Page:History of the French in India.djvu/480

 454 GODEHEU AND DE LEYRIT. chap, recovery of the English settlement in that province. In x * the presence of such a calamity it appeared advisable to 1756. §i ye U P ^ ne P ro j ec ted expedition into the Dakhan, even to allow Madras to shift for herself, in order to concen- trate the undivided energies of the Presidency on the recovery of Calcutta and the punishment of the Subadar. After some discussion, Clive was appointed to the land command, subordinate to the commander of the naval operations, Admiral Watson. On the 16th October they sailed, taking with them 900 Europeans and 1,500 sipahis, on that enterprise to which, in so far as relates to its connexion with Chandranagar, we shall have presently to refer. Meanwhile the English had not been idle in the Karnatik. Their protege, the Nawwab, being still in want of funds, and being thus unable to settle the claims they had against him, it was determined at Madras to make another attempt to extract money from some of the subordinate princes of the Karnatik. Murtiza Ali, Governor of Vellur, was selected for this purpose. It will be recollected that Murtiza Ali had been set up by Dupleix, on the death of Chanda Sahib, as Nawwab of the Karnatik. As soon, however, as the fall of Dupleix appeared imminent, Murtiza Ali had hastened to disclaim all pretensions to the title, and had made his submission to Muhammad Ali. By this means he hoped to be allowed to remain unmolested in his possessions. But it was not to be. He suffered under the great misfortune of passing for the richest man in the Karnatik, a crime that could only be atoned for by the surrender of his property. It was easy to find a pretext to attack him. Some old story about arrears of tribute was raked up ; and, almost without warning, a force of 500 Europeans and 1,500 sipahis, under Major Kilpatrick, appeared before Vellur on the 30th of January. Vellur had the reputation of being the strongest