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202 impetuous bravery of the little Gúrkhas, whose heavy knives or kukris dealt terrible execution. But, in the cold weather of 1814, General Ochterlony, who advanced by way of the Sutlej, stormed one by one the hill forts which still stud the Himálayan States, now under the Punjab Government, and compelled the Nepál darbár to sue for peace. In the following year, 1815, the same general made his brilliant march from Patna into the lofty valley of Khátmándu, and finally dictated the terms which had before been rejected, within a few miles of the capital. By the treaty of Segauli, which defines the English relations with Nepál to the present day, the Gúrkhas withdrew on the south-east from Sikkim; and on the south-west, from their advanced posts in the outer ranges of the Himálayas, which have supplied to the English the health-giving stations of Náini Tál, Mussooree, and Simla.

The Pindárís, 1804-1817.—Meanwhile the condition of Central India was every year becoming more unsatisfactory. The great Maráthá Chiefs had learned to live as princes rather than as predatory leaders. But their old example of lawlessness was being followed by a new set of freebooters, known as the Pindárís. As opposed to the Maráthás, who were at least a Hindu nationality bound by traditions of confederate government, the Pindárís were merely plundering bands, corresponding to the free companies of mediaeval Europe. Of no common race, and without any common religion, they welcomed to their ranks the outlaws and broken tribes of all India—Afgháns, Maráthás, or Játs. They represented the débris of the Mughal Empire, the broken men who had not been incorporated by the Muhammadan or the Hindu powers which sprang out of its ruins. For a time, indeed, it seemed as if the inheritance of the Mughal might pass to these armies of banditti. In Bengal, similar hordes had formed themselves out of the disbanded Muhammadan troops and the Hindu predatory castes. But they had been dispersed under the vigorous rule of Warren Hastings. In Central India, the evil lasted longer, attained a greater scale, and was only stamped out by a regular war.

Pindari War, 1817.—The Pindárí headquarters were in Málwá, but their depredations were not confined to Central