INDIA BY FANNIE ROPER FEUDGE The gorgeous East with richest hand Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold REVISED AND ENLARGED WITH ONE HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS THE WERNER COMPANY NEW YORK AKRON, OHIO CHICAGO 1899 COPYRIGHT, 1895, BY THE WERNER COMPANY History of India Stack /Vnnex PREFACE The country treated in the volume now in the reader's hand claims attention from all who speak the English tongue, not only by reason of its great antiquity and the Oriental magnif- icence and grandeur that adonis its history, but because it is the home of those who used the language from which their own is a descendant. The history of England had long been intimately connected with that of India before the speech of the Anglo-Saxon was suspected of having any affiliation with that of the mysterious land of the Vedas, the home of Guadama. Now we recognize the truth that, as has been well said, Cen- tral Asia was the cradle of the " noble and ever-progressive Aryan race, the progenitor of Persian and Pelasgian, and Celt and Teuton, the discoverer of well-nigh everything which is great and beneficent in the arts of war and peace, the race from whose bosom came Charlemagne and Alfred, Dante and Shak- speare, Michael Angelo and Raphael, Newton and Descartes the parent in the modern world of the metaphysical subtlety of Germany, and the vivid intelligence of France, and the imperi- al energy of England ; the parent in the ancient world of the lofty spiritualism of India 'of the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome.' " The more intimate our acquaintance with the history of this remarkable land, the more our astonishment at the marvellous past, as forcibly exhibited in an architecture imposing in its PREFACE. ruins from which the fretting tooth of time has not even yet taken the delicate touches which in other days gave them a ravishing heauty. The literature and language of India have been brought to the knowledge of the Western world within our own century, and we know comparatively little of their scope and relations, but we are sufficiently well informed to be filled with amazement by that little. The latest of our great poems is based upon the remarkable story of the self-abne- gation of one of the religious heroes of India, and its exten- sive circulation is an indication of the interest that is felt in the laud and its history. The writer of the present volume was for a number of years resident in India and had uncommon advantages for becom- ing acquainted with the people of all ranks, and in the different regions. Her experience enables her to present a view of the physical traits of the country, its natural wonders and works of art, its cities, towns, temples and palaces, its languages, literature, laws, and religious and social customs, and her study of authentic histories and books of travel have enabled her to give a lively epitome of the history of the past and to add to her own store of information with a freedom from error that is only possible for one long personally familiar with the country. The volume purposely avoids details and statistics, which, however valuable in themselves, are more appropriate in books intended rather for the specialist and the student than for the use of the general reader at the fireside and in the home. The many illustrations will make more real the descriptions of the author, and it is hoped that the volume will prove profitable as well as entertaining. A. G. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. GEOGKAPHICAL DIVISIONS. Names Geography of Hindustan Situation Ex- treme Length Width Area Population Names of Races Great Mountain Ranges Special Features Matheran and Khandalla "Dak-bungalows " Railway over the Ghauts Five Great Divisions of India as separated by Mountains and Rivers Dis- tinctive Features of Each The Desert Coast Line Diversified Appearance of Coast, Bays, Harbors, 17 Rivers, and Islands. CHAPTER II. MOUNTAIN SYSTEMS. Highest Peaks of the Himalayas Oriental Traditions Mountains, Table-lands, Plains, and Valleys Botan- ical Garden at Mussoorri Sikkim Hills Dharjeling and its Sanitarium Its History and Surroundings Mountain Vehicles Pur Pundjal Simla and its Court Kalka Simoor Mountains Mountain Scen- ery and People, Villages and Products, Climate and rl CONTENTS. Minerals Bhadrinath Its Temple and Tank Chirra Punjee Ajmere and Terraglmr Maghar Pa- har Salt Plains Tintonni and the Tbakours Black Mail Kairwarra Vindhyas and Ghauts Climate and Scenery Geological Features Banga- lore and Mysore Mountain Shrines and Temples Neilgherry Hills Smugglers and the Discovery Mount Kartery, Kaytee Pass and Kaytee House Influence of Mountains on Climate and Health. 65 CHAPTER III. POLITICAL DIVISIONS. British India Political Divisions Area and Population Presidency of Bengal Beginning and Growth of Anglo-Indian Power Battle of Plassey Calcutta Its Origin and History The Black Hole Opium Monopoly Products and Trade of Bengal Chan- dernagore Fort William Government House European and Native Quarters of Calcutta Presi- dency of Madras Its Components The Carnatic Varieties of Climate Bangalore and Hyder Ali The Fort and its History Seringapatan and Tippoo, the " Tiger " Cochin Arcot Travancore and its Rajahs Rulers of Vizianagram History of the Circars Cananore Vellore and its Tragedy The City of Madras Its Origin and History Fort and "Black Town" Mount Road Government House and its Belongings Prince of Wales Liveries European Dwellings Street Sights and Equipages Educational Institutions, etc. 115 CHAPTER IV. PRESIDENCY OF BOMBAY. Presidency of Bombay Its Constituents Climate, Soil, and Productions of several Sections Regulation of CO A' TEXTS. vii Land Tax First Indian Railway Oilier Railways The Telegraph Schools The Island of Bombay Its Location and History The " Fort " Old and New City What the Fort contains Routine of Life in Indian Cities Quarters for each Race The Par- sees Their Dwellings and Habits Colaba Races and Residences, Crafts and Wares Arab Horse-market Jain Hospital for Dumb Animals Kindness to Brute Creatures Depredations of Tigers Cemeter- ies Malabar Hill Its Trees and Shrubs Govern- ment House Walkeshwar Its Temple and Legend Tower of Silence Bycullah Mazagon and its People Flowers and Serpents Palace Hospital of Sir J. Jejeebhoy, Population Commercial Crisis of 1863-65 Surat Broach, and its Silver Mosque Antiquity of Callian Its Ruins and Temple Poonah Situation and History Famous Temple Oriental Ideas of Death Government House of Poonah and What was Said of It. 162 CHAPTER V. PROVINCES AND PEOPLE. Chittagong Tenasserirn Provinces Aracan Assam The Brahmaputra Cultivation of Tea Other Prod- ucts of Assam Climate Kishengurh Its History and Capital Cashmere Its Valley, Climate and Productions Cashmere Shawls History of Cash- mere Condition Afghanistan Bundelcnnd Its Location History Past and Recent Hurdeo Singh and his Exploits The Bourdilas Noted Events in History of Bundelcund Chief Towns Duttiah Its Fortifications Temples Palace of Bursing Deo Its Size, Security and Design The College of Duttiah Sonnaghur and its Temples Dholepore Its History C'apital Mosque Maha Rajah and H. 12 viii CONTENTS. Prince of Wales Hindu Bridge Nourabad Tomb of Mohammedan Lady Author of Last Century Bridge of Boats. 205 CHAPTER VI. GWALIOR AND SCINDIA. Ancient Gwalior Its Fortress and History Complica- tions Mali a Rajah Scindia and the English Scin- dia's Character and Martial Proclivities Sir Dinkur Rao and the Administration New Gwalior Its Palaces and Monuments Origin and History of the Scindias The Peishwa and his Slipper-bearer Ad- ventures of Mahaji Scindia Daolut's Successes and Reverses Territories of Scindia Gwalioka Lashka, the new Capital Its Origin N Old and New Palaces Temples " Attar and Pan " Native Government Ceremonies Prisons. 237 CHAPTER VII. CLIMATE AND SOIL. Climate Monsoons Seasons Their Number and Char- acter Hot Winds at Jeypore and Madras Sand Showers Precautions against Heat Three Great Causes of Famine Enforced Cultivation of Opium Excessive Taxation Lack of Irrigation Lands taken up by English Government and Army Evic- tions in Consequence of Heavy Taxes, and consequent Famine in some Collectorates Vegetable Products Grains Fruits Water-nut of Cashmere Euro- pean Vegetables Native Fruits Excellent and Abund- ant Casheu-nut Banian-tree and Fruit Legend Tamarind -tree and Foliage Famous Kabira Bar on the Nerbudda Ancient Pepul of Allahabad The Moh wah and Its Numerous Flowers. 2l>-2 CONTENTS. ix CHAPTER VIII. CASTE SYSTEM. Caste Its Nature Divisions Grades Require- ments Rules in regard to Marriage and Vocation Effects of the System Brahmins their offspring Investiture of a Son the Sacred Cord Breaking Caste Its Penalties Involuntary Defilement A Hundred Thousand Dollars for Restitution of Casle Tippoo's tyranny and its results Advantages of Caste to the Traveller Preponderance of Different Castes Purvus Khayets Bunialis Parsees Case in regard to Sick and Dying Incidents. 282 CHAPTER IX. CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. Introduction of Christianity St. Thomas of India A Christian king Ecclesiastical war Portuguese ef- forts A new Veda Romanism Protestant mis- sions Danish missionaries The immortal Schwartz English missions American missions Judson and others The American Board Dates of estab- lishment of various missions Extent of missionary work Great progress. 300 CHAPTER X. EARLIEST HISTORY. Antiquity of the Hindus Evidence of their Existence in the Old Patriarchal Days Researches of Prinsep and others Early Native Records and Poems Decipher- ing of Ancient Inscriptions Rama, king of Oude, and his Invasion of Ceylon Who were the " Monkeys " and "Demons" Wars Hastinapura a Dynasty Subsequent kings of Pandu Dynasty Kingdom of x CONTENTS. Magada Birth and History of Gaudama, fourth Buddh Ancient Language of Magada Chandra- gumpta, the Soudra, and what he accomplished. 321 CHAPTER XI. DECLINE OF THE ARAB POWER. Reign of Dharmasoka, the First Emperor of India His Wise and Virtuous Policy Propagation of Buddh- ism Extent of his Dominion Internal Improve- ments Decline of Magada And Subjection to Can- ouj Ancient Domain of Canouj Early History of Scindie Guzerat and the Rajputs Malwar and king Vicramaditya The Deccan Orissa Successive Conquerors and Marauders of India The Mahrattas Alexander's Conquests Wonderful Civilization of India Compared with that of other Countries, in the days before the Moslem Conquests Arab Invasion Success of Casim Sacking of Moulton Capture of Dewal Rout of Rajputs A Woman's Bravery Casim' s Death Decline of Arab Power in India. ;J3C CHAPTER XII. THE SUPREMACY OF MAHMOUD. The death of Haroun-al-Raschid and its Results The Sam an is and their Protege Promotion of Alptegin, and Subsequent Career His Successor Character of Sibektegin Incident indicative of Humanity Furious encounters with Rajahs of Lahore, Delhi and others Sibektegin always victorious Extension of Afghan Dominion Sultan's Death Accession of his Son Mahmoud's Victories Triumphal Feast Annexation of Pun jaub and Lahore Foundation of Ghaznivide Dynasty Conquest of Persia Death Character Incidents. H49 CONTENTS. xi CHAPTER XIII. KHILIJI, THE SANGUINARY. Short and troublous reigns of Mahmoud's Sons and Grandsons Revolt of Lahore Accession of Farokh- sad Incursions of Seljuks Wise and prosperous reign of Ibrahim Expedition to the Sutlej Capture of Cities Prosperous Reign of Massand II. Violent death of his Son Long Reign of Behram and its con- trasting Acts Flight and Death Accession of his Sons and Character of their respective Reigns Divi- sion of Empire Ghorian Dynasty Glorious reign of Gheias-u-din Sahib, his General and Successor Large Accessions of Territory Mahmoud Ghori and his Reign India an Independent Kingdom " The Slave Kings " Kutb-u-din His Origin and History Altamsh and His Successors House of Khiliji, and its Extinction. 3(51 CHAPTER XIV. THE TOGHLAK DYNASTY. Gheias-u-din Military Governor of Punjaub The first King of the Toghlak Dynasty F>ents of his Reign, and violent Death A. D. 1325 Accession of his Son, Mohammed Early Successors Subsequent Tyranny Insurrections and Loss of Territory Sudden Death A. D. 1351 Accession of Firuz His Character and Long Reign Later Events in the Life of Firuz Short Reigns of his Successors Accession of Mah- moud Early Events of his Reign Revolt of States Invasion of Tamerlane Enormities Committed by Tartars Devastation of Punjaub Reduction of Delhi Tamerlane, Emperor of India Atrocities at Delhi Departure of the Conqueror His Policy and Acts Restoration of Mahmoud Last of the Togh- xii CONTENTS. laks Khizir Khan and His Successors Three Kings of the Lodi Dynasty The Last of the Afghan Kings Invasion Invited Conquest of the Capital by the Tartan Baber. 373 CHAPTER XV. EUROPEAN TRADE. Trade of the Ancients with India Benefits of Alexan- der's Expedition Former Routes and Nations en- gaged in Indian trade Romans and Saracens as Pio- neers Discoverers of the fifteenth century First Portuguese Expedition Opposition of Moors Prompt .Action of De Cabul Results in Portuguese favor Second Portuguese Expedition Vasco de Gama and Albuquerque Papal "Bull," Its Reception Concilia- tory Policy and Subsequent Death of Albuquerque Contrasting Administrations of De Souza and De Castro, and their Results Death of De Castro Fran- cis Xavier His Character and Influence The Inqui- sition Its Doings and Results Advent of Dutch Power in India Of the English Formation of East India Company, A. D. 1600. 386 CHAPTER XVI. INDIAN RACES. Races of India Rajputs a Paramount Power Their Origin and History Oudeypore and its People The Late and Present Maharanas Their Wonderful Ped- igree, How a Maiden of the Souriavanses may be Won Dress of the Maharana His Jewels State and Revenue Honors and Perquisites Past and Present Travel in Central India Testimony of Bishop Heber in 1820 Appearance and Dress of Rajputs Ladies of Rajputana Bards Pertal Singh and the Moguls, in 1565 Sixteen Omras Heraldry among CONTENTS. xiii Rajputs Maharajah Jeypore Origin and History Dholac Rae and the Mynas How the Kaschwas lost Caste History of the Mynas Bheels Their Origin and History Appearance and Attire Reli- gious Belief Customs A Legend The Bheels 400 and Mutiny of 1858. CHAPTER XVII. THE MOGUL EMPIRE FROM BABER TO AKBAR. Acceshion of Baber, the first Tartan|Emperor Insubordina- tion of Rajahs Baber's Early Experiences and History Victory at Paniput, and Subsequent Successes Internal Improvements Short Reign His Death, Character and Successor Prosperous Condition of the country on the Accession of Hmnayun His Noble traits Treachery of his Family and Nobles Escape to Persia Long Exile and Return to Delhi His Sub- sequent Death Akbar, the " boy-king" Long and Prosperous Reign The Minister Behram Khan Sub- jection of Rebellious Provinces Chittore Its History Heroism "Sacrifice of Johar" thrice repeated "The Holy City" deserted Ondeypore founded by the Rajah of Chittore Cashmere reduced. 431 CHAPTER XVIII. THE MOGUL EMPIRE FROM AKBAR TO SHAH JEHAN. Expedition into the Deccan Ahmednegar Its History and Fortress Rebellion of Akbar's Son Submission and Restoration to favor Akbar's Death His Acts Character, Abilities Accession of Jehanghir Revolt of his son Khosru Its Results Lahore, the Old and the New Palace of Sehanghir Nour Mahal Prince Koroun's attempt on Agra His Junction with Mohabet Death of Jehanghir Immense xiv CONTENTS. Wealth Proclamation of Shah Jehan Agra Its History and Wonderful Monuments The Taj Palace and Throne of Akbar A Legend Gates of Somnath Mausoleum of the Princess Jehanara Mumtaj Mahal Building of the Taj Its History What People say of it The Elmaddowlah Promise of Agra. 451 CHAPTER XIX. THE MOGUL EMPIRE. AURUNGZEBE. Splendor of Shah Jehan' s Reign Immense Wealth and Lavish Expenditures Peacock Throne Wise Gov- ernment Military Exploits of his Reign Troubles with Mahrattas Quarrels about the Succession Aurungzebe gains the day Disposal of his opponents Shah Jehan deposed Seven years in confinement and Subsequent Death in 1665 Ultimate Fate of the rivals of Aurungzebe Names of Emperor, Character and abilities Exploits in the Deccan Towns of Aurungabad and Hyderbad Fortress of Daoulatabad Prominent Events in History of Ahmedabad Troubles with the Mahrattas Failure of Afghan Campaign Disaffection of His Subjects Death of the Emperor, 1707. 473 CHAPTER XX. THE MAHRATTAS. The Mahratta Power Its Rise, History, and Wide-spread Influence Sevaji and his Successors Intervening History of European Nations in India Growth of English Indian Power Its Obstacles and Successes through several Reigns Union of Old and New East India Companies Increased Privileges granted by New Charter Inefficient Officers and Threatened Dangers to the Colonies Renewed Depredations of CONTENTS. xv the Mahrattas Their Ultimate Fate Sons and Suc- cessors of Aurungzebe Several brief Reigns usher- ing in the Accession of Mohammed Shah in 1719. 491 CHAPTER XXI. THE MOGUL DYNASTY FROM MOHAMMED SHAH TO THE END OF THE DYNASTY. Inauspicious beginning of Mohammed Shah's Reign Troubles with his Vizier Hosen Ali Fate of the Brothers Asof Jah and his Acts Invasion of India by Nadir Shah Plunder and Massacre at Delhi Spoils Rise of Rohillas Invasion of India by Afghans Death of Emperor Accession of his Son, Ahmed Shah Fresh Invasions of Rohillas and Afghans Dissensions Deposition of Emperor Violence to his Person Alarn-ghir II. on the Throne Treachery of Ghazni-u-din Return of the Afghans Massacre and Plunder Death of the Emperor Fate of Shah Alum His Son End of Tartar Dy- nasty Growth of English Power Jealousy of Dutch and French Suraj-al-Daoulah and the "Black Hole," Fleet from Batavia Landing of Troops Decline of French and Dutch Power in India. 507 CHAPTER XXII. THE ENGLISH POWER LORDS CLIVE AND HASTINGS. Mr. Vansittart s Administration Deposition of Mir Jaf- fier and Appointment of Cassim Ali Khan Disaffec- tion toward Mr. Vansittart Cassim's Treachery Various Military Exploits Fall of Mongheer and Patna Mutinous Indications among Native Troops Restoration and Death of Mir Jaffier Complaints and Request of Stock-holders of the East India Com- pany Appointment of Lord Clive His Absolute xvi CONTENTS. Authority Correction of Abuses " Batta," and what came of it Capture of Po- dicherry and Nizam Ali's Opposition Hyder Ali Subahdar of Oudh and the Rohillas New Constitution for Indian Prov- inces Impeachment of Warren Hastings Rajah of Nuncomar and his Sad Fate Caprice of the Governor Reverses and Successes Duel between Hastings and Francis Hyder The Peishwa and the English French Settlement Captured Hyder Ali defeated. 523 CHAPTER XXIII. THE ENGLISH POWER TIPPOO SAHIB AND HIS TIMES. Sir Eyre Coote as Governor of Madras Wars of Ilycler Ali and Tippoo Taking of Dutch Settlements Gen. Matthews and his Officers Treaty, March, 1784 Supreme Court of Calcutta Power Vested therein Provincial Councils Civil Service Consolidation of British Power Complicity of Gov. Hastings with Nabob of Oudh General Prosperity of Colonies Passage of Acts by Home Government Appointment of Lord Cornwallis Treachery of Tippoo Civil and Military Complications Rajah of Benares Nabob of Oudh Governor's Share of Plunder Pitt's " India Bill" Renewal of Hostilities Varying Results of several Campaigns Treaty of 1792 Charter of East India Company renewed Affairs in Oudh Tippoo and the French Taking of Seringapatam Death of Tippoo His Family Mysore dismembered Charac- ter and Peculiarities of Tippoo Invasion of Afghan King Complications among Mahratta Princes, and Continuation of Hostilities Battle of Assaye, of Las- warre, and others Lord Wellesley's Policy Napo- leon's Influence and Aims in regard to India Cap- ture of French Islands Java The Ghoorkas Sue- CONTENTS. xvii. PAGE cesses Close of Mahratta War Last of the Peish- was Resignation of Gov. Hastings. 540 CHAPTER XXIV. THE ENGLISH POWER BURMESE AND PUNJAUB WARS AND THE CONQUEST OF SCINDE. Advent of Earl of Amherst as Governor-General First Burmese War Its Causes and Results Second Bur- mese War Causes Duration and Results Two Noted Events of Mr. Adams' Administration Adjust- ment of Dutch and English Affairs Singapore Queen of the Indian Seas Peaceful Administration of Lord William Bentinck Important Reforms Edu- cation and Religions Liberty Initiatory Steps toward Opening Communication between India and the Cas- pian Sea, and Ultimate " Overland " Steam-route from England to India Important Changes in Charter Resignation of Governor His Successor Lord Auck- land's Administration a Failure The Afghan Cam- paign and its Terrible Disasters Recall of Lord Auck- land Administration of Lord Ellenborough Annex- ation of the Punjaub Changes in Charter Lord Dalhousie's Retirement Prosperity. 572 CHAPTER XXV. THE SEAPOY REBELLION INDIA OF THE PRESENT. The Seapoy Service Great Rebellion Visit of Prince of Wales The Afghan War India of the Present, under the Successive Administrations of the following Vice- roys: Lord Lytton, the Marquis of Ripon, the Marquis of Dufferin, the Marquis of Lansdowne, and the Earl of Elgin. 594 Explanation of Indian Terms ... 648 General Index ...... 653 MAP. PAGH The Maharao Rajah of Ulwur ... -23 Sontal Village, Rajmahal .... 29 The Dakghari. Post Chaise ..... 37 Mountaineers in action ..... 43 Railway travelling in India ..... 51 An Indigo Factory, Allahabad .... 57 Peasants of the Doab ..... 61 Hindus of Western Deccan .... 67 Inhabitants of the Island of Salsette, near Bombay . 73 A child committed to the river Junna by its mother . 79 Crossing an Indian River .... 87 Mohammedan School, Allahabad ... 91 Entrance of Caves, Elephanta . . . .95 Interior of Great Cave, Elephanta ... 99 The Lion's Cave on the Island of Elephanta . . 102 Caves of Kenhari . . . ... . 105 Mosque on the Hooghly, near Calcutta . . . 109 Travelling Wagons ..... 113 The Mail-cart . . . . ... 121 The Chopaya, an Indian Carriage . . , 131 Simla, Western Himalayas .... 135 The Palace of the Seths, Ajmere . . . 147 List of Illustrations. xix. PAGE Cocoanut Trees . . 155 Boating on the Ganges .... 163 A European House, Calcutta . . . 1<>7 Esplanade, Calcutta . . . 16!) Palaquin ... . 1^3 Bhistis or Water Carrier . .177 Hindoo Jewellers ..... 181 A Court of Justice in a Jungle . . 1^ ! "> Jugglers . Native of Madras . 19f) Young Hindoo Woman . Serpent Charmers . ... Carriage of Hindoo Lady Hindoo Women of Bombay in Ceremonial Dress 221 The Festival of the Serpents, Bombay . 225 The Cotton Market: Merchants at Bombay . 227 Persians in Bombay A Parsee Merchant at Bombay . 239 A Hindoo Temple in the Black Town, Bombay 245 Religious Meeting of Jams, Bombay . 251 Parsee Lady and Her Daughter . 257 Travellers received on the Frontier of the State of Puimah . . . 268 Dancing Girls at Bombay . . 269 Hill Fortress of Pawangurh . . . 277 Thugs, in the Prison of Aurungabad . . . 283 Meeting of Travellers with the Maharajah of Chutter- pore 289 Facade of the Palace of Birsiug-Deo . 295 Palace of Birsing-Deo and the Lake, Duttiah . . 303 xx. List of Illustrations. PAGE The Holy Hill of Sounaghur, seen from the village . 307 The Mohorum (New Year Festival) at Bhopal . 311 Cathacks, (Male Dancers) at Bhopal . . . 317 A Rhinoceros Fight ..... 323 Colossi of Curwhai, Gwalior .... 327 Side View of the Pal Palace at Gwalior . . 331 Mausoleum of the Scindias, at Lashkar . 337 The Gopal Bhowan in the Palace of Digh . . 343 Pavilion of Dewaui Khas (Great Audience Hall) at Digh. ..... 351 The Imperial Durbar Dress Reception. . . 353 Temple of Juggernath . , . , . 357 Gentlemen of Behar . . . . . 363 Great Chaitya or Tope of Sanchi . . . 37"> Full Dress Reception of the Maharana of Oudeypore 383 Brahmins of Bengal ..... 391 Car of Juggernath ..... 401 Feast of Ganesa, Benares .... 407 Chandni Chowk The Shopping Street, Delhi . 415 Ruins near Delhi . . . . . 421 Rajpoots, Warrior Caste ..... 433 The Bazaar of Khoja Syud, Ajmere . . . 437 The Temple of Mahadeva, Kajraha . . . 453 Sambhoo Sing, the Maharana of Meywar . . 455 Durban of the Maharah of Rewah, at Govindgurh . 465 The Start for the Hunt in India . . . . . 475 Temples of the King, at Ulwur . ... 481 The Royal Standard Bearer, in the Procession of the Guicowar, at Baroda . . v . 493 The Valley of Ambir . . * . . 503 List of Illustrations, xxi. PAGB Principal Gate of the Palace of the Emperors, Delhi . 513 Zemindars and Jat Peasants .... 525 The Golden Kiosk, in the Valley of Anibir . . 533 The Tower of Koutub, Plain of Delhi . . .541 The Princess Shah-Jehan .... 545 The Taj Mausoleum ..... 551 Gardens of the Taj ..... 559 Mausoleum of Sheik Shisti, at Futtehpore-Sikri . 563 Soldiers of the Nizam of Hyderabad . . . 575 Royal Necropolis, Golconda .... 579 Monument in the Royal Necropolis at Golconda . 585 Ruins of the Harem of the Emperor Ahmed, Sirkhej . 591 The King's Elephant, in the Great Procession at Baroda 595 Mosque of Aurungzebe, Benares . . . 599 Religious Beggar, Benares .... 607 General View of Bhurtepore .... 613 The Broad Stair-case of Funerals on the Ganges, (Cawn- Pore) . . . . . .619 Imambara, Lucknow ..... 623 An Elephant Fight .... 629 INDIA, CHAPTER I. GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS. INDIA, Hindustan, and British India, are names often, indiscriminately applied as belonging to the same region. Properly, the first and second include the third; India and Hindustan being applied to the entire Peninsula, comprising within its bounds, British India, or all that portion under British control, and in addition, many native Principalities, some of which are entirely independent, and others partially tributar}^ to the British Provincial Government. India lies between Thibet and Little Thibet on H.J. 2 18 Creographical Divisions. the north, the Anglo-Burmese Provinces of Assam and Aracan and the Bay of Bengal 011 the east, the Indian Ocean on the south, and the sea of Arabia, Beeloochistan and Afghanistan on the west. It extends over the immense region lying between Cape Comorin in 8 of north latitude and the Himalayan mountains in 35 of north latitude, and from the Delta of the Brahmaputra on the east, to that of the Indus on the west. Its extreme length is about eighteen hundred miles, and its greatest breadth, along the parallel of 25, is a little more than fifteen hundred miles ; comprising a total area of not less than fifteen hundred thousand square miles. The population of India is reckoned at one hun- dred and forty-one millions, of whom, about one million are Portuguese and their descendants ; one hundred thousand are Anglo-Saxons ; and the remainder are Monguls, Tartars, Moors, Arabs, Parsees, Burmese, Aracanese, Assamese, Peguans, Chinese, Jews and Gypsies; besides the various Indian races, viz. : Hindus, Bengalees, Rajputs, Mahrattas, Seikhs, Ameers, Bheels, Afghans, Gen- toos, Goorkas, Klings, Bhootians, Lopchas, Todars, Gouuds, Khounds, Badagas, and Erulars. Mountain Ranges. 19 This great Peninsula is intersected by ranges of lofty mountains, among which are the Himalayas in the northern section ; the Vindhyas, Dounghers, Aravalis, Kairmoor, and Rajmahal, in the central ; and the several ranges of Ghauts in the southern portion ; thus diversifying the whole country with alternating mountains and valleys, extensive table- lands, deltas, and fertile plains, that include within their several bounds a very great diversity of climate, soil and productions. The great Himalayas, that form the northern boundary of India, begin in Turkey, under the name of the Taurus Mountains, continue their course as the Elborze Mountains of Persia,, and the Hindoo Koorsh of Turkistan ; then, as the Himalayas, after separating Thibet from India, they pass entirely across Southern China, in about 25 north latitude, where they are known as the Nan-ling range : thus traversing the entire conti- nent of Asia, from the Black Sea to the borders of the Pacific Ocean, a distance of more than six thousand miles in a direct line, or about seven thousand five hundred in their varying course. Of the various mountain-ranges of India, the Himalayas are the highest ; the Vindhyas have the 20 Geographical Divisions. most marked results as a dividing range, between different sections ; the Aravalis are richest in min- erals, and have broader valleys more generally furrowed by water-courses ; the Dounghers have some of the wildest scenery, with narrow gorges overhung with nearly black rocks, abrupt preci- pices, huge blocks of white quartz gleaming in the sunlight, and here and there, hidden in the midst of these mountain heights, an oasis of won- drous beauty ; the Kairmoors, that cross Bogel- cund between the Ganges and Nerbudda rivers, divide the land into two slopes, and unite two mountain ranges, i. e., the Vindhyas and the group of Rajmahal ; while the Ghauts have a formation altogether peculiar to themselves, and are, in many respects, different from any other chain in Asia. Being the edges of the great table-land of the Deccan, each range of the Ghauts consists of only one rugged side which faces the water, forming all along the sea an unbroken wall. There are here and there defiles, with steps descending to the sea-shore ; many of the hills are covered with dense jungle ; others have been partially cleared, and are adorned with lovely, picturesque little villas, and bungalows half hidden in shrubs and " Dak-Bungalows:' 21 flowers; while several prominent peaks are points of great interest to the tourist. On one of the Western Ghauts stands a Hindu temple, its slender spire girt about with vapory clouds ; another, Mount Bao Mallim, has its highest peak surmounted by an ancient fortress that is entered from the out- side by a flight of some three hundred steps cut out of the solid rock; and at the foot of a third, is prettily laid out the little village of Kampouli, which leads to the defile of the Bhore Ghaut, whence an Eng- lish railway goes direct to the celebrated Sanita- rium of Matheran. Upon the mountain, half a mile from the Sani- tarium, is the "Dak-bungalow" of Khandalla. These " Daks " are quite an institution in British India, a god-send to the foreign tourist he soon learns to appreciate, and an absolute necessity in a country like this wholly destitute of hotels at all suited to the accommodation of Europeans. The " Daks " are bungalows (that is, one-story dwelling houses shaded by long, covered verandas) con- structed by the British Government, at regular intervals, on the chief military roads throughout the Peninsula; and in these wayside dwellings any traveller has a right to twenty-four hours' lodging, 22 Geographical Divisions. with the use of furniture and servants, for the small sura of one Rupee (forty-five cents). He may continue for a longer period at the same rate, provided his room is not needed for a new-comer ; but after having occupied it for a day and night, he must, perforce, yield his place to the first trav- eller who arrives, if there is no other vacant room. Provisions, including fresh fruits and excellent tea or coffee, may usually be obtained at moderate rates through the " Dak " servants ; and on a long journey, in that hot and unhealthy climate, it is often a very great benefit to the weary trav- eller to stop for a day and night where he may obtain a good bed and several comfortable meals before proceeding on his way. The bungalow of the Khandalla is built on the extreme edge of the table-land overlooking a deep ravine, while on one side rises a mountain, and on the other a magnificent cascade falls three hundred feet into the valley below. Excellent roads running all around the table- land of Matheran extend along by the very edge of the precipice, exhibiting a panorama rarely beautiful and varied. It is only within a few years past little more than a single decade THE MAHARAO RAJAH OF ULWUR. The Peninsular Railway. 25 that Matheran has been known to Europeans ; and its reputation is already wide-spread, as having saved many valuable lives afflicted with diseases hitherto regarded as incurable in a tropical climate. This is, indeed, one of the peculiarities of the Ghauts table-lands, the wonderful efficacy of their pure air and invigorating climate in the cure of nearly all the ailments indigenous to the Indian low-lands. The works executed on the great " Indian Pe- ninsular Railway," to make the passage across the Ghauts Mountains, are among the most famous of our day. The rugged, almost impassable moun- tains, beset with thick jungles and deep ravines, rendered every step of the vast enterprise full of difficulty and danger, that only Anglo-Saxon energy and perseverance could have success- fully encountered. . The total height surmounted is eighteen hundred and thirty feet, on a line of fifteen miles, with a mean inclination of one in forty-eight. Eight viaducts were construct- ed, of from thirty to fifty arches, and from fifty to one hundred and forty feet high. Twenty-two tunnels were cut, of a total length of nearly two miles, and embankments were made, containing 26 Geographical Divisions. upwards of six millions of cubic feet. The work was completed in seven years, at a cost of 800,- 000, or about four millions of dollars. The entire route of the road passes through regions of won- drous beauty and grandeur ; alternately penetrating gorges, traversing mountains, and skirting fright- ful ravines dark and deep enough to turn the brain giddy with a single glance into their fathomless depths. This road at first only united Bombay with the Deccan, but was afterwards lengthened to Calcutta ; and British India is rapidly becoming one vast system of railways, extending over all the principal military routes, and connecting the larger cities and chief, places of resort. One of the latest is " The Dhoud and Vingorla State Railway," through the rich Southern Marathi country, via Belgaum, Kolapoor, and Satara. Hindustan is divided into five great sections, their lines marked by mountain ranges and rivers. These divisions are as follows : First, the Delta of the Indus, consisting of the north and north- west portions of India. Second, the Delta of the Ganges, or Eastern Hindustan. Third, Central India, or all the region north of the Vindhya Moun- tains between the Deltas of the Indus and Ganges. Kyber Pass. 27 Fourth, the Deccan, embracing the section south of the Vindhyas, to the river Kishna. Fifth, Southern India, or the region south of the Kishna to Cape Comorin. The first division lies mainly to the east of the river Indus, beginning in the vicinity of Attock, and extending southward and westward to the region where the Indus discharges its waters into the Arabian sea. This section comprehends a vast territory, including the Punjaub, Scinde, and sev- eral smaller states, with the addition, by the recent treaty, of several portions of Afghan territory, among them the famous Kyber Pass, now a British outpost, with the Khurum and Khost valleys as British granaries. The Punjaub, or " country of the five rivers," forms the southern portion of the plain of the Indus, and extends from the base of the Himalayas to the confluence of the Chenaub with the Indus. " The five rivers " giving name to this region, are the Sutlej, Beas, Ravee, Chenaub, and Jhalum, known to the ancients under the names of Zaradus, Hyphasis, Hydrastes Acesines, and Hy- daspes. They all have their source in the Hima- layas, all observe a nearly direct course to the southwest for some six hundred miles, and pour 28 Geographical Divisions. theii- united waters through the Chenab into the Indus, at the northern point of the desert of Scinde. The Punjaub is inhabited mainly by Seikhs, a bold, warlike race, who bravely withstood the inroads of British power, and proved themselves very formidable foes in some of the most hotly- contested struggles of modern times. But it was of no avail : the Punjaub and Scindia, king- doms no longer, are now merely appendages of Great Britain, with an English " Resident " gov- erning at Lahore. The Punjaub is by far the most fertile and populous portion of the Delta of the Indus, numbering between three and four millions of inhabitants. Umritsur, with a population of one hundred thousand, is the sacred city of the Seikhs; Lahore, their ancient capital, and now the British seat of government, has eighty -five thousand inhabitants; and Moulton, prettily sit- uated on- the Chenab, has sixty-five thousand. South of the Punjaub, is Scinde, formerly a powerful state, governed by Ameers. Its present population is little more than a million ; and of its chief cities, Hydrabad, Patta, Sikkur, Shikarpore, Kurrachee, not one has over twenty-five thousand The Thor. 31 inhabitants, Except in the immediate vicinity of the river, the soil is sandy, and of little value for agricultural purposes. The Thor or Desert is ruled by Rajput Princes, petty chiefs, who are in al- liance with the British Government, and carry on quite a thriving trade, under foreign surveil- lance a system far more tantalizing to the British official, than effectual in controlling the irregulari- ties of so unscrupulous a fraternity as these Rajput rulers of the Thor. The Second Division, the Plain of the Ganges, includes the districts of Behar, Oudh, Pirhut, Rohilcunde, Allahabad, and last, and most impor- tant of all, Bengal, one of the three great Presi- dencies of India. This Second Division, entirely under British control, has a population of nearly seventy-millions, and is by far the most fertile and populous portion of British India. Behar is noted as the birth-place of Buddhism ; and Patna, its cap- ital, is accepted now as the Palibothra of the ancients, the capital of the Mauryas Emperors who received the Greek embassadors of the suc- cessors of Alexander. But the present insignifi- cant town, with its dirty bazaars and tumble- 32 G-eographical Divisions. down houses does violence to everything like classic memories. The Kurruckpore Hills, an offshoot of the Vin- dhyas, form the boundary between Behar and the Terai jungle. These Hills abound in mineral springs, and are inhabited by a race of Kolee savages. Oudh or Aoudh, familiar to every reader, from the names of Cawnpore and Lucknow, as associa- ted with the terrible massacre of 1857, was a very ancient kingdom, governed by Mahratta Princes until it fell into the hands of the English. Con- sisting of rich agricultural lands, watered by the Ganges, and possessing several large and populous cities, with considerable commercial importance, it has proved to the English a rich and valuable possession. The deposed king enjoys a large pen- sion of $500,000 from the British Government, and lives as a State prisoner in a magnificent palace beautifully located at Garden Reach, near Cal- cutta. Allahabad is one of the richest provinces of India. Watered by the Ganges and Jumna, as well as by canals, it produces abundant crops of maize, cotton, sugar, indigo and flax. Its popula- Bengal. 33 tion is nearly four millions, with an area of eleven thousand eight hundred and twenty-six square miles. Bengal proper is the low, fertile, and densely- populated region lying on the lower Ganges, in the section round about Calcutta. The Ganges, the most lawless of rivers, runs riot over nearly every portion of Bengal, first inundating one sec- tion, destroying everything in its course, and then suddenly withdrawing, and forming for itself new paths to the ocean. These flat, low, swampy lands are good for nothing in the world but the cultiva- tion of rice, and as the birth-place of a pestilential miasma, created by the constant evaporation of stagnant water that escapes in the form of a blu- ish vapor, filling the air with poisonous exhala- tions. The laborer needs only to turn the soil with his pick or shovel to find pools beneath ; and, in truth, this whole region is neither land nor wa- ter, but mud, mud, mud ! which, in other than a tropical clime, would . be only unapproachable swamp. Here cholera finds its natural home, among the densely-populated villages lying half- buried in the rice-fields, stifled under creeping- plants, and shut out by the rank growth from the life-giving rays of sunlight, while everything is H. I. 3 34 Geographical Divisions. reeking with perpetual moisture mingled with the noxious fumes of vegetable decay. Asiatic chol- era, born here, travels westward with the crowds of Hindu devotees who go annually to the great sanctuaries of the north and west; and thence it is readily conveyed to Mecca and Constantino- ple by Moslem pilgrims and traders, to be scat tered far and wide over both continents. Thi terrible disease first appeared in the district o Nuddah, in 1817, and since that period has sel- dom disappeared from India. Rice planters often disinter, from their moist fields several leagues from the river, the frame-work of boats, and even portions of larger vessels that had been sunk in the deep waters that long ago, in some unknown past, covered the rice-fields of the present day. Beyond these swamp-lands, the east of this prov ince is made up of monotonous plains crowned with emerald verdure, and thickly dotted with vil- lages swarming with inhabitants. Between the northern extremity of the Plain of the Ganges and the Plain of the Indus is a flat, sterile region, known as the Doab. It does not be- long properly to either of the great Divisions of Central India. 35 India, but is mentioned here, from its proximity to those named above. It is ruled by several Seikh Rajahs, who are in alliance with the British ; but is of little importance either politically or other- wise. Central India, the third great Division of Hindus- tan, embraces all that section of the peninsula north of the Vindhya, between the Deltas of the Indus and Ganges. Triangular in form, its base is the mountains, and its apex the region south of Delhi. It is composed mainly of elevated table- lands, interspersed with mountain ranges, and lovely fertile plains abounding in valuable pro- ducts. Nearly the whole of this Division is occu- pied by native Principalities, many of which are not only wholly independent, their princes main- taining the state of sovereigns, but they are pos- sessed of immense wealth, and have vast resources for peace and war. The Fourth and Fifth Divisions of India are the Deccan and Southern India, divided only by the river Kishna, and the two extending from the south side of the Vindhyas to Cape Comorin. The distinguishing feature of these regions is the lofty mountain ranges that girt them about on every 36 G-eographical Divisions. side, and are known respectively, as the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Ghauts. The Eastern and Western ranges skirt the sea at dis- tances varying from ten to about eighty miles, those on the western coast approaching nearest to the sea-board. At the southern extremity of this range, stretching out to the eastward, are the famous Neilgherry mountains, so highly esteemed for their fertile soil and salubrious atmosphere. At the northern extremity of the same range, immedi- ately opposite Bombay, are the Mahabalipura moun- tains rising something more than five thousand feet above the sea-level. The British territory in the Deccan, divided between the Presidencies of Bom- bay and Madras, does not exceed forty thousand square miles. A portion of the table-lands is very fertile and well cultivated ; but the mountains themselves are generally sterile, though the valleys between have extensive forests of lofty timber, reaching down to the plains, often to the water's edge. The belt or lowlands around the peninsula, between the Ghauts and the seashore, is British territory exclusively. It varies widely, not only in breadth, but in fertility ; the first few miles nearest the sea being always flat and sandy. Where \ Southern India. 39 the width of the slip does not exceed eight or ten miles, there will be only this barren tract up to the base of the mountains; but, where the mountains are more remote from the sea, there is often inter- vening between the sandy shore-land and the low- est ledge of the mountains, ten, twenty, perhaps fifty or more miles of extremely rich and produc- tive soil ; the land gradually rising as it nears the mountains, until it is merged in the jungle of teak and satin-wood. The Malabar territory extends from Cape Comorin to 12 north latitude ; Canara from 12 to 15, and the Concoii from 15 to 22. The harbor of Bombay is one of the finest in the world, formed by the peculiar position and close proximity of a group of islands that shut in an arm of the sea along the mainland, making a superb bay, of which Bombay commands the entrance. These islands, located in front of the estuary of the Oolas, the chief river of the Con con, appear to form a sort of Delta, often so called. Callian, the ancient .capital of the Concon, long one of the first commercial ports of southern India, is on this river. Viewed from whatever point, the harbor of Bombay always unfolds a panorama of surpassing beauty, its ever-changing scenes always 40 Geographical Divisions. new, and each seemingly more lovely than the last. In all the East, it has scarcely a counterpart, for either safety and commodiousness, or for the ra- diant beauty of its surroundings. The peculiarly- favorable location of Bombay in regard to com- merce seems to have been understood from remote antiquity, there being little doubt that this group of islands is the Archipelago of Heptanesia alluded to by the geographer Arrian. The island of Sal- sette, the largest of the group, was that first occu- pied by the Portuguese colonists, and it was at a much later period, after the fortification of Tanna and Bassein, that the port of Bombay was even thought of. The eastern or Madras coast-line is much ex- posed to the fury of the southwest monsoon, dur- ing the prevalence of which native vessels are un- able to venture out, and terrible storms frequently occur, endangering the safety of large ships all along the coast. Coringa is the only harbor where vessels of any considerable size may take refuge during these violent "squalls." There being no in- dentation of this coast, nor any island to break off the sea, a heavy, rolling swell prevails throughout the year. To avoid danger, vessels anchor in the The Eastern Coast. 41 open roads ; those of large size keeping a mile or two from the shore, the swell causing them to pitch and roll as though out on mid-ocean. During the prevalence of the southwest mon- soon the danger is so great that for several months vessels are required to anchor still farther out, and to have their cargoes loaded and unload- ed by means of boats adapted for passing through the surf. The anchorage looks deserted, and pas- sengers to or from the ships have to be waited on by catamarans a sort of broad raft, not unlike a New England stone-sled. They are constructed by tying together, horizontally, three flattened timbers eight or ten feet long, then sharpening the point, and, laying over all a slight floor or coarse mat slitted where the timbers are joined. On this mat the rowers sit cross-legged, with the toes bent in- ward ; and in this position, which is the only one the case admits, they often remain for many con- secutive hours, propelling their rude crafts with slender paddles sharpened at both ends, and dipped first on one side and then on the other. The water of course rises between the timbers and washes over the little raft, wetting the rowers to their hips, and sometimes they may be washed 42 Geographical Divisions. overboard ; but, in such cases, they leap nimbly into their places, and row on again as nonchalantly as before. The catamaran will float safely with a sea so rough that an ordinary boat could not survive for five minutes, and these boatmen do not mind a good wetting. Their clothing is very slight in- deed, consisting of but a single strip of muslin or calico, with the addition of the water-proof cap, that constitutes a very important part of the outfit needed by a Madras boatman, in his particular vo- cation. In this cap, containing more pockets than a peddler's overcoat, the boatman will carry, aiui keep them perfectly dry, letters, papers, and small parcels of all sorts, to and from the shore. Larger packages must be protected on all sides, by either tin or oil-cloth covers, and lashed tightly to the catamarans. In mild weather, large, deep boats are used, made without ribs, of thin, wide planks warped by fire to a proper shape, and tied together by strong twine, which also serves to keep in place the straw and mud used in calking the seams. There is not a single nail in the entire craft, from stem to stern, for none could, by any possible con- trivance, be kept in place, under the sort of usage to which Madras boats are destined. The getting MOUNTAINEERS IN ACTION. The Ganges. 45 ashore without a very respectable drenching, is cer- tainly an art in which one would seem to need practice in order to be made perfect, and these Madras men display a skill and energy scarcely to be surpassed. Keeping time to a very peculiar tune, they take first a long pull and then a short one, according to the motion of the waves, till at length they push the boat forward on a foaming surf, and she is thrown upon the beach. As she recedes, some jump out with the ropes, and at each returning wave they get her a little higher up, till she lies motionless upon the sands, like a great fish thrown high and dry upon the beach at low tide. The Ganges, the holy river of the Hindus., has such a history as could be revealed by no other stream in the wide world. Descending from a level of fifteen thousand feet above the sea, and run- ning a course of fifteen hundred miles, it receives at every point the most devout adoration. " The touch of its waters, nay, the very sight of them, takes away all sin." So say the Hindu Shasters, and to their fiat all yield unquestioning assent. Drowning in the holy river is deemed an act of merit; and thousands of sick people endure the 46 Geographical Divisions. fatigue of long journeys that they may die upon its banks. The very name is derived from that of the goddess Gunga, who, the Hindus say, was pro- duced from the moisture cf Vishnu's foot, caught by Brahma, and preserved in. his alms-dish ; and Gunga, coming down from heaven, divided herself into one hundred streams, the mouths of the Ganges. In Hindu courts of justice, the water of the Ganges is sworn upon, as the Bible is in ours ; and it has been estimated that from three to five hun- dred thousand people assemble annually at certain points of this river that they may, at the most propitious moment, bathe in its sacred waters ; and hundreds are crushed to death in their frantic at- tempts to press through the crowd. The Hooghly is one of the many streams by which the Ganges empties its waters into the Bay of Bengal, and the most sacred of its numerous mouths. The Indus, the great river of northwestern India, rises in the Himalayas, and with its tributa- ries, waters the great regions of the Punjaub and Scinde, entering the ocean at the western extrem- ity of the Desert. The fertilizing effects of the periodical inundations of this river are felt for full forty miles, not only over other portions of Sciiide, The Jumna. 