Page:History of the French in India.djvu/403

THE TRIUMPH OF BUSSY. 379 allowed his wishes to be penetrated, everything that he chap coveted was granted, and Saiyid Lashkar, who had ex- . . hausted intrigue in order to rid the Dakhan of this French 1753. warrior, was forced to sign his name to a treaty which ren- dered that same Frenchman independent of ministerial influence ; which severed from the Dakhan to add to the government of Pondichery four of the finest provinces on the eastern coast of Southern India. On December 4, all preliminaries having been ar- ranged, Bussy was met by Saiyid Lashkar and other lords of the court, and conducted into the presence of Salabat Jang. This interview, which was of a purely formal character, having been concluded, Bussy signed with Saiyid Lashkar the articles of agreement by which the French alliance was thenceforth to be regulated. The principal of these provided that the four provinces Mustafanagar, Ellur, Bajamahendri, and Srikakolam, should be made over to the French for the support of their army so long as a certain strength should be main- tained in the Dakhan, they receiving the rents then due on account of them ; that the French troops should have the sole guardianship of the person of the Subadar; that he should not interfere in the affairs of the Karna- tik ; and that the other affairs of the State should be conducted with the concurrence and by the advice of M. Bussy. In return for this Bussy engaged to sup- port Saiyid Lashkar in the office of Diwan. By this treaty there accrued to the French 470 miles of sea-coast, from the Chilka Lake to Motupili ; stretching inland to a distance varying from 30 to 100 miles, watered by such rivers as the Krishna, the Gund- lakamma, and the Godavari, and — including the head- land of Divi and the districts previously ceded — con- taining the important districts of Ganjam, Vizagapatan, Godavari, Yanaon, and Krishna, containing many im- portant towns and trading stations. This united terri- tory, afterwards called the Northern Sirkars, possessed