diff options
Diffstat (limited to '11212-h/11212-h.htm')
| -rw-r--r-- | 11212-h/11212-h.htm | 18260 |
1 files changed, 18260 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/11212-h/11212-h.htm b/11212-h/11212-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5e5766e --- /dev/null +++ b/11212-h/11212-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,18260 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN"> +<html lang="en"> + +<head> + <title>Modern India</title> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> + <meta name="keywords" content="india, hindu, british, empire"> + <meta name="rating" content="General"> + <meta name="robots" content="all"> + <style type="text/css"> + <!-- + BODY { background: white; + margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; } + P.indent { text-indent: 3mm; text-align: justify; } + P.center { text-align: center; } + P.subtitle { text-align: center; font-size: large; + font-weight: bold; } + H1 { text-align: center; margin-top: 4em; } + H2 { text-align: center; margin-top: 4em; } + DIV.center { text-align: center; } + DIV.quote { margin-left: 5%; } + TABLE.center { margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; } + TD { padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em; } + TD.right { text-align: right; } + TD.center { text-align: center; } + --> + </style> +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Modern India, by William Eleroy Curtis + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Modern India + +Author: William Eleroy Curtis + +Release Date: February 21, 2004 [EBook #11212] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MODERN INDIA *** + + + + +Produced by Produced by Robert J. Hall + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="center"> +<a href="fig001.jpg"> +<img src="fig001a.jpg" width="637" height="516" + alt="Fig. 1"></a> +</div> + +<h1>MODERN INDIA</h1> + +<p> </p> +<p class="subtitle"> +BY WILLIAM ELEROY CURTIS +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="80%" class="center"> +<tr><td class="center"> +<em>Author of "The Turk and His Lost Provinces," "To-day in Syria +and Palestine," "Egypt, Burma and British Malaysia," etc.</em> +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"> +To LADY CURZON +<br><br> +An ideal american woman +</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="60%" class="center"> +<tr><td><p class="indent"> +This volume contains a series of letters written for <i>The Chicago +Record-Herald</i> during the winter of 1903-04, and are published +in permanent form through the courtesy of Mr. Frank B. Noyes, +Editor and publisher of that paper. +</p></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<h2>TABLE OF CONTENTS</h2> + +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0> + <tr><td class="right">I.</td> + <td><a href="#I">The Eye of India</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">II.</td> + <td><a href="#II">The City of Bombay</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">III.</td> + <td><a href="#III">Servants, Hotels, and Cave Temples</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">IV.</td> + <td><a href="#IV">The Empire of India</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">V.</td> + <td><a href="#V">Two Hindu Weddings</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">VI.</td> + <td><a href="#VI">The Religions of India</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">VII.</td> + <td><a href="#VII">How India Is Governed</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">VIII.</td> + <td><a href="#VIII">The Railways of India</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">IX.</td> + <td><a href="#IX">The City of Ahmedabad</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">X.</td> + <td><a href="#X">Jeypore and its Maharaja</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XI.</td> + <td><a href="#XI">About Snakes and Tigers</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XII.</td> + <td><a href="#XII">The Rajputs and Their Country</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XIII.</td> + <td><a href="#XIII">The Ancient Mogul Empire</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XIV.</td> + <td><a href="#XIV">The Architecture of the Moguls</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XV.</td> + <td><a href="#XV">The Most Beautiful of Buildings</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XVI.</td> + <td><a href="#XVI">The Quaint Old City of Delhi</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XVII.</td> + <td><a href="#XVII">The Temples and Tombs at Delhi</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XVIII.</td> + <td><a href="#XVIII">Thugs, Fakirs and Nautch + Dancers</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XIX.</td> + <td><a href="#XIX">Simla and the Punjab</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XX.</td> + <td><a href="#XX">Famines and Their Antidotes</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XXI.</td> + <td><a href="#XXI">The Frontier Question</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XXII.</td> + <td><a href="#XXII">The Army in India</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XXIII.</td> + <td><a href="#XXIII">Muttra, Lucknow and Cawnpore</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XXIV.</td> + <td><a href="#XXIV">Caste and the Women of India</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XXV.</td> + <td><a href="#XXV">Education in India</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XXVI.</td> + <td><a href="#XXVI">The Himalyas and the Invasion of + Thibet</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XXVII.</td> + <td><a href="#XXVII">Benares, the Sacred City</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XXVIII.</td> + <td><a href="#XXVIII">American Missions in India</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XXIX.</td> + <td><a href="#XXIX">Cotton, Tea and Opium</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="right">XXX.</td> + <td><a href="#XXX">Calcutta, the Capital of India</a></td></tr> +</table> + +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +<p class="center">MODERN INDIA</p> + +<p> +Map of India<br> +A Bombay Street<br> +The Clock Tower and University Buildings, Bombay<br> +Victoria Railway Station, Bombay<br> +Nautch Dancers<br> +Body ready for Funeral Pyre, Bombay Burning Ghat<br> +Mohammedans at Prayer<br> +Huthi Singh's Tomb, Ahmedabad<br> +Street Corner, Jeypore<br> +The Maharaja of Jeypore<br> +Hall of the Winds, Jeypore<br> +Elephant Belonging to the Maharaja of Jeypore<br> +Tomb of Etmah Dowlah, Agra<br> +Portrait of Shah Jehan<br> +Portrait of Akbar, the Great Mogul<br> +The Taj Mahal<br> +Interior of Taj Mahal<br> +Tomb of Sheik Salim, Fattehpur<br> +A Corner in Delhi<br> +Hall of Marble and Mosaics, Palace of Moguls, Delhi<br> +Tomb of Amir Khusran, Persian Poet, Delhi<br> +"Kim," the Chela and the Old Lama<br> +A Ekka, or Road Cart<br> +A Team of "Critters"<br> +Group of Famous Brahmin Pundits<br> +Tomb of Akbar, the Great Mogul<br> +Audience Chamber of the Mogul Palace, Agra<br> +A Hindu Ascetic<br> +A Hindu Barber<br> +Bodies ready for Burning, Benares<br> +Great Banyan Tree, Botanical Garden, Calcutta<br> +The Princes of Pearls +</p> + +<h2><a name="I">I</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE EYE OF INDIA +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A voyage to India nowadays is a continuous social event. The +passengers compose a house party, being guests of the Steamship +company for the time. The decks of the steamer are like broad +verandas and are covered with comfortable chairs, in which the +owners lounge about all day. Some of the more industrious women +knit and embroider, and I saw one good mother with a basket full of +mending, at which she was busily engaged at least three mornings. +Others play cards upon folding tables or write letters with +portfolios on their laps, and we had several artists who sketched +the sky and sea, but the majority read novels and guide books, +and gossiped. As birds of a feather flock together on the sea +as well as on land, previous acquaintances and congenial new +ones form little circles and cliques and entertain themselves +and each other, and, after a day or two, move their chairs around +so that they can be together. Americans and English do not mix +as readily as you might expect, although there is nothing like +coolness between them. It is only a natural restraint. They are +accustomed to their ways, and we to ours, and it is natural for +us to drift toward our own fellow countrymen. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the afternoon nettings are hung around one of the broad decks +and games of cricket are played. One day it is the army against +the navy; another day the united service against a civilian team, +and then the cricketers in the second-class salon are invited +to come forward and try their skill against a team made up of +first-classers. In the evening there is dancing, a piano being +placed upon the deck for that purpose, and for two hours it is +very gay. The ladies are all in white, and several English women +insisted upon coming out on the deck in low-cut and short-sleeved +gowns. It is said to be the latest fashion, and is not half as +bad as their cigarette smoking or the ostentatious display of +jewelry that is made on the deck every morning. Several women, +and some of them with titles, sprawl around in steamer chairs, +wearing necklaces of pearls, diamonds, emeralds and other precious +stones, fit for only a banquet or a ball, with their fingers +blazing with jewels and their wrists covered with bracelets. +There seemed to be a rivalry among the aristocracy on our steamer +as to which could make the most vulgar display of gold, silver +and precious stones, and it occurs to me that these Englishwomen +had lived in India so long that they must have acquired the Hindu +barbaric love of jewelry. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +My attention was called not long ago to a cartoon in a British +illustrated paper comparing the traveling outfits of American +and English girls. The American girl had a car load of trunks +and bags and bundles, a big bunch of umbrellas and parasols, +golf sticks, tennis racquets and all sorts of queer things, and +was dressed in a most conspicuous and elaborate manner. She was +represented as striding up and down a railway platform covered +with diamonds, boa, flashy hat and fancy finery, while the English +girl, in a close fitting ulster and an Alpine hat, leaned quietly +upon her umbrella near a small "box," as they call a trunk, and a +modest traveling bag. But that picture isn't accurate. According +to my observation it ought to be reversed. I have never known +the most vulgar or the commonest American woman to make such a +display of herself in a public place as we witnessed daily among +the titled women upon the P. and O. steamer Mongolia, bound for +Bombay. Nor is it exceptional. Whenever you see an overdressed +woman loaded with jewelry in a public place in the East, you may +take it for granted that she belongs to the British nobility. +Germans, French, Italians and other women of continental Europe +are never guilty of similar vulgarity, and among Americans it +is absolutely unknown. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is customary for everybody to dress for dinner, and, while the +practice has serious objections in stormy weather it is entirely +permissible and comfortable during the long, warm nights on the +Indian Ocean. The weather, however, was not nearly as warm as we +expected to find it. We were four days on the Red Sea and six +days on the Indian Ocean, and were entirely comfortable except +for two days when the wind was so strong and kicked up so much +water that the port-holes had to be closed, and it was very close +and stuffy in the cabin. While the sun was hot there was always +a cool breeze from one direction or another, and the captain +told me it was customary during the winter season. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The passengers on our steamer were mostly English, with a few +East Indians, and Americans. You cannot board a steamer in any +part of the world nowadays without finding some of your fellow +countrymen. They are becoming the greatest travelers of any nation +and are penetrating to uttermost parts of the earth. Many of +the English passengers were army officers returning to India +from furloughs or going out for service, and officers' families +who had been spending the hot months in England. We had lots of +lords and sirs and lady dowagers, generals, colonels and officers +of lesser rank, and the usual number of brides and bridegrooms, +on their wedding tours; others were officials of the government +in India, who had been home to be married. And we had several +young women who were going out to be married. Their lovers were +not able to leave their business to make the long voyage, and +were waiting for them in Bombay, Calcutta or in some of the other +cities. But perhaps the largest contingent were "civil servants," +as employes of the government are called, who had been home on +leave. The climate of India is very trying to white people, and, +recognizing that fact, the government gives its officials six +months' leave with full pay or twelve months' leave with half +pay every five years. In that way an official who has served five +consecutive years in India can spend the sixth year in England +or anywhere else he likes. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +We had several notable natives, including Judge Nayar, a judicial +magistrate at Madras who has gained eminence at the Indian bar +and was received with honors in England. He is a Parsee, a member +of that remarkable race which is descended from the Persian fire +worshipers. He dresses and talks and acts exactly like an ordinary +English barrister. There were three brothers in the attractive +native dress, Mohammedans, sons of Adamjee Peerbhoy, one of the +largest cotton manufacturers and wealthiest men in India, who +employs more than 15,000 operatives in his mills and furnished the +canvas for the tents and the khaki for the uniforms of the British +soldiers during the South African war. These young gentlemen had +been making a tour of Europe, combining business with pleasure, +and had inspected nearly all the great cotton mills in England and +on the continent, picking up points for their own improvement. +They are intelligent and enterprising men and their reputation +for integrity, ability and loyalty to the British government +has frequently been recognized in a conspicuous manner. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Our most notable shipmate was the Right Honorable Lord Lamington, +recently governor of one of the Australian provinces, on his way +to assume similar responsibility at Bombay, which is considered +a more responsible post. He is a youngish looking, handsome man, +and might easily be mistaken for Governor Myron T. Herrick of +Ohio. One night at dinner his lordship was toasted by an Indian +prince we had on board, and made a pleasant reply, although it +was plain to see that he was not an orator. Captain Preston, +the commander of the ship, who was afterward called upon, made +a much more brilliant speech. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The prince was Ranjitsinhji, a famous cricket player, whom some +consider the champion in that line of sport. He went over to +the United States with an English team and will be pleasantly +remembered at all the places he visited. He is a handsome fellow, +25 years old, about the color of a mulatto, with a slender athletic +figure, graceful manners, a pleasant smile, and a romantic history. +His father was ruler of one of the native states, and dying, left +his throne, title and estates to his eldest son. The latter, +being many years older than Ranjitsinhji, adopted him as his +heir and sent him to England to be educated for the important +duty he was destined to perform. He went through the school at +Harrow and Cambridge University and took honors in scholarship +as well as athletics, and was about to return to assume his +hereditary responsibility in Indian when, to the astonishment +of all concerned, a boy baby was born in his brother's harem, +the first and only child of a rajah 78 years of age. The mother +was a Mohammedan woman, and, according to a strict construction +of the laws governing such things among the Hindus, the child +was not entitled to any consideration whatever. Without going +into details, it is sufficient for the story to say that the +public at large did not believe that the old rajah was the father +of the child, or that the infant was entitled to succeed him +even if he had been. But the old man was so pleased at the birth +of the baby that he immediately proclaimed him his heir, the act +was confirmed by Lord Elgin, the viceroy, and the honors and +estates which Ranjitsinhji expected to inherit vanished like a +dream. The old man gave him an allowance of $10,000 a year and +he has since lived in London consoling himself with cricket. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Another distinguished passenger was Sir Cowasji Jehangir Readymoney, +an Indian baronet, who inherited immense wealth from a long line +of Parsee bankers. They have adopted as a sort of trademark, +a nickname given by some wag to the founder of the family, in +the last century because of his immense fortune and success in +trade. Mr. Readymoney, or Sir Jehangir, as he is commonly known, +the present head of the house, was accompanied by his wife, two +daughters, their governess, and his son, who had been spending +several months in London, where he had been the object of much +gratifying attention. His father received his title as an +acknowledgment of his generosity in presenting $250,000 to the +Indian Institute in London, and for other public benefactions, +estimated at $1,300,000. He built colleges, hospitals, insane +asylums and other institutions. He founded a Strangers' Home +at Bombay for the refuge of people of respectability who find +themselves destitute or friendless or become ill in that city. +He erected drinking fountains of artistic architecture at several +convenient places in Bombay, and gave enormous sums to various +charities in London and elsewhere without respect to race or +creed. Both the Roman Catholic and the Presbyterian missions in +India have been the recipients of large gifts, and the university +at Bombay owes him for its finest building. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="514"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig002.jpg" width="510" height="373" alt="Fig. 2"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + A BOMBAY STREET +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Several of the most prominent native families in India have followed +the example of Mr. Readymoney by adopting the nicknames that were +given their ancestors. Indian names are difficult to pronounce. +What, for example, would you call Mr. Jamshijdji or Mr. Jijibhai, +and those are comparatively simple? Hence, in early times it was +the habit of foreigners to call the natives with whom they came +in contact by names that were appropriate to their character or +their business. For example, "Mr. Reporter," one of the editors +of the Times of India, as his father was before him, is known +honorably by a name given by people who were unable to pronounce +his father's Indian name. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Sir Jamsetjed Jeejeebhoy, one of the most prominent and wealthy +Parsees, who is known all over India for his integrity and +enterprise, and has given millions of dollars to colleges, schools, +hospitals, asylums and other charities, is commonly known as Mr. +Bottlewaller. "Waller" is the native word for trader, and his +grandfather was engaged in selling and manufacturing bottles. He +began by picking up empty soda and brandy bottles about the saloons, +clubs and hotels, and in that humble way laid the foundation of +an immense fortune and a reputation that any man might envy. The +family have always signed their letters and checks "Bottlewaller," +and have been known by that name in business and society. But +when Queen Victoria made the grandfather a baronet because of +distinguished services, the title was conferred upon Jamsetjed +Jeejeebhoy, which was his lawful name. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Another similar case is that of the Petit family, one of the +richest in India and the owners and occupants of the finest palaces +in Bombay. Their ancestor, or the first of the family who +distinguished himself, was a man of very small stature, almost +a dwarf, who was known as Le Petit. He accepted the christening +and bore the name honorably, as his sons and grandsons have since +done. They are now baronets, but have never dropped it, and the +present head of the house is Sir Manockji Petit. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Eye of India, as Bombay is called, sits on an island facing +the Arabian Sea on one side and a large bay on the other, but the +water is quite shallow, except where channels have been dredged +to the docks. The scenery is not attractive. Low hills rise in +a semicircle from the horizon, half concealed by a curtain of +mist, and a few green islands scattered about promiscuously are +occupied by hospitals, military barracks, villas and plantations. +Nor is the harbor impressive. It is not worth description, but +the pile of buildings which rises on the city side as the steamer +approaches its dock is imposing, being a picturesque mingling +of oriental and European architecture. Indeed, I do not know of +any city that presents a braver front to those who arrive by sea. +At the upper end, which you see first, is a group of five-story +apartment houses, with oriental balconies and colonnades. Then +comes a monstrous new hotel, built by a stock company under the +direction of the late J. N. Tata, a Parsee merchant who visited +the United States several times and obtained his inspirations +and many of his ideas there. Beside the hotel rise the buildings +of the yacht club, a hospitable association of Englishmen, to +which natives, no matter how great and good they may be, are +never admitted. Connected with the club is an apartment house +for gentlemen, and so hospitable are the members that a traveler +can secure quarters there without difficulty if he brings a letter +of introduction. