To what extent can I prolong the praises of you, Copy of a Letter from Colonel Hannay to Jewar Cawn Saib, my indulgent friends, Your friendly letter, fraught with kindness, I had the pleasure to receive in a propitious hour, and your inexpressible kindness in sending for Mur Nassar Ally with a force to Saunda, for the purpose of conducting Mr. Gordon, with all his baggage, who is now arrived at Fyzabad. This event has afforded me the most excessive pleasure and satisfaction. May the Omnipotence preserve you, my stedfast firm friends. The pen of friendship itself cannot sufficiently express your generosity and benevolence, and that of the begum of high dignity, who so graciously has interested herself in this matter. Enclosed is an address for her, which please to forward. I hope from your friendship, until we meet, you will continue to honour me with an account of your health and welfare. What further can I write ? V. REVOLUTIONS IN FARRUCKABAD. I. withheld, but, having made a further invasion by depriving him of fifteen of his districts, levying the tribute of the whole on the little that remained, and putting the small remains of his territory under a sequestrator or collector appointed by Almas Ali Khân, who did grievously afflict and oppress the prince and territory aforesaid. That the hardships of his case being frequently represented to Warren Hastings, Esquire, he did suggest a doubt, whether "that little ought to be "still subject to tribute," indicating, that the said tribute might be hard and inequitable; but whatever its justice might have been, that "from the earliest period of our connexion with the present "nabob of Oude, it had invariably continued a part of the funds assigned by his Excellency as "a provision for the liquidation of the several "publick demands of this government (Calcutta) 66 66 THAT a prince called Ahmed Khân was of a family amongst the most distinguished in Hindostan, and of a nation famous through that empire for its valour in acquiring, and its policy and prudence in well governing, the territories it had acquired, called the Patans, or Afghans, of which the Rohillas were a branch. The said Ahmed Khân had fixed his residence in the city of Farruckabad, and in the first wars of this nation in India the said Ahmed Khân attached himself to the company against Sujah Dowla, then an enemy, now a dependent on that company. Ahmed Khân, towards the close of his life, was dispossessed of a large part of his dominions by the prevalence of the Mahratta power; but his son, a minor, succeeded to his pretensions, and to the remainder of his dominions. The Mahrattas were expelled by Sujah ul Dowla, the late vizier, who finding a want of the services of the son and successor of Ahmed Khân, called Mouzaffer Jung," did not only guaranty him in the possession of what he then actually held, but engaged to restore all the other territories, which had been occupied by the Mahrattas: and this was confirmed, by repeated treaties and solemn oaths, by the late vizier and by the present; but neither the late nor the present vizier fulfilled their engagements, or observed their oaths: the former having withheld what he had stipulated to restore, and the latter not only subjecting him to a tribute, instead of restoring him to what his father had unjustly 66 upon him; and in consequence of the powers "the board deemed it expedient to vest in the "resident at his court, for the collection of the company's assignments, a sezauwil [a sequestrator] has always been stationed to enforce by every means in his power the payment of the "tribute." And the said tribute was, in consequence of this arrangement, not paid to the nabob, but to the British resident at Oude; and the same being therefore under the direction, and for the sole use, of the company, and indeed the prince himself wholly dependent, the representatives of the said company were responsible for the protection of the prince, and for the good government of the country. II. That the said Warren Hastings did, on the 22d of May 1780, represent to the board of Calcutta the condition of the said country in the following manner: 66 66 66 66 66 "To the total want of all order, regularity, or "authority in his government, (the Farruckabad government,) among other obvious causes, it may, no doubt, be owing, that the country of Farruck"abad is become an almost entire waste, without "cultivation, or inhabitants; that the capital, "which but a very short time ago was distinguished as one of the most populous and opulent com"mercial cities in Hindostan, at present exhibits nothing but scenes of the most wretched poverty, desolation, and misery: and the nabob himself, "though in possession of a tract of country, which, with only common care, is notoriously capable of yielding an annual revenue of be"tween thirty and forty lacks, (three or four hun"dred thousand pounds,) with no military estab"lishment to maintain, scarcely commanding the means of bare subsistence." And the said Warren Hastings, taking into consideration the said state of the country, and its prince, and that the latter had" preferred frequent