47 as far as the western extremity of the province, but even on the Thorr itself, where occur occa- sional oases of considerable fertility. The Indus is crossed, near Attok, by a bridge of boats ; and the scenery around is picturesque and beautiful. The Nerbudda, next to the Indus, is the most important of the rivers that discharge their waters into the sea of Oman. It waters Central India, and marks the boundary between that division and the Deccan ; and, to the Hindus, it is scarcely less sacred than the Ganges. The Jumna is a magnifi- cent tributary of the Ganges ; and the Bangunga, i. c., "Sister of the Ganges," is one of the tributa- ries of the Jumna. It has its source in the Kali Kho and Mewati Hills, and after a course of more than two hundred miles, it discharges its waters into the Jumna. The bed of the river, only a few miles from its source, is full three hundred yards wide, increasing to more than double this breadth towards the mouth. During the rains, it rushes down from the mountains in a foaming torrent, not only filling this huge channel, but often over- flowing its banks, and submerging the surround- ing country. The entire course of this river is 48 Geographical Divisions. through a fertile and beautiful region, especially opposite Sheikoabad, where it empties. The Chenaub is the largest of the five rivers from which the Punjaub derives its name. Rising among the Himalayas, on the borders of Cash- mere, and holding a southwest course, it unites first with the Jhalum ; fifty miles farther on, with the Ravee ; then with the Ghara or Lower Sutlej ; from which point, it loses its name, and the united stream is called Punjuud, which enters the Indus, just beyond the southern boundary of the Punjaub. One very singular feature of this river is, that the red waters of the Chenaub and the pale waters of the Ghara, each retain their distinct character for many miles down the united stream, where may be plainly seen the red on the western side, and the pale on the eastern ; but, when weary of coquet- ting, their union is finally consummated, and a modified tint of paler-red or redder-pale is the result. The Chumbul is a large river of Central India that rises 011 the northern slope of the Vindhyas at a height of two thousand feet above the sea- level. After a north and northeasterly course, it unites with the Jumna, about ninety miles south- The Betwa. 49 east of Agra. Its whole length is about five hun- dred and seventy miles, and it has among its trib- utaries the Scinde and Parbuttee rivers. During a considerable portion of its course the Clmmbul forms the boundary between the Principality of Gwalior and the Rajput Provinces. The Scinde forms the boundary between the wild region of Bundelcunde and the kingdom of Duttiah. It is a river of importance, more than half a mile broad, with high banks, and a current so swift that it is very difficult to ferry across. The Betwa is the most important river in Bundel- cunde, has its source near Bhopal, and discharges its waters into the Jumna, after a course of three hundred and sixty miles. The people of Central India regard it as their sacred stream ; and from Oorcha to Raicia the waters are very pure. The Ambramutty, in the Presidency of Madras, is a branch of the Cavery, with which it unites nearly forty miles northwest of Trichinopoly. On the banks of the Ambramuttj^, near its junction with the Cavery, is the little town of Cavoor, contain- ing about a thousand houses, a fort, and a large temple. This is one of the earliest Indian posses- H. I. 4 50 Geographical Divisions. sions of the English, having been in their hands since 1760. The Cavery is one of the chief rivers of south- ern India. It rises among the Coorg Hills near he Malabar coast, four thousand feet above the level of the sea, and flows in a circuitous course, mainly southeast, traversing the whole breadth of the peninsula ; and discharges its waters into the Bay of Bengal, on the Coromandel coast. In the vicinity of Trichinopoly it separates into several branches, which descend in distinct falls of two and three hundred feet, and enter the sea by nu- merous mouths, in the province of Tanjore. Though the Cavery is four hundred and seventy miles long it is navigable only for small boats. The only boats used are queer-looking circular baskets, from nine to fourteen feet in diameter, and covered with buffalo leather. In these, prod- uce is readily brought down stream; but, as the force of the current renders upward navigation im- possible, these strange little vessels are taken to pieces, and the leather carried back on the heads of the crew. The Falls of the Tons are situate some few miles to the north of Rewah, near the road to Allahabad. The river, on reaching the The Bombay Islands. 53 confines of the plateau, dashes down from the height of four hundred feet into the plain. A mag- nificent landscape adds to the beauty of this superb cataract the only one of any importance in Northern India. Among the islands found on the coast of India, the Bomba}^ Group, as it is called, is in many re- spects the most important. This group is com- posed of about a dozen islands, of which Salsette is the largest, and Bombay one of the smallest ; though from its commercial rank the latter has given name to the entire group. The derivation of the name is from Bomla, one of the appella- tives of the goddess Mamba Devi, to whom this island is dedicated. The name of the next in im- portance is Elephanta, famous for those wonderful cave-temples, over the origin of which scholars of two continents have been quarrelling for several generations. The island is parted into two peaks, rounded and completely covered with woods up to their very summits. The water on the coast is so very shallow that the boatmen have to wade ashore, with the water waist-high, to land their passengers, whom they carry in a sort of impromptu chair, formed by the interweaving of two pairs of stal- 54 Geographical Divisions. wart arms. Near the landing is a colossal stone elephant which, though now much mutilated and sunken by its own great weight, still stands con- spicuous on the shore. It was from this huge sculptured quadruped that the little island re- ceived its name, bestowed by the early Portuguese settlers. It is called by the natives, G-arapuri ; and is just five miles from Bombay. The names of several of these islands are Drave, Bassein Versova, and Trombay, besides some that are smaller and of little importance. On the opposite side from Bombay is Karanja, its mountains rising in the form of a camel's back, in the midst of a dense vegetation that runs riot over all the level portions of the island down to the water's edge. This island is famous for a Hindu temple which, though only about two centuries old, lays claim to extreme antiquity, and is an object of supreme veneration on the ground of having been erected on the site, and with the identical remains of an ancient Jain temple that was thrown down by some of the hordes of Hyder Ali. But beyond these few leading facts, little seems to be really au- thenticated concerning this wonderful island-tem- ple so highly venerated by the credulous people. Karanja Island. 55 On the opposite side of the island, the vegetation is of a very peculiar character, being composed of gigantic trees standing apart from each other, and appearing to spring from stony ground, quite de- void of brushwood thus furnishing a cool shel- tered retreat where the tired pilgrim may walk or recline at pleasure. One of these trees, a beautiful sal, of huge proportions, is noted throughout the country, and regarded also with religious venera- tion for its very peculiar growth. The numerous branches grow straight outwards for a time, and then, by reason of their great length, bend down- wards to the very ground, thus forming a grand circular dome, perfectly shaded, within which a thousand persons may readily find shelter. Not far off, is an equally-wonderful banian, said by the priests to number its age by centuries, five or six at least. The original trunk has entirely disap- peared, and in its place has been erected a small temple, thus wholly embowered in a tangled mass of natural columns, that in turn support other branches of the same parent stem from which their own existence was derived ; and constituting a shrine of weird but wondrous beauty. The island of Salsette has for its chief town 56 Geographical Divisions. Tannah, situated about twenty miles from Bom- bay. An excellent bridge, with both railway and carriage road, spans the water at this point, con- necting the island with the main land. Tannah was one of the earliest settlements of the Portu- guese, and the capital of their colony during their palmy days in India. It was conquered in 1737 by the Mahrattas, who devastated its fair precincts, and left it almost in ruins. It came into possession of the English about thirty years later, and they have since held it, but it has never regained its former importance. The Bombay Prison is a well- regulated penal institution located here ; and there are confined in it criminals of so vast a number of castes, creeds, languages and proclivities, as to re- quire a very peculiar discipline, enabling the rulers to preserve order, and yet avoid interfering with the religious prejudices of the inmates. For the rest, this island is rich in memorials of antiquity, containing two groups of remarkable Buddhist caves at Kenhari and Magatani, and several superb Brahmin caves at Jygeysir and Monpezir. The island is connected with Bombay by a long, wide causeway across the little strait that separates the two islands. Upon the bay thus formed, are The Strait of Ghora-Banda. 59 located lovely country-seats amid groves of pict- uresque palms. At the Portuguese village of Mahim, there is a large convent and one or two Romish churches. This was, in the days of Port- uguese supremacy, an important shipping port, but it has been deposed from its high position by the rivalry of Bombay, as well as the very malarious character of the climate. At the northern end of the island a superb iron viaduct crosses the Strait of Ghora-Bandar, that separates Salsette from Bassem, enclosing a lovely bay, on whose smooth surface is dancing, at all hours, a fleet of native boats, fragile and picturesque as a bevy of wild fowl sporting on the summer lake. This point commands an extensive prospect of grand and beautiful scen- ery. On one side are wooded banks and massive rocks enclosing the blue arms of the majestic sea, and on the other rises a long, steep promontory crowned with the walls of the old Portuguese city of Bassei'n and its lovely bay. Bassem was one of the most flourishing of the Lansitanian colonies ; and the remains of the great Albuquerque * lie here under a marble tomb that is half buried beneath the encroachments of creeping plants and the rank * " Albuquerque, the Great, called the Portuguese Mars, was born near Lis- bon, in 1452, and died at Goa on the Malabar coast, December 16, 1515. 60 Geographical Divisions. tropic growth of this fertile soil. Within the walled city there remains nothing of the old grmdeur, save the ruined spires of a few churches; but most of the hills in the vicinity are marked by the remains of castles, forts and convents, that were once a beauty and a joy, but alas ! not for- ever. Residing in the little villages around Bas- se'in, there are quite a number of Portuguese staid, matter-of-fact villagers of the olden type, who seem to have stood still all these years, while the rest of the world was moving onward, and who live here in their quiet nook, probably just as did their ancestors of the centuries agone. At the mouth of the Hooghly, one of the branches of the Ganges, is the great island of Sangor, one of the most holy places of the Hindu. The Hooghly being considered the true mouth of the Ganges, and the junction of this sacred stream with the ocean being at Sangor, great sanctity is attached to the place. An annual festival is held here in January, attended by thousands of Hindus, some of whom come from a distance of five or six hundred miles. Crowds of people, leaving their boats, erect booths or tents on the adjacent sand- banks, the oars of the boats being set up to sup- port the tents and shops. Here, within a few PEASANTS OF THE DOAB. 61 G-unga. 63 days, an uninhabited island will be transformed into a large arid populous city, full of streets, lanes and bazaars ; where people are buying, selling, and practising various handicrafts as in a city. But the masses, men, \vomen and children, are most of the time busy bathing in the water, that to them represents a God, worshipping Gunga by prostra- tions and salaams, spreading out their offerings on the shore, for the goddess to take when the tides rise, and daubing their heads and breasts with the mud that they regard as a panacea for sin and suffering. Formerly, thousands used to throw themselves and their children into the river from this island, hoping thereby to gain the favor of their gods ; but this is no longer permitted by the British Government, and during the festival, an English officer with fifty Seapoy soldiers is placed here to prevent these cruel sacrifices. A few dev- otees usually reside on the island, and contrive for a while to avoid the tigers. The pilgrims are sup- ported by the donations of boatmen, who believe their own safety is ensured by the presence of these holy men. Besides these, the island is occupied mainly by tigers. Another great island is Ceylon, three hundred 64 Geographical Divisions. miles long and one hundred and fifty broad at the widest part. It lies in the Indian Ocean, south- east of Madras, with mountain ranges towering in the centre, and beneath them spread out on all sides, are plains of wondrous beauty and fertility. The highest peaks on the island are Pedrotalla- galla, eight thousand two hundred and eighty feet above the sea, Adam's Peak, seven thousand four hundred and twenty feet ; and the Sanitarium of Newera Ellia, six thousand two hundred and ten feet ; with others, which will be mentioned farther on. CHAPTER II. MOUNTAIN SYSTEMS. MOUNT Dhawalageri, twenty-eight thousand one hundred and seventy-nine feet above the level of the sea, is one of the loftiest peaks of the great Himalayas, and was for many years accredited by geographers as the culminating point of our earth. But, in the year 1854, the adjacent peak of Mount Everest was ascertained to be twenty-nine thousand two hundred and fort}' feet above the sea, or nearly eleven hundred feet higher than Mount Dhawalageri ; and Mount Everest has enjoyed the honorable distinction of being reckoned the highest known point on the globe. It is doubtless upon the ancient, wide- spread reputation of Mount Dhawalageri, and the H.I.-5 66 Mountain Systems. marvellous stories and traditions circulated by the Hindus of its wondrous height that the Buddhists have based their fiction of Mount Phrd-su-ma-ru- rdt, honestly believed by them to be the grand centre of our entire system of worlds. Of its fabled wonders they have written whole volumes ; and at its base they locate their " seven hells," the unfortunate occupants of which sink lower and lower in sin and suffering, just in proportion to their location. The " seven heavens " also, accord- ing to the Buddhists, are located around the sides of this " great central mountain," each rising higher and higher, until Nigban, the very summum bonum is reached. Upon the Mussoorri range of the Himalayas the English have quite a famous botanic garden. The climate here is not warmer than that of Central Europe, and is quite as healthful and agreeable. The average temperature during May and June, the two hottest months, is about sixty-six degrees, and on the very warmest day, the thermometer does not rise above eighty in the shade. During the cool season, which occurs in the months of December, January and February, the average range of the glass is about forty-three ; and at Dharjeling, the Sanitarium. 69 night, for several consecutive months, it falls as low as thirty-two. On the Sik-kira Hills, near the Himalayas, is the English Sanitarium of Dharjeling. It is seven thousand feet above the level of the sea, and the climate is charmingly salubrious, in contrast with the sultry atmosphere of the plains;, the thermome- ter rarely rising above seventy, even in the warmest months. From the summit, the snow-crowned Himalayas are plainly visible ; and the scenery all around the settlements is varied and beautiful, uniting the delights of two zones, the lovely tropic verdure, and the salubrious breezes of temperate latitudes. The distance of Dharjeling from Cal- cutta is nearly three hundred and fifty miles, part of which, may be accomplished by means of river-boats, and the remainder by palanquin over good and safe roads, with the occasional help of the palkeegharee. Stretching along the lower chain of the Hima- layas lies a region of peaty swamp-lands, known as the Tarai. Various mountain springs, filtering through the soil, keep it always moist ; while vast masses of decaying vegetable matter, swept down by the rains from the mountains, fill the air with 70 Mountain Systems. pestilential vapors, rendering this locality wholly unfit for human habitation. Yet there is a sparse population of wretched, cadaverous-looking natives, who earn a scanty living by felling and sawing logs, though they suffer much from jungle and in- termittent fevers, and there is a great mortality among them. During the years 1875 and 1876 two English officers, accompanied by the wife of one of them, paid a two years' visit to Dharjeling ; and thence, when their sojourn at the Sanitarium was concluded, they set forth, with numerous attache's and attendants, about seventy in all, upon an impromptu exploring tour, far into the interior of this mountain region. This novel and interest- ing trip occupied about three months' time, during which they succeeded in gaining an elevation of about eighteen thousand feet above the seaboard before turning their faces homeward. A portion of the trip was accomplished very comfortably on horseback ; but as the way grew more rugged with the upward march, the ponies became valueless, and the gentlemen of the party had to continue their route on foot, though for the lady a dandy- bareilly was improvised, and did effective service. But after a while, as the ascent grew still more Dharjellng. ~ 71 steep, and the footing more uncertain, even the " dandy " was no longer available ; and this enter- prising lady tourist had no choice left her but to be carried forward in an arm-chair strapped to the back of the stoutest of her attendants. At the beginning, when the three travellers left Calcutta for Dharjeling, the first stage, of one 'hundred and fifty miles, was made at night by a railway running parallel with the Ganges, on its left bank. At dawn, the rail-car was exchanged for a steamboat ; and at sunset the little party had reached the town of Caragola, on the right bank of the river. The second night's travel was made by the " government bullock train,'' at a rate of one and a half miles per hour ; which, proving a somewhat exhaustive process for the patience of our travellers, the government conveyance was ex- changed for a palkeegharee, a native vehicle with closed sides, and about sufficient space to accommo- date two passengers in a recumbent posture, while the servants and luggage are bestowed upon the roof, and the whole is drawn by two stout oxen. In this manner they journeyed to the foot of the Himalaya mountains, alighting at the Terai, which, 72 Mountain Systems. though three hundred miles from Calcutta, is only three hundred feet above the sea-level. But, from this point the ascent grows more abrupt. Punkabaree, the first station on the mountain, is eighteen hundred feet above the sea ; and Kursiong, only six miles further, is three thousand feet higher. Tea of excellent quality is very extensively cultivated in the region round Kursiong ; and forest trees are rapidly disappear- ing, to be replaced by tea-shrubs, thus utilizing, but greatly diminishing the picturesque beauty of these mountain regions. From Kursiong, after twenty miles over a broad, smooth road winding round the hill sides, the travellers halted before the English cantonments, seven thousand feet above the sea. Dharjeling occupies the summit of a ridge, from which descend on either side deep, fertile valleys, where oranges, bananas and cocoa- nuts grow spontaneously, and sugar-cane is suc- cessfully cultivated ; while on the " top," fires and thick clothing are needed almost the year round. Mount Everest, the highest peak of the Himalayas, is not seen from Dharjeling, but Mount Dhawala- ghiri, twenty-eight thousand one hundred and seventy-nine feet in height ; Mount Juuno, twenty- INHABITANTS OF THE ISLAND OF SALSETTE NEAR BOMBAY. 73 Dharjeling. 75 five thousand three hundred and eleven feet; Mount Kubra, twenty-four thousand and fifteen; Donkia, twenty-three thousand one hundred and seventy-six feet, and Pundeem, twenty-two thous- and two hundred and seven feet, with some seven or eight others, each of which rises more than twenty-thousand feet above the sea, are all plainly visible from the military sanitarium of Dharjeling. It was in the year 1835 that the English Government first projected this institution ; and the Rajah of Sik-kim was induced, in consider- ation of the annual payment by the English of three hundred pounds, to cede to them a small tract of land sufficient for the erection of extensive hospitals, lodging-houses for invalids, and other buildings needed by a Sanitary Commission. After some fifteen years, difficulties arising between the contracting parties, culminating at length into open hostilities, the English being the stronger side, from thenceforth refused to pay any portion of the three hundred pounds ; at the same time, laying violent hands upon a much larger tract of land, for the erection of additional sanitariums, barracks, churches, etc., for which no compensation was even named. In this case, as in a thousand 76 Mountain Systems. others, where the strong and the weak war against each other, might was made to usurp the place of right, and the Rajah had no alternative but to sub- mit to the gross injustice practised on him by a professedly Christian government. Besides the public buildings owned by the government in Dharjeling, there are many lovely cottages and elegant villas owned by officers and citizens of Calcutta and elsewhere. These are nearly always occupied by the families or friends of the owners, in constant rotation, one set going as another comes, even during pleasant weather ; and in the hot months, when everybody leaves Calcutta who can get away, these mountain residences are filled to repletion. The climate of Dharjeling has been found so highly beneficial to invalids, when re- sorted to in season, that the number of visitors is generally limited only by the measure of accom- modations. The natives have several very con- venient arrangements for conveying the sick up and down the mountains. First among these is the dorlie, a covered litter, softly-cushioned, mus- lin-curtained, and easy as a sick-room cot. It is borne by " bearers," like a palanquin, without jolting or fatigue to the invalid, who can sit or The Bareilly -dandy. 77 recline as most agreeable ; and unless extremely ill, derives both pleasure and benefit from this gentle exercise. Another native invention is the bareilly-dandy, which consists of a reclining cane- chair suspended by straps from a strong, boat- shaped wooden frame, that terminates in a pole at each end. This is carried by four " bearers," who are relieved at short intervals. The " dandy " is specially suited for ascending or descending moun- tains, in which case it is desirable for the " team " each time to be composed of two tall and two short men. In going up, the short ones, of course, are " to the fore," and the arrangement is reversed in going down. There is yet another ingenious contrivance for the invalid traveller, less used than the others, and only brought into requisition on very steep accliv- ities, 01 for ladies, in localities where it would be impossible for them to maintain a foothold. Only the strongest and most trusty bearers are employed for this variety of ton-yon, and their wages are more than double the amount paid to the ordinary " bearer," since both the fatigue and the responsi- bility are proportionately augmented. The ton- Jon is merely a cane-chair placed on the back of a 78 Mountain Systems. stout bearer and bound by means of strong leather straps around his arms and forehead, while he keeps his footing and plods patiently onward by the aid of a trusty staff. As the foreign residents at Dharjeling have in- creased in number, native villages have sprung up all around the settlement; and the population, that twenty -five years ago was estimated at only five thousand, now exceeds twenty thousand. Of these some two thousand are Europeans and their descendants ; and the remainder are mainly Bhoo- tias and Lopchas, with a very small admixture of natives from other portions of India chiefly those iii the employ of European residents, as servants. As the tourist nears Dharjeling, he begins to imagine himself " certainly in the fashion," for every part of the road is crowded with ponies arid pedestrians, ox-carts and hackeries drawn b}^ buffa- loes, hauling passengers and their belongings, lighter carriages with ladies in " full dress " on the evening drive, officers in uniform, with toilettes, costumes and colors in every possible variety. The Pur Pandjal is a lofty chain of glaciers, forming a formidable though by no means impass- A CHILD COMMITTED TO 'iUJi K1VER JUNNA BY ITS MOTHEK. Simla. 81 able barrier between the burning plains of the Purijaub and the cool valleys of Cashmere. Dur- ing the warm months, parties of native traders often take this route between Serinaghur and Lodiana, bringing from the former large quanti- ties of the textile fibre from which the famous Cashmere shawls are made, for the supply of the Lodiana looms ; as well as large packages of the shawls themselves, which find a ready market among the native Indian Princes and Rajahs. Almost buried in a ravine of the Himalayas, one hundred and forty miles due north from Delhi, is Simla, the fashionable resort during the hot months of a very large proportion of the English residents of Calcutta. In itself merely a large village, Simla is, for about six months of every year, invested with the important position of Capi- tal of British India. Here the Governor-general has an elegant villa, with offices and dwellings for his staff and the chief functionaries of govern- ment ; and with the first oppressive days of the hot season the hegira commences. The whole concourse of the tlite naturally follow the foot- steps of the court; and thus, from April to October, Calcutta, " City of Palaces," sinks to the H. I 6 82 Mountain Systems. insignificance of a provincial town. Meanwhile, vice-regal decrees emanate only from Simla, the Official Gazette displays the name of the new favorite at the head of its columns, and newspaper reporters must draw from this little moun- tain town such items of " Court News," and " Personals " of the beau-monde as may be needed to meet the requirements of their readers. This semi-annual removal of the seat of government is both inconvenient and expensive, though of late years a railroad over the larger portion of the route has brought the two " capitals " nearer to- gether. Simla has a first-class English hotel, where rousing fires, a plentiful table, and good beds, well provided with snowy sheets and thick blankets, give the travellers a cheery welcome. Kalka is a pretty village at the foot of the mountain, one of the lower steps to the ascent ; and here, before the railroad to the summit was completed, tourists had of necessity to stop, in order to obtain ponies or jampans for the comple- tion of the journey to Simla. The jampan is another Hindu contrivance belonging especially to the Himalayas. It is almost identical with the " dandy," except that the former is provided with Simla. 83 a sort of oil-skin roof as a protection from the sun. The long line of the Sirmour mountains, all cov- ered with glaciers and thick forests, is plainly visi- ble before reaching Simla and the celebrated peak of Jacko in the immediate vicinity of the little town. Nevertheless, at this point are attained only the lowest steps or first gradation of the gigantic Himalayas, whose vast system of snow- covered peaks extends so many thousands of feet upwards and onwards. From here, climate, vege- tation, all are changed ; even the features of the people, whose small eyes, high cheek-bones, broad noses, and wide mouths proclaim their Mongul descent. In truth this is no longer India, though of India. It is plainly annexed territory, and its people are the same as those belonging to Thibet and China hardy mountaineers, called by the Hindus Paharis, the term being applied indiscrimi- nately to all mountaineers without regard to race. The very cottages seem to have been transported from a distance, and the villages are those of China or the mountains of Europe, while the men wear trousers and woollen waistcoats in lieu of their flowing tropic robes, and some have felt hats in- 84 Mountain Systems. stead of muslin turbans. Palms and mangoes dis- appear altogether, and their places are usurped by firs and plane-trees, while the lovely-tinted rho- dodendrons lavish their wealth among rocks and ravines. Another noted mountain town is Bhadrinalh, in the district of Gurhwal on the right bank of the river Vishnu-gunga. It lies in a valley of the Himalaya mountains, ten thousand feet above the sea-level, while the peaks in the immediate vicinity of the town tower aloft from twenty-one thousand to twenty-three thousand feet. Bhadrimith is famous for a temple of Vishnu that is reputed to be very ancient, though the building has quite a modern look, possibly from recent improvements. Below the temple is a tank thirty feet square, fed by a thermal spring with which it is connected by a subterranean passage. The chief object of wor- ship in the temple is an idol of black marble robed in gold and silver brocade ; and the ablu- tions performed in the tank are supposed to be efficacious in washing away all past sin. For nearly six months of every year, from November to April, the temple is closed on ac- count of the excessive cold ; but, during the Chirra Punjee. 85 remaining portion of the time, it is the resort of numerous pilgrims, the number reaching fifty thousand at the celebration of the Kumbh Mela festival, that takes place every twelfth year and is attended with much splendor and most extrava- gant outlay. Chirra Punjee is a town in northeastern India, situated on the Cossya Hills at a height of four thousand two hundred feet above the sea. Its temperature during the hot season is full twenty degrees lower than the plains in the same latitude, but for some unascertained reason the climate has not been found favorable to the health of Euro- peans. There are valuable mines of coal and iron in this region, but little effort has been made to develop their wealth. The Aravalis range, separating from the great net-work of mountains in Central India, runs in a northerly direction through Rajputana as far as Delhi. The peaks are composed mainly of granite resting on massive beds of blue slate, while the valleys are rich in many-tinted quartz, and in laminated slates of various hues from gold to pur- ple. This is one of the richest of all the mineral fields of India. Besides its untold wealth of gold, 86 Mountain Systems. silver, lead, tin, copper, carbuncles, amethysts, chrysolites, garnets, emeralds and rock-crystal, it contains also, black and colored marbles, gneiss and sienite. The higher portions of the moun- tains are inhabited by the Pal Bheels, a race who, despite their present degradation, yet retain un- questionable evidences of a former civilization far above the people about them. From Ajmere, some of the finest scenery of the Aravalis is visible piled-up rocks, ravines and mountains, out of the midst of which rises the town with its far-famed fortress of Teraghur sur- rounded by a belt of verdure like an oasis in a desert. Sharp peaks shoot upward on all sides ; ravines that seem unfathomable make the head grow dizzy to look into their dreary abyss; giant cacti are all aglow with their rich crimson blooms ; and graceful ferns and parasites reflect the bright tropic sun in rose-tinted halos. The rocky heights of Teraghur are very abrupt and the ascent is dif- ficult ; but the summit commands a magnificent view of the town, and of all the surrounding scenery. It is from this huge rock, on which is built the fortress commanding the town, that Ajmere (Aji-mer, " Invincible Mountain ") derives Naga Pahar. 89 its name. Near Poshkur, about ten miles from Ajmere is the equally famous Naga Pahar, " Rock of the Serpent," likewise associated with the mem- ory of Aja Pal, the builder of the fortress of Tera- ghur ; and at Naga Pahar may still be seen the ruins of his ill-fated castle. These mountains abound in springs, and for this reason they have from time immemorial been a favorite resort of ascetics. The Brahmins say that the great Bhirtrari, the brother of King Vikramaditya, lived here as a hermit for many years at the shrine of Naga Pahar ; and the marble slab on which this noted anchorite used to sleep is still shown to thousands of credulous pilgrims who come annually to kiss the sacred stone. Just beyond Peshkur, between the two parallel moun- tain ranges, is a long, narrow valley almost filled with sand which is piled up on either side nearly to the mountain tops, leaving only a narrow uncer- tain path in the middle with an aspect dreary as a desert the very reverse of the lovely valley around Ajmere. Between Doudon and Jeypore occur a series of sandy plains with no sign of vegetation. This sand is so strongly impregnated with salt that 90 Mountain Systems. simply by washing and evaporation excellent salt is obtained ; and so extensive are the plains and so rich the yield, that nearly the entire community derive their support from the manufacture and sale of salt, to the total neglect of agricultural pursuits. Among the Doungher Mountains is Tintouni, a town of note, as the entrance to the defiles of the mountains ; tmd also as the abode of the chief of the Thakours, a haughty race whose character and habits take one back to the old feudal times with their tyranny, barbarisms and exactions of "black- mail " tribute. It seems odd enough to find thus, in the very heart of Asia, a reproduction of Euro- pean customs of an age long gone by. The castle of the Thakoura chief, strongly built and fortified, stands on a commanding eminence with a quaint medley of terraces, towers and pinnacles over- looking the precipice. A very steep declivity leads to the gate of the keep, which is well de- fended by numerous small towers and iron-bound stakes ; while the interior would seem a very transcript of the old feudal fortress of half a dozen centuries agone. These chiefs, despite their rapacious propensities, are, as a rule, models of '". Blackmail. 93 serenity, dignity and courtliness, receiving and en- tertaining their guests with a princely air and self- sustained consciousness of birth and blood, that one not "to the manner born," would find it im- possible to imitate. During some few years past the English Government has attempted to com- pel these fierce warriors to renounce their system of brigandage ; but they have accomplished merely a modification. " Blackmail " is levied on every caravan as heretofore ; but now it is called " tribute," not plunder. From being the robber of travellers, the chief has become their " pro- tector," furnishing guides and guards for a hand- some " consideration ; " and instead of pillaging, he " taxes " them. So the chief gets his bonus, and every traveller and trader has to " pay tithes of all," but the " Blackmail " bears a different name under the new regime. Much of the country among the Dounghers is indescribably wild, and some of the passes are ex- tremely difficult. The number of tigers and other wild beasts found here greatly adds to the danger of travel, and human thieves and depredators are not wanting. But the scenery is so grand and pict- uresque that one willingly incurs the risk to enjoy 94 Mountain Systems. by a coup d'ceil, such a vision of superb moun- tains and fertile valleys, myriads of the loveliest flowers dotting every little oasis, and whole miles of mountain declivities covered with grand old forests that reckon their age by centuries. At Kairwara, the English Government has established an out-post for the purpose of keeping the Bheels in check. The garrison is composed entirely of native soldiers, commanded by some half a dozen English officers. The defiles here gradually become wider, and the mountains are circular and less lofty; but the summits are bare, seeming to be composed mainl}- of laminated schist, with thick veins of milky quartz, and are not at all adapted to vegetation. The range of Indian mountains next in length to the Himalayas, is the Vindhya, which crosses the peninsula from east to west, between the twenty-third and twenty-fifth parallels of north latitude, and in length, extending from 74 to 84 of east longitude, following very nearly the valley of the river Nerbudda. The highest peaks of this range are about twenty-five hundred feet above the level of the sea ; while in some portions they do not exceed seven hundred feet. The The Vindhya Mountains. 97 greater part of the land south of the Vindhyas, as far as the Gap of Coimbatore, consists of elevated table-lauds skirted by mountains, which toward the coast terminate in plains. Here and there little villages meet the eye, and at almost every eligible point this shrine-loving people have erected something or other to memorialize their gods and invite the offerings and adoration of every passing traveller. Zayats are numerous along the high- ways. These are large, covered building's with open sides, where are always to be secured by the weary traveller a cool resting-place, with plenty of fresh water, and sometimes other conveniences for as long a time as he may desire. But though the peaks of the Vindhyas proper are none of them very lofty, there are several offshoots that extend through the district of Chittagong, from Assam to Cape Negrais, the peaks of which vary in height from three thousand to eight thousand feet above the sea-level. These mountains are the abodes of wild tribes whom no government has ever been able to reduce to subjection, though Moguls, Afghans, Tartars, and English have successively claimed dominion over them. The great river Chumbul has its rise on the H. I. 7 98 Mountain Systems. northern slope of the Vindhyas, at an elevation of two thousand feet above the sea-level, whence it flows northward and north-eastward before unit- ing with the Jumnai It is in the vicinity of the Vindhyas, among the hills adjacent to Cambay, that are obtained the celebrated cornelians known as " Cambay stones." They are found thickly embedded in the small mounds between the Bowa Gore and Bowa A bbas, where they are quarried by native miners. The Deccan, south of the Vindhyas, is bounded on all four sides by lofty mountain ranges known as the Ghauts, and distinguished respectively as the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Ghauts. This name is given only by Europeans to the mountains themselves, being applied by natives to the passes, the word Ghaut meaning "an opening between mountains." The Ghaut*, or passes, are so very numerous on these moun- tains, and are so frequently alluded to by the natives, that those not very familiar with the ver- nacular of the country have misunderstood the meaning of the term and given this misnomer. It is not unusual for a Hindu, on hearing a Euro- pean express the desire or intention of " visiting 100 Mountain Systems. the Ghauts," to reply : " It will be pleasanter to ascend the mountains. The Grhauts (passes) are not so cool and invigorating as the tops of the hills." The Eastern Ghauts, running parallel with the coast and dividing the Carnatic into two parts, are a range of highlands terminating in craggy granite peaks. The road from the foot is hilly and rough, and bullocks instead of horses are used not only for the transportation of baggage, but also for drawing the light dandy in which pas- sengers in India usually travel over lengthy roads. A journey of about two days over granite hills and through steep passes amid masses of rock rolled into ravines, and the stunted mountain growth, brings the traveller to the elevated plateau reaching from the Eastern to the Western Ghauts, with a varying elevation of from two to three thousand feet above the sea. This table-land is a lovely, rolling country, clothed with meadows, fields and villages, looking fair and fertile com- pared with the burning plains below the moun- tains. The difference of climate between the elevated table-lands of India and the sea-board is very marked. The sea-coast of the Carnatic, ex- The Carnatic. 101 tending from latitude 16 to Cape Comorin, is the hottest portion of India, the thermometer often rising to 130 in the shade ; while on the moun- tains, in the same latitude, the mornings and even- ings are always cool : and even at noon, the glass rarely shows a greater elevation than 70 in the shade. Fires and thick clothing are needed for three or four months of the year, close- fitting glass windows are a luxury, and the pallor and weariness of the sultry plains are soon re- placed by roseate cheeks and a bounding pulse. The ancient Hindu kingdom of Carnata, of which Mysore was the capital, occupies this beau- tiful table-land, and here in our own day, is Ban- galore, the most charming and healthful of all the stations of Southern India occupied by the British Government. Westward from Bangalore, the road runs through a hilly country well adapted to the cultivation of grain. A little to the south of Mysore, a steep hill of a thousand feet high rises abruptly from the plain. Its summit supplies a magnificent natural observa- tory, whence may be enjoyed a view of some of the most beautiful scenery of Southern India, over which the cloud-capped mountains in the distance A Sacred Hill. 103 seem to be standing sentinel. This hill is noted among the Hindus as the site of two very famous temples, to which thousands of pilgrims annually resort ; and also, as the spot whence a colossal bull, an object of supreme reverence among the Hindus, was cut from the solid rock. There is another of these sacred mountains near Wandiwash a tall, rugged granite mountain peak, rising abruptly from the plain, some two miles from the town. The ascent is by steps cut into the solid rock, and the summit is crowned by seven small temples dedicated to the elephant-headed Ganesha. The architecture of the shrines is beautiful and ingen- ious, resting at different elevations, partly on pil- lars of rock and partly on levelled portions of the peak. In the rock have been hewn also large hollow cavities for offerings, where are deposited gifts of oil and fruits, brought by the thousands of pilgrims who flock annually to the festival held at this famous spot. These offerings are carried off by the Brahmins, who dispose of them as prox- ies for the idols. Every morning a Brahmin ascends to this moun- tain temple to perform the daily worship ; and at evening a religious ascetic purchases a degree of 104 Mountain System*. merit, by mounting the steep ascent to light a lamp before the shrine. In the prospect from the summit the great temples of Conjeveram, thirty miles away, are plainly visible ; and all around the craggy hills, scattered here and there over the plain, are towns and villages ; the houses embowered in trees, and their little gardens or fields spread out before them, gleaming brightly in the tropic sunshine. Forming a connecting link between the Eastern and Western Ghauts, as the} 7 approach the lower end of the peninsula, are the celebrated " Neil- gherry Hills," with a base of two hundred miles in circumference. A dense jungle, infested with ferocious beasts of prey, and the home of noxious reptiles, stretches out on every side of the " Hills," as if to guard the entrance to the Paradise above. These " Hills," which are really mountains, derive their name from two Hindustanee words, w7a, " blue," and giri, " mountain." Towering above all the other mountains south of the Hima- layas their summits are seen always clothed in the azure of the clouds, and hence received their name, Niligiri, (" Blue Mountains,") which the English have gradually changed to " Neilgherry," affixing C^VES OF KENEIARJ, 106 Mountain Systems. " Hills " to the name. Ascending by the Seegoor Pass, the delighted tourist finds himself not on a mountain peak, barren and cheerless, but on an elevated table-land, broken into ridges, hills and valleys, at a varying altitude of from six to seven thousand feet; whilst the highest peak, Mount Dodabetta, loses itself in the clouds almost nine thousand feet above the sea-level. The public road to the summit commences at Seegoor, at the base of the " Hills," and passing awhile along the declivity, turns in zigzag route up the face of the mountain till it reaches a ravine ; then, turning aside, continues its upward course, and so on to the top, where the queenly Ootacamund, this beautiful English city of the mountains, sits enthroned six thousand feet above the level of the sea. Here, only four or five hours' ride from the intense heat of the torrid zone, are found invigor- ating breezes, mornings and evenings delightfully cool, and many of the trees and plants of temper- ate latitudes. The vertical sun still manifests its power at noon-day, but in the shade the glass seldom rises as high as seventy in the warmest weather, and there is nearly always a refreshing breeze. In the winter months a thin coat of ice is Ootaoamund. 107 often found upon the ponds at early morning, glass windows, in lieu of Venetian blinds, are a necessity ; and a bright wood-fire on the hearth, with andirons, tongs and bellows articles un- heard of in Calcutta are in great repute at Ootacamund, where one sleeps under blankets, and gladly resigns straw matting for woollen carpets and Turkish rugs. The English had been for years in possession of Coimbatore and Mysore, without a suspicion of the lovely, health-restoring retreat that lay upon the tops of these " Blue Mountains ; " and the discovery was at last the result of a fortunate acci- dent. Sometime about the year 1830, it having been ascertained that tobacco was smuggled from the district of Coimbatore to the western coast, the existence of a path across the mountains was almost an assured fact ; and two revenue officers set forth in pursuit of the smugglers, and suc- ceeded in tracking them by a steep and rugged path to the summit. Here, outspread before their astonished gaze, lay a land of fairy beauty whose invigorating atmosphere, fertile valleys, cultivated fields, undulating pastures and Tich woodlands seemed to belong to a very Eden, compared with 108 Mountain Systems. the burning plains they had so recently left. A settlement was at once begun the nucleus about which has been gathered the present beautiful town. This contains now about five hundred English residences, several excellent roads for car- riage drives, and numerous bridle-paths for eques- trian exercises; while cool breezes and the invigor- ating atmosphere tempt the exiled Englishman to the almost-forgotten walking-feats of his native land. Some few European families reside here all the year round ; but to the majority, it is merely a summer resort. Another peak of the Neilgherries is Mount Kartery, six thousand feet high, which boasts of that great rarity in India, a lovely little waterfall. It is surrounded by picturesque scenery, and the hill-sides are nearly covered with coffee planta- tions. Mount Sispara is the summit of the pass to the western coast of India. Beyond its huge but- tresses of granite it is clothed in deep, dense, unbroken forest, the home only of wild elephants and buffaloes, ferocious tigers and leopards, jackals, monkeys, and hosts of wild and beautiful birds A. German Mission. Ill that rove here in pristine security, unawed by the encroachments of human foes . The Kay tee-House, four miles from Ootacamund, was built by Lord Elphinstone when Governor- general of India, as a place of elegant retirement, entirely away from European society. On his return to England, it passed into other hands ; and of late years has become the seat of the German Mission to the Badagas. The library and ball-room, despoiled of their costly belong- ings, have been converted into a neat and com- modious chapel ; while other portions of the stately mansion furnish homes for the missionaries, school-rooms for natives, etc. Distant twelve miles from Kaytee Pass, and at an altitude of four thousand five hundred feet above the sea, is Canoor with a climate milder by several degrees than that of Ootacamund, and for this reason preferred by those who desire a change less sudden. These mountains perform a most important part in the physical economy of Southern India, con- densing into rain the watery vapors borne upon the two periodical winds, called " monsoons, " from the seas of Arabia and Bengal ; and sending the 112 Mountain Systems. genial streams to cool and refresh the thirsty plains. Yet still more important is their loving mission from the merciful Father of all, in provid- ing a health-retreat, so near at hand, and so easily available to the weary invalids who, far from their native land, languish and faint beneath the sultry heat of India's fervid plains. H. I CHAPTER III. POLITICAL DIVISIONS. SINCE August 2d, 1858, all the territories heretofore under the control of the British East India Company have been vested in the Crown, in the name of which all authority is exer- cised. The vast region known as British India, includes all the British colonies in India ; and the native states that are, to a greater or less degree, controlled by the English Government. It. is divided into ten political districts, each under the jurisdiction of a Lieutenant-governor or Commis- sioner; but subject to the authority vested in the Governor-general, who acts under the orders of the Secretary of State for India, and he also appoints the various Lieutenant-governors and Commis- sioners for the several Presidencies and Provinces. 