Page:The Marquess of Hastings, K.G..djvu/94

86 Bhopál had been seriously threatened by Sindhia and the Bhonsla, who in October, 1813, combined their forces and laid siege to the town with nearly 70,000 men. The intrepidity of the Nawáb, Wazír Muhammad, beat off this formidable attack, but the danger did not pass away till the end of 1814, and in his distress he applied to the Indian Government for assistance, through Mr. Metcalfe, the Resident at Delhi. Protection was offered to him, October, 1814, on the usual conditions of a subsidiary alliance, and at first the negotiations appeared to offer some prospect of success. On the other hand, Sindhia displayed much displeasure at a proposal which withdrew a victim from his grasp; nor was his disappointment lessened by the fact that on the fall of Bhopal he hoped to reap all the fruits of the victory and, obtaining a lever against his ally the Bhonsla, to gain a preponderating influence over the Maráthá states. The Peshwá and the Rájá of Nágpur also secretly resented the interference in a native state they had been accustomed to harry; and hence, in the winter of 1814-15, when the English were involved in reverses in Nepál, the mutual jealousies of the discordant elements in Central India subsided, and had the Maráthás, Pindárís, and Patháns been ready to strike then, they might have compromised British prestige. But they were not ready, and were overawed by the vigour of the Governor-General, who raised fresh battalions, reinforced Bundelkhand, and concentrated large bodies of troops near the seat of probable disturbance.