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A  BRIEF  HISTORY  OF  THE 
INDIAN  PEOPLES 


£oniion 

HENRY     FROWDE 

Oxford  University  Press  Warehouse 

Amen  Corner,  E.C. 


(Heir  2)orR 


MACiMILLAN    &    CO.,    112   FOURTH    AVENUE 


l'r,-,,.,re,l  for  Mr  Wlllliuii  UiK,.„  Huiit.Ts 

IMPERIAL    GAZETTEER  OF    INDIA 


opiyg^ 


-E^ss^nrrizT^^f^nrE^T^^x 


A   BRIEF  HISTORY  OF  THE 
INDIAN  PEOPLES 


By   sir   WILLIAM   WILSON   H.UNTER,   K.C.S.L,  CLE. 

M.A.  OxoN.,  LL.D.  Cambridge 


TWENTIETH    EDITION     REVISED.      EIGHTIETH    THOUSAND 


OXFORD :    AT  THE   CLARENDON   PRESS :    1893. 


Oxford 

HORACE    HART,    PRINTER    TO    THE    UNIVERSITY 


^ 
>^' 


^6  ^ 


PREFACE 


In  this  book  I  try  to  exhibit  the  growth  of  t\^e  Indian 
peoples,  to  show  what  part  they  have  played  in  the 
world's  progress,  and  what  sufferings  they  have  endured 
from  other  nations.  Short  Indian  histories,  as  written 
by  Englishmen,  usually  dismiss  the  first  two  thousand 
years  of  their  narrative  in  a  few  pages,  and  start  by 
disclosing  India  as  a  conquered  country.  This  plan  is 
not  good,  either  for  Europeans  in  India  or  for  the 
Indians  themselves  ;  nor  does  it  accord  with  the  facts. 
As  long  as  Indian  history  is  presented  to  the  Indian 
youth  as  nothing  but  a  dreary  record  of  disunion  and 
subjection,  our  Anglo-Indian  Schools  can  scarcely  become 
the  nurseries  of  a  self-respecting  nation.  I  have  there- 
fore tried  to  put  together,  from  original  sources,  a  brief 
narrative  of  what  I  believe  to  be  the  true  history  of  the 
peoples  of  India.  These  sources  have  been  carefully 
examined  in  my  larger  works.  This  little  book  merely 
states,  without  discussing,  the  results  arrived  at  by  the 
labour  of  thirty  years. 

I  have  tried  to  show  how  an  early  gifted  race, 
ethnically  akin  to  our  own,  welded  the  primitive  forest 
tribes  into  settled  communities.  How  the  nobler  stock, 
set  free  from  the  severer  struggle  for  life  by  the  bounty 
of  the  Indian  soil,  created  a  language,  a  literature  and 
a  religion,  of  rare  stateliness  and  beauty.  How  the 
very  absence  of  that  strenuous  striving  with  nature, 
which  is  so  necessary  a  discipline  for  nations,  unfitted 
them  for  the  "rcat  conflicts  which  await  all  races.    How, 


6  PREFACE. 

among  the  most  intellectual  class,  the  domestic  and 
contemplative  aspects  of  life  overpowered  the  practical 
and  the  political.  How  Hinduism,  while  sufficing  to 
organize  the  Indian  communities  into  social  and  re- 
ligious confederacies,  failed  to  knit  them  together  into 
a  coherent  nation. 

India  was  destined,  by  her  position,  to  receive  the 
human  overflow  from  the  ancient  breeding-grounds  of 
Central  Asia.  Waves  of  conquest  from  the  north  were 
as  inevitable  in  early  times  as  are  the  tidal  waves  from 
the  ocean  at  the  present  day.  But  such  conquests, 
although  rapid,  were  seldom  enduring  ;  and  although 
widespread,  were  never  complete.  The  religious  and 
social  organization  of  Hinduism  never  succumbed.  The 
greatest  of  India's  conquerors,  the  Mughals,  were  being 
liemmed  in  by  Hindu  confederacies  before  their 
supremacy  had  lasted  if  centuries.  So  far  as  can 
now  be  estimated,  the  advance  of  the  British  alone 
saved  the  Delhi  Empire  from  dismemberment  by  three 
Hindu  military  powers,  the  Marathas,  Rajputs,  and 
Sikhs.  The  British  Rule  has  endured,  because  it  is 
wielded  in  the  joint  interest  of  the  Indian  races. 

But  while  these  thoughts  have  long  been  present  in 
my  mind,  I  have  not  obtruded  them  on  my  pages.  For 
I  hope  that  this  little  book  will  reach  the  hands  of  many 
who  look  on  history  as  a  record  of  events,  rather  than 
as  a  compendium  of  philosophy.  The  greatest  service 
which  an  Indian  historian  can  at  present  render  to  India, 
is  to  state  the  facts  accurately  and  in  such  a  way  that 
they  will  be  read.  If  my  story  is  found  to  combine 
truth  with  simplicity,  it  will  have  attained  all  that  I 
aimed  at.  If  it  teaches  young  Englishmen  and  young 
Natives  of  India  to  think  more  kindly  of  each  other, 
I  shall  esteem  myself  richly  rewarded. 


PREFACE  TO  THE   TWENTIETH 
EDITION 


I  AM  grateful  to  my  critics  in  many  countries  for  the 
reception  which  they  have  given  to  this  book.  It  has 
been  translated  into  five  languages,  including  a  literal 
rendering  in  Burmese,  and  a  poetical  version  in  Urdu. 
The  English  issue  alone  has  reached  its  seventy -eighth 
thousandth  copy,  and  from  i8(S6  onwards  to  last  year 
the  Calcutta  University  prescribed  the  work  as  a  text- 
book for  its  Entrance  Examination.  The  present 
edition  incorporates  suggestions  kindly  forwarded  to 
me  by  Directors  of  Public  Instruction,  and  other  educa- 
tional authorities  in  India.  To  Mr.  Griffith,  formerly 
Director  of  Public  Instruction  in  the  North-Western 
Provinces,  and  to  Professor  A.  A.  Macdonell,  Deputy 
Professor  of  Sanskrit  at  Oxford,  I  am  specially  indebted 
for  a  revision  of  the  earlier  chapters.  The  whole  proof- 
sheets  have  been  kindly  revised  for  me  by  Mr.  Morse 
Stephens,  B.A,,  Lecturer  on  Indian  History  to  the 
University  of  Cambridge. 

On  my  own  part,  no  pains  have  been  spared  to 
render  this  edition  an  improvement  on  its  predecessors. 
Although  compressed  into  a  small  size,  it  essays  to  em- 
body the  latest  results  of  Indian  historical  research,  and 
of  that  more  critical  examination  of  the  Indian  Records 
which  forms   so    important   a  feature   of  recent    Indian 


8  PREFACE. 

work.  My  endeavour  has  been  to  present  the  history 
of  India  in  an  attractive  and  accurate  narrative,  yet 
within  a  compass  which  will  place  it  in  reach  of  the 
ordinary  English  and  American  reader,  and  render  it 
available  as  a  text-book  for  English  and  Indian  colleges 
or  schools.  The  Twentieth  Edition  includes  the 
principal  figures  arrived  at  by  the  Indian  Census  of 
1 89 1,  and  brings  down  the  chronicle  of  events  to  the 
expansion  of  the  Indian  Legislative  Councils  by  the 
Act  of  Parliament  in  1892. 

VV.  W.  HUNTER. 

Oaken  Holt,  Cumnor,  near  Oxford, 
1892. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    I. 

PAGE 

The  Country       .......    17-31 

Situation  and  size  of  India,  17,  18;  the  four  regions  of  which 
it  is  composed,  iS  ;  first  region — the  Himalayas,  18-21 ;  Himalayan 
river  system — Indus,  Sutlej,  Brahmaputra,  Ganges  and  Jumna,  21, 
22  ;  second  region — river  plains  of  India,  22,  23;  work  done  by  the 
rivers — the  Bengal  Delta,  23-26  ;  crops  and  scenery  of  the  northern 
river  plains,  26,  27;  third  region — the  southern  table-land,  its 
scenery,  rivers  and  products,  27-30;  fourth  region — Burma,  30,  31 ; 
materials  for  reference,  31. 

CHAPTER    II. 

The  People  .......     32-39 

General  survey  of  the  people,  32,  33  ;  population  statistics  in 
British  and  Native  India,  33-35  ;  density  of  population,  36;  scarcity 
of  large  towns,  36 ;  overcrowded  and  under-peopled  Districts,  36, 
37 ;  distribution  of  the  people,  37 ;  nomadic  system  of  husbandry, 
37  ;  rise  in  rents,  37,  38  ;  abolition  of  serfdom,  38 ;  four-fold  divi- 
sion of  the  people,  38,  39  ;  the  two  chief  races  of  pre-historic  India, 
39  ;  materials  for  reference,  39. 

CHAPTER    III. 

The  non-Aryans  ......    40-51 

The  non-Aryans  or  'Aborigines,'  40;  as  described  in  the  Veda, 
40,  41 ;  the  non-Aryans  at  the  present  day,  41,  42;  the  Andaman 
islanders,  42 ;  hill  tribes  in  Madras,  42,  43 ;  in  the  Vindhya  ranges, 
43 ;  in  the  Central  Provinces,  44 ;  leaf-wearing  tribe  in  Orissa, 
44 ;  Himalayan  tribes,  44,  45  ;  the  Santals  of  Lower  Bengal,  their 
system  of  government  history,  &c.,  45-47;   the  Kandhs  of  Orissa, 


lO  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGF. 

their  customs,  human  sacrifices,  &c.,  47-49 ;  the  three  great  non- 
Aryan  stocks,  49  ;  character  and  future  of  the  non-Aryans,  50  ; 
materials  for  reference,  51. 

CHAPTER    IV. 
The  Aryans  in  India      ......    52-73 

The  Aryan  stock,  52  ;  early  Aryan  conquests  in  Europe  and  Asia, 
52 ;  the  Aryans  in  their  primitive  home  in  Western  Asia,  53  ;  the 
common  origin  of  European  and  Indian  religions,  53 ;  and  of  the 
Indo-European  languages,  53  ;  Indo-Aryans  on  the  march,  53,  54 ; 
the  Rig- Veda,  54,  55  ;  Aryan  civilization  in  Veda,  55  ;  Vedic  gods, 
55-57;  a  Vedic  hymn,  57;  Vedic  literature,  58;  the  Brahmanas, 
58,  59;  the  four  castes  formed,  59,  60  ;  establishment  of  Brahman 
supremacy,  60  ;  four  stages  of  a  Brahman's  life,  60,  61  ;  the  modern 
Brahmans,  61,  62  ;  Brahman  theology — the  Hindu  Trinity,  62,  63  ; 
Brahman  philosophy,  literature,  astronomy,  medicine,  music,  lawf, 
poetry,  63-67 ;  the  epics  of  the  Mahabharata  and  the  Ramayana, 
67-71  ;  later  Sanskrit  epics,  71  ;  the  Sanskrit  drama  and  lyric  poetry, 
71,  72  ;  materials  for  reference,  73. 

CHAPTER   V. 

Buddhism  in  India  (543  b.c.  to  looo  a.d.)    .  .  .    74-84 

Rise  of  Buddhism,  74  ;  life  of  Gautama  Buddha,  74-76 ;  Buddha's 
doctrines,  76,  77;  missionary  aspects  of  Buddhism,  77,  78;  early 
Buddhist  councils,  78  ;  Asoka's  conversion  to  Buddhism,  and  its 
establishment  as  a  State  religion,  78,  79 ;  his  rock  edicts,  79 ; 
Kanishka's  council,  79,  80 ;  rivalry  of  Buddhism  and  Brahmanism, 
80,  81  ;  Siladitya's  council  (634  a.d.),  81  ;  great  Buddhist  monastery 
of  Nalanda,  82;  victory  of  Brahmanism  (700  to  900  a.d.),  82; 
Buddhism  an  exiled  religion  from  India  (900  A.  D.),  82,  83;  the 
Jains  the  modern  successors  of  the  ancient  Buddhists,  83  ;  influence 
of  Buddhism  on  modern  Hinduism,  S3,  84;  materials  for  refer- 
ence, 84. 

CHAPTER    VI. 

The  Greeks  in  India  (327-161  b.c.)    ....    85-S9 

Early  Greek  references  to  India,  85  ;  Alexander  the  Great's 
campaign  in  the  Punjab  and  Sind,  85-87 ;  his  successors,  87 ; 
Chandra  Gupta's  kingdom  in  Northern  India,  87,  88 ;  Megasthenes' 
description  of  India  (300  B.C.),  88,  89;  later  Greek  invasions,  89; 
materials  for  reference,  89. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  II 

CHAPTER    VII. 

PAGE 

ScYTHic  Inroads  (about  loo  B.C.  to  500  A. D.)    .  .  .     90-93 

The  Scythians  in  Central  Asia,  90 ;  Scythic  kingdoms  in  Northern 
India,  90,  91  ;  Scythic  races  still  in  India,  91 ;  wars  of  Vikramaditya 
against  the  Scythians  (57  B.  c),  and  of  Salivahana  (78  A.D.),  91,  92  ; 
later  opponents  of  the  Scythians,  the  Sah,  Gnpta,  and  Valabhi 
dynasties,  92,  93  ;  materials  for  reference,  93. 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

Growth  of  Hinduism  (700  to  1500  a.d.)  .  .  .    94-108 

The  three  sources  of  the  Indian  people — the  Aryans,  non-Aryans, 
and  Scythians,  94,  95  ;  Aryan  work  of  civilization,  95  ;  the  Brah- 
mans,  95,  96  ;  two-fold  basis  of  Hinduism,  caste  and  religion,  96-99  ; 
Buddhist  influences  on  Hinduism,  99 ;  non- Aryan  influences  on 
Hinduism,  99 ;  the  Hindu  Book  of  Saints,  99,  loo ;  Sankara 
Acharya,  the  Sivaite  religious  reformer  of  the  ninth  century,  100; 
two-fold  aspects  of  Siva-worship,  100,  loi  ;  the  thirteen  Sivaite  sects, 
loi,  102  ;  Vishnu-worship,  102, 103  ;  the  Vishnu  Purana  (1045  A.D.), 
103  ;  Vishnuite  apostles — Ramanuja  (1150  A.  D.),  Ramanand  (1300- 
1400  A.  D.),  Kabir  (1380-1420  A.D.),  Chaitanya  (1485-1527  a.d.), 
Vallabha-Swami  (1520  a.d.),  103-106;  Krishna-worship,  io(5,  107  ; 
religious  bond  of  Hinduism,  107  ;  materials  for  reference,  107,  loS. 

CHAPTER    IX. 

Early  Muhammadan  Conquerors  (714-1526  a.d.)  .  .    109-131 

Muhammadan  influence  on  Hinduism,  109;  chronological  sum- 
mary of  Muhammadan  dynasties,  109,  no;  Arab  invasions  of  Sind 
(647-828  A.D.),  no.  III;  India  on  the  eve  of  the  Muhammadan 
conquest,  ill,  112  ;  Muhammadan  conquests  only  partial  and  tem- 
porary, 112,  113;  first  Tiirki  invasions — Subuktigin  (977  A.  D.), 
113;  Mahmud  of  Ghazni  (1001-1030),  his  seventeen  invasions  of 
India  and  sack  of  Somnath,  113-116;  house  of  Ghor  (1152-1186), 
116;  Muhammad  of  Ghor,  116-119  ;  defeat  of  the  Rajput  clans, 
117,  118;  conquest  of  Bengal  (1203),  118;  the  Slave  kings  (1206- 
1290) — Kutab-ud-din,  119;  Altamsh,  119,  120;  Empress Raziya,  120; 
Mughal  irruptions  and  Rajput  revolts,  120;  Balban,  120,  121; 
house  of  Khilji  (1290-1320),  121-124;  Jalal-ud-din,  121, 122  ;  Ala- 
ud-din's  conquest  of  Southern  India,  122;  extent  of  the  Muham- 
madan power  in  India  (1306),  122,  123;  Khusn'i,  the  renegade 
Hindu  emperor,  123,  124;  the  Tughlak  dynasty  (1320-1414),  124- 


12  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

126;  Muhammad  Tughlak,  his  cruelties,  revenue  exactions,  124- 
126;  Firuz  Shah  Tughlak,  his  canals,  126;  Timur's  invasion 
(1398),  126;  the  Sayyid  and  Lodi  dynasties,  127  ;  Hindu  kingdoms 
of  the  south — Vijayanagar,  127,  128;  the  Muhammadan  States  in 
the  Deccan,  128;  the  Bahmani  dynasty,  128,  129;  the  five  Mu- 
hammadan States  of  the  Deccan  (1489-168S),  129;  downfall  of 
Vijayanagar,  1 29,  130  ;  independence  of  the  Muhammadan  Provinces, 
130;  weakness  of  the  early  Delhi  empire,  130,  131;  materials  for 
reference,  131. 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  Mughal  Dynasty  (1526-1761)  ....  132-155 
Babar's  invasion  of  India  and  overthrow  of  the  Lodi  dynasty  at 
Panipat  (1526),  132;  Humayun's  reign  (1530-1556),  132,  133;  his 
defeat  by  Sher  Shah,  the  Afghan,  133 ;  he  flies  to  Persia,  but  regains 
India  as  the  result  of  the  second  battle  of  Panipat  (1556),  133; 
Akbar  the  Great  (i 556-1605),  chronological  summary  of  his  reign, 
133>  ^34)  the  regent  Bairam,  134;  Akbar's  work  in  India,  reduc- 
tion of  Muhammadan  States  and  the  Rajput  clans,  134-136  ;  his 
policy  of  conciliation  towards  the  Hindus,  135,  136  ;  his  conquests 
in  Southern  India,  136,  137;  his  religious  faith,  137,  138;  Akbar's 
organization  of  the  Empire,  138,  139;  his  revenue  survey  of  India, 
139;  his  ministers,  140;  Jahangir  (1605-1627),  his  wars  and  con- 
quests, 140  ;  the  Empress  Nur  Jahan,  140,  141 ;  Jahangir's  personal 
character,  141, 142  ;  Shah  Jahan  (1628-1658),  his  administration  and 
wars,  142,  143;  his  great  architectural  works  at  Agra  and  Delhi, 
143  ;  his  revenues,  143,  144 ;  deposed  by  his  rebellious  son,  Aurang- 
zeb,  144;  Aurangzeb's  reign  (165S-1707),  144-150;  chronological 
summary  of  his  reign,  144,  145  ;  he  murders  his  brothers,  145,  146; 
his  great  campaign  in  Southern  India,  146,  147 ;  his  war  with  the 
Marathas,  and  death,  147,  148  ;  Mir  Jumla's  unsuccessful  expedition 
to  Assam,  148 ;  Aurangzeb's  bigoted  policy  and  oppression  of  the 
Hindus,  148,  149;  revenue  of  the  empire,  149,  150;  character  of 
Aurangzeb,  150  ;  decline  of  the  Mughal  power  under  the  succeeding 
nominal  Emperors,  150,  151  ;  independence  of  the  Deccan  and  of 
Oudh,  151 ;  Maratha,  Sikh,  and  Rajput  revolts,  151 ;  the  invasions 
of  Nadir  Shah  the  Persian,  and  Ahmad  Shah  the  Afghan,  151,  152  ; 
misery  of  the  country,  152, 153  ;  decline  and  downfall  of  the  Empire, 
153  ;  India  conquered  by  the  British,  not  from  the  Mughals,  but  from 
the  Hindus,  154;  chronological  summary  of  principal  events  from 
the  death  of  Aurangzeb  in  1707,  till  the  banishment  of  Bahadur  Shah, 
the  last  Mughal  Emperor,  for  complicity  in  the  Mutiny  of  1857,  154, 
155  ;  materials  for  reference,  155. 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS.  1 3 

CHAPTER    XI. 

PAGE 

The  MarAthAs  ......     156-163 

Rise  of  the  Marathas,  and  the  growth  of  their  power  in  the  Deccan, 
156,  157  ;  Sivaji's  guerilla  warfare  with  Aurangzeb,  157  ;  the  house 
of  Sivaji,  158  ;  the  Peshwas  and  the  Mardtha  confederacy,  15S,  159; 
the  five  Maratha  houses,  viz.  the  Peshwa,  Sindhia,  Holkar,  the  Nag- 
pur  Bhonslas,  and  the  Gaekwar  of  Baroda,  160-162;  the  three 
Maratha  wars  with  the  British,  162,  163;  materials  for  reference, 
163. 

CHAPTER    XII. 

Early  European  Settlements  ....    164-175 

Europe  and  the  East  before  1500  A.  D.,  164;  Vasco  daGama,  164; 
early  Portuguese  governors  and  their  oppressions,  165,  166;  down- 
fall of  the  Portuguese  power,  and  extent  of  its  present  possessions 
in  India,  166;  the  Dutch  in  India,  and  their  supremacy  in  the 
Eastern  seas,  166-168;  early  English  adventurers  (1496-1596),  168, 
169  ;  English  East  India  Companies,  169,  170  ;  first  voyages  of  the 
English  Company,  170;  massacre  of  Amboyna  (1623),  170,  171; 
early  English  settlements  in  Madras,  171 ;  in  Bombay,  171,  172  ;  in 
Bengal,  172;  other  East  India  Companies,  173,  174;  materials  for 
reference   175. 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

The  Foundation  of  British  Rule  in  India  .  .    176-199 

Table  of  Governors,  Governors- General,  and  Viceroys  of  India 
(1758-1892),  176,  177;  French  and  English  in  the  south,  177; 
state  of  Southern  India  after  the  death  of  Aurangzeb  (1707),  177, 
178;  wars  in  the  Karnatik — Dupleix  and  Clive,  178,  179;  battle  of 
Wandiwash,  179;  Native  rulers  of  Bengal  (1707-1756),  179,  180; 
capture  of  Calcutta  by  the  Nawab  Siraj-ud-daula,  and  the  '  Black 
Hole '  tragedy,  180;  Clive  recaptures  Calcutta,  180;  his  victory  at 
Plassey  (1757),  180,  181;  installation  of  Mir  Jafar,  as  Nawab  of 
Bengal,  181,  182;  QX\v^%  jdgir,  1S2,  183;  Clive,  first  Governor  of 
Bengal  (1758),  183;  dethronement  of  Mir  Jafar,  and  substitution  of 
Mir  Kasim  as  Nawab  of  Bengal,  184  ;  Mir  Kasim's  revolt,  and  the 
massacre  of  Patna,  184;  reconquest  of  Bengal,  battle  of  Baxar,  184, 
185  ;  Clive's  second  governorship,  and  the  acquisition  of  the  Diwani 
or  financial  administration  of  Bengal  by  the  Company,  185,  186; 
Clive's  reorganization  of  the  Bengal  service  (1766),  186;  dual  system 
of  administration,   186,   187;    Warren   Hastings  (1772-1785),  his 


14  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

administrative  work,  1S7,  188  ;  policy  to  Native  chiefs,  188;  Hastings 
makes  Bengal  pay,  188,  189  ;  sells  Allahabad  and  Kora  to  the 
Wazir  of  Ondh,  189;  the  Rohilla  war  (1773-1774),  189;  fines  on 
Chait  Singh  and  the  Oudh  Begam,  190  ;  Hastings'  impeachment  and 
trial  in  England,  190;  first  Maratha  war  (1779-1781),  190,  191; 
war  with  Mysore  (1780-1784),  191,  192;  Lord  Comwallis  (1786- 
1793),  192,  193;  Permanent  Settlement  of  Bengal,  192,  193; 
second  Mysore  war  (1790-1792),  193;  Marquess  Wellesley  (1798- 
1805),  193-198  ;  French  influence  in  India  (1798-1800),  194;  India 
before  Lord  Wellesley  (1798),  194,  195;  Lord  Wellesley's  policy, 
,195;  treaty  with  the  Nizam  (1798),  195,  196;  third  Mysore  war 
(1799),  196;  second  Maratha  war  (1802-1804),  197,  198;  India 
after  Lord  Wellesley  (1805),  198;  materials  for  reference,  199. 

CHAPTER    XIV. 
The  Consolidation  OF  British  India  .  .  .    200-221 

Marquess  Cornwallis'  second  administration  (1805),  200;  Sir 
George  Barlow  (1805),  200  ;  Earl  of  Minto  (1807-1813),  200,  201 ; 
Lord  Moira  (Marquess  of  Hastings),  1814-1823,  201-204;  t^^ 
Gurkha  war  (1814-1815),  201,  202;  Pindari  war  (1817),  202,  203; 
last  Maratha  war  (1817-1818),  and  annexation  of  the  Peshwa's 
territory,  203,  204;  Lord  Amherst  (1S23-1828),  204-206;  Burma 
in  ancient  times,  204,  205  ;  first  Burmese  war,  205,  206  ;  capture  of 
Bhartpur,  206;  Lord  William  Bentinck  (1S28-1835),  206-208; 
Bentinck's  financial  reforms,  207  ;  abolition  of  Sati  and  suppression 
of  Thagi,  207,  208  ;  renewal  of  Company's  charter  (1833),  208 ; 
Mysore  protected  and  Coorg  annexed,  208  ;  Lord  Metcalfe  (1835- 
1836),  208;  Lord  Auckland  (1836-1842),  208-211  ;  the  first  Afghan 
campaign  and  our  dealings  with  Kabul,  209 ;  restoration  of  Shah 
Shuja  by  the  British  (1839),  209,  210;  military  occupation  of 
Afghanistan  by  the  British  (1840-1841),  210  ;  rising  of  the 
Afghans,  and  massacre  of  the  British  force  on  its  winter  retreat  to 
India,  210,  211;  Lord  Ellenborough  (1842-1844^  211,  212;  the 
army  of  retribution  (1842),  211,  212;  Lord  Ellenboroiigh's  proclama- 
tion, the  gates  of  Somnath,  212  ;  conquest  of  Sind  (1S43),  212  ;  Lord 
Hardinge  (1844-1848),  212-214;  history  of  the  Sikhs  and  of  their 
rise  into  a  power  under  Ranjit  Singh,  212,213;  first  Sikh  war  (1845), 
battles  of  Miidki,  Firozshah,  Aliwal,  and  Sobraon,  214;  Lord  Dal- 
housie  (1848-1856),  214-220;  his  administrative  reforms,  the  Indian 
railway  system,  214,  215  ;  second  Sikh  war  (1848-1849),  battles  of 
Chilianwala  and  Gujrat,  215  ;  pacification  of  the  Punjab,  215,  216; 
second  Burmese  war  (1852),  216;  prosperity  of  Burma,  216;  Dal- 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS.  15 

PAGE 

housie's  policy  towards  the  Native  States,  217;  the  doctrine  of 
lapse,  217,  218;  lapsed  Native  States,  218,  219;  annexation  of 
Oudh  (1856),  219,  220  ;  Lord  Dalhousie's  work  in  India,  220  ;  Lord 
Canning  in  India  before  the  Mutiny  (1856-1857),  220;  materials  for 
reference,  221. 

CHAPTER  XV. 
The  Sepoy  Mutiny  of  1857  .....  222-229 
Causes  of  the  Mutiny,  222,  223;  the  'greased  cartridges,'  223; 
the  army  drained  of  its  talent,  223,  224 ;  the  outbreak  in  May  1857, 
224;  spread  of  the  rebellion,  224,  225  ;  Cawnpur,  225,  226;  Luck- 
now,  226;  siege  of  Delhi,  226,  227;  reduction  of  Oudh  by  Lord 
Clyde,  227;  of  Central  India  by  Sir  Hugh  Rose,  227  ;  summary  of 
the  history  of  the  Company's  charters,  227,  228;  India  transferred 
to  the  Crown  (1858),  22S,  229;  materials  for  reference,  229. 


CHAPTER    XVL 

India  under  the  British  Crown,  1S58-1892  .  .    230-237 

The  Queen's  Proclamation  of  ist  November,  1858,  230;  the  cost 
of  the  Mutiny,  230  ;  Mr.  Wilson's  financial  reforms,  230,  231  ;  legal 
reforms,  231  ;  Lord  Elgin  (1862-1863),  231 ;  Lord  Lawrence  (1864- 
1869),  the  Bhutan  war,  Orissa  famine  of  1866,  231 ;  Lord  Mayo 
(1869-1872),  the  Ambala  darbdr,  visit  of  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh, 
establishment  of  Agricultural  Department,  reform  of  internal  cus- 
toms lines.  Lord  Mayo  assassinated  at  the  Andamans,  231,  232  ; 
Lord  Northbrook  (1872-1876),  dethronement  of  the  Gaekwar  of 
Baroda,  visit  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  to  India,  232,  233  ;  Lord  Lytton 
(1876-1880),  Proclamation  of  the  Queen  as  Empress  of  India,  the 
great  famine  of  1876-1877,  233;  Afghan  affairs  (1878-1880),  233, 
234;  Marquess  of  Ripon  (1880-1883),  234,  235;  conclusion  of  the 
Afghan  war,  234  ;  Education  Commission,  234  ;  Sir  Evelyn  Baring, 
234,  235  ;  Native  troops  in  Egypt,  235  ;  Marquess  of  Dufferin  (1884- 
1888),  235,  236;  conquest  and  annexation  of  Upper  Burma  (1886), 
235;  Jubilee-year  of  the  Queen-Empress  (1887),  236;  Marquess  of 
Lansdowne  (1888-1892),  236,  237;  progress  of  self-government, 
236,  237. 


NO  TE. 

The  orthography  of  proper  names  follows  my  system  adopted  by  the 
Indian  Government  for  the  Imperial  Gazetteer  of  India.  That  system, 
while  adhering  to  the  popular  spelling  of  very  well-known  places,  such  as 
Punjab,  Lucknow,  &c.,  employs  in  all  other  cases  the  vowels  with  the 
following  uniform  sounds  : — 

a,  as  in  woman  :  a,  as  in  father :  i,  as  in  pz'n :  /,  as  in  intrigue  :  o,  as  in 
cc7ld  :  u,  as  in  bwU  :  u,  as  in  rwral :  e,  as  in  gri?y. 


['7j 


A  BRIEF  HISTORY  OF   THE  INDIAN 
PEOPLES. 


CHAPTER    I. 
The  Country. 

Situation  and  Size. — India  is  a  great  three-cornered  country, 
stretching  southward  from  mid-Asia  into  the  ocean.  Its  northern 
base  rests  upon  the  Himalaya  ranges ;  the  chief  part  of  its 
western  side  is  washed  by  the  Arabian  Sea,  and  the  chief  part 
of  its  eastern  side  by  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  But  while  thus 
guarded  along  the  whole  length  of  its  boundaries  by  nature's 
defences,  the  mountains  and  the  ocean,  it  has  on  its  north-eastern 
and  on  its  north-western  frontiers  two  opposite  sets  of  gateways 
which  connect  it  with  the  rest  of  Asia.  On  the  north-east  it 
is  bounded  by  the  wild  hill-regions  between  Burma  and  the 
Chinese  Empire  or  Tibet;  on  the  north-west  by  the  Muham- 
madan  States  of  Afghanistan  and  Baluchistan  ;  and  two  streams 
of  population  of  widely  diverse  types  have  poured  into  India  by 
the  passes  at  these  north-eastern  and  north-western  corners. 

India  extends  from  the  eighth  to  the  thirty-sixth  degree  of 
north  latitude, — that  is,  from  the  hot  regions  near  the  equator 
to  far  within  the  temperate  zone.  The  capital,  Calcutta,  lies  in 
88  degrees  of  E.  longitude ;  so  that,  when  the  sun  sets  at  six 
o'clock  there,  it  is  just  past  mid-day  in  England.  The  length 
of  India  from  north  to  south,  and  its  greatest  breadth  from  east 
to  west,  are  both  about  1900  miles;  but  it  tapers  with  a  pear- 
shaped  curve  to  a  point  at  Cape  Comorin,  its  soulhcin  cxtremily, 
To  this  compact  dominion  the  English  have  added  Burma,  or  the 

B 


1 8  THE    COUNTRY. 

country  on  the  eastern  shores  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  The  whole 
territory  thus  described  contains  over  i^  millions  of  square  miles, 
and  288  millions  of  inhabitants.  India,  therefore,  has  an  area 
almost  equal  to,  and  a  population  in  excess  of,  the  area  and 
population  of  all  Europe,  less  Russia. 

The  Four  Regions. — This  noble  empire  is  rich  in  varieties 
of  scenery  and  climate,  from  the  highest  mountains  in  the  world 
to  vast  river-deltas,  raised  only  a  few  inches  above  the  level  of 
the  sea.  It  teems  with  the  products  of  nature,  from  the  fierce 
beasts  and  tangled  jungles  of  the  tropics,  to  the  stunted  barley 
crop  which  the  hillman  rears,  and  the  small  furred  animal  which 
he  traps,  within  sight  of  the  eternal  snow.  But  if  we  could  look 
down  on  the  whole  from  a  balloon,  we  should  find  that  India  is 
made  up  of  four  well-defined  tracts.  The  first  includes  the 
Himalayan  mountains,  which  shut  India  out  from  the  rest  of 
Asia  on  the  north ;  the  second  stretches  southwards  from  their 
foot,  and  comprises  the  plains  of  the  great  rivers  which  issue 
from  the  Himalayas;  the  third  tract  slopes  upwards  again  from 
the  southern  edge  of  the  river-plains,  and  consists  of  a  high, 
three-sided  tableland,  dotted  with  peaks,  and  covering  the 
southern  half  of  India ;  the  fourth  is  Burma  on  the  east  of  the 
Bay  of  Bengal. 

First  Region :  The  Himalayas. — The  first  of  these  four 
regions  is  composed  of  the  Himalayas  and  their  offshoots  to  the 
southward.  The  Himalayas  (meaning,  in  Sanskrit,  the  Abode 
of  Snow)  form  two  irregular  mountain  walls,  running  nearly 
parallel  to  each  other  east  and  west,  with  a  hollow  trough 
or  valley  beyond.  The  southernmost  of  these  walls  rises  steeply 
from  the  plains  of  India  to  over  20,000  feet,  or  four  miles  in 
height.  It  culminates  in  Mount  Everest,  29,002  feet,  the 
highest  peak  in  the  world.  The  crests  then  subside  on  the 
northward  into  a  series  of  dips,  lying  about  13,000  feet  above 
the  sea.  Behind  these  dips  rises  the  inner  range  of  the  Hima- 
layas, a  second  wall  of  mountains  and  snow.  Beyond  the 
double  wall  thus  formed,  is  the  great  trough  or  line  of  valleys  in 
which  the  Indus,  the  Sutlej,  and  the  Brahmaputra  gather  their 
waters.  From  the  northern  side  of  these  valleys  rises  the  table- 
land of  Tibet,  i6,oco  feet  above  the  sea.     The  Himalayas  shut 


THE  HIMALAYAS.  1 9 

out  India  from  the  rest  of  Asia.  Their  heights  between  Tibet 
and  India  are  crowned  with  eternal  snow ;  while  vast  glaciers, 
one  of  which  is  known  to  be  sixty  miles  in  length,  slowly  move 
their  masses  of  ice  downwards  to  the  valleys.  This  wild  region 
is  in  many  parts  impenetrable  to  man,  and  nowhere  yields  a 
route  for  an  army.  But  bold  parties  of  traders,  wrapped  in 
sheepskins,  force  their  way  across  its  passes,  18,000  feet  high. 
The  bones  of  worn-out  mules  and  ponies  mark  their  path.  The 
little  yak  cow,  whose  bushy  tail  is  manufactured  in  Europe  into 
lace,  is  employed  in  the  Himalayas  as  a  beast  of  burden,  and 
patiently  toils  up  the  steepest  gorges  with  a  heavy  load  on  her 
back.  The  sheep  are  also  used  to  carry  bags  of  borax  to 
markets  near  the  plains.  They  are  then  shorn  of  their  fleeces 
and  eaten  as  mutton.  A  few  return  into  the  inner  mountains 
laden  with  sugar  and  cloth. 

Offshoots  of  the  Himalayas. — The  Himalayas  not  only 
form  a  double  wall  along  the  north  of  India,  but  at  both  ends 
send  out  hilly  offshoots  southwards,  which  protect  its  north- 
eastern and  north-western  boundaries.  On  the  north-east,  these 
offshoots,  under  the  name  of  the  Naga  and  Patkoi  mountains, 
form  a  barrier  between  the  civilized  British  Districts  and  the 
wild  tribes  of  Upper  Burma.  But  the  barrier  is  pierced,  just 
at  the  corner  where  it  strikes  southwards  from  the  Himalayas, 
by  a  passage  through  which  the  Brahmaputra  river  rushes  into 
the  Assam  valley.  On  the  opposite  or  north-western  frontier 
of  India,  the  hilly  offshoots  run  down  the  entire  length  of  the 
British  boundary  from  the  Himalayas  to  the  sea.  As  they  pro- 
ceed southwards,  they  are  in  turn  known  as  the  Safed  Koh,  the 
Sulaiman  range,  and  the  Hala  mountains.  This  western  barrier 
has  peaks  over  11,000  feet  in  height;  but  it  is  pierced  at  the 
corner  where  it  strikes  southwards  from  the  Himalayas  by  an 
opening,  the  Khaibar  pass,  near  which  the  Kabul  river  flows 
into  India.  The  Khaibar  pass,  with  the  Kuram  pass  to  the 
south  of  it,  the  Gwalari  pass  near  Dera  Ismail  Khan,  and  the 
famous  Bolan  pass,  still  further  south,  form  the  gateways  from 
India  to  Afghanistan  and  Baluchistan. 

Himalayan  Water -Supply. —  The  rugged  Himalayas, 
while  thus  keeping  out  enemies,  are  a  source  of  food  and  wealtii 

B   2 


20  THE  COUNTRY. 

to  the  Indian  people.  They  collect  and  store  up  water  for  the  hot 
plains  below.  Throughout  the  summer,  vast  quantities  of  moisture 
are  exhaled  from  the  distant  tropical  seas.  This  moisture 
gathers  into  vapour,  and  is  carried  northward  by  the  monsoon, 
or  regular  wind,  which  sets  in  from  the  south  in  the  month  of 
June.  The  monsoon  drives  the  masses  of  vapour  northwards 
before  it  across  the  length  and  breadth  of  India, — sometimes  in 
the  form  of  long  processions  of  clouds,  which  a  native  poet  has 
likened  to  flights  of  great  white  birds  ;  sometimes  in  the  shape 
of  rain-storms,  which  crash  through  the  forests,  and  leave  a  line 
of  unroofed  villages  and  flooded  fields  on  their  track.  The 
moisture  which  does  not  fall  as  rain  on  its  aerial  voyage  over 
India,  is  at  length  dashed  against  the  Himalayas,.  These  stop 
its  further  progress  northwards,  and  the  moisture  descends  as 
rain  on  their  outer  slopes,  or  is  frozen  into  snow  in  its  attempts 
to  cross  their  inner  heights.  Very  little  moisture  passes  beyond 
them,  so  that  while  their  southern  sides  receive  the  heaviest 
rainfall  in  the  world,  and  pour  it  down  in  torrents  to  the  Indian 
rivers,  the  great  plain  of  Tibet  on  the  north  gets  scarcely  any 
rain.  At  CherraPunjf,  where  the  monsoon  first  strikes  the  hills 
in  Assam,  523  inches  of  rain  fall  annually;  while  in  one  year 
( 1 861)  as  many  as  805  inches  are  reported  to  have  poured  down, 
of  which  366  inches  fell  in  the  single  month  of  June.  While, 
therefore,  the  yearly  rainfall  in  London  is  about  two  feet,  and 
that  of  the  plains  of  India  from  one  to  seven,  the  usual  rainfall 
at  Cherra  Punji  is  thirty  feet,  or  enough  to  float  the  largest  man- 
of-war  ;  while  in  one  year  sixty-seven  feet  of  water  fell  from  the 
sky,  or  sufficient  to  drown  a  high  three-storeyed  house, 

Himalayan  Products  and  Scenery. — This  heavy  rainfall 
renders  the  southern  slopes  of  the  Himalayas  very  fertile.  Their 
upper  ranges  form  bare  grey  masses,  but  wherever  there  is  any 
depth  of  soil  a  forest  springs  up  ;  and  the  damp  belt  of  lowland 
at  their  foot,  called  the  Tarai,  is  covered  with  dense  fever- 
breeding  jungle,  habitable  only  by  a  few  rude  tribes  and  wild 
beasts.  Thickets  of  tree-ferns  and  bamboos  adorn  their 
eastern  ranges ;  tracts  of  rhododendron,  which  here  grows  into 
a  forest  tree,  blaze  red  and  pink  in  the  spring  ;  the  deodar,  or 
Himalayan  cedar,  rises  in  dark  stately  masses.     The  branches 


THE  HIMALAYAS.  2i 

of  the  trees  are  themselves  clothed  with  mosses,  ferns,  and 
flowering  creepers  or  orchids.  In  the  autumn,  crops  of  red  and 
yellow  millet  run  in  ribands  of  brilliant  colour  down  the  hill- 
sides. The  chief  saleable  products  of  the  Himalayas  are  timber 
and  charcoal ;  barley,  small  grains  or  millets,  grown  in  the  hot 
valleys  and  upon  terraces  formed  with  much  labour  on  the 
slopes ;  potatoes,  other  vegetables,  and  honey.  Strings  of 
ponies  and  mules  straggle  with  their  burdens  along  the  narrow 
paths,  at  places  cut  out  of  the  sheer  precipice.  The  muleteers 
and  their  hard-working  wives  load  themselves  also  with  pine 
stems  and  conical  baskets  of  grain. 

The  Destruction  of  the  Forests. — The  high  price  of  wood 
on  the  plains  has  caused  many  of  the  hills  to  be  stripped  of 
their  forests,  so  that  the  rainfall  now  rushes  quickly  down  their 
bare  slopes,  and  no  new  woods  can  spring  up.  The  potato 
crop,  introduced  from  England,  leads  to  a  further  destruction  of 
timber.  The  hillman  clears  his  potato  ground  by  burning  a 
ring  round  the  stems  of  the  great  trees,  and  laying  out  the  side 
of  the  mountain  into  terraces.  In  a  few  years  the  bark  drops 
off  the  trees,  and  the  forest  stands  bleached  and  ruined.  Some 
of  the  trees  rot  on  the  ground,  like  giants  fallen  in  a  confused 
fight ;  others  still  remain  upright,  with  white  trunks  and  skeleton 
arms.  In  the  end,  the  rank  green  potato  crop  marks  the  spot 
where  a  forest  has  been  slain  and  buried.  Several  of  the  ruder 
hill  tribes  follow  an  even  more  wasteful  mode  of  tillage.  Desti- 
tute of  either  ploughs  or  cattle,  they  burn  down  the  jungle,  and 
exhaust  the  soil  by  a  quick  succession  of  crops,  raised  by  the 
hoe.  In  a  year  or  two  the  whole  settlement  moves  off  to  a 
fresh  patch  of  jungle,  which  they  clear  and  exhaust,  and  then 
desert  in  like  manner. 

The  Himalayan  River  System. — The  special  feature  of 
the  Himalayas,  however,  is  that  they  send  down  the  rainfall 
from  their  northern  as  well  as  from  their  southern  slopes  upon 
the  Indian  plains.  For,  as  we  have  seen,  they  form  a  double 
mountain-wall,  with  a  deep  trough  or  valley  beyond.  Even  the 
rainfall  which  passes  beyond  their  outer  or  southern  heights  is 
slopped  by  their  inner  or  northern  ridges,  and  drains  into  the 
trough  behind.     Of  tlie  three  great  rivers  of  India, — the  two 


2  2  THE   COUNTRY. 

longest — namely,  the  Indus  and  the  Brahmaputra — take  their 
rise  in  this  trough  lying  on  the  north  of  the  double  wall  of  the 
Himalayas ;  while  the  third,  the  Ganges,  receives  its  waters 
from  their  southern  slopes. 

Indus  and  Sutlej. — The  Indus,  with  its  mighty  feeder  the 
Sutlej,  and  the  Brahmaputra  rise  not  very  far  from  each  other, 
in  lonely  valleys,  which  are  separated  from  India  by  mountain 
barriers  15,000  feet  high.  The  Indus  and  the  Sutlej  first  flow 
westwards.  Then,  turning  south,  through  openings  in  the 
Himalayas,  they  join  with  shorter  rivers  in  the  Punjab,  and 
their  united  stream  falls  into  the  Indian  Ocean  after  a  course 
of  1800  miles. 

Brahmaputra. — The  Brahmaputra,  on  the  other  hand,  strikes 
to  the  east,  flowing  behind  the  Himalayas  until  it  searches  out 
a  passage  for  itself  through  their  clefts  at  the  north-eastern 
corner  of  Assam.  It  then  turns  sharply  round  to  the  west,  and 
afterwards  to  the  south,  and  so  finally  reaches  the  Bay  of  Bengal. 
Like  the  Indus,  it  has  a  course  of  about  1800  miles.  Thus, 
while  the  Indus  and  the  Brahmaputra  rise  close  to  each  other 
behind  the  Himalayas,  and  run  an  almost  equal  course,  their 
mouths  lie  1500  miles  apart,  on  the  opposite  sides  of  India. 
Both  of  them  have  a  long  secret  existence  in  the  trough 
between  the  double  mountain  wall  before  they  pierce  through 
the  hills ;  and  they  bring  to  the  Indian  plains  the  drainage  from 
the  northern  slopes  of  the  Himalayas.  Indeed,  the  first  part 
of  the  course  of  the  Brahmaputra  is  still  unexplored.  It  bears 
the  name  of  the  Sampu  for  nearly  a  thousand  miles  of  its 
passage  behind  the  Himalayan  wall,  and  it  is  not  till  it  bursts 
through  the  mountains  into  India  that  the  noble  stream  receives 
its  Sanskrit  name  of  Brahmaputra,  the  son  of  Brahma  or  God. 

The  Ganges  and  its  great  tributary  the  Jumna  collect  the 
drainage  from  the  southern  slopes  of  the  Himalayas ;  they  join 
their  waters  to  those  of  the  Brahmaputra  as  they  approach  the 
sea,  and,  after  a  course  of  1500  miles,  enter  the  Bay  of  Bengal 
by  a  vast  network  of  channels. 

Second  Region :  The  River  Plains. — The  wide  plains 
watered  by  the  Himalayan  rivers  form  the  second  of  the  four 
regions  into  which  I  have  divided  India.     They  extend  from 


THE  RIVER  PLAINS.  23 

the  Bay  of  Bengal  on  the  east  to  the  Indian  Ocean  on  the 
west,  and  contain  the  richest  and  most  densely-crowded  pro- 
vinces of  the  Indian  Empire.  One  set  of  invaders  after  another 
have,  from  very  ancient  times,  entered  by  the  passes  at  their 
norih-eastern  and  north-western  corners,  and,  following  the 
courses  of  the  rivers,  pushed  the  earher  comers  south  towards 
the  sea.  About  150  millions  of  people  now  hve  on  and  around 
these  river  plains,  in  the  provinces  known  as  the  Lieutenant- 
Governorship  of  Bengal,  Assam,  Oudh,  the  North-Western  Pro- 
vinces, the  Punjab,  Sind,  Rajputana,  and  other  Native  States, 
The  Indus  brings  water  from  the  Himalayas  to  the  western 
side  of  the  river  plains  of  Northern  India,  the  Brahmaputra  to 
their  eastern,  while  the  Ganges  and  its  feeders  fertilize  their 
central  region. 

The  Indus,  after  it  unites  the  five  rivers  of  the  Punjab, 
ceases  to  obtain  further  tributaries,  and  the  great  desert  of  Raj- 
putana stretches  from  its  left  bank.  The  Brahmaputra,  on  the 
extreme  east  of  the  plains,  passes  down  the  still  thinly-inhabited 
valley  of  Assam ;  and  it  is  only  in  the  lower  part  of  its  course, 
as  it  approaches  the  Ganges,  that  a  dense  population  is  found 
on  its  margin.  But  the  Ganges  and  its  great  tributary  the 
Jumna  flow  for  nearly  a  thousand  miles  almost  parallel  to  the 
Himalayas,  and  receive  many  streams  from  them.  They  do 
the  work  of  water-carrier  for  most  of  Northern  India,  and  the 
people  reverence  the  bountiful  rivers  which  fertilize  their  fields. 
The  sources  of  the  Ganges  and  Jumna  in  the  mountains  are 
held  sacred  ;  their  point  of  junction  at  Allahabad  is  yearly 
visited  by  thousands  of  pilgrims ;  and  a  great  religious  gathering 
takes  place  each  January  on  Sagar  island,  where  the  united 
stream  formerly  poured  into  the  sea.  To  bathe  in  Mother 
Ganges,  as  she  is  lovingly  called,  purified  from  sin  during  life ; 
and  the  devout  Hindu  died  in  the  hope  that  his  ashes  would  be 
borne  by  her  waters  to  the  ocean.  The  Ganges  is  also  a  river 
of  great  cities.  Calcutta,  Patna,  and  Benares  are  built  on  her 
banks  ;  Agra  and  Delhi  on  those  of  her  tributary  the  Jumna ; 
and  Allahabad  on  the  tongue  of  land  where  the  two  sister 
streams  unite. 

The  Work  done  by  the  Rivers. — In  order  to  understand 


24  THE   COUNTRY. 

the  Indian  plains,  we  must  have  a  clear  idea  of  the  part  played 
by  these  great  rivers ;  for  the  rivers  first  create  the  land,  then 
fertilize  it,  and  finally  distribute  its  produce.  The  plains  were 
in  many  parts  upheaved  by  volcanic  forces,  or  deposited  in  an 
aqueous  era,  long  before  man  appeared  on  the  earth.  But  in 
other  parts  the  plains  of  Northern  India  have  been  formed  out  of 
the  silt  which  the  rivers  bring  down  from  the  mountains,  and  at 
this  day  we  may  stand  by  and  watch  the  ancient,  silent  process  of 
land-making  go  on.  A  great  Bengal  river  like  the  Ganges  has 
two  distinct  stages  in  its  career  from  the  Himalayas  to  the  sea. 
In  the  first  stage  of  its  course,  it  runs  along  the  bottom  of 
valleys,  receives  the  drainage  and  mud  of  the  country  on  both 
sides,  absorbs  tributaries,  and  rushes  forward  with  an  ever- 
increasing  volume  of  water  and  silt.  But  by  the  time  that  the 
Ganges  reaches  the  middle  of  Lower  Bengal,  it  enters  on  the 
second  stage  of  its  life.  Finding  its  speed  checked  by  the  equal 
level  of  the  plains,  it  splits  out  into  several  channels,  like  a  jet 
of  water  suddenly  obstructed  by  the  finger,  or  a  jar  of  liquid 
dashed  on  the  floor.  Each  of  the  new  streams  thus  created 
throws  off  its  own  set  of  channels  to  left  and  right. 

The  Bengal  Delta. — The  country  which  these  numerous 
channels  or  offshoots  enclose  and  intersect,  forms  the  Delta  of 
Bengal.  The  network  of  streams  strugu:les  slowly  across  this 
vast  flat ;  and  the  currents  are  no  longer  able,  owing  to  their 
diminished  speed,  to  carry  along  the  silt  or  sand  which  the 
more  rapid  parent  river  had  brought  down  from  Northern 
India.  The  sluggish  split-up  rivers  of  the  delta  accordingly 
drop  their  burden  of  silt  in  their  channels  or  on  their  margins, 
producing  almond-shaped  islands,  and  by  degrees  raising  their 
beds  above  the  surrounding  plains.  In  this  way  the  rivers  of 
a  delta  build  themselves  up,  as  it  were,  into  high-level  canals, 
which  in  the  rainy  season  overflow  iheir  banks,  and  leave  their 
silt  upon  the  low  country  on  either  side.  Thousands  of  square 
miles  in  Lower  Bengal  thus  receive  each  autumn  a  top-dressing 
of  new  soil,  brought  free  of  cost  by  the  river-currents  from  the 
distant  Himalayas, — a  system  of  natural  manuring  which  yields 
a  constant  succession  of  rich  crops. 

The  Rivers  as  Land-makers. — As  the  rivers  creep  further 


TJIE  RIVER  PLAINS.  25 

down  the  delta,  they  become  more  and  more  sluggish,  and 
raise  their  beds  still  higher  above  the  adjacent  plains.  Each 
set  of  channels  has  a  depressed  tract  or  swamp  on  both  sides, 
so  that  the  lowest  levels  in  a  delta  lie  often  about  half-way 
between  the  rivers.  The  stream  overflows  into  these  depressed 
tracts,  and  gradually  fills  them  up  with  its  silt.  The  water 
which  rushes  from  the  rivers  into  the  swamps  is  sometimes 
yellow  from  the  quantity  of  silt  or  sand  which  it  carries.  When 
it  has  stood  a  few  days  in  the  swamps,  and  the  river-flood 
subsides,  the  water  flows  back  from  the  swamps  into  the  river- 
channels  ;  but  it  has  dropped  all  its  silt,  and  is  of  a  clear  dark- 
brown  hue.  The  silt  remains  in  the  swamp,  and  by  degrees 
fills  it  up,  thus  slowly  creating  new  land. 

River  Estuaries. — The  last  scene  in  the  life  of  an  Indian 
river  is  a  wilderness  of  forest  and  swamp  at  the  end  of  its  delta, 
amid  whose  malarious  solitudes  the  network  of  channels  merges 
into  the  sea.  Here  all  the  secrets  of  land-making  stand  dis- 
closed. The  streams,  finally  checked  by  the  dead  weight  of  the 
sea,  deposit  their  remaining  silt,  which  rises  above  the  surface  of 
the  water  in  the  shape  of  banks  or  curved  headlands.  The 
ocean-currents  also  find  themselves  impeded  by  the  down-flow 
from  the  rivers,  and  drop  the  burden  of  sand  which  the  tides 
sweep  along  the  coast.  In  this  way,  while  the  shore  gradually 
grows  out  into  the  sea,  owing  to  the  deposit  of  river  silt,  islands 
or  bars  are  formed  around  the  river  mouths  from  the  sand 
dropped  by  the  ocean-currents,  and  a  double  process  of  land- 
making  goes  on. 

The  Rivers  as  Irrigators  and  Highways. — The  great 
Indian  rivers,  therefore,  not  only  supply  new  ground  by 
depositing  islands  in  their  beds,  and  by  filling  up  the  low-lying 
tracts  or  swamps  beyond  their  margins,  but  also  by  forming 
banks  and  capes  and  masses  of  land  at  their  mouths.  They 
slowly  construct  their  deltas  by  driving  back  the  sea.  The  land 
which  they  thus  create,  they  also  fertilize.  In  the  lower  parts  of 
their  course,  their  overflow  affords  a  natural  system  of  irrigation 
and  manuring ;  in  the  higher  parts,  man  has  to  step  in,  and  to 
bring  their  water  by  canals  to  the  fields.  They  form,  moreover, 
cheap  highways  for  carrying  the  produce  of  the  country  to  the 


26  .  THE  COUNTRY. 

towns  and  seaports;  and  what  the  arteries  are  to  the  human 
body,  the  rivers  are  to  the  plains  of  Bengal. 

The  Rivers  as  Destroyers. — But  the  very  vastness  of  their 
energy  causes  terrible  calamities.  Scarcely  a  year  passes  with- 
out floods,  which  sweep  off  catde  and  grain  stores,  and  the 
thatched  cottages,  with  anxious  families  perched  on  their  roofs. 
In  the  upper  part  of  their  courses,  where  their  water  is  carried 
by  canals  to  the  fields,  the  rich  irrigated  lands  sometimes  breed 
fever,  and  are  in  places  destroyed  and  rendered  sterile  by  a 
saline  crust  called  reh.  Further  down,  the  uncontrollable  rivers 
wriggle  across  the  face  of  the  country,  deserting  their  old  beds, 
and  searching  out  new  channels  for  themselves,  it  may  be  at  a 
distance  of  many  miles.  During  these  restless  changes,  they 
drown  the  lands  and  villages  that  lie  in  their  path ;  and  a  Bengal 
proprietor  has  sometimes  to  look  on  helplessly  while  his  estate 
is  being  converted  into  the  new  bed  of  a  broad,  deep  stream. 
Even  in  their  quiet  moods  the  rivers  steadily  steal  land  from  the 
old  owners,  and  give  it  capriciously  to  a  fresh  set.  Each  autumn 
the  mighty  currents  undermine,  and  then  rend  away,  the  fields 
and  hamlets  on  their  margins.  Their  activity  in  land-making 
stops  up  their  channels  with  newly  formed  islands,  and  has  thus 
left  high  and  dry  in  ruin  many  a  once  important  city  along 
their  banks.  The  ancient  harbours  at  their  mouths  have  in  like 
manner  been  land-locked  and  shut  off  from  the  sea,  by  islands 
and  bars  formed  from  the  silt  or  sand  jointly  deposited  by  the 
rivers  and  the  ocean-currents. 

Crops  and  Scenery  of  the  Northern  River  Plains. — 
Throughout  the  river  plains  of  Bengal,  two  harvests,  and  in 
some  provinces  three,  are  reaped  each  year.  In  many  districts, 
indeed,  the  same  fields  have  to  yield  two  crops  within  the  twelve 
months.  Wheat  and  various  grains,  pease,  pulses,  oil-seeds,  and 
green  crops  of  many  sorts  are  reaped  in  spring ;  the  early  rice 
crops  in  September ;  the  great  rice  harvest  of  the  year  and  other 
grains  in  November  or  December.  Before  these  last  have  been 
gathered  in,  it  is  time  to  prepare  the  ground  again  for  the  spring 
crops;  and  the  husbandman  knows  no  rest  except  during  the 
hot  weeks  of  May,  when  he  is  anxiously  waiting  for  the  rains. 
The  northern  and  drier  regions,  along  the  higher  courses  of  the 


THE  SOUTHERN  TABLELAND.  27 

rivers,  roll  upwards  from  their  banks  into  fertile  plains,  dotted 
with  mud-built  villages,  and  adorned  with  noble  trees.  Mango 
groves  scent  the  air  with  their  blossom  in  spring,  and  yield  their 
abundant  fruit  in  summer.  The  spreading  banian  with  its 
colonnades  of  hanging  roots,  the  stately /z/lia/  with  its  masses  of 
foliage,  the  leafless  wild  cotton-tree  laden  with  its  heavy  red 
flowers,  the  tall  feathery  tamarind,  and  the  quick-growing  babul, 
rear  their  heads  above  the  crop  fields.  As  the  rivers  approach 
the  coast,  the  palms  begin  to  take  possession  of  the  scene. 

Crops  of  the  Delta. — The  ordinary  landscape  in  the  Bengal 
Delta  is  a  flat  stretch  of  rice  fields,  fringed  round  with  evergreen 
masses  of  bamboos,  cocoa-nuts,  areca,  and  other  coroneted 
palms.  This  densely-peopled  tract  seems  at  first  sight  bare  of 
villages,  for  each  hamlet  is  hidden  amid  its  own  grove  of  plan- 
tains and  wealth-giving  trees.  The  crops  also  change  as  we 
sail  down  the  rivers.  In  the  north,  the  principal  grains  are 
wheat,  barley,  and  millets,  such  as  jodr  and  bdjra.  The  two 
last  form  the  food  of  the  masses,  rice,  in  Northern  Bengal,  being 
only  grown  on  irrigated  lands,  and  consumed  by  the  rich.  In 
the  delta,  on  the  other  hand,  rice  is  the  staple  crop  and  the 
universal  diet.  More  than  a  hundred  varieties  of  it  are  known 
to  the  Bengal  peasant.  Sugar-cane,  oil-seeds,  cotton,  tobacco, 
indigo,  and  many  precious  spices  and  dyes  grow  both  in  the 
north  and  the  south.  The  tea-plant  is  reared  on  several  hilly 
ranges  which  skirt  the  plains,  but  chiefly  around  Darjiling  or  in 
the  Dwars  and  Assam ;  the  opium  poppy,  about  half-way  down 
the  Ganges,  near  Benares  and  Patna ;  the  silkworm  mulberry, 
still  further  down  in  Lower  Bengal ;  while  the  jute  fibre  is 
essentially  a  crop  of  the  delta,  and  would  exhaust  any  soil  not 
fertilized  by  river  floods.  Even  the  jungles  yield  the  costly  lac 
dye  and  tasar  silk  cocoons.  To  name  all  the  crops  of  the  river 
plains  would  weary  the  reader.  Nearly  every  vegetable  product 
which  feeds  and  clothes  a  people,  or  enables  it  to  trade  with 
foreign  nations,  abounds. 

Third  Kegion  :  The  Southern  Tableland. — Having  thus 
glanced  at  the  leading  features  of  the  Himalayas  on  the  north, 
and  of  the  great  river  plains  at  their  base,  I  come  now  to  the 
third  division  of  India,  namely,  the  three-sided  tableland  which 


28  THE   COUNTRY. 

covers  the  southern  half  of  the  peninsula.  This  tract,  known  in 
ancient  times  as  The  Deccan,  or  '  The  South'  [dakshin),  com- 
prises the  Central  Provinces,  Berar,  Madras,  and  Bombay,  and 
the  native  territories  of  the  Nizam,  Mysore,  Sindhia,  Holkar, 
and  other  feudatory  princes.  It  slopes  upwards  from  the 
southern  edge  of  the  Gangetic  plains.  Two  sacred  mountains 
stand  as  outposts  on  the  extreme  east  and  west,  with  confused 
ranges  stretching  eight  hundred  miles  between.  At  the  western 
extremity,  INIount  Abu,  famous  for  its  exquisite  Jain  temples, 
rises  5650  feet  from  the  Rdjputana  plains,  hke  an  island  out 
of  the  sea.  The  Ardvalli  chain,  the  Vindhya  mountains,  the 
Satpura  and  Kaimur  ranges,  with  other  highland  tracts,  run 
across  the  country  eastwards  until  they  abut  on  the  Ganges 
valley,  under  the  name  of  the  Rajmahal  hills.  On  the  eastern 
edge  of  the  central  mountainous  region.  Mount  Parasndth,  also 
sacred  to  Jain  rites,  towers  4400  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
Gangetic  plains. 

Scenery  of  the  Southern  Tableland. — These  various 
ranges  form,  as  it  were,  the  northern  wall  and  buttresses  on 
which  rests  the  central  tableland  of  India.  Now  pierced  by 
road  and  rail,  they  stood  in  former  times  as  a  barrier  of 
mountain  and  jungle  between  Northern  and  Southern  India, 
and  greatly  increased  the  difficulty  of  welding  the  whole- into 
one  empire.  The  three-cornered  tableland  forms  a  vast  mass  of 
forests,  ridges,  and  peaks,  broken  by  cultivated  valleys  and  high- 
lying  plains.  Its  eastern  and  western  sides  are  known  as  the 
Ghats,  a  word  applied  to  a  flight  of  steps  up  a  river  bank  or  to 
a  mountain  pass.  The  Eastern  Ghats  run  in  fragmentary  spurs 
and  ranges  down  the  Madras  side  of  India,  sometimes  receding 
inland,  and  leaving  broad  plains  between  them  and  the  coast. 
The  Western  Ghats  form  a  great  sea-wall  for  the  Bomba}'  Presi- 
dency, with  only  a  narrow  strip  between  them  and  the  shore. 
At  places  they  rise  in  magnificent  precipices  and  headlands 
almost  out  of  the  ocean,  and  truly  look  like  colossal  '  landing- 
stairs  '  from  the  sea.  The  Eastern  and  Western  Ghats  meet  at 
an  angle  near  CapeComorin  at  the  southern  extremity  of  India, 
and  so  complete  the  three  sides  of  the  tableland.  The  inner 
plateau   itself  lies  far  below  the  snow  line,  and  its  ordinary 


THE  SOUTHERN   TABLELAND,  29 

elevation  seldom  exceeds  2000  to  3000  feet.  Its  best-known 
hills  are  the  Nilgiris  (Blue  INIountains),  \vhich  contain  the  summer 
capital  of  Madras,  Utakamand,  7000  feet  above  the  sea.  The 
highest  point  is  Dodabetta  peak,  8760  feet,  at  the  southern 
extremity  of  Mysore. 

Rivers  of  the  Southern  Tableland. — This  inner  region  of 
highlands  sends  its  waters  chiefly  to  the  eastern  coast.  The 
drainage  from  the  northern  or  Vindhyan  edge  of  the  three-sided 
tableland  falls  into  the  Ganges.  The  Narbada  runs  along  the 
southern  base  of  the  Vindhyas,  and  carries  their  southern  drain- 
age due  west  into  the  Gulf  of  Cambay.  The  Tapti  flows  almost 
parallel  to  the  Narbada,  a  little  to  the  southward,  and  bears  to 
the  Gulf  of  Cambay  the  waters  from  the  Satpura  hills.  But 
from  this  point,  as  we  proceed  southwards,  the  Western  Ghais 
rise  into  a  high  unbroken  barrier  between  the  Bombay  coast 
and  the  waters  of  the  inner  tableland.  The  drainage  has 
therefore  to  make  its  way  right  across  India  to  the  eastwards, 
now  twisting  round  hill  ranges,  now  rushing  down  the  valleys 
between  them,  until  the  rain,  which  the  Bombay  sea-breeze 
dropped  upon  the  Western  Ghats,  finally  falls  into  the  Bay  of 
Bengal.  In  this  way  the  three  great  rivers  of  the  Madras 
Presidency — namely,  the  Godavari,  the  Krishna (Kistna),  and  the 
Kaveri — rise  in  the  mountains  overhanging  the  Bombay  coast, 
and  traverse  the  whole  breadth  of  the  central  tableland  before 
they  reach  the  ocean  on  the  eastern  shores  of  India. 

Forests  of  the  Southern  Tableland. — The  ancient  Sanskrit 
poets  speak  of  the  southern  tableland  as  buried  under  forests ; 
and  sal,  ebony,  sissii,  teak,  and  other  great  trees  still  abound. 
The  Ghats,  in  particular,  are  covered  with  magnificent  vegeta- 
tion wherever  a  sapling  can  take  root.  But  tillage  has  now 
driven  back  the  jungle  to  the  hilly  recesses  ;  and  fields  of  wheat, 
and  many  kinds  of  smaller  grain  or  millets,  tobacco,  cotton, 
sugar-cane,  and  pulses,  spread  over  the  open  country.  The 
black  soil  of  Southern  India  is  proverbial  for  its  fertility  ;  and 
the  lowlands  between  the  Ghats  and  the  sea  rival  even  Lower 
Bengal  in  their  fruit-bearing  palms,  rice  harvests,  and  rich  succes- 
sion of  crops.  The  inner  tableland  is,  however,  very  liable  to 
droughts;    and  the  people  have    devised  a  varied   system   of 


30  THE   COUNTRY. 

irrigation,  in  some  districts  from  wells,  in  others  from  tanks,  or 
from  artificial  lakes  formed  by  damming  up  the  mouths  of  river 
valleys.  They  thus  store  the  rain  brought  during  a  few  months 
by  the  northern  and  southern  monsoons,  and  husband  it  for  use 
throughout  the  whole  year.  The  food  of  the  common  people 
consists  chiefly  of  small  grains  or  millets,  such  a.sjodr,  idj'ra, 
and  rdgi.     The  principal  exports  are  cotton  and  wheat. 

Minerals  of  the  Tableland. — It  is,  moreover,  on  the  three- 
sided  tableland,  and  among  the  hilly  spurs  which  project  from 
it,  that  the  mineral  wealth  of  India  lies  hid.  Coal-mining  now 
forms  a  great  industry,  both  on  the  north-eastern  edge  of  the 
tableland  in  Bengal,  and  in  the  valleys  of  the  Central  Provinces. 
Beds  of  iron  ore  and  limestone  hold  out  a  prospect  of 
metal-smelting  on  a  large  scale  in  the  future ;  copper  and  other 
metals  exist  in  small  quantities.  The  diamonds  of  Golconda 
were  long  famous.  Gold-dust  has  from  very  ancient  times  been 
washed  out  of  many  of  the  river  beds  ;  and  gold-mining  is  now 
being  attempted  on  scientific  principles  in  Madras  and  Mysore. 

Burma. — Burma,  which  the  English  have  incorporated  into 
the  Indian  Empire,  consists  mainly  of  the  valley  of  the  Irawadi, 
and  a  strip  of  coast  along  the  east  side  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal. 
It  stretches  north  and  south,  with  the  sea  on  the  west,  a  back- 
bone of  lofty  ranges  running  down  the  middle,  and  the  moun- 
tainous frontier  of  the  Chinese  Empire  and  Siam  on  the  east. 
The  central  backbone  of  ranges  in  Burma  is  formed  by  the  Yoma 
mountains.  They  are  covered  with  dense  forests,  and  separate 
the  Irawadi  valley  from  the  strip  of  coast.  The  river  floats 
down  an  abundant  supply  of  teak  from  the  north.  A  thousand 
creeks  indent  the  seaboard  ;  and  the  whole  of  the  level  country, 
both  on  the  coast  and  in  the  Irawadi  valley,  forms  a  vast  rice- 
field.  Tobacco  of  an  excellent  quality  supplies  the  cigars  which 
all  Burmese  men  and  women  smoke;  and  large  quantities  of 
tobacco  leaf  are  also  brought  over  from  the  IMadras  Presidency. 
Until  1886  British  Burma  was  divided  into  three  Provinces — 
Arakan,  or  the  northern  coast  strip ;  Pegu,  or  the  Irawadi  valley 
in  the  middle ;  and  Tenasserim,  or  the  narrow  maritime  tract 
and  islands  running  down  from  the  south  of  the  Irawadi  Delta. 
In  1886  Upper  Burma,  or  the  old  kingdom  of  Ava,  was  added 


BURMA.  31 

to  the  British  Empire.  Arakan  and  Pegu  contain  mineral  oil 
springs.  Tenasserim  is  rich  in  tin  mines,  and  in  iron  ores 
equal  to  the  finest  Swedish,  besides  gold  and  copper  in  smaller 
quantities,  and  a  very  pure  limestone.  Rice  and  timber  form 
the  staple  exports  of  Burma,  and  rice  is  also  the  universal  food 
of  the  people. 

Materials  for  Reference. 

The  materials  for  a  complete  study  of  the  physical  aspects  of  India  will 
be  found  in  (i)  The  Imperial  Gazetteer  of  India,  14  vols.  2nd  ed.  This 
again  is  condensed  from  the  Statistical  Survey  of  India  in  about  120 
volumes.  (2)  The  printed  Records  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  India. 
(3)  Blanford's  Meteorological  Memoirs  and  Meteorology  of  India. 


[32] 


CHAPTER    II. 
The  People. 

General  Survey  of  the  People. — India  is  divided  into  two 
classes  of  territories ;  first,  Provinces  under  British  rule ; 
second,  States  under  Native  Chiefs.  The  population  of  the 
whole  amounted  in  1891  to  288  millions,  or  more  than  double 
the  number  estimated  for  the  Roman  Empire  in  the  height  of 
its  power.  But  the  English,  even  more  than  the  Romans, 
have  respected  the  rights  of  Native  Chiefs  who  are  willing  to 
govern  well.  Such  Chiefs  still  rule  on  their  own  account  about 
one-third  of  the  area  of  India,  with  over  66  millions  of  subjects, 
or  nearly  a  quarter  of  the  whole  Indian  people.  The  British 
territories,  therefore,  comprise  only  two-thirds  of  the  area  of 
India,  and  over  three-quarters,  or  over  221  millions,  of  its 
inhabitants. 

The  Native  States. — The  Native  princes  govern  their  States 
with  the  help  and  under  the  advice  of  a  Bridsh  Resident, 
whom  the  Viceroy  stations  at  their  courts.  Some  of  them 
reign  almost  as  independent  sovereigns ;  others  have  less 
power.  They  form  a  great  body  of  feudatory  rulers,  possessed 
of  revenues  and  armies  of  their  own.  The  more  important 
exercise  the  power  of  life  and  death  over  their  subjects;  but 
the  authority  of  all  is  limited  by  treaties,  by  which  they, 
acknowledge  their  '  subordinate  dependence '  to  the  Bridsh 
Government.  The  British  Government,  as  Suzerain  in  India, 
does  not  allow  its  feudatories  to  make  war  upon  each  other, 
or  to  form  alliances  with  foreign  States.  It  interferes  when 
any   Chief  misgoverns   his   people;    rebukes,   and   if  needful 


AREA    OF  POPULATION  OF  INDIA.  33 

dethrones,  the  oppressor;  protects  the  weak,  and  imposes 
peace  upon  all. 

The  Twelve  British  Provinces. — The  British  possessions 
are  distributed  into  twelve  Provinces.  Each  has  its  own 
Governor  or  head ;  but  all  are  controlled  by  the  supreme 
Government  of  India,  consisting  of  a  Governor-General  in 
Council.  The  Governor-General  also  bears  the  tide  of  Viceroy. 
He  holds  his  court  and  government  at  Calcutta  in  the  cold 
weather;  and  during  summer  at  Simla,  in  the  Himalayas, 
7000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  Viceroy  of  India 
is  appointed  by  the  Queen  of  England ;  so  also  are  the 
Governors  of  Madras  and  Bombay.  The  heads  of  the  other 
Provinces  are  chosen  for  their  merit  from  the  Anglo-Indian 
services,  almost  always  from  the  Civil  Service,  and  are  nomin- 
ated by  the  Viceroy,  subject  in  the  case  of  the  Lieutenant- 
Governorships  to  the  approval  of  the  Secretary  of  State.  The 
Queen  of  England  is  Empress  of  India,  and  is  spoken  of  both 
officially  and  commonly  in  India  as  '  the  Queen-Empress.' 

Area  and  Population. — The  two  tables  following  show  the 
area  and  population,  first,  of  the  twelve  Provinces  of  British 
India,  with  the  separate  jurisdiction  of  Quetta,  excluding  Aden 
and  the  Andaman  Islands  ;  and,  second,  the  area  and  population 
of  the  Feudatory  States  arranged  in  thirteen  groups. 

The  first  table  gives  the  population  counted  by  the 
Census  Officers  in  British  India,  exclusive  of  Aden  and  the 
Andaman  Islands,  in  1891.  But  as  shown  in  the  footnotes  to 
the  table,  certain  additions  have  to  be  made  for  new  districts  in 
which  the  population  could  only  be  roughly  enumerated  or 
estimated.  If  we  add  these  numbers,  the  actual  total  popula- 
tion of  British  India,  exclusive  of  Aden  and  the  Andaman 
Islands,  amounted  to  over  2215  millions  in  1891. 

In  the  second  table,  to  the  total  must  be  added  the  population 
in  Native  States  beyond  the  reach  of  the  Census,  but  approxi- 
mately estimated  as  shown  in  the  footnotes  to  the  table.  Making 
these  additions  the  actual  population  of  Feudatory  or  Native 
India  in  1891  was  nearly  66f  millions.  Adding  this  number  to 
the  actual  population  of  over  2211  millions  in  British  India,  we 
find  that  the  total  population  of  British  and  Feudatory  India  in 

c 


34 


THE  PEOPLE. 


1 89 1  (exclusive  of  Aden  and  the  Andaman  Islands)  was   in 
round  figures  288  millions. 


Name  of  Province. 

(Exclusive  of  the  Native 

Slates  attached  to  it.) 

Area  in  square 

miles. 

Total  Popul 

ition,  1891, 

Number 

of  Persons 

per  square 

mile. 

.     .   252 

I.  Government  of  Madras  . 

.     .        141,189 

35,630,440 

2.  Goveniment  of  Bombay*  : 

Bombay     . 
Sind      . 

77.^^5  j  125,127 
47,852  \      ^'     ' 

1^,985,270  ) 
2,871,774^ 

18,857,044 

tw 

3.  Lieut. -Governorship    of 

Bengal 

.    •      I5i;543 

.     .     .     • 

71,346,987 

,    .  460 

4.  Lieut. -Governorship     of 

the  Punjab . 

.    .      110,66; 

.     •     •     • 

20,866,847 

.  .  188 

5.  Lieut-Governorship    of 

the     North  -  Western 

Provinces  and    . 

S3.286  ) 

34,254,254  ) 

4") 

6.  Chief  Commissionership 

(  107,503 

46,905,085 

[436 

ofOudh    . 

24,217  ) 

12,650,831  I 

522 

7.  Chief  Commissionership 

of   the    Central    Pro- 

vinces 

.    .    .  86,501 

.            •     • 

10,784,294 

.     .  124 

8.  Chief  Commissionership 

of  Burmaf : 

Upper  Burma 
Lower  Burma 

%'SAV<-'-»' 

2,946,9.'..^  ) 
4,658,627  \ 

7,605,560 

^^\    45 
52  )    ^^ 

9.  Chief  Commissionership 

of  Assam  . 

.    .    .  49,004 

.     •     .     . 

5,476,833 

.     .  Ill 

10.  Commissionership        of 

Berart 

.   .    .  17,718 

•      •     •     . 

2,897,491 

.    .163 

11.  Commissionership        of 

Ajmere-Merwara 

.    .    .    2,711 

. 

•  542,358 

.    .  200 

13.  Commissionership        of 

Coorg 

.    .   .    1,583 

.     .     .     . 

•    173,055 

.    .  109 

Quetta  § 
Total  for  British  India  . 

27.270 

"'  '    '  ~ 

961,994 

221,113,264 

229 

*  Excluding  Aden,  area  75  square  miles,  population  44,079. 

+  In  Burma  some  returns  were  destroyed,  and  on  the  frontier  there  was  only 
a  rough  enumeration  ;  under  these  two  heads  there  should  be  added  an  approxi- 
mate population  of  116,493. 

J  Berar  consists  of  the  six  'Assigned  Districts.'  They  were  made  over  to 
British  administration  by  the  Nizam  of  HaidaraLad  for  the  support  of  the  Haidar- 
abad  Contingent,  which  he  was  bound  by  treaty  to  maintain,  and  in  discharge  of 
other  obligations. 

§  A  rough  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  of  British  Baluchistan,  excluding 
Quetta,  returned  a  population  of  145,417. 


POPULATION  OF  INDIA.  35 

The  Thirteen  Groups  of  Native  States  forming 
Feudatory  India  (189  i). 


Numberof 

Area  in 

Total 

persons 

States  or  Grouts  of  States. 

square 

Population, 

per 

miles. 

1891. 

square 
mile. 

1.  Rajpulana*  ..... 

130,268 

X2,0l6,I02 

92 

2.  Haidarabad  (Nizam's  Dominions) 

82,698 

",537,040 

139 

3.  Central  India  Agency  and  Bundel- 

khand        ..... 

77,808 

10,318,812 

132 

4.   Baroda 

8,226 

2,415.396 

293 

5.  Mysore          ..... 

28,082 

4,943,604 

176 

6.  Kashmir 

80,900 

2,543.952 

31 

7.  Native  States  under  Bombay  Go- 

vernment ..... 

69,045 

8,059,298 

116 

8.  Native  States  under  Madras  Go- 

1              vernment  ..... 

9,609 

3,700,622 

385 

9.  Native   States  under  Bengal  Go- 

vernment ..... 

35.834 

3,296,379 

91 

10.  Native  States    under  Punjab  Go- 

vernment ..... 

38,299 

4,263,280 

111 

II.  Native   States  under  North-West- 

ern  Provinces     .... 

5.109 

792,491 

165 

12.  Native   States  under    Central  Pro- 

vinces        ..... 

29.435 

2,160,511 

73 

13.  Shan  States  t  (outposts,  &c.) 

2,992 

— 

Total  for  Feudatory  India  +  . 

595.313 

66,050,479 

no 

If  to  the  figures  in  the  foregoing  tables  of  the  population 
actually  counted  by  the  Census  Officers  for  British  and  Feuda- 
tory India,  we  add  the  French  and  Portuguese  possessions,  we 
obtain  the  total  for  all  continental  India,  e.xclusive  of  Aden  and 
the  Andaman  Islands.     Thus — 

All  India,  including  Burma 


Area  in 
square 
miles. 

Population. 

Number  of 
persons  per 
square  mile. 

British  India  (1891) 
Feudatory  India  1,1891)     . 
Portuguese  Settlements  (1881) . 

French  Settlements  (i 891)  .     . 

Total  for  all  India,  including  ) 
Burma         .         .         •     •  i 

961,994 

595.313 
1,086 

178 

221,113,264 

66,050,479 

481,467 

282,923 

229 
110 

1  Chiefly  in 
>  Towns   or 
)  Subuit)an. 

1,558,571 

287,928,133 

184 

*  Add  Bhils,  &c.,  approximately,  not  enumerated,  204,241. 
+  Shan  States  approximately,  not  enumerated,  372,969. 
X  The  returns  for  Manipur  were  destroyed  during  the  recent  disturbances  ; 
the  population  of  Silikim  is  approximately  30,458. 

C  2 


36  THE  PEOPLE. 

Density  of  the  Population. — British  India  is  very  thickly 
peopled ;  and  some  parts  are  so  overcrowded  that  the  inhabit- 
ants can  with  difificulty  obtain  land  to  cultivate.  Each  square 
mile  of  the  British  Provinces  has  to  feed,  on  an  average,  229 
persons.  Each  square  mile  of  the  Native  States  has  to  feed, 
on  an  average,  only  no  persons,  or  less  than  one-half.  li  we 
exclude  the  outlying  Provinces  of  Burma  and  Assam,  the  people 
in  British  India  average  279  to  the  square  mile ;  so  that  British 
India  is  two  and  a  half  times  more  thickly  inhabited  than  the 
Native  Slates.  How  thick  this  population  is,  may  be  realized 
from  the  fact  that,  in  1886,  France  only  had  187  people  to  the 
square  mile  ;  while  even  in  crowded  England,  wherever  the 
density  approaches  200  to  the  square  mile  the  population  ceases 
to  be  rural,  and  has  to  live  by  manufactures,  by  mining,  or  by 
city  industries. 

Few  Large  Towns  in  India. — Unlike  England,  India  has 
few  large  towns.  Thus,  in  England  and  Wales,  more  than  one- 
half  of  the  population,  in  1891,  lived  in  towns  with  upwards  of 
20,000  inhabitants,  while  in  British  India  less  than  one-twentieth 
of  the  people  lived  in  such  towns.  India,  therefore,  is  almost 
entirely  a  rural  country ;  and  many  of  the  so-called  towns  are 
mere  groups  of  villages,  in  the  midst  of  which  the  cattle  are 
driven  a-field,  and  ploughing  and  reaping  go  on. 

Overcrowded  Districts. — We  see,  therefore,  in  India  a 
dense  population  of  husbandmen.  Wherever  their  numbers 
exceed  i  to  the  acre,  or  640  to  the  square  mile — excepting 
near  towns  or  in  irrigated  tracts — they  find  it  difficult  to  raise 
sufficient  crops  from  the  land  to  supply  them  with  food.  Yet 
many  millions  of  peasants  in  India  are  struggling  to  live  off 
half  an  acre  apiece.  In  such  districts,  if  the  rain  falls  short  by 
a  few  inches,  the  people  suffer  great  distress ;  if  the  rain  fails  to 
a  large  extent,  thousands  die  of  famine. 

Under-peopled  Districts. — In  some  parts  of  India,  there- 
fore, there  are  more  husbandmen  than  the  land  can  feed.  In 
other  parts,  vast  tracts  of  fertile  soil  still  await  the  cultivator. 
In  England,  the  people  would  move  freely  from  the  over- 
populated  districts  to  the  thinly-inhabited  ones.  But  in  India 
the  peasant  clings  to  his  fields ;  and  parcels  them  out  among 


MOVEMENTS  OF  THE  POPULATION.  37 

his  children,  even  when  his  family  has  grown  too  numerous  to 
live  upon  the  crops.  If  the  Indian  husbandmen  will  learn  to 
migrate  to  tracts  where  spare  land  abounds,  they  will  do  more 
than  the  utmost  efforts  of  Government  can  accomplish  to  bettel- 
themselves  and  to  prevent  famines. 

Distribution  of  the  People. — It  is  not  stupidity  that 
makes  the  Indian  peasant  cling  to  his  hereditary  fields.  In 
old  days  he  could  move  to  other  districts  or  provinces  only  with 
great  difficulty  and  danger.  Roads  for  carts  or  wheeled  traffic 
were  few  and  far  between  ;  and  in  many  parts  of  India  only 
existed  along  the  chief  military  routes.  During  the  century  of 
confusion  and  Native  misrule  which  preceded  the  establishment 
of  the  British  Power,  travelling  even  by  such  roads  as  did  exist 
was  perilous  owing  to  robbers  and  armed  bands.  Railways  and 
steamboats,  which  are  the  great  modern  distributors  of  popula- 
tion, were  altogether  unknown  in  India  under  Native  rule,  and 
have  only  been  introduced  into  India  in  our  own  generation. 
By  the  help  of  roads,  railways  and  river-steamers,  it  is  now 
possible  for  the  first  time  for  the  Indian  peasants  in  overcrowded 
districts  to  move  to  districts  where  there  is  still  spare  land.  The 
Indian  cultivators  are  slowly  but  surely  learning  this,  and  they  are 
moving  in  large  numbers  to  thinly  peopled  districts  in  Eastern 
and  Northern  Bengal,  Assam,  and  the  Central  Provinces. 

The  Nomadic  System  of  Husbandry. — Throughout  many 
of  the  hill  and  frontier  tracts  land  is  so  plentiful  that  it  yields  no 
rent.  The  hillmen  settle  for  a  few  years  in  some  fertile  spot, 
which  they  clear  of  jungle.  They  then  exhaust  the  soil  by  a 
rapid  succession  of  crops,  and  leave  it  to  relapse  into  forest. 
In  such  tracts  no  rent  is  charged  ;  but  each  family  of  wandering 
husbandmen  pays  a  poll-tax  to  the  Chief,  under  whose  protec- 
tion it  dwells.  As  the  inhabitants  increase,  this  nomadic  system 
of  cultivation  gives  place  to  regular  tillage.  Throughout  Burma 
we  see  both  methods  at  work  side  by  side ;  while  on  the  thickly- 
peopled  plains  of  India  the  '  wandering  husbandmen '  have 
disappeared,  and  each  peasant  family  remains  rooted  to  the 
same  plot  of  ground  during  many  generations. 

Kise  in  Rents. — Yet  only  a  hundred  years  ago  there  was 
more  land  even  in  Bengal  than  there  were  cultivators  to  till  it. 


38  THE  PEOPLE. 

The  landlords  had  to  tempt  husbandmen  to  settle  on  their 
estates,  by  giving  them  land  at  low  rents.  Now  the  cultivators 
have  grown  so  numerous,  that  in  some  districts  they  will  offer 
any  rent  for  a  piece  of  ground.  The  Government  has,  there- 
fore, had  to  pass  laws  to  prevent  too  great  a  rise  in  rents. 
These  laws  recognize  the  rights  of  the  cultivators  in  the  fields 
which  they  have  long  tilled ;  and  the  rents  of  such  hereditary 
husbandmen  cannot  be  raised  above  fair  rates,  fixed  by  the 
Courts. 

Serfdom  abolished. — In  the  old  times  the  scarcity  of  people 
made  each  family  of  cultivators  of  great  value  to  their  landlord. 
In  many  parts  of  India,  when  once  a  peasant  had  settled  in  a 
village,  he  was  not  allowed  to  go  away.  In  hill  districts  where 
the  nomadic  or  wandering  system  of  husbandry  still  survives, 
no  family  is  allowed  by  the  Native  Chief  to  quit  his  territory ; 
for  each  household  pays  a  poll-tax  to  the  Chief,  and  the  Chief 
cannot  afford  to  lose  this  money.  In  some  Provinces  the 
English  found  the  lower  classes  of  husbandmen  attached  like 
serfs  to  the  soil.  Our  officers  in  South-Eastern  Bengal  almost 
raised  a  rebellion  by  their  efforts  to  liberate  the  rural  slaves. 
The  descendants  of  the  old  serfs  still  survive ;  but  they  are  now 
freemen. 

Fourfold  Division  of  the  People. — European  writers  for- 
merly divided  the  Indian  population  into  two  races, — the  Hindus 
and  the  Muhammadans.  But  when  we  look  more  closely  at  the 
people,  we  find  that  they  consist  of  four  elements.  These  are — 
First,  the  Non-Aryan  Tribes,  called  the  Aborigines,  who  num- 
bered in  1872  (when  the  first  Census  of  India  was  taken)  about 
18  millions  in  the  British  Provinces.*  Second,  the  descendants 
of  the  Aryan  or  Sanskrit-speaking  Race,  now  called  Brah- 
mans  and  Rajputs,  who  numbered  in  1872  about  16  millions. 
Third,  the  great  Mixed  Population,  generally  known  as  the 
Hindus,  which  has  grown  out  of  the  Aryan  and  non-Aryan 
elements  (chiefly  from  the  latter),  and  numbered  in  1872  about 
121  millions.  Fourth,  the  Muhammadans,  who  began  to  come 
to  India  about  1000  a.d.,  and  who  numbered  in  1872  over 

*  For  the  new  system  of  classification  adopted  by  the  Census  of  1881  and 
1 89 1  stc  post,  p.  50. 


THE    VARIOUS  RACES  OF  INDIA.  39 

45  millions.  These  made  up  the  200  millions  of  the  people  under 
British  rule  in  1872.  Since  then  the  population  of  British  India 
has  grown  to  over  221  millions  in  1891.  All  the  four  sections 
of  the  population  above  mentioned  have  contributed  to  this  in- 
crease. But  many  of  the  non-Aryan  or  Aboriginal  tribes  have 
during  the  past  twenty  years  been  converted  to  the  Hindu 
religion,  and  are  now  reckoned  in  the  Census  as  Hindus.  The 
same  fourfold  division  applies  to  the  population  of  the  66  millions 
in  Feudatory  India,  but  we  do  not  know  the  numbers  of  the 
different  classes. 

The  Two  Chief  Races  of  Prehistoric  India. — The  great 
sources  of  the  Indian  population  were,  therefore,  the  non-Aryans 
and  the  Aryans ;  and  we  must  first  try  to  get  a  clear  view  of 
these  ancient  peoples.  Our  earliest  glimpses  of  India  disclose 
two  races  struggling  for  the  soil.  The  one  was  a  fair-skinned 
people,  which  had  lately  entered  by  the  north-western  passes, — 
a  people  who  called  themselves  Aryan,  literally  of  'noble' 
lineage,  speaking  a  stately  language,  worshipping  friendly  and 
powerful  gods.  These  Aryans  became  the  Brahmans  and  Raj- 
puts of  India.  The  other  race  was  of  a  lower  type,  who  had 
long  dwelt  in  the  land,  and  whom  the  lordly  new-comers  drove 
back  into  the  mountains,  or  reduced  to  servitude  on  the  plains. 
The  comparatively  pure  descendants  of  these  two  races  are  now 
nearly  equal  in  numbers ;  the  intermediate  castes,  sprung  chiefly 
from  the  ruder  stock,  make  up  the  great  mass  of  the  Indian 
population.  We  shall  afterwards  see  that  a  third  race,  the 
Scythians,  also  played  an  important  part  in  India,  about  the 
beginning  of  the  Christian  era.  The  Muhammadans  belong  to 
a  period  a  thousand  years  later. 

Materials  for  Reference. 

Full  particulars  as  to  the  population  of  India,  accordingf  to  their  birth- 
place, sex,  race,  age,  religion,  their  distribution  into  town  and  country, 
and  their  ability  to  read  and  write,  are  given  in  the  Appendices  to  my /wa'z'an 
Empire  (Third  edition,  1893). 


[4o] 

CHAPTER    III. 
The  non-Aryans. 

