Littell's Living Age/Volume 129/Issue 1667/Rousselet's Travels in India
ROUSSELET'S TRAVELS IN INDIA.[1]
Of the work named at the head of this article, not the smallest attraction to the English reader will be found in the interesting description given by M. Rousselet of his sojourn at native courts, and in countries under native rule recently visited under very different circumstances, by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. Apart from this, however, M. Rousselet's work is of much value as the best existing popular description of the large portion of India through which he travelled. The eager and general attention with which the prince's movements have been followed renders very opportune the publication of valuable information which the newspaper reports, however admirable, do not supply. Colonel Buckle's translation has been in some quarters criticised with severity for which we cannot find sufficient grounds. It is certainly not perfect, but its imperfections are trifling, as they are not calculated to convey, in any appreciable degree, impressions other than those which the original is intended to convey. The present is, however, a very costly edition, and it may be hoped that one cheaper, and more portable, will shortly be forthcoming. M. Rousselet's description of his reception by, and his communications with, many of the native chiefs who have occupied prominent places in the pageants and ceremonies connected with the royal visit is well worth perusal. The prince saw comparatively little of those chiefs as M. Rousselet saw them, in their own homes. There was necessarily much monotony in the royal progress, consisting, as it for the most part did, of state entries, addresses, levées, formal visits, reviews, and balls, which must be, Mullatis mutandis, one very much like the other. This has been complained of in India, but without sufficient reason, or consideration of the unavoidable difficulties in the way of other arrangements. M. Rousselet was very differently situated; his choice was unfettered, and he exercised it, as we think, wisely. He was "comparatively indifferent to the India of railways, hotels, and telegraphs," but bent on seeing "the courts and countries ruled by native princes, great and small, of all ranks and all creeds." In these countries he spent several years, and lost no opportunity of studying "the architectural monuments, religious beliefs and symbols dating back to earliest history, works of art and systems of civilization and progress." He has placed before the public the result of these studies in a style admirably calculated to fix attention. We recognize throughout the advantage of the French traveller's having brought "a fresh mind and independent ideas to bear on his subject, free from any preconceived bias or prejudice." The exceeding fidelity of his picture can be thoroughly apparent only to those who have been in India; they will assuredly endorse the editor's opinion, that all who are "already familiar with the subjects of this work will find pleasure: in recalling to memory the scenes and objects so well described, while the reader, who has no personal acquaintance with a country as yet scarcely touched by railways, or even metalled roads, may, by the aid of a multitude of excellent illustrations, accompany the lively French traveller, in imagination, on his Indian journey. The engravings speak for themselves, and will probably give a better idea of what there is to see in the native states of India, than has ever been given before."
M. Rousselet left France on the 20th June 1864, embarking at Marseilles on board the English steamer "Vectis" for Alexandria. Suez was reached by railway, and there he found the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer "Malta," from which he landed at Bombay on the 8th July, the latter part of the voyage from Suez having been, owing to the prevalence of the south-west monsoon, anything but enjoyable. On board the "Malta," however, everything had been done to make the time pass agreeably, and M. Rousselet's spirits were high when he reached Bombay; but the landing was effected under depressing conditions of heavy Page:Littell's Living Age - Volume 129.djvu/460 Page:Littell's Living Age - Volume 129.djvu/461 tom-toms, they formed a semicircle, and one of them advanced close to us. With rounded arms, and her veil floating, she turned herself slowly round with a gentle quivering of the body, so as to make her bells resound. The music, soft and languishing, seemed to lull her senses, and with eyes half closed, she seemed to be clasping in her amorous embrace some invisible being. All thus played their parts in succession; one feigning herself a serpent-charmer or a lute-player; another, ardent and impassioned, bounding, and whirling round with rapidity; while another, adorned with an elegant cap, embroidered with pearls, addressed us with strange gestures, and followed the music with a coquettish movement of the body. They concluded their performance with an animated round dance accompanied by songs and clapping of hands. In all this I saw nothing of that gross immorality which, from all I had previously been told, I expected to find in the pantomime exhibited by these women. Their demeanour was correct, though with some little spice of provocation, and their costume was more modest than that of women in general.
