« years, till they formed an impenetrable belt of great depth.
“ This, cut into labyrinths, afforded eafy egrefs to his people,
“ and rendered all attacks from without impraiticable. Im-
« mured within this natural fortification, he encouraged the
“ cultivation of the arts and fciences : he invited the approach
“ of men of genius and knowlege; he cultivated the friend-
“ fhip of the Brahmins, and was himfelf admitted into their
“ fociety, by the ceremony of palling, (as Raynel fays) through
“ a golden cow, which became the property of the Brahmins,
“ the cow being facred in India, as formerly in Egypt', and by
« preparing his own military ftores, calling cannon, making
gunpowder, &c. he rendered himfelf independent o f foreign
“ aid. The fubjedts of his remoter provinces, who, to avoid
“ the ravages of war, had taken refuge within the woody circle,
“ now returned with their families and effedts to their former
“ habitations.” This mode of fortification he evidently copied
from his wild neighbors, the Polygars ; but they live in almoft
a Ravage Hate, while he adopted their plan to fecure the cultivation
o f the mild arts o f peace !
Lines of Tra- E v e n the approach to this difficult retreat was impeded by
vancoke. the famous fines o f Travancore, which extend from the fouthern
hanks of the river of Cranganore, clofe to fea, to the foot
o f the Gbauts, itrongly fortified in their whole extent: Thefe
proved the firft check to the ambition of Tippoo Sultan.
He wilhed to provoke the Rajah to begin hollilities, in order
that he might not be charged with being aggreffor. For
feveral days, from the 23d to the 28th of December 1789, the
Sultan's horfemen rode up to the Rajah's lines, and made rife of
every
every infulting expedient to draw the firft adt o f hoftility from
the Travancore troops ; but finding them aware o f his artifice*
and that a detachment of Englijh troops was ftationed at fome distance,
he at laft gave way to his rage, and on the 29th of December
attacked the lines ¡by llorm. His troops had filled the fofs
with cotton. They palled by that means into the interior o f
the lines, when, by fome accident, the cotton took fire, and the
whole formed a tremendous blaze. In their rear were the flames;
in front a furious enemy. Actuated by defpair, they fought
with incredible valour: out of fifteen hundred men, only forty
were taken, the reft fell vidlims to the rage of the Travan-
corian defendants*. Tippoo, from the outfide o f the lines,
was a fpedfator o f the horrid carnage o f his foldiers. The
Nayrs prefled on him on all fides, and being repulfed with dif-
grace, and himfelf thrown from his horle in the retreat, he is
faid to have made an oath, that he never would wear his turban
again, till he had taken the Rajah's fines, and accordingly
he prepared to attack them by regular approach f. On April 12,
1790, he completely executed his menaces. He attacked the lines
with fuc-h vigour, that he made himfelf mailer o f them, totally
deftroyed this famous barrier, and laid Cranganore in ruins,
carried defolation through the country, and put every opponent
to flight f .
T h e difgrace which Tippoo fuffered, was owing to three bat- Of theNayks.
talions of Nayrs, and five hundred archers, in all three thoufand
* Mackeniie’s Sketch, i. p. 18. f Dirom’s Campaigns, 257,
| Maekenile’s Sketch, i. p, 37. '
V o l . I . A a m e n ,