The  non- Aryans  or  Aborigines. — The  oldest  dwellers  in 
India  consisted  of  many  tribes,  who,  in  the  absence  of  a  race- 
name  of  their  own,  are  called  the  non-Aryans  or  Aborigines. 
They  have  left  no  written  records ;  indeed,  the  use  of  letters, 
or  of  any  simplest  hieroglyphics,  was  to  them  unknown.  The 
sole  works  of  their  hands  which  have  come  down  to  us  are 
rude  stone  circles,  and  the  upright  slabs  and  mounds  beneath 
which,  like  the  primitive  peoples  of  Europe,  they  buried  their 
dead.  From  the  remains  found  in  these  tombs,  we  only  dis- 
cover that,  at  some  far  distant  but  unfixed  period,  they  knew 
how  to  make  round  pots  of  hard  thin  earthenware,  not  inelegant 
in  shape ;  that  they  fought  with  iron  weapons  and  wore 
ornaments  of  copper  and  gold.  Earlier  remains  prove,  indeed, 
that  these  ancient  tomb-builders  formed  only  one  link  in 
a  chain  of  primeval  races.  Before  them,  India  was  peopled 
by  tribes  unacquainted  with  the  metals,  who  hunted  and  warred 
with  polished  flint  axes  and  other  deftly  wrought  implements  of 
stone,  similar  to  those  found  in  Northern  Europe.  And  even 
these  were  the  successors  of  yet  ruder  beings,  who  have  left 
their  agate  knives  and  rough  flint  weapons  in  the  Narbada 
valley.  In  front  of  this  far-stretching  background  of  the  Early- 
Metal  and  Stone  Ages,  we  see  the  so-called  Aborigines  being 
beaten  down  by  the  newly-arrived  Aryan  race. 

The  non- Aryans  as  described  by  the  Aryans. — The  vic- 
torious Aryans  from  Western  or  West-Central  Asia  called  the 
earlier  tribes  whom  they  found  in  India  Dasyus,  or  '  enemies,' 
and  Ddsas,  or  '  slaves.'  The  Aryans  entered  India  from  the 
colder  north,  and  prided  themselves  on  their  fair  complexion. 
Their  Sanskrit  word  for  '  colour  '  {varna)  came  to  mean  '  race ' 
or  '  caste.'  The  old  Aryan  poets,  who  composed  the  Veda  at 
least  3000  and  perhaps  4000  years  ago,  praised  their  bright 
gods,  who,  'slaying  the  Dasyus,  protected  the  Aryan  colour' ] 


THE  NON-ARYANS  OF  ANCIENT  INDIA.  41 

who  '  subjected  the  black-skin  to  the  Aryan  man/  They  tell 
us  of  their  own  '  stormy  deities,  who  rush  on  like  furious  bulls 
and  scatter  the  black-skin.'  IMoreover,  the  Aryan,  with  his 
finely-formed  features,  loathed  the  squat  Mongolian  faces  of 
the  Aborigines.  One  Vedic  poet  speaks  of  the  Dasyus  or  non- 
Aryans  as  '  noseless '  or  flat-nosed,  while  another  praises  his 
own  '  beautiful-nosed '  gods.  The  same  unsightly  feature  was 
noticed  with  regard  to  a  non-Aryan  Asiatic  tribe,  by  the  com- 
panions of  Alexander  the  Great  on  his  Indian  expedition, 
more  than  a  thousand  years  later.  But  indeed  the  Vedic  hymns 
abound  in  scornful  epithets  for  the  primitive  races  of  India,  as 
'  disturbers  of  sacrifices,'  '  gross  feeders  on  flesh,'  '  raw-eaters,' 
'  lawless,'  '  not-sacrificing,'  '  without  gods,'  and  '  without  rites.' 
As  time  went  on,  and  these  rude  tribes  were  driven  back  into 
the  forest,  they  were  painted  in  still  more  hideous  shapes,  till 
they  became  the  '  monsters '  and  '  demons '  of  the  Aryan  poet 
and  priest.  Their  ancient  race-name,  Dasyu,  or  '  enemy,'  thus 
grew  to  signify  goblin  or  devil,  as  the  old  Teutonic  word  for 
enemy  or  'the  hater'  (modern  German  fcind)  has  become  the 
English  '  fiend.' 

More  Civilized  non-Aryan  Tribes. — Nevertheless  all  the 
non-Aryan  tribes  of  ancient  India  could  not  have  been  savages. 
We  hear  of  wealthy  Dasyus  or  non-Aryans  ;  and  the  Vedic 
hymns  speak  of  their  '  seven  castles '  and  '  ninety  forts.'  The 
Aryans  afterwards  made  alliance  with  non-Aryan  tribes  ;  and 
some  of  the  most  powerful  kingdoms  of  India  were  ruled  by  non- 
Aryan  kings.  Nor  were  the  non-Aryans  devoid  of  religious  rites, 
or  of  cravings  after  a  future  life.  '  They  adorn,'  says  an  ancient 
Sanskrit  book,  '  the  bodies  of  their  dead  with  gifts,  with  raiment, 
with  ornaments;  imagining  that  thereby  they  shall  attain  the 
world  to  come.'  These  ornaments  are  the  bits  of  bronze, 
copper,  and  gold  which  we  now  dig  up  from  beneath  their 
rude  stone  monuments.  In  the  Ramayana,  the  Sanskrit  epic 
which  narrates  the  advance  of  the  Aryans  into  Southern  India, 
a  non-Aryan  chief  describes  his  race  as  '  of  fearful  swiftness, 
unyielding  in  battle,  in  colour  like  a  dark-blue  cloud.' 

The  non-Aryans  as  they  are.— Let  us  now  examine  these 
primitive  peoples  as  they  exist  at    the  present    day.     Thrust 


42  THE  NON-ARYANS. 

back  by  the  Aryan  invaders  from  the  plains,  they  have  lain 
hidden  away  in  the  mountains,  like  the  remains  of  extinct 
animals  found  in  hill-caves.  India  thus  forms  a  great  museum 
of  races,  in  which  we  can  study  man  from  his  lowest  to  his 
highest  stages  of  culture.  The  specimens  are  not  fossils  or  dry 
bones,  but  living  tribes,  each  with  its  own  set  of  curious  customs 
and  religious  rites. 

The  Andaman  Islanders. — Among  the  rudest  fragments  of 
mankind  are  the  isolated  Andaman  islanders,  or  npn-Aryans  of 
the  Bay  of  Bengal.  The  Arab  and  early  European  voyagers 
described  them  as  dog-faced  man-eaters.  The  English  officers 
sent  to  the  islands  in  1855  to  establish  a  settlement,  found 
themselves  in  the  midst  of  naked  cannibals ;  who  daubed 
their  bodies  at  festivals  with  red  earth,  and  mourned  for  their 
dead  friends  by  plastering  themselves  with  dark  mud.  They 
used  a  noise  like  crymg  to  express  friendship  or  joy ;  bore  only 
names  of  common  gender,  which  they  received  before  birth, 
and  which  therefore  had  to  be  applicable  to  either  sex;  and 
their  sole  conception  of  a  god  was  an  evil  spirit,  who  spread 
disease.  For  five  years  they  repulsed  every  eflfort  at  inter- 
course with  showers  of  arrows  ;  but  our  officers  slowly  brought 
them  to  a  better  frame  of  mind,  by  building  sheds  near  the 
settlement,  where  some  of  these  poor  beings  might  find  shelter 
and  receive  medicines  and  food. 

The  Hillmen  of  Madras. — The  Anamalai  hills,  in  Southern 
Madras,  form  the  refuge  of  many  non-Aryan  tribes.  The  long- 
haired, wild-looking  Puliyars  live  on  jungle  products,  mice,  or 
any  small  animals  they  can  catch ;  and  worship  demons. 
Another  clan,  the  Mundavers,  have  no  fixed  dwellings,  but 
wander  over  the  innermost  hills  with  their  cattle.  They  shelter 
themselves  in  caves  or  under  little  leaf  sheds,  and  seldom 
remain  in  one  spot  more  than  a  year.  The  thick-lipped,  small- 
bodied  Kaders,  *  Lords  of  the  Hills,'  are  a  remnant  of  a  higher 
race.  They  live  by  the  chase,  and  wield  some  influence  over 
the  ruder  forest-folk.  These  hills  abound  in  the  great  stone 
monuments  (kistvaens  and  dolmens)  which  the  ancient  non- 
Aryans  erected  over  their  dead.  The  Nairs,  the  old  military 
non-Aryan  ruling  race  of  South- Western  India,  still  keep  up  the 


THE  NON-ARYANS  AS  THEY  ARE.  43 

ancient  system  of  polyandry,  according  to  which  one  woman  is 
the  wife  of  several  husbands,  and  a  man's  property  descends  not 
to  his  own  sons,  but  to  his  sister's  children.  This  system  also 
appears  among  the  non- Aryan  tribes  of  the  Himalayas  at  the 
opposite  extremity  of  India. 

Non- Aryans  of  the  Vindhya  Kanges. — Many  wild  tribes 
inhabit  the  mountain  ranges  which  separate  Northern,  from 
Southern  India.  The  best-known  of  these  rude  races  are 
perhaps  the  Bhils,  who  dwell  in  the  Vindhya  hills,  from  Udai- 
pur  State  far  north  of  the  Narbada  river,  southwards  to  the 
Khandesh  Agency  in  the  Bombay  Presidency.  They  move 
about  with  their  herds  of  sheep  and  goats  through  the  jungly 
highlands,  and  eke  out  a  spare  livelihood  by  the  chase  and  the 
natural  products  of  the  forest.  In  Udaipur  State,  they  are 
settled  in  little  hamlets,  each  homestead  being  built  on  a 
separate  hillock,  so  as  to  render  it  impossible  for  their  enemies 
to  surprise  a  whole  village  at  once.  A  single  family  may  be 
seized,  but  the  shouts  which  it  raises  give  the  alarm  to  all  the 
rest,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  war-cry  spreads  from  hill  to  hill, 
and  swarms  of  half-naked  savages  rush  together  in  arms  to  beat 
off  the  intruder.  Before  the  British  rule  the  Bhils  were  the 
terror  of  the  neighbouring  country,  plundering  and  burning 
villages  far  and  wide ;  while  the  Native  Governments  revenged 
themselves  from  time  to  time  by  fearful  Bhfl  massacres.  In 
1 818  the  East  India  Company  obtained  the  neighbouring 
Bombay  District  of  Khandesh,  but  its  first  expedition  against 
the  Bhils  failed  miserably  ;  one-half  of  our  men  having  perished 
of  fever  in  the  jungles.  Soon  afterwards  Sir  James  Outram 
took  these  wild  tribes  in  hand.  He  made  friends  with  them 
by  means  of  feasts  and  tiger-hunts.  Nine  Bhi'l  warriors,  who 
were  his  constant  companions  in  tracking  the  beasts  of  chase, 
formed  the  beginning  of  a  regular  Bhfl  corps  which  numbered 
600  men  in  1827,  and  fought  boldly  for  the  British  Govern- 
ment. These  loyal  Bhfls  put  a  stop  to  plundering  among 
their  wilder  fellow-countrymen,  and  they  have  proved  themselves 
so  trustworthy  that  they  arc  now  employed  as  policemen  and 
treasury-guards  throughout  a  large  tract  in  the  Khdndesh 
Political  Agency. 


44  THE  NON-ARYANS. 

Non-Aryans  of  the  Central  Provinces. — In  the  Central 
Provinces,  the  non-Aryan  races  form  a  large  part  of  the  popu- 
lation. In  certain  localities  they  amount  to  one-half  of  the 
inhabitants.  Their  most  important  race,  the  Gonds,  have  made 
advances  in  civilization ;  but  the  wilder  tribes  still  cling  to  the 
forest,  and  live  by  the  chase.  Some  of  them  used,  within  the 
present  generation,  flint  points  for  their  arrows.  They  wield 
bows  of  great  strength,  which  they  hold  with  their  feet,  while 
they  draw  the  string  with  both  hands.  They  can  send  an 
arrow  right  through  the  body  of  a  deer.  The  Maris  fly  from 
their  grass-built  huts  on  the  approach  of  a  stranger.  Once 
a  year  a  messenger  comes  to  them  from  the  local  Raja  to  take 
their  tribute,  which  consists  chiefly  of  jungle  products.  He 
does  not,  however,  enter  their  hamlets,  but  beats  a  drum 
outside,  and  then  hides  himself.  The  shy  INIarfs  creep  forth 
from  their  huts,  place  what  they  have  to  give  in  an  appointed 
spot,  and  run  back  again  into  their  retreats. 

The  '  Leaf- wearers '  of  Orissa. — Farther  to  the  north-east, 
in  the  Tributary  States  of  Orissa,  there  is  a  poor  tribe,  about 
10,000  in  number,  of  Juangs  or  Patuas,  literally  the  'leaf- 
wearers.'  Until  twenty  years  ago,  their  women  wore  no  clothes, 
but  only  a  few  strings  of  beads  around  the  waist,  with  a  bunch 
of  leaves  before  and  behind-.  In  187 1,  the  English  officer 
called  together  the  clan,  and,  after  a  speech,  handed  out  strips 
of  cotton  for  the  women  to  put  on.  They  then  passed  in 
single  file  before  him  in  their  new  clothes,  and  made  obeisance. 
Finally,  they  gathered  the  bunches  of  leaves,  which  had  formed 
their  sole  clothing,  into  a  great  heap,  and  solemnly  set  fire  to  it. 

Himalayan  Tribes. — Proceeding  to  the  northern  boundary 
of  India,  we  find  the  slopes  and  spurs  of  the  Himalayas  peopled 
by  a  great  variety  of  rude  non-Aryan  tribes.  Some  of  the 
Assam  hillmen  have  no  word  for  expressing  distance  by  miles 
or  by  any  land-measure,  but  reckon  the  length  of  a  journey  by 
the  number  of  plugs  of  tobacco  or  betel-leaf  which  they  chew 
upon  the  way.  They  hate  work ;  and,  as  a  rule,  they  are  fierce, 
black,  undersized,  and  ill-fed.  In  old  times  they  earned  a 
scanty  livelihood  by  plundering  the  hamlets  of  the  Assam 
valley.     We  now  use  them  as  a  sort  of  police,  to  keep  the 


THE  SANTALS.  45 

peace  of  the  border,  in  return  for  a  yearh'  gift  of  cloth,  hoes, 
and  grain.  Their  very  names  bear  witness  to  their  former  wild 
life.  One  tribe,  the  Akas  of  Assam,  is  divided  into  two  clans, 
whose  names  literally  mean  '  The  eaters  of  a  thousand  hearths,' 
and  '  The  thieves  who  lurk  in  the  cotton-field.' 

More  advanced  non-Aryan  Tribes. — IMany  of  the  ab- 
original tribes,  therefore,  remain  in  the  same  early  stage  of 
human  progress  as  that  ascribed  to  them  by  the  Vedic  poets 
more  than  3000  years  ago.  But  others  have  made  great  ad- 
vances, and  form  communities  of  a  well-developed  type.  These 
higher  races,  like  the  ruder  ones,  are  scattered  over  the  length 
and  breadth  of  India,  and  I  must  confine  myself  to  a  very  brief 
account  of  two  of  them, — the  Santals  and  the  Kandhs. 

The  Santals. — The  Santals  have  their  home  among  the  hills 
which  abut  on  the  valley  of  the  Ganges  in  Lower  Bengal. 
They  dwell  in  villages  of  their  own,  apart  from  the  people  of 
the  plains,  and,  when  first  counted  by  British  ofiicers,  numbered 
about  a  million.  Although  still  clinging  to  many  customs  of  a 
hunting  forest  tribe,  they  have  learned  the  use  of  the  plough, 
and  have  setded  down  into  skilful  husbandmen.  Each  hamlet 
is  governed  by  its  own  headman,  who  is  supposed  to  be  a 
descendant  of  the  original  founder  of  the  village,  and  who  is 
assisted  by  a  deputy  headman  and  a  watchman.  The  boys  of 
the  hamlet  had  their  separate  officers,  and  were  strictly  con- 
trolled by  their  own  headman  and  his  deputy  till  they  entered 
the  married  state.  The  Santals  know  not  the  cruel  distinctions 
of  Hindu  caste,  but  trace  their  tribes,  usually  fixed  at  seven,  to 
the  seven  sons  of  the  first  parents.  The  whole  village  feasts, 
hunts,  and  worships  together.  So  strong  is  the  bond  of  race, 
that  expulsion  from  the  tribe  used  to  be  the  only  Santal  punish- 
ment. A  heinous  criminal  was  cut  off  from  '  fire  and  water ' 
in  the  village,  and  sent  forth  alone  into  the  jungle.  Smaller 
offences  were  forgiven  upon  a  public  reconciliation  with  the 
tribe ;  to  effect  which  the  guilty  one  had  to  provide  a  feast,  with 
much  rice-beer,  for  his  clansmen. 

Santal  Ceremonies. — The  Santals  do  not  allow  of  child- 
weddings.  They  marry  about  the  age  of  15  to  17,  when  the 
young  people  are  old  enough  to  choose  for  themselves.     At  the 


46  THE  NON-ARYANS. 

end  of  the  ceremony  the  girl's  relatives  pound  burning  charcoal 
with  the  household  pestle,  and  extinguish  it  with  water,  in 
token  of  the  breaking  up  of  her  former  family  ties.  The 
Santals  respect  their  women,  and  do  not  take  a  second  wife 
during  the  life  of  the  first,  except  when  the  first  is  childless.  They 
solemnly  burn  their  dead,  and  whenever  possible  they  used  to 
float  three  fragments  of  the  skull  down  the  Damodar  river,  the 
sacred  stream  of  the  race. 

Santal  Religion. — The  Santal  has  no  knowledge  of  bright 
and  friendly  gods,  such  as  the  Vedic  singers  of  the  Aryan 
Indians  worshipped.  Still  less  can  he  imagine  one  omnipotent 
and  beneficent  Deity,  who  watches  over  mankind.  Hunted  and 
driven  back  before  the  Hindus  and  Muhammadans,  the  Santal 
does  not  understand  how  a  Being  can  be  more  powerful  than 
himself  without  wishing  to  harm  him.  '  What,'  said  a  Santal 
to  an  eloquent  missionary  who  had  been  discoursing  on  the 
omnipotence  of  the  Christian  God, — '  what  if  that  strong  One 
should  eat  me  ? '  He  thinks  that  the  earth  swarms  with  demons, 
whose  ill-will  he  tries  to  avert  by  the  sacrifice  of  goats,  cocks, 
and  chickens.  There  are  the  ghosts  of  his  forefathers,  river- 
spirits,  forest-spirits,  well-demons,  mountain-demons,  and  a 
mighty  host  of  unseen  beings,  whom  he  must  keep  in  good 
humour.  These  dwell  chiefly  in  the  ancient  sal  trees  which 
shade  his  village.  In  some  hamlets  the  people  dance  round 
every  tree,  so  that  they  may  not  by  evil  chance  miss  the  one  in 
which  the  village-spirits  happen  to  be  dwelling. 

Santal  History. — Until  near  the  end  of  the  last  century, 
the  Santals  lived  by  plundering  the  adjacent  plains.  But  under 
British  rule  they  settled  down  into  peaceful  cultivators.  To 
prevent  disputes  between  them  and  the  Hindu  villagers  of  the 
lowlands,  our  officers  set  up  in  1832  a  boundary  of  stone 
pillars.  But  the  Hindu  money-lender  soon  came  among  them  ; 
and  the  simple  hillmen  plunged  into  debt.  Their  strong  love  of 
kindred  prevented  them  from  running  away,  and  they  sank  into 
serfs  to  the  Hindu  usurers.  The  poor  Santal  gave  over  his 
whole  crop  each  year  to  the  money-lender,  and  was  allowed 
just  enough  food  to  keep  his  family  at  work.  When  he  died, 
the  life-long  burden  descended  to  his  children  ;   for  the  high 


THE  KANDHS.  47 

sense  of  honour  among  the  Santdls  compels  a  son  to  take  upon 
himself  his  lather's  debts.  In  1848  three  entire  villages  threw 
up  their  clearings,  and  fled  in  despair  to  the  jungle.  In  1855 
the  Santals  started  in  a  body  of  30,000  men,  with  their  bows 
and  arrows,  to  walk  to  Calcutta  and  lay  their  condition  before 
the  Governor-General.  At  first  they  were  orderly;  but  the 
way  was  long ;  they  had  to  live,  and  the  hungry  ones  began  to 
plunder.  Quarrels  broke  cut  between  them  and  the  British 
police  ;  and  within  a  week  they  were  in  armed  rebellion.  The 
rising  was  put  down,  not  without  mournful  bloodshed.  Their 
complaints  were  carefully  inquired  into,  and  a  simple  system  of 
government,  directly  under  the  eye  of  a  British  officer,  was 
granted  to  them.  They  are  now  a  prosperous  people.  But 
their  shyness  and  superstition  make  them  dread  any  new  thing. 
A  few  of  them  took  up  arms  to  resist  the  Census  of  1881. 

The  Kandhs  or  Kondhs. — The  Kandhs,  literally  '  The 
IMountaineers,'  a  tribe  about  100,000  strong,  inhabit  the  steep 
and  forest-covered  ranges  which  rise  from  the  Orissa  coast. 
Their  system  of  government  is  purely  patriarchal.  The  family  is 
Strictly  ruled  by  the  father.  The  grown-up  sons  have  no  pro- 
perty during  his  life,  but  live  in  his  house  with  their  wives  and 
children,  and  all  share  the  common  meal  prepared  by  the 
grandmother.  The  head  of  the  tribe  is  usually  the  eldest  son 
of  the  patriarchal  family ;  but  if  he  be  not  fit  for  the  post  he  is 
set  aside,  and  an  uncle  or  a  younger  brother  is  appointed.  He 
enters  on  no  undertaking  without  calling  together  the  elders  of 
the  tribe. 

Kandh  Wars  and  Punishments. — Up  to  1835,  when  the 
English  introduced  milder  laws,  the  Kandhs  punished  murder 
by  blood-revenge.  The  kinsmen  of  the  dead  man  were  bound 
to  kill  the  slayer,  unless  appeased  by  a  payment  of  grain  or 
cattle.  Any  one  who  wounded  another  had  to  maintain  the 
sufferer  until  he  recovered  from  his  hurt.  A  stolen  ariicle  must 
be  returned,  or  its  value  paid ;  but  the  Kandh  twice  convicted 
of  theft  was  driven  forth  from  his  tribe — the  greatest  punish- 
ment known  to  the  race.  Disputes  were  settled  by  duels,  or  by 
deadly  combats  between  armed  bands,  or  by  the  ordeal  of 
boiling  oil  or  heated  iron,  or  by  taking  a  solemn  oath  on  an 


48  THE  NOiX-ARYANS. 

ant-hill,  or  on  a  tiger's  claw,  or  on  a  lizard's  skin.  If  a  house- 
father died  leaving  no  sons,  his  land  was  parcelled  out  among 
the  other  male  heads  of  the  village ;  for  no  woman  was  allowed 
to  hold  land,  nor  indeed  any  Kandh  who  could  not  with  his 
own  arms  defend  it. 

Kandh  Agriculture. — The  Kandh  system  of  tillage  repre- 
sents a  stage  half  way  between  the  migratory  cultivation  of  the 
ruder  non-Aryan  tribes  and  the  settled  agriculture  of  the 
Hindus.  The  Kandhs  do  not,  like  the  ruder  non-Aryans, 
merely  burn  down  a  patch  in  the  jungle,  take  a  few  crops  off 
it,  and  then  move  on  to  fresh  clearings.  Nor,  on  the  other 
hand,  do  they  go  on  cultivating  the  same  fields,  like  the  Hindus, 
from  father  to  son.  When  their  lands  show  signs  of  exhaustion, 
they  desert  them ;  and  it  was  a  rule  in  some  of  the  Kandh 
settlements  to  change  their  village  sites  once  in  fourteen  years. 

Kandh  Marriages  by  '  Capture.' — A  Kandh  wedding 
consists  of  forcibly  carrying  off  the  bride  in  the  middle  of  a 
feast.  The  boy's  father  pays  a  price  for  the  girl,  and  usually 
chooses  a  strong  one,  several  years  older  than  his  son.  In  this 
way  Kandh  maidens  are  married  about  fourteen,  Kandh  boys 
about  ten.  The  bride  remains  as  a  servant  in  her  new  father- 
in-law's  house  till  her  boy-husband  grows  old  enough  to  live 
with  her.  She  generally  acquires  a  great  influence  over  him ; 
and  a  Kandh  may  not  marry  a  second  wife  during  the  life  of 
his  first  one,  except  with  her  consent. 

Serfs  of  the  Kandh  Village. — The  Kandh  engages  only 
in  husbandry  and  war,  and  despises  all  other  work.  But 
attached  to  each  village  is  a  row  of  hovels  inhabited  by  a  lower 
race,  who  are  not  allowed  to  hold  land,  to  go  forth  to  battle,  or 
to  join  in  the  village  worship.  These  poor  people  do  the  dirty 
work  of  the  hamlet,  and  supply  families  of  hereditary  weavers, 
blacksmiths,  potters,  herdsmen,  and  distillers.  They  are  kindly 
treated,  and  a  portion  of  each  feast  is  left  for  them.  But  they 
can  never  rise  in  the  social  scale.  No  Kandh  could  engage  in 
their  work  without  degradation,  nor  eat  food  prepared  by  their 
hands.  They  are  supposed  to  be  the  remnants  of  a  ruder  race, 
whom  the  Kandhs  found  in  possession  of  the  hills,  when  they 
themselves  were  pushed  backwards  by  the  Aryans  from  the  plains. 


THE  KANDHS.  49 

Kandh  Human  Sacrifices. — The  Kandhs,  like  the  Santals, 
have  many  deities,  race-gods,  tribe-gods,  family-gods,  and  a 
multitude  of  malignant  spirits  and  demons.  But  their  great 
divinity  is  the  earth-god,  who  represents  the  productive  energy 
of  nature.  Twice  each  year,  at  sowing-time  and  at  harvest, 
and  in  all  seasons  of  special  calamity,  the  earth-god  required  a 
human  sacrifice.  The  duty  of  kidnapping  victims  from  the 
plains  rested  with  the  lower  race  attached  to  the  Kandh  village. 
Brahmans  and  Kandhs  were  the  only  classes  exempted  from 
sacrifice,  and  an  ancient  rule  ordained  that  the  off'ering  must 
be  bought  with  a  price.  The  victim,  on  being  brought  to  the 
hamlet,  was  welcomed  at  every  threshold,  daintily  fed,  and 
kindly  treated  till  the  fatal  day  arrived.  He  was  then  solemnly 
sacrificed  to  the  earth-god,  the  Kandhs  shouting  in  his  dying 
ear,  '  We  bought  you  with  a  price  ;  no  sin  rests  with  us ! '  His 
flesh  and  blood  were  portioned  out  among  the  village  lands. 

The  Kandhs  under  British  Rule. — In  1835  the  Kandhs 
passed  under  our  rule,  and  human  sacrifices  were  put  down. 
Roads  have  been  made  through  their  hills,  and  fairs  estab- 
lished. The  English  officers  interfere  as  litUe  as  possible  with 
their  customs ;  and  the  Kandhs  are  now  a  peaceable  and  well- 
to-do  race. 

The  Three  non-Aryan  Stocks. — Whence  came  these 
primidve  peoples,  whom  the  Aryan  invaders  found  in  the  land 
more  than  3000  years  ago,  and  who  are  still  scattered  over 
India,  the  fragments  of  a  prehistoric  world.-*  Written  annals 
they  do  not  possess.  Their  traditions  tell  us  little.  But  from 
their  languages  we  find  that  they  belong  to  three  stocks.  First, 
the  Tibeto-Burman  tribes,  who  entered  India  from  the  north- 
east, and  still  cling  to  the  skirts  of  the  Himalayas.  Second, 
the  Kolarians,  who  also  seem  to  have  entered  Bengal  by  the 
north-eastern  passes.  They  dwell  chiefly  along  the  north- 
eastern ranges  of  the  central  tableland  which  covers  the  southern 
half  of  India.  Third,  the  Dravidians,  who  appear,  on  the  other 
hand,  to  have  found  their  way  into  the  Punjab  by  the  north- 
western passes.  They  now  inhabit  the  southern  part  of  the 
three-sided  tableland  as  far  down  as  Cape  Comorin,  the  southern- 
most point  of  India. 

D 


5©  THE  NON-ARYANS. 

Character  of  the  non- Aryans. — As  a  rule,  the  non-Aryan 
races,  when  fairly  treated,  are  truthful,  loyal,  and  kind.  Those 
in  the  hills  make  good  soldiers ;  while  even  the  thieving  tribes 
of  the  plains  can  be  turned  into  clever  police.  The  non-Aryan 
low-castes  of  Madras  supplied  the  troops  which  conquered 
Southern  India  for  the  British ;  and  some  of  them  fought  at  the 
battle  of  Plassey,  which  won  for  us  Bengal.  The  gallant 
Gurkhas,  a  non-Aryan  tribe  of  the  Himalayas,  now  rank  among 
the  bravest  regiments  in  our  Indian  army,  and  have  covered 
themselves  with  honour  in  every  recent  war,  from  Afghanistan 
to  Burma. 

The  Future  of  the  Non- Aryans. — In  many  countries  of  the 
world,  the  ruder  tribes  have  been  crushed,  or  killed  off  by 
superior  races.  This  has  been  the  case,  to  a  large  extent,  with 
the  primitive  peoples  of  Mexico  and  Peru,  with  the  Red  Indians 
of  North  America,  and  with  the  Aborigines  of  Australia  and,  to 
some  extent,  in  New  Zealand.  But  the  non-Aryan  tribes  of 
India  are  prospering  instead  of  decreasing  under  British  rule. 
Hill-fairs  and  roads  through  their  mountains  and  jungles  have 
opened  up  to  them  new  means  of  livelihood ;  and  the  Census, 
both  in  1872  and  1881,  showed  that  they  have  a  larger  pro- 
portion of  children  than  the  other  Indian  races.  As  they  grow 
rich,  they  adopt  Hindu  customs,  and  numbers  of  them  every  year 
pass  within  the  pale  of  Hinduism.  Others  become  converts  to 
Christianity,  and  it  seems  likely  that  in  the  course  of  two  or 
three  generations  there  will  be  but  a  small  remnant  of  the  non- 
Aryan  races  which  still  cling  to  their  aboriginal  customs  and 
rites.  The  Census  in  1881  and  1891  included  many  of  them 
among  the  low  caste  Hindus,  and  returned  a  much  smaller 
number  of  pure  Aborigines  than  the  figures  which  I  have 
given  at  page  38  for  the  aboriginal  population,  from  the 
Census  of  1872.  This  arises  partly  from  the  fact  that  the 
aboriginal  races  are  merging  into  the  Hindu  community: 
partly  because  the  system  of  classification  adopted  in  1S72 
exhibited  the  Aborigines  more  fully  according  to  their  race  than 
the  later  Census  enumerations  in  1881  and  1891. 


THE  NO N- ARYAN  RACES.  5 1 

Materials  for  Reference. 

Particulars  will  be  found  regarding  the  various  aboriginal  races  in  the 
Imperial  Gazctleer  of  India,  2nd  ed.,  under  the  heading  of  their  respective 
locaUties.  Dalton's  Ethnology  of  Bengal,  Hislop's  Aboriginal  Tribes  of 
the  Central  Provinces,  Sir  Henry  Elliot's  Races  of  the  North  Western 
Froviftces  of  India  (Beanies'  edition),  Sir  William  Hunter's  Atmals  of 
Rural  Bengal,  Ibbetson's  Census  Report  for  the  Punjab,  1881,  Bishop 
Caldwell's  Comparative  Grammar  of  the  Dravidian  or  South  htdian 
languages,  and  Risley's  Tribes  and  Castes  of  Bengal  are  the  standard 
authorities. 


n  2 


[62] 


CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Aryans  in  India. 

The  Aryan  Stock. — At  a  very  early  period  we  catch  sight 
of  a  nobler  race  from  the  north-west,  forcing  its  way  in  among 
the  primitive  peoples  of  India.  This  race  belonged  to  the 
splendid  Aryan  or  Indo-Germanic  stock,  from  which  the 
Brahman,  the  Rajput,  and  the  Englishman  alike  descend.  Its 
earliest  home  seems  to  have  been  in  Western  Asia.  From  that 
common  camping-ground  certain  branches  of  the  race  started 
for  the  east,  others  for  the  further  west.  One  of  the  western 
offshoots  built  Athens  and  Sparta,  and  became  the  Greek  nation ; 
another  went  on  to  Italy,  and  reared  the  city  on  the  Seven  Hills, 
which  grew  into  Imperial  Rome.  A  distant  colony  of  the  same 
race  excavated  the  silver  ores  of  prehistoric  Spain  ;  and  when  we 
first  catch  a  sight  of  ancient  England,  we  see  an  Aryan  settle- 
ment fishing  in  wattle  canoes,  and  working  the  tin  mines  of 
Cornwall.  Meanwhile  other  branches  of  the  Aryan  stock  had 
gone  forth  from  the  primitive  Asiatic  home  to  the  east.  Power- 
ful bands  found  their  way  through  the  passes  of  the  Himalayas 
into  the  Punjab,  and  spread  themselves,  chiefly  as  Brahmans 
and  Rajputs,  over  India. 

The  Aryans  conquer  the  Early  Races  in  Europe  and 
Asia. — The  Aryan  offshoots,  alike  to  the  east  and  to  the  west, 
asserted  their  superiority  over  the  earlier  peoples  whom  they 
found  in  possession  of  the  soil.  The  history  of  ancient  Europe 
is  the  story  of  the  Aryan  settlements  around  the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean  ;  and  that  wide  term,  modern  civilization,  merely 
means  the  civilization  of  the  western  branches  of  the  same  race. 
The  history  of  India  consists  in  like  manner  of  the  history  of 
the  eastern  offshoots  of  the  Aryan  stock  who  settled  in  that 
land. 


THE  ARYANS  IN  THEIR   COMMON  HOME.  53 

The  Aryans  in  their  Primitive  Home. — We  know  little 
regarding  these  noble  Aryan  tribes  in  their  early  camping- 
ground  in  Western  Asia.  From  words  preserved  in  the 
languages  of  their  long-separated  descendants  in  Europe  and 
India,  scholars  infer  that  they  roamed  over  the  grassy  steppes 
with  their  cattle,  making  long  halts  to  raise  crops  of  grain. 
They  had  tamed  most  of  the  domestic  animals  ;  were  acquainted 
with  iron ;  understood  the  arts  of  weaving  and  sewing ;  wore 
clothes  ;  and  ate  cooked  food.  They  lived  the  hardy  life  of  the 
comparatively  temperate  zone ;  and  the  feeling  of  cold  seems  to 
be  one  of  the  earliest  common  remembrances  of  the  eastern  and 
the  western  branches  of  the  race. 

Eviropean  and  Indian  Languages  merely  Varieties  of 
Aryan  Speech. — The  forefathers  of  the  Greek  and  the  Roman, 
of  the  English  and  the  Hindu,  dwelt  together  in  Western  Asia, 
spoke  the  same  tongue,  worshipped  the  same  gods.  The 
languages  of  Europe  and  India,  although  at  first  sight  they  seem 
wide  apart,  are  merely  different  growths  from  the  original  Aryan 
speech.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  common  words  of  family 
life.  The  names  for  father,  mother,  brother,  sister,  and  widoiv 
are  the  same  in  most  of  the  Aryan  languages,  whether  spoken 
on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges,  of  the  Tiber,  or  of  the  Thames. 
Thus  the  word  daughter,  which  occurs  in  nearly  all  of  them,  has 
been  derived  from  the  Aryan  root  dugh,  which  in  Sanskrit  has 
the  form  of  diih,  to  milk ;  and  perhaps  preserves  the  memory  of 
the  time  when  the  daughter  was  the  little  milkmaid  in  the 
primitive  Aryan  household. 

Common  Origin  of  European  and  Indian  Religions. — 
The  ancient  religions  of  Europe  and  India  had  a  common  origin. 
They  were  to  some  extent  made  up  of  the  sacred  stories  or 
myths,  which  our  joint-ancestors  had  learned  while  dwelling 
together  in  Asia.  Several  of  the  Vedic  gods  were  also  the  gods 
of  Greece  and  Rome ;  and  to  this  day  the  Divinity  is  adored  by 
names  derived  from  the  same  old  Aryan  word  ideva,  the  Shining 
One),  by  Brahmans  in  Calcutta,  by  the  Protestant  clergy  of 
England,  and  by  Roman  Catholic  priests  in  Peru. 

The  Indo-Aryans  on  the  March. — The  Vcdic  hymns 
exhibit  the  Indian  branch  of  the  Aryans  on  their  march  to  the 


54  THE  ARYANS  IN  INDIA. 

south-east,  and  in  their  new  homes.  The  earliest  songs  disclose 
the  race  still  to  the  north  of  the  Khaibar  pass,  in  Kabul  ;  the 
later  ones  bring  them  as  far  as  the  Ganges.  Their  victorious 
advance  eastwards  through  the  intermediate  tract  can  be  traced 
in  the  Vedic  writings  almost  step  by  step.  The  steady  supply 
of  water  among  the  five  rivers  of  the  Punjab,  led  the  Aryans  to 
settle  down  from  their  old  state  of  wandering  half-pastoral  tribes 
into  regular  communities  of  husbandmen.  The  Vedic  poets 
praised  the  rivers  which  enabled  them  to  make  this  great 
change — perhaps  the  most  important  step  in  the  progress  of 
a  race.  '  May  the  Indus,'  they  sang,  '  the  far-famed  giver  of 
wealth,  hear  us ;  (fertilizing  our)  broad  fields  with  water.'  The 
Himalayas,  through  whose  south-western  passes  they  had  reached 
India,  and  at  whose  southern  base  they  long  dwelt,  made  a 
lasting  impression  on  their  memory.  The  Vedic  singer  praised 
'  Him  whose  greatness  the  snowy  ranges,  and  the  sea,  and  the 
aerial  river  declare.'  The  Aryan  race  in  India  never  forgot  its 
northern  home.  There  dwelt  its  gods  and  holy  singers;  and 
there  eloquence  descended  from  heaven  among  men ;  while  high 
amid  the  Himalayan  mountains  lay  the  paradise  of  deities  and 
heroes,  where  the  kind  and  the  brave  for  ever  repose. 

The  Rig- Veda. — The  Rig-Veda  forms  the  great  Hterary 
memorial  of  the  early  Aryan  settlements  in  the  Punjab.  The 
age  of  this  venerable  hymnal  is  unknown.  Orthodox  Hindus 
believe,  without  evidence,  that  it  existed  '  from  before  all  time,' 
or  at  least  from  3001  years  e.g.  European  scholars  have  inferred 
from  astronomical  data  that  its  composition  was  going  on  about 
1400  B.C.  But  the  evidence  might  have  been  calculated  back- 
wards, and  inserted  later  in  the  Veda.  We  only  know  that  the 
Vedic  religion  had  been  at  work  long  before  the  rise  of  Buddhism 
in  the  sixth  century  b.c.  The  Rig- Veda  is  a  very  old  collection 
of  1017  short  poems,  chiefly  addressed  to  the  gods,  and  con- 
taining 10,580  verses.  Its  hymns  show  us  the  Aryans  on  the 
banks  of  the  Indus,  divided  into  various  tribes,  sometimes  at  war 
with  each  other,  sometimes  united  against  the  '  black-skinned ' 
Aborigines.  Caste,  in  its  later  sense,  is  unknown.  Each  father 
of  a  family  is  the  priest  of  his  own  household.  The  chieftain 
acts  as  father  and  priest  to  the  tribe ;  but  at  the  greater  festivals 


THE  ARYANS  OF  THE    VEDIC  HYMNS.  55 

he  chooses  some  one  specially  learned  in  holy  offerings  to 
conduct  the  sacrifice  in  the  name  of  the  people.  The  kirg 
himself  seems  to  have  been  elected ;  and  his  title  of  Vis-pati, 
literally  '  Lord  of  the  Settlers,'  survives  in  the  old  Persian  Vis- 
paiti,  and  as  the  Lithuanian  Wi^z-patis  in  east-central  Europe  at 
this  day.  Women  enjoyed  a  high  position ;  and  some  of  the 
most  beautiful  hymns  were  composed  by  ladies  and  queens. 
Marriage  was  held  sacred.  Husband  and  wife  were  both  '  rulers 
of  the  house  '  {dampati) ;  and  drew  near  to  the  gods  together  in 
prayer.  The  burning  of  widows  on  their  husbands'  funeral  pile 
was  unknown  ;  and  the  verses  in  the  Veda  which  the  Brahmans 
afterwards  distorted  into  a  sanction  for  the  practice,  have  the 
very  opposite  meaning.  '  Rise,  woman,'  says  the  Vedic  text  to 
the  mourner  ;  *  come  to  the  world  of  life.  Come  to  us.  Thou 
hast  fulfilled  thy  duties  as  a  wife  to  thy  husband.' 

Aryan  Civilization  in  the  Veda. — The  Aryan  tribes  in 
the  Veda  have  blacksmiths,  coppersmiths,  and  goldsmiths 
among  them,  besides  carpenters,  barbers,  and  other 'artisans. 
They  fight  from  chariots,  and  freely  use  the  horse,  although 
not  yet  the  elephant,  in  war.  They  have  settled  down  as 
husbandmen,  till  their  fields  with  the  plough,  and  live  in  villages 
or  towns.  But  they  also  cling  to  their  old  wandering  life,  with 
their  herds  and  '  cattle-pens.'  Cattle,  indeed,  still  form  their 
chief  wealth — the  coin  in  which  payment  of  fines  is  made — 
reminding  us  of  the  Latin  word  for  vaonty ,  pecu7tta,  horn pecus,  a 
herd.  One  of  the  Vedic  worcte  for  war  literally  means  '  a  desire 
for  cows.'  Unlike  the  modern  Hindus,  the  Aryans  of  the  Veda 
ate  beef ;  used  a  fermented  liquor  or  beer,  made  from  the  soma 
plant;  and  offered  the  same  strong  meat  and  drink  to  their  gods. 
Thus  the  stout  Aryans  spread  eastwards  through  Northern  India, 
pushed  on  from  behind  by  later  arrivals  of  their  own  slock,  and 
driving  before  them,  or  reducing  to  bondage,  the  earlier  '  black- 
skinned  '  races.  They  marched  in  whole  communities  from  one 
river  valley  lo  another ;  each  house-father  a  warrior,  husband- 
man, and  priest ;  with  his  wife,  and  his  little  ones,  and  his  cattle. 

The  Gods  of  the  Veda. —  These  free-hearted  tribes  had  a 
great  trust  in  themselves  and  their  gods.  Like  other  conquer- 
ing races,  they  believed  that  both  themselves  and  their  deities 


56  THE  ARYANS  IN  INDIA. 

were  altogether  superior  to  the  people  of  the  lana,  and  to  their 
poor,  rude  objects  of  worship.  Indeed,  this  noble  self-confidence 
is  a  great  aid  to  the  success  of  a  nation.  Their  divinities — 
devas,  literally  '  the  shining  ones/  from  the  Sanskrit  root  div, '  to 
shine  ' — were  the  great  powers  of  nature.  They  adored  the 
Father-heaven, — Dyaush-pitar  in  Sanskrit,  the  Dies-piier  or 
Jupiter  of  Rome,  the  Zeus  of  Greece.;  and  the  Encompassing 
Sky —  Varuna  in  Sanskrit,  Urajius  in  Latin,  Ouranos  in  Greek. 
Indra,  or  the  Aqueous  Vapour  that  brings  the  precious  rain 
on  which  plenty  or  famine  still  depends  each  autumn,  received 
the  largest  number  of  hymns.  By  degrees,  as  the  settlers  realized 
more  and  more  keenly  the  importance  of  the  periodical  rains  to 
their  new  life  as  husbandmen,  he  became  the  chief  of  the  Vedic 
gods.  '  The  gods  do  not  reach  unto  thee,  O  Indra,  nor  men  ; 
thou  overcomest  all  creatures  in  strength.'  Agni,  the  God  of 
Fire  (Latin  tgnis\  ranks  perhaps  next  to  Indra  in  the  number  of 
hymns  addressed  to  him.  He  is  '  the  Youngest  of  the  Gods,'  *  the 
Lord  and  Giver  of  Wealth.'  The  Maruts  are  the  Storm  Gods, 
'  who  make  the  rock  to  tremble,  who  tear  in  pieces  the  forest.' 
Ushas,  '  the  High-born  Dawn '  (Greek  Eos),  *  shines  upon  us 
hke  a  young  wife,  rousing  every  living  being  to  go  forth  to  his 
work.'  The  Asvins,  the  '  Horsemen '  or  fleet  outriders  of  the 
dawn,  are  the  first  rays  of  sunrise, '  Lords  of  Lustre.'  The  Solar 
Orb  himself  (Surya),  the  Wind  (Vayu),  the  Sunbhine  or  Friendly 
Day  (Mitra),  the  intoxicating  fermented  juice  of  the  Sacrificial 
Plant  (Soma),  and  many  other  deities  are  invoked  in  the  Veda — 
in  all,  about  thirty-three  gods,  '  who  are  eleven  in  heaven,  eleven 
on  earth,  and  eleven  dwelling  in  glory  in  mid-air.' 

The  Vedic  Idea  of  God.— The  Aryan  settler  lived  on  excel- 
lent terms  with  his  bright  gods.  He  asked  for  protection,  with 
an  assured  conviction  that  it  would  be  granted.  At  the  same 
time,  he  was  deeply  stirred  by  the  glory  and  mystery  of  the 
earth  and  the  heavens.  Indeed,  the  majesty  of  nature  so  filled 
his  mind,  that  when  he  praises  any  one  of  his  Shining  Gods,  he 
can  think  of  none  other  for  the  time  being,  and  adores  him  as 
the  supreme  ruler.  Verses  may  be  quoted  declaring  each  of 
the  greater  deities  to  be  the  One  Supreme  :  *  Neither  gods  nor 
men  reach  unto  thee,  O  Indra.'     Another  hymn  speaks  of  Soma 


THE    VEDIC  HYMNS.  57 

as  '  king  of  heaven  and  earth,  the  conqueror  of  all.'  To  Varuna 
also  it  is  said,  '  Thou  art  lord  of  all,  of  heaven  and  earth  ;  thou 
art  king  of  all  those  who  are  gods,  and  of  all  those  who  are 
men.'  The  more  spiritual  of  the  Vedic  singers,  therefore,  may 
be  said  to  have  worshipped  One  God,  though  not  One  alone. 

A  Vedic  Hymn. — '  In  the  beginning  there  arose  the  Golden 
Child.  He  was  the  one  born  lord  of  all  that  is.  He  established 
the  earth  and  this  sky.  Who  is  the  God  to  whom  we  shall  offer 
our  sacrifice  ? 

'  He  who  gives  life,  he  who  gives  strength  ;  whose  command 
all  the  Bright  Gods  revere  ;  whose  shadow  is  immortality,  whose 
shadow  is  death.  Who  is  the  God  to  whom  we  shall  offer  our 
sacrifice  ? 

*  He  who,  through  his  power,  is  the  one  king  of  the  breathing 
and  awakening  world.  He  who  governs  all,  man  and  beast. 
Who  is  the  God  to  whom  we  shall  ofifer  our  sacrifice  ? 

'  He  through  whom  the  sky  is  bright  and  the  earth  firm ;  he 
through  w-hom  the  heaven  was  established,  nay,  the  highest 
heaven ;  he  who  measured  out  the  light  and  the  air.  Who  is 
the  God  to  whom  we  shall  offer  our  sacrifice } 

'  He  who  by  his  might  looked  even  over  the  water-clouds  ;  he 
who  alone  is  God  above  all  gods.  Who  is  the  God  to  whom 
we  shall  offer  our  sacrifice .? ' 

Burning  of  the  Dead. — While  the  aboriginal  races  buried 
their  dead  in  the  earth  or  under  rude  stone  monuments,  the 
Aryan — alike  in  India,  in  Greece,  and  in  Italy — made  use  of  the 
funeral-pile.  Several  exquisite  Sanskrit  hymns  bid  farewell  to 
the  dead  : — '  Depart  thou,  depart  thou  by  the  ancient  paths  to 
the  place  whiiher  our  fathers  have  departed.  Meet  with  the 
Ancient  Ones  ;  meet  with  the  Lord  of  Death.  Throwing  off 
thine  imperfections,  go  to  thy  home.  Become  united  with  a 
body  ;  clothe  thyself  in  a  shining  form.'  '  Let  him  depart  to 
those  for  whom  flow  the  rivers  of  nectar.  Let  him  depart  to 
those  who,  through  meditation,  have  obtained  the  victory  ;  who, 
by  fixing  their  thoughts  on  the  unseen,  have  gone  to  heaven. 
Let  him  depart  to  the  mighty  in  batUe,  to  the  heroes  who  have 
laid  down  their  lives  for  others,  to  those  who  have  bestowed  their 
goods  on  the  poor.'     The  doctrine  of  transmigration  was  at  first 


58  THE  ARYANS  IN  INDIA. 

unknown.  The  circle  round  the  funeral-pile  sang  with  a  firm 
assurance  that  their  friend  went  direct  to  a  state  of  blessedness 
and  reunion  with  the  loved  ones  who  had  gone  before.  'Do 
thou  conduct  us  to  heaven,'  says  a  hymn  of  the  later  Atharva- 
Veda ;  '  let  us  be  with  our  wives  and  children.'  '  In  heaven, 
where  our  friends  dwell  in  bliss — having  left  behind  the  infirmities 
of  the  body,  free  from  lameness,  free  from  crookedness  of  limb 
— there  let  us  behold  our  parents  and  our  children.'  '  May  the 
water-shedding  Spirits  bear  thee  upwards,  cooling  thee  with  their 
swift  motion  through  the  air,  and  sprinkling  thee  with  dew.' 
'  Bear  him,  carry  him ;  let  him,  with  all  his  faculties  complete,  go 
to  the  world  of  the  righteous.  Crossing  the  dark  valley  which 
spreadeth  boundless  around  him,  let  the  unborn  soul  ascend  to 
heaven.  Wash  the  feet  of  him  who  is  stained  with  sin ;  let  him 
go  upwards  with  cleansed  feet.  Crossing  the  gloom,  gazing 
with  wonder  in  many  directions,  let  the  unborn  soul  go  up  to 
heaven.' 

Later  Vedic  Literature. — By  degrees  the  old  collection  of 
hymns,  or  the  Rig- Veda,  no  longer  sufficed.  Three  other  col- 
lections or  service-books  were  therefore  added,  making  the 
Four  Vedas.  The  word  Veda  is  from  the  same  root  as  the 
Latin  vid-ere,  to  see  :  the  early  GreQk/ei'd-e7iat,  infinitive  of  oida, 
I  know  :  and  the  English  wisdom,  or  I  wtl.  The  Brabmans 
taught  that  the  Veda  was  divinely  inspired,  and  that  it  was 
literally  *  the  wisdom  of  God.'  There  was,  first,  the  Rig- Veda, 
or  the  hymns  in  their  simplest  form.  Second,  the  Sdma-Veda, 
made  up  of  hymns  of  the  Rig- Veda  to  be  used  at  the  Soma 
sacrifice.  Third,  the  Yajur-Veda,  consisting  not  only  of  Rig 
Vedic  hymns,  but  also  of  prose  sentences,  to  be  used  at  the 
great  sacrifices ;  and  divided  into  two  editions,  the  Black  and 
White  Yajur.  The  fourth,  or  Atharva-Veda,  was  compiled  from 
the  least  ancient  hymns  at  the  end  of  the  Rig- Veda,  very  old 
religious  spells,  and  later  sources.  Some  of  its  spells  have  a 
similarity  to  the  ancient  German  and  Lithuanian  charms,  and 
appear  to  have  come  down  from  the  most  primitive  times,  before 
the  Indian  and  European  branches  of  the  Aryan  race  struck  out 
from  their  common  home. 

The  Brahm.anas. — To  each  of  the  four  Vedas  were  attached 


THE  FOUR    CASTES  FORMED.  59 

.  prose  works,  called  Brahmanas,  in  order  to  explain  the  sacrifices 
and  the  duties  of  the  priests.  Like  the  four  Vedas,  the  Brah- 
manas were  held  to  be  the  very  word  of  God.  The  Vedas  and 
the  Brahmanas  form  the  revealed  Scriptures  of  the  Hindus — the 
sruti,  literally  '  Things  heard  from  God.'  The  Vedas  supplied 
their  divinely-inspired  psalms,  and  the  Brahmanas  their  divinely- 
inspired  theology  or  body  of  doctrine.  To  them  were  after- 
wards added  the  Sutras,  literally  *  Strings  of  pithy  sentences ' 
regarding  laws  and  ceremonies.  Still  later  the  Upanishads  were 
composed,  treating  of  God  and  the  soul;  the  Aranyakas,  or 
'Tracts  for  the  forest  recluse';  and,  after  a  very  long  interval, 
the  Puranas,  or  '  Traditions  from  of  old.'  All  these  ranked, 
however,  not  as  divinely-inspired  knowledge,  or  things  '  heard 
from  God '  (sriiti),  like  the  Vedas  and  Brahmanas,  but  only  as 
sacred  traditions — smriti,  literally  *  The  things  remembered! 

The  Four  Castes  formed. — Meanwhile  the  Four  Castes 
had  been  formed.  In  the  old  Aryan  colonies  among  the  Five 
Rivers  of  the  Punjab,  each  house-father  was  a  husbandman, 
warrior,  and  priest.  But  by  degrees  certain  gifted  families,  who 
composed  the  Vedic  hymns  or  learned  them  off  by  heart,  were 
always  chosen  by  the  king  to  perform  the  great  sacrifices.  In 
this  way  probably  the  priestly  caste  sprang  up.  As  the  Aryans 
conquered  more  territory,  fortunate  soldiers  received  a  larger 
share  of  the  lands  than  others,  and  cultivated  it  not  with  their 
own  hands,  but  by  means  of  the  vanquished  non-Aryan  tribes. 
In  this  way  the  Four  Castes  arose.  First,  the  Priests  or  Brah- 
mans.  Second,  the  warriors  or  fighting  companions  of  the 
king,  called  Rajputs  or  Kshattriyas,  literally  'of  the  royal  stock.' 
Third,  the  Aryan  agricultural  settlers,  who  kept  the  old  name 
of  Vaisyas,  from  the  root  vis,  which  in  the  primitive  Vedic 
period  had  included  the  whole  Aryan  people.  Fourth,  the 
Sudras,  or  conquered  non-Aryan  tribes,  who  became  serfs.  The 
three  first  castes  were  of  Aryan  descent,  and  were  honoured  by 
the  name  of  the  Twice-born  Castes.  Tliey  could  all  be  present 
at  the  sacrifices,  and  they  worshipped  the  same  Bright  Gods. 
The  Sudras  were  'the  slave-bands  of  black  descent'  of  the  Veda. 
They  were  distinguished  from  their  '  Twice-born '  Aryan  con- 
querors as  being  only  '  Once-born,'  and  by  many  contemptuous 


6o  THE  ARYANS  IN  INDIA. 

epithets.  They  were  not  allowed  to  be  present  at  the  great 
national  sacrifices,  or  at  the  feasts  which  followed  them.  They 
could  never  rise  out  of  their  servile  condition ;  and  to  them  was 
assigned  the  severest  toil  in  the  fields,  and  all  the  hard  and  dirty 
work  of  the  village  community. 

The  Brahman  Supremacy  established. — The  Brahmans 
or  priests  claimed  the  highest  rank.  But  they  seem  to  have  had 
a  long  struggle  with  the  Kshatlriya  or  warrior  caste,  before  they 
won  their  proud  position  at  the  head  of  the  Indian  people. 
They  afterwards  secured  themselves  in  that  position,  by  teaching 
that  it  had  been  given  to  them  by  God.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  world,  they  said,  the  Brahman  proceeded  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Creator,  the  Kshattriya  or  Rajput  from  his  arms,  the  Vaisya 
from  his  thighs  or  belly,  and  the  Sudra  from  his  feet.  This 
legend  is  true  so  far,  that  the  Brahmans  were  really  the  brain- 
power of  the  Indian  people'  the  Kshattriyas  its  armed  hands, 
the  Vaisyas  the  food-growers,  and  the  Sudras  the  down-trodden 
serfs.  When  the  Brahmans  had  established  their  power,  they 
made  a  wise  use  of  it.  From  the  ancient  Vedic  times  they 
recognized  that  if  they  were  to  exercise  spiritual  supremacy, 
they  must  renounce  earthly  pomp.  In  arrogating  the  priestly 
function,  they  gave  up  all  claim  to  the  royal  ofiSce.  They  were 
divinely  appointed  to  be  the  guides  of  nations  and  the  counsellors 
of  kings,  but  they  could  not  be  kings  themselves.  As  the  duty 
of  the  Sudra  was  to  serve,  of  the  Vaisya  to  till  the  ground  and 
follow  middle-class  trades  or  crafts ;  so  the  business  of  the 
Kshattriya  was  to  fight  the  public  enemy,  and  of  the  Brahman 
to  propitiate  the  national  gods. 

Stages  of  a  Brahman's  Life. — Each  day  brought  to  the 
Brahmans  its  routine  of  ceremonies,  studies,  and  duties.  Their 
whole  life  was  mapped  out  into  four  clearly-defined  stages  of  dis- 
ciphne.  For  their  existence,  in  its  full  religious  significance, 
commenced  not  at  birth,  but  on  being  invested  at  the  close  of 
childhood  with  the  sacred  thread  of  the  Twice-born.  Their 
youth  and  early  manhood  were  to  be  entirely  spent  in  learning 
the  Veda  by  heart  from  an  older  Brahman,  tending  the  sacred 
fire,  and  serving  their  preceptor.  Having  completed  his  long 
studies,  the  young  Brahman  entered  on  the  second  stage  of  his 


THE  BR  AH  MA  MS.  6 1 

life,  as  a  householder.  He  married,  and  commenced  a  course 
of  family  duties.  When  he  had  reared  a  family,  and  gained 
a  practical  knowledge  of  the  world,  he  retired  into  the  forest 
as  a  recluse,  for  the  third  period  of  liis  life ;  feeding  on  roots  or 
fruits,  practising  his  religious  duties  with  increased  devotion. 
The  fourth  stage  was  that  of  the  ascetic  or  religious  mendicant, 
wholly  withdrawn  from  earthly  affairs,  and  striving  to  attain  a 
condition  of  mind  which,  heedless  of  the  joys,  or  pains,  or  wants 
of  the  body,  is  intent  only  on  its  final  absorption  into  the  deity. 
The  Brahman,  in  this  fourth  stage  of  his  life,  ate  nothing  but 
what  was  given  to  him  unasked,  and  abode  not  more  than  one 
day  in  any  village,  lest  the  vanities  of  the  world  should  find 
entrance  into  his  heart.  This  was  the  ideal  life  prescribed  for 
a  Brahman,  and  ancient  Indian  literature  shows  that  it  was  to 
a  large  extent  practically  carried  out.  Throughout  his  whole 
existence  the  true  Brahman  practised  a  strict  temperance ; 
drinking  no  wine,  using  a  simple  diet,  curbing  the  desires ;  shut 
off  from  the  tumults  of  war,  as  his  business  was  to  pray,  not  to 
fight,  and  having  his  thoughts  ever  fixed  on  study  and  contem- 
plation. 'What  is  this  world.'*'  says  a  Brahman  sage.  'It  is 
even  as  the  bough  of  a  tree,  on  which  a  bird  rests  for  a  night, 
and  in  the  morning  flies  away.' 

The  Modern  Brahmans. — The  Brahmans,  therefore,  were 
a  body  of  men  who,  in  an  early  stage  of  this  world's  history, 
bound  themselves  by  a  rule  of  life  the  essential  precepts  of 
which  were  self-culture  and  self-restraint.  The  Brahmans  of  the 
present  India  are  the  result  of  3000  years  of  hereditary  education 
and  temperance ;  and  they  have  evolved  a  type  of  mankind 
quite  distinct  from  the  surrounding  population.  Even  the 
passing  traveller  in  India  marks  them  out,  alike  from  the  bronze- 
cheeked,  large-limbed,  leisure-loving  Rajput  or  Kshattriya,  the 
warrior  caste  of  Aryan  descent ;  and  from  the  dark-skinned,  flat- 
nosed,  thick-lipped  low  castes  of  non-Aryan  origin,  with  their 
short  bodies  and  bullet  heads.  The  Brahman  stands  apart 
from  both,  tall  and  slim,  with  finely-modelled  lips  and  nose,  fair 
complexion,  high  forehead,  and  slightly  cocoa-nut  shaped  skull 
— the  man  of  self-centred  refinement.  He  is  an  example  of  a 
class  becoming  the  ruling  power  in  a  country,  not  by  force  of 


62  THE  ARYANS  IN  INDIA. 

arms,  but  by  the  vigour  of  hereditary  culture  and  temperance. 
One  race  has  swept  across  India  after  another,  dynasties  have 
risen  and  fallen,  religions  have  spread  themselves  over  the  land 
and  disappeared.  But  since  the  dawn  of  history  the  Brahman 
has  calmly  ruled  ;  swaying  the  minds  and  receiving  the  homage 
of  the  people,  and  accepted  by  foreign  nations  as  the  highest 
type  of  Indian  mankind.  The  position  which  the  Brahmans 
won  resulted  in  no  small  measure  from  the  benefits  which  they 
bestowed.  For  their  own  Aryan  countrymen  they  developed 
a  noble  language  and  literature.  The  Brahmans  were  not  only 
the  priests  and  philosophers,  but  also  the  lawgivers,  the  men  of 
science,  and  the  poets  of  their  race.  Their  influence  on  the 
aboriginal  peoples,  the  hill  and  forest  races  of  India,  was  even 
more  important.  To  these  rude  remnants  of  the  flint  and  stone 
ages  they  brought,  in  ancient  times,  a  knowledge  of  the  metals 
and  the  gods. 

Brahman  Theology. — The  Brahmans,  among  themselves, 
soon  began  to  see  that  the  old  gods  of  the  Vedic  hymns  were 
in  reality  not  supreme  beings,  but  poetic  fictions.  For  when 
they  came  to  think  the  matter  out,  they  found  that  the  Sun,  the 
Aqueous  Vapour,  the  Encompassing  Sky,  the  Wind,  and  the 
Dawn  could  not  each  be  separate  and  supreme  creators,  but 
must  have  all  proceeded  from  one  First  Cause.  They  did  not 
shock  the  more  ignorant  castes  by  any  public  rejection  of  the 
Vedic  deities.  They  accepted  the  old  '  Shining  Ones '  of  the 
Veda  as  beautiful  manifestations  of  the  divine  power,  and  con- 
tinued to  decorously  conduct  the  sacrifices  in  their  honour.  But 
among  their  own  caste  the  Brahmans  taught  the  unity  of  God. 
The  mass  of  the  people  were  left  to  believe  in  four  castes,  four 
Vedas,  and  many  deities.  But  the  higher  thinkers  among  the 
Brdhmans  recognized  that  in  the  beginning  there  was  but  one 
caste,  one  Veda,  and  one  God. 

The  Hindu  Trinity. — The  confused  old  groups  of  deities 
or  Shining  Ones  in  the  Veda  thus  gave  place  to  the  grand  concep- 
tion of  one  God,  in  his  three  solemn  manifestations  as  Brahmd 
the  Creator,  Vishnu  the  Preserver,  and  Siva  the  Destroyer  and 
Reproducer.  Each  of  these  had  his  prototype  among  the  Vedic 
deities;  and  they  remain  to  this  day  the  three  persons  of  the 


brAhman  theology.  63 

Hindu  trinity.  Brahma,  the  Creator,  or  first  person  of  the 
trinity,  was  too  abstract  an  idea  to  be  a  popular  god.  Vishnu, 
the  second  person  of  the  trinity,  was  a  more  useful  and  friendly 
deity.  He  is  said  to  have  ten  times  come  down  from  heaven 
and  lived  on  the  earth.  These  were  the  ten  incarnations  {avatars) 
of  Vishnu.  Siva,  the  third  person  of  the  trinity,  appears  as 
both  the  Destroyer  and  Reproducer ;  and  thus  shows  to  the  eye 
of  faiih,  that  death  is  but  a  change  of  state,  and  an  entry  into 
a  new  life.  Vishnu  and  Siva,  in  their  diverse  male  and  female 
shapes,  now  form  the  principal  gods  of  the  Hindus. 

Brahman  Philosophy. — The  Brahmans  thus  built  up  a  re- 
ligion for  the  Indian  people.  They  also  worked  out  a  system 
of  philosophy,  and  arranged  its  doctrines  in  six  schools — dar- 
sanas,  literally  mirrors  of  knowledge — at  least  500  years  before 
Christ.  They  had  moreover  a  circle  of  sciences  of  their  own. 
The  Sanskrit  grammar  of  Panini,  compiled  about  350  b.  c,  is 
still  the  foundation  of  the  study  of  Aryan  language.  In  this 
subject  the  Brahmans  were  far  before  the  Greeks  or  Romans, 
or  indeed  any  European  nation  down  to  the  present  century. 
Their  Sanskrit,  or  ^perfected  speech,'  succeeded  after  a  long 
interval  to  the  earlier  language  of  the  Veda.  But  Sanskrit 
seems  to  have  been  used  only,  or  chiefly,  by  the  learned.  The 
people  spoke  a  simpler  form  of  the  same  language,  called 
Prakrit.  From  this  old  Prakrit  the  modern  dialects  of  India 
descend.  The  Brahmans,  however,  always  wrote  in  Sanskrit, 
which  sunk  in  time  into  a  dead  language  unknown  to  the  people. 
The  Brahmans  alone,  therefore,  could  read  the  sacred  books  or 
write  new  ones ;  and  in  this  way  they  became  the  only  men  of 
learning  in  India. 

Indian  Literature. — As  early  as  250  b.  c.  two  alphabets,  or 
written  characters,  were  used  in  India.  But  the  Brahmans 
preferred  to  hand  down  their  holy  learning  by  memory,  rather 
than  to  write  it  out.  Good  Brdhmans  had  to  learn  the  Veda 
by  heart,  besides  many  other  books.  This  was  the  easier,  as 
almost  all  their  literature  was  in  verse  {slokas\  In  the  very 
ancient  times,  just  after  the  Vedic  hymns,  a  pure  style  of  prose, 
simple  and  compact,  had  grown  up.  But  during  more  than 
2000  years  the  Brahmans  have  composed  almost  entirely  in 


64  THE  ARYANS  IN  INDIA, 

verse;    and  prose-writing  was  for  long  almost  a  lost  art  in 
India. 

Brahman  Astronomy. — The  Brahmans  studied  the  move- 
ments of  the  heavenly  bodies,  so  as  to  fix  the  proper  dates  for 
the  annual  sacrifices.  More  than  3000  years  ago,  the  Vedic 
poets  had  worked  out  a  fairly  correct  calculation  of  the  solar 
year,  which  they  divided  into  360  days,  with  an  extra  month 
every  five  years  to  make  up  for  the  odd  ^\,  days  per  annum. 
They  were  also  acquainted  with  the  phases  of  the  moon,  the 
motions  of  the  planets,  and  the  signs  of  the  zodiac.  The 
Brahmans  had  advanced  far  in  astronomy  before  the  Greeks 
arrived  in  India  in  327  b.  c.  They  were  not,  however,  ashamed 
to  learn  fpom  the  new-comers ;  and  one  of  the  five  systems  of 
Brahman  astronomy  is  called  the  Romaka  or  Greek  science. 
But  in  time  the  Hindus  surpassed  the  Greeks  in  this  matter. 
The  fame  of  the  Brahman  astronomers  spread  westward,  and 
their  works  were  translated  by  the  Arabs  about  800  a.  d.,  and 
so  reached  Europe.  After  the  Muhammadans  began  to  ravage 
India  in  1000  a.d..  Brahman  science  declined.  But  Hindu 
astronomers  arose  from  time  to  time,  and  their  observatories 
may  still  be  seen  at  Benares  and  elsewhere.  An  Indian 
astronomer,  the  Raja  Jai  Singh,  was  able  to  correct  the  list  of 
stars  published  by  the  celebrated  French  astronomer  De  la 
Hire,  in  1702. 

Brahman  Medicine. — The  Brahmans  also  worked  out  a 
system  of  medicine  for  themselves.  As  they  had  to  study  the 
heavenly  bodies  in  order  to  fix  the  dates  of  their  yearly 
festivals,  so  they  made  their  first  steps  in  anatomy,  by  cutting 
up  the  animals  at  the  sacrifice,  with  a  view  to  offering  the 
different  parts  to  the  proper  gods.  They  ranked  medical 
science  as  an  Upa-Veda,  or  later  revelation  from  heaven.  The 
ancient  Brahmans  did  not  shrink  from  dissecting  the  dead 
bodies  of  animals.  They  also  trained  their  students  by  means 
of  operations  performed  on  wax  spread  over  a  board,  instead 
of  flesh,  and  on  the  stems  of  plants.  The  hospitals  which 
the  Buddhist  princes  set  up  throughout  India  for  man  and 
beast,  gave  great  opportunities  for  the  study  and  treatment  of 
disease. 


BRAHMAN  SCIENCE.  65 

In  medicine  the  Brahmans  learned  nothing  from  the  Greeks, 

but  taught  them  much.  Arab  medicine  was  founded  on  trans- 
lations from  Sanskrit  works  about  800  a.d.  Mediaeval  Euro- 
pean medicine,  in  its  turn,  down  to  the  seventeenth  century,  was, 
in  many  important  respects,  based  upon  the  Arabic.  The  Indian 
physician  Charaka  was  quoted  in  European  books  of  medicine 
written  in  the  middle  ages. 

Decline  of  Hindu  Medicine. — As  Buddhism  passed  into 
modern  Hinduism  (600-1000  a.d.),  and  the  shackles  of  caste 
were  imposed  with  an  iron  rigour,  the  Brahmans  more 
scrupulously  avoided  contact  with  blood  or  diseased  matter. 
They  left  the  medical  profession  to  the  Vaidyas,  a  lower  caste, 
sprung  from  a  Brahman  father  and  a  mother  of  the  Vaisya  or 
cultivating  class.  These  in  their  turn  shrank  more  and  more 
from  touching  dead  bodies,  and  from  those  ancient  operations 
on  'the  carcase  of  a  bullock,'  &c.,  by  which  alone  surgical 
skill  could  be  acquired.  The  abolition  of  the  public  hospitals, 
on  the  downfall  of  Buddhism,  must  also  have  proved  a  great 
loss  to  Indian  medicine.  The  Muhammadan  conquests,  com- 
mencing in  1000  A.  D.,  brought  in  a  new  school  of  foreign 
physicians,  who  derived  their  knowledge  from  the  Arabic 
translations  of  the  Sanskrit  medical  works  of  the  best  period. 
These  INlusalman  doctors  or  hakims  monopolized  the  patronage 
of  the  Muhammadan  princes  and  nobles  of  India.  The  decline 
of  Hindu  medicine  continued  until  it  sank  into  the  hands  of 
the  village  kahirdj,  whose  knowledge  consists  of  a  jumble  of 
Sanskrit  texts,  useful  lists  of  drugs,  aided  by  spells,  fasts,  and 
quackery.  But  Hindu  students  now  flock  to  the  medical 
colleges  established  by  the  British  Government,  and  in  this  way 
the  science  is  again  reviving  in  India. 

Indian  Music. — The  Brahmans  had  also  an  art  of  music  of 
their  own.  The  seven  notes  which  they  invented,  at  least  four 
centuries  before  Christ,  passed  through  the  Persians  to  Arabia, 
and  were  thence  introduced  into  European  music  in  the  eleventh 
century  a.  u.  Hindu  music  declined  under  the  Muhammadan 
rule.  Its  complex  divisions  or  modes  and  numerous  sub-tones 
prevent  it  from  pleasing  the  modern  European  ear,  which  has 
been  trained  on  a  diflerent  system ;  but  it  is  highly  original  and 

£ 


66  THE  ARYANS  IN  INDIA. 

interesting  from  a  scientific  point  of  view.  A  great  revival  of 
Indian  music  has  been  brought  about  by  patriotic  native 
gentlemen  in  our  own  days,  and  its  strains  give  delight  to 
millions  of  our  Indian  fellow-subjects. 

Brahman  Law. — The  Brahmans  made  law  a  part  of  their 
religion.  Their  earliest  legal  works  were  the  Household  Maxims 
{Grihyd  Siitras),  some  of  them  perhaps  as  early  as  500  B.C. 
The  customs  of  the  Brahmans  in  Northern  India  were  collected 
into  the  Code  of  Manu,  composed  in  its  present  final  form 
between  100  and  500  a.d.  Another  famous  compilation,  known 
as  the  Code  of  Yajnavalkya,  was  drawn  up  later ;  apparently 
in  the  sixth  or  seventh  century  a.d.  These  codes,  and  the  com- 
mentaries written  upon  them,  still  rule  the  family  life  of  the 
Hindus.  They  set  forth  the  law  in  three  branches, — namely, 
(i)  domestic  and  civil  rights  and  duties;  (2)  the  administration 
of  justice;  (3)  religious  purifications  and  penance.  They  con- 
tain many  rules  about  marriage,  inheritance,  and  food.  They 
keep  the  castes  apart,  by  forbidding  them  to  intermarry  or  to 
eat  together.  They  were  accepted  as  almost  divine  laws  by  the 
Hindus;  and  the  spread  of  these  codes  was  the  work  of  the 
Brahmans  as  the  civilizers  of  India.  But  they  really  record 
only  the  customs  of  the  Brahman  kingdoms  in  the  north,  and 
do  not  truly  apply  to  all  the  Indian  races.  The  greatest  Hindu 
lawgivers  agree  that  the  usages  ot  each  different  country  in  India 
are  to  be  respected ;  and  in  this  way  they  make  allowance  for 
the  laws  or  customs  of  the  non-Aryan  tribes.  Thus  among  the 
Brahmans  it  would  be  disgraceful  for  a  woman  to  have  two 
husbands.  But  among  the  Nairs  of  Southern  India  and  other 
non-Aryan  races  it  is  the  custom ;  therefore  it  is  legal  for  such 
races,  and  all  the  laws  of  inheritance  among  these  peoples  are 
regulated  accordingly. 

Brahman  Poetry. — The  Brahmans  were  not  merely  the 
composers  and  keepers  of  the  sacred  books,  the  philosophers, 
the  men  of  science,  and  the  law-makers  of  the  Hindu  people — 
they  were  also  its  poets.  They  did  not  write  history; 
but  they  told  the  ancient  wars  and  the  lives  of  the  Aryan 
heroes  in  epic  poems.  The  two  most  famous  of  these  are 
the  Mahabharata,  or  chronicles  of  the  Delhi  kings,   and  the 


THE  MAHABHARATA.  67 

Ramdyana,  or  story  of  the  Aryan  advance  into  Southern 
India. 

The  Mahabharata. — The  Mahabharata  is  a  great  collection 
of  Indian  legends  in  verse,  some  of  them  as  old  as  the  Vedic 
hymns.  The  main  story  deals  with  a  period  not  later  than 
I2CO  B.C.  But  it  was  not  put  together  in  its  present  shape  till 
more  than  a  thousand  years  later.  An  idea  of  the  extent  of  the 
Mahdbharata  may  be  gained  from  the  fact  that  it  contains 
220,000  lines;  while  the  Iliad  oi  Homer  does  not  amount  to 
16,000  lines,  and  Virgil's  Aeiieid  coviX.2Xvi'&  less  than  10,000. 

Its  Central  Story. — The  central  story  of  the  Mahabharata 
occupies  scarcely  one-fourth  of  the  whole,  or  about  50,000  lines. 
It  narrates  a  struggle  between  two  families  of  the  ruling  Lunar 
race  for  a  patch  of  country  near  Delhi.  These  families,  alike 
descended  from  the  Royal  Bharata,  consisted  of  two  brother- 
hoods, cousins  to  each  other,  and  both  brought  up  under  the 
same  roof.  The  five  Pandavas  were  the  sons  of  King  Pandu, 
who,  smitten  by  a  curse,  resigned  the  sovereignty  to  his  brother 
Dhrita-rashtra,  and  retired  to  a  hermitage  in  the  Himalayas, 
where  he  died.  The  ruins  of  his  capital,  Hastinapura,  or  the 
'  Elephant  City,'  are  pointed  out  beside  a  deserted  bed  of  the 
Ganges,  57  miles  north-east  of  Delhi,  at  this  day.  His  brother 
Dhrita-rashtra  ruled  in  his  stead  ;  and  to  him  one  hundred  sons 
were  born,  who  took  the  name  of  the  Kauravas  from  an  ancestor, 
Kuru.  Dhrita-rashtra  acted  as  a  faithful  guardian  to  his  five 
nephews,  the  Pandavas,  and  chose  the  eldest  of  them  as  heir  to 
the  family  kingdom.  His  own  sons  resented  this  act  of  super- 
cession  ;  and  so  arose  the  quarrel  between  the  hundred  Kauravas 
and  the  five  Pandavas,  which  forms  the  main  story  of  the 
Mahabharata. 

Its  Outline. — The  hundred  Kauravas  forced  their  father  to 
send  away  their  five  Pandava  cousins  into  the  forest,  and  there 
they  treacherously  burned  down  the  hut  in  which  the  five 
Pandavas  dwelt.  The  Pandavas  escaped,  and  wandered  in  the 
disguise  of  Brahmans  to  the  court  of  King  Draupada,  who  had 
proclaimed  a  swayam-vara,  or  maiden's  '  own-choice.'  This 
was  a  contest  of  arms,  or  with  the  bow,  among  the  chiefs,  at 
which  the  king's  daughter  would  take  the  victor  as  her  husband. 

£  2 


68  THE  ARYANS  IN  INDIA. 

Arjuna,  one  of  the  five  Pandavas,  bent  the  mighty  bow  which 
had  defied  the  strength  of  all  the  rival  chiefs,  and  so  obtained 
the  fair  princess,  Draupadi,  who  became  the  common  wife  of  the 
five  brethren.  Their  uncle,  the  good  Dhrita-rashtra,  recalled 
them  to  his  capital,  and  gave  them  one  half  of  the  family 
territory,  reserving  the  other  half  for  his  own  sons.  The 
Pandava  brethren  hived  off  to  a  new  settlement,  Indra-prastha, 
afterwards  Delhi ;  clearing  the  jungle,  and  driving  out  the  Nagas 
or  forest-races. 

For  a  time  peace  reigned.  But  the  Kauravas  tempted 
Yudhishthira,  '  firm  in  fight,'  the  eldest  of  the  Pandavas,  to  a 
gambling  match,  at  which  he  lost  his  kingdom,  his  brothers, 
himself,  and  last  of  all  his  wife.  Their  father,  however,  forced 
his  sons  to  restore  their  wicked  gains  to  their  cousins.  But 
Yudhishthira  was  again  seduced  by  the  Kauravas  to  stake  his 
kingdom  at  dice,  again  lost  it,  and  had  to  retire  with  his  wife 
and  brethren  into  exile  for  twelve  years.  Their  banishment 
ended,  the  five  Pandavas  returned  at  the  head  of  an  army  to  win 
back  their  kingdom.  Many  battles  followed,  gods  and  divine 
heroes  joined  in  the  struggle,  until  at  last  all  the  hundred 
Kauravas  were  slain,  and  of  the  friends  and  kindred  of  the 
Pandavas  only  the  five  brethren  remained.  Tlieir  uncle,  Dhrita- 
rashtra,  made  over  to  them  the  whole  kingdom.  For  a  long 
time  the  Pandavas  ruled  gloriously,  celebrating  the  asva-medha, 
or  'great  horse  sacrifice,'  in  token  of  their  holding  imperial 
sway.  But  their  uncle,  old  and  blind,  ever  taunted  them  with 
the  slaughter  of  his  hundred  sons,  until  at  last  he  crept  away, 
with  his  few  surviving  ministers,  his  aged  wife,  and  his  sister-in- 
law,  the  mother  of  the  Pandavas,  to  a  hermitage,  where  the 
worn-out  band  perished  in  a  forest  fire.  The  five  brethren, 
smitten  by  remorse,  gave  up  their  kingdom ;  and,  taking  their 
wife,  Draupadi,  and  a  faithful  dog,  they  departed  to  the 
Himalayas  to  seek  the  heaven  of  Indra  on  Mount  Meru.  One 
by  one  the  sorrowful  pilgrims  died  upon  the  road,  until  only  the 
eldest  brother,  Yudhishthira,  and  the  dog  reached  the  gate  of 
heaven.  Indra  invited  him  to  enter,  but  he  refused  if  his  lost 
wife  and  brethren  were  not  also  admitted.  The  prayer  was 
granted ;  but  he  still  declined  unless  his  faithful  dog  might  come 


THE  RAM  A  VAN  A.  69 

in  w'ilh  him.  This  could  not  be  allowed ;  and  Yudhishthira, 
after  a  glimpse  of  heaven,  was  thrust  down  to  hell,  where  he 
found  many  of  his  old  comrades  in  anguish.  He  resolved  to 
share  their  sufferings  rather  than  to  enjoy  paradise  alone.  But, 
having  triumphed  in  this  crowning  trial,  the  whole  scene  was 
revealed  to  him  to  be  mdyd  or  illusion,  and  the  reunited  band 
entered  into  heaven,  where  they  rest  for  ever  with  Indra. 

Remainder  of  the  Mahabharata. — The  struggle  for  the 
kingdom  of  Hasiinapur  forms,  however,  only  a  fourth  of  the 
Mahabharata.  The  remainder  is  made  up  of  other  early 
legends,  stories  of  the  gods,  and  religious  discourses,  intended 
to  teach  the  military  caste  its  duties,  especially  its  duty  of 
reverence  to  the  Brahmans.  Taken  as  a  whole,  the  Mahabharata 
may  be  said  to  form  the  cyclopaedia  of  the  Heroic  Age  in 
Northern  India. 

The  Ramayana. — The  second  great  Indian  epic,  the  Rama- 
yana,  recounts  the  advance  of  the  Aryans  into  Southern  India. 
It  is  said  to  have  been  composed  by  the  poet  Valmfki ;  and  its 
main  story  refers  to  a  period  loosely  estimated  at  about  1000 
B.C.  But  the  Ramayana  could  not  have  been  put  together  in 
its  present  shape  many  centuries,  if  at  all,  before  the  Christian 
era.  Parts  of  it  may  be  earlier  than  the  Mahabharata,  but  the 
compilation  as  a  whole  apparently  belongs  to  a  later  date.  The 
Ramayana  consists  of  about  48,000  lines. 

Outline  of  the  Ramayana. — As  the  ]\Iahabharata  celebrates 
the  Lunar  race  of  Delhi,  so  the  Ramayana  forms  the  epic 
(or  poetic  history)  of  the  Solar  race  of  Ayodhya,  the  capital  of 
the  modern  province  of  Oudh.  The  two  poems  thus  preserve 
the  legends  of  the  two  most  famous  Aryan  kingdoms  at  the  two 
opposite,  or  eastern  and  western,  borders  of  the  old  Middle  Land 
of  Hindustan  (Madhya-desa).  The  opening  books  of  the  Rama- 
yana recount  the  wondrous  birth  and  boyhood  of  Rama,  eldest 
son  of  Dasaratha,  King  of  Ayodhya  or  Oiidh ;  his  marriage 
with  the  princess  Sfta,  after  he  proved  himself  the  victor  at  her 
'  own  choice '  of  a  husband  {swayam-vara\  by  bending  the  mighty 
bow  of  Siva  in  the  contest  of  chiefs ;  and  his  selection  as  heir- 
apparent  to  his  father's  kingdom.  A  zatuvia  intrigue  ends  in  the 
youngest  wife  of  Dasaratha  (Rama's  father)  obtaining  the  succcs- 


70  THE  ARYANS  IN  INDIA. 

sion  for  her  own  son,  Bharata,  and  in  the  exile  of  Rama,  with 
his  bride  Sita,  for  fourteen  years  to  the  forest.  The  banished 
pair  wander  south  to  Prayag,  the  modern  Allahabad,  already  a 
place  of  sanctity,  and  thence  across  the  river  to  the  hermitage 
of  Valmfki,  among  the  jungles  of  Bundelkhand,  where  a  hill  is 
still  pointed  out  as  the  scene  of  their  abode.  Meanwhile  Rama's 
father  dies;  and  the  loyal  younger  brother,  Bharata,  although 
declared  the  lawful  successor,  refuses  to  enter  on  the  inheritance, 
and  goes  in  search  of  Rama  to  bring  him  back  as  rightful  heir. 
A  contest  of  fraternal  affection  takes  place  ;  Bharata  at  length 
returning  to  rule  the  family  kingdom  in  the  name  of  Rama, 
until  the  latter  should  come  to  claim  it  at  the  end  of  his  fourteen 
years  of  banishment. 

The  Aryans  advance  Southwards. — So  far,  the  Rama- 
yana  merely  narrates  the  local  annals  of  the  court  of  Ayodhya. 
In  the  third  book  the  main  story  begins.  Ravana,  the  demon  or 
aboriginal  king  of  the  far  south,  smitten  by  the  fame  of  Sita's 
beauty,  seizes  her  at  the  hermitage  while  her  husband  Rama  is 
away  in  the  jungle,  and  flies  off  with  her  in  a  magic  chariot 
through  the  air  to  Ceylon.  The  next  three  books  (4th,  5th,  6th) 
recount  the  expedition  of  the  bereaved  Rama  for  her  recovery. 
He  allies  himself  with  the  aboriginal  tribes  of  Southern  India, 
who  bear  the  names  of  monkeys  and  bears,  and  raises  among 
them  a  great  army.  The  Monkey  general,  Hanuman,  jumps 
across  the  straits  between  India  and  Ceylon,  discovers  the 
princess  in  captivity,  and  leaps  back  with  the  news  to  Rama. 
The  monkey  troops  then  build  a  causeway  across  the  narrow 
sea, — the  Adam's  Bridge  of  modern  geography, — by  which 
Rdma  marches  across,  and,  after  slaying  the  monster  Ravana, 
delivers  Sita.  The  rescued  wife  proves  her  faithfulness  to  him, 
during  her  stay  in  the  palace  of  Ravana,  by  the  ancient  ordeal 
of  fire.  Agni,  the  god  of  that  element,  himself  conducts  her 
out  of  the  burning  pile  to  her  husband  ;  and,  the  fourteen  years 
of  banishment  being  over,  Rama  and  Sita  return  in  triumph  to 
Ayodhya.  There  they  reigned  gloriously ;  and  Rama  celebrated 
the  great  horse  sacrifice  {asva-medha)  as  a  token  of  his  imperial 
sway  over  India.  But  a  famine  having  smitten  the  land,  Rama 
regards  it  as  a  punisshment  sent  by  God  for  some  crime  com- 


LATER  HINDU  LITERATURE.  7 1 

mitted  in  the  royal  family.  Doubts  arise  in  his  heart  as  to  his 
wife's  purity  while  in  her  captor's  power  at  Ceylon.  He  accord- 
ingly banishes  the  faithful  Sita,  who  wanders  forth  again  to 
Vdlmfki's  hermitage,  where  she  gives  birth  to  Rama's  two  sons. 
After  sixteen  years  of  exile,  she  is  reconciled  to  her  repentant 
husband,  and  Rama  and  Sita  and  their  children  are  at  last 
reunited. 

Later  Sanskrit  Epics. — The  Mahabharata  and  the  Rama- 
yana,  however  overlaid  with  fable,  form  the  chronicles  of  the 
kings  of  the  IMiddle  Land  of  Hindustan  (Madhya-desa),  their 
family  feuds,  and  their  national  enterprises.  In  the  later  San- 
skrit epics,  the  stories  of  the  heroes  give  place  more  and  more 
to  legends  of  the  gods.  Among  them  the  Raghu-vansa  and 
the  Kumara-sambhava,  both  assigned  to  Kalidasa,  take  the  first 
rank.  The  Raghu-vansa  celebrates  the  Solar  line  of  Raghu, 
King  of  Ayodhya,  and  especially  his  descendant  Rama.  The 
Kumara-sambhava  recounts  the  Birth  of  the  War-god.  These 
two  poems  could  not  have  been  composed  in  their  present 
shape  before  350  a.d. 

The  Sanskrit  Drama. — In  India,  as  in  Greece  and  Rome, 
scenic  representations  seem  to  have  taken  their  rise  in  the  rude 
pantomime  of  a  very  early  age,  possibly  as  far  back  as  the 
Vedic  ritual ;  and  the  Sanskrit  word  for  the  drama,  ndlaka,  is 
derived  from  naia,  a  dancer.  But  the  Sanskrit  plays  of  the 
classical  age  which  have  come  down  to  us  probably  belong  to 
the  period  between  the  first  century  b.c.  and  the  eighth  century 
A.D.  The  father  of  the  Sanskrit  drama  is  Kalidasa,  already 
mentioned  as  the  composer  of  the  two  later  Sanskrit  epics. 
According  to  Hindu  tradition,  he  was  one  of  the  '  Nine  Gems,' 
or  distinguished  men  at  the  court  of  Vikramaditya,  King  of 
Ujjain,  in  57  b.c  But  as  a  matter  of  fact  there  were  several 
king  Vikramadityas,  and  the  one  under  whom  Kalidasa  flourished 
appears  to  have  ruled  over  Malwa  in  the  sixth  century  a.d. 

Sakuntala. — The  most  famous  drama  of  Kalidasa  is  Sakun- 
tala,  or  the  Lost  Ring.  Like  the  ancient  Sanskrit  epics,  it 
divides  its  action  between  the  court  of  the  king  and  the  hermit- 
age in  the  forest.  Prince  Dushyanta,  an  ancestor  of  the  noble 
Lunar  race,  weds  a  beautiful  Brahman  girl,  Sakuntala,  at  her 


72  THE  ARYANS  IN  INDIA. 

father's  retreat  in  the  jungle.  Before  returning  to  his  capital, 
he  gives  his  bride  a  ring  as  a  pledge  of  his  love ;  but,  smitten 
by  a  curse  from  a  Brahman,  she  loses  the  ring,  and  cannot  be 
recognized  by  her  husband  till  it  is  found.  Sakuntala  bears  a 
son  in  her  loneliness,  and  sets  out  to  claim  recognition  for 
herself  and  child  at  her  husband's  court.  But  she  is  as  one 
unknown  to  the  prince,  till,  after  many  sorrows  and  trials,  the 
ring  comes  to  light.  She  is  then  happily  reunited  with  her 
husband,  and  her  son  grows  up  to  be  the  noble  Bharata,  the 
chief  founder  of  the  Lunar  dynasty,  whose  achievements  form 
the  theme  of  the  Mahabhaiata.  Sakuntala,  like  Si'ta,  is  a  type 
of  the  chaste  and  faithful  Hindu  wife ;  and  her  love  and  sorrow, 
after  forming  the  favourite  romance  of  the  Indian  people  for 
perhaps  eighteen  hundred  years,  supplied  a  theme  for  Goethe, 
the  greatest  European  poet  of  our  age. 

Other  Dramas. — Among  other  Hindu  dramas  may  be  men- 
tioned the  INIrichchhakati,  or  Toy  Cart,  in  ten  acts,  on  the  old 
theme  of  the  innocent  cleared  and  the  guilty  punished ;  and  the 
poem  of  Nala  and  Damayanti,  or  the  Royal  Gambler  and  the 
Faithful  Wife.  Many  plays,  often  founded  upon  some  story 
in  the  IMahabharata  or  Ramayana,  issue  every  year  from  the 
Indian  press. 

Beast  Stories. — Fables  of  animals  have  from  old  been 
favourites  in  India.  The  Sanskrit  Pancha-tantra,  or  Book  of 
Beast  Tales,  was  translated  into  Persian  as  early  as  the  sixth 
century  a.d.  ;  and  thence  found  its  way  to  Europe.  The 
animal  fables  of  ancient  India  are  the  familiar  nursery  stories 
of  England  and  America  at  the  present  day. 

Lyric  Poetry. — Besides  the  epic  chronicles  of  their  gods 
and  heroes,  the  Brahmans  composed  many  religious  poems. 
One  of  the  most  beautiful  is  the  Gfta  Govinda,  or  Song  of  the 
Divine  Herdsman,  written  by  Jayadeva  about  1200  a.d.  The 
Puranas  are  an  enormous  collection  of  religious  discourses  in 
verse  ;  they  will  be  described  hereafter  at  p.  103. 