We must pass hastily over the remaining reminiscences of Bombay; the melancholy visit to the European Cemetery, where was at last discovered the grave—"marked by a single stone, on which may with some difficulty be read his name"—of the French traveller Jacquemont, whose account of India contains much that may even now be usefully considered by those who take interest in its welfare; the financial collapse of 1864-65, which took place while M. Rousselet was in Bombay, and to which he refers in terms of well-merited reprobation; and the exploration, commenced in September, when the rains began to abate, of the caves of Elephanta, the Buddhist caves of Kennery and Magatani, the beautiful Brahmun caves of Jygeysir and Monpezir, and the remains of the ancient Portuguese town of Mahim, "which was an important port when Bombay was only a village." These explorations were cut short by jungle-fever, which brought him "very near death's door," and from which he did not recover till the beginning of December, when he made a hasty excursion into the Kandesh district, visiting, en route, the hill-sanitarium of Matheran, and there witnessing, for the first time, some feats of the Indian jugglers, which, extraordinary as they were, appear to have been fairly eclipsed by performances before the Prince of Wales at Madras, where, without apparatus, without apparent means of hiding anything, and almost without clothing, one man produced eggs from nothing, and live pigeons from eggs; and another took out of his mouth live scorpions, and handled them with impunity, spat out stones as large as plums one after the other, and then "evolved from depths unknown a carpenter's shop, full of nails, large and small, and coils of string, till there was a pile of his products before the prince."[2]
M. Rousselet, after spending some weeks at Poona, historically interesting as long the seat of a native government at one time exceedingly powerful in western India, and as the spot on which was, in 1817, fought the battle that finally broke the peishwa's power, and brought the whole Mahratta country under British rule, went on to visit the celebrated cave-temples at Ellora and Adjunta. These extraordinary works are very well described. The great temple of Kaïlas at Adjunta is a grand edifice, consisting of domes, columns, spires, and obelisks, carved out of a single rock, covered with bas-reliefs, representing thousands of different figures and forming a magnificent whole, so full of symmetry, power, and grandeur, that one may well marvel at the genius that devised and successfully carried out a work of which not the least extraordinary feature is that "one defect, one vein, one gap in the mass of basalt, and this achievement of giants would have been but an abortive attempt." To Adjunta, however, M. Rousselet awards the palm. There he found, not roughly-hewn caverns, covered with strange and mystic sculpture, but elegant palaces, gracefully adorned with admirable paintings, which form "a complete museum "—frescoes which, not less in their colouring than in their conception, are simply marvellous. Nearly two thousand years have rolled by, and yet some of these colours, of extraordinary vividness and beauty, remain as though they were the work of yesterday. For the rest M. Rousselet shall speak for himself:—
The columns are ornamented with garlands of flowers, masks, and geometrical designs of exquisite taste; the ceilings are covered with rosework, where persons and animals are intermingled with the delicate outlines of the arabesques; and the walls are divided into panels portraying various scenes illustrative of the types, costumes, and manners of those bygone ages—Buddhist monks preaching to the people, who listen to them admiringly, princes and nobles adoring the sacred emblems, processions where the king is seen on horseback surrounded by his court, elephants bearing the relics, and the whole retinue proceeding to the temple; desperate combats and sieges, in which the shock of contending armies, the fury of the besieged as they hurl enormous stones from the battlements, and engines of war of every description, are reproduced with striking animation and fidelity. By the side of these scenes of tumult, groups full of grace and expression represent the private life of the period. All the scenes of the palace, the harem, the convent, and the schools, are revealed to us.
