Wars fought during Clive and Wellesly (contd-2)

About Madras and Bombay (1761-1770)

1761- Subadar Salabat Jung of South India was arrested and thrown to Jail by his brother Nijam Ali who declared himself as a Nijam. But the 'Treaty of Paris' (1763) settled Mahammad Ali as the Nawab of Karnatak and Salabat Jung as the Subadar of South. On the other hand,  the king of Tanjor agreed to pay the maintenancee fees of the English soldiers at Karnatak. Salabat Jung was killed by his brother Nijam Ali who declared war against British but became defeated by British very easily and the King of Delhi declared that the Nawab of Karnatak would hence forth be independent.
1765- Clive made the King of Delhi agreed that to hand over Uttar Sarkar to British. This was settled in the First treaty of Nijam (1765) in exchange he had to post two battalion soldiers with 6 Cannom and pay Rs. 8 lakhs.
1761- Haider Ali became king of Mysore and occupied Bednor in 1763 and South Kanara in 1764.
1765- King of Berar, Madhab Rao Raghoji Bhonsla and brother of Peshwa, Raghobar sent soldiers against Haider Ali. Haider Ali after  being defeated twice had to give 32 lakhs of rupees and the areas outside Mysore .
1766- But Haider again occupied  Calicut and Malabar. Then Nijam of Peshwa made an alliance with British.
1767- Ist War of Mysore-
The second half of the eighteenth century was a period of great confusion in Indian history which witnessed the rise of a colonial power. The only state which offered stiff resistance to their expansion was Mysore, which fought not one but four wars. Tipu participated in all those four Mysore wars, in two of which he inflicted serious blows on the English. In fact Tipus rule starts in the midst of a war against the English and ends in the midst of war against them. His short but stormy rule was eventful for his several engagements with his neighbours, the Marathas and the Nizam, as well, whose shortsighted policy prompted them to join the colonials against Mysore.
In the First Mysore war Tipu, a lad of 17 years, suddenly surprised the English when he appeared at the gates of Madras in September 1767. He caused great consternation to the Governor of Madras, to the Nawab of Carnatic, Muhammed Ali, and to almost all Councilors who very narrowly escaped being taken in the country-house in the Company's garden. Happily for them a small vessel that by accident was opposite the garden furnished them with the means of escaping. Thus, it was a providential escape of the entire Madras government, which were about to be captured by Tipu, who had been in independent command of a body of troops in the First Mysore war.

Wars fought during Clive to Wellesly (contd-1)

Mughal-e-ajam handed over all the powers to East India Company and English Govt. got the Dept. of Finance and collection of Revenues and also court of Judgement. In this year (1765) Clive institutionalised the system of judicial dept. of India as per British Govt.As a result they got to rule over two and half crores of people and had an arrangement of getting revenue of 4 crores of rupees annually.

The responsibility of ruling the Indian people was given to Hastings not earlier than 1772.

During the absence of Clive, the Directors of East India Company gave permission to their native personel of exclusive right of import and export. But a revolt flared up amongst the Riotdars which was subdued by Robert Clive by forming a society of encouraging the development of import and export business.     

After two years the Board of England abolished the society and formed a permanent Commission.
Warren Hastings became Governor during 1772 to 1785.
Incidents that took place in India in seventies of the eighteenth century was heavily criticised in England due to the behavior and attitude of the officers towards the Indians.Because they earned a lot of money by torture, force, and irrespective removal of the local kings. All these were discussed in their Parliament. Moreover, any one with 500 pounds as Bank Balance would be able to belong in the group of owners of the Company. As such the new directors used the path of bribery and irregularities. Lord Selburn spent 1,00,000 pounds to be elected as a  director. India House was the main site for this unlimited conspiracy and brokery.
In 1771, Parliament intervened and sent a team of three persons namely Vancitart, Scrafton, and Colonel Ford. But god saved them, because the ship was drowned near Capetown.
After some few days the real contradiction developed between East India Company and British Government and it was revealed that the Company was bankrupt for the time being. They incurred a deficit of pound 10 lakhs in India and pound 15 lakhs in England.To make up the deficit they appealed to the Parliament for  a permission to raise National debt. They had got a rude shock of the idea that India was having enormous wealth.
In 1772, a special committee was appointed by the Parliament to investigate the illegal, inhuman activities of the officers of the East India Company with which they had earned huge amount of money. In this respect there had been an emotional debate in the Parliament. Lord Clive also spoke a famous lecture there.
In 1773, the reconstitution of East India Company was accepted in both the house. The amount of deposit of an owner had been increased from 500 pounds to 1000 pounds.  The designation of Governor of the Calcutta Port had been changed to Governor General with supreme power to all the presidencies. The Governor General would be nominated by the Parliament in every 5 years.The Judicial system also had been changed. Some suggestions of Warren Hastings was also accepted. It was decided to have a post  of Moulabi for Muslims.      

