Eight Lectures on India

|1.
Map of India, Distinguishing Rajputana.| In the centre of northwestern India is a group of large native States known as Rajputana, of the greatest historical interest. These States are inhabited by ancient Hindu Aryan tribes, collectively known as Rajputs, which literally means “of princely descent.” They represent the purest and most ancient Indian stock, and here, almost alone of the larger native States, the Chiefs belong to the same race as their people. Rajputana suffered much from the Musulmans, but was never completely conquered by them, a fact in part due to the physical character of the country.

|2.
Map of Northwestern India.| Through the centre of Rajputana, diagonally from the southwest northeastward, there runs the range of the Aravalli hills for a distance of fully three hundred miles, its northern extremity being the Ridge at Delhi on the Jumna River. At the southern end of the Aravallis, but separated from the main range by a hollow, is the isolated Mount Abu, the highest point in Rajputana, standing up conspicuously above the surrounding plains to a height of some five thousand feet. The top is a rugged plateau measuring fourteen miles by four. On this little upland, are the signs both of the antiquity and modernity of Rajputana—on the one hand, the world-famed ruins of Jain temples, and on the other, round the beautiful Gem Lake, the residences of the Agent of the Governor-General and his staff, who maintain the suzerainty of the King-Emperor in Rajputana. East of the Aravalli hills, in the basin of the Chambal tributary of the Jumna-Ganges, is the more fertile part of Rajputana, with the cities of Jaipur, Ajmer, Udaipur, and the old fortress of Chitor. Beyond the Chambal River itself, but within its basin, may be seen on the map the positions of Indore and Gwalior, the seats of the Maratha princes Holkar and Sindhia. Indore and Gwalior, however, belong to the Central Indian Agency and not to Rajputana. West of the Aravalli hills is the great Indian Desert, prolonged seaward by the salt and partly tidal marsh known as the Rann of Cutch. In oases of this desert are some of the smaller Rajput capitals, notably Bikaner. Beyond the desert flows the great Indus river, through a dry although not wholly desert land, in the midst of which, from Hyderabad to the sea, is the delta of Sind, as was said in the last lecture, a second Egypt, fertile and thickly peopled. South of Mount Abu, where the rivers descend from the end of the Aravalli hills to the Gulf of Cambay is another fertile lowland, with the beautiful city of Ahmadabad in the centre of it, but this city is in British territory, being in the Province of Bombay, and therefore outside the Tributary States of Rajputana. Ajmer, beside the Aravalli hills, is in an island of directly ruled British territory completely surrounded by Feudatory Rajputana.

It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance to India of the existence of the great Indian Desert of Rajputana. The ocean to the southeast and the southwest of the Peninsula was an ample protection against overseas invasion until the Europeans rounded the Cape of Good Hope. The vast length of the Himalaya, backed by the desert plateau of Tibet, was an equal defence on a third side. Only to the northwest does India lie relatively open to the incursions of the warlike peoples of Western and Central Asia. It is precisely in that direction, as a great barrier extending northeastward from the Rann of Cutch, that we find the Indian Desert, and in rear of the Desert the minor bulwark constituted by the Aravalli range. Only between the northeastern extremity of the desert and the foot of the Himalayas below Simla is there an easy gateway into India. No river traverses this gateway, which is on the divide between the systems of the Indus and the Jumna-Ganges. Delhi stands on the west bank of the Jumna at the northern extremity of the Aravallis, just where the invading forces from the northwest came through to the navigable waters of the Jumna, which flow southeastward through Hindustan to Bengal.

Aided by such powerful natural conditions, the Rajputs have ever been the defenders of India. Unable to prevent the entry of invaders by the direct way to Delhi, they have maintained themselves on the southern flank of the advance, and to-day their princely families proudly trace their lineage back in unbroken descent from ancestors before the Christian era. In the gateway itself, between the desert and the Himalayas, beyond the limits of Rajputana, dwell another people of warlike disposition, the famous Sikhs. Here are still preserved as Feudatory States the Sikh Principalities of Patiala, Nabha, and Jhind.