115 116 Political Divisions. The Provinces of Hyderabad, Mysore, and Coorg, are under the direct administration of the Gover- nor-general. These cover an area of forty-seven thousand six hundred and sixty-one square miles, with a population of six million three hundred and eighty -nine thousand seven hundred and ninety- two. The others are governed by the following functionaries : Lieutenant-governor of Bengal, two hundred and thirty-nine thousand five hundred and ninety-one square miles, population thirty-five million nine hundred and seventy-five thousand two hundred and seventy four ; Lieutenant-gover- nor of Northwest Provinces, eighty-three thousand eight hundred and seventy-five square miles, popu- lation thirty million eighty-six thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight; Lieutenant-governor of the Punjaub, one hundred and two thousand and one square miles, population seventeen million five hundred and ninety-six thousand seven hun- dred and two; Chief-commissioner of Oudh, twenty-four thousand and sixty square miles, popu- lation eleven million two hundred and twenty thousand seven hundred and forty-seven; Chief- commissioner of Central Provinces, eighty-four thousand one hundred and sixty-two square miles, Area and Population. 117 population seven million nine hundred and eighty- five thousand four hundred and eleven ; Chief- commissioner of British Burmah, ninety-eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine square miles, population two million four hundred and sixty-three thousand four hundred and eighty-four ; Governor of Madras, one hundred and forty-one thousand seven hundred and forty-six square miles, population twenty-six million five hundred and thirty-nine thousand and fifty-two ; Governor of Bombay, eighty-seven thousand six hundred and thirty-nine square miles, population eleven million ninety-three thousand five hundred and twelve ; Commissioner of Scinde, fifty-four thous- and four hundred and three square miles, popula- tion one million seven hundred and ninety-five thousand five hundred and ninety-four; making the total of British possessions in India and Burmah nine hundred and sixty-three thousand nine hun- dred and twenty-nine square miles, population one hundred and fifty-one million one hundred and forty-six thousand four hundred and twenty-six ; which, with the sixty or seventy native states under the protection of Great Britain, will make an area for all India of not less than one million 118 Political Divisions. two hundred thousand square miles, with a total population of fully one hundred and seventy-five millions. Of all these states and provinces the three Pres- idencies of Bengal, Madras and Bombay are best known to Europeans, and really possess most in- terest to the English-reading public. Bengal, the largest of the three settled by the English, is divided into regulation and non-regulation districts. The regulation districts extend over the low, fer- tile, densely-populated basin of the Ganges, and are subject to a strict and systematic official admin- istration. They include Bengal proper, the native province of Behar, and the maritime districts of Orissa. The wilder out-lying countries are com- prised in the non-regulation districts ; which con- sist of the hill region of Orissa, the territory south of Behar, called the Southwest Frontier, and the great country of Assam, through which flow the Brahmapootra and its tributaries. Here civiliza- tion is far less advanced than in the regulation districts, and the government is comparatively in- formal. The climate of Bengal is extremely warm, and, to Europeans, unhealthy unless they, at the occurrence of each hot season, resort to some of Native Products. 119 the Sanitariums among the hills. The soil is allu- vial and consists of a rich black mould resting upon a sandy clay. There is no substance so coarse as gravel to be found in the great delta, nor within four hundred miles of the coast. The val- ley of the Ganges is noted for its fertility ; and the productive power of its lands is renewed, like those of Egypt, without expense to the cultivator, by the annual river deposits. The methods of agri culture are extremely primitive, the natives knowing almost nothing of husbandry, and their implements being of the very simplest and rudest sort. Each ryot or native cultivator of the soil, occupies usually about six acres of land, and sel- dom more than twenty-four. Rice is the leading cereal, and an important article of export. Wheat, barley, millet, and maize are also raised on the higher lands, with cotton, sugar, opium, indigo and tobacco. The indigo produced in Bengal alone, amounts to five-sixths of the entire quantity made in the world. The growth of coffee has been successfully introduced of late years, espec- ially in Assam, where large tracts are devoted to the cultivation of tea and coffee. The poppv is grown chiefly in Behar, the opium being manu- 120 Political Divisions. factured at Patiia, and known in commerce as Patna opium. No one is permitted to engage in the opium business except on account of the government, which makes advances to the cultiva- tors, and purchases the whole crop from them at an established price usually at less than one dollar per pound and sells it for exportation from Calcutta to China, at an enormous profit. The chief sources of revenue to the government are from the land-tax and the opium monopoly. The commerce of Bengal is chiefly with Great Britain ; and the exports consist of cotton, rice, indigo, silk and saltpetre. Railways, which are rapidly multiplying, have greatly facilitated inter- nal trade, since their introduction in 1857. In 1859 there were, in the whole of Bengal, only one hundred and forty-two miles of railway open to the public, and there are now about two thous- and miles. The East India line, the grand trunk route to Delhi and the highlands of Northern India, traverses the valley of the Ganges from Calcutta upward. Calcutta, the seat of govern- ment of the Anglo-Indian Empire, has a popula- tion of about one million. The cities of Bengal next in rank, are Patna, Moorshedabad, Dacca, The East India Company. 123 and Burdwan. The population of the Bengal District is composed mainly of native Hindus, and the Mohammedan descendants of the Moguls, the former being as four to one of the latter. It was the latter part of the seventeenth century, when the English East India Company estab- lished their first trading factories in Bengal, then governed by a Viceroy of the Mogul Emperor of Hindustan. Their settlements were small, and even this limited territory they held as tenants under native rulers. In 1746, the war between England and France extended to Southern India, whence, for the succeeding ten years, England was constantly making accessions of valuable territory, as well as increasing her military force ; so that when, in 1756, troubles with the native rulers arose the English were prepared to cope with their Indian foes. In the famous battle of Plassey, that occurred on June 23, 1757, Lord Clive defeated the Nawaub of Nazim, with great loss, compelling the notorious Nawaub, who was no other than the cruel Suraj-al-Dowlah, of " Black Hole " notoriety, to fly from the field. This victory established the ascendency of the English in India, giving them a prestige that re- 124 Political Divisions. mains to the present day. This was the tide that, taken at the flood, led to fortune for the English. How strangely the French have missed their opportunity in India again and again. Chander- nagore, beautifully situated on the right bank of the Hooghly, only a few miles from Calcutta, in 1740, eclipsed that city, and governed the trade of Bengal. To-da} r it is a miserable village, its streets invaded by water and by rank weeds, its bazaars without trade, and its harbor destitute of shipping a reproach to a great nation, and a grief to all who venerate la belle France ! A last opportunity of retrieving the fortunes of the desolated city occurred about twenty-five years ago, when the Delhi railway was being laid out, and it was pro- posed to have it pass through Chandernagore, and to convert the ancient French town into a sort of out-post of the Indian capital. Vacillation and need- less delays thwarted the plan ; and the opportunity was lost, not to return, at least in this generation. The river Hooghly is one of the many streams by which the Ganges empties its waters into the Bay of Bengal, and is esteemed the most sacred of its mouths. Just where the Ganges meets the sea, is the island of Sangor Grunga-Sagor the Indians The Island of Sangor. 125 call it ; and it is one of the most famous of all the islands on the coast famous for the human sacri- fices that used to be there offered to the goddess Gunga. But these are now prevented by the action of the British Government, who, during the annual festival, keep soldiers on guard to prevent the perpetuation of such cruelties. Before reach- ing Sangor, vessels bound for Calcutta are boarded by pilots, who carefully guide the vessels by an un- seen channel, through hidden shoals, toward the mouth of the river, yet at a distance. These shoals of sand and mud, known as the " Sand- heads," and caused by the constant accumulations of sand at the mouth, make the passage replete with danger, which is increased by the total absence of landmarks. But an efficient pilot ser- vice, well sustained by the English Government, prevents the occurrence of frequent accidents. Calcutta lies a hundred miles from the mouth, and between the city and the island of Sangor is a low, jungly tract of land, intersected by creeks and streams, and known as the " Sunderbunds." This was once inhabited and cultivated by a rural popu- lation, but was desolated, first by wars, and later by the incursions of the river, till now it is only 126 Political Divisions. the home of wild beasts, and the abode of noxious reptiles. When the " Sunderbunds " and floating lights have been passed, the shores grow perceptibly nearer, allowing both banks to be seen, but the river is still more than two miles wide, and rolls on with a wonderful volume and swiftness toward the sea. a turbid yellow current, loaded with allu- vial matter from the uplands. It has been said, that were two thousand ships, each bearing fifteen hundred tons of soil, to sail down every day in the year, they could not carry as much solid matter as is borne to the ocean in a single day by the Ganges. The stream still narrowing, objects of interest begin to multiply. The banks are no longer jungly wastes, but scattered cottages, em- bowered in palms, tamarinds, and other tropical growth, with fishing villages here and there, give life and beauty to the scene. The exquisite green- ness of the rice-fields, the waving luxuriance of the sugar-cane, and all the graceful beauty of vegeta- ble life, so characteristic of " the lands of the Sun," lend their charm to the view ; and pres- ently Gloucester, with its European residences, comes in sight, and the familiar sounds of com- Cherinyhee. 127 merce and the hum of machinery fall on the ear. A hundred miles above the island of Sangor, a bend in the river, now but a mile wide, opens to view " Garden Reach," a suburb of the great " City of Palaces," with its superb array of villas and country-seats, in which luxury and refinement are everywhere displayed, combined with all the wondrous floral wealth of that clime. As one ap- proaches the city, at every step are seen splendid European mansions adorned with oriental grandeur, and surrounded by smooth lawns very English in look, but dotted with clumps of the brightest and gayest of tropical flowers ; native budyerows and dinyies ply on the smooth waters, and English steam- boats puff up and down, bearing crowds of passen- gers, of such diversified features, complexion and attire, as fairly to bewilder the unaccustomed eye. A little farther advance brings into view the Fort and government buildings of the Cheringhee suburb ; lofty chimneys of gas-works and factories rise before the eye, and the increasing din of city life, the hum of voices and the throng of vehicles, proclaim the presence of a great and busy city. Formerly, numerous corpses were to be seen floating down the stream, followed by birds of 128 Political Divisions. prey; but this ghastly and unwholesome sight is no longer permitted by the English authorities, who forbid the throwing of bodies into the stream, and the laying of the sick upon its banks, within the precincts of the city. On the right bank of the river, a short distance above the city, are the magnificent Botanical Gardens, the gift of the famous Hooker to the city of Calcutta. This is believed to be the largest and finest botanical collection in existence, embracing the most wonderful varieties from all quarters of the world ; and all planted, not in conservatories, under glass covers, but in the open air, under the gorgeous sunlight of that unchanging clime. Among the most remarkable specimens, are a Baobab of Senegal, the trunk of which is thirty feet in circumference ; and an Indian Banian which, with its numerous branches, is sufficient to shelter a thousand people. The city of Calcutta stretches along the eastern bank of the Hooghly, or Bagirathy, as it is called by the natives, for a distance of six miles above the fort ; a great, wealthy, prosperous city, that owes its greatness entirely to the supremacy and enterprise of the English. When it was granted Calcutta. 129 to them in 1717, it consisted of three small villages of mud-huts, called Govindpore ; and in 1756 even these wretched grants were withdrawn, and the English were expelled from Bengal by its nizam ; now it is a " city of palaces," of which the despised English are the lords paramount; and scores of the descendants of such petty tyrants as Suraj-al-Dowlah, are glad to eat the bread from the coffers of the English treasury. Fort William, the most celebrated and extensive foreign fortress in India, was begun in 1757, after the battle of Plassey, and is deemed almost impregnable. The works are low and octagonal in outline, three sides facing the Hooghly. The citadel mounts six hundred and nineteen guns ; and a garrison of one thousand troops are needed to defend it. The Government House, the palace of the Governor- general or Viceroy, is a superb structure of mas- sive proportions, consisting of a large central building surrounded by four extensive wings and crowned by a magnificent dome. This occupies a conspicuous position in the esplanades fronting a park called Eden Gardens ; and near by are the town hall, post-office, and other government buildings, a great many churches belonging to H. I. 9 130 Political Divisions. different nations and creeds, large costly stores, and thousands of elegant private residences. The latter are two storied with stuccoed fronts and tall columns, spacious verandahs and close-fitting Venetian blinds, and each occupies a separate enclosure surrounded by a substantial wall, which gives an air of grandeur and wealth. The style of living is suited to the dwelling, combining the luxuries of the East with the imported comforts and elegancies of the West. The native portion of the city, which is entirely distinct from the Cheringhee or European quarter, consists of a dense network of narrow, dirty streets, lined with houses of small and mean appearance. Some of the native residences are large and showy ; but the majority of these people live in mud-huts, or in little shanties formed of bamboo poles with coarse mats tied over them. The bazaars are numerous and extensive, consisting of whole long lines of shops swarming with tradespeople, buyers and sellers, and makers of various wares, who fill the shops, and crowd every avenue, some exchanging pleas- ant words, others clamoring for trade, and a few uttering coarse jests or chaffing each other in passing; but scarcely ever a profane word is spoken. The Black Hole. 133 Drunkenness and profanity, when found among the Hindus at all, are imported vices, acquired by intercourse with Christian nations, and not indig- enous to the soil. At these little cell-like bazaar shops may be purchased every conceivable variety of wares, native and foreign, almost every lan- guage is heard, and every style of features, com- plexion and attire may be studied. A little world of itself is this great busy city, full of life and beauty and activity, that makes one grow stronger, and more hopeful of his race as he watches the energy and buoyancy, and all the concentrated life of a Calcutta bazaar. One point of interest must not be omitted. On the site where the post-office now stands, was once the memorable " Black Hole " a small close dungeon in the old fort the scene of that terrible catastrophe that has made the name of Suraj-al- Dowlah infamous wherever our language is spoken. When Calcutta, on the 20th of June, 1756, was captured by Suraj, the British garrison, consisting of one hundred and forty-six men, under the command of Mr. Holwell, were locked up for the night in a strongly-barred room, only eighteen feet square. The weather was intensely hot ; and 134 Political Divisions. conflagrations raging in different parts of the fort, rendered the atmosphere unusually oppressive. The only window to the little room opened toward the west, whence, under the best circum- stances, but little air could enter, and this was further obstructed by a projecting roof outside, and thick iron bars within. In a short time the sufferings of the poor prisoners became unendura- ble ; every effort was made, and immense bribes offered to touch the hearts of their jailers ; but in vain, and when morning came, one hundred and twenty-three had died of thirst and foul, stifling air, some perhaps trampled to death in the dark- ness by their tortured comrades. Only twenty- three of the little company came out alive, and were then released by their inhuman jailers. An obelisk fifty feet high was afterwards erected near the spot in memory of the victims of this terri- ble tragedy. On the eastern coast line of India, bordering on the Bay of Bengal, is the Presidency of Madras a long, narrow slip of territory, including within its bounds the states of Arcot, Panjore, Vizianagram, and Cochin. The. ancient province of British India, formerly known as the Carnatic, The Carnatic. 137 extending from Cape Comorin to 16 north latitude, with an average breadth of about ninety miles, was almost synonymous with this Presidency, and included all the chief cities, i. e , Madras, Pondi- cherry, Arcot, Madura, Tanjore, Trichinopoly, Nellore, and Vellore. The Carnatic formed origi- nally the Hindu kingdom of Carnata, and after various changes, was finally included in the domin- ions of the nabob of Arcot ; then the contentions arising from a disputed possession brought the French and English into a collision, that ended in the transfer of the Carnatic to the East India Company, in 1801, the reigning nabob, Azim-al- Omrah, receiving a pension equal to one-fifth of the revenue ; and his chief officials being provided for. The last titular nabob died in 1855, without heirs, and the Carnatic has since been included in the Presidency of Madras. The Eastern Ghauts divide the Presidency of Madras into two parts, the mountains running parallel with the coast, causing a great difference in climate between the two sec- tions. The seaboard, in dry weather, is the hottest part of India, the thermometer sometimes reaching 130 in the shade ; while the table-lands are delightfully cool and salubrious. At Bangalore, 138 Political Divisions. which belongs to the Mysore country, included in the Carnatic, the climate is sufficiently temperate for the cultivation of grains, vegetables and fruits, that could not endure the heat of the plains wheat, strawberries, and potatoes being readily produced. Bangalore has connected with it many associations of historic interest. While the French and English were fighting in the Carnatic, Hyder Ali had risen from a subordinate position to the command of the army of Mysore ; and by subjugating the Nairs of Malabar, and taking pos- session of several small tracts of land in Southern India, he had established a principality for him- self. While at the head of the Mysorean army, Hyder had received from his sovereign the j Off hire or fief of Bangalore, from which to sup- port himself while taking care of his master's forces. This able and unscrupulous man, who soon dethroned his sovereign to establish a dynasty of his own, strongly fortified Bangalore, and made it one of his chief strongholds. The fort is in the shape of an oval, about a mile in circumference, and surrounded by a deep ditch. By both Hyder and his son Tippoo, it was deemed almost impreg- nable, but did not prove strong enough to hold Bangalore. 139 out against the cannonade of British artillerists ; and in 1791, being stormed by the English troops, under Lord Oornwallis, it was carried with terrible slaughter. It has since been held by the English, and is now the principal health-station for the army belonging to the Madras Presidency, espec- ially adapted to this purpose by Hie salubrious cli- mate and accessible position. English regiments, after being quartered for several years in Madras, Tanjore, Trichinopoly or other stations on the plains, are transferred to Bangalore, and after remaining there a year or two, give place to others, needing a similar change. The barracks at Banga- lore are ample for the accommodation of many regiments of cavalry and infantry : and there are pretty bungalows, surrounded by gardens, as quarters for the officers. On the spacious parade- ground the troops are daily exercised, and their presence greatly enlivens the pretty town in its serial elevation of three thousand feet above the sea. The town of Bangalore is quite distinct from the fort, and contains about a hundred thousand inhabitants, some sixty thousand of wKora are Canarese, and live within the mud- walls of the town, and about forty thousand are 140 Political Divisions. Tamil people, living in a separate quarter, and deriving their support mainly from the army. A good road over a hilly country leads westward to Seringapatarn, which likewise is rife with scenes that suggest to the student of Indian history thoughts of armed hosts and bloody encounters between Mussulman and British troops, of victory and defeat, with all their train of horrors, engulf- ing the innocent with the guilty, and flooding the land with desolation and ruin. After the capture of Bangalore, in 1791, Lord Cornwallis advanced upon Seringapatarn, and after capturing the hill- forts between the two cities, he attacked Tippoo Sahib by night, defeating him, with terrible loss. Compelled to retire within his stronghold, and threatened by a further advance of the Eng- lish, the haughty Sultan was compelled to make peace, with the surrender of half his territory. But war was recommenced in 1799, and in May an English force looked down from the neighbor- ing heights on the water-girt fortress of Seringa- patam. The English forces were led by General Baird, who had himself been a prisoner within the dungeons of " The city of Sri-Runga ; " and here the blood-thirsty Tippoo met his fate. Sally- Death of Tippoo Sahib 141 ing out, with his usual bravery, to meet the victors, when the place had been carried by storm, Tippoo fell, pierced by two musket balls. An English soldier not knowing who he was, and desirous to possess himself of the gleaming jewels that sur- rounded the Sultan's waist, attempted to unclasp the girdle ; but the prince still held his sword in his stiffening hand, and with it, he struck a blow, his last, that severely wounded the soldier. The latter, frenzied with pain and indignation shot the dying man through the head, and thus perished one of the greatest tyrants that ever lived. His very name is synonymous with " tiger ; " and he is reported to have said, that he would " rather live two days as a tiger, than a hundred days as a sheep." Possessed of a cruel, rapacious spirit, he seems to have delighted in scenes of blood, and to have found his supreme happiness in pursuing to the death Christian and Pagan, Anglo-Saxon and native Indian. Two magnificent tombs in the beautiful Lai Bagh, " Red Garden," mark the last resting-place of Hyder Ali and his son Tippoo Sahib names spoken only with abhorence, even by their own people, whom they alienated by injus- tice and cruelty. 142 Political Divisions. The state of Cochin covers an area of one thous- and three hundred and sixty square miles, with a population of six hundred thousand. It is in a subsidiary alliance with the British Government, and pays a tribute of $ 100,000 a year. The reign- ing Rajah is of the Ks-chatrya caste, and is descended from a Viceroy of the Chola Kings, who ruled in the ninth century. He does not speak English ; but is a thorough Sanscrit scholar, and well acquainted with the native literature. Arcot, as a state, has no longer any real existence, though once of the greatest importance. The present representatives of the former Nawabs, reside in the city of Madras, fallen from their high estate, in regard to power and wealth, but highly exalted by their virtues and intellectual graces in the esteem of both natives and Euro- peans. A pamphlet was published a few years ago in Madras, setting forth their claims to con- sideration, and giving, besides their genealogy, such matters as notes from former governors ask- ing them to breakfast, or acknowledging a supply of dishes from their table. The father of the present Prince, sent to Queen Victoria, in 1860, a poem written by himself, congratulating Her Travancore. 143 Majesty on the accession of her new sovereignty as " Empress of India ; " and closing with the words : " Through the favor of the Most Holy Jesus Christ, may this assumption of rule prove auspicious to you ; and may your dominions last till the resurrection.'' The Rajah of Travancore, despite his Observatory and his attainments in science, is a Hindu of the Hindus, and of the strictest sect regarding all national observances. His fair domain is said to be one of the few states that have always been under Hindu rule, and governed by Hindu laws ; but the laws framed in 1490 were remodelled in 1811. The succession is in the female line, that is, the Rajah is succeeded by the son of his daughter. Various conjectures have arisen as to the cause of so strange a law, of which, however, very little is really known ; for these Tambarettes, or Heredi- tary Queens of Travancore are, to us at least, " Purdah women " in the fullest sense, of whom the bare mention is about all that has come down to us ; except that single romance of the young Englishman with whom the queen " fell in love," and who, declining to marry her, she sent away 144 Political Divisions. in 1685, loaded with costly gifts ; and even this solitary story is half unwritten, for as to whence the hero came, why he so persistently declined this royal alliance, how he left, and whither he went, we have no information Orine, the histo- rian of British India, is reported to have been born in Anjenga, farther north on this coast; as was also Mrs. Elizabeth Draper, Sterne's " Eliza." The Maharajahs of Vizianagram claim descent from the Ranas of Oodeypore, the most illustrious Rajput family in India, whose ancestors conquered Oudh, at a very remote period, and one of whose more recent progenitors, at the modest date A. D. 519, conquered more than two-thirds of the present Madras Presidency, and established a dynasty that reigned over the land for nine hundred and twenty years. A chief of Viziana- gram built the present fort in 1712, and enjoyed great power under Aurungzebe. In 1756, when M. Bussy moved into the Circars, the Rajah joined him with ten thousand men. There were five of these Circars, that together constituted an old division of the Presidency of Madras, but have, of late years, been distributed among the British districts of Guntoor, Masulipatan, and others. Madras. 145 After various successes and disasters the French were driven out, and overtures were made to the English, who, as usual, were quite willing to step into the possession of so goodly a land. In Sep- tember, 1758, Lord Clive sent Colonel Ford with a considerable force to aid the chief in a general buccaneering expedition, in which it was stipulated that the plunder should be equally divided, and that conquered countries should be delivered to the Rajah, who was to collect the revenues, and pay fifty thousand rupees a month towards the expenses of the troops. The following year, the chief died without issue, and one of his wives " performed suttee." Then followed trouble about the succession, and the land was torn by civil dis- cord ; but in 1765 the Emperor Shah Alum bestowed four of these Circars upon the British East India Company, as a free gift ; and Guntoor, the fifth, came into possession of the Company in 1788. They have since been held by the English, as con- stituent portions of the Presidency of Madras. Cananore, a seaport town in the province of Malabar, is a town of great antiquity. It was taken in 1501 by the Portuguese, who fortified it, but were expelled by the Dutch in 1664. The H. I. 10 146 Political Divisions. Dutch sold it to a native Mohammedan family, the head of which, under the title of Beebee, professed absolute authority over it, with a small adjacent territory and the Laccadive Islands, till 1791, when it became tributary to the English. They have strengthened the fort and provided accommodations for three or four regiments of soldiers, and it is now the principal military station in the province of Malabar. Fifteen miles from Arcot is Vellore, a well- fortified town, that was, for centuries, a stronghold of the chieftains of Southern India. The ditch that encircles the fort is filled with water from the Palar River, and infested with swarms of alligators, that serve as an invincible guard, none daring to venture through the moat, lest these scaly monsters should enfold them in too loving an embrace. Vellore is famous for a fearful tragedy enacted there in the year 1806. The sons of Tippoo had been kept, after the fall of their father's kingdom, in a sort of easy confine- ment within this fort. The Mohammedans who, with the overthrow of Tippoo's dynasty, lost their own power and influence, felt aggrieved by the imprisonment of the princes, and when to this THE PALACE OF THE SETHS, AJMEBE. A Seapoy Butchery. 149 source of trouble was added another, in respect to some new regulations of the dress of Seapoy soldiers, a general insurrection of the Seapoys against the English troops was forthwith inaugu- rated. In the still hour of the night, two battal- ions of native soldiers surrounded the barracks of the English, and poured in upon the sleeping soldiers a plentiful discharge of musketry through every door and window. Simultaneously with this movement, the sentries, guard, and inmates of the hospital were cruelly assassinated ; the armed Seapoys rushing in upon their defenceless victims, shooting down every one who attempted to escape, and committing all manner of atrocities, till, as they supposed, not one of the garrison was left. But one fugitive had in some way eluded their vigilance, and making all speed to Arcot, told the fearful tale of the butchery of his com- rades. No time was lost in dispatching a regi- ment of British dragoons to the scene of the frightful massacre, who, eager to avenge the mur- der of their compatriots, charged through the unguarded gates of the fort, and cut down, with- out mercy, the mutineers, who had been so engrossed with their deeds of blood and rapine as 150 Political Divisions. to have neglected all means of defence. Six hundred were thus slain on the spot, and two hundred more dragged from the concealments to which they had fled and shot -without mercy. The sons of Tippoo were shortly after removed to Calcutta, and placed in durance, at a distance from their father's former rule and friends, where their presence was less likely to incite revolt. The city of Madras, the capital of the Presi- dency, lies upon the eastern coast, thirteen degrees north of the equator. It stretches for several miles along the shore of the Bay of Bengal, upon a flat, sandy plain, raised but a few feet above the level of the sea. The old walled city is known as the " Black Town," from its being densely popu- lated by Hindus. On the southern side, the large, strong fort of St. George is built into the wall, and gives a very commanding appearance from the sea-board. Around this central town and fort is the esplanade an unoccupied, beautifully level space, seven hundred yards wide, and stretching entirely around the fort. This esplanade prevents the approach of an enemy under cover. The rapidly increasing population of this portion of the city, finding no room within the walls, has Founding Madras. 151 spread in a continuous semi-circle of suburbs 'beyond the esplanade and around the old town. The residences of the English are without the city, and almost entirely in the district south of the fort. It was in the year 1639, just two hun- dred and forty years ago, that the Rajah of Chandgherry, a petty prince of the interior, granted to a company of English merchants a spot of .ground upon which to build a fort, and factories. This was Madras, then only a small village inhabited by a few fishermen and their families ; and this was the nucleus about which has gathered, with the lapse of years, the present city of more than eight hundred thousand inhabi- tants the great and growing metropolis of the British possessions in Southern India. The proud native princes who once held court here, and looked with contempt upon the handful of foreign merchants who had sought their shores for purposes of trade, have passed away and been for- gotten, and their descendants live upon pensions granted them by the English rulers of the domains of their ancestors ; while the little English colony, with constantly increasing numbers, and wealth, and influence, have turned their fort into a walled 152 . Political Divisions. town, the centre of widely-extended possessions, and are able to dispense protection and favor, where once they sought it. Mount Road is the favorite evening drive of the foreign residents of Madras. It leads from the city to Mount St. Thome, the reputed burial- place of the Apostle Thomas, and a holy place of the Roman Catholics of India. It is an excellent road, constructed at great expense by the British Government, and leads past many objects of interest. The old fort, with its historic memories, where in the arsenal are stored the keys of Pondicherry and Carnatic fortresses, cannon that belonged to some of Ryder's batteries, the arms of Tippoo and famous chiefs and poligars of the ancient time what echoes of the past they waken ! A little farther on, is the colossal equestrian statue of Sir Thomas Munro, a former very distinguished governor of Madras. It is a bronze figure upon a lofty pedestal of stone, and an admirable work of art. After crossing a bridge over the Coom a little river that passes through the city the Government House comes in view ; a large, half- Oriental, half-European palace, with verandahs and Venetian blinds protecting each story from The Government House. 153 the glaring sun of this tropical clime, and sur- rounded by a spacious park, where are herds of beautiful, gentle antelopes grazing beneath the trees. This is one of the large handsome establish- ments provided for the governor of Madras. It contains elegant reception-rooms, the great ban- queting-hall where the Prince of Wales was entertained in that State Banquet of fifty covers, to which the chief personages of the city and Presidency of Madras were invited, and given by the Duke of Buckingham in honor of the Prince's visit ; elegant library and private sitting-rooms, boudoirs, etc., all fitted in exquisite style, but very different from dwellings of the same grade in England or America. The rooms, as in nearly all Anglo-Indian residences, are larger, the ceilings higher, the windows broader and more numerous, and all shaded by Venetian blinds. Rich lace hangings take the place of silk ; there is neither mantle nor furnace-register, not even a chimney to the house, and in every room there are great hand-punkahs, that are kept in constant motion to cool the heated atmosphere by their lateral sway- ing to and fro. Then there are at the Govern- ment House in Madras, and in all the other 154 Political Divisions. Indian capitals where the English have either a Governor or a " Resident," sentries at the gates and the doors, and liveried servants everywhere, in great numbers, with costumes specially adapted to the country a sort of compromise between India and England ; tasteful in many respects, but startling nevertheless to unaccustomed eyes. Take as an example the liveries of the Prince of Wales' personal attendants at Bombay. Mr. Russell says : " Besides the Governor's servants in their fine turbans and robes, there were in attendance a small battalion of those engaged for the Prince, in ne\v liveries of the native fashion a flat, white head-dress, with a broad band of gold lace running diagonally from the scarlet top to the side, scarlet surcoats buttoned to the throat, richly embroidered with gold lace, and the Prince's plumes in silver on the breast, laced on the sleeves, edged with gold lace, and confined by rich cum- mer-bunds ; but ' desinit in piscem ' * the glit- tering personages, so fine above, wore thin white trousers, and went barefooted." After Government House is passed, then comes the stores of jewellers, silk-mercers, milliners, con- fectioners, and many other tradesmen. They are This is a reference to the words of Horace, in allusion to incongruity, or bad taste, Desinit in piscent mulier formosa suferna. A woman beautiful above, ends in the tail of a fish. Street Sights in Madras. 157 usually large, handsome establishments, standing in large " compounds," and are kept either by Englishmen or Eurasians, (mixed breeds of Eng- lish and Indian parentage) ; but men always. Sales-women are not in vogue in the East, except among the lower class of native dealers in the bazaars, and even there they are not numerous. The dwellings of European residents are still farther out. They are, for the most part, superb mansions, stuccoed and pillared in elegant style, combining the height and grandeur of the best class of Eng- lish residences, with the porticos, terraces, and Venetians of the Orient ; a fair index of Anglo- Indian life, combining the luxuries of two hemi- spheres, and grafting the furniture, equipage, dress, table-fashions, meats and wines of Europe upon the stock of Indian ease, sensuousness, and intense love of the beautiful in nature and art. All along the streets, in both the old and new towns, strange sights, costumes and incidents are everywhere visible. Women and girls with huge baskets gather ordure to be mixed with straw, and dried in round balls for fuel. Grass-cutters are coming in from the country, each with a bundle of grass on his head, a day's supply for the one horse 158 Political Divisions. each man or woman tends. Dhobies (washer-mew), with enormous bundles of clothes that they are taking to some of the numerous tanks on the sub- urbs to wash by beating them against the rocks, plod heavily along, almost reeling beneath their ponderous loads. A couple of peons or native policeman, tall, fine-looking men in red turbans and wide, Moorish pantaloons, walk by with stately step, and keen, watchful eyes, as if ever on the alert. Countrymen and travellers from other towns pass loiteringly along gazing at every new sight, and Coolies with great boxes on their heads, or three in company, pulling an awkward, lumber- ing, two-wheeled cart, piled with fruits and provis- ions, stop to deliver parcels at the various houses on the road. But these are not the only vehicles to be seen on the mountain road. At early morn- ing, before the sun is up, nearly all Europeans go out to inhale the pleasant morning breeze ; and in the evening, just before dark, everybody goes out for a drive along the esplanade or mountain road. English officers of rank roll along in their phaetons, with liveried coachman and footman, and a syce (groom) running beside each horse. Ladies, in full dress, recline among silken cushions in their The English in Madras. 159 light pony palanquins, while a syce runs by the pony's head, with an arm thrown over his neck, arid a footman runs before crying out to pedes- trians to clear the way. Others, perhaps a lady and gentleman, or a family of parents and children, fair-haired, blue-eyed English children, looking very lovely among the crowd of swarthy natives, will be taking their airing in an elegant silver- mounted barouche behind a pair of superb Eng- lish " trotters," the entire turnout a genuine im- portation, unmistakably English in its substantial make, strikingly in contrast with the lighter palanquins and small ponies generally seen in Indian cities. Young men, clerks, and people of modest pretensions are driven in buggies and pony palanquins, but the groom does not sit by his master's side, nor at all, but runs at the horse's head, holding on to the animal's mane. Occasion- ally a strange-looking vehicle with a pyramidal top, drawn by a pair of bullocks, and known as a " bandy " passes in the crowd, its Hindu occupant seated a la oriental upon a cushion laid flat on the floor, while the driver, sitting at his master's feet, urges on the bullocks by cries and kicks, varied by an occasional vigorous twist of the animals' 160 Political Divisions. tails. Other bandies of more stylish construction with gilded domes and silken curtains, and drawn by pairs of pure white oxen, contain Hindu ladies, only their bright eyes or jewelled noses vis- ible from behind their silken screens, as they peer wistfully out to catch a glimpse of the active world, of which they know so little. There are tiny little vehicles drawn by stunted red bullocks, looking almost as diminutive as Newfoundland dogs ; and perhaps only a few steps off a huge elephant, loaded with camp equipage, or carrying a howdah, in which a couple of sailors are enjoying the novelty of their first elephant ride, as the huge animal brings down his ponderous feet with a jolt, that to our sailors is far more uneasy than their ship's motions during a furious " nor' wester." Madras is rich in educational institutions, among which are a Medical College, School of Arts, Engineering College, Harris School for Moham- medans, Doveton College for Eurasians, Govern- ment Normal School, Government Madrissa School for Mohammedans, Military Female Orphan Asy- lum, Hindu Schools for boys, Hindu Schools for girls, Convent School, Free Church Schools, Scot- tish Orphanage, Bishop's School, London Mission Schools of Madras. 161 Schools, Church Mission Schools for boys, and for girls, Wesleyan Schools, Three Schools main- tained by the Rajah of Vizianagram, Female Nor- mal Schools, Hindu Proprietary, and two other schools under purely native management, and perhaps some others. The Madras Museum is a valuable institution, in which the educated natives are said to take much interest. The Agri-Horticultural Gardens are delightful, and abound in wonderful specimens of plants and animals, with some gigantic and curious specimens of forest growth. In many respects Madras is esteemed the very queen of the Indian capitals ; and the whole city wears an aspect of refinement, intelligence, and growing prosperity. H. I 11 CHAPTER IV. PRESIDENCY OF BOMBAY. THE Presidency of Bombay comprises a strip of territory about nine hundred miles in length, extending from the northern limit of Scinde to the kingdom of Mysore on the south, along more than two-thirds of the west coast of Hindustan. Its greatest breadth is two hundred and fifty miles. The Presidency contains twenty- two districts apportioned among three Commis- sioners, i.e., Scinde on the north, and the northern and southern divisions of Bombay proper, in which are included Ahmedabad, Kaira, Surat, Broach, Bombay Island, Darwar, Candeish, Tauna or North Concon, Rutnagherry or South Concon, Poonah, Ahmednuggnr, and Canara. The large feudatory states of Cutch and Guzerat, the chiefs 162 Climate and Products. 165 of which are subject merely to British supervision, intervene between Scinde and the northern and southern divisions. The coast-line is about a thous- and and fifty miles in length. In regard to soil, there is a great diversity in the several regions. That of Scinde comprises the low, level basin of the Indus, where strips of exceedingly fertile land alternate with deserts ; the two Concons form a hilly region lying between the Western Ghauts and the Arabian Sea ; the eastward slope of the Western Ghauts forming the lovely, elevated table- lands, enjoy an almost perennial verdure ; while around the Gulf of Cambay the land is flat and alluvial. There exists an equal variation in regard to climate that of Scinde being sultry and dry, with only a light rainfall ; in the Concons the heat is as great as in Scinde, but the fall of rain is much greater. The average annual temperature of Bombay Island is about 80, and the rainfall averages eighty inches per annum, while on the Ghauts table-lands the climate is temperate and salubrious. The vegetable products are cotton and rice on the coast; sugar and indigo in Can- deish ; wheat, barley, hemp and tobacco in Scinde, and opium in the native states of Malwa and 166 Presidency of Bombay. Guzerat. Merchants who wish to send their opium to the city of Bombay need to obtain permits from the government, by whom it is purchased at a certain price per chest j and the producers dare not dispose of it elsewhere. Considerable quan- tities of silk are raised, and there are silk manufac- tories in some of the towns. The system of land taxes in Bombay was very carefully arranged before being put into operation, about twenty years ago. There has been a survey and assess- ment of all the lands ; and the fields have been mapped and marked by permanent objects, the re- moval of which is a penal offence. They are classified for assessment with reference to soil, climate, and proximity to market, and with very few exceptions the land is held directly from the government. When the rate of taxation was fixed, it was equal to one-half the yearly value of the land ; but in consequence of the general im- provement of the lands, the proportion now is said to be somewhat less. The land revenue is reported as yielding a larger sum per capita than in any other section of India. There are now very nearly two thousand miles of railway in this Pres- idency ; and the city of Bombay has the honor of 168 Presidency of Bombay. having had the first railway in the East Indies. It was opened between that city and Tanna, April 6, 1853. Bombay is now the terminus of the " Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway," and of the great " Indian Peninsular Railway," as well as of the steamship lines from England. There is also telegraphic communication with Cal- cutta, opened in 1854, and with Falrnouth, Eng- land, opened 1870, by means of cables, via Aden, Malta, and Gibraltar. There are about three hundred schools in the Presidency, with an attendance of about fourteen thousand pupils ; five-sixths of whom are in- structed in the native languages, and only one- sixth in English. The Island of Bombay is one of an important group that have planted themselves before the estuary or wide mouth of the river Oolas, seeming thereby to form a sort of delta. The island, which was the first possession in India ever acquired by the English, is eight miles long, and about twenty miles in circumference. Shortly before the marriage of Charles II. of England with the Infanta Catharine of Portugal, this island was conveyed to the crown of England, as part of the dowry of that princess. About seven years 170 Presidency of Bombay. later the king transferred it to the East India Company, who held it at an annual rental of ten pounds sterling, until 1858, when the home gov- ernment assumed direct control of all the British East India possessions. The old town is called the Kila or " Fort," and occupies the southern extrem- ity of the island, facing the wide beautiful harbor. To call it a " fort " is, however, something of a misnomer, for there is much beside the citadel within those walls ; and one meets here, at least in times of peace, much more of the din of trade and the hurry and bustle of commercial life than of the cannon's roar, or the murderous array of battle. The visitor enters, it is true, by a fortified gate, and there are veritable ramparts and a strong fortress well manned by native troops with Euro- pean officers ; but there is a great deal else within the walls of the so-called "Fort." There are splendid docks, immense warehouses, a fine arse- nal, and those famous cotton presses, with whole mountains of the " raw material," waiting to be baled and shipped to China or Europe. Higher up toward the centre of the fort, and round an immense square are the Banks, the Town Hall, the Mint, and all the great commercial houses of the Bombay. 