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Next toward the docks is an old castle whose gray and lichen-covered +walls are a striking contrast to the new modern buildings that +surround it. These walls inclose a considerable area, which by +courtesy is called a fort. It was a formidable defense at one +time, and has been the scene of much exciting history, but is +obsolete now. The walls are of heavy masonry, but a shot from +a modern gun would shatter them. They inclose the military +headquarters of the Bombay province, or Presidency, as it is +called in the Indian gazetteer, the cathedral of this diocese, +quarters and barracks for the garrison, an arsenal, magazines +and other military buildings and a palatial sailors' home, one +of the finest and largest institution of the kind in the world, +which is supported by contributions from the various shipping +companies that patronize this place. There are also several machine +shops, factories and warehouses which contain vast stores of +war material of every sort sufficient to equip an army at a +fortnight's notice. About twelve hundred men are constantly employed +in the arsenal and shops making and repairing military arms and +equipments. There is a museum of ancient weapons, and many which +were captured from the natives in the early days of India's +occupation are quite curious; and there the visitor will have +his first view of one of the greatest wonders of nature, a banyan +tree, which drops its branches to take root in the soil beneath +its over-spreading boughs. But you must wait until you get to +Calcutta before you can see the best specimens. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Bombay is not fortified, except by a few guns behind some earthworks +at the entrance of the harbor, but it must be if the Russians +secure a port upon the Arabian Sea; not only Bombay, but the +entire west coast of India. The only protection for the city +now is a small fleet of battle ships, monitors and gunboats that +lie in the harbor, and there are usually several visiting men +of war at the anchorage. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Bombay is the second city in population in India, Calcutta standing +first on the list with 1,350,000 people, and, if you will take +your map for a moment, you will see that the two cities lie in +almost the same latitude, one on each side of the monstrous +peninsula--Bombay at the top of the Arabian Sea and Calcutta at +the top of the Bay of Bengal. By the census of 1891 Bombay had +821,764 population. By the census of 1901 the total was 776,006, +the decrease of 45,758 being attributed to the frightful mortality +by the plague in 1900 and 1901. It is the most enterprising, the +most modern, the most active, the richest and the most prosperous +city in India. More than 90 per cent of the travelers who enter +and leave the country pass over the docks, and more than half the +foreign commerce of the country goes through its custom-house. +It is by all odds the finest city between modern Cairo and San +Francisco, and its commercial and industrial interests exceed +that of any other. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The arrangements for landing passengers are admirable. On the +ship all our baggage was marked with numbers corresponding to +that of our declaration to the collector of customs. The steamer +anchored out about a quarter of a mile from a fine covered pier. +We were detained on board until the baggage, even our small pieces, +was taken ashore on one launch and after a while we followed it +on another. Upon reaching the dock we passed up a long aisle to +where several deputy collectors were seated behind desks. As we +gave our names they looked through the bundles of declarations +which had been arranged alphabetically, and, finding the proper +one, told us that we would have to pay a duty of 5 per cent upon +our typewriter and kodaks, and that a receipt and certificate +would be furnished by which we could recover the money at any +port by which we left India. Nothing else was taxed, although +I noticed that nearly every passenger had to pay on something +else. There is only one rate of duty--5 per cent ad valorem upon +everything--jewelry, furniture, machinery--all pay the same, +which simplified the transaction. But the importation of arms +and ammunition is strictly prohibited and every gun, pistol and +cartridge is confiscated in the custom-house unless the owner +can present evidence that he is an officer of the army or navy +and that they are the tools of his trade, or has a permit issued +by the proper authority. This precaution is intended to anticipate +any conspiracy similar to that which led to the great mutiny +of 1857. The natives are not allowed to carry guns or even to +own them, and every gun or other weapon found in the hands of a +Hindu is confiscated unless he has a permit. And as an additional +precaution the rifles issued to the native regiments in the army +have a range of only twelve hundred yards, while those issued to +the white regiments will kill at sixteen hundred yards; thus giving +the latter an important advantage in case of an insurrection. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After having interviewed the deputy collector, we were admitted +to a great pen or corral in the middle of the pier, which is +inclosed by a high fence, and there found all our luggage piled +up together on a bench. And all the trunks and bags and baskets +from the ship were similarly assorted, according to the numbers +they bore. We were not asked to open anything, none of our packages +were examined, the declarations of passengers usually being accepted +as truthful and final unless the inspectors have reason to believe +or suspect deception. Gangs of coolies in livery, each wearing a +brass tag with his number, stood by ready to seize the baggage +and carry it to the hotel wagons, which stood outside, where we +followed it and directed by a polite Sikh policeman, took the +first carriage in line. Everything was conducted in a most orderly +manner. There was no confusion, no jostling and no excitement, +which indicates that the Bombay officials have correct notions +of what is proper and carry them into practice. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The docks of Bombay are the finest in Asia, and when the extensions +now in progress are carried out few cities in Europe can surpass +them. They are planned for a century in advance. The people of +Bombay are not boastful, but they are confident of the growth +of their city and its commerce. Attached to the docks is a story +of integrity and fidelity worth telling. In 1735 the municipal +authorities of the young city, anticipating commercial prosperity, +decided to improve their harbor and build piers for the accommodation +of vessels, but nobody around the place had experience in such +matters and a commission was sent off to other cities of India to +find a man to take charge. The commission was very much pleased +with the appearance and ability of Lowji Naushirwanji, the Parsee +foreman of the harbor at the neighboring town of Surat, and tried +to coax him away by making a very lucrative offer, much in advance +of the pay he was then receiving. He was too loyal and honest to +accept it, and read the commission a lecture on business integrity +which greatly impressed them. When they returned to Bombay and +related their experience, the municipal authorities communicated +with those of Surat and inclosed an invitation to Naushirwanji +to come down and build a dock for Bombay. The offer was so +advantageous that his employers advised him to accept it. He +did so, and from that day to this a man of his name, and one of +his descendants, has been superintendent of the docks of this +city. The office has practically become hereditary in the family. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="505"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig003.jpg" width="501" height="369" alt="Fig. 3"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + CLOCK TOWER AND UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS--BOMBAY +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +A decided sensation awaits the traveler when he passes out from +the pier into the street, particularly if it is his first visit +to the East. He already has had a glimpse of the gorgeous costumes +of the Hindu gentleman and the priestly looking Parsees, and +the long, cool white robes of the common people, for several +of each class were gathered at the end of the pier to welcome +friends who arrived by the steamer, but the moment that he emerges +from the dock he enters a new and a strange world filled with +vivid colors and fantastic costumes. He sees his first "gherry," +a queer-looking vehicle made of bamboo, painted in odd patterns +and bright tints, and drawn by a cow or a bullock that will trot +almost as fast as a horse. All vehicles, however, are now called +"gherrys" in India, no matter where they come from nor how they +are built--the chariot of the viceroy as well as the little donkey +cart of the native fruit peddler. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The extent of bare flesh visible--masculine and feminine--startles +you at first, and the scanty apparel worn by the common people +of both sexes. Working women walk by with their legs bare from +the thighs down, wearing nothing but a single garment wrapped in +graceful folds around their slender bodies. They look very small, +compared with the men, and the first question every stranger asks +is the reason. You are told that they are married in infancy, +that they begin to bear children by the time they are 12 and 14 +years old, and consequently do not have time to grow; and perhaps +that is the correct explanation for the diminutive stature of the +women of India. There are exceptions. You see a few stalwart +amazons, but ninety per cent or more of the sex are under size. +Perhaps there is another reason, which does not apply to the upper +classes, and that is the manual labor the coolies women perform, +the loads they carry on their heads and the heavy lifting that +is required of them. If you approach a building in course of +erection you will find that the stone, brick, mortar and other +material is carried up the ladders and across the scaffolding on +the heads of women and girls, and some of these "hod carriers" +are not more than 10 or 12 years old. They carry everything on +their heads, and usually it requires two other women or girls to +hoist the heavy burden to the head of the third. All the weight +comes on the spine, and must necessarily prevent or retard growth, +although it gives them an erect and stately carriage, which women +in America might imitate with profit. At the same time, perhaps, +our women might prefer to acquire their carriage in some other +way than "toting" a hodful of bricks to the top of a four-story +building. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The second thing that impresses you is the amount of glistening +silver the working women wear upon their naked limbs. To drop +into poetry, like Silas Wegg, they wear rings in their noses +and rings on their toeses, and bands of silver wherever they can +fasten them on their arms and legs and neck. They have bracelets, +anklets, armlets, necklaces, and their noses as well as their +ears are pierced for pendants. You wonder how a woman can eat, +drink or sleep with a great big ornament hanging over her lips, +and some of the earrings must weigh several ounces, for they fall +almost to the shoulders. You will meet a dozen coolie women every +block with two or three pounds of silver ornaments distributed +over their persons, which represent their savings bank, for every +spare rupee is invested in a ring, bracelet or a necklace, which, +of course, does not pay interest, but can be disposed of for +full value in case of an emergency. The workmanship is rude, +but the designs are often pretty, and a collection of the silver +ornaments worn by Hindu women would make an interesting exhibit +for a museum. They are often a burden to them, particularly in hot +weather, when they chafe and burn the flesh, and our Bombay friends +tell us that in the summer the fountain basins, the hydrants and +every other place where water can be found will be surrounded +by women bathing the spots where the silver ornaments have seared +the skin and cooling the metal, which is often so hot as to burn +the fingers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Another feature of Bombay life which immediately seizes the attention +is the gay colors worn by everybody, which makes the streets +look like animated rainbows or the kaleidoscopes that you can +buy at the 10-cent stores. Orange and scarlet predominate, but +yellow, pink, purple, green, blue and every other tint that was +ever invented appears in the robes of the Hindus you meet upon the +street. A dignified old gentleman will cross your path with a pink +turban on his head and a green scarf wound around his shoulders. +The next man you meet may have a pair of scarlet stockings, a +purple robe and a tunic of wine-colored velvet embroidered in +gold. There seems to be no rule or regulation about the use of +colors and no set fashion for raiment. The only uniformity in +the costume worn by the men of India is that everybody's legs +are bare. Most men wear sandals; some wear shoes, but trousers +are as rare as stovepipe hats. The native merchant goes to his +counting-room, the banker to his desk, the clergyman discourses +from a pulpit, the lawyer addresses the court, the professor +expounds to his students and the coolie carries his load, all +with limbs naked from the ankles to the thighs, and never more +than half-concealed by a muslin divided skirt. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The race, the caste and often the province of a resident of India +may be determined by his headgear. The Parsees wear tall fly-trap +hats made of horse hair, with a top like a cow's foot; the +Mohammedans wear the fez, and the Hindus the turban, and there +are infinite varieties of turbans, both in the material used +and in the manner in which they are put up. An old resident of +India can usually tell where a man comes from by looking at his +turban. +</p> + +<h2><a name="II">II</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE CITY OF BOMBAY +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are two cities in Bombay, the native city and the foreign +city. The foreign city spreads out over a large area, and, although +the population is only a small per cent of that of the native +city, it occupies a much larger space, which is devoted to groves, +gardens, lawns, and other breathing places and pleasure grounds, +while, as is the custom in the Orient, the natives are packed +away several hundred to the acre in tall houses, which, with +over-hanging balconies and tile roofs, line the crooked and narrow +streets on both sides. Behind some of these tall and narrow fronts, +however, are dwellings that cover a good deal of ground, being +much larger than the houses we are accustomed to, because the +Hindus have larger families and they all live together. When +a young man marries he brings his bride home to his father's +house, unless his mother-in-law happens to be a widow, when they +often take up their abode with her. But it is not common for +young couples to have their own homes; hence the dwellings in +the native quarters are packed with several generations of the +same family, and that makes the occupants easy prey to plagues, +famine and other agents of human destruction. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Parsees love air and light, and many rich Hindus have followed +the foreign colony out into the suburbs, where you find a succession +of handsome villas or bungalows, as they are called, half-hidden by +high walls that inclose charming gardens. Some of these bungalows +are very attractive, some are even sumptuous in their +appointments--veritable palaces, filled with costly furniture +and ornaments--but the climate forbids the use of many of the +creature comforts which American and European taste demands. The +floors must be of tiles or cement and the curtains of bamboo, +because hangings, carpets, rugs and upholstery furnish shelter for +destructive and disagreeable insects, and the aim of everybody +is to secure as much air as possible without admitting the heat. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Bombay is justly proud of her public buildings. Few cities have +such a splendid array. None that I have ever visited except Vienna +can show an assemblage so imposing, with such harmony and artistic +uniformity combined with convenience of location, taste of +arrangement and general architectural effect. There is nothing, +of course, in Bombay that will compare with our Capitol or Library +at Washington, and its state and municipal buildings cannot compete +individually with the Parliament House in London, the Hotel de +Ville de Paris or the Palace of Justice in Brussels, or many +others I might name. But neither Washington nor London nor Paris +nor any other European or American city possesses such a broad, +shaded boulevard as Bombay, with the Indian Ocean upon one side +and on the other, stretching for a mile or more, a succession of +stately edifices. Vienna has the boulevard and the buildings, +but lacks the water effect. It is as if all the buildings of +the University of Chicago were scattered along the lake front +in Chicago from the river to Twelfth street. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Bombay buildings are a mixture of Hindu, Gothic and Saracenic +architecture, blended with taste and success, and in the center, +to crown the group, rises a stately clock tower of beautiful +proportions. All of these buildings have been erected during +the last thirty years, the most of them with public money, many +by private munificence. The material is chiefly green and gray +stone. Each has ample approaches from all directions, which +contribute to the general effect, and is surrounded by large +grounds, so that it can be seen to advantage from any point of +view. Groves of full-grown trees furnish a noble background, and +wide lawns stretch before and between. There is parking along +the shore of the bay, then a broad drive, with two sidewalks, a +track for bicycles and a soft path for equestrians, all overhung +with far-stretching boughs of immense and ancient trees, which +furnish a grateful shade against the sun and add to the beauty +of the landscape. I do not know of any such driveway elsewhere, +and it extends for several miles, starting from an extensive +common or parade ground, which is given up to games and sports. +Poor people are allowed to camp there in tents in hot weather, for +there, if anywhere, they can keep cool, because the peninsula upon +which Bombay stands is narrow at that point, and if a breeze is +blowing from any direction they get it. At intervals the boulevard +is intersected by small, well-kept parks with band stands, and is +broken by walks, drives, beds of flowers, foliage, plants and +other landscape decorations; and this in the midst of a great +city. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the inside of the boulevard, following the contour of the shore +of the bay, is first, Elphinstone College, then the Secretariat, +which is the headquarters of the government and contains several +state apartments of noble proportions and costly decorations. The +building is 443 feet long, with a tower 170 feet high. Next it +are the buildings of the University of Bombay, a library with a +tower 260 feet high, a convocation hall of beautiful design and +perfect proportions and other buildings. Then comes the Courts +of Justice; an immense structure nearly 600 feet long, with a +tower 175 feet high, which resembles the Law Courts of London, +and is as appropriate as it is imposing. The department of public +works has the next building; then the postoffice department, the +telegraph department, the state archives building and patent +office in order. The town hall contains several fine rooms and +important historic pictures. The mint is close to the town hall, +and next beyond it are the offices of the Port Trust, which would +correspond to our harbor commissioners. Then follow in order the +Holy Trinity Church, the High School, St. Xavier's College, the +Momey Institute, Wilson College, long rows of barracks, officers' +quarters and clubs, the Sailors' Home, several hospitals, a school +of art and Elphinstone High School, which is 452 by 370 feet in +size and one of the most palatial educational institutions I +have ever seen, the splendid group culminating in the Victoria +Railway station, which is the finest in the world and almost +as large as any we have in the United States. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="620"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig004.jpg" width="616" height="370" alt="Fig. 4"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + VICTORIA RAILWAY STATION--BOMBAY +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +It is a vast building of Italian Gothic, with oriental towers +and pinnacles, elaborately decorated with sculpture and carving, +and a large central dome surmounted by a huge bronze figure of +Progress. The architect was Mr. F. W. Stevens, a Bombay engineer; +it was finished in 1888 at a cost of $2,500,000, and the wood +carving, the tiles, the ornamental iron and brass railings, the +grills for the ticket offices, the restaurant and refreshment +rooms, the balustrades for the grand staircases, are all the +work of the students of the Bombay School of Art, which gives +it additional interest, although critics have contended that +the architecture and decorations are too ornate for the purpose +for which it is used. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Wilson College, one of the most imposing of the long line of +buildings, is a memorial to a great Scotch missionary who lived +a strenuous and useful life and impressed his principles and +his character upon the people of India in a remarkable manner. +He was famous for his common sense and accurate judgment; and +till the end of his days retained the respect and confidence of +every class of the community, from the viceroy and the council +of state down to the coolies that sweep the streets. All of them +knew and loved Dr. Wilson, and although he never ceased to preach +the gospel of Christ, his Master, with the energy, zeal and plain +speaking that is characteristic of Scotchmen, the Hindus, +Mohammedans, Parsees, Jains, Jews and every other sect admired +and encouraged him as much as those of his own faith. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One-fourth of all these buildings were presented to the city by +rich and patriotic residents, most of them Parsees and Hindus. The +Sailors' Home was the gift of the Maharajah of Baroda; University +Hall was founded by Sir Cowasjee Jehangir Readymoney, who also +built Elphinstone College. He placed the great fountain in front +of the cathedral, and, although a Parsee, built the spire on +the Church of St. John the Evangelist. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Mr. Dharmsala, another Parsee, built the Ophthalmic Hospital and +the European Strangers' Home and put drinking fountains about +the town. David Sassoon, a Persian Jew, founded the Mechanics' +Institute, and his brother, Sir Albert Sassoon, built the tower +of the Elphinstone High School. Mr. Premchand Raichand built +the university library and clock tower in memory of his mother. +Sir Jamsetji Jijibhal gave the school of art and the Parsee +Benevolent Institute; the sons of Jarahji Parak erected the +almshouse. Mr. Rustam Jamshidji founded the Hospital for Women, +the East India Company built the Town Hall and other men gave +other buildings with the greatest degree of public spirit and +patriotism I have ever seen displayed in any town. The guidebook +says that during the last quarter of a century patriotic residents +of Bombay, mostly natives, have given more than $5,000,000 for +public edifices. It is a new form for the expression of patriotism +that might be encouraged in the United States. