Peshawar, valley of, wrested from the Afghans by Runjeet Singh, 103; reoccupied by Afghans in second Sikh war, 163; the key to India, 225; frontier tribes, _ib._; peril during the sepoy mutinies, _ib._; execution of rebels, 226; proposed withdrawal, 228; overruled by Lord Canning, 229 Peter the Great, covert advance to India, 143; checkmated by Nadir Shah, _ib._ Pindharies, freebooters in the Mahratta armies, 104; horrible raids in British territory, 110; George Canning's denunciations, 111; campaign of Lord Hastings, 113; extinction of the gangs, 115 Pitt, Thomas, Governor of Madras, 29; his diamond, 30 Pitt, William, the younger, his India Bill, 75; creates a Board of Control, 76; marvellous statesmanship, 137 Plassy, battle of, 42 Pollock, General, avenges the British losses in the Khyber, 151; relieves Sale and restores British prestige, 152 Pondicherry, French settlement, 32; British carried prisoners to, _ib._ Poona, head-quarters of the Sivaji family, 71; capital of the Mahratta Peishwas, _ib._; interference of Bombay, 72, 73; negotiations of Lord Wellesley, 86; flight of the Peishwa to Bassein, 92; subsidiary alliance, _ib._; intrigues, 112, 113; British residency burnt, 116; incorporated with the Bombay Presidency, 119 Portuguese in India, their fortresses, 3; thwart the British at Surat, 4; intermarriages with the British at Madras, 12; slave trade, 19; settlement at Hughly, 20; destroyed by the Great Mogul, 21 Pottinger, Eldred, Captain, 151 Provinces, regulation and non-regulation, 166, 289; distinction effaced, 297