the Nizam of that subah, after many severe conflicts, brought them at length to remain contented with an annual peshcush, which in the sequel, will be fully explained.

Marshat (in Sanscrit, Murat) is the original name of Deoguirt, and the parts adjacent; the inhabitants of which are, therefore, called Mahrattas, (in Sanscrit, Maharashtras), and the Mahratta language is proper to that territory.

The right of sovereignty is in the tribe of Bhonselahs, who derive their pedigree from the Rajahs of Udeipûr, the chief of all the Rajepoot Rajahs for it is the privilege of that family to give a sanction to

the accession of every other Rajah that succeeds to an Hindu sovereignty, by sending him the Kashkahg, which makes a part of the ceremony of his inauguration. The title assumed by the Rajah of Udeipûr, is that of Ranah, and they trace their origin to Nushirvan || the Just. For, when Sad Vakkass T conquered Persia, and the descendants of Nushirvan were dispersed, one of them (from whom this family is descended) came to India, and attained the rank of Rajah.

Now, as Shaherbanu, the daughter of Yezdejird, the grandson of Nushirvan, after being taken captive, was married to Imam Hussein; and Imam Zein ul Abidin, from whom the Husseiny Seynds are sprung, was born of her; it is plain that the family of the Rajahs of Udeipur are related by the female line to the Husseiny Seynds. The Mahrattas, therefore, in consideration of this relationship, ought to be favourable and courteous towards the Seynds.

But to proceed. It happened that one of the descendants of the Ranah, who was born of a carpenter's daughter, left Udeipûr in consequence

hommed.

quence of some disagreements with his relations; and, having strayed into the Deccan, settled at last in the Carnatic. There, in consequence of the nobility of his family, he found it easy to connect himself with the leading men of the Deccan, and his descendants became divided into two principal branches, the Antuliahs and the Bhonselahs. Of the latter was Sahujee, who was first in the service of Burham Nizam Shah, and afterwards attached himself to that of Ibraham Aadil Shah; who, in the latter part of his reign, assigned him the pergunnah of Poonah and its environs, by way of jaghire. Sahujee settled himself there on a permanent footing, after the manner of Zemindars, and for some time also accepted the service of Shah Jehan, and lived in the royal army, while his son Seva continued to represent him at his jaghire.

In the mean time, as Ibrahim Aadil Shah continued sick for two years of the disorder which proved fatal to him, great disturbances sprung up in his kingdom, and most of the Kokan troops left their station, and repaired to Bijapur. That province, therefore, and its forts became at once destitute of a force sufficient for their defence; and on this occasion Seva, who may be considered as the founder of this nation, and was instigated by a love of warlike enterprize, to get together a body of men, began to adopt measures that had a manifest tendency to rebellion, and took possession of a number of forts that were destitute of garrisons and other means of defence. In the midst of these transactions, Ibrahim Aadil Shah died, and was succeeded by his son Ally Aadil Shah, whose government, as he was yet

young, and in the commencement of his reign, was in an unsettled state, and his kingdom torn with intestine broils.

Seva, therefore, gained fresh strength from day to day, and obtained complete possession of all the forts in the Kokan province. In addition to which he also erected others himself, and thus became at length master of near 40 fortresses, new and old, which were abundantly supplied with all the means of defence. Finding himself, therefore, so strongly intrenched in his forts, his mountains, and his woods, he cast off the yoke of Ally Aadil Shah without further hesitation, and openly adopted hostile measures. He killed, by treachery, Afzul Khan, who was the chief pillar of Ally Aadil Shah's government, and plundered his camp, and afterwards gave Rustan Khan, another of the great men of that court, a shameful defeat.

Emboldened by these successes, he no longer set bounds to his hostilities against Aadil Shah, but began to make predatory incursions into the parts adjacent to the Kokan province. And as that country is contiguous to the ocean, he also got possession of some sea-ports, and added the practice of piracies at sea, to that of plunder and robbery by land. Sometimes, when opportunity offered, he even ventured to lay hands upon places dependent on the Emperor of Hindustan, that is to say, Aurengzebe, who issued orders to Amir ul Omrah Shahyestah Khan, the subahdar of the Deccan, to move against him. The Maha Rajah Jeswunt Sing, also, was ordered upon this expedition, in concert with Amir ul Omrah, who strenuously exerted himself in order to reduce Seva,

and

and actually laid waste his country. But Seva, in the year 1073, attacked the camp of Amir ul Omrah, in the night, and killed Abul Tatch Khan, the son of that lord. In consequence of this, Amir ul Omrah was dismissed from his employments, and the Subahdarry was given to the prince, Mahommed Moazzem. And as the war in the Deccan was not carried on by Maha Rajah Jeswunt Sing with all the success the Emperor wished, he summoned him to the presence, and appointed Rajah Jeysing to that command, in his room.

