Page:The Marquess of Hastings, K.G..djvu/177

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that no alliances were to be entered into with other states, and that all disputes were to be referred to British arbitration; he was further directed to abolish the traditional suzerainty which had been technically enjoyed by the Maháráná of Udaipur, — a prince whose real weakness had caused great disorder by the misrule which military violence had produced everywhere, and which he was totally unable to check. According to the new system all the Rájput Rájás were put on an equal footing, that is, they were placed under a protected dependence on British supremacy, and it was hoped, as soon as they were subjected to the suzerainty exercised at Calcutta, that hereditary jealousies would be appeased and the predatory gangs rendered impossible for the future.

Protective treaties were concluded with the Rájás of Kotah, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Búndi, Jaipur, and with many others, and the disputes which some of these princes had with their Thákurs, or vassals, were adjusted. Affairs in Jaipur, however, were not easily arranged, and in May, 1818, Sir D. Ochterlony was obliged to undertake the reduction of two forts, which speedily submitted and disposed the more turbulent feudatories to come to terms. But in the following December, Jagat Singh, the Rájá, died, and leaving no heir, a contest was imminent: though this disaster was happily avoided by the birth of a posthumous child, yet anarchy continued to flourish, and it was not until 1823 that Ochterlony could introduce peace into the distracted principality. The other Rájput