171 city. In a word, all that represents the enormous wealth and world-wide commerce of this great, busy city. But never a dwelling ! It is a stu- pendous business mart : but neither native nor European lives there. Going to the Fort at even an hour after sunrise, one finds the long, narrow, dirty streets without sign of life, save for the measured tread of the peon (policeman) on duty. But by half-past nine or ten o'clock the appearance changes utterly ; doors are thrown open, the busy hum of voices and the rumble of wheels are heard everywhere, and the wide, beautiful esplanade is lined with carriages from which step forth mer- chants and their numerous employees, (every clerk has his own palanquin, and no Europeans walk in India) ; bank officers with their clerks, buy- ers, sellers, jobbers, inspectors and idlers. Every- body turns toward the Fort, the grand centre of attraction during all the business hours of the day ; but deserted again at 4 p. M., when every carriage is re-occupied and rolls away as it came, with its living freight ; white-robed natives, pro- tected by huge umbrellas, file out with dignified serenity, and again the grand business mart, lately so full of life and activity, is left in silence and 172 Presidency of Bombay. solitude as complete as that of a city of the dead, until once more resurrected by the " ten bells " of the morning hour that wake the sleeping city to new life and activity. For residence, each nation has its separate "quarter," where national habits and social proclivities maybe indulged with- out danger of offending the prejudices of others. Nearer than any other race to the business portion of the city, reside the Parsees and Bhoras, two eminently mercantile races, who live always at their places of business, preferring to sacrifice the pleasures and comforts of residence in other more eligible sections in order to larger success in trade. The Parsee Bazaar of Bombay is a long, winding street, lined with tall, handsome, capacious man- sions. Their first floor composed of substantial, but rather gloomy-looking stalls, is devoted to business purposes, whilst the upper stories, with their broad wooden balconies painted in bright colors, and numerous windows carved and orna- mented, form dwelling-places of luxury and elegance, despite their unfashionable location. Many of these Parsee dwellings are furnished in princely style, with gorgeous silk and lace hang- ings, Persian carpets, exquisitely-inlaid satin-lined 174 Presidency of Bombay. furniture, and incredible quantities of gold and silver plate. The owners live like lords and enter- tain in sumptuous style, though shrewd financiers and indefatigable traders during business hours. Some Europeans reside at Colaba, a long, narrow promontory at the extreme end of the island to the south of the Fort. Lying between the port and Back Bay, it possesses one of the most salubrious climates on the island. It has also excellent roads and lovely gardens laid out all around the spacious, elegant bungalows that form the favorite residences of wealthy merchants and others in this section. These bungalows are constructed on a plan specially suited to a tropical climate. Being built on raised terraces of brick- work, they are kept perfectly dry and free from the deleterious miasma produced by the abundant vegetation of ,the tropics ; the roof of very thick attap-leaved thatch laid on double, secures cool- ness far better than tiles or slate ; and the broad verandahs on all sides protect the walls from the heat of the sun, while the Venetian blinds from floor to ceiling may be thrown wide open at night to admit the refreshing breezes no longer freighted with torrid heat. Other residents, preferring more Bombay. 175 stately mansions occupy large stone-faced dwell- ings with porticoes and marble columns, in Euro- pean style, that serve to give variety to the land- scape'. On the extremity of the promontory are built the English Barracks, so well spoken of for their commodious arrangement and admirable adaptation to a warm climate ; and still beyond is the Colaba Light House that commands the en- trance to the harbor, with her clear light plainly visible for thirty miles from the shore. On the northern side of the Fort and the beautiful Maidan or esplanade that runs along the sea-beach in front of the fort, is the " Black Town," so called by Europeans, because only natives reside there. All the streets that traverse this great, crowded town are broad and long ; the bazaar streets are bordered by small booths, the flooring of which being raised several feet above the side-walk, serves as a counter upon which to display the mul- titudinous wares here offered for sale. The houses that skirt the bazaars are of boards or brick, and usually three or four stories high, with porticoes, carved fronts, and pillars painted in bright colors, giving a quaint appearance, not altogether un- pleasing. The ground floor of many of the houses 176 Presidency of Bombay. forms the workshops of artisans, where, in gloomy little dens, multitudes of half-naked workmen busily ply their respective crafts, producing by the aid of only the most primitive tools those marvels in ebony, silver and ivory of such world-wide reputation, as well as arabesques and mosaics in multitudinous forms, that sell in Europe for fabu- lous prices. Among the most interesting features of the bazaars, two especially attract the European strangers. The first is the great number of races found here, characterized by such infinite diversity of form, feature and costume ; and the second is the wonderful Arab horse-market, where probably more first-class horses are offered for sale than in any other single mart in the world. The great number and variety of foreign races found here is due first, to Bombay's being the port of arrival for emigrants from Persia, Arabia, and Africa, and the point of departure for pilgrims bourd to Mecca and Karbala ; and second to the immense foreign trade of this great shipping city, that supplies the products of Europe, Arabia, and Northern Africa to at least two-thirds of India. It is worth a trip across the ocean to study some of these faces, so full of majestic repose and serene dignity ; and H. I. 12 178 Presidency of Bombay. even their varied costumes are worthy of inspec- tion, as indices of national character and habits. Here are .Persians or " Parsees " in their tall caps, noting down every arrival, or discussing prices ; Arabs, robed as their countrymen were in the days when Joseph was carried a slave, into Egypt ; stout specimens of humanity from Guzerat, each with fine muslin enough to manufacture half a dozen " suits," twisted in pyramidal form about his shapely head, and dubbed a " turban ; " the Bunniah of Cutch, whose keen black eyes gleam nearly as brightly as the cornelians he is " sort- ing" with evident pride; companies of blue- turbaned men of Cabul, whose chief business in life seems to be the perpetual munching of dates ; Bedouins always, however otherwise emplo}'ed, solacing themselves with the long " hubble bub- bles " that are at once their joy and pride ; stately Gentoos, comely and graceful, in flowing robes of pure white muslin; and the filthy Hindu fakir, hideous in his nakedness and deformity ; the lordly Rajputs from the North, sporting their jew- elled weapons, and the busy Badagas of Southern India, offering for sale the small crops cultivated On. their hill-side farms ; the courteous Chinese, Bombay. 179 always gentlemen, under whatever disguise of poverty or provocation : the grave Burmese, the cunning Malay, the stately Moor, with his insepa- rable companion, the gold-mounted hookah, and the smoke rising ever in graceful wreaths about his turbaned head; all these, and scores of others, a busy multitude, gathered it would seem, from every point of the compass; and all eagerly intent upon trading off his own wares at the highest price, and putting down those of his neighbor to the lowest. And their speech, what a veritable Babel it is ! Who can be the listeners ? for they all seem talking at once, and each a different lan- guage. Confused and confounded, the bewildered tourist turns with a sense of relief to the horses, upon whose magnificent proportions he may feast his eyes, without imagining that they are all ad- dressing him in some unknown tongue, to which it is as impossible for him to reply, as it is clearly his duty to do so. So he looks on, thankful that horses do not talk. There are pure-blooded Arabs from Djowfet and Nedjed, lovely, graceful creatures, with long, silky manes, and eyes tender as a gazelle's; Persian breeds of the most approved standard, noble ani- 180 Presidency of Bombay. mals with arched neck and fiery eye, and every curve a line of symmetry and beauty ; superb English trotters, and shaggy Shetlands. He must be fastidious indeed whose equine desires cannot be gratified in such an assortment as this, where are obtained regularly all the magnificent horses displayed daily on the esplanade, so noted for its suberb "turnouts" on the fashionable drive. Prices range from fifty dollars, to thousands ; but all lower by at least a hundred per cent, than the same horses would be in Europe or America; many a horse being sold here for $1.500 that would bring readily $3,000, in the home market. In the "Black Town" of Bombay, are several large Hindu Temples, and one noted Mohamme- dan Mosque, the Jumma Musjid all handsome edifices, worthy of inspection ; but of far more interest to strangers is the great Jain Hospital for Animals, the largest and most complete establish- ment of the sort in India. This hospital is located in the centre of the most densely populated quarter of the Black Town. It is supported by contributions from the most wealthy members oi the Jain Fraternity; and here are received and comfortably maintained, all sick, helpless, and de- 182 Presidency of Bombay. formed animals of every species, the nursing and attendance being continued until they either die or recover. Just inside the gate is a large court, surrounded by sheds, where are kept only oxen and cows, as these animals being regarded as sacred by the Hindus, receive "the first care, and a hall or area exclusively their own. In the next court are disabled horses, and in another, dogs, cats and monkeys. Some sheep and goats also find an asylum here ; and yet, farther on, are birds, fowls, insects, and even reptiles ; each class having a quarter distinct from the others, where the peculiar wants and habits of every individual inmate are, as far as possible, provided for. Some of the animals have bandages over their eyes ; others, who are in a lame or helpless condition, are frequently rubbed down by the attendants; and both food and water are .placed within reach of the lame or paralyzed. All are constantly supplied with clean straw, with water in abundance, and with every facility for comfort and cleanliness, and are fed, bathed, and dosed when necessary, with the same gentle care and tenderness that are bestowed upon human beings. Bald monkeys, and superannuated crows and vultures are no An Asylum for Beasts. 183 uncommon sights in this paradise of the brute creation : and occasionally is found there, even a wooden leg supplying the place of the original member. Oriental nations are proverbially kind to dumb animals, even beggars often sharing their scanty meals with stranger brutes that happen to pass them when eating. The religion of both Buddhists and Brahminists especially enjoins this care for the well-being of dumb animals; but the Ja'ins, even more than other sects, cherish for all animal life this kindly regard; not content with never harming a dumb creature, but rigidly inculcating the obligation to protect the lives, alleviate the sufferings, and supply the needs, so far as possible, of every living thing, large or small. There can be no question that to this injunction in regard to the care of brute creatures is due the very great numbers of wild beasts and noxious reptiles found in every part of India, and the fearful depredations they are constantly committing. Suffered for ages to roam unharmed through these dense Indian jungles, enjoying perfect immunity from danger, they have gone on multiplying and increasing till, in some regions, they seem likely to become the 184 Presidency of Bombay. lords paramount of the country. Of late years, the English Government in India have put forth most energetic efforts for the destruction of tigers, offering a reward of from fifty to one hundred rupees tor every one killed ; but so little impres- sion has yet been made on the immense herds of these ferocious animals, that hundreds of children are annually carried off by them. In 1877, the number reached, I think, nearly four hundred in India alone. The European and Mussulman Cemeteries, and the Cremation Grounds of the Hindus, have all their location outside the Black Town, reaching toward the sea-beach, where the surging waves sing a perpetual requiem well suited to the solitary grandeur of this tropical city of the dead. Farther on, toward Chowpatti, Malabar Hill, the aristocratic quarter of Bombay is reached. It is a hilly promontory, larger than Colaba, and contains many princely dwellings, surrounded by the choicest shrubbery and rare old forests of venerable trees. Among the cultivated trees are found the .gigantic Baobab, several varieties of the Chinese Pine, quaint, dwarfed and knotted in every conceivable form ; and most beautiful of all, the 186 Presidency of Bombay. "Gold of Mohur Acacia," with its gleaming sprays and clusters of golden blooms glancing out from among the emerald leaves. The Governor's house is built on the summit of a steep declivity at the extremity of the island, and commands a noble view of the sea. This is no longer the constant residence of the Governor of Bombay; but being regarded as the most salubrious portion of the island, it is always resorted to, in times of fever or other epidemics. The ordinary residence is the Parell Government House, where the Prince of Wales was entertained on his recent tour. On the western coast of the Malabar promon- tory is the village of Walkeshwar, diminutive enough in size, but withal one of the most sacred places in India. The Brahmins relate a legend that has for its hero the god Rama, who, while on a warlike expedition to Lunka, used to receive every night, through the good offices of a geni, "an emblem," whereby he was able to continue his devotions to Siva. But on one occasion, when the emblem had failed to appear, Rama, with his hand, scooped up a little sand from the seashore, and fashioned an idol. The spot whence the sand Walkeshwar. 187 was dug at once became a deep pool, that is still in existence ; and a village springing up around this wonderful idol, was called Walkeshwar, i. e., " The god of the sands." The pool is situated in the centre of a spacious square, completely sur- rounded by temples ; while the water, fifty yards below the level, is reached by flights of stone steps, that are always thronged by crowds of men and women, anxiously pressing for- ward to reach the brink of the sacred pool. Some kneel on the steps in contemplation ; others plunge in, or sprinkle their bodies with the holy water ; and all are repeating prayers and passages of the sacred books. Brahmins, and devotees of various orders, ask alms, and parade their religious creeds, while soine of the followers of Krishna, under his most shameful form, elbow their way through the crowd, clothed in characteristic garb, ready .for the perpetration of the most infamous vices. The temples that surround the pool are of great antiquity, and their columns are covered with graceful sculptures. The spires, too, are of wondrous beauty, but the effect is injured by their diminutive size. Beyond Walkeshwar, on the highest point of the road that passes along the 188 Presidency of Bombay. crest of Malabar Hill, is the " Tower of Silence," where the Parsees deposit their dead ; * and beyond the hill to the northward is Bycullah, another great suburb of Bombay, marshy, gloomy and in- salubrious, but densely populated by Parsees, half- castes, and the poorest class of Europeans. In the rear of Bycullah rise the hills of Maza- gon, a quaint sort of Portuguese settlement, where many descendants of the old colonists have taken up their abode, and intermarrying with the natives of the country, their manners, religion, dress and appearance have become largely modified thereby. Yet they retain the name of Portuguese Christians. Their very peculiar dress is of the European order, with none of the Asiatic grace or adaptation to climate. Their especial mania seems to be for the black silk hat, a specimen of which, though in ever so dilapidated a condition, often lacking both nap and brim, must be worn by every man of them. The soil of this portion of the island is ex- tremely fertile ; and trees, shrubs and every kind of vegetation is of the rankest growth. The climate is correspondingly unhealthy, and amid the As elsewhere explained under the head of "Ceremonies for the Dead." JUGGLERS. (See page 156). Bombay. 191 thick jungly growth, venomous serpents and snakes of many varieties abound, often lying hid- den within the petals of the brightest and most beauteous flowers. At the very extremity of Mazagon, is the superb palace of Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, who was the wealthiest Parsee merchant in Bombay, and the first East Indian who ever received knight- hood at the hands of a British Sovereign. The palace is built in pure Gothic style, and was be- queathed by Sir Jamsetjee, at his death, to the city of Bombay, to be used as a hospital for the sick of all nations without distinction of race or creed. In front of this palace hospital the Eng- lish have erected a handsome statue of the noble donor, to perpetuate the memory of this munifi- cent charity. These various " quarters " and " suburbs " to- gether constitute the noble city of Bombay, which contains a population of eight hundred thousand, of whom eight thousand are Europeans, thirty thousand Parsees, one hundred and twenty thous- and Mohammedans, and the residue of vari- ous Hindu races. Prominent among the in- stitutions of the city is the " Royal Asiatic 192 Presidency of Bombay. Society," devoted to the promotion of Oriental learning. During the years 1863-1865, when the late civil war in our country was at its height, events occurred in Bombay that raised that city to the very summit of commercial prosperity ; but, only to plunge her into the depths of a great commer- cial crisis, from which she has even yet scarcely recovered. By the disturbed state of affairs in the United States, Europe was for the time deprived of the cotton that was the one element most nec- essary to her industrial existence ; and India had, by most noteworthy efforts, been able to step into the place thus made vacant. She was already pre- pared to supply in good degree the means of feeding the cotton manufactories of the world ; and Bombay merchants, seizing upon the great commercial advantages afforded by their city, had attracted to it the entire trade in India cottons, making themselves the sole arbiters of this impor- tant branch of Indian trade. Even before this, the trade of Bombay had been enormous; and now that she had suddenly become the emporium of all the cotton of India, the elation of her many rich capitalists led them into the wildest specula- Cotton Speculation. 193 tions. Deeming the reconstruction of the United States an impossibility, they prophesied for their city a future of commercial eclat that no combi- nation of circumstances could possibly reverse. All sorts of speculations were entered upon, all available funds invested, and the entire com- munity were drawn into the wild schemes, in which each saw for himself untold wealth and the most encouraging openings for future opera- tions. Gigantic companies were formed to develop resources that had already reached their utmost capacity for development. Projects were set on foot to enlarge the Bombay Island, by reclaiming from the sea the region known as " Back Bay ; " many new Banks were formed ; and not only mer- chants, but officers, public functionaries, even ladies, and subordinates on small pay all were drawn into the vortex, expecting to realize fabu- lous fortunes; when, with the news of General Lee's surrender, and the establishment of peace, a crash came, and wide-spread ruin fell upon all the speculators. The strongest houses shared the fate of the rest, and even the Bank of Bombay was compelled temporarily to suspend. The exalta- tion had been unprecedently rapid, and the fall H. I.-13 194 Presidency of Bombay. was sudden and terrible. But a lesson of pru- dence was learned, and now, with firmer footing, and broader and deeper foundations, the queenly city of Bombay once again begins her onward career as the commercial metropolis of India. Surat, the name of which signifies "the good city," is one of the most ancient ports of Western India. The high, thick walls that form the ram- parts of the city are still called Alampanah, which means, "Protector of the Land," though they look too dilapidated to be very much of a safeguard. They are, however, strengthened by numerous round towers, and form a circuit of about six miles. It is a busy, enterprising town, whose people seem not inclined to be idle. The bazaars abound in beautiful and costly wares, especially the various vessels and ornaments of wrought iron, inlaid with gold and silver, for which Surat is noted, the art having come down to her from a remote antiquity. The city is beautifully situated at the mouth of the majestic Taptee, with every facility for a large trade. Broach, about sixty miles north of Surat, has long been famous for its Chandi Musjid, " Silver Mosque." It contains the mausoleums of the Callian. 195 Nawabs ; and one of them, being covered with plates of silver, has given name to the edifice. Many of the other sarcophagi are of white marble, beautifully carved, and are placed beneath superb canopies of embroidered velvet. Callian, the ancient capital of Concon, was long one of the first commercial ports on the west of India ; and tradition has brought down even to our own day marvellous accounts of the wealth and splendor it attained under the Solauki dynasty. Its palaces and monuments furnished themes for poets and novelists ; and a writer in the " Ratan Mala," a famous Hindu poem of the seventh century, thus immortalizes the grand old metropo- lis : " The sun alternately passes six months of the year in the north, and six months in the south, for the sole purpose of being able to com- pare the marvellous capital of Ceylon with the superb city of Callian." It now, however, retains little trace of the royal grandeur of its palmy days, save in the ruins of ancient temples and palaces; its present position being that of an Eng- lish provincial town, with the ordinary routine of " reduced " greatness. But all around the sub- urbs, half-hidden by sand and jungle-grass, lie 196 Presidency of Bombay. fragments of columns of exquisite beauty, curi- ously-carved lintels, bas-reliefs, and sculptures in endless variety, where may be read the mournful story of the past. These ruins, furnish material enough to enrich half a dozen " collections " of Hindu antiquities, or form the basis of a museum. The grand old temple of Ambernath grand and magnificent even in ruins cannot fail to in- terest with its minute and exquisitely-wrought sculptures, all executed with a delicacy of touch and a lavishness of adornment unknown among other races. Poonah, situated upon the banks of the Moota, stands in the centre of a broad plain that stretches out, almost treeless, to the blue mountains of Sattara. It was once the capital of the Southern Mahratta country, and the residence of the Peishwahs, though it now belongs to the English, and is in- cluded in the Bombay Presidency. The town is still essentially native in its character and sur- roundings, a very large proportion of the inhab- itants being Hindus; and the streets swarming with well-fed Brahmins, and half-naked religious devotees who live by charity the former, neatly- clothed impersonations of self-satisfied ease ; and Poonah. 197 the latter, filthy and repulsive to the last extreme. Through the streets roam unmolested, as in every native Indian town, multitudes of sacred oxen, that, as representatives of deity, are permitted to enter the bazaars and shops, eat at the stalls, and even to block up the streets, if they feel so inclined. The town is divided into seven quarters, called after the seven days of the week ; and the houses, standing in the midst of pretty gardens, are built in the picturesque Hindu style, with tiled roofs, wooden gables, and panels painted in bright colors, representing flowers and animals, with various mythological figures and scenes. Several palaces still remain ; among them a summer residence of the Peishwahs, in the immediate vicinity of the celebrated Hira Baugh^ " Garden of Diamonds." In the Boudhwa, or Wednesday quarter, there are many ancient houses, formerly occupied by nobles of the Peish\vah r s court ; and castle-like abodes with thick walls, Icop-holed windows, and great ponderous doors, that remind one of the feudal castles of Europe of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Very few of these ancient dwellings are now occupied, for though many wealthy Mahrattas return here to enjoy the riches accu- 198 Presidency of Bombay. mulated elsewhere, they, as a rule, prefer the more modern and cheerful-looking mansions with which the town abounds. Among the celebrities of Poonah, is the famous temple of Parvati> which gives name to the lovely hill that overlooks the Hira Baugh. A flight of handsome steps leads from the Peishwah's summer pavilion up to the front of this temple, on the very summit. The temple contains several exquisite statuettes of Parvati ; but that which attracts most admiration is a massive silver image of Siva, holding on his knees the statues of his wife and child, Parvati and the young Ganesa, executed in pure gold. Large, costly sapphires form the eyes of these famous images, and their altars are piled perpetu- ally with the richest oblations. At the junction of the Moota and Moola rivers, is the Sangam, where the Hindus burn their dead. There are also, on the banks of both rivers, numer- ous small kiosks or pleasure-houses, and many stately cenotaphs, designed to perpetuate the memory of departed great ones, though their ashes do not repose beneath the monuments. These kiosks are, nearly every evening, the scenes of mirth, music, and feasting ; inappropriate as to NATIVE OF MADRAS. 200 Presidency of Bombay. us seems the locality, under the very shadow of the memorials of the dead. This is quite in accord with the creed of the Hindu, who takes no gloomy view of death, but regards this change of worlds not as a cessation of being, but merely a passage from one state ol existence to another, one of the many, perhaps thousands of the lives to be lived ere his destiny is completed ; and as each successive turn of the wheel opens before him the vista of another change, whether for better or for worse, he knows not, and does not trouble himself to inquire. The English Government House at Poonah is the stately palace of Granesh Khind. It is an imposing, marble structure, with a noble tower, and is built on a commanding site, with a magnifi- cent view of the varied Deccan scenery, and sur- rounded by gardens and conservatories worthy of an imperial palace. It was erected by Sir Bartle Frere, while Governor of Bombay, at a cost of $875,000. This was deemed by the English Home Government an extravagant outlay, espe- cially as Poonah is not the head-quarters of his Excellency, but only an outside station which he visits occasionally. The erection of this superb marble palace was, at the time, quoted by Mr. ';" . ; ": v,s-is ; ;c?v--- ;...;- .' ; , ; ' " '^^ YOUNG HINDOO WOMAN. 202 Presidency of Bombay. Fawcett in the House, as " a t} r pical instance of the extravagance and insubordination of the gov- ernors of Bombay." To which implied censure Sir Bartle Frere replied, that he had built a very fine dwelling for future governors, that would be more regularly occupied than that at Bombay had ever been ; that he acted within his legal powers, and was not insubordinate, and that he had not, when he retired from the Government of Bomba}', ex- pended all the money at his disposal ; and lastly, that Poonah would be thenceforth, de facto the cap- ital of the Bombay Presidency. '''*' ^^&g>' <- . ^jn^jj^ v ;^^;.7{\V '^^>S CHAPTER V. PROVINCES AND PEOPLE. CHITTAGONG is a district of British India lying beyond the Ganges, but included in the Presidency of Bengal. It is one hundred and eighty -five miles long, and an average of sixty to eighty in length. Its chief river, the Chittagong, is formed by the junction of the Kurrumfoolee and the Chingree, and discharges its waters into the Bay of Bengal. A large portion of the surface is covered by mountains, and there are several sum- mits that range from four thousand to eight thous- and feet above the sea-level. The soil of the plains and valleys is very fertile, yielding readily, with little labor, rice, oats, hemp, sugar, tobacco, coffee, indigo, betel-nut, mustard and ginger. The aboriginal inhabitants resemble the Burmese and 205 206 Provinces and People. Bengalese ; but at least two-thirds of them have been proselyted to the Mohammedan faith. Chittagong seems to have belonged originally to Tiperah, and to have become a part of the king- dom of Bengal early in the sixteenth century. During the wars between the Monguls and Afghans, Chittagong was held by Aracan ; but it was captured by Aurungzebe about the close of the seventeenth century. In 1760, it was ceded to the East India Company by the nawab of Bengal, and has since been under British control. Chittagong or Islamabad, the capital, is situated on and among a group of small and abrupt hills, some of which form pleasant villa residences; and command fine sea-views. The natives live along the valleys, in small cottages of bamboo, embowered in groves of fruit trees, with neat veg- etable gardens spread out in the rear. Chittagong was once a place of some importance in commerce and ship-building, but it has declined rapidly in consequence of the unhealthiness of the climate, and its ship-building interests have been trans- ferred to Maulmein, of the Tenasserim Provinces. These Provinces were formerly sections of the Burmese Empire, but were annexed to the Anglo' Aracan. 207 Indian possessions in 1826, and are now governed by a Commissioner, with the usual staff of Euro- pean and native officers, and they constitute one of the ten political districts of British India, ex- tending from the Bay of Bengal on the west, to the Mountains of Siam on the east in length about five hundred miles, with an average breadth of fifty miles. The country is divided into three provinces, Amherst, Tavoy and Mergui, with their capital at Maulmein. Aracan is a division of British India, including the districts of Akyab, Sandoway, and Ramree. It has an area of twenty-three thousand five hun- dred square miles, and a population of about five hundred thousand. The country abounds in hills, with numerous intervening plains and valleys of great fertility, counterbalanced by dense jungles, and pestilential marshes that render most portions of the country extremely unhealthy for Euro- peans. Aracan is rich in salt, timber, coal, and petroleum, and produces fine crops of rice and tobacco. Rudimentary education is very generally diffused, nearly all the people being able to read and write. This country was conquered by the Burmese in 1783, and by the British in 1824. Its 208 Provinces and People. capital is Akyab, pleasantly located, but with an unhealthy climate that repels immigration ; and the coast has few harbors to invite commerce. Assam is a province of the Bengal Presidency, lying between two mountain ranges, offshoots of the Himalayas, in the north-eastern extremity of Hindustan. It was once governed by a series of kings, concerning whom little is known until the seventeenth century, when the Mogul Em- perors endeavored to annex this country to their dominions. The Assamese bravely and successfully repelled the invasion ; but from about that period internal dissensions arose, and the country became a prey to civil war, declining gradually in power until 1770, when the British troops interfered in a conspiracy against the Rajah, and annexed a por- tion of the province as compensation for having acted as umpires between the Rajah and his rebel- lious subjects. During the war with Burmah, in 1826, the British took full possession and annexed the whole of Assam to their Indian possessions, for reasons that to themselves at least were fully satisfactory. This entire country, between the mountain ranges that enclose it on three sides, con- sists of a long, level plain, studded occasionally Assam. 209 with small hills. It is watered by the Brahma- putra and sixty smaller streams, so that Assam is supposed to contain more rivers than any other equal extent of territory in the world. The name of the Brahmaputra is derived from two Sanscrit words that mean " The Creator " and " The Son," and these Assamese claim not only that their great river is the special favorite of their gods, but also, that they are themselves the chief people of the earth, having derived their origin from the Hindu god Indra, who presides over the atmosphere, and to whom the other gods are subordinate. The soil of Assam is fertile, and the climate one of the pleasantest and most salubrious in India. The country is rich in mineral products, consisting of coal, iron, gold dust, and petroleum. The tea- plant is indigenous here, and is extensively culti- vated under the auspices of the English " Assam Tea Company." The country has about eighteen thousand acres of land under cultivation, planted with tea-shrubs, that produce an excellent article, very favorably known in commerce. Sugar, tobacco and wheat are also grown ; and silk is produced to a limited extent. The people are small in stature, though lithe and active, and in H. 114 210 Provinces and People. person resemble the Bengalese. They live in huts made of mats and bamboo-poles, are rather indo- lent in disposition, and lack energy, but are gener- ally kind in their families and hospitable to strangers. The prevailing religion is Brahminism, but there are also many Mohammedans. The Principality of Kishengurh is one of the smallest independent states in Rajputana, and was for a long time, part of the kingdom of Marwar. In 1613, King Oudey Singh gave it as an appanage to his son, Kishan Singh, who established himself in the town that he called by his own name, and which retains this cognomen still. When the English began to interfere with the affairs of Raj- putana, this little State at once acknowledged their supremacy, and has since continued under British protection. Kishengurh is enclosed by the kingdoms of Marwar, Mey war, and Jeypore, and the province of Ajmere. The sand from the neighbor- ing desert has continued its encroachments, till it now covers the entire surface to the depth of several feet, rendering the land barren and worth- less, except for a short period immediately after the rains. But the country has valuable salt- works and mines, that yield the Rajah an annual Kishengurh. 213 revenue of about $300,000, and also afford ample employment to his subjects. The capital, a city of about sixteen thousand inhabitants, is built on a high hill, and overlooks the pretty, picturesque Lake Gondola. It has a citadel on the very sum- mit of the hill, with a double line of ramparts ; and all the approaches to the town, even the streets, are steep and precipitous enough to serve as fortifications. Some portions of the ramparts are one hundred and fifty feet high, and overlook the country around. On one side is the town, with its temples, palaces, and gardens radiant in their ripe, floral beauty ; and on the other, is seen the Lake dotted with tiny islands, from which arise pretty, picturesque kiosks and pavilions of ever varying forms. The present Rajah Adhiraj Purtwee Singh, is a noble specimen of the Rajput race, fine-looking, dignified and self-contained, with fierce black eyes, and the air of an emperor to the purple born. Cashmere, lying in the extreme north-western section of India, is almost enclosed by the ranges of the Karakorum and Himalaya mountains that separate it from Tartary, Thibet, and the British districtsof Lahoul and Spiti. Its area is estimated 214 Provinces and People. at seven hundred and fifty thousand square miles, and includes within its limits the celebrated vale of Cashmere, the provinces of Jamoo, Balti, Ladakh, Chamba, and some other portions of ter- ritory. The " Valley of Cashmere," so often the theme of poets and novelists, is of an irregular oval form, shut in by lofty mountains that securely shelter it from adverse breezes ; and though some of the summits are crowned with perpetual snow, the temperature of the valley is mild and equable, and the climate salubrious. This valley is nearly six thousand feet above the sea-level ; and the alluvial plain that forms its bottom is seventy miles long and forty broad. It may be entered by many passes, eleven of which are practicable for equestrians, and several for wheeled vehicles. The highest, including the Pir Panjal, have an elevation of twelve thousand feet. The Jhylum, a tributary of the Indus, is the principal river, and flows through the Baramula Pass, receiving many tribu- taries from the mountains before reaching the Punjaub. Scattered through the valley are sev- eral small lakes, which serve abundantly to irrigate the land, which is thus rendered fertile, and pro- duces often from thirty to sixty fold. Rice is the The Vale of Cashmere. 215 great staple, and the common food of the country ; but wheat, barley, maize, buckwheat and tobacco are also cultivated, and esculent vegetables are good and abundant. Among the fruits are those common in temperate latitudes : apples, pears, peaches, apricots, cherries, plums, grapes and pom- egranates. Flowers of rare beauty and fragrance abound, especially several varieties of Cashmerian rose, the " Mohur," " Cloth of Gold," " Empress/' and others, unsurpassed in the whole world for delicacy of tint and rare perfume. The groves of chunars, poplars and cedars, with which the villages are adorned, were planted in the times of the Mogul Emperors, by imperial edict, and still flourish luxuriantly in this favored spot. The Cashmerians stand preeminent among Indian races for physical beauty. The men are tall, robust and athletic, and the women of wondrous beauty of form, and surpassing brilliancy of complexion. They are an intelligent, educated people, fond of poetry, and full of life and spirit ; but have the reputation of being addicted to cunning and mi- truthfulness. The capital is Serin aghur or Cash- mere, and the other towns Islamabad, Shupeyon, Pampur, and Sopur. The principal manufactures 216 Provinces and People. in addition to the famous Cashmere shawls, are lacquered ware in great variety, paper, gun and pistol barrels, and attar of rose. The wool for the shawls comes originally from Tartary and Thibet, but is bleached, spun and dyed in Cash- mere. The weaving is done mainly in the houses of the workmen, after patterns furnished them with the material. Each loom produces four or five shawls a year, of the medium grade ; but & single shawl of the best quality and most intricate pattern sometimes keeps four or five workmen constantly busy for one or two years. The num- ber of looms employed is estimated at about six- teen thousand. The weavers are brought up to the trade from infancy, and spend their whole lives at the work, becoming constantly more expert. Besides this, there have been in families certain se- crets of skill in the weaving that are transmitted as heirlooms, and not communicated to others. But it is said that the brilliant tints, and some of the pecul iar shades, are due to the water and atmosphere o the country, and cannot be produced elsewhere Handsome as are the French Cashmere shawl manufactured in Paris, Lyons and other cities, the very best are easily distinguished by experts, fronj Cashmere. 217 the genuine India article. The Maharajah of Cashmere has full control of the exports of shawls, sending through his own agents to various European and Asiatic markets. Cashmere was conquered by the Mogul Emperor, Akbar, in 1587 ; by the Afghans in 1752 , and by the Seikhs in 1819. It was, in 1846, included in the territory transferred by the Seikhs to the Eng- lish, under the treaty of Lahore, and was immedi- ately sold by its new owners to Gholab Singh, for the sum of $3,750,000 ; but, by the compact between the Maharajah and the British Govern- ment, the Rajah is to be assisted in defending his territory against his enemies, and British supremacy is to be acknowledged. Cashmere suffered from an earthquake in 1828 that destroyed twelve hun- dred of her people ; only two months later Asiatic cholera carried off one hundred thousand in forty days ; and in 1833, famine and pestilence com- mitted still more frightful ravages. Famines that have occurred during the past five years have again made terrible havoc among the Cashmer- ians until her population which, at the beginning of the present century numbered eight hundred thousand, has been reduced to less than half that 218 Provinces and People. number by these various casualties of pestilence, famine and earthquake. Afghanistan possesses almost every variety of soil and climate ; upon the summits of the Hindu Koorsh snow lies unbroken all the year round ; European fruits and vegetables are grown on the hill-side terraces seven hundred feet above the sea-level, while on the sandy plains, dates and other palms flourish luxuriantly ; and sugar, cotton and rice are grown in the valleys. The country abounds in mineral wealth. Its mines of iron, copper, lead, salt, sulphur, saltpetre and alum being especially rich. The two chief rivers are the Helmund and Cabul ; and the four most im- portant cities, Cabul the capital, Herat, Guzin and Candahar. The Afghans are a brave, hardy race ; in religion Sunnite Mohammedans, but very toler- ant towards both Christians and Pagans. It is only since the recent war with Afghanis- tan that any portion of this great country could be properly reckoned as a constituent of British India. But since the English are to " control the foreign relations of Afghanistan," and to " have as granaries the great Kurrum and Khost Vallies," besides holding other important territory, formerly Bundelcund, 219 belonging to the Afghans, some description of the country comes properly within the scope of the present work.* Bundelcund is the mountainous region between the Vindhy ah table-land and the Jumna, and from the river Scinde on the northwest to the Tousa on the east. The whole country is intersected with small chains of mountains, and through the val- leys flow small rivers, all of which fall into the Jumna. The principal of these streams are the Betowah, Dhesan and Cane. The northern por- tion of Bundelcund contains well-watered and thickly-populated plains, but the remainder is * almost unbroken forests, said to be the finest in India. High above the- sea-level, well-watered and near the tropics, they produce the best woods of both Northern and Southern India ; the mhowa, catechu, bur, tulip-wood, tamarind, teak, cedar, and many others. Such is Buudelcund of the present ; but the past, with its ruins of cities and palaces, its vast dykes and templed hills, has also a history. Three centuries before our era this mountain principality was a component of the Empire of * Uriel details of ths history of Afghanistan will be found in chapter XXIV. 220 Provinces and People. Bindousara, and was nearly associated with Mag- adda. Huang Tcheng, the great Chinese traveller of the seventh century, describes a journey through Bundelcund, then known as Janjavati, and a " pow- erful and prosperous kingdom." During the eighth century it was invaded by the Rajput tribes of the Chandelaclan, who were in turn displaced by the Chohans of Delhi, in the tenth century. Then overrun by the Mussulman invasion, Bundel- cund ceased to have a political existence, and became a place of refuge for all the princes dispos- sessed by the Tartars. Later, it was split up into various small principalities, governed by bandit chiefs, who lived by pillage and plunged the country into ruin In the fourteenth century, Hurdeo Singh, a Rajput prince of the Gurwha tribe, was expelled from the Kshatriya caste for marrying a Bourdi slave-girl, and left the Rajputs to go and reside at the court of one of the smaller sovereigns of Central India, where a young family grew up around him. In process of time the king's son became enamoured of Hurdeo's beauti- ful daughter, and asked her in marriage of her father. Hurdeo gave his consent, on condition that the king and his whole court would be present HINDOO WOMEN OF BOMBAY IN CEREMONIAL DRESS. 221 Assassination. 223 at a banquet to be prepared by Hurdeo's own hand, thus forfeiting, as he himself had done, the right to the rank Kshatriya. From affection for his son the aged king consented to set aside his scruples, and on the nuptial day all the court were seated at the banquet around Hurdeo's princely board. There, in magnificent goblets of silver and gold, drinks containing opium were served to the guests who, being thus deprived of the power of resistance, fell an easy prey to Hurdeo's hired assassins, who stood concealed, each man armed with his weapon, behind the tap- estry at the upper end of the hall. The Gurwha having thus gained possession of this throne, soon made himself master of all the surrounding country; and, with his sons and the numerous ad- herents he had enlisted in his cause, he formed a new clan known thenceforward as the Bourdilas, or " Sons of the Slave ; " thus giving the country its present name of Boundilakund or Bundelcund. The Bourdilas still claim to be Rajputs ; but the other tribes of Rajesthan refuse to recognize them ; and regarding them as outcasts, even on their own showing, will have no association with them. They seem to have retained the physical traits of 224 Provinces and People. their Rajput ancestor, and to have fallen heir to the courage of his race ; but they inherit also the cruelty and treachery of the founder of the Bour- dilas clan, and " False as a Bourdila " has come to be a proverb among the Rajputs. The other Hindu races regard all the Bundelcund tribes as of impure blood ; and this savage country has gradually become the refuge of criminals and out- casts. Even the Brahmin of Bundelcund eats mutton and drinks intoxicating liquors, and the land has become noted for its brigandism. It was in these sombre forests that the horrible religion of the Thugs was born ; upon its lofty table-lands, formidable insurgents waged a terrible warfare against the English troops, during the mutiny of 1857. The shocking butchery of Jhansie took place within its borders ; and there Nena Saliib took refuge after the massacre of Cawnpore. There, too, for years flourished the Dacoits, a horde of highway robbers and assassins, who readily affiliate with the barbarism that isolates the mountain re- gion of this wild country from the other portions of India. This ancient principality has of late years been divided by the English into the dis- tricts of Bandah, Hummerpore, Culpee, Jaloon, THE FESTIVAL OF THE SERPENTS, BOMBAY. . H. I 15 226 Provinces and People. Jaitpore, Churgaon and Gurota, besides a number of native states and jaghires under petty Bourdilas chiefs. The chief towns are Culpee, Bandah, Jhansie, Chutturpore, Jaloon, Callinger. Into its mountainous regions, and the portions under native control, few travellers attempt to penetrate ; and they are among the least known sections of the Indian Empire. Duttiah is the capital of a small kingdom of the same name in the district of Bundelcund, nearly midway on the route from Agra to Sarigor. The State is under the protection of the English, has a territory of about eight hundred and fifty square miles, and a population of rather more than two hundred thousand. The town occupies a lovely, picturesque position among a whole belt of lakes, hills and forests. Above the red-tiled roofs of its residences rise the spires of many temples ; and standing out conspicuously above all, are two huge square buildings crowned with domes and towers, and readily recognizable as the abode of royalty. The town is surrounded by a thick wall, thirty- seven feet high, based upon rock, and strength- ened by round towers built into the wall, access being gained by fortified gates, each of which has 228 Provinces and People. its guard-house this barricade, in times of peace, being rendered necessary by the wild country around. The most noticeable features of the internal arrangements are the extreme cleanliness and excellent condition of the streets, and the many little running streams through the town. The temples are numerous, of simple construction, and somewhat peculiar form, consisting usually of a square chapel, surmounted by a high steeple flanked by four clock towers. Inside, there is even greater simplicity : merely painted walls, an altar unadorned, and the lingam of Iswara the mystic emblem Siva. The palace erected by Birsing Deo, is a square of buildings, each side being three hundred feet long, and nearly one hundred feet in height ; and the pinnacle of the' central dome towers one hun- dred and fifty feet above the level of the terrace. The facade, four stories high, has magnificent bal- conies of carved stone. The whole building is of granite, and constructed upon a vaulted terrace, the arches of which are forty feet high. The first and second stories have no court-yard, but the rooms of the third and fourth run around a ter- race, while on a level with the second, in the Birsing-Deo. 229 middle of this court-yard rises a square tower divided into four stories. This tower supports the central dome, and contains the rooms designed especially for the private apartments of the king.