II. SHAW ALLUM.

times consider the surrender above mentioned as extorted from the king, and unquestionably an act of violence, which could not alienate or impair his right to those provinces; and that when they took possession thereof, it was at the request of the king's naib, or viceroy, who put them under the council's protection; that on this footing they were accepted by the said Warren Hastings and his council, and for some time considered by them as a deposit committed to their care by a prince, to whom the possession thereof was particularly letter of the 1st of March 1773, they (the said Warren Hastings and his council) say, "In no "shape can this compulsatory cession by the king "release us from the obligation we are under to "defend the provinces, which we have so particu"larly guarantied to him." But it appears, that they soon adopted other ideas, and assumed other principles concerning this object. In the instructions, dated the 23d of June 1773, which the council of Fort William gave to the said Warren Hastings, previous to his interview with the nabob Shuja ul Dowla at Benares, they say, that" while "the king continued at Delhi, whither he pro"ceeded in opposition to their most strenuous remonstrances, they should certainly consider the engagements between him and the company as "dissolved by his alienation from them and their "interest; that the possession of so remote a country could never be expected to yield any "profit to the company, and the defence of it must require a perpetual aid of their forces;" yet in the same instructions they declare their opinion, that, "if the king should make overtures to

THAT, in a solemn treaty of peace, concluded the 16th of August 1765 between the East India company and the late nabob of Oude, Shuja ul Dowla, and highly approved of, confirmed, and ratified by the said company, it is agreed, "that "the king Shaw Allum shall remain in full pos"session of Corah, and such part of the province "of Illiabad as he now possesses, which are "ceded to his majesty as a royal demesne for the "support of his dignity and expences."-That, in a separate agreement, concluded at the same time between the king Shaw Allum and the then sub-guarantied by the East India company.—In their udar of Bengal, under the immediate security and guarantee of the English company, the faith of the company was pledged to the said king for the annual payment of twenty-six lacks of rupees for his support out of the revenues of Bengal; and that the said company did then receive from the said king a grant of the dewanny of the provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, on the express condition of their being security for the annual payment above mentioned;-that the East India company have held, and continue to hold the dewanny so granted, and for some years have complied with the conditions on which they accepted of the grant thereof; and have at all times acknowledged, that they held the dewanny in virtue of the Mogul's grants.-That the said court of directors, in their letter of the 30th June 1769 to Bengal, declared, "that they esteemed themselves bound by treaty to protect the king's person, "and to secure him the possession of the Corah "and Illahabad districts;" and, supposing an agreement should be made respecting these provinces between the king and Shuja ul Dowla, the directors then said, "that they should be subject "to no further claim or requisition from the king, excepting for the stipulated tribute for Bengal, "which they (the governour and council) were to pay to his agent, or remit to him in such manner as he might direct."

That in the year 1772 the king Shaw Allum, who had hitherto resided at Allahabad, trusting to engagements which he had entered into with the Mahrattas, quitted that place and removed to Delhi; but, having soon quarrelled with those people, and afterwards being taken prisoner, had been treated by them with very great disrespect and cruelty that among other instances of their abuse, and of their immediate power over him, the governour and council of Bengal, in their letter of the 16th of August 1773, inform the court of directors, that he had been compelled, while a prisoner in their hands, to grant sunnuds for the surrender of Corah and Illiabad to them; and it appears from sundry other minutes of their own, that the said governour and council did at all

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renew his former connexion, his right to reclaim "the districts of Corah and Illiabad could not "with propriety be disputed ;" and they authorize the said Warren Hastings to restore them to him on condition, that he should renounce his claim to the annual tribute of twenty-six lacks of rupees, herein before mentioned, and to the arrears which might be due ;-thereby acknowledging the justice of a claim, which they determined not to comply with but in return for the surrender of another equally valid ;-that, nevertheless, in the treaty concluded by the said Warren Hastings with Shuja ul Dowla on the 7th of September 1773, it is asserted, that his majesty (meaning the king Shaw Allum) "having abandoned the dis

lence, while he was a prisoner in the hands of the Mahrattas, and although it was equally well known to the said Warren Hastings, that there was nothing in the original treaty of 1765, which could restrain the king from changing the place of his residence, consequently that his removal to Delhi could not occasion a forfeiture of his right to the provinces secured to him by that treaty.

