THE RISE OF THE FRENCH POWER IN INDIA. chap, wife and son of Chanda Sahib with their treasures, he ni " had replied that all the French in India would die first ; 1740. Pondichery had been threatened with the fate of Bassein, then recently captured by the Marathas from the Portu- guese, he had answered that if the Bhonsla came against Pondichery, he would try to deserve his esteem by successfully defending it.* In this state of the
- The following are extracts from
the correspondence between Raghuji Bhonsla and M Dumas : From Raghuu Bhonsla. " Forty years have elapsed since our sovereign gave you permission to establish yourselves at Pondichery ; nevertheless since our army has arrived in these parts, I have not received a single letter from you. 44 Our sovereign, persuaded that you were deserving of his friendship, that the French were people of their word, who would never fail in their engagements towards him, made over to you a considerable territory. You agreed to pay an annual tribute, which you never have paid. At last, after a considerable time, the army of the Marathas has arrived in these districts. It has beaten the Musal- mans, puffed up with pride, and forced them to pay tribute. We need not tell you this news. We have now orders from the Maharaja to take possession of the fortresses of Trichi- napalli and Jinji, and to put garri- sons in them. We have also orders to collect the tribute due from the European towns on the sea-coast. I am obliged to obey these orders. When we consider your conduct, and the manner in which the King has favoured you, in allowing yon. to es- tablish yourselves in his territory, I cannot hinder myself from saying that you are wrong in not paying this tribute. We had consideration for you, and you have acted against us. You have given refuge to the Mu glials in your town. Was that well done? Again, Chanda Sahib has left, under your protection, the treasure chests of Trichinapalli and of Tanjur — the precious stones, ele- phants, horses, and other things of which he possessed himself in those kingdoms, as well as his family— was that, too, well done ? If you wish that we should be friends, you must give up this treasure, these jewels, these horses, these elephants, as well as the wife and son of Chanda Sahib. I send my cavalry to whom you can make them over. If you decline to do so, we shall be com- pelled to force you to it, as well as to the payment of the tribute which you have kept back for forty years. " You know how we have treated the town of Bassein. My army is very numerous, and it wants money for its expenses. If you do not act in conformity with my demands, I shall know how to draw from you wherewith to pay my whole army Our ships will arrive in a few days. It will be batter for you to terminate the matter quickly. I rely upon your sending me, in conformity with this letter, the wife and son of Chan- da Sahib, with his elephants, horses, jewels, and treasure." Extract from the reply of M. Du- mas: 4 'You tell me that we have owed for forty years past a tribute to your King. Never has the French nation been subject to any tribute. It would cost me my head, if the King of France, my master, were in- formed that I had consented to pay tribute to any one. When the prin- ces of the country gave to the French a piece of land on the sands of the sea-shore, upon which to build a fort- ress and a town, they required no other conditions, but that the pago- das and the religion of the people should be unmolested. Although your armies have never yet appeared in our neighbourhood, we have al- ways faithfully observed these con- ditions. ********* " You say that you have orders to take possession of the fortresses of Jinji and Trichinapalli. Well and good, so long as that does not oblige you to beoome our enemy. As many