Wars fought during Clive to Wellesly

That both had consciously formed the design of acquiring a great empire in India to compensate for the loss of the American colonies is not proved; but the rivalry with France, which in Europe placed Britain at the head of coalition after coalition against the French republic and empire, made Mornington's rule in India an epoch of enormous and rapid extension of British power. Robert Clive won, laid down the foundation stone of British Empire in India and Warren Hastings consolidated the British ascendancy in India, but Mornington extended it into an Empire. On the voyage outwards, he formed the design of annihilating French influence in the Deccan.
These three persons 1. Robert Clive, 2. Warren Hastings, and 3. Lord Wellesly completed the process of putting India into the centre of the colonial country of British Empire.
1757, 23rd June Battle of Plassey : The whole Mughal army was defeated. Mir jaffar betrayed and joined with Clive. Clive got 8 lakh pound from Mir Jaffar and offered him the Masnad. The eldest son of Shah Alam, Sahajada, was also defeated by Clive and got a land from Mir Jaffar with a revenue potentioal of 30,000 pound.
1761, 6 Jan Sadashib Rao and Ahmed Khan Abdali was defeated at Battle of Panipath.
1760, Vancitart was appointed as Governor of Bengal. He replaced Mir Jaffar by Mir Kashim who paid regularly 2 lakhs pound and he gifted one-third of his kingdom i.e., Mednipore, Burdwan and Chattagram to East India Company.

Clive was again appointed as Governor with the power of Chairmanship of a four member Council consisting of General Karnak, Mr. Verelest, Mr. Samnar, and Mr. Saicks. Clive made  Nawab Nazimuddin Daulah of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to resign against Rs. 53 lakhs annually. He paid 26 lakhs to Mughal-e- Ajam who handed over all power to Clive.     

Richard Wellesly, 1st Marquess Wellesly

  
Wellesley was born in 1760 in Ireland, where his family were part of the aristocracy. He was educated at Harrow School and Eton College, where he distinguished himself as a classical scholar, and at Christ Church, Oxford.

In 1780, he entered the Irish House of Commons for Trim until the following year, when by his father's death he became 2nd Earl of Mornington, taking his seat in the Irish House of Lords. He was elected Grandmaster of the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1782, a post he held for the following year.
In 1784 he joined also the British House of Commons as member for Bere Alston. Soon afterwards he was appointed a Lord of the Treasury by William Pitt the Younger.
In 1793 he became a member of the Board of Control over Indian affairs; and, although he was best known for his speeches in defence of Pitt's foreign policy, he was gaining the acquaintance with Oriental affairs which made his rule over India so effective from the moment when, in 1797, he accepted the office of Governor-General of India.
 Work in India
 Wellesley in his red-coated officer's uniform.
Mornington seems to have caught Pitt's large political spirit in the period 1793 to 1797. That both had consciously formed the design of acquiring a great empire in
India to compensate for the loss of the American colonies is not proved; but the rivalry with France, which in Europe placed Britain at the head of coalition after coalition against the French republic and empire, made Mornington's rule in India an epoch of enormous and rapid extension of British power. Robert Clive won and Warren Hastings consolidated the British ascendancy in India, but Mornington extended it into an empire. On the voyage outwards, he formed the design of annihilating French influence in the Deccan.
Soon after his landing, in April 1798, he learned that an alliance was being negotiated between Tippoo Sultan and the French republic. Mornington resolved to anticipate the action of the enemy, and ordered preparations for war. The first step was to effect the disbandment of the French troops entertained by the Nizam of Hyderabad.
The invasion of
Mysore followed in February 1799, and the campaign was brought to a swift conclusion by the capture of Seringapatam on 4 May 1799 and the killing of Tippoo Sultan. In 1803, the restoration of the Peshwa proved the prelude to the Mahratta war against Sindh and the raja of Berar, in which brother Arthur took a leading rôle. The result of these wars and of the treaties which followed them was that French influence in India was extinguished, that forty million people and ten millions of revenue were added to the British dominions, and that the powers of the Maratha and all other princes were so reduced that Britain became the true dominant authority over all India. He found the East India Company a trading body, but left it an imperial power.
He was an excellent administrator, and picked two of his talented brothers for his staff: Arthur was his military adviser, and Henry was his personal secretary. He founded Fort William College, a training centre intended for those who would be involved in governing India. In connection with this college, he established the governor-general's office, to which civilians who had shown talent at the college were transferred, in order that they might learn something of the highest statesmanship in the immediate service of their chief. A free-trader like Pitt, he endeavoured to remove some of the restrictions on the trade between Britain and India.
Both the commercial policy of Wellesley and his educational projects brought him into hostility with the court of directors, and he more than once tendered his resignation, which, however, public necessities led him to postpone till the autumn of 1805. He reached England just in time to see Pitt before his death. He had been created a Peer of Great Britain in 1797, and in 1799 became Marquess Wellesley in the Peerage of Ireland.
He formed an enormous collection of over 2,500 painted miniatures in the Company style of Indian natural history