complaints" (which complaints the said Hastings to that time did. not lay before the board, as his duty required) of the hardships and indignities, to which he is subjected by the conduct of the sezauwil [sequestrator] stationed in the country for the pur(c pose of levying the annual tribute, which he is "bound by treaty to pay to the soubah of Oude;" he, the said Hastings, did declare himself" ex"tremely desirous, as well from motives of common justice, as due regard to the rank, which "that chief holds among the princes of Hindos"tan, of affording him relief." And he, the said Warren Hastings, as the means of the said relief, did, with the consent of the board, order the said native sequestrator to be removed, and an English resident, a servant of the company, to be appointed in his room, declaring," he understood a local interference to be indispensably necessary for realizing the vizier's just demands." 66 66 III. That the said native sequestrator being withdrawn, and a resident appointed, no complaint whatever concerning the collection of the revenue, or of any indignities offered to the prince of the country, or oppression of his subjects by the said resident, was made to the superiour council at Calcutta; yet the said Warren Hastings did, nevertheless, in a certain paper, purporting to be a treaty made at Chunar with the nabob of Oude on the 19th of September 1781, at the request of the said nabob, consent to an article therein, "that no English resident be appointed to Farruckabad, and that the present be recalled;" and the said Warren Hastings knowing, that the nabob of Oude was ill affected towards the said nabob of Farruckabad, and that he was already supposed to have oppressed him, did justify his conduct on the principles and in the words following; "that if the nabob Mozaffer Jung must "endure oppression, (and I dare not at this time propose his total relief,) it concerns the reputa"tion of our government to remove our partici"pation in it." And the said Warren Hastings making, recording, and acting upon the first of the said false and inhuman suppositions, most scandalous to this nation, namely, that princes paying money wholly for the use of the company, and directly to its agent, for the maintenance of British troops, by whose force and power the said revenue was in effect collected, must of necessity endure oppression, and that our government at any time dare not propose their total relief, was an high offence and misdemeanour in the said Warren Hastings, and the rather, because in the said treaty, as well as before and after, the said Hastings, who pretended not to dare to relieve those oppressed by the nabob of Oude, did assume a complete authority over the said nabob himself, and did dare to oppress him. IV. That the second principle assumed by the said Warren Hastings, as a ground for voluntarily abandoning the protection of those, whom he had before undertaken to relieve, on the sole strength of his own authority, and in full confidence of the lawful foundation thereof, and for delivering over the persons so taken into protection, under false names and pretended descriptions, to known oppression, asserting, that the reputation of the company was saved by removing this apparent participation, when the new, as well as the old, arrangements were truly and substantially acts of the British government, was disingenuous, deceitful, and used to cover unjustifiable designs, since the said Warren Hastings well knew, that all oppressions exercised by the nabob of Oude were solely, and in this instance particularly, upheld by British force, and were imputed to this nation; and because he himself, in not more than three days after the execution of this treaty, and in virtue thereof, did direct the British resident at Oude in orders, to which he required his most implicit obedience, "that the ministers (the "nabob of Oude's ministers) are to choose all "aumils and collectors of revenue with your con"currence." And the dishonour to the company in thus deceitfully concurring in oppression, which they were able and were bound to prevent, is much aggravated by the said Warren Hastings's receiving from the person, to whose oppression he had delivered the said prince, as a private gift or donation to himself, and for his own use, a sum of money, amounting to one hundred thousand pounds and upwards, which might give just ground of suspicion, that the said gift from the oppressor to the person surrendering the person injured to his mercy might have had some share in the said | supposed abuses, during the said residency, but criminal transaction. V. That the said Warren Hastings did (in the paper justifying the said surrender of the prince, put by himself under the protection of the East India company) assert, "that it was a fact, that the "Nabob Muzzattor Jung (the nabob of Farruck"abad) is equally urgent with the nabob vizier "for the removal of a resident," without producing, as he ought to have done, any document to prove his improbable assertion, namely, his assertion, that the oppressed prince did apply to his known enemy and oppressor, the nabob of Oude, (who, if