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Arthur Wellesley as political agent: 1803

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

A. S. Bennell
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Extract

Political as well as military experience in India, was the making of Arthur Wellesley. In 1797 he landed at Fort William, Calcutta, an unknown Colonel of twenty-seven, a rank achieved by aristocratic connection and by purchase. In March 1805 he sailed from Fort St George, Madras, a Major General and a KCB. The battle of Assaye in September 1803 with other military events of that year had laid the foundation of British paramountcy in India. The story of the Assaye campaign has been told many times; the attempt is here made to highlight some political interactions that flowed from a major delegation of authority to Arthur Wellesley by his brother Richard.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 119 , Issue 2 , April 1987 , pp. 273 - 288
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1987

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References

NOTES

Detailed references are not given to letters printed in either of the editions of the Despatches edited by Gurwood, although the date of the letter is always given. A reference is given for a letter from Arthur Wellesley, or a conference, if it is to be found in the Supplementary Despatches (India) or in the Poona Residency Correspondence.

1 A little known study of the Assaye campaign of real value is Bird, W. D. “The Assaye Campaign, Journal of the United Services Institution of India (04 1912) vol. 41, pp. 101–124.Google Scholar

2 A description of the Maratha Confederacy as it appeared to the British in 1803 can be found in Papers relative to the Maratha war in 1803 (House of Commons, June 1804) pp. 255–63.Google Scholar

3 The life of the group working with Richard Wellesley can be seen in Send Malcolm: The Life of Major General Sir John Malcolm 1769–1833 Rodney Pasley, (Putney, BACSA, 1982Google Scholar) and in the account of Merrick Shawe, the original of Major Pendennis, in Gordon Ray, N.The Buried Life (OUP for RSL 1962) pp. 58–77.Google Scholar

4 On the Maratha policy of Richard Wellesley see Bennell, A. S. “The Road to Poonah” in East India Company Studies ed. Ballhatchet, K. and Harrison, J., (Asian Research Service 1986) pp. 183–206Google Scholar.

5 AW-Close 1 Jan. 1803, AW-Duncan 20 Jan. 1803, AW-Close 4 Mar. 1803.

6 Stuart-AW9 Mar. 1803 Poona Residency Correspondence (Bombay 1936–1951) ix. 81Google Scholar (cited as PRC), Webbe – AW 10 Mar. 1803 Wellington Papers 3/3/93 (cited as WP), AW – RW 13 Mar. 1803.

7 AW – RW 15 Apr. 1803, Shawe to Malcolm 5 May 1803 (letter misdated) Richard Wellesley Papers, British Library 13,602 f.4. (cited as A.Mss).

8 RW – AW 26 Jun. 1803 Despatches of the Marquess Wellesley 5 vols (London 1836–1837) ed. Martin, M. iii. 149Google Scholar (cited as Martin).

9 AW – RW 24 Jul. 1803. On the events before the outbreak of war, see Bennell, A. S. “The Anglo-Maratha Confrontation of June and July 1803” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland (1962) pp. 107–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

10 AW – Stuart 19 Jun. 1803, AW – Malcolm 20 Jun. 1803, AW – Collins 29 Jun. 1803 Supplementary Despatches (India) iv. 123Google Scholar (cited as SD).

11 Malcolm, J. “Reflections on the policy of forming a more intimate alliance with the Nizam.” 19 Apr.Google Scholar 1798 Harris Mss (Kent R.O.) U 624 0276, Kirkpatrick Mss (Somerset R.O.) 63/16.

12 RW – AW 27 Jun. 1803 Martin iii.153, Shawe – AW 3 Aug. 1803 A.Mss 13,778 f.11, WP 3/3/7, Barlow Mem. nd A. Mss 13,722 f. 1, WP 3/3/5.

13 Barlow Mem. 16 Oct. 1803 A. Mss 13,722 f. 27, WP 3/3/5.

14 AW – RW 11 Nov. 1803.

15 AW – Shawe 18 Nov. 1803. For discussion on the question of the type of warfare of the Marathas, see Pemble, J. “Resources and Techniques in the Second Maratha War”, Historical Journal (Cambridge06 1976) vol. 19 no. 2, pp. 375–404.Google Scholar

16 Conference 10 Nov. 1803 SD iv. 221, AW – Malcolm 11 Nov. 1803, AW – RW 11 Nov. 1803.

17 Conference 21 Nov. 1803 SD iv. 228, PRC x. 165.

18 Conference 21 Nov. 1803 SD iv. 228.

19 “Agreed suspension of hostilities” 23 Nov. 1803.

20 AW – RW 30 Nov. 1803.

21 Conference 30 Nov. 1803 SD iv. 272, PRC x. 180.

22 Conference 9 Dec. 1803 SD iv. 277, PRC x. 183.

23 Conferences 12, 16 Dec. 1803 SD iv. 280, 281. PRC x. 185,186.

24 AW-Shawe 12 Dec. 1803.

25 Conferences 24, 26 Dec. 1803 SD iv. 251, 254, PRC x. 168, 171.

26 Relations with Daulat Rao Sinde in the early months of 1804 are outlined in Bennell, A. S. “Factors in the Marquis Wellesley's failure against Holkar, 1804”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, (1965) vol. 38, part 3, pp. 553–581.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

27 AW – RW 15 Mar. 1804 SD iv. 355.

28 For the threat to Berar to renew war to secure territory in Cuttack, see Edmonstone to Elphinstone 18 May 1804 Selections from the Nagpur Residency Records (Nagpur 1950) i. 58.Google Scholar