Brahman  Influence. — In  order  to  understand  the  long 
rule  of  the  Brahmans,  and  the  influence  which  they  still  wield, 
it  is  necessary  ever  to  keep  in  mind  their  posi:ion  as  the  great 
literary  caste.     Their  priestly  supremacy  has  been  repeatedly 


BRAHMAN  INFLUENCE.  73 

assailed,  and  during  a  space  of  nearly  a  thousand  years  it  was 
overborne  by  the  Buddhists.  But  throughout  twenty-five  centuries 
the  Brahmans  have  been  the  writers  and  thinkers  of  India,  the 
counsellors  of  Hindu  princes  and  the  teachers  of  the  Hindu 
people.  The  education  and  learning  which  so  long  gave  them 
their  power,  have  ceased  to  be  the  monopoly  of  their  caste; 
and  may  now  be  acquired  by  all  races  and  all  classes  of  Her 
Majesty's  Indian  subjects. 


Materials  for  Reference. 

The  literature  on  ancient  India  is  so  copious  that  it  must  suffice  to  name 
a  few  of  the  most  useful  and  most  easily  available  works.  Weber's  History 
of  Indian  Literature  is  perhaps  the  most  compendious;  a  new  edition  of 
Max  Vi\\\\.<ixs  History  of  Ancient  Sanskrit  Literature  (1859)  would  be  a 
boon  to  the  student,  and  his  Chips  from  a  German  Workshop  are  delight- 
ful. Among  standard  treatises  may  be  mentioned  John  Muir's  valuable 
translations  of  Sanskrit  Texts  (5  vols.  2nd  ed.  186S-73);  Max  Dunckers 
Ancient  History  of  India;  Lassen's  Indische  Alterthnmskunde;  James 
Prinsep's  Essays  on  Indian  Antiquities ;  Horace  Hayman  Wilson's 
Collected  Works ;  and  the  writings  of  Roth,  Eenfey,  K.  M.  Banarji,  General 
Cunningham,  Hoernle,  .Liihier,  and  Burnell.  Some  of  the  most  valuable 
original  Sanskrit  texts  are  now  rendered  available  to  the  English  student 
in  Max  MuUer's  magnificent  series  of  Sacred  Books  of  the  East.  His  new 
edition  of  the  Rig-Veda- Samliita  forms  a  splendid  monument  alike  to  the 
Indian  prince  who  provided  the  cost  of  the  work,  and  to  the  European 
scholar  who  has  executed  it. 


[74j 


CHAPTER   V. 
Buddhism— 543  B  C.  to  1000  A.D. 

Rise  of  Buddhism,  543  B.C.* — The  Brahmans  had  firmly 
established  their  power  6oo  years  before  Christ.  But  after  that 
date  a  new  religion  arose  in  India,  called  Buddhism,  from  the 
name  of  its  founder,  Gautama  Buddha.  This  new  religion  was 
a  rival  to  Brahmanism  during  more  than  a  thousand  years. 
About  the  ninth  century  a.d.  Buddhism  was  driven  out  of  India. 
But  it  is  still  professed  by  500  millions  of  people  in  Asia,  and 
has  more  followers  than  any  other  religion  in  the  world. 

The  Legend  of  Buddha :  his  Early  Life. — Gautama, 
afterwards  named  Buddha,  '  The  Enlightened,'  was  the  only 
son  of  Suddhodana,  King  of  Kapilavastu.  This  prince  ruled 
over  the  Sakya  people,  about  100  miles  north  of  Benares,  and 
within  sight  of  the  snow-topped  Himalayas.  The  king  wished 
to  see  his  son  grow  up  into  a  warrior  like  himself.  But  the 
young  prince  shunned  the  sports  of  his  playmates,  and  spent 
his  time  alone  in  nooks  of  the  palace  garden.  When  he 
reached  manhood,  however,  he  showed  himself  brave  and  skilful 
with  his  weapons.  He  won  his  wife  by  a  contest  at  arms  over 
all  rival  chiefs.  For  a  time  he  forgot  the  religious  thoughts  of 
his  boyhood  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  world.  But  in  his  drives 
through  the  city  he  was  struck  by  the  sights  of  old  age,  disease, 
and  death  which  met  his  eye ;  and  he  envied  the  calm  of  a  holy 
man,  who  seemed  to  have  raised  his  soul  above  the  changes 
and  sorrows  of  this  life.  After  ten  years,  his  wife  bore  to  him 
an  only  son ;  and  Gautama,  fearing  lest  this  new  tie  should 
bind  him  too  closely  to  the  things  of  earth,  retired  about  the 
age  of  thirty  to  a  cave  in  the  jungles.  The  story  is  told  how 
he  turned  away  from  the  door  of  his  wife's  lamp-lit  chamber, 
denying  himself  even  a  parting  caress  of  his  new-born  babe,  lest 
he  should  wake  the  sleeping  mother,  and  galloped  off  into  the 

*  The  Nirvana  or  death  of  Buddha  is  assigned  to  543  or  to  478  B.C. 


THE  LIFE  OF  BUDDHA.  75 

darkness.  After  a  gloomy  night  ride,  he  sent  back  his  one 
companion,  the  faithful  charioteer,  with  his  horse  and  jewels  to 
his  father.  Having  cut  off  his  long  warrior  hair,  and  exchanged 
his  princely  raiment  for  the  rags  of  a  poor  passer-by,  he  went 
on  alone  a  homeless  beggar.  This  giving  up  of  princely  pomp, 
and  of  loved  wife  and  new-born  son,  is  the  Great  Renunciation 
which  forms  a  favourite  theme  of  the  Buddhist  Scriptures. 

Legend  of  Buddha's  Forest  Life,  set.  30  to  36. — For  a 
time  Gautama  studied  under  two  Brahman  hermits,  in  Patna 
District.  They  taught  him  that  the  peace  of  the  soul  was  to  be 
reached  only  by  mortifying  the  body.  He  then  buried  himself 
deeper  in  the  jungles  near  Gaya,  and  during  six  years  wasted 
himself  by  austerities  in  company  with  five  disciples.  The 
temple  of  Buddha-Gaya  marks  the  site  of  his  long  penance. 
But  instead  of  earning  peace  of  mind  by  fasting  and  self- 
torture,  he  sank  into  a  religious  despair,  during  which  the 
Buddhist  Scriptures  affirm  that  the  enemy  of  mankind,  Mara, 
wrestled  with  him  in  bodily  shape.  Torn  with  doubts  as  to 
whether  all  his  penance  availed  anything,  the  haggard  hermit 
fell  senseless  to  the  earth.  When  he  recovered,  the  mental 
agony  had  passed.  He  felt  that  the  path  to  salvation  lay  not 
in  self-torture  in  mountain-jungles  or  caves,  but  in  preaching 
a  higher  life  to  his  fellow-men.  He  gave  up  penance.  His 
five  disciples,  shocked  by  this,  forsook  him  ;  and  he  was  left 
alone  in  the  forest.  The  Buddhist  Scriptures  depict  him  as 
sitting  serene  under  a  fig-tree,  while  demons  whirled  round  him 
with  flaming  weapons.  From  this  temptation  in  the  wilderness 
he  came  forth  with  his  doubts  for  ever  laid  at  rest,  seeing  his 
way  clear,  and  henceforth  to  be  known  as  Buddha,  literally 
*  The  Enlightened.' 

Public  Teaching  of  Buddha,  set.  36  to  80. — Buddha 
began  his  public  teaching  in  the  Deer-Forest,  near  the  great 
city  of  Benares.  Unlike  the  Brahmans,  he  preached,  not  to 
one  or  two  disciples  of  the  sacred  caste,  but  to  the  people.  His 
first  converts  were  common  men,  and  among  the  earliest  were 
women.  After  three  months  he  had  gathered  around  him 
sixty  disciples,  whom  he  sent  forth  to  the  neighbouring  coun- 
tries with   these  words :    '  Go  ye  now,  and  preach  the  most 


76  BUDDHISM, 

excellent  law.'  Two-thirds  of  each  year  he  spent  as  a  wander- 
ing preacher.  The  remaining  four  months,  or  the  rainy  season, 
he  abode  at  some  fixed  place,  teaching  the  people  who  flocked 
around  his  little  dwelling  in  the  bamboo  grove.  His  five  old 
disciples,  who  had  forsaken  him  in  the  time  of  his  sore  tempta- 
tion in  the  wilderness,  now  came  back  to  their  master.  Princes, 
merchants,  artisans,  Brahmans  and  hermits,  husbandmen  and 
serfs,  noble  ladies  and  repentant  women  who  had  sinned,  were 
added  to  those  who  believed.  Buddha  preached  throughout 
Behar,  Oudh,  and  the  adjacent  districts  in  the  North-Western 
Provinces.  He  had  ridden  forth  from  his  father's  palace  as  a 
brilliant  young  prince.  He  now  returned  to  it  as  a  wandering 
preacher,  in  dingy  yellow  robes,  with  shaven  head  and  the 
begging  bowl  in  his  hand.  The  old  king  heard  him  with 
reverence.  The  son,  whom  Buddha  had  left  as  a  new-born 
babe,  was  converted  to  the  faith;  and  his  beloved  wife,  from 
the  threshold  of  whose  chamber  he  had  ridden  away  into  the 
darkness,  became  one  of  the  first  of  Buddhist  nuns. 

Legend  of  Buddha's  Death  and  Last  Words. — Buddha's 
Great  Renunciation  took  place  in  his  thirtieth  year.  After  long 
self-preparation,  his  public  teaching  began  when  he  was  about 
thirty-six,  and  during  forty-four  years  he  preached  to  the  people. 
In  foretelling  his  death,  he  said  to  his  followers :  '  Be  earnest, 
be  thoughtful,  be  holy.  Keep  steadfast  watch  over  your  own 
hearts.  He  who  holds  fast  to  the  law  and  discipline,  and  faints 
not,  he  shall  cross  the  ocean  of  life  and  make  an  end  of  sorrow.' 
*  The  world  is  fast  bound  in  fetters,'  he  added ;  '  I  now  give  it 
deliverance,  as  a  physician  who  brings  heavenly  medicine. 
Keep  your  mind  on  my  teaching :  all  other  things  change,  this 
changes  not.  No  more  shall  I  speak  to  you.  I  desire  to 
depart.  I  desire  the  eternal  rest  {Nirvana)!  He  spent  the 
night  in  preaching,  and  in  comforting  a  weeping  disciple.  His 
latest  words,  according  to  one  account,  were,  '  Work  out  your 
salvation  with  diligence.'  He  died  calmly,  at  the  age  of  eighty, 
under  the  shadow  of  a  fig-tree,  according  to  the  commonly  re- 
ceived tradition  in  543  B.C.;  or  according  to  later  criticism  in 
478  B.C. 

The  Law  of  Karma. — The  secret  of  Buddha's  success  was, 


THE  LIFE   OF  BUDDHA.  77 

that  he  brought  spiritual  deliverance  to  the  people.  He 
preached  that  salvation  was  equally  open  to  all  men,  and  that 
it  must  be  earned,  not  by  propitiating  imaginary  deities,  but 
by  our  own  conduct.  He  thus  did  away  with  sacrifices,  and 
with  the  priestly  claims  of  the  Brahmans  as  mediators  between 
God  and  man.  He  taught  that  the  slate  of  a  man  in  this  life, 
in  all  previous  and  in  all  future  lives,  is  the  result  of  his  own 
acts  {Karma).  What  a  man  sows,  that  he  must  reap.  As  no 
evil  remains  without  punishment,  and  no  good  deed  without 
reward,  it  follows  that  neither  priest  nor  God  can  prevent  each 
act  from  bringing  about  its  own  consequences.  Misery  or 
happiness  in  this  hfe  is  the  unavoidable  result  of  our  conduct 
in  a  past  life  ;  and  our  actions  here  will  determine  our  happi- 
ness or  misery  in  the  life  to  come.  When  any  creature  dies, 
he  is  born  again  in  some  higher  or  lower  state  of  existence, 
according  to  his  merit  or  demerit.  His  merit  or  demerit  consists 
of  the  sum  total  of  his  actions  in  all  previous  lives.  A  system 
like  this,  in  which  our  whole  well-being — past,  present,  and  to 
come — depends  on  ourselves,  leaves  little  room  for  a  personal 
God. 

The  Liberation  of  the  Soul. — Life,  according  to  Buddha, 
must  always  be  more  or  less  painful ;  and  the  object  of  every 
good  man  is  to  get  rid  of  the  evils  of  existence  by  merging  his 
individual  soul  into  the  universal  soul.  This  is  Nirvana, 
literally  '  cessation.'  Some  scholars  explain  it  to  mean  that  the 
soul  is  blown  out  like  the  flame  of  a  lamp.  Others  hold  that  it 
is  the  extinction  of  the  sms,  sorrows,  and  selfishness  of  a  man's 
individual  life — the  final  rest  of  the  soul.  The  pious  Buddhist 
strives  to  reach  a  state  of  holy  meditation  in  this  world,  and  he 
looks  forward  to  an  eternal  calm  in  a  world  to  come.  Buddha 
taught  tliat  this  end  could  only  be  reached  by  leading  a  good 
life.  Instead  of  the  Brahman  sacrifices,  he  laid  down  three 
great  duties,  namely,  control  over  self,  kindness  to  other  men, 
and  reverence  for  the  life  of  all  living  creatures. 

Missionary  Aspects  of  Buddhism. — He  urged  on  his 
disciples  that  they  must  not  only  follow  the  true  path  them- 
selves, but  that  they  should  preach  it  to  all  mankind.  Bud- 
dhism has  from  the  first  been  a  missionary  religion.    One  of  the 


78  BUDDHISM. 

earliest  acts  of  Buddha's  public  ministry  was  to  send  forth  the 
Sixty  Disciples.  He  also  formed  a  religious  order,  whose  duty 
it  was  to  go  forth  unpaid  and  preach  to  all  nations.  While, 
therefore,  the  Brahmans  kept  their  ritual  for  the  Twice-born 
Aryan  castes,  Buddhism  addressed  itself  not  only  to  those 
castes  and  to  the  lower  mass  of  the  people,  but  to  all  the 
non- Aryan  races  throughout  India,  and  eventually  to  the  whole 
Asiatic  world. 

The  First  and  Second  Councils. — On  the  death  of  Buddha 
i"  543  B.C.,  five  hundred  of  his  disciples  met  in  a  vast  cave 
near  Patna,  to  gather  together  his  sayings.  This  was  the  first 
Council.  They  chanted  the  lessons  of  their  master  in  three 
great  divisions, — the  words  of  Buddha  to  his  disciples ;  his 
code  of  discipline  ;  and  his  system  of  doctrine.  These  became 
the  Three  Collections  of  Buddha's  teaching;  and  the  word  for 
a  Buddhist  Council  means  literally  '  a  singing  together.' 

A  century  afterwards,  a  Second  Council,  of  seven  hundred, 
was  held  in  443  b.c,  to  settle  disputes  between  the  more  and 
the  less  strict  followers  of  Buddhism. 

Asoka. — During  the  next  two  hundred  years  Buddhism 
spread  over  Northern  India.  About  257  b.c,  Asoka,  the  King 
of  Magadha  or  Behar,  became  a  zealous  convert  to  the  faith. 
He  was  grandson  of  Chandra  Gupta,  whom  we  shall  afterwards 
hear  of  in  Alexander's  camp.  Asoka  is  said  to  have  supported 
64,000  Buddhist  priests ;  he  founded  many  religious  houses ; 
and  his  kingdom  is  called  the  Land  of  the  Monasteries  (Vihara 
or  Behar)  to  this  day.  Asoka  did  for  Buddhism  what  the  Em- 
peror Constantine  afterwards  effected  for  Christianity — he  made 
it  a  State  religion.  This  he  accomplished  by  five  means, — (i) 
by  a  Council  to  settle  the  faith ;  (2)  by  Edicts  setting  forth  its 
principles  ;  (3)  by  a  State  Department  to  watch  over  its  purity ; 
{4)  by  Missionaries  to  spread  its  doctrines ;  and  (5)  by  an  Au- 
thoritative Revision  or  Canon  of  the  Buddhist  Scriptures. 

The  Work  of  Asoka. — In  244  e.g.,  Asoka  convened  at 
Patna  the  Third  Buddhist  Council,  of  one  thousand  elders. 
Evil  men,  taking  on  them  the  yellow  robe  of  the  Buddhist  order, 
had  given  forth  their  own  opinions  as  the  teaching  of  Buddha. 
Such   heresies   were    now   corrected ;  and    the    Buddhism   of 


THE   WORK  OF  ASOKA.  79 

Southern  Asia  practically  dates  from  Asoka's  Council.  In  a 
number  of  edicts,  both  before  and  after  that  Council,  he  pub- 
lished throughout  his  empire  the  grand  principles  of  the  faith. 
Forty  of  these  royal  sermons  are  still  found  graven  upon  pillars, 
caves,  and  rocks  throughout  India.  Asoka  also  founded  a  State 
department,  with  a  Minister  of  Justice  and  Religion  at  its  head, 
to  watch  over  the  purity,  and  to  direct  the  spread,  of  the  faith. 
Wells  were  to  be  dug  and  trees  planted  along  the  roads  for  the 
wearied  wayfarers.  Hospitals  were  established  for  man  and 
beast.  Officers  were  appointed  to  watch  over  family  life  and 
the  morals  of  the  people,  and  to  promote  instruction  among  the 
women  as  well  as  the  youth.  Asoka  thought  it  his  duty  to  con- 
vert all  mankind  to  Buddhism.  His  rock  inscriptions  record 
how  he  sent  forth  missionaries  '  to  the  utmost  limits  of  the  bar- 
barian countries,'  to  '  intermingle  among  all  unbelievers '  for  the 
spread  of  religion.  They  were  to  mix  equally  with  soldiers, 
Brahmans,  and  beggars,  with  the  dreaded  and  the  despised,  both 
within  the  kingdom  '  and  in  foreign  countries,  teaching  better 
things.'  But  conversion  was  to  be  eifected  by  persuasion,  not 
by  the  sword.  Buddhism  was  at  once  the  most  intensely 
missionary  religion  in  the  world,  and  the  most  tolerant.  Asoka, 
however,  not  only  laboured  to  spread  his  religion — he  also  took 
steps  to  keep  its  doctrines  pure.  He  collected  the  Buddhist 
sacred  books  into  an  authoritative  version,  in  the  Magadhi 
language  of  his  central  kingdom  in  Behar, — a  version  which  for 
two  thousand  years  has  formed  the  Southern  Canon  of  the  Bud- 
dhist Scriptures. 

Kanishka. — The  fourth  and  last  of  the  great  Buddhist 
Councils  was  held  under  the  Scythian  King  Kanishka,  who 
ruled  in  North-Western  India  about  40  a.d.  He  again  revised 
the  sacred  books,  and  his  version  has  supplied  the  Northern 
Canon  to  the  Buddhists  of  Tibet,  Tartary,  and  China.  Mean- 
while Buddhist  missionaries  were  preaching  all  over  Asia. 
About  244  B.C.,  Asoka's  son  is  said  to  have  carried  his  father's 
Southern  Canon  of  the  sacred  books  to  Ceylon,  whence  it  spread 
in  later  times  to  Burma  and  the  Eastern  ArchipeLigo.  The 
Northern  Canon  of  Buddhism,  as  laid  down  at  the  Council  of 
Kanishka,  became  one  of  the  State  religions  of  China  in  65  A.n. ; 


8o  BUDDHISM. 

and  it  is  still  professed  by  the  northern  Buddhists  from  Tibet 
to  Japan.  The  Buddhist  ritual  and  doctrines  also  spread  west- 
wards, and  exercised  an  influence  upon  early  Christianity. 

Buddhism  as  a  National  Religion. — Buddhism  was  thus 
formed  into  a  State  religion  by  the  Councils  of  Asoka  and 
Kanishka.  It  did  not  abolish  caste.  On  the  contrary,  rever- 
ence to  Brahmans  and  to  the  spiritual"  guide  ranked  as  one  of 
the  three  great  duties,  along  with  obedience  to  parents  and  acts 
of  kindness  to  all  men  and  animals.  Buddha,  however,  divided 
mankind  not  by  their  caste,  but  according  to  their  religious  merit. 
He  told  his  hearers  to  live  good  lives,  not  to  offer  victims  to  the 
gods.  The  public  worship  in  Buddhist  countries  consists,  there- 
fore, in  doing  honour  to  the  relics  of  holy  men  who  are  dead, 
instead  of  sacrifices.  Its  sacred  buildings  were,  originally,  not 
temples  to  the  gods,  but  monasteries  for  the  monks  and  nuns, 
with  their  bells  and  rosaries ;  or  memorial  shrines,  reared  over 
a  tooth  or  bone  of  the  founder  of  the  faith. 

Buddha's  personality  denied. — While,  on  the  one  hand, 
many  miraculous  stories  have  grown  up  around  Buddha's  life 
and  death,  it  has  been  denied,  on  the  other  hand,  that  such  a 
person  as  Buddha  ever  existed.  The  date  of  his  birth  cannot 
be  fixed  with  certainty;  the  dates  which  I  have  given  for  his  life 
are  those  of  the  received  Indian  tradition.  Some  scholars  hold 
that  Buddhism  is  merely  a  religion  based  on  the  Brahmanical 
or  Sankhya  philosophy  of  Kapila.  They  argue  that  Buddha's 
birth  is  placed  at  a  purely  allegorical  town,  Kapila- Vastu,  '  the 
abode  of  Kapila ';  that  his  mother  is  called  Maya-devi,  in  refer- 
ance  to  the  Maya  or  'illusion'  doctrine  of  Kapila's  system;  and 
that  the  very  name  of  Buddha  is  not  that  of  any  real  person,  but 
merely  means  '  The  Enlightened.'  This  theory  is  so  far  true, 
that  Buddhism  was  not  a  sudden  invention  of  any  single  mind, 
but  was  worked  out  from  the  Brahman  philosophy  and  religion 
which  preceded  it.  But  such  a  view  leaves  out  of  sight  the  two 
great  traditional  features  of  Buddhism,  namely,  the  preacher's 
appeal  to  the  people,  and  the  undying  influence  of  his  own 
beautiful  life. 

Brahmanism  never  crushed. — Buddhism  never  drove  Brah- 
manism  out  of  India.     The  two  religions  lived  together  during 


StLADITYA.  8 1 

more  than  a  thousand  years,  from  before  250  b.c.  to  about  900 
A.D.  Modern  Hinduism  is  the  joint  product  of  both.  In  certain 
kingdoms  of  India,  and  at  certain  periods,  Buddhism  prevailed. 
But  Brahmanism  was  at  no  time  crushed;  and  the  Brahmans  in 
the  end  claimed  Buddha  as  the  ninth  incarnation  of  their  own 
god,  Vishnu.  The  Chinese  Pilgrims  to  India  in  400  and  630  a.d. 
found  Buddhist  monasteries  and  Brahman  temples  side  by  side. 

Council  of  Siladitya,  634  A.D. — In  Northern  India,  for  ex- 
ample, a  famous  Buddhist  king,  Siladitya,  ruled  at  the  latter  date. 
He  seems  to  have  been  an  Asoka  of  the  seventh  century  a.d.;  and 
he  strictly  carried  out  the  two  great  Buddhist  duties  of  charity 
and  spreading  the  faith.  He  tried  to  extend  Buddhism  by 
means  of  a  General  Council  in  634  a.d.  Twenty-one  tributary 
sovereigns  attended,  together  with  the  most  learned  Buddhist 
monks  and  Brahmans  of  their  kingdoms.  But  the  object  of 
the  Council  was  not  merely  to  assert  the  Buddhist  faith.  It 
dealt  with  the  two  religions  of  India  at  that  time.  First,  a 
discussion  took  place  between  the  Buddhists  and  the  Brahmans; 
second,  a  dispute  between  the  two  Buddhist  sects  who  followed 
respectively  the  Northern  Scriptures  or  Canon  of  Kanishka  and 
the  Southern  Scriptures  or  Canon  of  Asoka.  The  rites  of  the 
populace  were  as  mixed  as  the  doctrines  of  their  teachers.  On 
the  first  day  of  the  Council,  a  statue  of  Buddha  was  installed 
with  great  pomp ;  on  the  second,  an  image  of  the  Brahman 
Sun-god  ;  on  the  third,  an  idol  of  the  Hindu  Siva. 

Siladitya's  Charity. — Siladitya  held  a  solemn  distribution 
of  his  royal  treasures  every  five  years.  The  Cliinese  Pilgrim 
Hiuen  Tsiang  describes  how,  on  the  plain  where  the  Ganges 
and  the  Jumna  unite  their  waters,  near  Allahabad,  all  the  kings 
of  the  empire,  and  a  multitude  of  people,  were  feasted  for 
seventy-five  days.  Sfladitya  brought  forth  the  stores  of  his  palace, 
and  gave  them  away  to  Brahmans  and  Buddhists,  monks  and 
heretics,  without  distinction.  At  the  end  of  the  festival  he 
stripped  off  his  jewels  and  royal  raiment,  handed  them  to  the 
bystanders,  and,  like  Buddha  of  old,  put  on  the  rags  of  a  beggar. 
By  this  ceremony  the  king  commemorated  the  Great  Renuncia- 
tion of  Buddha,  and  also  practised  the  highest  duty  laid  down  by 
the  Brahmans,  namely,  almsgiving. 

r 


82  BUDDHISM. 

Monastery  of  Nalanda. — The  vast  Buddhist  monastery  of 
Nalanda,  near  Gaya,  formed  a  seat  of  learning  which  recalls  the 
Christian  abbeys  and  universities  of  mediaeval  Europe.  Ten 
thousand  monks  and  novices  of  the  eighteen  Buddhist  schools 
here  studied  theology,  philosophy,  law,  science,  especially  medi- 
cine, and  practised  their  devotions.  They  lived  in  learned  ease, 
fed  by  the  royal  bounty.  But  even  this  stronghold  of  Buddhism 
is  a  proof  that  Buddhism  was  only  one  of  two  hostile  creeds  in 
India.  During  one  short  period  (about  640  a.d.)  it  was  three 
times  destroyed  by  the  enemies  of  the  Buddhist  faith. 

Victory  of  Brahmanism,  700  to  900  A.D. — Between  700 
and  900  A.D.  there  arose  various  great  reformers  of  the  Brahman 
faith.  After  800  a.d.  Brahmanism  gradually  became  the  ruling 
religion.  Legends  dimly  tell  of  persecutions  stirred  up  by  Brah- 
man reformers.  But  although  there  were  severe  local  persecu- 
tions of  Buddhists,  the  downfall  of  Buddhism  seems  to  have 
resulted  partly  from  its  own  decay,  and  from  new  movements  of 
religious  thought,  rather  than  from  any  general  suppression  by 
the  sword.  In  the  tenth  century,  only  outlying  states,  such  as 
Kashmir  and  Orissa,  remained  faithful ;  and  before  the  Muham- 
madans  fairly  came  upon  the  scene,  Buddhism  as  a  popular 
faith  had  almost  disappeared  from  India. 

Buddhism  an  Exiled  Religion,  900  A.D. — During  the  last 
thousand  years  Buddhism  has  been  a  banished  religion  from  its 
native  Indian  home.  But  it  has  won  greater  triumphs  in  its  exile 
than  it  could  have  ever  achieved  in  the  land  of  its  birth.  It 
created  a  literature  and  a  religion  for  nearly  one-half  of  the  human 
race ;  and  it  is  supposed,  by  its  influence  on  early  Christianity,  to 
have  affected  the  beliefs  of  a  large  part  of  the  other  half.  Five 
hundred  millions  of  men,  or  forty  per  cent,  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  world,  still  follow  the  teaching  of  Buddha.  Afghanistan, 
Nepal,  Eastern  Turkistan,  Tibet,  Mongolia,  Manchuria,  China, 
Japan,  the  Eastern  Archipelago,  Siam,  Burma,  Ceylon,  and 
India,  at  one  time  or  another  marked  the  magnificent  circle  of 
its  conquests.  Its  shrines  and  monasteries  stretched  from  what 
are  now  provinces  of  the  Russian  empire,  to  Japan  and  the 
islands  of  the  Malay  Sea.  During  twenty-four  centuries.  Bud- 
dhism has  encountered  and  outlived  a  series  of  rival  faiths.     At 


THE  JAINS.  83 

this  day  it  forms,  with  Christianity  and  Islam,  one  of  the  three 
great  religions  of  the  world ;  and  the  most  numerously  followed 
of  the  three. 

The  Jains. — Even  in  India  Buddhism  did  not  altogether 
die.  Many  of  its  doctrines  still  live  in  Hinduism.  It  also  left 
behind  a  special  sect,  the  Jains,  who  number  about  i^  millions 
in  India.  Like  the  Buddhists,  they  deny  the  authority  of  the 
Veda,  except  in  so  far  as  it  agrees  with  their  own  tenets ; 
disregard  sacrifice ;  practise  a  strict  morality ;  believe  that  their 
past  and  future  states  depend  upon  their  own  actions  rather 
than  on  any  external  deity;  and  refuse  to  kill  either  man  or 
beast.  The  Jains  divide  time  into  three  eras  ;  and  adore  twenty- 
{onrjinas,  or  just  men  made  perfect,  in  the  past  age,  twenty-four 
in  the  present,  and  twenty-four  in  the  era  to  come.  The  colossal 
statues  of  this  great  company  of  saints  stand  in  their  temples. 
They  choose  wooded  mountains  and  the  most  lovely  retreats  of 
nature  for  their  places  of  pilgrimage,  and  cover  them  with  ex- 
quisitely carved  shrines  in  white  marble  or  dazzling  stucco.  The 
Jains  of  India  are  usually  merchants  or  bankers.  Their  charity 
is  boundless;  and  they  form  the  chief  supporters  of  the  beast 
hospitals,  which  the  old  Buddhistic  tenderness  for  animals  has 
left  in  many  of  the  cities  of  India.  They  claim,  not  without 
evidence,  that  the  Jain  religion  is  even  older  than  Buddhism; 
and  that  the  teaching  of  Buddha  was  based  on  the  Jain  faith. 

The  Present  Influence  of  Buddhism  in  India. — Bud- 
dhism is  still  the  religion  of  Burma,  and  has  there  nearly  seven 
millions  of  followers,  or  nine-tenths  of  the  population.  The  Bud- 
dhist monasteries  have  from  ancient  times  been  schools  for  the 
young  as  well  as  religious  houses  for  the  monks ;  and  they  now 
form  the  basis  of  the  British  system  of  Public  Instruction  through- 
out Burma.  In  all  the  rest  of  British  India  there  are  only  about 
133.000  pure  Buddhists,  chiefly  in  the  Bengal  Districts  adjacent 
to  Burma,  and  in  the  remote  valleys  of  the  Himalayan  ranges. 
From  time  to  time  Buddhism  seems  to  take  a  new  start  in  Lower 
Bengal,  and  Buddhist  journals  are  published  in  Calcutta  and 
elsewhere.  The  Jain  faith,  an  allied  religion  to  Indian  Buddhism, 
has  been  described  in  the  last  paragraph.  But  the  noblest 
survivals  of  Buddhism  in  India  are  to  be  found  not  among  any 

F  2 


84  BUDDHISM. 

peculiar  body,  but  in  the  religion  of  the  whole  Hindu  people ;  in 
that  principle  of  the  brotherhood  of  man,  with  the  re-assertion 
of  which  each  new  revival  of  Hinduism  starts  ;  in  the  asylum 
which  the  great  Hindu  sect  of  Vaishnavs  affords  to  women  who 
have  fallen  victims  to  caste  rules,  to  the  widow  and  the  outcast ; 
in  that  gentleness  and  charity  to  all  men,  which  take  the  place  of 
a  poor-law  in  India,  and  give  a  high  significance  to  the  half- 
satirical  epithet  of  the  '  mild '  Hindu. 

Materials  fop.  Reference. 

The  most  convenient  English  summary  of  this  subject  will  be  found  in 
Professor  Rhys  Davids'  Buddhism,  his  Buddhist  Birth-Stories,  and  Hibbert 
Lectures.  Among  many  other  works  may  be  mentioned  Bishop  Bigandet's 
Life  and  Legend  of  Biidd ha  (London  edition,  iS8o)  ;  Spence  Hardy's  yJ/(Z««a/ 
of  Buddhism  (modern),  and  his  Eastern  Monachism  ;  Oldenherg's  Bziddha, 
sein  Leben  (and  English  translation  by  Hoey,  1SS2,  an  admirable  work) ; 
Rockhill's  Life  of  the  Buddha  (from  Tibetan  sources)  ;  Senart's  Essai  sur 
la  Legende  du  Bouddha  ;  Beale's  Catena  of  Buddhist  Scriptures  from  the 
Chinese ;  Edkin's  Chinese  Buddhism ;  Childers'  Dictionary  of  the  Pali 
Laiiguage  (s.  v.  Buddho,  &c.)  ;  General  Cunningham's  Ancient  Geography 
of  India,  his  Corpus  Inscriptionum  Indicaruni,  and  his  other  archreological 
writings,  of  which  the  latest  is  the  Alahdbodhi,  or  the  Great  Buddhist  Temple 
at  Buddha-Gaya  (1892).  An  interesting  Buddhist  magazine,  entitled  The 
Journal  of  the  Mahdbodhi  Society,  is  published  monthly  in  Calcutta  (1S92). 


[85] 

CHAPTER    VI. 
The  Greeks  in  India,  327  to  161  B.C. 

External  Sources  of  the  History  of  India. — The  ex- 
ternal history  of  India  commences  with  the  Greek  invasion  in 
327  B.C.  Some  indirect  trade  between  India  and  the  Mediter- 
ranean seems  to  have  existed  from  very  ancient  times.  Homer 
was  acquainted  with  tin,  and  other  articles  of  Indian  merchandise 
by  their  Sanskrit  names ;  and  a  long  list  has  been  made  of 
Indian  products  mentioned  in  the  Hebrew  Bible.  The  first 
Greek  historian  who  speaks  clearly  of  India  is  Hekataios  of 
Miletos  (549-486  B.C.);  the  knowledge  of  Herodotos  (450  b.c.) 
ended  at  the  Indus;  and  Ktesias,  the  physician  (401  b.c), 
brought  back  from  his  residence  in  Persia  only  a  few  facts  about, 
the  products  of  India,  its  dyes  and  fabrics,  monkeys  and  parrots. 
India  to  the  east  of  the  Indus  was  first  made  known  to  Europe 
by  the  historians  and  men  of  science  who  accompanied  Alexan- 
der the  Great,  King  of  Mace  don,  in  327  b.c 

Alexander's  Expedition. — Alexander  the  Great  entered 
India  early  in  327  B.C.;  crossed  the  Indus  above  Attock,  and 
advanced,  without  a  struggle,  over  the  intervening  territory  of 
the  Taxiles  to  the  Jehlam  (Hydaspcs).  He  found  the  Punjab 
divided  into  petty  kingdoms  jealous  of  each  other,  and  many 
of  them  inclined  to  join  an  invader  rather  than  to  oppose  him. 
One  of  these  local  monarchs,  Porus,  disputed  the  passage  of  the 
Jehlam  with  a  force  which,  substituting  chariots  for  guns,  about 
equalled  the  army  of  RanjiL  Singh,  the  ruler  of  the  Punjab  in  the 
present  century.  Plutarch  gives  a  vivid  description  of  the  battle 
from  Alexander's  own  letters.  Having  drawn  up  his  troops  at 
a  bend  of  the  Jehlam,  about  14  miles  west  of  the  modern  field 
of  Chilianwala,  the  Greek  king  crossed  undef  shelter  of  a 
tempestuous  night.  The  chariots  hurried  out  by  Porus  stuck  in 
the  muddy  bank  of  the  river.  In  the  engagement  which  fol- 
lowed, the  elephants  of  the  Indian  prince  refused  to  face  the 
Greeks,  and,  wheeling  round,  trampled  Porus' own  army  under  foot. 
His  son  fell  early  in  the  onset ;   Porus  himself  fled  wounded ; 


86  THE   GREEKS  IN  INDIA. 

but,  on  tendering  his  submission,  he  was  confirmed  in  his  king- 
dom, and  became  Alexander's  trusted  friend.  Alexander  built 
two  memorial  cities  on  the  site  of  his  victory — Bucephala,  on 
the  west  bank  of  the  Jehlam  (near  the  modern  Jalalpur),  named 
after  his  beloved  charger  slain  in  the  battle;  and  Nikaia,  the 
present  IMong,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river, 

Alexander  in  the  Punjab. — Alexander  advanced  south- 
east through  the  kingdom  of  the  younger  Porus  to  Amritsar, 
and,  after  a  sharp  bend  backward  to  the  west  to  fight  the 
Kathaei  at  Sangala,  he  reached  the  Beas  (Hyphasis).  Here,  at 
a  spot  not  far  from  the  modern  battle-field  of  Sobraon,  he 
halted  his  victorious  standards.  He  had  resolved  to  march  to 
the  Ganges ;  but  his  troops  were  worn  out  by  the  heats  of  the 
Punjab  summer,  and  broken  in  spirit  by  the  hurricanes  of  the 
south-west  monsoon.  The  native  tribes  had  already  risen  in 
his  rear ;  and  the  Conqueror  of  the  World  was  forced  to  turn 
back  before  he  had  crossed  even  the  frontier  Province  of  India. 
The  Sutlej,  the  eastern  Districts  of  the  Punjab,  and  the  mighty 
Jumna  still  lay  between  him  and  the  Ganges.  A  single  defeat 
might  have  been  fatal  to  his  army ;  if  the  battle  on  the  Jehlam 
had  gone  against  him,  not  a  Greek  would  probably  have  reached 
the  Afghan  side  of  the  passes.  Yielding  at  length  to  the  clamour 
of  his  men,  he  led  them  back  to  the  Jehlam.  He  there  em- 
barked 8000  of  his  troops  in  boats,  and  floated  them  down  the 
river  through  the  Southern  Punjab  to  Sind  ;  the  remainder  of 
his  army  marched  in  two  divisions  along  the  banks. 

Alexander  in  Sind. — The  country  was  hostile,  and  the 
Greeks  held  only  the  land  on  which  they  encamped.  At  Miiltan, 
then  as  now  the  capital  of  the  Southern  Punjab,  Alexander  had 
to  fight  a  pitched  battle  with  the  Malli,  and  was  severely  wounded 
in  taking  the  city.  His  enraged  troops  put  every  soul  within  it 
to  the  sword.  Farther  down,  near  the  confluence  of  the  Five 
Rivers  of  the  Punjab,  he  made  a  long  halt,  built  a  town,  Alexan- 
dria,— the  modern  Uchh, — and  received  the  submission  of  the 
neighbouring  states.  A  Greek  garrison  and  satrap,  whom  he 
here  left  behind,  laid  the  foundation  of  a  lasting  Greek  influence. 
Having  constructed  a  new  fleet,  suitable  for  the  greater  rivers  on 
which  he  was  now  to  embark,  Alexander  proceeded  southwards 


ALEXANDER  AND  CHANDRA   GUPTA.  87 

through  Sind,  and  followed  the  course  of  the  Indus  until  he 
reached  the  ocean.  In  the  apex  of  the  delta,  he  founded  or 
refounded  a  city — Patala — which  survives  to  this  day  as  Hai- 
darabad,  the  native  capital  of  Sind.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Indus, 
Alexander  beheld  for  the  first  time  the  majestic  phenomenon  of 
the  tides.  One  part  of  his  army  he  shipped  off  under  the  com- 
mand of  Nearchus  to  coast  along  the  Persian  Gulf ;  the 
remainder  he  himself  led  through  Southern  Baluchistan  and 
Persia  to  Susa,  where,  after  terrible  losses  from  want  of  water 
and  famine  on  the  march,  he  arrived  in  325  B.C. 

Results  of  Alexander  the  Great's  Expedition. — During 
his  two  years'  campaign  in  the  Punjab  and  Sind,  Alexander 
subjugated  no  Province;  but  he  made  alliances,  founded  cities, 
and  planted  Greek  garrisons.  He  had  given  much  territory  to 
Indian  chiefs  devoted  to  his  cause ;  every  petty  Indian  court 
had  its  Greek  faction  ;  and  the  troops  which  he  left  behind  at 
many  points,  from  the  Afghan  frontier  on  the  west  to  the  Beas 
river  on  the  east,  and  as  far  south  as  the  Sind  delta,  seemed 
visible  pledges  of  his  return.  A  large  part  of  his  army  remained 
in  Bactria ;  and  in  the  partition  of  the  empire  after  Alexander's 
death  in  323  b. c,  Bactria  and  India  fell  to  Seleukos  Nikator, 
the  founder  of  the  Syrian  monarchy. 

Chandra  Gupta. — Meanwhile  a  new  power  had  arisen  in 
India.  Among  the  Indian  adventurers  who  thronged  Alexan- 
der's camp  in  the  Punjab,  each  with  his  plot  for  winning  a 
kingdom  or  crushing  a  rival,  Chandra  Gupta,  an  exile  from  the 
Gangetic  valley,  seems  to  have  played  a  somewhat  ignominious 
part.  He  tried  to  tempt  the  wearied  Greeks  on  the  banks  of 
the  Bcas  with  schemes  of  conquest  in  the  rich  Provinces  of 
Hindustan  to  the  south-east ;  but,  having  personally  offended 
Alexander,  he  had  to  fly  the  camp  (326  B.C.).  In  the  confused 
years  which  followed,  he  managed,  with  the  aid  of  plundering 
hordes,  to  found  a  kingdom  on  the  ruins  of  the  Nanda  dynasty 
in  Magadha,  or  Behar  (316  b.c).  He  seized  their  capital, 
Pataliputra,  the  modern  Patna  ;  established  himself  firmly  in  the 
Gangetic  valley,  and  compelled  the  north-western  principalities, 
Greek  garrisons  and  Indian  princes  alike,  to  acknowledge  his 
suzerainty.     While  the  Greek  general  Seleukos  was  winning  his 


'88  THE   GREEKS  IN  INDIA. 

way  to  Lhe  Syrian  monarchy  during  the  eleven  years  which 
followed  Alexander's  death,  Chandra  Gupta  was  building  up  an 
empire  in  Northern  India.  Seleukos  reigned  in  Syria  from  312  to 
280 B.C.;  ChandraGuptain  theGangeticvalleyfrom  31610  292B.C. 
In  312  B.C.  these  two  monarchs  advanced  their  kingdoms  to  each 
other's  frontier ;  they  had  to  decide  whether  they  were  to  live  in 
peace  or  at  war.  Seleukos  in  the  end  sold  the  Greek  conquests 
in  the  Kabul  valley  and  the  Punjab  to  Chandra  Gupta,  and  gave 
his  daughter  in  marriage  to  the  Indian  king.  He  also  stationed  a 
Greek  ambassador  at  Chandra  Gupta's  court  from  306  to  298  b.c. 

Megasthenes'  Account  of  India. — This  ambassador  was 
the  famous  Megasthenes.  His  description  of  India  is  perhaps 
the  best  that  reached  Europe  during  two  thousand  years,  from 
300  B.C.  to  1700  A.D.  He  says  that  the  people  were  divided 
into  seven  castes  instead  of  four — namely,  philosophers,  hus- 
bandmen, shepherds,  artisans,  soldiers,  inspectors,  and  the 
counsellors  of  the  king.  The  philosophers  were  the  Brahmans, 
and  the  prescribed  stages  of  their  religious  life  are  indicated. 
Megasthenes  draws  a  distinction  between  the  Brahmans  (Brach- 
manes)  and  the  Sramans  {Sarmanat),  from  which  some  scholars 
infer  that  the  Buddhist  Sramanas  or  monks  were  a  recognized 
order  fifty  years  before  the  Council  of  Asoka.  But  the  Sarmanai 
of  Megasthenes  probably  also  include  Brahmans  in  the  first  and 
third  stages  of  their  hfe,  as  students  and  forest  recluses.  The 
inspectors,  or  sixth  class  Of  Megasthenes,  have  been  identified 
with  the  Buddhist  supervisors  of  morals.  Arrian's  name  for 
them,  episkopoi,  is  the  Greek  word  which  has  become  our  modern 
Bishop  or  overseer  of  souls. 

Indian  Society,  300  B.  C.  —  The  Greek  ambassador 
observed  with  admiration  the  absence  of  slavery  in  India,  the 
chastity  of  the  women,  and  the  courage  of  the  men.  In  valour, 
he  says,  they  excelled  all  other  Asiatics ;  they  required  no  locks 
to  their  doors ;  above  all,  no  Indian  was  ever  known  to  tell  a 
lie.  Sober  and  industrious,  good  farmers,  and  skilful  artisans, 
they  scarcely  ever  had  recourse  to  a  lawsuit,  and  lived  peaceably 
under  their  native  chiefs.  The  kingly  government  is  portrayed 
almost  as  described  in  the  Code  of  Manu.  Megasthenes  men- 
tions that  India  was  divided  into  118  kingdoms  ;  some  of  which, 


INDIAN  SOCIETY,   300  B.C.  89 

as  the  Prasii  under  Chandra  Gupta,  exercised  suzerain  powers 
over  other  kings  or  dependent  princes.  The  Indian  village 
system  is  well  described,  each  of  the  village  communities  seem- 
ing to  the  Greek  an  independent  republic.  Megasthenes 
remarked  the  exemption  of  the  husbandmen  (Vaisyas)  from  war 
and  public  services  ;  and  enumerates  the  dyes,  fibres,  fabrics, 
and  products  (animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral)  of  India.  Hus- 
bandry then  as  now  depended  on  the  periodical  rains ;  and 
forecasts  of  the  weather,  with  a  view  to  '  make  adequate  provi- 
sion against  a  coming  deficiency,'  formed  a  special  duty  of  the 
Brahmans.  '  The  philosopher,'  he  says,  '  who  errs  in  his  pre- 
dictions observes  silence  for  the  rest  of  his  life.' 

Later  Greek  Invasions. — After  the  time  of  Alexander  the 
Great  the  Greeks  made  no  important  conquests  in  India. 
Antiochos,  the  grandson  of  Seleukos,  entered  into  a  treaty  with 
the  famous  Buddhist  king,  Asoka,  the  grandson  of  Chandra 
Gupta,  in  256  b.c  The  Greeks  had  founded  a  powerful 
kingdom  in  Bactria,  to  the  north-west  of  the  Himalayas.  During 
the  hundred  years  after  the  Indo-Greek  treaty  of  256  b.c.  the 
Greco-Bactrian  kings  sent  invading  hosts  into  the  Punjab  ; 
some  of  whom  reached  eastwards  as  far  as  Muttra,  or  even 
Oudh,  and  southwards  to  Sind  and  Cutch,  between  181  and 
161  B.C.  But  they  founded  no  kingdoms;  and  the  only  traces 
which  the  Greeks  left  in  India  were  their  science  of  astronomy, 
their  beautiful  sculptures,  and  their  coins.  Some  of  the  early 
Buddhist  statues,  after  250  b.c,  have  exquisite  Greek  faces; 
and  the  same  type  is  preserved  in  the  most  ancient  carvings  on 
the  Hindu  temples.  By  degrees  even  this  trace  of  Greek  in- 
fluence faded  away ;  but  specimens  of  Indo-Greek  sculptures 
may  still  be  found  in  the  museums  of  India. 
Materials  for  Reference. 

The  works  most  easily  available  to  the  Enjjlish  reader  are  Mr. 
McCrindle's  admirable  series  of  translations  of  the  Greek  writers,  and 
fragments  dealing  with  India,  eppecially  his  Conime7-ce  and  Navigation  of 
the  Erythtccan  Sca\  General  Cunningham's  Ancient  Geography  of  India; 
Weber's  History  of  Indian  literature ;  and  the  Reports  of  the  Archceolo- 
gical  Survey  of  India,  especially  of  Western  India.  Mr.  McCrindle's  trans- 
lations are  about  to  be  republished  by  Mr.  Constable  under  the  title  of 
The  Invasion  of  India  by  Alexander  the  Great  as  described  by  Arrian, 
Quintus  Curtius,  Diodoros,  Plutarch,  and  fustin  (iS()2). 


[9o] 


CHAPTER    VII. 
The  ScytMc  Inroads,  from  about  100  B.C.  to  500  A.D. 

The  Scythians  in  Central  Asia. — The  Greek  or  Bactrian 
expeditions  into  India  ended  more  than  a  century  before 
Christ ;  but  a  new  set  of  invaders  soon  began  to  pour  into  India 
from  the  north.  These  came  from  Central  Asia,  and,  for  want 
of  a  more  exact  name,  have  been  called  the  Scythians.  They 
belonged  to  many  tribes,  and  they  form  a  connecting  link 
between  Indian  and  Chinese  history.  As  the  Aryan  race 
in  the  west  of  Asia  had,  perhaps  3000  years  before  Christ, 
sent  off  branches  to  Europe  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  India 
on  the  other ;  so  the  Scythians,  who  dwelt  to  the  east  of 
the  old  Aryan  camping-ground  in  Asia,  swarmed  forth  into 
India  and  to  China.  These  Scythic  inroads  went  on  during 
a  great  period  of  time.  Buddha  himself  is  said  by  some  to 
have  been  a  Scythian.  But  they  took  place  in  very  great 
force  during  the  century  preceding  the  birth  of  Christ.  They 
were  the  forerunners  of  a  long  series  of  inroads  which  devastated 
Northern  India  more  than  a  thousand  years  later,  under  such 
leaders  as  Changiz  Khan  and  Timur,  and  which  in  the  end 
founded  the  Mughal  empire. 

Scythic  Kingdoms  in  Northern  India. — About  the  year 
126  B.C.,  the  Tartar  or  Scythian  tribe  of  Su  are  said  to  have  driven 
out  the  Greek  dynasty  from  the  Bactrian  kingdom,  on  the 
north-west  of  the  Himalayas.  Soon  afterwards  the  Scythians 
rushed  through  the  Himalayan  passes  and  conquered  the 
Greco-Bactrian  settlements  in  the  Punjab.  About  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  era,  they  had  founded  a  strong  monarchy 
in  Northern  India  and  in  the  countries  just  beyond.  Their 
most  famous  king  was  Kanishka,  who  summoned  the  Fourth 
Buddhist  Council  about  40  a.d.     King  Kanishka  held  his  court 


KING   VIKRAMADITYA.  9 1 

in  Kashmfr ;  but  his  suzerainty  extended  from  Agra  and  Sind 
in  the  south,  to  Yarkand  and  Khokand  on  the  north  of  the 
Himalayas.  He  seems  to  have  carried  on  successful  wars  as 
far  as  China.  Six  hundred  years  afterwards,  in  630  a.d.,  a  town 
called  China-pati  in  the  Punjab  was  pointed  out  as  the  place 
where  King  Kanishka  kept  his  Chinese  hostages.  The  Scythian 
monarchies  of  Northern  India  came  in  contact  with  the  Buddhist 
kingdom  under  the  successors  of  Asoka  in  Hindustan.  The 
Scythians  themselves  became  Buddhists  ;  but  they  made  changes 
in  that  faith.  The  result  was,  as  we  have  seen,  that  while  the 
countries  to  the  south  of  India  had  adopted  the  Buddhist 
religion  as  settled  by  Asoka's  Council  in  244  b.c,  the  Buddhist 
religion  as  settled  by  Kanishka's  Council  in  40  a.d.  became 
the  faith  of  the  Scythian  nations  to  the  north  of  India,  from 
Central  Asia  to  Japan  {ante,  p.  79). 

Scythic  Races  still  in  India. — Kanishka  was  the  most 
famous  of  the  Scythian  kings  in  India,  but  there  were  many 
other  Scythian  settlements.  Indeed,  the  Scythians  are  believed 
to  have  poured  into  India  in  such  numbers  as  to  make  up  a 
large  proportion  of  the  population  in  the  north-western  frontier 
Provinces  at  the  present  day.  For  example,  two  old  Scythian 
tribes,  the  Getae  and  the  Dahae,  are  said  to  have  dwelt  side  by 
side  in  Central  Asia,  and  perhaps  advanced  together  into  India. 
Some  writers  hold  that  the  Jats,  who  form  nearly  one-half  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Punjab,  are  descended  from  these  ancient 
Getae ;  and  that  a  great  subdivision  of  the  Jats,  called  the  Dhe, 
in  like  manner  sprang  from  the  Dahae.  Other  scholars  try  to 
show  that  certain  of  the  Rajput  tribes  are  of  Scythian  origin. 
However  this  may  be,  it  is  clear  that  many  Scythian  inroads 
took  place  into  India  from  the  first  century  b.c.  to  the  fifth 
century  a.d. 

King  Vikramaditya,  57  B.C. —During  that  long  period 
several  Indian  monarchs  won  fame  by  attempting  to  drive  out 
the  Scythians.  The  best  known  of  these  is  Vikramaditya, 
King  of  Ujjain  in  Malwa,  in  honour  of  whose  victories  one  of 
the  great  eras  in  India,  or  systems  of  reckoning  historical 
dates,  is  supposed  to  have  been  founded.  It  is  called  the 
Savivat  era,  and  begins  in  57  b.c.     Its  reputed  founder  is  still 


92  THE  SCYTHIC  INROADS. 

known  as  Vikramaditya  Sakari,  or  Vikramaditya  the  enemy 
of  the  Scythians.  According  to  the  Indian  tradition,  he  was 
a  learned  as  well  as  a  valiant  monarch,  and  he  gathered  round 
him  the  poets  and  philosophers  of  his  time.  The  chief  of  these 
were  called  '  The  Nine  Jewels '  of  the  court  of  Vikramaditya. 
They  became  so  famous,  that  in  after  times  a  great  many  of  the 
best  Sanskrit  poems  or  dramas,  and  works  of  philosophy  or 
science,  were  ascribed  to  them ;  although  the  style  and  contents 
of  the  works  prove  that  they  must  have  been  written  at  widely 
different  periods.  The  truth  is  that  the  name  Vikramaditya  is 
merely  a  royal  title,  meaning  '  A  very  Sun  in  Prowess,'  which 
has  been  borne  by  several  kings  in  Indian  history.  But  the  Vikra- 
maditya of  the  first  century  before  Christ  was  the  most  famous 
of  them — famous  alike  as  a  defender  of  his  country  against  the 
Scythian  hordes,  as  a  patron  of  men  of  learningj  and  as  a  good 
ruler  of  his  subjects. 

King  Salivahana,  78  A.D. — About  a  hundred  years  later, 
another  valiant  Indian  king  arose  against  the  Scythians.  His 
name  was  Salivahana ;  and  a  new  era,  called  the  Sdka  or 
Scythian,  was  founded  in  his  honour  in  78  a.d.  These  two 
eras — the  Samvat,  beginning  in  57  B.C.,  and  the  Sdka,  com- 
mencing in  78  A.D. — still  form  two  well-known  systems  of 
reckoning  historical  dates  in  India. 

Later  Opponents  of  the  Scythians. — During  the  next  five 
centuries,  three  great  Indian  dynasties  maintained  the  struggle 
against  the  Scythians.  The  Sah  kings  reigned  in  the  north-west 
of  Bombay  from  60  to  235  a.d.  The  Gupta  kings  reigned  in 
Oudh  and  Northern  India  from  319  to  470  a.d.,  when  they 
seem  to  have  been  overpowered  by  fresh  hosts  of  Huns  or 
Scythians.  The  Valabhi  kings  ruled  over  Cutch,  Malwa, 
and  the  north-western  districts  of  Bombay  from  480  to  after 
722  A.D.  The  Greek  traders  in  the  Red  Sea  heard  of  the 
Huns  as  a  powerful  nation  of  Northern  India  about 
535  A.D.  The  Chinese  Pilgrim,  Hiuen  Tsiang,  gives  a  full 
account  of  the  court  and  people  of  Valabhf  (630-640  a.d.). 
His  description  shows  that  Buddhism  was  the  State  religion  ; 
but  heretics  (i.e.  Brahmans)  abounded  ;  and  the  Buddhists 
themselves  were  divided  between  the   northern   school   of  the 


INDIAN  DYNASTIES,    lOO   TO  700  A.D.  93 

Scythian  dynasties,  and  the  southern  or  Indian  school  of  Asoka. 
The  Valabhf  dynasty  seems  to  have  been  overthrown  by  the 
early  Arab  invaders  of  Sind  in  the  eighth  century  a.d. 


Materials  for  Reference. 

The  leading  sources  for  this  obscure  and  confused  period  are  the  Reports 
of  the  ArchcEological  Survey  of  Western  India  ;  the  coins  and  inscriptions 
of  the  Gupta,  Sah,  and  other  dynasties ;  Rockhill's  Life  of  the  Buddha  ; 
the  Gazetteers  or  District  Statistical  Surveys  of  Northern  and  Western  India 
and  of  the  Central  Provinces  ;  articles  contributed  to  the  Indian  Antiquary  ; 
Colonel  Tod's  not  always  trustworthy  Annals  ajid  Antiquities  of  Rdjdsthdn ; 
the  magnificent  volumes  of  the  Corpus  Inscriptionuni  Indica7~um.  ;  and 
various  papers  in  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society  s  Journal  by  Dr.  James  Fergusson 
and  other  polemical  scholars. 


[94] 

CHAPTER    VIII. 
Growth  of  Hinduism,  700  to  1500  A.D. 

The  Three  Sources  of  the  Indian  People. — We  have 
now  got  a  view  of  the  three  races  which  make  up  the  Indian 
people.  These  were,  first,  the  non- Aryans,  or  the  earliest 
inhabitants  of  the  country,  sometimes  called  the  aborigines. 
Second,  the  Aryan  race,  who  came  to  India  from  Central  Asia 
in  prehistoric  times.  Third,  the  Scythians  or  Tartars,  who  had 
also  begun  to  move  into  India  before  the  dawn  of  history,  and 
whose  later  hordes  came  in  great  force  between  the  first  century 
B.C.  and  the  fifth  century  after  Christ.  Each  of  these  races  had 
their  own  customs,  their  own  religion,  and  their  own  speech. 

The  Aryans  and  the  non-Aryans. — The  non-Aryans 
were  hunting  tribes.  In  their  family  life,  some  of  them  kept  up 
the  early  form  of  marriage,  according  to  which  a  woman  was  the 
wife  of  several  brethren,  and  a  man's  property  descended,  not 
to  his  own,  but  to  his  sister's  children.  In  their  religion,  the 
non-Aryans  worshipped  demons,  and  tried  by  bloody  sacrifices 
or  human  victims  to  avert  the  wrath  of  the  malignant  spirits 
whom  they  called  gods.  The  Aryans  early  advanced  beyond 
the  rude  existence  of  the  hunter  to  the  semi-settled  industry  of 
the  cattle-breeder  and  tiller  of  the  soil.  In  their  family  life,  a 
woman  had  only  one  husband,  and  their  customs  and  laws  of 
inheritance  were  nearly  the  same  as  those  which  now  prevail  in 
India.   In  their  religion,  they  worshipped  bright  and  friendly  gods. 

The  Scythians.— The  third  race,  or  the  Scythians,  held  a 
position  between  the  other  two.  The  early  Scythians,  indeed, 
who  arrived  in  prehistoric  times,  may  have  been  as  wild  as  the 
non-Aryans,  and  they  probably  supplied  a  section  of  what  we 
call  the  aborigines  of  India.  But  the  Scythian  hordes,  who 
l^oured  into  India  from  126  b.c.  to  400  a.d.,  were  neither 
hunters  like  the  Indian  non-Aryan  tribes,  nor  half-cultivators  like 
the  Aryans.     They  were  shepherds  or  herdsmen,  who  roamed 


THE  ARYAN  CIVILIZATION  OF  INDIA.  95 

across  the  plains  of  Central  Asia  with  their  cattle,  and  whose 
one  talent  was  for  war. 

The  Aryan  Work  of  Civilization. — The  Aryans  supplied, 
therefore,  the  civilizing  power  in  India.  One  of  their  divisions 
or  castes,  the  Vaisyas,  brought  the  soil  under  the  plough  ; 
another  caste,  the  Kshattriyas,  conquered  the  rude  non-Aryan 
peoples ;  their  third  caste,  the  Brahmans,  created  a  religion  and 
a  literature.  The  early  Brahman  religion  made  no  account  of 
the  lower  races ;  but,  as  we  have  seen,  about  500  b.  c.  a  wider 
creed,  called  the  Buddhist,  was  based  upon  it.  This  new  faith 
did  much  to  bring  the  early  non- Aryan  tribes  under  the  influence 
of  the  higher  Aryan  race,  and  it  was  accepted  by  the  later 
Scythian  hordes  who  came  into  India  from  126  B.C.  to  400  a.d. 
Buddhism  was  therefore  the  first  great  bond  of  union  among  the 
Indian  races.  It  did  something  to  combine  the  non-Aryans, 
the  Aryans,  and  the  Scythians  into  a  people  with  similar 
customs  and  a  common  faith.  But  it  was  driven  out  of  India 
before  it  finished  its  work. 

The  Brahmans. — The  work  was  continued  by  the  Brahmans. 
This  ancient  caste,  which  had  held  a  high  place  even  during 
the  triumph  of  the  Buddhist  religion,  became  all-powerful  upon 
the  decay  of  that  faith.  The  Chinese  Pilgrim  to  India  in 
640  A.D.  relates  how  the  Brahmans,  or,  as  he  calls  them,  the 
heretics,  were  again  establishing  their  power.  The  Buddhist 
monasteries  had,  even  at  that  time,  a  struggle  to  hold  their  own 
against  the  Brahman  temples.  During  the  next  two  centuries 
the  Brahmans  gradually  got  the  upper  hand.  The  conflict 
between  the  two  religions  brought  forth  a  great  line  of  Brahman 
apostles,  some  of  whose  lives  are  almost  as  beautiful  as  that  of 
Buddha  himself.  The  first  of  these,  Kumarila,  a  holy  Brahman 
of  Behar,  began  his  preaching  in  the  eighth  century  a.d.  He 
taught  the  old  Vedic  doctrine  of  a  personal  Creator  and 
God.  The  Buddhists  had  no  personal  God.  According 
to  a  later  legend,  Kumarila  not  only  preached  against  the 
Buddhists,  but  persuaded  a  king  of  Southern  India  to  per- 
secute them.  This  prince,  it  is  said,  '  commanded  his  servants 
to  put  to  death  the  old  men  and  the  young  children  of  the 
Buddhists,  from  the  southernmost  point  of  India  to  the  Snowy 


96  GROWTH  OF  HINDUISM. 

Mountain,  Let  him  who  slays  not,  be  slain.'  At  that  time, 
liowever,  there  was  no  king  in  India  whose  power  to  persecute 
reached  from  the  Himalayas  to  Cape  Comorin.  The  story  is 
probably  an  exaggerated  account  of  a  local  persecution  by  one 
of  the  many  princes  of  Southern  India.  The  Brahmans  gained 
the  victory  partly  because  Buddhism  was  itself  decaying,  and 
partly  because  they  offered  a  new  bond  of  union  to  the  Indian 
races.     This  new  bond  of  union  was  Hinduism. 

Twofold  Basis  of  Hinduism. — Hinduism  is  a  social  league 
and  a  religious  alliance.  As  a  social  league,  it  rests  upon  caste, 
and  has  its  roots  deep  down  in  the  race  elements  of  the  Indian 
people.  As  a  religious  alliance,  it  represents  the  union  of  the 
Vedic  faith  of  the  Brahmans  with  Buddliism  on  the  one  hand, 
and  with  the  ruder  rites  of  the  non-Aryan  peoples  on  the  other. 
We  must  get  a  clear  view  of  both  these  aspects  of  Hinduism 
— as  a  social  league,  and  as  a  religious  alliance. 

Caste  Basis  of  Hinduism. — As  a  social  league,  Hinduism 
arranged  the  people  into  the  old  division  of  the  '  Twice-born  ' 
Aryan  castes,  namely  the  Brahmans,  Kshattriyas,  Vaisyas ;  and 
the  '  Once-born '  castes,  consisting  of  the  non-Aryan  Siidras,  and 
the  classes  of  mixed  descent.  This  arrangement  of  the  Indian 
races  remains  to  the  present  day.  The  '  Twice-born '  castes 
still  wear  the  sacred  thread,  and  claim  a  joint,  although  an 
unequal,  inheritance  in  the  holy  books  of  the  Veda.  The  '  Once- 
born  '  castes  are  still  denied  the  sacred  thread ;  and  they  were 
not  allowed  to  study  the  holy  books,  until  the  English  set  up 
schools  in  India  for  all  classes  of  the  people.  But  while  caste 
is  thus  founded  on  the  distinctions  of  race,  it  has  been  influenced 
by  two  other  systems  of  division,  namely,  the  employments  of  the 
people,  and  the  localities  in  which  they  live.  Even  in  the  oldest 
times,  the  castes  had  separate  occupations  assigned  to  them. 
They  could  be  divided  either  into  Brahmans,  Kshattriyas, 
Vaisyas,  and  Sudras ;  or  into  priests,  warriors,  husbandmen, 
and  serfs.  They  are  also  divided  according  to  the  parts  of  India 
in  which  they  live.  Even  the  Brahmans  have  among  themselves 
ten  distinct  classes,  or  rather  nations.  Five  of  these  classes  or 
Brahman  nations  live  to  the  north  of  the  Vindhya  mountains ; 
five  of  them  live  to  the  south.     Each  of  the  ten  feels  itself  to  be 


CASTE  AS  A    TRADE  GUILD.  97 

quite  apart  from  the  rest ;  and  they  have  among  themselves  no 
fewer  than  1886  subdivisions  or  separate  Brahmanical  tribes.  In 
like  manner,  the  Kshattriyas  or  Rajputs  number  590  separate 
tribes  in  different  parts  of  India. 

Complexity  of  Caste. — While,  therefore,  Indian  caste 
seems  at  first  a  very  simple  arrangement  of  the  people  into 
four  classes,  it  is  in  reality  a  very  complex  one.  For .  it  rests 
upon  three  distinct  systems  of  division  ;  namely,  upon  race, 
occupation,  and  geographical  position.  It  is  very  difficult  even 
to  guess  at  the  number  of  the  Indian  castes.  But  there  are  not 
fewer  than  3000  01  them  w^hich  have  separate  names,  and  which 
regard  themselves  as  separate  classes.  The  different  castes 
cannot  intermarry  with  each  other,  and  most  of  them  cannot 
eat  together.  The  ordinary  rule  is  that  no  Hindu  of  good  caste 
can  touch  food  cooked  by  a  man  of  inferior  caste.  By  rights, 
too,  each  caste  should  keep  to  its  own  occupation.  Indeed, 
there  has  been  a  tendency  to  erect  every  separate  kind  of 
employment  or  handicraft  in  each  separate  Province  into  a 
distinct  caste.  But,  as  a  matter  of  practice,  the  castes  often 
change  their  occupation,  and  the  lower  ones  sometimes  raise 
themselves  in  the  social  scale.  Thus  the  Vaisya  caste  were  in 
ancient  times  the  tillers  of  the  soil.  They  have  in  most  Provinces 
given  up  this  toilsome  occupation,  and  the  Vaisyas  are  now  the 
great  merchants  and  bankers  of  India.  Their  fair  skins,  intelligent 
faces,  and  polite  bearing,  must  have  altered  since  the  days  when 
their  forefathers  ploughed,  sowed,  and  reaped  under  the  hot  sun. 
Such  changes  of  employment  still  occur  on  a  smaller  scale 
throughout  India. 

Caste  as  a  System  of  Trade-guilds. — The  system  of  caste 
exercises  a  great  influence  upon  the  industries  of  the  people. 
Each  caste  is,  in  the  first  place,  a  trade-guild.  It  ensures  the 
proper  training  of  the  youth  of  its  own  special  craft ;  it  makes 
rules  for  the  conduct  of  the  caste-trade ;  it  promotes  good 
feeling  by  feasts  or  social  gatherings.  The  famous  manufactures 
of  medioeval  India,  its  muslins,  silks,  cloth  of  gold,  inlaid 
weapons,  and  exquisite  work  in  precious  stones — were  brought 
to  perfection  under  the  care  of  the  castes  or  trade-guilds.  Such 
guilds  may  still  be  found  in  full  work  in  many  parts  of  India. 

G 


98  GROWTH  OF  HINDUISM. 

Thus,  in  the  North-Western  Districts  of  Bombay,  all  heads  of 
artisan  families  are  ranged  under  their  proper  trade-guild.  The 
trade-guild  or  caste  prevents  undue  competition  among  the 
members,  and  upholds  the  interest  of  its  own  body  in  any 
dispute  arising  with  other  craftsmen. 

In  1873,  for  example,  a  number  of  the  bricklayers  in  Ahmada- 
bad  could  not  find  work.  Men  of  this  class  sometimes  added  to 
their  daily  wages  by  rising  very  early  in  the  morning,  and 
working  overtime.  But  when  several  families  complained  that 
they  could  not  get  employment,  the  bricklayers'  guild  met,  and 
decided  that  as  there  was  not  enough  work  for  all,  no  member 
should  be  allowed  to  work  in  extra  hours.  In  the  same  city,  the 
clothdealers  in  1872  tried  to  cut  down  the  wages  of  the  sizers  or 
men  who  dress  the  cotton  cloth.  The  sizers'  guild  refused  to 
work  at  lower  rates,  and  remained  six  weeks  on  strike.  At 
length  they  arranged  their  dispute,  and  both  the  trade-guilds 
signed  a  stamped  agreement  fixing  the  rates  for  the  future. 
Each  of  the  higher  castes  or  trade-guilds  in  Ahmadabad 
receives  a  fee  from  young  men  on  entering  their  business. 
The  revenue  derived  from  these  fees,  and  from  fines  upon 
members  who  break  caste  rules,  is  spent  in  feasts  to  the 
brethren  of  the  guild,  and  in  helping  the  poorer  craftsmen  or 
their  orphans.  A  favourite  plan  of  raising  money  in  Surat  is  for 
the  members  of  the  trade  to  keep  a  certain  day  as  a  holiday, 
and  to  shut  up  all  their  shops  except  one.  The  right  to  keep 
open  this  one  shop  is  put  up  to  auction,  and  the  amount  bid  is 
expended  on  a  feast.  The  trade-guild  or  caste  allows  none  of 
its  members  to  starve.  It  thus  acts  as  a  mutual  assurance 
society  and  takes  the  place  of  a  poor  law  in  India.  The 
severest  social  penalty  which  can  be  inflicted  upon  a  Hindu  is 
to  be  put  out  of  his  caste. 

The  Religious  Basis  of  Hinduism. — Hinduism  is,  how- 
ever, not  only  a  social  league  resting  upon  caste — it  is  also  a 
religious  alliance  based  upon  worship.  As  the  various  race 
elements  of  the  Indian  people  have  been  welded  into  caste, 
so  the  simple  old  beliefs  of  the  Veda,  the  mild  doctrines  of 
Buddha,  and  the  fierce  rites  of  the  non-Aryan  tribes,  have  been 
thrown   into   the    melting-pot,    and   poured    out   thence   as   a 


BUDDHIST  INFLUENCES  ON  HINDUISM.  99 

mixture  of  precious  metal  and  dross,  to  be  worked  up  into  the 
complex  worship  of  the  Hindu  gods. 

Buddhist  Influences. — Buddhism  not  only  inspired  Hindu- 
ism with  its  noble  spirit  of  charity,  but  also  bequeathed  to  it 
many  of  its  institutions.  The  Hindu  monasteries  in  Orissa  in 
our  own  day  recall  the  Buddhist  convents  of  King  Sfladitya 
eleven  hundred  years  ago.  At  the  present  time,  the  bankers' 
guild  of  Surat  devotes  a  part  of  the  fees  which  it  levies  on  bills 
of  exchange  to  maintain  a  hospital  for  sick  animals — a  true 
survival  of  the  system  of  medical  aid  for  man  and  beast  which 
King  Asoka  founded  in  244  b.  c.  The  religious  life  of  the  Hindu 
Vishnuite  sect  is  governed  by  the  old  rules  laid  down  by 
Buddha  himself.  The  great  Bengal  scholar,  Rajendra  Lala 
Mitra,  himself  a  Vishnuite,  believed  that  the  car  festival  of 
Jagannath  is  a  relic  of  a  Buddhist  procession. 

Non-Aryan  Influences. — Hinduism  also  drew  much  of  its 
strength,  and  many  of  its  rites,  from  the  non-Aryan  peoples  of 
India.  To  them  is  due  the  worship  of  stumps  of  wood,  of  rude 
stones,  and  of  trees,  which  makes  up  the  religion  of  the  villagers 
of  Bengal.  Each  hamlet  has  usually  its  local  god,  which  it 
adores  in  the  form  either  of  an  unhewn  stone,  or  a  stump,  or 
a  tree  marked  with  red-lead.  Sometimes  a  lump  of  clay  placed 
under  a  tree  does  service  for  a  deity.  Serpent-worship,  and 
the  honour  paid  by  certain  sects  of  Hindus  to  the  linga,  or 
symbol  of  m.ale  creative  energy,  may  probably  be  traced  back 
to  the  Scythian  tribes  who  came  to  India,  in  very  early  times, 
from  Central  Asia. 

The  Hindu  Book  of  Saints. — Hinduism  boasts  a  line  of 
religious  founders  stretching  from  about  700  a.  d.  to  the  present 
day.  The  lives  of  the  mediaeval  saints  and  their  wondrous 
works  are  recorded  in  the  Bhakta-Mdla,  or  The  Garland  of 
the  Faithful,  compiled  by  Nabhajf  about  three  centuries  ago. 
It  is  the  Book  of  Saints  and  Golden  Legend  of  Hinduism.  The 
same  wonders  are  not  recorded  of  each  of  its  apostles,  but 
miracles  abound  in  the  life  of  all.  The  greater  ones  rank  as 
divine  incarnations  prophesied  of  old.  According  to  the  Hindu 
stories,  some  were  born  of  virgins ;  others  overcame  lions ; 
raised  the  dead;  their  hands  and  feet  when  cut  off  sprouted 

G  2 


lOO  GROWTH  OF  HINDUISM. 

afresh ;  prisons  were  opened  to  them ;  the  sea  received  ihem 
and  returned  them  to  the  land  unhurt,  while  the  earth  opened 
and  swallowed  up  their  slanderers.  Their  lives  were  mar- 
vellous, and  the  deaths  of  the  greatest  of  them  a  solemn 
mystery.  ■ 

Sankara  Acharya,  Ninth  Century  A.D. — The  first  in  the 
line  of  apostles  was  Kumarila,  a  Brahman  of  Behar,  who  has 
been  already  referred  to  as  having  stirred  up  a  legendary  per- 
secution of  Buddhism  throughout  India  in  the  eighth  century  a.d. 
His  yet  more  famous  disciple  was  Sankara  Acharya,  with  whom 
we  reach  historical  ground,  Sankara  was  born  in  IMalabar, 
wandered  as  an  itinerant  preacher  over  India  as  far  as  Kashmir, 
and  died  at  Kedarnath  in  the  Himalayas,  aged  32.  He  moulded 
the  Vedanta  philosophy  of  the  Brahmans  into  its  final  form,  and 
popularized  it  into  a  national  religion.  It  is  scarcely  too  much 
to  say,  that  since  his  short  life  in  the  eighth  or  ninth  century 
every  new  Hindu  sect  has  had  to  start  with  a  personal  God. 
He  addressed  himself  to  the  high-caste  philosophers  on  the  one 
hand,  and  to  the  low-caste  multitude  on  the  other.  He  left 
behind,  as  the  twofold  results  of  his  life's  work,  a  compact 
Brahman  sect  and  a  popular  religion. 

Forms  of  Siva  and  his  Wife. — In  the  hands  of  Sankara's 
followers  and  apostolic  successors,  Siva-worship  became  one 
of  the  two  chief  religions  of  India.  Siva,  at  once  the  Destroyer 
and  Reproducer,  represented  profound  philosophical  doctrines, 
and  was  early  recognized  as  being  in  a  special  sense  the  god  of 
the  Brahmans.  To  them  he  was  the  symbol  of  death  as  merely 
a  change  of  life.  On  the  other  hand,  his  terrible  aspects,  pre- 
served in  his  long  list  of  names,  from  the  Roarer  (Rudra)  of  the 
Veda,  to  the  Dread  One  (Bhfma)  of  the  modern  Hindu  pan- 
theon, well  adapted  him  to  the  religion  of  fear  prevalent  among 
the  ruder  non-Aryan  races.  Siva,  in  his  twofold  character,  thus 
became  the  deity  alike  of  the  highest  and  of  the  lowest  castes. 
He  is  the  Maha-dcva,  or  Great  God  of  modern  Hinduism ;  his 
■wife  is  Devi,  literally  and  pre-eminently  the  Goddess.  His 
symbol  of  worship  is  the  linga,  or  emblem  of  male  repro- 
duction ;  his  sacred  beast,  the  bull,  is  connected  with  the  same 
idea;  a  trident  tops  his  temples.     His  images  partake  of  his 


TWOFOLD  ASPECTS  OF  SIVA-WORSHIP.  lOi 

double  nature.  The  Brahmanical  conception  of  Siva  is 'repre- 
sented by  his  attitude  as  a  fair-skinned  man,  seated  in  profound 
thought,  the  symbol  of  the  fertilizing  Ganges  above  his  head, 
and  the  bull  (emblem  alike  of  procreation  and  of  Aryan  plough- 
tillage)  near  at  hand.  The  wilder  non-Aryan  aspects  of  his 
character  are  signified  by  his  necklace  of  skulls,  his  collar  of 
twining  serpents,  his  tiger-skin,  and  his  club  with  a  human  head 
at  the  end.  Siva  has  five  faces  and  four  arms.  His  wife  Devi, 
in  like  manner,  appears  in  her  Aryan  or  Brahmanical  form  as 
Uma,  *  Light,'  a  gentle  goddess  and  the  type  of  high-born  love- 
liness ;  in  her  composite  character  as  Durga,  a  golden-coloured 
woman,  beautiful  but  menacing,  riding  on  a  tiger ;  and  in  her 
terrible  non-Aryan  aspects  as  Kali,  a  black  fury,  of  a  hideous 
countenance,  dripping  with  blood,  crowned  with  snakes,  and 
hung  round  with  skulls. 

Twofold  Aspects  of  Siva-worship. — The  ritual  of  Siva- 
worship  preserves,  in  an  even  more  striking  way,  the  traces  of 
its  double  origin.  The  higher  minds  still  adore  the  godhead 
by  silent  contemplation,  as  prescribed  by  Sankara,  without  the 
aid  of  external  rites.  The  ordinary  Brahman  hangs  a  wreath 
of  flowers  around  the  phallic  linga,  or  places  before  it  harmless 
offerings  of  rice.  But  the  low-castes  pour  out  the  lives  of 
countless  goats  at  the  feet  of  the  terrible  Kali,  the  wife  of  Siva  ; 
and  until  lately,  in  time  of  pestilence  and  famine,  tried  in  their 
despair  to  appease  that  relentless  goddess  by  human  blood. 
During  the  famine  of  1866,  in  a  temple  of  Kali,  a  boy  was 
found  with  his  neck  cut,  the  eyes  staring  open,  and  the  stiff 
clotted  tongue  thrust  out  between  the  teeth.  In  another  temple 
at  Hugh'  (a  railway  station  only  twenty-four  miles  from  Calcutta), 
ahead  was  left  before  the  idol,  decked  with  flowers.  Such  cases 
are  true  survivals  of  the  regular  system  of  human  sacrifices 
which  we  have  seen  among  the  non-Aryan  tribes.  They  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  old  mystic  piirusha-medha,  or  man- 
offering,  whether  real  or  symbolical,  of  the  ancient  Aryan  faith, 
but  form  a  part  of  the  non-Aryan  religion  of  terror,  w-hich 
demands  that  the  greater  the  need,  the  greater  shall  be 
the  propitiation. 

The  Thirtoen  Sivaite  Sects. — The  thirteen  chief  sects  of 


I02  GROWTH  OF  HINDUISM. 

Siva-worshippers  faithfully  represent  the  composite  character 
of  their  god.  The  Smdrta  Brahmans,  the  lineal  successors  of 
Sankara's  disciples,  still  maintain  their  life  of  calm  monastic 
piety  in  Southern  India.  The  Dandis,  or  ascetics,  divide  their 
time  between  begging  and  meditation.  Some  of  them  adore, 
without  rites,  Siva  as  the  third  person  of  the  Aryan  trinity. 
Others  practise  an  apparently  non-Aryan  ceremony  of  initiation, 
by  drawing  blood  from  the  inner  part  of  the  novice's  knee  as 
an  offering  to  the  god  in  his  more  terrible  form,  Bhairava. 
The  Dandis  follow  the  non-Aryan  custom  of  burying  their  dead, 
or  commit  the  body  to  a  sacred  stream.  The  Yogis  include 
every  class  of  devotee,  from  the  speechless  mystic,  who  by  long 
suppressions  of  the  breath  has  lost  the  consciousness  of  exist- 
ence in  an  ecstatic  union  with  Siva,  to  the  impostor  who  pre- 
tends that  he  can  sit  upon  air,  and  the  juggler  who  travels  with 
a  performing  goat.  The  Sivaite  sects  descend,  through  various 
gradations  of  self-mortification  and  abstraction,  to  the  Agliorh, 
who  eat  carrion  and  gash  their  bodies  with  knives.  The  lowest 
sects  follow  non- Aryan  rather  than  Aryan  types,  alike  as  regards 
their  use  of  animal  food  and  their  bloody  sacrifices. 

Vishnu-worship. — Vishnu  had  always  been  a  very  human 
god,  from  the  time  when  he  makes  his  appearance  in  the  Veda 
as  a  solar  myth,  the  '  Unconquerable  Preserver,'  striding  across 
the  universe  in  three  steps.  His  later  incarnations  or  avatars 
made  him  the  familiar  friend  of  man.  Of  these  incarnations  or 
'  descents '  on  earth,  which  vary  according  to  tradition  from  ten 
or  twenty-two  in  number,  Vishnu-worship,  with  the  unerring  in- 
stinct of  a  popular  religion,  chose  the  two  most  beautiful  for 
adoration.  In  his  two  human  forms  as  Rama  and  Krishna, 
the  god  Vishnu  attracted  to  himself  innumerable  loving  legends. 
Rama,  his  seventh  incarnation,  is  the  hero  of  the  Sanskrit  epic, 
the  Ramayana.  In  his  eighth  incarnation,  as  Krishna,  Vishnu 
appears  as  a  high-souled  prince  in  the  other  epic,  the  Maha- 
bharata.  As  Krishna,  also,  he  afterwards  grew  into  the  central 
figure  of  Indian  pastoral  poetry ;  was  spiritualized  into  the 
supreme  god  of  the  Vishnuite  Puranas ;  and  now  flourishes 
as  the  most  popular  deity  of  the  Hindus.  Under  his  title  of 
Jagannath,  '  The  Lord  of  the  World,'  Vishnu  is  especially  wor- 


VISHNUITE  REFORMERS.  103 

shipped  at  Purf,  whence  his  fame  has  spread  through  the 
civihzed  world.  But  nothing  can  be  more  unjust  than  the 
vulgar  story  which  associates  his  car  festival  with  the  wholesale 
self-murder  of  his  worshippers.  Vishnu  is  essentially  a  bright  and 
friendly  god,  who  asks  no  offerings  but  flowers,  and  to  whom 
the  shedding  of  blood  is  a  pollution.  The  official  records,  and 
an  accurate  examination  on  the  spot,  disprove  the  calumnies  of 
some  English  writers  on  this  subject.  Fatal  accidents  frequently 
happened  amid  an  excited  crowd.  Suicides  on  occasions  have 
taken  place.  But  the  stories  of  wholesale  bloodshed  at  one 
time  told  about  Jagannath,  were  merely  ignorant  libels  on  a 
gentle  and  peaceful  god,  to  whom  no  sacrifice  which  cost  the 
life  even  of  a  kid  could  be  offered.  The  Vishnu  sects  are 
called  Vaishnavas. 

The  Vishnu  Purana,  circ.  1045  A.D. — In  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury the  Vishnuite  doctrines  were  gathered  into  a  religious  treatise. 
The  Vishnu  Purana  dates  from  about  1045  a.d.,  and  probably 
represents,  as  indeed  its  name  implies,  'ancient'  traditions  of 
Vishnu  which  had  co-existed  with  Sivaism  and  Buddhism  for 
centuries.  It  derived  its  doctrines  from  the  Vedas,  not,  how- 
ever, in  a  direct  channel,  but  filtered  through  the  two  great 
epic  poems.  It  forms  one  of  the  eighteen  Puranas  or  Sanskrit 
theological  works,  in  which  the  Brahman  moulders  of  Vish- 
nuism  and  Sivaism  embodied  their  rival  systems.  These  works 
especially  extol  the  second  and  third  members  of  the  Hindu 
triad,  now  claiming  the  pre-eminence  for  Vishnu  as  the  sole 
deity,  and  now  for  Siva;  but  in  their  higher  flights  rising  to 
a  recognition  that  both  are  but  forms  for  representing  the  one 
eternal  God.  They  are  said  to  contain  I7}  million  lines.  But 
they  exhibit  only  the  Brahmanical  aspect  of  Vishnu-worship  and 
Siva-worship,  and  are  devoid  of  any  genuine  sympathy  for  the 
lower  castes. 

Vishnuite  Apostles — Ramanuja,  1150  A.D. — The  first 
of  the  line  of  Vishnuite  reformers  was  Ramanuja,  a  Brahman 
of  Southern  India.  In  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  he  led 
a  movement  against  the  Sivaites,  proclaiming  the  unity  of  God, 
under  the  title  of  Vishnu,  the  Cause  and  the  Creator  of  all  things. 
Persecuted  by  the  Chola  king  in  Southern  India,  who  tried  to 


104  GROWTH  OF  HINDUISM. 

enforce  Sivaite  conformity  throughout  his  dominions,  Ramanuja 
fled  to  the  Jain  sovereign  of  Mysore.  This  Jain  prince  he  con- 
verted to  the  Vishnuite  faith  by  expelhng  an  evil  spirit  from  his 
daughter.  Seven  hundred  monasteries,  of  which  four  still  remain, 
are  said  to  have  been  erected  by  his  followers  before  his  death. 

Ramanand,  1300-1400  A.D. — Ramanand  stands  fifth  in 
the  apostolic  succession  from  Ramanuja,  and  spread  his  doc- 
trine through  Northern  India.  He  had  his  headquarters  in 
a  monastery  at  Benares,  but  wandered  from  place  to  place, 
preaching  the  one  God  under  the  name  of  Vishnu.  He 
chose  twelve  disciples,  not  from  the  priests  or  nobles,  but 
among  the  despised  castes.  One  of  them  was  a  leather- 
dresser,  another  a  barber,  and  the  most  distinguished  of  all 
was  the  reputed  son  of  a  weaver.  Ramanuja  had  addressed 
himself  chiefly  to  the  pure"  Aryan  castes,  and  wrote  in  the 
Sanskrit  language  of  the  Brahmans.  Ramanand  appealed  to 
the  people,  and  the  literature  of  his  sect  is  in  the  dialects 
familiar  to  the  masses.  The  Hindi  vernacular  owes  its  develop- 
ment into  a  written  language,  partly  to  the  folk-songs  of  the 
peasantry  and  the  war-ballads  of  the  Rajput  court-bards,  but 
chiefly  to  the  literary  requirements  of  the  new  popular  religion 
of  Vishnu. 

Kabir,  13S0-1420  A.D. — Kabir,  one  of  the  twelve  disciples 
of  Ramanand,  carried  his  doctrines  throughout  Bengal.  As 
his  master  had  laboured  to  gather  together  all  castes  of  the 
Hindus  into  one  common  faith,  so  Kabir,  seeing  that  the 
Hindus  were  no  longer  the  whole  inhabitants  of  India,  tried, 
about  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  to  build  up  a  religion 
that  should  embrace  Hindu  and  Muhammadan  alike.  The 
writings  of  his"  sect  acknowledge  that  the  God  of  the  Hindu 
is  also  the  God  of  the  Musalman.  His  universal  name  is  The 
Inner,  whether  he  be  invoked  as  the  All  of  the  IMuhammadans, 
or  as  the  Rama  of  the  Hindus.  '  To  Ali  and  to  Rama  we  owe 
our  life,'  say  the  scriptures  of  Kabir's  sect,  '  and  we  should 
show  like  tenderness  to  all  who  live.  .  .  .  The  Hindu  fasts  every 
eleventh  day ;  the  Musalman  on  the  Ramazan.  Who  formed 
the  remaining  months  and  days,  that  you  should  venerate  but 
one  ?  .  .  .  The  city  of  the  Hindu  God  is  to  the  east  [Benaresj, 


VISHNUITE  REFORMERS.  1 05 

the  city  of  the  IMusalman  God  is  to  the  west  [Mecca];  but 
explore  your  own  heart,  for  there  is  the  God  both  of  the 
Musalmans  and  of  the  Hindus.  Behold  but  One  in  all 
things.  He  to  whom  the  world  belongs,  he  is  the  father  of 
the  worshippers  alike  of  All  and  of  Rama.  He  is  my  guide,  he 
is  my  priest.' 

Chaitanya,  1485-1527  A.D. — In  1485  Chaitanya  ^vas  born, 
and  spread  the  Vishnuite  doctrines,  with  the  worship  of 
Jagannath,  throughout  the  deltas  of  Bengal  and  Orissa.  Signs 
and  wonders  attended  Chaitanya  through  life;  and  during 
four  centuries  he  has  been  worshipped  as  an  incarnation  of 
Vishnu.  Extricating  ourselves  from  the  halo  of  legend  which 
surrounds  this  apostle  of  Jagannath,  we  know  little  of  his  private 
life  except  that  he  was  the  son  of  a  Brahman  settled  at  Nadiya 
in  Bengal;  that  in  his  youth  he  married  the  daughter  of  a 
celebrated  saint ;  that  at  the  age  of  twenty-four  he  forsook  the 
world,  and,  renouncing  the  state  of  a  householder,  repaired  to 
Orissa,  where  he  devoted  the  rest  of  his  days  to  the  propagation 
of  the  faith.  He  disappeared  in  1527  a.d.  But  with  regard  to 
his  doctrine  we  have  the  most  ample  evidence.  He  held  that 
all  men  are  alike  capable  of  faith,  and  that  all  castes  by  faith 
become  equally  pure.  Implicit  belief  and  incessant  devotion 
were  his  watchwords.  Contemplation  rather  than  ritual  was  his 
pathway  to  salvation.  Obedience  to  the  religious  guide  is  one 
of  the  leading  features  of  his  sect ;  but  he  warned  his  disciples 
to  respect  their  teachers  as  second  fathers,  and  not  as  gods. 
The  great  end  of  his  system,  as  of  all  Indian  forms  of  worship, 
is  the  liberation  of  the  soul.  He  held  that  such  hberation  does 
not  mean  the  annihilation  of  separate  existence.  It  consists 
in  nothing  more  than  an  entire  freedom  from  the  stains  and 
the  frailties  and  sinful  desires  of  the  body. 

The  Chaitanya  Sect. — The  followers  of  Chaitanya  belong 
to  every  caste,  but  they  acknowledge  the  rule  of  the  descendants 
of  the  original  disciples  [gosdms).  The  sect  is  open  alike  to 
the  married  and  unmarried.  It  has  its  celibates  and  wandering 
mendicants,  but  its  religious  teachers  are  generally  married  men. 
They  live  with  their  wives  and  children  in  clusters  of  houses 
around  a  temple  to  Krishna  (an  incarnation  of  Vishnu).     The 


io6  GROWTH  OF  HINDUISM. 

adoration  of  the  founder,  Chaitanya,  is  thus  a  sort  of  family  wor- 
ship in  Orissa.  The  landed  gentry  worship  him  with  a  daily  ritual 
in  household  chapels  dedicated  to  his  name.  After  his  death, 
a  sect  arose  among  his  followers,  who  asserted  the  spiritual 
independence  of  women.  In  their  monastic  enclosures,  male 
and  female  cenobites  live  in  celibacy, — the  women  shaving  their 
heads,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  lock  of  hair.  The  two 
sexes  chant  the  praises  of  Vishnu  and  Chaitanya  together  in 
hymn  and  solemn  dance.  But  the  really  important  doctrine  of 
the  sect  is  their  recognition  of  the  value  of  women  as  instructors 
of  the  outside  female  community.  For  long  they  were  the  only 
teachers  admitted  into  the  zandnas  of  good  families  in  Bengal. 
Fifty  years  ago  they  had  effected  a  change  for  the  better  in  the 
state  of  female  education ;  and  the  value  of  such  instruction 
was  assigned  as  the  cause  of  the  sect  spreading  so  widely  in 
Calcutta. 

