ever, very short; and on his death the council of Calcutta raised to it his son, Nujumn-ud-Dowla, making him pay, as usual, a large sum for his ele

vation.

The high character which Lord Clive had already gained in the East justly marked him out for the government of India; and on the 3d of May, 1765, he landed, with full powers as commander-in-chief, president, and governor of Bengal. He remained in India about two years, during which period he effected the most desirable reformations in both the civil and military departments. Sujah-ad-Dowla, subahdar of Oude, and the nominal emperor of Delhi, Shah Alem II., having assisted Meer Cossim, the English marched against them. Allahabad and Lucknow were taken. The nabob was glad to purchase peace by paying the expenses of the war, and the emperor conferred upon the English the revenue of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, and his imperial confirmation of all the territories conquered by them within the nominal extent of the Mogul empire. The East India Company had now acquired territory equal in extent to the most flourishing kingdom of Europe; and from this date. A. D. 1765, commences the recognized sovereignty of the English in Hindostan. It is worthy of notice that, although actually independent, the great subahdars continued to the last moment of the empire to solicit imperial firmans or patents from the court of Delhi, confirming them in the power they already possessed. In the south of India, besides the real authority in the Carnatic, the English had received the northern circars in grant from the Nizam, on condition of furnishing a body of troops in time of war. This alliance involved them in a series of contests with Hyder Ali, who had made himself sultan of the Hindu state of Mysore. The political importance acquired by the East India Company induced the government of Great Britain to claim a share in the administration of the Indian territories; and in 1773 it was determined in parliament, that all civil and military correspondence should be submitted to the king's ministers; that a supreme court of judicature should be sent out from England; and that the three presidencies should be subject to a governor-general and council, the former to be approved of by the king.

Warren Hastings, the first governor-general, found the company's finances in India much embarrassed, and a general confederation against the English in progress amongst the native powers. Notwithstanding violent opposition in his council, he conducted the government through its diffi culties, repulsed Hyder, humbled the Mahrattas, and obtained from Asefad Dowla, the subahdar of Oude, the zemindary of Benares. On his return to England, Warren Hastings was impeached by the house of commons for corruption and oppression, and tried before the house of lords. The trial, owing to frequent interruptions, was protracted for seven years, at the end of which he was honourably acquitted. The proceedings, however, are not necessary to be here dwelt upon, as they belong more especially to the parliamentary history of England. During his twelve years' government in India, Warren Hastings had raised the revenue to double its previous amount; but he had added twelve millions and a half to the debt of the Company.

Lord Cornwallis succeeded as governor-general in 1786. The relations between the British government and those of Lucknow and Hyderabad, were revised and strengthened; and in a war with Tippoo Saib, who had succeeded Hyder in the principality of Mysore, Lord Cornwallis defeated his armies, and besieged his capital, Seringapatam. The sultan, to ob tain peace, gave up considerable territory to the British. It was under the administration of Lord Cornwallis, who was possessed of first rate qualities for this office, that the principal judicial and revenue regulations, still in force, were enacted, particularly the perpetual settlement of the revenue of Bengal with the zeminda rs. In 1793 Lord Cornwallis returned