|3.
Jama Masjid, Ahmadabad.| |4.
Rani Sipri’s Tomb, Ahmadabad.| |5.
Mohafiz Khan’s Mosque, Ahmadabad.| |6.
Hathi Singh’s Temple, Ahmadabad.| Let us first visit Ahmadabad, in the midst of the fertile lowland at the head of the Gulf of Cambay. The territories of this part of the Bombay Presidency are much mixed with those of the Gaikwar of Baroda, so that the map of the plains round the two cities of Ahmadabad and Baroda almost resembles that part of Scotland which is labelled Ross and Cromarty. Ahmadabad was once the most important Mohammedan city of Western India, and contains many fine architectural monuments, surpassed only by those of the great Mogul capitals, Delhi and Agra. It is reached from Bombay by the Bombay and Baroda Railway along the coast northward. We have here the Jama Masjid or Great Mosque of the city, still one of the most beautiful in India, though it was damaged by an earthquake about a century ago. Then we have another fine building, Rani Sipri’s Tomb. There follows a view of Mohafiz Khan’s Mosque, whose fine minarets remind one of the Citadel at Cairo. Finally, just outside Ahmadabad, is the comparatively modern Temple of Hathi Singh, built of white marble in the Jain style, with many domes.

|7.
The Lake, Mount Abu.| From Ahmadabad the Baroda Railway is continued northward and westward across the southern end of the Rajput Desert to Hyderabad, in Sind, but we will go on our journey by the narrow gauge railway through Rajputana to Mount Abu, which rises like an island of granite from amid the sandy desert. Here is the Gem Lake on the summit of the mountain, a most beautiful sheet of water, set with rocky islets and overhung with great masses of rock, with the Residency or house of the representative of the British Government on its shore, for Mount Abu is the centre from which Rajputana is controlled, as far as is necessary, by the advice of the Viceroy. It is, as we have already said, about 5,000 feet or a mile above the sea level, and the climate is therefore suitable for a hill station. It is used as a sanatorium for British troops and as a hot season resort.

|8.
The Dilwarra Temples, Mount Abu.| |9.
The Same, nearer view.| |10.
Door of the Adinat, Mount Abu.| |11.
Sava Munda, Mount Abu.| |12.
The Same, another view.| |13.
Paras Wanath Temple, Mount Abu.| Mount Abu is famous for its Dilwarra temples, probably the most ancient of the Jain temples of India. We heard of the Jains at the close of the last lecture. This is a distant view of the Dilwarra temples among the palm trees. We see that the surface of the plateau is very rugged. Here is a nearer view of the temples, and here a doorway of the most ancient of them, built probably about the time of the Norman Conquest of England. Next we have two views of another temple, erected some two hundred years later. The carving of the small domes and vaults is most delicate, and stands almost unrivalled even in India, a land essentially of painstaking labour in small details. Finally, we have a view of yet another temple, said to have been built by the workmen in their spare time during the erection of the greater temples we have just seen. In spite of the dilapidation of many centuries, and of unskilled restoration in places, these ruins are still extremely beautiful amid the rugged scenery of the Mount. The British Station on Mount Abu was attacked during the Mutiny, but the attack was beaten off.

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Sir Pratab Singh.| |15.
Dolat Singh.| |16.
Himat Singh.| One of the most progressive of the Rajput States, and the oldest, is Jodhpur, whose Prime Minister was, until lately, the distinguished officer Sir Pratab Singh, now Maharaja of his own little State of Idar, in the plain at the foot of Mount Abu. We have his portrait here, and those of his son and grandson.

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H.H. The Maharana of Udaipur.| |18.
The Palace, Udaipur.| |19.
The Same.| |20.
Udaipur, from the Jag Mandar.| |21.
Jag Mandar, Udaipur.| |22.
Jag Newas, Udaipur.| Udaipur is the capital of another of the greater Rajput States, Mewar, which was founded in the Roman times of European chronology. This is a portrait of the Maharana of Udaipur, who is the highest in esteem of all the Rajput princes. Udaipur is one of the most beautiful cities in India, with its palaces and ghats reflected in the clear waters of a lake. Here are two views of the palace of the Maharana, built of granite and marble, rising to a hundred feet above the surface of the lake. Here we have the city seen across the lake, and then there follow two views showing the temples and terraces by the water’s edge.