Vallabha-Swami,  circ.  1520  A.D. — The  death  of  Chaitanya 
marked  the  beginning  of  a  spiritual  decline  in  Vishnu-worship. 
About  1520,  Vallabha-Svvami  preached  in  Northern  India  that 
the  liberation  of  the  soul  did  not  depend  upon  the  mortification 
of  the  body ;  and  that  God  was  to  be  sought,  not  in  nakedness 
and  hunger  and  sohtude,  but  amid  the  enjoyments  of  this  life. 
An  opulent  sect  had,  from  an  early  period,  attached  itself  to  the 
worship  of  Krishna  and  his  bride  Radha — a  mystic  significance 
being  of  course  assigned  to  their  pastoral  loves.  Still  more 
popular  among  Hindu  women  is  the  adoration  of  Krishna  as 
the  Bala  Gopala,  or  the  Infant  Cowherd,  perhaps  unconsciously 
affected  by  the  Christian  worship  of  the  Divine  Child.  Another 
influence  of  Christianity  on  Hinduism  may  possibly  be  traced  in 
the  growing  importance  assigned  by  the  Krishna  sects  to  bhakti, 
or  faith,  as  an  all-sufBcient  instrument  of  salvation. 

Krishna-worship. — Vallabha-Swami  was  the  apostle  of 
Vishnuism  as  a  religion  of  pleasure.  The  special  object  of 
his  homage  was  Vishnu  in  his  pastoral  incarnation,  in  which 
he  took  the  form  of  the  divine  youth  Krishna,  and  led  an 
Arcadian  life  in  the  forest.  Shady  bowers,  lovely  women, 
exquisite  viands,  and  everything  that  appeals  to  the  luscious 
sensuousness  of  a  tropical  race,  are  mingled  in  his  worship. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  BOND   OF  HINDUISM.  107 

His  daily  ritual  consists  of  eight  services,  in  which  Krishna's 
image,  as  a  beautiful  boy,  is  delicately  bathed,  anointed  with 
essences,  splendidly  attired,  and  sumptuously  fed.  The  fol- 
lowers of  the  first  Vishnuite  reformers  dwelt  together  in 
secluded  monasteries,  and  went  about  scantily  clothed,  living 
upon  alms.  But  the  Vallabha-Swami  sect  performs  its  de- 
votions arrayed  in  costly  apparel,  anointed  with  oil,  and 
perfumed  with  camphor  or  sandal-wood.  It  seeks  its  converts 
not  among  weavers,  or  leather-dressers,  or  barbers,  but  among 
wealthy  bankers  and  merchants,  who  look  upon  life  as  a  thing 
to  be  enjoyed,  and  upon  pilgrimage  as  a  holiday  excursion,  or 
an  opportunity  for  trade. 

The  Religious  Bond  of  Hinduism. — The  worship  of 
Siva  and  Vishnu  acts  as  a  religious  bond  among  the  Hindus,  in 
the  same  w^ay  as  caste  supplies  the  basis  of  their  social  organiza- 
tion. Theoretically,  the  Hindu  religion  starts  from  the  Veda, 
and  acknowledges  its  divine  authority.  But,  practically,  we 
have  seen  that  Hinduism  takes  its  origin  from  many  sources. 
Vishnu-worship  and  Sivaite  rites  represent  the  two  most  popular 
combinations  of  these  various  elements.  The  highly  cultivated 
Brahman  is  a  pure  theist;  the  less  cultivated  worships  the 
Divinity  under  some  chosen  form,  his  ishta-devatd.  The  ordinary 
Brahman,  especially  in  the  south,  takes  as  his  'chosen  deity' 
Siva  in  his  deep  philosophical  aspects  as  the  fountain  of  being 
and  of  reproduction,  the  symbol  of  death  deprived  of  its  terrors 
and  welcomed  as  the  entrance  into  new  forms  of  life.  The 
phallic  linga  serves  him  as  an  emblem  of  the  unseen  God.  The 
middle  classes  and  the  trading  community  adore  some  incarna- 
tion of  Vishnu.  The  low-castes  propitiate  Siva  the  Destroyer, 
or  one  of  his  female  manifestations,  such  as  the  dread  Kali. 
But  almost  every  Hindu  of  education  feels  that  his  outward 
object  of  homage  is  merely  his  ishta-devaid,  or  a  '  chosen  '  form 
under  which  to  adore  the  supreme  Deity,  Param-eswara. 

Materials  for  Reference. 

Hinduism  is  the  joint  product  of  Brahmanism,  Buddhism,  and  the  non- 
Aryan  worships,  dealt  with  in  Chapters  III,  IV,  and  V.  But  in  addition  to 
the  works  cited  at  the  end  of  those  chapters,  the  following  may  be  specially 


io8  GROWTH  OF  HINDUISM. 

noted  :  Earth's  Religions  of  India  ;  H.  H.  Wilson's  Religion  of  the  Hindus, 
and  his  Vishnu  Purana;  Sir  Alfred  Lj'all's  Asiatic  Studies;  Colebrooke's 
Essays  on  the  Religion  and  Philosophy  of  the  Hindus ;  Garvin  de  Tassy's 
Histoire  de  la  Litterature  Hindouie  et  Hindoustaizie,  and  his  Les  AtttetDS 
Hindoiistanis  et  leurs  Ouvrages  ;  Graf  Bjornstjerna's  Die  Theogonie  Philo- 
sophie  und  Kosmogonie  der  Hindus ;  Fergusson's  History  of  Indian  and 
Eastern  Architecture,  and  his  Tree  and  Serpent  Worship  ;  Trumpp's  Die 
Religion  der  Sikhs,  and  his  Nanak ;  Mozoomdar's  Faith  and  Progress  of 
the  Brahmo-Somaj  (Calcutta,  1S82) ;  and  Miss  Collet's  Brahmo  Year- 
Book;  Sir  Monier  Williams'  Non-Christian  Religious  Systems,  Hinduism, 
and  his  Religious  Thought  and  Life  in  India  ;  Sir  William  Hunter's 
Orissa,  and  his  Rural  Bengal ;  Dr.  J.  Wilson's  Indian  Caste,  and  Sherring's 
Hindu  T7-ihes  and  Castes  (two  works  of  great  original  value)  ;  Steele's 
Law  and  Custom  of  Hindu  Castes  (for  Western  India) ;  Nelson's  View  of 
Hindu  Law,  and  Burnell's  Dayavibhdga  (for  the  Madras  Presidency). 
Also  again  Max  Miiller's  Hibbert  Lectures  and  his  Sacred  Books  of  the 
East,  together  with  the  easily  accessible  volumes  of  Triibner's  Oriental 
Sei-ies  and  in  the  Bibliotheca  Indica  too  numerous  to  specify. 


[109] 

CHAPTER    IX. 
Early  Muhammadan  Conquerors,  714-1526  A.D. 

Muhammadan  Influence  on  Hinduism. — Hinduism  was 
for  a  lime  submerged,  but  never  drowned,  by  the  tide  of 
Muhammadan  conquest,  which  set  steadily  towards  India  about 
1000  A.D.  At  the  present  day,  the  south  of  India  remains 
almost  entirely  Hindu.  By  far  the  greater  number  of  the  Indian 
Feudatory  Chiefs  are  still  under  Brahman  influence.  But  in 
the  north-west,  where  the  first  waves  of  invasion  have  always 
broken,  about  one-third  of  the  population  now  profess  Islam. 
The  upper  valley  of  the  Ganges  boasts  a  succession  of  IMusal- 
man  capitals  ;  and  in  the  swamps  of  Lower  Bengal,  the  bulk  of 
the  non-Aryan  or  aboriginal  population  have  become  converts 
to  the  IMuhammadan  religion.  The  Musalmans  now  make 
57  millions  of  the  total  of  288  millions  in  India. 

Early  Muhammadan  Dynasties,  714-1526  A.D. — The 
present  chapter  is  devoted  to  the  early  IMuhammadan  conquerors 
in  the  north  of  India  before  the  rise  of  the  Mughal  Empire. 
But  it  is  convenient  to  give  in  this  place  a  chronological  list  of 
all  the  IMuhammadan  dynasties,  whose  succession  makes  up  so 
large  a  part  of  the  history  of  mediaaval  India. 

Chronological  Summary  of  IMuhajimadan  Conquerors 
AND  Dynasties  of  India,   1001-1S57. 

IV.  House  of  Khilji. 


I.  House  of  Ghazni  (Tiirki). 
1001-1186.     Mahmud  of  Ghazni  to 

Sultan  Khusru. 

II.  House  OF  Ghor  (Afghani 

1 186-1206.    Muhammad    of    Ghor 
(Shahab-ud-din). 

III.  Slave  Kings  (chiefly  Turki). 
1206-1290.  Kutab-ud-dia  to  ilalban 
and  Kaikubad. 


1290-1320.  Jalal-ud-dintoNasir-ud- 
din  Khusru. 

V.  House  of  Tughlak  (Punjab 

Tvirki). 
I, ",20.  Ghiyas-ud-din  Tughlak. 
1,^,25.  Muhammad  Tughlak. 
1 35 1.   Firuz  Shah  Tughlak. 
1414.  End  of  Ike  Tughlak  dynasty. 


EARLY  MUHAMMADAN  CONQUERORS. 


1398.  [Irruption  of  the  Mughals 
under  Timur  (Tamerlane)  in 
1398-99,  leaving  behind  a 
fifteen  years'  anarchy  under  the 
last  of  the  line  of  Tughlak, 
until  the  accession  of  the  Say- 
yids  in  1414.] 

VI.  The  Sayyids. 
1 41 4-1 450.  Curtailed  power  of  the 
Delhi  Kingdom. 

VII.  The  Lodis  (Afghan). 
J450-1526.  Feeble  reigns;  indepen- 
dent States  multiply. 

VIII.  House  of  Timur  (Mughal). 

1 526-1 530.  Babar. 

1530-1556.  Humayiin. 

[Sher  Shah,  the  Afghan  Gover- 
nor of  Bengal,  drives  Huma- 
yun  out  of  India  in  1542, 
and  his  Afghan  dynasty  rules 

till  I55.S-] 
1 556-1605.  Akbar  the  Great. 
1605-1627.  Jahangir. 
1628-1658.  Shahjahan;   deposed. 


1658-J707.  Aurangzeb  or  Alam- 
gir  I. 

1 707-1 7 1 2.  Bahadur  Shah,  or  Shah 
Alam  I. 

1712.  Jahandar  Shah. 

1713-1718.  Farukhsiyyar. 

1 719-1748.  Muhammad  Shah  (after 
temporary  Emperors). 

[Irruption  of  Nadir  Shah  the 
Persian,  1738-1739.] 

1 748-1 754.  Death  of  Muhammad 
Shah ;  and  accession  of  Ahmad 
Shah,  deposed  1754. 

1754-1759-  Alamgirll. 

[Six  invasions  of  India  by 
Ahmad  Shah  Durani,  the 
Afghan,  1748-1 761.] 

1759-1806.  Shah  Alam  II,  titular 
Emperor. 

1S06-1837.  Akbar  II,  titular  Em- 
peror. 

1837-1857.  Muhammad  Bahadur 
Shah,  titular  Emperor;  the  seven- 
teenth and  last  Mughal  Emperor; 
gave  his  sanction  to  the  Mutiny 
of  1857,  and  died  a  State  prisoner 
at  Rangoon  in  1862. 


The  Rise  of  Islam. — While  Buddhism  was  giving  place  to 
Hinduism  in  India,  a  new  faith  had  arisen  in  Arabia.  Muham- 
mad, born  in  570  a.d.,  created  a  conquering  religion,  and  died 
in  632.  Within  a  hundred  years  after  his  death,  his  followers 
had  invaded  the  countries  of  Asia  as  far  as  the  Hindu  Kush. 
Here  their  progress  was  stayed  ;  and  Islam  had  to  consolidate 
itself,  during  three  more  centuries,  before  it  grew  strong  enough 
to  grasp  the  rich  prize  of  India.  But  almost  from  the  first  the 
Arabs  had  fi.xed  eager  eyes  upon  that  wealthy  empire,  and 
several  premature  inroads  foretold  the  coming  storm. 

Early  Arab  Invasions  of  Sind,  647  to  828  A.D. — 
About  fifteen  years  after  the  death  of  the  prophet,  Usman  sent 
a  naval  expedition  to  Thana  and  Broach  on  the  Bombay  coast 
(647  .'').  Other  raids  towards  Sind  took  place  in  662  and  664, 
with  no  lasting  results.     In  711,  however,  the  youthful  Kdsim 


THE  ARABS  IN  STND.  1 1 1 

advanced  into  Sind,  to  claim  damages  for  an  Arab  ship  which 
had  been  seized  at  an  Indian  port.  After  a  brilliant  campaign, 
he  settled  himself  in  the  Indus  valley  ;  but  the  further  advance 
of  the  Musalmans  depended  on  the  personal  daring  of  their 
leader,  and  was  arrested  by  his  death  in  714  a.d.  The  despair- 
ing valour  of  the  Hindus  struck  the  invaders  with  wonder.  One 
Rajput  garrison  preferred  utter  extermination  to  submission. 
They  raised  a  huge  funeral  pile,  upon  which  the  women  and 
children  first  threw  themselves.  The  men  having  bathed,  took 
a  solemn  farewell  of  each  other,  and,  throwing  open  the  gates, 
rushed  upon  the  weapons  of  the  besiegers,  and  perished  to  a  man. 
In  750,  the  Rajputs  are  said  to  have  expelled  the  Muhammadan 
governor  from  Sind;  but  it  was  not  till  828  a.d.  that  the  Hindus 
regained  possession  of  that  province, 

India  on  the  Eve  of  the  Muhammadan  Conquest. — 
The  armies  of  Islam  had  carried  the  crescent  throughout  Asia 
west  of  the  Hindu  Kush,  and  through  Africa  and  Southern  Europe, 
to  distant  Spain  and  France,  before  they  obtained  a  foothold  in  the 
Punjab.  This  long  delay  was  due  not  only  to  the  daring  of  the 
Indian  tribes,  such  as  the  Sind  Rajputs  just  mentioned,  but  to  the 
military  organization  of  the  Hindu  kingdoms.  To  the  north  of 
the  Vindhyas,  three  separate  groups  of  Hindu  princes  governed 
the  great  river-valleys.  The  Rajputs  ruled  in  the  north-west, 
throughout  the  Indus  plains,  and  along  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Jumna.  The  ancient  Middle  Land  of  Sanskrit  times  (Madhya- 
desa)  in  the  valley  of  the  Ganges,  was  divided  among  powerful 
Hindu  kingdoms,  under  the  over-lordship  of  Kanauj.  The 
lower  Gangetic  valley,  from  Behar  downwards,  was  still  in  part 
governed  by  Pal  or  Buddhist  dynasties,  whose  names  are  found 
from  Benares  to  jungle-buried  hamlets  deep  in  the  Bengal  Delta. 
The  Vindhya  ranges  stretched  their  wall  of  forest  and  mountain 
between  the  northern  and  southern  halves  of  India.  Their 
eastern  and  central  regions  were  peopled  by  fierce  hill  tribes. 
At  their  western  extremity,  towards  the  Bombay  coast,  lay  the 
Plindu  kingdom  of  Malwd,  with  its  brilliant  literary  traditions  of 
Vikramaditya,  and  a  vast  feudal  array  of  fighting  men.  India 
to  the  south  of  the  Vindhyas  was  occupied  by  a  number  of  war- 
like princes,  chiefly  of  non-Aryan  descent,  but  loosely  grouped 


112  EARLY  MUHAMMAD  AN  CONQUERORS. 

under  three  great  semi-Hindu  or  semi-Buddhistic  over-lords 
represented  by  the  Chera,  Chola,  and  Pandya  dynasties. 

Hindu  Power  of  Resistance. — Each  of  these  groups  of 
kingdoms,  alike  in  the  north  and  in  the  south,  had  a  certain 
power  of  coherence  to  oppose  to  a  foreign  invader ;  while  the 
large  number  of  the  groups  and  units  rendered  conquest  a  very 
tedious  process.  For  even  when  the  over-lord  or  central 
authority  was  vanquished,  the  separate  groups  and  units  had  to 
be  defeated  in  detail ;  and  each  supplied  a  nucleus  for  sub- 
sequent revolt.  We  have  seen  how  the  biilliant  attempt  in  711, 
to  found  a  lasting  Muhammadan  dynasty  in  Sind,  failed.  Three 
centuries  later,  the  utmost  efforts  of  a  series  of  IMusalman 
invaders  from  the  north-west  only  succeeded  in  annexing  a 
small  portion  of  the  frontier  Punjab  Provinces,  between  977  and 
1 1 76  A.D.  The  Hindu  power  in  Southern  India  was  not  com- 
pletely broken  till  the  battle  of  Talikot  in  1565  ;  and  within  a 
hundred  years,  in  1650,  the  great  Hindu  revival  had  commenced, 
which,  under  the  form  of  the  Maralha  Confederacy,  was  destined 
to  break  up  the  Mughal  Empire  in  India.  That  empire,  even 
in  the  north  of  India,  was  only  consolidated  by  Akbar's  policy  of 
incorporating  Hindu  Chiefs  and  statesmen  into  his  government 
(1556- 1 605).  Up  to  Akbar's  time,  and  during  the  earlier  years 
of  his  reign,  a  series  of  Hindu  or  Rajput  wars  had  challenged 
the  Muhammadan  supremacy.  In  less  than  two  centuries  after 
his  death,  the  Mughal  successor  of  Akbar  was  a  puppet  and 
a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  Hindu  INIarathas  at  Delhi. 

Muhammadan  Conquests  only  Partial  and  Tem- 
porary.— The  popular  notion  that  India  fell  an  easy  prey  to 
the  Musalmans  is  opposed  to  the  historical  facts.  Muhammadan 
rule  in  India  consists  of  a  series  of  invasions  and  partial  con- 
quests, during  eleven  centuries,  from  Usman's  raid  about  647 
A.D.  to  Ahmad  Shah's  tempest  of  devastation  in  1761.  They 
represent  in  Indian  history  the  overflow  of  the  tribes  and 
peoples  of  Central  Asia  to  the  south-east ;  as  the  Huns,  Turks, 
and  various  Tartar  tribes  disclose  in  early  European  annals 
the  westward  movements  from  the  same  great  breeding-ground 
of  nations.  At  no  time  was  Islam  triumphant  throughout  all 
India.     Hindu  dynasties  always  ruled  over  a  large  area.     At  the 


MAHM&D    OF  GHAZNT.  1 13 

height  of  the  Muhammadan  power,  the  Hindu  princes  paid 
tribute,  and  sent  agents  to  the  imperial  court.  But  even  this 
modified  supremacy  of  the  Mughal  Empire  of  Delhi  did  not  last 
for  one  and  a  half  centuries  (1560-1707).  Before  the  end  of 
that  brief  period,  the  Hindus  had  again  begun  the  work  of  re- 
conquest.  The  Hindu  chivalry  of  Rajputana  was  closing  in 
upon  Delhi  from  the  south-east ;  the  religious  confederation  of 
the  Sikhs  was  growing  into  a  military  power  on  the  north-west. 
The  Marathas,  who  combined  the  fighting  powers  of  the 
Hindu  low-castes  with  the  statesmanship  of  the  Brahmans,  had 
begun  to  subject  the  Muhammadan  kingdoms  in  Southern  India 
to  tribute.  So  far  as  can  now  be  estimated,  the  advance  of  the 
English  power  in  the  last  century  alone  saved  the  Mughal  Empire 
from  reverting  to  the  Hindus. 

First  Turki  Invasions — Subuktigin,  977  A.  D. — The 
first  collision  between  Hinduism  and'  Islam  on  the  Punjab 
frontier  was  the  act  of  the  Hindus.  In  977,  Jaipal,  the  Hindu 
Chief  of  Lahore,  annoyed  by  Afghan  raids,  led  his  troops  through 
the  mountains  against  the  Muhammadan  kingdom  of  Ghazni,  in 
Afghanistan.  Subuktigin,  the  Ghaznivide  prince,  after  severe 
fighting,  took  advantage  of  a  hurricane  to  cut  off  the  retreat  of  the 
Hindus  through  the  pass.  He  allowed  them,  however,  to  return 
to  India,  on  the  surrender  of  fifty  elephants,  and  the  promise  of 
one  million  dirhams  (about  ;;^2 5,000).  Tradition  relates  how 
Jaipal,  having  regained  his  capital,  was  counselled  by  the  Brah- 
mans standing  at  his  right  hand  not  to  disgrace  himself  by 
paying  ransom  to  a  barbarian;  while  his  nobles  and  warrior 
Chiefs,  standing  at  his  left,  implored  him  to  keep  faith.  In  the 
end,  Subuktigin  swept  through  the  hills  to  enforce  his  ransom, 
defeated  Jaipal,  and  stationed  an  Afghan  officer  with  io,oco 
horse  to  garrison  Peshawar  (977).  Subuktigin  was  soon  after- 
wards called  away  to  fight  in  Central  Asia,  and  his  Indian  raid 
left  behind  it  only  this  Peshawar  outpost.  But  henceforth  the 
Afghans  held  both  ends  of  the  Khaibar  pass. 

Mahmiid  of  Ghazni,  1001-1030.— In  997,  Subuktigfn 
died,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Mahmiid  of  Ghaznf,  aged 
sixteen.  This  valiant  monarch  reigned  for  thirty-three  years, 
and  extended  his  father's  little  Afghan  kingdom  into  a  great 


1 1 4  EARL  Y  MUHAMMADAN  CONQUERORS, 

sovereignty  stretching  from  Persia  on  the  west,  to  far  within  the 
Punjab  on  the  east.  Having  spent  four  years  in  consolidating 
his  power  in  Afghanistan  to  the  west  of  the  Khaibar  Pass,  Mah- 
mud  led  in  looi  a.  d.  the  first  of  his  seventeen  invasions  of  India. 
Of  these,  thirteen  were  directed  to  the  subjugation  of  the  Western 
Punjab,  one  was  an  unsuccessful  incursion  into  Kashmir,  and  the 
remaining  three  were  short  but  furious  raids  against  more 
distant  cities, — Kanauj,  Gwalior,  and  Somnath.  Jaipal,  the 
Hindu  frontier  Chief  of  Lahore,  was  again  defeated.  Accord- 
ing to  Hindu  custom,  a  twice-conquered  prince  was  deemed 
unworthy  to  reign ;  and  Jaipal,  mounting  a  funeral  pile,  solemnly 
made  over  his  kingdom  to  his  son,  and  burned  himself  in  his 
regal  robes.  Another  local  Chief,  rather  than  yield  himself  to  the 
victor,  fell  upon  his  own  sword.  In  the  sixth  expedition  (1008 
A.  D.),  the  Hindu  ladies  melted  their  ornaments,  while  the  poorer 
women  spun  cotton,  to  support  their  husbands  in  the  war.  In 
one  great  battle  the  fate  of  the  invaders  hung  in  the  balance. 
Mahmud,  alarmed  by  a  coalition  of  the  Indian  kings  as  far  as 
Oudh  and  Malwa,  entrenched  himself  near  Peshawar.  A  sortie 
which  he  made  was  driven  back,  and  the  wild  Ghakkar  tribe 
burst  into  the  camp  and  slaughtered  nearly  4000  Musalmans. 

The  Sack  of  Somnath,  1024. — But  each  expedition  ended 
by  further  strengthening  the  Muhammadan  foothold  in  India. 
Mahmud  carried  away  enormous  booty  from  the  Hindu  temples, 
such  as  Thaneswar  and  Nagarkot ;  and  his  sixteenth  and  most 
famous  expedition  was  directed  against  the  temple  of  Somnath 
in  Gujarat  (1024  a.  d.).  After  bloody  repulses,  he  took  the  town. 
The  Hindu  garrison,  at  the  end  of  their  gallant  defence,  left 
5000  of  their  warriors  dead,  and  put  out  in  boats  to  sea.  The 
famous  idol  of  Somnath  was  merely  one  of  the  twelve  renowned 
Iwgas  or  phallic  emblems  of  Siva-worship  erected  in  various 
parts  of  India.  But  Mahmud,  having  taken  the  name  of  the 
'Idol-Smasher,'  the  modern  Persian  historians  gradually  con- 
verted the  plunder  of  Somnath  into  a  legend  of  his  pious  zeal. 
Forgetting  the  contemporary  accounts  of  the  idol  as  a  rude 
block  of  stone,  Firishta  tells  how  Mahmud,  on  entering  the 
temple,  was  offered  an  enormous  ransom  by  the  priests  if  he 
would  spare  the  image.     But  Mahmud  cried  out  that  he  would 


mahmOd  of  giiaznl  115 

rather  be  remembered  as  the  breaker  than  the  seller  of  idols,  and 
clove  the  god  open  with  his  mace.  Forthwith  a  vast  treasure  of 
jewels  poured  forth  from  its  vitals,  which  explained  the  liberal 
offers  of  the  priests,  and  rewarded  the  disinterested  piety  of  the 
monarch.  The  growth  of  this  fable  can  be  clearly  traced,  but  it  is 
still  repeated.  Mahmud  carried  off  the  temple  gates,  with  frag- 
ments of  the  phallic  emblem  of  Siva-worship,  to  Ghazni,  and  on  the 
way  nearly  perished  with  his  army  in  the  Indus  desert.  But  the 
so-called  '  sandal-wood  gates  of  Somnath,'  brought  back  as  a 
trophy  from  Ghazni  by  Lord  Ellenboroi^h  in  1842,  and  paraded 
through  Northern  India,  were  as  clumsy  a  forgery  as  the  story 
of  the  jewel-bellied  idol  himself.  Mahmud  died  at  Ghazni  in 
1030  A.  D. 

Results  of  Mahmud's  Invasions. — As  the  result  of  seven- 
teen invasions  of  India,  and  of  twenty-five  years'  fighting, 
Mahmud  had  reduced  the  western  districts  of  the  Punjab  to  the 
control  of  his  Afghan  kingdom  of  Ghazni,  and  left  the  remem- 
brance of  his  raids  throughout  northern  India  as  far  as  Kanauj 
on  the  east  and  Gujarat  in  the  south.  He  never  set  up  as  a 
resident  sovereign  in  India.  His  expeditions  beyond  the  Punjab 
were  the  adventures  of  a  religious  knight-errant,  with  the  plunder 
of  a  temple-city,  or  the  demolition  of  an  idol,  as  their  object, 
rather  than  serious  efforts  at  conquest.  But  as  his  father 
Subuktigfn  had  left  Peshawar  as  an  outpost  garrison  of  Ghaznf, 
so  Mahmud  left  the  Punjab  as  an  outlying  Province  of  that 
Afghan  kingdom. 

Stories  about  Mahmud. — The  Muhammadan  chroniclers 
tell  many  stories,  not  only  of  his  valour  and  piety,  but  also  of 
his  thrift.  One  day  a  poor  woman  complained  that  her  son  had 
been  killed  by  robbers  in  a  distant  desert  of  Irak.  Mahmud 
said  he  was  very  sorry,  but  that  it  was  difficult  to  prevent  such 
accidents  so  far  from  the  capital.  The  old  woman  rebuked  him 
with  the  words,  'Keep  no  more  territory  than  you  can  rightly 
govern  ' ;  and  the  Sultan  forthwith  rewarded  her,  and  sent  troops 
to  guard  all  caravans  passing  that  way.  Mahmud  was  an 
enlightened  patron  of  poets,  and  his  liberality  drew  the  great 
Ferdousi  to  his  court.  The  Sultan  listened  with  delight  to  his 
Shdh-ndmah,  or  Book  of  Kings,  and  promised  him  a  dirham, 

H  2 


Ii6  EARLY  MUHAMMADAN  CONQUERORS. 

meaning  a  golden  one,  for  each  verse  on  its  completion.  After 
thirty  years  of  labour,  the  poet  claimed  his  reward.  But  the 
Sultan,  finding  that  the  poem  had  run  to  60,000  verses,  offered 
him  60,000  silver  dirha7ns,vs\%X.t2L^oidirhams  of  gold.  Ferdousi 
retired  in  disgust  from  the  court,  and  wrote  a  bitter  satire,  which 
to  this  day  tells  the  story  of  the  alleged  base  birth  of  the  monarch. 
Mahmiid  forgave  the  satire,  but  remembered  the  great  epic,  and, 
repenting  of  his  meanness,  sent  100,000  golden  dirhams  to  the 
poet.  The  bounty  came  too  late ;  for,  according  to  the  legend, 
as  the  royal  messengers  bearing  the  bags  of  gold  entered  one 
gate  of  Ferdousi's  city,  the  poet's  corpse  was  being  borne  out  by 
another. 

House  of  Ghor,  1152-1186, — During  a  century  and  a  half 
the  Punjab  remained  under  Mahmud's  successors  as  an  Afghan 
Musalman  Province  in  India.  There  had  long  been  a  feud 
between  the  Afghan  towns  of  Ghor  and  Ghazni.  Mahmud 
subdued  Ghor  in  loio;  but  about  1051  the  Ghor  chief  captured 
Ghaznf  and  dragged  its  principal  men  to  his  own  capital,  where 
he  cut  their  throats,  and  used  their  blood  in  making  mortar  for 
the  fortifications.  After  various  reprisals,  Ghor  finally  triumphed 
over  Ghazni  in  1152;  and  Khusru,  the  last  of  Mahmud's  line, 
fled  to  Lahore,  the  capital  of  his  outlying  Indian  territory.  In 
1 186  this  also  was  wrested  from  him;  and  the  Ghor  prince 
Shahab-ud-dfn,  better  known  as  IVIuhammad  of  Ghor,  began  the 
conquest  of  India  on  his  own  account.  But  each  of  the  Hindu 
principalities  fought  hard,  and  some  of  them  still  survive,  seven 
centuries  after  the  torrent  of  Afghan  invasion  swept  over  their 
heads. 

Hindu  Resistance  to  Muhammad  of  Ghor,  1191.— On 
his  first  expedition  towards  Delhi  in  1191,  Muhammad  of  Ghor 
was  utterly  defeated  by  the  Plindus  at  Thaneswar  in  the  Punjab, 
badly  wounded,  and  barely  escaped  with  his  life.  His  scattered 
hosts  were  chased  for  forty  miles.  But  he  gathered  together  the 
wreck  of  his  army  at  Lahore,  and,  aided  by  new  hordes  from 
Afghanistan,  again  marched  into  Hindustan  in  1193.  Family 
quarrels  among  the  Rajputs  prevented  a  united  effort  against 
him.  The  cities  of  Delhi  and  Kanauj  stand  forth  as  the  centres 
of  rival  Hindu  monarchies,  each  of  which  claimed  the  first  place 


MUHAMMAD   OF  GHOR.  117 

in  Northern  India.  A  Chauhan  Rajput  prince,  ruling  over 
Delhi  and  Ajmere,  bore  the  proud  name  of  Prithwi  Raja  or 
Suzerain.  The  Rahtor  Rajput  king  of  Kanauj,  whose  capital 
can  still  be  traced  across  eight  square  miles  of  broken  bricks  and 
rubbish  in  Farukhabad  District,  celebrated  a  feast,  in  the  spirit  of 
the  ancient  Hindu  Horse-Sacrifice  (see  pp.  68,  70),  to  proclaim 
himself  the  overlord.  At  such  a  feast  all  menial  ofi&ces  had  to 
be  filled  by  royal  vassals;  a*nd  the  Delhi  monarch  was  summoned 
as  a  gatekeeper,  along  with  the  other  princes  of  Hindustan. 
During  the  ceremony,  the  daughter  of  the  King  of  Kanauj  was 
to  make  her  swayam-vara,  or  '  own-choice  '  of  a  husband,  as  in 
the  Sanskrit  epics  (see  pp.  67,  69).  The  Delhi  Raja  loved 
the  maiden,  but  he  could  not  brook  to  stand  at  another  man's 
gate.  As  he  did  not  arrive,  the  Kanauj  king  set  up  a  mocking 
image  of  him  at  the  door.  When  the  princess  entered  the  hall 
to  make  her  choice,  she  looked  calmly  round  the  circle  of  kings, 
then,  stepping  proudly  past  them  to  the  door,  threw  her  bridal 
garland  over  the  neck  of  the  ill-shapen  image.  Forthwith,  says 
the  story,  the  Delhi  monarch  rushed  in,  sprang  with  the  princess 
on  his  horse,  and  galloped  off  towards  his  northern  capital.  The 
outraged  father  led  out  his  Kanauj  army  against  the  runaways, 
and,  having,  according  to  the  legend,  called  in  the  Afghans  to 
attack  Delhi  on  the  other  side  from  the  west,  brought  about  the 
ruin  of  both  the  Hindu  kingdoms  of  Delhi  and  Kanauj. 

Distribution  of  Rajputs,  1193. — The  tale  serves  to  record 
the  disputes  among  the  Rajput  princes,  which  prevented  a  united 
resistance  to  Muhammad  of  Ghor.  Muhammad  found  Delhi 
occupied  by  the  Tomara  clan,  Ajmere  by  the  Chauhans,  and 
Kanauj  by  the  Rahtors.  These  three  Rajput  States  formed  the 
natural  breakwaters  against  invaders  from  the  north-west.  But 
their  feuds  are  said  to  have  left  the  King  of  Delhi  and  Ajmere, 
then  united  under  one  Chauhan  overlord,  only  64  survivors  out 
of  his  108  warrior  Chiefs,  In  1193,  the  Afghans  again  swept 
down  on  the  Punjab.  Prithwf  Raja  of  Delhi  and  Ajmere  was 
defeated  and  slain.  His  heroic  queen  burned  herself  on  his 
funeral  pile.  Muhammad  of  Ghor,  having  occupied  Delhi, 
pressed  on  to  Ajmere;  and  in  11 94  overthrew  the  rival  Hindu 
monarch  of  Kanauj,  whose  body  was  identified  on  the  field  of 


1 1 8  EARLY  MUHAMMADAN  CONQUERORS, 

battle  by  his  false  teeth.  The  brave  Rahtor  Rajputs  of  Kanauj, 
with  others  of  the  Rajput  clans  in  Northern  India,  quitted  their 
homes  in  large  bodies  rather  than  submit  to  the  stranger.  They 
migrated  to  the  regions  bordering  on  the  desert  of  the  Indus, 
and  there  founded  the  military  kingdoms  which  bear  their  name, 
Rajputana,  to  this  day.  History  takes  her  narrative  of  these 
events  from  the  matter-of-fact  statements  of  the  Persian  annalists. 
But  the  Hindu  court-bard  of  Prithwi  Raja  left  behind  a  patriotic 
version  of  the  fall  of  his  race.  His  ballad-chronicle,  known  as 
the  Prithwiraj  Rdsau  of  Chand,  is  one  of  the  earliest  poems  in 
Hindi.  It  depicts  the  Musalman  invaders  as  beaten  in  all  the 
battles  except  the  last  fatal  one.  Their  leader  is  taken  prisoner 
by  the  Hindus,  and  released  for  a  heavy  ransom.  But  the 
quarrels  of  the  Chiefs  ruined  the  Hindu  cause. 

Muhammadan  Conquest  of  Bengal,  1203. — Setting  aside 
these  patriotic  songs,  Benares  and  Gwalior  mark  the  south- 
western limits  of  Muhammad  of  Ghor's  own  advance.  But  his 
general,  Bakhtiyar  Khilji,  conquered  Behar  in  1199,  and  Lower 
Bengal  down  to  the  delta  in  1203.  On  the  approach  of  the 
Musalmans,  the  Brahmans  advised  Lakshman  Sen,  the  Hindu 
King  of  Bengal,  to  remove  his  capital  from  Nadiya  to  some 
more  distant  city.  But  the  prince,  a  religious  old  man  of  eighty, 
could  not  make  up  his  mind,  until  the  Afghan  general  had  seized 
his  capital,  and  burst  into  the  palace  one  day  while  His  Majesty 
was  at  dinner.  The  monarch  slipped  out  by  a  back  door  with- 
out having  time  to  put  on  his  shoes,  and  fled  to  Puri  in  Orissa, 
where  he  spent  his  remaining  days  in  the  service  of  the  god 
Jagannath.  Meanwhile  the  Sultan,  Muhammad  of  Ghor,  divided 
his  time  between  campaigns  in  Afghanistan  and  Indian  invasions. 
Ghor  was  his  capital,  and  he  had  little  time  to  consolidate  his 
Indian  conquests.  Even  in  the  Punjab,  the  tribes  were  defeated 
rather  than  subdued.  In  1203,  the  Ghakkars  issued  from  their 
mountains,  took  Lahore,  and  devastated  the  whole  Province. 
In  1206,  a  party  of  the  same  clan  swam  the  Indus,  on  the  bank 
of  which  the  Afghan  camp  was  pitched,  and  stabbed  the  Sultan 
while  asleep  in  his  tent. 

Muhammad  of  Ghor's  Work  in  India. — Muhammad  of 
Ghor  was  no  religious  knight-errant  of  Islam  like  Mahmud  of 


THE  SLAVE  DYNASTY.  I19 

Ghaznf,  but  a  practical  conqueror.  The  objects  of  his  distant 
expeditions  were  not  temples  but  Provinces.  Subuktigin  had  left 
Peshawar  as  an  outpost  of  Ghazni  (977  a.  d.);  and  Mahmud  had 
reduced  the  Western  Punjab  to  an  outlying  Province  of  the  same 
kingdom  (1030  a.  d.).  That  was  the  net  result  of  the  Turki 
invasions  of  India  from  Ghaznf  (977-1 186).  But  Muhammad  of 
Ghor  left  the  whole  north  of  India,  from  the  delta  of  the  Indus 
to  the  delta  of  the  Ganges,  under  skilful  Muhammadan  generals, 
who  on  his  death  set  up  as  kings  on  their  own  account  (1206 

A.  D.). 

Kutab-ud-din,  1206-1210. — His  Indian  Viceroy,  Kutab- 
ud-dfn,  proclaimed  himself  sovereign  of  India  at  Delhi,  and 
founded  a  line  which  lasted  from  1206  to  1290.  Kutab  claimed 
the  control  over  all  the  Muhammadan  leaders  and  soldiers  of 
fortune  in  India  from  Sind  to  Lower  Bengal.  His  name  is  pre- 
served at  his  capital  by  the  Kutab  Mosque,  with  its  graceful 
colonnade  of  richly-sculptured  Hindu  pillars,  and  by  the  Kutab 
Mmdr,  which  raises  its  tapering  shaft,  encrusted  with  chapters 
from  the  Kuran,  high  above  the  ruins  of  old  Hindu  Delhi. 
Kutab-ud-din  had  started  life  as  a  Turki  slave,  and  several  of  his 
successors  rose  by  valour  or  intrigue  from  the  same  low  con- 
dition to  the  throne.  His  dynasty  is  accordingly  known  as  that 
of  the  Slave  Kings.  Under  them  India  became  for  the  first  time 
the  seat  of  resident  INIuhammadan  sovereigns.  Kutab-ud-din 
died  in  12 10. 

The  Slave  Dynasty,  1206-1290. — The  Slave  Dynasty 
found  itself  face  to  face  with  the  three  dangers  which  have  beset 
the  Muhammadan  rule  in  India  from  the  outset,  and  beneath 
which  that  rule  eventually  succumbed.  First,  rebellions  by  its 
own  servants — Musalman  generals,  or  viceroys  of  Provinces ; 
second,  revolts  of  the  Hindus ;  third,  fresh  invasions,  chiefly  by 
Mughals,  from  Central  Asia. 

Altamsh,  1211-1236. — Altamsh,  the  third  and  greatest  Sultan 
of  the  Slave  Dynasty,  had  to  reduce  the  Muhammadan  governors 
of  Lower  Bengal  and  Sind,  both  of  whom  set  up  as  independent 
rulers ;  and  he  narrowly  escaped  destruction  by  a  Mughal  in- 
vasion from  Central  Asia.  The  Mughals  under  Changiz  Khan 
pierced  through  the  Indian  passes  in  pursuit  of  an  Afghan  prince; 


I20  EARLY  MUHAMMADAN  CONQUERORS. 

but  their  progress  was  stayed  by  the  Indus,  and  Delhi  remained 
untouched.  Before  the  death  of  Altamsh  (1236  a.  d.),  the  Hindus 
had  ceased  for  a  time  to  struggle  openly;  and  the  Muhammadan 
Viceroys  of  the  Slave  Dynasty  of  Delhi  ruled  all  India  north  of 
the  Vindhya  range,  including  the  Punjab,  the  North-Western 
Provinces,  Oudh,  Behar,  Lower  Bengal,  Ajmere,  Gwalior,  Malwa, 
and  Sind.  The  Khalif  of  Baghdad  acknowledged  India  as  a 
separate  Muhammadan  kingdom  during  the  reign  of  Altamsh, 
and  coins  were  struck  in  recognition  of  the  new  Empire  of  Delhi 
(1229  A. D.).     Altamsh  died  in  1236. 

The  Empress  Raziya,  1236-1239.— His  daughter  Raziyd 
was  the  only  lady  who  ever  occupied  the  INIuhammadan  throne 
of  Delhi.  Learned  in  the  Kuran,  industrious  in  public  business, 
firm  and  energetic  in  every  crisis,  she  bears  in  history  the 
masculine  name  of  the  Sulldn  Raziya.  But  the  favour  which 
she  shovi'ed  to  her  master  of  the  horse,  an  Abyssinian  slave, 
offended  her  Afghan  generals;  and,  after  a  troubled  reign  of 
three  and  a  half  years,  she  was  deposed  and  put  to  death. 

Mughal  Irruptions  and  Rajput  Revolts. — Mughal  irrup- 
tions from  Central  Asia  and  Hindu  revolts  within  India  soon 
began  to  undermine  the  Slave  Dynasty.  The  Mughals  are 
said  to  have  burst  through  Tibet  into  North-Eastern  Bengal  in 
1245;  and  during  the  next  forty-three  years  they  repeatedly 
marched  down  the  Afghan  passes  into  the  Punjab  (i 245-1 288). 
The  wild  Indian  tribes,  such  as  the  Ghakkars  and  the  hillmen 
of  Mewat,  ravaged  the  Muhammadan  provinces  in  the  Punjab 
almost  up  to  the  gates  of  Delhi.  Rajput  revolts  foreshadowed 
that  inextinguishable  vitality  of  the  Hindu  military  races,  which 
was  to  harass,  from  first  to  last,  the  Muhammadan  dynasties, 
and  to  outlive  them.  Under  the  Slave  Kings,  even  the  north  of 
India  was  only  half  subdued  to  the  Muhammadan  sway.  The 
Hindus  rose  again  and  again  in  Malwa,  Rajputana,  Bundel- 
khand,  and  along  the  Ganges  and  the  Jumna,  as  far  as  Delhi 
itself. 

Balban,  1265-1287. — The  last  but  one  of  the  Slave  line, 
Balban,  had  not  only  to  fight  the  Mughals,  the  wild  Indian 
tribes,  and  the  Rdjput  clans — he  was  also  compelled  to  battle 
with  his  own  viceroys.     Having  in  his  youth  entered  into  a 


SLAVE  DYNASTY  AND   THE  HOUSE   OF  KHILJL    1 21 

compact  for  mutual  support  and  advancement  with  forty  of  his 
Turk:  fellow-slaves  in  the  palace,  he  had,  when  he  came  to  the 
throne,  to  break  the  powerful  confederacy  thus  formed.  Some 
of  his  provincial  governors  he  publicly  scourged;  others  were 
beaten  to  death  in  his  presence ;  and  a  general  who  failed  to 
reduce  the  rebel  Muhammadan  Viceroy  of  Bengal  was  hanged. 
Balban  himself  moved  down  to  the  Gangetic  delta,  and  crushed 
the  Bengal  revolt  with  merciless  skill.  His  severity  against 
Hindu  rebels  knew  no  bounds.  He  nearly  exterminated  the 
Rajputs  of  Mewat,  south  of  Delhi,  putting  100,000  of  them  to 
the  sword.  He  then  cut  down  the  forests  which  formed  their 
retreats,  and  opened  up  the  country  to  tillage.  The  miseries 
caused  by  the  Mughal  hordes  at  that  time  in  Central  Asia  drove 
a  crowd  of  princes  and  poets  from  Afghanistan  and  other  Mu- 
hammadan countries  to  seek  shelter  at  the  Indian  court.  Balban 
boasted  that  no  fewer  than  fifteen  once  independent  sovereigns 
had  fed  on  his  bounty,  and  he  called  the  streets  of  Delhi  by 
the  names  of  their  late  kingdoms,  such  as  Baghdad,  Kharizm, 
and  Ghor.  He  died  in  1287  a.d.  His  successor  was  poisoned, 
and  the  Slave  Dynasty  ended  in  1290. 

House  of  Khilji,  1290-1320.— In  that  year,  Jalal-ud-din,  a 
ruler  of  Khilji,  succeeded  to  the  Delhi  throne,  and  founded  a 
line  which  lasted  for  thirty  years.  The  Khilji  dynasty  extended 
the  Muhammadan  power  into  Southern  India.  Ala-ud-din,  the 
nephew  of  Jalal-ud-dfn,  when  governor  of  Karra  near  Allaha- 
bad, pierced  through  the  Vindhya  ranges  with  his  cavalry,  and 
plundered  the  Buddhist  temple-city  of  Bhilsa,  300  miles  off. 
After  trying  his  powers  against  the  rebellious  Hindu  princes  of 
Bundelkhand  and  Malwa,  Ala-ud-dfn  formed  the  idea  of  a 
grand  raid  into  the  Deccan.  With  a  band  of  only  8000  horse, 
he  rode  into  the  heart  of  Southern  India.  On  the  way  he  gave 
out  that  he  was  flying  from  his  uncle  Jalal-ud-din's  court,  to  seek 
service  with  the  Hindu  King  of  Rajamahendri.  The  generous 
Rajput  princes  abstained  from  attacking  a  refugee  in  his  flight ; 
and  Ala-ud-dfn  surprised  the  great  city  of  Deogiri,  the  modern 
Daulatabad,  at  that  time  the  capital  of  the  Hindu  kingdom  of 
Maharashtra.  Having  suddenly  galloi)ed  into  its  streets,  he 
announced  himself  as  only  the  advance  guard  of  the  whole  imperial 


122  EARLY  MUHAMMADAN  CONQUERORS. 

army,  levied  an  immense  booty,  and  carried  it  back  700  miles 
to  the  seat  of  his  governorship  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges. 
He  then  lured  the  Sultan  Jalal-ud-din,  his  uncle,  to  Kan-a,  in 
order  to  divide  the  spoil,  and  murdered  the  old  man  in  the  act 
of  clasping  his  hand  (1295  a.d.). 

Reign  of  Ala-ud-din,  1295-1315.  Ala-ud-dfn  scattered 
his  spoils  in  gifts  or  charity  like  a  devout  IMusalman,  and  pro- 
claimed himself  Sultan.  The  twenty  years  of  his  reign  estab- 
lished the  Muhammadan  sway  in  Southern  India.  He  recon- 
quered Gujarat  from  the  Hindus  in  1297;  captured  Rintimbur, 
after  a  difficult  siege,  from  the  Jaipur  Rajputs  in  1300;  took 
the  fort  of  Chitor,  and  partially  subjected  the  Sesodia  Rajputs 
(1303);  and,  having  thus  reduced  the  Hindus  on  the  north  of 
the  Vindhyas,  prepared  for  the  conquest  of  Southern  India  or 
the  Deccan.  But  before  starting  on  this  great  expedition  he 
had  to  meet  five  Mughal  inroads  from  Central  Asia,  In  1295, 
he  defeated  a  Mughal  invasion  under  the  walls  of  his  capital, 
Delhi;  in  1304-5,  he  encountered  four  others,  sending  all  his 
prisoners  to  Delhi,  where  the  Chiefs  were  trampled  by  elephants, 
and  the  common  soldiery  slaughtered  in  cold  blood.  He 
crushed  with  equal  cruelty  several  rebellions  which  took  place 
among  his  own  family  during  the  same  period — first  putting 
out  the  eyes  of  his  insurgent  nephews,  and  then  beheading  them 
(1299-1300). 

His  Conquest  of  Southern  India. — His  affairs  in  Northern 
India  being  thus  settled,  he  undertook  the  conquest  of  the 
south.  In  1303,  he  had  sent  his  eunuch  slave,  Malik  Kafur, 
with  an  army,  through  Bengal,  to  attack  Warangal,  the  capital 
of  the  south-eastern  Hindu  kingdom  of  Telingana.  In  1306, 
Kafur  marched  victoriously  through  Malwa  and  Khandesh  into 
the  Maratha  country,  where  he  captured  Deogiri,  and  persuaded 
the  Hindu  king  Ram  Deo  to  return  with  him  to  do  homage  at 
Delhi.  Meanwhile  the  Sultan  Ala-ud-din  was  conquering  the 
Rajputs  in  Marwar.  His  slave  general,  Kafur,  made  expeditions 
through  Maharashtra  and  the  Karnatik,  as  far  south  as  Adam's 
Bridge,  at  the  extremity  of  India,  where  he  built  a  mosque. 

Extent  of  the  Muhammadan  Power  in  India,  1306. — 
The  Muhammadan  Sultan  of  India  was  no  longer  merely  an 


ALA-UD-DIN  IN  SOUTHERN  INDIA.  1 23 

Afghan  King  of  Delhi.  Three  great  waves  of  invasion  from 
Central  Asia  had  created  a  large  Muhammadan  population  in 
Northern  India.  First  came  the  Turkfs,  represented  by  the 
house  of  Ghaznf ;  then  the  Afghans  (commonly  so  called),  repre- 
sented by  the  house  of  Ghor ;  next  the  Mughals,  having  failed 
to  conquer  the  Punjab,  took  service  in  great  numbers  with  the 
Sultans  of  Delhi.  Under  the  Slave  Kings  the  Mughal  mer- 
cenaries had  become  so  powerful  as  to  require  to  be  massacred 
(1286).  About  1292,  three  thousand  INIughals,  having  been 
converted  from  their  old  Tartar  rites  to  Islam,  received  a 
suburb  of  Delhi,  still  called  Mughalpur,  for  their  residence. 
Other  Mughals  followed.  After  various  plots  by  them,  Ala-ud- 
din  slaughtered  15,000  of  the  settlers,  and  sold  their  families  as 
slaves  (13 1 1  A.D.).  The  unlimited  supply  of  soldiers  which  he 
could  thus  draw  upon  from  the  Turk!,  Afghan,  and  Mughal 
settlers  in  Northern  India  and  from  countries  beyond,  enabled  him 
to  send  armies  farther  south  than  any  of  his  predecessors.  But 
in  his  later  years  the  Hindus  revolted  in  Gujarat ;  the  Rajputs  re- 
conquered Chitor;  and  many  of  the  Muhammadan  garrisons 
were  driven  out  of  the  Deccan.  On  the  capture  of  Chitor  in 
1303,  the  Rajput  garrison  had  preferred  death  to  submission. 
The  peasantry  still  chant  an  early  Hindi  ballad,  telling  how 
the  queen  and  thirteen  thousand  women  threw  themselves  on 
a  funeral  pile,  while  the  men  rushed  upon  the  swords  of  the 
besiegers.  A  remnant  cut  their  way  to  the  Aravalli  hills ;  and 
the  Rajput  independence,  although  in  abeyance  during  Ala-ud- 
dfn's  reign,  was  never  crushed,  Having  imprisoned  his  sons, 
and  given  himself  up  to  paroxysms  of  rage  and  intemperance, 
Ala-ud-din  died  in  13 15,  helped  to  the  grave,  it  is  said,  by 
poison  given  by  his  favourite  general,  Kafur. 

A  Renegade  Hindu  Emperor,  1316-1320. — During  the 
four  remaining  years  of  the  house  of  Khilji,  the  actual  power 
passed  to  Khusru  Khan,  a  low-caste  renegade  Hindu,  who 
imitated  the  military  successes  and  vices  of  his  patron,  the 
General  Kafur,  and  in  the  end  murdered  him.  Khusru  became 
all  in  all  to  the  new  Emperor,  the  debauchee  Mubarik ;  then 
slew  him,  and  seized  the  throne.  While  outwardly  professing 
Islam,  Khusru  desecrated  the  Kuran  by  using  it  as  a  seat,  and 


124  EARLY  MUHAMMADAN  CONQUERORS. 

degraded  the  pulpits  of  the  mosques  into  pedestals  for  Hindu 
idols.  In  1320  he  was  slain  by  his  revolted  soldiery,  and  the 
Khilji  dynasty  disappeared. 

House  of  Tughlak,  1320-1414. — The  leader  of  the  rebel- 
lion was  Ghiyas-ud-dfn  Tughlak,  who  had  started  life  as  a  Tiirkl 
slave,  and  risen  to  the  frontier  governorship  of  the  Punjab.  He 
founded  the  Tughlak  dynasty,  which  lingered  on  for  ninety-six 
years,  although  submerged  for  a  time  by  the  invasion  of  Timiir 
(Tamerlane)  in  1398.  Ghiyas-ud-dfn  (1320-25  a.d.)  removed 
the  capital  from  Delhi  to  a  spot  about  four  miles  farther  east, 
and  called  it  Tughlakabad, 

Muhammad  Tughlak,  1325-1351. — His  son  and  successor, 
Muhammad  Tughlak,  was  an  accomplished  scholar,  a  skilful 
general,  and  a  man  of  severe  abstinence.  But  his  ferocity  of 
temper,  perhaps  inherited  from  the  tribes  of  the  steppes  of  Cen- 
tral Asia,  rendered  him  merciless  as  a  judge,  and  careless  of 
human  suffering.  The  least  opposition  drove  him  into  outbursts 
of  insane  fury.  He  wasted  the  treasures  accumulated  by  Ala- 
ud-din  in  buying  off  the  Mughal  hordes,  who  again  and  again 
swept  through  Afghanistan  into  the  Punjab.  On  the  other  hand, 
in  fits  of  ambition,  he  raised  an  army  for  the  invasion  of  Persia, 
and  is  said  to  have  sent  out  an  expedition  of  100,000  men 
against  China.  The  force  against  Persia  broke  up  for  want  of 
pay,  and  plundered  his  own  dominions ;  the  army  against  China 
perished  almost  to  a  man  in  the  Himalayan  passes.  He  planned 
great  conquests  into  Southern  India,  and  dragged  the  whole 
inhabitants  of  Delhi  to  Deogiri,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of 
Daulatabad,  800  miles  off  in  the  far  south.  Twice  he  allowed 
the  miserable  suppliants  to  return  to  Delhi ;  twice  he  compelled 
them  on  pain  of  death  to  quit  it.  One  of  these  forced  migra- 
tions took  place  amid  the  horrors  of  a  famine  ;  the  citizens 
perished  by  thousands,  and  in  the  end  the  king  had  to  give  up 
the  attempt.  Having  drained  his  treasury,  he  issued  a  forced 
currency  of  copper  coins,  by  which  he  tried  to  make  the  king's 
brass  equal  to  other  men's  silver.  During  the  same  century,  the 
Mughal  conqueror  of  China,  Kublai  Khan,  had  extended  the 
use  of  paper  notes,  early  devised  by  the  Chinese ;  and  Kai 
Khatii   had   introduced  a  bad  imitation  of  them  into  Persia. 


MUHAMMAD   TUGHLAK.  125 

Tughlak's  forced  currency  quickly  brought  its  own  ruin.  Foreign 
merchants  refused  the  worthless  brass  tokens,  trade  came  to  a 
stand,  and  the  king  had  to  take  payment  of  his  taxes  in  his  own 
depreciated  coinage. 

Revolt  of  the  Provinces,  1338-1351. — Meanwhile  the 
Provinces  began  to  throw  off  the  Delhi  yoke.  JNIuhammad 
Tughlak  had  succeeded  in  1324  to  the  greatest  empire  which 
had,  up  to  that  time,  acknowledged  a  INTuhammadan  Sultan  in 
India.  But  his  bigoted  zeal  for  Islam  forbade  him  to  confide 
in  Hindu  princes  or  Hindu  officers;  he  dared  not  trust  his 
own  kinsmen  ;  and  he  thus  found  himself  compelled  to  fill  every 
high  post  with  foreign  Muhammadan  adventurers,  who  had  no 
interest  in  the  stability  of  his  rule.  The  annals  of  the  period 
present  a  long  series  of  outbreaks,  one  part  of  the  empire  throw- 
ing off  its  allegiance  as  soon  as  another  had  been  brought  back 
to  subjection.  His  own  nephew  rebelled  in  Malwa,  and,  being 
caught,  was  flayed  alive  (1338).  The  Punjab  governor  revolted 
(1339),  was  crushed,  and  put  to  death.  The  Musalman  viceroys 
of  Lower  Bengal  and  of  the  Coromandel  coast  set  up  for  them- 
selves (about  1340),  and  could  not  be  subdued.  The  Hindu 
kingdoms  of  Karnata  and  Telingana  recovered  their  indepen- 
dence (1344),  and  expelled  the  Musalman  garrisons.  The 
Muhammadan  governors  in  the  Deccan  also  revolted ;  while  the 
troops  in  Gujarat  rose  in  mutiny.  Muhammad  Tughlak  rushed 
with  an  army  to  the  south  to  take  vengeance  on  the  traitors,  but 
hardly  had  he  put  down  their  rising  than  he  was  called  away  by 
insurrections  in  Gujarat,  Malwa,  and  Sind.  He  died  in  1351, 
while  chasing  rebels  in  the  lower  valley  of  the  Indus. 

Muhammad  Tughlak's  Revenue  Exactions. — INTuham- 
mad  Tughlak  was  the  first  IMusalman  ruler  of  India  who  can  be 
said  to  have  had  a  regular  revenue-system.  He  increased  the 
land  tax  between  the  Ganges  and  the  Jumna — in  some  Districts 
tenfold,  in  others  twentyfold.  The  husbandmen  fled  before  his 
tax-gatherers,  leaving  their  villages  to  lapse  into  jungle,  and 
formed  themselves  into  robber  clans.  He  cruelly  punished  all 
who  trespassed  on  his  game  preserves ;  and  he  invented  a  kind 
of  man-hunt  without  precedent  in  the  annals  of  human  wicked- 
ness.    He  surrounded  a  large  tract  with  his  army,  '  and  then 


126  EARLY  MUHAMMADAN  CONQUERORS. 

gave  orders  that  the  circle  should  close  towards  the  centre,  and 
that  all  within  it  (mostly  inoffensive  peasants)  should  be  slaugh- 
tered like  wild  beasts.'  This  sort  of  hunt  was  more  than  once 
repeated  ;  and  on  another  occasion  there  was  a  general  massacre 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  great  city  of  Kanauj.  Such  horrors 
led  in  due  time  to  famine ;  and  the  miseries  of  the  country 
exceeded  all  powers  of  description. 

Firuz  Shah  Tughlak,  1351-1388. — His  son,  Ffruz  Tugh- 
lak,  ruled  mercifully,  but  had  to  recognize  the  independence  of 
the  Muhammadan  kingdoms  of  Bengal  and  in  the  Deccan,  and 
suffered  much  from  bodily  infirmities  and  court  intrigues.  He 
undertook  many  public  works,  such  as  dams  across  rivers  for 
irrigation,  tanks,  caravan-sarais,  mosques,  colleges,  hospitals, 
and  bridges.  But  his  greatest  achievement  was  the  old  Jumna 
Canal.  This  Canal  drew  its  waters  from  the  Jumna  near  a 
point  where  it  leaves  the  mountains,  and  connected  that  river 
with  the  Ghaggar  and  the  Sudej  by  irrigation  channels.  Part 
of  it  has  been  reconstructed  by  the  British  Government,  and 
spreads  a  margin  of  fertility  on  either  side  at  this  day.  But  the 
dynasty  of  Tughlak  soon  sank  amid  Muhammadan  mutinies  and 
Hindu  revolts ;  and  under  Mahmiid,  its  last  real  king,  India  fell 
an  easy  prey  to  the  great  Mughal  invasion  of  1398. 

Timur  (Tamerlane's)  Invasion,  1398. — In  that  year, 
Timur  (Tamerlane)  swept  through  the  Afghan  passes  at  the 
head  of  the  united  hordes  of  Tartary.  He  defeated  the  Tughlak 
King  Mahmud  under  the  walls  of  Delhi,  and  entered  the  capital. 
During  five  days  a  massacre  raged  ;  *  some  streets  were  rendered 
impassable  by  heaps  of  dead';  while  Timiir  calmly  looked  on 
and  held  a  feast  in  honour  of  his  victory.  On  the  last  day  of 
1398,  he  resumed  his  march;  first  offering  a  'sincere  and 
humble  tribute  of  grateful  praise'  to  God,  in  Firuz  Shah's 
marble  mosque  on  the  banks  of  the  Jumna.  Timur  then  crossed 
the  Ganges,  and  proceeded  to  Hardwar,  after  a  great  massacre 
at  Meerut.  After  skirting  the  foot  of  the  Himalayas,  he  retired 
westwards  into  Central  Asia  (1399).  Timur  left  no  traces  of 
his  power  in  India,  save  desolate  cities.  On  his  departure, 
Mahmud  Tughlak  crept  back  from  his  retreat  in  Gujarat,  and 
nominally  ruled  till  141 2. 


HINDU  KINGDOMS  OF  THE  SOUTH.  127 

The  Sayyids  and  the  Lodis. — The  Tughlak  line  finally 
ended  in  1414.  The  Sa}7id  dynasty  ruled  from  1414  till  1450; 
and  the  Afghan  house  of  Lodi  from  1450  to  1526.  But  some 
of  these  Sultans  reigned  over  only  a  few  miles  round  Delhi ; 
and  during  the  whole  period  the  Hindu  princes  and  the  local 
Muhammadan  kings  were  practically  independent  throughout 
the  greater  part  of  India.  The  house  of  Lodi  was  crushed 
beneath  the  Mughal  invasion  of  Babar  in  1526. 

Hindu  Kingdoms  of  the  South. — Babar  founded  the 
INIughal  Empire  of  India,  whose  last  representative  died  a  British 
State  prisoner  at  Rangoon  in  1862.  Before  entering  on  the 
story  of  that  empire,  I  turn  to  the  kingdoms,  Hindu  and 
Muhammadan,  on  the  south  of  the  Vindhya  range.  The  three 
ancient  kingdoms,  Chera,  Chola,  and  Pandya,  occupied  the 
Dravidian  country  of  Southern  India,  peopled  by  Tamil-speaking 
races.  Pandya,  the  largest  of  them,  had  its  capital  at  Madura, 
and  traces  its  foundation  to  the  fourth  century  B.C.  The  Chola 
kingdom  had  its  headquarters  at  Combaconum  and  Tanjore. 
Talkad,  in  Mysore,  now  buried  by  the  sands  of  the  Kaveri,  was 
the  capital  of  the  Chera  kingdom  from  288  to  900  a.d.  The 
1 16th  king  of  the  Madura  or  Pandya  dynasty  was  overthrown  by 
the  Muhammadan  general  Malik  Kafur  in  1304.  But  the  Musal- 
mdns  failed  to  establish  their  power  in  the  extreme  south,  and  a 
series  of  Hindu  dynasties  ruled  from  Madura  over  the  old  Pandya 
kingdom  until  the  eighteenth  century.  NoEuropeankingdomcan 
boast  a  continuous  succession  such  as  that  of  Pandya  or  Madura, 
traced  back  by  the  piety  of  genealogists  for  more  than  two 
thousand  years.  The  Chera  or  Mysore  and  Travancore  king- 
dom enumerates  fifty  kings,  and  the  Chola  or  Tanjore  sixty-six, 
besides  minor  offshoot  dynasties. 

Kingdom  of  Vijayanagar.  —  But  authentic  history  in 
Southern  India  begins  with  the  Hindu  kingdom  of  Vijayanagar 
or  Narsingha,  from  11 18  to  1565  a.d.  The  capital  can  still  be 
traced  within  the  Madras  District  of  Bcllary,  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  Tungabhadra  river — vast  ruins  of  temples,  fortifications, 
tanks,  and  bridges,  haunted  by  hyaenas  and  snakes.  For  at 
least  three  centuries,  Vijayanagar  ruled  over  the  southern  part 
of  the  Indian  peninsula.     Its  Hindu  Rajas  waged  war  and  made 


128  EARLY  MUHAMMADAN  CONQUERORS. 

peace  on  equal  terms  with  the  Muhammadan  Sultans  of  the 
Deccan. 

Muhammadan  States  in  the  Deccan. — The  Muhamma- 
dan kings  of  Southern  India  sprang  out  of  the  conquest  of 
Ala-ud-dfn  (i 303-1 306).  After  a  period  of  confused  fighting, 
the  Bahmani  kingdom  of  the  Deccan  emerged  as  the  representa- 
tive of  Muhammadan  rule  in  Southern  India.  Zafar  Khan,  an 
Afghan  general  during  the  reign  of  Muhammad  Tughlak  (1325- 
1351),  defeated  the  Delhi  troops,  and  set  up  as  Musalman  sove- 
reign of  the  Deccan.  Having  in  early  youth  been  the  slave  of 
a  Brahman,  who  had  treated  him  kindly,  and  foretold  his  future 
greatness,  he  took  the  title  of  Bahmanf,  and  transmitted  it  to  his 
successors. 

The  Bahmani  Dynasty. — The  rise  of  the  Bahmanf  dynasty 
is  usually  assigned  to  the  year  1347,  and  it  lasted  for  178 
years,  until  1525.  Its  capitals  were  successively  at  Gulbargah, 
Warangal,  and  Bidar,  all  in  the  modern  Haidarabad  territories ; 
and  it  loosely  corresponded  with  the  Nizam's  dominions  of  the 
present  day.  At  the  height  of  their  power,  the  Muhammadan 
Bahmani  kings  claimed  sway  over  half  the  Deccan,  from  the 
Tungabhadra  river  in  the  south  to  Orissa  in  the  north,  and 
from  Masulipatam  on  the  east  to  Goa  on  the  west.  Their  direct 
government  was,  however,  much  more  confined.  They  derived 
support,  in  their  early  struggle  against  the  Delhi  throne,  from 
the  Hindu  southern  kingdoms  of  Vijayanagar  and  Warangal. 
But  during  the  greater  part  of  its  career,  the  Bahmani  dynasty 
represented  the  cause  of  Islam  against  Hinduism  on  the  south 
of  the  Vindhyas.  Its  alliances  and  its  wars  alike  led  to  a 
mingling  of  the  Musalman  and  Hindu  populations.  For 
example,  the  King  of  Malwa  invaded  the  Bahmani  dominions 
with  a  mixed  force  of  12,000  Muhammadan  Afghans  and  Hindu 
Rajputs.  The  Hindu  Raja  of  Vijayanagar  recruited  his  armies 
from  Afghan  Musalmans,  whom  he  paid  by  assignments  of  land, 
and  for  whom  he  built  a  mosque.  The  Bahmani  Muhammadan 
troops,  on  the  other  hand,  were  frequently  led  by  converted 
Hindus.  The  Bahmanf  armies  were  themselves  made  up  of 
two  hostile  sects  of  Musalmans.  One  sect  consisted  of  Shias, 
chiefly  Persians,  Turks,  or  Tartars  from  Central  Asia ;  the  other, 


MUHAMMADAN  KINGDOMS  OF  THE  DECCAN.      129 

of  native-born  Musalmans  of  Southern  India,  together  with 
Abyssinian  mercenaries,  professing  the  Sunnf  faith.  The  rivalry 
between  these  Musalman  sects  frequently  imperilled  the 
Bahmanf  throne.  The  dynasty  reached  its  highest  power  under 
Ala-ud-dfn  II  about  1437,  ^"d  was  broken  up  by  its  discordant 
elements  between  1489  and  1525. 

Five  Muhammadan  States  oftheDeccan,  1489-1688. — 
Out  of  its  fragments,  the  five  independent  Muhammadan  king- 
doms in  the  Deccan  were  formed.  These  were — (i)  The  Adil 
Shahi  dynasty,  with  its  capital  at  Bijapur,  founded  in  1489  by  a 
son  of  Amurath  II,  Sultan  of  the  Ottoman  Turks;  annexed  by  the 
Mughal  Emperor  Aurangzeb  in  1 686-1 688.  (2)  The  Kutab 
Shahi  dynasty,  with  its  capital  at  Golconda,  founded  in  151 2 
by  a  Turkoman  adventurer  ;  also  annexed  by  Aurangzeb  in 
1687-1688.  (3)  The  Nizam  Shahi  dynasty,  with  its  capital  at 
Ahmadnagar,  founded  in  1490  by  a  Brahman  renegade  from 
the  Vijayanagar  Court;  subverted  by  the  Mughal  Emperor 
Shah  Jahan  in  1636.  (4)  The  Imad  Shahi  dynasty  of  Berar, 
with  its  capital  at  Ellichpur,  founded  in  1484  also  by  a  Hindu 
from  Vijayanagar;  annexed  to  the  Ahmadnagar  kingdom 
(No.  3)  in  1572.  (5)  The  Barid  Shahi  dynasty,  with  its  capital 
at  Bfdar,  founded  149 2- 1498  by  a  Turki  or  Georgian  slave. 
The  Bidar  territories  were  small  and  ill-defined ;  and  were 
independent  till  after  1609.  Bfdar  fort  was  taken  by  Aurangzeb 
in  1657. 

Fall  of  Hindu  Kingdom  of  Vijayanagar. — It  is  beyond 
my  scope  to  trace  the  history  of  these  local  Muhammadan 
dynasties  of  Southern  India.  They  preserved  their  independence 
until  the  firm  establishment  of  the  Mughal  Empire  in  the  north, 
under  Akbar  and  his  successors.  For  a  time  they  had  to 
struggle  against  the  great  Hindu  kingdom  of  Vijayanagar.  In 
1565  they  combined  against  that  power,  and,  aided  by  a  rebellion 
within  Vijayanagar  itself,  they  overthrew  it  at  Talikot  in  1565. 
The  battle  of  Talikot  marks  the  final  downfall  of  Vijayanagar 
as  a  great  Hindu  kingdom.  But  its  local  Hindu  Chiefs  or 
Nayaks  kept  hold  of  their  respective  fiefs,  and  the  Muhammadan 
kings  of  the  south  were  only  able  to  annex  a  ])art  of  its 
dominions.     From  the  Nayaks  are  descended  the  well-known 

I 


130  EARLY  MUHAMMADAN  CONQUERORS. 

Palegars  (Polygars)  of  the  Madras  Presidency,  and  the  Maharaja 
of  Mysore.  One  of  the  blood-royal  of  Vijayanagar  fled  to 
Chandragiri,  and  founded  a  line  which  exercised  a  prerogative 
of  its  former  sovereignty,  by  granting  the  site  of  Madras  to  the 
English  in  1639.  Another  scion,  claiming  the  same  high 
descent,  lingers  to  the  present  day  near  the  ruins  of  Vijayanagar, 
and  is  known  as  the  Raja  of  Anagundi,  a  feudatory  of  the 
Nizam  of  Haidarabad.  The  independence  of  the  local  Hindu 
Rajas  in  Southern  India  throughout  the  Muhammadan  period 
is  illustrated  by  the  Manjarabad  family,  a  line  of  petty  Chiefs, 
which  maintained  its  authority  from  1397  to  1799. 

Independence  of  the  Provinces. — Lower  Bengal  threw  off 
the  authority  of  Delhi  in  1340.  Its  Muhammadan  governor, 
Fakfr-ud-di'n,  set  up  as  sovereign,  with  his  capital  at  Gaur,  and 
stamped  coin  in  his  own  name.  A  succession  of  twenty  kings 
ruled  Bengal  until  1538,  when  it  was  temporarily  annexed  to  the 
Mughal  Empire  of  Delhi  by  Humayun.  Bengal  was  finally 
incorporated  into  that  empire  by  Akbar  in  1576.  The  great 
Province  of  Gujarat  in  Western  India  had  in  like  manner  grown 
into  an  independent  Muhammadan  kingdom,  which  lasted  for 
two  centuries,  from  137 1  till  conquered  by  Akbar  in  1573. 
Malwa,  which  had  also  risen  to  be  an  independent  State 
under  its  Muhammadan  governors,  was  annexed  by  the  King 
of  Gujarat  in  1531.  Even  Jaunpur,  including  the  territory  of 
Benares,  in  the  centre  of  the  Gangetic  valley,  maintained  its 
independence  as  a  Musalman  State  for  nearly  a  hundred  years, 
from  1393  to  1478,  during  the  disturbed  rule  of  the  Sayyids 
and  the  first  Lodi  at  Delhi. 

Weakness  of  the  early  Delhi  Empire. — The  position  of 
the  early  Muhammadan  rulers  of  Delhi  was  a  very  difficult 
one.  Successive  Musalman  hordes  of  Tiirks,  Afghans,  and  Tar- 
tars swept  down  the  passes,  and  wrested  India  from  the  preceding 
invaders  of  their  own  Muhammadan  faith.  The  Delhi  Empire 
was  therefore  beset  by  three  perpetual  dangers.  First,  new 
IMuhammadan  invasions  from  Central  Asia ;  second,  rebellious 
JMuhammadan  generals  or  Governors  within  India ;  third,  the 
Hindu  races  whom  the  early  Delhi  kings  neither  conciliated  nor 
crushed.     It  was  reserved  for  Akbar  the  Great  to  remedy  the 


WEAKNESS  OF  THE  EARLY  DELHI  SULTAnS.     131 

inherent  weakness  of  the  position ;  and  by  incorporating  the 
Hindus  into  his  government,  to  put  a  curb  alike  on  INIuhammadan 
invaders  from  without,  and  on  too  powerful  Muhammadan 
subjects  within. 


Materials  for  Reference. 

The  Honourable  Mountstuart  Elphinstone's  History  of  India  (Cowell's 
Edition)  is  still  the  standard  popular  work  for  the  whole  Muhammadan 
period ;  Sir  Henry  Elliot's  eight  volumes,  entitled  The  History  of  India  as 
told  by  its  own  Historians,  i.e.  the  Arab  and  Persian  travellers  and 
chroniclers  (Dowson's  edition),  are  the  main  original  sources;  also  Edward 
Thomas'  Chronicles  of  the  Pathdn  Kings  of  Delhi  (especially  from  1193  to 
1554);  Blochmann's  Ain-i-Akbari  (^Calcutta,  1S73)  and  Gladwin's  older 
translation  (1800);  ^X.&\izx\!s  History  of  Bengal  from  the  first  Muhammadan 
Invasion  to  1757  (Calcutta,  1S47) ;  and  Briggs'  Firishta  (subject  to  correction 
from  Sir  Henry  Elliot's  eight  volumes).  The  District  Gazetteers  or  Statistical 
Surs'eys  of  Northern  India  contain  a  mine  of  still  unexhausted  historical 
materials,  which  have,  so  far  as  permitted  by  the  space  allowed,  been  con- 
densed in  Hunter's  Imperial  Gazetteer  of  India  (Second  Edition)  and  his 
Indian  Empire. 


13 


[I32] 

CHAPTER    X. 
The  Mughal  Dynasty,  1526-1761. 

Babar,  1482-1530. — When,  therefore,  Babar  the  Mughal 
invaded  India  in  1526,  he  found  it  divided  among  a  number  of 
local  Muhammadan  kings  and  Hindu  princes.  An  Afghan 
Sultan  of  the  house  of  Lodi,  with  his  capital  at  Agra,  ruled  over 
what  little  was  left  of  the  historical  kingdom  of  Delhi.  Babar, 
literally  '  the  Lion,'  born  in  1482,  was  the  sixth  in  descent  from 
Timiir  the  Tartar.  At  the  early  age  of  twelve,  he  succeeded 
his  father  in  the  petty  kingdom  of  Ferghana  on  the  Jaxartes 
(1494)  ;  and,  after  romantic  adventures,  conquered  Samarkand, 
the  capital  of  Tamerlane's  Hne,  in  1497.  Overpowered  by 
a  rebellion,  and  driven  out  of  the  valley  of  the  Oxus,  Babar  seized 
the  kingdom  of  Kabul  in  1504.  During  twenty-two  years  he 
grew  in  strength  on  the  Afghan  side  of  the  Indian  passes,  till 
in  1526  he  burst  through  them  into  the  Punjab,  and  defeated 
the  Delhi  sovereign,  Ibrahfm  Lodi  at  Panipat.  This  was  the 
first  of  three  great  battles  which,  within  modern  times,  have 
decided  the  fate  of  India  on  that  same  plain  of  Panipat,  viz.  in 
1526,  1556,  and  1761.  Having  entered  Delhi,  Babar  received 
the  allegiance  of  the  Muhammadans,  but  was  speedily  attacked 
by  the  Rajputs  of  Chitor.  Those  clans  had  brought  all  Ajmere, 
Mewar,  and  Malwa  under  their  rule,  and  now  threatened  to 
found  a  Hindu  empire.  In  1527,  Babar  defeated  them  at 
Fatehpur  Si'kri,  near  Agra,  after  a  battle  memorable  for  its 
perils,  and  for  Babar's  vow  in  his  extremity  never  again  to  touch 
wine.  He  rapidly  extended  his  power  as  far  as  Miiltan  in  the 
Southern  Punjab,  and  Behar  in  the  eastern  valley  of  the  Ganges. 
Babar  died  at  Agra  in  1530,  leaving  an  empire  which  stretched 
from  the  river  Amu  in  Central  Asia  to  the  borders  of  the 
Gangetic  delta  in  Lower  Bengal. 

Humayun,  Emperor,  1530-1556. — His  son,  Humayun,  sue- 


THE  EMPEROR  HUMAYUN.  133 

ceeded  him  in  India,  but  had  to  make  over  Kabul  and  the 
Western  Punjab  to  his  brother  and  rival,  Kamran,  Humayun 
was  thus  left  to  govern  the  new  conquest  of  India,  and  at  the 
same  time  was  deprived  of  Afghanistan  and  the  Punjab  frontier 
from  which  his  father  had  drawn  his  armies.  The  descendants 
of  the  early  Afghan  invaders,  long  settled  in  India,  hated  the 
new  Muhammadan  or  Mughal  hordes  of  Babar  even  more  than 
they  hated  the  Hindus.  After  ten  years  of  fighting,  Humayun 
was  driven  out  of  India  by  these  Afghans  under  Sher  Shah,  the 
Governor  of  Bengal.  While  Humayun  was  flying  through  the 
desert  of  Sind  to  Persia,  his  son  Akbar  was  born  in  the  petty  fort 
of  Umarkot  (1542).  Sher  Shah,  the  Afghan  governor  of  Bengal, 
set  up  as  emperor  of  Delhi,  but  was  killed  while  storming  the 
fortress  of  Kalinjar  (1545).  His  son  succeeded.  But,  under 
Sher  Shah's  grandson,  the  Indian  Provinces  (including  Malwa,  the 
Punjab,  and  Bengal)  revolted  against  the  Afghan  dynasty  from 
Bengal.  Humayun  returned  to  India,  and  Akbar,  then  only  in 
his  fourteenth  year,  defeated  the  Afghan  army  of  Sher  Shah's 
dynasty  after  a  desperate  battle  at  Panfpat  (1556).  India  now 
passed  finally  from  the  Afghans  to  the  Mughals.  Sher  Shah's 
line  disappears  from  Northern  India  and  the  Delhi  throne, 
although  it  lingered  on  for  a  time  in  Lower  Bengal.  Humayun, 
having  recovered  his  Kabul  dominions,  reigned  again  for  a  few 
months  at  Delhi,  but  died  in  1556. 

The  Reign  of  Akbar,   i 556-1 605. 

Chronological  Summary. 

1542.  Bom  at  Umarkot  in  Sind. 

1556.  Regains  the  Delhi  throne  for  his  father,   Humayun,  by  the  victory 

over   the   Afghans   at   I'anipat   (Bairam  Khan  in  actual  command). 

Succeeds  his  fathera  few  months  after,  under  the  regency  of  Bairam  Khan. 
1560.  Assumes  the  direct  management  of  the  kingdom.     Revolt  of  Bairam 

Khan,  who  is  defeated  and  pardoned. 
1566.  Invasion  of  the  Punjab  by  Akbar's  rival  brother.  Hakim,  who  is 

defeated. 
1561-1568.  Akbar  subjugates  the  Rajput  kingdoms  to  the  Muglial  Empire. 
157^-157.^-  Campaign  in  Gujarat,  and  its  re-annexation  to  the  Delhi  Empire. 
1576.  Akbar's  conquest  of  Bengal;  its  final  annexation  to  theMughal  Empire. 
1581-1593.  Insurrection  in  Gujarat.     The  Province  finally  subjugated  in 

1593  to  the  Mughal  Empire. 


134  THE  MUGHAL  DYNASTY. 

The  Reign  of  Akbar  {continued^. 
1586.  Conquest  of  Kashmir  ;  its  final  revolt  quelled  in  1592. 
1592.  Conquest  and  annexation  of  Sind  to  the  Mughal  Empire. 

1594.  Subjugation  of  Kandahar,  and  consolidation  of  the  Mughal  Empire 
over  all  India  north  of  the  Vindhyjis  as  far  as  Kabul  and  Kandahar. 

1595.  Unsuccessful  expedition  of  Akbar's  arniy  into  the  Deccan  against 
Ahmadnagar  under  his  son,  Prince  Murad. 

1599.  Second  expedition    against  Ahmadnagar  by  Akbar  in  person,  who 

captures  the  town,  but  fails  to  establish  Mughal  rule. 
1 60 1.  Annexation  of  Khandesh,  and  return  of  Akbar  to  Northern  India. 
1605.  Akbar's  death  at  Agra. 

Akbar  the  Great,  1556-1605. — Akbar  the  Great,  the  real 
founder  of  the  Mughal  Empire  as  it  existed  for  one  and  a  half 
centuries,  succeeded  his  father  at  the  age  of  fourteen.  Born  in 
1542,  his  reign  lasted  for  almost  fifty  years,  from  1556  to  1605, 
and  was  therefore  contemporary  with  that  of  our  own  Queen 
Elizabeth  (1558-1603).  His  father,  Humayun,  left  but  a  small 
kingdom  in  India,  not  so  large  as  the  present  British  Province 
of  the  Punjab  :  Akbar  expanded  that  small  kingdom  into  an 
Indian  Empire.  At  the  time  of  Humayun's  death,  Akbar  (a 
mere  boy)  was  absent  in  the  Punjab,  under  the  guardianship  of 
Bairam  Khan,  fighting  the  revolted  Afghans.  Bairam,  a 
Turkoman  by  birth,  had  been  the  support  of  the  exiled  Huma- 
yun, and  held  the  real  command  of  the  army  which  restored  him 
to  his  throne  at  Panfpat.  He  now  became  the  regent  for  the 
youthful  Akbar,  under  the  honoured  tide  of  Khan  Baba, 
equivalent  to  '  the  King's  Father.'  Brave  and  skilful  as  a 
general,  but  harsh  and  overbearing,  he  raised  many  enemies  ;  and 
Akbar,  having  endured  four  years  of  thraldom,  took  advantage 
of  a  hunting  party  to  throw  off  his  minister's  yoke  (1560). 
The  fallen  regent,  after  a  struggle  between  his  loyalty  and  his 
resentment,  revolted,  was  defeated,  and  pardoned.  Akbar 
granted  him  a  liberal  pension ;  and  Bairam  was  in  the  act  of 
starting  on  a  pilgrimage  to  IMecca,  when  he  fell  beneath  the  knife 
of  an  Afghan  assassin,  whose  father  he  had  slain  in,  battle. 

Akbar's  Work  in  India. — The  reign  of  Akbar  was  a  reign 
of  pacification.  On  his  accession  in  1556  he  found  India  split 
up  into  petty  Hindu  and  Muhammadan  kingdoms,  and  seething 
with  discordant  elements;  on  his  death  in  1605,  he  bequeathed 
it  an  almost  united  empire.     The  earlier  invasions  by  Turks, 


AKBAR'S  CONCILIATION  OF  THE  HINDUS.  135 

Afghans,  and  Mughals  had  left  a  powerful  IMuhammadan  popu- 
lation in  India  under  their  own  Kings.  Akbar  reduced  these 
Musalman  States  to  Provinces  of  the  Delhi  Empire.  Many  of 
the  Hindu  kings  and  Rajput  nations  had  also  regained  their 
independence  :  Akbar  brought  them  into  political  dependence 
upon  his  authority.  This  double  task  he  effected  partly  by  force 
of  arms,  but  in  part  also  by  alliances.  He  enlisted  the  Rajput 
princes  by  marriage  and  by  a  sympathetic  policy  in  the  support 
of  his  throne.  He  then  employed  them  in  high  posts,  and  played 
off  his  Hindu  generals  and  Hindu  ministers  alike  against  the 
Mughal  party  in  Upper  India,  and  against  the  Afghan  faction  in 
Lower  Bengal. 

Reduction  of  the  Rajputs,  1561-1568. — Humayun,  as  we 
have  seen,  left  but  a  small  kingdom,  confined  to  the  Punjab, 
with  the  Districts  round  Delhi  and  Agra.  Akbar  quickly 
extended  it,  at  the  expense  of  his  nearest  neighbours,  namely, 
the  Rajputs.  Jaipur  was  reduced  to  a  fief  of  the  empire ;  and 
Akbar  cemented  his  conquest  by  marrying  the  daughter  of  its 
Hindu  prince.  Jodhpur  was  in  like  manner  overcome ;  and 
Akbar  married  his  son,  Salfm,  who  afterwards  reigned  under 
the  title  of  Jahangir,  to  the  grand-daughter  of  the  Raja.  The 
Rajputs  of  Chitor  were  overpowered  after  a  long  struggle,  but 
would  not  mingle  their  high-caste  Hindu  blood  even  with  that  of 
a  Muhammadan  emperor.  They  found  shelter  among  the 
mountains  and  deserts  of  the  Indus,  whence  they  afterwards 
emerged  to  recover  most  of  their  old  dominions,  and  to  found 
their  capital  of  Udaipur,  which  they  retain  to  this  day.  They 
still  boast  that  alone,  among  the  great  Rajput  clans,  they  never 
gave  a  daughter  in  marriage  to  a  Mughal  emperor. 

Conciliation  of  the  Hindus. — Akbar  pursued  his  policy  of 
conciliation  towards  all  the  Hindu  States.  He  also  took  care  to 
provide  a  career  for  the  lesser  Hindu  nobility.  He  appointed 
his  brother-in-law,  the  son  of  the  Jaipur  Raja,  Governor  of  the 
Punjab.  Raja  Man  Singh,  also  a  Hindu  relative  of  the  Emperor's 
family,  did  good  war  service  for  Akbar  from  Kabul  to  Orissa,  and 
ruled  as  his  Governor  of  Bengal  from  1589  to  1604.  Akbar's 
great  finance  minister,  Raja  Todar  INTall,  was  likewise  a  Hindu, 
and  carried  out  the  first  regular  land-settlement  and  survey  of 


136  THE  MUGHAL  DYNASTY. 

India.  Out  of  415  mansabddrs,  or  commanders  of  horse,  51 
were  Hindus.  Akbar  abolislied  ihtjazmh,  the  hated  tax  on  non- 
Musalmans,  and  placed  all  his  subjects  upon  a  political  equality. 
He  had  the  Sanskrit  sacred  books  and  epic  poems  translated 
into  Persian,  and  showed  a  keen  interest  in  the  religion  of  his 
Hindu  subjects.  He  respected  their  laws,  but  he  put  down 
their  inhumane  rites.  He  forbade  trial  by  ordeal,  animal 
sacrifices,  and  child  marriages  before  the  age  of  puberty.  He 
legalized  the  re-marriage  of  Hindu  widows ;  but  he  failed  to 
abolish  widow-burning  on  the  husband's  funeral  pile,  although 
he  took  steps  to  ensure  that  the  act  should  be  voluntary. 

Muhammadan  States  reduced. — Akbar  thus  incorporated 
his  Hindu  subjects  into  the  effective  force,  both  civil  and  military, 
of  his  empire.  With  their  aid  he  reduced  the  independent  Mu- 
hammadan kings  of  Northern  India.  He  subjugated  the  petty 
Hindu  potentates  from  the  Punjab  to  Behar.  After  a  struggle, 
he  wrested  Lower  Bengal  in  1576  from  its  Afghan  princes  of  the 
house  of  Sher  Shah  (see  page  133).  From  the  time  of  Akbar's 
conquest  of  Lower  Bengal,  it  remained  for  nearly  two  centuries 
a  province  of  the  Mughal  Empire,  under  governors  from  Delhi 
(i 576-1 765).  In  1765,  it  passed  by  an  imperial  grant  to  the 
British.  Orissa,  on  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  submitted  to  Akbar's 
armies,  under  his  Hindu  general,  Todar  Mall,  in  1574.  On  the 
opposite  coast  of  India,  Gujarat  was  reconquered  from  its 
independent  Muhammadan  king  (1572-73),  although  not  finally 
subjugated  until  1593.  INIalwa  had  been  reduced  in  1572. 
Kashmir  was  conquered  in  1586,  and  its  last  revolt  quelled  in 
1592.  Sind  was  also  annexed  in  1592  ;  and  by  the  recovery  of 
Kandahar  in  1594,  Akbar  extended  the  Mughal  Empire  from 
the  heart  of  Afghanistan  across  all  India  north  of  the  Vindhyas, 
eastward  to  Orissa,  and  westward  to  Sind.  He  removed  the 
seat  of  government  from  Delhi  to  Agra,  and  founded  F"atehpur 
Sikri  as  the  future  capital  of  the  empire.  From  this  project  he 
was  afterwards  dissuaded,  by  the  superior  position  of  Agra  on 
the  great  waterway  of  the  Jumna.  In  1566,  he  built  the  Agra 
fort,  whose  red  sandstone  battlements  majestically  overhang  the 
river  to  this  day. 

Akbar's  Wars  in  Southern    India. — Akbar's    efi'orts  to 


AKBAR'S  NEW  RELIGION.  1 37 

establish  the  Mughal  Empire  in  Southern  India  were  less  suc- 
cessful. Those  efforts  began  in  1586,  but  during  the  first 
twelve  years  they  were  frustrated  by  the  valour  and  statesman- 
ship of  Chand  Bibf,  the  IMusalman  queen  of  Ahmadnagar.  This 
celebrated  lady  skilfully  united  the  usually  hostile  Abyssinian 
and  Persian  setders  in  Southern  India,  together  with  their  armies, 
and  strengthened  herself  by  an  alliance  with  Bijapur  and  other 
Muhammadan  States  of  the  south.  In  1599,  Akbar  led  his  armies 
in  person  against  the  princess ;  but  notwithstanding  her  assas- 
sination by  her  mutinous  troops,  Ahmadnagar  was  not  reduced 
till  the  reign  of  Akbar's  grandson,  Shah  Jahan,  in  1636.  Akbar 
subjugated  Khandesh,  and  with  this  somewhat  precarious 
annexation  his  conquests  in  Southern  India  ceased.  He  re- 
turned to  Northern  India,  perhaps  feeling  that  the  conquest  of 
the  south  was  beyond  the  strength  of  his  young  empire. 

Akbar's  Death. — His  last  years  were  embittered  by  the 
intrigues  of  his  family,  and  by  the  misconduct  of  his  beloved 
son.  Prince  Salim,  afterwards  the  Emperor  Jahangfr.  In  1605, 
he  died,  and  was  buried  in  the  noble  mausoleum  at  Sikandra, 
whose  mingled  architecture  of  Buddhist  design  and  Saracenic 
tracery  bears  witness  to  the  composite  faith  of  the  founder  of 
the  Mughal  Empire.  In  1873,  ^he  British  Viceroy,  Lord  North- 
brook,  presented  a  cloth  of  honour  to  cover  the  plain  marble 
slab  beneath  which  Akbar  lies. 

