A Gracia Chieftain or Rajah, with his Suarree or usual attendants, from a drawing by Baron de Montalembert, 1783

Plate eighty-three from the third volume of James Forbes' "Oriental Memoirs". On Forbes' (1749-1819) appointment as Collector of Dhaboi, he desired to give the Grassia tribe a 'better opnion of British administration, and to impress their minds with a sense of ...justice and moderation'. Despite his attempts at appeasing them, he encountered difficulties as they continued raiding local villages. At one point he even had to send troops to Mandwa, the Grassia capital in order to protect his region. After various negotiations peace was ultimately secured. A relieved and satisfied Forbes remarked: 'at the conclusion of my 3rd year, I had the satisfaction of beholding all the pergunnas entrusted to my management, well-cultivated, populous and happy.'

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