F10195_0058

25.
chief. If he chose to invade Oudh in its
then state with a well organized army
from the hills, the 13,000 British troops
would be quite inadequate to defend
so large a country against so powerful
a foe, & Oudh would be overrrun
& the borders of Bengal laid open to
his attack. The Marathas too, & even
the Sikhs, did not seem indisposed to
venture an attack on so tempting a
prey. The Governor-General was not
slow in determining what course was
the best to take. As early as December
23rd, 1798 his mind was made up. But
he was still busy with important
issues in the South, & could not as
yet carry determination into action.
No sooner, however, were the anxieties
of the Mysorean war over, than he
turned his attention to the Northern
danger. His two chief objects were;
first, to gain complete control of the
Doab, the strip of land between the
Jumma & the Ganges, so as to be able
to check any invasion into Oudh; &
secondly, to procure the disbandment
of the Nawab's useless but expensive
army. He argued that the money that
was wasted on these futile & rebellious