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and tacked on to the borders of that other province far off, a native State, inhabited by a people speaking the same tongue, but having no connection with it. However, these native territories, as Colonel Malleson has justly observed, form so many centres where the Sikh, the Mohammedan, the Rajput, the Mahratta, and the Dravidian-that is, the most primitive stock of all-can each bring out to the best advantage whatever may be peculiar and excellent in his national character and national institutions, "under the generalising influence of English principles and English civilisation." Viewed from an ethnological point of view, they may be classed as follows:-(1) There is an Indo-Chinese group, such as Manipore and the other small principalities bordering Assam and Lower Bengal; (2) There are aboriginal chieftains in Chota-Nagpore, Orissa, Jeypore, and the Central Provinces; (3) The countries which girdle the Western Himalayas, from Kashmir to Gurwhal and Rampore, are for the most part Hindoo; (4) Beyond the Indus there are Afghan tribes; (5) There are the Sikh States of Sihrind, such the Sikh States of Sihrind, such as Puttiala, Jhind, Nabha, Nahan, and Kotgarh; (6) There are Mohammedan States, like Bhawulpore and Khyrpore, in or close to Sindh; (7) There are the Mahratta States of Indore and Gwalior, and the States and chieftainships of Malwa and Bundelkhund; (8) The Rajpoot kingdoms of Rajpootana; (9) The cluster of little States in Kattiawar and the northern half of Bombay; (10) Kolapore and the other Mahratta States of the Concan and Western Ghauts; (11) The Mohammedan kingdom of Hyderabad; and finally, (12) the old Malayan States of Travancore and Cochin, in Southern India, to which may be added the Hindoo State of Mysore. But the rulers and the ruled are not always of the same race and religion. For example, a Hindoo rajah reigns in Travancore; a Mohammedan begum governs Bhopal; a Sikh dynasty sits on the ancient throne of Kashmir; Scindia's subjects are for the most part not Mahrattas; and in the great Moslem kingdom of Hyderabad the Hindoos and Dravidians outnumber the followers of the Nizam's faith. The rulers of a Hindoo dynasty are styled Rajah, or Maharajah, Rana, and Rao, or if a female, Ranee; while their "Barons" are Thakures and Sirdars. The Mohammedan princes are, on the other hand, Sultans, Nawabs, Ameers, or Khans, the latter title being also one applied to men of rank of the blood royal or otherwise.* Of the native States more or less under the control of the Indian Government, there are about 386,000 square miles which the Governor-General takes direct cognizance of; the LieutenantGovernors, or Commissioners of Bengal, the North-west Provinces, the Punjab, and the Central Provinces, control respectively, 79,000, 6,000, 44,000, and 28,000 square miles; while the Governors of Madras and Bombay rule indirectly, the first over 32,000, and the second over 72,000 square miles of feudatory native States.

RAJPOOTANA.

The princes of this wild country are among the most important of the tributary sovereigns of India. Much of the region is uninhabited, consisting mainly of rocky hills and broad sandy plains tenanted only by wild beasts, though the fertile tracts

Andrews: lib. cit., pp. 197, 198.

support herds of sheep, horses, and camels, and yield crops of corn, tobacco, sugar, cotton, opium, &c. The people are for the most part Hindoos, and are noted for their high spirit, pride, and courage. Oodeypore, or Mewar, whose Rana (pp. 244, 248) ranks highest among the Rajpoot princes, is one of the most important of the States, but the enlightenment of the Maharajah of Jeypore has given his State and capital a distinguished place among the progressive native kingdoms. Jeypore, indeed, is almost a modern city, and is certainly one of the handsomest in India.

Joudhpore, or Marwar, is the largest of the Rajpoot kingdoms, though not the most populous. Bundi, Kota, Jhalawar, Tonk, Karauli, Kishngarh, Dholpore, Sirohi, Bharatpore, and Alwar are all States of more or less consequence or pettiness, while Bikanir and Jesulmere, though each with a a larger area than Oodeypore, are much less thickly peopled or prosperous. They lie among the sand-hills of the "Great Indian Desert," and hence are isolated from the teeming regions to the north, east, and south of them. Dongarpore is a very petty State, having not more than 100,000 inhabitants, but its Rawul, or chief, claims to represent the senior branch of the House of Oodeypore. Banswara is not much larger, though it, again, has a large number of feudatories who owe direct allegiance to its Rawul. Partabgarh is about the same size and wealth as the two just mentioned, and, like them, adopted British protection in order to escape from the grinding yoke of the Mahratta princes who, in the latter days of the Mogul Empire, were its virtual sovereigns. Like most of his compeers, he has also been rewarded for his loyalty during the Mutiny by receiving the right of adoption-a privilege which is regarded very highly by the childless Indian kings. Next to this, precedence at a durbar, or levée, and the number of guns which he is to receive as a salute, most excite the languid minds of these potentates, and the squabbles and heartburnings over this subject make the life of the Viceroy's master of the ceremonies akin to that of a toad under the harrow. The inhabitants of many of the group of States last mentioned belong, it may be remarked, to the Jats, a race which some ethnologists will insist on claiming as the progenitors of the European gipsies.

CENTRAL INDIA AND MALWA.