Akbar's  New  Faith. — Akbar's  conciliation  of  the  Hindus, 
and  his  interest  in  their  hterature  and  religion,  made  him  many 
enemies  among  the  pious  Musalmans.  His  favourite  wife  was 
a  Rajput  princess ;  another  of  his  wives  is  said  to  have  been 
a  Christian.  On  Fridays  (the  Sabbath  of  Islam),  he  loved  to 
collect  professors  of  many  religions  around  him.  He  listened 
impartially  to  the  arguments  of  the  Brahman  and  the  IMusal- 
man, the  Zoroastrian,  the  Jew,  the  Jesuit,  and  the  sceptic 
philosopher.  The  history  of  his  life,  the  Akbar-tidinah,  records 
such  a  conference,  in  which  the  Christian  priest  Redif  di.sputed 
with  a  body  of  Muhammadan  mullds  before  an  assembly  of  the 
doctors  of  all  religions,  and  is  allowed  to  have  had  the  best 
of  the  argument.  Starting  from  the  broad  ground  of  general 
toleration,  Akbar  was  gradually  led  on   by  free  discussion  to 


138  THE  MUGHAL  DYNASTY. 

question  the  truth  of  his  inherited  Muhammadan  creed.  The 
counsels  of  his  friend  Abul  Fazl,  coinciding  with  that  sense  of 
superhuman  omnipotence  which  is  bred  of  despotic  imperial 
power,  led  Akbar  at  last  to  promulgate  a  new  State  religion, 
called  '  The  Divine  Faith,'  based  upon  natural  theology,  and 
comprising  the  best  practices  of  all  known  forms  of  belief.  Of 
this  made-up  creed  Akbar  himself  was  the  prophet,  or  rather 
the  head  of  the  Church.  Every  morning  he  worshipped  in 
public  the  sun,  as  the  representative  of  the  divine  soul  which 
animates  the  universe,  while  he  was  himself  worshipped  by  the 
ignorant  multitude.  It  is  doubtful  how  far  he  encouraged  this 
popular  adoration  of  his  person,  but  he  certainly  allowed  his 
disciples  to  prostrate  themselves  before  him  in  private.  The 
stricter  Muhammadans  accused  him,  therefore,  of  accepting  a 
homage  permitted  only  to  God. 

Akbar's  Organization  of  the  Empire. — Akbar  not  only 
subdued  all  India  to  the  north  of  the  Vindhya  mountains,  he 
also  organized  it  into  an  empire.  He  partitioned  it  into  Pro- 
vinces, over  each  of  which  he  placed  a  governor,  or  viceroy, 
with  full  civil  and  military  control.  This  control  was  divided 
into  three  departments — the  military,  the  judicial,  including  the 
police,  and  the  revenue.  With  a  view  to  preventing  mutinies 
of  the  troops,  or  assertions  of  independence  by  their  leaders,  he 
re-organized  the  army  on  a  new  basis.  He  substituted,  as  far 
as  possible,  money  payments  to  the  soldiers  for  the  old  system 
of  grants  of  land  {jdgirs)  to  the  generals.  Where  this  change 
could  not  be  carried  out,  he  brought  the  holders  of  the  old 
military  fiefs  under  the  control  of  the  central  authority  at  Delhi. 
He  further  checked  the  independence  of  his  provincial  generals, 
by  a  sort  of  feudal  organization,  in  which  the  Hindu  tributary 
princes  took  their  place  side  by  side  with  the  Mughal  nobles. 
The  judicial  administration  was  presided  over  by  a  lord  justice 
{inir-i-adt)  at  the  capital,  aided  by  kdzis  or  law-officers  in  the 
principal  towns.  The  police  in  the  cities  were  under  a  "super- 
intendent or  kohvdl,  who  was  also  a  magistrate.  In  country 
districts,  where  police  existed  at  all,  they  were  left  to  the 
management  of  the  landholders  or  revenue  officers.  But 
throughout  rural  India  no  regular  police  force  can  be  said  to 


AKBAR'S  REVENUE  SYSTEM.  139 

have  existed  for  the  protection  of  person  and  property  until  after 
the  establishment  of  British  rule.  The  Hindu  village-system  had 
its  hereditary  \vatchman  for  each  hamlet.  These  village  watch- 
men were  in  many  parts  of  the  country  taken  from  the  preda- 
tory castes,  and  were  as  often  leagued  with  the  robbers  as 
opposed  to  them.  The  landholders  and  revenue  officers  had 
each  their  own  set  of  personal  police,  who  plundered  the 
peasantry  in  their  names. 

Akbar's  Revenue  System. — Akbar's  revenue  system  was 
based  on  the  ancient  Hindu  customs,  and  survives  to  this  day. 
He  first  executed  a  survey  or  actual  measurement  of  the  fields. 
His  officers  then  found  out  the  produce  of  each  acre  of  land, 
and  settled  the  Government  share,  amounting  to  one-third  of 
the  gross  produce.  Finally,  they  fixed  the  rates  at  which  this 
share  of  the  crop  might  be  commuted  into  a  money  payment. 
These  processes,  known  as  the  land  settlement,  were  at  first 
repeated  every  year.  But,  to  save  the  peasant  from  the  ex- 
tortions and  vexations  incident  to  an  annual  inquiry,  Akbar's 
land  settlement  was  afterwards  made  for  ten  years.  His  officers 
strictly  enforced  the  payment  of  a  third  of  the  whole  produce ; 
and  Akbar's  land  revenue  from  Northern  India  exceeded  what 
the  British  levy  at  the  present  day.  From  his  fifteen  Provinces, 
including  Kabul  beyond  the  Afghan  frontier,  and  Khandesh  in 
Southern  India,  he  demanded  14  millions  sterling  per  annum; 
or,  excluding  Kabul,  Khandesh,  and  Sind,  12,4  millions.  The 
British  land  tax  from  a  much  larger  area  of  Northern  India  was 
only  12  millions  in  1883.  Allowing  for  the  diff'erence  in  area 
and  in  purchasing  power  of  silver,  Akbar's  tax  was  about  three 
times  the  amount  which  the  British  take.  Two  later  returns 
show  the  land  revenue  of  Akbar  at  i6|  and  17^  millions 
sterling.  The  Provinces  had  also  to  support  a  local  militia 
{biii7if),  in  contradistinction  to  the  regular  royal  army,  at  a  cost 
of  at  least  10  millions  sterling.  Excluding  both  Kabul  and 
Khandesh,  Akbar's  demand  from  the  soil  of  Northern  India 
exceeded  22  millions  sterling  per  annum,  under  the  two  items 
of  land  revenue  and  militia  cess.  There  were  also  a  number  0/ 
miscellaneous  taxes.  Akbar's  total  revenue  is  estimated  at 
42  millions  sterling. 


140  THE  MUGHAL  DYNASTY. 

Akbar's  Ministers. — Akbar's  Hindu  minister,  Raja  Todar 
Mall,  conducted  the  revenue  settlement,  and  his  name  is  still 
a  household  word  among  the  husbandmen  of  Bengal.  Abul 
Fazl,  the  man  of  letters,  and  finance  minister  of  Akbar,  com- 
piled a  statistical  survey  of  the  empire,  together  with  many  vivid 
pictures  of  his  master's  court  and  daily  life,  in  the  Ain-i-Akbari, 
which  may  be  read  with  interest  at  the  present  day.  Abul  Fazl 
was  killed  in  1503,  at  the  instigation  of  Prince  Salim,  the  heir 
to  the  throne.  The  fate  of  Abul  Fazl  was  the  disgrace  of 
Akbar's  old  age. 

Jahangir,  Emperor,  1605-1627. — Salfm,  the  favourite  son 
of  Akbar,  succeeded  his  father  in  1605,  and  ruled  until  1627, 
under  the  title  of  Jahangfr,  or  Conqueror  of  the  World.  His 
reign  of  twenty-two  years  was  spent  in  reducing  the  rebellions 
of  his  sons,  in  exalting  the  influence  of  his  wife,  and  in  festive 
self-indulgence.  He  carried  on  long  wars  in  Southern  India 
or  the  Deccan,  but  he  added  little  to  his  father's  territories. 
India  south  of  the  Vindhyas  still  continued  apart  from  the 
northern  Empire  ot  Delhi.  Malik  Ambar,  the  Abyssinian 
minister  of  Ahmadnagar,  maintained,  in  spite  of  reverses,  the 
independence  of  that  kingdom.  At  the  end  of  Jahangir's  reign, 
his  own  son,  Prince  Shah  Jahan,  was  a  rebel  and  a  refugee  in 
the  Deccan,  in  alliance  with  Malik  Ambar  against  the  imperial 
troops.  The  Rajputs  also  began  to  reassert  their  independence. 
In  1614,  Prince  Shah  Jahan,  on  behalf  of  his  father  the  em- 
peror, defeated  the  Udaipur  Raja.  But  the  conquest  was  only 
partial  and  for  a  time.  IMeanwhile  the  Rajputs  formed  an  im- 
portant contingent  of  the  imperial  armies,  and  5000  of  their 
cavalry  aided  Shah  Jahan  to  put  down  a  revolt  in  Kabul.  The 
Afghan  Province  of  Kandahar  was  wrested  from  Jahangfr  by 
the  Persians  in  1621.  The  land  tax  of  the  Mughal  Empire 
remained  at  1 7I  millions  under  Jahangfr,  but  his  total  revenues 
are  estimated  at  50  millions  sterling. 

The  Empress  Nur  Jahan. — The  principal  figure  in 
Jahangir's  reign  is  his  empress,  Nur  Jahan,  the  '  Light  of  the 
World,'  otherwise  known  as  Nur  Mahal,  the  'Light  of  the 
Palace.'  Born  in  great  poverty,  but  of  a  noble  Persian  family, 
her  beauty  won  the  love  of  Jahangfr  while  they  were  both  in 


THE  EMPEROR  JAHANGIR,  141 

their  first  youth,  during  the  reign  of  Akbar.  The  old  emperor 
tried  to  put  her  out  of  his  son's  way,  by  marrying  her  to  a 
brave  soldier,  who  obtained  high  employment  in  Lower  Bengal. 
Jahangfr,  on  his  accession  to  the  throne,  commanded  her 
divorce.  The  husband  refused,  and  was  killed.  The  wife, 
being  brought  into  the  imperial  palace,  lived  for  some  time  in 
chaste  seclusion  as  a  widow,  but  in  the  end  emerged  as  the 
Empress  Nur  Jahan,  the  Light  of  the  World.  She  surrounded 
herself  with  her  relatives,  and  at  first  influenced  the  self- 
indulgent  emperor  Jahangfr  for  his  good.  But  the  jealousy  of 
the  imperial  princes  and  of  the  Mughal  generals  against  her 
party  led  to  intrigue  and  rebellion.  In  1626,  her  successful 
general,  Mahabat  Khan,  found  himself  compelled,  in  self- 
defence,  to  turn  against  her.  He  seized  the  emperor,  whom  he 
kept,  together  with  Niir  Jahan,  in  captivity  for  six  months. 
Jaliangfr  died  in  the  following  year,  1627,  in  the  midst  of  a 
rebellion  against  him  by  his  son,  Shah  Jahan,  and  his  greatest 
general,  Mahabat  Khan. 

Jahangir's  Personal  Character. — Jahangfr's  personal  cha- 
racter is  vividly  portrayed  by  Sir  Thomas  Roe,  the  first  British 
ambassador  to  India  (16 15).  Agra  continued  to  be  the  central 
seat  of  the  government,  but  the  imperial  army  on  the  march 
formed  in  itself  a  splendid  capital.  Jahangfr  thought  that  Akbar 
had  too  openly  severed  himself  from  the  Muhammadan  faith. 
The  new  emperor  conformed  more  strictly  to  the  outward 
observances  of  Islam,  but  lacked  the  inward  religious  feeling  of 
his  father.  While  he  forbade  the  use  of  wine  to  his  subjects,  he 
spent  his  own  nights  in  drunken  revelry.  He  talked  religion 
over  his  cups  until  he  reached  a  certain  stage  of  intoxication, 
when  he  '  fell  to  weeping,  and  to  various  passions,  which  kept 
them  to  midnight.'  In  public  he  maintained  a  strict  appear- 
ance of  virtue,  and  never  allowed  any  person  whose  breath 
smelt  of  wine  to  enter  his  presence.  On  one  occasion,  a  cour- 
tier who  had  shared  his  midnight  revel,  indiscreetly  alluded  to  it 
next  morning.  The  Sultan  gravely  examined  him  as  to  who 
could  possibly  have  been  the  companions  of  such  a  debauch, 
and  bastinadoed  them  so  severely  that  one  of  them  died. 

When  sober,  Jahangfr  tried  to  work  wisely  for  his  empire.    A 


142  THE  MUGHAL  DYNASTY. 

chain  hung  down  from  the  citadel  to  the  ground,  and  communi- 
cated with  a  cluster  of  golden  bells  in  his  own  chamber,  so  that 
every  suitor  might  apprise  the  emperor  of  his  demand  for  justice, 
without  the  intervention  of  the  courtiers.  INIany  European 
adventurers  repaired  to  his  court,  and  Jahangir  patronized  alike 
their  arts  and  their  religion.  In  his  earlier  years  he  had 
accepted  the  new  religion,  or  '  Divine  Faith'  of  his  father  Akbar. 
It  is  said  that  on  his  accession  he  had  even  permitted  the  divine 
honours  paid  to  Akbar  to  be  continued  to  himself  Jahangir's 
first  wife  was  a  Hindu  princess.  Figures  of  Christ  and  the 
Virgin  Mary  adorned  his  rosary;  and  two  of  his  nephews 
embraced  Christianity  with  his  approval. 

Shah  Jahan,  Emperor,  1628-1658. — On  the  news  of  his 
father's  death,  Shah  Jahan  hurried  north  from  the  Deccan,  and 
proclaimed  himself  emperor  at  Agra  in  January  1628.  He 
put  down  for  ever  the  court  faction  of  the  Empress  Nur  Jahdn, 
by  confining  her  to  private  life  upon  a  liberal  allowance ;  and 
by  murdering  his  brother  Shahriyar,  with  all  the  other  members 
of  the  house  of  Akbar  who  might  become  rivals  to  the  throne. 
But  he  was  just  to  his  people,  blameless  in  his  habits,  a  good 
financier,  and  as  economical  as  a  magnificent  court,  splendid 
public  works,  and  distant  military  expeditions  could  permit. 
Under  Shah  Jahan  the  Mughal  Empire  was  finally  shorn  of  its 
Afghan  Province  of  Kandahar  ;  but  it  extended  its  conquests  in 
Southern  India  or  the  Deccan,  and  raised  the  magnificent  build- 
ings in  Northern  India  which  now  form  the  most  splendid 
memorials  of  the  jMughal  dynasty.  After  a  temporary  occupa- 
tion of  Balkh,  and  the  actual  reconquest  of  Kandahar  by  the 
Delhi  troops  in  1637,  Shah  Jahan  lost  much  of  his  Afghan 
territories,  and  the  Province  of  Kandahar  was  severed  from 
the  Mughal  Empire  by  the  Persians  in  1653.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  the  Deccan,  the  kingdom  of  Ahmadnagar  (to  which 
EUichpur  had  been  united  in  1572)  was  at  last  annexed  to  the 
Mughal  Empire  in  1636;  Bidar  fort  was  taken  in  1657;  while 
the  two  other  of  the  five  kingdoms,  namely  Bijapur  and 
Golconda,  were  forced  to  pay  tribute,  although  not  finally 
reduced  until  the  succeeding  reign  of  Aurangzeb.  But  the 
Marathas  now  appear  on  the  scene,  and  commenced,  unsuccess- 


THE  EMPEROR  SHAH  J  AH  AN.  143 

lully  at  Ahmadnagar  in  1637,  that  series  of  persistent  Hindu 
attacks  which  were  destined  in  the  next  century  to  break  down 
the  Mughal  Empire.  The  imperial  princes,  Aurangzeb  and  his 
brothers,  carried  on  the  wars  in  Southern  India  and  in  Afghanistan 
for  their  father  Shah  Jahan. 

Shah  Jahan's  Buildings. — Except  during  one  or  two 
military  expeditions,  Shah  Jahan  lived  a  magnificent  life  in  the 
north  of  India.  At  Agra  he  raised  the  exquisite  mausoleum  of 
the  Taj  Mahal,  a  dream  in  marble,  '  designed  by  Titans  and 
finished  by  jewellers.'  His  Pearl  Mosque,  the  marble  Moii 
Afasjtd,  within  the  Agra  fort,  is  perhaps  the  purest  and 
loveliest  house  of  prayer  in  the  world.  Not  content  with 
enriching  his  grandfather  Akbar's  capital  with  these  and  other 
architectural  glories.  Shah  Jahan  planned  the  re-transfer  of  the 
seat  of  government  to  Delhi,  and  adorned  that  city  with  build- 
ings of  unrivalled  magnificence.  Its  Great  Mosque,  or  Jama 
Masjid,  was  commenced  in  the  fourth  year  of  his  reign,  and 
completed  in  the  tenth.  The  palace  at  Delhi,  now  the  fort, 
covered  a  vast  parallelogram,  1600  feet  by  3200,  with  exquisite 
and  sumptuous  buildings  in  marble  and  fine  stone.  The 
entrance  consists  of  a  deeply  recessed  gateway  leading  into 
a  vaulted  hall,  which  springs  up  two  storeys  high,  like  the 
nave  of  a  gigantic  Gothic  cathedral,  375  feet  in  length; — 'the 
noblest  entrance,'  says  Fergusson,  the  historian  of  architecture, 
'  to  any  existing  palace.'  The  Dhvdn-i-Khds,  or  Court  of 
Private  Audience,  overlooks  the  river, — a  masterpiece  of  deli- 
cate inlaid  work  and  poetic  design.  Shah  Jahan  spent  many 
years  of  his  reign  at  Delhi,  and  ])rcpared  the  city  for  its  destiny 
as  the  most  magnificent  capital  in  the  world  under  his  successor 
Aurangzeb.  But  exquisite  as  are  its  public  buildings,  the 
manly  vigour  of  Akbar's  red-stone  fort  at  Agra,  with  its  bold 
sculptures  and  square  Hindu  construction,  has  given  place  to 
a  certain  effeminate  beauty  in  the  marble  structures  of  Shah 
Jahan. 

Shah  Jahan's  Revenues. — Under  Shah  Jahan,  the  Mughal 
Empire  attained  its  highest  union  of  strength  with  magnificence. 
His  son  and  successor,  Aurangzeb,  added  to  its  extent,  but  at 
the  same  time  sowed  the  seeds  of  its  decay.     Akbar's  land 


144  THE  MUGHAL  DYNASTY. 

revenue  of  17^  millions  had  been  raised,  chiefly  by  new 
conquests,  to  22  millions  sterling  under  Shah  Jahan.  But  this 
sum  included  Kashmir,  and  five  Provinces  in  Afghanistan,  some 
of  which  were  lost  during  his  reign.  The  land  revenue  of  the 
Mughal  Empire  within  India  was  2 of-  millions.  The  magnifi- 
cence of  Shah  Jahan's  court  was  the  wonder  of  European 
travellers.  His  Peacock  Throne,  with  its  tail  blazing  in  the 
shifting  natural  colours  of  rubies,  sapphires,  and  emeralds,  was 
valued  by  the  jeweller  Tavernier  at  6.}  millions  sterling. 

Rebellion  of  Prince  Aurangzeb,  1657. — Akbar's  dynasty 
lay  under  the  curse  of  rebellious  sons.  As  Jahangir  had  risen 
against  his  most  loving  father,  Akbar,  and  as  Shah  Jahan  had 
mutinied  against  Jahangfr;  so  Shah  Jahan  in  his  turn  suff'ered 
from  the  intrigues  and  rebellions  of  his  family.  In  1657,  the 
old  king  fell  ill;  and  Aurangzeb,  after  a  treacherous  conflict 
with  his  brethren,  deposed  his  father,  and  proclaimed  himself 
emperor  in  1658.  The  unhappy  emperor  was  kept  in  confine- 
ment for  seven  years,  and  died  a  State  prisoner  in  the  fort  of 
Agra  in  1666. 

The  Reign  of  Aurangzeb,  1658-1707. 
Chronological  Summary. 

1658.  Deposition  of  Shah  Jahan,  and  usurpation  of  Aurangzeb. 

1659.  Aurangzeb  defeats  his  brothers  Shuja  and  Dara.  Dara.  being  betrayed 
by  a  chief  with  whom  he  had  sought  refuge,  is  put  to  death. 

1660.  Continued  struggle  of  Aurangzeb  with  his  brother  Shuja,  who  ulti- 
mately flies  to  Arakan,  and  there  perishes  miserably. 

1661.  Aurangzeb  executes  his  youngest  brother,  Murad,  in  prison. 

1662.  Unsuccessful  invasion  of  Assam  by  Auiangzeb's  general,  Mir  Jumla. 
Disturbances  in  the  Deccan.  War  between  Bijapur  and  the  Maratbas 
under  Sivaji.  After  various  changes  of  fortune,  Sivaji,  the  founder  of 
the  Mardtha  power,  retains  a  considerable  territory. 

1662-1665.  Sivaji  the  Maratha  in  rebellion  against  the  Mughal  Empire. 
In  1664,  he  assumes  the  title  of  Raja,  and  asserts  his  independence. 
In  1665,  on  a  large  army  being  sent  against  him,  he  makes  sub- 
mission, and  proceeds  to  Delhi,  where  he  is  placed  under  restraint,  but 
soon  afterwards  escapes. 

1666.  Death  of  the  deposed  emperor,  Shah  Jahan.  War  in  the  Deccan, 
and  defeat  of  the  Imperial  Army  from  Delhi  by  the  King  of  Bijapur. 

1667.  Sivaji  makes  peace  with  Aurangzeb,  and  obtains  an  extension  of 
territory.     Sivaji  levies  tribute  from  Bijapur  and  Golconda. 


THE  EMPEROR  AURANGZEB.  1 45 

The  Reign  of  Aurangzeb  (contimied). 

1670.  Sivaji  the  Mardtha  ravages  Khandesh  and  the  Deccan,  and  tliere  levies 
for  the  first  time  ihautk,  or  a  contribution  of  one-fourth  of  the  revenue. 

1672.  Defeat  of  the  Mughal  or  Imperial  troops  by  Sivaji. 

1677.  Aurangzeb  revives  ihtjaziah,  or  poll-tax  on  non-Muhammadans. 

1679.  Aurangzeb  at  war  with  the  Rajputs.  Rebellion  of  Prince  Akbar, 
Aurangzeb's  youngest  son,  who  joins  the  Rajputs,  but  whose  army 
deserts  him.     Prince  Akbar  is  forced  to  fly  to  the  Marathas. 

1672-1680.  Progress  of  the  Marathas  in  the  Deccan.  Sivaji  crowns  him- 
self an  independent  sovereign  at  Raigarh  in  1674.  His  wars  with 
Bijapur  and  the  Mughal  or  Imperial  troops.  Sivaji  dies  in  1680,  and 
is  succeeded  by  his  son,  Sambhaji. 

1683.  Aurangzeb  invades  the  Deccan  in  person,  at  the  head  of  his  Grand 
Army. 

1686-1688.  Aurangzeb  conquers  Bijapur  and  Golconda,  and  annexes  them 
to  the  empire. 

1689.  Aurangzeb  captures  Sambhaji,  the  head  of  the  Marathas,  and  bar- 
barously puts  him  to  death. 

1692.  Guerilla  war  with  the  Marathas  under  their  various  leaders. 

1698.  Aurangzeb's  general  captures  Ginji  from  the  Marathas. 

1699-1701.  Capture  of  Satara  and  Maratha  forts  by  Aurangzeb.  Apparent 
ruin  of  the  Marathas. 

1 702-1 705.  Fresh  successes  of  the  Marathas. 

1706.  Aurangzeb  retreats  to  Ahmadnagar  ;  and, 

1707.  Miserably  dies  there. 

Aurangzeb,  Emperor,  1658-1707. — Aurangzeb  proclaimed 
himself  emperor  in  1658,  in  the  room  of  his  imprisoned  father, 
under  the  title  of  Alamgfr,  the  Conqueror  of  the  Universe,  and 
reigned  until  1707.  Under  Aurangzeb  the  Mughal  Empire 
reached  its  widest  limits.  But  his  long  rule  of  forty-nine  years 
merely  presents  on  a  more  magnificent  stage  the  usual  tragic 
drama  of  a  Mughal  reign.  In  its  personal  character,  it  began 
with  his  rebellion  against  his  father ;  consolidated  itself  by  the 
murder  of  his  brethren ;  and  darkened  to  a  close  amid  the 
mutinies,  intrigues,  and  jealousies  of  his  own  sons.  Its  public 
aspects  consisted  of  a  magnificent  court  in  Northern  India  ; 
conquests  of  the  independent  Muhammadan  kings  in  the  south  ; 
and  wars  against  the  Hindu  powers,  which,  alike  in  Rajpulana 
and  in  Southern  India  or  the  Deccan,  were  gathering  strength 
for  the  overthrow  of  the  Mughal  Empire. 

Aurangzeb  murders  his  Brothers. — The  year  after  his 
accession,   Aurangzeb  defeated   and  put   to   death   his   eldest 

K 


146  THE  MUGHAL  DYNASTY. 

brother,  the  noble  but  impetuous  Dara  (1659).  After  another 
twelve  months'  struggle,  he  drove  out  of  India  his  second 
brother,  the  self-indulgent  Shuja  (1660),  who  perished  miserably 
among  the  insolent  savages  of  Arakan.  His  remaining  brother, 
the  brave  young  Murad,  was  executed  in  prison  the  following 
year  (1661).  Aurangzeb  had  from  boyhood  been  a  Muham- 
madan  of  the  stern  puritan  type.  Having  now  killed  off  his 
rival  brethren,  he  set  up  as  an  orthodox  sovereign  of  the 
strictest  sect  of  Islam,  while  his  invalid  father,  Shah  Jahan, 
lingered  on  in  prison,  mourning  over  his  murdered  sons,  until 
his  own  death  in  1666. 

Aurangzeb's  Campaigns  in  Southern  India. — Aurangzeb 
continued,  as  emperor,  that  persistent  policy  of  the  subjugation 
of  Southern  India  which  he  had  brilliantly  commenced  as  his 
father's  lieutenant.  Of  the  five  Muhammadan  kingdoms  of  the 
Deccan,  Bi'dar  and  Ahmadnagar  with  Ellichpur  had  fallen  to  his 
arms,  as  the  prince  in  command  of  the  Imperial  armies,  before 
his  accession  to  the  throne.  The  two  others,  Bijapur  and 
Golconda,  struggled  longer,  but  Aurangzeb  was  determined  at 
any  cost  to  annex  them  to  the  Mughal  Empire.  During  the 
first  half  of  his  reign,  or  exactly  twenty-five  years,  he  waged  war 
in  the  south  by  means  of  his  generals  (1658-83).  A  new 
Hindu  power  had,  as  we  have  seen,  arisen  in  the  Deccan — the 
Marathas,  whose  history  will  be  traced  in  more  detail  in  a  sub- 
sequent chapter.  The  task  before  Aurangzeb's  armies  was  not 
only  the  old  one  of  subduing  the  IMuhammadan  kingdoms  of 
Bijapur  and  Golconda,  but  also  the  new  one  of  crushing  the 
quick  growth  of  the  Hindu  or  Maralha  confederacy. 

Slow  Conquest  of  Southern  India. — During  a  quarter  of 
a  century,  his  utmost  efforts  failed.  Bijapur  and  Golconda  were 
not  conquered.  In  1670,  the  Maratha  leader,  Sivaji,  levied 
chauth,  or  one-fourth  of  the  revenues,  as  tribute  from  the 
Mughal  Provinces  in  Southern  India;  and  in  1674  he  crowned 
himself  an  independent  sovereign  at  Raigarh.  In  1680-1681, 
Aurangzeb's  son.  Prince  Akbar,  having  rebelled  against  his 
father,  joined  the  Maratha  army.  Aurangzeb  felt  that  he  must 
either  give  up  his  magnificent  palace  in  the  north  for  a  soldier's 
tent  in  the  Deccan,  or  he  must  relinquish  his  most  cherished 


AVRANGZEB'S  WARS  IN  SOUTHERN  INDIA.       147 

scheme  of  conquering  Southern  India.  He  accordingly  pre- 
pared an  expedition,  on  an  unrivalled  scale  of  numbers  and 
splendour,  to  be  led  by  himself.  In  1683,  he  arrived  at  the 
head  of  his  Grand  Army  in  the  Deccan,  and  spent  the  next 
half  of  his  reign,  or  twenty-four  years,  in  the  field  in  Southern 
India.  Golconda  and  Bijapur  fell  after  another  severe  struggle, 
and  were  finally  annexed  to  the  Mughal  Empire  in  1688. 

The  Marathas,  1688-1707. — But  the  conquests  of  these 
last  of  the  five  Muhammadan  kingdoms  of  the  Deccan  only  left 
the  arena  bare  for  the  operations  of  the  Marathas.  Indeed,  the 
attacks  of  the  Marathas  on  the  two  Muhammadan  States  had 
prepared  the  way  for  their  annexation  by  Aurangzeb.  The 
emperor  waged  war  during  the  remaining  twenty  years  of  his 
life  (1688-1707)  against  the  rising  Hindu  power  of  the  Mara- 
thas. Their  first  great  leader,  Sivaji,  had  proclaimed  himself 
king  in  1674,  and  died  in  1680.  Aurangzeb  captured  his  son 
and  successor,  Sambhaji,  in  1689,  and  cruelly  put  him  to  death; 
seized  the  Maratha  capital,  with  many  of  their  forts;  and 
seemed  in  the  first  year  of  the  new  century  to  have  almost 
stamped  out  their  existence  (1701).  But,  after  a  guerilla  war- 
fare, the  Marathas  again  sprang  up  into  a  powerful  fighting 
nation.  In  1705,  they  recovered  their  forts;  while  Aurangzeb 
had  exhausted  his  health,  his  treasures,  and  his  troops,  in  the 
long  and  fruidess  struggle.  His  soldiery  murmured  for  arrears ; 
and  the  emperor,  now  old  and  peevish,  told  the  malcontents 
that  if  they  did  not  like  his  service  they  might  quit  it,  while  he 
disbanded  some  of  his  cavalry  to  ease  his  finances. 

Aurangzeb  hemmed  in. — Meanwhile  the  Marathas  were 
pressing  hungrily  on  the  imperial  camp.  The  Grand  Army  of 
Aurangzeb  had  grown  during  a  quarter  of  a  century  into  an 
unwieldy  capital.  Its  movements  were  slow,  and  incapable  of 
concealment.  If  Aurangzeb  sent  out  a  rapid  small  expedition 
against  the  Marathas,  who  plundered  and  insulted  the  outskirts 
of  his  camp,  they  cut  it  to  pieces.  If  he  moved  out  against 
them  in  force,  they  vanished.  His  own  soldiery  feasted  with 
the  enemy,  who  prayed,  with  mock  ejaculations,  for  the  health 
of  the  emperor  as  their  best  friend. 

Aurangzeb's  Death. — In  1706,  the  Grand  Army  was  so 


148  THE  MUGHAL  DYNASTY. 

disorganized,  that  Aurangzeb  opened  negotiations  with  the 
]Marathas.  He  even  thought  of  submitting  the  Imperial  or 
Mughal  Provinces  to  their  tribute  or  chauth.  But  the  insolent 
exultation  of  the  Maratha  chiefs  led  to  the  treaty  being  broken 
oif;  and  Aurangzeb,  in  1706,  found  shelter  in  Ahmadnagar, 
where  he  died  in  February  of  the  following  year  (1707).  Dark 
suspicion  of  his  sons'  loyalty,  and  just  fears  lest  they  should 
subject  him  to  the  cruel  fate  which  he  had  inflicted  on  his  father, 
left  him  solitary  in  his  last  days.  On  the  approach  of  death,  he 
gave  utterance  in  broken  sentences  to  his  worldly  counsels  and 
adieus,  mingled  with  terror  and  remorse,  and  closing  in  an  agony 
of  desperate  resignation :  *  Come  what  may,  I  have  launched 
my  vessel  on  the  waves.     Farewell !    Farewell !     Farewell ! ' 

Mir  Jumla's  Expedition  to  Assam,  1662. — The  conquest 
of  the  Deccan  or  Southern  India  was  the  one  inflexible  purpose 
of  Aurangzeb's  life,  and  has  therefore  been  dealt  with  here  in  a 
continuous  narrative.  In  the  north  of  India,  great  events  had 
also  transpired.  His  general  Mir  Jumla  led  the  imperial  troops 
as  far  as  Assam,  the  extreme  eastern  Province  of  India  (1662). 
But  amid  the  pestilential  swamps  of  the  rainy  season  his  army 
melted  away,  its  supplies  were  cut  off",  and  its  march  was 
surrounded  by  swarms  of  natives,  who  knew  the  country  and 
were  accustomed  to  the  climate.  Mir  Jumla  succeeded  in  ex- 
tricating the  main  body  of  his  troops,  but  died  of  exhaustion 
and  a  broken  heart  before  he  reached  Dacca,  in  the  Bengal 
Delta. 

Aurangzeb's  Bigoted  Policy. — In  the  north-west  of  India, 
Aurangzeb  was  not  more  fortunate.  During  his  time  the  Sikhs 
(a  theistic  and  military  sect  of  Hindus)  were  growing  into 
a  power,  but  it  was  not  till  the  succeeding  reigns  that  they 
commenced  the  series  of  operations  which  in  the  end  wrested 
the  Punjab  from  the  Mughal  Empire.  Aurangzeb's  bigotry 
arrayed  against  him  all  the  Hindu  princes  and  peoples  of 
Northern  India.  He  revived  ihtjaziah,  or  insulting  poll-tax  on 
non-Musalmdns  (1677);  drove  the  Hindus  out  of  the  adminis- 
tration ;  and  oppressed  the  widow  and  children  of  his  father's 
faithful  Hindu  general,  Jaswant  Singh.  A  local  sect  of  Hindus 
in  Northern  India  was  persecuted  into  rebellion  in  1676  ;  and  in 


AURANGZEB'S  BIGOTED  POLICY.  149 

1677,  the  Rajput  States  combined  against  him.  The  emperor 
waged  a  protracted  war  against  them, — at  one  time  devastating 
Rdjputana,  at  another  time  saving  himself  and  his  army  from 
extermination  only  by  a  stroke  of  genius  and  rare  presence  of 
mind.  In  16S0,  his  rebel  son,  Prince  Akbar,  went  over  to  the 
Rajputs  with  his  division  of  the  Mughal  or  Imperial  army. 
From  that  3'ear  the  permanent  alienation  of  the  Rajputs  from 
the  Mughal  Empire  dates ;  and  the  Hindu  chivalry,  which  had 
been  a  source  of  strength  to  Akbar  the  Great,  became  an 
element  of  ruin  to  Aurangzeb  and  his  successors.  The  emperor 
pillaged  and  slaughtered  throughout  the  Rajput  States  of  Jaipur, 
Jodhpur,  and  Udaipur.  The  Rajputs  retaliated  by  ravaging  the 
Muhammadan  Provinces  of  Malwa,  defacing  the  mosques,  in- 
sulting the  mullds,  or  priests  of  Islam,  and  burning  the  Kuran. 
In  1681,  the  emperor  patched  up  a  peace  in  order  to  allow  him 
to  lead  the  Grand  Army  into  the  Deccan,  from  which  he  was 
destined  never  to  return.  But  Akbar's  policy  of  conciliating 
the  Hindus,  and  welding  them  into  one  empire  with  his 
Muhammadan  subjects,  came  to  an  end  under  Aurangzeb. 

Aurangzeb's  Revenues. — All  Northern  India  except  Assam, 
and  the  greater  part  of  Southern  India,  paid  revenue  to 
Aurangzeb.  His  Indian  Provinces  covered  nearly  as  large 
an  area  as  the  British  Empire  at  the  present  day,  although 
their  dependence  on  the  central  government  was  less  direct. 
From  these  Provinces  his  net  land  revenue  demand  is  returned 
at  30  to  38  millions  sterling — a  sum  which  represented  at 
least  three  times  the  purchasing  power  of  the  land  revenue 
of  British  India  at  the  present  day.  But  it  is  doubtful  whether 
the  enormous  demand  of  38  millions  was  fully  realized  during 
any  series  of  years,  even  at  the  height  of  Aurangzeb's  power, 
before  he  left  Delhi  for  his  long  southern  wars.  It  was  estimated 
at  only  30  millions  sterling  in  the  last  year  of  his  reign,  after 
his  absence  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  in  the  Deccan.  Fiscal 
oppressions  led  to  evasions  and  revolts;  and  one  or  other  of 
the  Provinces  was  always  in  open  war  against  the  emperor. 
The  standard  return  of  Aurangzeb's  land  revenue  was  nei, 
£34,505,890;  and  this  remained  the  nominal  demand  in  the 
accounts  of  the  central  exchequer  during  the  next  half-century 


150  THE  MUGHAL  DYNASTY, 

notwithstanding  that  the  empire  had  fallen  to  pieces.  When 
the  Afghan  invader,  Ahmad  Shah  Duranj,  entered  Delhi  in  1761, 
the  treasury  officers  presented  him  with  a  statement  showing  the 
land  revenue  of  the  empire  at  £34,506,640.  The  highest  land 
revenue  of  Aurangzeb,  after  his  annexations  in  Southern  India, 
and  before  his  final  reverses,  was  returned  at  38}  millions 
sterling;  of  which  nearly  38  millions  were  from  Indian  Pro- 
vinces, and  the  remainder  from  Kashmir  and  Kabul.  The  total 
revenue  of  the  Mughal  Empire  under  Aurangzeb,  from  all  sources, 
was  estimated  in  1695  at  80  millions  sterling,  and  in  1697  at  77.^ 
millions  sterling.  The  gross  taxation  levied  from  British  India, 
deducting  the  opium  excise,  which  is  paid  by  the  Chinese 
consumer,  averaged  38  millions  sterlmg  during  the  ten  years 
ending  1883. 

Character  of  Aurangzeb. — Aurangzeb  tried  to  live  the  life 
of  a  model  IMuhammadan  emperor.  Magnificent  in  his  public 
appearances,  simple  in  his  private  habits,  diligent  in  business, 
exact  in  his  religious  observances,  an  elegant  letter-writer,  and 
ever  ready  with  choice  passages  alike  from  the  poets  and  from 
the  Kuran,  his  life  would  have  been  a  blameless  one,  if  he  had 
had  no  father  to  depose,  no  brethren  to  murder,  and  no  Hindu 
subjects  to  oppress.  But  his  bigotry  made  an  enemy  of  every 
one  who  did  not  share  his  own  faith ;  and  the  slaughter  of  his 
kindred  compelled  him  to  entrust  his  whole  government  to 
strangers.  The  Hindus  never  forgave  him  ;  and  the  Sikhs,  the 
Rajputs,  and  the  Marathas,  immediately  after  his  reign,  began 
to  close  in  upon  the  empire.  His  Muhammadan  generals  and 
viceroys,  as  a  rule,  served  him  well  during  his  vigorous  life ;  but 
at  his  death  they  usurped  his  children's  inheritance. 

Decline  of  the  Mughal  Empire. — The  succeeding  emperors 
were  puppets  in  the  hands  of  the  too  powerful  soldiers  or  states- 
men who  raised  them  to  the  throne,  controlled  them  while  on  it, 
and  killed  them  when  it  suited  their  purposes  to  do  so.  The 
subsequent  history  of  the  empire  is  a  mere  record  of  ruin.  The 
chief  events  in  its  decline  and  fall  are  summarized  on  page  154. 
For  a  time  IVIughal  emperors  still  ruled  India  from  Delhi.  But 
of  the  six  immediate  successors  of  Aurangzeb,  two  were  under 
the  control  of  an  unscrupulous  general,  Zul-fikar  Khan,  while 


DECLINE   OF  THE  MUGHAL  EMPIRE.  151 

the  four  others  were  the  creatures  of  a  couple  of  Sayyid  adven- 
turers, who  well  earned  their  title  of  the  '  king-makers.' 

Independence  of  the  Deccan  and  of  Oudh. — From  the 
year  1720  the  breaking  up  of  the  empire  took  a  more  open 
form.  The  Nizam-ul-Wulk,  or  Governor  of  the  Deccan,  severed 
the  largest  part  of  Southern  India  from  the  Delhi  rule  (1720- 
1748).  The  Governor  of  Oudh,  originally  a  Persian  merchant, 
who  had  risen  to  the  post  of  wazir,  or  prime  minister  of  the 
empire,  practically  established  his  own  dynasty  as  the  Nawab 
Wazfr  of  Oudh  which  had  been  committed  to  his  care  (1732- 

1743)- 

Hindu  Risings :  Sikhs  and  Marathas.  —  The  Hindu 
subjects  of  the  empire  were  at  the  same  time  asserting  their 
independence.  The  Sikh  sect  in  the  Punjab  was  driven  by  the 
oppression  of  the  Delhi  Emperors  into  revolt,  and  was  merci- 
lessly crushed  (17 10-17 16).  The  indelible  memory  of  the 
cruelties  then  inflicted  by  the  Mughal  troops  nerved  the  Sikh 
nation  with  that  hatred  to  Delhi  which  served  the  British  cause 
so  well  in  1857.  Their  leader,  Banda,  was  carried  about  in  an 
iron  cage,  tricked  out  in  the  mockery  of  imperial  robes,  with 
scarlet  turban  and  cloth  of  gold.  His  son's  heart  was  torn  out 
before  his  eyes,  and  thrown  in  his  face.  He  himself  was  then 
pulled  to  pieces  with  red-hot  pincers ;  and  the  Sikhs  were 
exterminated  like  mad  dogs  (17 16).  The  Hindu  princes  of 
Raj putana  were  more  fortunate.  Ajit  Singh  of  Jodhpur  asserted 
his  independence,  and  Rajputana  practically  severed  its  con- 
nection with  the  IMughal  Empire  in  1715.  The  Marathas 
having  enforced  their  claim  to  black-mail  (chauth)  throughout 
Southern  India,  burst  through  the  Vindhyas  into  the  north,  and 
obtained  from  the  Delhi  emperors  the  cession  of  Malwa(i743) 
and  Orissa  (1751),  with  an  imperial  grant  of  tribute  from  Bengal 

(1751)- 

Invasions  from  Central  Asia,  1739-1761. — Wliilc  the 
Muhammadan  governors  and  Hindu  subjects  of  the  empire 
were  thus  becoming  independent  of  the  Delhi  emperors,  two 
new  sets  of  external  enemies  appeared  ;  one  set  from  Central 
Asia,  the  other  set  from  the  sea.  In  1739,  Nadir  Shah,  the 
Persian  monarch,  swooped  down  on  India,  with  his  destroying 


152  THE  MUGHAL  DYNASTY. 

host,  and,  after  a  massacre  in  the  streets  of  Delhi  and  a  fifty- 
eight  days'  sack,  returned  through  the  north-western  passes 
with  a  booty  estimated  at  32  millions  sterling.  The  destroying 
host  of  the  Persian  king  was  succeeded  by  a  series  of  invasions 
from  Afghanistan.  Six  times  the  Afghans  burst  through  the 
passes  under  Ahmad  Shah  Durani,  pillaging,  slaughtering,  and 
then  scornfully  retiring  to  their  homes  with  the  plunder  of  the 
Mughal  empire.  In  1738,  Kabul,  the  last  Afghan  Province  of 
the  Mughals,  was  severed  from  Delhi;  and,  in  1752,  Ahmad 
Shah  obtained  the  cession  of  the  Punjab  from  the  miserable 
emperor.  The  cruelties  inflicted  upon  Delhi  and  Northern 
India  during  these  six  Afghan  invasions  form  an  appalling  tale 
of  bloodshed  and  wanton  cruelty.  The  wretched  capital  opened 
her  gates,  and  was  fain  to  receive  the  Afghans  as  guests.  Yet 
on  one  occasion  it  suflFered  for  six  weeks  every  enormity  w'hich 
a  barbarian  army  can  inflict  upon  a  prostrate  foe.  Meanwhile 
the  Afghan  cavalry  were  scouring  the  country,  slaying,  burning, 
and  mutilating,  in  the  meanest  hamlet  as  in  the  greatest  town. 
They  took  especial  delight  in  sacking  the  holy  places  of  the 
Hindus,  and  murdering  the  defenceless  votaries  at  the  shrines. 

Misery  of  the  Provinces. — A  single  example  must  suffice 
to  show  the  miseries  inflicted  by  the  invaders  of  India  from  the 
North-west.  A  horde  of  25,000  Afghan  horsemen  swooped 
down  upon  the  sacred  city  of  Muttra  during  a  festival,  while  it 
was  thronged  with  peaceful  Hindu  pilgrims  engaged  in  their 
devotions.  '  They  burned  the  houses,'  says  the  Tyrolese  Jesuit 
Tieftenthaler,  who  was  in  India  at  that  time,  '  together  with 
their  inmates,  slaughtering  others  with  the  sw-ord  and  the 
lance  ;  haling  off  into  captivity  maidens  and  youths,  men  and 
women.  In  the  temples  they  slaughtered  cows '  (the  sacred 
animal  of  the  Hindus),  '  and  smeared  the  images  and  pavement 
with  the  blood.'  The  borderland  between  Afghanistan  and 
India  lay  silent  and  waste ;  indeed.  Districts  far  within  the 
Indian  frontier,  which  had  once  been  densely  inhabited,  and 
which  are  now  again  thickly  peopled,  were  swept  bare  of  in- 
habitants. Thus  Gujranwala,  the  seat  of  the  ancient  capital 
of  the  Punjab  in  Buddhist  times,  was  utterly  depopulated.  Its 
present  inhabitants  are  immigrants  of  comparatively  recent  date. 


FALL   OF  THE  MUGHAL  EMPIRE.  153 

The  District,  which  was  stripped  of  its  inhabitants  in  the  last 
century,  has  now  a  new  population  of  a  million. 

Fall  of  the  Empire,  1761-1765. — The  other  set  of  invaders 
came  from  over  the  sea.  In  the  wars  between  the  French  and 
English  in  Southern  India,  the  last  vestiges  of  the  Delhi  authority 
in  the  Karnatik  disappeared  (1748-61).  Bengal,  Behar,  and 
Orissa  were  handed  over  to  the  English  by  an  imperial  grant  in 
1765.  We  obtained  these  three  fertile  Provinces  as  the  nominee 
of  the  emperor;  but  the  battle  of  Panfpat  had  already  reduced 
the  throne  of  Delhi  to  a  shadow.  That  battle  was  fought  in 
1 761,  between  the  Afghan  invader  Ahmad  Shah  and  the 
Maratha  powers,  on  the  memorable  plain  of  Panfpat  on  which 
Babar  and  Akbar  had  twice  won  the  sovereignty  of  India.  The 
Afghans  defeated  the  Marathas;  but  although  the  Muhammadans 
could  still  win  victories,  they  could  no  longer  rule  India.  During 
the  anarchy  which  followed,  the  British  patiendy  built  up  a 
new  power  out  of  the  wreck  of  the  JNIughal  Empire.  Puppet 
emperors  continued  to  reign  at  Delhi  over  a  numerous 
seraglio,  under  such  lofty  titles  as  Akbar  II.  or  Alamgir  II. 
But  their  power  was  confined  to  the  palace,  while  INIarathas, 
Sikhs,  and  Englishmen  were  fighting  for  the  sovereignty  of 
India.  The  last  of  these  pensioned  Mughal  kings  of  Delhi 
emerged  for  a  moment  as  a  rebel  during  the  Mutiny  of  1857, 
and  died  a  State  prisoner  in  Rangoon,  the  capital  of  British 
Burma,  in  1862. 

Causes  of  its  Fall. — Akbar  had  rendered  a  great  Empire 
possible  in  India  by  conciliating  the  native  Hindu  races.  Pie 
thus  raised  up  a  powerful  third  party,  consisdng  of  the  native 
military  peoples  of  India,  which  enabled  him  alike  to  prevent 
new  Muhammadan  invasions  from  Central  Asia,  and  to  keep  in 
subjection  his  own  Muhammadan  Governors  of  Provinces. 
Under  Aurangzeb  and  his  miserable  successors  this  wise  policy 
of  conciliation  was  given  up.  Accordingly,  new  jMuhammadaji 
hordes  soon  swept  down  from  Afghanistan ;  the  IMuhammadan 
Governors  of  Indian  Provinces  set  up  as  independent  potentates  : 
and  the  warlike  Hindu  races,  who  had  helped  Akbar  to  create 
the  Mughal  Empire,  became,  under  his  foolish  posterity,  the 
chief  agents  of  its  ruin. 


154  THE  MUGHAL  DYNASTY. 

The  British  won  India,  not  from  the  Mughals,  but 
from  the  Hindus. — Before  we  appeared  as  conquerors,  the 
Mughal  Empire  had  broken  up.  Our  final  and  most  perilous 
wars  were  neither  with  the  Delhi  king,  nor  with  his  revolted 
IMuhammadan  viceroys,  but  with  the  two  Hindu  confederacies, 
the  Marathas  and  the  Sikhs,  Muhammadan  princes  fought 
against  us  in  Bengal,  in  the  Karnatik,  and  in  INIysore ;  but  the 
longest  opposition  to  the  Bridsh  conquest  of  India  came  from 
the  Hindus.  Our  last  IMaratha  war  dates  as  late  as  1818,  and 
the  Sikh  Confederation  was  overcome  only  in  1849. 

The  following  summary  must  suffice  to  show  the  principal 
events  in  the  ruin  of  the  Mughal  Empire  after  the  death  of 
Aurangzeb,  the  last  of  the  great  Mughal  emperors,  in  1707. 

The  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  IMughal  Empire,  i 707-1 862. 

1707.  Succession  contest  between  Muazzim  andAlam,two  sons  of  Aurang- 
zeb ;  victory  of  the  former,  and  his  accession  with  the  title  of  Bahadur 
Shah ;  but  under  the  complete  control  of  his  military  prime  minister, 
Zulfikar  Khan.     Revolt  of  Prince  Kambaksh  ;  his  defeat  and  death. 

1 710.  Expedition  by  the  Mughal  emperor  against  the  Sikhs. 

1 712.  Death  of  the  emperor  Bahadur  Shah,  and  accession  of  his  eldest 
son,  Jahandar  Shah,  who  only  ruled  as  the  creature  of  his  prime 
minister,  Zul-fikar  Khan.  Revolt  of  his  nephew,  Farukhsiyyar ;  and 
murder  of  the  emperor,  Jahandar  Shah,  and  his  wazir. 

1 713.  Accession  of  Farukhsiyyar  as  emperor  under  the  control  of  the  two 
Sayyid  '  king-makers,'  Husain  Ali  and  Abdulla. 

1 7 16.  Invasion  of  the  imperial  territories  by  the  Sikhs;  their  defeat,  and 
cruel  persecution. 

1 71 9.  Deposition  and  murder  of  the  emperor  Farukhsiyyar  by  the  two 
Sayyids.  They  nominate  in  succession  three  boy  emperors,  the  first 
two  of  whom  die  within  a  few  months ;  the  third,  Muhammad  Shah, 
commences  his  reign  in  September  1719. 

1720.  Overthrow  of  the  two  Sayyids,  the  'king-makers.' 

1720-1748.  The  Governor  of  the  Dcccan  or  Southern  India,  or  Nizam-ul- 
Miilk,  establishes  his  independence  at  Haidarabad. 

1732-1743.  The  Governor  of  Oudh,  who  was  also  luazlr  or  prime  minister 

t       of  the  empire,  becomes  practically  independent  of  Delhi. 

1 735-1 751.  General  decline  of  the  empire  ;  revolts  within  it  :  invasion  of 
Nadir  iShah  from  Persia  (i739\  First  invasion  of  India  ly  Ahmad 
Shah  Durani  (1747).  The  Marathas  finally  secure  the  cession  of 
Malwa  (1743)  ;  and  of  Southern  Orissa  and  tribute  from  Bengal  (1751). 

1748-1750.  Accession  of  the  emperor  Ahmad  Shah,  son  of  Muhammad  Shah; 
disturbances  by  the  Rohillas  in  Oudh,  and  defeat  of  the  imperial  troops. 


FALL   OF  TILE  MUGHAL  EMPIRE.  1 55 

1 75 1.  The  Rohilla  insurrection  crushed  by  the  imperial  troops,  with  the  aid 
oi  the  Marathas. 

1751-1752.  Second  invasion  from  Afghanistan  by  Ahmad  Shah  Duiani, 
and  cession  of  the  Punjab  to  him. 

1754.  Deposition  of  the  emperor,  and  accession  of  Alamgir  II. 

1756.  Third  invasion  from  Afghanistan  by  Ahmad  Shah  Durani,  and  sack 
of  Delhi. 

1759.  Fourth  invasion  of  Ahmad  Shah  Durani,  and  murder  of  the  emperor 
Alamgir  II.  by  his  prime  minister,  Ghazi-ud-din.  Maratha  conquests 
in  Northern  India,  and  their  capture  of  Delhi. 

1761-1805.  Third  battle  of  Panipat,  and  defeat  of  the  Marathas  by  the 
Afghans  (1761).  The  nominal  emperor  on  the  death  of  Alamgir  II. 
is  Shah  Alam  II.,  who  resides  till  1771,  at  Allahabad,  a  pensioner  of 
the  British.  The  Marathas  then  practically  become  masters  of  the 
Delhi  territories  and  of  the  person  of  the  emperor.  The  emperor  is 
blinded  and  imprisoned  by  rebels ;  rescued  by  the  Marathas,  but 
virtually  a  prisoner  in  their  hands  till  1S03,  when  the  Maratha  power 
is  overthrown  by  Lord  Lake. 

1806-1837.  Akbar  II.  succeeds  as  emperor,  under  British  protection,  bat 
only  to  the  nominal  dignity. 

1837-1862.  Muhammad  Bahadur  Shah,  the  seventeenth  Mughal  emperor, 
and  last  of  the  race  of  Timiir.  For  his  complicity  in  the  Mutiny  of 
1857  he  was  banished  to  Rangoon,  where  he  died  in  1862. 


Materials  for  Reference. 

The  original  sources  for  the  Mughal  Period  are  Sir  Henry  Elliot's  eight 
volumes,  Blochmann's  Ain-l-Akbari,  with  Gladwin's  older  translation, 
Briggs'  Firishia,  and  other  works  cited  at  p.  1 31.  The  popular  narrative 
is  still  Elphinstone's  History  of  India.  Among  valuable  monographs  may 
be  cited  Edward  Thomas's  Revenue  Resources  of  the  Mughal  Empire, 
General  Cunningham's  letter  on  Some  Copper  Coins  of  Akbar  {Journal 
Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  1SS5),  Aurangzeb's  Letters  (Persian  lithograph), 
and  the  biographical  or  autobiographical  memoirs  of  Babar  and  other  of 
the  Mughal  emperors,  Graf  Noer's  Kaiser  Akbar  (Leiden,  18S0),  Erskine's 
History  of  India,  ^c,  under  Bc'ibar  and  Ilumdyiift,  and  the  narratives  of 
Bernier,  Tavernier,  and  other  travellers  during  the  Mughal  period.  Mr. 
Stanley  Lane-Poole's  History  of  the  Moghul  Emperors  of  Hindustan,  illus- 
trated by  their  Coins  (1892),  gives  a  correct  historical  outline  of  the  period 
together  with  valuable  original  data.  The  volumes  on  Akbar  anA  Aurangzeb 
in  the  Rulers  of  India  Series  furnish  a  graphic  account  of  the  rise,  the 
meridian  and  the  fall  of  the  Mughal  empire. 


CHAPTER    XL 
The  Marathas,  1650-1818. 

Rise  of  the  Marathas. — About  the  year  1634,  a  Maratha 
soldier  of  fortune,  Shahji  Bhoxsla  by  name,  began  to  play  a 
conspicuous  part  in  Southern  India.  He  fought  on  the  side  of 
the  two  independent  Muhammadan  States,  Ahmadnagar  and 
Bijapur,  against  the  Mughals ;  and  left  a  band  of  followers, 
together  with  a  military  fief,  to  his  son  Sivajf,  born  in  1627. 
Sivajf  formed  a  national  party  out  of  the  Hindu  tribes  of  the 
Deccan — a  native  Hindu  party  which  was  opposed  alike  to  the 
imperial  armies  from  the  north,  and  to  the  independent  Muham- 
madan kingdoms  of  the  south.  There  were  thus,  from  1650 
onwards,  three  powers  in  the  Deccan, — first,  the  ever-invading 
troops  of  the  Delhi  Empire;  second,  the  forces  of  the  two 
remaining  independent  Muhammadan  States  of  Southern  India, 
namely,  Ahmadnagar  and  Bijapur ;  third,  the  military  organiza- 
tion of  the  local  Hindu  tribes,  which  ultimately  grew  into  the 
Maratha  Confederacy. 

Their  Growth  as  a  *  Third  Party '  in  the  Deccan. — 
During  the  eighty  years'  war  of  Shah  Jahan  and  Aurangzeb, 
with  a  view  to  the  conquest  of  the  independent  Muhammadan 
kingdoms  in  Southern  India  (162 7-1 707),  this  third  or  Hindu 
party  fought  sometimes  for  the  Delhi  emperors,  sometimes  for 
the  independent  Muhammadan  kingdoms,  and  obtained  a  con- 
stantly increasing  importance.  The  Mughal  armies  from  the 
north,  and  the  independent  Muhammadan  kingdoms  of  the 
south,  gradually  exterminated  each  other.  Being  foreigners, 
they  had  to  recruit  their  exhausted  forces  from  outside.  The 
Hindu  or  INIaratha  Confederacy  drew  its  inexhaustible  native 
levies  from  the  wide  tract  known  as  Maharashtra,  stretching 
from  the  Berars  in  Central  India  to  near  the  south  of  the  Bombay 
Presidency.     The  Marathas  were  therefore  courted  alike  by  the 


SIVAJL  I5Y 

imperial  generals  from  Delhi  and  by  the  independent  Muham- 
madan  kingdoms  of  the  Dcccan.  Those  kingdoms,  with  the 
help  of  the  INIarathas,  long  proved  a  match  for  the  imperial 
troops.  But  no  sooner  were  the  Delhi  armies  driven  back,  than 
the  Manithas  proceeded  to  despoil  the  independent  Musalman 
kingdoms.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Delhi  generals,  when  allied 
with  the  Marathas,  could  overpower  the  Muhammadan  States. 

Sivaji,  1627-1680. — Sivajf,  the  great  Maratha  leader,  saw 
the  strength  of  his  position,  and,  by  a  life  of  treachery,  assas- 
sination, and  hard  fighting,  he  won  for  the  Marathas  the  practical 
supremacy  in  Southern  India.  As  a  basis  for  his  operations,  he 
perched  himself  safe  in  almost  impregnable  hill  forts  among 
the  Western  Ghats.  His  troops  consisted  of  Hindu  spearmen, 
mounted  on  hardy  ponies.  They  were  the  peasant  proprietors 
of  Southern  India,  and  they  could  be  dispersed  or  promptly 
called  together  according  to  the  season  of  the  agricultural  year. 
Except  at  seed  time  and  harvest,  they  were  always  at  leisure  for 
war.  Sivaji  had  therefore  the  command  of  an  unlimited  body  of 
men,  without  the  expense  of  a  standing  army.  With  these  he 
swooped  down  upon  his  enemies,  exacted  tribute,  or  forced  them 
to  come  to  terms.  He  then  paid  off  his  soldiery  by  a  part  of 
the  plunder,  and  retreated  with  the  lion's  share  to  his  hill  forts. 
In  1659,  he  lured  the  general  of  the  independent  Muhammadan 
kingdom  of  Bijapur  into  an  ambush,  stabbed  him  at  a  friendly 
conference,  and  exterminated  his  army.  In  1662,  Sivaji  pil- 
laged as  far  as  the  extreme  north  of  the  Bombay  Presidency, 
and  sacked  the  imperial  city  of  Surat.  In  1664,  he  assumed 
the  title  of  king  (Raja),  with  the  royal  prerogative  of  coining 
money  in  his  own  name.  The  year  1665  found  Sivaji  helping 
the  Mughal  armies  against  the  independent  Musalman  State  of 
Bijapur.  In  1666,  he  was  induced  to  visit  Delhi.  Being  coldly 
received  by  the  Emperor  Aurangzeb,  and  placed  under  restraint, 
he  escaped  to  the  south  and  raised  the  standard  of  revolt.  In 
1674,  Sivaji  enthroned  himself  with  great  pomp  at  Raigarh, 
weighing  himself  in  a  balance  against  gold,  and  distributing  his 
weight  in  gold  among  his  Brdhmans.  After  sending  forth  his 
hosts  as  far  as  the  Karnatik  in  1676,  he  died  in  1680. 

Aurangzeb's  Mistaken   Policy,  1688-1707. — The   Em- 


158  THE  MA  RATH  AS. 

peror  Aurangzeb  would  have  done  wisely  to  have  left  the 
independent  Musalman  Kings  of  the  Deccan  alone,  until  he  had 
crushed  the  rising  Maratha  power.  Indeed,  a  great  statesman 
would  have  buried  the  old  quarrel  between  the  Muhammadans 
of  the  north  and  south,  and  would  have  united  the  whole  forces 
of  Islam  against  the  Hindu  Confederacy,  which  was  rapidly 
growing  to  be  the  strongest  power  in  the  Deccan.  But  the  fixed 
resolve  of  Aurangzeb's  life  was  to  annex  to  Delhi  the  Muham- 
madan  kingdoms  of  Southern  India.  By  the  time  he  had 
carried  out  this  scheme,  he  had  wasted  his  armies,  and  left  the 
Mughal  Empire  ready  to  break  into  pieces  at  the  first  touch  of 
the  Maratha  spear. 

The  Line  of  Sivaji. — Sambhaji  succeeded  his  father,  Sivaji, 
in  1680,  and  ruled  till  1689.  His  reign  was  spent  in  wars 
against  the  Portuguese  settlements  on  the  south-western  coast 
of  India,  and  against  the  armies  of  the  Mughal  Empire.  In 
1689,  Aurangzeb  captured  him,  blinded  his  eyes  with  a  red-hot 
iron,  cut  out  the  tongue  which  had  blasphemed  the  Prophet,  and 
struck  off  his  head.  His  son,  Sahu,  then  six  years  of  age,  was 
also  captured  and  kept  a  prisoner  till  the  death  of  Aurangzeb. 
In  1707  he  was  restored,  on  acknowledging  allegiance  to  Delhi. 
But  his  long  captivity  among  the  Mughals  left  him  only  half  a 
Maratha.  He  wasted  his  life  in  his  seraglio,  and  resigned  the 
government  of  his  territories  to  his  Brahman  minister,  Balaji 
VIshwanath,  with  the  title  of  Peshwa.  This  office  of  Peshwa  or 
prime  minister  became  hereditary,  and  the  power  of  the  Peshwa 
superseded  that  of  the  Maratha  kings.  The  royal  family  of 
Sivajf  only  retained  the  little  principalities  of  Satara  and  Kolha- 
pur.  Satara  lapsed  to  the  British,  for  want  of  a  direct  heir,  in 
1849.  Kolhapur  has  survived  throughBritishclemency,andisnow 
ruled,  under  British  control,  by  the  representative  of  Sivaji's  hne. 

The  Peshwas. — Meanwhile  the  Peshwas  were  building  up 
at  Poena  the  great  Maratha  Confederacy.  In  171 8,  Balaji,  the 
first  Peshwa,  marched  an  army  to  Delhi  in  support  of  the  Sayyid 
'king-makers.'  In  1720,  he  extorted  an  imperial  grant  of  the 
chaiilh,  or  'one-fourth'  of  the  revenues  of  the  Deccan.  The 
Marathas  were  also  confirmed  in  the  sovereignty  of  their  own 
Southern   countries   round   Poena   and  Satara.      The   second 


THE  PESHWAS.  159 

Peshwa,  Baj:  Rao  (1721-40),  converted  the  grant  of  the  tribute 
of  the  Deccan,  which  had  been  given  by  the  Delhi  emperor  in 
1 720,  into  a  Maratha  sovereignty  over  the  Deccan.  The  second 
Peshwa  also  wrested  the  Province  of  Malwa  from  the  Mughal 
Empire  (1736),  together  with  the  country  on  the  north-west  of 
the  Vindhyas,  from  the  Narbada  to  the  Chambal.  In  1739,  he 
captured  Bassein  from  the  Portuguese.  Malwa  was  finally 
ceded  by  the  Delhi  Emperor  to  the  Marathas  in  1743. 

Third  Peshwa,  1740-1761. — The  third  Peshwa,  Balajf  Baji 
Rao,  succeeded  in  1740,  and  carried  the  IMaratha  terror  into  the 
heart  of  the  Mughal  Empire.  The  Deccan  became  merely  a 
starting-point  for  a  vast  series  of  their  expeditions  to  the  north  and 
the  east.  Within  the  Deccan  itself  the  Peshwa  augmented  his 
sovereignty,  at  the  expense  of  the  INIuhammadan  Nizam  of 
Haidarabad,  after  two  wars.  The  great  centres  of  the  Maratha 
power  were  now  fixed  at  Poona  in  Bombay  and  Nagpur  in  the 
Central  Provinces.  In  1741-42,  a  general  of  the  Nagpur 
branch  of  the  Maratha  Confederacy  known  as  the  Bhonslas, 
swept  down  upon  Lower  Bengal ;  but,  after  plundering  to  the 
suburbs  of  the  Muhammadan  capital  of  Murshidabad,  he  was 
driven  back  through  Orissa  by  the  Viceroy  Ali  Vardf  Khan. 
The  '  Maratha  Ditch,'  or  semi-circular  moat  around  part  of 
Calcutta,  records  to  this  day  the  panic  which  then  spread 
throughout  Lower  Bengal.  Next  year,  1743,  the  head  of  the 
Nagpur  branch,  Raghuji  Bhonsla,  invaded  Lower  Bengal  in 
person.  From  this  date,  notwithstanding  quarrels  between  the 
Poona  and  Nagpur  Marathas  over  the  spoil,  the  fertile  Provinces 
of  the  Lower  Ganges  became  a  plundering  ground  of  the 
Bhonslas.  In  1751,  they  obtained  a  formal  grant  from  the 
Viceroy  Alf  Vardf  of  the  chaiilh,  or  '  quarter  revenue  '  of  Lower 
Bengal,  together  with  the  cession  of  Orissa.  In  Northern 
India,  the  Poona  Marathas  raided  as  far  as  the  Punjab,  and 
drew  down  upon  them  the  wrath  of  Ahmad  Shah  Duranf, 
the  Afghan,  who  had  already  wrested  that  Province  from  Dcllii. 
At  the  battle  of  Panfpat  in  1761,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Maralluis 
were  overthrown  by  the  combined  Muhammadan  forces  of  the 
Afghans  and  of  the  northern  Provinces  which  still  nominally 
remained  to  the  Mughal  Empire. 


l6o  THE  MAR  ATI! AS. 

The  Five  Maratha  Houses. — The  fourth  Peshwd,  Madhu 
Rao,  succeeded  to  the  Maratha  sovereignty  in  this  moment  of 
ruin  (1761).  The  Hindu  Confederacy  seemed  doomed  to 
destruction,  alike  by  internal  dissensions  and  by  the  superior  force 
of  the  Afghan  arms.  As  early  as  1742,  the  Poona  and  Nagpur 
branches  had  taken  the  field  against  each  other,  in  their  quarrels 
over  the  plunder  of  Bengal.  Before  1761,  two  other  branches, 
under  Holkar  and  Sindhia,  held  independent  sway  in  the  old 
Mughal  Province  of  Malwa  and  the  neighbouring  tracts,  now 
divided  between  the  States  of  Indore  and  Gwalior.  At  Panipat, 
Holkar,  the  head  of  the  Indore  branch,  deserted  the  line  of 
battle  the  moment  he  saw  the  tide  turn,  and  his  treachery  ren- 
dered the  Maratha  rout  complete.  The  Peshwa  was  now  little 
more  than  the  nominal  head  of  the  five  great  Maratha  houses. 
These  five  Maratha  houses  or  dynasties  had  separate  territories 
and  armies.  Their  five  capitals  w'ere  at  Poona,  the  seat  of  the 
Peshwas ;  at  Nagpur,  the  capital  of  the  Bhonslas,  in  the  Central 
Provinces ;  at  Gwalior,  the  residence  of  Sindhia ;  at  Indore,  the 
capital  of  Holkar ;  and  at  Baroda,  the  seat  of  the  rising  power 
of  the  Gaekwars.  Madhu  Rao,  the  fourth  Pesh\Ya,  just  managed 
to  hold  his  own  against  the  Muhammadan  princes  of  Haidara- 
bad  and  Mysore,  and  against  the  Bhonsla  branch  of  the  Mara- 
thas  in  Berar.  His  younger  brother,  Narayan  Rao,  succeeded 
him  as  fifth  Peshwa  in  1772,  but  was  quickly  assassinated.  The 
Peshwas  were  the  great  Maratha  power  in  Southern  India ;  the 
other  four  or  northern  Maratha  branches  were  Sindhia  and 
Holkar,  the  Bhonslas  of  Nagpur,  and  the  Gaekwars  of  Baroda. 
We  shall  briefly  relate  the  fortunes  of  these  four  northern 
branches. 

Sindhia  and  Holkar. — The  Peshwa's  power  at  Poona 
began  to  grow  weak,  as  that  of  his  nominal  masters,  the  royal 
descendants  of  Sivajf,  had  faded  out  of  sight.  The  Peshwas 
came  of  a  high  Brahman  lineage,  while  the  actual  fighting  force 
of  the  Maralhas  consisted  of  low-caste  Hindus.  It  thus  hap- 
pened that  each  Maratha  general  who  rose  to  independent 
territorial  sway  was  inferior  in  caste  to,  although  possessed  of 
more  real  power,  than  the  Peshwa,  the  titular  head  of  the  con- 
federacy.     Of  the   two    great    northern    houses,   Holkar   was 


THE  FIVE  MARATIIA  HOUSES.  i6l 

descended  from  a  shepherd,  and  Sindhia  from  a  slipper-bearer. 
The  INIarathas  under  Holkar  and  Sindhia  lay  quiet  for  a  time 
after  their  crushing  disaster  at  Panfpat  in  1761.  But  within  ten 
years  of  that  fatal  field  they  had  established  themselves  through- 
out Malwa,  and  proceeded  to  invade  the  Rajput,  Jat,  and 
Rohilla  Provinces,  from  the  Punjab  on  the  west  to  Oudh  in  the 
east  (1761-1771).  In  1765,  the  titular  emperor.  Shah  Alam, 
had  sunk  into  a  British  pensioner,  afier  his  defeat  by  Sir  Hector 
Munro  at  Baxar  in  1764.  In  1771,  the  emperor  gave  himself 
over  to  the  Marathas.  Sindhia  and  Holkar  nominally  maintained 
him  on  his  throne  at  Delhi,  but  held  him  a  virtual  prisoner  till 
1803-4,  when  they  were  overthrown  by  our  second  Maratha 
war.  The  dynasties  of  both  Sindhia  and  Holkar  have  preserved 
to  the  present  day  their  rule  over  the  most  fertile  portion  of 
JMahva. 

The  Bhonslas  of  Nagpur,  1751-1853. — The  third  of  the 
northern  iMaralha  houses,  namely  the  Bhonslas  of  Berar  and 
the  Central  Provinces,  occupied  themselves  with  raids  to  the 
east.  Operating  from  their  base  at  Nagpur,  they  had  (as  we 
have  seen)  extorted  in  1751  the  chatith,  or  'quarter  revenue' 
of  Lower  Bengal;  together  with  the  sovereignly  of  Orissa. 
The  acquisition  of  Lower  Bengal  by  the  British  (i  756-1 765) 
put  a  stop  to  their  raids.  In  1803,  a  division  of  our  army  drove 
the  Bhonsla  Marathas  out  of  Orissa.  In  181 7,  their  power  was 
finally  broken  by  our  last  Maraiha  war.  Their  headquarter 
territories,  now  forming  the  Central  Provinces,  were  administered 
under  the  guidance  of  British  Residents  from  181 7  to  1853. 
On  the  death  of  the  last  Raghuji  Bhonsla  without  a  direct  male 
heir,  in  1853,  the  Nagpur  Maratha  territories  (now  known  as 
the  Central  Provinces),  lapsed  to  the  British. 

The  Gaekwars  of  Baroda. — The  fourth  of  the  northern 
Maraiha  houses,  namely,  Baroda,  extended  ils  power  throughout 
Gujarat,  on  the  north-western  coast  of  Bombay,  and  the  adjacent 
peninsula  of  Kathiawar.  The  scattered  but  wealthy  dominions 
known  as  the  territories  of  the  Gaekwdr  were  thus  formed. 
Since  our  last  Maratha  war,  m  181 7,  Baroda  has  been  ruled  by 
the  Gaekwars,  with  the  help  of  an  Englisli  Resident.  In  1874, 
the  reigning  Gaekwar  was  tried  by  a  High  Commission,  com- 

L 


l62  THE  MAR  ATI! AS. 

posed  of  three  European  and  three  Native  members,  on  the 
charge  of  attempting  to  poison  the  Resident,  and  deposed.  But 
the  British  Government  refrained  from  annexing  the  State,  and 
raised  a  descendant  of  the  founder  of  the  family  from  obscure 
poverty  to  the  State  cushion. 

First  Maratha  War  with  the  British,  1779-1781. — 
While  the  four  northern  houses  of  the  Marathas  were  pursuing 
their  separate  careers,  the  Peshwa's  power  was  being  broken  to 
pieces  by  family  intrigues.  The  sixth  Peshwa,  Madhu  Rao 
Narayan,  was  born  after  his  father's  death ;  and  during  his  short 
life  of  twenty-one  years  the  power  remained  in  the  hands  of  his 
minister,  Nana  Farnavis.  Raghubd,  the  uncle  of  the  late  Pesh- 
wa, disputed  the  birth  of  the  posthumous  child  (Madhu  Rao), 
and  claimed  for  himself  the  office  of  Peshwa.  The  infant's 
guardian,  Nana  Farnavis,  having  called  in  the  French,  the 
British  at  Bombay  sided  with  Raghuba.  These  alliances 
brought  on  the  first  Maratha  war  (1779-1781),  ending  with  the 
treaty  of  Salbai  (1782).  That  treaty  ceded  the  islands  of 
Salsette  and  Elephanta  near  Bombay,  together  with  two  others 
to  the  British,  secured  to  Raghuba  a  handsome  pension,  and 
confirmed  the  child-Peshvva  in  his  sovereignty.  But  the  young 
Peshwa  only  reached  manhood  to  commit  suicide  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one. 

Second  Maratha  War,  1802-1804.  —  His  cousin,  Baji 
Rao  II.,  succeeded  him  in  1795  as  the  seventh  and  last  Peshwa. 
The  northern  Maratha  house  of  Holkar  now  took  the  lead 
among  the  Marathas,  and  forced  the  Peshwa  to  seek  protection 
from  the  English.  By  the  treaty  of  Bassein  in  1802,  Bajf  Rao 
the  Peshwa  agreed  to  receive  a  British  force  to  maintain  him  in 
his  dominions.  The  northern  Maratha  houses  combined  to 
break  down  this  treaty.  The  second  Maratha  war  followed 
(1802-1804).  General  Wellesley  (afterwards  Duke  of  Welling- 
ton) crushed  the  forces  of  the  Sindhia  and  Nagpur  branches  of 
the  INIaraihas  on  the  fields  of  Assaye  and  Argaum  in  the  south, 
while  Lord  Lake  disposed  of  the  Maratha  armies  at  Laswari  and 
Delhi  in  the  north.  In  1804,  Holkar  was  completely  defeated 
at  Dfg.  These  campaigns  led  to  large  cessions  of  territory  to 
the  British,  to  the  final  overthrow  of  French  influence  in  India, 


MA  RATH  A    WARS.  163 

and  to  the  restoration  of  the  titular  Delhi  Emperor  under  the 
protection  of  the  English. 

Last  Maratha  War,  1817-1818.— In  1 8 1 7-1 8 1 8,the  Peshwa, 
Holkar,  and  the  Bhonsla  at  Nagpur,  took  up  arms,  each  on  his 
own  account,  against  the  British,  and  were  defeated  in  detail. 
That  war  broke  the  Maratha  power  for  ever.  The  Peshwa, 
Baji  Rao,  surrendered  himself  to  the  British,  and  his  territories 
were  annexed  to  our  Bombay  Presidency.  The  Peshwa  re- 
mained a  British  pensioner  at  Bithur,  near  Cawnpur  in  Northern 
India,  on  a  magnificent  allowance,  till  his  death.  His  adopted 
son  grew  up  into  the  infamous  Nana  Sahib  of  the  Mutiny  of 
1857,  when  the  last  relic  of  the  Peshwas  disappeared  from  the 
eyes  of  men. 

Materials  for  Reference. 

Among  the  original  authorities  easily  available  to  the  English  reader 
for  Maratha  history  may  be  mentioned: — (i)  James  Grant  DuiVs  History 
of  the  Mardthds,  3  vols.  (Bombay  reprint,  1S63) ;  (2)  Edward  Scott 
Waring's  History  of  the  Mardthds  (quarto,  1810);  (3)  Major  William 
Thorn's  Memoir  of  the  War  in  India  conducted  by  General  Lord  Lake 
(quarto,  1818)  ;  (4)  Sidney  J.  Owen's  Selections  from  the  Despatches  of  the 
Marquess  Welles  ley  (1877);  (5)  Selections  frotn  the  Indian  Despatches 
of  the  Duke  of  Wellington  (1880);  (6)  Henry  T.  Prinsep's  Narrative  of 
Political  and  Military  Transactions  of  British  India  under  the  Marquess  of 
Hastings  (quarto,  1820).  The  very  brief  notfce  of  the  Marathas  which  the 
scope  of  the  present  work  allows,  precludes  an  exhaustive  use  of  these 
storehouses.  Keene's  volume  on  Mddhava  Rao  Sindhia  in  the  Rulers  of 
India  Series  gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  chief  Maratha  leader  in  the 
second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  leading  incidents  of  Maratha 
history  are  described  under  the  heading  of  their  respective  localities  in  the 
Imperial  Gazetteer  of  India. 


L  2 


[i64] 


CHAPTER   XII. 

Early  European  Settlements,  1500-1700. 

Europe  and  India  before  1500  A.D. — The  Muhammadan 
invaders  of  India  had  entered  from  the  north-west.  The  Christian 
conquerors  of  India  came  by  the  sea  from  the  south.  From  the 
time  of  Alexander  the  Great  (327  b.  c.)  to  that  of  Vasco  da  Gama 
(1498  A. D.),  Europe  held  little  direct  intercourse  with  the  East.  An 
occasional  traveller  brought  back  stories  of  powerful  kingdoms 
and  of  untold  wealth.  Commerce  never  ceased  entirely.  It 
was  carried  across  Western  Asia  ;  or  through  Egypt  and  the 
Red  Sea,  and  finally  fell  to  the  Italian  cities  on  the  Mediterra- 
nean which  traded  with  the  Asiatic  ports  of  the  Levant.  In 
1492,  Christopher  Columbus  sailed  westwards  under  the  Spanish 
flag  to  seek  India  beyond  the  Atlantic,  bearing  with  him  a  letter 
to  the  great  Khan  of  Tartary.     He  found  America  instead. 

Vasco  da  Gama,  1498. — An  expedition  under  Vasco  da 
Gama  started  from  LisbSn  five  years  later,  in  the  opposite 
or  eastern  direction.  It  doubled  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and 
cast  anchor  off  the  city  of  Calicut  on  the  south-western  coast 
of  India  on  the  20th  IVIay  1498,  after  a  voyage  of  nearly  eleven 
months.  From  the  first.  Da  Gama  encountered  hostility  from 
the  IMoors,  or  rather  Arabs,  who  monopolized  the  sea-borne 
trade  of  the  Malabar  coast ;  but  he  seems  to  have  found  favour 
with  the  Zamorin,  or  Hindu  Raja  of  Calicut.  After  staying 
nearly  six  months  on  the  Malabar  coast,  he  returned  to  Europe, 
bearing  with  him  the  following  letter  from  the  Zamorin  to  the 
King  of  Portugal : — '  Vasco  da  Gama,  a  nobleman  of  your 
household,  has  visited  my  kingdom,  and  has  given  me  great 
pleasure.  In  my  kingdom  there  is  abundance  of  cinnamon, 
cloves,  ginger,  pepper,  and  precious  stones.  What  I  seek  from 
thy  country  is  gold,  silver,  coral,  and  scarlet.' 


THE  PORTUGUESE  IN  INDIA.  165 

Early  Portuguese  Governors. — In  1502,  the  King  of 
Portugal  obtained  from  Pope  Alexander  VI.  a  bull  consti- 
tuting him  '  Lord  of  the  Navigation,  Conquests,  and  Trade  of 
Ethiopia,  Arabia,  Persia,  and  India/  In  that  year  Vasco  da 
Gama  set  sail  a  second  time  for  India,  with  a  fleet  numbering 
twenty  vessels.  He  formed  an  alliance  with  the  Rajas  of 
Cochin  and  Cannanore  against  the  Zamorin  of  Calicut,  and 
bombarded  the  latter  in  his  capital.  In  1503,  the  great 
Affonso  de  Albuquerque  sailed  to  the  East  in  command  of  one 
of  three  expeditions  from  Portugal.  In  1505,  a  large  fleet 
of  twenty-two  sail  and  fifteen  hundred  men  was  sent  under 
Francisco  de  Almeida,  the  first  Portuguese  Viceroy  of 
India.  In  1509,  Albuquerque  succeeded  him  as  Governor, 
and  widely  extended  the  area  of  Portuguese  influence.  Having 
failed  in  an  attack  upon  Calicut,  Albuquerque  seized  Goa 
in  1510,  which  has  since  remained  the  capital  of  Portuguese 
India.  Then,  sailing  round  Ceylon,  he  captured  IMalacca,  the 
key  to  the  navigation  of  the  Indian  Archipelago,  and  opened  up 
trade  with  Siam  and  the  Spice  Islands.  Lastly,  Albuquerque 
sailed  back  westwards,  and,  after  penetrating  into  the  Persian 
Gulf  and  the  Red  Sea,  returned  to  Goa,  only  to  die,  in  151 5. 
In  1524,  Vasco  da  Gama  came  out  to  the  East  for  the  third 
time,  and  died  at  Cochin  in  the  same  year. 

Cruelties  of  the  Portuguese  in  India. — For  exactly  a 
century,  from  1500  to  1600,  the  Portuguese  enjoyed  a  mono- 
poly of  Oriental  trade.  But  the  Portuguese  had  neither  the 
political  strength  nor  the  personal  character  necessary  to  found 
an  empire  in  India.  Their  national  temper  had  been  formed 
in  their  contest  with  the  INIoors  at  home.  They  were  not 
traders,  but  knights-errant  and  crusaders,  who  looked  on  every 
pagan  as  an  enemy  of  Portugal  and  of  Christ.  Only  those 
who  have  read  the  contemporary  narratives  of  their  conquests, 
can  realize  the  superstition  and  the  cruelty  with  which  their 
history  in  the  Indies  is  stained.  Albuquerque  alone  endea- 
voured to  win  the  goodwill  of  the  natives,  and  to  win  the 
friendship  of  the  Hindu  princes.  In  such  veneration  was 
his  memory  held,  that  the  Hindus  of  Goa,  and  even  the 
Muhammadans,  were  wont  to  repair  to  his  tomb,  and  there  to 


1 66  EARL  V  EUROPEAN  SE  TTLEMENTS. 

utter  their  complaints,  as  if  in  the  presence  of  his  spirit,  and 
to  call  upon  God  to  deliver  them  from  the  tyranny  of  his 
successors. 

Downfall  of  the  Portuguese  in  India. — In  1580,  the 
Portuguese  crown  was  united  with  that  of  Spain  under  Philip  II. 
The  interests  of  Portugal  in  Asia  were  henceforth  subordinated 
to  the  European  interests  of  Spain.  In  1640,  Portugal  again 
became  a  separate  kingdom.  But  in  the  meanwhile  two 
hardier  rivals,  the  Dutch  and  English,  had  appeared  in  the 
Eastern  seas,  and  the  Portuguese  empire  of  the  Indies  was 
withering  away  as  rapidly  as  it  had  sprung  up. 

The  Portuguese  Possessions  in  1892. — The  only  posses- 
sions in  India  now  remaining  to  the  Portuguese  are  Goa, 
Daman,  and  Diu,  all  on  the  west  coast,  with  an  area  of 
1 100  square  miles,  and  a  population  of  under  500,000  souls. 
There  are  also  about  500  Portuguese  in  British  India,  besides 
a  larger  number  of  mixed  descent.  Over  30,000  of  mingled 
blood  are  found  in  Bombay  ('  Portuguese '  half-castes),  and 
20,000  in  Bengal,  chiefly  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Dacca  and 
Chittagong.  The  latter  are  known  as  Firinghis;  and,  except- 
ing that  they  retain  the  Roman  Catholic  faith  and  European 
surnames,  are  scarcely  to  be  distinguished,  either  by  colour, 
language,  or  habits  of  life,  from  the  natives  among  whom 
they  live. 

The  Dutch  in  India. — The  Dutch  were  the  first  European 
nation  who  broke  through  the  Portuguese  monopoly.  During 
the  1 6th  century,  Bruges,  Antwerp,  and  Amsterdam  became 
the  great  emporia  whence  Indian  produce,  imported  by  the 
Portuguese,  was  distributed  to  Germany,  and  even  to  England. 
At  first  the  Dutch,  following  in  the  track  of  the  English, 
attempted  to  find  their  way  to  India  by  sailing  round  the  north 
coasts  of  Europe  and  Asia.  William  Barents  is  honourably 
known  as  the  leader  of  three  of  these  Dutch  arctic  expeditions, 
in  the  last  of  which  he  perished.  The  first  Dutchman  to 
double  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  was  Cornelius  Houtman,  who 
reached  Sumatra  and  Bantam  in  1596.  Forthwith  private  com- 
panies for  trade  with  the  East  were  formed  in  many  parts  of 
Holland  or  the  United  Provinces;  but  in  1602  they  were  all 


THE  DUTCH  IN  INDIA.  167 

amalgamated  by  the  States-General  into  *  The  Dutch  East 
India  Company.'  In  1619,  the  Dutch  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  city  of  Batavia  in  Java,  as  the  seat  of  the  supreme  govern- 
ment of  their  possessions  in  the  East  Indies.  Their  principal 
factory  had  previously  been  at  Amboyna.  At  about  the  same 
time  the  Dutch  discovered  the  coast  of  Australia,  and  in  North 
America  they  founded  the  city  of  New  Amsterdam  or  Manhat- 
tan, now  New  York. 

Dutch  Supremacy  in  the  Eastern  Seas. — During  the  17th 
century,  the  Dutch  maritime  power  was  the  first  in  the  world. 
Their  memorable  massacre  of  the  English  at  Amboyna,  in  1623, 
forced  the  British  Company  to  retire  from  the  Eastern  Archipe- 
lago to  the  continent  of  India,  and  thus  led  to  the  foundation  of 
our  Indian  Empire.  The  long  naval  wars  and  bloody  battles 
between  the  English  and  the  Dutch  in  the  Eastern  seas,  were 
not  terminated  until  William  of  Orange  united  the  two  countries 
in  1689.  In  the  Indian  Archipelago  the  Dutch  ruled  for  a  time 
without  a  rival,  and  gradually  expelled  the  Portuguese  from 
almost  all  their  territorial  possessions.  In  1635,  they  occupied 
Formosa ;  in  1640,  they  took  Malacca — a  blow  from  which  the 
Portuguese  never  recovered;  in  1647,  they  were  trading  at 
Sadras,  on  the  South-eastern  coast  of  India;  in  1651,  they 
founded  a  colony  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  as  a  half-way 
station  to  the  East ;  in  1652,  they  built  their  first  Indian  factory 
at  Palakollu,  on  the  Madras  coast;  in  1658,  they  captured 
Jaffnapatam,  the  last  stronghold  of  the  Portuguese  in  Ceylon. 
In  1664,  they  wrested  from  the  Portuguese  all  the  earlier  Portu- 
guese settlements  on  the  pepper-bearing  coast  of  Malabar ;  and 
in  1669,  they  expelled  the  Portuguese  from  St.  Thomd  and  from 
Macassar. 

Short-sighted  Policy  of  the  Dutch. — The  fall  of  the 
Dutch  colonial  empire  resulted  from  its  short-sighted  commercial 
policy.  It  was  deliberately  based  upon  a  strict  monopoly  of 
the  trade  in  spices,  and  remained  from  first  to  last  destitute  of 
sound  economical  principles.  Like  the  Phoenicians  of  old,  the 
Dutch  stopped  short  of  no  acts  of  cruelty  towards  their  rivals  in 
commerce ;  but,  unlike  the  Phoenicians,  they  failed  to  introduce 
their  civilization  among  the  natives  with  whom  they  came  in 


i68  EARLY  EUROPEAN  SETTLEMENTS. 

contact.  The  knell  of  Dutch  supremacy  in  India  was  sounded 
by  Clive,  when  in  1758  he  attacked  the  Dutch  at  Chinsurah 
both  by  land  and  water,  and  forced  them  to  an  ignominious 
capiulation.  During  the  great  French  wars  from  1793  to  181 5, 
England  wrested  from  Holland  her  Eastern  colonies  ;  but  Java 
was  restored  in  18 16,  and  Sumatra  exchanged  for  Malacca  in 
1824.  At  the  present  time,  the  Dutch  flag  flies  nowhere  on  the 
mainland  of  India.  Quaint  houses  with  Dutch  tiles  and  orna- 
ments in  the  now  British  towns  of  Chinsurah,  Negapatam, 
Jaff"napatam,  and  at  several  petty  ports  on  the  Coromandel  and 
Malabar  coasts,  together  with  the  formal  canals  or  water-channels 
in  some  of  these  old  settlements,  remind  the  traveller  of  scenes 
in  the  Netherlands. 

Early  English  Adventurers,  1496-1596. — The  earliest 
English  attempts  to  reach  India  were  made  by  the  North-west 
or  Arctic  Sea.  In  1496,  Henry  VII.  granted  letters  patent  to 
John  Cabot  and  his  three  sons  (one  of  whom  was  the  famous 
Sebastian)  to  fit  out  two  ships  for  the  exploration  of  this  North- 
western route.  They  failed,  but  discovered  the  island  of  New- 
foundland, and  sailed  along  the  coast  of  America  from  Labrador 
to  Virginia.  In  1553,  the  ill-fated  Sir  Hugh  Willoughby 
attempted  to  force  a  passage  north-east,  through  the  Arctic  Sea 
along  the  north  of  Europe  and  Asia,  the  successful  accomplish- 
ment of  which  has  been  reserved  for  a  Swedish  olTicer  in  our  own 
day.  Sir  Hugh  perished ;  but  his  second  in  command,  Chan- 
cellor, reached  a  harbour  on  the  White  Sea,  now  Archangel. 
Many  subsequent  attempts  were  made  to  find  a  North-west 
passage  from  1576  to  161 6.  They  have  left  on  our  modern 
maps  the  imperishable  names  of  Frobisher,  Davis,  Hudson,  and 
Baffin.  Meanwhile,  in  1577,  Sir  Francis  Drake  had  sailed 
round  the  globe,  and  on  his  way  home  had  touched  at  Ternate, 
one  of  the  Moluccas,  the  king  of  which  island  agreed  to  supply 
the  English  nation  with  all  the  cloves  it  produced.  The  first 
modern  Englishman  known  to  have  visited  India  was  Thomas 
Stephens,  rector  of  the  Jesuits'  College  in  Salsette,  in  1579.  In 
1583,  three  English  merchants — Ralph  Fitch,  James  Newberry, 
and  Leedes — went  out  to  India  overland  as  mercantile  adven- 
turers.     The   jealous   Portuguese  threw   them   into  prison  at 


FOUNDATION  OF  THE  EASl  INDIA   COMPANY.     169 

Ormuz,  and  again  at  Goa.  At  length  Newberry  settled  down 
as  a  shopkeeper  at  Goa ;  Leedes  entered  the  service  of  the 
Mughal  Emperor;  and  Fitch,  after  lengthened  wanderings  in 
Ceylon,  Bengal,  Pegu,  Siam,  IMalacca,  and  other  parts  of  the 
East  Indies,  returned  to  England.  The  defeat  of  the  '  Invin- 
cible Armada,'  sent  by  the  united  kingdom  of  Spain  and 
Portugal  against  the  English  in  1588,  gave  a  fresh  stimulus 
to  our  maritime  enterprise  ;  and  the  successful  voyage  of  Cor- 
nelius Houtman  in  1596  showed  the  way  round  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  into  waters  hitherto  monopolized  by  the 
Portuguese. 