Kingdom of Mysore, Hyder Ali & Tipu Sultan

Founded by the Wodeyar dynasty, the Kingdom of Mysore in the Southern part of India has a rich and glorious history. The Kingdom of Mysore was however ruled by different dynasties from time to time beginning with the Wodeyar dynasty, followed by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. The Kingdom was plundered by many foreign powers from time to time but still succeeded in maintaining its glamour and heritage.
The Kingdom of Mysore was established by the Wodeyar brothers, Vijaya Wodeyar and Krishna Wodeyar in the year 1400. It remained a feudatory of the Kingdom of Vijaynagar until the latter declined in the second half of the 16th Century. The Kingdom of Mysore grew and flourished in the able hands of Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar. As the Kingdom of Mysore became independent it expanded and gradually engulfed most of the parts of Southern India.
A favorite of the Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar two, Hyder Ali was just a soldier in the Mysore army. He went on to become a de facto ruler during the reign of the minor Raja Nanjaraja Wodeyar. After the death of Hyder Ali his son Tipu Sultan became the de facto ruler of the kingdom. He has fought the British bravely and even defeated them in the second Mysore war. Tipu was defeated and killed in the fourth Mysore war in the year 1799.
After the Britishers captured Mysore, they placed Krishnaraja Wodeyar three, a minor, on the throne of the Kingdom of Mysore. The Kingdom of Mysore thus became a princely state of British India.

Economic condition of Bengal after British victory (contd-2)

After suppression of revolt of the farmers of Banaras in 1781, the farmers of Ayodhya flared up with their demands.The East India Company was forcing the land lords of Ayodhya to compensate the growing expenses of the British soldiers and forced them to lent more lands. For want of support from other sections of the society the revolt of the farmers were defeated by the powerful soldiers of the feudalists. The heavy presure of taxation of the British brought  famine in Ayodhya, even then Hastings did not reduce the tax. Hence forth the Nawab of Ayodhya was rescued by the soldiers of British from the hands of the famine-distressed farmers.
Moreover, to maitain the balance of fund of the treasury, some feudals had to loose their property in the hands of the East india Company. This was another reason of displeasure among the feudalsts of Ayodhya. Under the leadership of the adopted and exiled son of the ex-Nawab, Oazed Ali, the feudals ( both Hindu and Muslim) became united.All the traders of Bengal along with the Armenians of Calcutta and the soldiers of Ayodhya supported Oazed Ali. He also took the support of the leaders of Rohila, King of Maratha of Gwalior. He sent representative to Jaman Shah of Afghanisthan requesting him to attack India (British).  With the same intention he signed a treaty with French. But The British was curious about his behaviour and asked him to go to Calcutta.Oazed Ali refused it and revolted which was unplanned and immature. Very easily British subdued the revolt and Oazed Ali was sent Calcutta..          

Economic Condition of Bengal after British Victory (contd-1)

In place of the Indian traders and brokers engaged in the affairs of British, the first British Merchant Chambers of Commerce was established in 1770. This was the main instrument of exploitation of India people by the British colonialism.These organisations were in charge of export and import, collection of revenues, to send to England the valuable stolen materials of India and similar  other activities.As a result, the mighty traders and investors went to the villages being driven away from cities. The exploitations of the artisans also increased by that time.
The British East India Company introduced a rule for the Indian weavers depriving them from manufacturing clothes to facilitate the work of the British personals. To prevent them from selling their prepared materials to other places, some entry were posted in front of their gate.The weavers, in this way, lost their residual freedom. This time the weavers went to the villages leaving their homes to increase the number  of the share-croppers. In 1773 and 1786 weavers revolution had occured in Santipur.In 1787 the weavers of Dacca, and in 1789 the weavers of Sonargna complained for their betrayal, torture, and arrest. The similar complains were also received from the salt manufacturers.
The farmers of Bengal were faced with severe economic setback. Clive did not extend his hand to the collection of revenue or upon the body that controlled the system.On the other hand Hastings introduced British system in Revenue collection. Hastings, on the assumption that the right of the ex-ruler of Bengal had now rested on the hands of British, tried to implement new system of exploitation over the farmers of the locality which  had looked down upon by Francis. In the opinion of Francis  The landed property of India belonged to local land lords. In his language they were termed as the zaminder.Inspite of the opposition of Francis Hastings implemented the system of short term lease of the land for cultivation. The highest bidder would get the chance for cultivation of the land which reduced economic condition of the farmers. In comparison with 1765, the tax of the land of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa had increased doubly in the year 1790-1791. Following this rule the eighteenth century one third of the land of the country became covered with forest. The fertile land was converted to the land tigers.         