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The Ganesh Gate, Chitor.| |24.
The Tower of Victory, Chitor.| East of Udaipur city, but in the same State, is the rock fortress of Chitor, anciently the capital, a most conspicuous object, standing high and isolated above the surrounding country. The slopes of the hill are covered with a thick jungle, and the summit is crowned with ruins of palaces and temples. The road which leads up to the top is about a mile in length, and on it at intervals are seven gateways. We have here a view of one of them, the Ganesh Gate. This roadway was the scene of a terrible struggle in the middle of the 16th century, when the invading Musulmans under Akbar attacked the Rajput stronghold. The citadel was at length taken, but the Rajputs sold their freedom dearly, nearly ten thousand of them falling in the battle. The old city of Chitor is now decayed and reduced to a mere village, but it still contains interesting ruins, notably the two Jain Towers of Victory and Fame. The Tower of Fame is the older, built in the time of our King Alfred. This is a view of the Tower of Victory, built in the early 15th century. It has nine stories. A stairway in the centre leads to the top. The dome has recently been restored, having been wrecked by lightning.

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The Durga, Ajmer.| |26.
The Same, The Tomb of Chisti.| |27.
The Arhai-Din-Ka-Jhompra, Ajmer.| |28.
The Lake, Ajmer.| |29.
The Durga Bazaar, Ajmer.| |30.
Mayo College, Ajmer.| Ajmer, now under direct British rule, is another ancient and beautiful spot, set in a hollow among low hills, and surrounded by a wall. It was the scene of many struggles between the Musulmans and the Rajputs, and was finally taken by Akbar in the middle of the 16th century. One of the principal buildings is the Durga, venerated both by Hindus and by Musulmans. We have here a view of the courtyard of the Durga. Notice to the right hand the huge metal cauldron set in stone. It is used for the cooking of rice given in charity, which is divided between poor pilgrims and the attendants at the shrine. Here is the Tomb of Chisti in the Durga. Next is a Muhammadan Mosque, called the Arhai-Din-Ka-Jhompra, which, tradition says, was built with divine assistance in two and a half days. Then we have a view of the lake at Ajmer. On the bank are a number of marble pavilions. This is one of them. Close by, on a small hill overlooking the lake, is the house of the Chief Commissioner of Ajmer, and Agent to the Governor-General for Rajputana. Here we have a street in Ajmer. And here is the Mayo College, for the education of the sons of the Rajput chiefs, an institution of the greatest importance, as it were the loyal Eton of India, for the Rajput Maharajas have the deepest instinct of personal loyalty to the Suzerain Lord, a result at once of their feudal pride, their religion, and their intelligence as rulers. The College was opened in 1875, and contains about a hundred students. The main building, seen in this view, is of white marble.

|31.
Chand Pol Gate, Jaipur.| |32.
A Street in Jaipur.| |33.
Chand Pol Bazaar, Jaipur.| |34.
A Wool Cart, Jaipur.| Next we visit Jaipur, a walled city surrounded by rocky hills crowned with forts, the capital and residence of the Maharaja of Jaipur State, the best governed of all the Rajput States. This is one of the entrance gates, and through the archway may be seen the crenellated wall of the city, with thatched huts built against it. Here is a street within the city, with a fort-crowned rock visible at the end of it, and here is the Bazaar. Jaipur has a modern aspect, for it is a busy and prosperous commercial centre. Here is a wool cart in the city. The streets are broad—perhaps the broadest in the world—and cross one another at right angles, and at night are well lighted with gas.

|35.
The Samrat Yantra, Jaipur Observatory.| One of the most interesting of the old Indian observatories, with great stone instruments, even larger than those of Benares, is in this city. It was constructed at the beginning of the 18th century, and has recently been restored by the progressive Maharaja. This is the great Samrat Yantra, or sundial, the largest in the world. The gnomon is 75 feet in height. Notice how small in comparison is the keeper of the observatory, who may be seen standing just outside the line of the shadow on the circumference of the dial. In the distance, above some dwelling houses, is visible the clock-tower of the Maharaja’s palace, the time of which is regulated by this sundial.

|36.
The Palace Gardens, Jaipur—Crocodiles.| |37.
The Same, Tomb of a pet dog.| |38.
Flamingoes at Jaipur.| |39.
Sita Ranji Temple, Jaipur.| The palace stands amid beautiful gardens. We have here a tank in these gardens showing the Maharaja’s crocodiles, and here is the tomb among the trees of one of the late Maharaja’s pet dogs. Outside the city walls are fine public gardens, covering some forty acres, containing an aviary and menagerie. Here is a group of flamingoes, caught in the neighbourhood. Finally, we have one of the temples in the city, built of red sandstone and finely carved.

