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 5lfi

Ill.STUltV Ul- I.NDIA.

[liooK III

A.D. 17.Mi.

Breiuli of faith to tlif

MaiirattuM.

Gheriah. Strange to say, the Company now showed great reluctance to fulfil tiieir part of the agreement. Gheriali, it was thought, would be a iiujst valuahl< acquisition to the Bombay ]>residency; and therefore, when delivery was ajsked by the Mahrattas, Mr. Bourciiier, the governor, endeavoured to eva^le the obli- gation on pleas so frivolous as to be disgraceful. At first a comjjromise was attem})ted, and Bancoote was offered to the Mahrattas in exchange for Gheriah. When this was indignantly refused, a list of grievances was concocted, and the Mahrattas were told that they had failed in perfomiing their part of the treaty — they had not properly fixed the limits of the Bancoote cession — they had not delivered up the person of Toolajee Angria — and the Peishwa had contracted for a supply of goods from the Dutch. The la.st grievance, though evidently regarded as the worst of all, had nothing to do with the point in question, and the other two were frivolous pretexts which scarcely deserved examination. Mr. Bourchier himself ultimately seemed ashamed of them, and the Mahratta-s were put in possession of Gheriah. Pendiiig the dispute the Eriti-sh .squadron and troops remained to influence the issue, and did not return to Bombay till the beginning of April. Shortly after, they sailed for Madras, which was reached on the 12th of May. Olive's ultimate destination was Fort St. David. where, by a singular coincidence, he entered on the duties of his office on the 20th of June, 1756, the very day on which Calcutta fell into the hands of Surajah Dowlah, Nabob of Bengal. This event, with the causes which led to it, and the momentous consequences by which it was followed, must now be traced.

CHAPTER YIII.

Slate of Bengal — Administration of JaflSer Khan, Shujah-u-din Khan, Serferaz Khan, and

Ali Verdy Khan.

State of Beiigiil.

ENGAL, united as it usually was with Behar and Orissa, formed so important a branch of the Mogul empire, that the government of it became an object of ambition to the leading members of the imperial famil}", and the aspirants to the throne of Delhi were more than once indebted for their success to the sinews of war furnished by its revenues. In the war of succession which was waged on the death of Am*ungzebe, Bahadur Shah, who, as the eldest son, undoubtedly possessed the best title, would in all probability have found it unavailing, had he not been opportunely furnished with the means of carrying on the contest by the arrival of his son, Azim-u-Shan, with the treasures which he had amassed as Viceroy of Bengal. At a later period, when, on the death of Bahadui- Shah,