Economic Condition of Bengal after British Victory

After the victory of the British power in the war of Plassey, the region of this portion of India became gradually disconnected from the rest of India and also from all sorts of trade connections from the other parts of western countries. Before the entry of the British Bengal had trade relations with the countries of south-east Asia. Now all trade relations had been occupied by British. The domestic business affairs also was under British control.The Indian traders got some opportunity being converted as brokers of the British and could get big investments.The British had driven away the Indians from all economic affairs. Before the possession of British power the most important investments of the Indian money lenders and the big banians had the relations of the revenue collections in the treasury of Murshidabad. But the treasury was shifted from Murshidabad to Calcutta and the influence of Jagathseth and his heirers. To increase and centralise the control of the Government on the system of revenue collection Warren Hastings closed down all the mints of Dhaka , Patna, and Murshidabad on 1773-1774. Thus the manufactue and the control of coins and currency laid down extremely in the hands of government.
From that moment Jagatseth and the members of his family began to ruin.The process gradually accelerated after the establishment of three banks at Calcutta. The banks began to issue bank notes, giving loans and other duties of revenue collections.

Cornwallis in India (contd-8)

1794 Map showing "The Territories ceded by Tipu Sultan to the Different Powers"

The difficulties of the military campaigns took a great physical toll on Cornwallis, and he sought to return to England. John Shore, his replacement, did not arrive until March 1793, and Cornwallis remained until August to assist in the transition.^[85] He also oversaw the capture of the French outpost at Pondicherry following the arrival of news that war had again broken out in Europe.^[86] On 14 August 1793, without ceremony, he quietly sailed from Calcutta for Madras, and on 10 October he finally sailed for England on board the Swallow.^[85]
After India
On his return to England, Cornwallis was immediately asked to return to India. One reform that Cornwallis had been unable to achieve was the harmonization of pay and rank between the military forces of the company and those of the Crown. Company officers of a given rank were generally paid better than those of a comparable rank in the Crown forces, and proposals to merge their pay scales were met with resistance that bordered on mutiny. The company directors asked Cornwallis to deal with this; he refused.
After serving for several years as the Master of the Ordnance, he was asked by Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger to serve as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland as well as its Commander-in-Chief after the Irish Rebellion of 1798 broke out. While the rebellion was mostly put down before his arrival, he oversaw the mopping of the remaining pockets of rebellion, and successfully defeated a French invasion intended to foment further rebellious activity. He then worked to secure the passage by the Irish Parliament of the 1800 Act of Union, which joined the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. He resigned his posts when the king refused to support Catholic emancipation, which he viewed as a key element for securing an enduring peace in Ireland.
He was then engaged by the king in diplomatic efforts in Europe. Cornwallis led the British diplomatic team whose negotiations with Napoleon resulted in the 1802 Treaty of Amiens, with Cornwallis signing the treaty on behalf of King George.
Return to India
In the years since he left India, the company's reach and control over the country had increased significantly, mainly under the governorship of Lord Mornington. Wellesley had decisively defeated Tipu in 1799, and gained control, direct and indirect, over most of southern India. In 1803 the company came into conflict with the Marathas, and Mornington began extending the company's reach further into the northern territories. His liberal spending and aggressive methods for dealing with the Marathas were not appreciated by the company's directors, and following military setbacks in 1804 and allegations of improprieties, the directors decided to replace him.
On 7 January 1805 Cornwallis was again appointed to the positions of Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of India; he described his After a difficult passage, he reached Madras on 19 July, and on 30 July he resumed his duties. William Hickey wrote that Cornwallis had become "a wreck of what he had been when formerly in Bengal", and another aide noted that "his constitution was less equal to contend against the effects of this climate". In spite of declining health and mental faculties, Cornwallis began a trip by boat to visit army outposts northwest of Calcutta. On the journey he wrote to General Gerard Lake, then commanding the forces in the war with the Marathas, insisting that peace be made. However, he never received Lake's answer. When Cornwallis reached Ghazipur on 27 September, he was too ill to proceed further, and he died there a week later, on 5 October 1805.
Legacy

“	This monument, erected by the British inhabitants of Calcutta, attests their sense of those virtues which will live in the remembrance of grateful millions, long after it shall have mouldered into dust.	”
—Inscription on Cornwallis mausoleum, Ghazipur[98]

Biographers Franklin and Mary Wickwire note that Cornwallis's attitudes towards governance presaged the idea of responsible government that took hold in the United Kingdom in the 19th century. Later British administrators and the Indian Civil Service adopted his ideas of service by example, and service for the overall benefit of the population. Historian Marguerite Wilbur called the era of Cornwallis and Mornington the Golden Age of British rule in India.

Cornwallis's grave at Ghazipur is marked by a mausoleum whose construction was begun in 1809. Memorials were also erected in his honour in Bombay, Madras, and in Saint Paul's Cathedral in London. In Calcutta, when Mornington greatly expanded the government facilities, the Town Hall included a statuary hall. In 1803, a sculpture begun by John Bacon and finished by his son John Bacon, Jr. was erected there in Cornwallis's honour. The sculpture now stands in the Victoria Memorial.

