At this period the Government of India was engaged in a project for suppressing the Pindāris, a body of lawless freebooters, of no single race, the débris of the adventurers who gained power during the decay of the Mughal Empire, and who had not been incorporated in the armies of the local powers which rose from its ruins. In 1817, to effect their suppression, the Governor-General, the Marquess of Hastings, collected the strongest British force which up to that time had been assembled in India. Two armies, acting in co-operation from north and south, converged on the banditti, and met with rapid success. Sindhia, whose power depended on the demoralized condition of Rājputāna, was overawed; Holkar was defeated; the Rāja of Nāgpur was captured; the Mahratta Peshwa became a fugitive; the Pindāris were dispersed. One of their leaders, Amīr Khān, who is frequently mentioned in Tod’s narrative, disbanded his forces, and received as his share of the spoils the Principality of Tonk, still ruled by his descendants. In the course of this campaign Tod performed valuable services. At the beginning of the operations he supplied the British Staff with a rough map of the seat of war, and in other ways his local knowledge was utilized by the Generals in charge of the operations. In 1813 he had been promoted to the rank of Captain in command of the escort of the Resident, Mr. Richard Strachey, who nominated him to the post of his Second Assistant. In 1818 he was appointed Political Agent of Western Rājputāna, a post which he held till his retirement in June 1822. The work which he carried out in Rājputāna during this period is fully described in _The Annals_ and in his “Personal Narrative.” Owing to Mahratta oppression and the ravages of the Pindāris, the condition of the country, political, social, and economical, was deplorable. To remedy this prevailing anarchy the States were gradually brought under British control, and their relations with the paramount power were embodied in a series of treaties. In this work of reform, reconstruction, and conciliation, Tod played an active part, and the confidence and respect with which he was regarded by the Princes, Chiefs, and peasantry enabled him to interfere with good effect in tribal quarrels, to rearrange the fiefs of the minor Chiefs, and to act as arbitrator between the Rāna of Mewār and his subjects.