o England, and was succeeded by Sir John Shore; but the pacific system of policy followed by him forfeited that consideration which the British government held in his predecessor's time amongst the native states. In 1798 he was succeeded by Lord Mornington, afterwards marquis of Wellesley. Tippoo had greatly augmented his army, and many severe battles had been fought between him and the British, but without humbling his tone, or much disminishing his power. For several years, in fact, the affairs of India had continued in a state of doubtful tranquillity. The jealousy of the British was at length justly aroused by a proclama..on of the French governor of the isle of France, in 1798, which openly mentioned an alliance formed between Tippoo and the French republic or the destruction of the British power in India. The governor-general, on this, demanded an explanation of him, which being evasive and evilently intended to procrastinate our military operations, the reduction of ne fort of Seringapatam was immediately resolved on. After having been repulsed, with considerable loss, in an attack of the Bombay army under General Stuart, Tippoo Saib retreated to Seringapatam. The main army, under General Harris, consisted of thirty-one thousand men, beside the Nizam's cavalry, all completely equipped: that under General Stuart was equally efficient. On the 3rd of April the army came within sight of Seringapatam, took its position on the 5th, and en the 6th the principal outposts were in possession of the British. Several letters passed, and on the 20th General Harris received an overture of peace from Tippoo, which he answered, on the 22d, with a draft of preliminaries; but he terms were too severe for the enemy to accept. On the 2d of May, herefore, the British batteries began to open, and in the course of the day a breach was made in the faussebray wall; the main rampart was shattered; and, to complete the misfortune of the besieged, a shot having struck their magazine, it blew up with a dreadful explosion. The breach being thought practicable, on the night of the 4th of May, four thousand men were stationed in the trenches before day-break. The assault was led on by General Baird, and began at one o'clock In six minutes the forlorn hope had reached the summit of the breach, where the British colours were instantly planted. In a few minutes, the breach, which was one hundred feet wide, was crowded with men. After a short conflict the panic became general in the fort; thousands quitted it, and others laid down their arms. A flag of truce was soon after sent to the palace of the sultan, offering protection to him and his friends upon surrendering unconditionally. The young prince surrendered to General Baird, and the body of Tippoo was afterward found in the gateway of the fort, lying among heaps of slain, covered with wounds. His dominions were now partitioned among his conquerors, and the Mahrattas were admitted to a share, from motives of policy, though they had taken no part in the war. A descendant of the ancient rajahs of Mysore, about five years old, was sought out and placed on the throne with great ceremony, under certain conditions and the sons and relations of Tippoo were removed to the Carnatic. Thus terminated one of the most important wars in which the Anglo-Indians had been ever engaged; and for some time, at least, t secured them from the re-appearance of a formidable enemy. A. D.

1799.

As the conquests of Tippoo and Hyder were retained by the British, and a subsidiary treaty had been formed with the Nizam, by which the defence of his dominions was undertaken by them upon providing for the expense, the greater part of the Deccan was now directly or indirectly subject to their authority. Arrangements were next concluded with the nabob of Oude, by which the lower part of the Douab and other countries were ceded to the British for the support of a subsidiary force. Upon these transactions followed a war with the Mahratta chiefs, Scindia, and

Ragoji Bhosla, rajah of Berar, whose armies were defeated in the south by Sir Arthur Wellesley, brother of the governor-general, and in the north by Lord Lake; and the upper part of the Douab, with Delhi and Agra, were taken possession of in the north; whilst in the south, Cut tack on the eastern, and part of the Guzerat on the western coast, were annexed to the British dominions. A war with Holkar, another Mahratta prince, followed. He made a rapid incursion into the Douab, and committed some ravages; but was pursued by Lord Lake to the Sikh country, and all his territories occupied by a British force. The whole, however, was restored to him at the peace.

In 1805 Lord Wellesley was succeeded by Lord Cornwallis, again appointed governor-general. His policy was of a pacific character; and upon his death, soon after his arrival in India, it was adopted by his temporary successor, Sir George Barlow. Lord Minto arrived in India in 1807. His attention was chiefly directed to the subjugation of the remaining possessions of the French in the East; and the Isle of France and Mauritius, and the large island of Java, were subdued by armaments fitted out in India. At the end of 1813 the marquis of Hastings arrived as governor-general. The determination of his predecessors to abstain from interference with the native states had been attended with deplorable dissensions among themselves, and had encouraged them to commit outrages on the British dominions, the repressal of which soon led to active warfare. On the northern frontier the conduct of the Ghorka government of Nepaul having provoked hostilities, the Himalaya was traversed by the British armies, and an extensive tract of mountain country permanently annexed to the state. The aggressions of the Pindarees, a set of freebooters, secretly supported by the Mahratta princes, were next punished by the annihilation of their hordes. In 1814 these bands comprised about forty thousand horse, and they subsisted wholly on plunder. In the course of operations against them, the peishwa and the rajah of Nagpore attempted, by treachery and murder, to rid themselves of British control; and hostilities ensued, which placed the territories and persons of both princes in the hands of their enemies, A. D. 1818 The Pindarees were at first bodies of mercenary horse, serving different princes for hire during war, and in time of peace subsisting upon plunder. Lands along the Nerbuddah had been assigned to some of their leaders by the princes of Malwa; and from hence they occasionally made incursions into the British provinces, devastating the country in the most ferocious manner, and disappearing before a force could be assembled against them. It was resolved, however, in the year 1817, to hunt them to their native holds, and either exterminate or drive them from the position which they occupied, in the centre of India. By the end of the rainy season of that year, a numerous army took the field for this purpose. The plan was, that the armies of the different presidencies should advance southward, and gradually converging to a common centre, hem in, on every side, the territory of the robbers. This was at length effected; the greater part of them being destroyed, and the rest humbled to sub.