Cornwallis in India (contd-7)

Diplomacy and war with Mysore

General Lord Cornwallis receiving Tipoo Sultan's sons as hostages, by Robert Home, c. 1793

Cornwallis had been sent to India with instructions to avoid conflict with the company's neighbors. Early in his tenure he abrogated agreements with the Maratha Empire and the Nizam of Hyderabad that he saw as violating the 1784 Treaty of Mangalore that ended the Second Anglo-Mysore War. This ensured the company's non-involvement in the Maratha-Mysore War (1785–1787). He was, however, manouevred into the establishment of a new company based at Penang (in present-day Malaysia), where conflict was avoided when he agreed to pay a stipend to the local rajah for use of the base. Fort Cornwallis in Penang is named for Cornwallis.
The King of Nepal appealed to Cornwallis in 1792 for military assistance. Cornwallis declined the king's request, sending instead Colonel William Kirkpatrick to mediate the dispute. Kirkpatrick was the first Englishman to see Nepal; by the time he reached Kathmandu in 1793, the parties had already resolved their dispute.^[21][22]
Main article: Third Anglo-Mysore War
The company was unavoidably drawn into war with Mysore in 1790. Tipu Sultan, Mysore's ruler, had expressed contempt for the British not long after signing the 1784 Treaty of Mangalore, and also expressed a desire to renew conflict with them. In late 1789 he invaded the Kingdom of Travancore, a company ally according to that treaty, because of territorial disputes and Travancore's harbouring of refugees from other Mysorean actions. Cornwallis ordered company and Crown troops to mobilize in response. The 1790 campaign against Tipu was conducted by General William Medows, and it was a limited success. Medows successfully occupied the Coimbatore district, but Tipu counterattacked and was able to reduce the British position to a small number of strongly held outposts. Tipu then invaded the Carnatic, where he attempted unsuccessfully to draw the French into the conflict. Because of Medows' weak campaigning, Cornwallis personally took command of the British forces in 1791.
When the war broke out, Cornwallis negotiated alliances with the Marathas and Hyderabad. Cornwallis ascended the Eastern Ghats to reach the Deccan Plateau in February 1791. After successfully besieging Bangalore, Cornwallis then joined forces with Hyderabadi forces that he described as "extremely defective in almost every point of military discipline", and their presence in the army ultimately presented more difficulties than assistance.^[23] These forces then marched toward the Mysorean capital at Seringapatam, and forced Tipu to retreat into the city at the Battle of Arakere on 15 May. Dwindling provisions, exacerbated by Tipu's slash-and-burn tactics, forced Cornwallis to abandon the idea of besieging Seringapatam that season, so he retreated to Bangalore.
In January 1792 the army, now well provisioned, set out for Seringapatam. Arriving before the city on 5 February, Cornwallis quickly eliminated Tipu's defensive positions outside the city, and then began siege operations. Tipu requested negotiations on 23 February, and peace was agreed in 18 March. Cornwallis and his allies demanded the cession of half of Mysorean territory, much of which went to the allies. As a guarantee of Tipu's performance, two of his sons were delivered to Cornwallis as hostages. Cornwallis and other British commanders, in a move appreciated by their soldiers, donated prize money awarded them to be distributed among the rank and file.
For his success in conducting the war, Cornwallis was created Marquess Cornwallis in 1792. He returned to England the following year, and was succeeded by Sir John Shore.

Cornwallis and India (contd- 6)

 Diplomacy and war with Mysore

General Lord Cornwallis receiving Tipoo Sultan's sons as hostages, by Robert Home, c. 1793

Cornwallis had been sent to India with instructions to avoid conflict with the company's neighbors. Early in his tenure he abrogated agreements with the Maratha Empire and the Nizam of Hyderabad that he saw as violating the 1784 Treaty of Mangalore that ended the Second Anglo-Mysore War. This ensured the company's non-involvement in the Maratha-Mysore War (1785–1787). He was, however, manouevred into the establishment of a new company based at Penang (in present-day Malaysia), where conflict was avoided when he agreed to pay a stipend to the local rajah for use of the base. Fort Cornwallis in Penang is named for Cornwallis.
The King of Nepal appealed to Cornwallis in 1792 for military assistance. Cornwallis declined the king's request, sending instead Colonel William Kirkpatrick to mediate the dispute. Kirkpatrick was the first Englishman to see Nepal; by the time he reached Kathmandu in 1793, the parties had already resolved their dispute.^[21][22]

