A that every one in that principality, from its Maharaja to the poorest subject, appreciates the fact. This beautiful country, rich in gold and coffee, besides the ordinary products of agriculture, embraces some 28,000 square miles, with an annual revenue of 178 lakhs of rupees. Ruled by the Cheras, the Cholas, and then the Ballala dynasties in succession, it naturally attracted the cupidity of the Mohamedans after the battle of Telikota in 1564. The Mohamedans, having acquired it, gave it to the Marattas, who, however, preferred Tanjore to Bangalore, and thus the Wadeyars (or lords of thirty-three villages), the present ruling family, had time and opportunity for consolidating their power. Raj Wadeyar, a local noble, obtained possession of Seringapatam early in the seventeenth century, and his family began cautiously to build up its power. windfall came to them by purchase. A Mohamedan general thought that Bangalore might be worth a ransom, and as he happened to be in the neighbourhood with a force, he captured it and sold it for three lakhs to the Wadeyars. The next turn of the wheel of fortune was not so satisfactory. The Wadeyars had a very promising officer in their service, who added Dewanhalli and other acquisitions to their territories. He was rewarded by the gift of Bangalore; but this did not satisfy him. He proceeded to intrigue with the Mohamedan power of Hyderabad; and in the end, with the army at his back, threw over his Hindu sovereign. This was the great Hyder Ali, who, with his son Tippu, fought many a desperate encounter with the British Company's armies. In the end he was defeated, and the British then restored the Hindu dynasty. Nor did the services rendered by us to Mysore end there. The Maharaja fell into bad ways, and the country was so misgoverned that we put him on one side in 1831, and for half a century we governed the State, making it one of the best administered provinces in India When we intervened its revenues were 55 lakhs; when we restored the native government they were trebled, and are now 173 lakhs. The country is valuable in gold, coffee, and other productions. Its climate is excellent. Strictly interpreting our engagements we might have retained it, but in 1881 we restored the State to the adopted son of the Maharaja whom we had deposed. This son, full of promise and greatly loved by his people, died two years ago, and during the minority of his son we are taking measures for his education, and for the moral and material development of the State until he is old enough to administer it. Mysore is a striking instance, but after all only a fair type, of the benefits which the British Government confers upon its allies the protected princes of India. But if the States are to be preserved for another century in the enjoyment of the rights and privileges which have been so carefully safeguarded by the British Government during that century now drawing to a close, they must pay more deference to the demands of public opinion. Christianity has sensibly affected the views of civilised countries as to the responsibilities of rulers, as to the equal protection of the law, and as to religious toleration. The expansion of communications has thrown a new light upon the pages of Indian history. From the Indian vernacular press the rulers of India are not likely to derive much help. Indeed, the Indian newspapers increase the difficulty of advancing essential reforms. Here is an extract from a Bombay newspaper, the Gurakhi, of the 26th of October last, which a friend has sent me: "Of all the various departments of government, the Political Departinent is the most despotic, cruel, and unjust. It exists solely for the annexation of the Native States. The ways of that department and of a common thief are exactly The similar. Both thrive by plundering and robbery. aim of the Political Department is to exterminate all the Native States in the country." Assuredly such preposterous language does not help to promote a friendly understanding. In answer to the allegation, I need only recall your attention to the policy laid down by Sir Charles Wood, and to the fact that there exist to-day more than 600 Native States in India, and I cannot recall a single instance of annexation, despite severe provocation, during the last thirty years. Every effort has been made to educate young chiefs for the discharge of their high positions, and if you want to know the spirit in which that duty has been undertaken, read the lecture delivered by the late Mr. Chester Macnaghten, the single-hearted earnest principal of the Chiefs' College at Rajkote. This is what he, a servant of the British Government, and servant, too, of a higher Master, wrote to the Maharaja of Idar when he left college to rule his State: "The life which is opening before you is a great one. But greatness and glory are not born of ease, and in proportion to your high responsibility will be the height and breadth of your duty. It is not easy, or perhaps wise, to give maxims of general behaviour, but there are in the Old Testament of my Bible a few short sentences which to me appear to suggest all that is best for my pupils in this college. I do not think you will value them less on account of the source from which they are taken. 'The Lord hath showed thee, oh man, what is good: and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.' That your future life may be a noble and a good one, and therefore a happy one, is the sincere wish of your college friends, and of no one more truly than myself." Are these the words of a man employed by Government to undermine the Native States, and to plunder and rob them? Has the account I have here given given ground to make you doubt the sincerity of the British Government, or its fidelity to the directions of the Secretary of State, whose words I quoted at the beginning of my paper? I have no fear as to the honest reply to those two questions. ANCIENT INDIA BY TRIMBAKRAI JADAVRAI DESAI (Of Limbdi State, Kathiwar) I Do not propose in this article to write a history of ancient India. Mr. Romesh C. Dutt, in his two volumes on "Civilisation in Ancient India," has narrated that history from the earliest times to the advent of the Mohamedans. I propose only to give an abstract of the admirable work of Mr. Dutt, and to condense in one short article all that I can from what has been written by him. He divides the history of ancient India into five periods. The Vedic period extends from 2000 B.C. to 1400 B.C.; the Epic period from 1400 B.C. to 1000 B.C.; the Rationalistic period from 1000 B.C. to 320 B.C.; the Buddhist period from 320 B.C. to 500 A.D.; the Purânic period from 500 A.D. to 1000 A.D. We quote below from Mr. Dutt's book a table of dates for the different epochs, premising that the dates should be taken as only approximately correct, and that the earlier dates are supposed to be correct only within a few centuries. EPOCH I.-VEDIC PERIOD, 2000 B.C. TO 1400 B.C. EPOCH IL-EPIC PERIOD, 1400 B.C. TO 1000 B.C. Aryan settlements in the Ganges Valley, 1400 B.C. to 1000 B.C. |