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108 with a successful result, feats which could only have been performed by a man who was both hardy and daring. The celebrity of his name, and the rich opportunities for plunder which his numerous expeditions offered, attracted to his standard vast numbers of recruits, who, although he was niggardly in his payments, were firmly attached to him and fought gallantly under his orders. To the French who were in his service he appears to have been generally considerate, and to have placed great reliance on their fidelity and the bravery of their officers.

As regards his administrative capacity, it may be said that, owing to his being constantly engaged in war, and therefore absent from his capital, he was necessarily compelled to confide much to subordinate agents; and although his experience of Bráhmans, based on the treachery of his early ally Khande Ráo, was unfavourable on the whole, he had no option but to entrust this capable, though not always trustworthy caste, with most of the details of revenue management. Haidar's remedy for neglect of duty and for egregious plundering, to the detriment either of the peasantry or the treasury, was the scourge, which he applied freely, often perhaps justly, but always with severity. It may be said that the 'Korla,' a whip with a very long lash, reigned supreme, floggings being of daily occurrence, as related by the missionary Schwartz, and few officials appear to have escaped the infliction, which is not extraordinary when one considers that Haidar did not hesitate to