Main article: Third Anglo-Mysore War

The company was unavoidably drawn into war with Mysore in 1790. Tipu Sultan, Mysore's ruler, had expressed contempt for the British not long after signing the 1784 Treaty of Mangalore, and also expressed a desire to renew conflict with them. In late 1789 he invaded the Kingdom of Travancore, a company ally according to that treaty, because of territorial disputes and Travancore's harbouring of refugees from other Mysorean actions. Cornwallis ordered company and Crown troops to mobilize in response. The 1790 campaign against Tipu was conducted by General William Medows, and it was a limited success. Medows successfully occupied the Coimbatore district, but Tipu counterattacked and was able to reduce the British position to a small number of strongly held outposts. Tipu then invaded the Carnatic, where he attempted unsuccessfully to draw the French into the conflict. Because of Medows' weak campaigning, Cornwallis personally took command of the British forces in 1791.
When the war broke out, Cornwallis negotiated alliances with the Marathas and Hyderabad. Cornwallis ascended the Eastern Ghats to reach the Deccan Plateau in February 1791. After successfully besieging Bangalore, Cornwallis then joined forces with Hyderabadi forces that he described as "extremely defective in almost every point of military discipline", and their presence in the army ultimately presented more difficulties than assistance.^[23] These forces then marched toward the Mysorean capital at Seringapatam, and forced Tipu to retreat into the city at the Battle of Arakere on 15 May. Dwindling provisions, exacerbated by Tipu's slash-and-burn tactics, forced Cornwallis to abandon the idea of besieging Seringapatam that season, so he retreated to Bangalore.
In January 1792 the army, now well provisioned, set out for Seringapatam. Arriving before the city on 5 February, Cornwallis quickly eliminated Tipu's defensive positions outside the city, and then began siege operations. Tipu requested negotiations on 23 February, and peace was agreed in 18 March. Cornwallis and his allies demanded the cession of half of Mysorean territory, much of which went to the allies. As a guarantee of Tipu's performance, two of his sons were delivered to Cornwallis as hostages. Cornwallis and other British commanders, in a move appreciated by their soldiers, donated prize money awarded them to be distributed among the rank and file.
For his success in conducting the war, Cornwallis was created Marquess Cornwallis in 1792. He returned to England the following year, and was succeeded by Sir John Shore.

Cornwallis - Penang and Nepal (contd- 5)

The history of modern Penang, originally part of the Malay Sultanate of Kedah, began when the island was leased to Captain Francis Light, an English trader-adventurer working for the Madras-based firm, Jourdain Sullivan and de Souza, in exchange for military protection from Siamese and Burmese armies who were threatening Kedah. On 11 August 1786, Francis Light landed on Penang at what is later called Fort Cornwallis and renamed the island Prince of Wales Island in honour of the heir to the British throne.^[11][12] In Malaysian history, the occasion marked the beginning of more than a century of British involvement in Malaya

Penang and Nepal

Fort Cornwallis, Penang

Cornwallis's predecessor, John Macpherson, had authorized negotiations with the sultan of Kedah for the establishment of a company trading post on the island of Penang. Captain Francis Light, a trader familiar with the East Indies, negotiated an agreement in which the sultan, who was surrounded by powerful adversaries, received a share of the trade profits and a defensive military alliance in exchange for Penang. Captain Light made representations to the sultan that the company had agreed to these terms, and occupied the island in August 1786. Cornwallis, concerned that the military aspects of the agreement might draw the company into conflicts with the sultan's adversaries or the Dutch, withheld approval of the agreement and requested the company's directors to decide the issue. When the company refused the military alliance, the sultan began blockading the island, renamed Prince of Wales Island by Light, and started in 1790 to accumulate troops with the view toward forcibly evicting the British.^[42] Cornwallis's brother William, then with the Royal Navy in the area, sailed from Penang to pick up troops in India for its defence. Captain Light, however, routed the sultan's forces in April 1791 before those reinforcements arrived.^[43] An agreement was then signed in which the company paid the sultan an annual stipend for the use of Penang. The fort that Captain Light constructed to protect Penang's principal town, George Town, became known as Fort Cornwallis in the earl's honour.^[42]
In 1792, King Rana Bahadur Shah of Nepal, with whom the company had established trade relations, requested military assistance. Shah had been expanding his territory militarily by taking over smaller adjacent principalities, but a 1791 invasion of Tibet was met with a stiff Chinese response. Cornwallis declined the king's request, sending instead Colonel William Kirkpatrick to mediate the dispute. Kirkpatrick was the first Englishman to see Nepal; by the time he reached Kathmandu in 1793, the parties had already resolved their dispute
 A commercial treaty was signed with Britain in 1792 and again in 1816 after more than a year of hostilities with the British East India Company.

