"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٤‎٩] (١٧٨٢/٢٩٢)

149
to extort from Persia a lease of Bandar 'Abbas, Minab, and the adjacent
islands.
Pining this period a series oc inconclusive wars in India threw a heavy Difficulties of
and almost continuous strain upon the resources of the East India Compan 1 hf 9 "
Company, thus hampering their action in the Persian Gulf. Among the East aud
these contests were the first and second Maratha wars, from 1775 to ITVO - q ?!
1782, by winch the British gained little advantage; the second Mysore
war, from 1780 to 1784, which resulted in a mutual restitution of
conquests; and the third Mysore war, from 1790 to 1792, after which
Tipu Sultan was stripped of half his dominions, yet remained a dangerous
enemy.
At home also the East India Company had to contend with various
adverse occurrences, such as the movement which produced Fox's India
BilJ ol 1783, and the trial of Warren Hastings on an impeachment by
Fox, Burke and Sheridan, which opened in 1788 not to close before 1795.
From 1778 to 178 -3, in consequence of the French having taken the Hostilities
side of the British North American colonies, then in revolt against the BritX^d
mother country, there was war between Britain and France in the East. French in
Pondichery, restored to France by the Treaty of Paris in 1763 on condi- msS?'
tion of remaining unfortified, was again captured by the British in 7 778 1793 - 97 -
and retained until 1783 ; and in 1781, during the progress of the second
Mysore war, there was severe fighting with the French under Suffren in
Indian waters.
In 1793, the French Revolution having taken place in the meanwhile,
war was declared by Britain against France in Europe; and hostilities in
India followed. Before the end of the year Pondichery once more
succumbed to a British force, and the other French settlements of
Chandarnagar, Karikal and Mahe surrendered; but meanwhile French
war-vessels and French privateers from the Mauritius had begun to
ravage British commerce in the eastern seas ; and in the winter of 1793-
a British naval squadron was sent to deal with them in Javan waters.
In 1795 Holland became a party to the war on the side of France, with
the result that in 1795-96 a British expedition wrested Ceylon from the
Dutch. In 1796-97 French agents made their appearance in Persia and
the Persian Gulf; and in 1797 the British still continued to operate
against the possessions of the Dutch in the East Indies.
These difficulties in India with various native powers and with the British policy
French afford, together with the instability of the Persian Government, ar ! d rela tions
a sufficient explanation of the British policy in the Persian Gulf at the time, Peiaian Gulfi
which was wanting in strength and decision. The British relations with 1779 * 95r -