Of Hyderabad, the capital of the country ruled by the nizam, M. Rousselet says very little indeed; he remained there a few days only, and appears to have found nothing of interest. Politically, Hyderabad is important; it is a hotbed of Mahomedan fanaticism, liable to break at any time—it broke only very recently—into violence and bloodshed. It is remarkable that the Prince of Wales did not visit Hyderabad, owing, it is generally believed, to untoward circumstances, which have excited much comment, and to which we shall presently refer at greater length (p. 469). The next halt was at Bijapoor, though there is but a brief description of "the marvellous monuments of this city of ruins." The heat of the plains was now becoming very great; it drove M. Rousselet to the hill-sanitarium of Mhableshwar, where he devoted his time to the study of the language, Oordoo, spoken in the countries he was about to visit. Towards the middle of May he was again in movement, on his way to the north of India, via "the country of the Bheels, and Rajpootana." He had now a companion, a young Flemish painter, M. Schaumberg, whose acquaintance he had made at Bombay. They first visited Surat, but arrived there at a most unfortunate time, when 44 a frightful attack of cholera was carrying off hundreds daily." Then came Broach, "the ancient Barygaza mentioned by Arrian and Ptolemy," where is to be seen a most wonderful banyan-tree, "the famous Kabira bar," alleged to have been planted long before the Christian era, and to be the oldest and largest in India, as it may well be, seeing that it covers an area of six hundred and sixty yards in circumference, and is, M. Rousselet says, "in itself, a little virgin forest."
Baroda was the next place visited. Here M. Rousselet remained from June to December 1865. He had brought from Bombay numerous letters of introduction from persons of influence, and these obtained for him an excellent reception, and enabled him to gratify his strong desire to see a purely native court. He and M. Schaumberg were munificently lodged at the guicwar's expense, and were afforded every opportunity of becoming acquainted with native life. His account of the guicwar and of the guicwar's court is especially interesting in connection with the proceedings that have recently brought Baroda so prominently before the British public. We have already, on other occasions, shown that the lately deposed prince ought never to have been placed on the throne, for which he was notoriously quite unfit, and that, the mistake of placing him there having been committed, the best possible measure was his removal, though not as it was effected. It must be borne in mind that M. Rousselet describes not the recently deposed prince, Mulhar Row, but his predecessor and eider brother, Khundee Row, whose "strongly marked features at once gave a perfect idea" to M. Rousselet of the character of the man, who "to excessive kindness in the ordinary intercourse of daily life united the most unheard-of cruelty." M. Rousselet certainly writes in no spirit of hostility to one from whom he received extraordinary kindness and hospitality which he fully acknowledges; yet, in describing the guicwar's "daily life," he shows that to cruelty were added ruinous eccentricities for which his people had to pay, and that, altogether, Khundee Row Guicwar was little, if at all, better than his successor.
Just after M. Rousselet's arrival the guicwar determined that a celebrated diamond, "the Star of the South," recently purchased, should "have the honour of a triumphal entry into his capital, and should be solemnly conveyed to the temple, there to be blessed by the priests." This was done with pomp and ceremony so extraordinary that one might, says M. Rousselet, "have fancied one's self in the Middle Ages."
At one time the guicwar took to collecting bulbuls, and had more than five hundred brought to the palace, where, during a whole month, their care and education employed him and his nobles. After this the birds were made to fight "a pitched battle," in which "the beautiful little creatures attacked each other furiously, and were killed in great numbers."
Again, a fancy was taken to being surrounded with holy men, who were summoned from all quarters. The guicwar was then "pleased to entertain, these fellows after a royal fashion, clothing them in precious stuffs, and paying them marks of the greatest respect;" one, thus "surrounded with all the appliances of luxury imaginable," had been found "on a noisome manure-heap in the suburbs."