* One can see in all these details the con- O stant fear of assassination under which these Indian Princes live, even in times of peace, and the wonderful ingenuity displayed in constructing the means of warding off danger. Everything is massive and strong, displaying the great genius of King Birsing Deo, and the guilty fears that beset the notorious Bourdilas, whose very name has become legendary. The enormous proportions of this feudal castle unfit it for ordinary occupancy, especially for so small a court as that of Duttiah ; but in case of a siege, quite a large garrison could be accommodated here, and the king could remain in his own special apartments with all his usual belongings, and even his ordinary privacy, with his own family about him, and surrounded on all sides by his soldiers and guards, having thus the security without the publicity of life in an ordi- nary fort. *See India and its Native Princes, p. 319, from which the above is con- densed. 230 Provinces and People. On the south of the city is the palace in present use a large, many-storied edifice, built in a mixed style of architecture. In front of the pal- ace is a reservoir, with u fine fountain, around which eight sculptured elephants continually spout forth copious streams of clear water. The town has an excellent college, founded by the present sovereign, giving instruction to a hun- dred non-resident students in Persian, Oorchoo, and English, besides the ordinary course in Hindus- tanee. The Professors belong to the Benares University ; and the college has the reputation of being well-conducted, and the discipline excellent. Six miles northwest of Duttiah, is Mount Son- naghur, the " Golden Mount," a noted place of pilgrimage for the Jains of Central India. Son- naghur is the last of a small chain of hills, about one hundred and fifty feet high, that rise out of a vast plain. The hills form pyramids of huge blocks of granite, some of which stand upright, and are worshipped by the people as natural lin- gams. A little village runs around the base of the rock, but the sides and summits of every hill are crowned with temples of picturesque beauty. There are about eighty in all, some of which are PERSIANS IN BOMBAY. Dholepore. 233 supposed to date back to the thirteenth century, and the most modern to the sixteenth. From a distance the temples seem piled one upon another, and some hanging, as it were, over the precipice, while at other points the rocks seem suspended above the temples and ready to fall and crush them. The scene is all the more grand that there is not a tree or shrub anywhere in the vicin- ity nothing to break the solemn grandeur of the imposing view. The precise date of the founding of the native state of Dholepore is uncertain ; though it is known that during the ninth century a Rajput Prince, named Dhaula, established himself on the banks of the Chumbul and built a fortress that was surrendered to Baber in 1526. By the treaty of 1806, between the Maharajah of Dholepore and the English, it was agreed that the king should retain absolute authority over his own territory, free from all right of intervention on the part of the English. Dholepore, the capital, has about forty thousand inhabitants ; though from frequent inundations of the river, and from the casualties of war, the city has somewhat declined during the past few years. 234 Provinces and People. The city is about thirty-six miles from Agra. It contains in addition to the Maharajah's palace, a Mohammedan Mosque, and several temples that are worthy of notice. The Mosque, erected by Shah-Jehan in 1634, is built of red sandstone, and of exquisite workmanship. It is surrounded by an extensive Mussulman Cemetery, that contains the Mausoleum, a very marvel of beauty, erected in memory of a Sayud missionary. The sacred lake of Muchkounder lies hidden among the moun- tains about two miles from the town. According to the legend, it was created by the god Krishna to reward the hero Monchou, who had saved the god's life, and for this reason is held in great ven- eration by the Krishnayas. The present Maharajah, who received the Prince of Wales with such empressement, is spoken of as "a charming boy, who speaks English well, and delights in manly sports ; and became at once the friend of the Prince, who took to him greatly." He furnished a grand Sowaree on the occasion of the Prince's visit, and a handsome dejeuner to the Europeans. This is the young grandson of the genial old prince, Maharajah Rana Bag wan Singh, who entertained M. Rousselet and his suite so Rana Bagwan Singh. 235 kindly in 1866, and whom he describes as having a gentle, manly expression of countenance, and as wearing a steel helmet attached to a narrow circle of gold, and covered with shining emeralds, while from his breastplate depended " innumerable chains composed of pearls and diamonds." * This much- adorned prince was so highly esteemed by his subjects, that they bestowed on him the appel- lation of the " Friend of his people." Leaving the town of Dholepore, before reaching the extreme border of the state, Nourabad comes in view, opposite to which an old Hindu bridge spans the river Sauk. It is built of solid granite supported by seven pointed arches, and is said to have been erected in the sixteenth century by a society of philanthropic beggars, who obtained the money by selling consecrated oils from village to village. Its name, Tali-ka-paul, " Bridge of Oil merchants," seems to give confirmation to the tradition. Nourabad was, in the days of the Padishas, a town of note and capital of one of the provinces of North Malwar. The high walls, defended by square towers and superb monumental gates, are * Native Princes of India, page 297. 236 Provinces and People. still standing ; and it contains a palace built by Aurungzebe and the Mausoleum of the celebrated Gonna Begum, who was the author of the famous " Taza-bi-Taza," and other poems of the last cent- ury. The English high-road from Dholepore crosses the Chumbul by a bridge of boats into Gwalior, the territory of the powerful Maharajah Scindia. CHAPTER VI. GWALIOK AND SCINDIA. ANCIENT Gwalior had its fortress on the summit of an isolated rock, three hundred and forty feet high, two miles long, and three hun- dred yards at its greatest breadth. The great citadel stands as a sentinel at the entrance of the valley, and tradition places the founding at several centuries before our era. In 773, Rajah Sourya Sena strengthened the fortress by constructing the ramparts. The Kachwas held the fortress till 967 ; the Chohans to 1196, when it fell into the hands of Shahib-u-din, and in 1234, into those of the Emperor Altamsh. The Touar Rajputs be- came its masters in 1410 ; in 1519, it was annexed to the crown of Delhi, by Ibrahim Lodi ; and at the dismemberment of the Mogul Empire it fell 237 238 Grwalior and Scindia. alternately into the hands of Jats and Mahrattas. After 1779, it suffered various vicissitudes ; but in 1805 it was restored to the Scindias by treaty. Then followed half a century of comparative peace, and the Fortress itself has remained in the hands of its lawful owners. But in 1857, the Maharajah Scindia refusing to aid in the Seapoy mutiny, the fort was attacked by one of Nena Sahib's detachments, and fell temporarily into their hands ; but General Rose at once dislodged the enemy by planting his batteries on the sur- rounding heights. The attachment of Scindia to the British came very near costing him his throne, and he afterwards lost prestige among his own people by the discovery and surrender of a sup- positious Nena Sahib, heir in their eyes of the Peishwa. Yet, under the pretext of protecting the young Prince from future outbreaks of his re- bellious subjects, the English have ever since retained possession of the plateau. By the admis- sion of the English themselves, there is no ques- tion that Lord Canning promised, in 1859, to restore it to its rightful lord ; but the plea of to- day for the non-fulfilment of the pledge, is that " Lord Canning did not promise to restore it at A PARSEE MERCHANT AT BOMBAY. Maharajah Scindia. 241 once, but only that the plateau should be yielded up at some convenient season/' This seems but shallow reasoning, if those on the in- terested side are to be the sole judges of the con- veniency. But they overcome all scruples by maintaining that " it is very useful to Scindia to have a British garrison where he can be protected against the revolt of his own army and subjects." The real solution of the enigma is no doubt that the Maharajah Scindia is one of the cases that present formidable difficulties in the way of the Anglo-Indian Empire. The Prince delights in soldiering, and good judges in the English army say they have few men in their own service, " who could put a Division of the three arms through a good field-day so well as Scindia does." His " Review," before the Prince of Wales, when, robed in scarlet and gold he rode at the head of a " truly brilliant staff," was pronounced " a grand success ; " and so powerful a ruler, with these martial tendencies, and abundant leisure for brood- ing and planning, must be, in his devotion to " drilling and maneuvering," more or less cause oi anxiety to the " Paramount Power." The admin* istration of the government in this State is greatly H. I 16 242 Grwalior and Scindia. superior to that of the majority of Indian States, owing largely, no doubt, to the wise counsels of Sir Dinkur Rao, a dignified, courteous, far-seeing statesman, who was at the helm of state during the minority of the Prince; and probably in an equal degree to the noble character of the present Maharajah himself. This nobleness may be in- ferred from his answer, when the Bombay Gov- ernment desired to buy the site for the Palace of Gunnesh Khind. ' A man," was the lordly reply, "does not sell his patrimony, but lie can give it to hisfrind." The counsels of Sir Dinkur Rao may have had an influence in Scindia's decision to withhold his powerful aid from the rebels; and it is possible that the Maharajah thus preserved the independ- ence of his kingdom. It is almost certain that the cause of the English was saved at a very critical juncture by the course of Scindia and his Minister. The English rewarded the service of the latter by conferring on him the order of knighthood ; to the former, it was repaid by the unjust retention of his fort, which he lost solely by refusing to join hands with the foes of England in the hour of her extremest need. Despite all this, the Maharajah Town of G-walior. 243 Scindia maintains in his own realm a truly regal sway, while he disports a genuine royalty that is of himself and not of his surroundings. The present town of Gwalior extends to the north and east of the fortress between the Rock and the river Sawunrika. It was a large and handsome settlement with some thirty or forty thousand inhabitants ; but the founding of a new capital by the Scindias, two miles off, checked the growth of Gwalior, and attracted not only the nobility, but the higher classes of trade to the court of Lashkar. The architecture of the houses of Gwalior is good, but the streets are narrow, and there is but one monument of an earlier date than the sixteenth century. The two most noted are the Jumma Musjid, a handsome mosque flanked by two lofty minarets, and the Hatti Durwaza, " Gate of Elephants," a curious, triumphal arch, situated on a mound at the entrance of the town. Hidden among the trees, at a short distance from the fortress, is a large palace, the exterior of which is adorned with bright blue enamel ; and its fine monumental gates, still guarded with portcullis and iron doors, defend the entrances to the fort- ress. From one of these there is a superb tri- 244 Grwalior and Scindia. umphal arch; and there are monuments, bas- reliefs, cisterns, and caverns, while the very rocks contain chambers, altars, and statues innumerable. Opposite the fourth gate there is a monolith, sup- posed to date back to the fifteenth century, an elegant temple cut out of a single block of stone, and crowned with a superb pyramidal spire. The " King Pal " Palace, with its six massive towers, all adorned with balconies and pilasters, its Jain arches and sculptured bands, its blue and rose enamels, and exquisite mosaics, is a very wonder of beauty and strength ; and standing on the utmost verge of the precipice, a gigantic union of rampart and palace. The Scindias are of a powerful Mahratta family of husbandmen, of the Sudra caste, of the prov- ince of Satara. The first who carried arms and rescued their name from obscurity was Ranaji Scindia who, about the year 1725, went to the court of Poonah, and obtained the important post of slipper-bearer to the Peishwa. One day, while the Peishwa was detained longer than usual, his slipper-bearer fell asleep from very weariness of waiting, and when, at the conclusion of the audi- ence, the Peishwa looked for his slippers, he found A HINDOO TEMPLE IN THE BLACK TOWN, BOMBAY. 2 45 The Sleepy Slipper-bearer. 247 Ranaji fast asleep with the slippers clasped tightly to his bosom. The Peishwa was so touched with this proof of devotion that he at once raised Scindia to the highest office in his gift. Ranaji had the wisdom and tact to profit by his good fortune, and so to make use of his daily increasing influence that he became ere long one of the most popular leaders of the Mahratta troops ; and at his death, he left a vast kingdom in the heart of Malwa to his son Mahaji. At the terrible battle of Paniput, 1761, Mahaji fell, wounded by an axe, and was left among the dead. Ultimately, he was picked up by a water-carrier and taken to the Deccan ; and later, on his return to the court of Poonah, Scindia was again entrusted with the administration of the government. With true patriotism he devoted himself to the public ser- vice, using all the power he acquired for the benefit of the country, respecting its institutions, and re- jecting all overtures from the English, by whom he was accredited as sovereign of Malwa and Doab. His death occurring in 1794, he was suc- ceeded by his nephew, Daolut Rao Scindia, an energetic and promising youth of thirteen, who, with consummate skill in the disposition of his forces, 248 Gwalior and Scindia. extended his dominion to the Punjaub ; and having obtained possession of the person of the Padisha, kept him in retirement, on a comfort- able pension, while he himself replaced the deposed sovereign. He was the determined foe of the Anglo-Indian rule, and he put forth diligent effort to transform his undisciplined troopers into an army capable of contesting the advances of the English. His expeditions into the Deccan having brought him in contact with several French adven- turers, the remnants of General Lattry's army, their services were secured, and through their aid, the Mahratta troops were rapidly re-organized and fitted for effective service. For a time the Eng- lish were often defeated by these well-organized battalions of Mahrattas, "\vho were brave as lions, and had only needed disciplined officers to guide their movements to render them almost invincible. But unfortunately for them, Perron, one of their best officers, swayed by private interest, accepted the overtures of Wellington (then Sir Arthur Wellesley), and retired to private life with a handsome fortune. Another, Bourquien, was defeated at Delhi and made prisoner; and thus deprived of the valuable aid of his officers, Daolut Scindia Conquered. 249 Rao was completely overpowered at the battle of Lasswari in November 1803, and compelled to negotiate for peace with the promise to dismiss all his French officers, and never again to reinstate them in his army. Other defeats following, in 1818, Scindia agreed to a final treaty of peace with the English, whereby he relinquished his possession of Delhi and the Padisha, and agreed to retire with his forces beyond the Chumbul, and to allow the English to form two camps of occupation within his territory. Dankhaji, Daolut's successor, dying in 1843, without issue, quarrels concerning the succession followed, but by the intervention of the English, after two hard-fought battles, the nephew of Dankhaji was seated on the throne, and the succession established in this branch of the family. The territories of Scindia now extend from the Chumbul to the Satpura Mountains, an area of about thirty-three thousand miles, including West- ern Malwa, part of Bundelcund, of Haracouti, and of Omultwara. The population is estimated variously at from five to seven millions, but in the absence of a regular census it is difficult to deter- mine precisely the real number. The present 250 Crwalior and Scindia. capital is Gwaliorka Lashkar, or the "Camp of Gwalior " - its name agreeing well with the origin of this new' city. When Mahaji invaded this portion of India he established his head- quarters two miles from Gwalior, and wishing to maintain his Mahrattas in active service, and to prevent any intercourse between them and the conquered people, he formed a permanent camp on the spot where he himself lived under canvas among his followers. This camp became his cap- ital, whence his hordes of soldiers made plundering tours over all the surrounding country, returning occasionally to camp, where they remained during the rains. Little by little the tents were replaced by houses, where the soldiers lived surrounded by their families, bazaars sprang up, the king's tent was transformed into a royal palace, and the camp became a town. Although still called " Lashkar," it is one of the most splendid cities in India, with a population of full three hundred thousand. The fort is separated from the new capital by a plain, bounded by a picturesque range of hills consecrated to the monkey-god Hunouman, and the entrance to the suburb of the Satti Ghati or " Broken Mountain." The name seems to indicate An Indian Elysium. 253 the deep cut through the mountain that forms the road between the suburb and the town. This suburb is composed of the loveliest of Indian villas, the summer residences of the nobles of Scindia's court a perfect Elysium wreathed in orange and myrtle, the air redolent with delicious perfumes, and vocal with the sweet songs of a thousand birds. The town contains the old palace of the Scindias, a vast group of buildings in the style of Digh; and the new palace built by the present king, in a mixed style of Hindu and Ital- ian architecture which is less pretty than the old ; but within, everything is superbly beautiful, large, airy, well-ventilated apartments, with sculptures, frescoes and hangings, pictures, mirrors and furni- ture faultless and exquisitely lovely. Upwards of three hundred thousand leaves of gold were used in decorating the reception-rooms; and the grand dining-room, said to be one of the finest saloons in the world, has chandeliers of wondrous beauty and most unique design, and the walls are lined with immense mirrors of exquisite workman- ship. The bedstead, washing service, and bath of the prince are all of solid silver, as are also all the lamps of the private apartments. 254 Owalior and Scindia. The old palace of the kings of Gwalior covers an immense area on the east of the plateau. It is not the work of any one prince or dynasty, but has been added to by each from the time of the six- teenth century. The temple of Adinath is an unusually fine specimen of the old Jam architecture of the six- teenth century, similar to the ancient sanctuaries of Mount Aboo ; and many of the superb ara- besques that adorn the pillars are cut in the pol- ished stone with wonderful effect. The great Cihara temple, standing in the centre of the plateau, must have been Buddhist at the first, as there is still discernible against the wall in the large apartment on the ground floor the outline of a gigantic statue of Buddha, showing where it stood against the wall. It is probable, however, that the Jains took possession of the temple and devoted it to their own worship after the expulsion of the Buddhists from India. From this point extend the long line of English barracks which, neat, orderly and well-kept as they unques- tionably are, must be a terrible source of annoy- ance to the Maharajah, and a perpetual reminder of the broken faith of his allies. Possiblv these Attar of Hoses. 255 associations and the foundation upon which they rest may account for the sad, far-away look of the eyes, and the almost melancholy expression about the whole face of this noble prince, giving the features when in repose an older look than their forty years would warrant. But it is a noble, princely face withal, and replete, as is every gest- ure and attitude, with a dignity truly royal. The ceremony of attar and pan, that always concludes an Indian " Durbar," i. e., a full-dress reception given by a sovereign or personage of exalted rank is, at this court performed with more than the ordinary expenditure of royal mu- nificence. Each guest receives a dainty handker- chief of delicately embroidered India muslin, which he places folded on the palm of his right hand; then the Maharajah rises, and going for- ward to each in turn, pours attar of roses on the handkerchief, and presents the visitor with betel- nut, cerie'-leaves and cardamoms ; at the same time throwing about the neck a garland of jessamine or tube roses fastened with a string of small pearls. It is only to European visitors and to natives of the very highest rank that an Indian Maharajah performs this ceremony in person, while others of 256 Crwalior and Scindia. less exalted position are waited on by one of the ministers. A single example will suffice to show the method of governing adopted by the native princes of India in the olden times, before the advent of British rule. Meywar is one of the grandest of the native states, having for its capital, Oudey- pore, " City of the Rising Sun," and for its sover- eign the Maharana, who is the recognized repre- sentative of the famous Indian " Race of the Sun," and acknowledged by all the Rajput Princes as the head of their nation. Yet, in this very kingdom of Meywar there has always existed a Feudal Council composed of sixteen Raos or Dukes, whose influence and authority is so power- ful as almost to nullify the kingly prerogative, or to render the power of the sovereign little more than nominal. These Raos, who are usually descend- ants of the Royal family, have the kingdom divided among themselves into large fiefs entirely inde- pendent of each other, and, to a great extent, of the general government. Each governs in his own capital after his own will, rarely visiting Oudey- pore and still more rarely referring any decision to the Maharana not opposing his authority, but . I. 17 PARSEE LADY AND HER DAUGHTER A Feudal Council. 259 almost ignoring it. The chief of these Dukes or Feudal Lords is the Rao of Baidlah who, govern- ing a large territory and having his capital near to Oudeypore, is a frequent visitor of the Maharana, presenting himself at the court without previous announcement, and without any humiliating cere- mony, but always with dignity and deference to the king. The present Rao, a fine-looking old courtier, is both genial and politic, living on ex- cellent terms with his Prince, and at the same time maintaining kindly relations with the Eng- lish Government. He very evidently favors the introduction of European commerce and improve- ments, but declines to abate one tittle of the splendor or ancient routine of the court of Oudey- pore, or one tittle of the deference due to his Sov- ereign from the " outside world," or to the feudal rights of the nobles. He is, nevertheless, in high favor with Queen Victoria, who presented to him a magnificent jewelled sword in return for the protection and support he afforded to European fugitives from Indore and Neemuch during the mutiny of 1857. It was due mainly to his influ- ence that they were protected in the little island of Jugmunder, and for so many months were fur- 260 Gf-walior and Scindia. nished with all needed supplies at the expense of the Oudeypore Government. He belongs to the tribe of the Chohans, and enjoys several rather curious pre- rogatives, the strangest of which is, that all the in- signia of royalty are sent to him at Baidlah on the third of the month of Samvatsiri, when, having donned the regal paraphernalia, he goes in state, attended with all the pomp and parade of a sover- eign, to visit the Rana, who, in person receives the illustrious guest at the door and conducts him within. A few hours later, he comes forth, and returns to his own feudal palace, personating no longer the Rana, but once more occupying his own position as Rao of Baidlah. Most native prisons are clean, comfortable and well-kept. The superintendent lives on the prem- ises in a separate building ; and the prisoners are lodged under great sheds, where they sleep on the floor in lines of fifty or more. Their chains are fastened at night to long iron bars that run the entire length of the halls; but the shackles are riveted only to one ankle. The chain is seldom heavy, except where the prisoner has attempted to escape and been recaptured; and the length is sufficient to permit running and lying down with Native Prisons. 261 ease. There is no special uniform for convicts, but each man wears the clothes he happened to have on when first brought to the prison. Scru- ples of caste are carefully respected, every man re- ceiving his food raw, and preparing it himself, for which purpose he is permitted to light a fire and draw water at option. Prisoners are generally employed in making roads, and keeping them in repair ; but they work only a few hours daily, and are not under strict surveillance. Severe punish- ments are seldom inflicted under native officers, except in cases of extreme aggravation. CHAPTER VII. CLIMATE AND SOIL. EXTENDING over so vast a region, there is of course great diversity of climate and productions in the different sections of India. The Monsoons, or periodical Trade Winds, also exert a decided influence on temperature, more especially near the coast. The Northeast Monsoon commences about the middle of November, and the Southwest, towards the middle of May, though the time varies somewhat in different latitudes, and the change of the Monsoon is nearly always attended by stormy weather, sometimes by fright- ful hurricanes and destructive tornadoes. The seasons are three in number ; hot, rainy, and cold. The temperature of respective localities is mod- ified, not only by latitude but by local surround- 262 Seasons. 265 ings; but after making due allowance for these causes, the hottest months all through India will be March, April, May and June. Then follow the rains, from June 15th to October 15th, when the showers fall heavy and fast for part, at least, of every day, and sometimes for many days together, without intermission, till the low lands are covered with water, and the roads in some localities utterly impassable. In other places, fields and meadows, before parched and dry, are clothed in emerald- green, shrubs and flowers assume brighter tints, and all nature, vegetable and animal, looks re- freshed and revivified by this welcome change from the long, hot, sweltering days of the exhaust- ing summer. About the middle of October the rains subside, the atmosphere clears, and a pure, cool (not cold), salubrious temperature succeeds. This is, to Europeans, the pleasantest time of all the year, and the most healthful. But orientals, as a rule, prefer the hot months, and seem glad when the " cold season," as they call it, is over. Thus every year, for eight months, the sun shines stead- ily, with rarely a shadow across his cheery face ; and then for four months the rain falls without " let or hindrance." Yet a beneficent Father has 266 Climate and Soil. provided an antidote for what seems to us in tem- perate latitudes a ruinous drought, during those eight rainless months. The dews all over South- ern Asia are very heavy, not only diminishing the heat, but greatly refreshing vegetation and per- fecting growth, that must otherwise have been stunted and blasted by excessive heat. In Jeypore, and some other portions of the Raj- put territory where the lands are hilly and broken, the seasons are more decided than in Southern India. The winters are so cold that the thermom- eter falls often to zero in the early morning hours, during the month of January, while the summers are dry and hot. In March, the hot winds, the great scourge of Upper India, begin to blow, the season being ushered in by storms of sand carried along with such violence as to do great damage, especially in the province of Malwa and the Jat country. The heavens are overcast by pale yel- low clouds, charged with sand and vapor, that in falling are unpleasant beyond measure. These storms are succeeded by hot winds from the west, their heat being still more increased by their pass- ing for hundreds of miles over the burning sands of Persia and Beloochistan. Such is the intense The Madras Climate. 267 heat of these winds, that during their prevalence the ground becomes parched, trees cast their leaves, and vegetation is completely at a stand. At Madras, this hot wind prevails during the months of April and May. Sweeping over the Western Ghauts, it deposits there its moisture, and crossing the burning plains of Mysore and the Carnatic, it reaches the eastern shore of Southern India so dry and heated as to be almost as unen- durable as the air from an open furnace. Animal and vegetable nature wilt beneath its influence, and Europeans, or those who have come from colder lands, shrink from this sirocco within the shelter of their houses where every window and door facing the west must be carefully closed, and covered with thick mats. These are kept con- stantly wet, day and night, by coolies who stand with buckets of water, and every half-hour give the mats a thorough drenching from ceiling to floor. As the result of the wind being brought in contact with the mass of wet matting, it loses a portion of its heat, and the surrounding air is renewed and freshened. Without these precau- tions it would be impossible for foreigners to live in an atmosphere, exposed to which, flowers in 268 Climate and Soil, vases will turn black and crisp, as from the effects of fire ; the covers of pamphlets curl up, and the face, of furniture becomes so heated that one can scarcely bear his hand upon it. Happily, these winds are intermittent, blowing only for a few weeks at a time, and then there is a brief interval of less exhaustive heat, after which the hot winds again prevail, and so on until about the middle of June, when the blessed rain begins to descend, giving new life and vigor to every- thing that lives and breathes. One or two heavy storms changa the whole aspect of nature the sand disappears beneath a luxuriant carpet of em- erald grass, bright flowers dot the meadows where shortly before they would have been parched with heat, and trees are clothed in verdure that will be quickly followed by blossoms and ripe fruit. But India is withal a good land to dwell in fer- tile, productive and healthful to those accustomed to the heat, yielding freely, and with comparatively little labor, an abundance of the good things needed to sustain life and supply all the wants of its teeming millions. This was eminently true, with only very rare exceptions, in the former times, before the advent of British power in India ; and " Famines. 271 that days of plenty have, so frequently of late years been supplanted by frightful and oft-repeated famines, seems due, not to the country itself, nor to its native inhabitants, but to three items of mismanagement on the part of its foreign custo- dians. The first of these is the enforced culture of opium, taking up extensive tracts of the best lands that might otherwise be devoted to the growth of breadstuffs, and supply food to thous- ands of those who annually perish from famine. Much additional land has been occupied by the English in the construction of railways for their own accommodation, in conveying troops from point to point, erecting extensive military barracks, forts and arsenals, and the building of palatial Government Houses, Residences and Villas with extensive Parks and Gardens, thus still more diminishing the area of " bread-lands " and the consequent resources of the people. The second cause of destitution is found in the excessive tax- ation, that keeps the laboring classes, cultivators especiall}*, so ground down by poverty, that they can barely live in times of plenty, and, having absolutely nothing laid by with which to purchase redemption from death when the famine is upon 272 Climate and Soil. them, they have no alternative but to die of starva- tion. The third cause is the lack of sufficient irri- gation, which England might surely afford to supply in return for all the territory and treasure she has appropriated in that fair land. Despite the injustice of the compulsory cultivation of opium, and the large tracts of land thus perverted from their legitimate use, it is believed by com- petent judges that with such irrigation as could be readily supplied, this broad land might still be made to furnish abundant sustenance for all its people. But impoverished as the masses are, this great work of irrigation could never be done by the tax-payers, and must, if accomplished at all, be the work of those who appropriate the immense revenues of the Indian Empire. One who was upon the ground at the time, states that " The en- hancement of the land-tax in 1874 and 1875 resulted, in the three Collectorals of Sholopore, Poonah, and Satara alone, in more than forty thousand evictions in a single year! What wonder that the famine of 1876 and 1877 raged with most severity in the Sholopore Collectorate, where most of these evictions took place." Of the warmer portions of India, rice, which is Productions. 273 the common food of the people, is the staple prod- uct; but wheat, barley, millet, buckwheat and maize are all extensively cultivated in different sections of the land. During the past few years, India has become one of the largest wheat-growing countries in the world, and it is believed, that with the completion of the Indus Railway the price of transportation will be sufficiently reduced to en- courage a very extensive exportation of wheat from the Punjaub. Cotton, sugar, indigo and tobacco yield abundant returns in many parts ; esculents and kitchen vegetables are varied and abundant, and fruits of both tropic and temperate latitudes flourish in the several sections. Among the specialties of India, there is one found in the Cashmere Valley not common elsewhere. This is the Singhara or Water-nut (tra-pa-bis-pinosa) of which more than sixty thousand tons are annually gathered from the Wutter Lake. This nut, though rather insipid, is considered very nutritious, and thousands of Cashmerians subsist on it entirely. The nut is usually ground and made either into paste, or baked in leaves. It is also eaten boiled or roasted. Experiments prove that very many of the European vegetables will grow readily and H. I. 18 274 Climate and Soil. well on Indian soil by irrigation. Thus far, how- ever, they have been cultivated only by the native nobles and by the English, and they can rarely be purchased either in the bazaars or from the farmers. The potato seems, of all that have been tried, the most difficult to acclimate ; and except on the Neilgherries, the Ghauts, and the abutments of the Himalayas, the potato growth has proved a fail- ure. The lack of accustomed vegetables, and of the light-raised bread that constitutes so impor- tant" an article of diet at home, not only interferes with the comfort of foreign travellers in India, but is also a fruitful source of ill-health, especially to the unacclimated stranger. There is, however, considerable compensation found in the abundance, variety and excellent quality of the fruits, of which many varieties, ripe, luscious and freshly- gathered may be placed on the board every day in the year. India has also its vegetable curiosities, both of fruits and trees. The Cashew nut anacardium occidentale is an out-branching tree, seldom more than fifteen or sixteen feet high, and in appearance somewhat resembling the walnut tree, with large, oval, blunt, alternate leaves, and a fragrant, rose- Trees and Fruits. 275 colored flower. The fruit is pear-shaped, and its curious feature is a crescent or kidney-shaped nut growing on the end, outside of the fruit where it looks odd enough in its grave coat of russet-brown. The fruit itself has a pretty, pinkish tinge, and an acid, though rather agreeable taste. The nuts, roasted, are both palatable and nutritions. The Banian, ficus Indica* is the king of the Indian forests, a stately, royal-looking patriarch, that stands in hoary grandeur, surrounded by his descendants of three and four centuries old. It has the faculty of throwing off from its branches supplementary roots that grow very rapidly up- ward and soon become in their turn stems for the support of the parent branches, thus extending wider and wider their domain. The Indians have a legend that it was from a Banian in the garden of Eden that our first parents " gathered fig-leaves and made themselves aprons," and that it was also a Banian that gave them their first idea of con- structing houses for habitation. This tree produces small figs that grow in bunches on the stems and branches. Small fruit for so huge a tree. But this seems one of the peculiarities of the trees of the tropics. The 276 Climate and Soil. lovely tamarind tree that grows to fully a hundred feet in height, and fifteen feet in circumference, with branches widely extended, has a dense foliage of bright green, composite leaves, in form and size nearly resembling the little sensitive plant. The flowers also are small, hanging in golden-hued clusters, veined with scarlet, and the fruit is in pods, like beans, three or four inches in length. Near the village of Rataupee, on the banks of the Nerbudda, is the famous Kabirabar, the oldest and largest Banian in India. The Hindu tradition is, that it was planted by the sage Kabira before the Christian era. By the continual increase of its branches, shooting downwards and sending forth new stems, it had grown to cover an area of more than a thousand yards ir circumference. Dur- ing the first decade of the present century this great tree was seriously injured by a hurricane, and though gradually recovering, it does not yet cover more than a circuit of seven hundred yards. The central trunk has long ago disappeared, and the vacancy is filled by a picturesque little temple. Miss Britain, of Calcutta, while on a recent visit to an ancient temple in Allahabad, saw, in a dark corner of a grotto under ground, a pepul tree A Useful Tree. 279 which has been growing for hundreds of years in utter darkness. The leaves of this pepul are per- fectly white, frosted with the centuries, and rising as an imperial crown above its hoary head. The Mhowah or Mahwah, cassia-latifolia, is one of the most important trees of the Indian forest. It has a straight trunk of immense diam- eter, its branches are raised gracefully like the sconces of a candelabra, and its dark green foliage is spread out in successive stories, casting a thick shade -all about the tree. Towards the end of February its leaves fall quite suddenly, leaving the tree completely bare. These leaves are gath- ered, and used for bedding, roofing, and caps or hats. A few days after the shedding of the leaves the candelabras fill rapidly with masses of flowers, looking like small, round fruit, and arranged in clusters. The petals, which are pale yellow, form a berry about as large as an ordinary grape, which leaves room for the stamen to pass through a small aperture, and when fully ripe these petals fall naturally. The Indians only remove the brush-wood from around the tree,' and every evening the fallen flowers form a thick bed which is carefully collected. This shower continues for 280 Climate and Soil. several days, a single tree yielding an average weight of one hundred and twenty-five pounds of flowers each year. These flowers are the manna of the jungle, and their greater or less abundance decides the famine or plenty of the region. When fresh they have rather a pleasant taste, and the natives consume great quantities in this state. They also make them into cakes, and into quite a variety of dishes. But the larger portion is dried and laid by for use during the year till the coming of the next crop ; and after having been cured, the blos- soms are ground into flour, that is baked in loaves or cakes. By fermentation the Mhowah flowers produce a pleasant wine ; by distillation a strong brandy, and of the residue, good vinegar is made. When the flowers have disappeared the leaves re- turn, and rapidly cover the tree again ; and in April the fruit comes to replace the flowers. The fruit is almond-shaped, with a violet-colored shell covering a smooth, hard envelope, that contains a delicate almond, pure white and very luscious. These nuts are used for cakes, and eaten also in form of paste ; and by pressure they make an ex- cellent oil, after which, the refuse serves for fatten- ing buffaloes. The bark of the tree yields woody The Wiowah. 281 fibre, used for making ropes ; and the wood is val- uable for building, as it is one of the few species of timber that will resist the attacks of the white ant. The Ghounds, Bheels, Mhairs, and Minas regard this tree as equal to the gods ; they hold their solemn assemblies beneath its shade, where also, contracts, betrothals and marriages are ar- ranged ; on its branches they suspend offerings and sacrifices ; and around its roots they spread those mysterious circles of stones that represent their objects of worship. They will fight desper- ately in defence of their Mhowahs ; and where these trees disappeared the Bheel and the Ghound are seen no more. This much-esteemed tree is occasionally cultivated in the plain, but it is indig- enous to the mountain regions. CHAPTER VIII. THE CASTE SYSTEM. CASTE, is a Portuguese word that is used by the English to express the meaning of the Hindu word Jathi, the term applied by them to the distinction of classes or tribes among the Hindus, though they apply the same word to for- eigners, to distinguish between nations ; as the English Jathi, the Portuguese Jathi, and so on. The term Hindu, as applied by the natives, means not so much the people of Hindustan as it does the members of all the various sects who have adopted the S3'stem of castes, and yield to the supremacy of the Brahmins. Caste may be called the cement that binds together all these numerous sects and classes ; not merely separating each one from all others, but compacting the 282 The Four Castes. 285 whole, forming of dissimilar and uncongenial units an almost impregnable wall that closely binds together the whole Hindu people, but equally divides them from all the rest of the world. Prop- erly speaking, there are but four castes ; and ac- cording to the Hindu Vedas, these were ordained of the gods, while all outside of these are casteless or outcasts. The four divinely-instituted castes are, the Brahmin, the Kschatrya, the Vaishya, and the Sudra. On the same authority it is asserted that the Brahmins sprang from the head of the Creator Brahma, and having thus proceeded from his noblest part, they are by birth pre-eminent in dignity and holiness, and by right the priests and law-givers of the nation. The Kschatryas, having sprung from the shoul- ders of the god, are predestined to the kingly and military offices to govern the nation and to do their fighting. The Vaishyas, who proceeded from the god's body, are to provide for the pecuniary support of the State, doing duty as merchants, and filling all the departments of trade. The Sudras sprang from the feet of Brahma, and being thus the lowest of all they must per- 286 The Caste System. form all mechanical and servile labor for the higher castes, especially the Brahmins. Such was the divine decree, as promulgated by the Brahmins, who took care to appropriate to themselves the highest place ; and such was prob- ably the original system as practised at first. But the passing years have made great changes, the military and mercantile castes have almost disap- peared as distinct organizations, and the great division is now between the Brahmins and Soudras. But these have been divided and subdivided into a great many others, until it is commonly said, that there are eighteen high castes, and one hun- dred and eight low castes, each trade and calling having one of its own ; while a very large class, known as Pariahs, or outcasts, have no caste at all. But even Pariahs have grades and distinc- tions of rank among themselves, of which they are just as tenacious as those recognized as their supe- riors can possibly be of their own. Among the many subdivisions still maintained, at least in the letter, if not in the spirit of this wonderful sys- tem, the Brahmins have four sects, the Kschatryas three, the Vaishyas three, and the Soudras eighty- five, some of the last being again subdivided, as Division of Castes. 287 the class of Soudras who cultivate the soil have no less than twenty distinct castes. So very rig- orous are these exactions of caste, that the chil- dren of a carpenter can rnarry only the offspring of other carpenters ; the sons of a washerman may seek wives only in the families of others of the same craft ; boatmen must marr}' boatmen's daugh- ters ; and so on through every vocation or busi- ness, high or low. Neither may a man change his calling, nor enter any other than that to which his ancestors belonged. If the father and grand- father have been syces or dhobis, or grass-cutters, so perforce must be the sons to the latest genera- tion ; and there is no possibility of any rise in rank, or of bettering of the condition in life, except by losing caste ; and this system gives the death- blow to ever} r thing like " progress," and ambition to attain to higher wisdom or excellence than their forefathers. The Brahmins are the most powerful, as they are the most domineering and insolent of all the castes. Assuming to themselves the rights of gods, they relentlessly trample under foot those of all others. They dress altogether in white attire with marks of clay on their foreheads, arms, and 288 The Caste System. bodies, and the poita or sacred cord over the shoul- der. They observe a strictly vegetable diet, and abstain not only from intoxicating drinks, but even from tobacco in every form. When the son of a Brahmin is twelve days old, a festival is held in honor of his naming; when six months of age, another feast marks the giving of his first meal of solid food, and a third season of rejoicing occurs when he is two years old, at which time his head is shaved, his ears bored, his nails pared, and he is robed in a new style of garments. But the most important epoch in the life of a Brahmin, is when he is nine years of age. Then, amid feasting and revelry, songs, shouts and rejoicings, he is invested with " the sacred cord," consisting of a hundred and eight threads, made of cotton, gathered and spun by Brahmins. The cord is worn over the left shoulder, and passes across the breast to the right hip. At the time of the investiture, the novice is taught the gayatri or Brahminical prayer, that no lips but those of a Brahmin may pro- nounce ; and the young heir being thereby in- stated in his legal rights, is thenceforth regarded as " twice born." For the other castes no special ceremonies are MEETING OF TRAVELLERS WITH THE MAHARAJAH OF 289 TT i 19 CHUTTERPORE. Caste Organization. 291 prescribed, as they are deemed so far inferior to the lordly Brahmins. But each caste has its sepa- rate legal organization, and administers its own laws, no other daring to interfere. None of those belonging to one caste may enter the abode, or eat in the presence of the members of another. Should he presume to do so the penalty is fearful. All his worldly possessions, of whatever sort, are confiscated to the caste he has disgraced ; and worse than all, his wife is absolved from her vows, and his children no longer acknowledge him as father. It is only on the most humiliating terms, and by making the fullest reparation that he can be restored to favor. Each caste bounds its duties and hospitality by the extent of its own circle ; for to give or receive favors beyond this limit renders both parties to the profanation accursed. Nor is it only high-castes that are thus profaned by contact with others. Even the outcast Pariah, who feeds on carrion, finds some one beneath him, on whom he may look down ; and the very lowest Soudra would deem it defilement to receive a cup of tea from the hands of any king in Europe. For a high-caste pauper is regarded as the supe- rior of a low-caste (or no-caste) sovereign ; and 292 The Caste System. many a poor woman has, during the famines, died of starvation rather than receive food from the hands of benevolent foreigners. The breaking of the rules of caste is punished by fines, beating, or burning with red-hot irons, according to the nat- ure of the offence ; besides which, if the offence be serious the offender is driven out from parents, wife and children, who refuse to eat with him, or give him a drop of water, and his society is thencefor- ward shunned by all. He not only sinks to a lower caste : he becomes a Pariah, an outcast, a dog, and a vagabond upon the face of the earth. Though the offence should be involuntary, or acci- dental, the penalty is just the same ; for it is the defilement, not the sin, that makes the crime. Mr. Dulles mentions a wealthy Brahmin who, from pure spite, was seized by a European, and beef and wine forced down his throat. He resisted to the utmost of his strength, but his foe was the stronger of the two, and the Brahmin became an outcast. After three years, his friends spent forty thousand dollars in endeavoring to have his caste restored, but in vain. Later, another attempt at a cost of one hundred thousand dollars was made, and the Losing Caste. 