CHAPTER I. THE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS OF INDIA FROM THE HINDO0 PERIOD TO THE PRESENT TIME, WITH A SKETCH OF THE COVENANTED AND UNCOVENANTED SERVICES. EFORE attempting to describe the present constitution and functions B of the local governments of British India, with their effects upon the industry of the people over whom their rule is established, it is necessary that the reader should peruse a sketch of the form of govern→ ment prevailing in the early times of Hindoo supremacy, with a few notices of the modifications the system underwent during the Afghan and Mahomedan rule in India. This is the more essential, because by so doing I shall render this picture of British India more complete, and at the same time provide the means of rightly estimating the value and effects of the changes introduced in the government and taxation of the country by the legislature of Great Britain. We can but judge of men and things by contrast, and it is only by looking back to what has been done during times long since past in this vast but half-known country, that a right appreciation can be formed of the shortcomings of the present, and the hopefulness of the future of our Indian empire. In the time of which the first records are handed down to us through the code of Menu, it appears that the government of Hindostan was founded on the relative positions of the four classes of society existing at that period. It was vested in an absolute monarch, whose authority arose out of the necessity, and partook of the character of the extremely simple state in which the people of India lived in that remote age. He was apparently controlled by no human power, but yet was so limited in his dominance by the moral influence of the code, and the necessities of the people over whom he was placed, that they were to a very great extent defended from any acts of tyranny on his part. For any breach of his high trust he was threatened with punishment in one part of the code, and is spoken of as subject to fine in another; but no means were provided for enforcing any of the penalties to which he might be liable; and neither the councils who were to assist him, nor the military chiefs who were to execute his behests, possessed any constitutional power which did not emanate from his will. The superintendence of a divine intelligence was felt and acknowledged, and the superstitious effect of the Brahminical priesthood pervaded the realm to the regulation of the subjects and of their king. He appointed seven ministers, or councillors, who were generally of the military class, and who had above them all one distinguished Brahmin, in whom he was to repose his full confidence. Another officer was also appointed, who was called an "ambassador," though his functions were rather those of a minister of foreign affairs than representative at foreign courts. All these officers were to be of noble birth; and the ambassador especially was selected for his great abilities, penetration, and sagacity, and he was required to be honest, dexterous in business, to make himself acquainted with other countries, and the circumstances of the times. The king's duties were those of every executive monarch, the defence of his own country, and the chastisement of its foreign foes. It was his duty to attend to the advice of his Brahmins, from whom he was to derive his notions of justice, policy, and theology, and who thus acquired almost the entire control of the state. He was also expected to possess a knowledge of agriculture, commerce, and some general acquaintance with the mechanical arts, in which the people at large were generally engaged. Not only were the duties of the monarch prescribed, but advice was given to him in the code, which coming from such a source had all the authority of law. The capital was to be fixed in a fertile part of the country, but in a place difficult of access, and incapable of supporting the armies of an invader. These two injunctions may seem to imply conditions which it was frequently impossible to fulfil; but it is remarkable how exactly they have to a great extent been carried out; for, owing to the peculiar nature of the country, and the judgment with which the several sites have been chosen, few places are stronger in their natural defences than most of the great cities of India. The 1 Elphinstone's India, vol. i. p. 38. |