he would, was not able to relieve him against the will of the English government,) rather than to that English government, which he must have conceived to be more impartial, to which he had made his former complaint, and which was alone able to relieve him. 66 VI. That the said Warren Hastings, in the said writing, did further convey an insinuation of an ambiguous, but, on any construction, of a suspicious and dangerous import; viz. " it is a fact, that Mr. "Shee's (the resident's) authority over the territory of Farruckabad is in itself as much sub"versive of that (of the lawful rulers) as that of "the vizier's aumil (collector) ever was, and is "the more oppressive, as the power from whence "it is derived is greater." The said assertion proceeds upon a supposition of the illegality both of the nabob's and the company's government; all consideration of the title to authority being therefore on that supposition put out of the question, and the whole turning only upon the exercise of authority, the said Hastings's suggestion, that the oppression of government must be in proportion to its power, is the result of a false and dangerous principle, and such as it is criminal for any person intrusted with the lives and fortunes of men to entertain, much more publickly to profess as a rule of action, as the same hath a direct tendency to make the new and powerful government of this kingdom in India dreadful to the natives, and odious to the world. But if the said Warren Hastings did mean thereby indirectly to insinuate, that oppressions had been actually exercised under the British authority, he was bound to enquire into these oppressions, and to animadvert on the person guilty of the same, if proof thereof could be had; and the more, as the authority was given by himself, and the person exercising it was by himself also named. And the said Warren Hastings did on another occasion assert, that "whether they "were well or ill founded he never had an oppor"tunity to ascertain." But it is not true, that the said Hastings did or could want such opportunity: the fact being, that the said Warren Hastings did never cause any enquiry to be made into any did give a pension of fifteen hundred pounds a year to the said late resident, as a compensation to him for an injury received, and did afterwards promote the resident, as a faithful servant of the company, (and nothing appears to shew him otherwise,) to a judicial office of high trust; thereby taking away all credit from any grounds asserted or insinuated by the said Hastings for delivering the said nabob of Farruckabad to the hand of a known enemy and oppressor, who had already, contrary to repeated treaties, deprived him of a large part of his territories. VII. That on the said Warren Hastings's representation of the transaction aforesaid to the court of directors, they did heavily and justly censure the said Warren Hastings for the same, and did convey their censure to him, recommending relief to the suffering prince, but without any order for sending a new resident; being, as it may be supposed, prevented from taking that step by the faith of the treaty made at Chunar. VIII. That all the oppressions foreseen by him the said Warren Hastings, when he made the article aforesaid in the treaty of Chunar, did actually happen; for immediately on the removal of the British resident, the country of Farruckabad was subjected to the discretion of a certain native manager of revenue, called Almas Ali Khân, who did impoverish and oppress the country, and insult the prince, and did deprive him of all subsistence from his own estates; taking from him even his gardens, and the tombs of his ancestors, and the funds for maintaining the same. IX. That on complaint of those proceedings the said Hastings did, of his own authority, and without communicating with his council, direct the native collector aforesaid to be removed, and the territory of Farruckabad to be left to the sole management of its natural prince. But in a short time the said Hastings, pretending to receive many complaints purporting, that the tribute to the nabob remained wholly unpaid, and the agent to the prince of Farruckabad at the presidency, and afterwards chief manager to the prince aforesaid, having, as the said Warren Hastings saith, "had the inso"lence to propagate a report, that the interfer consequence of this his own second dereliction "of the prince of Farruckabad was an aggravated "renewal of the severities exercised against his 66 government, and the re-appointment of a sezawall, with powers delegated, or assumed, to the "utter extinction of the right of Muzuffer Jung, "and actually depriving him of the means of "subsistence." And the said Hastings did receive, on the 16th of February 1783, from the prince aforesaid a bitter complaint of the same to the following tenour: "The miseries which have fallen upon my country, and the poverty and distress which "have been heaped upon me by the re-appoint"ment of the sezawall, are such, that a relation "of them would, I am convinced, excite the strongest feelings of compassion in your breast. "But it is impossible to relate them; on one side, my country ruined, and uncultivated to a degree "of desolation, which exceeds all description, on "the other, my domestick concerns and con"nexions involved in such a state of distress and "horrour, that even the relations, the children, "and the wives of my father, are starving in "want of daily bread, and are on the point of flying voluntary exiles from their country, and 66 from each other." 