Rajah Jeysing gave Seva some severe discipline, and reduced him to the greatest straits; so that, conceiving submission to be his only resource, he came, and visited the Rajah unarmed, and offered twentythree fortresses, and a country that yielded an annual revenue of ten lacks of pagodas, by way of peshcush, to the Emperor. Upon this, and in consequence of the intercession of Rajah Jeysing, an imperial mandate was issued, containing a full pardon to him for his past offences, and his son Sambha was honoured with a musnub of 5000 horse. He then determined to wait upon the Emperor in company with his son, and had the happiness to kiss the ground in the royal presence, on the 13th of Zilkadah, 1076, at Agra, where he was graciously received. But, from a clownish ignorance of the punctilios which the dignity of sovereign princes obliges them to observe, he had expected a reception above what his rank entitled him to; and being disappointed in this respect, he took Ram Sing, the son of Jey Sing, aside, and discovered great dissatisfaction to him on that account. An order was, therefore, issued, that he should not after that

be admitted to the presence, and guards were set over him; but his son Sambha having been guilty of no offence, was not forbid the court.

It was in the Emperor's mind to release Seva, after some time, from confinement, and to dismiss him with marks of favour and distinction. But his soul was not enlarged enough to conceive that this was intended; and therefore, after being in that situation for three months and nine days, he, on the 27th of Safer, disguised himself, and escaped with his son Sambha. Having reached the Deccan again, he there set on foot incessant disturb ances, and the subahdars of that province were constantly employed in endeavouring to repress them; till at length, on the 24th of Rabiah ul Akher, in the Hejirah 1091, death put a period to his restless existence.

Sambha, on his father's death, continued to pursue the same seditious measures; so that, at length, Aurengzebe thought fit to march against him in person. On the 23d of Rabia ul Avvul, in the year of Hejirah 1093, the imperial army halted at Arungabad, and from that time to the end of his life, the emperor was employed to reduce the Mahrattas. But by the supineness of some of the lords, who wished, from sinister views, that the Mahratta war might not be brought to a conclusion, this pernicious plant was never eradicated.

Sambha had two sons, Ram Rajah and Sahu Rajah, and after the death of Aurengzebe, the Mahrattas began to claim a share on the the imperial territories, and obtained possession of countries even beyond the limits of the Deccan. To explain this more fully, it is necessary to mention, that towards the end of Aurengzebe's reign, a peace

Was

was agreed on with the Mahrattas, in which it was to be stipulated, that they were to receive nine rupees upon every hundred, the denomination of Serdesmokhy, as their share of the revenue. The emperor sent Ashen Khan, vulgarly called Mir Maleng, to the Mahrattas, with the patents granting this Serdesmokby, for the purpose of concluding the treaty with them, and of bringing their chiefs to the presence. But be changed his mind soon after, and recalled Mir Maleng, before he had delivered the patent to the Mahrattas. In the time of Bahauder Shah, however, it was stipulated that they should receive ten rupees in the hundred, of the ryot's share, by way of serdesmokhy, and the royal patents were actually delivered to them. Bahauder Shah, after his victory over Kambuksh, in the year of Hejirah 1121, (A. D. 1709) returned from the Deccan to Hindustan Proper, and appointed Amir ul Omrah Zoolficar Khan to the subahdarry of that province. Zoolficar Khan left Daud Khan*, his deputy, in the Deccan; who came to an agreement with the Mahrattas, in which it was settled, that, if all the country should yield, three parts should go to the emperor, and the fourth to the Mahrattas, over and above the serdesmokhy, of a tenth out of the ryot's share t, and this distribution was carried into effect; but, the grants of the chouth (the fourth part) were not delivered to them.

When misunderstandings arose between the emperor Ferruksir and the seynds of Barah, he appointed Amir ul Omrah Seynd Hussein Ally Khan to the subahdarry of the Deccan, in order to get him out of the way; and then, on hearing of his arrival there, by the advice of some who were enemies to the well-being of the state, he sent successive letters to the chiefs of that quarter, and particularly to Sahu Rajah, the son of Sambha, urging them to commence hostilities with Hussein Ally Khan, whilst he was daily contriving some new quarrel with Abdallah Khan, at home. The latter, in consequence of this, wrote incessantly to his brother, pressing him to come to Delhi; who, seeing himself under the necessity of coming to terms with his foreign enemy, that he might be at leisure to oppose his domestic foe, made peace with Sahu Rajah, in the Hejirah 1129 (A. D. 1716-7), through the intervention of Mahommed Anwer Khan of Kokan, and Sunkerajee Malhar; and on that occasion gave the Mahrattas written grants under his own seal for the chouth and serdesmokhy of the six provinces of the Deccan, together with a tunkah for Kokan and the other countries, which they denominate their ancient raj, or kingdom, upon the following conditions: That they should not make predatory incursions into the royal territory; that they should abstain from all acts of robbery; and that they should maintain