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That the said Warren Hastings in the report, which he made of his interview and negociations with Shujah ul Dowla, dated the 4th of October 1773, declared, "that the administration would have been culpable in the highest degree in "retaining possession of Corah and Illiabad for 66 any other purpose than that of making an advantage by the disposal of them," and therefore he had ceded them to the vizier for fifty lacks of rupees, a measure, for which he had no authority whatever from the king Shaw Allum, and in the execution of which no reserve whatever was made in favour of the rights of that prince, nor any care

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taken of his interests.

of rupees, stipulated with the said Suja Dowla, was inadequate to the value of the country, the annual revenues of which were stated at twentyfive lacks of rupees, which General Sir Robert Barker, then commander in chief of the company's forces, affirms was certain, and too generally known to admit of a doubt.

That the king Shaw Allum received for some years the annual tribute of twenty-six lacks of rupees above mentioned, and was entitled to continue to receive it by virtue of an engagement deliberately, and for an adequate consideration, entered into with him by the company's servants, and approved of and ratified by the company themselves;—that this engagement was absolute and unconditional, and did neither express, nor suppose, any case, in which the said king should forfeit, or the company should have a right to resume, the tribute;-that, nevertheless, the said Warren Hastings and his council, immediately after selling the king's country to Suja Dowla, resolved to withhold, and actually withheld, the payment of the said tribute, of which the king Shaw Allum has never since received any part;—that this resolution of the council is not justified even by themselves on principles of right and justice, but by arguments of policy and convenience, by which the best founded claims of right and justice. may at all times be set aside and defeated.

They

That the sale of these provinces to Suja Dowla involved the East India company in a triple breach of justice, since by the same act they violated a treaty, they sold the property of another, and they alienated a deposit committed to their friendship and good faith, and as such accepted by them; that a measure of this nature is not to be defended on motives of policy and convenience, supposing" judged it highly impolitick and unsafe to answer such motives to have existed, without a total loss of "the draughts of the king until they were satisfied publick honour, and shaking all security in the "of his amicable intentions, and those of his new faith of treaties; but that in reality the pretences "allies." But neither had they any reason to urged by the said Warren Hastings for selling the question the king's amicable intentions, nor was king's country to Suja Dowla were false and in- he pledged to answer for those of the Mahrattas; valid. It could not strengthen our alliance with his trusting to the good faith of that people, and Sujah ul Dowla; since, paying a price for a pur- relying on their assistance to reinstate him in the chase, he received no favour, and incurred no possession of his capital, might have been impruobligation. It did not free the company from all dent and impolitick; but these measures, however the dangers attending either a remote property or ruinous to himself, indicated no enmity to the a remote connexion; since, the moment the coun- English, nor were they productive of any effects try in question became part of Suja Dowla's do- injurious to the English interests. And it is plain, minions, it was included in the company's former that the said Warren Hastings and his council guarantee of those dominions, and in case of in- were perfectly aware, that their motives or prevasion the company were obliged to send part of tences for withholding the tribute were too weak their army to defend it at the requisition of the to justify their conduct, having principally insisted said Suja Dowla; and if the remote situation of on the reduced state of their treasury, which, as those provinces made the defence of them difficult they said, rendered it impracticable to comply and dangerous, much more was it a difficult and with those payments. The right of a creditor dangerous enterprise to engage the company's does not depend on the circumstances of the force in an attack and invasion of the Rohillas, debtor; on the contrary, the plea of inability inwhose country lay at a much greater distance cludes a virtual acknowledgment of the debt, since, from the company's frontier; which, nevertheless, if the creditor's right were denied, the plea would the said Warren Hastings agreed to, and under- be superfluous. took at the very time, when under pretence of the difficulty of defending Corah and Illiabad he sold those provinces to Suja Dowla. It did not relieve the company from the expence of defending the country, since the revenues thereof far exceeded the subsidy to be paid by Suja Dowla, and these revenues justly belonged to the company as long as the country continued under their protection, and would have answered the expence of defending it. Finally, that the sum of fifty lacks