66 But although the said Hastings did, on the 16th of February, receive and admit the justice of the said complaint, and did not deny the urgent necessity of redress, the said letter containing the following sentence, "if there should be any delay in your acceptance of this proposal, my existence "and the existence of my family will become "difficult and doubtful:"—and although he did admit the interference to be the more urgently demanded, "as the services of the English troops "have been added to enforce the authority of the "sezawall,” and although he admits also, that even before that time similar complaints and applications had been made, yet he did withhold the said letter of complaint, a minute of which he asserts he had, at or about that time, prepared for the relief of the sufferer, from the board of council, and did not so much as propose any thing relative to the same for seven months after, viz. until the 6th of October 1783; the said letter and minute being, as he asserts, "withheld, from causes not necessary to mention, from presentation." By which means the said country and prince did suffer a long continuance of unnecessary hardship, from which the said Hastings confessed it was his duty to relieve them, and that a British resident was necessary at Farruckabad "from a sense of submission to the implied orders of the "court of directors, in their letter of 1783, lately "received, added to the conviction I have LONG "SINCE entertained of the necessity of such 66 with the nabob in the treaty of Chunar; and against his strong remonstrances, urging his humiliation from this measure, and the faith of the agreement, and against his own former declaration, that it concerned the reputation of our government to remove our participation in the oppressions, which he, the said Hastings, supposed the prince of Farruckabad must undergo, did once more recommend to the council a British resident at Farruckabad, and the withdrawing the native sezawall; no course being left to the said Hastings to take, which was not a violation of some engagement, and a contradiction to some principle of justice and policy by him deliberately advanced, and entered on record. That Mr. Willes being appointed resident, and having arrived at Farruckabad on the 25th of February 1784, with instructions to enquire minutely into the state of the country and the ruling family, he, the said resident Willes, in obedience thereto, did fully explain to him, the governour-general, the said Warren Hastings, (he being then out of the company's provinces, at Lucknow, on a delegation, which respected this very country as part of the dependencies of Oude,) the situation of the province of Farruckabad; but the said Warren Hastings did not take or recommend any measure whatsoever for the relief thereof in consequence of the said representation; nor even communicate to the council general the said representation; and it was not until the 28th of June 1783, that is, sixteen months from the arrival of the resident at his station, that any thing was laid before the board relative to the regulation or relief of the distressed country aforesaid, and that, not from the said Warren Hastings, but from other members of the council; which purposed neglect of duty, joined to the preceding wilful delay of seven months in proposing the said relief originally, caused near two years' delay. And the said Warren Hastings is further culpable in not communicating to the council board the order, which he had of his own authority, and without any powers from them, given to the said resident Willes, and did thereby prevent them from taking such steps as might counteract the ill effects of the said order; which order purported, that the said Willes was not to interfere with the nabob of Farruckabad's government, for the regulation of which he was in effect appointed to the residency; declaring as follows: "I rely much on your moderation and good judg 66 ment, which I hope will enable you to regulate your conduct towards the nabob and his servants "in such a manner, that without interfering in "the executive part of his government you may "render him essential service by your council and "advice." And this restriction the said Hastings did impose, which totally frustrated the purpose of the resident's mission, though he well knew, and had frequently stated, the extreme imbecility and weakness of the said nabob of Farruckabad, and his subjection to unworthy servants. And in the minute of consultation, upon which he founded the appointment, he did state the nabob of Farrucka bad 66 we would have proceeded to Calcutta for re"dress. The scarcity of grain this season is an "additional misfortune. With difficulty we sup