Page:History of the French in India.djvu/506

480 CHANDRANAGAK AND THE DAK. HAN. chap, from their being exercised in any of the territories occu- ^ XL ^ , pied by them, that freebooting people not only kept 1755. their own revenues to themselves, but were in the habit of extorting one-fourth of the yearly revenue due to the Mughal government from many villages and districts in the Dakhan. Maisur was equally liable in theory to the imposition, yet it was never acknowledged or paid, except when the Subadar was able to enforce it. For many years prior to the date at which we have arrived, Maisur, aided by the Marathas, had been comparatively strong, whilst the Dakhan, torn by internal factions and foreign invasions, had been powerless for aggression. But in 1755, Salabat Jang found himself undisputed master, at peace with his neighbours, and with a body of French in his pay. Maisur, on the contrary, had sent all her available forces to TrichinapalK, which her Dalwai had pledged herself to reduce. It was nothing to the Subadar that the Maisurians were also allied with the French; Bussy was bound to support him in all his enterprises. The opportunity likewise was too tempting to be foregone. A few days, therefore, after the inter- view we have recorded, the Subadar intimated his plans to the French leader, adding that he should require his co-operation. Bussy felt all the difficulty of the situation. To march against the Maisurians might be to dissolve their alliance with the French ; to augment immensely, by throwing them into their hands, the influence of the English. To refuse to march, would be to annihilate French influence at Haidarabacl, to impel the Subadar to summon the English to his aid. But in this crisis, the tact and ability for which Bussy had ever been re- markable did not fail him. He entered with apparent heartiness into the scheme of the Subabar, whilst he wrote at the same time to the Dalwai of Maisur, warning him of the danger, and advising him to satisfy the claims urged against him. Meanwhile, the army