661). After Perceval's death Lord Wellesley was instructed by the prince regent to form a ministry, in which Moira and others were to have seats in the cabinet. On Lord Wellesley's failure in June 1812 Moira was authorised to consult with Lords Grey and Grenville on the formation of a ministry, but as they insisted that the appointment of the officers of the household should be under their control the negotiations were broken off (ib. xxiii. 322-6, 338-50, 356-81, 593-9, App. i, and xliv). Lord Liverpool was made prime minister. On 12 June 1812 Moira was invested with the order of the Garter, and on 18 Nov. 1812 was appointed governor-general of Bengal and commander-in-chief of the forces in India. In March 1813 he defended himself in the House of Lords against the charge of having secretly attempted to procure evidence against the Princess of Wales (ib. xxv. 221-4).
Moira embarked at Portsmouth on 14 April 1813, and landed at Calcutta on 4 Oct. On his arrival he found several questions of the first importance awaiting settlement. One of these was our relations with the Gorkha state of Nepaul. The Gorkhas had gradually been encroaching upon the country lying to the south of their frontier, and had actually seized two districts in the province of Oude. His predecessor, Lord Minto [see Elliot, Sir Gilbert, 1751-1814], had failed to settle the question by negotiation, and hostilities becoming unavoidable, Moira, in a manifesto dated 1 Nov. 1814, declared war against Nepaul. He directed simultaneous attacks to be made upon four given points in the enemy's territory. The first campaign of three out of the four divisions of the British army terminated disastrously. The second, however, was much more successful, and Ochterlony having succeeded in carrying the Gorkha positions one after the other, forced Ameer Singh to surrender at Malaun in May 1815. The Gorkha council now sued for peace, and agreed to cede all the territory demanded by the governor-general, and to receive a permanent British resident. Though the treaty was signed by the Gorkha agents at Segowlee on 2 Dec. 1815, the Gorkha council refused to ratify it. The campaign was therefore once more renewed by Ochterlony, who defeated the Gorkhas at Mukwanpoor in February 1816. Further resistance being hopeless, the treaty was finally executed by the Gorkha council on 2 March 1816, since which time the Gorkhas have faithfully kept the peace. On 13 Feb. 1817 Moira was created viscount Loudoun, Earl of Rawdon, and Marquis of Hastings, in the peerage of the United Kingdom, a vote of thanks having been unanimously passed in both houses of parliament a few days previously 'for his judicious arrangements in the plan, and direction of the military operations against Nepaul' (ib. xxxv. 232-3, 238-43). Though Hastings, like Minto, had impressed upon the court of directors the necessity of suppressing the predatory proceedings of the Pindarees, they still continued to insist upon the observance of a policy of non-intervention. This policy had been misunderstood by the native powers, and the Peshwa, together with the other Mahratta chieftains, had been engaged in ceaseless intrigues against the British. The chief objection of the directors to the extirpation of the Pindarees was the fear of irritating the Mahrattas, while Hastings, on the other hand, was convinced that the only way to obtain permanent order was to annihilate the great military states of Central India. On hearing of the raid into the Northern Sircars, Canning, then at the head of the board of control, in a despatch dated 26 Sept. 1810, authorised Hastings to proceed against the Pindarees, and even the Calcutta council after the third irruption of the Pindarees resolved that vigorous measures should be taken for their suppression. While preparing for war Hastings entered into several subsidiary treaties with a view of securing the assistance of the more powerful chiefs in the extirpation of the Pindarees. Towards the close of 1817 the military preparations were completed, and Hastings took command of the central division, which was stationed at Cawnpore. In November the Peshwa, who had concluded a treaty with the British in the previous year, suddenly broke into war. He was, however, brilliantly defeated by Colonel Burr and Elphinstone with a small British force, Poonah was occupied by General Smith, and the Peshwa had to flee for his life. Appa Saheb, the rajah of Nagpoor, after his repulse at Seetabuldee, surrendered himself, and his army, on refusing to deliver up the guns, was defeated at the battle of Nagpoor. Holkar was routed by Sir Thomas Hislop at Mehidpoor, and on 6 Jan. concluded a peace with the British government. The Pindarees, whose strength had been dependent on the support of the native states, were easily broken up. The result of this brilliant campaign of four months was to establish the supremacy of the British power throughout India. The Peshwa was deposed and his dominions annexed, while the territories of Sindia, Holkar, and the rajah of Berar were at the mercy of the governor-general.
In embarking on a third Mahratta war Hastings undoubtedly exceeded his orders,