English  East  India  Companies. — The  English  East  India 
Company  had  its  origin  in  the  commercial  rivalry  between  Lon- 
don and  Amsterdam.  In  1599,  the  Dutch  raised  the  price  of 
pepper  against  the  English  from  3J.  to  6j.  and  ^s.  per  pound. 
The  merchants  of  London  held  a  meeting  on  the  22nd  Septem- 
ber 1599,  at  Founders'  Hall,  with  the  Lord  INIayor  in  the  chair, 
and  agreed  to  form  an  association  for  the  purposes  of  trading 
directly  with  India.  Queen  Elizabeth  also  sent  Sir  John  INIilden- 
hall  by  way  of  Constantinople  to  the  INIughal  Emperor  to  apply 
for  privileges  for  an  English  company.  On  the  31st  December 
1600,  the  English  East  India  Company  was  incorporated  by 
royal  charter,  under  the  title  of '  The  Governor  and  Company 
of  Merchants  of  London  trading  to  the  East  Indies.'  The 
original  Company  had  only  125  shareholders,  and  a  capital  of 
£70,000,  which  was  raised  to  £400,000  in  1612,  when  voyages 
were  first  undertaken  on  the  joint-stock  account.  Courten's 
Association,  known  as  'The  Assada  Merchants,'  from  a  factory 
subsequently  founded  by  it  in  Madagascar,  was  established  in 
1635,  but,  after  a  period  of  keen  rivalry,  it  combined  with  the 
London  Company  in  1C50.  In  1655,  the  '  Company  of  Mer- 
chant Adventurers'  obtained  a  charter  from  Cromwell  to  trade 
with  India,  but  united  with  the  original  Company  two  years 
later.  A  more  formidable  rival  subsequently  appeared  in  the 
English  Company,  or  '  General  Society  trading  to  the  East 
Indies,'  which  was  incorporated  under  powerful  patronage  in 
1698,  with  a  capital  of  two  millions  sterling.  However,  a  com- 
promise was  effected  through  the  arbitration  of  Lord  Godolphin, 


170  EARLY  EUROPEAN  SETTLEMENTS. 

and  the  'London'  and  the  'English'  Companies  were  finally 
amalgamated  in  1709,  under  the  style  of  'The  United  Company 
of  ]\Ierchants  of  England  trading  to  the  East  Indies.' 

The  First  Voyages  of  the  London  Company. — The 
Indian  Archipelago  was  the  destination  of  the  first  English  ships 
that  penetrated  into  Eastern  seas.  Captain  Lancaster,  in  the 
pioneer  voyage  of  the  Company  (1602),  established  commercial 
relations  with  the  King  of  Achin,  and  founded  a  factory,  or 
'  house  of  trade,'  at  Bantam.  In  the  following  years,  cargoes  of 
pepper  and  rich  spices  were  brought  back  from  Sumatra  and 
the  Moluccas,  Banda,  Amboyna,  and  Bantam.  The  jealous 
Portuguese  were  still  supreme  along  the  western  coast  of  India, 
and  resisted  English  intrusion  by  force  of  arms.  In  161 1,  Sir 
Henry  Middleton  resolutely  took  on  board  a  cargo  of  Indian 
goods  at  Cambay  in  the  teeth  of  Portuguese  opposition.  In 
16 1 5  occurred  the  famous  sea-fight  of  Swally,  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Tapti  river  off  the  Bombay  coast,  in  which  Captain  Best 
four  times  beat  back  an  overwhelming  force  of  Portuguese 
ships,  and  for  ever  inspired  the  minds  of  the  natives  with  respect 
for  English  bravery.  In  the  same  year.  Sir  Thomas  Roe,  sent 
out  by  King  James  I.  as  ambassador  to  the  court  of  the  Great 
Mughal  (the  Emperor  Jahangir),  succeeded  in  obtaining  favour- 
able conces?ions  for  English  trade. 

The  Massacre  of  Amboyna,  1623. — The  Dutch  in  the 
Spice  Islands  proved  more  dangerous  rivals  to  the  English 
than  the  Portuguese  in  India  had  done.  The  massacre  of 
Amboyna,  which  made  so  deep  an  impression  on  the  English 
mind,  marked  the  climax  of  the  Dutch  hatred  to  us  in  the 
Eastern  seas.  After  long  and  bitter  recriminations,  the  Dutch 
seized  our  Captain  Towerson  at  Amboyna,  with  9  Englishmen, 
9  Japanese,  and  i  Portuguese  sailor,  in  February  1623.  They 
tortured  the  prisoners  at  their  trial,  and  found  them  guilty  of  a 
conspiracy  to  surprise  the  garrison.  The  victims  were  executed 
in  the  heat  of  passion,  and  their  torture  and  judicial  murder  led 
to  an  outburst  of  indignation  in  England.  Ultimately,  commis- 
sioners were  appointed  to  adjust  the  claims  of  the  Dutch  and 
English  nations;  and  the  Dutch  had  to  pay  a  sum  of  £3615  as 
satisfaction  to  the  heirs  of  the  servants  of  the  English  Company 


EARLY  ENGLISH  SETTLEMENTS  IN  INDIA.        171 

who  had  suffered.  But  from  that  time  the  Dulch  remained 
masters  of  Banda  and  the  Spice  Islands.  They  monopolized 
the  whole  trade  of  the  Indian  Archipelago,  until  the  great  naval 
wars  which  commenced  in  1793. 

Early  English  Settlements  in  Madras. — The  result  of 
the  massacre  of  Amboyna  wasto  drive  the  English  from  the 
Spice  Islands  to  the  mainland  of  India.  Their  first  settlements 
were  on  the  Coromandel  coast.  An  English  agency  had  been 
established  at  IMasulipatam  as  early  as  161 1  ;  and  this  was  now 
(1632)  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  factory  under  the  authority  of 
2i  farnidn,  known  as  'the  go\d&n /a7-mdn,'  from  the  Sultan  of 
Golconda.  A  few  years  earlier  (1626)  an  English  factory  had 
also  been  founded  at  Armagaon  (now  a  ruined  place  in  Nellore 
District),  which  mounted  12  guns,  and  employed  23  European 
agents.  At  last,  in  1639,  Mr.  Francis  Day,  the  Chief  of  Arma- 
gaon, bought  from  the  Raja  of  Chandragiri  a  more  favourable 
site  lower  down  the  coast,  called  Madaraspatam  or  Chennapatam. 
Here  he  built  Fort  St.  George,  and  became  the  founder  of 
Madras.  Madras  was  the  first  territorial  possession  of  the 
Company  in  India.  For  some  years  it  remained  subordinate  to 
the  English  factory  at  Bantam  in  Java,  but  in  1653  it  was 
created  an  independent  Presidency. 

Early  English  Settlements  in  Bombay. — On  the  west 
coast  of  India,  Surat  was  long  the  headquarters  of  English 
trade.  The  factory  was  established  here  in  16 12-15,  with 
agencies  at  Gogra,  Ahmadabad,  and  Cambay,  as  the  first-fruits 
of  the  naval  victory  over  the  Portuguese  off  Swally.  At  this 
time  Surat  was  the  principal  port  in  the  Mughal  Empire,  through 
which  flowed  all  trade  between  Northern  India  and  Europe. 
In  1 661,  the  island  of  Bombay  was  ceded  by  Portugal  to  the 
British  Crown,  as  part  of  the  dowry  of  Catharine  of  Braganza, 
queen  of  Charles  II. ;  but  it  was  not  delivered  up  by  the  Portu- 
guese until  1665.  In  1668,  King  Charles  II.  sold  his  rights 
over  Bombay  to  the  East  India  Company  for  an  annual  jiay- 
ment  of  £10.  The  city  of  Bombay  was  then  a  mere  fishing 
village,  dominated  by  an  old  Portuguese  fort,  and  notorious 
even  in  the  East  for  its  unhcalthiness.  But  it  had  the  supreme 
advantage  of  being  placed  on  an  island,  secure  from  the  raids  of 


172  EARLY  EUROPEAN  SETTLEMENTS. 

Maratha  horsemen.  In  1663,  the  city  of  Surat,  although  not 
the  Enghsh  factory,  had  been  pillaged  by  the  Maratha  leader, 
Sivajf.  Accordingly,  it  was  thought  wiser  to  withdraw  the  seat 
of  the  Western  Presidency  from  Surat  to  Bombay.  This  was 
ordered  in  1685,  and  accomplished  two  years  afterwards 
(1687). 

Early  English.  Settlements  in  Bengal. — The  settlements 
in  Bengal  were  later  in  time,  and  at  first  more  precarious,  than 
those  in  Madras  or  Bombay.  Small  agencies,  offshoots  from 
Surat,  were  opened  at  Ajmere,  at  Agra,  and  as  far  east  as  Patna, 
by  1620;  but  access  was  not  gained  to  the  Bengal  seaboard 
until  1634.  In  that  year  ^.  farmdn  was  granted  by  the  Mughal 
Emperor,  allowing  the  Company  to  trade  in  Bengal.  Their 
ships,  however,  were  to  resort  only  to  Pippli,  in  Orissa,  a  port 
now  left  far  inland  by  the  sea,  and  of  which  the  very  site  has  to 
be  guessed.  The  factory  at  Hugh'  in  Lower  Bengal  was  estab- 
lished in  1640,  and  that  at  Balasor  in  Orissa  in  1642.  Three 
years  later,  in  1645,  Mr.  Gabriel  Broughton,  surgeon  of  the 
Hopewell,  obtained  from  the  Emperor  Shah  Jahan  exclusive 
privileges  of  trading  for  the  Company  in  Bengal,  as  a  reward 
for  his  professional  services.  In  1681,  the  English  factories  in 
Bengal  were  separated  from  Madras ;  and  ]\Ir.  Hedges  was 
appointed  agent  and  governor  of  the  Company's  affairs  in  the 
Bay  of  Bengal,  and  of  the  subordinate  factories  at  Kasimbazar, 
Patna,  Balasor,  Maldah,  and  Dacca.  But  the  English  had  not 
yet  acquired  any  territorial  possessions  in  Bengal,  as  they  had 
in  Madras  and  Bombay.  Their  little  settlements,  planted  in 
the  midst  of  populous  cities,  were  exposed  to  every  outburst  of 
hostility  or  caprice  of  the  Native  governors.  In  1686,  the 
Nawab  of  Bengal,  Shaista  Khan,  issued  orders  confiscating 
all  the  English  factories  in  Bengal.  The  merchants  at  Hugh', 
under  their  president,  Job  Charnock,  retreated  about  26  miles 
down  the  river  Hugli  to  Sutanatf,  then  a  village  amid  the 
swamps,  now  a  northern  quarter  of  Calcutta.  Here  they  laid 
the  foundations  of  the  original  Fort  William;  and  in  1700  they 
purchased  from  Prince  Azfm,  son  of  the  Emperor  Aurangzeb, 
the  three  villages  of  Sutanati,  Kalikata,  and  Govindpur,  which 
were  united  to  form  the  modern  Calcutta. 


OTHER  EAST  INDIA    COMPANIES.  1 73 

The  English  Company  embarks  on  Territorial  Sway. — 

It  was  about  this  same  time  (1689)  that  the  Company  deter- 
mined to  build  up  its  power  in  India  by  acquiring  territorial 
possessions,  so  as  to  enable  it  to  resist  the  oppression  of  the 
Mughals  and  Maralhas.  With  that  view  they  passed  the  fol- 
lowing resolution  for  the  guidance  of  their  servants  in  India : 
— *  The  increase  of  our  revenue  is  the  subject  of  our  care,  as 
much  as  our  trade;  'tis  that  must  maintain  our  force  when 
twenty  accidents  may  interrupt  our  trade ;  'tis  that  must  make 
us  a  nation  in  India.'  With  the  same  view,  Sir  John  Child 
was  appointed  '  Governor-General  and  Admiral  of  India,'  with 
full  power  to  make  peace  or  war,  and  to  arrange  for  the  safety 
of  the  Company's  possessions. 

Other  '  East  India  Companies.' — The  Portuguese  at  no 
time  attempted  to  found  a  large  mercantile  company,  but  kept 
their  Eastern  trade  as  a  royal  monopoly.  The  first  private 
company  was  the  English,  established  in  1600.  It  was  quickly 
followed  by  the  Dutch,  in  1602.  The  Dutch  conquests,  how- 
ever, were  made  in  the  name  of  the  State,  and  ranked  as  national 
colonies,  not  as  private  possessions.  Next  came  the  French, 
whose  first  East  India  Company  was  founded  in  1604;  the 
second,  in  1611;  the  third,  in  1615;  the  fourth  (Richelieu's), 
in  1642;  the  fifth  (Colbert's),  in  1644.  The  sixth  was  formed 
by  the  union  of  the  French  East  and  West  India,  Senegal,  and 
China  Companies,  under  the  name  of  '  The  Company  of  the 
Indies,'  in  1719.  The  exclusive  privileges  of  this  Company 
were,  by  the  French  King's  decree,  suspended  in  1769;  and  the 
Company  was  abolished  by  the  National  Assembly  in  1790. 
The  first  Danish  East  India  Company  was  formed  in  16 12,  and 
the  second  in  1670.  '  The  Danish  settlements  of  Tranquebar 
and  Serampur  were  both  founded  in  1616,  and  acquired  by  the 
English  by  purchase  from  Denmaik  in  1845.  Other  Danish 
settlements  on  the  mainland  of  India  were  Porto  Novo,  with 
Eddova  and  Holcheri,  on  the  Malabar  coast.  The  Company 
started  by  the  Scotch  in  1695  may  be  regarded  as  having  been 
still-born.  The  '  Royal  Company  of  the  Philippine  Islands,' 
incorporated  by  the  King  of  Spain  in  1733,  had  little  to  do  with 
the  Indian  continent.     Of  more  importance  was  '  The  Ostend 


174  EARLY  EUROPEAN  SETTLEMENTS. 

Company,'  incorporated  by  the  Austrian  monarch  Charles  VI, 
in  1723,  its  foctors  being  chiefly  persons  who  had  served  the 
Dutch  and  English  Companies.  But  the  opposition  of  the 
European  maritime  powers  forced  the  Court  of  Vienna  in  1727 
to  suspend  the  Company's  charter  for  seven  years.  The  Ostend 
Company,  after  a  precarious  existence,  prolonged  by  the  desire 
of  the  Austrian  Government  to  participate  in  the  growing  East 
India  trade,  became  bankrupt  in  1784.  The  last  nations  of 
Europe  to  engage  in  maritime  trade  with  India  were  Sweden  and 
Prussia.  When  the  Ostend  Company  was  suspended,  a  number 
of  its  servants  were  thrown  out  of  employment.  Mr.  Henry 
Koning,  of  Stockholm,  took  advantage  of  the  knowledge  which 
these  men  had  acquired  of  the  East,  and  obtained  a  charter  for 
the  '  Swedish  Company,'  dated  13th  June  1731.  Its  operations 
were,  however,  of  little  importance.  King  Frederick  the  Great 
of  Prussia  gave  his  patronage  in  1750  and  1753  to  two  short- 
lived Prussian  Companies  trading  to  the  East. 

The  Survival  of  the  Fittest. — The  Indian  trade  was  thus 
a  prize  for  which  many  of  the  European  nations  strove  with 
each  other  during  four  hundred  years ;  and  dreams  of  an  Indian 
Empire  had  allured  some  of  the  greatest  European  monarchs. 
The  English  East  India  Company  outlived  all  its  rivals.  To 
the  Portuguese  and  Spaniards,  India  seemed  a  second  Peru 
where  diadems  might  be  torn  from  the  brows  of  princes:  another 
New  World  to  plunder  and  to  convert.  To  the  Dutch,  it  formed 
a  great  market  which  afforded,  however,  little  room  for  indi- 
vidual enterprise,  as  the  profit  from  the  India  trade  was  a  strictly 
guarded  national  monopoly.  To  the  French,  India  was  a 
theatre  for  lucrative  intrigue,  in  which  splendid  reputations 
might  be  won ;  but  reputations  fatal  in  the  end  to  their  owners, 
and  sterile  of  results  to  the  nation.  The  methods  of  the  English 
Company  were  less  showy,  but  more  sure.  Its  youth  was 
passed  under  the  stern  self-restraints  imposed  by  having  to 
make  a  hazardous  private  enterprise  pay.  It  laid  in  a  store  of 
knowledge  of  the  country  before  it  embarked  on  any  scheme  of 
conquest.  At  length,  when  the  breaking  up  of  the  Mughal 
Empire  compelled  it  to  choose  between  being  driven  out  of 
India  or  ruling  over  India,  it  firmly  made  up  its  mind.     No 


EARL  Y  EUR  OPE  AN  SE  TTLEMENTS,  1 7  5 

sufF«^rings,  no  disasters  ever  shook  for  a  moment  its  resolution ; 
nor  did  the  British  nation  ever  fail  its  East  India  Company  in 
any  crisis  of  peril. 


Materials  for  Reference. 

A  chronological  list  of  the  most  noteworthy  of  the  mediecval  travellers 
to  India  from  the  ninth  to  the  sixteenth  centuries  is  given  in  my  Indian 
Empire,  chapter  xiv.  Among  authorities  available  to  the  English  reader 
may  be  noted — (i)  Sir  George  Birdwood's  Report  on  ike  Miscellaneous  Old 
Records  in  the  India  Office;  (2)  Peter  Auber's  Analysis  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  East  India  Ooinpany  and  Bruce's  Antials  of  the  Honourable 
East  India  Company ;  (3)  the  Abbe  Raynal's  History  of  the  Settle- 
ments and  Trade  of  the  Europeans  in  the  East  and  IVest  Indies  (not 
always  accurate)  ;  (4)  Orme's  History  of  Alilitary  Transactions  in  Indo- 
stan  (a  masterpiece  of  minute  history)  ;  (5)  Hamilton's  New  Account  of  the 
East  Indies ;  (6)  Colonel  Malleson's  admirable  History  of  the  French  in 
India;  (7)  Mr.  G.  W.  Forrest's  valuable  Reports  on  the  Government 
Records  at  Calcutta,  Madras,  and  Bombay ;  (8)  Mr.  Morse  Stephens' 
Albuqiierqtie,  and  the  Portuguese  Settlements  in  India,  in  the  Rulers  of 
India  Series  ;  (9)  the  articles  on  the  various  settlements  in  The  Ivipcrial 
Gazetteer  of  India  ;  (10)  the  chapters  in  Mill's  IIisto?y  of  British  India, 
which  deal  with  this  period,  are  fairly  trustworthy. 


Li76] 


CHAPTER     XIII. 
The  Foundation  of  British  Rule  in  India,  1746-1805. 

The  object  of  this  history  is  to  give  a  concise  survey  ot  the 
Indian  peoples.  What  English  rule  has  done  for  those  peoples 
may  best  be  realized  by  comparing  India  under  the  Muhamma- 
dans,  as  shown  in  Chapters  IX.  and  X.,  with  India  at  the  present 
day.  Such  a  comparison  lies  beyond  the  scope  of  this  work ; 
and  a  brief  narrative  of  events  must  here  suffice. 


1758. 


Governors. 
(afterwards 


Lord) 


1760 
1760 


Chronology  :  Clive  to  the  Marquess  of  Lansdowne. 

British  Governors  and  Governors-General  of  India  under 
the  East  India  Company,  i  758-1858. 

1805.  Marquess  Cornwallis  (second 
time). 

1805.  Sir  George  Barlow,  Bart. 
(temporary). 

1807.   Lord  (aft.  Earl  of)  Minto. 

181 3.  Earl  of  Moira  (Marquess  of 
Hastings). 

1S23.  John  Adam  (officiating). 

1S23.  Lord  (aft.  Earl)  Amherst. 

1828.  \Vm.  BulterworthBayley  (offi- 
ciating). 

1828.  Lord  William  Cavendish  Ben- 
tinck. 

1835.  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe,  after- 
wards Lord  Metcalfe 
(temporary). 

1836.  Lord  (aft.  Earl  of)  Auckland. 
1842.  Lord    (aft.   Earl    of)    Ellen- 
borough. 

1844.  Sir  Henry  (aft.  Viscount) 
Hardinge. 

1848.  Earl  (afterwards  Marquess)  of 
Dalhousie. 

1856.  Viscount  (aft.  Earl)  Canning. 


Colonel 
Clive 
J.  Z.  Holwell  (officiating). 
H.  Vansittart. 

1764.  John  Spencer  (officiating). 

1765.  Lord  Clive  (second  time). 
1767.  Harry  Verelst. 
1769.  John  Cartier. 
1772.  Warren  Hastings. 

Governors-General. 

1774.  Warren  Hastings. 

17S5.  Sir  John  Macpherson,  Bart. 
(officiating). 

1786.  Earl  (aft.  Marquess)  Corn- 
wallis. 

1793.  Sir  John  Shore,  Bart.  (Lord 
Teignmouth). 

1 79S.  Sir  Alured  Clarke(officiating). 

1798.  Earl  of  Momington  (Marquess 
Wellesley). 


FRENCH  WARS  IN  THE  KARNATIK.  \11 

Viceroys  of  India  under  the  Crown,  1858-92. 


i8.t8.  Earl  Canning. 

1862.  Earl  of  Elgin. 

1863.  Sir  Robert  Napier,  afterwards 

Lord    Napier  of  Magdala 
(officiating). 

1863.  Sir  William   Denison  (offici- 

ating). 

1864.  Sir    John     Lawrence,     Bart. 

(Lord  Lawrence). 
1869.  Earl  of  Mayo. 


1873.  Sir  John  Strachey  (officiating). 
1872.  Lord  Napier  of  Merchistoun 

(officiating). 
1S72.  Lord(aft.Earlof)Northbrook, 
JS76.  Lord  (aft.  Earl  of)  Lytton. 
iSSo.  Marquess  of  Ripon. 
1884.  Earl  of  Dufferin  (afterwards 

Marquess  of  Dufferin  and 

Ava) . 
i838.  Marquess  of  Lansdowne. 


The  French  and  English  in  the  South. — The  political 
history  of  the  British  in  India  begins  in  the  eighteenth  century 
with  the  French  wars  in  the  Karnatik.  It  was  at  Arcot,  in  the 
Madras  Presidency,  that  Clive's  star  first  shone  forth ;  and  it  was 
on  the  field  of  Wandiwash  in  the  same  Presidency  that  the 
French  dream  of  an  Indian  Empire  was  for  ever  shattered. 
Fort  St.  George,  or  Madras,  was,  as  we  have  seen,  the  first  ter- 
ritorial possession  of  the  English  on  the  mainland  of  India, 
having  been  founded  by  Mr.  Francis  Day  in  1639.  The  French 
settlement  of  Pondicherri,  about  100  miles  lower  down  the 
Coromandel  coast,  was  established  in  1674;  and  for  many 
years  the  English  and  French  traded  side  by  side  without  rivalry 
or  territorial  ambition. 

Southern  India  after  1707. — On  the  death  of  the  Mughal 
emperor,  Aurangzeb,  in  1707,  Southern  India  gratiually  became 
independent  of  Delhi.  In  the  Deccan  proper,  the  Nizam-ul 
Miilk  founded  a  hereditary  dynasty,  with  Haidarabad  for  its 
cai)ital,  which  exercised  a  nominal  authority  over  the  entire 
south.  The  Karnatik,  or  the  lowland  tract  between  the  central 
plateau  and  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  was  ruled  by  a  deputy  ot  the 
Nizam,  known  as  the  Nawab  of  Arcot,  who  in  his  turn  asserted 
claims  to  hereditary  sovereignty.  Farther  south,  Trichinopoli 
was  the  capital  of  a  Hindu  Raja ;  Tanjore  formed  another 
Hindu  kingdom  under  a  degenerate  descendant  of  the  Maratha 
leader,  Sivajf.  Inland,  Mysore  was  gradually  growing  into  a 
third  Hindu  State ;  while  everywhere  local  chieftains,  called 
pdkgdrs  or  7idyaks,  were  in  semi-independent  possession  of 
citadels  or  hill-forts.     These  represented  the  feudal  chiefs  or 


178    THE  FOUNDATION  OF  BRITISH  RULE  IN  INDIA. 

fief-holders  of  the  ancient  Hindu  kingdom  of  Vijayanagar ;  and 
many  of  them  had  maintained  a  practical  independence,  subject 
to  irregular  payments  of  tribute,  since  the  fall  of  that  kingdom 
in  1565  (see  ante,  pp.  129,  130). 

Our  First  War  in  the  Karnatik,  1746-1748. — Such  was 
the  condition  of  affairs  in  Southern  India  when  war  broke  out 
between  the  English  and  the  French  in  Europe  in  1743. 
Dupleix  was  at  that  time  the  French  Governor  of  Pondicherri, 
and  Clive  was  a  young  civil  servant  or  '  writer  '  at  Madras.  An 
English  fleet  appeared  first  on  the  Coromandel  coast,  but  Dupleix 
by  a  judicious  present  induced  the  Nawab  of  Arcot  to  interpose 
and  forbid  hostilities.  In  1746,  a  French  squadron  arrived, 
under  the  command  of  La  Bourdonnais.  Madras  surrendered 
to  it  almost  without  a  blow;  and  the  only  settlement  left  to  the 
English  was  Fort  St.  David,  some  miles  south  of  Pondicherri, 
where  Clive  and  a  few  other  fugitives  sought  shelter.  The 
Nawab  of  Arcot,  faithful  to  his  impartial  policy,  marched  with 
10,000  men  to  drive  the  French  out  of  Madras,  but  was  defeated. 
In  1748,  an  Enghsh  fleet  arrived  under  Admiral  Boscawen, 
and  attempted  the  siege  of  Pondicherri,  while  a  land  force 
co-operated  under  Major  Stringer  Lawrence.  The  French  re- 
pulsed all  attacks;  but  the  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  in  the 
same  year,  restored  Madras  to  the  English. 

Dupleix. — The  first  war  with  the  French  was  merely  an  in- 
cident in  the  greater  contest  in  Europe.  The  second  war  had 
its  origin  in  Indian  politics,  while  England  and  France  were  at 
peace.  The  easy  success  of  the  French  arms  had  inspired 
Dupleix  with  the  ambition  of  founding  a  French  empire  in  India, 
under  the  shadow  of  the  Muhammadan  powers.  Disputed  suc- 
cessions among  the  reigning  families  both  at  Haidarabad  and 
at  Arcot  gave  him  his  opportunity.  On  both  thrones  Dupleix 
placed  nominees  of  his  own,  and  for  a  time  he  posed  as  the 
arbiter  of  the  entire  south.  In  boldness  of  conception,  and  in 
knowledge  of  Oriental  diplomacy,  Dupleix  has  probably  had  no 
equal.  But  he  was  no  soldier,  and  he  was  desdned  to  encounter 
in  the  field  the  '  heaven-born  genius '  of  Clive.  The  English  of 
Madras,  under  the  instinct  of  self-preservation,  had  maintained 
the  cause  of  another  candidate  to  the  throne  of  Arcot,  in  op- 


BATTLE  OF  WANDIIVASH.  179 

position  to  the  nominee  of  Dupleix.  Their  candidate  was 
IMuhammad  Ah',  afterwards  known  in  history  as  Wala-jah, 

Clive. — The  war  which  ensued  between  the  French  and 
English  in  Southern  India  has  been  exhaustively  described  by 
Orme.  The  one  incident  that  stands  out  conspicuously  is  the 
capture  and  subsequent  defence  of  Arcot  by  Clive  in  1751. 
This  heroic  feat,  even  more  than  the  battle  of  Plassey,  spread 
the  fame  of  English  valour  throughout  India.  Shortly  after- 
wards, Clive  returned  to  England  in  ill-health,  but  the  war 
continued  fitfully  for  many  years.  On  the  whole,  the  English 
influence  predominated  in  the  Karnatik  or  Madras  coast,  and 
their  candidate,  Muhammad  Alf,  maintained  his  position  at 
Arcot.  But,  inland,  the  French  were  supreme  in  Southern 
India,  and  they  were  also  able  to  seize  the  maritime  tract  called 
'the  Northern  Circars.' 

Battle  of  Wandiwash,  1760. — The  final  struggle  did  not 
take  place  until  1760.  In  that  year.  Colonel  (afterwards  Sir 
Eyre)  Coote  won  the  decisive  victory  of  Wandiwash  over  the 
French  general,  Lally,  and  proceeded  to  invest  Pondicherri, 
which  was  starved  into  capitulation  in  January  1761.  A  few 
months  later,  the  hill  fortress  of  Ginjf  (Gingi)  also  surrendered. 
In  the  words  of  Orme,  '  that  day  terminated  the  long  hostilities 
between  the  two  rival  European  powers  in  Coromandel,  and 
left  not  a  single  ensign  of  the  French  nation  avowed  by  the 
authority  of  its  Government  in  any  part  of  India.' 

Native  Rulers  of  Bengal,  1707-1756. — Meanwhile  the 
narrative  of  British  conquests  shifts  with  Clive  to  Lower  Bengal. 
At  the  time  of  Aurangzeb's  death,  in  17  7,  the  Nawab  or 
Governor  of  Lower  Bengal  was  Murshid  Kulf  Khan,  known 
also  in  European  history  as  Jafar  Khan.  By  birth  a  Brahman, 
and  brought  up  as  a  slave  in  Persia,  he  united  the  administrative 
ability  of  a  Hindu  to  the  flmaticism  of  a  renegade.  Hitherto 
the  capital  of  Lower  Bengal  had  been  at  Dacca,  on  the  eastern 
frontier  of  the  empire,  whence  the  piratical  attacks  of  the 
Portuguese  and  of  the  Arakanese  or  Maghs  could  be  most 
easily  checked.  Murshid  Kulf  Khdn  transferred  his  residence 
to  Murshidabad,  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  Kasim- 
bazar,  which  was  then  the  river  port  of  the  Gangetic  trade.    The 

M  2 


l8o   THE  FOUNDATION  OF  BRITISH  RULE  IN  INDIA. 

English,  the  French,  and  the  Dutch  had  each  factories  at  Kasim- 
bazar,  as  well  as  at  Dacca,  Patna,  and  INIaldah.  But  Calcutta 
was  the  separate  headquarters  of  the  English,  Chandarnagar  of 
the  French,  and  Chinsurah  of  the  Dutch, — these  three  towns 
being  situated  not  far  from  one  another  on  the  lower  reaches  of 
the  Hugh',  where  the  river  was  navigable  for  sea-going  ships. 
Murshid  Kulf  Khan  ruled  over  Lower  Bengal  prosperously  for 
twenty-one  years,  and  left  his  power  to  a  son-in-law  and  a 
grandson.  The  hereditary  succession  was  broken  in  1740  by  All 
Vardi  Khan,  a  usurper,  but  the  last  of  the  great  Nawabs  ot  Bengal. 
In  his  days  the  Maratha  horsemen  ravaged  the  country,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  Calcutta  obtained  permission  in  1742  to  erect  an 
earthwork,  known  to  the  present  day  as  the  '  IMaratha  Ditch.' 

'BJack  Hole'  of  Calcutta. — Alf  Vardi  Khan  died  in  1756, 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  grandson,  Siraj-ud-daula  (Surajah 
Dowlah),  a  youth  of  only  eighteen  years,  whose  ungovernable 
temper  led  to  a  rupture  with  the  English  within  two  months 
after  his  accession.  In  pursuit  of  one  of  his  own  family  who 
had  escaped  from  his  vengeance,  he  marched  upon  Calcutta 
with  a  large  army.  Many  of  the  English  fled  down  the  river  in 
their  ships.  The  remainder  suiTendered  after  some  resistance, 
and  were  thrust  for  the  night  into  the  '  Black  Hole '  or  military 
jail  of  Fort  William,  a  room  about  18  feet  square,  with  only  two 
small  windows  barred  with  iron.  It  was  our  ordinary  garrison 
prison  in  those  times  of  cruel  military  discipline.  But  although 
the  Nawab  does  not  seem  to  have  been  aware  of  the  conse- 
quences, it  meant  death  to  a  crowd  of  English  men  and  women 
in  the  stifling  heats  of  June.  When  the  door  of  the  prison  was 
opened  next  morning,  only  23  persons  out  of  146  remained  alive. 

Clive  and  Watson. — The  news  of  this  disaster  fortunately 
found  Clive  back  again  at  Madras,  where  also  was  a  squadron 
of  King's  ships  under  Admiral  Watson.  Clive  and  Watson 
promptly  sailed  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ganges  with  all  the  troops 
they  could  get  together.  Calcutta  was  recovered  with  little 
fighting ;  and  the  Nawab  consented  to  a  peace,  which  restored 
to  the  English  Company  all  their  privileges,  and  gave  them 
ample  compensation  for  their  losses. 

Battle  of  Plassey,  1757. — It  is  possible  that  matters  might 


BATTLE  OF  PLASSEY.  l8l 

have  ended  thus,  if  a  fresh  cause  of  hostilities  had  not  suddenly 
arisen.  War  had  just  been  declared  between  the  English  and 
French  in  Europe  ;  and  Clive,  following  the  traditions  of  warfare 
in  the  Karnatik,  captured  the  French  settlement  of  Chandarnagar 
on  the  Hugh'.  Siraj-ud-daula,  enraged  by  this  breach  of  neu- 
trality within  his  dominions,  sided  with  the  French.  But  Clive, 
again  acting  upon  the  policy  which  he  had  learned  from  Dupleix 
in  Southern  India,  provided  himself  with  a  rival  candidate  (Mfr 
Jafar)  to  the  throne.  Undaunted,  he  marched  out  to  the  grove 
of  Plassey,  about  70  miles  north  of  Calcutta,  at  the  head  of  1000 
Europeans  and  2000  sepoys,  with  8  pieces  of  artillery.  The 
Bengal  Viceroy's  army  numbered  35,000  foot  and  15^000  horse, 
with  50  cannon.  Clive  is  said  to  have  fought  in  spite  of  his 
council  of  war.  The  truth  is,  he  could  scarcely  avoid  a  battle. 
The  Nawab  attacked  with  his  whole  artillery,  at  6  a.m.;  but 
Clive  kept  his  men  well  under  shelter,  '  lodged  in  a  large  grove, 
surrounded  with  good  mud-banks.'  At  noon  the  enemy  drew 
oft'  into  their  entrenched  camp  for  dinner.  Clive  only  hoped  to 
make  a  '  successful  attack  at  night.'  Meanwhile,  the  enemy 
being  probably  undressed  over  their  cooking-pots,  he  sprang 
upon  one  of  their  advanced  posts,  which  had  given  him  trouble, 
and  stormed  '  an  angle  of  their  camp.'  Several  of  the  Nawab's 
chief  officers  fell.  The  Nawab  himself,  dismayed  by  the  unex- 
pected confusion,  fled  on  a  camel ;  his  troops  dispersed  in  a 
panic ;  and  Clive  found  he  had  won  a  great  victory.  Mir 
Jdfar's  cavalry,  which  had  hovered  undecided  during  the  battle, 
and  had  been  repeatedly  fired  on  by  Clive,  '  to  make  them  keep 
their  distance,'  now  joined  our  camp;  and  the  road  to  IMurshi- 
dabad,  the  Nawab's  capital,  lay  open. 

Mir  Jafar,  1757. — The  battle  of  Plassey  was  fought  on  June 
23,  1757,  an  anniversary  afterwards  remembered  when  the 
IMutiny  of  1857  was  at  its  height.  History  has  agreed  to  adopt 
this  date  as  the  beginning  of  the  British  Empire  in  the  East. 
But  the  immediate  results  of  the  victory  were  comparatively 
small,  and  several  years  passed  in  hard  fighting  before  even  the 
Bengalis  would  admit  the  superiority  of  the  British  arms.  For 
the  moment,  however,  all  opposition  was  at  an  end.  Clive,  again 
following  in  the  steps  of  Dupleix,  placed  his  nominee,  Mfr  Jafar, 


l82    THE  FOUNDATION  OF  BRITISH  RULE  IN  INDIA. 

upon  the  viceregal  throne  at  Murshidabad,  as  Nawab  of  Bengal, 
and  obtained  for  his  appointment  z.  farmdn  from  the  Mughal 
emperor  of  Delhi.  Enormous  sums  were  exacted  from  Mfr 
Jafar  as  the  price  of  his  elevation.  The  Company  claimed  ten 
million  rupees  as  compensation  for  its  losses.  For  the  English, 
Hindu,  and  Armenian  inhabitants  of  Calcutta  were  demanded, 
respectively,  5  million,  2  million,  and  i  million  rupees ;  for  the 
naval  squadron  and  the  army,  2  J  million  rupees  apiece.  The 
members  of  the  Council  received  the  following  amounts  : — Mr. 
Drake,  the  Governor,  and  Colonel  CHve,  as  second  member  of  the 
Select  Committee,  280,000  rupees  each;  and  Mr.  Becker,  Mr. 
Watts,  and  Major  Kilpatrick,  240,000  rupees  each.  Colonel 
Clive  also  received  200,000  rupees  as  Commander-in-Chief,  and 
1,600,000  rupees  'as  a  private  donation.'  Additional  '  dona- 
tions '  were  likewise  made  to  the  other  Members  of  the  Council, 
amounting  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Watts  to  800,000  rupees.  The 
whole  claim  of  the  British  amounted  to  £2,697,750.  The 
English  still  cherished  extravagant  ideas  of  Indian  wealth.  But 
no  funds  existed  to  satisfy  their  inordinate  demands,  and  they 
had  to  be  content  with  one-half  the  stipulated  sums.  Even  of 
this  reduced  amount  one-third  had  to  be  taken  in  jewels  and 
plate,  there  being  neither  coin  nor  ingots  left. 

Grant  of  the  Twenty-four  Parganas,  1757. — At  the  same 
time  the  new  Nawab  of  Bengal  made  a  grant  to  the  Company  of  the 
zaTtiinddrt  or  landholder's  rights  over  an  extensive  tract  of  coun- 
try round  Calcutta,  now  known  as  the  District  of  the  Twenty- 
Four  Parganas.  The  area  of  this  tract  was  882  square  miles. 
In  1757,  the  Company  obtained  only  the  zammddn  rights, — i.e. 
the  right  to  collect  the  cultivator's  rents,  together  with  the  reve- 
nue jurisdiction  attached,  subject  to  the  obligation  of  paying 
over  the  assessed  land-tax  to  the  Nawab,  as  the  representative 
of  the  Delhi  Emperor.  But,  in  1759,  the  land-tax  also  was 
granted  by  the  emperor,  the  nominal  suzerain  of  the  Nawab,  in 
favour  of  Clive,  who  thus  became  the  landlord  of  his  own 
masters,  the  Company.  This  military  fief,  or  Clive's  jdgir,  as 
it  was  called,  subsequently  became  a  matter  of  inquiry  in  Eng- 
land. Lord  Clive's  claims  to  the  property  as  feudal  suzerain 
over  the  Company  were  contested  by  it  in  1764.     But  finally 


CLIVE   GOVERNOR   OF  BENGAL.  183 

in  1765,  when  he  returned  to  Bengal,  a  new  deed  was  issued, 
confirming  the  unconditional  jagir  to  Lord  Clive  for  ten  years, 
with  reversion  afterwards  to  the  Company  in  perpetuity.  This 
deed,  having  received  the  Delhi  emperor's  sanction  on  the  12  th 
August,  1765,  gave  absolute  validity  to  the  original yV/^/r  grant 
in  favour  of  Lord  Clive.  It  transferred  eventually  to  the  Com- 
pany the  Twenty-four  Parganas  as  a  perpetual  property,  based 
upon  a  jdgir  grant.  The  annual  sum  of  Rs.  222,958,  the 
amount  at  which  the  land-rent  was  assesi^ed  when  first  made 
over  to  the  Company  in  1757,  was  paid  to  Lord  Clive  from  1765 
until  his  death  in  1774,  when  the  whole  proprietary  right 
reverted  to  the  Company. 

Clive,  First  Governor  of  Bengal,  1758. — In  1758,  Clive 
was  appointed  by  the  Court  of  Directors  the  first  Governor  of  all 
the  Company's  settlements  in  Bengal.  Two  powers  threatened 
hostilities.  On  the  north-west,  the  Shahzada  or  imperial  prince, 
afterwards  the  Emperor  Shah  Alam,  with  a  mixed  army  of 
Afghans  and  Marathas,  and  supported  by  the  Nawab  Wazj'r  of 
Oudh,  was  advancing  his  own  claims  to  the  Province  of  Bengal. 
In  the  south,  the  influence  of  the  French  under  Lally  and  Bussy 
was  overshadowing  the  British  at  INLadras.  The  name  of  Clive 
exercised  a  decisive  effect  in  both  directions.  Our  Nawab  of 
Bengal,  Mir  Jafar,  was  anxious  to  buy  off  the  Shahzada,  who 
had  already  invested  Patna.  But  Clive  marched  in  person  to 
the  rescue,  with  an  army  of  only  450  Europeans  and  2500 
sepoys,  and  the  Mughal  army  dispersed  without  striking  a  blow. 
In  the  same  year,  Clive  despatched  a  force  southwards  under 
Colonel  Forde,  which  recaptured  Masulipatam  on  the  Madras 
coast  from  the  French,  and  permanently  established  British 
influence  in  the  Northern  Circars,  and  at  the  Nizam's  court  of 
Haidarabad  in  Southern  India.  Clive  next  attacked  the  Dutch, 
the  only  other  European  nation  who  might  yet  prove  a  rival  to  the 
English.  He  defeated  them  both  by  land  and  water ;  and  their 
settlement  at  Chinsurah  existed  thenceforth  only  on  sufferance. 

Mismanagement,  1760-1764. — From  1760  to  1765,  Clive 
was  in  England.  He  had  left  no  system  of  government  in 
Bengal,  but  merely  the  tradition  that  unlimited  sums  of  money 
might  be  extracted  from  the  natives  by  the  terror  of  the  English 


1 84    THE  FOUNDATION  OF  BRITISH  RULE  IN  INDIA. 

name.  In  1761,  it  was  found  expedient  and  profitable  to 
dethrone  Mfr  Jafar,  our  Nawab  of  Murshidabad,  and  to  substi- 
tute his  son-in-law,  Mir  Kasim,  in  his  place.  On  this  occasion, 
besides  private  donations,  the  English  received  a  grant  of  the 
three  Districts  of  Bardwan,  Midnapur,  and  Chittagong,  estimated 
to  yield  a  net  revenue  of  half  a  million  sterling  a  year. 

Revolt  of  Mir  Kasim,  1763. — But  the  freshly  appointed 
Nawab  of  Bengal,  Mir  Kasim,  soon  began  to  show  a  will  of  his 
own,  and  to  cherish  dreams  of  independence.  He  retired  from 
Murshidabad  to  Monghyr,  a  strong  position  on  the  Ganges 
which  commanded  the  line  of  communication  with  the  north- 
west. There  he  proceeded  to  organize  an  army,  drilled  and 
equipped  after  European  models,  and  to  carry  on  intrigues  with 
the  Nawab  Wazfr  of  Oudh.  He  was  resolved  to  try  his  strength 
with  the  English,  and  he  found  a  good  pretext.  The  Company's 
servants  claimed  the  privilege  of  carrying  on  their  private  trade 
throughout  Bengal,  free  from  the  Nawab's  inland  imposts.  The 
assertion  of  this  claim  caused  affrays  between  the  customs 
officers  of  the  Nawab  and  the  native  traders,  who,  whether  truly 
or  not,  represented  that  they  were  acting  on  behalf  of  the  servants 
of  the  Company.  The  Nawab  alleged  that  his  civil  authority 
was  everywhere  set  at  nought.  The  majority  of  the  Council  at 
Calcutta  would  not  listen  to  his  complaints.  The  Governor, 
Mr.  Vansittart,  and  Warren  Hastings,  then  a  junior  member  of 
Council,  attempted  to  effect  some  compromise.  But  the  con- 
troversy had  become  too  hot.  The  Nawab's  officers  fired  upon 
an  English  boat,  and  a  general  rising  against  the  English  took 
place.  Two  thousand  of  our  sepoys  were  cut  to  pieces  at  Patna; 
about  200  Englishmen,  who  there  and  in  other  various  parts  of 
Bengal  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Muhammadans,  were  massacred. 

Re-conquest  of  Bengal,  1764. —  But  as  soon  as  regular 
warfare  commenced,  Mir  Kasim  met  with  no  more  successes. 
His  trained  regiments  were  defeated  in  two  pitched  batdes  by 
Major  Adams,  at  Gheria  and  at  Udhunala;  and  he  himself 
took  refuge  with  the  Nawab  VVazir  of  Oudh,  who  refused  to 
deliver  him  up  to  us.  This  led  to  a  prolongation  of  the  war. 
Shah  Alam,  who  had  now  succeeded  his  father  as  emperor,  and 
Shuja-ud-daula,  the  Nawab  Wazir  of  Oudh,  united  their  forces, 


DECISIVE  BATTLE   OF  BAXAR.  1 85 

and  threatened  Patna,  which  the  Enghsh  had  recovered.  A  more 
formidable  danger  appeared  in  the  EngHsh  camp,  in  the  form 
of  the  first  sepoy  mutiny.  It  was  quelled  by  Major  (afterwards 
Sir  Hector)  Munro,  who  ordered  twenty-four  of  the  ringleaders 
to  be  blown  from  guns,  an  old  IMughal  punishment.  In  1764, 
Major  IMunro  won  the  decisive  battle  of  Baxar,  which  laid  Oudh 
at  the  feet  of  the  conquerors,  and  brought  the  Mughal  Emperor, 
Shah  Alam,  as  a  suppliant  to  the  English  camp.  The  old  de- 
posed Nawab  of  Bengal,  Mfr  Jafar,  was  brought  forth  from  his 
retirement,  and  was  again  appointed  Nawab  in  place  of  Mir 
Kasim,  who  had  risen  against  us.  The  English  Council  in 
Calcutta  had  thus  twice  found  the  profitable  opportunity  which 
they  loved,  of  creating  a  new  Nawab  of  Bengal,  and  of  receiving 
the  donations  and  large  sums  of  money  distributed  to  them  by 
each  of  the  Nawabs  on  his  accession. 

Olive's  Second  Governorship,  1765-1767. — But,  in  1765, 
Clive  (now  Baron  Clive  of  Plassey  in  the  peerage  of  Ireland) 
arrived  at  Calcutta,  as  Governor  of  Bengal  for  the  second  time. 
Two  landmarks  stand  out  in  his  policy.  First,  he  sought  the 
substance,  although  not  the  name,  of  territorial  power,  under  the 
fiction  of  a  grant  from  the  Mughal  Emperor.  Second,  he  de- 
sired to  purify  the  Company's  service,  by  prohibiting  illicit 
gains,  and  guaranteeing  a  reasonable  salary  from  honest  sources. 
In  neither  respect  were  his  plans  carried  out  by  his  immediate 
successors.  But  our  efforts  at  good  government  in  India 
date  from  this  second  governorship  of  Clive  in  1765,  as  our 
military  supremacy  had  dated  from  his  victory  at  Plassey  in  1757. 

Grant  of  the  Diwani  of  Bengal,  1765. — Clive  advanced 
rapidly  up  from  Calcutta  to  Allahabad,  and  there  settled  in 
person  the  fate  of  nearly  the  northern  half  of  India.  Oudh  was 
given  back  to  the  Nawdb  Wazfr,  on  condition  of  his  paying  half 
a  million  sterling  towards  the  expenses  of  the  war.  The  Pro- 
vinces of  Allahabad  and  Kora,  lying  between  the  Ganges  and 
the  Jumna,  were  handed  over  to  the  Emperor  Shah  Alam,  who 
in  his  turn  granted  to  the  English  Company  the  diwani  or  fiscal 
adminislr  tion  of  [Lower]  Bengal,  Behar,  and  Orissa,  and  also 
the  territorial  jurisdiction  of  the  Northern  Circars.  A  puppet 
Nawab  was  slill  maintained  at  IMurshidabad,  who  received  an 


1 86    THE  FOUNDATION  OF  BRITISH  RULE  IN  INDIA. 

annual  allowance  from  us  of  £600,000.  Half  that  amount,  or 
about  £300,000,  we  paid  to  the  emperor  as  tribute  from  Bengal, 
Eehar,  and  Orissa,  Thus  was  constituted  the  dual  system  of 
government,  by  which  the  English  received  all  the  revenues  of 
Bengal,  Behar,  and  Orissa,  and  undertook  to  maintain  the  army  ; 
while  the  criminal  jurisdiction  was  vested  in  the  Nawab.  In 
Indian  phraseology,  the  Company  was  diwdn,  and  the  Nawab  was 
nizdni.  The  actual  collection  of  the  revenues  still  remained  for 
seven  years  in  the  hands  of  native  officials  (i 765-1 772). 

Olive's  Reorganization  of  the  Bengal  Service,  1766. — 
Clive's  other  great  task  was  the  reorganization  of  the  Company's 
service.  All  the  officers,  civil  and  military  alike,  were  tainted 
with  the  common  corruption.  Their  legal  salaries  were  paltry, 
and  quite  insufficient  for  a  livelihood.  But  they  had  been  per- 
mitted to  augment  them,  sometimes  a  hundredfold,  by  means  of 
private  trade  and  by  gifts  from  the  Native  powers.  Despite  the 
united  resistance  of  the  civil  servants,  and  an  actual  mutiny  of 
two  hundred  military  officers,  Clive  carried  through  his  reforms. 
Private  trade  and  the  receipt  of  presents  were  prohibited  for  the 
future,  while  a  fair  increase  of  pay  was  provided  out  of  the 
monopoly  of  salt. 

Dual  System  of  Administration,  1767-1772. — Lord  Clive 
quitted  India  for  the  third  and  last  time  in  1767.  Between  that 
date  and  the  governorship  of  Warren  Hastings  in  1772,  little  of 
importance  occurred  in  Bengal,  beyond  the  terrible  famine  of 
1770,  which  is  officially  reported  to  have  swept  away  one-third 
of  the  inhabitants.  The  dual  system  of  government  established 
in  1765  by  Clive  had  proved  a  failure.  The  English  were  the 
real  rulers,  but  the  administration  of  the  districts  was  still  carried 
on  by  native  officials.  There  w^as  thus  a  divided  responsibility, 
and  when  any  disaster  occurred  it  was  impossible  to  find  out 
who  was  really  to  blame.  Even  the  distant  Court  of  Directors 
in  England  discerned  that  a  complete  change  had  become 
necessary  in  the  government  of  Bengal.  Warren  Hastings,  a 
tried  servant  of  the  company,  distinguished  alike  for  intelligence, 
for  probity,  and  for  knowledge  of  Oriental  manners,  was  nomi- 
nated Governor  by  the  Court  of  Directors,  with  express  instruc- 
tions to  carry  out  a  predetermined  series  of  reforms.     In  their 


WARREN  HASTINGS.  1 87 

own  words,  the  Court  had  resolved  to  '  stand  forth  as  dhvdn, 
and  to  take  upon  themselves,  by  the  agency  of  their  own  ser- 
vants, the  entire  care  and  administration  of  the  revenues.'  In 
the  execution  of  this  plan,  Hastings  removed  the  exchequer  from 
Murshidabad  to  Calcutta,  and  appointed  European  officers, 
under  the  now  familiar  title  of  Collectors,  to  superintend  the 
collections  and  preside  in  the  revenue  courts. 

Warren  Hastings,  1772-1785. — Clive  had  laid  the  terri- 
torial foundations  of  the  British  Empire  in  Bengal.  Hastings 
may  be  said  to  have  created  a  British  administration  for  that 
empire.  The  wars  forced  on  him  by  Native  powers  in  India, 
the  clamours  of  his  masters  in  England  for  money,  and  the 
virulence  of  Sir  Philip  Francis  with  a  faction  of  his  colleagues  at 
the  Council  table  in  Calcutta,  retarded  the  completion  of  his 
schemes.  But  the  manuscript  records  disclose  the  patient 
statesmanship  and  indomitable  industry  which  he  brought  to 
bear  upon  them.  From  1765  to  1772,  Clive's  dual  system 
of  government,  by  corrupt  Native  underlings  and  rapacious 
English  chiefs,  had  prevailed.  Thirteen  years  were  now  spent  by 
Warren  Hastings  in  experimental  efforts  at  rural  administration 
by  means  of  English  officials  (i 772-1 785).  The  completion  of 
the  edifice  was  left  to  his  successor.  But  Hastings  was  the 
administrative  organizer,  as  Clive  had  been  the  territorial 
founder,  of  our  Indian  Empire. 

Hastings'  Work  in  India. — Hastings  rested  his  claims  as 
an  Indian  ruler  on  his  administrative  work.  He  reorganized 
the  Indian  service,  reformed  every  branch  of  the  revenue  collec- 
tions, created  courts  of  justice  and  laid  the  basis  of  a  police. 
But  history  remembers  his  name,  not  for  his  improvements  in 
the  internal  administration,  but  for  his  bold  foreign  policy  in 
dealing  with  the  Native  States.  From  1772  to  1774,  he  was 
Governor  of  Bengal;  from  the  latter  date  to  1785,  he  was  the 
first  Governor-General  of  India,  presiding  over  a  Council  nomi- 
nated, like  himself,  under  a  statute  of  Parliament  known  as  the 
Regulating  Act  (1773).  In  his  domestic  policy  he  was  greatly 
hampered  by  the  opposition  of  his  colleague  in  council,  Sir  Philip 
Francis,  whom  he  ultimately  wounded  in  a  duel.  But  in  his 
external   relations  with  Oudh,  with    the   Marathas    and  with 


1 88    THE  FOUNDATION  OF  BRITISH  RULE  IN  INDIA. 

Haidar  Alf,  Hastings  was  generally,  although  not  always,  able  to 
compel  assent  to  his  views. 

Hastings'  Policy  to  Native  Rulers. — His  relations  with 
the  Native  powers,  like  his  domestic  policy,  formed  ji  wefll- 
considered  scheme.  Hastings  had  to  find  money  for  the  Court 
of  Directors  in  England,  whose  thirst  for  the  wealth  of  India 
was  not  less  keen,  although  more  decorous,  than  that  of  their 
servants  in  Bengal.  He  had  also  to  protect  the  Company's 
territory  from  the  Native  powers,  which,  if  he  had  not  destroyed 
them,  would  have  annihilated  him.  Beyond  the  Bengal  frontier 
a  group  of  Muhammadan  viceroys  or  governors  of  the  old 
Mughal  Empire  had  established  independent  States,  the  most 
important  of  which  was  Oudh.  Beyond  this  group  of  Muham- 
madan States,  the  Marathas  were  practically  the  masters  of 
Northern  India,  and  held  the  nominal  Emperor  of  Delhi  as  a 
puppet  under  their  control.  The  wise  policy  of  Warren  Has- 
tings was  to  ally  himself  with  the  independent  Muhammadan 
States,  that  is  to  say  principally  with  Oudh,  just  beyond  his  own 
frontier.  If  he  could  make  these  Muhammadan  States  strong,  he 
hoped  that  they  would  prevent  the  Marathas  from  pouring  down 
into  Bengal.  But  these  Muhammadan  States  were  themselves 
so  weak  that  this  policy  only  obtained  a  partial  success.  In  the 
end  Warren  Hastings  found  himself  compelled  to  advance  the 
British  territories  further  up  the  Ganges,  and  practically  to  bring 
the  Muhammadan  States  under  his  own  control. 

Hastings  makes  Bengal  pay. — Warren  Hastings  had  in 
the  first  place  to  make  Bengal  pay.  This  he  could  not  do 
under  Clive's  dual  system  of  administration.  When  he  abolished 
that  double  system,  he  cut  down  the  Nawab  of  Bengal's  allow- 
ance to  one-half,  and  so  saved  about  £160,000  a  year.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  titular  Nawab,  being  then  a  minor,  had 
ceased  to  render  even  any  nominal  service  for  his  enormous 
income.  Clive  had  himself  reduced  the  original  £600,000  to 
£450,000  on  the  accession  of  a  new  Nawab  in  1766;  and  the 
grant  was  again  cut  down  to  £350,000  on  a  fresh  succession  in 
1769.  The  allowance  had  practically  been  of  a  fluctuating  and 
personal  character.  Its  further  reduction  in  1772  in  the  case  of 
the  new  child-Navvab  had,  moreover,  been  expressly  ordered  by 


HASTINGS  AND    THE  ROHTLLAS.  189 

the  Court  of  Directors  six  months  before  Hastings  took  office 
as  Governor  of  Bengal. 

Hastings  stops  the  Tribute  to  Delhi,  1773. — Hastings' 
next  financial  stroke  was  to  stop  payment  of  the  tribute  of 
£300,000  to  the  Delhi  emperor,  which  Clive  had  agreed  to,  in 
return  for  the  grant  of  Bengal  to  the  Company.  But  the  em- 
peror had  now  been  seized  by  the  Marathas.  Hastings  held 
that  His  Majesty  was  no  longer  independent,  and  that  to  pay 
money  to  the  emperor  would  practically  be  paying  it  to  the 
Marathas,  who  were  our  most  formidable  enemies,  and  whom 
he  clearly  saw  that  we  should  have  to  crush,  unless  we  were 
willing  to  be  crushed  by  them.  Hastings  therefore  withheld  the 
tribute  of  £300,000  from  the  puppet  emperor,  or  rather  from 
his  Maratha  custodians. 

Hastings  sells  Allahabad  and  Kora,  1773-1774. — On 
the  partition  of  the  Gangetic  valley  in  1765,  Clive  had  also 
allotted  the  Provinces  of  Allahdbad  and  Kora  to  the  emperor 
Shah  Alam.  The  emperor,  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Marathas, 
made  them  over  to  his  new  masters,  Warren  Hastings  held 
that  by  so  doing  His  Majesty  had  forfeited  his  title  to  these 
Provinces.  Hastings  accordingly  resold  them  to  the  Wazir  of 
Oudh.  By  this  measure  he  freed  the  Company  from  a  military 
charge  of  nearly  half  a  million  sterling,  and  obtained  a  price  of 
over  half  a  million  for  the  Company.  The  terms  of  sale  in- 
cluded the  loan  of  British  troops  to  subdue  the  Rohilla  Afghans, 
who  had  seized  and  for  some  time  kept  hold  of  a  tract  on  the 
north-western  frontier  of  Oudh.  The  Rohillas  were  Muham- 
madans  and  foreigners  ;  they  had  cruelly  lorded  it  over  the  Hindu 
peasantry ;  and  they  were  now  intriguing  with  the  Marathas,  our 
most  dangerous  foes.  The  Wazfr  of  Oudh,  supported  by  the 
British  troops  lent  to  him  by  Hastings,  completely  defeated  the 
Rohillas.  He  compelled  most  of  their  fighting  men  to  seek  new 
homes  on  the  other  side  of  the  Ganges  river,  in  a  neighbouring 
and  equally  fertile  district,  but  one  in  which  they  could  no 
longer  open  the  northern  frontier  of  Oudh  to  the  Marathas. 
By  the  foregoing  series  of  measures,  Hastings  ceased  to  furnish 
the  Maratha  custodians  of  the  Delhi  emperor  with  the  Bengal 
tribute  ;  he  also  strengthened  our  ally  the  Wazfr  of  Oudh,  and 


IQO   THE  FOUNDATION  OF  BRITISH  RULE  IN  INDIA. 

closed  his  frontier  against  Maratha  invasions ;  he  bettered  the 
Company's  finances  in  Bengal  by  a  million  sterling  a  year  in 
both  its  revenue  and  expenditure  :  say  two  millions /ifr  annum. 

Fines  on  Chait  Singh  and  on  the  Oudh  Begam. — Has- 
tings further  improved  the  financial  position  of  the  Company  by 
contributions  from  Chait  Singh  and  from  the  Begam  of  Oudh. 
Chait  Singh,  the  Raja  of  Benares,  had  grown  rich  under  British 
protection.  He  resisted  the  just  demand  of  Warren  Hastings 
to  subsidize  a  military  force,  and  entered  into  correspondence 
with  the  enemies  of  the  British  Government.  This  led  to  his 
arrest.  He  escaped,  headed  a  rebellion,  and  was  crushed.  His 
estates  were  forfeited,  but  transferred  to  his  nephew,  subject  to 
an  increased  tribute.  The  Begam,  or  Queen-Mother,  of  Oudh 
was  charged  with  abetting  Chait  Singh,  the  Benares  Raja,  in 
his  rebellion.  A  heavy  fine  was  laid  upon  her,  which  she 
resisted  to  the  utmost.  But  after  severe  pressure  on  herself 
and  the  eunuchs  of  her  household,  over  a  million  sterHng  was 
obtained. 

Hastings'  Trial  in  England,  1788-1795. — On  his  return 
to  England,  Warren  Hastings  was  impeached  by  the  House  of 
Commons  for  these  and  other  alleged  acts  of  oppression.  He 
was  solemnly  tried  by  the  House  of  Lords,  and  the  proceed- 
ings dragged  themselves  out  for  seven  years  (i 788-1 795). 
They  form  one  of  the  most  celebrated  State  trials  in  English 
history,  and  ended  in  a  verdict  of  not  guilty  on  all  the  charges. 
Meanwhile  the  cost  of  the  defence  had  ruined  Warren  Hastings, 
and  left  him  dependent  upon  the  generosity  of  the  Court  of 
Directors, — a  generosity  which  never  failed. 

First  Maratha  "War,  1779-1781. — The  Bombay  Govern- 
ment looked  with  envy  on  the  territorial  conquests  of  Madras 
and  Bengal.  It  accordingly  resolved  to  establish  its  supremacy 
at  the  Maratha  court  of  Poona.  This  ambition  found  scope,  in 
1775,  by  the  treaty  of  Surat,  by  which  Raghuba,  one  of  the 
claimants  to  the  headship  of  the  Marathas  as  Peshwa,  agreed  to 
cede  Salsette  and  Bassein  to  the  English,  in  consideration  of 
being  himself  restored  to  Poona.  The  military  operations  that 
followed  are  known  as  the  first  Maratha  war  (see  p.  162). 
Warren  Hastings,  who  in  his  capacity  of  Governor-General 


THE  FIRST  MYSORE    WAR.  191 

claimed  a  right  of  control  over  the  decisions  of  the  Bombay 
Government,  strongly  disapproved  of  the  treaty  of  Surat.  But 
when  war  actually  broke  out,  he  threw  the  whole  force  of  the 
Bengal  army  into  the  scale.  One  of  his  favourite  officers, 
Colonel  Goddard,  marched  across  the  peninsula  of  India  from 
sea  to  sea,  and  conquered  the  rich  Province  of  Gujarat  almost 
without  a  blow.  Another,  Captain  Popham,  stormed  the  rock- 
fortress  of  Gwalior,  which  was  regarded  as  the  key  of  Hindu- 
stan. These  brilliant  successes  of  the  Bengal  troops  atoned  for 
the  disgrace  of  the  convention  of  Wargaum  in  1779,  when  the 
Marathas  had  overpowered  and  dictated  terms  to  our  Bombay 
force;  but  the  war  was  protracted  until  1781.  It  was  closed 
in  1782  by  the  treaty  of  Salbai,  which  practically  restored  the 
status  quo.  Raghuba,  the  English  nominee  for  the  Peshwaship, 
was  set  aside  on  a  pension;  Gujarat  was  restored  to  the  INIaralhas; 
and  only  Salsette,  with  Elephanta  and  two  other  small  islands, 
was  retained  by  the  English. 

War  with  Mysore,  1780-1784.  —  Meanwhile,  Warren 
Hastings  had  to  deal  with  a  more  dangerous  enemy  than  even 
the  Maratha  Confederacy.  The  reckless  conduct  of  the  Madras 
Government  had  roused  the  hostility  of  Haidar  All  of  INIy.sore 
and  also  of  the  Nizam  of  the  Deccan,  the  two  strongest  IMusal- 
man  powers  in  India.  These  attempted  to  draw  the  Maraihas 
into  an  alliance  against  the  English.  The  diplomacy  of  Hastings 
won  back  the  Nizam  and  the  Maratha  Raja  of  Nagpur ;  but 
the  army  of  Ilaidar  Alf  fell  like  a  thunderbolt  upon  the  British 
possessions  in  the  Karnatik.  A  strong  detachment  under 
Colonel  Baillie  was  cut  to  pieces  at  Perambakam,  and  Haidar 
All's  Mysore  cavalry  ravaged  the  country  up  to  the  walls  of 
Madras.  For  the  second  time  the  Bengal  army,  stimulated  by 
the  energy  of  Hasdngs,  saved  the  honour  of  the  English  name. 
He  despatched  Sir  Eyre  Coote,  the  victor  of  Wandiwash,  to 
relieve  Madras  by  sea,  with  all  the  men  and  money  available, 
while  Colonel  Pearse  marched  south  overland  to  overawe  the 
Raja  of  Bcrar  and  the  Nizam.  The  war  was  hotly  contested, 
for  the  aged  Sir  Eyre  Coote  had  lost  his  energy,  and  the 
Mysore  army  was  not  only  well-disciplined  and  equipped,  but 
skilfully  handled  by  Haidar  and  his  son  Tipii.     Haidar  died  in 


192    THE  FOUNDATION  OF  BRITISH  RULE  IN  INDIA. 

1782,  and  peace  was  finally  concluded  with  Tipii  in  1784,  on 
the  basis  of  a  mutual  restitution  of  all  conquests.  Warren 
Hastings  retired  from  the  Governor-Generalship  in  1785. 

Marquess  Cornwallis,  1786-1793. — In  1786  arrived  Lord 
Cornwallis,  the  first  English  nobleman  who  undertook  the 
office  of  Governor-General  of  India.  Between  these  two  great 
names  an  interregnum  of  twenty  months  took  place  under  Sir 
John  IMacpherson,  a  civil  servant  of  the  Company  (Feb.  1785 
to  Sept.  1786).  Lord  Cornwallis  twice  held  the  high  post  of 
Governor-General.  His  first  rule  lasted  from  1786  to  1793, 
and  is  celebrated  for  two  events, — the  introduction  of  the 
Permanent  Settlement  into  Bengal,  and  the  second  Mysore 
war.  If  the  foundations  of  the  system  of  civil  administration 
were  laid  by  Hastings,  the  superstructure  was  raised  by  Corn- 
wallis. He  made  over  the  higher  criminal  jurisdiction  to 
European  officers,  and  established  the  Nizamat  Sadr  Adalat, 
or  Supreme  Court  of  Criminal  Judicature,  at  Calcutta ;  in  the 
rural  districts,  he  separated  the  functions  of  Revenue  Collector 
and  Civil  Judge.  The  system  thus  organized  in  Bengal  was 
afterwards  extended  to  Madras  and  Bombay,  when  those  Presi- 
dencies also  grew  into  great  territorial  divisions  of  India. 

The  Revenue  Settlement  of  Bengal. — But  the  achieve- 
ment most  familiarly  associated  with  the  name  of  Cornwallis 
is  the  Permanent  Settlement  of  the  land  revenue  of  Bengal.  Up 
to  this  time  the  revenue  had  been  collected  pretty  much  accord- 
ing to  the  old  Mughal  system.  The  zarninddrs,  or  Government 
farmers,  whose  office  always  tended  to  become  hereditary,  were 
recognized  as  having  a  right  to  collect  the  revenue  from  the 
actual  cultivators.  But  no  principle  of  assessment  existed,  and 
the  amount  actually  realized  varied  greatly  from  year  to  year. 
Hastings  tried  to  obtain  experience,  from  a  succession  of  five 
years'  settlements,  so  as  to  furnish  a  standard  rate  for  the  future. 
Sir  Philip  Francis,  the  great  rival  of  Hastings,  advocated,  on 
the  other  hand,  a  limitation  of  the  State  demand  in  perpetuity. 
The  same  view  recommended  itself  to  the  authorities  at  home, 
partly  because  it  would  place  their  finances  on  a  more  stable 
basis,  partly  because  it  seemed  to  identify  the  za7mnddr  with  the 
landlord  of  the   English    system    of  property.     Accordingly, 


LORD  CORNWALLIS,   1787-1793.  193 

Cornwallis  took  out  with  him  in  1787  instructions  to  introduce 
a  Permanent  Settlement  of  the  land-tax  of  Bengal. 

The  Permanent  Settlement,  1793. — The  process  of 
assessment  began  in  1789,  and  terminated  in  1791.  No  attempt 
was  made  to  measure  the  fields  or  calculate  the  out-turn,  as  had 
been  done  by  Akbar,  and  as  is  now  done  whenever  settlements 
are  made  in  the  British  Provinces.  The  amount  to  be  paid  in 
the  future  was  fixed  by  reference  to  what  had  been  paid  in  the 
past.  At  first  the  settlement  was  decennial,  or  'for  ten  years,' 
but  in  1793  it  was  declared  permanent.  The  total  assessment 
amounted  to  Sikka  Rs.  26,800,989,  or  about  three  millions  sterling 
for  Bengal.  Lord  Cornwallis  carried  the  scheme  into  execution  ; 
but  the  praise  or  blame,  so  far  as  details  are  concerned,  belongs 
to  Sir  John  Shore,  afterwards  Lord  Teignmouth,  a  civil  servant, 
whose  knowledge  of  the  country  was  unsurpassed  in  his  time. 
Shore  would  have  proceeded  more  cautiously  than  Cornwallis' 
preconceived  idea  of  a  proprietary  body,  and  the  Court  of 
Directors'  haste  after  fixity,  permitted. 

Second  Mysore  War,  1790-1792. — The  second  Mysore 
war  of  1 790-1792  is  noteworthy  on  two  accounts.  Lord  Corn- 
wallis, the  Governor-General,  led  the  British  army  in  person, 
with  a  pomp  and  a  magnificence  of  supply  which  recalled  the 
campaigns  of  Aurangzeb.  The  two  great  southern  powers, 
the  Nizam  of  the  Deccan  and  the  Maratha  Confederacy,  co- 
operated as  allies  of  the  British.  In  the  end,  Tipu  Sultan  sub- 
mitted when  Lord  Cornwallis  had  commenced  to  beleaguer  his 
capital.  He  agreed  to  yield  one-half  of  his  dominions  to  be 
divided  among  the  allies,  and  to  pay  three  millions  sterling 
towards  the  cost  of  the  war.  These  conditions  he  fulfilled, 
but  ever  afterwards  he  burned  to  be  revenged  upon  his  English 
conquerors.  Lord  Cornwallis  retired  in  1793,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Sir  John  Shore,  afterwards  Lord  Teignmouth. 

Marquess  Wellesley,  1798-1805. — The  period  of  Sir 
John  Shore's  rule  as  Governor-General,  from  1793  to  1798,  was 
uneventful.  In  1798,  Lord  Mornington,  better  known  as  the 
Marquess  Wellesley,  arrived  in  India,  already  inspired  with 
imperial  projects  which  were  destined  to  change  the  map  of  the 
country.     Lord  Mornington  was  the  friend  and  favourite  of  Pitt, 

N 


194    THE  FOUNDATION  OF  BRITISH  RULE  IN  INDIA. 

from  whom  he  is  thought  to  have  derived  his  far-reaching 
political  vision,  and  his  antipathy  to  the  French  name.  From 
the  first  he  laid  down  as  his  guiding  principle,  that  the  English 
must  be  the  one  paramount  power  in  the  Indian  peninsula,  and 
that  Native  princes  could  only  retain  the  insignia  of  sovereignty 
by  surrendering  their  political  independence.  The  history  of 
India  since  his  time  has  been  but  the  gradual  development  of  this 
policy,  which  received  its  finishing  touch  when  Queen  Victoria 
w-as  proclaimed  Empress  of  India  on  the  ist  of  January  1877. 

French  Influence  in  India,  1798-1800. — To  frustrate 
the  possibility  of  a  French  invasion  of  India,  led  by  Napoleon  in 
person,  was  the  immediate  governing  idea  of  Wellesley's  foreign 
policy.  France  at  this  time,  and  for  many  years  later,  filled  the 
place  afterwards  occupied  by  Russia  in  the  minds  of  Indian 
statesmen.  Nor  was  the  danger  so  remote  as  might  now  be 
thought.  French  regiments  guarded  and  overawed  the  Nizam 
of  Haidarabad.  The  soldiers  of  Sindhia,  the  military  head  of 
the  Maratha  Confederacy,  was  disciplined  and  led  by  French 
adventurers.  Tipii  Sultan  of  Mysore  carried  on  a  secret  cor- 
respondence with  the  French  Directory,  allowed  a  tree  of 
liberty  to  be  planted  in  his  dominions,  and  enrolled  himself  in 
a  republican  club  as  '  Citizen  Tipu.'  The  islands  of  Mauritius 
and  Bourbon  afforded  a  convenient  half-way  rendezvous  for 
French  intrigue  and  for  the  assembling  of  a  hostile  expedition. 
Above  all,  Napoleon  Buonaparte  was  then  in  Egypt,  dreaming 
of  the  Indian  conquests  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and  no  man 
knew  in  what  direction  he  might  turn  his  hitherto  unconquered 
legions. 

India  before  Lord  Wellesley,  1798. — Wellesley  conceived 
the  scheme  of  crushing  for  ever  the  French  hopes  in  Asia,  by 
placing  himself  at  the  head  of  a  great  Indian  confederacy.  In 
Lower  Bengal,  the  sword  of  Clive  and  the  policy  of  Warren 
Hastings  had  made  the  English  paramount.  Before  the  end 
of  the  century,  our  power  was  consolidated  from  the  seaboard 
to  Benares,  high  up  the  Gangetic  valley.  Beyond  our  frontier, 
the  Nawab  Wazfr  of  Oudh  had  agreed  to  pay  a  subsidy  for 
the  aid  of  British  troops.  This  sum  in  1797  amounted  to 
£760,000  a  year;    and  the  Nawab,  being   always  in  arrears, 


LORD    WELLESLEY'S  POLICY.  195 

entered  into  negotiations  for  a  cession  of  territory  in  lieu  of 
a  cash  payment.  In  1801,  the  treaty  of  Lucknow  made  over  to 
the  British  the  Doab,  or  fertile  tract  between  the  Ganges  and 
the  Jumna,  together  with  Rohilkhand.  In  Southern  India,  our 
possessions  were  chiefly  confined,  before  Lord  Wellesley,  to  the 
coast  Districts  of  Madras  and  Bombay.  Wellesley  resolved  to 
make  the  British  supreme  as  far  as  Delhi  in  Northern  India,  and 
to  compel  the  great  powers  of  the  south  to  enter  into  subordinate 
relations  to  the  Company's  government.  The  intrigues  of  the 
Native  princes  gave  him  his  opportunity  for  carrying  out  this 
plan  without  a  breach  of  faith.  The  time  had  arrived  when  the 
English  must  either  become  supreme  in  India,  or  be  driven  out 
of  it.  The  Mughal  Empire  was  completely  broken  up ;  and 
the  sway  had  to  pass  either  to  the  local  Muhammadan  governors 
of  that  empire,  or  to  the  Hindu  Confederacy  represented  by  the 
Marathas,  or  to  the  British.  Lord  Wellesley  determined  that  it 
should  pass  to  the  British. 

Lord  WeUesley's  Policy. — His  work  in  Northern  India 
was  at  first  easy.  The  treaty  of  Lucknow  in  1801  made  us  ter- 
ritorial rulers  as  far  as  the  heart  of  the  present  North- Western 
Provinces,  and  established  our  polidcal  influence  in  Oudh.  Be- 
yond those  limits,  the  northern  branches  of  the  Marathas  practi- 
cally held  sway,  with  the  puppet  emperor  in  their  hands.  Lord 
Wellesley  left  them  untouched  for  a  few  years,  until  the  second 
Maratha  war  (1802-1804)  gave  him  an  opportunity  for  dealing 
effectively  with  their  nation  as  a  whole.  In  Southern  India,  he 
saw  that  the  Nizam  at  Haidarabad  stood  in  need  of  his  protec- 
tion, and  he  converted  him  into  a  useful  follower  throughout  the 
succeeding  struggle.  The  other  Muhammadan  power  of  the 
south,  Tipu  Sultan  of  Mysore,  could  not  be  so  easily  handled. 
Lord  Wellesley  resolved  to  crush  him,  and  had  ample  provoca- 
tion for  so  doing.  The  third  power  of  Southern  India — namely, 
the  Maratha  Confederacy — was  so  loosely  organized,  that  Lord 
Wellesley  seems  at  first  to  have  hoped  to  live  on  terms  with  it. 
When  several  years  of  fitful  alliance  had  convinced  him  that  he* 
had  to  choose  between  the  supremacy  of  the  Mar^thds  or  of  the 
British  in  Southern  India,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  decide. 

Treaty    with   the  Nizam,    1798. — Lord   Wellesley   first 

N  2 


196    THE  FOUNDATION  OF  BRITISH  RULE  IN  INDIA. 

addressed  himself  to  the  weakest  of  the  three  southern  powers, 
the  Nizam  of  Haidarabad.  Here  he  won  a  diplomatic  success, 
which  turned  a  possible  rival  into  a  subservient  ally.  The  French 
battalions  at  Haidarabad  were  disbanded,  and  the  Nizam  bound 
himself  by  treaty  not  to  take  any  European  into  his  service 
without  the  consent  of  the  English  Government, — a  clause  since 
inserted  in  every  engagement  entered  into  with  Native  powers. 

Third  Mysore  War,  1799. — Wellesley  next  turned  the 
whole  weight  of  his  resources  against  Tipu,  whom  Cornwallis 
had  defeated,  but  not  subdued.  Tipu's  intrigues  with  the  French 
were  laid  bare,  and  he  was  given  an  opportunity  of  adhering  to 
the  new  subsidiary  system.  On  his  refusal,  war  was  declared, 
and  Wellesley  came  down  in  viceregal  state  to  Madras  to  organize 
the  expedilion  in  person,  and  to  watch  over  the  course  of  events. 
One  English  army  marched  into  Mysore  from  Madras,  accom- 
panied by  a  contingent  from  the  Nizam.  Another  advanced 
from  the  western  coast.  Tipu,  after  a  feeble  resistance  in  the 
field,  retired  into  Seringapatam,  his  capital,  and,  when  it  was 
stormed,  died  fighting  bravely  in  the  breach  (1799).  Since  the 
battle  of  Plassey,  no  event  so  greatly  impressed  the  Natives 
as  the  capture  of  Seringapatam,  which  won  for  General  Harris 
an  eventual  peerage,  and  for  Wellesley  an  Irish  marquessate. 
In  dealing  with  the  territories  of  Tipu,  Wellesley  acted  with 
moderation.  The  central  portion,  forming  the  old  State  of 
Mysore,  was  restored  to  an  infant  representative  of  the  Hindu 
Rajas,  whom  Haidar  All  had  dethroned  ;  the  rest  of  Tipu's 
dominion  was  partitioned  between  the  Nizam,  the  Marathas,  and 
the  English.  At  about  the  same  time,  the  Karnatik,  or  the  part 
of  South-Eastern  India  ruled  by  the  Nawab  of  Arcot,  and  also  the 
principality  of  Tanjore,  were  placed  under  direct  British  admin- 
istration, thus  constituting  the  Madras  Presidency  almost  as  it 
has  existed  to  the  present  day.  The  sons  of  the  slain  Tipu  were 
treated  by  Lord  Wellesley  with  paternal  tenderness.  They 
received  a  magnificent  allowance,  with  a  semi-royal  establish- 
ment, first  at  Vellore,  and  afterwards  in  Calcutta.  The  last  of 
them,  Prince  Ghulam  Muhammad,  who  survived  to  1877,  was 
long  a  well-known  citizen  of  Calcutta,  and  an  active  Justice  of 
the  Peace. 


THE  SECOND  MARATHA    WAR.  197 

The  Marathas  in  1800. — The  Mardthas  had  been  the 
nominal  allies  of  the  English  in  both  their  wars  with  Tipu, 
But  they  had  not  rendered  active  assistance,  nor  were  they 
secured  to  the  English  side  as  the  Nizam  had  been.  The 
Maratha  powers  at  this  time  were  five  in  number.  The 
recognized  head  of  the  confederacy  was  the  Peshwa  of  Poona, 
who  ruled  the  hill  country  of  the  Western  Ghats,  the  cradle 
of  the  Maratha  race.  The  fertile  Province  of  Gujarat  was 
annually  harried  by  the  horsemen  of  the  Gaekwar  of  Baroda. 
In  Central  India,  two  military  leaders,  Sindhia  of  Gwalior  and 
Holkar  of  Indore,  alternately  held  the  pre-eminence.  Towards 
the  east,  the  Bhonsla  Raja  of  Nagpur  reigned  from  Berar  to 
the  coast  of  Orissa.  Wellesley  laboured  to  bring  these  several 
Maratha  powers  within  the  net  of  his  subsidiary  system.  In 
1802,  the  necessities  of  the  Peshwa,  who  had  been  defeated 
by  Holkar,  and  driven  as  a  fugitive  into  British  territory, 
induced  him  to  sign  the  treaty  of  Bassein.  By  that  he  pledged 
himself  to  the  British  to  hold  communications  with  no  other 
power,  European  or  Native,  and  granted  to  us  Districts  for 
the  maintenance  of  a  subsidiary  force.  This  greatly  extended 
the  English  territorial  influence  in  the  Bombay  Presidency. 
But  it  led  to  the  second  Maratha  war,  as  neither  Sindhia  nor 
the  Raja  of  Nagpur  would  tolerate  the  Peshwa's  betrayal  of 
the  Maratha  indejiendence. 

Second  Maratha  War,  1802-1804. — The  campaigns  which 
followed  are  perhaps  the  most  glorious  in  the  history  of  the 
British  arms  in  India.  The  general  plan,  and  the  adequate 
provision  of  resources,  were  due  to  the  Marquess  Wellesley, 
as  also  the  indomitable  spirit  which  refused  to  admit  of  defeat. 
The  armies  were  led  by  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  (afterwards 
Duke  of  Wellington)  and  General  (afterwards  Lord)  Lake. 
Wellesley  operated  in  the  Dcccan,  where,  in  a  few  short 
months,  he  won  the  decisive  victories  of  Assaye  and  Argiium, 
and  captured  Ahmadnagar.  Lake's  campaign  in  Hindustan 
was  equally  brilliant,  although  it  has  received  less  notice  from 
historians.  He  won  pitched  battles  at  Alfgarh  and  Laswari, 
and  took  the  cities  of  Delhi  and  Agra.  He  scattered  the 
French  troops  of  Sindhia,  and  at  the  same  time  stood  forward 


1 98    THE  FOUNDATION  OF  BRITISH  RULE  IN  INDIA. 

as  the  champion  of  the  Mughal  Emperor  in  his  hereditary 
capital.  Before  the  end  of  1803,  both  Sindhia  and  the 
Bhonsla  Raja  of  Nagpur  sued  for  peace.  Sindhia  ceded  all 
claims  to  the  territory  north  of  the  Jumna,  and  left  the  blind 
old  Emperor  Shah  Alam  once  more  under  British  protection. 
The  Bhonsla  forfeited  Orissa  to  the  English,  who  had  already 
occupied  it  with  a  flying  column  in  1803,  and  Berar  to  the 
Nizam,  who  gained  fresh  territory  by  every  act  of  complaisance 
to  the  British  Government.  The  freebooter  Jaswant  Rao 
Holkar  alone  remained  in  the  field,  supporting  his  troops  by 
raids  through  Malwa  and  Rajputana.  The  concluding  years 
of  Wellesley's  rule  were  occupied  with  a  series  of  operations 
against  Holkar,  which  brought  little  credit  on  the  British 
name.  The  disastrous  retreat  of  Colonel  Monson  through 
Central  India  (1804)  recalled  memories  of  the  convention 
of  Wargaum,  and  of  the  destruction  of  Colonel  Baillie's  force 
by  Haidar  Ah.  The  repulse  of  Lake  in  person  at  the  siege 
of  Bhartpur  (Bhurtpore)  is  memorable  as  an  instance  of  a 
British  army  in  India  having  to  turn  back  with  its  object 
unaccomplished  (1805).  Bhartpur  was  not  finally  taken  till 
1827. 

India  after  Lord  Wellesley,  1805. — Lord  Wellesley  during 
his  six  years  of  office  carried  out  almost  every  part  of  his 
territorial  scheme.  In  Northern  India,  Lord  Lake's  campaigns 
brought  the  North-Western  Provinces  (the  ancient  Madhya- 
desa)  under  British  rule,  together  with  the  custody  of  the 
puppet  emperor.  The  new  Districts  were  amalgamated  with 
those  previously  acquired  from  the  Nawab  Wazir  of  Oudh 
into  the  '  Ceded  and  Conquered  Provinces.'  This  arrangement 
of  Northern  India  remained  till  the  Sikh  wars  of  1845  and 
1849  ga-ve  us  the  Punjab.  In  South-Eastern  India,  we  have 
seen  that  Lord  Wellesley's  conquests  constituted  the  Madras 
Presidency  almost  as  it  exists  at  the  present  date.  In  South- 
western India,  the  Peshwa  was  reduced  to  a  vassal  of  the 
Company.  But  the  territories  now  under  the  Governor  of 
Bombay  were  not  finally  built  up  into  their  existing  form  until 
the  last  IMarathd  war  in  1 8 1 8. 


ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  BRITISH  POWER,  i-j^^-iSoi.  199 

Materials  for  Reference. 

James  Mill's  History  of  British  India  would  be  the  standard  work  on 
this  and  the  subsequent  periods  dealt  with  in  the  present  Brief  History,  but 
for  the  unfortunate  prejudices  and  misrepresentations  which  disfigure  that 
able  writer's  work.  H.  H.  Wilson's  edition  of  Mill  to  some  extent  cor- 
rects those  misrepresentations  ;  but  an  accurate  history  of  British  India 
from  the  original  sources  has  yet  to  be  written.  Among  trustworthy  works 
available  to  the  English  reader  may  again  be  noted  Orme's  History  of  the 
Military  Transactions  of  the  British  Nation  in  Indosfan,  Cambridge's 
War  on  the  Coast  of  Coromandel,  Wilk's  Historical  Sketches  of  the 
South  of  India,  Dirom's  Narrative  of  the  Campaign  in  India,  which 
terminated  the  War  with  Tippoo  Sultan  in  1792,  and  Malleson's 
History  of  the  Frettch  in  India,  together  with  his  Filial  Struggles  of  the 
French  in  India,  and  his  Decisive  Battles  of  India.  Also  Anderson's 
English  in  Western  India,  which  well  deserves  to  be  reprinted ;  Keene's 
Moghul  Empire  from  the  Death  of  Aurangzeb  to  the  Overthrow  of  the 
Mardthd  Power;  Ovren?,  India  on  the  Eve  of  the  British  Cortquest.  Sir 
Charles  Aitchison's  Treaties  and  Engage?nents  relating  to  htdia  form  the 
foundation  of  any  accurate  political  history  of  the  period.  Sir  John 
Strachey's  Hastings  and  the  Rohilla  War,  with  Sir  James  Stephen's  work 
on  the  trial  of  Nuncomar  and  Mr.  Busteed's  Old  Calcutta  are  valuable  mono- 
graphs. Among  the  very  numerous  biographies  of  the  statesmen  and 
soldiers  who  laid  the  foundations  of  the  British  Rule,  may  be  mentioned 
as  most  easily  available  to  the  English  reader,  the  half-crown  volumes  on 
Lord  Clive,  Dupleix,  Warren  Hastings,  the  Marqticss  Cornwallis,  and  the 
Marquess  Wellesley,  in  the  '  Rulers  of  India  '  Series  (Clarendon  Press). 


[  200  ] 


CHAPTER    XIV 
The  Consolidation  of  British  India. 

Marquess  Cornwallis  again,  1805. — The  financial  strain 
caused  by  these  great  operations  of  Lord  Wellesley  had  mean- 
while exhausted  the  patience  of  the  Court  of  Directors  at 
home.  In  1805,  Lord  Cornwallis  was  sent  out  as  Governor- 
General  a  second  time,  with  instructions  to  bring  about  peace 
at  any  price,  while  Holkar  was  still  unsubdued,  and  with 
Sindhia  threatening  a  fresh  war.  But  Cornwallis  was  now  an 
old  man,  and  broken  in  health.  Travelling  up  to  the  north- 
west during  the  rainy  season,  he  sank  and  died  at  Ghazipur, 
before  he  had  been  ten  weeks  in  the  country. 

Sir  George  Barlow,  1805. — His  immediate  successor  was 
Sir  George  Barlow,  a  civil  servant  of  the  Company,  who  as  a 
locum  tenens  had  no  alternative  but  to  carry  out  the  commands 
of  his  employers.  Under  these  orders  he  curtailed  the  area  of 
British  territory,  and,  in  violation  of  engagements,  abandoned 
the  Rajput  Chiefs  to  the  cruel  mercies  of  Holkar  and  Sindhia. 
During  his  administration,  also,  occurred  the  mutiny  of  the 
Madras  sepoys  at  Vellore  (1806),  which,  although  promptly 
suppressed,  sent  a  shock  of  insecurity  through  the  empire.  The 
feebly  economical  poHcy  of  this  interregnum  proved  most  disas- 
trous.    But  fortunately  the  rule  soon  passed  into  firmer  hands. 

Earl  of  Minto,  1807-1813. — Lord  Minto,  Governor  General 
from  1807  to  1813,  consolidated  the  conquests  which  Wellesley 
had  acquired.  His  only  military  exploits  were  the  occupation 
of  the  island  of  Mauritius,  and  the  conquest  of  Java  by  an 
expedition  which  he  accompanied  in  person.  The  condition  of 
Central  India  continued  to  be  disturbed,  but  Lord  Minto 
succeeded  in  preventing  any  violent  outbreaks  without  himself 
having  recourse  to  the  sword.  The  Company  had  ordered  him 
to  follow  a  policy  of  non-intervention,  and  he  managed  to  obey 
this  instruction  without  injuring  the  prestige  of  the  British  name. 


LORD  MINTO,    1807-1813;   LORD  HASTINGS,    1814-23.   201 

Under  his  auspices,  the  Indian  Government  opened  relations 
with  a  new  set  of  foreign  powers,  by  sending  embassies  to  the 
Punjab,  to  Afghanistan,  and  to  Persia.  The  ambassadors  had 
been  trained  in  the  school  of  Wellesley,  and  formed  perhaps  the 
most  illustrious  trio  of  '  politicals '  whom  the  Indian  services 
have  produced.  Metcalfe  went  as  envoy  to  the  Sikh  Court  of 
Ranjft  Singh  at  Lahore  ;  Elphinstone  met  the  Shah  of  Afghani- 
stan at  Peshawar ;  and  Malcolm  was  despatched  to  Persia. 
It  cannot  be  said  that  these  missions  were  fruitful  of  permanent 
results ;  but  they  introduced  the  English  to  a  new  set  of 
diplomatic  relations,  and  widened  the  sphere  of  their  influence. 
In  1 81 3  the  East  India  Company's  Charter  was  renewed  for 
twenty  years,  but  its  monopoly  as  a  trading  Company  with 
India  was  abolished. 

