successful, consented to surrender their conquests, demolish the fortress of Azof, and relinquish all claim to navigate the Black Sea, 1739. After a reign prosperous on the whole, Mahmoud died in 1745, and was succeeded by his brother, OSMAN III., whose history is chiefly remarkable for an attempt to poison his nephews, sons of the late sultan: two of these princes fell victims to his jealousy; Mustapha and Abdul-hamid escaped only by the death of their uncle. MUSTAPHA III., 1757, aided by his able and enlightened vizier, Mohammed Raghib, devoted the first ten years of his reign to the restoration of order and energy in his domestic government. But the continued encroachments of Catherine II., who paid no attention to the treaty of 1739, and her dangerous ascendency in Poland, at length compelled the sultan to declare for war, and led to the disastrous contest of 1768. In 1774, ABDUL-HAMID succeeded to the throne, and immediately afterwards signed the peace of Kainardge, the most humiliating ever yet submitted to by Turkey; and, though the independence of the Crimea had been guaranteed by this treaty, he was unable to prevent the appropriation of that district by his ambitious neighbour, 1784. But continued insults on the part of Catherine, who with the Emperor Joseph had formed the design of dividing between them the Ottoman dominions, as they had already partitioned those of Poland, again drove the sultan, in despair, to take up arms, 1787. The Austrians, who assaulted Belgrade without even the formality of a declaration of war, were repulsed on all sides, and the vizier, entering the Bannat, spread consternation to the very gates of Vienna. The Russians, however, were more successful; the Ottoman fleet was destroyed in the Dnieper, while Potemkin reduced the fortress of Oczakow, and barbarously massacred the garrison and inhabitants, 1788. Next year, Abdul-hamid was succeeded by his nephew, SELIM III., who, regardless of the hazardous position of his empire, began his reign by a career of the most thoughtless folly and dissolute extravagance. The Austrian and Russian armies, under Cobourg and Suwarrow, having effected a junction, met the Turkish forces on the plains of Rimnik, and defeated them with great slaughter and the loss of their artillery and baggage. The Austrians then diverged into Wallachia, and captured Bucharest, while Suwarrow, having received the submission of Bender, laid siege to the strong town of Ismail. In December 1790, the place was carried by storm, and the garrison of 40,000 men put to the sword; while the fortress of Belgrade shortly after surrendered to Marshal Laudon, thus leaving Nissa as the only barrier of the Turkish capital. At this juncture, when the Ottoman power in Europe seemed on the point of being annihilated, the insurrections in Hungary and the Low Countries, and the jealousy of the other powers, alone saved it from utter ruin. By the mediation of England, Holland, and Prussia, the emperor was compelled to sign a separate treaty with the Porte, resigning all his conquests, 1791; while Catherine, after another sanguinary campaign, yielding to the same solicitations, confirmed by the peace of Jassy the former treaty of 1774, retaining merely the fortress of Oczakow. This dangerous war, though terminated with little territorial loss, had shaken the internal organisation of the empire to its centre. The janissaries, at one time the most efficient troops in the world, had long been retrograding, and were now little better than a disorderly crowd; and while these disturbed the capital with tumults and insurrections, the provinces set at nought the authority of the sultan. Ali Bey had assumed in Egypt the rank of an independent sovereign, and his example was followed by Ali Pacha of Janina; Paswan Oglou had raised the standard of rebellion at Widin; the Servians were in arms; and Arabia was possessed by the fanatical sect of the Wahabees. In these alarming circumstances, the sultan at length, shaking off his early vices, displayed the possession of considerable talents, joined with great prudence and humanity. Keeping aloof from the struggles of Europe consequent on the French revolution, he endeavoured to introduce some degree of order into his government, and raised a force disciplined on the modern plan, preparatory to an entire remodelling of the army. These troops were afterwards greatly distinguished in the defence of Acre, during the unjustifiable invasion of Egypt under Napoleon; an event which compelled the Porte to unite with England and Russia against France, 1798. PERSIA. The reign of the Afghan usurper, MAHMOUD, was at first distinguished by an ability and moderation commendable in a conqueror; but he subsequently disgraced himself by ferocious cruelty, and died insane in 1725. His position was far from being an easy one; for, while Prince TAMASP, Son of Hussein, held out in Armenia, Russia and the Porte had formed the design of seizing the provinces adjoining their frontiers; and hence, in 1723, he actually ceded the Caspian provinces to Russia, in return for a promise of aid which was never fulfilled. His successor, ASHRAFF, in order to get himself recognised sovereign of Persia by the Porte, permitted Achmet to seize on various provinces, 1727; but Tamasp was now supported by Nadir Kouli, who from a Turkoman shepherd had, by the force of his character, risen to power and importance. In spite of desperate efforts in the field, and frightful massacres of the disaffected citizens, the fortune of war turned against the Afghan monarch, who was finally slain, and his adherents driven out of the country, in 1730. All real power, however, lay in the hands of Nadir, who received from the shah the government of the four finest provinces of the empire. He turned his arms successfully