That the East India company, having on their part violated the engagements, and renounced the conditions, on which they received, and have hitherto held and enjoyed, the dewanny of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, from the king Shaw Allum, have thereby forfeited all right and title to the said dewanny arising from the said grant, and that it is free and open to the said king to resume such grant; and to transfer it to any other prince or state;-that, notwithstanding any distress, or

weakness, to which he may be actually reduced, his lawful authority, as sovereign of the Mogul empire, is still acknowledged in India, and that his grant of the dewanny would sufficiently authorize, and materially assist, any prince or state, that might attempt to dispossess the East India company thereof, since it would convey a right, which could not be disputed, and to which nothing but force could be opposed. Nor can these opinions be more strongly expressed than they have been lately by the said Warren Hastings himself, who, in a minute, recorded the 1st of December 1784, has declared, that, "fallen as the house of Timur is, it is yet the relick of "the most illustrious line of the Eastern world ;-"that its sovereignty is universally acknowledged, "though the substance of it no longer exists; and "that the company itself derives its constitutional "dominion from its ostensible bounty."

That the said Warren Hastings by this declaration has renounced and condemned the principle, on which he avowedly acted towards the Mogul in the year 1773, when he denied, that the sunnuds

or grants of the Mogul, if they were in the hands of another nation, would avail them any thing; and when he declared, "that the sword, which gave us "the dominion of Bengal, must be the instrument "of its preservation; and that if it should ever cease to be ours, the next proprietor would de"rive his right and possession from the same "natural charter." That the said Warren Hastings, to answer any immediate purpose, adopts any principle of policy, however false or dangerous, without any regard to former declarations made, or to principles avowed on other occasions by himself; and particularly, that in his conduct to Shaw Allum he first maintained, that the grants of that prince were of no avail; that we held the dominion of Bengal by the sword, which he has falsely declared the source of right, and the natural charter of dominion; whereas at a later period he has declared, that the sovereignty of the family of Shaw Allum is universally acknowledged; and that the company itself derives its constitutional dominion from their ostensible bounty.

III. BENARES.

PART I.

Rights and Titles of the Rajah of Benares.

I.

whatever it might suffer, did in a peculiar manner require, that the governour-general and council of Calcutta should conduct themselves with regard to its rulers and inhabitants, when it became dependent on the company, on the most distinguished principles of good faith, equity, moderation, and mildness.

II.

That the rajah Bulwant Sing, late prince or zemindar of the province aforesaid, was a great lord of the Mogul empire, dependent on the same, through the vizier of the empire, the late Sujah ul Dowla, nabob of Oude; and the said Bulwant Sing, in the commencement of the English power, did attach himself to the cause of the English company; and the court of directors of the said company did acknowledge, in their letter of the 26th of May 1768, that "Bulwant Sing's joining

THAT the territory of Benares is a fruitful, and has been, not long since, an orderly, well-cultivated, and improved province; of great extent; and its capital city, as Warren Hastings, Esquire, has informed the court of directors, in his letter of the 21st of November 1781," is highly revered by the "natives of the Hindu persuasion; so that many, "who have acquired independent fortunes, retire "to close their days in a place so eminently dis"tinguished for its sanctity:" and he further acquaints the directors, "that it may rather be con"sidered as the seat of the Hindu religion, than "as the capital of a province. But as its in"habitants are not composed of Hindus only, "the former wealth, which flowed into it from the offerings of pilgrims, as well as from the trans"actions of exchange, for which its central situa"tion is adapted, has attracted numbers of Ma- sidency) of those, that had shewn their attachhomedans, who still continue to reside in it with "ment to them (the company) during the war;" "their families." And these circumstances of the and they did finally express their hope and expeccity of Benares, which not only attracted the at-tation in the words following: " the moderation and tention of all the different descriptions of men, who" attention paid to those, who have espoused our inhabit Indostan, but interested them warmly in" interests in this war, will restore our reputation

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us at the time he did was of signal service, and "the stipulation in his favour was what he was "justly entitled to;"-and they did commend "the care, that had been taken (by the then pre

by the grants through Captain Harper, but that the preceding treaty of Illiabad, though literally expressing no more than a security personal to Bulwant Sing, did, notwithstanding, in the true sense and import thereof, extend to his posterity; "and that it had been differently understood (that "is, not literally) by the company, and by this "administration; and the vizier had before put "it out of all dispute by the solemn act passed in "the rajah's favour on the succession to the zemindary."