|40.
The Lake and Palace, Amber.| |41.
Shish Mahal, Amber.| |42.
The Palace, Alwar.| |43.
The Same from above.| A few miles from Jaipur is Amber, the ancient capital of Jaipur State, but now abandoned and in ruins. Here we have a view of the old Palace and the Lake, and here one of the many fine buildings, the Shish Mahal. Next we see the Palace at Alwar, a comparatively modern city, the present capital of the State of Alwar, and then we have a view over the palace looking down from the hill above.

|44.
City Gate, Bikaner.| |45.
Jain Temple, Bhandashar, Bikaner.| |46.
Bikaner from the Jain Temple.| |47.
Street in Bikaner.| |48.
Grain Sellers, Bikaner.| |49.
Bikaner Fort.| Now we visit Bikaner, in an oasis of the northwestern desert. This is the city gate, with a level railway crossing in front. Notice the camel waiting for the passing of the train, and the water-carriers. Here of course water is a valuable commodity. The district of which Bikaner is the centre suffers frequently from famine owing to drought. Then we have a Jain temple crowning a rocky mound, and from the terrace of this temple we obtain a view over the city, with its flat roofs and desert spaces. There follows a view in one of the narrow streets, showing the carved front of a house belonging to one of the richer Jains of the city. Finally we have a typical group of grain sellers in front of the Customs House, and a view of the Fort.

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H.H. The Raja of Nabha and his ministers.| |51.
H.H. The Raja of Nabha.| |52.
The Palace of the Crown Prince of Nabha.| |53.
Sirdar Fateh Singh.| |54.
Sikhs at Nabha.| |55.
An Akali at Nabha.| |56.
The Chief Justice of Nabha.| |57.
Sirdar Bisham Singh.| On our way northeastward we will next visit the city of Nabha, though it is the centre of a Sikh and not of a Rajput State. Here is the Raja of Nabha surrounded by his Council of Ministers, and here his portrait. Then we have in the distance the palace of the Crown Prince of Nabha, seen from the roof of Elgin House, the home of the British Resident. Next there follow a series of portraits. The first is of a young princeling. The second is of a group of Sikhs; in front is a priest, and to the right, in black, an Akali, or warrior-monk. There follows another slide showing one of these Akalis in ancient fighting costume. Then we have, by way of contrast, the very up to date Chief Justice of Nabha, but notice in the background sentry duty economically performed by a pasteboard soldier! Here is a typical Sikh face, that of the Vakil to the Political Agent at the British Residency.

|Repeat Map No. 2.| Finally, we will cross the Chambal river and, leaving Rajputana, will enter Central India, and visit the two cities of Gwalior and Indore, the capitals of the Maratha Princes Sindhia and Holkar. Gwalior lies a little south of Delhi and Agra. The city is dominated by an isolated rock fort, flat-topped and steep-sided, more than three hundred feet in height. There is but a single road up, and along this road are six successive gates, arranged as at the fort of Chitor in Rajputana. Sindhia captured Gwalior rather more than a hundred years ago. When the Indian Mutiny broke out his people, being of Hindi race, of the same kin therefore as the people of Agra and Oudh, revolted and joined the mutineers, but Sindhia and his Maratha officers remained loyal and escaped to British protection.

|58.
The Fort, Gwalior.| Gwalior was the scene of the last episodes in the Indian Mutiny. Driven from Delhi and from around Cawnpore and Lucknow, the mutineers marched in 1858 against Sindhia, who met them in battle, but was defeated. Then General Sir Hugh Rose followed them up in what is known as the Central Indian campaign, and defeated them at Gwalior. The fort of Gwalior itself was taken by a remarkable feat of daring. Two British subalterns with a blacksmith and an outpost force picked the locks of the first five gateways up the road entry before they were discovered. They stormed the last gate, one of them being killed. So Gwalior Fort was taken, and for a generation was garrisoned by British troops, but about twenty years ago it was restored to the Maharaja Sindhia.

|59.
Holkar’s Palace, Indore.| Indore lies in the land of Malwa, a considerable distance south of Gwalior and on high ground about the sources of the Chambal river. The Governor-General’s Agent for Central India has his residence here by treaty, and close at hand is now the army cantonment of Mhow. At the time of the Mutiny some of Holkar’s infantry attacked the Residency, and as the Resident, Sir Henry Durand, had only twenty men to defend it, he was compelled to retreat with some women and children. But it was soon recovered and nothing very serious ensued in this part of India.