Cornwallis in India (contd-4)

Administrative reforms

Cornwallis was charged by the directors of the British East India Company to overhaul and reform its administration in India. The company had historically paid its functionaries (revenue collectors, traders, and administrators) in India relatively little, but allowed them to engage in trade for themselves, including the use of company shipping for the purpose. As long as the company was profitable, this open door to corruption and graft at the company's expense was overlooked. However, the rise of manufacturing in Britain led to a collapse of prices for textiles and other goods from India, and the company's involvement in wars on the subcontinent had also been expensive. By the time Cornwallis arrived the company was losing money. Its employees, however, continued to profit personally, without caring whether or not the company made money. Cornwallis sought to change this practice, first by refusing to engage in such dealing himself, and second, by securing pay increases for the company's functionaries while denying them their personal trading privileges.
Another area of reform that Cornwallis implemented was the reduction of nepotism and political favoritism as means for advancement and positions within the company. Seeking instead to advance the company's interests, he sought out and promoted individuals on the basis of merit, even refusing requests by the Prince of Wales to assist individuals in the latter's good graces.
Judicial reforms
Prior to the earl's arrival, judicial and police powers in territories controlled by the company were a confusion of differing standards that were also either inconsistently or arbitrarily applied. Part of Cornwallis's work was the introduction of criminal and judicial regulations that to a significant degree still underpin the Indian judicial system.
Indian cities, much like British cities of the time, were poorly policed, and crime was widespread. Different penal and civil codes were applied to Hindus and Muslims, and the codification of these codes in different languages meant that it was virtually impossible for justice to be properly and consistently applied. Much of the criminal justice system in Bengal remained in the hands of the nawab, the nominal local ruler of the company's territory. Furthermore, individuals with powerful political connections in their community often were able to act with impunity, since no one suffering at their hands was likely to press charges for fear of retribution. Hastings had several times made changes to policing and the administration of justice, but none of these had had a significant impact on the problem.

William Jones, engraving after a portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds

Cornwallis received critical assistance from others in his effort to introduce legal reforms. William Jones, an expert on languages, translated existing Hindu and Muslim penal codes into English so that they could be evaluated and applied by English-speaking judges. Cornwallis began in 1787 by giving limited criminal judicial powers to the company's revenue collectors, who already also served as civil magistrates. He also required them to report regularly on detention times and sentences given.In 1790 the company took over the administration of justice from the nawab, and Cornwallis introduced a system of circuit courts with a superior court that met in Calcutta and had the power of review over circuit court decisions  Judges were drawn from the company's European employees. These reforms also included chances to the penal codes to begin harmonizing the different codes then in use. By the time of his departure in 1793 his work on the penal code, known in India as the Cornwallis Code, was substantially complete.
One consequence of the Cornwallis Code was that it, in effect, institutionalized racism in the legal system. Cornwallis, in a manner not uncommon at the time, believed that well-bred gentlemen of European extraction were superior to others, including those that were the product of mixed relationships in India. Of the latter, he wrote "as on account of their colour & extraction they are considered in this country as inferior to Europeans, I am of opinion that those of them who possess the best abilities could not command that authority and respect which is necessary in the due discharge of the duty of an officer." In 1791 he issued an order that "No person, the son of a Native Indian, shall henceforward be appointed by this Court to Employment in the Civil, Military, or Marine Service of the Company." Cornwallis's biographers, the Wickwires, also observe that this institutionalization of the British as an elite class simply added another layer on top of the complex status hierarchy of caste and religion that existed in India at the time.  Cornwallis could not have formalized these policies without the (tacit or explicit) agreement of the company's directors and employees.
Cornwallis's attituted toward the lower classes did, however, include a benevolent and somewhat paternalistic desire to improve their condition. He introduced legislation to protect native weavers who were sometimes forced into working at starvation wages by unscrupulous company employees, outlawed child slavery, and established in 1791 a Sanskrit college for Hindus that is now the Government Sanskrit College in Benares. He also established a mint in Calcutta that, in addition to benefiting the poor by providing a reliable standard currency, was a forerunner India's modern currency.
The Permanent Settlement
The Company's acquisition of the territories of Bengal in the 1760s led to its decisions to collect taxes in the area as a means of reducing investment capital directed toward India. A variety of taxation schemes were implemented in the following years, none of which produced satisfactory results, and many of which left too much power over the natives in the hands of the tax collectors, or zamindars. The company's directors gave Cornwallis the task of coming up with a taxation scheme that would meet the company's objectives without being an undue burden on the working men of its territories.

John Shore, portrait by George Richmond

John Shore (who went on to succeed Cornwallis as Governor-General) and Charles Grant, two men he came to trust implicitly, were the most important contributors to what is now called the Permanent Settlement. The essence of the arrangement they came up with in the summer of 1789 was that the zamindars would effectively become hereditary landholders, paying the company tax based on the value of the land. Shore and Cornwallis disagreed on the term of the scheme, with Shore arguing for a ten-year time limit on the arrangement, while Cornwallis argued for a truly permanent scheme.  Cornwallis prevailed, noting that many of the company's English revenue collectors, as well as others knowledgeable of company finance and taxation, supported permanency. In 1790 the proposal was sent to London, where the company directors approved the plan in 1792. Cornwallis began implementing the regulations in 1793.
Critics of the Permanent Settlement objected to its permanency, claimed that the company was forgoing revenue, and that Cornwallis and others advocating it misunderstood the historic nature of the zamindars. The Wickwires note that Cornwallis relied extensively on advice not only from John Shore, who had extensive experience in India prior to Cornwallis's arrival, but also from the revenue collectors in the various districts, who were almost uniformly in favor of a permanent settlement with the zamindars.  He was also clear on the need to protect the ryots (land tenants) from the excesses of the zamindars, writing, "It is immaterial to government what individual possessed the land, provided he cultivates it, protects the ryots, and pays the public revenue."

