Page:A history of the military transactions of the British nation in Indostan.djvu/59

Book VI. he preferred the service of Gentoos in every office and dignity of the state, excepting in the ranks of the army, for which they neither wished nor were fit, and seemed to regard the increase of their wealth as his own. Roydulub was his duan, or treasurer, and his confidential minister; Ramramsing the Rajah of Midnapore, the master of the spies and messengers. The governments which he gave to his nephews, the sons and grandsons of Hodgee, as well as the interior establishment of their families, were regulated by Gentoos. He encouraged the immense opulence of the Seats, and admitted them to his most secret councils; he gave the government of Hughley and its district, in which all the European settlements on the river are situated, to Monikchund; and after the assassination of Zaindee Hamed, he would not trust the government of Behar, notwithstanding its importance as a province and a frontier, to Meer Jaffier, although his brother-in-law, and the first officer in his army; but gave it to the Gentoo Ramnairan, The Rajahs, both of Bengal and Behar, sought their protection and exemptions, from their fellow Gentoos, who were established in his confidence, and contributed not a little to increase their fortunes. Thus was the Gentoo connection become the most opulent influence in the government, of which it pervaded every department with such efficacy, that nothing of moment could move without their participation or knowledge; nor did they ever deceive their benefactor, but co-operated to strengthen his administration and relieve his wants; and it is said that the Seats alone gave him in one present the enormous sum of three millions of rupees, as a contribution to support the expences of the Morattoe war. Warranted by such experience, Allaverdy recommended the policy of his own preference to his successor, and instructed his wife to inculcate the same maxims after his decease; but he did not foresee that the great inferiority of abilities in Surajah Dowlah might turn to dangers the very means from which his own had derived security.

Surajah Dowlah immediately after the death of Allaverdy was proclaimed, and prepared to attack the widow of Nowagis Mahomed. Not more than one or two days after his accession he wrote