port life. From your presence without the pro"vinces we expect relief. It is not the custom of "the company to deprive the zemindars and jag"hiredars of the means of subsistence. To your This being the situation of the person and fa relations, the state of the country and its capital, prevented from all relief by the said Warren Hastings, is described, in the following words, by the resident Willes : as a weak and unexperienced young man, "who had abandoned himself entirely to the dis"cretion of his servants; and the restoration of "his independence was followed by a total breach "of the engagements he had promised to fulfil, "attended by pointed instances of contumacy and disrespect." And in the said minute the said Hastings adds, (as before mentioned,) his principal" justice we look up." servant and manager had propagated a report, that the "interference, (namely his the said Hast-mily of the nabob of Farruckabad and his nearest ings's interference,) to which his master owed "the power he then enjoyed, was purchased by "him," the principal servant aforesaid; yet he, the said Hastings, who had assigned on record the character of the said nabob, and the conduct of his servants, and the aforesaid report of his principal servant, so highly dishonourable to him the said Hastings, as reasons for taking away the independency of the nabob of Farruckabad, and the subjecting him to the oppression of the nabob of Oude's officer, Almar Ali, did again establish the pretended independence of the said prince of Far-" ruckabad, and the real independence of his corrupt and perfidious servants, not against the nabob of Oude, but against a British resident appointed by himself, (" as a character eminently qualified "for such a charge,") for the correction of those evils, and for rendering the prince aforesaid an useful ally to the company, and restoring his dominions to order and plenty. That the said Hastings did not only disable the resident at Farruckabad by his said prohibitory letter, but did render his very remaining at all in that station perfectly precarious by a subsequent letter, rendering him liable to dismission by the vizier thereby changing the tenure of the resident's office, and changing him from a minister of the company, dependent on the governour-general in council, to a dependent upon an unresponsible power; in this also acting without the council, and by his own usurped authority; and accordingly the resident did declare, in his letter of the 24th of April 1785, "that the situation of the "country was more distressful than when he (the "prince of Farruckabad) addressed himself for "relief in 1783; and that he was sorry to say, "that his appointment at Farruckabad was of no "use." That though the old tribute could not be paid, owing to famine, and other causes, it was encreased by a new imposition, making the whole equal the entire gross produce of the revenue; that therefore there will not be " any thing for "the subsistence of the nabob and family." And the uncles of the said nabob of Farruckabad, the brethren of the late Ahmed Khân, (who had rendered important services to the company,) and their children, in a petition to the resident, represented, that soon after the succession of Mouzaffer Jung" their misery commenced. The jaghires, (lands and estates,) on which they subsisted, were disallowed. Our distress is great; we have "neither clothes nor food. Though we felt hurt "at the idea of explaining our situation, yet, "could we have found a mode of conveyance, 66 66 "Almas Ali has taken the pergunnah of Marara at a very inadequate rent, and his aumils "have seized many adjacent villages; the per"gunnahs of Cocutmow and Souje are constantly plundered by his people. The collection of the "gauts near Futty Ghur has been seized by the "vizier's cutwal, and the zemindars in four pergunnahs are so refractory as to have forfeited "themselves in their gurries, and to refuse all pay"ments of revenue. This is the state of the pergunnahs; and Farruckabad, which was once "the seat of great opulence and trade, is now "daily deserted by its inhabitants; its walls "mouldering away, without police, without pro"tection; exposed to the depredations of a ban"ditti of two or three hundred robbers, who, night after night, enter it for plunder, murder 66 66 ing all who oppose them. The ruin that has "overtaken this country, is not to be wondered “at, when it is considered, that there has been no stable government for many years. There "has been the nabob vizier's authority, his ministers, the residents at Lucknow, the sezawalls, "the camp authority, the nabob Muzuffer Jung's, "and that of twenty dewans or advisers. No au"thority sufficiently predominant to establish any regulations for the benefit of the country, whilst "each authority has been exerted, as opportunity "offered, for temporary purposes." 66 "Such being the present deplorable state of "Farruckabad and its districts, in the ensuing year it will be in vain to look for revenue, if "some regulations equal to the exigency be not "adopted. The whole country will be divided. "between the neighbouring powerful aumils, the |