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266 called by Europeans, was the brother of a former Peishwa, and the uncle of two succeeding ones, the latter of whom was assassinated. Rugonath Row enjoyed the reputation of having contrived his nephew's death, that he might succeed him in the office of Peishwa; but a strong party arose against him in consequence of the birth of a posthumous son of the late Peishwa, who, at the age of forty days, was formally invested with that office; and Ragoba, after contending against his adversaries for some time in the field, was ultimately obliged to quit Poonah. In his distress he applied to the Government of Bombay for assistance to reinstate him in the Peishwaship, and he agreed in return to cede to them the port of Bassein and the island of Salsette.

With a view to the fulfilment of this treaty, Colonel Keating landed at Cambay with a force of two thousand five hundred men, and was joined by an army, or rather a mob, under Ragoba, amounting to about twenty thousand men, incapable of acting with effect in combination with regular troops. On his advance towards Poonah, Keating was attacked by a large force of Mahratta cavalry; but though he completely repulsed the enemy, his loss was so severe that he suspended his intention of advancing at present upon the capital, and awaited at Dubhoy the termination of the rainy season and the arrival of reinforcements.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Council of Calcutta strongly condemned the proceedings of the Bombay Government, and sent an envoy direct from Bengal to Poonah, to enter into a treaty with the Ministers of the infant Peishwa, by which the former agreed to abandon the cause of Ragoba in consideration of a cession on the part of the latter of Bassein and Salsette. This, however, had scarcely been concluded, when another remarkable change was effected by a communication from the Court of Directors, containing a cordial approbation of the proceedings of the Bombay Government; and the latter were so highly elated by the sanction thus given to their schemes that