mission.

Upon the re-establishment of peace, Puna, and part of the Mahratta territories, were retained, and the rest restored to the rajah of Satara. Appa Saib, the rajah of Nagpore, who had escaped from confinement, was deposed, and a grandson of the former rajah elevated to the throne. Holkar, a youth, was taken under the British protection, which was also extended to the Rajput princes. By these arrangements the whole 01 Hindustan was brought under the power or control of the British government. In 1823 the marquis of Hastings quitted his government, leaving British India in a proud and prosperous condition. At the end of the same year Lord Amherst arrived from England. In 1824 war broke out

with the Burmese, who had for many years given much trouble on the eastern frontier. An expedition was sent to Rangoon, which, in the second year of hostilities, advanced nearly to Ava, the capital; and the Burman government was glad to purchase peace in 1826 by the cession of Assam, Aracan, and the Tenasserim provinces. The beginning of the same year was signalized by the capture of Bhurtpore, a strong fortress in Upper India. The more recent events in British India will be found given as fully as limits would permit, in the latter portion of the history of England.

THE HISTORY OF PERSIA

The limits of this most ancient and celebrated empire have been var ously stated; but its original name was Elam, so called from the son of Shem, whose descendants were its first inhabitants. In the books of Daniel, Esdras, &c., it is called by the names of Pars or Pharas, whence the modern name of Persia; but from what those names were derived is now uncertain. From the accounts of those who have most studied the subject it would appear that the ancient kingdom of Persia was situated more to the east and north-east than the present; whence, until its authority extended over Media and Assyria, it was but little known to the nations of Europe. It is sometimes spoken of as the kingdom of Bactria, from Bahlica, or Balkh, its capital; but is termed by oriental writers, Iran. The country beyond it constituting modern Tartary, the Scythia of the ancients, is called by the orientals, Turan; and between these two, Iran and Turan. collisions were frequent in early times.

The history of Persia first emerges from the obscurity of antiquity with Cyrus. Hystaspes, the Median Cyaxares, or his contemporary, under whom Zoroaster lived, belongs to the uncertain time before Cyrus. With Cyrus (559—529 B. C.) began the period of Persian power in the west. By uniting the Persians and Medes under the sceptre, he made them the ruling nation in western Asia; he conquered Crœsus, took Babylon, and reduced Asia Minor. Although the history of Cyrus is very obscure, it is certain that he not only founded a vast empire, but established it by his genius and valour. He defeated the Babylonians, together with all their numerous allies, at the famous battle of Thymbra; overturned the monarchy, and made himself master of Babylon. He afterward considerably extended his conquests; and the boundary of his vast empire was the river Indus on the east, the Caspian and Euxine seas on the north, the Ægean Sea on the west, and the Ætolia, with the Arabian or Persian Gulf, on the south. Although his character has been given to us very differently by Xenophon and Herodotus, it must be allowed, upon the whole, that he was both a powerful and a worthy prince. He intro duced a new discipline into his army; and furnished them with weapons for close combat instead of bows and arrows, which contributed in a great measure toward his extraordinary success. Having settled the civil government of the conquered kingdoms, and restored the Jews to their own land, Cyrus took a review of his forces, which he found to consist of six hundred thousand foot, one hundred and twenty thousand horse, and two thousand chariots armed with scythes With these he extended his do

minion over all the nations to the confines or Ethiopia and to the Red Sea, after which he continued to reign peaceably over his vast empire till his death, which happened about 529 B. C.