The chief of these kingdoms are Gwalior, or the Dominions of Scindia, and Indore, or the Dominions of Holkar. Gwalior is a Mahratta kingdom, which after many contests with the English, remained their feudatories up to 1857. In that dismal year the young Maharajah Jaiaji Scindia, after having failed to keep his contingent faithful to their liege lords, had to flee from his kingdom. But he soon regained power, and ever since has had honours heaped upon him, receiving, among other distinctions, a general's commission in the British army. Some doubts have, however, been thrown on his loyalty. It is certain that he resents as a grievance the presence of a British garrison in the great rock fortress overlooking his capital, and it is no secret that for years past he has been quietly putting all his male adult subjects through the army, while still keeping up the perfectly unnecessary force which he is allowed by the terms of his treaty with the English Government. These native armies are indeed sad nonsense. They are not required. As the tributary princes can neither go

INDIA: THE STATES OF BUNDELKHUND AND WESTERN INDIA.

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can but

to war nor be invaded so long as they remain faithful to their suzerain, we conclude that they only hope to be able to work future mischief when they display anxiety to increase their forces. At best the system is extravagant, and very oppressive to their people. However, the armies are usually such a mob of incompetent ragamuffins that it is doubtful whether they could ever be effective for evil, or what probably concerns us most, since it has lately been the fashion for the feudatories to proffer their services to us-for good, as allies. Indore is ruled by a descendant of Mulhar Rao Holkar, a Mahratta of the shepherd caste. His country contains over 8,000 square miles, and has a population of some half a million, being thus only about a fifth of the size and populousness of Scindia's. Holkar's troops rebelled during the Mutiny, but it is believed that he himself is well disposed to England. His tastes, unlike Scindia's, are not military, but commercial. He takes a keen interest in revenue questions, and if all tales are true, in a "cotton deal" is sharper than is always agreeable to the other party to his bargains. His late Prime Minister (Sir Madhava Rao) is universally acknowledged to be one of the most acute and accomplished men of his race, and to have conduced greatly to the prosperity which the kingdom at present enjoys. Bhopal is a considerable State, being rather smaller, but more thickly populated, than Indore. The present ruler is a Begum, or queen, who governs the country with great prudence and wisdom. Dhar is a smaller State, ruled by a Rajah of the a Rajah of the "Puar" family; and Dewas is a still tinier one, having a population of only 25,000. But it is, according to an old custom, governed by two Rajahs, with equal power, though, as is by no means uncommon in India, they have no legitimate male children. Indeed, in this dynasty there is no record of any such heirs ever having been born, the line being kept up by adoption of children. Jaora is a larger State, and its Nawab-who in the troublous times of the Mutiny was the only chief who boldly took the field with Sir Henry Durand-has ever been on excellent terms with us.

BUNDELKHUND AND WESTERN INDIA.

Under this division-Bundelkhund-comes Rewa, a large principality, containing some 1,300,000 people; Urchah, or Tehri, with less than a sixth of that number of subjects; Datia, still smaller, and Samptar with 30,000 people. In Western India the kingdom of Baroda or the dominions of the Gaikwar (p. 253) is the most important, and that which, owing to the events of the last few years, has attracted most attention in England. The State comprises 4,500 square miles, with a population of 2,000,000. Like most of the modern native kingdoms, Baroda was carved out of the Mogul Empire by a successful soldier of fortune-Damja Gaikwar, or "the Herdsman". -a title his successors have ever since proudly retained. The late ruler, being more than suspected of an attempt to poison the British Resident at his court, was deposed in 1875, and a child belonging to another branch of the family placed on the throne, under the tutelage of Sir Madhava Rao, whose abilities had been already proved during the period in which he administered the Governments of Travancore and Indore. Kolhapore, another considerable kingdom, is still governed by a descendant of the famous

Sivaji (p. 202). Sawunt Wari is a small principality, whose ruler is kept under strict surveillance by the English Government; and Cutch has nearly half a million of people, a small number compared with the extent of country. Most of it is, however, little better than a desert fringed by "grassy plains, and fields of rice, cotton, sugar-cane, or millet." The present Rao has under him some 200 minor chiefs, each of whom wields in his own

[graphic]

THE EXTERIOR OF THE CEMETERY OF MAHA SATI, AT AHAR, NEAR OODEYPORE.

territory almost sovereign power; but in spite of these feudal potentates the country is prosperous, and owing to the industry of its people yields a revenue of £210,000.

SOUTHERN INDIA.

In this region Hyderabad, or the Dominions of the Nizam, is the most important kingdom. It is, indeed, the largest native State in India, being larger than Great Britain, though with only a third of the population of these islands. The present ruler, under a wise minister, has kept up agreeable relations with the British Government, though it

*Maha Sati signifies "the great sacrifice of Suttee."

has long been a sore grievance with the Nizam that we still retain the fertile province of Berar. This tract of country was ceded to us in 1853, in lieu of arrears of interest on loans granted to the Nizam, but on the understanding that its surplus revenues should be handed over to the Hyderabad treasury, after defraying the cost of the Nizam's contingent. The capital Mr. Andrew describes as a large and populous city, tenanted

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chiefly by people of the prevailing Mussulman faith, and adorned with mosques, a fine palace, and the imposing group of buildings used as the British residency. Sikunderabad is the site of the cantonment for the troops, and between this suburb and the city "a sea of verdure" lies. The ruined city of Golconda, once famous for its diamond mines, lies a few miles west, and not far off is the field of Assaye, where Sir Arthur Wellesley (afterwards Duke of Wellington) routed the Mahrattas in 1803. Hyderabad being well watered by the Godavari, the Kristna, the Warda, and their tributaries, is rich in natural resources, and in the coal-fields lately opened out it has a greater means of future wealth than it ever possessed in its ancient diamond mines.

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