293 Brahmin was reinstated, after having to submit to the most humiliating and revolting penalties. During the reign of the cruel Tippoo Sahib, lie endeavored to force the Hindus to adopt the Mos- lem faith, and compelled a number of them to eat beef as an evidence that they had forsaken their national religion. After the overthrow and death of the tyrant, these men prayed earnestly, but without avail, to be reinstated in their old caste privileges, and to the day of their death they had to endure all the penalties of outcasts, for the fault of another. No penalty was deemed suffi- cient to atone for the horrible crime of sacrilege in eating the flesh of the "sacred cow." For theft, fraud, lying, perjury or adultery, they might have atoned ; but the stain of beef-eating could neither be forgiven nor washed away ! It is quite impossible at the present day for the Hindus, after centuries of subjection to foreign rule, Mohammedan and English, and all the changes thereby induced, to conform to and en- force the rules of caste, as in the old Hindu days. But there is still the old clinging to the system, and a stubborn determination, as far as practica- ble, to carry out the teachings of the Shasters. 294 The Caste System. With all the wrong it engenders, caste, it must be admitted, offers some advantages ; and these are of just the nature to find favor in the eyes of the calm, contemplative, unambitious Hindu of the middle and upper classes. He does not care to rise above his easy, tranquil life, or to go out of the stereotyped habits that have become his second nature ; and he has no fear of falling out of the position he has inherited, since the bounds are fixed and immovable. If he travel in other sec- tions of his country, however far from home, he finds always a shelter and a welcome with those of his own fraternity ; while no one, in his absence, though it should be prolonged to years, would ever risk loss of caste by interfering with his homestead or rights, while the owner was away. Different castes preponderate in different local- ities ; as, for example, in Bombay, the largest depot for trade and the commercial metropolis of India, Kschatryas number but few, while the two wealth- ier castes, Brahmins and Vaishyas (merchants) greatly exceed all others. The former merely in- vest capital, and reap large profits, while seeming to take no part in such worldly affairs ; while the Vaishyas, some classes of them especially, give all Various Castes. 297 their time and energies to trade. The Purvus, a caste or class immediately below the Brahmins, are a civil, upright, active set of men, filling for the most part, places in the Custom House, and other government establishments, and acting in mercantile houses, as cashiers and shipping clerks. Many of this class have filled places of responsi- bility, and amassed fortunes in the European ser- vice, public and private ; sometimes even rising to the position of members of the Governor's Council. The Purvus wear gay-colored turbans of an enormous size, by which they are readily recognized as far as they can be seen, and hence are easily found when their services are in requisi- tion. Another class are the Khayats or Scribes, who are generally good linguists, and often fill the office of interpreter to ships, in courts, and else- where. The Buniahs are a large and influential class of merchants, and they are the most noted speculators in India cottons and English linens, from which Bombay derives such an immense rev- enue. They are also noted as bankers and brokers. The dress of the Buniahs is peculiar. It consists of a Sdrong or waist-cloth, adorned 298 The Caste System. with a broad red band, and folded tight about the limbs ; a long, tight-fitting calico tunic, descend- ing almost to the feet, and a round turban coiled O like a snake about the head. These quaint tur- bans are quite in contrast with the high, stiff hate of the Parsees, another merchant caste of Bom- bay, very numerous and noted for wealth, energy, and uprightness. The Parsees and Buniahs are often partners in business, but not in society. Perhaps one of the very strangest things in re- gard to caste, is its rules in respect to the sick and dying. If a person supposed to be dying has been taken down to the Ganges to breathe his last near that holy river, and he should afterwards re- cover, it is deemed by all his friends the greatest misfortune that could possibly befall him and them. For he thus becomes an outcast, and un- clean, so that even his nearest relatives dare not speak to him or permit him to enter their houses, on pain of loss of caste, the great terror of the Hindu. His own wife and children, however dearly they may love him, can never eat with him again or offer him the least attention ; and if by any chance they should happen to touch him, they must wash their bodies, and purify themselves by The Loss of Caste. 299 various ceremonies and offerings, to be cleansed from the pollution. A gentleman travelling in the East, some years ago, had with him several servants and a dog ; and one day they stopped near the banks of the Ganges to rest and look about them. All of a sudden the dog disappeared, and after considerable search he was found licking A human body that was lying near the river bank. On examination, Mr. N found that the man who had been left here to die was still alive, and, he judged from appearances, might possibly recover. So he directed his servants to wash off the mud from the poor fellow's face, roll him carefully in a blanket and take care of him. The invalid was in a few days entirely restored, but he manifested such terror at the outcast life that awaited him that he preferred to go with this strange gentle- man to a country he knew nothing of than to be left in his old home, where he was looked at as utterly unclean and worse than dead. About fifty miles north of Calcutta are two villages inhabited en- tirely by poor creatures who have become outcasts in consequence of their recovery, after having been taken down to the Ganges to die. CHAPTER IX. CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. OF the. first introduction of Christianity in- to India we have no trustworthy record. Though Eusebius speaks of St. Bartholomew's go- ing to India, and Socrates, speaking of the divis- ion of the Gentile world by the Apostles, says : " India was assigned to St. Bartholomew," it is by no means certain what part of the world was alluded to under the general term of India as then used. The Syrian Christians of Travancore and Malabar have a tradition that St. Thomas preached the Gospel in many portions of the Indian Peninsula j and an original manuscript is said to be in existence among the Malabar Chris- tians containing the record of a visit of the Apostle Thomas to that region, A. D. 52 ; of many 300 St. Thomas of India. 301 converts being made by him; and of his being subsequently put to death on the Mount outside the town of Meliapore, now called by Europeans, St. Thome*, and not far from the city of Madras. Other writers place the date of the first introduc- tion of Christianity into India, in the fourth century, during the reign of Constantine ; while the Nestorians claim to have been the pioneers in this work, during the early part of the sixth cent- ury. Amid these conflicting statements, it is now impossible to determine the correctness of either ; but it is certain that the early Portuguese settlers, who arrived on the Malabar coast about A.D. 1504, found there a Christian king, with numerous churches, and a large body of professing Chris- tians. Their worship is described as pure and simple wholly unlike the forms and ceremonies used by the new-comers, who vainly sought to subjugate the Malabar Christians to the authority of the Pope they persistently ignoring his right to interfere with their religion, and questioning the very existence of any such personage as a papal head to the Christian church. They claimed for themselves an existence of nearly thirteen centuries, and for their bishops a regular succes- 302 Christian Missions. eion from the patriarch of Antioch, "where," said they triumphantly, the " disciples were first called Christians ; but where was no Pope." For more than a century this ecclesiastical war was waged but the oriental Christians were the weaker side, and corruptions, too, had gradually crept in among this simple-hearted folk, until at last, worn out by opposition, they laid down their arms, as it were, under protest, and were compelled to submit to the dogmas of the Church of Rome ; and farther, to the decree passed by the Pope, that "All Syrian books on ecclesiastical subjects shall be burned in order that no pretended apostolical monuments may remain." The records of the Syrian Christians still extant, declare that ' ' while their books were burning the bishops went round in procession, chanting a song of triumph." But it was only among the churches on the sea- coast that these violent measures achieved even a partial success ; those of the interior avowed theii opposition, concealed their Bibles and religious books, fled to the mountains, and when pursued, appealed to the native princes for protection. The establishment of the Inquisition at Goa, about 1560, put the finishing touch to the enormities of The Portuguese. 305 the Romish priests, and drove thousands of the nominal Christians, baptized by the excellent Xavier, back into the Hindu and Moslem churches before he had been for a single decade in his peaceful tomb. For more than two centuries the Portuguese were untiring in their efforts to proselyte the Hindus ; resorting, when force and severity had failed, to all manner of deceptions, disguises and concessions professing the warmest attachment to native institutions, adopting the Hindu garb, and abstaining, like the Brahmins, from all animal food and stimulating drinks ; while the priests de- clared themselves the immediate descendants of the Hindu god Brahma ! Among those who thus added perjury to hypocrisy, was the famous Robert de Nobili, a nephew of Cardinal Bellarmine, and a near relative of the Pope. In the furtherance of his infamous plans, Nobili caused to be written in Hindustanee, a new Veda, as he called the forgery he attempted to palm off on the .unsuspecting Brahmins as a genuine native production, in which the doctrines and dogmas of the Romish church were artfully interwoven with Hindu fables, and Brahminical lore. H. I. 20 306 Christian Missions. With the passing years, this amalgamation in- creased till, as conceded by the Abbe* Dubois : " The Hindu pageantry is chiefly seen in the festi- vals celebrated by the native Christians ; " and in many places the same car was used on Hindu fes- tival days for idol-deities, and on Romish high-days for images of the saints. Such is Romanism in India at the present day. Its adherents are composed mainly of the descend- ants of the mixed marriages of Portuguese and natives, and nominal converts who, but for their form of baptism, differ in no respect from their heathen neighbors, with a very small sprinkling of foreign priests or bishops, generally Italians. The majority of the clergy are natives of the country, educated at Goa, frequently of intemperate habits, and nearly always of debased moral character; while the mass of the people are the most ignorant, unpromising, and degraded class in India. The Bible has always been withheld from them, no portion of the Scriptures being ever translated by popish missionaries into any of the languages of the East ; and only the most garbled versions of the inspired record communicated to the people in the oral instructions of the priests. Protestant Missions. 309 The first Protestant mission in India was com- menced by the Danish Government at Tranque- bar, on the Coromandel coast, in the early part of the eighteenth century, at the instigation of Dr. Lutkins, one of the chaplains of the King of Den- mark. The first missionaries were Messrs. Ziegen- balg and Plutschau, who arrived at Tranquebar in 1705. Though opposed and persecuted oftener by Europeans than Hindus their work pro- gressed ; another missionary joined the first, a printing-press, printer, and physician were soon added, the New Testament was translated and printed in Tamil, and other works, including a dic- tionary of the language, were prepared and printed. When Ziegenbalg died in 1719, after thirteen years of most faithful and self-denying labors, a noble band of three hundred and fifty- five native converts attested his success in laboring for their salvation. Seven years later, the number had been nearly doubled ; and despite the counter- acting influence of almost incessant wars between the several European nations and the natives, and the immoral lives led by the majority of the for- eign residents, " the little one became a thousand, and the small one mighty." 310 Christian Missions. In 1733, the first native pastor was ordained ; in 1727 the Madras Mission, under the auspices of the Christian Knowledge Society, was founded by Dr. Schultze, who had previously completed the Tamil Old Testament, begun by Ziegenbalg ; and in 1737 a third mission was established at Cudda- lore, on the same coast. In 1750, the immortal Schwartz began his great work in India, which was. continued for forty-eight years with such unflinch- ing zeal and fidelity as to evoke the highest en- comiums of both Christians and pagans ; while such was his reputation among Moslems that the haughty Hyder Ali, when refusing to receive the English Embassy, said : " Send me the Chris- tian (Schwartz) ; he will not deceive me." The same man, on his death-bed, sent for Schwartz, and entreated him to become the guardian and educator of his adopted son Serfogee, the future Rajah of Tanjore, and the same who, at the demise of Schwartz, sixteen years afterwards, delayed the funeral " that he might look once more upon the face of his friend, that he bedewed with tears, and covered with cloth of gold, ere the coffin hid it from his sight." The church in Tanjore, where this great apostle preached, and the chapel where THE MOIIORl'M (NEW-YEAR FESTIVAL), AT BHOPAL. 3" English Missions. 313 his remains are interred, are both still used for Christian worship ; and in the wall opposite the pulpit of the former, is a beautiful monument of white marble, by Flaxman, erected at the expense of the Rajah. The design is the closing scene of the missionary's life, whence, surrounded by weep- ing pupils and friends, the Rajah himself among them, and the dying eyes fixed upon the cross held aloft by a descending angel, the good man passes to his rest. Beneath is an elaborate and most interesting inscription. The first English missionaries to India were Rev. Messrs. Carey and Thomas, who landed in Calcutta, November, 1793. Their project, from the very outset, received only ridicule from friends at home, and persistent opposition and persecution from their countrymen in India, until at last, they were driven from Calcutta to Serampore, and found under the shelter of the Danish flag the protec- tion denied them by their own. Here, warmly welcomed by the Danish Governor, a former friend and parishioner of Schwartz, Ward, Carey, Marsh- man and Thomas set themselves diligently to work in studying the languages, and in the print- ing and distribution of Christian tracts, as well as 314 Christian Missions. to the oral instruction of all within their reach. Frederick VI., of Denmark, assured them of his especial favor and protection ; multitudes flocked to hear the missionaries preach, the translation of the New Testament into Bengali was completed and printed in February, 1801, and about the same time, the first native convert was baptized in the presence of the governor, and a large concourse of Hindus, Mohammedans, Portuguese and English. In 1816, seven hundred natives had been baptized, and ten thousand children had been instructed in the truths of the Christian religion. Two years later, a college was founded, in which, besides San- scrit, Arabic, and many Indian languages, English, Greek and Hebrew were also taught. The witty Sydney Smith satirized and ridiculed Carey and his associates, as " consecrated cobblers " and " maniacs," and, in an article for the Edinburgh Review, in 1808, held up their work to derision ; yet to-day their names are honored as India's best and truest benefactors; and their work, then but the beginning of a tiny rivulet, has gone on wid- ening and deepening, receiving in its onward course many tributaries, till it has become a great and mighty river enriching and beautifying that broad American Missions. 315 land, and scattering joy and blessing everywhere in its course. Other lands and other societies have, as the years passed on, taken part in this great work of carrying the gospel to India ; but the work has been easier to their successors, that these brave pio- neers so effectually opened the door that world- liness and bigotry would have closed. The first missionaries to India from the United States were Judson, Newell, Rice, Hall and Nott, who were sent out by the "American Board" of Foreign Missions, in 1812. The same arbitrary power that had opposed the work of Carey and his associates, for a time effectually hindered the establishment of stations by the American mis- sionaries anywhere within the dominions of the British East India Company ; and these new-com- ers were subjected to even greater annoyances and persecutions than those visited upon their English brethren. But, by the renewed charter of the East India Company, in 1813, all restrictions to missionary labor were removed ; and from that period to the present, the course of this great cause has been steadily onward. The fi 'st mission in Burmah was established by 316 Christian Missions. Dr. Judson, in 1813, at Rangoon ; the first Ameri- can mission in Ceylon, by Messrs. Poor, Meigs, Warren, and Richards, in 1816, at Jaffna ; and the first American mission at Madras, in 1836, by Messrs. Winslow and Scudder. American Luth- erans began their first work in India, in 1842; the American Presbyterian Foreign Board, in 1834 ; the United Presbyterians, in 1855 ; the Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1857 ; the Ameri- can Baptist Missionary Union, in 1840 ; and the Freewill Baptists, in 1836. The London Mission- ary Society began its work in India, in 1798 ; the Wesleyans, in 1816 ; the Church Missionary Soci- ety, in 1815 ; the General Baptist Missionary Society, in 1822 ; the Church of Scotland, in 1829 ; the Basle Missionary Society, in 1834 ; the Gossner Missionary Society, in 1846 ; the Moravians, in 1855. The Liepzig Lutherans, Irish Presbyterians, Presbyterians of Canada, the Welsh Calvinists, and several other societies are also engaged in active efforts for the Christianization of India, all vieing with each other in zeal, activity, and devotion to this noble work. In a document pre- pared and printed by order of the British House of Commons, in 1873, some of the benefits accruing from these labors are detailed, as follows : CATHACKS (MALE DANCERS), AT BHOPAL. Effects of Missions. 319 " The Protestant Missions of India, Burmah, and Ceylon are carried on by thirty-five societies, in addition to local agencies ; and now employ the services of six hundred and six foreign mission- aries, of whom five hundred and fifty are ordained. They occupy five hundred and twenty-two princi- pal stations, and two thousand five hundred subor- dinate stations. Apart from their special duty as public preachers and pastors, the foreign mission- aries constitute a valuable body of educators ; they contribute greatly to the cultivation of the native languages and literature ; and all who are resident in rural districts are appealed to for medical help. They have prepared hundreds of works suited both for schools and for general circulation in the fifteen most prominent languages of India, and in several other districts ; they are the compilers of several dictionaries and grammars ; they have written im- portant works on the native classics and the system of philosophy ; and they have largely stimulated the great increase of the native literature prepared in recent years by educated native gentlemen. A great increase has taken place in the number of converts the last twenty years. They are now at least five hundred thousand. The gov- ernment of India cannot but acknowledge the 320 Christian Missions. great obligation under which it is laid \yy the benevolent exertions of these six hundred mis- sionaries, whose blameless example and self- denying labors are infusing new vigor into the stereotyped life of the great populations placed under English rule, and are preparing them to be in every way better men and better citizens of the great Empire in which they dwell." * To all this may be added the wide diffusion of Christian knowledge ; the arousing of the Hindu mind from its long torpor to the earnest discussion of the merits and claims of Christianity ; the abo- lition of the suttee, of female infanticide, and hook-swinging, except in districts remote from foreign influence ; the loosing of the bonds of caste, the diminished influence of Brahminical power, and the desire and earnest efforts put forth for the education of woman during the present decade. In view of all this, and much that can- not here be detailed, it is evident that India's long night of superstition and moral ignorance is pass- ing away, and the dawn of a glorious day already at hand. * For many of these statistics, the writer acknowledges indebtedness to articles of Rev. S. Hatchings in the Missionary Review. CHAPTER X. EARLIEST HISTORY. THE early history of India, like that of all oriental nations, is. involved in much obscu- rity. Their own records furnish nearly all the in- formation now obtainable of that great country during the first centuries of its existence ; . and the fact that these records must be drawn mainly from their poetical works, render it no easy task to sep- arate the real from the fabulous. The utmost efforts of such indefatigable oriental scholars as Sir William Jones, Prinsep and Wilson, have not been sufficient to open to us all those sealed por- tals of the past ; but they do enable us to fix with considerable accuracy the dates of many leading events. Sir William Jones says that " India and Persia, and all the South of Asia, were but parts H. I. 21 321 322 Earliest History. of one great empire of antiquity, called Iran, which was the earliest settled in the world." Indian traditions preserve the name of Merit, a planter of vines and cultivator of the soil. This probably is the account they had somehow received of Noah's vine planted after the subsidence of the flood. The Agni Purana says : " When the flood was gathering, a fish fell into Meru's hand. It quickly grew into an enormous size, and had a horn on which to support an ark. Into this ark, Meru, with his sons and their women, and the seed of every thing living entered, and were supported on the horn of the great fish throughout the great flood." This same Meru was called, like the Egyptian Menes, the " Son of the Sun," the name that till to-day the Rajputs lay claim to. Of late years, Mr. Prinsep has discovered a key by which may be read many inscriptions on the columns and walls of rock-cut temples, which formerly set at nought all attempts to decipher them. The lan- guage has turned out to be Bali, the sacred lan- guage of India, and indeed of all Southern Asia ; a dialect which is now engaging the attention of many oriental scholars, by the light of which, many hitherto obscure portions of Hindu history The Ramayana. 325 may be, in a measure, comprehended. There can be no question that while Joseph was ruling under Pharoah, in Egypt, there were organized govern- ments in India, and reigning princes who could bring large armies into the field. The " Ramayana," an epic poem detailing the adventures of the god Rama, though containing, without doubt, many fables and exaggerations, is also a shadowing forth of events and exploits that actually took place. The first mention made of this nation, locates them in a tract of land between the rivers Sersuti and Caggar, distant from Delhi not more than one hundred miles to the northwest. It then bore the iiame of Brahmaverti, and is described as the abode of the gods, " the scene of the adventures of princes, and the residence of famous sages." Moses describes the precious stones of India in the requisitions for making the tabernacle ; and some writers have believed that the term " shittim-wood," in our version of the Bible, which the " Seventy " rendered " Incorrupt- ible-wood," may have referred to the precious Aloe wood found near Cape Comorin. This is the most precious of all woods, obtainable only at a few places in the world, and worth, even in our own 326 Earliest History. clay, its weight in gold. The Phoenicians and Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, successively re- paired to the coasts of Malabar for their drugs, indigo and gum-lac, for their ivory, mother-of- pearl and precious stones. Herodotus, also with Strabo, Pliny and Ptolemy, confirm the accounts of the great antiquity of India. According to the "Vishnu Purana," their territory was, at the first, only sixty-five miles long and forty broad ; but at an early period from their first records the Hindus appear to have enlarged the bounds of their king- dom, making it include the present districts of Oude, Agra, Allahabad, Lahore and Delhi. The city of Oude was then called Aoudha, and was the capital of the kingdom in the early days. Hindu records state that there were born, as em- anations from Brahma, two princes, whose descend- ants were known as the "solar and lunar races." Various fabulous and most extravagant accounts of sixty races of these are given ; but it is only in following the details of the Ramayana, or the exploits of Rama, that any available facts are reached. Rama, the hero of this oriental Epic, seems to have been a real personage, one of the earlier kings of Oude, who having, after the fash- 328 Earliest History. ion of many oriental monarchs, resolved on a pro- tracted period of penance, retired with his beauti- ful wife Sita, to the seclusion of the forests of Aoudha. The Island of Ceylon, which claims to date back its historical records to the twenty-fourth century before our era, was supposed in the former days to have been a portion of the mainland, and to have been inhabited by a race, of demons who made constant depredations into the surrounding country. On one of these marauding expeditions Ravana, the king of Ceylon, chanced to meet the beautiful queen Sita, and becoming desperately enamored of her charms, carried her off to his capital at Lanka. Rama, stung to desperation by the loss of his beloved wife, and fearing to en- counter this company of " demons," with only his own small army, called to his aid Hanouman, the king of a race of wonderful monkeys. Uniting their powers, the allies marched with all possible speed across the Deccan, and on reaching the ex- tremity of the mainland found a miraculous bridge had been thrown across the Pambero Passage for their special accommodation. Upon this, they crossed into Ceylon, surprised Ravana just as he was entering Lanka with his valued prize, rescued The Ramayana. 829 the queen after a terrible battle, and were about setting out on their return, when Rama accident- ally killed his brother Lachman. Overwhelmed with despair he threw himself into the water, and dying was reunited to the divinity. The powerful monkey-king fell heir to the beautiful Sita, and carried her off to his own realm, despite the deter- mined resistance of Havana and his " demons." Amid this maze of the marvellous and the ro- mantic, there is doubtless a broad vein of truth. This invasion of Ceylon by the king of Oude, it is believed, took place about the fourteenth cent- ury before our Lord's advent, and that Rama did not live to return from his unfortunate expedition, while the queen Sita, the innocent cause of all the trouble, was carried off an unwilling captive by the ally of her former lord. The " monkeys " were probably a race of wild mountaineers pressed suddenly into service by king Rama to aid him in his hurried pursuit ; and the " demons " may have been so called by the infuriated husband either on account of this lawless act of violence, or from their dark complexions. Little is recorded of the immediate successors of Rama, or of the domain they ruled over, beyond 330 Earliest History. the fact of the removal of the capital from Oude to Canouj." Another great Indian Epic, the " Maha Barat" deals somewhat more in facts, with perhaps less commingling of the marvellous and fictitious than the Ram ay ana. There are loosely-written records of a great war between two rival branches of the house of Ha,s- tinapura, supposed to represent the country lying on the Ganges, northeast of Delhi. Into this quar- rel most of the princes of India seem to have been drawn, and the war appears to have raged with great fury for a considerable period, and to have devastated some of the most flourishing dis- tricts of Hindustan.* The Pandu branch were the victors ; but they were so impoverished, both in men and money, by this violent and protracted contest that they did not for several generations re- cover their former position. The precise date of this war is not known ; but it may be safely placed within the fourteenth century before our era. Of the succeeding Pandu kings we know almost noth- ing the records, such as they are, not agreeing even as to the number, some placing it at twenty- * Malcolm's " Indian Mutiny." SIDE VIEW OF THE PAL PALACE, AT GWALIOB. 331 G-audama. 333 nine, and others swelling the list to sixty-four. Despite this paucity of details in regard to the kings, there may be gleaned from the pages of the " Maha Barat" many interesting facts concerning the relative position of the several kingdoms and independent states, their social condition, and gradual development. Six distinct kingdoms are mentioned in this part of India, most prominent among which is the sovereignty of Magada, whose king, at the time of the great war, was Maha-Deva ; and from his reign down to A. D. 436, there is an unbroken line of kings. Of most of them, how- ever, little has come down to us besides their names. In this kingdom of Magada, South Behar, Gaudamd,* the founder of the Buddhistic religion, was born, B.C. 656. He was the only son of the reigning king; a prince of noble endowments, physical, mental and moral, and well fitted for the important part he was to perform in the affairs of his country and the world. He was about forty years of age when he began to preach his new doctrines ; and from that time to the close of his life, at the advanced age of eighty-four, he seems to have been untiring in his efforts to reform the * Regarding Gaudama, see " The Light of Asia," by Edwin Arnold. 334 Earliest History. clergy, and to inculcate among the people honesty, virtue, truth, temperance and kindness, his own life furnishing the best commentary on his teach- ings. There is no reason to believe that he ever claimed to be more than a religious teacher, and it was not until after his death that he was wor- shipped as a god. His death occurred B. c. 572. This portion of Hindu history is certainly no fable, nor the hero a myth, but all the details of his life are well authenticated facts. It is in the Pali or Bali, the ancient language of Magada, that the sacred books of the Buddhists are always written. Alexander's invasion of the Punjaub, by break- ing the power of the Brahmins, tended to the increase of Buddhism, at least for a time. The Pandu dynasty of Magada, in South Behar, was overthrown by Chandragumpta, a Soudra, or low- caste, who murdered the reigning king, the four- teenth of his line. Sir William Jones has shown plainly that Chandragumpta is synonymous with the Sandrakottus of the Greek historians : he who freed the Punjaub from Macedonian rule, and re- ceived Megasthenes at his court in Pataliputra. About the year B. c. 310, he concluded a treaty Sandrakottus 335 with Seleucns, one of Alexander's successors. Through his origin, as a Soudra, the Brahmins were greatly scandalized, and their power curtailed during this reign and several succeeding ones. CHAPTER XL DECLINE OP THE ARAB POWER. DHARMASOKA, the grandson of Chandra- gumpta, was the greatest king of the Maurya dynast}-, and the first who seems to have had any real title to be called lord paramount, or Emperor of India. The researches of Mr. Prinsep, and the numberless old inscriptions he has un- earthed from various remote sections of the Empire, have settled beyond a doubt the mooted question in regard to the extent of the dominion of this famous king. These dominions, as shown by indubitable proof, must have reached from far northward of Delhi to the island of Ceylon (the Taprobane of the ancients), and embraced a wide extent of country from east to west. The same inscriptions show that his government was far 336 II. I. 22 MACSOL EUM OF THE SCINBIAS, AT LASHKAR. 337 338 Decline of the Arab Power. advanced in civilization ; and many ancient edicts were, found for the establishment of hospitals and dispensaries in distant portions of the realm, and for the sinking of shafts and wells, and the plant- ing of shade trees along the public highways, for the benefit of travellers.* Under the name of Piyadasi (love-gifted) this great king published many humane edicts ad- dressed to his people, and Avritten so that they could understand them in the ordinary dialects of the country, instead of Sanscrit or Bali that would have been intelligible only to the learned. Many of these edicts have been found engraven on col- umns at Delhi and Allahabad, and on rocks near Peishwar, Guzerat and Orissa. Under the com- mand of king Dharmasoka, a sort of church council was again held at Pataliputra to endeavor to heal divisions that had arisen between priests of dif- ferent orders, and to harmonize the old and new creeds ; and also to correct abuses among the clergy. An earthquake occurring at the close of the council, it was regarded as an approval of its decrees. None of the writings of Buddha dated prior to * Malcolm in " Indian Mutiny " Graudama. 339 this council are considered valid. It must be re- membered that none of the teachings of the Buddh Gaudama were written during his life- time ; but after his death, by his disciples and followers. And because of corruptions that had crept in, by either accident or design, these writ- ings were all carefully examined, and the decrees of preceding councils modified by this. This king seems to have very heartily approved of the doc- trines of Buddhism, and by his express command priests and teachers were sent far and wide, pro- claiming the new faith. Siam, Burmah, China, Ceylon, Cashmere, and even the wilds of Kafiris- tan, were all instructed in the teachings of Gau- dama ; and this mild, peace-loving system carried the elements of Indian civilization to many a savage tribe that had hitherto been noted for dark and cruel practices. After the death of Dharmasoka, the Magada kingdom seems gradually to have declined ; and in the fifth century of our era it was subjected to the kings of Canouj, and no longer regarded as a sep- arate state. Canouj appears to have been not only one of the most ancient states of India, but also far advanced in civilization and the arts. 340 Decline of the Arab Power. This is attested, even at the present day, by the splendid ruins of its ancient capital on the banks of the Ganges. In the former days, known as Panchala, Canouj extended from Banar and Chum- bul eastward as far as Nepal, which was also in- cluded in its territory. Scinde is spoken of at the date of the Malm Barat as an independent kingdom. It was still so when Alexander's invasion took place,* though divided into several separate states. In the seventh century it was reunited, in the eighth in- vaded by the Arabs, in the ninth retaken by the Rajputs, and A. D. 1015 it became subject to the rulers of the Ghorian dynasty. Guzerat, under a Rajput race of rulers, had its capital, in the second century, at Balibi ; but in A. D. 524 these rulers were expelled by the Indo- Bactrians, for a brief period, recovering sway in 531. The Balibi princes having been succeeded in the eighth century by the Chaura Rajputs, the capital was removed to Patan. This race be- coming extinct in A. D. 931, was succeeded by * The conquest of India by Alexander III., of Macedon, was completed B.C. 327. An account of the Asiatic expedition of this conqueror is given by Arria- nus, the friend of Epictetus, who wrote also a work entitled Indica, in which he gave excellent descriptions of the interior of India and of portions of its coast. Aboriginal Inhabitants. 341 the Rajput tribe of Salonka, who remained in power for about three centuries. It was subju- gated by the Mohammedans in 1297. Vicramaditya, one of the kings of Malwar, seems to have acquired vast dominions, extending his rule over nearly the whole of India ; but the Mohammedan invasion, when it swept over Hin- dustan, carried everything before its crushing power. The aboriginal . inhabitants of the Deccan are said to have been foresters, and wild mountain- tribes, leading a lawless and marauding life. But this was probably at a remote period, for the Greeks mention only an advanced civilization in their notices of Southern India. Of all the States of the Deccan, Paudya and Chola are most ancient, the latter including at one time a large portion of the Carnata. From the Maha Barat, we learn that the ancient kingdom of Orissa was for a long period in a very flourishing condition, and that it was occupied suc- cessively by Salivahana and Vicramaditya. Later, the government was in the hands of the Kesari race, with constantly recurring wars, then it fell into the hands of the Rajputs and Talingas, re- 342 Decline of the Arab Power. spectively, and about the year 1590, it Avas annexed by Akbar to the empire. Thus it is evident that the whole history of India, from very remote ages,' has been one of almost continuous war and bloodshed, foreign incursions and domestic brawls the decline of one empire or dynasty and the rise of another. Its later his- tory is but a repetition of the earlier. First shaken by Persian invasions, then a prey to the in- vincible Macedonians under Alexander ; next par- alyzed by the Moslem zealots of Mahmoud of Ghuzni ; and again trampled by the Tartan hosts of Janghis Khan, till finally crushed beneath the incubus of the great Mogul dynasty of the re- nowned Tamerlane. The Moors, during their palmy days, fed upon India, Venice grew rich on her wealth, the Portu- guese opened the highway by a new route to the same precious mine, the Dutch followed suit, and England was not slow to enter the lists. The end is not yet. Powerful as the Mahrattas afterward became, and extensively as their language is spoken, we find less of them in the early times of India than of almost any other race. Until mentioned by Alexander in India. 345 Mohammedan writers after the conquest, there was little to mark their existence save the bare men- tion of their capital. Tagara, as a place of some importance, and even of this the site has long since been lost. When Alexander first turned his attention to India, the flourishing condition of the whole coun- try was evidently a matter of surprise ; the im- mense wealth of native princes, their settled government, the advances made in the arts and sciences, the forces Indian kings were capable of bringing into the field, the excellence and variety of their weapons, and the domestic and social habits of the people, were all very much as found in our own day, and very far in advance of the majority of the nations of the earth. Alexander evidently did no more than touch upon the out- skirts of the great country. Having checked the advance of his immense army on the banks of the Hyphasis, with scarcely a glance at the broad land outspread before him, his steps were bent toward the southwest, and passing onward between the desert and the Indus, he bade India a final adieu, leaving only a few garrisons behind him, and one or two kings and chiefs allied to his government. 346 Decline of the Arab Power. Among the latter, was the celebrated Porus, whom he first vanquished, severely wounding him in battle, and then received as an ally. Though as early as the reign of the Calif Omar there were frequent incursions of Arabs into the Scinde country, it was only as piratical parties bent on plunder ; and it was not until the year 664 A. D. that there was any regularly organized expedition of Arabs against India for purposes of conquest. At this period the Arabs penetrated into the Afghan country as far as Cabul, made its ruler a tributary governor, and then, with a por- tion of their troops, under the command of the celebrated Mohalib, they pushed on to Mooltan, sacked the city, and carried off a large body of prisoners. Shortly after this, a piratical vessel putting into one of the seaports of Scinde, and committing some depredations, was seized by the inhabitants and destroyed. This excited the vengeful ire of the Arabs, and led to the invasion of the country by a large army under the com- mand of Mohammed Casim, the younger son of the Governor of Basra. The youthful warrior gained a complete victory, captured the fortified city of Dewal, made the Rajah's son prisoner, and devas- A Heroine. 347 tated the whole country as far as the capital. Here the Rajah of Daher, with fifty thousand men and a large body of elephants opposed him ; but met complete defeat, in consequence of a rout caused by the wounding of the Rajput's elephant under him, and the wild scene of confusion that followed. Daher acted with distinguished valor, but finding it impossible to retrieve his lost fort- unes, he rushed into the thickest of the fight, and fell covered with wounds. His wife, with wonder- ful bravery, endeavored to rally the discomfited soldiers, and finding this impossible she took refuge in Brahmanabad, and held the city for some time, under great odds. Finding their efforts vain, all the women and children were im- molated on an immense funeral pile, and the brave garrison of Rajputs rushed out and met death at the points of the Arab swords. Some few who had remained within the fort were slaughtered without mercy, and several youths carried away captives. Casim met with little opposition in his onward progress, and was not only rapidly subdu- ing the country he had invaded, but establishing a good and wise administration over the conquered territory, when his successes were terminated by 348 Decline of the Arab Power. his sudden death. Though subsequent expeditions were less successful, the Moslem rule in Scinde continued until A. D. 750, when the united forces of the Rajputs and Hindus expelled the invaders from the country. The decline of the Arab power in India began from this period, and was never again firmly established. CHAPTER XII. THE SUPREMACY OF MAHMOUD. THE demise of the Calif Haroun-al-Raschid was followed by the secession of Khorassan and other important provinces, thus still farther weakening the already decaying power of the Arabs in India. Among the petty dynasties of the northern provinces of the Arab dominions were the Samanis, a family of Bokhara descent, established in Kho- rassin, over which they had ruled for more than a century. Abdulmelek, the fifth prince of the house of Samani, had in his family a Turkish slave named Alptegin, who, by his natural abilities and faithfulness, so won the esteem of his master as to be promoted to the high office of governor of Khorassan. This command he held till his master's death, when, having in some way offended the new 349 350 The Supremacy of Mahmoud. ruler, he was obliged to seek safety in flight, and took refuge among the Gazni hill tribes. These mountaineers were a bold, hardy race, eager for adventures, and never afraid to use their own weapons or face those of their adversaries. So, nothing loth to place themselves under a leader so daring as Alptegin, they gave the adventurer a hearty welcome, and enlisted themselves and their swords in his service. To the day of his death, which occurred fourteen years later, he maintained his position in the Ghaznivide country as the bold and always successful leader of an able and in- trepid band of Afghans and Mamelukes. Among his followers was an especial favorite, a soldier who had been, like himself, a slave, and like him- self had been for faithfulness and ability promoted to the position next his master's. When the death of Alptegin occurred in A. D. 976, the favorite Sibektegin succeeded to the mountain throne of his late master, and by marrying the dead chief's daugh- ter, he rendered his position still more secure. Lord Elphinstone relates a popular story of the young Sibektegin, while yet a private soldier, that, if true, speaks well for his humanity : " One day, in hunt- ing, he succeeded in riding down a fawn, but 352 The Supremacy of Mahmoud. when he was carrying off his prize in triumph he observed the dam following his horse, and showing such evident marks of distress, that he was touched with compassion, and at last released his captive, pleasing himself with the gratitude of the mother, that several times turned back to gaze at him as she went off to the forest with her fawn. That night, t,he Prophet appeared to him in a dream, and told him that God had given him a kingdom as a reward for his humanity, and enjoined him not to forget his feelings of mercy when he came to the exercise of power." Shortly after the accession of Sibektegin to. the throne of his mountain kingdom, his territory was invaded by Jeipal, the Rajah of Lahore, at the head of a large army. The Hindu Princes on the east of the Indus had become restive of the estab- lishment of Moslem power so contiguous to their own country, and determining to drive out the in- truders, the Rajah of Lahore had taken the initia- tive, while others were to follow him to the field. But just when the Indus had been crossed, and he was approaching Gazni, a fierce storm of hail and wind came on, in the midst of which he encoun- tered Sibektegin and his hardy warriors. A fierce I _23 IMPERIAL DURBAR DRESS RECEPTION. Sibektegin Victorious. 355 encounter ensued, in which the Hindus, unused to cold and to mountain tactics, got the worst of the fray, and Jeipal was compelled to treat with his adversary on the latter's own terms, which were the payment on the spot of fifty elephants and the forwarding on the Rajah's return of a large sum of money. The elephants were handed over as stipulated ; but the money the Rajah refused to forward, when safe within his own lines. The Tartar chief declining to pocket such an insult crossed the Indus at the head of an immense force ; but Jeipal met him with one much more numerous, having summoned to the defence of their common cause the Rajahs of Delhi, Ajmere, Calingar, and Canonj, their united forces number- ing a hundred thousand cavalry, and a vast army of foot soldiers. But numbers availed nothing against the determined valor and perfect discipline of Sibektegin's splendid army. The Hindus suf- fered a terrible defeat, and fled precipitately from the field, pursued hotly by Sibektegin as far as the Indus, where he at once established his authority, leaving a governor and a numerous body of troops in command of the Peishwar region. Sibektegin might have carried his success farther, 356 The Supremacy of Mahmoud. but he was summoned at this time to aid his former masters, the Samauis, in subduing their re- bellious subjects to obedience. This had scarcely been accomplished ere Sibektegin's aggressive measures were cut short by his sudden death. His son, Mahmoud, a daring, ambitious spirit, suc- ceeded him with the title of Sultan, and began at once aggressions on his Indian neighbors. Four expeditions across the Indus followed each other in quick succession, in all of which, Mahmoud was victorious, and in the last captured immense amounts of treasure and precious stones. A tri- umphal feast followed, during which the Indian spoils were publicly exhibited on tables of pure gold, thus adding to his prestige in the eyes of his people, and increasing the influence he wielded over his soldiers, whose admiration for their dar- ling leader was such that they would have followed him to the world's end. His next step was the assembling of an immense force of one hundred thousand cavalry and twenty thousand foot, with which he was thundering at the gates of Canouj before his approach was even suspected. The whole of the Punjaub was soon annexed to the kingdom of Ghuzni, and the conquest of Lahore 358 The Supremacy of Mahmoud. followed, by which the foundation of the Ghuzni- vide dynasty in India was securely laid, and the Mohammedan conqueror brought within the limits of India. This was in A. D. 1022, and two years later he fitted out his twelfth and last expedition into India. The object of this was the great temple of Somnat, situated on the southern border of Guzerat, and noted alike for the immense wealth belonging to its shrine and for the very great sanctity that attached to this famous temple. The Hindus offered a gallant resistance ; but it availed not, and their gorgeous temple, with its vast treasures, fell into the hands of the Moslem. His last conquest, that of Persia, followed quickly after the taking of Somnat ; and then, ere these new laurels had lost their first bloom, the founder of the Afghan-Indo dynasty sank to his last repose, and another reigned in his stead. Mahmoud, uniting in himself the characteristics of a great general and a great sovereign, was assuredly one of the most remarkable men of his times, having many noble and striking qualities not very common in those days, with very few of the faults and defects most prevalent among men in power at the period in which he lived. Just, Ferdousi. 