Pondicherry. This brought matters to immediate issue. Mozuffur Jung surrendered to his brother, convinced that the retreat of the French would be followed by the defection of his whole army; and Mahomed Ali Khan, son of the former Nabob, was reinstated in the government of Arcot, from which Chunda Sahib was dismissed.
But differences now sprang up between the English and their Asiatic friends, particularly Mahomed Ali, who evaded his engagement for the payment of their troops; they accordingly withdrew from his camp, where he was soon after totally defeated by the French, and escaped with difficulty to the camp of Nazir Jung. This prince was also attacked some time after by the French; and being treacherously murdered, through an intrigue of Dupleix, Mozuffur Jung was saluted Viceroy of the Deccan; Dupleix was elevated to the rank of a Heft Huzaree, or commander of seven thousand horse; Chunda Sahib was restored as Nabob of Arcot, and many privileges and advantages were bestowed upon the French, who, from that period, established a footing at Hyderabad, the capital of the Deccan, which subsequently caused much trouble and annoyance to the English.
While the French were thus carefully and energetically advancing their interests, the English were doing little for the protection of theirs, and the dominions of their friend Mahomed Ali were gradually passing into the hands of his competitor. The British troops finally took refuge under the walls of Trichinopoly, a strong fortress belonging to Mahomed Ali in the south.[1] Thither they
- ↑ Mahomed Ali's father had become possessed of this place by a piece of knavery on the part of Chunda Sahib, at that time his minister. The widow of the Rajah of Trichinopoly having solicited the assistance of the Nabob of Arcot against her revolted troops, it was readily given, and an army was despatched to her aid, under the command of Chunda Sahib. The Queen, however, influenced by suspicion, would not admit the foreign troops into the fort until she had some guarantee of their good intentions. Chunda Sahib tendered his oath upon the Koran that as soon as they had rendered her the required assistance they should be faithfully withdrawn. The oath was actually taken, not upon the Koran, but on a brick wrapped in a covering similar to that in which the sacred book of the Mahomedan is usually enveloped. Chunda Sahib thus feeling his conscience free put an end to the Queen's authority – imprisoned her person, and hoisted on the wall of the fortress the flag of Islam.