M. Rousselet was present at a mock marriage between two pigeons, adorned with collars, carried by pages, and placed on the sumptuously-decorated roof of the palace, surrounded by the guicwar, his courtiers, and the priests, who probably, says M. Rousselet, appropriated the considerable "sum given as a marriage portion to the two birds." Dances, and a grand banquet, followed by illuminations, concluded the festival. And so it went on—one day, diamonds for which all the jewellers' shops were ransacked; and another, pigeons, of which a collection gradually numbering sixty thousand was made, the guicwar spending his mornings in watching them take their flights together. The expedients for raising money were as outrageous as the manner in which it was squandered. On one occasion, when the guicwar, reckless as he was, felt that new taxes might be more than difficult to collect, he hit upon the expedient of appropriating a portion of the money extorted from the people by his own corrupt minions, to whom he issued the following proclamation:—
Loud, of course, was the outcry; even the newspapers protested; but the karkhoons had to yield, and in a short time about £280,000 were in the hands of the guicwar, who himself "laughingly recounted the affair" to M. Rousselet. The other side of the picture is just as bad, and more repulsive. We do not refer to the elephant, rhinoceros, and buffalo fights, nor to the wrestling of every sort, in which the guicwar took much interest. These were seen and are well described by M. Rousselet. Some of them the Prince of Wales witnessed during his visit to the reformed court of Baroda; and the propriety of his doing so has been questioned, we think, most unreasonably, for though on the subject of these exhibitions tastes may well differ, it is a mistake to suppose that they involve anything like the amount of suffering inseparable from some of our own most cherished sports. But the same thing cannot be said of the nucki-ka-kousti, or fight with claws, thus described by M. Rousselet:—
M. Rousselet refers to another horrible occurrence, which, however, took place before his arrival—the execution by an elephant of a criminal condemned to suffer death. We do not attempt to go into the revolting details of a process which M. Rousselet correctly describes as "one of the most frightful that can possibly be imagined." That the government of India were kept in ignorance of this case may be inferred from the fact of their having, when at a later date a similar execution elsewhere was brought to their notice, inflicted severe punishment upon the native ruler in whose territory it had been carried out.
Strange indeed, but beneficial in the highest degree, is the sudden change at last effected at Baroda, where the boy lately placed on the throne is now surrounded by European tutors and educational appliances, while the administration of his territory is properly provided for. Faulty, however, must be the system under which a change so urgently and notoriously required could be so long delayed. Ten years ago the Bombay newspapers, M. Rousselet says, saw in the guicwar's proceedings "a manifestation of his madness, and urged the British government to undertake the supervision of the affairs of Goojerat." The official argument hitherto has been, and we fear still is, that no general rules can be laid down, and that each native state must be separately dealt with according to the circumstances that arise, and the character of the ruler. We are satisfied that this argument will not bear examination; we know how the theory has worked at Baroda; we can find no reasonable grounds for believing that it cannot so work elsewhere; and we entertain a strong conviction that there ought to be little difficulty in framing and enforcing general rules quite sufficient to secure the one all-important object—to check native maladministration long before it becomes intolerable.
The remains of Dubhoee, a place of great antiquity, about seventeen miles from Baroda, are described as containing some magnificent monuments, the finest, probably, throughout Goojerat. The ramparts, running entirely round the town for a distance of two miles, are built of enormous blocks of stone, beautifully fitted together, rising some fifty feet above the ground, and are decorated with broad bands of sculpture, representing animated scenes, and with ornaments so complicated, "that neither pen nor pencil can give any idea of them." One of the gates, called the Hira Durwaza, or Gate of Diamonds, an immense edifice, more than one hundred yards in length, and sixty in height, and entirely covered with admirable bas-reliefs, is of extraordinary beauty. It may be said that the illustrations which form so valuable a portion of M. Rousselet's work are due to this visit, for at Dubhoee he bitterly felt his inability to reproduce by photography "these generally unknown masterpieces," and he acquired the art almost immediately afterwards, on his return to Baroda.
Ahmenabad, "the ancient capital of the sultans," was reached early in December, and thence were visited the splendid ruins at Sirkhej, the tombs of the queens, the palace and harem of the emperor Ahmed, the mausoleum of Shah Allum, and "the other interesting remains of Mahomedan greatness." At this time M. Rousselet narrowly escaped being involved in very serious difficulty, owing to his having inadvertently shot several peacocks, birds there considered sacred. On the 19th December the party, now consisting of twenty-three armed men, commenced their march through the Bheel country, and were, on the whole, very well treated by the wild and predatory Bheels. Christmas-day was, however, one of great anxiety; a passing Bheel, held to be wanting in respect, in not returning the salutes addressed to him, was beaten by one of the party, and deprived of his bow and arrows. In a few minutes the place swarmed with armed Bheels, indignant at this treatment of one of their tribe, and a conflict seemed inevitable. A lucky accident, however, enabled M. Rousselet to effect an amicable settlement; the bow and arrows were returned, their seizure was apologized for, and hostilities were averted. The next day the British outstation of Khairwarra was reached, and there the travellers were hospitably entertained by the officer commanding, Major Mackenzie. The forward march was through gorges, ravines, and defiles so wild and rugged that the beasts of burden could barely make their way. At last, however, a charming valley was reached, and here stood a group of Jaïn temples of singular beauty, built throughout of white marble, which had acquired through age a yellowish tint, and looked like carved ivory—magnificent but solitary relics of the efforts to convert and civilize the inhabitants of these regions made by the Jaïn missionaries. The travellers' approach to Oudeypoor, the capital of Meywar, was hailed with joy by all. The men of the escort shouted and danced, while M. Rousselet "stood in ecstasy, gazing at the sublime panorama spread out" at his feet. No description can, he says, convey the marvellous effect of that scene, and of the appearance of the town, which is well-named Oudeypoor, or the City of the Rising Sun.