359 considerate, and kind to all, he was possessed of an innate nobility that would never permit him to be either unduly elated at his own good fortune, or unmindful of the claims of those vanquished. Among other noble acts, he founded in his capital an excellent college, with a library and mu- seum attached, and appropriated fully fifty thous- and dollars a year to the payment of profes- sors and the maintenance of poor students. Lord Elphinstone mentions the case of a poor woman who complained to this Sultan of the loss of her only son, who had been slain by robbers in a distant part of the empire. The Sultan answered that it was impossible for him alwaj's to enforce the laws in the border-provinces, so far removed from his immediate control. " Why, then," was the spirited reply, " do you take more territory than you can govern." Mahmoud, it is said, saw the pertinence of the reproof and instituted more effective measures for the protection of his sub- jects at a distance from the capital. It was in the reign of this monarch that the eminent poet, Ferdousi, flourished. He was at- tracted to the court of Mahmoud by the Sultan's general patronage of literature, but for some 360 The Supremacy of Mahmoud. reason, Ferdousi proved almost the solitary excep- tion. He spent thirty whole years in compos- ing a grand epic of sixty thousand couplets, a work that has been deservedly admired alike by oriental and occidental scholars; yet he received no recompense, and it .is said, actually died of want, of which, however, the Sultan was not cog- nizant, an over-sensitiveness restraining the poet from any revelation of his needs. CHAPTER XIII. KHILIJI, THE SANGUINAKY. MOHAMMED, Mahmoud's second son, was by his late father's express wish placed on the throne ; but the popular will soon deposed the new Sultan, and put in his stead the more warlike and popular brother. Then followed five short reigns, including those of the two sons and two grandsons of Mahmoud. who successively suffered violent deaths, and whose entire reigns were filled with revolts, insurrections, and murders. The last of the five, Abdul Rashid, was besieged in Ghazni by a revolted chief, captured, and mur- dered with all his family. The successful assassin placed himself on the throne, but was deposed and put to death within a month, and the army began to search for some member of the rightful family 361 362 Khiliji, The Sanguinary. to fill the vacant seat. After considerable delay, the choice fell upon Farokhsad, a young prince whose brief life had been spent mainly in prison, in consequence of the civil wars and jealousies that had rent the country from the time of Mahmoud's death. During these troublous years nearly all the ac- quisitions of the great Mahmoud had been lost; all the cities east of the Sutlej, Lahore, the Pun- jaub, and Nargacot, the seat of the magnificent temples of Sumnat destroyed by Mahmoud, had successively passed into possession of their former owners, and disaffection everywhere prevailed among the .Hindu subjects of the Afghan em- peror, while the incursions of the Seljuks, a power- ful tribe of Tartars on the north of the Oxus, were constantly becoming more ominous and harassing. Such was the condition of the country over whose affairs the young Farokhsad was called to preside : and though his brief six years' reign was quiet, and even prosperous compared with sev- eral that had preceded his accession, he fell at last by the hands of an assassin. He was suc- ceeded A. D. 1058, by his brother, the wise, peace- loving Ibrahim, whose peaceful and prosperous Ibrahim. 365 reign of forty-one years was fruitful of the best results for his country arid people, but leaves slender material for the historian's pen. Only a single military expedition of any note is recorded of all these years of Ibrahim's reign an expe- dition to the Sutlej, resulting in the capture of several cities from the Hindus. The great desire of this monarch seems to have been for peace, coupled with the wise administration of the affairs of his realm, the happiness of liis people, and the encouragement of learning. He died A. D. 1089, and was succeeded by Majsaud II., whose quiet reign of fifteen years was spent in legislating and improving the condition of his subjects, and was marked by no great military exploits. Arslan suc- ceeded his father for a few months, beginning his brief interval of power by imprisoning all his brothers, and ending it by meeting himself a bloody death. He was succeeded by his brother Behram, who was placed by the Seljuk Sultan on the throne. During a reign of rather more than twenty years he gathered about his court philos- ophers, poets, and learned men, by whose influence on the character of the people they began to cul- tivate the arts of peace, and no longer to regard 366 Khiliji, The Sanguinary. conquest and an increase of territory as the chief good to be attained. But this wise and peaceful reign set under a cloud of treachery and blood that forever obscured its early lustre. This dire event was the murder by the king of his son- in-law, Kutb-u-din, the prince of Ghor, a crime that provoked the vengeance of the Ghor princes, and led ultimately to the murder of a second prince, the brother of the first. As the conse- quence of this double crime, Behram was driven from Ghazni b Ala-u-din, younger brother of the murdered Ghors, and obliged to take refuge in his Indian possessions, where he shortly after died of grief. He was succeeded by his son, Khosru, who ruled over the Indian portion of the Empire from 1124 to 1130, while Ala-u-din reigned at Ghazni, neither seeming to be molested by the other. Khosru Malik succeeded his father Khosru, enjoy- ing a quiet, tranquil reign of twenty-seven years, at the end of which he was attacked by the Ghor kings, and subsequently defeated and slain. Froir this period, A. D. 1157, the kingdom of Lahore was- again annexed to the Ghaznivide territory, gor . erned by the new line of kings, beginning with Gheias-u-din, the " Ghorian Sultan of Ghazni and Grheias-u-din. 367 Lahore." This reign lasting forty-five years, was productive of vast results, especially in the con- quest of Indian territory. The Sultan had an able assistant in his brother Shahib, to whose great military ability is due the success that attended the Afghan arms at this period. Delhi was the first point attacked, and resisted bravely in the outset, but fell at last with their Rajah a prisoner, and a terrible rout of their troops. This victory was followed by others in quick succession. First Canouj, then Gwalior in Bundelcund, portions of Rohilcund, and the next year the rich provinces of Oudh, Behar and Bengal. At the death of Gheias-u-din, his brother suc- ceeded, in the year 1202, to the throne his great military exploits had made so glorious during Gheias-u-din's forty-five years of sovereignty. Sha- hib was scarcely established in his kingly position before difficulties in his western possessions in- volved him in war with the Sultan of Kharism, which terminated unfavorably for Shahib-u-diu ; and while preparing for a new expedition he was assassinated, having reigned only four years. His nephew, Mahmoud Ghori, was at once pro- claimed king, A. D. 1206 ; but his rule was con- 368 Khiliji, The Sanguinary. fined to the Glior country, and he resigned his claim to the possession of India by voluntarily re- linquishing the insignia of royalty to Kutb-u-din, the viceroy of India, then resident at Delhi. Thus India became an independent power, and the line of the " Slave Kings of Delhi," began in the per- son of Kutb-u-din. This monarch had, in his youth, been a slave of the great general Shahib, who highly appreciating the many noble qualities of his bondsman, had promoted him from time to time, till he was ulti- mately made viceroy of Delhi. This post he had filled with honor and ability for twenty years, when, by the voluntary relinquishment of Mah- moud Ghori, he became king. A good and useful reign of four years was terminated by the lamented death of Kutb-u-din A. D. 1210, when he was suc- ceeded by his son Aran. This prince was, how- ever, shortly after deposed for inefficiency, and Altamsh, the son-in-law of Kutb-u-din was put in his place. Altamsh, too, had been a slave, promoted for his talents and courage ; and the confidence of the people, in placing him on the throne, seems to have been warranted by his subsequent career, though Jenghis Khan. 369 few details have come down to us beyond the re- volts of Behar, Malwar and Gwalior, all of which were successfully quelled by the decision and firmness of the sovereign. It was during the reign of Altamsh that the raids of Jenghis Khan and his Mogul hordes over other portions of Asia began to excite alarm for the safety of the Indian monarchy. Altamsh died at Delhi, about A. D. 1234, and was succeeded by his son Ruku-u-din, a weak, dissipated prince, who was shortly deposed in favor of his sister Rezia. Prejudices against her sex excited factions, followed by a civil war, during which the Sultana was made prisoner, and wantonly slain. Two short reigns of Behrain and Massaud followed, with no noteworthy events save the attempted invasion of India, at several points, by the Moguls, and their being repelled without serious results. Nasir-u-din, a grandson of Altamsh, was the next sovereign, coming to the throne in 1246, and reigning for about twenty years. His vizier, a former Turkish slave of Altamsh, seems to have been the real head of the government, and a man fitted by his brilliant talents for the important position. He promptly quelled revolt whenever it H. I 24 370 Khiliji, The Sanguinary. arose, and effectually checked the advances of the Moguls at every point. In a word, he made him- self so necessary to his country that at the death of Nasir-u-din, A. u. 1266, the vizier, Gheias-u-din Bulbun stepped, without opposition, into the vacant place. His reign, lasting twenty years, was full of insurrections and wars within and without, but the vizier-king seems always to have been equal to the occasion, and his administration, though marked with severity towards all he suspected of being opposed to his interests, was nevertheless pro- motive of the prosperity and aggrandizement of the country. His successor, Kai-Kobad, was the last of the " Slave Kings," and reigning but a short time, was followed by three monarchs of the house of Khiliji. The reigns of these kings were a succession of plots, intrigues and murders, but were marked also by several great military exploits. During the reign of the second of the Khiliji sovereigns, Allah-u-din, several of the independent Rajahs were reduced to subjection and compelled to pay tribute ; and the Moguls of his army, to the number of fifteen thousand, were dismissed from his service and driven from the country. This Conquest of Malabar. 371 measure, hailed at first as one promising only good to the Indian people, was afterwards, no doubt, the cause of more vengeful ire on the part of the Moguls, leading them, as soon as they had gained a footing on Indian soil, to greater cruelties and excesses than they might otherwise have com- mitted. The death of Allah-u-din, which occurred in A. D. 1316, was believed to have been occasioned by poison administered by his favorite general, who immediately had the infant son of Allah pro- claimed king. This was, however, declared invalid by the nobles and army of Delhi who cuised Mubarik, the eldest son of their late king, to be crowned with all due honors ; the child, who had been the puppet of the suspected general, was pri- vately executed, and tranquillity was for the time restored. The conquest of the whole Malabar country was the first act of the new king, covering his name with glory ; but the next step, that of ap- pointing as his chief officer a low Hindu named Mallek Khosru, cost him first the confidence of his people, and then his own life. Mallek conspired against his royal master, and before his designs 372 Khiliji, The Sanguinary. were even suspected, he had taken the lives of King Mubarik and every member of the royal family. The traitor was executed of course, and his adherents disbanded and banished from the country. But the throne was vacant, the royal house of Khiliji was extinct, and a new dynasty was to be inaugurated that of the House of Tocjhlak. CHAPTER XIV. THE TOGHLAK DYNASTY. AFTER the assassination of Mubarik and his family, the extermination was so complete that it became necessary to elect a king from another family : and the choice of the nobles fell upon one of their own number, Gheias-u-din Toghlak, then governor of the Punjaub. He had already acquired a high reputation, not only for his military skill, but his wise statesmanship as governor had won for him a wide-spread confi- dence that during his brief reign was well-sus- tained. The Moguls, still threatening the north- western border, were promptly repulsed, and another line of ramparts thrown up by the new sovereign all along the Afghan border. He also annexed the territory of Dacca to his dominion ; 373 374 The TogUak Dynasty. and on his return from this expedition he was welcomed by his eldest son, in a new bungalow erected for the occasion, under the pretext of do- ing honor to his father and sovereign. But there were strong suspicions of premeditated treachery on the part of the son who, by the death of his father, secured a diadem for himself. Gheias-u-din had reigned only four years ; and his son, Moham- med Toghlak, succeeded him A. D. 1325. The first acts of the new king evinced the great ability for which he was noted ; and his patronage of men of learning was quite in accordance with his fine lit- erary tastes. An army of Moguls, who had effected a landing in the Punjaub, were bought off by the payment of a large sum of money ; the subjugation of the Deccan, begun by the father, was completed by the son, and good order was instituted in every part of the kingdom, even to the most remote borders. But other steps followed less advan- tageous to the interests of the country. The king invaded Persia with a large army, and then at- tempted the conquest of China, but returned from both expeditions suffering from terrible defeats, and the loss and disaffection of a large portion of Death of Mohammed. 377 the splendid armies with which he had set out. To meet the expenses of all these aggressive meas- ures his people were excessively taxed, and cruelly oppressed ; the currency was altered in a manner that induced general discontent, and everywhere, during the next dozen years, there were revolts and outbreaks among his subjects that kept the monarch busy and anxious. Many of the insur- rections he succeeded in quelling ; but the people of Bengal, the Carnatic, and Malabar country, boldly defied the authority of the tyrant, and maintained their independence. In the midst of all this disaffection and discord, Mohammed died suddenly, A. D. 1351, after a busy and troublous reign of about twenty-six years, during which, despite his undoubted ability both as general and statesman, a large portion of the territory gained by his father was lost to the crown. Mohamm ed's death was said to have been caused by a surfeit of fish ; but so embittered against him were his officers and the mass of his people that there existed strong suspi- cion of poison having been used to rid the country of the hated tyrant. As he left no immediate family, his nephew, Firuz Toghlak, was chosen to succeed him. The character of Firuz seems to 378 The Toghlak Dynasty. have been different in every respect from that of his uncle. With no ambition for conquest or mili- tary glory, he devoted himself to the interests of his people and country with untiring fidelity, re- versing the oppressive acts of the last reign, and seeking rather to add to the resources of the king- dom than to its territorial extent. His long reign of nearly forty years was fruitful of results in the prosperity and happiness of all classes of his sub- jects. From increasing years and infirmity, the cares of sovereignty became at length burdensome, and twice after Firuz had passed his eighty-sixth year he resigned the reins of government to other hands, but was compelled to resume them again. First, his vizier, and then his son had been en- trusted with the administration, but both proving unfaithful, the minister was banished, and the son had to flee for his life from the just indignation of the nobles ; and the aged king, then lacking only a year or two of ninety, once more placed himself at the helm of state. When his death occurred, about the year 1390, the succession of his son, who had so disgraced his position previous to his father's death, was opposed by the nobles ; and two grandsons of Firuz, reigned successively, but each Tamerlane. 379 only for a few months, after which, Nasir, the reprobate son of Firuz; returning, was proclaimed king. He reigned for three years, and was suc- ceeded by his eldest son, Humayun, who lived only forty-five days after his accession, and was followed by his brother, Mahmoud, A. D 1394 ; four reigns between the death of Firuz and the proclamation of Mahmoud having filled little more than three and a half years. The new king was yet a minor when he ascended the throne, and the country was in so unsettled a state that when the states of Malwar, Guzerat, and Juanpoor revolted, the king had no power to compel their allegiance, and the speedy dissolution of the empire was feared. Before order' could be restored at home the danger from without, that had been so long impending, was fully realized. The great conqueror, Tamerlane or Timur Bee, having already overrun Persia and Mesopotamia, and some portions of Russia and Siberia, with his immense hordes of Tartars, now (A. D. 1398), turned his face toward India, and sent forward his grandson, Fir Mohammed, to pre- pare the way for the main body of the invaders. The whole of the Punjaub was devastated by these lawless Tartars, and the fortified city of 380 The Toghlak Dynasty. Moulton occupied by Mohammed, while Tamerlane, after effecting a passage across the mountain defiles and crossing the Indus at Attok, reached Samana, having cruelly butchered the inhabitants in great numbers in every town through which ~ie passed. He next united his forces with those of his grand- son, and marched on Delhi, where Mahmoud was waiting with a great army and a retinue of ele- phants to receive him. But though the Indian army fought bravely, they were utterly defeated, and the slaughter was immense. Mahmoud fled to Guzerat, where he was hospitably received, as though the state had still been in fealty to the crown ; but the shattered army submitted to the conqueror, as emperor of India, and made terms to remain in Delhi after his proclamation. The plunder and butchery of the inhabitants by the Tartars went on even after the city had capitu- lated ; and historians say that " some streets were rendered impassable by heaps of dead ; and the gates being forced, the whole invading army gained admittance, and a scene of the utmost horror en- sued." Acquisition of territory seems to have been no part of Tamerlane's programme, but merely the fame of a conqueror, with such treasure Lodi Dynasty. 381 as he was able to carry with him on his way to meet other foes. Leaving Delhi, and taking with him all the booty, he could collect, and a long train of captives of all ranks, he marched up the banks of the Ganges, across Lahore into the Ghazni country, by the same route he had followed on entering India, which he "found a garden and left a desert," with the additional bequests of fam- ine and pestilence. When the conqueror was gone, a new cause of dispute and even bloodshed arose as to the occupancy of the vacant throne ; but Mahmoud reasserted his claim, and assumed the reins of government. His death followed in a few years, and with him ended the Toghlak dynasty. Several brief, unimportant reigns, those of Khizer Khan and his sons and grandsons, fol- lowed, and then the Lodi dynasty was ushered in by the accession of Behlol Lodi, a governor of the Punjaub, descended from an Afghan family of rank, whose influence had been sufficient to cause the deposing of Seyd Allah, the last king. Behlol's reign of twenty-eight years was prosper- ous and beneficial to the country, but not fruitful of important events. He was succeeded by his wise and prudent son, Secander, whose vigorous 382 The Toyhlak Dynasty. policy not only retained intact the conquests of his father, but added to them the territory of Behar. The great fault of his administration was his bitter persecution of the Brahmins, an evil that was zealously prosecuted by his son and suc- cessor, Ibrahim Lodi, who came to the throne at the death of his father, A. D. 1516. His cruelty and oppression soon drove the nobles into open re- bellion, and induced them to invite the interfer- ence of Baber, a descendant of Tamerlane, then reigning at Ghazni. Baber very willingly re- sponded, and at the head of a well-appointed army crossed the Indus. Advancing toward Delhi, he was met by Ibrahim with an army in numbers far superior to his own ; but by superior tactics, and better disciplined troops, the Tartar chief gained the day, and Ibrahim Lodi, the last of his dynasty and the last of the Afghan race of Indian mon- archs, fell on the battle-field, leaving Baber in quiet possession of the throne and the empire. He at once decided to fix his court at Delhi, and to live permanently among his Indian subjects, hoping thereby not only to strengthen his position but to add to his territory. Baber, the " Tiger," of mixed Tartar and Mogul Saber, the Tiger. 385 descent, the first resident emperor of Tartan blood was descended in a direct line from Tamerlane on his father's side, and from Jenghis Khan, the Mogul conqueror, on his mother's, thus uniting in his own person not only the claims, but many of the talents, with the indomitable resolution and untiring perseverance of both his famous ances- tors H. I 25 CHAPTER XV. EUROPEAN TRADE. BEFORE entering on this new race of rulers, the Tartan Emperors of India, let us pause to look at the beginning of European intercourse with the people of that great country. Though, as before stated, India sent, even in the days of the Patriarchs, of her gold, spices, and manufactures, for the supply of the nations of Western Asia, and though centuries before our era, there seems to have existed an overland communication between India and Arabia and Persia, yet, to the times of Alexander the Great, and his eastern expedition, India remained in the fullest sense a terra incog- nita to the people of Europe. With his great conquests, Alexander carried at least a measure of civilization ; and almost our first glimpses of the 386 Alexander's Conquests. 387 rich, hoary lands of the sun were the reports that floated westward with the return of the Mace- donian army. But for the early death of Alex- ander, an empire might have arisen and a pros- perous trade been opened at once as the fruit of his exploits. As it was, all this eastern trade remained in the hands of Arab and Egyptian merchants for several centuries longer; and the route was mainly by way of the Red Sea, the Nile, and the Mediter- ranean, the chief ports being Berenice, Coptos, and Alexandria. There were, however, two other outlets for this Indian trade, but both were difficult and danger- ous routes, and the traffic limited. The first route was through Persia and Arabia to the Syrian cities, the only halting-place being " Tadmor of the Desert " as called in Bible days, or Palmyra, as known to us, and so named from the luxuriant growth of its abundant palms. It was doubtless its Indian trade that raised Palmyra to such im- portance as to excite the jealousy of imperial Rome, and provoked the destructive war that ended in the capture of the noble queen, Zenobia, the devastation of the grand old city, and the ex- tinction of the trade begun in the days of the 388 European Trade. Patriarchs. The other route, and one still used to convey to Russian cities immense quantities of the silks, shawls, muslins, and spices of India, was by the rocky passes of the Hindu Koorsh Mountains and Caspian Sea, and thence on by various land and water routes to the points of destination. Trav- ellers by both these routes suffered iii those lawless times from the ravages of banditti, and the con- quests of the Roman emperors ; and for a time the trade greatly declined, but it was revived by the removal of the seat of government from Rome to Constantinople, and later by the invasions of the Saracens. These enterprising conquerors were active in forming commercial depots, and open- ing a trade where natural facilities existed ; but were too much absorbed in military operations to follow up such openings, that were left for the benefit of those less shackled with conflicting enterprises. Turkish rulers were content with the commercial greatness of their capital as the centre of trade at that period ; the bold and hardy Arabs had revived their trade through Egypt, and by way of the Red Sea on into India ; and the Venetians in Egypt were beginning to share in the Indian trade, when the great discoverers of the fifteenth century Vasco de drama. 389 opened a new world for commerce as for other im- portant enterprises. Christopher Columbus, searching for the East, found a new world in the West ; and Diaz found a route to India by the " Cape of Storms." Eleven years later, (A. D. 1498), while the Lodi dynasty of Afghan Idngs were ruling in India, the first Portuguese expedition for India, under the com- mand of Vasco de Gama, sailed from Lisbon around this same Cape of Storms. Diaz had given this name in consequence of the terrible stormy weather that had so nearly made shipwreck of hi.s little fleet ; but De Gama found favoring breezes that he deemed good omens of future success, and so conferred the new cognomen that has ever since belonged to the " Cape of Good Hope." Ten long months from the sailing of Vasco de Gama's fleet elapsed before it anchored in the roads of Calicut on the Malabar coast ; but the rich cargo of beauti- ful India goods they were able to take back repaid the navigators for all the dangers they had braved. The king of Portugal was jubilant over the success of his first venture upon the eastern seas ; but the merchants of Egj-pt and Italy looked on with un- disguised alarm.* * Malcolm's " Indian Mutiny." 390 European Trade. The monopoly of the eastern seas was plainly at an end. Despite the complicity of Venetian merchants with Egyptian Mamelukes, despite even the opposition of the buccaneering Moorish traders who had so long monopolized the commerce of the Indian seas, this broad field for national and in- dividual enterprise was now open to the competi- tion of the world. King Emmanuel of Portugal, whose subjects had been the first to enter the field, was aware equally of the advantages and the dangers of his new position ; and every fleet went manned and armed for fighting, as well as for trad- ing. The expedition commanded by Alvarez de Cabral, that followed that of De Gama, numbered thirteen sail, and carried upwards of a thousand soldiers ; and De Cabral was empowered to nego- tiate with the Zamorin of Calicut, " with the view of obtaining permission to form a settlement for trading purposes within his territories." This he readily accomplished ; a treaty was arranged be- tween the Portuguese settlers and the Zamorin, and the former had already opened within the city a factory for trade, when the native populace, incited by the Moors, attacked the little colony of Portu- guese, and cruelly murdered all the residents of the Calicut Threatened. 393 factory. This treachery was promptly avenged by De Cabral, who, turning his guns first upon the Moorish vessels lying under the walls of Calicut, and then upon the defenceless city, nearly annihi- lated both, until the Zamorin was glad to purchase a cessation of hostilities by a new treaty far more favorable to the Portuguese than the first had been. Besides this, the promptitude and success of this operation so impressed the neighboring princes that they readily entered into friendly treaties with the Portuguese sovereign, and permitted trading factories to be established all along the Malabar coast, giving to this pioneer nation the prestige and supremacy they so long enjoyed. The next Portuguese expedition was "a fleet of twenty sail, all good ships, and royally found," under the command of Vasco de Garna, who opened friendly relations with many native princes and left the interests of his government in India on a firmer basis of prosperity than they had be- fore enjoyed. The inefficiency and maladministra- tion of Loche, the officer left by De Gama in charge of the settlements, soon brought trouble upon the little colony ; but prosperity was restored by the appointment of Albuquerque as Captain- 394 European Trade. general, and his wise and prudent administration. The promulgation of a papal " bull," couched in most arrogant and offensive terms, and assigning to the king of Portugal " the sovereignty of India with all its people and possessions," so excited the just indignation of those proud oriental potentates, that they made common cause with each other and determined on the utter extermination of the in- terlopers : a resolve that, but for the wise and con- ciliatory conduct of Albuquerque, would probably have been carried into effect. Under the excellent administration of this able superintendent, not only were the name and reputation of the Portu- guese restored to their old footing, but new acces- sions of territory were made ; Goa was taken, and strongly fortified, and many powerful native princes offered their friendly alliance, while the Portuguese ports were filled with shipping and alive with thrifty trade. The death of Albuquerque, a man reverenced and esteemed by natives as well as by foreigners, occurred after a brilliant rule of only five years, and was followed by the advent of officers less faithful and less efficient, greatly to the detriment of the Portuguese interests. The death of king Emmanuel, and the accession of his The Portuguese. 395 successor, was succeeded by the appointment of the veteran De Gain a, under the title of Count de Vidigueyra, to the Captain-generalship of the Indian colony, for which he sailed immediately on his third and last Indian campaign. Though he lived but three months after his arrival, his coming was productive of the happiest results ; advantages that were, however, soon lost by the misrule of inefficient governors, till the once prosperous colony was on the verge of dissolution. Corruption and oppression ruled in high places, and the total lack of integrity and good faith shown by the Portu- guese toward their Indian allies had so widened the breach between them that reconciliation seemed impossible ; while the* notorious cruelties and oppressions of De Souza were remembered only with threats of vengeance by both natives and Europeans. War had already been declared against the Portuguese settlers by the Rajahs of Guzerat and the Deccan, who had also laid siege to one of their towns, when the opportune arrival of De Castro gave a new aspect to affairs in gen- eral. The new viceroy at once raised the siege, and defeated the besieging army with great slaugh- ter, and then pushed the war so successfully into 396 European Trade. the enemy's country as to compel the sovereigns of Guzerat and the Deccan to sue for peace. This decisive action towards the foes of his coun- try was followed by a wise and conciliatory policy that made the viceroy every day new friends, and so reversed the state of anarchy in which he had found the colony, that " never at any other period of their Indian history could the Portuguese be said to have attained an equal measure of pros- perity as during the wise rule of De Castro. Their ports were crowded with shipping, their factories teemed with produce and merchandise, and on all sides were heard the sounds of busy in- dustry." De Castro seems to have united in a wonderful degree the excellences of two rival professions those of a military chieftain and a civil ruler in both of which he was alike brill- iant and exemplary. His famous victory over the Moors, at Diu, was celebrated by the poet Camoens ; and a beautiful statue to his memory was erected at Goa. He died at Goa, A. D. 1547, during the reign of Humayun, the father of Akbar the Great. It was about this period that the celebrated monk, Francis Xavier, in the interests of Jesuit St. Francis Xavier. 397 missions, established himself in Goa, and prose- lyted large numbers to a nominal Christianity in an incredibly short period of time. He exerted also a wide influence in political matters, and helped to carry out the plans of civil reform in- augurated by De Castro. But after the death of the viceroy, the efforts of Xavier were not suffi- cient to check the tide of corruption that again overspread the land, and threatened to engulf its very existence ; a calamity that was hastened by two causes of very opposite character. The first of these was the establishment of the Inquisition at Goa that engine of bigotry and evil passions that inflicted upon this fair land tortures and suf- fering far worse than those of heathenism ; and that made the very name of Christian an offence and a reproach to its friends, and a bitter taunt upon the lips of its enemies. The Inquisition had already become an Indo-Portuguese institution in the days of Don Sebastian ; but by the accession of the bigoted and sanguinary Philip it received a terrible impulse, that deluged in tears of blood one of earth's fairest domains, and caused the native converts to turn with horror from the bloody standard of this so-called Christian faith to 398 European Trade. embrace that of the more merciful Moslem or Hindu. The other cause of the decay of Portuguese power in India was the advent of Dutch oriental enterprise, and the formation of an East India Company, for the protection of its foreign trade. The prudent, plodding Hollanders were just the people to profit by the reports that soon spread concerning the trade and possessions of the Portu- guese in India ; and they at once fitted out and dispatched a fleet of merchant ships to secure a share of the costly spoils of the Orient. From the arrival in India of this first armament from Holland may be dated the decline of the Indo- Portuguese Empire ; while the power of the Dutch increased steadily, and waxed stronger with the passing years, gaining continually in favor with the native princes, especially those ruling on the Malabar and Coromandel coasts. In the very footsteps of the Dutch came the English, the fame of " the lands of the sun " hav- ing reached also across the British waters, and gained eager credence among London merchants and capitalists. The advantages of procuring India goods by direct route in their own ships, in- The East India Company. 399 stead of through the Venetians, or by Turkish ports, were too apparent not to find ready advo- cates. Accordingly, in A. D. 1600, five years before the close of the reign of the great Akbar, a com- pany of London merchants formed themselves into an association for foreign trade, with a capital of ,369,891, or nearly $1,850,000, and obtained from Queen Elizabeth, then Sovereign of Great Britian, a charter, under the style of " The Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading to the East Indies." This was the basis of the u British East India Company " that for two centuries and a half controlled almost the entire foreign trade of Great Britian, and grew at length into such a mammoth concern, such a complication of enter- prises, prerogatives and abuses, as to render its dissolution a matter of necessity. CHAPTER XVI. INDIAN RACES. PAUSING in our history to consider the origin, character, and abodes of some of the numer- ous races of India, who seem generally to have filled the leading parts of the great drama, we find the Rajputs stand out prominently as the ruling race. Few nations have a history so replete with heroic deeds and unflinching patriotism as the Rajputs of Meywar. They alone of all the Indian races refused to bow before Mohammedan des- potism ; and despite the most horrible persecutions, they proudly maintained their independence ; which was proof equally against the blandish- ments of imperial favor, and the furious onslaught of the armed foe. Kashatrya is a name that belonged originally to 400 CAB OF JUGGERNATH. H. I 26 The Rajputs. 403 the Aryan race of warriors, who, in company with the Brahmins or priests, established themselves on the lofty table-lands of Hindustan some two thousand years before our era. This title of Kashatrya is now claimed by the Rajputs, together with a descent from the god Rama, the conqueror of Lanka, who was the king of the " Race of the Sun," at the date of the first colonization of India by the Aryans. It is now believed that the inva- sion of India occurred at a somewhat later period than that claimed by its own records ; but whether the ancient Kashatryas are the veritable ancestors of the modern Rajputs, it is impossible now to determine. In opposition to the Rajput theory, the Brahmins contend that several centu- ries before our era the Kashatryas were all destroyed in a general up-rising of the other castes, by a decree of Parasourama, an incarnation of Vishnu. Yet another theory, advanced by several historians, is, that these redoubtable Rajputs, \vho have generally managed to gain the day in their constantly-recurring disputes, are none other than the descendants of the Scythian tribes who, com- ing over in small parties, at different periods, gained a footing and formed colonies along the 404 Indian Races. western frontier of India. In favor of this last theory, it is alleged that both in physique and many of their national customs, as also in their fairer complexion, the Rajputs more nearly re- semble the Parthians and Scythians than they do any of the Hindu races ; while their religious creed inclines to the Jam type, and their older traditions make frequent reference to Mount Aboo. Though there are now no well-authorized data upon which to base any positive decision of these mooted points, it is certain that the Rajputs did not make their de"but upon the political stage of India prior to the sixth century, and that, if not destroyed, they were at least supplanted by the Mauryas, and other races of Soudras, who suc- cessively occupied the imperial throne of Magadha. Between the sixth and seventh centuries, however, the Rajputs, who had remained for a long time quietly settled on the banks of the Indus, began to cast adrift and to make their power felt in the struggle for position. The Chohans and Rahtores took possession of Canouj and Delhi ; the Ohan- delas, of Malwar ; arid the Ghelotes and Baghelas, of Mey war and Guzerat ; and it was at about this Oudeypore. 405 period that the Rajputs first began publicly to claim the title of Kashatrya. Oudeypore, the capital of Meywar, has an elevated position on the water-shed between the Bombay and Bengal Presidencies. Its surround- ings of lofty hills, and its outlook upon a lovely lake with island palaces, water gardens and tem- ples, secure for it the reputation of being the fairest sight in Rajputana. The city has a salubri- ous climate, with a population of about thirty- eight thousand inhabitants, who, in common with all the people of this native state of Meywar, are noted for their manliness and independence of character. Mons. Rousselet, writing of his late visit, says : " At length we passed around the last hill, and Oudeypore, the capital of Meywar, lay before us. My men shouted and danced for joy. As for myself, I stood in ecstasy, gazing at the sublime panorama spread out at my feet. Never had I even hoped to see anything so beautiful. It resembled one of the fairy cities of the ' Arabian Nights.' In the foreground, a long line of forts, pagodas, and palaces stood out from a background of gardens, above which appeared the town, a fantastic assemblage of bell-turrets, towers, and 406 Indian Races. kiosks built up the side of a pyramidal hill, on the summit of which was an immense palace of white marble, in striking contrast with the dark blue tints of the mountains behind it. This palace, with its perfect proportions and great magnitude seems to soar, like a New Jerusalem, above a terrestrial cit} r ." Neither pen nor pencil can portray the marvellous splendor of this superb town, so justl} r named Oudeypore, "City of the Rising Sun."* At- tractive as is the prospect, desolate ravines, that guard the entrance, must first be crossed ere this terrestrial paradise can be entered. But when these have been left behind the visitor is richly re- paid by the enchanting vision of temples, palaces, arches, columns, and a thousand objects of interest that every where challenge his admiration, not alone for their intrinsic beautj^, but as the surroundings of a most remarkable race of truly regal princes. The late Maharana Sambhoo Singh, who died when scarcely in his prime, was among his country- men a personage of note a Rajput Ghelote, of the clan Sesoudias, the recognized representative of the Souriavanses, the famous Indian " Race of the Sun." This was the noble prince who was in * India and its Native Princes, page 145. The Rajah of Rajputana. 409 power at the time of M. Rousselet's visit. The present Rajah Maharana, who received the Prince of Wales so handsomely, is a cousin of the last, and his adopted heir. He is described by Russell, as " tall, good-looking, and very fair of fairer hue than the average Europeans of the South, of very dignified manners and carriage, with an air as if he were conscious of his origin, and meant to keep up the traditions of his house." Tod says of this family, that they are the -representatives of the only dynasty which, with the exception of Jaisalmir, "outlived eight centuries of foreign domination in the same land where conquest placed them ; and who now hold the territory their ancestors held when the conqueror from Ghazni first crossed the blue waters of the Indus to invade India." Such is the estimation in which this very aristo- cratic sovereign is held by the other races of his own country that marriage with a daughter of his house can be had only at the cost of a prov- ince. Sir Thomas Roe gravely asserts, that this most royal house is descended from Porus ; they themselves, that they come of celestial origin ; and everybody who looks into the pedigree of this 410 Indian Races. Maharana of Oudeypore concurs in the opinion that it is the very oldest in the world, as he cer- tainly belongs to the highest race in India. His every motion is that of a king to the sceptre born ; and though in the first years of young manhood, he displays great energy and force of character. His usual dress is pure white turban, robe, and pantaloons ; sometimes embroidered silk or satin, and at others, the finest linen or India muslin ; but there is always the golden belt set with magnifi- cent diamonds, the aigrette of other diamonds still more superb and costly on his head-dress, and upon neck and arms strings of huge pearls, rubies and other precious stones of priceless value. The Sirdars of his suite wear green satin and brocade, with white silk turbans, and jewels as handsome, if not altogether so costly as those of their chief. The state contains eleven thousand six hundred and four- teen square miles, with a population of one million one hundred and sixty-eight thousand inhabitants ; and a revenue of $2,000,000, of which $100,000 is paid in taxes to the British Government". Besides the illustrious descent of this royal house, their importance arises from yet another The Head of Indian Nobility. 411 source. For this family not only opposed the Mussulman invasion, but they preserved their purity of caste at the cost of blood and treasure, by sundering, during all the Mohammedan rule, every form of connection with the imperial family, which many other Indian princes eagerly accepted. This has placed the Maharana of Oudeypore at the very head of the Indian nobility, and given him many additional honors and prerogatives. In assemblies of the Rajput princes, he always occu- pies the seat of honor, and takes precedence in speaking. He is also the arbiter of disputes on all national points, and from his decision there is no appeal. Among the genealogical claims of the lianas, are two which, if well-founded, may justify the name they-have assumed, its signification being " Sons of Kings." They claim connection with the kings of Persia, through a daughter of the last Chosroes, the great Noushirvau, who married one of the Ranas ; and with the Roman emperors of Constantinople in the same way, through the mar- riage of an imperial maiden with another of the Maharanas of Oudeypore. These claims are said to be well authenticated ; and further, there is probably " not another family in the world that 412 Indian Races. possesses a pedigree so correctly traced from fabu- lous times as that of the Ranas of Chittore and Oudeypore." Here also are found the most per- fect physical types of the noble Rajput race, and the many loyal and chivalrous traits ascribed to them by Tod, their appreciative historian. Amid the present degree of civilization, and the splendid receptions now given by native Princes all over India to stranger visitors from every land, one finds it difficult even to conceive of the obsta- cles and dangers that beset the path of Bishop Heber, the priest and poet-traveller of 1820, when he attempted a tour of the Rajput states. He says : " The journe}' was hardly less to be dreaded than one into the centre of Africa the whole interior of India being overrun by bands of brig- ands, and these scarcely more dangerous to for- eigners than the inhabitants of villages and rural districts." How different in our own day, when, despite all the wrongs and oppressions of which the people of Hindustan have been the recipients at the hands of European races, strangers meet everywhere only courtesy and kindness from her people of every grade. It is at Oudeypore, above every other city in India, that are to be found the " Sons of Kings:' 413 high representatives of the chief Rajput tribes, and of purest blood, till it has passed into a proverb that "a courtier of the court of Oudey- pore is the model of bon-ton for all India." Neither Mogul nor English have in any way been able to influence these princely Rajputs to amalgamate with other races : and despite inva- sion and contact with foreigners they have pre- served intact their purity of blood and caste. And what grand, noble specimens of manhood they are these calm, silent, dignified " Sons of Kings," every one of them, with their tall, well- developed forms, expressive features, and princely air. They wear the beard very long, divided into two pointed whiskers, which is the ne plus ultra of the barber's art in Oudeypore. The turbans of the Rajputs are always of fine material, and always tastefully folded, though not by any means of cor- responding size or form. Very many are small and tightly-fitting, with the edges turned up like a cap ; others are more voluminous ; and some quite fantastic as to form. Their usual attire consists of a tight-fitting tunic, full trousers, or a waist- cloth worn long and so arranged as to resemble the aforesaid garment, and a jewelled girdle decked 414 Indian Races. out with a complete armament of swords, daggers, and dirks ; with the addition in times of active service, of the traditional rhinoceros-skin shield, circular, semi-transparent, and pendant from the shoulders by a cord of the same material, the shield itself fairly aglow with a super-abundance of golden knobs. The women are tall and well- formed, sprightly, graceful, and sometimes very pretty. Only the very highest claims are kept in seclusion, the remainder going about ad libitum; and vails are never worn. Nevertheless, a pretty, graceful coyness is one of the attractions of the Rajput fair, leading her, when too closely observed, to draw the long, silken sarri, pendant always from her head, over her features, until the inquisi- tive gazer has passed. The costume of Rajput ladies is pretty and graceful, consisting of a long, full-plaited skirt, descending below the knee, a tight bodice of some bright color, and the long sarri or scarf of thin silk, fastened in a tasteful knot upon the top of the head, and suffered to float at will over the neck and shoulders. An abundance of gold and silver ornaments, as in every oriental costume, completes the attire. Among Rajput families of distinction, the house- The Household Bard. 417 hold bard holds an important place. Not only the sovereign, courtiers, and chiefs, have each an especial bard and poet, but even private families of wealth and position have their own, each keep- ing the pedigree of his master's house, preserving intact the traditions that belong to' the family, and, on grand occasions, reciting the ancestral catalogue with the deeds that have rendered each name illus- trious. The very person of the bard is held sacred ; and no undue familiarity, still less neglect or injury, is ever permitted toward him ; and among the desert tribes he is far more venerated than even the Brahmin priests. He deals largely in astrology also, professing to draw all his deduc- tions, public and private, from the stars ; and from their omens and decrees as promulgated by him, there is never a doubt, or thought of appeal. He is the bearer of all important messages in the arranging of treaties and negotiations of every sort, and when he dies, the whole clan mourn his departure as a national calamity, second only to that of their chief. When, in 1565, Pertab Singh was deposed by the Mogul emperor, Akbar, and after a gallant re- sistance was driven with his brave Rajputs from H. I 27 418 Indian Races. the domain of his ancestors, there remained to him only the territory comprised within the semi-circle of the Gurvva Mountains. But his brave spirit was unconquered, and tradition sa} r s, that halting before Chittore, the ancient city of the Ranas, he vowed a terrible vengeance against the invaders of his native soil ; and that thenceforward, refus- ing all the honors offered by the Mogul emperor, as the price of submission to his authority, Pertab, to the very end of his life, waged implacable and uncompromising war against the whole Mogul race. His brave defence of the Dhobarri Pass is well known. With a handful of nobles who had remained faithful to him, and the help of the fierce Bheels he had enlisted as soldiers, he sustained the shock of the imperial forces; and subsequently, by dint of an unfaltering heroism, he recovered by degrees, the whole of Meywar, (which in spite of all odds, the Rajputs have retained), and at last, the powerful Jehanghir was able to conclude a treaty with them, only on their own terms. Tod, in his " Annals of Rajesthan," styles the powerful Jehanghir, "the Mogul emperor, a commentator, like Caesar, on the history of the Sesoudias ; " and quotes the language of Jehanghir, " the Supreme The iSesoudias. 