against the Turks; but, while he was absent in Khorassan, Tamasp imprudently encountered them, was defeated, and forced to conclude an ignominious peace. Nadir, inveighing against this national disgrace, dethroned the unhappy prince, elevating his infant son, Abbas III., in whose name he governed as regent, 1732; and, after expelling the Turks from their conquests, concluded a treaty in 1736, re-establishing the ancient frontiers of Persia, while the districts ceded to Russia were recovered by negotiation. The infant prince died the same year, whereupon Nadir formally declared the Sophi dynasty at an end, and himself assumed the diadem by the title of Nadir Shah. This extraordinary man, by the sheer force of natural ability, raised Persia for some time to a higher degree of influence than she had pos sessed even in the reign of Abbas. Great part of Afghanistan yielded to his arms; and, in 1739, offended at a breach of friendship by the Mogul, he led an immense army into India. One great victory near Delhi, 1739, laid the power of the descendant of Timour at his feet; that city was taken, and upwards of £30,000,000 sterling of booty, with the annexation of all the territory west of the Indus, rewarded the enterprise of Nadir, who is said to have committed fewer crimes on this occasion than almost any other Asiatic invader. He next year reduced the Us beck princes of Khiva and Bokhara; while a second war with the Porte, 1743, after several signal victories, terminated to the advantage of Persia. But his native ferocity, having no longer foreign enemies on whom it might exercise itself, now broke out uncontrolled, and for the remainder of his life he perpetrated the most frightful tyranny; he blinded his brave son, Riza Kouli, massacred his subjects by thousands, and was at length assassinated by his own officers, 1747. The death of Nadir became the signal for a scene of anarchy and confusion the Usbecks threw off the yoke, and Afghanistan became an independent and powerful kingdom; while the crown of Persia itself was disputed by various rival chiefs. At length all other claimants were forced to yield to the ability and merit of Kereem Khan, head of the native family of Zend, who, in 1759, assumed the government by the title of administrator, refusing the insignia of royalty. The rule of this excellent man, who occupied the throne twenty-six years, was characterized by a high degree of justice, clemency, and moderation; he repressed the depredations of the Turkoman tribes, which in the time of Nadir had overspread Persia, and concluded advantageously a short war with the Porte. But his death, in 1779, gave rise to new troubles; and during ten years six different chiefs, his brothers and nephews, ascended or claimed the throne, while Russia took advantage of the turmoil to encroach on the northern frontier. At length, in 1789, the supreme power remained in the hands of LOOTF ALI KHAN, a brave though cruel prince, who maintained his position till 1795, when he was overpowered and put to death by his rival, AGA MOHAMMED KHAN, chief of the Kajirs, a Turkish tribe settled in Mazanderan by Abbas the Great. By a vigorous though sanguinary administration, this monarch succeeded in consolidating his authority; and having fixed his capital in Teheran, he reduced the revolted Georgians with the most ruthless severity. His cruelties, however, speedily provoked his own attendants to assassinate him, and he was succeeded by his nephew, Shah FUTTEH ALI, 1797, the early part of whose reign was chiefly distinguished by the rival intrigues of France and England in reference to India. INDIA. FALL OF THE MOGUL EMPIRE.-The temporary impulse which the vigorous administration of Aurengzebe had communicated to the empire of Delhi, ceased at once on his death; and during the reign of his son, SHAH AULUM, 1707, enemies arose on every side. The Mahrattas widely extended their conquests; the Rajpoot princes, who had never been effectually subdued, again asserted their independence; while the provinces of Delhi and Lahore, the very centre of his power, were convulsed by contests with the warlike sect of the Sikhs, who, by declaring the abolition of castes, had rapidly increased in importance. At his demise in 1712, each of his four sons contended for the succession, which, after a short but sanguinary struggle, at length fell to the eldest, who became emperor by the title of JEHANDAR SHAH. This prince, abandoning himself to a career of low profligacy, was found altogether incapable of ruling; while among the nobles bold spirits were not wanting, ready to avail themselves of the opportunity of advancement thus afforded. Two brothers, in particular, Abdoola and Hussein, who boasted the high rank of Syeds or descendants of the Prophet, had the address to procure his dethronement in the course of a few months; and for seven years they actually administered the government, setting up during that period no less than four successive emperors. The last of these, MOHAMMED SHAH, a grandson of Shah Aulum, was raised to the throne in 1720, and suc· ceeded in ridding himself of these dictators by means of assassination; but he was no sooner in uncontrolled possession of the sovereign authority, than he displayed that incapacity which seemed now to have become inherent in the Mogul race. In consequence, the Deccan became virtually independent under the viceroyalty of Nizam-ul-Mulk, while a considerable portion of the northern provinces was seized by the Rohillas, an Afghan people, who established themselves in part of the district afterwards known as Rohilcund. But the greatest misfortune of this reign, and which in fact consummated the downfal of the empire, was the invasion of Nadir Shah. That powerful prince, having sent an embassy to demand the surrender of