It resembled one of the fairy cities in the "Arabian Nights." In the foreground, a long line of forts, pagodas, and palaces stood out from a background of gardens, above which appeared the town, a fantastic assemblage of bell-turrets, towers, and kiosks, built up the side of a pyramidical hill, on the summit of which was an immense palace of white marble, which contrasted finely with the dark blue of the mountains behind it. This palace, with its splendid proportions, appeared to soar, like the New Jerusalem, above the terrestrial city.
Scanty attention was at first paid to M. Rousselet's party, owing to the temporary absence of the British political officer, and to some suspicions entertained by the native authorities. All this was, however, speedily rectified. An elephant and an escort were sent to conduct them to suitable quarters, supplies in abundance were forwarded, and every possible assistance was rendered by the rao of Baidlah, a handsome old Rajpoot nobleman, who during the troubles of 1857 afforded to European fugitives protection duly acknowledged by the British government, and eventually received from the queen of England a magnificent sword of honour, shown by him to M. Rousselet "with no little pride." By the rao's order the travellers were located on the island of Jugnavas, on the western side of which those who escaped from Neemuch and Indore in 1857 found an asylum, the boats on the lake Peshola, which surrounds the island, having been taken away and placed out of the reach of the fanatics who then filled the town of Oudeypoor. This island is described as a spot of extraordinary loveliness. It contains a series of palaces, covering an area of one hundred and sixty acres, built entirely of marble, of great architectural beauty, and ornamented with an almost fabulous richness.
Each mass of buildings has a garden attached to it, surrounded by galleries, where flowers and orange and lemon trees grow near a stream, the different channels of which form a curious pattern. Immense mango-trees and tamarinds shade these beautiful palaces, while the cocoa-nut and the date-palm raise above the very domes their feathery heads, which are gently swayed to and fro by the breeze from the lake. The smallest details harmonize with the beauty of the whole scene.
In this fairy retreat the travellers remained for some time, the kindness of the old rao of Baidlah being unremitting, and shown "by inventing new amusements every day." One fine morning, however, the firing of cannon announced the return of the political agent, Major Nixon, and within an hour they were sitting at breakfast with him, and were then told by him that they had been, on first arrival, taken for Russian spies. They were now comfortably lodged near the British residency, and introduced to the doctor and engineer, who, with Major Nixon, constituted the whole European society. A few days later they were received at a grand durbar by the maharana, who apologized for his inability earlier to notice them, and invited them to prolong their stay. This they did, and during several weeks were right royally treated. Hunting parties were constantly organized, and the camp-life was delightful. Of this camp-life M. Rousselet gives the following excellent description:—
Our sleeping-tents were placed in a circle round two pavilion tents surrounded by verandahs and luxuriously furnished. Of these, one was the dining-room, the other the sitting-room, or reunion-tent. At six o'clock in the morning I was roused by the servant bringing me a glass of sherry. Jumping out of my charpoy with silver feet, I pulled off my clothes, and donning a simple janghir, or close-fitting drawers, issued from my tent. I then took my place on a little heap of straw, and, on looking round, saw each of my companions in front of his tent, in the same position and costume as myself. The bheestees arrived with their mussucks, and douced us liberally with cold water. In a few minutes more we all assembled, in a more suitable dress, round the table in the mess-tent, busily employed in discussing a chota hazree, or early breakfast. After a pleasant chat, while smoking some Manilla cheroots, we mounted our horses, and went to explore the surrounding country, shooting a few wildfowl on the neighbouring lake. At eleven o'clock the process of dressing was again gone through, and a second breakfast served. . . . A long file of servants, bearing dishes laden with a variety of meats, haunches of wild boar, breast of kid, and strongly flavoured ragouts and curries; some of them, however, would do credit to the tables of our European grandees. About a dozen plates were filled with pickles of all kinds, roasted berries, and sweetmeats. We merely went through the form of tasting this huge breakfast, which served to regale our attendants, as we preferred the excellent cuisine of the burra sahib (Major Nixon), and the Moselle from the royal cellars. The middle of the day was set apart for the hankwa (hunt). At four o'clock, after refreshing myself with a second bath, I received visits from the Hindu nobles, who chatted pleasantly on all kinds of subjects. The dinner, as is usual in India, lasted till late, and we were entertained up to midnight by the nautch-girls, jugglers, and fireworks.
