Page:A history of the military transactions of the British nation in Indostan, Volume 1.djvu/177

Book III. The countries lying between the Coleroon and the extremity of the peninsula did not openly throw off their allegiance to Mahomed-ally, but were lukewarm in his interests: he therefore sent 2500 horse, and 3000 Peans, under the command of his brother Abdul-rahim, together with a detachment of 30 Europeans, to settle the government of Tinivelty, a city lying 160 miles to the south of Tritchinopoly, and capital of a territory which extends to cape Comorin. Abdul-rahim met with no resistance from the people of the country, but found it difficult to restrain his troops from revolt; for most of the officers being renters, were indebted to their prince as much as he was indebted to their soldiers, and expected as the price of their defection that Chunda-saheb would not only remit what they owed to the government, but likewise furnish money for the pay of their troops. However, great promises, and the vigilance of lieutenant Innis, who commanded the English detachment, prevented them from carrying their schemes into execution; but the same spirit of revolt manifested itself more openly in another part of Mahomed-ally's dominions.

Allum Khan, a soldier of fortune, who had formerly been in the service of Chunda-saheb, and afterwards in that of the king of Tanjore, had lately left this prince and came to Madura, where his reputation as an excellent officer soon gained him influence and respect, which he employed to corrupt the garrison, and succeeded so well, that the troops created him governor, and consented to maintain the city under his authority for Chunda-saheb, whom he acknowledged as his sovereign.

The country of Madura lies between those of Tritchinopoly and Tinivelly, and is as extensive as either of them. The city was in ancient times the residence of a prince who was sovereign of all the three. Its form is nearly a square 4000 yards in circumference, fortified with a double wall and a ditch. The loss of this place, by cutting off the communication between Tritchinopoly and the countries of Tinivelly, deprived Mahomed-ally of more than one half of the dominions which at this time remained under his jurisdiction. On receiving the news, captain Cope offered his service to retake it. His detachment was ill equipped for a siege, for they had brought no battering cannon from Fort St. David, and there were but two