The Marquess Wellesley, K.G. in India, 1798-1805 : an essay : [manuscript]

9. Haidarabad: the first Treaty.

Probably, on his arrival in India Haidarabad was uppermost in his mind. Here the chief danger lay in the French power. The army of the Nizam, fourteen thousand strong, was officered by Frenchmen, & it was with reason believed that communications were passing between them & Tipu Sultan of Mysore. Until shortly before Morningston's arrival, this force had been ably commanded by a M. Raymond. This man had, however, just died, & the command had fallen into less able hands. The Governor General saw the advantage that would be gained by replacing this French influence by British, & accordingly he resolved that negotiations should be carried on with the Nizam. His choice for the carrying out of this difficult task fell on two young officers, James Kirkpatrick & John Malcolm, the latter of whom was sent to Haidarabad as assistant resident. The choice was a wise one. So prudently & quickly was the business carried on, that on September 1st, when Mornington had been little more than four months in India, the Nizam signed a treaty by which all the Frenchman in his army were to be dismissed & the troops which they had commanded dis-

This page is blank

10 pensed. The Nizam was to take no European into his service without the consent of the Company. In return the Company gave the Nizam a permanent force of 6,000 Sepoys, with British officers. These troops were, however, to be used only for external war. No doubt the difficulty of carrying out the treaty was greatly diminished by the fact of Raymond's death: in any case the French made little or no resistance.

The treaty's importance.

The importance of this treaty is greater than at first sight appears. The Company had considerable hold over the Karnatik, but on the Western border of that State were the dominions of Tipu, with whom war was impending. The Nizam's territory stretched to the North both of Mysore & of the Karnatik. Thus although Haidarabad was not itself very powerful, it was clearly of the greatest value to have formed an alliance with a state which, had it remained hostile, would have laid open to our enemies two sides instead of one of the Karnatik, & would - with the sea - have practically completed a circle around us.

The second Treaty

In two year's time Mornington's hold over the Nizam was to be increased by a second treaty, which circumstances forced on that helpless prince. He was in a pi-

This page is blank

11. teous condition of weakness. The 6,000 men granted by the former treaty were not to be used for suppressing the internal insurrections against tribute, to which the population were being incited by the Marathas, who themselves made claims not only to the people but to the Nizam himself. The latter was thus attacked from either side, & had to fear not only the disturbances within his own dominions, which were serious enough in themselves, but also an invasion from the North by the Marathas. The subsidiary force was, moreover, quite inadequate to repel any such invasion. The treaty of October 1800, came, therefore as a necessity. By it the subsidiary force was increased to 10,000 men, & was made liable to be put to any use. As against this the Nizam gave up the whole of the territory that he had gained by the partition of Mysore in the summer of the previous year, & surrendered to the Company the settlement of his disputes. Thus his dependence on British power was largely increased, & the Company's possessions materially added to.

Mysore: Tipu Sultan.

Closely connected with Haidarabad, & with the two treaties & their objects was the yet more important state of Mysore, & its danger