to be paid regularly out of funds handed over for that purpose by Daulat Ráo; British military commissioners were to be received at the head-quarters of all his troops, and as a security for good faith, two strongholds were to be retained, viz., Handiá, situated on the Narbadá a little below Hoshangábád, and commanding one of the important passages across the river, and Asírgarh, a stronger fort in the Sátpura mountains. Discussions were continued for a month on this basis, and the usual subterfuges resorted to to gain time and to avoid a definite settlement; the temporary cession of Asírgarh was strenuously resisted, and no conclusion was reached when hostilities broke out.
Negotiations were conducted at the same time with Amír Khán, who was offered a principality about Tonk, formed of the territories he had already acquired from Holkar, on condition that he would disband his army and sell his artillery for five lakhs of rupees to the British Government. Holkar was also approached, and terms proposed similar to those offered to Sindhia, with the addition, however, that the independence of Amír Khán was to be recognised; no answer was received from the court of Indore for some time. The fate of these proceedings and their results will be described presently; meanwhile, such being the general relations existing between the Supreme Government and the principal native chiefs at the end of October, when operations in the field were about to commence, it is necessary to turn to the military preparations
