on our presumption of the Peshwá's fidelity. If he be treacherous (and there is no answering for a Maráthá), we might have a struggle; but the consequences of such a contest could not now he doubtful, and it would only make the ultimate arrangement more beneficial to the Company[1].'
True to his policy of endeavouring to rid the country of the disorders occasioned by predatory bands of armed freebooters, Lord Hastings had meanwhile turned his attention to Rájputána. In March, 1816, Jagat Singh, Rájá of Jaipur, being almost overpowered by Amír Khán, urgently prayed for British protection; the Governor-General bad been empowered to comply with such a request, by authority dated December, 1813, and, after some difficulty, succeeded in persuading his Council that it was proper to offer him a subsidiary alliance. Jagat Singh, however, delayed the negotiations which followed, so that it was not till later that the treaty was definitely concluded; but he gained the advantage which the concentration of 40,000 British troops near Rájputána afforded, and this display of force, made for the purpose of defending the proposed arrangements, convinced Amír Khán that the Supreme Government was at length determined to put a stop to the anarchy which he was causing in that distracted district.
In the season 1816-17, the Pindárís pursued again the same tactics as in the previous year. They invaded British territory, 23,000 strong, and ravaged many parts of the country, from Ahmadnagar in the
- ↑ Private Journal, ii. 125.