The scene of so much hospitality and kindness was quitted with some reluctance, after a farewell audience of the maharana. M. Rousselet left the palace arm-in-arm with the rao of Baidlah, and felt, when on mounting his elephant he wrung the hand of the venerable rao for the last time, as though he "were parting forever from old and true friends." The next morning, after a late breakfast at Major Nixon's, the march was resumed. After visiting the ruins of the celebrated stronghold of Chittore, M. Rousselet entered the province of Ajmere, "almost the only portion of Rajpootan proper that the English possess," and on the 24th March reached the military station of Nusserabad, which then presented a miserable appearance, owing to the destruction effected by the rebels in 1857. Some days, however, were passed there very pleasantly, and M. Rousselet had "one more proof that there are few countries where travellers are treated with more disinterested courtesy and kindness than in the English cantonments of India." The next halt was at Ajmere, which town was approached through a country covered with flowers, and with fields of roses producing the famous attar. which reminded M. Rousselet strongly of the outskirts of Grasse or Nice. He was exceedingly well received by a Jaïn banker to whom Major Nixon had introduced him, and was grateful for the kindness shown, for he writes, "Let people accuse the Hindus of not understanding hospitality! It may be very true of the proud Baboo from the banks of the Ganges, or the superstitious Deckanees, who would let you die rather than receive you into their home, but assuredly not of the inhabitants of noble Rajesthan, whether they be Rajpoots, merchants, or peasants." And again, referring to a visit just paid to the Ajmere political officer. Major Davidson, he writes—"I found him as agreeable and kind as all the English residents with whom I had had any intercourse." M. Rousselet remained during ten days at Ajmere, which is, he says, "the Frankfort of Rajesthan, and its numerous Rothschilds have rivalled each other in enriching it with superb monuments." To M. Rousselet the principal attraction of Ajmere was the mosque of Araïdeen-ka-Jhopra, which is, he thinks, one of the most remarkable monuments in India. He found nowhere anything more beautiful than the roof of its long hall, and its mass of superb sculpture, which, reproduced in all its details, would "form such an album of Indian ornamentation as has never existed." It is very remarkable that this mosque, which is one of the finest buildings erected by the Mahomedans, should contain some of the best specimens of Jaïn architecture of the earliest period. We give M. Rousselet's explanation of this:—
When the Mahomedans first invaded India, they only thought of pillaging and destroying, without for a moment considering how they were to replace the magnificence they were overturning. But when they had become masters of the country, and wished to establish themselves firmly in it, their first emperors hastened to build temples to the true God, and, having no architects, were obliged to intrust the work to the Hindus. The palaces of the ancient kings, and the wonderful temples of their predecessors, furnished them with an inexhaustible supply of materials. They only had, therefore, to destroy the idols, make a few characteristic alterations, and give the final stamp to the mosque by adding a front of pointed arches. One may say that such was the origin of this grand style of architecture, which some call Indo-Saracen, and to which India owes some of its most marvellous productions.
