Indies, although in itself by far the most noteworthy and meritorious
naval performance of the war of 1778, failed, through no fault of his,
to affect the general issue. It was not till 1781 that the French
Court felt able to direct upon the East naval forces adequate to the
importance of the issue. Yet the conditions of the peninsula at that
time were such as to give an unusual opportunity for shaking the
English power. Hyder Ali, the most skilful and daring of all the
enemies against whom the English had yet fought in India, was then
ruling over the kingdom of Mysore, which, from its position in the
southern part of the peninsula, threatened both the Carnatic and the
Malabar coast. Hyder, ten years before, had maintained alone a most
successful war against the intruding foreigners, concluding with a
peace upon the terms of a mutual restoration of conquests; and he was
now angered by the capture of Mahe. On the other hand, a number of
warlike tribes, known by the name of the Mahrattas, of the same race
and loosely knit together in a kind of feudal system, had become
involved in war with the English. The territory occupied by these
tribes, whose chief capital was at Poonah, near Bombay, extended
northward from Mysore to the Ganges. With boundaries thus
conterminous, and placed centrally with reference to the three English
presidencies of Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras, Hyder and the Mahrattas
were in a position of advantage for mutual support and for offensive
operations against the common enemy. At the beginning of the war
between England and France, a French agent appeared at Poonah. It was
reported to Warren Hastings, the Governor-General, that the tribes had
agreed to terms and ceded to the French a seaport on the Malabar
coast. With his usual promptness, Hastings at once determined on war,
and sent a division of the Bengal army across the Jumna and into
Berar. Another body of four thousand English troops also marched from
Bombay; but being badly led, was surrounded and forced to surrender in
January, 1779. This unusual reverse quickened the hopes and increased
the strength of the enemies of the English; and although the material
injury was soon remedied by substantial successes under able leaders,
the loss of prestige remained. The anger of Hyder Ali, roused by the
capture of Mahe, was increased by imprudent thwarting on the part of
the governor of Madras. Seeing the English entangled with the
Mahrattas, and hearing t