Holkar. Though Holkar's
bands were at last dispersed, a new dispute arose with Sindhia about the
ownership of Gwalior and Gohad, which remained unsettled when Lord
Wellesley resigned early in 1805, not so much because his policy was
disapproved by the court of directors, for whom he always professed a
sovereign contempt, as because he was no longer cordially supported by
the home government.

In his despatch to the secret committee of the East India Company after
the conclusion of the war with Sindhia, Wellesley describes the
consolidation of the British empire and the pacification of all India,
as the supreme result of his beneficent rule.[138] That rule was
followed by ten years of comparative repose, if not of reaction, but two
events, occurring within this period, threw a significant light on the
inherent danger of relying too much on a native army under British
officers. Sepoy regiments had been raised and had served loyally on both
sides in the struggles between the French and English during the
eighteenth century. The Bengal sepoys were mostly Rajputs and showed the
highest military qualities in many a wearisome march and hard fought
field, from the days of Clive to those of Lake and Arthur Wellesley. But
outbreaks bordering upon mutiny had occasionally taken place in the
native armies of all the presidencies, and on July 10, 1806, a most
formidable mutiny, ending in a massacre at Vellore, west of Madras,
produced a sense of insecurity throughout all India. It was instigated
by the family of Tipu who had been quartered in that fortress, and its
immediate origin was the issue of certain vexatious regulations about
uniform which offended native prejudices of caste. The European force,
numbering some 370, was surprised and surrounded by a much larger body
of sepoys, half of them were killed or wounded, and Tipu's standard was
hoisted. Within a few hours, however, cavalry and artillery arrived from
Arcot, the mutineers were slaughtered by hundreds, and the disaffected
regiments were broken up. Three years later, a serious mutiny broke out
among the company's own officers at Madras, caused by a petty grievance
affecting their profits on tent-contracts. It was appeased rather than
suppressed, and, notwithstanding these discouraging symptoms of
insecurity, the Company's army retained its separate organisation for
half a century longer.

[Pageheading: _MINTO'S PACIFIC POLICY._]

Lord Cornwallis, the successor of Lord