At the sacred lake of Poshkur M. Rousselet remained for a few days. Here the shores are covered with temples and cenotaphs, built long ago by the princely families of India, forming, in a triple circle round the lake, a picturesque collection of buildings in various styles, and "quite unique of its kind." But the glory of the place has departed. An old priest told M. Rousselet, "This kind of thing does not answer in these days; one barely succeeds in getting a livelihood, and the valley is in the hands of infidels." A long stay was made at Jeypoor, whence the valley of Ambîr, the ancient capital, and the great salt lake of Sambher, fifty miles in circumference, were visited. In the beginning of October a farewell visit was paid to the Jeypoor chief, of whose kindness and hospitality M. Rousselet writes in very high terms; and a few days later Ulwur was reached. During M. Rousselet's visit the rao of Ulwur was summoned to attend a grand durbar to be held by the viceroy of India at Agra, and M. Rousselet thankfully accepted the rao's invitation to accompany him thither. At the end of October they started, accompanied by the rao's court and an escort of three thousand men. M. Rousselet's party were liberally supplied by the rao with every requisite, and with numerous luxuries; they had a separate camp, numerous servants, horses, etc., placed at their disposal, and the style of their table may be inferred from the following statement: "Baskets of Bordeaux, champagne, hock, etc., followed us; and as the jolting of the carts, or the swaying motion of the camels, might have injured these precious liquours, they were carefully suspended to long bamboos, and carried by banghy coolies." A short stay was made at the capital of the Jât principality of Page:Littell's Living Age - Volume 129.djvu/468 Page:Littell's Living Age - Volume 129.djvu/469 Page:Littell's Living Age - Volume 129.djvu/470 Page:Littell's Living Age - Volume 129.djvu/471 Page:Littell's Living Age - Volume 129.djvu/472 Page:Littell's Living Age - Volume 129.djvu/473 Page:Littell's Living Age - Volume 129.djvu/474 Page:Littell's Living Age - Volume 129.djvu/475 Page:Littell's Living Age - Volume 129.djvu/476 Page:Littell's Living Age - Volume 129.djvu/477 Page:Littell's Living Age - Volume 129.djvu/478 the native princes and chiefs; and here, with the single exception of the mistake committed at Hyderabad—a mistake wholly beyond the prince's control—everything appears to have succeeded, even beyond expectation. It seems to be on all sides admitted that very much of this success is due to the prince himself, whose genial manners and natural courtesy will not soon be forgotten. The intercourse between the native chiefs, hitherto very rare, which the prince's visit has brought about, must have a good effect, in spite of some few heartburnings, at supposed slights which, in a matter full of difficulties appreciable only by those who have had to deal with them, human ingenuity could hardly have prevented. Absurd exaggeration has been showered on almost everything connected with the royal visit, but it stands out clear that the heir-apparent to the British throne has left the best possible impression on one of the most important classes of his Indian subjects, and that the strong tie of personal loyalty thus created is likely, if wisely cultivated, to be of exceeding value, and to contribute to the satisfactory solution of the difficulties which surround the relations between these feudatories and the paramount authority. With the position and treatment of the native states is intimately associated a name which will assuredly go down to posterity as the name of one of our greatest Indian rulers. Lord Dalhousie's proceedings regarding the native states have been little understood, and have been subjected to misrepresentation which he, unfortunately, did not live to refute, and which may yet for a long time remain unrefuted, as he has, with the consciousness of power remarkable throughout his career, relegated the publication of his private papers to a period comparatively remote. His treatment of the native states was consistent and intelligible. Their treatment since his death has been an ever-varying quantity defying analysis. We believe that Lord Dalhousie foresaw more clearly, and estimated more correctly, than any of his less gifted successors, the difficulties inseparable from the maintenance of native rule within British India. His untimely death took place just when his counsels were most required. The mutiny of 1857, with its attendant horrors and danger, had caused in England a scare of which the court of directors were the first, and Lord Dalhousie's territorial policy the next victims; and then was hastily introduced a radical change of which the future satisfactory working must have been simply taken for granted. It was the launch of the "Happy-go-lucky," which has since buffeted about until her straining appears to have convinced those responsible for her safety that something more is absolutely necessary. That there should be much groping in the dark under such circumstances is not surprising, for although everything points to the want of a sufficient system of dealing with the native feudatory states, the best intellects and the largest experience may well be taxed to devise one which shall, while gradually bringing the native rulers to our own administrative level, reconcile them to the absence of independent authority. Unquestionably difficult as is this problem, its satisfactory solution can only be rendered more unlikely than ever by ignoring the fact that between the aspirations of educated natives to an ever-increasing share in the administration of British territory, and the aspirations of educated natives who rule states within that territory, there must be a great and irreconcilable difference; and by hesitating to revise engagements framed under circumstances so utterly different from those now existing as to have become, in many respects, worse than useless. Of many questions which ought to have been thoroughly dealt with in 1857-58, we will refer to one of the least important—the right of coining exercised by many of the feudatory chiefs, and very recently formally recognized in the case of Baroda, of which State the coinage will now be a legal tender throughout the British-Indian empire. This must surely foster the illusions regarding independent sovereignty which it is so desirable to dispel.