419 Head of the twenty-two Satrapies of India," as exulting with pride on the treaty concluded with the Rajput king, " he thanks Heaven for having reserved to him the success which neither his im- mortal ancestor, Baber, the founder of the Mogul dynasty, nor Humayun had been able to attain ; and which even his father, the illustrious Akbar, had but partially achieved." The sixteen Omras who surround the Rana at his Durbars are the representatives of the little band of heroes who, for an entire century, val- iantly maintained the independence of their flag, without once yielding the day, turning their backs on the foe, or being seduced by the brilliant offers of the emperors. It is said that the poorest Raj- put Sesoudia of the present day can trace back the genealogy of his tribe for a dozen centuries at least, and may dwell with pride on the purity of his lineage, unstained by any alliance with the Tartars. Before even the beginning of our era this "race of the suri " appear to have owned an immense territory, and to have reigned over wealthy cities, and luxuriated in gorgeous palaces and superb monuments while many European nations were yet in their infancy, and the very 420 Indian Races. existence of our Western Continent had never been thought of, by even the wisest heads. Every Rajput noble has his own standard and coat of arms, and many have names corresponding with the devices emblazoned on their banners. These possess the genuine stamp of antiquity, showing that their heraldry could not have been imported from Europe as some writers have sup- posed. In the Mahabarata, and many others of their sacred books, the heroes are represented as carrying off the banners of their foes ; while in Hindu romances, the knights are nearly always distinguished by the devices on their shields. The Maharajah Ram Singh, of Jeypore, is the chief of the Kachwas (Tortoises), one of the prin- cipal Rajput clans. They, too, trace their descent from the divine Rama of Aoudha, the ancestor of the Souriavanses, through his second son, Gush, one of whose descendants built the celebrated fortress of Rhotas in Behar, and took the name of Kachwa. In A. D. 295, Nal Pal, one of their kings, removed west- ward to Nishida, now Narwar, and their third capi- tal was Gwalior. In 967 Dhola Rae was driven from the country by a usurper, and forced to seek refuge among the Mynas of Dhoundhar, by whom RUINS NKAR DELHI. The Kachwas. 423 he was very kindly received ; and whom, by a long course of treachery, he dispossessed of their coun- try. At the time of the Mussulman invasion the Kachwa kings of Ambir were among the first to seek their alliance ; and in the reign of Akbar, Bhagwandas gave one of his daughters in mar- riage to Prince Selim, afterwards the Emperor Jehanghir. The name of this Rajah is conse- quently held in reproach, for having been the first to stain the pure, unmixed blood of a Rajput by a union with the abhorred Moslems ; and for this act, the clan of Kachwas are to this day regarded as inferior to all other Rajputs. The Mynas, the ancient owners of Jeypore, were one of the great aboriginal races of India, who, like the Bheels, the Gounds, and Jats, peo- pled the broad lands since occupied by the Rajputs. The Mynas of Dhoundhar were divided into five great tribes, called Panchwara, and inhabited the whole region of the Kalikho Mountains from Ajmere to Delhi. Their chief towns were Ambir, Khogaum, and Mauch. This race was not entirely subjugated until about the thirteenth century ; and they had attained an advanced degree of civil- ization, but driven back to the mountains, they 424 Indian Races. have gradually relapsed almost into barbarism, and their wild tribes now spread themselves nearly to the mountains of Central India. All the aboriginal races of Rajputana, the Mynas, as well as the Bheels, and Mhairs, live in villages called Pals, which circumstance has given them the generic name of Palitas. The habits of the Mynas resemble those of the Bheels. They live by hunting and brigandage rather than agriculture ; and they always carry their bows and lattis (bam- boos, pointed with iron). They have dark, swarthy skins, long, silk}' black hair, and their features are more refined and intelligent than those of the Bheels. Bheel is derived from the Sanscrit bhila, " sep- arate," i. e., outcast, a name applied to one of the aboriginal races alluded to above, who have from remote ages been described as a distinct people. According to their own traditions, they sprang from the union of the god Mahadeo with a beauti- ful woman he met in a forest, and whose descend- ants becoming numerous settled the country of West Candeish, Malwar, Rajputana, the Aravalis, Vindhyas, and Salpura Mountains. They still people the whole of Bagur, a part of the chain of the Aravalis, and nearly all the Viiidhyas. The Bheels. 425 Along the Vindhya range, from Jain to West Mandu, almost the entire population are Bheels, though many of the chiefs are descended from Rajput fathers and Bheel mothers, and are known as Chomijahs. One of the most noted of these was Nadir Singh, famous for his murderous ex- ploits. They woi-ship Mahadeo and his consort, Devi, the goddess of small-pox. For other objects of worship they select the several elements, and special maladies ; and for the gigantic tree Mhowa, from which they obtain both oil and spirits, they have a supreme reverence. They rarely erect regular temples, but heap up a mass of stones and smear them with red ochre, then lay on a rudely- sculptured flagstone upon which to deposit offer- ings, and their sanctuary is complete. Equally simple is their toilette. A single twist of their long hair is wound around the temples to serve as a turban, while the remainder hangs neglected about the shoulders that are bare and bronzed. A single waist-cloth forms usually the entire costume for men, while the women have also their shoulders partially covered, and a succession of bangles and bracelets reaching, the former from knee to ankle, and the latter from wrist to elbow. Denounced 426 Indian Races. for centuries as thieves and outlaws, the Bheels, in bitter sarcasm, style themselves " the thieves of Mahadeo," and declare perpetual enmity against the Hindus, who have banished them from their legal rights. Withdrawing into inaccessible dis- tricts, and sheltered in their fastnesses from the strong arm of the law, they live apart from the residue of mankind, pay tribute to none, make terrible reprisals on those who injure or offend them, and scatter terror among merchants and travellers who pass their way. Their^ " pals " or villages are always built on heights command- ing the roads ; each house is a fortress of itself, looking, as it stands perched on the very summit of some abrupt cliff, like a gigantic aerie, and every chief of a clan is the commander of a troop of brigands. When danger threatens, the clans make common cause the women, children and cattle are sent to the ravines for safety, while the men either sally forth to meet their foes, or launch their arrows at them from an intrenchment of cactus and boxwood. Sentinels are always on the lookout for danger, and for " game ; " and not a movement along the road escapes their observa- tion. A Legend. 427 Treated like wild beasts, hunted down, de- nounced and defamed by the Brahmins, whom they abhor and denounce in return, they seem in a great measure to have forgotten their ancient civilization, and have fallen into the state of degradation, in which they are found at the present day. In their legends and traditions, however, they have preserved many memorials of their days of renown, when their rule extended over fertile plains as well as rugged mountains. One of these legends seems to explain the origin of the hatred existing between the Bheels and Brahmins. The legend says : " A Brahmin one day chanced to meet in the jungle a natural son of Mahadeo, wandering about in search of food. As he was very black, and of giant strength, the Brahmin sneeringly called him, ' NichadiJ or Bheel, i. e., ' outlaw,' and charged him with the murder of Nandi, the sacred ox of the god. This scion of divinity, indignant at the wanton insult, slew the offending Brahmin on the spot, and returning home boasted of the exploit to his people, who adopted thenceforward the name of 'Bheel' in commemoration of his deed." The Brahmins choose to aver that the ox was verily slain, and 428 Indian Races. the crime of all most odious in the eyes of a Hindu really committed by the son of the very god the Bheels worship ; while the proud Bheel scorns to disavow the base slander, but declines nevertheless to submit to the yoke of the impe- rious Brahmin ; and so the two are at perpetual variance. Despite their outlawry, the Bheels have noble traits. They are said to be very humane to their prisoners taken from other races, showing them the hospitality due to strangers and guests. They are likewise excellent husbands ; and wives exercise considerable influence in the domestic menage. The Bheels are noted also for their grateful remembrance of favors received ; and for the faithful observance of promises. The point of honor is carried so far that they have been known repeatedly to allow richly-freighted caravans to pass unmolested, solely because a safe conduct had been innocently promised by some of their own little children ; or their protection invoked by the travellers themselves. They have no prejudices of caste, nor any in regard to food, for their several tribes intermarry with each other, and frequently also with the Rajputs ; and they eat any food they The Bheels. 429 find agreeable or convenient, irrespective of its source. The pure Bheels are said to number about two millions in India, besides many thousands of Bhilalas, a mixed race, the progeny of Rajputs and Bheels who have intermarried. The Bheels are of medium height, and more robust than the average Hindu, though less graceful in carriage. They are remarkably strong, athletic, and skilful in the use of their bows and arrows, using them even in tiger and panther hunting, and readily hit- ting their mark at twenty or twenty-five yards distance. The Bheel women, as a rule, are of a handsome type, fairer than the men, more elegantly formed, and extremely dignified and stately. The Bheels joined in the Indian mutiny of 1857 and 1858 ; and Lieutenant Henry, Superintendent of Police, was killed in endeavoring to dislodge them from a strong position in Candeish. In another engagement, fought January 20, 1858, near the frontier of the Nizam's territory, where the Bheels were strongly entrenched, the English lost fifty European soldiers and officers. At other points, however, when friendship and protection had been shown them by the English, they evinced 430 Indian Races. their appreciation of these favors by protecting their allies when menaced by mutinous seapoys ; and some of the Bheels who entered the British army rendered faithful and effective service. The British Government has, in return, endeavored to put a stop to the Rajput raids that formerly proved so destructive to the crops and villages of the Bheels. The attacks of the Rajputs were nearly always made when the mountaineers were away on some distant expedition, from which they would re- turn to find only a smouldering heap of ruins in lieu of their growing crops and picturesque ' pals." Both of these turbulent races, the Bheels and the Rajputs, though at first somewhat restive of con- trol, from whatever source, are gradually, under the influence of wise laws and the stringency of military discipline, toning down from their preda- tory habits into more peaceful and law-abiding communities. CHAPTER XVII. THE MOGUL EMPIRE FROM BABER TO AKBAR. THE reign of Baber, the first Tartan Emperor who attempted to reside among his Indian subjects, was by no means a welcome one to the Rajputs and chiefs of his new domain. Very many of them were in open rebellion, and boldly defied him ; and nearly all had availed themselves of the recent disturbed state of the country to act independently of any ''Paramount Power," and were not disposed to resign to the new-made emperor any of their recently acquired preroga- tives. But Baber's early experiences had taught him how to conquer rebellious princes ; and he had reached the throne of Delhi through too many victories to have any fear of future defeat. His father, who had been Sultan of Khokan, dying 431 432 The Mogul Empire. when Baber was a lad of twelve, his uncle, the Sultan of Samercand, had seized the patrimony of the youthful sovereign ; but Baber, with a spirit and bravery beyond his years, asserted his rights, and maintained them against his far more experi- enced relative for several years. Becoming in- volved in disputes with several of his neighbors, at the same time, they united against him, and Baber was compelled to seek safety in flight. With only three hundred followers, he took refuge in Khorasan, and was for several years involved in dissensions concerning his paternal domain. After enlisting in his service a large company of Moguls in addition to his Afghan troops, Baber, in 1519, crossed the Indus, and conquered several towns in the Punjaub ; but no further attempt was made on India for nearly five years. In 1524 he ad- vanced to Lahore, which he captured ; but after- wards formed an alliance with its Rajah, for the su-bjugation of other provinces. His next advance was to Paniput, the " battle-field of India," fifty miles from Delhi, where he fought the great battle that gave him an empire, and left Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Afghan monarchs of India, dead on the battle-field. Baber's lieutenants occupied H. T.-28 Baber's Success. 435 Delhi and Agra, while his son, Humayun, routed another Afghan army, and Baber marched south- ward and gained a decisive victory over Rana Sanka, the most powerful of the Hindu princes. From this time Baber busied himself in quelling insurrections, and reducing his refractory Rajahs and governors to obedience. The Afghan chiefs and Hindu troops fought with great valor, and disputed every battle with the energy of despera- tion. Several times Baber, who was always in the thickest of the fight, came near falling into the hands of the enemy ; but his usual good fort- une never forsook him ; and it was without even a wound that, at the end of four years' hard con- flicts, Baber set himself to the reconstruction of his extensive dominions, with nearly every province once more under the dominion of Delhi. He had roads built and repaired, with way-stations for the accommodation of travellers ; caused a new survey of lands, with reference to equable taxation, planted gardens and fruit trees, and established a line of post-houses from Agra to Cabul. All these improvements, in addition to the founding of an empire that lasted nearly three centuries, was the work of that brief reign of only five years, four 436 The Mogul Empire. of which were spent in warfare. But now that all his projects seemed fulfilled, and all the plans he had formed brought to a happy conclusion, Baber saw that he was not to live to enjoy his suc- cesses. A life of many vicissitudes, with great physical fatigues and the hardships of camp life, had made inroads upon his constitution not to be shaken off; and conscious that his end was ap- proaching, he made judicious arrangements for the future government of the country, which he be- queathed to his son Humayun, and expired in December, 1530, in the forty-eighth year of his age, having reigned over India years five only. To great political and military abilities, Baber joined literary tastes and accomplishments of no mean order. He wrote a history of his own life in the Mogul language, which has been translated into English ; and so far as his busy life of warfare permitted, he encouraged men of letters about his court. Humayun inherited his father's talents and virtues ; and few monarchs have ascended a throne with more brilliant prospects of success. The empire seemed firmly established ; the turbu- lent nobles were once more at peace with each other and the supreme government ; the revenues THE BAZAAR OF KHOJA 8YUD, AJMERE. Humayun. 439 were in a flourishing condition ; and the young king himself had so well profited by his father's training and example, both as general and states- man, that he seemed admirably adapted to fill with credit to himself, and to the happiness of his peo- ple, the exalted position to which he was called. But his mild, peace loving character was not suffi- ciently in unison with the warlike age ; and his literary and social tastes were too far in advance of his restless, turbulent nobles, who could adapt themselves only to an iron rule. It shortly be- came necessary for him to undertake an expedition into Guzerat, and another into his Afghan terri- tories ; and though in both he was victorious, he came near falling a victim to treachery. Then his two brothers revolted, and making common cause with several restless chiefs, they incited a formid- able rebellion against him. After several unsuccess- ful attempts to restore order, Humayun took refuge at the court of Persia, where he was cordially wel- comed, and assistance promised him against his enemies. Sixteen years however elapsed before Jie re-entered Delhi in triumph ; and then he lived only a brief period to enjoy the restoration of his kingdom. Walking on a terrace of his palace, his 440 The Mogul Empire. foot slipped and he fell to the ground, so severely injured that his death followed in a few days. Akbar, his son and successor, was then only thir- teen years of age, and as usual among those turbu- lent chieftains on the death of a sovereign, insurrections and revolts broke out in various parts of the empire. The good order restored by Baber had failed utterly under the" less successful administration of Humayun ; and especially dur- ing his long absence from the country, many states threw off their allegiance entirely, and now re- fused to submit to the sway of the boy-king, whom they deemed wholly unequal to the enforce- ment of his claims. But the youth and inexperi- ence of Akbar found adequate compensation in the ripe years and mature wisdom of his dis- tinguished vizier, Behram Khan, the general and prime minister of his late father ; while the bud- ding genius of Akbar himself, that rendered him afterwards so illustrious, soon began to be recog- nized. The ceremonial of coronation was scarcely over when Behram, accompanied by the youthful sover- eign, set forth with the utmost energy and deter- mination to bring the refractory Rajahs to their Akbar. 441 duty. Herau a powerful Hindu prince, who had assumed the title of emperor on. the demise of Humayun, was the first to be reckoned with. Hemu, with a powerful army of the bitterest foes of Mohammedan rule, was strongly entrenched at Paniput, and they fought with the desperate en- ergy of religious fanaticism ; but victory declared in favor of Akbar ; and Hemu, wounded and a prisoner, was brought to the royal tent, where Behram requested the emperor to strike the first blow at the usurper as a signal for his death. But the brave young monarch refused to strike a, wounded man and a prisoner, and this so enraged the vizier, that he struck off the head of the cap- tive with his own hand without waiting for the formality of a regular execution. This victory was followed by others in rapid succession, till Delhi, Agra, the Punjaub, Guzerat, and Bengal were all brought back to their fealty. The si rong fort, Chittore, in Meywar, was also besieged and taken after a gallant defence. Its rich jewels and royal treasures too, were carried off by the captors ; but Oudey Singh, its brave defender and most precious treasure was never taken, and the coun- try continued to hold out against Akbar during his 442 The Mogul Empire. entire reign. Chittore is a fortified town, built on the summit of an isolated peak, about three miles from the Pathar Mountains. It was the ancient capital of Meywar, built by Chitrung Mori, the Puar king ; and for several centuries it was the only important town that was able to hold out against the encroachments of Moslem power. The plateau on which it is built lies southwest jnd northeast, and is about three miles long, at a vary- ing height of from two hundred and fifty to four hundred feet above the plain. It is a naturally strong position, surmounted by admirable works, the sides of the mountain being perpendicular, and a line of embattled ramparts, supported by large round towers, running along the edge of the precipice, render it almost invulnerable. Nor could it be reduced by famine, being well supplied with water from numerous reservoirs, and contain- ing also immense store-houses and granaries. Yet, despite all these advantages, Chittore has been oftener reduced by siege than almost any other town in India. Its weak point is a little plateau on the south side of the mountain, and this has in every instance been the successful point of re- duction. Tradition says that this plateau was Chittore. 443 erected by Sultan Ala-u-din, as the place from which to make his assault in 1303, and that the garrison succumbed to his forces after resisting a siege of twelve years. It was also from this point that the Maharajah Scindia bombarded the town. in 1792. Dense forests, full of ferocious beasts of prey, surround the base of the mountain, except the small portion occupied by the town of Toulaiti, about half-way up the western side. There is only one entrance to Chittore, which is. defended by seven gates placed at intervals up the ascent. Between the third and fourth is built a small cenotaph of white marble, to mark the spot where the two heroes, Jeimul and Puttore, fell during the siege of the town by Akbar ; and near by is the tomb of Ragonde, another martyr of the Rajput cause, who is now worshipped as a demi-god. Indeed, the whole history of Chittore, as recorded by its bards, and handed down by tradition, is one of touching devotion and almost unparalleled heroism on the part of the Rajputs even the gentler sex vieing with their husbands and fathers in love and zeal for the honor of their devoted city. More than once the entire garrison has per- ished to a man, kings and princes have calmly laid 444 The Mogul Empire. down their lives for their country, and gentle women, with their tender babes, have faced suffer- ing and death by violence and by the still more cruel "sacrifice of Johur," without a murmuring word. Among the numerous monumelits of this once famous city, perhaps the most noted is the Kherut Khoumb, or " Tower of the Victory of Kho- umbhou," erected by the Rana of that name to commemorate the victory gained over the allied armies of the Sultans of Malwar and Guzerat. The Kherut is a square tower of singular beauty, more than a hundred feet high, built in nine stories, and once profusely adorned with superb balconies, sculptures, mouldings, and cornices, some of which yet remain ; but many have been destroyed by the vandalism of Moslem invaders. The ninth stor} T , which serves the purpose of lan- tern tower, is surmounted by a modern dome, the ancient one having been destroyed by lightning. Here were also laid up the slabs of white marble containing the records of the genealogy and chief acts of all the Ranas. Of these, but one slab re- mains, which records a fulsome tribute to the builder of the tower, and the date of its erection, Pudmanee's Sacrifice. 445 1307. According to the accounts of the time, the ouilding of this superb tower cost ninety lacs of rupees, or 14,500,000; and that at a period when the proportionate value of money was so much greater than in our own day. Among other remarkable monuments, are the palace of the Puar king, Chitrurig Mori, the founder of Chittore, which is the oldest edifice in the fortress ; the palace of the patriotic Bhimsi, and his beautiful queen, Pudmanee ; and near the sacred fountain of Q-aee Moukh or the " Cow's Mouth," is an aperture in the rock that leads into the immense subterranean galleries, called by the Hindus, Rani-Bindar, " Queens' Chamber." It was in this cavern that the peerless queen, Pud- manee, and all the other women of Chittore, amounting to several thousand in number, sacri- ficed their lives rather than to fall into the hands of the Moslem invaders of their country, at the sacking of Chittore by Ala-u-din in 1290. After the most gallant but unsuccessful defence, the brave Rajputs filled the subterranean apartments of the Rani-Bindar with inflammable materials, and on these were heaped all the women and chil- dren, the jewels, diamonds and treasure, all that 446 The Mogul Empire. their Moslem foes would care to possess, and the torch being applied, all perished together. This is the " Sacrifice of Johur " never resorted to bu;. in such desperate cases, to save women of rank from being dishonored. When their most precious possessions had been thus provided for, the gates of the fortress were thrown open, and its last defenders, with the Rana at their head, rushing with drawn swords upon Ala's army, perished to a man, though not without inflicting a terrible vengeance on the Moslems, whom they hacked and butchered without mercy, probably ten for one. On entering Chittore, the Sultan found only a silent and deserted town, over which hung a cloud of foetid smoke, rising out of the vaults where all that he had coveted lay in smouldering ashes. His avowed object in laying siege to Chittore, both in 1275, and again in 1290, had been to possess himself of the beautiful queen Pudmanee, whose wondrous graces of person and character are still handed down by tradition. Twice the Moslem conqueror had been foiled by this lady fair : first, by a well executed ruse on her part, and this time by her self-immolation ; and his rage vented itself in the demolition of all the Chittore. 447 buildings within the fortress, save only the palace where the beautiful queen had perished. When this grand, invincible people had again rallied from their disaster, and Chittore phoenix- like had risen from the ashes of desolation to a higher prosperity under the glorious reign of Khoumbhou, the builder of the tower that bears his name, and of numerous other stately architect- ural wonders, Chittore was again besieged in 1537, by Sultan Bahadour Bajazet, king of Guzerat. This time, the fortress of the devoted city was un- dermined, taken and again sacked ; but not until the brave garrison had fallen almost to a man, and their wives and daughters, more than a thousand in number, led by the queen Kurriaveti, had im- molated themselves, by taking their position on a rock that had been undermined, when firing the train, they ail perished in an instant. Twenty years later, in 1557, having once more risen from its ruins, Chittore was again besieged, this time by Akbar. He was at first repulsed with heavy loss by Oudey Singh and his brave Rajputs ; but the little garrison was finally over- powered by numbers, fighting as they were against the whole force of the Tartan emperor. The 448 The Mogul Empire. flower of the Mey war chivalry were cut to pieces ; the widow of one of the Omras, who, taking her dead husband's place, went out to battle beside her son, a youth of sixteen, and her young daughter- in-law, fell fighting bravely while both lay dead before her : two heads of tribes, Jeimul and Put- tore, defended the sacred city with a bravery re- membered even to this day by Moslems as well as Rajputs ; and at last Jeimar, when he had been mortally wounded by the hand of Akbar him- self, gave the signal for the Johur, and nine queens, five princesses, and more than a thousand other women, together ascended the funeral pyre, while their last defenders, satisfied that their honor was preserved, rushed to meet death in the battle- field. When' the. city fell into Akbar's hands, he caused the immolation of every living thing found within its borders, not sparing even its beautiful monuments from desecration and defacement. But the race that had proved such invincible opposers. of Moslem rule could not be extinguished. Be- sides those scattered over the mountain villages, the illustrious Rana Oudey Singh had escaped with a band of brave adherents ; and he shortly Chittore Deserted. 449 after laid the foundation of Oudeypore, " City of the Rising Sun," to commemorate his name. Chittore, the invincible, was deserted, and this royal abode that for a thousand years had towered above all the surrounding region, has become the haunt of wild beasts, with its sacred places dese- crated or in ruins. Formerly it was called the " Holy Town," but now, though still considered a sacred place of the former times, " it is given over to evil spirits, and the Ranas are solemnly forbid- den to enter its precincts." Not one of them has set foot on the rock since Oudey Singh left its hor- rors on that fatal day ; and " those who have at- tempted to enter the desecrated town have felt themselves repelled by an unseen hand." The great conqueror returned from the reduc- tion of Chittore with more than ordinary elation, though nearly all his military expeditions were crowned with success. But the cruel and jealous spirit of his vizier, Behram, grew more and more unbearable, till Akbar found it necessary to dis- miss him, and, as the least objectionable method of doing so, sent him on a pilgrimage to Mecca ; and on the road thither he was assassinated by one 29 450 The Mogul Empire. of the many enemies he had made by his imperious and unjust despotism as vizier. A war with the Afghans of the North-eastern Provinces followed Akbar's other aggressive move- ments ; and then one with Cashmere, both of which were soon " compelled to accept the terms offered them, namely, complete subjection to Akbar's authority." His power was now firmly established throughout the whole of Central India ; and Cashmere seems from this time to have been the summer residence of the emperors of Delhi, so long as this monarchy lasted. CHAPTER XVIII. THE MOGUL EMPIRE FROM AKBAR TO SHAH JEHAN. IN 1596, the Deccan became the scene of Akbar's military exploits. Several of his generals were first dispatched to different fields in that country ; and after about two years, he joined them at the scene of operations before Ahmed- negar. This city was founded by Ahmed Nizam Shah, in 1493. It was a part of the Tartan empire from 1634 to 1707, when it was captured by the Mah- rattas. In 1797 it was taken by Scindia, and six years later was wrested from him by General Wellesley. Soon afterwards, it was restored to the Peishwa, and did not revert to the English until 1817. Its fortress is considered one of the 451 452 The Mogul Empire. strongest in India, being surrounded by an impen- etrable hedge of prickly-pear, in addition to its stone walls of thirty feet high. Akbar's purpose was not to destroy the city, but to compel the reigning princes to submit to his authority ; and this end he fully accomplished before quitting the Deccan, which he left in the hands of his minister, Abul Fazl, whilst he proceeded with all speed to Agra. " This was rendered necessary by the rebellious conduct of his oldest son, Selim, who, instigated by bad advisers, and under the influence of opium and wine, had seized upon Allahabad and declared him- self king of Oudh and Behar. This rupture was, however, healed shortly afterward ; Selim was de- clared heir to" the throne, admitted at court, and permitted to wear royal ornaments." * Akbar was now on the verge of sixty, and the exposures and hardships of his military life were beginning to affect his health and bring on pre- mature infirmities. For several years he continued to have frequent and severe attacks of illness, one of which terminated his life, in the autumn of 1605, when he had just completed the sixty-third year of his age, and had entered the fiftieth of his * Malcolm's " Indian Mutiny." THE TEMPLE OF MAHADEVA, KAJRAHA 454 The Mogul Empire. reign. Nearly his whole life had been passed in warfare ; yet he found time for the exercise of the arts of peace, and it was often said of him that " he deemed no department of his government, and no details of his vast and splendid establish- ment too insignificant to deserve its special share of regular attention." While possessed of great military genius, he was also a lover of science and literature, encouraged learning, instituted schools, promoted commerce, improved the roads, reformed the revenue laws, diminished the taxes of his peo- ple, and gave the fullest liberty of conscience, allowing no man to be persecuted for his religious creed or practice. His eldest son, Selim, was with him during his last days, and received from his dying hands the royal scymeter. No opposition was made to the succession of Selim, who, under the title of Jehanghir or " Conqueror of the World," ascended the throne rendered immortal by Akbar's brilliant reign. The first trouble of the new monarch was caused by the rebellion of his own son, Khosru, who proceeded with a body of troops he had levied to seize on the city of Lahore ; but he was defeated in the very first en- gagement with his father ; was taken back to the Lahore in its Grlory. 457 Capital loaded with chains, and kept close pris- oner for a year. Lahore was in its glory then, as seen by Lalla Rookh, when " mausoleum and shrines, magnificent and numberless, affected her heart and imagination, and where death appeared to share equal honors with heaven." Now many of the old monuments have disappeared, and others have been changed, as for example, the magnificent tomb of a cousin of Akbar has been converted into a very commodious residence for the lieuten- ant-governor, and other mausoleums were used as dwellings for Seikh officers before the English came into possession. The flat roofs and carved lattices give to Lahore of the present day an aspect rather of Cairo than India ; and there is, iill over the city, with all its gayety and splendor, a quaint admixture of Tartar dwellings and soft oriental scenery, and of many nations, with cos- tumes and linguals innumerable. This city is sup- posed to have been founded sometime during the fourth or fifth century of our era, but it was not until the reign of Akbar that it attained any supremacy. Jehanghir was fond of it as a resi- dence, and fixed his court here in 1622, a court graced by the peerless Nour Mahal, " Light of the 458 The Mogul Empire. Harem," whom Jehanghir had wedded in 1611. She was the widow of a late governor of Bengal, and had won the emperor's regards by her great beauty and accomplishments. She is said to have exerted an extraordinary influence over this proud potentate ; but she was less a favorite with his sons. Especially was she disliked, and her undue influence suspected as being opposed to his inter- ests, by the third son, Korrun, afterwards Shah Jehan, the successor of Jehanghir. So restive did the prince become under her influence and plottings, that at length he left the court in indig- nation, and raised the standard of revolt by laying siege to Agra. In this daring attempt he was de- feated with heavy loss, but he refused the proffered reconciliation of his father and continued to absent himself from court, awaiting opportunity for a new outbreak. About this time a difficulty with Mohabet Khan, the governor of the Punjaub, occurred, of which, also Nour Mahal was the chief cause, and which came very near proving fatal to the emperor. Mohabet so far succeeded as to get possession of the person of Jehanghir. He was, however, released by a well-directed ruse of Nour Mahal ; and a reconciliation was then effected be- Death of Jehanghir. 459 tween the emperor and the governor, who was placed at the head of an army, and dispatched to the South against Shah Jehan, who still continued in open revolt. But Mohabet, instead of attack- ing the young prince, united with him against their common foe, Nour Mahal. While affairs were in this posture, 1627, the emperor, whose health had for some time been in a precarious condition, set out for Cashmere, in- tending to spend a month or two in resting and recruiting among the mountains. But the change proving unfavorable, his physicians directed an immediate return to a warmer climate. As a last hope he was conveyed toward Lahore, but expired suddenly on the way to that city, in the sixtieth year of his age, and the twenty -second of his reign. It was during the reign of this monarch, in 1615, that the English Embassy, under the guid- ance of Sir Thomas Roe, visited Ajmere, the object being to form a treaty of amity with the " Great Mogul," as the emperor was then called. Sir Thomas spent some three years in the country, and wrote a most vivid description of the court of Delhi, and the state of the country at that period. This work contains frequent allusions to the 460 The Mogul Empire. emperor Jehanghir, and his luxurious mode of living, as well as many incidents of his private life and character. The great wealth of this monarch may be judged from several circumstances mentioned by Sir Thomas Roe, among others, the gifts presented by him to the bride of one of his sons, namely : " A pearl necklace valued at $300,000, a ruby worth $125,000, and a yearly maintenance of $150,000." As soon as tidings of the emperor's death reached Shah Jehan, he repaired by forced marches to Agra, taking Mohabet with him, and there caused himself to be proclaimed. There was an attempt at resistance made by Nour Mahal, with the hope of securing the sceptre for her protege, Shah Riah, Jehanghir's second son, but without effect. At the first encounter, Nour Mahal's forces were defeated and her favorite slain, and she soon after retired to private life ; while Shah Jehan was left in quiet possession of his inheritance, an empire and a throne, with the beautiful Agra for his capital, A. D. 1627. Agra was only an insignificant Jat town when the emperor Secunder took possession of it in 1488 ; and it was more than a third of a century Agra and the Taj. 461 later, when Shere Shah, who had been the rival of Humayun, and succeeded in driving him into exile, built the citadel around the palace. The splendor of Agra dates back no farther than the reign of Akbar, who, in 1556, made it his capital, under the name of Akbarabad, and enriched it with many monuments. By him the old Pathan fortress was razed to the ground, and replaced from the ver\ r foundations by a vast citadel, with marble palaces and mosques ; while his successors, Jehanghir and Shah Jehan, endowed Agra with the Etmaddowlah and the wonderful Taj. But when the beloved wife, the empress Mumtazi Mahal, for whose mausoleum the Taj was erected, had been laid away among its splendors, the sor- rowing emperor forsook the royal abode her pres- ence no longer graced, and took up his residence at Delhi, which has since been the sole capital of India, as it had long been one of the imperial residences. In 1761, Agra was sacked by the savage Jats of Souraj Mull ; about fifteen years later the Mahrattas carried off what the Jats had spared; and in 1803 the city was taken from Scindia by General Lake, and has since remained under the control of the British Government. 462 The Mogul Empire. During the Seapoy rebellion of 1857, most of the European houses were destroyed ; but the English and other foreign residents took refuge in the fort, and maintained a gallant defence until relieved by Colonel Greathed. Its population, which had greatly diminished under its various reverses, has rapidly increased of late years, and now numbers about two hundred and fifty thous- and. Agra is held in high veneration by the Hindus, as the city of the incarnation of Vishnu, under the name of Parasu Rama. Agra, now the capital of the northwest provinces, is noted throughout India for its superb monuments. The city is sit- uated on the right bank of the Jumna, and is con- nected by various railways with Bengal, the Pun- jaub and the Deccan, and holds commercial intercourse also with Rajputana and the Doab. It is a bright, clean, cheerful city, its dwellings comparatively new, though built in the main from debris of former buildings from the times of Akbar, on to the conquest of the city by the English. In the southwest section, almost a mile from the city proper, are the English cantonments, contain- ing besides the barracks, bazaars and churches for Buildings of Agra. 463 the troops, many fine mansions surrounded by gardens and green lawns. The great fortress of Akbar is in the southern section. It is built mainly of red sandstone, and looks imposing, but is by no means formidable, and could not stand against a sharp cannonade, as was proved by General Lake's siege in 1803. The Jummah Musjid or Cathedral Mosque of Agra, is a superb structure of the time of Akbar, and built of red sandstone and white marble, standing on a marble terrace, and the whole sur- mounted by three Mogul domes of great height. The Dewani Am or " Palace of Justice," was once a grand palace built on the plan of the Dewan Khas of Ambir ; but it is now the arsenal of the citadel, and the " Court " is filled with can- non and shot. Among the curiosities collected there by the English, are the throne of Akbar, and the celebrated gates of Somnath. The throne of Akbar is a long seat of marble inlaid with pre- cious stones, and surmounted by a graceful canopy of white marble. " The gates of Somnath " are two heavy doors of finely-carved wood, four yards high. In the beginning of the Christian era, they guarded the entrance to the temple of Krishna at 464 The Mogul Empire. Somnath in Guzerat ; but in the tenth century, Sultan Mahmoud, the fierce iconoclast, after de- stroying all the idols of Somnath, and pillaging the town, carried off these gates to his capital at Ghazni. The Brahmins offered immense bribes for the redemption of the image of Krishna, but the Sultan destroyed it with his own hands, and in doing so, found within it, jewels of immense value. So it is probable the pious Brahmins had other motives besides a holy veneration for the image of their god in wishing to rescue it from the hands of the Moslems. After the conquest of Afghan- istan, when Ghuzni fell into the hands of the English, Lord Ellenborough removed these gates to Agra, and made them the subject of a grand proclamation. Behind the arsenal is the imperial palace, in a perfect state of preservation, consist- ing of numerous pavilions, with gilded domes, con- nected by terraces, galleries and castellated walls, all built of the pure white marble of Rajputana ; and the courts are still planted with flowers, the plats intersected by numerous small canals. The interior of the spacious apartments is adorned with exquisite mosaics, and the windows are half-closed by curtains of marble, so finely carved as to repre- H. I 30 A Marvellous Stone. 467 sent lace. The emperor's bath-room has panels of lapis-lazuli inlaid with gold, silver mirrors and fountains, and all the appointments that the most sensuous taste could contrive. On the terrace fronting the Dewan Khas, is a large slab of black marble, where Akbar the Great used to sit to administer justice to his people. The slab is broken in half, and in the centre are two red spots. Tradition says that when Agra was taken by the Jats, in 1761, Souraj Mull seated himself on this slab, which immediately gaped open and blood was seen to issue from the apper- ture ; and years afterward, when Lord Ellenbor- ough made the same attempt, the stone broke quite in two. Near the imperial seat is a smaller slab of white marble, designed for the court buf- foon, who used to mimic every action of the emperor. The Taj was built by the emperor Shah Jehan, as a mausoleum for the empress Mumtazi or Mum- taj Mahal, his favorite wife, who died in giving birth to her eighth child, the princess Jehanara. In the great cemetery around the mausoleum of Nizam-u-din, on the road to Delhi, not far from 468 The Mogul Empire. the Kootub, is the tomb of this princess, the Begum Jehanara, on which is inscribed the epitaph : " Let no rich canopy cover my grave, This grass is the best covering for the poor in Spirit, The humble, transitory Jehanara, the disciple of the holy men of Cheist, The daughter of the Emperor Shah Jehan." But despite this humble prayer, the dust of this royal lady reposes in a regal sarcophagus, sur- rounded by a screen of marble. The Empress Mumtaj Mahal, famous alike for her beauty and her talents, inspired in her hus- band such supreme love and admiration that he resolved, after her death, to raise to her memory the most beautiful monument that had ever been built within the memory of man. After long con- sultation with all the architects of the countries around, the plan of Isa Mohammed was adopted, and the building was begun in the year 1630. Its construction occupied twenty thousand men for twenty-two years; and nearly every part of the empire was levied on for the various materials used. Rajputana furnished the marble and pink sandstone, one hundred and forty thousand cart loads in all ; the jaspers came from the Punjaub, cornelians from Broach, turquoises from Thibet The Taj. 469 agates from Yeman, coral from Arabia, Onyx from Persia, lapis-lazuli from Ceylon, garnets from Bundelcund, diamonds from Punnah, chalcedonies from Arabia, rock-crystals from Malwar, sapphires from Columbo, and conglomerates from Jesulmore, Gwalior, and Sikri. Outside these gratuitous dona- tions, and the forced labor of workmen, the cost of the Taj was estimated at three millions of dol- lars. Almost every visitor to the Taj essays a description of what lie in the very outset admits to be indescribable. Yet as there are thousands of readers who are not travellers, and who cannot therefore see the Taj for themselves, the following statistics are given as a means of judging of the size and proportions of this most wonderful monu- ment. The Taj, which is built near the banks of the Jumna, about a. mile east of the fort, stands on a terrace of pink sandstone nine hundred and sixty feet long, and three hundred and eighty feet wide, one end being laved by the Jumna, and the other rising a few feet above the level of the garden. In the centre of this terrace stands a superb plat- form of white marble which is fifteen feet high, and two hundred and eighty-five feet on each side. 470 The Mogul Empire. This forms a pedestal for the mausoleum itself, an irregular octagon, its longest sides measuring one hundred and twenty feet. It has a terraced roof, with a pavilion at each corner, and a magnificent dome in the centre, its golden crescent rising two hundred and seventy feet above the level of the river. Each facade is pierced with a high Sara- cenic gate, flanked on the outer side by two rows of niches ; and every line and proportion has been calculated with such consummate art, that not the slightest defect can be detected. One lady, while gazing on this wonderful structure, said to her husband : " I cannot criticise, but I can feel in such a presence as this ; and I know I would will- ingly die to-morrow to have such a tomb as this Taj." Others have said, or written : " The Taj was built by Titans and finished by goldsmiths." "'The inspiration was from heaven, and the execu- tion worthy of the conception." " A poem in marble ! " " The sigh of a broken heart ! " " Po- etic marble arrayed in eternal glory ! " " Too pure to be the work of human hands ! " The entire edifice, from base to summit, is built of pure white marble, inlaid in mosaics, forming inscriptions, arabesques, and devices, all arranged with ex- The Taj. 471 quisite taste, and perfect conception of tints and shades ; every particle of inlaying done with the patient care and unwearying assiduity of a Chinese artist. The beauty of the interior surpasses, it' possible, the outside ; ceiling, walls, and tomb- stones being one mass of mosaics, representing birds, flowers, and fruits. The tombs of the empress and Shah Jehan are in the centre of the hall enclosed by a marble screen of lace-work, through which the subdued light is reflected in mellow tints, and a tender, musical echo, as from fairy-land, falls softly on the ear. This echo is caused by the dome being completely closed by the ceiling of the hall, thus forming a gigantic whispering gallery. Among other decorations of the interior, is the entire letter-press of the Koran from beginning to end iu exquisite mosaics of costly gems. The left bank of the Jumna is connected with the town by a viaduct and railway, quite a little village having sprung up on that side of the river. Near by is the famous Etmaddowlah, the mauso- leum erected in 1610, by the emperor Jehanghir, over the tomb of his father-in-law, Kevaji Acias,