Lord  Moira,  1814-1823. — The  successor  of  Lord  Minto  was 
the  Earl  of  Moira,  better  known  by  his  later  title  as  the  Marquess 
of  Hastings.  The  Marquess  of  Hastings  completed  Lord 
Wellesley' s  conquests  in  Central  India,  and  left  the  Bombay 
Presidency  almost  as  it  stands  at  present.  His  long  rule  of  nine 
years,  from  1814  to  1823,  was  marked  by  two  wars  of  the  first 
magnitude,  namely  the  campaigns  against  the  Gurkhas  of  Nepal, 
and  the  lasj,t  Maratha  struggle- 
Nepal  War,  1814-1815. — The  Gurkhas,  the  present  ruling 
race  in  Nepal,  are  Hindu  immigrants,  who  claim  a  Rajput 
origin.  The  indigenous  inhabitants,  called  Newars,  belong  to 
the  Indo-Tibetan  stock,  and  profess  Buddhism.  The  sovereignty 
of  the  Gurkhas  over  Nepal  dates  only  from  1767,  in  which  year 
they  overran  the  valley  of  Khatmandu,  and  gradually  extended 
their  power  over  the  hills  and  valleys  of  Nepal.  Organized  upon 
a  feudal  basis,  they  soon  became  a  terror  to  their  neighbours, 
marching  east  into  Sikkim,  west  into  Kumaun,  and  south  into 
the  Gangetic  plains.  In  the  last  quarter  their  victims  were 
British  subjects,  and  it  became  necessary  to  check  their  advance. 
Sir  George  Barlow  and  Lord  Minto  had  remonstrated  in  vain,  and 
nothing  was  left  to  Lord  Moira  but  to  take  up  arms.  The  cam- 
paign of  1 81 4  was  at  first  unsuccessful.  After  overcoming  the 
natural  difficulties  of  a  malarious  climate  and  precij^ilous  hills, 
our   troops   were    on   several  occasions  fairly  worsted  by   the 


202  THE  CONSOLIDATION  OF  BRITISH  INDIA. 

impetuous  bravery  of  the  little  Gurkhas,  whose  heavy  knives  or 
kukris  dealt  terrible  execution.  But,  in  the  cold  weather  of  1814, 
General  Ochterlony,  who  advanced  by  way  of  the  Sutlej,  stormed 
one  by  one  the  hill  forts  which  still  stud  the  Himalayan  States, 
now  under  the  Punjab  Government,  and  compelled  the  Nepal 
darhdr  to  sue  for  peace.  In  the  following  year,  1815,  the 
same  general  made  his  brilliant  march  from  Patna  into  the 
lofty  valley  of  Khatmandu,  and  finally  dictated  the  terms 
which  had  before  been  rejected,  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
capital.  By  the  treaty  of  Segauli,  which  defines  the  English 
relations  with  Nepal  to  the  present  day,  the  Gurkhas  withdrew 
on  the  south-east  from  Sikkim;  and  on  the  south-west,  from 
their  advanced  posts  in  the  outer  ranges  of  the  Himalayas,  which 
have  supplied  to  the  English  the  health-giving  stations  of  Naini 
Tal,  Mussooree,  and  Simla. 

The  Pindaris,  1804-1817. — Meanwhile  the  condition  of 
Central  India  was  every  year  becoming  more  unsatisfactory. 
The  great  Maratha  Chiefs  had  learned  to  live  as  princes  rather 
than  as  predatory  leaders.  But  their  old  example  of  lawless- 
ness was  being  followed  by  a  new  set  of  freebooters,  known  as 
the  Pindaris.  As  opposed  to  the  Marathas,  who  were  at  least 
a  Hindu  nationality  bound  by  traditions  of  confederate  govern- 
ment, the  Pindaris  were  merely  plundering  bands,  corresponding 
to  the  free  companies  of  mediaeval  Europe.  Of  no  common 
race,  and  without  any  common  religion,  they  welcomed  to  their 
ranks  the  outlaws  and  broken  tribes  of  all  India — Afghans, 
Marathas,  or  Jats.  They  represented  the  debris  of  the  Mughal 
Empire,  the  broken  men  who  had  not  been  incorporated  by  the 
Muhammadan  or  the  Hindu  powers  which  sprang  out  of  its  ruins. 
For  a  time,  indeed,  it  seemed  as  if  the  inheritance  of  the  Mughal 
might  pass  to  these  armies  of  banditti.  In  Bengal,  similar  hordes 
had  formed  themselves  out  of  the  disbanded  Muhammadan  troops 
and  the  Hindu  predatory  castes.  But  they  had  been  dispersed 
under  the  vigorous  rule  of  Warren  Hastings.  In  Central  India, 
the  evil  lasted  longer,  attained  a  greater  scale,  and  was  only 
stamped  out  by  a  regular  war. 

Pindari  War,  1817.^ — The  Pindari  headquarters  were  in 
Malwa,  but   their   depredations  were   not  confined  to  Central 


THE  LAST  MARATHA    WAR,    1817.  203 

India.  In  bands,  sometimes  of  a  few  hundreds,  sometimes  of 
many  thousands,  they  rode  out  on  their  forays  as  far  as  the 
opposite  coasts  of  IMadras  and  of  Bombay.  The  most  powerful 
of  the  Pindari  captains,  Amir  Khan,  had  an  organized  army  of 
many  regiments,  and  several  batteries  of  cannon.  Two  other 
leaders,  known  as  Chftu  and  Karfm,  at  one  time  paid  a  ransom 
to  Sindhia  of  £100,000.  To  suppress  the  Pindari  hordes,  who 
were  supported  by  the  sympathy,  more  or  less  open,  of  all  the 
INIaratha  Chiefs,  Lord  Hastings  (1817)  collected  the  strongest 
British  army  which  had  been  seen  in  India,  numbering  120,000 
men.  One-half  operated  from  the  north,  the  other  half  from  the 
south.  Sindhia  was  overawed,  and  remained  quiet.  Amir  Khan 
disbanded  his  army,  on  condition  of  being  guaranteed  the 
possession  of  what  is  now  the  Principality  of  Tonk.  The 
remaining  bodies  of  Pindaris  were  attacked  in  their  homes, 
surrounded,  and  cut  to  pieces.  Karfm  threw  himself  upon  the 
mercy  of  the  conquerors.  Chftu  fled  to  the  jungles,  and  was 
killed  by  a  tiger. 

Last  Maratha  War,  1817-1818. — In  the  same  year  (18 17), 
and  almost  in  the  same  month  (November),  as  that  in  which  the 
Pindarfs  were  crushed,  the  three  great  Maratha  powers  at  Poona, 
Nagpur,  and  Indore  rose  separately  against  the  British.  The 
Peshwa  Baji  Rao  had  long  been  chafing  under  the  terms  imposed 
by  the  treaty  of  Bassein  (1802).  A  new  treaty  of  Poona,  in 
June  1817,  now  freed  the  Gaekwar  from  his  control,  ceded 
fresh  districts  to  the  British  for  the  pay  of  the  subsidiary  force, 
and  submitted  all  future  disputes  to  the  decision  of  our  Govern- 
ment. The  Hon.  Mountstuart  Elphinstone,  then  our  Resident 
at  his  court,  foresaw  a  storm,  and  withdrew  to  Kirki,  whither  he 
had  ordered  up  a  European  regiment.  The  Residency  was 
burnt  down  by  the  Mardthas,  and  the  Peshwa  attacked  Kirki 
with  his  whole  army.  The  attack  was  bravely  repulsed,  and  the 
Peshwa  immediately  fled  from  his  capital.  Almost  the  same 
plot  was  enacted  at  Nagpur,  where  the  honour  of  the  British 
name  was  saved  by  the  sepoys,  who  defended  the  hill  of  Sftabaldi 
against  enormous  odds.  The  Mardthd  army  of  Holkar  was  de- 
feated in  the  following  month  at  the  pitched  battle  of  Mehidpur. 

Results  of  last  Maratha  War. — All  open  resistance  was 


204  THE   CONSOLIDATION  OF  BRITISH  INDIA. 

now  at  an  end.  Nothing  remained  but  to  follow  up  the  fugitives, 
and  to  impose  conditions  for  a  general  pacification.  In  both 
these  duties  Sir  John  Malcolm  played  a  prominent  part.  The 
dominions  of  the  Peshwa  were  annexed  to  the  Bombay  Presi- 
dency, and  the  nucleus  of  the  present  Central  Provinces  was 
formed  out  of  the  territory  rescued  from  the  Pindarfs,  The 
Peshwa  himself  surrendered,  and  was  permitted  to  reside  at 
Bithur,  near  Cawnpur,  on  a  pension  of  £80,000  a  year.  His 
adopted  son  was  the  infamous  Nana  Sahib  of  the  Mutiny  of  1857. 
To  fill  the  Peshwas  place  as  the  traditional  head  of  the  Maratha 
Confederacy,  the  lineal  descendant  of  Sivajl  was  brought  forth 
from  obscurity,  and  placed  upon  the  throne  of  Satara.  An 
infant  was  recognized  as  the  heir  of  Holkar;  and  a  second 
infant  was  proclaimed  Raja  of  Nagpur  under  British  guardian- 
ship. At  the  same  time,  the  States  of  Rajputana  accepted  the 
position  of  feudatories  to  the  paramount  British  power.  The 
map  of  India,  as  thus  drawn  by  Lord  Hastings,  remained 
substantially  unchanged  until  the  time  of  Lord  Dalhousie.  But 
the  proudest  boast  of  Lord  Hastings  and  Sir  John  Malcolm  was, 
not  that  they  had  advanced  the  British  frontier,  but  that  they  had 
conferred  the  blessings  of  peace  and  good  government  upon 
millions  who  had  groaned  under  the  extortions  of  the  Marathas 
and  Pindarfs. 

Earl  Amherst,  1823-1828. — The  Marquess  of  Hastings 
was  succeeded  by  Lord  Amherst,  after  the  interval  of  a  few 
months,  during  which  Mr.  Adam,  a  civil  servant,  acted  as 
Governor-General.  The  Maratha  war  in  the  peninsula  of  India 
was  hardly  completed,  when  our  armies  had  to  face  new  enemies 
beyond  the  sea.  Lord  Amherst's  administration  lasted  for  five 
years,  from  1823  to  1828.  It  is  known  in  history  by  two 
prominent  events — the  first  Burmese  war,  and  the  capture  of 
Bhartpur. 

Buj-ma  in  Ancient  Times. — For  years  our  eastern  frontier 
of  Bengal  had  been  disturbed  by  Burmese  raids.  The  peninsula 
was  known  to  the  Greeks  in  ancient  times  as  the  '  Golden 
Chersonese.'  Burmese  traditions  pretend  that  a  pious  Indian 
Prince  from  Benares  founded  a  kingdom  on  the  coast  of 
Arakan,  centuries  before  the  birth  of  Christ.     They  also  assert 


LORD  AMHERST,   1S23-1828.  205 

that  the  southern  parts  of  Burma  were  peopled  by  settlers 
from  the  coast  of  Coromandel  on  the  Madras  side  of  the  Bay  of 
Bengal.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  the  Buddhist 
religion,  which  is  professed  by  the  Burmese  at  the  present  day, 
came  from  India  at  a  very  early  date.  Indeed,  the  State  establish- 
ment of  Buddhism  in  Burma  is  said  to  have  taken  place  in  164  a.d. 
While  a  stream  of  civilisation  reached  Burma  from  India  on  the 
north-west,  the  wild  Shan  tribes  and  other  races  of  Tibeto- 
Chinese  origin  poured  into  the  Irawadi  valley  from  the  north-east. 
Waves  of  invaders  thus  passed  over  Burma  during  many  centuries, 
some  coming  from  Siam  on  the  south-east,  others  from  the  wild 
mountains  of  the  Chinese  frontier  on  the  north-east.  These 
gradually  established  themselves  into  three  separate  kingdoms, 
namely,  Arakan  on  the  Burmese  coast ;  Ava  in  the  upper  valleys 
of  the  Irawadi ;  and  Pegu  in  the  delta  of  that  river.  They 
became  the  ruling  races  of  Burma,  races  of  Tibeto-Chinese 
descent,  who  professed  or  adopted  the  Buddhist  religion  which 
had  originally  come  from  India.  The  three  Burmese  kingdoms 
fought  against  each  other  with  all  the  cruelties  and  massacres 
which  characterize  the  Tibeto-Chinese  tribes  ;  but  the  learning 
and  civilization  of  Buddhism  survived  every  shock  and  flourished 
around  its  ancient  pagodas.  European  travellers  in  the  six- 
teenth century  visited  Pegu  and  Tenasserim,  which  they  describe 
as  flourishing  marts  of  maridme  trade.  During  the  period  of 
Portuguese  predominance  in  the  East,  Arakan  became  the 
asylum  for  desperate  European  adventurers.  With  their  help, 
the  Arakanese  extended  their  power  inland,  occupied  Chittagong, 
and  (under  the  name  of  the  Maghs)  became  the  terror  of  the 
Gangetic  delta.  About  1750,  a  new  dynasty  arose  in  Burma, 
founded  by  Alaungpaya  or  Alompra,  with  its  capital  at  Ava. 
His  descendants  ruled  over  Independent  Burma  undl  1885. 

First  Burmese  War,  1824-1826. — The  successors  of 
Alompra,  after  having  subjugated  all  Burma,  and  overrun 
Assam,  which  was  then  an  independent  kingdom,  began  a  series 
of  encroachments  upon  the  British  Districts  of  Bengal.  As 
they  rejected  all  peaceful  proposals  with  scorn.  Lord  Amherst 
was  at  last  compelled  to  declare  war  in  1824.  One  expedition 
with   gunboats   proceeded   up   the   Brahmaputra   into   Assam. 


206         THE  CONSOLIDATION  OF  BRITISH  INDIA. 

Another  marched  by  land  through  Chittagong  into  Arakan,  for 
the  Bengal  sepoys  refused  to  go  by  sea.  A  third,  and  the 
strongest,  sailed  from  Madras  direct  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ira- 
wadi.  The  war  was  protracted  over  two  years.  After  a  loss 
to  us  of  about  20,000  lives,  chiefly  from  the  pestilential  climate, 
and  an  expenditure  of  £14,000,000,  the  King  of  Ava  signed, 
in  1826,  the  treaty  of  Yandabu.  By  this  he  abandoned  all 
claim  to  Assam,  and  ceded  to  us  the  Provinces  of  Arakan  and 
Tenasserim,  already  in  the  military  occupation  of  the  British. 
He  retained  the  whole  valley  of  the  Irawadi,  down  to  the  sea  at 
Rangoon. 

Bhartpur  taken,  1827. — A  disputed  succession  led  to  the 
British  intervention  in  Bhartpur,  the  great  Jat  State  of  Central 
India,  The  capture  of  the  city  by  Lord  Combermere,  in 
January  1827,  wiped  out  the  repulse  which  Lord  Lake  had 
received  in  January  1805.  Artillery  could  make  little  impres- 
sion upon  the  massive  walls  of  mud.  But  at  last  a  breach  was 
effected  by  mining,  and  Bhartpur  was  taken  by  storm,  thus 
removing  the  popular  notion  throughout  India,  that  it  was 
impregnable — a  notion  which  had  threatened  to  become  a 
political  danger. 

Lord  William  Bentinck,  1828-1835. — The  next  Governor- 
General  was  Lord  William  Bentinck,  who  had  been  Governor 
of  Madras  twenty  years  earlier,  at  the  time  of  the  mutiny  of 
Vellore  (1806).  His  seven  years'  rule  is  not  signalized  by  any 
of  those  victories  or  extensions  of  territory  by  which  chroniclers 
measure  the  growth  of  an  empire.  But  it  forms  an  epoch  in 
administrative  reform,  and  in  the  slow  process  by  which  a 
subject  population  is  won  over  to  venerate  as  well  as  to  obey 
its  foreign  rulers.  The  modern  history  of  the  British  in  India, 
as  benevolent  administrators,  ruling  the  country  with  a  single 
eye  to  the  good  of  the  natives,  may  almost  be  said  to  begin  with 
Lord  William  Bentinck.  According  to  the  inscription  upon  his 
statue  at  Calcutta,  from  the  pen  of  Macaulay :  '  He  abolished 
cruel  rites ;  he  effaced  humiliating  distinctions ;  he  gave  liberty 
to  the  expression  of  public  opinion ;  his  constant  study  was  to 
elevate  the  intellectual  and  moral  character  of  the  nations  com- 
mitted to  his  charge.' 


LORD    WILLIAM  BENTINCK,   1828-1835.  207 

Bentinck's  Financial  Reforms. —  Lord  William  Bentinck's 
first  care  on  arrival  in  India  was  to  restore  equilibrium  to  the 
finances,  which  were  tottering  under  the  burden  imposed  upon 
them  by  the  Burmese  war.  This  he  effected  by  three  series 
of  measures — first,  by  reductions  in  permanent  expenditure, 
amounting  to  i^-  millions  sterling  a  year;  second,  by  augment- 
ing the  revenue  from  land  which  had  unfairly  escaped  assess- 
ment; third,  by  duties  on  the  opium  of  Malwa.  He  also 
widened  the  gates  by  which  educated  Natives  could  enter  the 
service  of  the  Company.  Some  of  these  reforms  were  dis- 
tasteful to  the  covenanted  service  and  to  the  officers  of  the 
army.  But  Lord  William  was  staunchly  supported  by  the 
Court  of  Directors  and  by  the  Ministry  at  home. 

Abolition  of  Sati,  and  Suppression  of  Thagi. — His  two 
most  memorable  acts  are  the  abolition  of  sati  (suttee),  or  widow- 
burning,  and  the  suppression  of  the  thags  (thugs).  At  this 
distance  of  time,  it  is  difficult  to  realize  the  degree  to  which 
these  two  barbarous  practices  had  corrupted  the  social  system 
of  the  Hindus.  European  research  has  proved  that  the  text 
in  the  Vedas  adduced  to  authorize  the  immolation  of  Hindu 
widows  was  a  wilful  mistranslation.  But  the  practice  had  been 
enshrined  in  Hindu  opinion  by  the  authority  of  centuries,  and 
had  acquired  the  sanctity  of  a  religious  rite.  The  Emperor 
Akbar  tried  to  prohibit  it,  but  failed  to  put  it  down.  The  early 
English  rulers  did  not  dare  to  violate  the  religious  traditions  of 
the  people.  In  the  year  1817,  no  fewer  than  700  widows  are 
said  to  have  been  burned  alive  in  the  Bengal  Presidency  alone. 
To  this  day,  the  holy  spots  of  Hindu  pilgrimage  are  thickly 
dotted  with  little  white  pillars,  each  commemorating  a  sati.  In 
spite  of  strenuous  opposition,  both  from  Europeans  and  Natives, 
Lord  William  Bentinck  carried  a  regulation  in  Council,  on  the 
4th  December  1829,  by  which  all  who  abetted  sati  were  de- 
clared guilty  of  '  culpable  homicide.'  The  honour  of  suppress- 
ing thagi  must  be  shared  between  Lord  William  Bentinck  and 
Captain  Sleeman.  Thags  were  hereditary  assassins,  who  made 
strangling  their  profession.  They  travelled  in  gangs,  disguised 
as  merchants  or  pilgrims,  and  were  banded  together  by  an  oath 
based  on  the  rites  of  the  bloody  goddess  Kalf.     Between  1826 


208         THE   CONSOLIDATION  OF  BRITISH  INDIA. 

and  1835,  as  many  as  1562  //jags  were  apprehended  in  different 
parts  of  British  India ;  and,  by  the  evidence  of  approvers,  this 
moral  plague-spot  was  gradually  stamped  out. 

Renewal  of  Charter,  1833. — Two  other  historical  events 
are  connected  with  the  administration  of  Lord  William  Ben- 
tinck.  In  1833,  the  charter  of  the  East  India  Company  was 
again  renewed  for  twenty  years,  but  on  condition  that  the  Com- 
pany should  abandon  its  trade  entirely,  alike  with  India  and 
China,  and  permit  Europeans  to  freely  settle  in  India.  At  the 
same  time,  a  fourth  or  Law  Member  was  added  to  the  Governor- 
"General's  Council,  who  need  not  necessarily  be  a  servant  of  the 
Company;  and  a  Commission  was  appointed  to  revise  and 
codify  the  law.  Macaulay  was  the  first  legal  member  of  Council, 
and  the  first  President  of  the  Law  Commission. 

Mysore  protected  and  Coorg  annexed. — In  1830,  it  was 
found  necessary  to  take  Mysore  under  British  administration. 
This  arrangement  continued  until  March  1881,  when  Mysore 
was  restored  to  Native  government.  In  1834,  the  frantic 
misrule  of  the  Raja  of  Coorg  brought  on  a  short  and  sharp 
war.  The  Raja  was  permitted  to  retire  to  Benares ;  and  the 
brave  and  proud  inhabitants  of  his  mountainous  little  territory 
decided  to  place  themselves  under  the  sway  of  the  Company. 
This  was  the  only  annexation  effected  by  Lord  William  Ben- 
tinck,  and  it  was  done  '  in  consideration  of  the  unanimous  wish 
of  the  people.'     He  retired  in  1835. 

Lord  Metcalfe,  1835-1836. — Sir  Charles  (afterwards  Lord) 
Metcalfe  succeeded  Lord  William  Bentinck,  being  senior  member 
of  Council.  His  short  term  of  office  is  memorable  for  the 
measure  which  his  predecessor  had  initiated,  but  which  he 
carried  into  execution,  for  giving  entire  liberty  to  the  press. 
Public  opinion  in  India,  as  well  as  the  express  wish  of  the 
Court  of  Directors  at  home  pointed  to  Metcalfe  as  the  fittest 
person  to  carry  out  the  policy  of  Bentinck,  not  provisionally, 
but  as  Governor-General  for  a  full  term. 

Lord  Auckland,  1836-1842. — Party  exigencies,  however, 
led  to  the  appointment  of  Lord  Auckland.  From  this  date  com- 
mences a  new  era  of  war  and  conquest,  which  may  be  said  to 
have  lasted  for  twenty  years.     All  looked  peaceful,  until  Lord 


LORD  AUCKLAND,   1836-42.  209 

Auckland,  prompted  by  his  evil  genius,  attempted  to  place  Shah 
Shuja  upon  the  throne  of  Kabul — an  attempt  conducted  with 
gross  mismanagement,  and  ending  in  the  annihilation  of  the 
British  garrison  placed  in  that  city. 

Afghanistan  under  the  Dnranis,  1747-1826. — Almost 
for  the  first  time  since  the  days  of  the  Sultans  of  Ghazni  and 
Ghor,  Afghanistan  had  obtained  a  national  king,  in  1747,  in 
Ahmad  Shah  Duranf.  This  resolute  soldier  found  his  oppor- 
tunity in  the  confusion  which  followed  the  death  of  the  Persian 
conqueror,  Nadir  Shah.  Before  his  own  decease  in  1773, 
Ahmad  Shah  had  conquered  a  wide  empire,  from  Herat  to 
Peshawar,  and  from  Kashmir  to  Sind.  His  intervention  on  the 
field  of  Panipat  (1761)  turned  back  the  tide  of  Maraiha  con- 
quest, and  replaced  a  Muhammadan  emperor  on  the  throne  of 
Delhi.  But  Ahmad  Shah  never  cared  to  settle  down  in  India, 
and  kept  state  alternately  at  his  two  Afghan  capitals  of  Kabul 
and  Kandahar.  The  Duranf  kings  were  prolific  in  children, 
who  fought  to  the  death  with  one  another  on  each  succession. 
At  last,  in  1826,  Dost  Muhammad,  head  of  the  powerful 
Barakzai  family,  succeeded  in  establishing  himself  as  ruler  of 
Kabul,  with  the  title  of  Amir,  while  two  fugitive  brothers  of  the 
Durani  line  were  living  under  British  protection  at  Ludhiana,  on 
the  Punjab  frontier. 

Our  Early  Dealings  with  Kabul. — The  attention  of  the 
English  Government  had  been  directed  to  Afghan  affairs  ever 
since  the  time  of  Lord  Wellesley,  who  feared  that  Zeman  Shah, 
then  holding  his  court  at  Lahore  (1800),  might  follow  in  the 
path  of  Ahmad  Shah,  and  overrun  Hindustdn.  The  growth  of 
the  powerful  Sikh  kingdom  of  Ranjit  Singh,  however,  gradually 
dispelled  such  alarms  for  the  future.  Subsequently,  in  1809, 
while  a  French  invasion  of  India  was  still  a  possibility  to  be 
guarded  against,  IMountstuart  Elphinstone  was  sent  by  Lord 
Minto  on  a  mission  to  Shah  Shuja,  brother  of  Zeman  Shall,  to 
form  a  defensive  alliance.  Before  the  year  expired.  Shah 
Shuja  had  been  driven  into  exile,  and  a  third  brother,  Mahmiid 
Shah,  was  on  the  throne. 

Restoration  of  Shah  Shuja  by  the  British,  1839.— In 
1837,  when  the  curtain  rises  upon  the  drama  of  English  inter- 

o 


2IO  THE  CONSOLIDATION  OF  BRITISH  INDIA. 

ference  in  Afghanistan,  the  usurper  Dost  Muhammad  Barakzai 
was  firmly  established  at  Kabul.  His  great  ambition  was  to 
recover  Peshawar  from  the  Sikhs.  When,  therefore,  Captain 
Alexander  Burnes  arrived  on  a  mission  from  Lord  Auckland, 
with  the  ostensible  object  of  opening  trade,  the  Dost  was  willing 
to  promise  everything,  if  only  he  could  get  Peshawar.  But 
Lord  Auckland  had  another  and  more  important  object  in  view. 
At  this  time  the  Russians  were  advancing  rapidly  in  Central 
Asia ;  and  a  Persian  army,  not  without  Russian  support,  was 
besieging  Herat,  the  traditional  bulwark  of  Afghanistan  on  the 
east.  A  Russian  envoy  was  at  Kabul  at  the  same  time  as 
Burnes.  The  latter  was  unable  to  sadsfy  the  demands  of  Dost 
Muhammad  in  the  matter  of  Peshawar,  and  returned  to  India 
unsuccessful.  Lord  Auckland  forthwith  resolved  upon  the 
hazardous  plan  of  placing  a  more  subservient  ruler  upon  the 
throne  of  Kabul.  Shah  Shuja,  one  of  the  two  royal  Afghan 
exiles  at  Ludhiana,  was  selected  for  the  purpose.  At  this  time 
both  the  Punjab  and  Sind  were  independent  kingdoms ;  and 
both  lay  between  British  India  and  Afghanistan.  Sind  was  the 
less  powerful  of  the  two,  and  accordingly  a  British  army 
escorting  Shah  Shuja  made  its  way  through  Sind  into  Southern 
Afghanistan  by  way  of  the  Bolan  Pass.  Kandahar  surrendered, 
Ghazni  was  taken  by  storm.  Dost  Muhammad  fled  across  the 
Hindu  Kush,  and  Shah  Shuja  was  trium.phantly  led  into  the 
Bala  Hissar  at  Kabul  in  August  1839.  After  one  more  brave 
struggle.  Dost  Muhammad  surrendered,  and  was  sent  to  Calcutta 
as  a  State  prisoner.  The  Governor-General,  Baron  Auckland, 
was  created  Earl  of  Auckland  in  1839. 

British  Retreat  from  Afghanistan,  1841-1842. — But 
although  we  could  enthrone  Shah  Shuja,  we  could  not  win  for 
him  the  hearts  of  the  Afghans.  To  that  nation  he  seemed  a 
degenerate  exile  thrust  back  upon  them  by  foreign  arms.  During 
two  years  Afghanistan  remained  in  the  military  occupation  of 
the  British.  The  catastroi)he  occurred  in  November  1841, 
when  our  Political  Agent,  Sir  Alexander  Burnes,  was  assas- 
sinated in  the  city  of  Kabul.  The  troops  in  the  cantonments 
were  under  the  command  of  General  Elphinstone  (not  to  be 
confounded   with   the    able   civilian   and  historian,    the    Hon. 


THE  FIRST  AFGHAN  WAR,   1839-42.  211 

Mountstuart  Elphinstone,  formerly  Governor  of  Bombay).  Sir 
William  Macnaghten  was  the  Political  Officer.  General  Elphin- 
stone, an  old  man,  proved  unequal  to  the  responsibilities  of 
the  position.  Macnaghten  was  treacherously  murdered  at  an 
interview  with  the  Afghan  chief  Akbar  Khan,  eldest  son  of 
Dost  Muhammad.  After  lingering  in  its  cantonments  for  two 
months,  the  British  army  set  off  in  the  depth  of  winter,  under 
a  fallacious  guarantee  from  the  Afghan  leaders,  to  find  its  way 
back  to  India  through  the  passes.  When  it  started,  it  numbered 
4000  fighting  men,  with  12,000  camp-followers.  A  single 
survivor,  Dr.  Brydon,  reached  the  friendly  walls  of  Jalalabad, 
where  General  Sale  was  gallantly  holding  out.  The  rest 
perished  in  the  snowy  defiles  of  Khurd-Kabul  and  Jagdalak, 
from  the  knives  and  matchlocks  of  the  Afghans,  or  from  the 
effects  of  cold.  A  few  prisoners,  chiefly  women,  children,  and 
officers,  were  considerately  treated  by  the  orders  of  Akbar  Khan. 
Lord  Ellenborough,  1842-1844:  The  Army  of  Retri- 
bution, 1842. — The  first  Afghan  enterprise,  begun  in  a  spirit 
of  aggression,  and  conducted  amid  dissensions  and  mismanage- 
ment, had  ended  in  the  disgrace  of  the  British  arms.  The  real 
loss,  which  amounted  only  to  a  single  garrison,  was  magnified 
by  the  horrors  of  the  winter  march,  and  by  the  completeness 
of  the  annihilation.  Within  a  month  after  the  news  reached 
Calcutta,  Lord  Auckland  had  been  superseded  by  Lord  Ellen- 
borough,  whose  first  impulse  was  to  be  satisfied  with  drawing 
off  in  safety  the  garrisons  from  Kandahar  and  Jalalabad.  But 
bolder  counsels  were  forced  upon  him.  General  Pollock,  who 
was  marching  straight  through  .the  Punjab  to  relieve  General 
Sale,  was  allowed  to  penetrate  to  Kabul.  General  Nott,  although 
ordered  to  withdraw  from  Kandahar,  resolved  to  go  round  by 
way  of  Kabul.  Lord  Ellenborough  gave  his  commands  in  well- 
chosen  words,  which  would  leave  his  generals  responsible  for 
any  disaster.  General  Nott  accepted  that  responsibility,  and, 
instead  of  retreating  south-east  to  the  Indus,  boldly  marched 
north  to  Kabul.  After  hard  fighting,  the  two  British  armies, 
under  Pollock  and  Nott,  met  at  their  common  destination  in 
Kabul,  in  September  1842.  The  great  Idzar  of  Kabul  was 
blown  up  with  gunpowder,  to  fix  a  stigma  upon  the  city;  the 

0  2 


212  THE   CONSOLIDATION  OF  BRITISH  INDIA. 

British  prisoners  were  recovered  ;  and  our  armies  marched  back 
to  India,  leaving  Dost  IMuhammad  to  take  undisputed  possession 
of  his  throne.  The  drama  closed  with  a  bombastic  proclamation 
from  Lord  Ellenborough,  who  had  caused  the  gates  from  the 
tomb  of  Mahmud  of  Ghazni  to  be  carried  back  as  a  memorial 
of  '  Somnath  revenged.'  The  gates  were  a  modern  forgery ; 
and  their  theatrical  procession  through  the  Punjab  formed  a 
vainglorious  sequel  to  Lord  Ellenborough's  timidity  while  the 
fate  of  our  armies  hung  in  the  balance. 

Conquest  of  Sind,  1843. — Lord  Ellenborough,  who  loved 
military  pomp,  had  his  tastes  gratified  by  two  more  wars.  In 
1843,  the  Muhammadan  rulers  of  Sind,  known  as  the  INIfrs  or 
Amirs,  whose  chief  fault  was  that  they  would  not  surrender 
their  independence,  were  crushed  by  Sir  Charles  Napier.  The 
victory  of  Miani,  in  which  3000  British  troops  defeated  12,000 
Baluchfs,  is  one  of  the  brilliant  feats  of  arms  in  Anglo-Indian 
history.  But  valid  reasons  can  scarcely  be  found  for  the 
annexation  of  the  country.  In  the  same  year  a  disputed 
succession  at  Gwalior,  fomented  by  feminine  intrigue,  resulted 
in  an  outbreak  of  the  overgrown  army  which  the  Sindhia  family 
kept  up.  Peace  was  restored  by  the  battles  of  INIaharajpur  and 
Panniar,  at  the  former  of  which  Lord  Ellenborough  was 
present  in  person. 

Lord  Hardinge,  1844-1848. — In  1844,  Lord  Ellenborough 
was  recalled  by  the  Court  of  Directors,  who  differed  from  him 
on  points  of  administration,  and  distrusted  his  erratic  genius. 
He  was  succeeded  by  a  veteran  soldier.  Sir  Henry  (afterwards 
Lord)  Hardinge,  who  had  served  through  the  Peninsular  war, 
and  lost  a  hand  at  Ligny.  It  was  felt  on  all  sides  that  a  trial  of 
strength  between  the  British  and  the  one  remaining  Hindu 
power  in  India,  the  great  Sikh  nation,  was  near. 

The  Sikhs. — The  Sikhs  w^ere  not  a  nationality  like  the 
Marathas,  but  originally  a  religious  sect,  bound  together  by  the 
additional  tie  of  military  discipline.  They  trace  their  origin  to 
Nanak  Shah,  a  pious  Hindu  reformer,  born  near  Lahore  in 
1469,  before  the  ascendency  of  either  Mughals  or  Portuguese 
in  India.  Nanak,  like  other  zealous  preachers  of  his  time, 
preached  the  abolition  of  caste,  the  unity  of  the  Godhead,  and 


LORD  HARD  INGE,    1844-48.  213 

the  duty  of  leading  a  pure  life.  From  Nanak,  ten  gurus  or 
apostles  are  traced  down  to  Govind  Singh  in  1708,  with  whom 
the  succession  stopped.  Cruelly  persecuted  by  the  ruling 
Muhammadans,  almost  exterminated  under  the  miserable 
successors  of  Aurangzeb,  the  Sikh  martyrs  clung  to  their  faith 
with  unflinching  zeal.  At  last  the  downfall  of  the  Mughal 
Empire  transformed  the  sect  into  a  territorial  power.  It  was 
the  only  political  organization  remaining  in  the  Punjab.  The 
Sikhs  in  the  north,  and  the  INIarathas  in  Southern  and  Central 
India,  grew  into  the  two  great  Hindu  powers  who  partitioned 
the  IMughal  Empire. 

Ranjit  Singh,  1780-1839. — Even  before  the  rise  of  Ranjit 
Singh,  offshoots  from  the  Sikh  viisls  or  confederacies,  each  led 
by  its  elected  sarddr  or  chief,  had  carved  out  for  themselves 
feudal  principalities  along  the  banks  of  the  Sutlej,  some  of  which 
endure  to  the  present  day.  Ranjit  Singh,  the  founder  of  the 
Sikh  kingdom  of  the  Punjab,  was  born  in  1780.  In  his  twentieth 
year  he  obtained  the  appointment  of  Governor  of  Lahore  from 
the  Afghan  king,  and  formed  the  project  of  building  up  his  per- 
sonal rule  on  the  religious  fanaticism  of  his  countrymen.  He 
organized  the  Sikhs,  or  '  the  liberated,'  into  an  army  under  Euro- 
pean ofhcers,  which  for  steadiness  and  religious  fervour  has  had 
no  parallel  since  the  '  Ironsides  '  of  Cromwell.  From  Lahore, 
as  his  capital,  he  extended  his  conquests  south  to  INIultan,  west 
to  Peshawar,  and  north  to  Kashmir.  On  the  east  side  alone,  he 
was  hemmed  in  by  the  Sutlej,  up  to  which  river  the  authority  of 
the  British  Government  had  advanced  in  1804.  Till  his  death 
in  1839,  Ranjit  Singh  was  ever  loyal  to  the  engagements  which 
he  entered  into  with  Metcalfe  in  1809.  But  he  left  no  son 
capable  of  wielding  his  sceptre.  Lahore  was  torn  by  dissensions 
between  rival  generals,  ministers,  and  queens.  The  only  strong 
power  in  the  Punjab  was  the  army  of  the  khdlsd,  or  Central 
Council  of  the  Sikhs,  which,  since  our  disaster  in  Afghanistan, 
burned  to  measure  its  strength  with  the  British  sepoys.  Ranjit 
Singh's  skilful  European  Generals,  Avitabile  and  Court,  were 
foohshly  ousted  from  their  commands  in  the  Sikh  army,  and  the 
supreme  military  power  was  vested  in  a  series  of  paticlidjals,  or 
elective  committees  of  five. 


214  THE  CONSOLIDATION  OF  BRITISH  INDIA. 

First  Sikh  War,  1845. — In  1845,  the  Sikh  army,  numbering 
60,000  men,  with  150  guns,  crossed  the  Sutlej  and  invaded 
British  territory.  Sir  Hugh  Gough,  the  Commander-in-Chief, 
.accompanied  by  the  Governor-General,  hurried  up  to  the  frontier. 
Within  three  weeks,  four  pitched  battles  were  fought,  at  Mudki, 
Firozshah,  Aliwal,  and  Sobraon.  The  British  loss  on  each  oc- 
casion was  heavy ;  but  by  the  last  victory  the  Sikhs  were  fairly 
driven  back  across  the  Sutlej,  and  Lahore  surrendered  to  the 
British.  By  the  terms  of  peace  which  we  granted,  Dhulip  Singh, 
a  supposed  infant  son  of  Ranji't  and  a  dancing-girl,  was  recog- 
nized as  Raja ;  the  Jalandhar  Doab,  or  tract  between  the  Sutlej 
and  the  Beas,  was  annexed ;  the  Sikh  army  was  limited  to  a 
specified  number ;  Major  Henry  Lawrence  was  appointed  to  be 
Resident  at  Lahore;  and  a  British  force  sent  to  garrison  the 
Punjab  for  a  period  of  eight  years.  Sir  H.  Hardinge  received 
a  peerage,  and  returned  to  England  in  1848. 

Earl  (afterwards  Marquess)  of  Dalhousie,  1848-1856. — 
Lord  Dalhousie  succeeded.  The  eight  years'  rule  of  this  greatest 
of  Indian  proconsuls  left  more  conspicuous  results  than  that  of 
any  Governor-General  since  Lord  Wellesley,  perhaps  even  since 
Clive.  A  high-minded  statesman,  of  a  most  sensitive  con.science, 
and  earnestly  desiring  peace,  Lord  Dalhousie  found  himself 
forced  against  his  will  to  fight  two  wars,  and  to  embark  on  a 
policy  of  annexation.  His  campaigns  in  the  Punjab  and  in 
Burma  ended  in  large  acquisitions  of  territory ;  while  Nagpur, 
Oudh,  and  several  minor  States  also  came  under  British  rule, 
through  failure  of  direct  heirs.  But  Dalhousie's  deepest  interest 
lay  in  the  improvement  of  the  moral  and  material  condition  of 
the  country.  The  system  of  administration  carried  out  in  the 
conquered  Punjab,  by  the  two  Lawrences  and  their  assistants, 
is  probably  the  most  successful  piece  of  governing  ever  ac- 
complished by  Englishmen.  British  Burma  has  prospered  under 
our  rule  not  less  than  the  Punjab.  In  both  cases.  Lord  Dalhousie 
himself  laid  the  foundations  of  our  administrative  success,  and 
deserves  a  large  share  of  the  credit.  No  branch  of  the  adminis- 
tration escaped  his  reforming  hand.  He  founded  the  Public 
Works  Department,  with  a  view  to  creating  the  network  of  roads 
and  canals  which  now  cover  India.    He  opened  the  Ganges  Canal, 


LORD  DALHOUSIE,    1848-56.  215 

Still  the  largest  work  of  the  kind  in  the  country ;  he  turned  the 
sod  of  the  first  Indian  railway.  He  promoted  steam  communi- 
cation with  England  via  the  Red  Sea  ;  he  introduced  cheap  post- 
age and  the  electric  telegraph.  It  is  Lord  Dalhousie's  misfortune 
that  these  benefits  are  loo  often  forgotten  in  the  recollections  of 
the  Mutiny,  which  followed  his  policy  of  annexation,  after  the 
firm  hand  which  had  remodelled  British  India  was  withdrawn. 

Second  Sikh  War,  1848-1849. — Lord  Dalhousie  had  not 
been  six  months  in  India  before  the  second  Sikh  or  Punjab  war 
broke  out.  Two  British  officers  were  treacherously  assassinated 
at  Miiltan.  Unfortunately,  Henry  Lawrence,  our  Resident  at 
Lahore,  was  at  home  on  sick  leave.  The  British  army  was  not 
ready  to  act  in  the  hot  weather;  and,  despite  the  single-handed 
exertions  of  Lieutenant  (afterwards  Sir  Herbert)  Edwardes, 
this  outbreak  of  fanaticism  led  to  a  general  rising  in  the  Pun- 
jab. The  khalsd  army  of  the  Sikhs  again  came  together,  and 
once  more  fought  on  even  terms  with  the  British.  On  the  fatal 
field  of  Chilianwala,  which  English  patriotism  prefers  to  call  a 
drawn  battle,  the  British  lost  2400  officers  and  men,  four  guns, 
and  the  colours  of  three  regiments  (13th  January  1849).  Before 
reinforcements  could  come  out  from  England,  with  Sir  Charles 
Napier  as  Commander-in-Chief,  Lord  Gough  had  restored  his 
reputation  by  the  crowning  victory  of  Gujrat,  which  absolutely 
destroyed  the  Sikh  army.  Multdn  had  pieviously  fixllen,  and  the 
allied  Muhammadan  cavalry  from  Afghanistan,  who  had  forgotten 
their  religious  antipathy  to  the  Sikhs,  and  joined  with  them  in 
a  common  hatred  of  the  British  name,  were  chased  back  with 
ignominy  to  their  native  hills.  The  Punjab,  annexed  by  procla- 
mation on  the  29th  IMarch  1849,  became  a  British  Province — 
a  virgin  field  for  the  administrative  talents  of  Dalhousie  and  the 
two  Lawrences.  Maharaja  Dhulip  Singh  received  an  allowance 
of  £58,000  a  year,  on  which  he  lived  for  many  years  as  an 
English  country  gentleman  in  Norfolk.  In  1849  the  Earl  of 
Dalhousie  was  advanced  to  a  Marquessate. 

Paciflcation  of  the  Punjab. — The  first  step  in  the  pacifica- 
tion of  the  Punjab  was  a  general  disarmament,  which  resulted  in 
the  delivery  of  no  fewer  than  120,000  weapons  of  various  kinds. 
Then  followed  a  settlement  of  the  land  tax,  village  by  village,  at 


21 6  THE   CONSOLIDA  TION  OF  BRITISH  INDIA. 

an  assessment  much  below  the  rates  to  which  it  had  been  raised 
by  Silch  exactions ;  and  the  introduction  of  a  loose  but  equitable 
code  of  civil  and  criminal  procedure.  Roads  and  canals  were 
laid  out  by  Colonel  Robert  Napier  (afterwards  Lord  Napier  of 
]Magdala).  The  security  of  British  peace,  and  the  personal  in- 
fluence of  British  officers,  inaugurated  a  new  era  of  prosperity, 
which  was  felt  to  the  farthest  corners  of  the  Province.  It  thus 
happened  that,  when  the  Mutiny  broke  out  in  1857,  the  Punjab 
remained  not  only  quiet,  but  loyal. 

Second  Burmese  War,  1852. — The  second  Burmese  war, 
in  1852,  arose  out  of  the  ill-treatment  of  some  European  mer- 
chants at  Rangoon,  and  the  insults  offered  to  the  captain  of  a 
British  frigate  who  had  been  sent  to  remonstrate.  The  whole 
valley  of  the  Irawadi,  from  Rangoon  up  to  Prome,  was  occupied 
in  a  few  months.  As  the  King  of  Ava  refused  to  treat,  the  con- 
quered tracts  of  Lower  Burma  were  annexed  by  proclamation, 
on  the  20th  December  1852,  under  the  name  of  Pegu,  to  the 
Provinces  of  Arakan  and  Tenasserim,  which  we  had  acquired  in 
1826,  after  the  first  Burmese  war. 

Prosperity  of  British  Burma. — Since  annexation,  the 
inhabitants  of  Rangoon  had  multiplied  fourteenfold  by  1891. 
The  trade  of  the  port,  which  four  years  after  its  annexation 
(1857-58)  amounted  to  £2,131,055,  had  increased  in  1881-82 
to  £11,723,781.  The  towns  and  the  rural  tracts  have  alike 
pros;  ered.  Before  1826,  Amherst  District  was  the  scene  of  per- 
petual warfare  between  the  Kings  of  Siam  and  Pegu,  and  was 
stripped  of  inhabitants.  In  February  1827,  a  Taking  Chief 
with  10,000  followers  settled  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Maulmain; 
and,  after  a  few  years,  a  further  influx  of  20,000  immigrants 
took  place.  In  1855,  the  population  of  Amherst  District 
amounted  to  83,146  souls;  in  i860,  to  130,953  ;  and  in  1S81, 
to  301,086.  Or,  to  take  the  case  of  a  seaport.  In  1826,  when 
we  annexed  the  Province  of  Arakan,  Akyab  was  a  poor  fishing 
village.  By  1830  it  had  developed  into  a  little  town,  with  a 
trade  valued  at  £7000.  In  1881  the  trade  approached  2 J  mil- 
lions sterling  ;  so  that  the  trade  of  Akyab  multiplied  nearly  four 
hundredfold  in  fifty  years.  The  population  of  Lower  Burma  has 
increased  from  \\  millions  in  1855,  to  over  4^  millions  in  1891. 


dalhousie's  policy  to  native  states.      217 

Lord  Dalhousie  and  the  Native  States. — Lord  Dal- 
housie's  dealings  with  the  Feudatory  States  of  India  revealed  the 
whole  nature  of  the  man.  That  rulers  only  exist  for  the  good 
of  the  ruled,  was  his  supreme  axiom  of  government,  of  which  he 
gave  a  conspicuous  example  in  his  own  daily  life.  That  British 
administration  was  better  for  the  people  than  Native  rule,  seemed 
to  him  to  follow  from  this  axiom.  The  truth  is  that  the  system 
of  British  protectorates,  as  developed  by  Lord  Wellesley  and  his 
successors,  had  proved  by  no  means  a  complete  success.  It 
practically  secured  to  the  Native  Chiefs  their  principalities  and 
revenues,  however  they  might  abuse  their  position  and  oppress 
their  subjects.  A  remedy  for  this  state  of  things  has  since  been 
worked  out  in  the  India  of  the  Queen  by  enforcing  a  higher 
standard  of  personal  responsibility  on  the  Feudatory  princes  of 
India.  But  in  Lord  Dalhousie's  time  the  old  unreformed  system 
was  bearing  its  last  and  worst  fruits.  Dalhousie  was  thus  led  to 
regard  Native  Chiefs  as  mischievous  anomalies,  to  be  abolished 
by  every  fair  means.  Good  faith  must  be  kept  with  princes  on 
the  throne,  and  with  their  legitimate  heirs.  But  no  false  senti- 
ment should  preserve  dynasties  which  had  forfeited  our  sympa- 
thies by  generations  of  misrule,  or  prolong  those  that  had  no 
natural  successor.  The  '  doctrine  of  lapse  '  was  the  practical 
application  of  these  principles,  complicated  by  the  Indian  practice 
of  adoption.  It  has  never  been  doubted  that,  according  to 
Hindu  private  law,  an  adopted  son  entirely  fills  the  place  of  a 
natural  son,  whether  to  perform  the  religious  obsequies  of  his 
father  or  to  inherit  his  property.  In  all  respects  he  continues 
the  rights  of  the  deceased.  But  it  was  argued,  both  as  a  matter 
of  historical  fact  and  on  grounds  of  political  expediency,  that 
the  succession  to  a  throne  stood  upon  a  different  footing.  The 
paramount  power  could  not  recognize  such  a  right,  which  might 
be  used  as  a  fraud  to  hand  over  the  happiness  of  millions  to  a 
base-born  impostor.  Here  came  in  Lord  Dalhousie's  maxim  of 
'  the  good  of  the  governed.'  In  his  mind,  the  benefits  to  be 
conferred  through  British  administration  weighed  heavier  than  a 
superstitious  and  often  fraudulent  fiction  of  inheritance. 

Lord  Dalhousie's  Doctrine. —  When  a  Native  Chief  left 
direct  male  heirs  of  his  body,  Lord  Dalhousie  recognized  their 


2l8  THE   CONSOLIDATION  OF  BRITISH  INDIA. 

right  to  succeed  alike  to  the  private  fortune  and  the  public 
government  of  their  father.  But  when  there  was  only  an 
adopted  son,  Lord  Dalhousie,  while  scrupulously  respecting  the 
claims  of  the  heirs  to  the  private  fortune  of  the  late  chief,  denied 
the  right  of  the  adopted  son  to  succeed  to  the  public  govern- 
ment of  the  State.  He  held  the  government  of  a  Native  State 
to  be  a  public  trust ;  he  also  held  that,  in  the  absence  of 
direct  male  issue  with  a  lawful  claim  to  succeed,  the  succession 
must  be  decided  by  the  British  Government,  not  in  the  interests 
of  the  family  of  the  late  chief,  but  in  the  interests  of  the  people. 
Those  interests  he  believed  to  be  most  effectually  protected  by 
bringing  them  under  direct  British  rule. 

Lapsed  Native  States. — The  first  State  to  escheat  to  the 
British  Government,  in  accordance  with  these  principles,  was 
Satara,  which  had  been  reconstituted  by  Lord  Hastings  on  the 
downfall  of  the  Peshwa  in  1818.  The  Raja  of  Satara,  the  last 
direct  representative  of  Sivajf,  died  without  a  son  in  1848,  and 
his  deathbed  adoption  of  a  son  was  set  aside  (1849).  In  the 
same  year,  the  Rajput  Slate  of  Karauli  was  saved  by  the  Court 
of  Directors,  who  drew  a  fine  distinction  between  a  dependent 
principality  and  a  protected  ally.  In  1853,  Jhansi  suffered  the 
same  fate  as  Satara.  But  the  most  conspicuous  application  of 
the  doctrine  of  lapse  was  the  case  of  Nagpur.  The  last  of  the 
Maratha  Bhonslas,  a  dynasty  older  than  the  British  Government 
in  India,  died  without  a  son,  natural  or  adopted,  in  1853.  His 
territories  were  annexed,  and  became  the  Central  Provinces. 
That  year  also  saw  British  administration  extended  to  the  Berars, 
or  the  Assigned  Districts,  which  the  Nizam  of  Haidarabad  was 
induced  to  hand  over  to  us  as  a  territorial  guarantee  for  the 
subsidies  which  he  perpetually  left  in  arrear.  The  relics  of 
three  other  dynasties  also  passed  away  in  1853,  although  with- 
out any  attendant  accretion  to  British  territory.  In  the  extreme 
south,  the  titular  Nawab  of  the  Karnatik  and  the  titular  Raja  of 
Tanjore  both  died  without  heirs.  Their  rank  and  their  pensions 
died  with  them,  but  compassionate  allowances  were  continued  to 
their  families.  In  the  north  of  India,  Baji  Rao,  the  ex-Peshwa, 
who  had  been  dethroned  in  181 8,  lived  on  till  1853  in  the 
enjoyment  of  his  annual  pension  of  £80,000.    His  adopted  son, 


THE  ANNEXATION  OF  OUDIf,    1856.  219 

Nana  Sahib,  inherited  his  accumulated  savings,  but  could  obtain 
no  further  recognition. 

Annexation  of  Oudh,  1856. — Lord  Dalhousie  annexed 
the  Kingdom  of  Oudh  on  different  grounds.  Ever  since  the 
Nawab  Wazfr,  Shuja-ud-daula,  received  back  his  forfeited  terri- 
tories of  Oudh  from  Lord  Clive  in  1765,  the  existence  of  his 
dynasty  had  depended  on  the  protection  of  British  bayonets. 
Guarded  alike  from  foreign  invasion  and  from  domestic  rebellion, 
the  line  of  Oudh  Nawabs  had  sunk  into  private  debauchees  and 
public  oppressors.  Their  one  virtue  was  steady  loyalty  to  the 
British  Government.  The  fertile  districts  between  the  Ganges 
and  the  Gogra,  which  now  support  a  denser  agricultural  popula- 
tion than  almost  any  rural  area  of  the  size  on  this  globe,  had  been 
groaning  for  generations  under  an  anarchy  for  which  each 
British  Governor -General  felt  himself  in  part  responsible. 
Warning  after  warning  had  been  given  to  the  Nawabs  (who  had 
assumed  the  title  of  Shah  or  King  since  18 19)  that  they  must 
put  their  house  in  order.  What  the  benevolent  Bentinck  and 
the  soldierly  Hardinge  had  only  threatened,  was  now  performed 
by  Lord  Dalhousie,  who  united  an  equal  honesty  of  purpose 
with  sterner  decision  of  character.  He  laid  the  whole  case 
before  the  Court  of  Directors.  After  long  and  painful  hesitation, 
the  Court  of  Directors  resolved  on  annexation.  Lord  Dalhousie, 
then  on  the  eve  of  retiring,  felt  that  it  would  be  unfair  to 
bequeath  this  perilous  task  to  his  successor  in  the  first  moments 
of  his  rule.  The  tardy  decision  of  the  Court  of  Directors  left 
him,  however,  only  a  few  weeks  to  carry  out  the  work.  But  he 
solemnly  believed  that  work  to  be  his  duty  to  the  people  of 
Oudh.  '  With  this  feeling  on  my  mind,'  he  wrote  privately, 
'  and  in  humble  reliance  on  the  blessing  of  the  Almighty  (for 
millions  of  His  creatures  will  draw  freedom  and  happiness  from 
the  change),  I  approach  the  execution  of  this  duty  gravely  and 
not  without  solicitude,  but  calmly  and  altogether  without  doubt.' 

Grounds  of  Annexation. — Accordingly,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  1856,  the  last  year  of  his  rule,  Dalhousie  gave  orders  to 
General  (afterwards  Sir  James)  Outram,  then  Resident  at  the 
Court  of  Lucknow,  to  assume  the  administration  of  Oudh,  on 
the  ground  that  '  the  British  Government  would  be  guilty  in  the 


220         THE  CONSOLIDATION  OF  BRITISH  INDIA. 

sight  of  God  and  man  if  it  were  any  longer  to  aid  in  sustaining 
by  its  countenance  an  administration  fraught  with  suffering  to 
millions.'  The  proclamation  was  issued  on  the  13th  February 
1856.  The  King  of  Oudh,  Wajid  All,  bowed  to  irresistible 
force,  although  he  refused  to  recognize  the  justice  of  his  deposi- 
tion. After  a  mission  to  England  by  way  of  protest  and  appeal, 
he  settled  down  in  the  pleasant  suburb  of  Garden  Reach,  near 
Calcutta,  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  pension  of  £120,000  a  year. 
Oudh  was  thus  annexed  without  a  blow.  But  this  measure,  on 
which  Lord  Dalhousie  looked  back  with  the  proudest  sense  of 
rectitude,  was  perhaps  the  act  of  his  rule  that  most  alarmed 
Native  public  opinion. 

Lord  Dalhousie's  Work  in  India. — The  INIarquess  of 
Dalhousie  resigned  office  in  March  1856,  being  then  only  forty- 
four  years  of  age  ;  but  he  carried  home  with  him  the  seeds  of  a 
lingering  illness,  which  resulted  in  his  death  in  i860.  Excepting 
Cornwallis,  he  was  the  first,  though  by  no  means  the  last,  of 
English  statesmen  who  have  fallen  victims  to  their  devotion  to 
India's  needs.  Lord  Dalhousie  completed  the  fabric  of  British 
rule  in  India.  The  Indian  Empire,  as  mapped  out  by  Lord 
Wellesley  and  Lord  Hastings  during  the  first  quarter  of  the 
century,  had  received  the  addition  of  Sind  in  1843.  The  Mar- 
quess of  Dalhousie  finally  filled  in  the  wide  spaces  covered  by 
Oudh,  the  Central  Provinces,  and  smaller  States  within  India, 
together  with  the  great  outlying  territories  of  the  Punjab  on  the 
north-western  frontier,  and  the  richest  part  of  British  Burma 
beyond  the  sea. 

Lord  Canning,  1856-1862. — The  great  Governor-General 
was  succeeded  by  his  friend  Lord  Canning,  who,  at  the  farewell 
banquet  in  England  given  to  him  by  the  Court  of  Directors, 
uttered  these  prophetic  words  :  '  I  wish  for  a  peaceful  term  of 
office.  But  I  cannot  forget  that  in  the  sky  of  India,  serene  as  it 
is,  a  small  cloud  may  arise,  no  larger  than  a  man's  hand,  but 
which,  growing  larger  and  larger,  may  at  last  threaten  to  burst 
and  overwhelm  us  with  ruin.'  In  the  following  year,  the  sepoys 
of  the  Bengal  army  mutinied,  and  all  the  valley  of  the  Ganges 
from  Patna  to  Delhi  was  enveloped  in  the  flame. 


THE  HALF-CENTURY  FROM  1S05    TO  1S56. 


Materials  for  Reference. 

In  addition  to  the  more  general  histories  of  India  cited  ante,  p.  199. 
the  following  are  a  few  of  the  leading  and  easily  available  works  bearing 
more  specially  on  the  half-century  (1S05  to  1856)  dealt  with  in  this  chapter. 
Malcolm's  Political  History  of  India  fro7n  17S4  to  1823  (London,  ed.  1826) ; 
Life  and  Letters  of  Lord  Minto  in  India  ;  H.  T.  Prinsep's  Political  and 
Alilitary  Transactions  in  India,  1813  to  1823;  Major  Ross  of  Bladens- 
burg's  Marquess  of  Hastings,  in  the  '  Rulers  of  India '  Series ;  Malcolm's 
Memoir  of  Central  India  (ed.  1832)  ;  Cotton's  Alotintstuart  Elphinstojie 
and  the  Making  of  South- Western  India,  in  the  'Rulers  of  India'  Series; 
Phayre's  History  of  Burma  (18831,  and  the  •British  Bnrma  Gazetteer 
(2  vols.,  Rangoon,  1879-80).  Boulger's  Lord  William  Bentinck,  in  the 
•Rulers  of  India'  Series,  condenses  the  materials  available  for  1828  to 
1835.  Kaye's  History  of  the  War  in  Afghanistan  is  still  the  standard 
work  on  that  sad  period  ;  Miss  Eden's  Journal  in  India  in  1837  and  1838 
portrays  the  social  aspects  of  Lord  Auckland's  rule  ;  Lord  Colchester's 
Indian  Administration  of  Lord  Ellenborough  unconsciously  but  definitely 
reveals  from  Lord  E!lenborough's  own  letters  the  vainglorious  meanness  of 
that  Governor-General.  The  volumes  on  Lord  Hardinge,  by  his  son,  and 
on  the  Marquess  of  Dalhousic.  in  the  '  Rulers  of  India '  Series,  with  the 
lives  of  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  Sir  Herbert  Edwardes,  and  Lord  Lawrence, 
indicate  the  materials  for  the  succeeding  period  from  1844  to  1856. 


[  222  ] 

CHAPTER    XV. 
The  Sepoy  Mutiny  of  1857. 

Causes  of  the  Sepoy  Mutiny. — The  various  motives 
assigned  for  the  Mutiny  appear  inadequate  to  the  European 
mind.  The  truth  seems  to  be  that  Native  opinion  throughout 
India  was  in  a  ferment,  predisposing  men  to  believe  the  wildest 
stories,  and  to  rush  into  action  in  a  paroxysm  of  terror.  Panic 
acts  on  an  Oriental  population  like  drink  upon  a  European 
mob.  The  annexation  policy  of  Lord  Dalhousie,  although 
dictated  by  the  most  enlightened  considerations,  was  distasteful 
to  the  Native  mind.  The  spread  of  education,  the  appearance 
at  the  same  moment  of  the  steam-engine  and  the  telegraph  wire, 
seemed  to  reveal  a  deep  plan  for  substituting  an  English  for  an 
Indian  civilization.  The  Bengal  sepoys  especially  thought  that 
they  could  see  further  than  the  rest  of  their  countrymen.  Most 
of  them  were  Hindus  of  high  caste ;  many  of  them  were  re- 
cruited from  Oudh.  They  regarded  our  reforms  on  Western 
lines  as  attacks  on  their  own  nationality,  and  they  knew  at  first 
hand  what  annexation  meant.  They  believed  it  was  by  their 
prowess  that  the  Punjab  had  been  conquered,  and  that  all  India 
was  held.  The  numerous  dethroned  princes,  or  their  heirs  and 
widows,  were  the  first  to  learn  and  take  advantage  of  this  spirit 
of  disaffection  and  panic.  They  had  heard  of  the  Crimean  war, 
and  were  told  that  Russia  was  the  perpetual  enemy  of  England. 
Our  munificent  pensions  had  supplied  the  funds  with  which  they 
could  buy  the  aid  of  skilful  intriguers. 

Other  alleged  causes  of  the  Mutiny. — On  the  other  hand, 
the  Company  had  not  sufficiently  opened  up  the  higher  posts  in 
its  service  to  natives  of  education,  talent,  or  proved  fidelity.  It 
had  taken  important  steps  in  this  direction  in  respect  to  the 
lower  grades  of  appointments.  But  the  prizes  of  Indian  official 
life,  many  of  which  are  now  thrown  open  to  natives  of  India  by 


CAUSES  OF  THE  MUTINY.  223 

the  Crown,  were  then  the  monopoly  of  a  handful  of  English- 
men. Shortly  before  the  Mutiny,  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  pointed 
out  that  even  the  army  supplied  no  career  to  a  native  officer, 
which  could  satisfy  the  reasonable  ambition  of  an  able  man. 
He  insisted  on  the  serious  dangers  arising  from  this  state  of 
things ;  but  his  warnings  were  unheeded  till  too  late.  In  the 
crisis  of  the  Mutiny  they  were  remembered.  He  was  nominated 
provisional  Governor-General  in  event  of  any  accident  happen- 
ing to  Lord  Canning;  and  the  Queen's  proclamation,  on  the 
transfer  of  the  Government  from  the  Company  to  the  Crown  at 
the  end  of  the  great  struggle,  affirmed  the  principle  which  he 
had  so  powerfully  urged.  '  And  it  is  our  further  will,'  are  Her 
IVIajesty's  gracious  words,  '  that,  so  far  as  may  be,  our  subjects, 
of  whatever  race  or  creed,  be  freely  and  impartially  admitted  to 
offices  in  our  service,  the  duties  of  which  they  may  be  qualified 
by  their  education,  ability,  and  integrity  duly  to  discharge.' 
Under  the  Company  this  liberal  policy  was  unknown.  The 
Sepoy  Mutiny  of  1857,  therefore,  found  many  of  the  Indian 
princes,  especially  the  dethroned  dynasties,  hostile  to  the  Com- 
pany ;  while  a  multitude  of  its  own  native  officers  were  either 
actively  disloyal  or  indifferent  to  its  fate. 

The  *  Greased  Cartridges.' — In  this  critical  state  of  affairs, 
a  rumour  ran  through  the  Native  army  that  the  cartridges  served 
out  to  the  Bengal  regiments  had  been  greased  with  the  fat  of 
pigs  — animals  which  are  unclean  alike  to  Hindu  and  IVIuham- 
madan.  No  assurances  could  quiet  the  minds  of  the  Sepoys. 
Indeed  the  evidence  shows  that  a  disastrous  blunder  had  in  truth 
been  made  in  this  matter — a  blunder  which,  although  quickly 
remedied,  was  remedied  too  late.  Fires  occurred  nightly  in  the 
Native  lines;  officers  were  insulted  by  their  men;  confidence 
was  gone,  and  only  the  form  of  discipline  remained. 

The  Army  drained  of  its  Talent.— In  addition,  the  out- 
break of  the  storm  found  the  Native  regiments  denuded  of  many 
of  their  best  officers.  The  administration  of  the  great  empire 
to  which  Dalhousie  had  put  the  corner-stone,  required  a  larger 
staff  than  the  civil  service  could  supply.  The  practice  of  select- 
ing able  military  men  for  civil  posts,  which  had  long  existed, 
received  a  sudden  and  vast  development.     Oudh,  the  Punjab, 


2  24  THE  MUTINY. 

the  Central  Provinces,  British  Burma,  were  administered  to  a 
large  extent  by  picked  officers  from  the  Company's  regiments. 
Good  and  skilful  commanders  remained  ;  but  the  Native  army 
had  nevertheless  been  drained  of  many  of  its  brightest  intellects 
and  firmest  wills  at  the  very  crisis  of  its  fate.  At  the  same  time 
the  British  troops  in  India  had,  in  spite  of  Lord  Dalhousie's 
remonstrances,  been  reduced  far  below  the  strength  which  the 
great  Governor-General  declared  to  be  essential  to  the  safety  of 
our  rule.  His  earnest  representations  on  this  subject,  and  as 
to  the  urgent  necessity  for  a  reform  alike  of  the  Native  and  the 
British  armies  of  India,  were  lying  disregarded  in  London  when 
the  panic  about  the  'greased  cartridges'  spread  through  the 
Native  regiments,  and  the  storm  burst  upon  Bengal. 

Outbreak  of  the  Mutiny,  May  1857. — On  the  afternoon 
of  Sunday,  loth  May  1857,  the  sepoys  at  IMeerut  (Mirath) 
broke  into  open  mutiny.  They  forced  open  the  jail,  and  rushed 
in  a  wild  torrent  through  the  cantonments,  cutting  down  any 
European  whom  they  met.  They  then  streamed  off  to  the 
neighbouring  city  of  Delhi,  to  stir  up  the  Native  garrison  and 
the  criminal  population  of  that  great  city,  and  to  place  them- 
selves under  the  authority  of  the  discrowned  ]\Iughal  emperor. 
Meerut  was  then  the  largest  military  station  in  Northern  India, 
with  a  strong  European  garrison  of  foot,  horse,  and  guns,  suffi- 
cient to  overwhelm  the  mutineers  long  before  they  could  have 
reached  Delhi.  But  as  the  Sepoys  acted  in  irrational  panic,  so 
the  British  officers,  in  but  too  many  cases,  behaved  with  equally 
irrational  indecision.  The  news  of  the  outbreak  was  telegraphed 
to  Delhi,  and  nothing  more  was  done  at  Meerut  that  night. 
At  the  moment  when  one  strong  will  might  have  saved  India, 
no  soldier  in  authority  at  Meerut  seemed  able  to  think  or  act. 
The  next  morning  the  Muhammadans  of  Delhi  rose,  and  all  that 
the  Europeans  there  could  do  was  to  blow  up  the  magazine. 

Spread  of  the  Mutiny,  June  1857. — A  rallying  centre  and 
a  traditional  name  were  thus  given  to  the  revolt,  which  forth- 
with spread  like  wild-fire  through  the  North-Western  Provinces 
and  Oudh  down  into  Lower  Bengal.  The  same  narrative  must 
suffice  for  all  the  outbreaks,  although  each  episode  has  its  own 
story  of  sadness  and  devotion.   The  sepoys  rose  on  their  officers, 


C AWN  PUR.  225 

usually  without  warning,  sometimes  after  protestations  of 
fidelity — protestations  in  some  cases  perhaps  true  at  the  moment. 
The  Europeans,  or  persons  of  Christian  faith,  were  often  mas- 
sacred ;  occasionally,  also,  the  women  and  children.  The  jail 
was  broken  open,  the  treasury  plundered,  and  the  mutineers 
marched  off  to  some  centre  of  revolt,  to  join  in  what  had  now 
become  a  national  war.  Only  in  the  Punjab  were  the  sepoys 
anticipated  by  stern  measures  of  repression  and  disarmament, 
carried  out  by  Sir  John  Lawrence  and  his  lieutenants,  among 
whom  Edwardes  and  Nicholson  stand  conspicuous.  The  Sikh 
population  never  wavered.  Crowds  of  willing  Muhammadan 
recruits  joined  us  from  the  Afghan  hills.  And  thus  the  Punjab, 
instead  of  being  itself  a  source  of  danger,  was  able  to  furnish 
a  portion  of  its  own  garrison  for  the  siege  of  Delhi.  In  Lower 
Bengal  most  of  the  sepoys  mutinied,  and  then  dispersed  in 
different  directions.  The  Native  armies  of  Madras  and  Bom- 
bay remained,  on  the  whole,  true  to  their  colours.  In  Central 
India,  the  contingents  of  some  of  the  great  Chiefs  sooner  or 
later  threw  in  their  lot  with  the  rebels,  but  the  Muhammadan 
State  of  Haidarabad  was  kept  loyal  by  the  authority  of  its  able 
minister.  Sir  Salar  Jang. 

Cawnpur. — The  main  interest  of  the  Sepoy  War  gathers 
round  the  three  cities  of  Cawnpur,  Lucknow  and  Delhi.  The 
cantonments  at  Cawnpur  contained  one  of  the  great  Native 
garrisons  of  India.  At  Bithur,  not  far  off,  was  the  palace  of 
Dundhu  Panth,  the  heir  of  the  last  Peshwa,  whose  more  familiar 
name  of  Nana  Sahib  will  ever  be  handed  down  to  infamy.  At 
first  the  Nana  was  profuse  in  his  professions  of  loyalty;  but 
when  the  sepoys  mutinied  at  Cawnpur  on  the  6lh  June,  he 
put  himself  at  their  head,  and  was  proclaimed  Peshwa  of  the 
Marathas.  The  Europeans  at  Cawnpur,  numbering  more 
women  and  children  than  fighting  men,  shut  themselves  up  in 
an  ill-chosen  hasty  entrenchment,  where  they  heroically  bore  a 
siege  for  nineteen  days  under  the  sun  of  a  tropical  June.  Every 
one  had  courage  and  endurance  to  suffer  or  to  die  ;  but  the 
directing  mind  was  again  absent.  On  the  27th  June,  trusting 
to  a  safe-conduct  from  the  Nana — a  safe-conduct  supposed  to 
hold  good  as  far  as  Allahabad — they  surrendered ;  and  to  the 

p 


2  26  THE  MUTINY. 

number  of  450  embarked  in  boats  on  the  Ganges.  A  mur- 
derous fire  was  opened  upon  them  from  the  river  bank.  Only 
a  single  boat  escaped  ;  and  four  men,  who  swafn  across  to  the 
protection  of  a  friendly  Raja,  survived  to  tell  the  tale.  The 
rest  of  the  men  were  massacred  on  the  spot.  The  women  and 
children,  numbering  125,  were  reserved  for  the  same  fate  on 
the  15th  July,  when  the  avenging  army  of  Havelock  was  at 
hand. 

Lucknow. — Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  the  Chief  Commissioner 
of  Oudh,  had  foreseen  the  storm.  He  fortified  and  provisioned 
the  Residency  at  Lucknow ;  and  thither  he  retired,  with  all  the 
European  inhabitants  and  a  weak  British  regiment,  on  2nd 
July.  Two  days  later,  he  was  mortally  wounded  by  a  shell. 
But  the  clear  head  was  here  in  authority.  Sir  Henry  Law- 
rence had  deliberately  chosen  his  position ;  and  the  little  gar- 
rison held  out,  under  unparalleled  hardships  and  against  enor- 
mous odds,  until  relieved  by  Havelock  and  Outram  on  25th 
September.  But  the  relieving  force  was  itself  invested  by  fresh 
swarms  of  rebels  ;  and  it  was  not  till  November  that  Sir  Colin 
Campbell  (afterwards  Lord  Clyde)  cut  his  way  into  Lucknow, 
and  effected  the  final  deliverance  of  the  garrison  (i6th  Novem- 
ber 1857).  Our  troops  then  withdrew  to  more  urgent  work, 
and  did  not  permanently  reoccupy  Lucknow  till  March  1858. 

Siege  of  Delhi. — The  siege  of  Delhi  began  on  8th  June,  a 
month  after  the  original  outbreak  at  Meerut.  Siege  in  the 
proper  sense  of  the  word  it  was  not ;  for  our  army,  encamped 
on  the  historic  '  ridge '  of  Delhi,  never  exceeded  8000  men, 
while  the  rebels  within  the  walls  were  more  than  30,000  strong. 
In  the  middle  of  August,  Nicholson  arrived  with  a  reinforcement 
from  the  Punjab;  his  own  inspiring  presence  was  perhaps  even 
more  valuable  than  the  reinforcement  he  brought.  On  14th 
September  the  assault  was  delivered  ;  and,  after  six  days'  des- 
perate fighting  in  the  streets,  .Delhi  was  again  w^on.  Nicholson 
fell  heroically  at  the  head  of  the  storming  party.  Hodson,  the 
daring  but  unscrupulous  leader  of  a  corps  of  irregular  horse, 
hunted  down  next  day  the  old  Mughal  Emperor,  Bahadur  Shah, 
and  his  sons.  The  emperor  was  afterwards  sent  a  State  prisoner 
to  Rangoon,  where  he  lived  till  1862.     As  the  mob  pressed  in 


SUPPHESSION  OF  THE  MUTIXY,   1S57-5S.  227 

on  the  guard  around  the  emperor's  sons,  near  Delhi,  Hodson 
thought  it  necessary  to  shoot  down  the  princes  (who  had  been 
captured  unconditionally)  with  his  own  hand. 

Oudh  reduced  by  Lord  Clyde.— After  the  fall  of  Delhi 
and  the  final  relief  of  Lucknow,  the  war  loses  its  dramatic 
interest,  although  fighting  still  went  on  in  various  parts  of  the 
country  for  about  eighteen  months.  The  population  of  Oudh 
and  Rohilkhand,  stimulated  by  the  presence  of  the  Begam  of 
Oudh,  the  Nawab  of  Bareilly,  and  Nana  Sahib  himself,  had 
joined  the  mutinous  sepoys  en  masse.  In  this  quarter  of  India 
alone,  it  was  the  revolt  of  a  people  rather  than  the  mutiny  of  an 
army  that  had  to  be  quelled.  Sir  Colin  Campbell  (afterwards 
Lord  Clyde)  conducted  the  campaign  in  Oudh,  which  lasted 
through  two  cold  seasons.  Valuable  assistance  was  lent  by  Sir 
Jang  Bahadur  of  Nepal,  at  the  head  of  his  gallant  Gurkhas. 
Town  after  town  was  occupied,  fort  after  fort  was  stormed,  until 
the  last  gun  had  been  recaptured,  and  the  last  fugitive  had  been 
chased  across  the  frontier  by  January  1859. 

Central  India  reduced  by  Sir  Hugh.  Rose. — In  the 
meanwhile,  Sir  Hugh  Rose  (afterwards  Lord  Stralhnairn),  with 
another  army  from  Bombay,  was  conducting  an  equally  brilliant 
campaign  in  Central  India.  His  most  formidable  antagonists 
were  the  disinherited  Rani  or  Princess  of  Jhansi,  and  Tantia 
Topf,  whose  military  talent  had  previously  inspired  Nand  Sahib 
with  all  the  capacity  for  resistance  that  he  ever  displayed.  The 
princess  fell  fighting  bravely  at  the  head  of  her  troops  in  June 
1858.  Tantia  Topi,  after  doubling  backwards  and  forwards 
through  Central  India,  was  at  last  betrayed  and  run  down  in 
April  1859. 

Summary  of  the  Company's  Charters,  1600  to  1784. — 
The  Mutiny  sealed  the  fate  of  the  East  India  Company,  after  a 
life  of  more  than  two  and  a  half  centuries.  The  original  Com- 
pany received  its  charter  of  incorporation  from  Elizabeth  in 
1600.  Its  poHtical  powers,  and  the  constitution  of  the  Indian 
Government,  were  derived  from  the  Regulating  Act  of  1773, 
passed  by  the  ministry  of  Lord  North.  By  that  statute  the 
Governor  of  Bengal  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  Governor- 
General  ;  and,  in  conjunction  with  his  Council  of  four  members, 


2  28  THE  MUTINY. 

he  was  entrusted  with  the  duty  of  controlling  the  Governments 
of  Madras  and  Bombay,  so  far  as  regarded  questions  of  peace 
and  war :  a  Supreme  Court  of  Judicature  was  appointed  at  Cal- 
cutta, to  which  the  judges  were  nominated  by  the  Crown ;  and 
a  power  of  making  rules  and  regulations  was  conferred  upon  the 
Governor-General  and  his  Council.  Next  came  the  India  Bill 
of  Pitt  (1784),  which  founded  the  Board  of  Control  in  England ; 
strengthened  the  supremacy  of  Bengal  over  the  other  Presi- 
dencies ;  and  first  authorized  the  historic  phrase,  '  Governor- 
General-in-Council.' 

Renewals  of  the  Company's  Charter,  1813-1853. — The 
renewed  charter  of  181 3  abolished  the  Company's  monopoly  of 
Indian  trade,  and  compelled  it  to  direct  its  energies  to  the  good 
government  of  the  people.  The  Act  of  1833,  at  the  next 
renewal  of  the  Company's  charter  for  another  twenty  years,  did 
away  with  its  remaining  trade  to  China.  It  also  introduced 
successive  reforms  into  the  constitution  of  the  Indian  Govern- 
ment. It  added  to  the  Council  a  new  (legal)  member,  who 
need  not  be  chosen  from  among  the  Company's  servants,  and 
who  was  at  first  entitled  to  be  present  only  at  meetings  for 
making  laws  and  regulations ;  it  accorded  the  authority  of  Acts 
of  Parliament  to  the  laws  and  regulations  so  made,  subject  to 
the  disallowance  of  the  Court  of  Directors ;  it  appointed  a  Law 
Commission;  and  it  finally  gave  to  the  Governor-General-in- 
Council  a  control  over  the  other  Presidencies,  in  all  points 
relating  to  the  civil  or  military  administration.  The  charter  of 
the  Company  was  renewed  for  the  last  time  in  1853,  not  for  a 
definite  period  of  years,  but  only  for  so  long  as  Parliament 
should  see  fit.  On  this  occasion  the  number  of  Directors  was 
reduced,  and  their  patronage  as  regards  appointments  to  the 
civil  service  was  taken  away,  to  make  room  for  the  principle  of 
open  competition. 

India  transferred  to  the  Crown,  1858. — The  Act  for  the 
Better  Government  of  India  (1858),  which  finally  transferred 
the  administration  from  the  Company  to  the  Crown,  was  not 
passed  without  an  eloquent  protest  from  the  Directors,  nor 
without  bitter  party  discussions  in  Parliament.  It  enacted  that 
India  shall  be  governed  by,  and  in  the  name  of,  the  Queen  of 


INDIA    TRANSFERRED    TO   THE  CROWN  229 

England  through  one  of  her  Principal  Secretaries  of  State, 
assisted  by  a  Council  of  fifteen  members.  The  Governor- 
General  received  the  new  title  of  Viceroy.  The  European 
troops  of  the  Company,  numbering  about  24,000  officers  and 
men,  were  amalgamated  with  the  royal  service,  and  the  Indian 
navy  was  abolished.  By  the  Indian  Councils  Act  (1861),  the 
Governor-General's  Council,  and  also  the  Councils  at  Madras 
and  Bombay,  were  augmented  by  the  addition  of  non-official 
members,  either  Natives  or  Europeans,  for  legislative  purposes 
only ;  and,  by  another  Act  passed  in  the  same  year.  High  Courts 
of  Judicature  were  constituted  out  of  the  old  Supreme  Courts  at 
the  Presidency  towns. 

Materials  for  Reference. 

The  literature  of  the  Indian  Mutiny  is  too  copious,  too  recent,  and  still 
in  too  active  a  state  of  production  to  permit  of  its  being  safely  summarized. 
The  standard  worlc  is  Kaye  and  Malleson's  History  of  the  Sepoy  War  and 
the  Indian  Mutiny  (6  vols.).  The  original  authorities  are  to  be  found  in 
the  official  publications  of  the  period ;  particularly  the  reports  and  evidence 
laid  before  Parliament ;  in  the  published  personal  journals  and  the  Indian 
newspapers  of  the  period,  and  in  the  numerous  memoirs  and  biographies  of 
the  actors  in  the  great  drama.  Among  the  last  class  may  be  mentioned 
especially  Bosworth  Smith's  Life  of  Lord  Lawrence ;  with  the  volumes  by 
Sir  Henry  Cunningham  on  Lord  Ca7i7ting,  by  Sir  Charles  Aitchison  on  Lord 
Lawrence,  and  by  Major-General  Sir  Owen  Tudor  Burne  on  Lord  Clyde 
and  Lord  Strathnairn,  in  the  '  Rulers  of  India '  Series.  Many  ques- 
tions connected  with  the  period  are  still  in  dispute.  The  brief  narrative 
which  I  have  given  in  this  chapter  is  based  upon  the  carefully  verified 
evidence  of  those  who  had  the  best  opportunities  of  observing  the  facts 
and  discerning  the  causes  with  their  own  eyes,  and  particularly  of  Sir  John 
(afterwards  Lord)  Lawrence. 


[230] 


CHAPTER    XVI. 
India  under  the  British  Crown. 

The  Queen's  Proclamation,  1st  November   1858. — It 

fell  to  the  lot  of  Lord  Canning  both  to  suppress  the  Mutiny 
and  to  introduce  the  peaceful  revolution  which  followed.  He 
preserved  his  equanimity  unruffled  in  the  darkest  hours  of  peril ; 
and  the  strict  impartiality  of  his  conduct  incurred  alternate 
praise  and  blame  from  partisans  of  both  sides.  The  epithet 
then  scornfully  applied  to  him,  of  'Clemency'  Canning,  is  now 
remembered  only  to  his  honour.  On  ist  November  1858,  at 
a  grand  darbdr  held  at  Allahabad,  he  sent  forth  the  royal 
proclamation,  which  announced  that  the  Queen  had  assumed 
the  government  of  India.  This  document,  which  is,  in  the 
truest  and  noblest  sense,  the  Magna  Charta  of  the  Indian 
people,  declared  in  eloquent  words  the  principles  of  justice  and 
religious  toleration  as  the  guiding  policy  of  the  Queen's  rule. 
It  also  granted  an  amnesty  to  all  except  those  who  had  directly 
taken  part  in  the  murder  of  British  subjects.  Peace  was  pro- 
claimed throughout  India  on  the  8th  July  1859.  In  the 
following  cold  weather,  Lord  Canning  made  a  viceregal  pro- 
gress through  the  Northern  Provinces,  to  receive  the  homage  of 
loyal  Princes  and  Chiefs,  and  to  guarantee  to  them  the  right  of 
adoption. 

Mr.  Wilson's  Financial  Reforms. — The  suppression  of 
the  Mutiny  increased  the  debt  of  India  by  about  40  millions 
sterling ;  and  the  military  changes  which  ensued  augmented  the 
annual  expenditure  by  about  10  millions.  To  grapple  with 
this  deficit,  a  distinguished  political  economist  and  parUamentary 
financier,  the  Right  Honourable  James  Wilson,  was  sent  out 
from  England  as  financial  member  of  Council.  He  reorganized 
the  customs  system,  imposed  an  income  tax  and  a  licence  duty, 


LORDS  ELGIN,  LAWRENCE,   AND  MAYO.  231 

and  created  a  State  paper  currency.  He  died  in  the  midst  of 
his  splendid  task;  but  his  name  still  lives  as  that  of  the  first 
and  greatest  finance  minister  of  India.  The  Bengal  Tenancy 
Act,  a  memorable  measure  which  secured  the  land-rights  of  the 
peasantry  of  Bengal,  was  passed  under  Lord  Canning's  auspices 
in  1859;  the  Penal  Code,  originally  drawn  up  by  Macaulay  in 
1837,  became  law  in  i860;  with  Codes  of  Civil  and  Criminal 
Procedure  in  1861. 

Lord  Elgin,  1862-1863. —  Lord  Canning  left  India  in 
March  1862,  and  died  before  he  had  been  a  month  in  England. 
His  successor,  Lord  Elgin,  only  lived  till  November  1863. 
He  expired  at  the  Himalayan  station  of  Dharmsala,  and  there 
he  lies  buried. 

Lord  Lawrence,  1864-1869. — He  was  succeeded  by  Sir 
John  Lawrence,  the  saviour  of  the  Punjab.  The  chief  incidents 
of  his  rule  were  the  Bhutan  war,  followed  by  the  annexation  of 
the  Dwars  {Dooars),  a  submontane  strip  on  the  North-Eastern 
frontier  of  Bengal,  in  1864,  and  the  terrible  Orissa  famine  of 
1866.  In  a  later  famine  in  Bundelkhand  and  Upper  Hindustan 
in  1 868-1 869,  Lord  Lawrence  laid  down  the  principle,  for  the 
first  time  in  Indian  history,  that  the  officers  of  the  Government 
would  be  held  personally  responsible  for  taking  every  possible 
means  to  avert  death  by  starvation.  An  inquiry  was  conducted 
into  the  status  of  the  peasantry  of  Oudh,  and  an  Act  was  passed 
with  a  view  to  securing  them  in  their  customary  rights.  After 
a  period  of  fratricidal  war  among  the  sons  of  Dost  Muhammad, 
the  Afghan  territories  were  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  Sher 
AH,  who  was  acknowledged  as  Amfr  by  Lord  Lawrence.  A 
commercial  crisis  took  place  in  1866,  which  seriously  threatened 
the  young  tea  industry  in  Bengal,  and  caused  widespread  ruin 
at  Bombay.  Sir  John  Lawrence  retired  in  January  1869,  after 
having  passed  through  every  grade  of  Indian  service,  from 
an  assistant  magistracy  to  the  viceroyalty.  On  his  return  to 
England,  he  was  raised  to  the  peerage.  He  died  in  1879,  and 
lies  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

Lord  Mayo,  1869-1872. —  Lord  Mayo  succeeded  Lord 
Lawrence  in  1869,  and  urged  on  the  material  progress  of 
India.     The  Ambala  darhdr,  at  which  Sher  All  was  formally 


232  INDIA    UNDER    THE  BRITISH  CROWN. 

recognized  as  Amir  of  Afghanistan,  although  in  one  sense  the 
completion  of  what  Lord  Lawrence  had  begun,  owed  its  brilliant 
success  to  Lord  Mayo  (1869).  The  visit  of  His  Royal  High- 
ness the  Duke  of  Edinburgh  in  1869- 18 70  gave  deep  pleasure 
to  the  natives  of  India,  and  introduced  a  tone  of  personal 
loyalty  into  our  relations  with  the  feudatory  princes.  Lord 
Mayo  reformed  several  of  the  great  branches  of  the  adminis- 
tration, created  an  Agricultural  Department,  and  introduced 
the  system  of  Provincial  Finance.  The  impulse  to  local  self- 
government  given  by  the  last  measure  has  done  much,  and  will 
do  more,  to  develope  and  husband  the  revenues  of  India,  to 
quicken  the  sense  of  responsibility  among  the  English  adminis- 
trators, and  to  awaken  political  life  among  the  people.  Lord 
Mayo  also  laid  the  foundation  for  the  reform  of  the  salt  duties. 
He  thus  enabled  his  successors  to  abolish  the  old  pernicious 
customs-lines  which  had  for  long  walled  off  Province  from 
Province,  and  strangled  the  trade  between  British  India  and  the 
Feudatory  States.  He  developed  the  material  resources  of  the 
country  by  an  immense  extension  of  roads,  railways,  and  canals. 
He  carried  out  the  beneficent  system  of  public  works  which 
Lord  Dalhousie  had  inaugurated.  Lord  Mayo's  splendid  vigour 
defied  alike  the  climate  and  the  vast  tasks  which  he  imposed  on 
himself.  He  anxiously  and  laboriously  studied  with  his  own 
eyes  the  wants  of  the  farthest  Provinces  of  the  empire.  But  his 
life  of  noble  usefulness  was  cut  short  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin, 
in  the  convict  settlement  of  the  Andaman  Islands,  in  1872. 

Lord  Northbrook,  1872-1876.— His  successor  was  Lord 
Norlhbrook,  whose  ability  found  pre-eminent  scope  in  the 
department  of  finance.  During  his  viceroyalty,  a  famine  which 
threatened  Lower  Bengal  in  1874  was  successfully  averted  by 
a  vast  organization  of  State  relief.  The  Maratha  Gaekwar  of 
Baroda  was  dethroned  in  1875  for  misgovernment,  and  for  his 
attempt  to  poison  the  British  Resident  at  his  Court.  But  his 
dominions  were  continued  to  a  child  of  his  race.  The  Prince 
of  Wales  made  a  tour  through  the  country  in  the  cold  weather 
of  1875-1876.  The  presence  of  His  Royal  Highness  evoked 
a  passionate  burst  of  loyalty  never  before  known  in  the  annals 
of  British  India.     The  feudatory  Chiefs  and  ruling  houses  of 


THE   QUEEN  PROCLAIMED  EMPRESS,   1877.        233 

India  felt  for  the  first  time  that  they  were  incorporated  into  the 
Empire  of  an  ancient  and  a  splendid  dynasty. 

Lord  Lytton,  1876-1880. — Lord  Lytton  followed  Lord 
Northbrook  in  1876.  On  January  i,  1877,  Queen  Victoria 
was  proclaimed  Empress  of  India  at  a  darhdr  of  unparalleled 
magnificence,  held  on  the  historic  '  ridge '  overlooking  the 
ancient  Mughal  capital  of  Delhi.  But  while  the  princes  and 
high  officials  of  the  country  were  flocking  to  this  gorgeous 
scene,  the  shadow  of  famine  was  darkening  over  Southern  India. 
The  monsoons  of  1876  had  failed  to  bring  their  due  supply 
of  rain,  and  the  season  of  1877  was  little  better.  This  long- 
continued  drought  stretched  from  the  Deccan  to  Cape  Comorin, 
and  subsequently  invaded  Northern  India,  causing  a  famine 
more  widely  spread  than  any  similar  calamity  known  in  Indian 
history.  Despite  vast  importations  of  grain  by  sea  and  rail, 
despite  the  most  strenuous  exertions  of  the  Government,  which 
incurred  a  total  expenditure  on  this  account  of  11  millions 
sterling,  the  loss  of  life  from  actual  starvation  and  its  attendant 
train  of  diseases  was  lamentable.  The  deaths  from  want  of 
food,  and  from  the  diseases  incident  to  a  famine-stricken  popu- 
lation, were  estimated  at  5^  milHons. 

Afghan  Affairs,  1878-1880. — In  the  autumn  of  1878,  the 
aff'airs  of  Afghanistan  again  forced  themselves  into  notice. 
Sher  Alf,  the  Amfr,  who  had  been  hospitably  entertained  by 
Lord  Mayo,  was  found  to  be  favouring  Russian  intrigues.  A 
British  envoy  was  refused  admittance  to  the  country,  while 
a  Russian  mission  was  received  with  honour.  This  led  to 
a  declaration  of  war.  British  armies  advanced  by  three  routes, 
— the  Khaibar  (Khyber),  the  Kuram,  and  the  Bolan, — and  with- 
out much  opposition  occupied  the  inner  entrances  of  the  passes 
(1878).  Sher  Alf  fled  to  Afghan  Turkistan,  and  there  died. 
A  treaty  was  entered  into  with  his  son,  Yakub  Khan,  at 
Gandamak  (May  1879),  by  which  the  British  frontier  was 
advanced  to  the  crests  or  Afghan  edge  of  the  passes,  and  a 
British  officer  was  admitted  to  reside  at  Kabul.  Within  a  few 
months,  the  British  Resident,  Sir  Louis  Cavagnari,  was  treach- 
erously attacked  and  massacred,  together  with  his  escort 
(September    1879),    and    a    second    war    became   necessary. 


2  34  INDIA    UNDER    THE  BRITISH  CROWN. 

Yakub  Khan  abdicated,  and  was  deported  to  India;  Kabul 
and  Kandahar  were  occupied  in  force,  and  a  national  rising  of 
the  Afghan  tribes,  which  imperilled  the  British  garrison  at 
Kabul,  was  decisively  repulsed  by  Sir  Frederick  Roberts 
(1879-80). 