Cornwalis and India (contd-3)

India in the 1780s

For more details on this topic, see Colonial India and Company rule in India.
The area encompassed by modern India was significantly fractured following the decline of the Mughal Empire in the first half of the 18th century. European colonial outposts, from countries including Denmark, Portugal, France, and the Dutch Republic, dotted both the Coromandel (east) and Malabar (west) coasts of the subcontinent, although many of these had been established with the formal permission of a local ruler (which was sometimes secured by force of arms). The Kingdom of Travancore dominated the southern tip, the Kingdom of Mysore held sway over the center of the peninsula, and the Maratha Empire, a confederation of loosely allied principalities, dominated the northern reaches from Calcutta to Bombay. Although there were significant British presences at Bombay and Madras, each governed by a separate presidency, the Bengal region, including Calcutta, had come under the direct rule of the British East India Company in 1757, with authority to levy taxes, and its presidency dominated the others. Its civil head, the Governor-General of Fort William, ranked ahead of those of Madras and Bombay.

British colonial administration was dominated in the 1760s and 1770s by Warren Hastings, the first man to hold the title of Governor-General. The military arm of the East India Company was directed during the Seven Years' War and the Second Anglo-Mysore War by General Eyre Coote, who died in 1783 during the later stages of the war with Mysore. Company policy, as implemented by

Appointment

Cornwallis was first considered for a posting to India during the ministry of the Earl of Shelburne in the spring of 1782. Shelburne asked Cornwallis if he wanted to go to India as governor general, an idea Cornwallis viewed with favor, as it provided employment without risking his parole status.  However, Shelburne was a weak leader, and was turned out of power in early 1783, replaced by a coalition government dominated by men Cornwallis (and King George) disliked, Charles James Fox and Lord North. Cornwallis, who normally avoided politics (in spite of holding a seat in the House of Lords), became more vocal in opposition to the Fox-North ministry, hoping his support would be repaid by the next government.

"Much against my will, and with grief of heart, I have been obliged to say yes, and to exchange a life of ease and content, to encounter all the plagues and miseries of command an public station."^[12]

With the ascendancy of William Pitt the Younger to power in December 1783, doors to new positions were opened to the earl. Pitt first offered him the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland, which he politely refused. He also made it clear that, were he posted to India, he would want the supreme military command in addition to civil control.When informed that Pitt was agreeable to this demand, he went through a period of soul-searching, torn between the conflicting demands of family and country. This, however, was not the only troubling issue. When Parliament took up consideration of assignments in India in August 1784, it was only prepared to offer one of the two posts, which he again refused to consider.  Passed over for other military postings, Pitt placated him with the post of Constable of the Tower.
After refusing another inadequate entreaty from Pitt to take a post in India in February 1785, Cornwallis's demand for both posts were finally met a year later, on 23 February 1786. Departing London in May, he arrived at Madras on 22 August 1786, after "a most prosperous and expeditious passage", and at Calcutta on 12 September.Although he was accorded a welcome suitable to his rank, the acting governor-general, John Macpherson, was unhappy at being replaced. He attempted to reserve for his own use the Government House, which was normally reserved for the governor-general. Cornwallis, after having his oaths of office administered, immediately announced his intention to occupy the residence.Hastings, had involved the company in intrigues and shifting alliances involving France, Mysore, the Marathas, and factions within those and other local territories.

Cornwallis and India (contd-2)

 Governors of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), 1774–1833

#	Name	Image	Governor from	Governor until
1	Warren Hastings		20 October 1773	1 February 1785
2	Sir John Macpherson (acting)		1 February 1785	12 September 1786
3	The Earl Cornwallis[1]		12 September 1786	28 October 1793
4	Sir John Shore		28 October 1793	March 1798
5	Sir Alured Clarke (acting)		March 1798	18 May 1798
6	The Earl of Mornington[2]		18 May 1798	30 July 1805
7	The Marquess Cornwallis		30 July 1805	5 October 1805
8	Sir George Barlow, Bt (acting)		10 October 1805	31 July 1807
9	The Lord Minto		31 July 1807	4 October 1813
10	The Earl of Moira[3]		4 October 1813	9 January 1823
11	John Adam (acting)		9 January 1823	1 August 1823
12	The Lord Amherst[4]		1 August 1823	13 March 1828
13	William Butterworth Bayley (acting)		13 March 1828	4 July 1828
14	Lord William Bentinck		4 July 1828	1833