47 °
HISTORY OF BRITISH RULE.
only military exploits were the occupation of the island of theMauritius , and the conquest of Java by an expedition whichhe accompanied in person. The condition of Central Indiacontinued to be disturbed, but Lord Minto succeeded in pre-venting any violent outbreaks without himself having recourseto the sword. The Company had ordered him to follow apolicy of non-intervention, and he managed to obey his orderswithout injuring the prestige of the British name. Under hisauspices, the Indian Government opened relations with a newset of foreign Powers, by sending embassies to the Punjab , toAfghanistan , and to Persia . The ambassadors had beentrained in the school of Wellesley, and formed, perhaps, themost illustrious trio of 1 politicals ’ whom the Indian serviceshave produced. Metcalfe went as envoy to the Sikh Courtof Ranjlt Singh at Lahore ; Elphinstone met the Shah ofAfghanistan at Peshawar ; and Malcolm was despatched toPersia . It cannot be said that these missions were fruitfulof permanent results; but they introduced the English to anew set of diplomatic relations, and widened the sphere oftheir influence.
The
Gurkhasof Nepal.
The successor of Lord Minto was the Earl of Moira, betterknown by his later title as the Marquess of Hastings . TheMarquess of Hastings completed Lord Wellesley’s conquestsin Central India, and left the Bombay Presidency almostas it stands at present. His long rule of nine years, from1814 to 1823, was marked by two wars of the first magnitude—namely, the campaigns against the Gurkhas of Nepal, andthe last Maratha struggle.
The Giirkhas, the present ruling race in Nepal , trace theirdescent from Hindu immigrants, and claim a Rajput origin.The indigenous inhabitants, called Newars, belong to theIndo-Tibetan stock, and profess Buddhism . The sovereigntyof the Giirkhas dates only from 1767-68, when theyoverran the valley of Khatmandu, and gradually extendedtheir power over the hills and valleys of Nepal . Organizedupon a military and feudal basis, they soon became a terrorto their neighbours, marching east into Sikkim , west intoKumdun, and south into the Gangetic plains. In the lastquarter their victims were British subjects (natives of Bengal),and it became necessary to check their advance. Sir George Barlow and Lord Minto had remonstrated in vain, andnothing was left to Lord Moira but to take up arms.
The first campaign of 1814 was unsuccessful. After over-