ay was placed in a state of dependence
under the Governor-General of Bengal, who has since been replaced by
the Viceroy of India.

It is from Bombay that the English have spread their influence
at present so firmly established in these territories. Simply
merchants at first, they gradually supplanted their rivals from
the Portuguese and Dutch settlements. Soon they aspired to a more
solid power, and came into direct conflict with the natives--the
Mahrattas--whom they hastened to drive from Colaba, finding their
nearness troublesome. After the first Mahratta war, which arose from
the contested succession of the Peishwa (1774), the treaty of Salbai
permitted the English to settle in Salsette, Elephanta, Karanja, Hog
Island, &c. (1782). The fort of Surat was in their hands from 1759,
and in 1800 the administration of this town was made over to them
by the Nawab, whose descendants contented themselves with the vain
title till 1842.

The second Mahratta war had its origin in the treaty of Bassein (1802),
by which the Peishwa accepted the subsidiary system--a system since
adopted by the English. It resulted in an accession of territory
in Gujerat and an increase of moral influence in the Court of the
Peishwas and of the Gaekwars. The interval of peace was employed in
repressing the invasions of the pirates who were infesting the Gulfs
of Cambay and Cutch.

In 1807 the States of Kathiawar were placed under the British
protectorate, and in 1809 the Rao of Cutch was forced to sign a treaty
by which he bound himself to help in the destruction of the pirates;
whilst, on the other hand, scarcely had the Peishwa Baji Rao been
placed on the throne by an English army when he began plotting for
the expulsion of the English from the Deccan. In 1817 he attacked the
Resident himself, Mountstuart Elphinstone, who withdrew to Kirkee,
where with a few troops he succeeded in routing the entire army of
the Peishwa. Soon after the prince submitted to Sir John Malcolm. A
pension of L80,000 was secured to the Prince, but he was deprived of
his States, and Bombay gained in this manner the districts of Poona,
Ahmadnagar, Nasik, Kolahpoor, Belgaum, Kaladji, Dharwar, Ahmedabad,
and the Konkan. At the same time Holkar abandoned his rights over
the districts of Kandesh, and Satara fell into the hands of the
English in 1848 on the death of the last descendant of the Mahratta
Shivaji. In 1860 the Non-Regulation Districts [66] of the Panch
Mahals wer