several Persian fugitives, the envoy and his suite were murdered by the inhabitants of Jellalabad; and Mohammed, by the advice of his arrogant courtiers, refused to grant satisfaction for the outrage. Nadir, then victorious in Afghanistan, immediately turned his arms against Delhi, 1739; the Mogul forces were defeated, and the wealth of centuries, to the amount of more than £30,000,000 sterling, besides the provinces west of the Indus, became the prey of the victor. Satisfied with the booty and acquisitions he had obtained, the Persian monarch reinstated Mohammed on the throne; and in 1747 that prince was succeeded by his son AHMED SHAH. During his reign, which lasted six years, the dissolution of the empire may be said to have taken place. The northern and north-western provinces were seized by the Afghans and the Sikhs, and the Rajpoots extended their territory as far as Ajmere. Ghazee-ud-dien, grandson to Nizam-ul-Mulk, having now become vizier, deposed Ahmed in 1753, and raised AULUMGIRE, a son of Jehandar Shah, to the now merely nominal dignity of emperor. A period of unparalleled intrigue and disorder now took place, during which Delhi was exposed to an assault by the Afghans, surpassing in its horrors that under Nadir; und in 1759, Ghazee caused Aulumgire to be assassinated, and attempted, but unsuccessfully, to set up some new pageant of royalty. Meantime, the restless Mahrattas extended their conquests on every side, drove the Afghans from Moultan and Lahore, and threatened to subjugate all India. On the one hand, the Mohammedan powers united to arrest their progress, and were joined by Ahmed Abdalla Shah, who had become Sultan of Afghanistan on the death of Nadir; while, on the other, the Hindoo states and Ghazee made conmon cause with the Mahrattas. This great contest was at length decided on the plains of Panniput, northward of Delhi. The Mahrattas were routed with great slaughter; but the victorious Afghans, contenting themselves with the provinces west of the Indus already in their possession, bestowed the Mogul sovereignty on Shah AULUM II., 1761, who, after many vicissitudes of fortune, became a pensioner of the East India Company. RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE BRITISH POWER.-At the close of the seventeenth century, the three chief maritime nations of Europe, Eng iand, France, and Holland, had obtained possession of various trading settlements in India, and the wars of the west were now to be extended to that distant region. The last of these countries, however, content with their insular possessions, never obtained much territorial power on the Asiatic continent; and the contest for supremacy was waged from the beginning between the two others. These great rivals came into collision on the breaking out of the succession war, when Labourdonnais, the French governor of Mauritius, led a squadron against the settlement of Madras, and forced it to surrender, 1746; but it was again restored, two years after, by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.* At this time, Dupleix, who commanded at Pondicherry, having seen the real weakness of the native powers, formed a grand plan for aggrandizing the French East India Company. Accordingly, on the death of Nizamul-Mulk, the powerful viceroy of the Deccan, 1748, he declared in favour of one of the rival candidates, and succeeded, by his intrigues and the aid of a strong body of troops, in raising his favourite, Mirzapha Jung, to that dignity. The nabobship of the Carnatic, a subordinate government in the same province, was obtained for his ally, Chunda Sahib, 1750; while his own countrymen were rewarded for their assistance with large grants of territory, and indeed with the actual government of these districts. Mohammed Ali, however, son of the late nabob, still held the fortress of Trichinopoly, imploring the assistance of the English, who gave him some reinforcements; but the fortune of war still continued against him, till at length the celebrated Clive, having obtained a captain's commission, undertook to make a diversion by an attack from Madras upon Arcot, the capital of the Carnatic. With a small force he captured that city, and though Chunda Sahib besieged it with a large army, repelled the assailants with amazing talent and courage. Reinforced by Colonel Kirkpatrick, he pursued and defeated the enemy on the plains of Arni; the Rajah of Tanjore and other princes declared for Mohammed Ali; and Chunda and his allies were several times discomfited. In 1754, Dupleix was recalled to Europe, and a provisional treaty concluded between the English and French, who mutually agreed to withdraw from all interference with the native princes: Salabat Jung, the successor of Mirzapha, was left in possession of the Deccan, while Mohammed Ali remained nabob of the Carnatic. Both nations, however, now possessed a commanding position in Southern India, and had contrived to secure considerable territorial advantages. Meanwhile, the English factory at Calcutta, although subordinate to Madras, had continued to make surprising advances in wealth and influence, and thereby provoked the jealousy of the native princes. Surajah Dowlah, the subahdar of Bengal, a sanguinary tyrant, offended at some supposed abuse by the English of their privileges, and more especially by the protection of a nabob who had fled from his vengeance, suddenly marched with 50,000 men against Calcutta, 1756. After an ineffectual resistance, the governor and all but 200 of the garrison escaped on shipboard; and these unfortunate persons, along with Mr. Holwell, who had taken the command, were speedily made prisoners, and immured, by order of the subahdar, in a room not twenty feet *The French were the first to train sepoys, or natives disciplined after the European manner. |