The Rajputana Agency is as large as the whole British Isles, but it contains only about ten million people, since a great part of it is desert. The Central Indian Agency is about as large as England and Scotland without Wales. It has a population only a little smaller than that of Rajputana. We may measure the significance of the more important chiefs in these two Agencies by the fact that Sindhia rules a country little less, either in area or population, than the Kingdom of Scotland.

The Native States of India, of which we have seen a series of examples, occupy about a third of the area of the whole country, and contain about one-fifth of the population. They represent in their present secure position a new phase of Anglo-Indian policy. The Indian Mutiny closed a period characterised by successive great annexations to the territory directly ruled by Britain. Since the Mutiny there has been no acquisition of directly ruled provinces, except in Burma. Therein the policy of the Empire differs markedly from that of the old East India Company. The King-Emperor now guarantees the privileges and separate modes of rule in the Feudatory States. As a result, there are no more loyal supporters of the British Raj than these great native chiefs, who in recent years have raised an army of Imperial Service Troops, to reinforce the Indian and British armies for the defence of the Empire and the maintenance of internal order.

|60.
Political Map of India.| Let us cast our eye over the map and enumerate the principal divisions of India. Under direct British rule are in the south Madras and in the east Burma. Then in succession through the plain at the foot of the Himalayas are Eastern Bengal and Assam; Bengal; the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh; and the Punjab. In the east centre round Nagpur are the Central Provinces, and in the west is the Presidency of Bombay, with the detached territory of Sind on the lower Indus. On the Northwestern Frontier are British Baluchistan and the Northwest Frontier Province, while in the midst of Rajputana is the little district of Ajmer, and away in the south amid the forests of the Western Ghats the little district of Coorg. Ceylon, as was said in the first lecture, though British, is not a part of India, but a separate Crown Colony. All these Provinces are directly administered by the British Civil Service.

Now consider the Feudatory States. In the far south, from Cape Comorin along the west coast, we have the two little countries of Travancore and Cochin, ruled by Hindu Maharajas. They are far removed from all the greater problems of Indian Government, remote homes of the caste system in its most stringent form, and also, curiously, of a most ancient form of Christianity introduced long centuries ago from Nestorian sources in Western Asia. Then, north of the Nilgiri hills and the hill station of Ootacamund, is the State of Mysore, high on the plateau, completely surrounded by British territory of the Provinces of Madras, Bombay, and Coorg. The Maharaja here is a Hindu in religion, and the people are chiefly Hindu. Northward again, and still on the Deccan plateau, is the largest and most important native State of India, ruled from Hyderabad by the Nizam, a Musulman, who administers a country largely of Hindu religion. Then we have the two great groups of States, whose relations with the Empire are conducted by the Agencies of Central India and Rajputana. The most important of the Central Indian chiefs are Holkar and Sindhia, Marathas in a Hindi-speaking country, though in faith Hindus like their subjects. In Rajputana are the Rajput States of which we have spoken in this lecture.

It will be observed that, with the small exceptions of Travancore and Cochin, all the States thus far enumerated lie inland and are surrounded by British territory directly administered. The remaining native states form a fringe along the northern and northwestern borders. To the northeast amid the foot hills of the Himalayas are in succession, from east to west, Bhutan, Sikkim, and Nepal. Of these, Nepal stands outside the Indian Protectorate in a special relation of independent alliance with the British Government. In the far north is the state of Kashmir, whose centre is a beautiful valley, with a lake in its midst, deeply sunk amid the Himalayan ranges proper. A part of the foot hills on the one hand and a length of the Tibetan Indus on the other hand are also included within the territory ruled by the Maharaja of Kashmir. To the northwest are the Pathan and Baluchi hill tribes in relation with the North West Frontier Province and British Baluchistan.

Such a survey as that which we have thus rapidly made gives perhaps the best idea of the complexity and vastness of the Indian Political System. The Indian Empire is in fact not a country but, as the inhabitants of the United States say of their own land, a sub-continent, and as regards everything but mere area the expression is far more true of India than of the United States, for in the United States a single race and a single religion are dominant, but in India a long history lives to this day in the most striking social contrasts, presenting all manner of problems which it will take generations to solve.