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NORTTI-WESTERN PROVINCES AND OUDH. 367 10 Struggle agamst In or about 1720, the Rohillás, an Afghán tribe, made themselves similarly independent in the tract between the Ganges and the Himalayas now called Rohilkland ; and though they had often to strugg the Delhi court, they maintained their freedom till they were conquered in 1774 by the Oudh Wazir, with the aid of British troops lent by Warren Hastings. About the same time, Saidat Ali Khán laid the foundations of the kingdom of Oudh, though he and his successor remained nominally subject to the Emperor. Shortly afterwards, Báji Ráo appeared upon the Jumna, and in 1736 sent his general to plunder tlie Doab, whence he was driven back by Saadat Ali. The final supremacy of the Marathas after the retirement of Nadir Shalı, and their establishment at Delhi in 1758, gave a show of unity to the Enpire for awhile; but their defeat at Panipat by Alimad Shah Duráni in 1761 drove them for a time from Hindustan and completed the dismemberment of the Mughal Empire. During the remainder of the century, the state of the Provinces was one of armed anarchy on every side, until the British stepped in for the restoration of order. The Nawab Wazír of Oudh and the Rohillás achieved complete independence beyond the Ganges; Bundelkhand remained divided between the Maráthás and the native chiefs ; Sindhia slowly superseded the power of the Peshwá, and became gradually supreme in Delhi; and the Doál) was in turn overrun by the Bhartpur Játs, the Maráthás, the Rohillas, and every other of the contending parties, though remaining nominally under the rule of the authorities at Delhi. The British first came into connection with the North-WJ'estern Provinces as they advanced along the valley of the Ganges from their foothold in Bengal. In 1763, the Nawab Wazir of Oudh, with the phantom Emperor Shah Alam, invaded Bengal. They received a crushing defeat at Baxar (Baksár), which, as one of the decisive battles of India, advanced the British frontier from the l'indhvas to Allahábád. The Emperor, with Balwant Singh, Rájá of Benares, joined the British camp. By the subsequent agreement, Balwant Singh's estates were transferred from Oudh to the Company; but the Court of Directors disapproved of the transfer, and a year later the territory was restored to Oudh, the Nawab guaranteeing to keep the Rájá in possession. In 1775, however, the new Nawab, Asaf-ud-daula, ceded Benares, Jaunpur, and Ghazipur to the British, retaining Allahábád and Kora, which had been taken from the Emperor in the previous year, when the British sold them to Oudh. The Nawab Wazir had agreed in 1773 to pay a fixed sum for each brigade of English troops maintained for his aid; and in 1797 this subsidy amounted to £760,000 a year. Being always in arrear, the Nawab entered into negotiations for a cession of territory in lieu of subsidy; and in 1801 the treaty of Lucknow was signed, by