In “The Contingent Speaks”, we have seen what the leaders of the contingent did to preserve itself as one, unanimous fighting force. We have also seen hard the leaders tried to preserve life on 14 June, after the first fury of the mutineers had died down and the killing of the Europeans had stopped. The task which lay ahead of Scindia now, after the sudden expulsion of the British from Gwalior, was enormous. He no longer had the levelheaded Macpherson at his elbow, and he quickly came to realise most of his court was filled with rabble-rousers and bad advisors. His one saviour was Dinkar Rao.

Major Macpherson had had but three years to solidify in the minds of both Scindia and Dinkar Rao that English rule was fair and wise – rightly or wrongly, it was his duty as Political Agent to represent the EICo. Unusually, Macpherson desisted from any open meddling in Gwalior policy, and he also resisted the temptation to set himself up as a de facto ruler. He wanted Gwalior to be ruled by its own people, but these same people should represent the EICo, interpreting the company as they saw fit for the purposes of the State. The reforms, we must remember, were not implemented by Macpherson but by Dinkar Rao, and they all fell into line with company policy, even modelled openly on other systems, such as that of Punjab. Macpherson, however, stood out from other Political Agents of the time – he lacked many of the prejudices of his compatriots and was willing to allow the Dewan and Scindia to run the administration on their own. Macpherson understood the limitations of the young prince, but on the other hand, he trusted him enough to make the right decisions when properly managed.

Barely one month after the return of Scindia from Calcutta, the mutiny broke out in Meerut. From the start, neither Scindia, his prime minister, nor some of his better-informed courtiers believed that English rule was at an end. They considered the religious apprehensions to be groundless and held nothing of the idea that the English could easily be run into the sea. The visit to Calcutta had solidified in the mind of the prince the largeness of the company’s resources, and he understood more broadly that without the company, Gwalior would soon be reduced to a squabbling multitude of chieftains, minor rulers and landowners, each with one simple goal of overthrowing him! In short, Scindia understood his own position was not secure even in the slightest, and if he was to remain on his own throne, he needed to play a duplicitous game, and this involved following the lead of not just Macpherson but also Dinkar Rao.
Throughout May, Scindia and Dinkar Rao were in ceaseless communication with Macpherson, fomenting a plan to see them through the very real possibility of mutiny. Scindia proved to be a man of tireless energy. One of the first things he did to help secure the British position, Scindia sent his own bodyguard to Agra to attend to the Lieutenant-Governor and his personal Mahratta troop to Etawah; then by warning Macpherson on the 26th of May of the impending rise of the Contingent and personally arranging for the Residency to be a place of refuge for the Europeans at Gwalior, he also invited the families of the Contingent officers to his palace to ensure their safety. He further gave Dinkar Rao the power to act as his commander-in-chief and gave Balwant Rao, as second-in-command, the full power to manage the troops. We must remember that not everyone in Scindia’s court was in full agreement with him; in fact, there was an active campaign to disrupt his rule. It was composed mostly of the remanents of the faction which had brought on the fight at Maharajpur in 1843 and the same self people who had attempted to overthrow the Dewan in 1854. What he would need in the coming months, besides a level head, was bravery.

Following the mutiny on the 14th of June, Major Macpherson wanted to remain in Gwalior. He was unsure if the young prince could stay the tide of mutiny or if he would have the wits to outsmart the Contingent on his own. But there was still a price on English heads, and the most coveted prize of all was Macpherson’s. Scindia positively refused to let him stay – he did not want to be rid of Macpherson by any means, especially now when he could use all the friends he could find, but he did not want Macpherson to die for his sake either. Judging by the attitude of the rebels and that of his own troops, Scindia doubted he could protect the Europeans in his palace an hour longer. Carriages and palanquins were quickly organised, and a strong bodyguard (of men he chose himself) was put together to escort the Europeans, if not to Agra, then at least across the Chambal River, where they would find themselves in the territory of the friendly ruler of Dholpur.
Scindia was prepared to purchase, if necessary, the departure of the Gwalior Contingent to get them as far out of his territory as possible. But Macpherson asked him, no matter what the cost, to detain them in Gwalior until the British could assemble a force strong enough to crush them. Scindia would have a long wait; Macpherson set the date as the 29th of September. By then, Macpherson believed Delhi would be taken, and there would be enough reinforcements in India to deal with the rebels wholesale. It didn’t quite happen.
Dinkar Rao, ever forward-thinking, asked Macpherson what they should do: “It should appear that, for the detention of the rebels against both Governments, no course should avail save that of giving them service, would the Governor-General approve?” It was a possibility Macpherson had already thought about and told the Dewan, should there be no other way, then Scindia should not hesitate but immediately press the Contingent into his service. Dinkar Rao and Scindia promised that the wishes of the Government would be executed as diligently as possible. With that and with a heavy heart, Major Macpherson left Gwalior, and the State would for a time be ruled without the direct help of a political agent. However, as soon as he arrived in Agra, Macpherson wasted no time in opening up communication with Gwalior.