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V.

That the rajah Bulwant Sing died on the 23d of August 1770, and his son, Cheit Sing, succeeding to his rights and pretensions, the presidency of Calcutta (John Cartier, Esquire, being then president) did instruct Captain Gabriel Harper to procure a confirmation of the succession to his son Cheit Sing," as it was of the utmost political im"port to the company's affairs; and that the young man ought not to consider the price to be That the council, in their instructions to the 'paid to satisfy the vizier's jealousy and avarice." said Governour Hastings, did empower him "to And they did further declare as follows: "the renew in behalf of the rajah Cheit Sing, the strong and inviolable attachment, which sub- "stipulation, which was formerly made with the "sisted betwixt the company and the father, "vizier in consideration of his services in 1764;" "makes us most readily interpose our good offices and the government was accordingly settled on the "for the son." And the young rajah aforesaid rajah and his posterity, or to his heirs, on the having agreed, under the mediation of Captain same footing, on which it was granted to his said Harper, to pay near two hundred thousand pounds father, excepting the addition aforesaid to the as a gift to the said vizier, and to encrease his tri- tribute; with an express provision, "that no enbute by near thirty thousand pounds annually, a crease shall ever hereafter be demanded." And deed of confirmation was passed by the said vizier the grant and stipulation aforesaid was further to the said rajah, and his heirs, by which he be-confirmed by the said Sujah ul Dowla, under the came a purchaser, for valuable considerations, of his right and inheritance in the zemindary aforesaid. In consequence of this grant, so by him purchased, the rajah was solemnly invested with the government in the city of Benares," amidst the acclama"tions of a numerous people, and to the great "satisfaction of all parties.' And the said Harper, in his letter of the 8th October 1770, giving an account of the investiture aforesaid, did express himself in these words, "I will leave the young rajah, and others, to acquaint you how I "have conducted myself; only thus much let me say, that I have kept a strict eye not to diminish our national honour, disinterestedness, and jus"tice, which I will conclude has had a greater "effect in securing to the company their vast "possessions, than even the force of arms, how"ever formidable, could do." The president of Calcutta testified his approbation of the said Harper's conduct in the strongest terms, that is, in the following; "Your disinterestedness has been "equally distinguishable as your abilities, and "both do you the greatest honour."

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IV.

company's guarantee, by the most solemn and awful form of oath known in the Mahomedan religion, inserted in the body of the deed or grant ; and the said Warren Hastings, strongly impressed with the opinion of the propriety of protecting the rajah, and of the injustice, malice, and avarice of the said Sujah Dowla, and the known family enmity subsisting between him and the rajah, did declare, in his report to the council, as follows: 'I am well convinced, that the rajah's inherit"ance, and perhaps his life, are no longer safe "than while he enjoys the company's protection, "which is his due by the ties of justice, and the obligations of publick faith."

VI.

That some time after the new confirmation aforesaid, that is to say, in the year 1774, the governour-general, and council, which had been formed, and the members thereof appointed, by act of parliament, did obtain the assignment of the sovereignty paramount of the said government by treaty with the nabob of Oude; by which, although the supreme dominion was changed, the terms and the conditions of the tenure of the rajah That the agreement between the rajah and na- of Benares remained; as the said nabob of Oude bob aforesaid continued on both sides without any could transfer to the East India company no other violation, under the sanction and guarantee of or greater estate than he himself possessed in or the East India company, for three years; when over the said zemindary. But to obviate any misWarren Hastings, Esquire, being then president, construction on the subject, the said Warren Hastdid propose a further confirmation of the said grant; ings did propose to the board, that, whatever and did, on the 12th of October 1773, obtain a provision might in the said treaty be made for delegation for himself to be the person to negociate the interest of the company, the same should be the same, it being his opinion, as expressed in his" without an encroachment on the just rights of report of October 4th 1773, that the rajah was "the rajah, or the engagements actually subnot only entitled to the inheritance of his zemindary "sisting with him."

VII.

was by the other members of the council assented to without debate.

IX.