Marquess  of  Ripon,  1880-84. — At  this  crisis  a  general 
election  in  England  resulted  in  the  defeat  of  the  Conservative 
Ministry.  Lord  Lytton  resigned  along  with  the  Home  Govern- 
ment, and  the  Marquess  of  Ripon  was  appointed  his  successor 
in  April  1880.  In  that  summer  a  British  brigade  suffered 
defeat  at  Maiwand,  between  Kandahar  and  the  Helmand  river, 
from  the  Herat  troops  of  Ayiib  Khan, — a  defeat  promptly 
retrieved  by  the  brilliant  march  of  General  Sir  Frederick  Roberts 
from  Kabul  to  Kandahar,  and  by  the  total  rout  of  Ayub  Khan's 
army  on  ist  September  1880.  Abdur  Rahman  Khan,  the  eldest 
male  representative  of  the  stock  of  Dost  Muhammad,  was 
recognized  by  us  as  Amir.  The  British  forces  retired  from 
Kabul,  leaving  Abdur  Rahman  in  possession  of  the  capital  (i  881). 
Ayiib  Khan  again  took  the  field.  His  success,  however,  was 
short-lived,  and  Abdur  Rahman  is  still  sovereign  in  Afghanistan 
(July  1892).  Lord  Ripon  availed  himself  of  the  unbroken 
peace  which  has  prevailed  in  India  since  1881  to  enter  on  a 
series  of  internal  reforms.  The  years  1882  and  1883  will  be 
memorable  for  these  great  measures.  By  repealing  the  Verna- 
cular Press  Act,  he  set  free  the  native  journals  from  the  last 
restraints  on  the  free  discussion  of  public  questions.  His  scheme 
of  Local  Self-Government  has  opened  a  new  era  of  political  life 
to  the  natives  of  India.  At  the  same  time,  by  the  appointment 
of  an  Education  Commission,  with  a  view  to  the  spread  of 
popular  instruction  on  a  broader  basis,  he  has  sought  to  fit  the 
people  for  the  safe  exercise  of  the  rights  which  he  has  conferred. 
He  also  laid  the  foundations  for  the  great  measure  of  land- 
legislation  for  Bengal  which  was  passed  into  law  under  his 
successor.  Lord  DufTerin.  In  1882,  Lord  Ripon's  Finance 
Minister,  Sir  Evelyn  Baring,  took  off  the  import  duties  on 
cotton  goods,  and  the  whole  Indian  import  duties  were,  with 
a  few  exceptions,  abolished.  This  distinguished  financier  left 
India  in  the  following  year  (1883),  to  assume  the  high  office 


LORD  RIPON  AND  LORD  DUFFERLN.  235 

of  British  Representative  at  Cairo,  amid  the  universal  regret 
of  the  Indian  people. 

In  1882,  a  contingent  of  Indian  Native  troops  was  sent  to 
take  part  with  the  British  forces  in  the  successful  occupation  of 
Egypt.  They  displayed  conspicuous  powers  of  endurance  in 
the  campaign,  and  of  gallantry  in  the  field.  A  chosen  band 
of  the  Indian  officers  and  men  were  afterwards  sent  to  England. 
and  received  an  enthusiastic  welcome  from  all  classes  of  the 
people.  Early  in  his  rule  Lord  Ripon  had  re-established  the 
Department  of  Agriculture;  and  he  took  measures  to  guard 
the  country  against  famine.  In  1884  he  deputed  officers  to 
England,  to  give  evidence  before  the  Parliamentary  Committee, 
with  a  view  to  the  extension  of  Indian  railways.  Lord  Ripon 
retired  at  the  end  of  1884.  Some  of  his  measures  for  the 
promotion  of  local  self-government,  and  especially  his  proposal 
to  give  to  the  higher  class  of  Native  judges  a  larger  amount  of 
jurisdiction  in  the  case  of  offences  committed  by  British-born 
subjects,  were  considered  by  the  European  community  to  be 
unsuited  to  the  actual  condition  of  India.  But  whether  or  not 
in  advance  of  the  time,  it  is  now  realized  that  they  point  out  the 
directions  in  which  progress  must  sooner  or  later  take  place. 
Lord  Ripon  loved  the  people,  and  was  greatly  beloved  by  them. 

Marquess  of  Dufierin,  1884-88. — The  Earl  of  Dufferin  suc- 
ceeded as  Viceroy,  1884.  In  the  spring  of  1885,  Lord  Dufferin 
held  a  magnificent  Darbar  at  Rawal  Pindi  for  the  reception  of 
the  Amir  of  Afghanistan,  and  strengthened  our  friendly  relations 
with  that  ruler.  In  the  summer,  a  war  with  Russia  seemed 
imminent,  and  the  Native  States  came  forward  with  loyal  offers 
of  their  armies  and  resources  to  the  British  government.  To- 
wards the  end  of  1885  the  persistent  misconduct  of  King 
Thebau  in  Upper  Burma,  his  ill-treatment  of  British  subjects, 
and  his  rejection  of  all  conciliatory  offers,  led  to  an  army  being 
sent  against  him,  under  General  Prendergast.  The  King  was 
dethroned  and  removed  to  India.  On  the  ist  January,  1886, 
his  territories  were  annexed,  and  soon  afterwards  were  con- 
stituted a  British  province  together  with  Lower  Burma  under  a 
Chief  Commissioner.  Early  in  1886,  also,  a  great  camp  of 
exercise  was  held   on   the  memorable  battle-plain  of  Panfpat 


236  INDIA    UNDER    THE  BRITISH  CROWN. 

in  the  Punjab :  and  the  fortress  of  Gwalior  was  given  back  by 
Lord  Dufferin's  government  to  its  hereditary  chief,  the  Maharaja 
Sindhia.  During  1887  the  new  territories  of  Upper  Burma  were 
being  gradually  reduced  to  order,  and  the  dakait  bands  dis- 
persed. In  the  same  year  the  Jubilee  (or  fiftieth  year  of  the  reign) 
of  Her  Majesty  the  Queen-Empress  Victoria  was  celebrated 
with  universal  enthusiasm  throughout  India.  A  great  Com- 
mission inquired  into  the  question  of  more  largely  employing 
Native  officers  in  the  higher  branches  of  the  administration. 
The  Earl  of  Dufferin  retired  in  1888,  and  was  created  IMarquess 
of  Dufferin  and  Ava  for  the  services  which  he  had  rendered 
during  his  Viceroyalty. 

The  Marquess  of  Lansdowne,  1888-1892,  succeeded  Lord 
Dufferin,  and  still  remains  Viceroy  at  the  time  when  this  book  is 
written.  Under  Lord  Lansdowne's  rule  (with  Sir  Frederick,  after- 
wards Lord,  Roberts  as  his  Commander-in-Chief)  the  defences 
of  the  North-Western  frontier  of  India  have  been  strengthened, 
and  the  Passes  from  Afghanistan  have  been  secured  against  any 
possible  invaders.  At  the  same  time,  the  Native  chiefs  have 
been  allowed  to  take  a  more  important  position  than  before  in 
the  armies  of  India.  A  number  of  them  had  come  forward  with 
offers  of  money  and  troops  to  aid  in  the  defence  of  the  country. 
Under  Lord  Lansdowne  these  offers  were  accepted.  Many  of 
the  Feudatories  now  maintain  regiments,  carefully  drilled  and 
armed,  which  in  time  of  war  would  serve  with  the  troops  of  the 
British  Government.  These  regiments  are  kept  up  free  of  cost 
to  the  British  Government,  and  are  a  free-will  offering  to  it 
from  the  loyalty  of  the  Native  princes,  who  have  greatly  pros- 
pered under  the  Queen's  rule. 

Progress  of  Self-Government. — While  the  Native  princes 
are  thus  zealous  to  aid  the  Sovereign  Power,  the  peoples  and 
races  in  the  British  provinces  have  been  learning  the  first 
lessons  of  local  self-government.  Municipal  Councils  and 
District  Boards  have,  during  the  past  thirty  years,  been 
gradually  created  throughout  India.  Their  members  consist 
chiefly  of  Native  gentlemen,  many  of  whom  are  elected  by 
their  fellow  citizens.  These  Municipal  Councils  and  District 
Boards   now  manage   many  branches  of  the  Local  Adminis- 


PROGRESS  OF  SELF-GOVERNMENT.  237 

tration.  Their  legal  powers  and  their  practical  ability  to  do 
good  work  are  increasing.  At  the  same  time,  a  '  National  Con- 
gress' of  delegates  from  all  parts  of  India  has  since  1886  been 
held  each  December  in  one  of  the  provincial  capitals,  such  as 
Calcutta,  Madras,  Bombay,  and  Allahabad.  This  Congress 
discusses  plans  for  opening  a  larger  share  in  the  work  of 
legislation,  alike  in  the  Viceregal  and  Provincial  Legislative 
Councils,  to  natives  of  India.  It  desires,  among  other  things, 
that  a  proportion  of  the  members  of  the  Viceregal  and  Provincial 
Legislative  Councils  should  be  elected,  and  not  all  appointed 
as  heretofore  by  the  Government.  The  more  advanced  party 
in  the  Indian  Congress  advocates  the  general  adoption  of  a 
system  of  popular  elections  for  members  of  the  Legislative 
Councils.  In  1892  the  British  Parliament  passed  an  Act  which 
increased  the  number  of  the  members  of  those  Councils,  and 
introduced  a  stronger  non-official  element.  But  it  left  the 
question  of  the  election  or  the  nomination  of  such  members 
to  be  worked  out  by  the  Local  Governments  in  India,  in 
accordance  with  the  needs  and  conditions  of  the  separate 
provinces.  Side  by  side  with  this  political  movement,  efforts 
(which  to  a  partial  extent  have  been  embodied  into  legislation 
by  Lord  Lansdowne)  are  being  made  to  reform  certain  evils  in 
the  social  and  domestic  life  of  the  Hindus,  arising  out  of  the 
customs  of  the  enforced  celibacy  of  Hindu  widows  and  the 
marriage  of  very  young  children. 


INDEX. 


Abdur  Rahman  Khan,  Amir  of 
Afghanistan  (1881),  234. 

Aborigines  or  aboriginal  tribes,  40- 
51.     See  also  Non- Aryans. 

Abu,  Mount,  28. 

Abul  Fazl,  minister  of  Akbar,  13S, 
140. 

Adam,  John,  Acting  Governor- 
General   (1823),  204. 

Adams,  Major,  defeated  Mir  Kasim, 
184. 

Adil  Shahi  dynasty  of  Bijapur,  129. 

Afghanistan,  passes  from,  into  India, 
19 ;  Muhammadan  invasions  from, 
113-119;  Akbar  ruled  over,  136  ; 
lost  by  the  Mughals,  142,  152  ; 
English  Mission  sent  to  (1809), 
201,  209  ;  first  war  in  (1839-42), 
209-212;  second  war  in  (1878- 
80),  233,  234.  See  also  Kabul, 
Kandahar. 

Aghoris,  carrion-eating  sect  of  Si- 
vaite  ascetics,  102. 

Agni,  God  of  Fire,  56. 

Agra,  Akbar  makes  his  capital,  136 ; 
Shah  Jahan's  buildings  at,  143  ; 
taken  by  Lord  Lake,  197. 

Ahmad  Shah  Durani,  his  invasions 
of  India,  152;  defeats  the  Mara- 
thas  at  Panipat  (1761),  153,  159; 
his  empire  and  dynasty,  209. 

Ahmadabad,  the  castes  as  trade 
guilds  at,  98. 

Ahmadnagar,  Muhammadan  dynasty 
of,  129;  resists  Akbar,  137;  con- 
quered by  Shah  Jahan,  142  ; 
Aurangzeb  dies  at,  148  ;  taken  by 
Wellington,  197. 

Ajmcre,  Rajput  dynasty  of,  over- 
thrown, 117. 

Akas,  aboriginal  hill  tribe  in  Assam, 
45- 


Akbar  the  Great,  third  Mughal  Em- 
peror (1556-1605),  133-140; 
summary  of  his  reign,  133,  134; 
his  work  in  India,  134,  135  ;  re- 
duction of  the  Rajputs,  135  ;  con- 
ciliation of  the  Hindus,  135,  136; 
conquest  of  Muhammadan  States, 
136 ;  efforts  in  Southern  India, 
136,  137  ;  religious  faith,  137, 
138  ;  organization  of  the  Empire, 
138,  139;  revenue  system,  139; 
ministers,  140. 

Akbar,  son  of  Aurangzeb,  his  re- 
bellion,  146,  149. 

Akbar  Khan  murders  Macnaghten 
(1841),  211. 

Akyab,  prosperity  under  British  rule, 
216. 

Ala-ud-din,  second  king  of  the  house 
of  Khilji  (1295-1315),  121-123; 
his  conquests  in  Southern  India, 
122. 

Albuquerque,  Affonso  de,  Portu- 
guese governor,   165. 

Alexander  the  Great,  his  expedition 
to  India,  campaigns  in  the  Punjab 
and  Sind,  85-87. 

All  Vardi  Khan  defeats  the  Marathas, 
159  ;  Nawab  of  Bengal,  180. 

Aligarh,  battle  of  (1803),  193. 

Aliwal,  battle  of  (1845),  214. 

Allahabad,  its  situation,  23  ;  sold  to 
Wazir  of  Oudh,  1S9. 

Almeida,  Francisco  de,  first  Portu- 
guese Viceroy,  165. 

Alompra  (Alaungpaya)  founded  dy- 
nasty at  Ava,  205. 

Altamsh,  third  king  of  the  Slave 
dynasty  (1211-36),  119,  120. 

Ambala,  Darbar  at  (1869),  231,  232. 

Ambar,  Malik,  minister  of  Ahmad- 
nagar, 140. 


240 


INDEX. 


Amboyna,  massacre  at  (1623),  170. 

Amherst,  Earl,  Governor-General 
(1823-28),  204-206  ;  first  Bur- 
mese war,  205,  206  ;  capture  of 
Bhartpur,  206. 

Amherst  District,  prosperity  under 
British  rule,  216. 

Amir  Khan,  Pindari  leader,  203. 

Anagondi,  Raja  of,  descendant  of 
Vijayanagar  kings,  130. 

Andaman  islanders,  42. 

Arab  invasions  of  Sind,  no,  III. 

Arakan,  kingdom  of,  205  ;  ceded  to 
the  English  (1826),  206. 

Arcot,  dive's  defence  of  (1751\  179. 

Area  and  Population  of  India,  33- 

35- 

Argaum,  battle  of  (1803),  169,  197. 

Armagaon,  English  factory  founded 
at  (1626),  171. 

Aryans  in  India,  52-73.  See  Table 
of  Contents,  chap.  iv. 

Asoka,  Buddhist  king  of  Magadha 
or  Behar,  78,  79. 

Assam,  Mir  Jumla's  invasion  of,  148. 

Assaye,  battle  of  (1803),  162,  197. 

Astronomy,  Brahman  system  of,  64. 

Auckland,  Earl  of,  Governor-General 
(1836-42),  208-211;  Afghan 
affairs  and  British  occupation  of 
Afghanistan,  209,  210;  the  mas- 
sacre of  the  British  retreating 
army,   211. 

Aurangzeb,  sixth  Mughal  Emperor 
of  India  (1658-1707),  144-150; 
summary  of  his  reign,  144,  145  ; 
murder  of  his  brothers,  145,  I46  ; 
long  campaign  in  Southern  India, 
146-148  ;  expedition  to  Assam, 
148;  bigoted  policy,  148,  149; 
revenues,  149,  150;  character,  150. 

Ava,  kingdom  of,  205  ;  first  war 
with,  205,  206  ;  second  war,  216. 

Avitabile,  General,  European  officer 
of  Kanjit  Singh,  213. 

Ay  lib  Khan,  his  victory  at  Maiwand 
and  subsequent  defeat,  234. 

Babar,  first  Mughal  Emperor  of  India 
(1526-30)  ;  his  victory  at  Panipat, 
132. 

Bahadur  Shah,  last  titular  Mughal 
Emperor,  his  complicity  in  the 
Mutiny  of  1S57,  224;  arrest  and 
banishment,  226. 


Bahmani  dynasty  in  the  Deccan,  128, 
129. 

Baillie,  Col.,  defeat  of,  191. 

Bairam  Khan,  guardian  of  Akbar 
the  Great,  134. 

Baji  Rao,  second  Maratha  Peshwa 
(1721-40),  159. 

Baji  Rao  II,  seventh  and  last  Ma- 
ratha Peshwa  (1795-1818),  162, 
163  ;  signed  the  treaty  of  Bassein 
(1802),  197  ;  defeated  and  de- 
posed (1818),  203,  204;  his  death, 
218. 

Baktiyar  Khilji  conquered  Behar 
(1199)  and  Bengal  (1203),  118. 

Balaji  13aji  Rao,  third  Maratha 
Peshwa  (1740-61),  159. 

Balaji  Vishwanath,  first  Maratha 
Peshwa  (1707-21),  158. 

Balasor,  English  factory  founded  at 
(1642),  172. 

Balban,  king  of  Delhi  of  the  Slave 
dynasty  (1265-87),  120,  121. 

Banda,  Silih  leader,  defeated  and 
executed,  151. 

Bardwan,  ceded  to  the  English 
(1761),  184. 

Barents,  William,  Dutch  navigator, 
166. 

Barid  Shahi  dynasty  of  Bidar,  129. 

Baring,  Sir  Evelyn,  his  financial  re- 
forms, 134. 

Barlow,Sir  George,  acting  Governor- 
General  (^1805-7),  200. 

Baroda.     See  Gaekwar. 

Bassein,  taken  by  the  Marathas 
(1739),  159;  treaty  of  (1802),  162, 
197. 

Baxar,  battle  of  (1765),  185. 

Beast  stories  and  fables  in  Sanskrit, 

72- 

Becker,  Mr.,  sums  received  by,  after 
Plassey,  182. 

Behar,  the  '  land  of  monasteries,' 
78  ;  ceded  to  the  English  (1765), 
186. 

Bengal,  conquered  by  the  Muham- 
madans  (1203),  118  ;  becomes  in- 
dependent (1340),  125,130;  con- 
quered by  Akbar  (1576),  136; 
plundered  by  the  Marathas,  159  ; 
early  English  settlements  in,  172; 
its  rulers  (1707-56),  179,  180; 
ceded  to  the  English  (1765),  186  ; 
Hastings'  administration  of,  188  ; 


INDEX. 


241 


the  Permanent  Settlement  of,  192, 
193  ;  measures  for  tenants'  relief, 

231,  n^- 

Bentinck,  Lord  William,  Governor- 
General  (1828-35),  206-208; 
financial  reforms,  207  ;  abolition 
of  sati  and  suppression  of  thagi, 
207,  208  ;  renewal  of  the  Com- 
pany's charter,  208  ;  Mysore  pro- 
tected and  Coorg  annexed,  20S. 

Berar,  assigned  by  the  Nizam  (1853), 
218. 

Best,  Captain,  his  victory  at  Swally 
(1615),  170. 

Bhakta-Mala  or  Hindu  Book  of 
Saints,  99. 

Bhartpur,  Lord  Lake  repulsed  from 
(18U5),  19S;  taken  by  Comber- 
mere  (1827),  206. 

Ehils,  the,  numerous  non-Aryan 
race,  43. 

Bhilsa  plundered  by  Ala-ud-din 
Khilji,  121. 

Bhonslas,  the  Maratha  dynasty  of, 
Nagpur,  161,  197  ;  ceded  Orissa 
to  the  English  (1804),  19S ; 
their  dominions  annexed  (1853), 
3l8. 

Bhutan,  war  with  (1864),  231. 

Bidar,  Muhammadan  kingdom  of, 
129  ;  annexed  to  Mughal  Empire, 
142. 

Bijapur,  Muhammadan  kingdom  of, 
129  ;  made  tributary  to  the 
Mughals,  142  ;  annexed  by  Aur- 
angzeb  (1688),  147. 

*  Black  Hole  '  of  Calcutta,  180. 

Bolan  Pass,  the,  19. 

Bombay,  ceded  to  the  English 
(1661),  171,  172. 

Boscawen,  Admiral,  besieged  Pondi- 
cherri  (1748),  178. 

Brahma,  the  first  person  of  the  Hindu 
trinity,  63. 

Brahmanas,  sacred  Sanskrit  writings 
explanatory  of  the  sacrifices  and 
duties  of  priests,  58,  59. 

Brahmans,  the  priestly  caste  in  the 
ancient  fourfold  Hindu  organiza- 
tion, 59  ;  establishment  of  their 
supremacy,  60;  stages  of  a  Brah- 
man's life,  60,  61  ;  modern  Biah- 
mans,  61,  62  ;  Brahman  theology, 
62  ;  philosophy,  63 ;  literature, 
63,  64  ;  astronomy,  64  ;  medicine. 


64,  65  ;  music,  65,  66  ;  law,  66  , 

poetry,    66-71;    drama,    71,   72; 
lyric  poetry,  72  ;  their  influence. 

Brahman  work  of  civilization,  95,  96. 

Brahmaputra  river,  22. 

British  India,  the  twelve  provinces, 
33 ;  area  and  population,  34. 

Broughton,  Gabriel,  obtains  right  of 
trading  for  the  English  from  Shah 
Jahan  (1645),  172. 

Brydon,  Dr.,  only  survivor  of  the 
British  army  in  Afghanistan,  211. 

Buddhism  and  life  of  Gautama 
Buddha,  74-84.  See  Table  of 
Contents,  chap.  v. 

Burma,  geography  and  products,  30, 
31  ;  converted  to  Buddhism,  79, 
80  ;  its  population  still  Buddhist, 
83  ;  its  early  history,  204,  205  ; 
first  Burmese  war  (1824-26),  206, 
207;  second  Burmese  war  ;  1852), 
216  ;  prosperity  of  Lower  Burma 
under  British  rule,  216;  third 
Burmese  war  (18b5),  235 ;  an- 
nexation of  Upper  Burma  (1886), 

235- 
Burnes,  Sir  Alexander,  murdered  at 
Kabul  (1841),  210. 

Calcutta,    founded,    172;    taken    by 

Sirrij-ud-daula  and  recovered  by 

Clive,  iSo. 
Calicut,  the  Portuguese  first  reach, 

164  ;  bombarded  by  them,  165. 
Campbell,  Sir  Colin  (Lord  Clyde), 

second  relief  of  Lucknow  by,  226  ; 

reduced  Oudh,  227. 
Canning,  Earl  (1856-62),  succeeds 

Dalhousie   as    Ciovernor-General, 

220;  liis  Viceroyalty,  230,  231. 
'  Cartridi^es,  The  Greased,'  223. 
Caste  not  known  in  the  Vedas,  54. 
Castes,  the  four,  formed.  59,  60. 
Caste-system,  the,  its  religious  and 

social  aspects,  96-98. 
Cavagnari,  Sir  Louis,  murder  of,  at 

Kabul  (1879),  233. 
Cawnpur,  the  mutiny  and  massacre 

at  (1857),  225,  226. 
Chaitanya,    Vishnuite   religious  re- 
former (1485-1527),  105,  106. 
Chait  Singh,  Raja  of  Benares,  his 

treatment   by   Warren    Hastings, 

190. 


242 


INDEX, 


Chandarnagar,  French  headquarters 
in  Bengal,  180;  taken  by  Clive, 
181. 

Chand  Bibi,  her  defence  of  Ahmad- 
nagar  against  Akbar,  137. 

Chandragiri,  Raja  of,  descendant  of 
Vijayanagar  dynasty,  130;  sells 
site  of  Madras  to  the  English 
(1639),  171. 

Chandra  Gupta,  king  of  Magadha, 
87,  88. 

Changiz  Khan,  his  invasion  of 
Afghanistan,   119. 

Charnock,  Job,  founded  Calcutta, 
172. 

Charters  of  the  East  India  Company, 
227,  228. 

Chaiith,  levied  by  the  Marathas  in 
Southern  India,  151, 158  ;  in  Ben- 
gal, 159- 

Chera,  Hindu  kingdom  in  Southern 
ladia,  127. 

Cherra  Piinji,  its  enormous  rainfall, 
20. 

Child,  Sir  John,  Governor-General 
and  Admiral  of  India,  173. 

Chilianwala,  battle  of  (,1849),  215. 

Chinsurah,  Dutch  headquarters  in 
Bengal,  180. 

Chitor,  taken  by  Ala-ud-din  Khilji 
(1303),  122,  123. 

Chittagong  ceded  to  the  English 
^(1761),  1 84. 

Chitu,  Pindari  leader,  203. 

Chola,  Hindu  kingdom  in  Southern 
India,  127. 

Chronological  table  of  Muham- 
madan  dynasties  (1001-1857), 
109,  110  ;  of  the  Governors, 
Governors-General  and  Viceroys 
of  British  India  (1758-1892),  176, 
177. 

Clive,  Lord,  his  wars  with  the 
French  in  the  Karnatik,  178,  179  ; 
recovery  of  Calcutta,  iSo;  victory 
of  Plassey,  180,  181  ;  Clive's 
jdgir,  182,  183 ;  first  govemor- 
ship  of  Bengal  (1758-60),  18-  ; 
second  governorship  (1765-67J, 
185,  186;  administrative  reforms, 
186. 

Coal  mining  in  India,  30. 

Combermere,  Lord,  took  Bhartpur 
(1827),  206. 

Consolidation  of  British  India,  200- 


221.  See  Table  of  Contents, 
chap.  xiv. 

Coorg,  annexation  of  (1834),  208. 

Coote,  Gen.  Sir  Eyre,  defeats  Lally 
at  Wandivvash  (1760),  and  takes 
Pondicherri  (1761),  179  ;  his  cam- 
paign against  Haidar  All,  191. 

Cornwallis,  Lord,  Governor-General 
(1786-93\  192,  193  ;  the  Per- 
manent Settlement  of  Bengal,  193  ; 
second  Mysore  war,  193;  his 
second  Governor  -  Generalship 
(1805),  200. 

Court,  General,  one  of  Ranjit  Singh's 
European  officers,  213. 

Crops  and  scenery  of  the  northern 
river  plains,  26,  27  ;  of  the  Bengal 
Delta,  27;  of  the  southern  table 
land,  28-30. 

Dacca,  capital  of  Bengal  moved 
from,  179. 

Dalhousie,  Marquess  of  (1848-56), 
214-220  ;  administrative  reforms, 
214,  215;  second  Sikh  war,  and 
annexation  of  the  Punjab,  215  ; 
second  Burmese  war  and  annexa- 
tion of  Pegu,  216  ;  policy  towards 
Native  States,  217,  21 8;  lapsed 
Native  States,  218,  219;  annexa- 
tion of  Oudh,  219-220;  his  work 
in  India,  220. 

Dandis,  a  sect  of  Sivaite  mendicant 
ascetics,  102. 

Danish  settlements  in  India,  173. 

Dara,  Prince,  put  to  death  by  Aur- 
rangzeb,  145. 

Daulatabad,  pillaged  by  Ala-ud-din 
Khilji,  121  ;  taken  by  Malik 
Kafur,  122  ;  capital  removed  to 
from  Delhi,  124. 

Day,  Francis,  founds  Madras  (1639), 
171,  177. 

Deccan,  the  geographical  situation, 
28  ;  invaded  by  Ala-ud-din  Khilji, 
121;  Muhammadan  governors  in, 
revolt,  125  ;  the  Muhammadan 
States  of,  128,  129;  Aurangzeb's 
campaign  in,  146,  147  ;  Maratha 
sovereignty  over,  159. 

Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Mughal  Em- 
pire (1707-65),  150-155. 

Delhi,  Hindu  kingdom  of,  conquered 
by  the  Afghans,  117;  Kutab-ud- 
din's    buildings    at,    119;     Shah 


INDEX. 


243 


Jahan's  buildings  at,  143  ;  sacked 
by  Nadir  Shah,  151  ;  Maidthas 
supreme  at,  161,  188;  taken  by 
Lord  Lake,  197  ;  siege  of  (1857), 
226,  227. 

Delta  of  Bengal,  the,  24,  27. 

Density  of  population,  36. 

Deogiri.     See  Daulatabad. 

Destructiveness  of  Indian  rivers, 
26. 

Dhulip  Singh,  Maharaja,  214,  215. 

Dig,  battle  of  (1804),  162. 

Dtwdni,  grant  of  the,  of  Bengal, 
Behar  and  Orissa  to  the  East 
India  Company  (1765),  185,  186. 

Doctrine  of  Lapse,  the,  217. 

Dodabetta  peak,  29. 

Dost  Muhammad,  Amir  of  Afghan- 
istan, 209,  210. 

Drake,  Mr.,  Governor  of  Bengal, 
money  given  to,  after  Plassey, 
182. 

Drama,  the  Sanskrit,  71,  72. 

Dravidians,  the  non-Aryan  inhabi- 
tants of  Southern  India,  49. 

Dufferin,  Marquess  of.  Viceroy 
(1884-88),  235,  236;  annexation 
of  Upper  Burma,  235. 

Dupleix,  M.,  French  administrator, 
his  wars  in  the  Karnatik,  178,1 79. 

Dutch,  the,  in  India,  166-168  ;  their 
supremacy  in  the  Eastern  Seas, 
167  ;  the  massacre  of  Amboyna 
(1628),  170,  171;  defeated  by 
Clive,  183. 

Dwars,  the,  annexed  by  Lord  Law- 
rence (1864),  231. 

Early     Muhammadan     conquerors, 

109-131.     &e  Table  of  Contents, 

chap.  ix. 
Early  voyages  of  the  English  East 

India  Company,  170. 
East  India  Companies,  English,  169, 

170;  Dutch,  Frencli,  Danish,  Os- 

tend  and  Swedish,  173,  174. 
Edinburgh,  Duke  of,  visit  to  India 

(1869-70),  232. 
Edwardes,  Sir  Herbert  B.,  besieges 

Mulian,   215  ;   aids  Lawrence  in 

the  Mutiny,  225. 
Egypt,  Indian  contingent  in  (1882), 

2.3.5- 
Elephanta  ceded  to  the  English,  162, 
191. 


Elgin,  Earl  of.  Viceroy  (1862-63), 

231. 

EUenborough,  Earl  of,  Governor- 
General  (1842-44),  211,  212  ; 
conquest  of  Sind,  212. 

EUichpur,  Muhammadan  kingdom 
of,  129. 

Elphinstone,  Gen.  W.  K.,  conduct 
at  Kabul  (1841),  210,  211. 

Elphinstone,  Hon.  Mountstuart,  en- 
voy to  Afghanistan,  201,  209  ;  at 
battle  of  Kirki,  203. 

English  settlements,  early,  in  Ma- 
dras, 171  ;  Bombay,  171,  172  ; 
Bengal,  172. 

Estuaries  of  Indian  rivers,  25 

European  and  Indian  languages 
merely  varieties  of  Aryan  speech, 

53- 
European    settlements,  early,   176- 

199.      See    Table    of    Contents, 

chap.  xii. 
Everest,  Mount,  loftiest  peak  in  the 

Himalayas,  18. 

Fakir-ud-din,  Muhammadan  go- 
vernor of  Bengal,  becomes  inde- 
pendent (1340),  130. 

Famines  in  India,  124,  23T,  233. 

Farukhsiyyar,  Mughal  Emperor  of 
Delhi  (1713-19),  154. 

Fatehpur  Sikri,  battle  of  (1527), 
132. 

Ferdousi,  Persian  poet,  Mahmiid  of 
Ghazni  and,  115,  116. 

Firinghis,  name  given  to  Portuguese 
half-castes  in  Bengal,  166. 

Firozshah,  battle  of  (1845),  214. 

Firuz  Shah  Tughlak,  third  king  of 
the  Tughlak  dynasty  (1351-88), 
126. 

Fitch,  Ralph,  English  adventurer  in 
the  East  (1583),  16S,  169. 

Forde,  Col.,  his  campaign  and  cap- 
ture of  Masulipatain,  183. 

Forests  in  the  Himalayas,  20,  21  ; 
in  the  southern  table  land,  29,  30. 

Foundation  of  British  rule  in  India, 
176-199.  .S^^  Table  of  Contents, 
chap.  xiii. 

Fourfold  division  of  Indian  peoples, 

38>  39- 
Irancis,    Sir    Philip,    opponent    of 

Warren  Hastings,  187,  192. 
French  East  India  Companies,  173. 


Q  2 


244 


INDEX. 


French,  wars  of  the,  with  the  English 
in  Southern  India,  177-179,  183; 
their  influence  in  India  1,1798- 
1800),  194;  overthrown  by  Lord 
Wellesley,  196,  197. 

Gaekwars  of  Baroda,  Maratha  dy- 
nasty, 161,  162;  recognized  as 
independent  of  the  Peshwa  (1817), 
203  ;  deposition  of  a  Gaekvvar 
(1875),  232. 

Gama  Vasco  da,  first  Portuguese  to 
reach  India  (1498),  164;  second 
visit  (1502),  and  death  at  Cochin 
(1524),  165. 

Gandamak,  treaty  of  (1879),  233. 

Ganges  river,  22,  23  ;  its  sanctity,  23. 

Gaur,  capital  of  Muhammadan  king- 
dom of  Bengal,  130. 

Gautama  Buddha,  life  and  doctrines 
of,  74-77. 

Geography  of  India,  17-31.  See 
Table  of  Contents,  chap.  i. 

Ghakkars,  the,  attack  camp  of  the 
Afghans  (1008),  114;  devastate 
the  Punjab  (1203),  118. 

Ghats,  Eastern  and  Western,  28. 

Ghazni,  the  dynasty  of,  113;  con- 
quered by  the  Ghor  chiefs,  116; 
taken  by  the  English  (1839), 
210. 

Gheria,  battle  of  (1765),  184. 

Ghiyas-ud-din  Tughlak,  founder  of 
the  Tughlak  dynasty  (1320-25), 
124. 

Ghor,  d}Tiasty  of  (1152-86),  116- 
119. 

Ghulam  Muhammad,  Prince,  last 
descendant  of  Tipu,  196. 

Gingi,  taken  by  Aurangzeb  (1698), 
145;  byCoote  (1761),  179. 

Goa  taken  by  Albuquerque  (1510), 
165. 

Godavari  river,  29. 

Goddard,  Col.,  his  march  across 
India,  191. 

Gods  of  the  Veda,  56. 

Golconda,  Muhammadan  kingdom, 
129  ;  annexed  by  Aurangzeb 
(1688),  147. 

Gonds,  principal  aboriginal  tribe  in 
the  Central  Provinces,  44. 

Gough,  Gen.  Lord,  defeats  the  Sikhs 
(1«45),  214;   (1849),  215. 

Governors,  Governors- General,  and 


Viceroys  of  India  (1758-1892), 
table  of,  176,  177. 

Govind  Singh,  last  of  the  Sikh^;^rM,f 
(1708),  213. 

Grammar,  Brahman,  63. 

Greeks,  the,  in  India,  85-89.  See 
Table  of  Contents,  chap.  vi. 

Growth  of  Hinduism,  94-ioS.  See 
Table  of  Contents,  chap.  viii. 

Gujarat  invaded  by  Mahmud  of 
Ghazni  (1024),  114;  conquered 
by  Ala-ud-din  Khilji  (1297),  122  ; 
independent  Muhammadan  king- 
dom of,  130  ;  conquered  by  Akbar 
(1573),  136;  by  the  Gaekwar  of 
Baroda,  161  ;  by  Col.  Goddard, 
191  ;  restored  to  the  Marathas 
(17&2),  191 ;  harried  by  the  Gaek- 
war, 197. 

Gujranwdla  depopulated  by  Afghan 
invasions,  152. 

Gujrat,  battle  of  (1849),  215. 

Gupta  dynasty  in  Oudh  and  North- 
ern India,  92. 

Gurkhas,  war  with,  in  Nepal  (1814- 
15),  201,  202. 

Gwalari  pass,  19. 

Gvvalior  attacked  by  Mahmud  of 
Ghazni,  114;  becomes  Sindhia's 
capital,  160  ;  taken  by  Popham, 
191  ;  restored  to  Sindhia  (li86), 
236. 

Ilaidarabad  (Deccan).     See  Nizam. 

Haidarabad  (Sind)  founded  by  Alex- 
ander the  Great,  87. 

Haidar  All,  his  war  with  the  English 
(1780-84),  defeat  of  the  English 
and  ravages,  191. 

Hal  a  mountains,  the  most  southerly 
offshoot  of  the  Himalayas,  19. 

Hardinge,  Lord,  Governor-General 
(1844-48),  212-214  ;  the  first 
Sikh  war,  214. 

Harris,  Gen.  Lord,  took  Seringa- 
patam  (1799),  196. 

Hastings,  Marquess  of,  Governor- 
General  (1814-23),  201-204;  the 
Nepal  war,  201,  202  ;  the  Pindari 
war,  202-203  ;  the  last  Maratha 
war,  203. 

Hastings,  Warren,  Governor-General 
(1774-85),  1S7-192  ;  tries  to  com- 
promise with  Mir  Kasim  (1763"!, 
1S4  ;  his  appointment  as  Governor 


INDEX. 


245 


of  Bengal  (1772),  186 ;  adminis- 
trative reforms,  187,  188;  policy 
to  Native  States,  iSS  ;  makes  Ben- 
gal pay,  1 88,  189  ;  stops  the-  tri- 
bute to  Delhi,  189;  sells  Allaha- 
bad and  Kora  to  the  Wazir  of 
Oudh,  189  ;  the  Rohillawar,  189, 
190;  imposes  fines  on  Chait  Singh 
and  the  liegam  of  Oudh,  190  ;  his 
impeachment  and  trial  in  England, 
190;  the  first  Maratha  war,  190, 
191  ;  the  Mysore  war  with  Haidar 
All,  191,  192. 
Havelock,  Gen.  Sir  Henry,  relieves 

Lucknow  (1857),  226, 
Hedges,    \^'illiam,    first    agent    and 

governor  of  Bengal  (1681),  172. 
Hekataios,  first   Greek  writer    who 

speaks  clearly  of  India,  85. 
Herat    besieged    by    the    Persians, 

210. 
Hill  tribes  of  Madras,  42,  43  ;  of  the 
Vindhya   ranges — the  Bhils,  43  ; 
of  the  Himalayas,  44,  45  ;  of  Ben- 
gal— theSantals,  45-47  ;  ofOrissa 
— the  Kandhs,  47-49. 
Himalayas,  the,  main  ranges  of,  18, 
19  ;    offshoots,   19  ;    water-supply 
and  rainfall,  19,  20  ;  products  and 
scenery,  20,  21  ;  forest  destruction 
and     nomadic     cultivation,     21  ; 
Himalayan  river  system,  21,  22; 
hill  tribes  of,  44,  45. 
Hinduism,  Growth   of  (700-1500), 
94-108.     See  Table  of  Contents, 
chap.  viii. 
Hiuen    Tsiang,    Chinese    Buddhist 

pilgrim,  quoted,  81,  92,  95. 
Hodion,  Maj.  H.,  kills  the  imperial 

princes  at  Delhi  (1857),  227. 
Holkar,  Maratha    dynasty  founded 
by,    160,    161  ;    defeated   at   Dig 
(1804),  162  ;  defeats  Col.  Monsoii, 
198. 
Houtman,    Cornelius,    pilots     first 
Dutch  fleet  round  the  Cape,  166. 
Hiigli,  English  factory  founded  at 
(1640),     descitcd    for     Calcutta 
(16S6),  172. 
Human  sacrifice  among  the  Kandhs, 

49  ;  later  instances,  loi. 
Humayun,  second  Mughal  Emperor 
(15dO-5G),  his  defeat  and  expul- 
sion from  India,  and  subsequent 
restoration,  132,  133. 


Ibrahim  Lodi,  defeat  of  by  Babar  at 

Panipat  (1526),  132. 
Imad  Shahi,  Muhammadan  dynasty 

of  Ellichpur,  129. 
Impeachment  and  trial  of  Warren 

Hastings,  190. 
Import  duties,  abolition  of  (1882), 

India  on  the  eve  of  the  Muham- 
madan conquest,  iii,  112. 

India,  population  of,  35. 

India  transferred  to  the  Crown 
(1858),  228,  229. 

India  under  the  British  Crown  (1858- 
92),  230-237.  6Ve  Table  of  Con- 
tents, chap.  xvi. 

Indian  society  in  300  B.  C.  as  de- 
scribed by  Megasthenes,  88,  89. 

Indo-Aryans,  the,  on  their  march  to 
India,  as  described  in  the  Vedic 
hymns,  53,  54 ;  Aryan  civilization 
as  disclosed  in  the  Veda,  55  ;  the 
Vedic  gods,  55-57  ;  a  Vedic  hymn, 

57- 

Indo-European  languages  and  re- 
ligions, 53. 

Indra,  Vedic  god,  56. 

Indus  river,  22. 

Irawadi  river,  30. 

Irrigation  work  performed  by  the 
Deltaic  rivers,  25. 

Jagannath,  his  car  festival  a  relic  of 
a  Buddhist  procession,  99  ;  an  in- 
carnation of  Vishnu,  102,  103  ; 
stories  of  bloodshed  in  honour  of, 
exaggerated,  103. 

Jahdngir,  fourth  Mughal  Emperor 
(16U5-27),  140-142  ;  his  personal 
character  and  administration,  141, 
142. 

Jains,  the,  in  India,  83. 

Jaipal,  Hindu  chief  of  Lahore,  de- 
feated by  Subuktigin  and  Mahmiid 
of  Ghazni,  113,  114. 

Jaiimr  conquered  by  Akbar,  135. 

Jai  Singh,  Raja,  Indian  astronomer, 
64. 

Jalalabad,  defence  of  (1841-42),  211. 

Jalal-ud-din,  first  king  of  the  Khilji 
dynasty  (1290-95),  121,  122. 

Jalandhar  Doab,  the,  ceded  to  the 
English  (1846),  214. 

Jang  Bahadur  of  Nepal  assists  in 
suppression  of  the  Mutiny,  327. 


246 


INDEX. 


Jats,  descendants  of  the  ancient  Scy- 
thians in  the  Punjab,  91. 
Jaunpur,  independent  Muhammadan 

State  (1393-1478),  i?,o. 
Java  conquered  by  the  English,  200. 
Jaziah    or   poll-tax  on  non-Musal- 

mans,  abolished  by  Akbar,  136; 

re-imposed  by  Aurangzeb,  148. 
Jhansi,  State  of,  annexed,  as  lapsed 

to    the    Company    (1853),    218; 

Rani    of,    killed    in    the    Mutiny 

(1858),  227. 
Jodhpur,  conquered  by  Akbar,  1 35  ; 

becomes  independent,  151. 
Juangs,    a    leaf-wearing    aboriginal 

tribe  in  Orissa,  44. 
Jumna  Canal,  made  by  Firuz  Shah 

Tughlak,  126. 
Jumna  river,  23. 

Kabir,  Vishnuite  religious  reformer 
(1380-1420),  104,  105. 

Kabul  seized  by  Babar  (1504),  132  ; 
lost  but  reconquered  by  Humayun, 
133;  ruled  by  Akbar,  139;  lost 
by  the  Mughals  (1738),  152; 
Ahmad  Shah's  dynasty  at,  2og  ; 
occupied  by  the  English  (1839), 
210;  taken  by  Pollock  and  Nott 
(1842),  211,  212  ;  murder  of  Ca- 
vagnari  at  (1879),  233 ;  aban- 
doned by  the  English  (1881),  234. 

Kaders,  a  hunting  hill  tribe  in 
Madras,  42. 

Kafur,  Malik,  hisexpeditions  through 
Southern  India,  122,  127;  mur- 
dered by  Khusru,  123. 

Kaimur  range,  28. 

Kali,  hideous  form  of  Siva's  wife. 
Id. 

Kalidasa,  Hindu  poet  and  dramatist, 

Kalinjar,  Sher  Shah  killed  at  (1545), 

133-. 

Kanauj  attacked  by  Mahmiid  of 
Ghazni,  114;  Hindu  kingdom  of, 
overthrown  by  Muhammad  of 
Ghor,  116-118. 

Kandahar  taken  by  Akbar  (1594), 
136;  lost  byShahJahan  (16531, 
142  ;  a  capital  of  Ahmad  Shah, 
309 ;  taken  by  the  English  (1839), 
210;  Ayiib  Khan  defeated  at 
(1880),  234.    _ 

Kandhs,    aboriginal     hill    tribe    in 


Orissa,  47-49 ;  patriarchal  go- 
vernment, 47 ;  wars  and  punish- 
ments, 47,  48  ;  agriculture,  48  ; 
marriage  by  '  capture,'  48  ;  serfs 
of  the  Kandh  villages,  48  ;  re- 
ligion, human  sacrifice,  49  ;  the 
Kandhs  under  British  rule,  49. 

Kanishka,  Buddhist  king  in  North- 
western India  (40  A.  D.),  his  Bud- 
dhist Council,  79,  80 ;  his  reign, 
90,91. 

Karauli,  Native  State,  not  annexed 
under  doctrine  of  lapse,  218. 

Karim,  Pindari  leader,  203. 

Karma,  the  Buddhist  law  of,  76,  77. 

Karnatik,  Malik  Kafur  invaded  the, 
]  22  ;  French  and  English  wars  in 
the,  1 77-179  ;  ravaged  by  Haidar 
All,  191. 

Kashmir  invaded  by  Mahmud  of 
Ghazni,  1 14  ;  ruled  by  Aurangzeb, 
150  ;  conquered  by  Ranjit  Singh, 
213. 

Kasim,  his  campaign  in  Sind  (712- 
14),  no,  III. 

Kasimbazar,  early  European  fac- 
tories at,  179,  180. 

Kaveri  river,  29. 

Khaibar,  mountain  pass  in  the  Hima- 
layas from  Peshawar  to  Afghanis- 
tan, 19  ;  both  ends  held  by  the 
Afghans  under  Subuktigin,  113; 
forced  by  the  English  (1879), 
23.3. 

Khandesh,  the  Bhils  in,  43  ;  invaded 
by  Malik  Kafur  (1306),  122  ;  con- 
quered by  Akbar,  137. 

Khilji  dynasty  of  kings  of  Delhi 
(1200-1320),  121-124. 

Khusru,  last  of  Mahmud  of  Ghazni's 
descendants,  defeated,  116. 

Khusru  Khan,  renegade  Hindu  king 
of  the  Khilji  dynasty  (1316-20), 
123,  124. 

Kilpatrick,  Maj.,  money  received  by, 
after  Plassey,  182. 

Kirki,  battle  of  (1817),  203. 

Kistna  river,  29. 

Kolarians,  non-Aryan  or  aboriginal 
tribes  iu  Bengal  and  Central  India, 
49. 

Kolhapur,  Native  State  ruled  by  a 
representative  of  Sivaji,  158. 

Koning,  Henry,  founded  Swedish 
East  India  Company  (1731),  174. 


INDEX. 


247 


Krishna-worship,  102,  106,  107. 
Kshattriyas,  the  second  or  warrior 
caste  among  the  Hindus,  59,  60, 

97- 

Ktesias,    his    knowledge  of    India 

(40rB.  c.\  85. 
Kumarila,    Brahman    preacher    and 

apostle,  95. 
Kuram  pass,  19. 
Kutab  Shahi,  Muhammadan  dynasty 

of  Golconda,  129. 
Kutab-ud-din,  the  first  of  the  Slave 

kings  of  Delhi  (1206-10),  119. 

La  Eourdonnaistook  Madras  (1746), 

Lahore,  Khusni  driven  from  (1186), 
116;  taken  by  the  Ghakkars 
(1203),  iiS;  Metcalfe's  mission 
to,  201  ;  the  capital  of  Ranjit 
Singh,  213;  Sir  H.  Lawrence  ap- 
pointed Resident  at,  214. 

Lake,  Gen.  Lord,  his  campaigns  in 
Hindustan  (1802-1805),  162, 197, 
1 98. 

Lakshman  Sen,  last  Hindu  king  of 
Bengal,  defeated  (1203),  118. 

Lally  defeated  by  Coote  at  Wandi- 
wash  (1760),  179. 

Lancaster,  first  English  Captain  in 
the  Eastern  Seas  (1602),  170. 

Lansdowne,  Marquess  of,  Viceroy 
(1888-92),  236,  237. 

Laswari,  battle  of  (1S03),  162, 
197. 

Law,  Brahman,  66. 

Lawrence,  John,  Lord,  Viceroy 
11864-68),  231  ;  held  the  Punjab 
in  the  Mutiny,  225. 

Lawrence,  Maj.  Stringer,  besieged 
Pondicherri  (1748),  178. 

Lawrence,  Sir  Henry,  appointed 
Resident  at  Lahore  (1846),  214; 
foresaw  the  Mutiny,  223  ;  his  de- 
fence of  Lucknow,  226. 

Leaf-wearing  tribe  in  Orissa,  44. 

Lcedes,  early  English  adventurer  in 
Lulia  (1583),  168,  169. 

Literature  of  the  Brahmans,  63,  64. 

],odi  dynasty  at  Delhi  (1450-1526), 
127. 

Lucknow,  treaty  of  (1801),  195  ; 
siege  and  reliefs  of  (1857-8), 
226. 

Lyric  poetry  of  the  Brahmans,  72. 


Lytton,  Earl  of.  Viceroy  (1876-80), 
233.  234 ;  famine  of  1876-77, 
234  ;  Afghan  war,  233,  234. 

Macaulay,  Lord,  inscription  of  Ben- 
tinck's  statue,  206  ;  first  legal 
member  of  Council,  208  ;  his 
Penal  Code,  231. 

Macnaghten,  Sir  William,  killed  at 
Kabul  (1841),  211.    • 

Macpherson,  Sir  John,  acting  Go- 
vernor-General (1785-86\  192. 

Madhu  Rao,  fourth  Maratha  Peshwa 
(1761-72),  160. 

Madhu  Rao  Narayan,  sixth  Maratha 
Peshwa  (1774-y5j,  162. 

Madras  founded  (1639),  171,  177; 
taken  by  the  French  (1746),  178. 

Magadha  (Behar),  Asoka,  king  of, 
78  ;  Chandra  Gupta,  king  of,  87. 

Mahabat  Khan,  kept  Jahangir  in 
captivity  (1626-27),  141. 

Mahabharata,  epic  poem  of  the 
heroic  age  in  Northern  India,  its 
story,  67-69. 

Maharajpur,  battle  of  (1843),  212. 

Mahmud  of  Ghazni  (1001-30),  his 
seventeen  invasions  of  India,  1 13, 
114;  sack  of  Somnath,  114,  115; 
stories  about,  115,  116. 

Mahmud  Shah,  Amir  of  Afghanis- 
tan, 209. 

Mahmud  Tughlak,  king  of  Delhi 
(1388-1412),  126. 

Maiwand,  battle  of  (1880),  234. 

Malcolm,  Sir  John,  his  mission  to 
Persia,  201  ;  pacification  of  Cen- 
tral India,  204. 

Malwa,  Malik  Kafur  in  (1306\  122  ; 
independent  State,  130  ;  conquered 
by  Akbar  (1572),  136;  ravaged 
by  Rajputs,  149  ;  conquered  by 
the  Marathas,  159,  160. 

Manjarabad,  Hindu  Raja  of,  main- 
tained his  authority  from  1397  to 
1799,  130. 

Man  Singh,  Raja,  governed  Bengal 
under  Akbar  (l.')89-1604),  135. 

Manu,  Code  of,  66. 

'Maratha  Ditch'  at  Calcutta,  159, 
180. 

Marathas,  the,  156-163.  Sec  Table 
of  Contents,  chap.  xi. 

Maratha  war,  the  first  (1779-81), 
162, 190,  191  ;  the  second  (1802- 


248 


INDEX. 


1804),  1^2,   iGc,,  197,  198;    the 

third  (1817-18)",  i6?„  203. 
Maris,  aboriginal  tribe  in  the  Cen- 
tral Provinces,  44. 
Maruts,  the  Storm-gods  of  the  Veda, 

56. 
Masnliiiatam,  English  agency  (1611) 

and  factory  (l(Jo2),  171  ;  taken  by 

Col.  Forde  (1758),  1S3. 
Mauritius,  the.  conquest  of,  200. 
Mayo,  Earl  of.  Viceroy  (1869-72), 

231,  232. 
Medicine,  Brahman  system  of,  64,65. 
Meerut,  Timur's  massacre  at  (13^)8), 

126;    outbreak  of  the  Mutiny  at 

(1857),  224. 
Megasthenes,  Seleukos'  ambassador 

to  the  court  of  Chandra  Gupta,  his 

account   of  Indian   society   (300 

B.C.),  88,  89. 
Mehidpur,  battle  of  (1817),  203. 
Metcalfe,     Charles,     Lord,     acting 

Governor- General       (1835- 36 j, 

208  ;     his     mission     to    Lahore 

(1809),  201,  213. 
Miani,  battle  of  (1843),  212. 
Middleton,  Sir  Henry,  takes  a  cargo 

at  Cambay  (1611),  170. 
Midnapur    ceded    to    the    English 

(1761),  184. 
Minerals  of  India  and  Burma,  30, 

31- 

Minto,  Earl  of,  Governor- General 
1807-13),  200,  201  ;  expeditions 
to  Java  and  the  Mauritius,  200  ; 
embassies  to  the  Punjab,  Afghan- 
istan, and  Persia,  201. 

Mir  Jafar  made  Nawab  of  Bengal 
by  Clive  (1757),  iSi,  182;  de- 
throned (1761),  184;  restored 
(1764),_^i85. 

Mir  Jumla's  unsuccessful  invasion  of 
Assam  (166-2),  148. 

Mir  Kasim  made  Nawab  of  Bengal 
(1761),  184  ;  his  revolt  and  mas- 
sacre of  Patna  (1763),  184;  de- 
feated and  deposed  (1764),  184, 185. 

Moira,  Earl  of.  See  Hastings,  Mar- 
quess of. 

Monson,  Col.,  his  retreat  before  the 
Marathas  (1804),  198. 

Monsoon,  the,  20. 

Mornington,  Earl  of.  See  Wellesley, 
Marquess. 

Mount  Everest,  loftiest  peak  in  the 


Himalayas  and  in  the  known 
world,  18. 

Mubarik  Shah,  last  king  of  Delhi  of 
the  house  of  Khilji,  murdered  by 
Khusni  Khan  (1316),  123. 

Mudki,  battle  of  (1845),  214. 

Mughal  dynasty,  the  (1526-1761), 
132-155.  See  Table  of  Contents, 
chap.  X. 

Mughals,  irruptions  of  the,  119, 120, 
122,  123,  126. 

Muhammad  of  Ghor  (1191-1206), 
his  conquests  in  India,  116-119. 

Muhammad  'I'ughlak,  second  king 
of  the  Tughlak  dynasty  (1325-51), 
124-126;  his  ferocity  of  temper, 
124;  change  of  capital,  124; 
forced  currency,  124, 125  ;  revenue 
exactions,  125,  126. 

Muhammadan  conquerors  of  India 
(714-1526),  109-131.  6"^^  Table 
of  Contents,  chap.  ix. 

Muhammadan  influence  on  Hindu- 
ism, 109. 

Muhammadan  States  in  the  Deccan, 
128,  129. 

Multan  caj^tured  by  Alexander  the 
Great,  86  :  conquered  by  Ranjit 
Singh,  213  ;  siege  of  (1848),  215. 

Mundavers,  cave-dwelling  pastoral 
tribe  in  Madras,  42. 

Munro,  Sir  Hector,  wins  battle  of 
Baxar  (1764),  185. 

Murad,  Prince,  executed  by  Aurang- 
zeb  (1661),  146. 

Murshidiibdd  made  capital  of  Bengal, 
179. 

Murshid  Kuli  Khan,  Nawab  of  Ben- 
gal (1707-28),  179,  180.  ^ 

Music,  art  of,  among  the  Brahmans, 
65,  65. 

Mutiny  of  1857,  the,  222-329.  See 
Table  of  Contents,  chap.  xV. 

Muttradestroyed  by  the  Afghans,  152. 

Mysore,  Hindu  State  of,  177;  first 
Mvsore  war  with  Ilaidar  All 
(1780-84),  19T,  192  ;  second  My- 
sore war  with  Tipu  (1790-92), 
193  ;  third  Mysore  war  with  Tipd 
(1799),  196;  taken  under  British 
protectorate  (1830),  20S  ;  restored 
to  its  Maharaja  (lfc81),  209. 

Nadir  Shah,  his  invasion  of  India 
and  sack  of  Delhi  (1739), 151, 152. 


INDEX. 


249 


Naga  and  Patkoi  hills,  north-eastern 
oftshoot  of  the  Himalayas,  19. 

Nagpur,  capital  of  the  Maratha 
house  of  Ehonsla,  161 ;  an  infant 
proclaimed  Raja  of,  under  British 
guardianship  (1817),  204;  an- 
nexed by  Dalhousie  as  lapsed 
State  (1853),  218. 

Nairs,  non-Aryan  race  in  South- 
western India,  42,  43. 

Nalanda,  ancient  Buddhist  monas- 
tery, 82. 

Nana  Parnavis,  guardian  and  mi- 
nister of  the  sixth  Maratha  Peshv,  a, 
162. 

Nana  Sahib,  adopted  son  of  the  last 
Maralha  Peshwa,  163 ;  not  al- 
lowed to  succeed  to  the  Peshwa's 
pension,  21S,  219  ;  his  connection 
with  the  Mutiny  of  1857  and  the 
Cawnpur  massacre,  225,  226; 
joined  the  rebels  in  Oudh,  227. 

Nanak  Shah,  founder  of  the  Sikh  re- 
ligion, 212. 

Napier,  Gen.  Sir  Charles,  conquered 
Sind  (1843),  212  ;  nominated 
Commandt  r-in-Chief  (1849),  215. 

Napier  of  Magdala,  Gen.  Robert, 
Lord,  his  public  works  in  the 
Punjab,  216. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte,  apprehension 
caused  by  his  presence  in  Egypt, 

794- 

Narayan  Rao,  fifth  Maratha  Peshwa 
(1772-74),  160. 

Narbada  river,  29. 

Narsingha.     See  Vijayanngar. 

Native  States  of  India,  their  relation 
to  the  paramount  British  power, 
32  ;  area  and  population,  35  ; 
Warren  Hagi^iiialoaUilude  to, 
1S8  ;  Lord^.\\  ellesley  sj  attitude 
to,  195  ;-Lora  i^ainousie  s  attitude 
to,  217,218;  Lord  Canning's  pro- 
clamation to,  230. 

Nepal,  warwith  (1814-15),  201,202. 

Nevvbeiry,  James,  English  adven- 
turer in  India  (1583),  168,  169. 

Nicholson,  Gen.  John,  aided  Law- 
rence in  the  Punjab  (1§57),  225  ; 
his  death  at  the  storming  of  Delhi, 
226. 

Nilgiri  hills,  29. 

Nizam  Shahi  dynasty  of  Ahniad- 
nagar,  129. 


Nizam-nl-Mulk  becomes  indepen- 
dent ruler  of  Haidarabad  (Dec- 
can),  151,  177;  wars  with  the 
Marathas,  i;'9  ;  French  influence 
at  the  Court  of,  178,  183,  194; 
checked  by  Warren  Hastings,  191 ; 
aided  Cornwallis  against  Tipti, 
193 ;  Lord  Wellesley's  treaty  with, 
overthrowing  French  influence, 
195,  196;  receives  part  of  Tipii's 
territories,  196;  made  to  assign 
Berar  by  Lord  Dalhousie  (1853), 
21 8  ;  faithful  in  the  Mutiny,  225. 

Nomadic  tillage  and  destruction  of 
forest,  21,  38. 

Non-Aryan  or  aboriginal  population, 
40-51.  See  Table  of  Contents, 
chap.  iii. 

Northbrook,  Earl  of.  Viceroy  (1872- 
76),  232,  233  ;  presents  cloth  of 
honour  for  Akbar's  tomb  (1873), 

137- 
'  Northern  Circars,'  French  influence 

supreme  in,  179;  granted  to  the 

English  by  the  Emperor  (1765), 

185. 
Nott,  Gen.  Sir  William,  his  march 

from  Kandahar  to  Kabul  (1842), 

211. 
Ni'ir  Jahan,  Empress   of  Jahangir, 

140,  141. 

Ochterlony,  Gen.  Sir  David,  cam- 
paigns against  the  Gurkhas  (1814- 
15),  202. 

Orissa  conquered  by  Akbar  (1574), 
136  ;  southern  ceded  to  the  Mara- 
thas (1751),  150;  ruled  by  the 
Bhonslas,  161  ;  fl'/wcw/ of,  granted 
to  the  I'^ast  India  Company  (1765), 
1S5,  186  ;  ceded  by  the  Bhonslas 
(18U4),  19S;  famine  in  (1866), 
231. 

Orme,  Robert,  historian,  quoted, 
179. 

Ostend  East  Indian  Company,  173, 
174. 

Oudh,  Bcgam  of,  fined  by  Warren 
Hastings,  190. 

Oudh,  Gupta  kings  ruled  over,  92  ; 
becomes  independent  under  the 
Nawab  Wazir  (1732-43),  151; 
restored  to  the  Wazir  by  Clive 
(1765),  185;  Allahabad  sold  to 
(1773),    1S9;    subsidy   paid    by, 


250 


INDEX. 


194  ;  ceded  the  Doab  and  Rohil- 
khand  (1801),  195  ;  annexation  of 
(1856),  219,  220;  the  Mutiny  of 
1857  in,  226,  227;  peasant  rights 
secured  in,  231. 
Outram,  Gen.  Sir  James,  tamed  the 
Bhils,  43  ;  assumed  government 
of  Oudh  (185(5),  219  ;  at  relief  of 
Lucknow  (1857),  226. 

Palegars  of  the  Madras  Presidency, 
their  origin,  129,  130  ;  practically 
independent,  177,  178. 

Pandya,  ancient  Hindu  kingdom  in 
Southern  India,  127. 

Panini  compiled  a  Sanskrit  grammar 
(about  350  B.  c),  63. 

Panipat,  defeat  of  Ibrahim  Lodi  at, 
by  Babar  (1526),  132;  defeat  of 
the  Afghans  by  Akbar  at  (1556), 
133;  defeat  of  the  Marathas  by 
Ahmad  Shah  Durani  at  (1761), 
i''3>  159;  camp  of  exercise  at 
(i886),  235. 

Panniar,  battle  of  (1843),  212. 

Parasnalh,  sacred  mountain,  28. 

Partial  character  of  the  Muham- 
madan  conquests,  112,  113. 

Patna,  the  capital  of  Chandra  Gupta, 
87  ;  massacre  at,  by  Mir  Kasim 
(1763),  184. 

Peacock  throne  of  Shah  Jahan,  144. 

Pearse,  Col.,  his  march  from  Cal- 
cutta southwards,  iqi. 

Pegu,  annexation  of  (1852),  216. 

People,  the,  of  India,  32-39.  See 
Table  of  Contents,  chap.  ii. 

Perambakam,  Baillie  defeated  at,i  91 . 

Permanent  Settlement  of  Bengal 
(1793),   193. 

Peshawar,  taken  by  Subuktigin,  113  ; 
Mahmud  of  Ghazni  defeated  at, 
IT4;  taken  by  Ranjit  Singh,  213. 

Pindaris,  the  (1804-17),  202  ;  de- 
feated by  Lord  Hastings,  202,203. 

Plassey,  battle  of  (1757),  180,  181. 

Poetry,  epic,  of  the  Brahmans — the 
stories  of  the  Mahabharata  and 
Ramayana,  66-71. 

Poetry,  lyric,  of  the  Brahmans,  72, 

Pollock,  Gen.  Sir  George,  his  march 
from  the  Punjab  to  Jalalabad  and 
Kabul  (1842  >,  211. 

Polyandry  among  the  Nairs  in 
Southern  India  and  the  northern 


Himalayan  tribes,  42,  43,  66  ;  of 
Draupadi  in  the  Mahabharata. 
68. 

Pondicherri  besieged  by  Boscawen 
(1748),  178;  taken  by  Coote 
(1761),  179. 

Popham,  Maj.,  takes  fort  of  Gwalior, 
191. 

Population,  density  of  the  Indian,  36 ; 
town  and  rural  population,  36  ; 
overcrowded  and  under-peopled 
districts,  36,  37 ;  distribution  of 
the  people,  37  ;  nomadic  system 
of  husbandry,  37  ;  rise  of  rents  in 
crowded  districts,  37,  38. 

Portuguese  in  India,  their  history 
and  ancient  power,  164-166  ;  their 
present  possessions,  166. 

Porus,  Hindu  sovereign  defeated  by 
Alexander  the  Great,  85,  86. 

Potato-cultivation  in  the  Himalayas, 
method  and  effects  of,  21. 

Prakrit,  the  spoken  language  of 
ancient  India,  63. 

Pre-historic  remains  in  India,  40. 

Prendergast,  Gen.  Sir  H.,  conquers 
Upper  Burma  (1885),  235. 

Prithwi  Raja,  the,  of  Delhi  and  Aj- 
mere,  defeated  by  Muhammad  of 
Ghor(1193),  117. 

Proclamation,  the  Queen's,  of  i  No- 
vember, 1858,  223,  230. 

Products  and  scenery  of  the  Hima- 
layas, 20,  21  ;  of  the  northern 
river  plains  and  Bengal  Delta,  26, 
27  ;  of  the  southern  table-land, 
28-30. 

Prussian  East  India  Companies,  174. 

Puliyars,  wild  tribe  in  Aladras,  42. 

Punjab,  the,  Aryans  settled  down  in, 
54  ;  Alexander  the  Great's  cam- 
paign in,  85,  86  ;  Kanisidca's  king- 
dom in,  90,  91  ;  conquered  by 
Malimud  of  Ghazni,  115;  ravaged 
by  Ghakkars  and  Mewatis,  120; 
devastated  by  the  Afghans,  152; 
the  kingdom  of  Ranjii  Singh,  213; 
annexed  (1849 ',  215  ;  pacification 
of,  215,  216;  loyalty  of  in  the 
Mutiny  of  1857,  225,  226. 

Puranas,  the,  Sanskrit  theological 
works,  103. 

Races  of  prehistoric  India.  See 
Aryans,  Non-Aryans. 


INDEX. 


2^1 


Raghuba,  pretender  to  the  Maratha 
Peshwaship,  162,  190,  191. 

Raghuji  Bhonsla  invaded  Bengal 
(1743),  159- 

Railways  commenced  in  India  by 
Lord  Dalhousie,  216  :  extended 
by  Lord  Mayo,  232. 

Rainfall  in  the  Himalayas,  20. 

Rajmahal  hills  in  Bengal,  28. 

Rajputana  reduced  by  Akbar,  135  ; 
devastated  by  Aurangzeb,  149 ; 
becomes  independent  (1715),  151  ; 
ravaged  by  Holkar,  198 ;  States  of, 
become  feudatory  to  the  British 
power,  204. 

Rajput  resistance  to  Muhammadan 
invasions,  116-118,  120,  122,  123. 

Rama,  the  hero-god  of  the  Rama- 
yana,  69-71. 

Rama,  the  seventh  incarnation  of 
Vishnu,  102. 

Ramanand,  Vishnuite  religious  re- 
former (1300-1400  A.D.),  104. 

Ramanuja,  Vishnuite  religious  re- 
former (1150  A.  D.),  103,  104. 

Ramayana,  Sanskrit  epic  relating 
the  Aryan  advance  into  Southern 
India,  its  story,  69-71. 

Ranjit  Singh,  founder  of  the  Sikh 
kingdom  (1780-1839),  213. 

Rawal  Pindi,  Darbar  at  (1885),  235. 

Raziya,  empress  of  the  Slave  dy- 
nasty (1236-39),  120. 

Reh,  saline  crust  brought  down  by 
the  Indian  rivers,  26. 

Religious  bond  of  Hinduism,  98,  99. 

Rents,  rise  of,  in  overcrowded  dis- 
tricts, 37. 

Revenue  of  Akbar,  139;  of  Jahan- 
gir,  140;  of  Shah  Jahan,  143, 
144;  of  Aurangzeb,  149,  ifo. 

Revenue  Settlement  of  Bengal  under 
Cornwallis  (1793),  193.  ^ 

Rig- Veda,  the  earliest  Sanskrit 
hymnal,  54-58. 

Rintimbur,  taken  by  Ala-ud-din 
Khiiji  (1300),  122. 

Ripon,  Marquess  of,  Viceroy  (1880- 
84),  234,  235  ;  conclusion  of  the 
Afglian  war,  234;  measures  for 
local  self-government,  235. 

River  plains  of  Northern  India,  22— 
27  ;  work  done  by  the  rivers,  23, 
24;  the  Bengal  Delta,  24;  rivers 
as  land-makers,  24,  25  ;  river  es- 


tuaries, 25  ;  rivers  as  irrigators 
and  highways,  25,  26  ;  rivers  as 
destroyers,  26  ;  crops  and  scenery 
of  the  northern  river  plains,  26, 
27  ;  of  the  Bengal  Delta.  27. 

River  system  of  the  Himalayas,  21, 
22;  of  the  southern  table-land,  29. 

Roberts,  Gen.  Lord,  his  victories  at 
Kabul  and  Kandahar  (1879-80), 
234;  commander-in  chief,   236. 

Rock  edicts  of  Asoka,  79. 

Roe,  Sir  Thomas,  his  description  of 
Jahangir,  141  ;  sent  as  ambas- 
sador to  India  by  James  I,  170. 

Rohilkhand,  ceded  to  the  English 
(1801),  195. 

Rohillas,  war  with  the  (1774),  189. 

Rose,  Sir  Hugh  (Lord  Strathnairn), 
his  campaign  in  Central  India 
(1858-59),  227. 

Safed  Koh  mountains,  offshoot  of 
the  Himalayan  range  in  Afghan- 
istan, 19. 

Sagar  island,  religious  festival   at, 

23- 

Sah  dynasty  (60-235  A.D.),  92. 

Sahu,  grandson  of  Sivaji,  left  govern- 
ment of  the  Marathas  to  the 
Peshwa,   15S. 

Saints,  Hindu  book  of,  99,  100. 

Sdka  era,  92. 

Sakuntala,  famous  Sanskrit  drama, 
,71,  72. 

Salar  Jang,  Sir,  kept  Haidarabad 
loyal  in  the  Mutiny,  225. 

Salbai,  treaty  of  (1782\  162,  191. 

Sale,  Gen.  Sir  Robert,  his  defence  of 
Jalalabad  (1842),  211. 

Salivahana,  King  (78  A.  D.),  his  wars 
with  the  Scythians,  92. 

Salsette  ceded  to  the  English  by  the 
treaty  of  Salbai,  162,  191. 

Sambhnji,  son  of  Sivaji,  ruled  the 
Marathas  (1680-89),  put  to  death 
by  Aurangzeb,  147,  158. 

Saiiivat  era,  91. 

Sankara  Acharya,  Sivaite  religious 
reformer,  loo. 

Sanskrit  language,  53,  63 ;  litera- 
ture and  science,  63-72. 

Santals,  aboriginal  hill  tribe  in  Ben- 
gal, 45-47  ;  their  location  and 
system  of  government,  45  ;  social 
and  religious  ceremonies,  45,  46  ; 


252 


INDEX. 


religion,    46  ;    history,    46,   47 ; 

Santal  rising  (1855),  47. 

Satara,  petty  State  left  to  descen- 
dants of  Sivaji,  1 58,  204  ;  annexed 
as  having  lapsed  (1849\  218. 

Satl  not  sanctioned  by  the  Vedas, 
55  ;  Akbar's  efforts  to  suppress, 
136;  made  illegal  (1829),  207. 

Satpiira  range  of  mountains,  28. 

Sayyid  dynasty  of  Delhi  (1414- 
50),   127. 

Sayyid     'kingmakers'     (1713-20), 

'15I5  154- 

Scvthian  inroads  intolndia  (100  B.C.- 
500  A.D.),  90-93.  See  Table  of 
Contents,  chap.  vii. 

Scythian  kingdoms  in  Northern 
India,    90,  91. 

Segauli,  treaty  of  (1816),  202. 

Seleukos,  Alexander's  successor  to 
the  Greek  conquests  in  Bactria 
and  India,  87 ;  his  alliance  with 
Chandra  Gupta,  88. 

Self-government  in  India  under  the 
British  Crown  promoted  by  Lord 
Ripon,  235;  extension  of,  236,  237. 

Serfdom  abolished,  38. 

Seringapatam  besieged  (1792),  193; 
taken  (1799),  196. 

Serpent-worship  in  India,  99. 

Shahab-ud-din.  See  Muhammad  of 
Ghor. 

Shah  Alam,MughalEmperor(1761- 
1805),  155  ;  nominally  restored 
by  the  Marathas  (1771),  i6t  ;  be- 
sieges Patna  (1758),  183  ;  defeated 
at  Baxar  (1764),  185 ;  Warren 
.Hastings  stops  the  English  tribute 
to  (1773),  1S9  ;  restored  to  Delhi 
by  Lord  Lake  (1803),  198. 

Shah  Jahan,  fifth  Mughal  Emperor 
of  Delhi  1,1628-58),  142-144;  his 
magniiicent  public  buildings,  143  ; 
his  revenues,  143,  144;  deposed 
by  his  son  Aurangzeb,  144. 

Shahji  Bhonsla,  founder  of  the 
Maratha  power,   156. 

Shahriyar  murdered  by  his  brother 
Shah  Jahan,  142. 

Shah  Shuja  installed  by  the  British 
as  Amir  of  Afghanistan  (1839), 
209,  210. 

Shaista  Khan,  Nawab  of  Bengal, 
confiscates  the  English  factories 
(1686),   172. 


Sher  All,  recognized  as  Amir  of  Af- 
ghanistan, 231 ;  war  with  and 
death  (1878),  233. 

Sher  Shah  drives  Humayun  out  of 
India  (1542),  sets  up  as  emperor, 
and  is  killed  (1545),  133. 

Shore,  Sir  John  (Lord  Teignmouth), 
Governor-General  (1793-98),  193; 
draws  up  Permanent  Settlement  of 
Bengal,  193. 

Shuja,  Prince,  driven  into  Arakan  by 
Aurangzeb  (1660),  146. 

Shuja-ud-daula,  Nawab  Wazir  of 
Oudh,  defeated  at  Baxar  (1764), 
184,  185  ;  arrangements  of  War- 
ren Hastings  with,  189. 

Sikhs,  the,  persecuted  by  the  Mu- 
hammadans,  148, 151  ;  a  religious 
sect,  212,  213;  their  rise  into 
power,  213;  Ranjit  Singh,  213; 
the  first  Sikh  war  (1845),  214; 
the  second  Sikh  war  (1848-49), 
and  annexation    of   the    Punjab, 

,215- 

Siladitya,  Buddhist  king  in  Northern 
India,  his  Council  (634  A.  D.),  and 
his  charity,  81. 

Sind,  Alexander  the  Great's  cam- 
paign in,  86,  87 ;  early  Arab  in- 
vasions of  (647-828  A.  D.),  110, 
III  ;  conquered  by  Akbar  (1592), 
136  ;  annexed  by  the  English 
(1843),  212. 

Sindhia,  Maratha  dynasty,  160, 161 ; 
troops  of,  organized  by  French 
officers,  194 ;  defeated  by  Lord 
Lake,  197,  198;  defeated  at  Maha- 
rajpurand  Panniar  (1843),  212;  fort 
of  Gwalior  restored  to  (1886), 
236. 

Siraj-ud-danla,  Nawab  of  Bengal, 
took  Calcutta  (1756),  180  ;  de- 
feated at  Plassey  (1757"),  181. 

Sita,  wife  of  Rama,  the  heroine  of 
the  Ramayana,  70,  71. 

Sftabaldi,  battle  of  (1817),  203. 

Siva,  early  conception  of,  62,  63 ; 
Siva  and  Siva-worship,  100-102  ; 
forms  of  Siva  and  his  wife,  100, 
101  ;  twofold  aspects  of  Siva- 
worship,  loi  ;  the  thirteen  Sivaite 
sects,  loi,  102. 

Sivaji  the  Great,  Maratha  king 
(1627-80),  his  guerilla  warfare 
with    the    Muhammadans,    147; 


INDEX. 


253 


forms  a  national  Hindu  party  in 

the   Deccan,    156;   his  reign  and 

establishment    of     the     Maratha 

power,  157  ;  his  descendants,  158. 
Slave  dynasty  of  Delhi,  the  (1206- 

90),  119-121. 
Sleeman,    Sir  W.    H.,    suppressed 

thagi,  207. 
Smarta  Brahmans,  lineal  successors 

of     the     disciples     of     Sanl^ara 

Acharya,  102. 
Sobraon,  battle  of  (1845\  214. 
Somnath,   sack   of,  by  Mahmud  of 

Ghazni  (1024),  114,  115;  the  so- 
called  gates  of,  brought  to  India 

(1842),  115,  212. 
Sources    of    the    Indian    people — 

Aryan,  non-Aryan,  and  Scythian, 

94. 
Southern     table-land,    the,    27-30 ; 

scenery,     28,     29;     rivers,     29; 

forests,   29,   30;  minerals,  30. 
Stephens,    Thomas,     first     modem 

Englishman  in  India  (1579),  168. 
Strathnairn,  Gen.  Lord.     See  Rose, 

Sir  Hugh. 
Subuktigin,  Turki  invader  of  India 

(977  A.  D.),  113. 
Siidras  or  serfs,  the  lowest  caste  in 

the  ancient  Hindu  fourfold  organ- 
ization, 59,  60. 
Sulaiman  mountains,  offshoot  of  the 

Himalayas  in  Afghanistan,  19. 
Surat,  the  trade  guilds  at,  98,  99  ; 

orit^inal  English  headquarters  on 

north-western  coast  of  India,  171 ; 

treaty  of  (1775),  190. 
Sutlej  river,  22. 
Sii'.ras,  earliest  Brahman  legal  works, 

66. 
Swally,    defeat    of  the   Portuguese 

fleet  at,   by   the   British    (1015), 

170. 
Swaymn-vara,    or    maiden's     own 

choice,  67,  (I9,  117. 
Swedish  luiit  India  Company,  174. 

Taj  Mahal,  the,  built  by  Shah  Jahdn 

at  Agra,  143. 
Talikot,  battle  of  (1565),  112,  129. 
Tamerlane.     See  Timiir. 
Tanjore,  kingdom  in  Southern  India, 

177  ;  annexed  by  the  English,  196. 
T^ntia  Topi,  ablest  mutineer  leader, 

defeated  by  Sir  H.  Rose,  227. 


Tapti  river,  29. 

Tarai,  the,  20. 

Tea,  cultivation  of,  27  ;  crisis  in  the 
tea  industry,  231. 

Teignmouth,  Lord.  See  Shore,  Sir 
John. 

Tenasserim  annexed  (1826\  206. 

Thagi  suppressed,  207,  208. 

Thaneswar,  Muhammad  of  Ghor 
defeated  at  (1191),  116. 

Thebau,  king  of  Upper  Burma,  de- 
feated and  dethroned  (1885),  235. 

Tibeto-Burman,  the  non-Aryan  or 
aboriginal  tribes  inhabiting  the 
skirts  of  the  Himalayas,  49. 

Tieffenthaler,  Father,  quoied  on  Af- 
ghan ravages  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  152. 

Timiir's  invasion  of  India  and  mas- 
sacre at  Delhi  (1398),  126. 

Tipu  Sultan  succeeds  his  father 
Haidar  Ali  (17821,  191  ;  defeated 
by  Lord  Cornwallis  (1790-92), 
193  ;  his  intrigues  with  the  French, 
194;  defeated  and  killed  at  Se- 
ringapatam  (1799),  196. 

Todar  Mall.  Raja,  Akhar's  finance 
minister,  his  revenue  settlement, 
I ',5,  140  ;  conquered  Orissa 
(i574),  136. 

Towerson,  Captain,  murdered  at 
Amboyna  (1623),   170. 

Town  and  rural  population  of  India, 
36. 

Trade-guilds,  caste  as  a  system  of, 
97,  98. 

Tughlakdynastyof  Delhi,the  (1320- 
1414),  124-127. 

Tiirki  invasions  of  India,  the  first 
(977  A.D.),  113. 

Twenty-four  Parganas,  Grant  of  the, 
to  the  East  India  Company  (1757), 
1S2,  183. 

Udaipur,  Rajput  dynasty  of,  refused 

to  make  alliance  with  Akbar,  135  ; 

defeated  by  Jahangir  (1614),  140; 

attacked  by  Auran<^zeb,  149. 
Udhunala,  battle  of  (1764),  184. 
Usman   sends  Arab  expeditions  to 

India  (647  A.D.),  110. 

Vaishnavs,  Hindu  sect,  84. 
Vaisyas,  the  tliird  or  cultivating  caste 
in  the  ancient  Hindu  organization, 


254 


INDEX, 


59,  60 ;  their  change  of  occupa- 
tion, 97. 

Valabhi  dynasty  of  Cutch,  Malwa, 
and  northern  Bombay  (480-722 
A.D.),  92,  93. 

Vallabha-Swami,  Vishnuite  religious 
reformer  (1520),  106. 

Vansittart,  Henry,  Governor  of  Ben- 
gal(1760-6i), attempted  tomakea 
compromise  witli  Mir  Kasim,  184. 

Varuna,  Vedic  god,  56,  57. 

Vedas,  the,  quoted  on  the  non- 
Aryans,  40,  41  ;  the  four,  58.  See 
also  Rig- Veda. 

Vellore,  Mutiny  at  (1806),  200. 

Victoria,  Queen  of  England,  pro- 
clamation of  I  Nov.  1858,  on  as- 
suming the  government  of  India, 
223,  230  ;  proclaimed  Empress  of 
India  (1877),  233;  celebration  of 
her  Jubilee  (1887),  236. 

Vijayanagar,  Hindu  kingdom  in 
Southern  India  (1118-1565),  127, 
128;  its  overthrow  (1565),  129; 
representatives,  130. 

Vikramaditya,  king  of  Ujjain  (57 
B.C.),  Kalidasa  wrongly  said  to 
have  flourished  at  his  court,  71  ; 
his  wars  with  the  Scythians,  91, 
92. 

Vindhya  mountains,  28  ;  non-Aryan 
tribes  of  the,  43. 

Vishnu,  early  conception  of,  62,63  ; 
Vishnu-worship,  102-107;  the  in- 
carnations of  Vishnu,  102,  103  ; 
the  Vishnu  Purana,  103  ;  Vishnu- 
ite apostles — Ramanuja,  103,104; 
Ramanand,  104  ;  Kabir,  104,  105  ; 
Chaitanya,  105,  106 ;  Vallabha- 
Swami,  106,  107. 

Wajid  AH,  last  king  of  Oudh,  de- 
posed (1856),  220. 


Wales,  Prince  of,  visit  to  India 
(1875-76),  232,  233. 

Wandiwash,  battle  of  (1760),  179. 

Wargaum, convention  of  (1779),  I9i. 

Watts,  Mr.,  money  received  by  after 
Plassey,  182. 

Wellesley,      Marquess,      Governor- 
General    (1708-1805),   193-198 
French  influence  in    India,    194 
Lord    Wellesley's    policy,     195 
treaty   with    the    Nizam    (1798), 
195,  196  ;  third  Mysore  war  and 
capture  of  Seringapatam  (1799), 
196  ;  second  Maratha  war  (1802- 
1804),   197,   198;    results   of  his 
conquests,  19S. 

AVidows,  burning  of.     See  Sati. 

Willoughby,  Sir  Hugh,  attempt  to 
force  the  North-East  Passage 
(1553),  168. 

Wilson,  James,  his  financial  reforms, 
230,  231. 

Yajnavalkya,  code  of,  66. 

Yak  cows,  use  of,  in  the  Himalayas, 

^9-  ,   .    , 

Yakub  Khan,  Amir  of  Afghanistan, 

signed  treaty  of  Gandamak  (1879), 

233  ;  abdicated,  234. 
Yand'abu,  treaty  of  (1826),  206. 
Yogis,  Sivaite  devotees,  102. 

Zafar  Khan,  founder  of  the  Bahmani 
dynasty,  128. 

Zamindars  of  Bengal  recognized  as 
landlords,  192,  193. 

Zamorin  of  Calicut,  connection  of 
the  Portuguese  with  the,  164,  165. 

Zeman  Shah  held  his  court  at  La- 
hore (1800),  209. 

Zul-fikar  Khan,  his  power  as  general 
and  minister  at  Delhi  (1707-13), 
150,  151,  154. 


Morks  b^  Sir  Milliam  Milsoit  Ibunter. 


THE  ANNALS  OP  RURAL  BENGAL.  Sixth  Edition.  i6s. 

'  It  is  hard  to  over-estimate  the  importance  of  a  work  whose  author  suc- 
ceeds in  fascinating  us  with  a  subject  so  generally  regarded  as  unattractive, 
and  who  on  questions  of  grave  importance  to  the  future  destiny  of  India,  gives 
the  results  of  wide  research  and  exceptional  opportunities  of  personal  study, 
in  a  bright,  lucid,  forcible  narrative,  rising  on  occasion  to  eloquence.' — Tunes. 

'  Mr.  Hunter,  in  a  word,  has  applied  the  philosophic  method  of  writing 
history  to  a  new  field. .  .  .  The  grace,  and  ease,  and  steady  flow  of  the 
writing  almost  make  us  forget,  when  reading,  the  surpassing  severity  and 
value  of  the  author's  labours.' — Fortnightly  Review. 

ORISS  A : 

THE  VICISSITUDES   OF  AN  INDIAN  PROVINCE    UNDER 

NATIVE  AND  BRITISH  RUIE. 

Two  Vols.,  Map  and  Steel  Engravings.  32^. 

'  The  mature  and  laborious  work  of  a  man  who  has  devoted  the  whole 
power  of  his  mind,  first  to  the  practical  duties  of  his  profession  as  an  Indian 
civilian,  and  next  to  the  study  of  all  that  relates  to  or  can  illustrate  it.  As 
long  as  Indian  civilians  write  books  like  this — as  long  as  they  interest  them- 
selves so  passionately  in  their  work,  and  feel  so  keenly  its  connection  with 
nearly  every  subject  which  can  occupy  serious  thought — the  English  rule 
will  not  only  last,  but  will  prosper,  and  make  its  subjects  prosper  too.' — 
Pall  Mall  Gazette  (1872). 

'  A  great  subject  worthily  handled.  He  writes  with  great  knowledge,  great 
sympathy  with  the  Indian  people,  a  keen  and  quick  appreciation  of  all  that  is 
striking  and  romantic  in  their  history  and  character,  and  with  a  flowing  and 
picturesque  style,  which  carries  the  reader  lightly  over  ground  which,  in  less 
skilful  hands,  might  seem  tedious  beyond  endurance.' — Saturday  Review. 

THE   INDIAN   MUSALMANS.     Third  Edition,  ioj.  6^. 
'  A  masterly  Essay. '^Z'a/Zy  Neivs. 

A  STATISTICAL  ACCOUNT  OP  BENGAL  AND  ASSAM. 

In  Twenty-two  Vols.,  IIalk  Morocco,  5^.  each,  with  Maps. 

'  Un  ensemble  d'efforts  digue  d'une  grande  nation,  et  comme  aucune  autre 
n'en  a  faitjusqu'ici  desemblable  pour  son  empire  colonial.' — Revue  Critiqice. 

'  Twenty  volumes  of  material,  collected  under  the  most  favourable 
auspices,  are  built  up  under  his  hands  into  a  vast  but  accessible  storehouse 
of  invaluable  facts.  Invaluable  to  the  statesman,  the  administrator,  and 
the  historian,  they  are  no  less  interesting  to  the  general  reader.  Mr.  Hunter 
undoubtedly  has  the  faculty  of  making  the  dry  bones  of  statistics  live. 
But  they  also  contain  matter  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  fountain  of  the 
yet  unwritten  history  of  Bengal.  They  are  a  guide  for  administrative  action 
now.  They  also  seem  to  be  the  point  of  a  new  departure  for  the  future.' — 
Ninctcc7ith  Century. 

THE   IMPERIAL    GAZETTEER  OP   INDIA. 

Second  Edition,  Fourteen  Vols.,  Half  Morocco.  ^3  55. 

'The  publication  of  the  Imperial  Gazetteer  of  India  marks  the  completion 
of  the  largest  national  enterprise  in  statistics  which  has  ever  been  undertaken. 
.  .  .  The  volumes  before  us  form  a  complete  account  of  the  country,  its  geo- 
graphy, topography,  ethnology,  commerce,  and  products. ...  It  is  one  of  the 
grandest  works  of  administrative  statistics  which  have  ever  been  issued  by 
any  nation.' — Times.    (Two  notices.) 

'  Dr.  Hunter  has  rendered  to  the  Indian  Government  and  to  I'.nglish  people 
generally,  the  highest  service  a  public  servant  could  achieve.' — Athenceuni, 


WORKS  BY  SIR  WILLIAM  WILSON  HUNTER— contijuted. 

THE   IIvTDIAN   EMPIRE: 
ITS  HISTORY,  PEOPLE,  AND  PRODUCTS. 
Third  Edition,  800  Pages,  with  Map. 
'  Never  before  has  the  whole  subject  of  Indian  history  been  so  adequately 
and  so  intelligibly  treated.' — Pall  Mali  Gazette. 

'  A  compact  body  of  information,  arranged  and  classified  on  correct 
principles.' — Academy. 

*A  model  of  combined  lucidity,  conciseness,  and  comprehensiveness,' — 
Economist. 

A   BRIEF   HISTORY    OF   THE    INDIAN   PEOPLE, 

Twentieth  Edition,  7STH  Thousand.  35.  dd. 

'Within  the  compass  of  some  250  pages  we  know  of  no  history  of  the 
people  of  India  so  concise,  so  interesling,  and  so  useful  for  educational 
purposes  as  this.' — London  School  Board  Chronicle. 

'By  far  the  best  manual  of  Indian  History  that  has  hitherto  been 
published,  and  quite  equal  to  any  of  the  Historical  Series  for  Schools  edited 
by  Dr.  Freeman.' — Times  of  India. 

'  The  publication  of  the  Hon.  Sir  W.  W.  Hunter's  School  History  of 
India  is  an  event  in  literary  history.' — Rcis  &>  Rayyet. 

A  LIFE    OF   THE   EARL   OF   MAYO, 

FOURTH  VICEROY  OF  INDIA. 
Second  Edition,  Two  Vols.  24J. 
'  The  picture  presented  to  us  of  the  late  Lord  Mayo  is  a  fair  and  noble 
one,  and  worthy  of  the  much  lamented  original.' — Edinburgh  Rcvicvj. 

'  This  masterly  work  has  two  great  recommendations  :  it  is  the  vividly 
and  faithfully  told  narrative  of  the  life  of  a  man ;  and  it  contains  a  lucid  and 
comprehensive  history  of  recent  administration  in  India.' — IVorld. 

A   SHORTER   LIFE    OF   LORD   MAYO. 

Fourth  Thousand,  One  Vol.  2s.  dd. 
*A  brief  but  admirable  biography.' — Times. 

'  The  world  is  indebted  to  the  author  for  a  fit  and  attractive  record  of 
what  was  eminently  a  noble  life.' — Academy. 

FAMINE   ASPECTS   OF   BENGAL   DISTRICTS. 

Second  Edition.  7.?.  dd. 
'  One  of  the  boldest  efforts  yet  made  by  statistical  science.  ...  In  this 
vfork  he  has  laid  down  the  basis  of  a  system,  by  which  he  may  fairly  claim 
that  scarcity  in  Bengal  has  been  reduced  to  an  affair  of  calm  administrative 
calculation.' — Daily  Nezvs. 

A   LIFE    OF   THE    MARQUESS    OF   DALHOUSIE. 

Fourth  Thousand.  2s. dd. 

'An  interesting  and  exceedingly  readable  volume.' — Times. 

'  It  can  be  read  at  a  sitting,  yet  its  references — expressed  or  implied— 
suggest  the  study  and  observation  of  half  a  life-time.' — Daily  News. 

'  A  brilliantly  written  account  of  the  life  and  work  of  that  able  ruler  of 
men,  the  Marquis  of  Dalhousie.' — Asiatic  Quarterly  Review. 

'Never  have  we  been  so  much  impressed  by  the  great  literary  abilities  of 
Sir  William  Hunter  as  we  have  been  by  the  perusal  of  "  The  Marquess  of 
Dalhousie."  ' — Evening  Ncius. 

BOMBAY,   1885   TO   1890. 

A  STUDY  IN  INDIAN  ADMINISTRATION. 
One  Volume  :  Clarendon  Press.  15^-. 
'  Few  living  writers  have   done  so  much  as  Sir  William  Hunter  to  make 
British  India  and  its  government  intelligible  to  English  readers.' — Tim-i. 


UC  SOUTHERN  RFGILINAL  LIBRARY  EAGlllTY 
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