Sujah Dowlah was now obliged to struggle for his ex istence. He offered to negotiate ; but as he refused to de liver up Cesseim, his offer was rejected. At last, having dismissed his ally, who took refuge in upper India, he vo luntarily repaired to the British camp, and surrendered himself to the general. Terms were made with him, by which the entire territory of Oude, except the districts of Corah and Allahabad, were restored to him ; the excepted districts were allotted to the Emperor, the fort of Allahabad being assigned for his residence. In return for these ces sions, and for an annual stipend for his support, the Em peror, besides a confirmation of the territorial acquisitions which the British had made, either on the souhhadary Bengal, or on the coast, conferred on them two important favours : he invested them with the Dewaunee of the three provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa ; the second grant was that of the five northern circars. Over these districts, indeed, he had only a nominal claim, derived from their former conquest, in the latter days of the Mogul govern ment. At this time they belonged to the soubhadar of the Decan. In 1754, he had granted them to the French, then his allies, and on their. being defeated by the English, the circars reverted to him. After the general peace of 1763, the French again endeavoured to gain a footing in them ; and this induced Lord Clive, who arrived in India for the second time, in 1765, to obtain from the Mogul the pro prietary grant of this territory. In the year 1766, four of the circars were given up by the soubhadar ; the fifth, held by a brother of the Nizam, was granted in reversion to the British. In return for these cessions, the British promised the souhhadar the assistance of their troops, whenever he might need it, to settle the affairs of his government. About the end of the year 1766, having united himself with a Mahratta chief against Hyder Ali, sovereign of the My sore, he applied for these troops, which were granted him, even before his object or that of the Mahrattas was known. As soon as the British troops had joined, the united army entered the territory of Mysore.
It was on this occasion that Hyder All first displayed those talents which afterwards rendered himself so very formidable. He bought off the Mahrattas by large bribes. Next he entered into negotiations with the Nizam with such effect, that in August 1767, the armies of the Nizam and Hyder actually united at Bangalore, from which place they made irregular incursions into the Carnatic. Had Hyder adhered to his own plan of the -campaign, which was to elude a general action, and to harass the British by his superiority in cavalry, the latter must have suffered dreadfully ; but on being accused of dilatoriness by the Nizam, he consented to change his plans. The result way fatal to his interests and views ; for by a succession of ob stinate engagements and bloody defeats, the allied army was driven out of the Carnatic. The Nizam deserted Ryder in his misfortunes, made peace with the Madras government, and retired to his own dominions. This de fection, though it weakened Hyder, gave him greater liber ty of action, which he improved to the utmost ; and partly by the nature of the country which was the scene of Nv ar fare, and partly by the mode in which he conducted the campaign, he baffled the British for a considerable lengtl.
of time. The intelligence of his being able to oppose an enemy hitherto invincible by the Indian princes, so raised his reputation, that adventurers flocked to him from all parts, and his cavalry were soon increased to upwards of 90,000. At last he was induced to give up his plan of de fensive and dilatory warfare, in order to protect a fort be sieged by the British. The consequence was an obstinate engagement, in which, notwithstanding his vast superiori ty, he was defeated. He still persevered, however ; and in January J769, having recovered his own provinces, marched into the Carnatic, which he ravaged with fire and sword. At this period the British were commanded by General Smith, who, by a dextrous movement, cut off the enemy from his own country. From the difficulties, how ever, which seemed to be entangling him, Hyder was ex tricated by his own spirit of enterprize ; for having, by a variety of movements, contrived and executed with great skill and adroitness, drawn the British forces to a consider able distance from Madras, he directed his course to that city with a body of 6000 cavalry ; and after marching about 120 miles in three days, presented himself on 'Mount St Thome. The presidency was so much alarmed at his un expected appearance, that they entered into a negotiation with him ; and on the 3d of April, an offensive and defen sive treaty was concluded, on the simple condition, that the forts and places taken on both sides should be restored.
Soon after this treaty Hyder was involved in a war with the Mahrattas, on which occasion he sought, but in vain, that assistance from the British, which, by treaty, they were bound to give him. In this war he was at first very unsuccessful, having been totally defeated, in the year 1771, within a few miles of his own capital. He himself escaped with great difficulty, with a small remnant of his army, into Seringapatam, where he defied the attacks of his numerous enemies, who possessed neither the skill nor the ordinary requisites for a siege. Hyder waited, in patience, until the enemy, by desolating the country, were compelled to leave it.
In 1773, the Mahrattas crossed the Ganges to invade the Rohilla country; a brigade of the British army marched to the western frontier of that country, and drove the enemy beyond the river. For this protection, the Robilla chiefs had stipulated to pay Sujah Dowlah, as whose allies the British acted, 40 lacks of rupees ; but when the service was performed, the payment was evaded. This of treaty led to the invasion and conquest of toe Rololla coun try in 1774. A considerable tract )1 land H. the Dooali was also conquered from the Ghauts. Thus the boundary of the province of Oudc was advanced westward within 20 miles of Agra; north-westward to the upper part of the navigable course of the Ganges ; and south-westward to the Jumnah river. In the following year, on the death of Sujah Dowlah, the province of Benares was ceded to the Bi itish.