On transferring the rajah's tribute from the nabob to the company, the stipulation with the nabob was renewed on the proposition of the said Warren Hastings himself, and expressed in a yet more distinct manner; namely, "that no more

That the said Warren Hastings then having, or pretending to have, an extraordinary care of the interest of the rajah of Benares, did, on his transfer of the sovereignty, propose a new grant to be conveyed in new instruments to the said rajah, conferring upon him further privileges, namely, the addition of the sovereign rights of the mint, and of the right of criminal justice of life and death. And" he the said Warren Hastings, as governour-general, did himself propose the resolution for that purpose in council, in the following words, with remarks explanatory of the principles, upon which the grants aforesaid were made: namely, Minute.

VIII.

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demands shall be made upon him by the honourable company of any kind:" and the said Warren Hastings, in justification of his proposal of giving the rajah" a complete and uncontrouled authority over his zemindary," did enter on the council book the following reasons for investing him with the same; strongly indicating the situation, in which he must be left under any other circumstances, whether under the nabob of Oude, or under the English, or under the double influence of both: "that the security of his person and " possessions from the company's protection may be rated equal to many lacks of rupees, which though saved to him are no loss to the govern"ment, on which he depends, being all articles of "invisible expence; in fees to the ministers and "officers of the nabob; in the charges of a double "establishment of vackeels to both governments; "in presents and charges of accommodation to the "nabob, during his residence at any place within "the boundaries of his zemindary; in the frauds, "embezzlements, and oppressions exercised in "the mint and Cutwally; besides the allowed "profits of those officers, and the advantages, "which every man in occasional power, or in the "credit of it, might make of the rajah's known "weakness, and the dread he stood in both of the

"That the perpetual and independent possession "of the zemindary of Benares, and its dependen"cies, be confirmed and guarantied to the rajah" "Cheit Sing, and his heirs for ever, subject only "to the annual payment of the revenues hitherto "paid to the late vizier, amounting to Benares. "sicca rupees, 23,71,656,12, to be disposed of as is expressed in the following article: that no "other demand be made on him either by the "nabob of Oude, or this government; nor any "kind of authority or jurisdiction be exercised by either within the districts assigned to him." To which minute he, the said Warren Hastings, did subjoin the following observation in writing, and recorded therewith in the council-books, that is to say: "The rajah of Benares, from the "situation of his country, which is a frontier to "the provinces of Oude and Bahar, may be "made a serviceable ally to the company, whenever their affairs shall require it. He has always been considered in this light both by the company and the successive members of the late "council; but, to ensure his attachment to the 66 company, his interest must be connected with it, which cannot be better effected than by freeing him totally from the REMAINS of "his present vassallage under the guarantee" "and protection of the company; and at the "same time guarding him against any apprehen"sions from this government by thus pledging "its faith, that no encroachment shall ever be "made on his rights by the company." And the said Warren Hastings, on the 5th of July 1775, did himself propose, among other articles of the treaty relative to this object, one of the following tenour; "that whilst the rajah shall continue "faithful to these engagements, and punctual in "his payments, and shall pay due obedience to "the authority of this government, no more de"mands shall be made upon him by the honour"able company of ANY KIND; or, on any pre"tence whatsoever, shall any person be allowed "to interfere with his authority, or to disturb the peace of his country." And the said article

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displeasure of the nabob, and the ill-will of "individuals among the English, who were all "considered, either in their present stations or "connexions, or the right of succession, as mem"bers of the state of Bengal. It would be scarce "possible to enumerate all the inconveniences, to "which the rajah was liable in his former situa"tion, or to estimate the precise effect, which they produced on his revenue, and on the gross amount of his expence; but it may be easily "conceived, that both were enormous, and of a "nature the most likely to lessen the profits of government instead of adding to them." And in justification of his proposal of giving the rajah the symbols of sovereignty in the power of life and death, and in the coining of money, as pledges of his independence, he states the deplorable situation of princes reduced to dependence on the vizier, or the company, and obliged to entertain an English resident at their court, in the following words. "It "is proposed to receive the payment of his (the

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rajah's) rents at Patna, because that is the "nearest provincial station, and because it would "not frustrate the intention of rendering the rajah independent. "If a resident was appoint"ed to receive the money, as it became due, at " Benares, such a resident would unavoidably ac

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