Hastings and the Rohilla War

The reputation of Warren Hastings, the Governor-General of India from 1772 to 1785, has passed through tremendous vicissitudes. Thousands of educated persons both in England and India are filled with indignation when they read of his atrocious acts, the judicial murder of Nand Kumar, the extermination of the Rohillas and the plunder of the Begums. Sir John Strachey, who passed several years of his Indian Civil Service in the Province of Rohilkhand had the chance of making personal investigations against the worst of Hastings crimes, i.e. the extermination of the Rohillas. He writes in this book, that to his utter surprise he found that the terrible accusations levelled against him by the writers and historians like Burke, Mill and Macaulay were misrepresentations and garbling of documents, suppressing the truth. Hastings had a high degree of the faculty of making himself beloved by the people he governed. He gave to the people of Bengal within their memory, security for their lives and property. And for the first time, he gave them means of obtaining justice against their oppressors. Hastings was acquitted upon every charge in the end.

Table of Contents

• Chapter I The Ruin of the Mughal Empire 1-6
• Chapter II Oudh and Rohilkhand 7-21
• Chapter III The Rohillas 22-32
• Chapter IV Return of Marathas 33-41
• Chapter V A.D. 1772 Maratha Invasion of Rohilkhand 42.56
• Chapter VI A.D. 1772 Hastings Governor of Bengal 57.65
• Chapter VII A.D. 1773 Cession of Kora and Allahabad 66-85
• Chapter VIII A.D. 1773 The Conference at Benares 86-106
• Chapter IX A.D. 1773 The Conference at Benares 107-126
• Chapter X A.D. 1774 The Vizier and Hasting Resolve to Invade Rohilkhand 127-135
• Chapter XI A.D. 1774 The Conquest of Rohilkhand and Expulsion of the Rohillas 136-155
• Chapter XII Discontent of the English Troops 156-172
• Chapter XIII The Extermination of the Rohillas 173-187
• Chapter XIV The Charge that Atrocities 188-201
• Chapter XV The Charge that Atrocities 202-233
• Chapter XVI The Objects with which the Rohilla War 234-264
• Chapter XVII Clavering Monson and Francies 265-284
• Appendix A,B,C and D 285-305