Cyrus was succeeded by his son Cambyses (529—522), who conquered Tyre, Cyprus, and Egypt. After him a Magian ruled for a short time, who gave himself out as Smerdis, brother of Cambyses. He was dethroned, and Darius Hystaspes obtained the crown by lot, or the choice of his colleagues (521—487 B. C.) He reduced the revolted kingdom of Babylon, and subdued Thrace, Macedonia, and a small part of India; but his attempt to conquer the Scythians beyond the Danube was unsuccessful. He reduced the Greek colonies in Asia Minor, which had attempted to shake off the Persian yoke (501 B. C.); but he was unfortunate in his war against the European Greeks, and Egypt revolted from him. His son Xerxes (487—467 B. C.) effected the submission of Egypt, but was defeated by the Greeks on the field of Marathon and at Salamis, and was obliged to defend himself against their attacks in a disastrous war.

Under Artaxerxes Longimanus, (the Ahasuerus of Scripture), the first symptoms of decline became visible. Egypt again revolted, and was again conquered, after a bloody struggle. The Greek war terminated disadvantageously, in 449 B. C.; and Megabyzus excited a dangerous insurrection. The next changes of government were rapid and violent. Xerxes II., his only legitimate son, was murdered, after a reign of fortyfive days, by his natural brother, Sogdianus, who suffered the same fate six months afterward, by the hands of another illegitimate son of Artaxerxes— Ochus, who assumed the name of Darius II., and reigned until 404 B.C., under the influence of his wife Parysatis. The revolts of his satraps hastened the decline of the empire, and the Persians were obliged to acknowledge independent kings in Egypt. But the internal troubles in Greece, of which the Persians artfully took advantage, saved them, for a time, from a united attack by the Greeks. Artaxerxes (or Mnemon) was entirely subservient to the will of his mother, Parysatis. His brother Cyrus, who had been made governor of Asia Minor, supported by ten thousand Greeks, under Xenophon, attempted to dethrone him, (400 B. C.j, but he was defeated and killed. Domestic dissensions obliged the Lacedæmonians to abandon their advantages in Asia Minor, and to conclude the disadvantageous peace of Antalcidas (387 B. C.) The army of Cyrus comprised a body of Greek mercenaries, who, after the death of the prince, effected their retreat through the heart of Persia, in defiance of all attempts to cut them off. A particular account of this has been given by their commander, Xenophon, and is known as "the retreat of the ten thousand."

Artaxerxes III. secured his throne by putting to death his numerous brothers. He re-established the Persian supremacy over Phoenicia and Egypt, but was a luxurious and cruel prince. After a reign of twentythree years, he was poisoned by his minister, Bagoas, an Egyptian, in revenge for the indignities he had heaped on the religion of his country. Bagoas then gave the crown to Darius Codomanus, a prince of the blood, who was conquered by Alexander in three decisive actions, on the Granicus, at Issus, and at Arbela, and lost his life (330 B. C.); after which Alexander made himself master of the whole empire. After the battle of Arbela, Alexander took and plundered Persepolis, whence he marched into Media, in pursuit of Darius, who had fled to Ecbatana, the capital. This prince had still an army of thirty thousand foot, among which were four thousand Greeks, who continued faithful to the last. Besides these he had four thousand slingers and three thousand horse, most of them Bactrians, commanded by Bessus. When Darius heard that Alexander had marched to Ecbatana, he retired into Bactria, with a design to raise another army; but soon after he determined to venture a battle with the forces he