To what extent a consideration of the important questions just referred to has influenced the decision that her Majesty shall henceforth take a title from India as well as from Great Britain and Ireland, is not apparent from the explanation hitherto afforded regarding a measure which has been allowed to assume an undesirable resemblance to those stage-effects which are not meant for, and will not bear, close inspection. No addition to the royal styles and titles was made when the direct government of India was eighteen years ago transferred to the crown, and this has now been described as an omission which the late loyal reception of the Prince of Wales in India affords a fitting opportunity for supplying. It is now also known that the omission was not accidental, but the deliberate act of the minxxxistry of the day, who then lost, as we believe, the best possible opportunity for carrying out a measure of which the effect appears to be much misunderstood, inasmuch as it seems to be very generally believed that it would have removed, and that it will remove, difficulties due not to any insufficiency of the sovereign's titles, but to hesitating, weak, and inconsistent action very much in keeping with the prime minister's late unhappy definition[3] of the position of the native feudatory chiefs, which was at once questioned by the able and experienced Indian officer[4] fortunately at hand to correct it, and to point out that of the native rulers of states within British India none are, and none can be, "sovereign princes,"—a fact which cannot be too clearly proclaimed, or too unflinchingly insisted on. It is most improbable that on the masses of India either the prince's visit, or the change in the sovereign's titles, can have any considerable effect. Indeed, to most of them these things are a seven days' wonder, and nothing more. They are naturally occupied with their own surroundings, and scarcely look beyond them. Police requirements, judicial decrees, and revenue demands—by these they test, and are not very wrong in testing, the government under which they live. To them it has ever mattered little whether they rendered allegiance to the Great Mogul, the "Kumpani Buhadoor," or the queen of England. They have been contented if free from police oppression, ruinous judicial processes, excessive revenue demands, and, though last not least, interference with their caste and religion. That they prefer "to be ruled by persons rather than by systems," has been lately put forward, on what authority we know not. Nor is the purpose of this assertion more intelligible, bearing in mind that no change in the form of government is contemplated, or at all probable. But although the masses in India may not "understand the mysteries of our constitution," they can be influenced by those who do. The educated and higher classes understand both the use and the abuse of the power existing in England to reverse any order passed in India. Lord Lawrence, who ought to be an unusually competent judge,[5] told the House of Commons' select committee, "The natives of India would not like it to be laid down that Parliament could not interfere, or would not interfere. I think, whether it is for good or for evil, they value that power which Parliament has of interfering." The late address of the Calcutta Association to Mr. Fawcett sufficiently proves that educated Indians are well able to appreciate the functions and power of the British Parliament.
- ↑ India and its Native Princes: Travels in Central India and in the Presidencies of Bombay and Bengal. by Louis Rousselet. Carefully revised and edited by Lieut.-Col. Buckle. Containing 317 illustrations and six maps. London: Chapman & Hall 1876.
- ↑ Times correspondent, Dec. 16, 1875.
- ↑ House of Commons. 17th February 1876.
- ↑ Sir G. Campbell.
- ↑ Third Report, p. 436.