Page:A history of the military transactions of the British nation in Indostan.djvu/50

44 tributary to the province of Oude, who 20 years before were of little note or estimation; and to repair this disgrace, it was resolved to hire 40,000 Morattoes of Balagerow, who had succeeded his father Ballerow in the government of Poni. Its own distress therefore deprived the throne of farther means to excite more enemies against Allaverdy, in whom, on the other hand, the infirmities of age seemed to have quelled the ambitious spirit which had rendered him so formidable to the empire. The Court of Delhi, therefore, as the best compromise, consented to confirm him Subah of Bengal, Behar, and Orixa, on condition that he should annually remit the usual tribute of six millions of rupees. The patents were published at Muxadavad soon after the body of 5000 Morattoes were defeated in Behar, and Allaverdy improving both circumstances, opened a negociation with their leaders, consenting to leave them in possession of the southern part of Orixa until a firm peace could be settled with the heads of the nation, provided all their parties were immediately withdrawn out of the provinces of Bengal and Behar. The terms were accepted, and he soon after sent an embassador to Poni; but a variety of references and discussions delayed the ratification of the treaty to the end of the year 1753, when it was agreed that Allaverdy should annually pay the sum of 120,000 rupees, and that all Orixa, south of Catteck, should be ceded to the Morattoe dominion in perpetuity, and that they should receive half the revenues of the northern part as far as the river of Pipli, with the permission of appointing officers, who, together with the Nabob's, were to superintend the collections. Thus ended this war. All the countries lying to the east of the great and lesser Ganges, excepting the island of Cossimbuzar, were defended by these rivers from the calamities which afflicted Orixa, the western part of Bengal, and the southern region of Behar, where the pusillanimous inhabitants were continually taking flight, even on imaginary alarms, and wandering from their homes found no resources of charity in their countrymen; for the fear of contamination prevents all of the Indian religion from giving shelter, or administering to the wants of any, who are not known or recommended