Page:The Marquess of Dalhousie.djvu/174

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166
DALHOUSIE'S WORK IN INDIA

to him. By this treaty the Nizám, while retaining the full use of the subsidiary force and contingent, was released from the unlimited obligation of service in time of war, and the contingent ceased to be part of the Nizám's army, and became an auxiliary force kept by the British Government for the Nizám's use[1].'

The Assigned Districts have so prospered under British rule, and have been so long accustomed to consider themselves entitled to the benefits of British rule, that their eventual rendition to the Nizám is now regarded as one of the difficult questions of Indian politics. That question, however, was not raised by Lord Dalhousie. It is essentially the product of the improved position of the Nizám in our own days. This improvement has been greatly facilitated by Lord Dalhousie's arrangement for securing the maintenance of order at Haidarábád, by a body of drilled troops, not directly dependent on the Haidarábád Treasury for the regularity of their pay. The perpetual financial strain of the years preceding that arrangement has disappeared in the Nizám's dominions.

  1. Aitchison's Treaties and Engagements, vol. v, p. 139, ed. 1876. See pp. 212-221 for the Engagement, dated 21st May, 1853.