Page:History of the French in India.djvu/300

 278 FRENCH INDIA AT ITS ZENITH. chap, another exchequer of all the charges connected with the — '— m _ - troops thus detached, he agreed to send with the Suba- 1750. dar to Aurangabad, his capital, a force of 300 Europeans and 2,000 sipahis, the whole under the command of Bussy. For such a purpose, or indeed for any office, political or military, a better selection than that of Bussy could not have been made ; but in sending him, d'Auteuil being still incapacitated by sickness, and de la Touche having returned to France, Dupleix deprived himself of the one man upon whom he could depend, in the event of any unforeseen military disaster. 1751. On January 7, 1751, MuzafFar Jang left Pondichery to join his army, and on the 15th, in pursuance of the agreement he had entered into with Dupleix, he was joined by Bussy and the French contingent. At the end of about three weeks they entered the territories of the Nawwab of Kadapah, who was himself with the army. Here a tumult, apparently accidental, but really preconcerted, occurred between some troops belonging to the army of the Subadar and some villagers. The Nawwab of Kadapah hastened to support his tenants, and attacked the rear-guard of the main body of the Subadar's army, that being the part of the force with which the ladies of his harem travelled. MuzafFar Jang, enraged at this insolence, determined to avenge it, but wished, in the first instance, to assure himself of the countenance and support of Bussy. The orders given to this officer had been to avoid, as much as possible, all appearance of hostility, and in accordance with these, he addressed himself to the task of bringing about an accommodation between the two angry chieftains. But it soon appeared that the Nawwab of Kadapah had allied himself with the Nawwab s of Karnul and Savanur against their former confederate, MuzafFar Jang, and that, although anxious, if possible, to avoid hostilities with the French, they were resolved to seize the opportunity to effect the destruction of the Subadar.