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Several statues were also gifts to the city; that of Queen Victoria, +which is one of the finest I have ever seen, having been erected +by the Maharajah of Baroda, and that of the Prince of Wales by Sir +Edward Beohm. These are the best, but there are several others. +Queen Victoria's monument, which stands in the most prominent +plaza, where the busiest thoroughfares meet, represents that +good woman sitting upon her throne under a lofty Gothic canopy +of marble. The carving is elaborate and exquisite. In the center +of the canopy appears the Star of India, and above it the Rose +of England, united with the Lotus of India, with the mottoes of +both countries intertwined--"God and My Right" and "Heaven's +Light Our Guide." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Queen Victoria was no stranger to the people of India. They felt a +personal relationship with their empress, and many touching incidents +are told that have occurred from time to time to illustrate the +affection of the Hindus for her. They were taught to call her +"The Good Lady of England," and almost every mail, while she +was living, carried letters from India to London bearing that +address. They came mostly from Hindu women who had learned of +her goodness, sympathy and benevolence and hired public scribes +at the market places to tell her of their sufferings and wrongs. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the center of another plaza facing a street called Rampart +row, which is lined by lofty buildings containing the best retail +shops in town, is a figure of Edward VII. in bronze, on horseback, +presented by a local merchant. Near the cathedral is a statute +to Lord Cornwallis, who was governor general of India in 1786, +and, as the inscription informs us, died at Ghazipur, Oct. 5, +1805. This was erected by the merchants of Bombay, who paid a +similar honor to the Marquis of Wellesley, younger brother of +the Duke of Wellington, who was also governor general during +the days of the East India Company, and did a great deal for the +country. He was given a purse of $100,000, and his statue was +erected in Bombay, but he died unhappy because the king refused +to create him Duke of Hindustan, the only honor that would have +satisfied his soul. There are several fine libraries in Bombay, +and the Asiatic Society, which has existed since the beginning of +the nineteenth century, has one of the largest and most valuable +collections of oriental literature in existence. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +For three miles and a half the boulevard, and its several branches +are bounded by charming residences, which overlook the bay and +the roofs of the city. Malabar Point at the end of the drive, +the extreme end of the island upon which Bombay is built, is +the government house, the residence of the Lord Lamington, who +represents King Edward VII. in this beautiful city. It is a series +of bungalows, with large, cool rooms and deep verandas, shaded +by immense trees and luxurious vines, and has accommodations +altogether for about 100 people. The staff of the governor is +quite large. He has all kinds of aides-de-camp, secretaries and +attaches, and maintains quite a little court. Indeed, his quarters, +his staff and his style of living are much more pretentious than +those of the President of the United States, and his salary is +quite as large. Everywhere he goes he is escorted by a bodyguard +of splendid looking native soldiers in scarlet uniforms, big +turbans and long spears. They are Sikhs, from the north of India, +the greatest fighters in the empire, men of large stature, military +bearing and unswerving loyalty to the British crown, and when +the Governor of Bombay drives in to his office in the morning +or drives back again to his lovely home at night, his carriage +is surrounded by a squad of those tawny warriors, who ride as +well as they look. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +About half-way on the road to the government house is the Gymkhana, +and I venture to say that nobody who has not been in India can +guess what that means. And if you want another conundrum, what +is a chotohazree? It is customary for smart people to have their +chotohazree at the Gymkhana, and I think that you would be pleased +to join them after taking the beautiful drive which leads to the +place. Nobody knows what the word was derived from, but it is used +to describe a country club--a bungalow hidden under a beautiful +grove on the brow of a cliff that overhangs the bay--with all of +the appurtenances, golf links, tennis courts, cricket grounds, +racquet courts and indoor gymnasium, and everybody stops there on +their afternoon drive to have chotohazree, which is the local +term for afternoon tea and for early morning coffee. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are peculiar customs in Bombay. The proper time for making +visits everywhere in India is between 11 a. m. and 1:30 p. m., +and fashionable ladies are always at home between those hours +and seldom at any other. It seems unnatural, because they are +the hottest of the day. One would think that common sense as +well as comfort would induce people to stay at home at noon and +make themselves as cool as possible. In other tropical countries +these are the hours of the siesta, the noonday nap, which is as +common and as necessary as breakfast or dinner, and none but +a lunatic would think of calling upon a friend after 11 in the +morning or before 3 in the afternoon. It would be as ridiculous +as to return a social visit at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning, +and the same reasons which govern that custom ought to apply +in India as well as in Egypt, Cuba or Brazil. But here ladies +put on their best gowns, order their carriages, take their card +cases, and start out in the burning noontide glare to return +visits and make formal dinner and party calls. Strangers are +expected to do the same, and if you have letters of introduction +you are expected to present them during those hours, and not at +any other time. In the cool of the day, after 5 o'clock, everybody +who owns or can hire a carriage goes out to drive, and usually +stops at the Gymkhana in the country or at the Yacht Club in +the city for chotohazree. It is a good custom to admit women +to clubs as they do here. The wives and daughters of members +have every privilege, and can give tea parties and luncheons in +the clubhouses, while on certain evenings of the week a band is +brought from the military barracks and everybody of any account +in European society is expected to be present. Tables are spread +over the lawn, and are engaged in advance by ladies, who sit +behind them, receive visits and pour tea just as they would do +in their own houses. It is a very pleasant custom. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +All visitors who intend to remain in Bombay for any length of +time are expected to call upon the governor and his wife, but it +is not necessary for them to drive out to Malabar Point for such a +purpose. On a table in the reception room of the government building +down-town are two books in which you write your name and address, +and that is considered equivalent to a formal visit. One book is +intended exclusively for those who have been "presented" and by +signing it they are reminding his excellency and her excellency +of their continued existence and notifying them where invitations +to dinners and balls can reach them. The other book is designed for +strangers and travelers, who inscribe their names and professions, +where they live when they are at home, how long they expect to +be in Bombay and where they are stopping. Anybody who desires +can sign this book and the act is considered equivalent to a +call upon the governor. If the caller has a letter of introduction +to His Excellency he can leave it, with a card, in charge of the +clerk who looks after the visitors' book, and if he desires to +see the governor personally for business or social reasons he +can express that desire upon a sheet of note paper, which will +be attached to the letter of introduction and delivered some time +during the day. The latter, if he is so disposed will then give +the necessary instructions and an aide-de-camp will send a "chit," +as they call a note over here, inviting the traveler to call at +an hour named. There is a great deal of formality in official +and social life. The ceremonies and etiquette are modeled upon +those of the royal palaces in England, and the governor of each +province, as well as the viceroy of India in Calcutta, has his +little court. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A different code of etiquette must be followed in social relations +with natives, because they do not usually open their houses to +strangers. Letters of introduction should be sent with cards +by messengers or through the mails. Then, if the gentleman to +whom they are addressed desires, he will call at your hotel. +Many of the wealthier natives, and especially the Parsees, are +adopting European customs, but the more conservative Hindus still +adhere to their traditional exclusive habits, their families are +invisible and never mentioned, and strangers are never admitted +to their homes. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Natives are not admitted to the European clubs. There is no mingling +of the races in society, except in a few isolated cases of wealthy +families, who have been educated in Europe and have adopted European +customs. While the same prejudice does not exist theoretically, +there is actually a social gulf as wide and as deep as that which +lies between white and black families in Savannah or New Orleans. +Occasionally there is a marriage between a European and a native, +but the social consequences have not encouraged others to imitate +the example. Such unions are not approved by public sentiment in +either race, and are not usually attended with happiness. Some +of the Parsees, who are always excepted, and are treated as a +distinct race and community, mingle with Europeans to a certain +degree, but even in their case the line is sharply drawn. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The native district of Bombay is not so dirty nor so densely +populated as in most other Indian cities. The streets are wider and +some of them will admit of a carriage, although the cross-streets +are nearly all too narrow. The houses are from three to five +stories in height, built of brick or stone, with overhanging +balconies and broad eaves. Sometimes the entire front and rear +are of lattice work, the side walls being solid. Few of them are +plastered, ceilings are unknown and partitions, for the sake of +promoting circulation, seldom go more than half way to the top of +a room. No glass is used, but every window has heavy blinds as a +protection from the hot air and the rays of the sun. While our +taste does not approve the arrangements in many cases, experience +has taught the people of India how to live through the hot summers +with the greatest degree of comfort, and anyone who attempts +to introduce innovations is apt to make mistakes. The fronts +of many of the houses are handsomely carved and decorated, the +columns and pillars and brackets which support the balconies, +the railings, the door frames, the eaves and architraves, are +often beautiful examples of the carvers' skill, and the exterior +walls are usually painted in gay colors and fanciful designs. +Within doors the houses look very bare to us, and contain few +comforts. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The lower floor of the house is commonly used for a shop, and +different lines of business are classified and gathered in the +same neighborhood. The food market, the grocery and provision +dealers, the dealers in cotton goods and other fabrics, the silk +merchants, the shoe and leather men, the workers in copper and +brass, the goldsmiths, jewelers and dealers in precious stones +each have their street or quarter, which is a great convenience +to purchasers, and scattered among them are frequent cook-shops +and eating places, which do not resemble our restaurants in any +way, but have a large patronage. A considerable portion of the +population of Bombay, and the same is true of all other Indian +cities, depends upon these cook-shops for food as a measure of +economy and convenience. People can send out for dinner, lunch, +or breakfast at any hour, and have it served by their own servants +without being troubled to keep up a kitchen or buy fuel. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are said to be 6,000 dealers in jewelry and precious stones +in the city of Bombay, and they all seem to be doing a flourishing +business, chiefly with the natives, who are very fond of display +and invest their money in precious stones and personal adornments +of gold and silver, which are safer and give more satisfaction +than banks. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +You can see specimens of every race and nation in the native +city, nearly always in their own distinctive costumes, and they +are the source of never-ending interest--Arabs, Persians, Afghans, +Rajputs, Parsees, Chinese, Japanese, Malays, Lascars, Negroes +from Zanzibar, Madagascar and the Congo, Abyssinians. Nubians, +Sikhs, Thibetans, Burmese, Singalese, Siamese and Bengalis mingle +with Jews, Greeks and Europeans on common terms, and, unlike the +population of most eastern cities, the people of Bombay always +seem to be busy. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Many enterprises usually left for the municipal authorities of a +city to carry on cannot be undertaken by the government of India +because of the laws of caste, religious customs and fanatical +prejudices of the people. The Hindu allows no man to enter his +home; the women of a Mohammedan household are kept in seclusion, +the teachings of the priests are contrary to modern sanitary +regulations, and if the municipal authorities should condemn +a block of buildings and tear it down, or discover a nuisance +and attempt to remove it, they might easily provoke a riot and +perhaps a revolution. This has happened frequently. During the +last plague a public tumult had to be quelled by soldiers at a +large cost of life because of the efforts of the government to +isolate and quarantine infected persons and houses. These peculiar +conditions suggested in Bombay the advantage of a semi-public body +called "The Improvement Trust," which was organized a few years +ago by Lord Sandhurst, then governor. The original object was to +clear out the slums and infected places after the last plague, +to tear down blocks of rotten and filthy tenement-houses and erect +new buildings on the ground; to widen the streets, to let air and +light into moldering, festering sink holes of poverty, vice and +wretchedness; to lay sewers and furnish a water supply, and to +redeem and regenerate certain portions of the city that were a +menace to the public health and morals. This work was intrusted +to twelve eminent citizens, representing each of the races and +all of the large interests in Bombay, who commanded the respect +and enjoyed the confidence of the fanatical element of the people, +and would be permitted to do many things and introduce innovations +that would not be tolerated if suggested by foreigners, or the +government. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After the special duty which they were organized to perform had +been accomplished The Improvement Trust was made permanent as a +useful agency to undertake works of public utility of a similar +character which the government could not carry on. The twelve +trustees serve without pay or allowances; not one of them receives +a penny of compensation for his time or trouble, or even the +reimbursement of incidental expenses made necessary in the +performance of his duties. This is an exhibition of unusual +patriotism, but it is considered perfectly natural in Bombay. To +carry out the plans of the Trust, salaried officials are employed, +and a large force is necessary. The trustees have assumed great +responsibilities, and supply the place of a board of public works, +with larger powers than are usually granted to such officials. +The municipality has turned over to them large tracts of real +estate, some of which has been improved with great profit; it has +secured funds by borrowing from banks upon the personal credit +of its members, and by issuing bonds which sell at a high premium, +and the money has been used in the improvement of the city, in +the introduction of sanitary reforms, in building model tenements +for the poor, in creating institutions of public necessity or +advantage and by serving the people in various other ways. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The street car system of Bombay belongs to an American company, +having been organized by a Mr. Kittridge, who came over here as +consul during President Lincoln's administration. Recognizing +the advantage of street cars, in 1874 he interested some American +capitalists in the enterprise, got a franchise, laid rails on +a few of the principal streets and has been running horse cars +ever since. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The introduction of electricity and the extension of the street +railway system is imperatively needed. Distances are very great +in the foreign section, and during the hot months, from March +to November, it is impossible for white men to walk in the sun, +so that everybody is compelled to keep or hire a carriage; while +on the other hand the density of the population in other sections +is so great as to be a continual and increasing public peril. +Bombay has more than 800,000 inhabitants, two-thirds of whom are +packed into very narrow limits, and in the native quarters it +is estimated that there is one human being to every ten square +yards of space. It will be realized that this is a dangerous +condition of affairs for a city that is constantly afflicted +with epidemics and in which contagious diseases always prevail. +The extension of the street car service would do something to +relieve this congestion and scatter many of the people out among +the suburbs, but the Orientals always swarm together and pack +themselves away in most uncomfortable and unhealthful limits, +and it will always be a great danger when the plagues or the +cholera come around. Multitudes have no homes at all. They have +no property except the one or two strips of dirty cotton which +the police require them to wear for clothing. They lie down to +sleep anywhere, in the parks, on the sidewalks, in hallways, +and drawing their robes over their faces are utterly indifferent +to what happens. They get their meals at the cook shops for a +few farthings, eat when they are hungry, sleep when they are +sleepy and go through life without a fixed abode. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In addition to the street car company the United States is +represented by the Standard Oil Company, the Vacuum Oil Company, +and the New York Export and Import Company. Other American firms +of merchants and manufacturers have resident agents, but they +are mostly Englishmen or Germans. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is, however, very little demand in India for agricultural +implements, although three-fourths of the people are employed in +tilling the soil. Each farmer owns or rents a very small piece +of ground, hardly big enough to justify the use of anything but +the simple, primitive tools that have been handed down to him +through long lines of ancestors for 3,000 years. Nearly all his +implements are home-made, or come from the village blacksmith +shop, and are of the rudest, most awkward description. They plow +with a crooked stick, they dig ditches with their fingers, and +carry everything that has to be moved in little baskets on their +heads. The harvesting is done with a primitive-looking sickle, +and root crops are taken out of the ground with a two-tined fork +with a handle only a foot long. The Hindu does everything in a +squatting posture, hence he uses only short-handled tools. Fifty +or seventy-five cents each would easily replace the outfit of +three-fourths of the farmers in the empire. Occasionally there +is a rajah with large estates under cultivation upon which modern +machinery is used, but even there its introduction is discouraged; +first, because the natives are very conservative and disinclined +to adopt new means and new methods; and, second, and what is +more important, every labor-saving implement and machine that +comes into the country deprives hundreds of poor coolies of +employment. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The development of the material resources of India is slowly going +on, and mechanical industries are being gradually established, +with the encouragement of the government, for the purpose of +attracting the surplus labor from the farms and villages and +employing it in factories and mills, and in the mines of southern +India, which are supposed to be very rich. These enterprises +offer limited possibilities for the sale of machinery, and +American-made machines are recognized as superior to all others. +There is also a demand for everything that can be used by the foreign +population, which in India is numbered somewhere about a million +people, but the trade is controlled largely by British merchants +who have life-long connections at home, and it is difficult to +remove their prejudices or persuade them to see the superiority +of American goods. Nevertheless, our manufactories, on their +merits, are gradually getting a footing in the market. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When Mark Twain was in Bombay, a few years ago, he met with an +unusual experience for a mortal. He was a guest of the late Mr. +Tata, a famous Parsee merchant, and received a great deal of +attention. All the foreigners in the city knew him, and had read +his books, and there are in Bombay hundreds of highly cultivated +and educated natives. He hired a servant, as every stranger does, +and was delighted when he discovered a native by the name of +Satan among the numerous applicants. He engaged him instantly +on his name; no other recommendation was necessary. To have a +servant by the name of Satan was a privilege no humorist had +ever before enjoyed, and the possibilities to his imagination +were without limit. And it so happened that on the very day Satan +was employed, Prince Aga Khan, the head of a Persian sect of +Mohammedans, who is supposed to have a divine origin and will +be worshiped as a god when he dies, came to call on Mr. Clemens. +Satan was in attendance, and when he appeared with the card upon +a tray, Mr. Clemens asked if he knew anything about the caller; +if he could give him some idea who he was, because, when a prince +calls in person upon an American tourist, it is considered a +distinguished honor. Aga Khan is well known to everybody in Bombay, +and one of the most conspicuous men in the city. He is a great +favorite in the foreign colony, and is as able a scholar as he +is a charming gentleman. Satan, with all the reverence of his +race, appreciated the religious aspect of the visitor more highly +than any other, and in reply to the question of his new master +explained that Aga Khan was a god. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It was a very gratifying meeting for both gentlemen, who found +each other entirely congenial. Aga Khan has a keen sense of humor +and had read everything Mark Twain had written, while, on the other +hand, the latter was distinctly impressed with the personality of +his caller. That evening, when he came down to dinner, his host +asked how he had passed the day: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I have had the time of my life," was the prompt reply, "and +the greatest honor I have ever experienced. I have hired Satan +for a servant, and a God called to tell me how much he liked +Huck Finn." +</p> + +<h2><a name="III">III</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +SERVANTS, HOTELS, AND CAVE TEMPLES +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Everybody who comes to India must have a personal servant, a +native who performs the duty of valet, waiter and errand boy and +does other things that he is told. It is said to be impossible +to do without one and I am inclined to think that is true, for it +is a fixed custom of the country, and when a stranger attempts +to resist, or avoid or reform the customs of a country his trouble +begins. Many of the Indian hotels expect guests to bring their own +servants--to furnish their own chambermaids and waiters--hence are +short-handed, and the traveler who hasn't provided himself with +that indispensable piece of baggage has to look after himself. +On the railways a native servant is even more important, for +travelers are required to carry their own bedding, make their +own beds and furnish their own towels. The company provides a +bench for them to sleep on, similar to those we have in freight +cabooses at home, a wash room and sometimes water. But if you +want to wash your face and hands in the morning it is always +better to send your servant to the station master before the +trains starts to see that the tank is filled. Then a naked Hindu +with a goat-skin of water comes along, fills the tank and stands +around touching his forehead respectfully every time you look +his way until you give him a penny. The eating houses along the +railway lines also expect travelers to bring their own servants, +who raid their shelves and tables for food and drink and take it +out to the cars. That is another of the customs of the country. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +For these reasons a special occupation has been created, peculiar +to India--that of travelers' servants, or "bearers" as they are +called. I have never been able to satisfy myself as to the derivation +of the name. Some wise men say that formerly, before the days of +railroads, people were carried about in sedan chairs, as they +are still in China, and the men who carried them were called +"bearers;" others contend that the name is due to the circumstance +that these servants bear the white man's burden, which is not at +all likely. They certainly do not bear his baggage. They hire +coolies to do it. A self-respecting "bearer" will employ somebody +at your expense to do everything he can avoid doing and will +never demean himself by carrying a trunk, or a bag, or even a +parcel. You give him money to pay incidental expenses, for you +don't want him bothering you all the time, and he hires other +natives to do the work. But his wages are small. A first-class +bearer, who can talk English and cook, pack trunks, look after +tickets, luggage and other business of travel, serve as guide +at all places of interest and compel merchants to pay him a +commission upon everything his employer purchases, can be obtained +for forty-five rupees, which is $15 a month, and keep himself. +He gets his board for nothing at the hotels for waiting on his +master, and on the pretext that he induced him to come there. +But you have to pay his railway fare, third class, and give him +$3 to buy warm clothing. He never buys it, because he does not +need it, but that's another custom of the country. Then again, +at the end of the engagement he expects a present--a little +backsheesh--two or three dollars, and a certificate that you are +pleased with his services. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +That is the cost of the highest priced man, who can be guide +as well as servant, but you can get "bearers" with lesser +accomplishments for almost any wages, down as low as $2 a month. +But they are not only worthless; they actually imperil your soul +because of their exasperating ways and general cussedness. You +often hear that servants are cheap in India, that families pay +their cooks $3 a month and their housemen $2, which is true; +but they do not earn any more. One Swede girl will do as much +work as a dozen Hindus, and do it much better than they, and, +what is even more important to the housewife, can be relied upon. +In India women never go out to service except as nurses, but +in every household you will find not less than seven or eight +men servants, and sometimes twenty, who receive from $1 to $5 +a month each in wages, but the total amounts up, and they have +to be fed, and they will steal, every one of them, and lie and +loaf, and cause an infinite amount of trouble and confusion, +simply because they are cheap. High-priced servants usually are +an economy--good things always cost money, but give better +satisfaction. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Another common mistake is that Indian hotel prices are low. They are +just as high as anywhere else in the world for the accommodations. +I have noticed that wherever you go the same amount of luxury and +comfort costs about the same amount of money. You pay for all +you get in an Indian hotel. The service is bad because travelers +are expected to bring their own servants to answer their calls, +to look after their rooms and make their beds, and in some places +to wait on them in the dining-room. There are no women about the +houses. Men do everything, and if they have been well trained as +cleaners the hotel is neat. If they have been badly trained the +contrary may be expected. The same may be said of the cooking. +The landlord and his guest are entirely at the mercy of the cook, +and the food is prepared according to his ability and education. +You get very little beef because cows are sacred and steers are +too valuable to kill. The mutton is excellent, and there is plenty +of it. You cannot get better anywhere, and at places near the +sea they serve an abundance of fish. Vegetables are plenty and +are usually well cooked. The coffee is poor and almost everybody +drinks tea. You seldom sit down to a hotel table in India without +finding chickens cooked in a palatable way for breakfast, lunch +and dinner, and eggs are equally good and plenty. The bread is +usually bad, and everybody calls for toast. The deserts are usually +quite good. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It takes a stranger some time to become accustomed to barefooted +servants, but few of the natives in India of whatever class wear +shoes. Rich people, business men, merchants, bankers and others +who come in contact on equal terms with the foreign population +usually wear them in the streets, but kick them off and go around +barefooted as soon as they reach their own offices or their homes. +Although a servant may be dressed in elaborate livery, he never +wears shoes. The butlers, footmen, ushers and other servants +at the government house in Calcutta, at the viceregal lodge at +Simla, at the palace of the governor of Bombay, and the residences +of the other high officials, are all barefooted. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Everybody with experience agrees that well-trained Hindu servants +are quick, attentive and respectful and ingenious. F. Marion +Crawford in "Mr. Isaacs" says: "It has always been a mystery +to me how native servants manage always to turn up at the right +moment. You say to your man, 'Go there and wait for me,' and you +arrive and find him waiting; though how he transferred himself +thither, with his queer-looking bundle, and his lota and cooking +utensils and your best teapot wrapped up in a newspaper and ready +for use, and with all the hundred and one things that a native +servant contrives to carry about without breaking or losing one of +them, is an unsolved puzzle. Yet there he is, clean and grinning +as ever, and if he were not clean and grinning and provided with +tea and cheroots, you would not keep him in your service a day, +though you would be incapable of looking half so spotless and +pleased under the same circumstances yourself." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Every upper servant in an Indian household has to have an under +servant to assist him. A butler will not wash dishes or dust or +sweep. He will go to market and wait on the table, but nothing +more. A cook must have a coolie to wash the kitchen utensils, +and wait on him. He will do nothing but prepare the food for +the table. A coachman will do nothing but drive. He must have +a coolie to take care of the horse, and if there are two horses +the owner must hire another stable man, for no Hindu hostler +can take care of more than one, at least he is not willing to +do so. An American friend has told me of his experience trying +to break down one of the customs of the East, and compelling +one native to groom two horses. It is too long and tearful to +relate here, for he was finally compelled to give in and hire +a man for every horse and prove the truth of Kipling's poem: +</p> + +<div class="quote"> +"It is not good for the Christian race<br> +To worry the Aryan brown;<br> + For the white man riles,<br> + And the brown man smiles,<br> +And it weareth the Christian down<br> + And the end of the fight<br> + Is a tombstone white<br> +With the name of the late deceased,<br> + And the epitaph clear:<br> + A fool lies here,<br> +Who tried to hustle the East." +</div> + +<p> +That's the fate of everybody who goes up against established customs. +And so we hired a "bearer." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There were plenty of candidates. They appeared in swarms before +our trunks had come up from the steamer, and continued to come by +ones and twos until we had made a selection. They camped outside +our rooms and watched every movement we made. They sprang up in +our way from behind columns and gate-posts whenever we left the +hotel or returned to it. They accosted us in the street with +insinuating smiles and politely opened the carriage door as we +returned from our drives. They were of all sizes and ages, castes +and religions, and, strange to say, most of them had become +Christians and Protestants from their strong desire to please. +Each had a bunch of "chits," as they call them--recommendations +from previous employers, testifying to their intelligence, honesty +and fidelity, and insisted upon our reading them. Finally, in +self-defense, we engaged a stalwart Mohammedan wearing a snow-white +robe, a monstrous turban and a big bushy beard. He is an imposing +spectacle; he moves like an emperor; his poses are as dignified +as those of the Sheik el Islam when he lifts his hands to bestow +a blessing. And we engaged Ram Zon Abdullet Mutmammet on his +shape. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It was a mistake. Beauty is skin deep. No one can judge merit by +outside appearances, as many persons can ascertain by glancing +in a mirror. Ram Zon, and that was what we called him for short, +was a splendid illusion. It turned out that he could not scrape +together enough English to keep an account of his expenditures +and had to trust to his memory, which is very defective in money +matters. He cannot read or write, he cannot carry a message or +receive one; he is no use as a guide, for, although information +and ideas may be bulging from his noble brow, he lacks the power +to communicate them, and, worse than all, he is surly, lazy and +a constitutional kicker. He was always hanging around when we +didn't want him, and when we did want him he was never to be +found. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Ram had not been engaged two hours before he appeared in our +sitting room, enveloped in a dignity that permeated the entire +hotel, stood erect like a soldier, brought his hand to his forehead +and held it there for a long time--the salute of great respect--and +gave me a sealed note, which I opened and found to read as follows: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Most Honored Sir:--I most humbly beg to inform you this to your +kind consideration and generousitee and trusting which will submit +myself to your grant benevolence for avoid the troublesomeness to +you and your families, that the servant Ram Zon you have been so +honorable and benovelent to engage is a great rogue and conjurer. +He will make your mind buzzling and will steal your properties, +and can run away with you midway. In proof you please touch his +right hand shoulder and see what and how big charm he has. Such +a bad temperature man you have in your service. Besides he only +grown up taller and looks like a dandee as it true but he is +not fit to act in case not to disappeared. I beg of you kindly +consult about those matters and select and choose much experienced +man than him otherwise certainly you could be put in to great +danger by his conjuring and into troubles. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Hoping to excuse me for this troubles I taking, though he is my +caste and countryman much like not to do so, but his temperature +is not good therefore liable to your honourablesness, etc., etc." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When I told Ram about this indictment, he stoutly denied the +charges, saying that it was customary for envious "bearers" to +say bad things of one another when they lost good jobs. We did not +feel of his right arm and he did not try to conjure us, but his +temperature is certainly very bad, and he soon became a nuisance, +which we abated by paying him a month's wages and sending him off. +Then, upon the recommendation of the consul we got a treasure, +although he does not show it in his looks. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The hotels of India have a very bad name. There are several good +ones in the empire, however, and every experienced traveler and +every clubman you meet can tell you the names of all of them. +Hence it is not impossible to keep a good hotel in India with +profit. The best are at Lucknow and Darjeeling. Those at Caucutta +are the worst, although one would think that the vice-regal capital +would have pride enough to entertain its many visitors decently. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Bombay at last has such a hotel as ought to be found in Calcutta +and all the other large cities, an architectural monument, and +an ornament to the country. It is due to the enterprise of the +late Mr. J. N. Tata, a Parsee merchant and manufacturer, and it +is to be hoped that its success will be sufficient to stimulate +similar enterprises elsewhere. It would be much better for the people +of India to coax tourists over here by offering them comforts, +luxuries and pleasures than to allow the few who do come, to go +away grumbling. The thousands who visit Cairo every winter are +attracted there by the hotels, for no city has better ones, and +no hotels give more for the money. Hence they pay big profits, +and are a source of prosperity to the city, as well as a pleasure +to the idle public. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The most interesting study in Bombay is the people, but there +are several excursions into the country around well worth making, +particularly those that take you to the cave temples of the Hindus, +which have been excavated with infinite labor and pains out of the +solid rock. With their primitive tools the people of ancient times +chiseled great caverns in the sides of rocky cliffs and hills and +fashioned them after the conventional designs of temples, with +columns, pillars, vaulted ceilings, platforms for their idols +and pulpits for their priests. The nearest of these wonderful +examples of stone cutting is on an island in the harbor of Bombay, +called Elephanta, because at one time a colossal stone elephant +stood on the slope near the landing place, but it was destroyed +by the Portuguese several centuries ago. The island rises about +600 feet above the water, its summit is crowned with a glorious +growth of forest, its sides are covered with dense jungles, and +the beach is skirted by mangrove swamps. You get there by a steam +launch provided by the managers of your hotel, or by Cook & Sons, +the tourist agents, whenever a sufficiently large party is willing +to pay them for their trouble. Or if you prefer a sail you can +hire one of the native boats with a peculiar rigging and usually +get a good breeze in the morning, although it is apt to die down +in the afternoon, and you have to take your chances of staying +out all night. The only landing place at Elephanta Island is a +wall of concrete which has been built out across the beach into +four or five feet of water, and you have to step gingerly lest +you slip on the slime. At the end of the wall a solid stairway +cut in the hillside leads up to the temple. It was formerly used +daily by thousands of worshipers, but in this degenerate age +nobody but tourists ever climb it. Every boat load that lands +is greeted by a group of bright-eyed children, who follow the +sahibs (gentlemen) and mem-sahibs (ladies) up the stairs, begging +for backsheesh and offering for sale curios beetles and other +insects of brilliant hues that abound on the island. Coolies +are waiting at the foot of the stairs with chairs fastened to +poles, in which they will carry a person up the steep stairway +to the temple for 10 cents. Reaching the top you find a solid +fence with a gateway, which is opened by a retired army officer +who has been appointed custodian of the place and collects small +fees, which are devoted to keeping the temples clean and in repair. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The island is dedicated to Siva, the demon god of the Hindus, and +it is therefore appropriate that its swamps and jungles should +abound with poisonous reptiles and insects. The largest of the +several temples is 130 feet square and from 32 to 58 feet high, +an artificial cave chiseled out of the granite mountain side. +The roof is sustained by sixteen pilasters and twenty-six massive +fluted pillars. In a recess in the center is a gigantic figure +of Siva in his character as The Destroyer. His face is turned to +the east and wears a stern, commanding expression. His head-dress +is elaborate and crowned by a tiara beautifully carved. In one +hand he holds a citron and in the other the head of a cobra, +which is twisted around his arm and is reaching towards his face. +His neck is adorned with strings of pearls, from which hangs +a pendant in the form of a heart. Another necklace supports a +human skull, the peculiar symbol of Siva, with twisted snakes +growing from the head instead of hair. This is the great image +of the temple and represents the most cruel and revengeful of all +the Hindu gods. Ten centuries ago he wore altogether a different +character, but human sacrifices have always been made to propitiate +him. Around the walls of the cave are other gods of smaller stature +representing several of the most prominent and powerful of the +Hindu pantheon, all of them chiseled from the solid granite. +There are several chambers or chapels also for different forms of +worship, and a well which receives its water from some mysterious +source, and is said to be very deep. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Portuguese did great damage here several centuries ago in +a war with India, for they fired several cannon balls straight +into the mouth of the cave, which carried away several of the +columns and destroyed the ornamentation of others, but the Royal +Asiatic Society has taken the trouble to make careful and accurate +repairs. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Although the caves at Elephanta are wonderful, they are greatly +inferior in size and beauty to a larger group at Ellora, a day's +journey by train from Bombay, and after that a carriage or horseback +ride of two hours. There are 100 cave temples, carved out of +the solid rock between the second and the tenth centuries. They +are scattered along the base of a range of beautifully wooded +hills about 500 feet above the plain, and the amount of labor and +patience expended in their construction is appalling, especially +when one considers that the men who made them were without the +appliances and tools of modern times, knew nothing of explosives +and were dependent solely upon chisels of flint and other stones. +The greatest and finest of them is as perfect in its details and +as elaborate in its ornamentations as the cathedrals at Milan +or Toledo, except that it has been cut out of a single piece of +stone instead of being built up of many small pieces. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The architect made his plans with the most prodigal detail and +executed them with the greatest perfection. He took a solid rock, +an absolute monolith, and chiseled out of it a cathedral 365 +feet long, 192 feet wide and 96 feet high, with four rows of +mighty columns sustaining a vaulted roof that is covered with +pictures in relief illustrating the power and the adventures +and the achievements of his gods. It would accommodate 5,000 +worshippers. Around the walls he left rough projections, which +were afterward carved into symbolical figures and images, eight, +ten and twelve feet high, of elephants lions, tigers, oxen, rams, +swans and eagles, larger than life. Corner niches and recesses +have been enriched with the most intricate ornamentation, and +in them, still of the same rock, without the introduction of +an atom of outside material, the sculptors chiseled the figures +of forty or more of the principal Hindu deities. And on each +of the four sides is a massive altar carved out of the side of +the cliff with the most ornate and elaborate traceries and other +embellishment. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Indeed, my pen is not capable of describing these most wonderful +achievements of human genius and patience. But all of them have +been described in great detail and with copious illustrations +in books that refer to nothing else. I can only say that they +are the most wonderful of all the human monuments in India. +</p> + +<div class="quote"> +"From one vast mount of solid stone<br> +A mighty temple has been cored<br> +By nut-brown children of the sun,<br> +When stars were newly bright, and blithe<br> +Of song along the rim of dawn--<br> +A mighty monolith." +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The thirty principal temples are scattered along the rocky mountain +side within a distance of two miles, and seventy-nine others are +in the immediate neighborhood. The smallest of the principal group +is 90 feet long, 40 feet wide, with a roof 40 feet high sustained +by thirty-four columns. They are all alike in one particular. No +mortar was used in their construction or any outside material. +Every atom of the walls and ceilings, the columns, the altars +and the images and ornaments stands exactly where the Creator +placed it at the birth of the universe. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are several groups of cave temples in the same neighborhood. +Some of them were made by the Buddhists, for it seems to have +been fashionable in those days to chisel places of worship out +of the rocky hillsides instead of erecting them in the open air, +according to the ordinary rules of architecture. There are not +less than 300 in western India which are believed to have been +made within a period of a thousand years. Archæologists dispute +over their ages, just as they disagree about everything else. Some +claim that the first of the cave temples antedates the Christian +era; others declare that the oldest was not begun for 300 years +after Christ, but to the ordinary citizen these are questions of +little significance. It is not so important for us to know when +this great work was done, but it would be extremely gratifying if +somebody could tell us who did it--what genius first conceived +the idea of carving a magnificent house of worship out of the +heart of a mountain, and what means he used to accomplish the +amazing results. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +We would like to know for example, who made the designs of the +Vishwa Karma, or carpenter's cave, one of the most exquisite in +India, a single excavation 85 by 45 feet in area and 35 feet +high, which has an arched roof similar to the Gothic chapels +of England and a balcony or gallery over a richly sculptured +gateway very similar to the organ loft of a modern church. At +the upper end, sitting cross-legged in a niche, is a figure four +feet high, with a serene and contemplative expression upon its +face. Because it has none of the usual signs and symbols and +ornaments that appertain to the different gods, archæologists +have pronounced it a figure of the founder of the temple, who, +according to a popular legend, carved it all with his own hands, +but there is nothing to indicate for whom the statue was intended, +and the various stories told of it are pure conjectures that only +exasperate one who studies the details. Each stroke of the chisel +upon the surface of the interior was as delicate and exact as +if a jewel instead of a granite mountain was being carved. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are temples to all of the great gods in the Hindu catalogue; +there are several in honor of Buddha, and others for Jain, all +more or less of the same design and the same style of execution. +Those who care to know more about them can find full descriptions +in Fergusson's "Indian Architecture." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +South of Bombay, on the coast, is the little Portuguese colony +of Goa, the oldest European settlement in India. You will be +surprised to know that there are four or five of these colonies +belonging to other European governments within the limits of British +India, entirely independent of the viceroy and the authority of +Edward VII. The French have two towns of limited area in Bengal, +one of them only an hour's ride from Calcutta. They are entirely +outside of the British jurisdiction and under the authority of +the French Republic, which has always been respected. The Dutch +have two colonies in India also, and Goa, the most important of +all, is subject to Portugal. The territory is sixty-two miles +long by forty miles wide, and has a population of 446,982. The +inhabitants are nearly all Roman Catholics, and the archbishop +of Goa is primate of the East, having jurisdiction over all Roman +Catholics between Cairo and Hong-Kong. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +More than half of the population are converted Hindus, descendants +of the original occupants of the place, who were overcome by +the Duke of Albuquerque in 1510, and after seventy or eighty +years of fighting were converted by the celebrated and saintly +Jesuit missionary, St. Francis Xavier. He lived and preached +and died in Goa, and was buried in the Church of the Good Jesus, +which was erected by him during the golden age of Portugal--for +at one time that little kingdom exercised a military, political, +ecclesiastical and commercial influence throughout the world +quite as great, comparatively speaking, as that of Great Britain +to-day. Goa was then the most important city in the East, for +its wealth and commerce rivaled that of Genoa or Venice. It was +as large as Paris or London, and the viceroy lived in a palace +as fine as that occupied by the king. But very little evidence of +its former magnificence remains. Its grandeur was soon exhausted +when the Dutch and the East India Company came into competition +with the Portuguese. The Latin race has never been tenacious either +in politics or commerce. Like the Spaniards, the Portuguese have +no staying power, and after a struggle lasting seventy years, +all of the wide Portuguese possessions in the East fell into the +hands of the Dutch and the British, and nothing is now left but +Goa, with its ruins and reminiscences and the beautiful shrine +of marble and jasper, which the Grand Duke of Tuscany erected +in honor of the first great missionary to the East. +</p> + +<h2><a name="IV">IV</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE EMPIRE OF INDIA +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +India is a great triangle, 1,900 miles across its greatest length +and an equal distance across its greatest breadth. It extends +from a region of perpetual snow in the Himalayas, almost to the +equator. The superficial area is 1,766,642 square miles, and +you can understand better what that means when I tell you that +the United States has an area of 2,970,230 square miles, without +counting Alaska or Hawaii. India is about as large as that portion +of the United States lying east of a line drawn southward along +the western boundary of the Dakotas, Kansas and Texas. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The population of India in 1901 was 294,361,056 or about one-fifth +of the human race, and it comprises more than 100 distinct nations +and peoples in every grade of civilization from absolute savages to +the most complete and complex commercial and social organizations. +It has every variety of climate from the tropical humidity along +the southern coast to the frigid cold of the mountains; peaks of +ice, reefs of coral, impenetrable jungles and bleak, treeless +plains. One portion of its territory records the greatest rainfall +of any spot on earth; another, of several hundred thousand square +miles, is seldom watered with a drop of rain and is entirely +dependent for moisture upon the melting snows of the mountains. +Twelve thousands different kinds of animals are enumerated in +its fauna, 28,000 plants in its flora, and the statistical survey +prepared by the government fills 128 volumes of the size of our +census reports. One hundred and eighteen distinct languages are +spoken in various parts of India and fifty-nine of these languages +are spoken by more than 100,000 people each. A large number of +other languages and dialects are spoken by different tribes and +clans of less than 100,000 population. The British Bible Society +has published the whole or parts of the Holy Scriptures in forty-two +languages which reach 220,000,000 people, but leave 74,000,000 +without the Holy Word. In order to give the Bible to the remainder +of the population of India it would be necessary to publish 108 +additional translations, which the society has no money and no +men to prepare. From this little statement some conception of +the variety of the people of India may be obtained, because each +of the tribes and clans has its own distinct organization and +individuality, and each is practically a separate nation. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0 class="center"> + <tr><td>Language.</td> + <td class="right">Spoken by</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Language.</td> + <td class="right">Spoken by</td></tr> + <tr><td>Hindi</td><td class="right">85,675,373</td><td> </td> + <td>Malayalam</td><td class="right">5,428,250</td></tr> + <tr><td>Bengali</td><td class="right">41,343,762</td><td> </td> + <td>Masalmani</td><td class="right">3,669,390</td></tr> + <tr><td>Telugu</td><td class="right">19,885,137</td><td> </td> + <td>Sindhi</td><td class="right">2,592,341</td></tr> + <tr><td>Marathi</td><td class="right">18,892,875</td><td> </td> + <td>Santhal</td><td class="right">1,709,680</td></tr> + <tr><td>Punjabi</td><td class="right">17,724,610</td><td> </td> + <td>Western Pahari</td><td class="right">1,523,098</td></tr> + <tr><td>Tamil</td><td class="right">15,229,759</td><td> </td> + <td>Assamese</td><td class="right">1,435,820</td></tr> + <tr><td>Gujarathi</td><td class="right">10,619,789</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Gond</td><td class="right">1,379,580</td></tr> + <tr><td>Kanarese</td><td class="right">9,751,885</td><td> </td> + <td>Central Pahari</td><td class="right">1,153,384</td></tr> + <tr><td>Uriya</td><td class="right">9,010,957</td><td> </td> + <td>Marwadi</td><td class="right">1,147,480</td></tr> + <tr><td>Burmese</td><td class="right">5,926,864</td><td> </td> + <td>Pashtu</td><td class="right">1,080,931</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The Province of Bengal, for example, is nearly as large as all +our North Atlantic states combined, and contains an area of 122,548 +square miles. The Province of Rajputana is even larger, and has a +population of 74,744,886, almost as great as that of the entire +United States. Madras has a population of 38,000,000, and the +central provinces 47,000,000, while several of the 160 different +states into which India is divided have more than 10,000,000 +each. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The population is divided according to religions as follows: +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0 class="center"> + <tr><td>Hindus</td> + <td class="right">207,146,422</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Sikhs</td> + <td class="right">2,195,268</td></tr> + <tr><td>Mohammedans</td><td class="right">62,458,061</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Jains</td><td class="right">1,334,148</td></tr> + <tr><td>Buddhists</td><td class="right">9,476,750</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Parsees</td><td class="right">94,190</td></tr> + <tr><td>Animistic</td><td class="right">8,711,300</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Jews</td><td class="right">18,228</td></tr> + <tr><td>Christians</td><td class="right">2,923,241</td> + <td> </td> + <td colspan=2> </td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +It will be interesting to know that of the Christians enumerated +at the last census 1,202,039 were Roman Catholics, 453,612 belonged +to the established Church of England, 322,586 were orthodox Greeks, +220,863 were Baptists, 155,455 Lutherans, 53,829 Presbyterians +and 157,847 put themselves down as Protestants without giving +the sect to which they adhere. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The foreign population of India is very small. The British-born +number only 96,653; 104,583 were born on the continent of Europe, +and only 641,854 out of nearly 300,000,000 were born outside +the boundaries of India. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +India consists of four separate and well-defined regions: the +jungles of the coast and the vast tract of country known as the +Deccan, which make up the southern half of the Empire; the great +plain which stretches southward from the Himalayas and constitutes +what was formerly known as Hindustan; and a three-sided tableland +which lies between, in the center of the empire, and is drained +by a thousand rivers, which carry the water off as fast as it +falls and leave but little to refresh the earth. This is the +scene of periodical famine, but the government is pushing the +irrigation system so rapidly that before many years the danger +from that source will be much diminished. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The whole of southern India, according to the geologists, was once +covered by a great forest, and indeed there are still 66,305,506 +acres in trees which are carefully protected. The black soil of +that region is proverbial for its fertility and produces cotton, +sugar cane, rice and other tropical and semi-tropical plants with +an abundance surpassed by no other region. The fruit-bearing +palms require a chapter to themselves in the botanies, and are a +source of surprising wealth. According to the latest census the +enormous area of 546,224,964 acres is under cultivation, which +is an average of nearly two acres per capita of population, and +probably two-thirds of it is actually cropped. About one-fourth +of this area is under irrigation and more than 22,000,000 acres +produce two crops a year. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Most of the population is scattered in villages, and the number +of people who are not supported by farms is much smaller than would +be supposed from the figures of the census. A large proportion of +the inhabitants returned as engaged in trade and other employments +really belong to the agricultural community, because they are the +agents of middlemen through whose hands the produce of the farms +passes. These people live in villages among the farming community. +In all the Empire there are only eight towns with more than 200,000 +inhabitants; only three with more than 500,000, and only one with +a million, which is Calcutta. The other seven in order of size are +Bombay, Madras, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Rangoon, Benares and Delhi. +There are only twenty-nine towns with more than 100,000 inhabitants; +forty-nine with more than 50,000; 471 with more than 10,000; 877 +with more than 5,000, and 2,134 organized municipalities with +a population of 1,000 or more. These municipalities represent an +aggregate population of 29,244,221 out of a total of 294,361,056, +leaving 265,134,722 inhabitants scattered upon farms and in 729,752 +villages. The city population, however, is growing more rapidly +than that of the country, because of the efforts of the government +to divert labor from the farms to the factories. In Germany, +France, England and other countries of Europe and in the United +States the reverse policy is pursued. Their rural population is +drifting too rapidly to the cities, and the cities are growing +faster than is considered healthful. In India, during the ten +years from= 1891 to 1901 the city population has increased only +2,452,083, while the rural population has increased only 4,567,032. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The following table shows the number of people supported by each +of the principal occupations named: +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0 class="center"> + <tr><td>Agriculture</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">191,691,731</td></tr> + <tr><td>Earth work and general labor (not agriculture)</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">17,953,261</td></tr> + <tr><td>Producing food, drink and stimulants</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">16,758,726</td></tr> + <tr><td>Producing textile fabrics</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">11,214,158</td></tr> + <tr><td>Personal, household and sanitary</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">10,717,500</td></tr> + <tr><td>Rent payers (tenants)</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">106,873,575</td></tr> + <tr><td>Rent receivers (landlords)</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">45,810,673</td></tr> + <tr><td>Field laborers</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">29,325,985</td></tr> + <tr><td>General laborers</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">16,941,026</td></tr> + <tr><td>Cotton weavers</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">5,460,515</td></tr> + <tr><td>Farm servants</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">4,196,697</td></tr> + <tr><td>Beggars (non-religious)</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">4,222,241</td></tr> + <tr><td>Priests and others engaged in religion</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">2,728,812</td></tr> + <tr><td>Workers and dealers in wood, bamboo, etc.</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">2,499,531</td></tr> + <tr><td>Barbers and shampooers</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">2,331,598</td></tr> + <tr><td>Grain and pulse dealers</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">2,264,481</td></tr> + <tr><td>Herdsmen (cattle, sheep and goats)</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">2,215,791</td></tr> + <tr><td>Indoor servants</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">2,078,018</td></tr> + <tr><td>Washermen</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">2,011,624</td></tr> + <tr><td>Workers and dealers in earthen and stone ware</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">2,125,225</td></tr> + <tr><td>Shoe, boot and sandal makers</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">1,957,291</td></tr> + <tr><td>Shopkeepers</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">1,839,958</td></tr> + <tr><td>Workers and dealers in gold and silver</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">1,768,597</td></tr> + <tr><td>Cart and pack animal owners</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">1,605,529</td></tr> + <tr><td>Iron and steel workers</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">1,475,883</td></tr> + <tr><td>Watchmen and other village servants</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">1,605,118</td></tr> + <tr><td>Grocery dealers</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">1,587,225</td></tr> + <tr><td>Sweepers and scavengers</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">1,518,482</td></tr> + <tr><td>Fishermen and fish curers</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">1,280,358</td></tr> + <tr><td>Fish dealers</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">1,269,435</td></tr> + <tr><td>Workers in cane and matting</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">1,290,961</td></tr> + <tr><td>Bankers, money lenders, etc.</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">1,200,998</td></tr> + <tr><td>Tailors, milliners and dressmakers</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">1,142,153</td></tr> + <tr><td>Officers of the civil service</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">1,043,872</td></tr> + <tr><td>Water carriers</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">1,089,574</td></tr> + <tr><td>Oil pressers</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">1,055,933</td></tr> + <tr><td>Dairy men, milk and butter dealers</td> + <td valign="bottom" class="right">1,013,000</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The enormous number of 1,563,000, which is equal to the population of +half our states, are engaged in what the census terms "disreputable" +occupations. There are about eighty other classes, but none of +them embraces more than a million members. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Among the curiosities of the census we find that 603,741 people +are engaged in making and selling sweetmeats, and 550,241 in selling +cardamon seeds and betel leaves, and 548,829 in manufacturing +and selling bangles, necklaces, beads and sacred threads. There +are 497,509 teachers and professors, 562,055 actors, singers +and dancers, 520,044 doctors and 279,646 lawyers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The chewing of betel leaves is one of the peculiar customs of +the country, even more common than tobacco chewing ever was with +us. At almost every street corner, in the porticos of the temples, +at the railway stations and in the parks, you will see women and +men, squatting on the ground behind little trays covered with +green leaves, powdered nuts and a white paste, made of the ashes +of cocoanut fiber, the skins of potatoes and a little lime. They +take a leaf, smear it with the lime paste, which is intended +to increase the saliva, and then wrap it around the powder of +the betel nut. Natives stop at these stands, drop a copper, pick +up one of these folded leaves, put it in their mouths, and go +off chewing, and spitting out saliva as red as blood. Strangers +are frequently attracted by dark red stains upon pavements and +floors which look as if somebody had suffered from a hemorrhage or +had opened an artery, but they are only traces of the chewers of +the betel nut. The habit is no more harmful than chewing tobacco. +The influence of the juice is slightly stimulating to the nerves, +but not injurious, although it is filthy and unclean. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is a popular impression that the poor of India live almost +exclusively upon rice, which is very cheap and nourishing, hence +it is possible for a family to subsist upon a few cents a day. +This is one of the many delusions that are destroyed when you +visit the country. Rice in India is a luxury that can be afforded +only by the people of good incomes, and throughout four-fifths of +the country is sold at prices beyond the reach of common working +people. Sixty per cent. of the population live upon wheat, barley, +fruit, various kinds of pulses and maize. Rice can be grown only in +hot and damp climates, where there are ample means of irrigation, +and only where the conditions of soil, climate and water supply +allow its abundant production does it enter into the diet of the +working classes. Three-fourths of the people are vegetarians, +and live upon what they produce themselves. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The density of the population is very great, notwithstanding +the enormous area of the empire, being an average of 167 to the +square mile, including mountains, deserts and jungles, as against +21.4 to the square mile in the United States. Bengal, the province +of which Calcutta is the capital, on the eastern coast of India, +is the most densely populated, having 588 people to the square +mile. Behar in the south has 548, Oudh in the north 531; Agra, +also in the north, 419, and Bombay 202. Some parts of India have +a larger population to the acre than any other part of the world. +The peasants, or coolies, as they are called, are born and live +and die like animals. Indeed animals seldom are so closely herded +together, or live such wretched lives. In 1900, 54,000,000 people +were more or less affected by the famine, and 5,607,000 were fed +by the government for several months, simply because there was +no other way for them to obtain food. There was no labor they +could perform for wages, and those who were fortunate enough to +secure employment could not earn enough to buy bread to satisfy +the hunger of their families. It is estimated that 30,000,000 +human beings starved to death in India during the nineteenth +century, and in one year alone, the year in which that good woman, +Queen Victoria, assumed the title of empress, more than 5,000,000 +of her subjects died from hunger. Yet the population without +immigration is continually increasing from natural causes. The +net increase during the ten years from 1891 to 1901 was 7,046,385. +The, struggle for life is becoming greater every year; wages are +going down instead of up, notwithstanding the rapid increase +of manufacturing industries, the extension of the railway system +and other sources of wealth and employment that are being rapidly +developed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +More than 200,000,000 persons in India are living upon less than +5 cents a day of our money; more than 100,000,000 are living +upon less than 3 cents; more than 50,000,000 upon less than 1 +cent and at least two-thirds of the entire population do not +have food enough during any year of their lives to supply the +nourishment demanded by the human system. As I have already shown, +there are only two acres of land under cultivation for each +inhabitant of India. This includes gardens, parks and pastures, +and it is not evenly distributed. In many parts of the country, +millions are compelled to live upon an average of one-fourth +of an acre of land and millions more upon half an acre each, +whereas an average of five acres of agricultural land per capita +of population is believed to be necessary to the prosperity of +a nation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Few countries have such an enormous birth rate and death rate. +Nowhere else are babies born in such enormous numbers, and nowhere +does death reap such awful harvests. Sometimes a single famine or +plague suddenly sweeps millions into eternity, and their absence +is scarcely noticed. Before the present sanitary regulations and +inspections were introduced the death rate was nearly double +what it is now; indeed, some experts estimate that it must have +been several times as great, but no records were kept in some +of the provinces, and in most of them, they were incomplete and +inaccurate. India is now in a healthier condition than ever before, +and yet the death rate varies from 31.10 per 1,000 in the cold +provinces of Agra and Oudh to 82.7 per 1,000 in the tropical +regions of Behar. In Bombay last year the rate was 70.07 per +1,000; in the central provinces 56.75; in the Punjab, which has +a wide area in northwestern India, it was 47.7 and in Bengal +36.63. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The birth rate is almost as large, the following table being reported +from the principal provinces named: +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0 class="center"> + <tr><td> </td> + <td class="right"> + Births per<br>1,000 pop.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td class="right"> + Births per<br>1,000 pop.</td> + <tr><td>Behar</td><td class="right">50.5</td><td> </td> + <td>Burmah</td><td class="right">37.4</td></tr> + <tr><td>Punjab</td><td class="right">48.4</td><td> </td> + <td>Bombay</td><td class="right">36.3</td></tr> + <tr><td>Agra</td><td class="right">48.9</td><td> </td> + <td>Assam</td><td class="right">35.4</td></tr> + <tr><td>Central provinces</td><td class="right">47.3</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Madras</td><td class="right">31.3</td></tr> + <tr><td>Bengal</td><td class="right">42.9</td><td> </td> + <td colspan=2> </td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Even with the continual peril from plague and famine, the government +does not encourage emigration, as you think would be considered +a wise policy, but retards it by all sorts of regulations and +restrictions, and it is difficult to drive the Hindus out of +the wretched hovels in which they live and thrive and breed like +rats or rabbits. The more wretched and comfortless a home, the +more attached the natives are to it. The less they have to leave +the more reluctant they are to leave it, but the same rule applies +to every race and every nation in the south of Europe and the +Turkish Empire, in Syria, Egypt, the East India Islands, and +wherever the population is dense and wages are low. It is the +semi-prosperous middle class who emigrate in the hope of bettering +their condition. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is less emigration from India than from any other country. +During the last twenty years the total number of persons emigrating +from the Indian Empire was only 316,349, less than come to the +United States annually from Italy, and the statistics show that +138,660 of these persons returned to their former homes during +that period, leaving the net emigration since 1882 only 177,689 +out of 300,000,000 of population. And most of these settled in +other British colonies. We have a few Hindu merchants and Parsees +in the United States, but no coolies whatever. The coolies are +working classes that have gone to British Guiana, Trinidad, Jamaica +and other West Indies, Natal, East Africa, Fiji and other British +possessions in the Pacific. There has been a considerable flow +of workmen back and forth between India and Burma and Ceylon, +for in those provinces labor is scarce, wages are high and large +numbers of Hindus are employed in the rice paddies and tea +plantations. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The government prevents irregular emigration. It has a "protectorate +of emigrants" who is intrusted with the enforcement of the laws. +Natives of India are not permitted to leave the country unless +they are certain of obtaining employment at the place where they +desire to go, and even then each intending emigrant must file +a copy of his contract with the commissioner in order that he +may be looked after in his new home, for the Indian government +always sends an agent to protect the interests of its coolies to +every country where they have gone in any considerable numbers. +Every intending emigrant must submit to a medical examination also, +for the navigation laws prohibit vessels from taking aboard any +native who does not show a certificate from an official that he +is in full possession of his health and faculties and physically +fit to earn his living in a strange country. Vessels carrying +emigrants are subject to inspection, and are obliged to take out +licenses, which require them to observe certain rules regarding +space occupied, ventilation, sanitation and the supply of food and +water. Most of the emigrants leaving India go out under contract +and the terms must be approved by the agent of the government. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The fact that the government and the benevolent people of Europe +and America have twice within the last ten years been compelled to +intervene to save the people of India from perishing of starvation +has created an impression that they are always in the lowest +depths of distress and continually suffering from any privations. +This is not unnatural, and might under ordinary circumstances +be accepted as conclusive proof of the growing poverty of the +country and the inability of the people to preserve their own +lives. Such a conclusion, however, is very far from the fact, and +every visitor to India from foreign lands has a surprise awaiting +him concerning its condition and progress. When three-fifths of +a population of 300,000,000 have all their eggs in one basket +and depend entirely upon little spots of soil for sustenance, +and when their crops are entirely dependent upon the rains, and +when for a succession of years the rains are not sufficient, +there must be failures of harvest and a vast amount of suffering +is inevitable. But the recuperative power of the empire is +astonishing. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Although a famine may extend over its total length and breadth +one season, and require all the resources of the government to +prevent the entire population from perishing, a normal rainfall +will restore almost immediate prosperity, because the soil is so +rich, the sun is so hot, and vegetation is so rapid that sometimes +three and even four crops are produced from the same soil in a +single year. All the people want in time of famine is sufficient +seed to replant their farms and food enough to last them until +a crop is ripe. The fact that a famine exists in one part of +the country, it must also be considered, is no evidence that +the remainder of the empire is not abounding in prosperity, and +every table of statistics dealing with the material conditions of +the country shows that famine and plague have in no manner impeded +their progress. On the other hand they demonstrate the existence +of an increased power of endurance and rapid recuperation, which, +compared with the past, affords ground for hope and confidence +of an even more rapid advance in the future. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Comparing the material condition of India in 1904 with what it +was ten years previous, we find that the area of soil under +cultivation has increased 229,000,000 acres. What we call internal +revenue has increased 17 per cent during the last ten years; sea +borne foreign commerce has risen in value from £130,500,000 to +£163,750,000; the coasting trade from £48,500,000 to £63,000,000, +and the foreign trade by land from £5,500,000 to £9,000,000. +Similar signs of progress and prosperity are to be found in the +development of organized manufactures, in the increased investment +of capital in commerce and industry, in dividends paid by various +enterprises, in the extended use of the railways, the postoffice +and the telegraph. The number of operatives in cotton mills has +increased during the last ten years from 118,000 to 174,000, in +jute mills from 65,000 to 114,000, in coal and other mines from +35,000 to 95,000, and in miscellaneous industries from 184,000 +to 500,000. The railway employes have increased in number from +284,000 to 357,000 in ten years. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A corresponding development and improvement is found in all lines +of investment. During the ten years from 1894 to 1904 the number +of joint stock companies having more than $100,000 capital has +increased from 950 to 1,366, and their paid up capital from +£17,750,000 to £24,500,000. The paid in capital of banks has +advanced from £9,000,000 to £14,750,000; deposits have increased +from £7,500,000 to £23,650,000, and the deposits in postal savings +banks from £4,800,000 to £7,200,000, which is an encouraging +indication of the growth of habits of thrift. The passenger traffic +on the railways has increased from 123,000,000 to 195,000,000, +and the freight from 20,000,000 to 34,000,000 tons. The number of +letters and parcels passing through the postoffice has increased +during the ten years from 340,000,000 to 560,000,000; the postal +money orders from £9,000,000 to £19,000,000, and the telegraph +messages from 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 in number. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The income tax is an excellent barometer of prosperity. It exempts +ordinary wage earners entirely--persons with incomes of less than +500 rupees, a rupee being worth about 33 cents of our money. +The whole number of persons paying the income tax has increased +from 354,594 to 495,605, which is about 40 per cent in ten years, +and the average tax paid has increased from 37.09 rupees to 48.68 +rupees. The proceeds of the tax have increased steadily from +year to year, with the exception of the famine years. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are four classifications of taxpayers, and the proportion +paid by each during the last year, 1902, was as follows: +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0 class="center"> + <tr><td> </td> + <td class="right">Per cent.</td></tr> + <tr><td>Salaries and pensions</td> + <td class="right">29.07</td></tr> + <tr><td>Dividends from companies and business</td> + <td class="right">7.22</td></tr> + <tr><td>Interest on securities</td> + <td class="right">4.63</td></tr> + <tr><td>Miscellaneous sources of income</td> + <td class="right">59.08</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The last item is very significant. It shows that nearly 60 per +cent of the income taxpayers of India are supported by miscellaneous +investments other than securities and joint stock companies. The +item includes the names of merchants, individual manufacturers, +farmers, mechanics, professional men and tradesmen of every class. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The returns of the postal savings banks show the following classes +of depositors: +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0 class="center"> + <tr><td> </td> + <td class="right">Number.</td></tr> + <tr><td>Wage earners</td> + <td class="right">352,349</td></tr> + <tr><td>Professional men with fixed incomes</td> + <td class="right">233,108</td></tr> + <tr><td>Professional men with variable incomes</td> + <td class="right">58,130</td></tr> + <tr><td>Domestics, or house servants</td> + <td class="right">151,204</td></tr> + <tr><td>Tradesmen</td> + <td class="right">32,065</td></tr> + <tr><td>Farmers</td> + <td class="right">12,387</td></tr> + <tr><td>Mechanics</td> + <td class="right">27,450</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The interest allowed by the savings bank government of India is +3-1/2 per cent. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Considering the awful misfortunes and distress which the country +has endured during the last ten years, these facts are not only +satisfactory but remarkable, and if it can progress so rapidly +during times of plague and famine, what could be expected from +it during a cycle of seasons of full crops. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +During the ten years which ended with 1894 the seasons were all +favorable, generally speaking, although local failures of harvests +occurred here and there in districts of several provinces, but +they were not sufficient in area, duration or intensity to affect +the material conditions of the people. The ten succeeding years, +however, ending with 1904 witnessed a succession of calamities +that were unprecedented either in India or anywhere else on earth, +with the exception of a famine that occurred in the latter part +of the eighteenth century. Those ten years not only saw two of +the worst famines, but repeated visitations of widespread and +fatal epidemics. It is estimated that during the ten years ending +December, 1903, a million and a half of deaths were caused by the +bubonic plague alone, and that the mortality from that pestilence +was small in comparison with that caused by cholera, fever and +famine. The effects of those epidemics had been to hamper trade, +to alarm and demoralize the people, to obstruct foreign commerce, +prevent investments and the development of material resources. +Yet during the years 1902 and 1903 throughout all India there +was abundant prosperity. This restoration of prosperity is most +noticeable in several of the districts that suffered most severely +from famine. To a large measure the agricultural population have +been restored to their normal condition. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is difficult in a great country like India where wages are +so small and the cost of living is so insignificant compared +with our own country, to judge accurately of the condition of +the laboring classes. The empire is so vast and so diverse in +all its features that a statement which may accurately apply +to one province will misrepresent another. But, taking one +consideration with another, as the song says, and drawing an +average, it is plainly evident that the peasant population of +India is slowly improving in condition. The scales of wages have +undoubtedly risen; there has been an improvement in the housing +and the feeding of the masses; their sanitary condition has been +radically changed, although they have fought against it, and +the slow but gradual development of the material resources of +the country promises to make the improvement permanent. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The chief source of revenue in India from ancient times has been +a share in the crops of the farmers. The present system has been +handed down through the centuries with very little modification, and +as three-fifths of the people are entirely and directly dependent +upon the cultivation of the land, the whole fabric of society +has been based upon that source of wealth. The census gives +191,691,731 people as agriculturists, of whom 131,000,000 till +their own or rented land, 18,750,000 receive incomes as landlord +owners and the remainder are agricultural laborers. The landlord +caste are the descendants of hereditary chiefs, of former revenue +farmers and persons of importance to whom land grants were made +in ancient times. Large tracts of land in northern India are +owned by municipalities and village communities, whose officials +receive the rents and pay the taxes. Other large tracts have +been inherited from the invaders and conquerors of the country. +It is customary in India for the landlord to receive his rent +in a part of the crop, and the government in turn receives a +share of this rent in lieu of taxes. This is an ancient system +which the British government has never interfered with, and any +attempt to modify or change it would undoubtedly be resisted. +At the same time the rents are largely regulated by the taxes. +These customs, which have come down from the Mogul empire, have +been defined and strengthened by time and experience. Nearly +every province has its own and different laws and customs on +the subject, but the variation is due not to legislation, but +to public sentiment. The tenant as well as the landlord insists +that the assessments of taxes shall be made before the rent rate +is determined, and this occurs in almost every province, although +variations in rent and changes of proprietorship and tenantry +very seldom occur. Wherever there has been a change during the +present generation it has been in favor of the tenants. The rates +of rent and taxation naturally vary according to the productive +power of the land, the advantages of climate and rainfall, the +facilities for reaching market and other conditions. But the +average tax represents about two-thirds of a rupee per acre, or +21 cents in American money. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +We have been accustomed to consider India a great wheat producing +country, and you often hear of apprehension on the part of American +political economists lest its cheap labor and enormous area should +give our wheat growers serious competition. But there is not +the slightest ground for apprehension. While the area planted +to wheat in India might be doubled, and farm labor earns only +a few cents a day, the methods of cultivation are so primitive +and the results of that cheap labor are comparatively so small, +that they can never count seriously against our wheat farms which +are tilled and harvested with machinery and intelligence. No +article in the Indian export trade has been so irregular or has +experienced greater vicissitudes than wheat. The highest figure +ever reached in the value of exports was during the years 1891-92, +when there was an exceptional crop, and the exports reached +$47,500,000. The average for the preceding ten years was $25,970,000, +while the average for the succeeding ten years, ending 1901-02, +was only $12,740,000. This extraordinary decrease was due to +the failure of the crop year after year and the influence of +the famines of 1897 and 1900. The bulk of the wheat produced +in India is consumed within the districts where it is raised, +and the average size of the wheat farms is less than five acres. +More than three-fourths of the India wheat crop is grown on little +patches of ground only a few feet square, and sold in the local +markets. The great bulk of the wheat exported comes from the large +farms or is turned in to the owners of land rented to tenants +for shares of the crops produced. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The coal industry is becoming important. There are 329 mines +in operation, which yielded 7,424,480 tons during the calendar +year of 1902, an increase of nearly 1,000,000 tons in the five +years ending 1903. It is a fair grade of bituminous coal and +does well for steaming purposes. Twenty-eight per cent of the +total output was consumed by the local railway locomotives in +1902, and 431,552 tons was exported to Ceylon and other neighboring +countries. The first mine was opened in India as long ago as +1820, but it was the only one worked for twenty years, and the +development of the industry has been very slow, simply keeping +pace with the increase of railways, mills, factories and other +consumers. But the production is entirely sufficient to meet +the local demand, and only 23,417 tons was imported in 1902, +all of which came as ballast. The industry gives employment to +about 98,000 persons. Most of the stock in the mining companies +is owned by private citizens of India. The prices in Calcutta +and Bombay vary from $2.30 to $2.85 a ton. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +India is rich in mineral deposits, but few of them have been +developed, chiefly on account of the lack of capital and enterprise. +After coal, petroleum is the most important item, and in 1902 +nearly 57,000,000 gallons was refined and sold in the India market, +but this was not sufficient to meet half the demand, and about +81,000,000 gallons was imported from the United States and Russia. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Gold mining is carried on in a primitive way in several of the +provinces, chiefly by the washing of river sand. Valuable gold +deposits are known to exist, but no one has had the enterprise +or the capital to undertake their development, simply because +costly machinery is required and would call for a heavy investment. +Most of the gold washing is done by natives with rude, home-made +implements, and the total production reported for 1902 was 517,639 +ounces, valued at $20 an ounce. This, however, does not tell +more than half the story. It represents only the amount of gold +shipped out of the country, while at least as much again, if +not more, was consumed by local artisans in the manufacture of +the jewelry which is so popular among the natives. When a Hindu +man or woman gets a little money ahead he or she invariably buys +silver or gold ornaments with it, instead of placing it in a +savings bank or making other investments. Nearly all women and +children that you see are loaded with silver ornaments, their +legs and feet as well as their hands and arms, and necklaces of +silver weighing a pound or more are common. Girdles of beautifully +wrought silver are sometimes worn next to the bare skin by ordinary +coolies working on the roads or on the docks of the rivers, and +in every town you visit you will find hundreds of shops devoted +to the sale of silver and gold adornments of rude workmanship +but put metal. The upper classes invest their savings in gold +and precious stones for similar reasons. There is scarcely a +family of the middle class without a jewel case containing many +articles of great value, while both the men and women of the rich +and noble castes own and wear on ceremonial occasions amazing +collections of precious stones and gold ornaments which have +been handed down by their ancestors who invested their surplus +wealth in them at a time when no safe securities were to be had +and savings banks had not been introduced into India. A large +proportion of the native gold is consumed by local artisans in +the manufacture of these ornaments, and is not counted in the +official returns. An equal amount, perhaps, is worked up into +gold foil and used for gilding temples, palaces and the houses +of the rich. Like all orientals, the Indians are very fond of +gilding, and immense quantities of pure gold leaf are manufactured +in little shops that may be seen in every bazaar you visit. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +India now ranks second among the manganese ore producing countries +of the world, and has an inexhaustible supply of the highest +grade. The quality of the ores from the central provinces permits +their export in the face of a railway haul of 500 miles and sea +transportation to England, Belgium, Germany and the United States, +but, speaking generally, the mineral development of India has +not yet begun. +</p> + +<h2><a name="V">V</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +TWO HINDU WEDDINGS +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There was a notable wedding at Baroda, the capital of one of the +Native States of the same name, while we were in India, and the +Gaikwar, as the ruling prince is called, expressed a desire for us +to be present. He has a becoming respect for and appreciation of +the influence and usefulness of the press, and it was a pleasure +to find so sensible a man among the native rulers. But, owing +to circumstances over which we had no control, we had to deny +ourselves the gratification of witnessing an event which few +foreigners have ever been allowed to see. It is a pity winter +is so short in the East, for there are so many countries one +cannot comfortably visit any other time of year. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Baroda is a non-tributary, independent native state of the first +rank, lying directly north of the province of Bombay, and its +ruler is called a "gaikwar," which signifies "cowherd," and the +present possessor of that title is one of the biggest men in the +empire, one of the richest and one of the greatest swells. He +is entitled to a salute of twenty-one guns, an honor conferred +upon only two other native princes, the Maharajah of Mysore and +the Nizam of Hyderabad. He is one of the ablest and one of the +most progressive of the native princes. His family trace their +descent back to the gods of mythology, but he is entirely human +himself, and a handsome man of middle age. When we saw him for +the first time he had half a dozen garlands of flowers hanging +around his neck, and three or four big bouquets in his hand, +which, according to the custom of the country, had been presented +to him by affectionate friends. It was he who presented to the City +of Bombay the beautiful statue of Queen Victoria which ornaments +the principal public square. It is one of the finest monuments to +be seen anywhere, and expressed his admiration of his empress, +who had shown particular interest in his career. The present +gaikwar was placed upon the throne in 1874 by Lord Northbrook, +when he was Viceroy of India, to succeed Malhar Rao, one of those +fantastic persons we read about in fairy stories but seldom find +in real life. For extravagant phantasies and barbaric splendors +he beat the world. He surpassed even those old spendthrifts of +the Roman Empire, Nero, Caligula and Tiberius. He spent a million +of rupees to celebrate the marriage ceremonies of a favorite +pigeon of his aviary, which was mated with one belonging to his +prime minister. But the most remarkable of his extravagant freaks +was a rug and two pillow covers of pearls, probably the greatest +marvel of all fabrics that were ever woven since the world was +made. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The carpet, ten feet six inches by six feet in size, is woven +entirely of strings of perfect pearls. A border eleven inches wide +and a center ornament are worked out in diamonds. The pillow covers +are three feet by two feet six inches in size. For three years +the jewel merchants of India, and they are many, were searching +for the material for this extraordinary affair. It cost several +millions of dollars and was intended as a present for a Mohammedan +lady of doubtful reputation, who had fascinated His Highness. +The British Resident at his capital intervened and prohibited +the gift on the ground that the State of Baroda could not afford +to indulge its ruler in such generosity, and that the scandal +would reflect upon the administration of the Indian Empire. The +carpet still belongs to the State and may be seen by visitors +upon a permit from one of the higher authorities. It is kept at +Baroda in a safe place with the rest of the state jewels, which +are the richest in India and probably the most costly belonging +to any government in the world. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The regalia of the gaikwar intended for state occasions, which +was worn by him at the wedding, is valued at $15,000,000. He +appeared in it at the Delhi durbar in 1903. It consists of a +collar and shoulder pieces made of 500 diamonds, some of them as +large as walnuts. The smallest would be considered a treasure by +any lady in the land. The border of this collar is made of three +bands of emeralds, of graduated sizes, the outer row consisting +of jewels nearly an inch square. From the collar, as a pendant, +hangs one of the largest and most famous diamonds in the world, +known as the "Star of the Deccan." Its history may be found in +any work on jewels. There is an aigrette to match the collar, +which His Highness wears in his turban. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This is only one of several sets to be found in the collection, +which altogether would make as brave a show as you can find at +Tiffany's. There are strings of pearls as large as marbles, and +a rope of pearls nearly four feet long braided of four strands. +Every pearl is said to be perfect and the size of a pea. The +rope is about an inch in diameter. Besides these are necklaces, +bracelets, brooches, rings and every conceivable ornament set +with jewels of every variety, which have been handed down from +generation to generation in this princely family for several +hundred years. One of the most interesting of the necklaces is +made of uncut rubies said to have been found in India. It has +been worn for more than a thousand years. These jewels are kept +in a treasure-room in the heart of the Nazar Bgah Palace, guarded +night and day by a battalion of soldiers. At night when the palace +is closed half a dozen huge cheetahs, savage beasts of the leopard +family, are released in the corridors, and, as you may imagine, they +are efficient watchmen. They would make a burglar very unhappy. +During the daytime they are allowed to wander about the palace +grounds, but are carefully muzzled. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Malhar Rao built a superb palace at a cost of $1,500,000 which +is considered the most perfect and beautiful example of the +Hindu-Saracenic order of architecture in existence, and its interior +finish and decoration are wonderful for their artistic beauty, +detail and variety. In front of the main entrance are two guns +of solid gold, weighing two hundred and eighty pounds each, and +the carriages, ammunition wagons and other accoutrements are made +of solid silver. The present Maharajah is said to have decided +to melt them down and have them coined into good money, with +which he desires to endow a technical school. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Behind the palace is a great walled arena in which previous rulers +of Baroda have had fights between elephants, tigers, lions and other +wild beasts for the amusement of their court and the population +generally. And they remind you of those we read about in the +Colosseum in the time of Nero and other Roman emperors. Baroda +has one of the finest zoological gardens in the world, but most of +the animals are native to India. It is surrounded by a botanical +garden, in which the late gaikwar, who was passionately fond of +plants and flowers, took a great deal of interest and spent a +great deal of money. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He built a temple at Dakar, a few miles from Baroda, which cost +an enormous sum of money, in honor of an ancient image of the Hindu +god, Krishna. It has been the resort of pilgrims for hundreds of +years, and is considered one of the most sacred idols of India. +In addition to the temple he constructed hospices for the shelter +and entertainment of pilgrims, who come nowadays in larger numbers +than ever, sometimes as many as a hundred thousand in a year, and +are all fed and cared for, furnished comfortable clothing and +medical attendance, bathed, healed and comforted at the expense +of His Highness, whose generosity and hospitality are not limited +to his own subjects. The throne of the idol Krishna in that temple +is a masterpiece of wood carving and bears $60,000 worth of gold +ornaments. Artists say that this temple, although entirely modern, +surpasses in the beauty of its detail, both in design and +workmanship, any of the old temples in India which people corne +thousands of miles to see. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Fate at last overtook the strange man who did all these things +and he came to grief. Indignant at Colonel Phayre, the British +Resident, for interfering with his wishes in regard to the pearl +carpet and some other little fancies, he attempted to poison +him in an imperial manner. He caused a lot of diamonds to be +ground up into powder and dropped into a cup of pomolo juice, +which he tried to induce his prudent adviser to drink. Ordinary +drug store poison was beneath him. When Malhar Rao committed a +crime he did it, as he did everything else, with royal splendor. +He had tried the same trick successfully upon his brother and +predecessor, Gaikwar Khande Rao, the man who built a beautiful +sailors' home at Bombay in 1870 to commemorate the visit of the +Duke of Edinburgh to India. Colonel Phayre suspected something +wrong, and declined to drink the toast His Highness offered. The +plot was soon afterward discovered and Viceroy Lord Northbrook, +who had tolerated his tyranny and fantastic performances as long +as possible, made an investigation and ordered him before a court +over which the chief justice of Bengal presided. The evidence +disclosed a most scandalous condition of affairs throughout the +entire province. Public offices were sold to the highest bidder; +demands for blackmail were enforced by torture; the wives and +daughters of his subjects were seized at his will and carried +to his palace whenever their beauty attracted his attention. The +condition of the people was desperate. In one district there was +open rebellion; discontent prevailed everywhere and the methods +of administration were infamous. It was shown that a previous +prime minister had been poisoned by direct orders of his chief +and that with his own hands the gaikwar had beaten one of his +own servants to death. Two Hindu judges of the court voted for +acquittal, but the remainder found him guilty. As the judgment +was not unanimous, Mahal Rao escaped the death penalty which he +deserved, and would have suffered but for the sympathy of his +judicial co-religionists. He was deposed and sent to prison, +and when an investigation of his finances was made, it was found +that during the last year of his reign he had wasted $3,500,000 +in gifts to his favorites, in gratifying his whims and fancies, +and for personal pleasures. All of which was wrung from the people +by taxation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After his conviction the widow of his brother and predecessor, +Khande Rao, whom he had poisoned, was allowed to exercise the +right of adoption, and her choice fell upon the present gaikwar, +then a lad of eleven, belonging to a collateral branch of the +family. He was provided with English tutors and afterward sent to +England to complete his education. He proved a brilliant scholar, +an industrious, earnest, practical man, and, as I have said, +Queen Victoria took a great personal interest in him. When he +came to the throne in 1874, he immediately applied himself with +energy and intelligence to the administration of the government +and surrounded himself with the best English advisers he could +get. Since his accession the condition of Baroda has entirely +changed and is in striking contrast with that which existed under +his predecessors. Many taxes have been abolished and more have +been reduced. Public works have been constructed everywhere; +schools, colleges, hospitals, asylums, markets, water works, +electric lighting plants, manufactories and sanitary improvements +have been introduced, competent courts have been established and +the province has become one of the most prosperous in India. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Baroda is called "The Garden of India." It occupies a fine plain +with rich alluvial soil, well watered, and almost entirely under +cultivation. It produces luxurious crops of grain, cotton, sugar, +tobacco and other staples, and the greater part of them are turned +from raw material into the finished product in factories scattered +through the state. We were advised that Baroda is the best place +in India to study the native arts and fabrics. The manufacturing +is chiefly controlled by Parsees, descendants of Persian fugitives +who fled to India and settled in Baroda more than a thousand years +ago, and in their temple at Navasari, a thriving manufacturing +town, the sacred fire has been burning uninterruptedly for five +hundred years. The City of Baroda has about 125,000 population. +The principal streets are lined with houses of teakwood, whose +fronts are elaborately carved. Their like cannot be seen elsewhere. +The maharajah keeps up the elephant stables of his predecessor +in which are bred and kept the finest animals in India. He also +breeds the best oxen in the empire. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Through the good offices of Mr. Fee, our consul at Bombay, we +received invitations to a Hindu wedding in high life. The groom +was a young widower, a merchant of wealth and important commercial +connections, a graduate of Elphinstone College, speaks English +fluently, and is a favorite with the foreign colony. The bride +was the daughter of a widow whose late husband was similarly +situated, a partner in a rich mercantile and commission house, +well known and respected. The family ate liberal in their views, +and the daughter has been educated at one of the American mission +schools, although they still adhere to Hinduism, their ancestral +religion. The groom's family are equally liberal, but, like many +prominent families of educated natives, do not have the moral +courage or the independence to renounce the faith in which they +were born. The inhabitants of India are the most conservative of +all peoples, and while an educated and progressive Hindu will +tell you freely that he does not believe in the gods and +superstitions of his fathers, and will denounce the Brahmins as +ignorant impostors, respect for public opinion will not permit +him to make an open declaration of his loss of faith. These two +families are examples, and when their sons and daughters are +married, or when they die, observe all the social and religious +customs of their race and preserve the family traditions unbroken. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The home of the bridegroom's family is an immense wooden house +in the native quarter, and when we reached it we had to pass +through a crowd of coolies that filled the street. The gate and +outside walls were gayly decorated with bunting and Japanese +lanterns, all ready to be lighted as soon as the sun went down. +A native orchestra was playing doleful music in one of the courts, +and a brass band of twenty pieces in military uniforms from the +barracks was waiting its turn. A hallway which leads to a large +drawing-room in the rear of the house was spread with scarlet +matting, the walls were hung with gay prints, and Japanese lanterns +were suspended from the ceiling at intervals of three or four +feet. The first room was filled with women and children eating +ices and sweetmeats. Men guests were not allowed to join them. +It was then half past four, and we were told that they had been +enjoying themselves in that innocent way since noon, and would +remain until late in the evening, for it was the only share they +could have in the wedding ceremonies. Hindu women and men cannot +mingle even on such occasions. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The men folks were in the large drawing-room, seated in rows +of chairs facing each other, with an aisle four or five feet +wide in the center. There were all sorts and conditions of men, +for the groom has a wide acquaintance and intimate friends among +Mohammedans, Jains, Parsees, Roman Catholics, Protestants and all +the many other religious in Bombay, and he invited them to his +marriage. Several foreign ladies were given seats in the place of +honor at the head of the room around a large gilt chair or throne +which stood in the center with a wreath of flowers carelessly +thrown over the back. There were two American missionaries and +their wives, a Jesuit priest and several English women. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="466"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig005.jpg" width="462" height="369" alt="Fig. 5"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + NAUTCH DANCERS +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Soon after we were seated there was a stir on the outside and +the groom appeared arrayed in the whitest of white linen robes, +a turban of white and gold silk, an exquisite cashmere shawl over +his shoulders, and a string of diamonds around his neck that +were worth a rajah's ransom. His hands were adorned with several +handsome rings, including one great emerald set in diamonds, so +big that you could see it across the room. Around his neck was +a garland of marigolds that fell to his waist, and he carried a +big bridal bouquet in his hand. As soon as he was seated a group +of nautch dancers, accompanied by a native orchestra, appeared +and performed one of their melancholy dances. The nautches may be +very wicked, but they certainly are not attractive in appearance. +Their dances are very much like an exercise in the Delsarte method +of elocution, being done with the arms more than with the legs, +and consisting of slow, graceful gesticulations such as a dreamy +poet might use when he soliloquizes to the stars. There is nothing +sensuous or suggestive in them. The movements are no more immodest +than knitting or quilting a comfortable--and are just about as +exciting. Each dance is supposed to be a poem expressed by gesture +and posturing--the poetry of motion--a sentimental pantomime, +and imaginative Hindus claim to be able to follow the story. +The orchestra, playing several queer looking fiddles, drums, +clarinets and other instruments, is employed to assist in the +interpretation, and produces the most dreary and monotonous sounds +without the slightest trace of theme or melody or rhythm. While I +don't want to be irreverent, they reminded me of a slang phrase +you hear in the country about "the tune the old cow died of." +Hindu music is worse than that you hear in China or Japan, because +it is so awfully solemn and slow. The Chinese and Japanese give +you a lot of noise if they lack harmony, but when a Hindu band +reaches a fortissimo passage it sounds exactly as if some child +were trying to play a bagpipe for the first time. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When I made an observation concerning the apparent innocence +and unattractiveness of the nautch girls to a missionary lady +who sat in the next seat, she looked horrified, and admonished +me in a whisper that, while there was nothing immodest in the +performance, they were depraved, deceitful and dissolute creatures, +arrayed in gorgeous raiment for the purpose of enticing men. And +it is certainly true that they were clad in the most dazzling +costumes of gold brocades and gauzy stuffs that floated like +clouds around their heads and shoulders, and their ears, noses, +arms, ankles, necks, fingers and toes were all loaded with jewelry. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +But their costumes were not half as gay as those worn by some +of the gentlemen guests. The Parsees wore black or white with +closely buttoned frocks and caps that look like fly-traps; the +Mohammedans wore flowing robes of white, and the Hindus silks +of the liveliest patterns and the most vivid colors. No ballroom +belle ever was enveloped by brighter tinted fabrics than the silks, +satins, brocades and velvets that were worn by the dignified +Hindu gentlemen at this wedding, and their jewels were such as +our richest women wear. A Hindu gentleman in full dress must +have a necklace, an aigrette of diamonds, a sunburst in front +of his turban, and two or three brooches upon his shoulders or +breast. And all this over bare legs and bare feet. They wear +slippers or sandals out of doors, but leave them in the hallway +or in the vestibule, and cross the threshold of the house in +naked feet. The bridegroom was bare legged, but had a pair of +embroidered slippers on his feet, because he was soon to take +a long walk and could not very well stop to put them on without +sacrificing appearances. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +They brought us trays of native refreshments, while the nautch girls +danced, handed each guest a nosegay and placed a pair of cocoanuts +at his feet, which had some deep significance--I could not quite +understand what. The groom did not appear to be enjoying himself. +He looked very unhappy. He evidently did not like to sit up in a +gilded chair so that everybody could stare and make remarks about +him, for that is exactly what his guests were doing, criticising +his bare legs, commenting upon his jewels and guessing how much +his diamond necklace cost. He was quite relieved when a couple +of gentlemen, who seemed to be acting as masters of ceremonies, +placed a second garland of flowers around his neck--which one +of them whispered to me had just come from the bride, the first +one having been the gift of his mother--and led him out of the +room like a lamb to the slaughter. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When we reached the street a procession of the guests of honor +was formed, while policemen drove the crowd back. First came +the military band, then the masters of ceremonies--each having +a cane in his hand, with which he motioned back the crowd that +lined the road on both sides six or eight tiers deep. Then the +groom marched all alone with a dejected look on his face, and +his hands clasped before him. After him came the foreign guests, +two and two, as long as they were able to keep the formation, +but after going a hundred feet the crowd became so great and +were so anxious to see all that was going on, that they broke +the line and mixed up with the wedding party, and even surrounded +the solitary groom like a bodyguard, so that we who were coming +directly after could scarcely see him. The noisy music of the +band had aroused the entire neighborhood, and in the march to +the residence of the bride's family we passed between thousands +of spectators. The groom was exceedingly nervous. Although night +had fallen and the temperature was quite cool, the perspiration +was rolling down his face in torrents, and he was relieved when we +entered a narrow passage which bad been cleared by the policemen. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The bride's house was decorated in the same manner as the groom's, +and upon a tray in the middle of a big room a small slow fire of +perfumed wood was burning. The groom was led to the side of it, +and stood there, while the guests were seated around him--hooded +Hindu women on one side and men and foreign ladies on the other. +Then his trainers made him sit down on the floor, cross-legged, +like a tailor. Hindus seldom use chairs, or even cushions. Very +soon four Brahmins, or priests, appeared from somewhere in the +background and seated themselves on the opposite side of the +fire. They wore no robes, and were only half dressed. Two were +naked to the waist, as well as barefooted and barelegged. One, +who had his head shaved like a prize fighter and seemed to be +the officiating clergyman, had on what looked like a red flannel +shirt. He brought his tools with him, and conducted a mysterious +ceremony, which I cannot describe, because it was too long and +complicated, and I could not make any notes. A gentleman who +had been requested to look after me attempted to explain what +it meant, as the ceremony proceeded, but his English was very +imperfect, and I lost a good deal of the show trying to clear up +his meaning. While the chief priest was going through a ritual +his deputies chanted mournful and monotonous strains in a minor +key--repetitions of the same lines over and over again. They +were praying for the favor of the gods, and their approval of +the marriage. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After the groom had endured it alone for a while the bride was +brought in by her brother-in-law, who, since the death of her +father, has been the head of the household. He was clad in a +white gauze undershirt, with short sleeves, and the ordinary +Hindu robe wrapped around his waist, and hanging down to his +bare knees. The bride had a big bunch of pearls hanging from +her upper lip, gold and silver rings and anklets upon her bare +feet, and her head was so concealed under wrappings of shawls +that she would have smothered in the hot room had not one of +her playmates gone up and removed the coverings from her face. +This playmate was a lively matron of 14 years, a fellow pupil +at the missionary school, who had been married at the age of +9, so she knew all about it, and had adopted foreign manners +and customs sufficiently to permit her to go about among the +guests, chatting with both gentlemen and ladies with perfect +self-possession. She told us all about the bride, who was her +dearest friend, received and passed around the presents as they +arrived, and took charge of the proceedings. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The bride sat down on the floor beside the husband that had been +chosen for her and timidly clasped his hand while the priests +continued chanting, stopping now and then to breathe or to anoint +the foreheads of the couple, or to throw something on the fire. There +were bowls of several kinds of food, each having its significance, +and several kinds of plants and flowers, and incense, which was +thrown into the flames. At one time the chief priest arose from +the floor, stretched his legs and read a long passage from a +book, which my escort said was the sacred writing in Sanskrit +laying down rules and regulations for the government of Hindu +wives. But the bride and groom paid very little attention to +the priests or to the ceremony. After the first embarrassment +was over they chatted familiarly with their friends, both foreign +and native, who came and squatted down beside them. The bride's +mother came quietly into the circle after a while and sat down +beside her son-in-law--a slight woman, whose face was entirely +concealed. When the performance had been going on for about an +hour four more priests appeared and took seats in the background. +When I asked my guardian their object, he replied, sarcastically, +that it was money, that they were present as witnesses, and each +of them would expect a big fee as well as a good supper. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Poor people get married with one priest," he added, "but rich +people have to have many. It costs a lot of money to get married." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Every now and then parcels were brought in by servants, and handed +to the bride, who opened them with the same eagerness that American +girls show about their wedding presents, but before she had been +given half a chance to examine them they were snatched away from +her and passed around. There were enough jewels to set the groom +up in business, for all the relatives on both sides are rich, +several beautifully embroidered shawls, a copy of Tennyson's +poems, a full set of Ruskin's works, a flexible covered Bible +from the bride's school teacher, and other gifts too numerous +to mention. The ceremony soon became tedious and the crowded +room was hot and stuffy. It was an ordeal for us to stay as long +as we did, and we endured it for a couple of hours, but it was +ten times worse for the bride and groom, for they had to sit on +the floor over the fire, and couldn't even stretch their legs. +They told us that it would take four hours more to finish the +ritual. So we asked our hosts to excuse us, offered our sympathy +and congratulations to the happy couple, who laughed and joked +with us in English, while the priests continued to sing and pray. +</p> + +<h2><a name="VI">VI</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The most interesting of all the many religious sects in India are +the Parsees, the residue of one of the world's greatest creeds, +descendants of the disciples of Zoroaster, and the Persian fire +worshipers, who sought refuge in India from the persecution of +the all-conquering Mohammedans about the seventh century. They +have not increased and probably have diminished in numbers, but +have retained the faith of their fathers undefiled, which has +been described as "the most sublime expression of religious purity +and thought except the teachings of Christ." It is a curious +fact, however, that although the Parsees are commercially the +most enterprising people in India, and the most highly educated, +they have never attempted to propagate or even to make known +their faith to the world. It remained for Anquetil Duperron, a +young Frenchman, a Persian scholar, to translate the Zend Avesta, +which contains the teachings of Zoroaster, and may be called +the Parsee bible. And even now the highest authority in Parsee +theology and literature is Professor Jackson, who holds the chair +of oriental languages in Columbia University, New York. At this +writing Professor Jackson is in Persia engaged upon investigations +of direct interest to the Parsees, who have the highest regard +and affection for him, and perfect confidence in the accuracy +of his treatment of their theology in which they permit him to +instruct them. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Parsees have undoubtedly made more stir in the world in +proportion to their population than any other race. They are +a small community, and number only 94,000 altogether, of whom +76,000 reside in Bombay. They are almost without exception +industrious and prosperous, nearly all being engaged in trade and +manufacturing, and to them the city of Bombay owes the greatest +part of its wealth and commercial influence. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +While the Parsees teach pure and lofty morality, and are famous +for their integrity, benevolence, good thoughts, good works and +good deeds, their method of disposing of their dead is revolting. +For, stripped of every thread of clothing, the bodies of their +nearest and dearest are exposed to dozens of hungry vultures, +which quickly tear the flesh from the bones. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In a beautiful grove upon the top of a hill overlooking the city +of Bombay and the sea, surrounded by a high, ugly wall, are the +so-called Towers of Silence, upon which these hideous birds can +always be seen, waiting for their feast. They roost upon palm +trees in the neighborhood, and, often in their flight, drop pieces +of human flesh from their beaks or their talons, which lie rotting +in the fields below. An English lady driving past the Towers of +Silence was naturally horrified when the finger of a dead man +was dropped into her carriage by one of those awful birds; and +an army officer told me, that he once picked up by the roadside +the forearm and hand of a woman which had been torn from a body +only a few hours dead and had evidently fallen during a fight +between the birds. The reservoir which stores the water supply +of Bombay is situated upon the same hill, not more than half a +mile distant, and for obvious reasons had been covered with a +roof. Some years ago the municipal authorities, having had their +attention called to possible pollution of the water, notified +the Parsees that the Towers of Silence would have to be removed +to a distance from the city, but the rich members of that faith +preferred to pay the expense of roofing over the reservoir to +abandoning what to them is not only sacred but precious ground. +The human mind can adjust itself to almost any conditions and +associations, and a cultured Parsee will endeavor to convince +you by clever arguments that their method is not only humane and +natural, but the best sanitary method ever devised of disposing +of the dead. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Funeral ceremonies are held at the residence of the dead; prayers +are offered and eulogies are pronounced. Then a procession is +formed and the hearse is preceded by priests and followed by +the male members of the family and by friends. The body is not +placed in a coffin, but is covered with rich shawls and vestments. +When the gateway of the outer temple is reached, priests who +are permanently attached to the Towers of Silence and reside +within the inclosure, meet the procession and take charge of +the body, which is first carried to a temple, where prayers are +offered, and a sacred fire, kept continually burning there, is +replenished. While the friends and mourners are engaged in worship, +Nasr Salars, as the attendants are called, take the bier to the +ante-room of one of the towers. There are five, of circular shape, +with walls forty feet high, perfectly plain, and whitewashed. +The largest is 276 feet in circumference and cost $150,000. The +entrance is about fifteen or twenty feet from the ground and is +reached by a flight of steps. The inside plan of the building +resembles a circular gridiron gradually depressed toward the +center, at which there is a pit, five feet in diameter. From +this pit cement walks radiate like the spokes of a wheel, and +between them are three series of compartments extending around +the entire tower. Those nearest the center are about four feet +long, two feet wide and six inches deep. The next series are a +little larger, and the third, larger still, and they are intended +respectively for men, women and children. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When the bearers have brought the body into the anteroom of the +tower they strip it entirely of its clothing. Valuable coverings +are carefully laid away and sent to the chamber of purification, +where they are thoroughly fumigated, and afterward returned to +the friends. The cotton wrappings are burned. The body is laid +in one of the compartments entirely naked, and in half an hour +the flesh is completely stripped from the bones by voracious +birds that have been eagerly watching the proceedings from the +tops of the tall palms that overlook the cemetery. There are +about two hundred vultures around the place; most of them are +old birds and are thoroughly educated. They know exactly what +to expect, and behave with greatest decorum. They never enter +the tower until the bearers have left it, and usually are as +deliberate and solemn in their movements as a lot of undertakers. +But sometimes, when they are particularly hungry, their greed +gets the better of their dignity and they quarrel and fight over +their prey. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After the bones are stripped they are allowed to lie in the sun +and bleach and decay until the compartment they occupy is needed +for another body, when the Nasr Salars enter with gloves and +tongs and cast them into the central pit, where they finally +crumble into dust. The floor of the tower is so arranged that all +the rain that falls upon it passes into the pit, and the moisture +promotes decomposition. The bottom of the pit is perforated and +the water impregnated with the dust from the bones is filtered +through charcoal and becomes thoroughly disinfected before it +is allowed to pass through a sewer into the bay. The pits are +the receptacles of the dust of generations, and I am told that +so much of it is drained off by the rainfall, as described, that +they have never been filled. The carriers are not allowed to +leave the grounds, and when a man engages in that occupation +he must retire forever from the world, as much as if he were +a Trappist monk. Nor can he communicate with anyone except the +priests who have charge of the temple. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The grounds are beautifully laid out. No money or labor has been +spared to make them attractive, and comfortable benches have +been placed along the walks where relatives and friends may sit +and converse or meditate after the ceremonies are concluded. +The Parsees are firm believers in the resurrection, and they +expect their mutilated bodies to rise again glorified and +incorruptible. The theory upon which their peculiar custom is +based is veneration for the elements. Fire is the chief object +of their worship, and they cannot allow it to be polluted by +burning the dead; water is almost as sacred, and the soil of +the earth is the source of their food, their strength and almost +everything that is beautiful. Furthermore, they believe in the +equality of all creatures before God, and hence the dust of the +rich and the poor mingles in the pit. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Parsee temples are very plain and the form of worship is extremely +simple. None but members of the faith are admitted. The interior +of the temple is almost empty, except for a reading desk occupied +by the priest. The walls are without the slightest decoration and +are usually whitewashed. The sacred fire, the emblem of spiritual +life, which is never extinguished, is kept in a small recess +in a golden receptacle, and is attended by priests without +interruption. They relieve each other every two hours, but the +fire is never left alone. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Mohammedans have many mosques in Bombay, but none of them +is of particular interest. The Hindu or Brahmin temples are also +commonplace, with two exceptions. One of them, known as the Monkey +Temple, is covered with carved images of monkeys and other animals. +There are said to be 300 of them, measuring from six inches to +two feet in height. The other is the "Walkeshwar," dedicated to +the "Sand Lord" occupying a point upon the shore of the bay not +far from the water. It has been a holy place for many centuries. +The legend says that not long after the creation of the world +Rama, one of the most powerful of the gods, while on his way +to Ceylon to recover Stia, his bride, who had been kidnaped, +halted and camped there for a night and went through various +experiences which make a long and tedious story, but of profound +interest to Hindu theologians and students of mythology. The +temple is about 150 years old, but does not compare with those +in other cities of India. It is surrounded by various buildings +for the residence of the Brahmins, lodging places for pilgrims +and devotees, which are considered excellent examples of Hindu +architecture. Several wealthy families have cottages on the grounds +which they occupy for a few days each year on festival occasions +or as retreats. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="622"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig006.jpg" width="618" height="371" alt="Fig. 6"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + BODY READY FOR THE FUNERAL PYRE--BOMBAY BURNING GHATS +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Upon the land side of the boulevard which skirts the shore of +the bay, not far from the university of Bombay, is the burning +ghat of the Hindus, where the bodies of their dead are cremated +in the open air and in a remarkably rude and indifferent manner. +The proceedings may be witnessed by any person who takes the +trouble to visit the place and has the patience to wait for the +arrival of a body. It is just as public as a burial in any cemetery +in the United States. Bodies are kept only a few hours after +death. Those who die at night are burned the first thing in the +morning, so that curious people are usually gratified if they +visit the place early. Immediately after a poor Hindu sufferer +breathes his last the family retire and professional undertakers +are brought in. The latter bathe the body carefully, dress it +in plain white cotton cloth, wrap it in a sheet, with the head +carefully concealed, place it upon a rude bier made of two bamboo +poles and cross pieces, with a net work of ropes between, and +four men, with the ends of the poles on their shoulders, start +for the burning ghat at a dog trot, singing a mournful song. +Sometimes they are followed by the sons or the brothers of the +deceased, who remain through the burning to see that it is properly +done, but more often that duty is entrusted to an employe or a +servant or some humble friend of the family in whom they have +confidence. Arriving at the burning ghat, negotiations are opened +with the superintendent or manager, for they are usually private +enterprises or belong to corporations and are conducted very +much like our cemeteries. The cheapest sort of fire that can be +provided costs two rupees, which is sixty-six cents in American +money, and prices range from that amount upwards according to the +caste and the wealth of the family. When a rich man's body is +burned sandal-wood and other scented fuel is used and sometimes +the fire is very expensive. After an agreement is reached coolies +employed on the place make a pile of wood, one layer pointing +one way and the next crossed at right angles, a hole left in +the center being filled with kindling and quick-burning reeds. +The body is lifted from the bier and placed upon it, then more +wood is piled on and the kindling is lit with a torch. If there +is plenty of dry fuel the corpse is reduced to ashes in about +two hours. Usually the ashes are claimed by friends, who take +them to the nearest temple and after prayers and other ceremonies +cast them into the waters of the bay. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The death rate in Bombay is very large. The bubonic plague prevails +there with a frightful mortality. Hence cremation is safer than +burial. In the province of Bombay the total deaths from all diseases +average about 600,000 a year, and you can calculate what an enormous +area would be required for cemeteries. In 1900, on account of +the famine, the deaths ran up to 1,318,783, and in 1902 they +were more than 800,000. Of these 128,259 were from the plague, +13,600 from cholera, 5,340 from smallpox, and 2,212 from other +contagious diseases. Hence the burning ghats were very useful, +for at least 80 percent of the dead were Brahmins and their bodies +were disposed of in that way. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is difficult to give an accurate idea of Brahminism in a brief +manner, but theoretically it is based upon the principles set +forth in a series of sacred books known as the Vedas, written +about 4,000 years ago. Its gods were originally physical forces +and phenomena--nature worship,--which was once common to all +men, the sun, fire, water, light, wind, the procreative and +productive energies and the mystery of sex and birth, which impressed +with wonder and awe the mind of primitive humanity. As these +deities became more and more vague and indefinite in the popular +mind, and the simple, instinctive appeal of the human soul to +a Power it could not see or comprehend was gradually debased +into what is now known as Brahminism, and the most repugnant, +revolting, cruel, obscene and vicious rites ever practiced by +savages or barbarians. There is nothing in the Vedas to justify +the cruelties of the Hindu gods and the practices of the priests. +They do not authorize animal worship, caste, child-marriage, +the burning of widows or perpetual widowhood, but the Brahmins +have built up a stupendous system of superstition, of which they +alone pretend to know the mystic meaning, and their supremacy is +established. Thus the nature worship of the Vedas has disappeared +and has given place to terrorism, demon worship, obscenity, and +idolatry. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The three great gods of the Hindus are Siva, Vishnu and Brahma, +with innumerable minor deities, some 30,000,000 altogether, which +have been created during emergencies from time to time by worshipers +of vivid imaginations. When we speak of Hinduism or Brahminism as +a religion, however, it is only a conventional use of a term, +because it is not a religion in the sense that we are accustomed +to apply that word. In all other creeds there is an element of +ethics; morality, purity, justice and faith in men, but none of +these qualities is taught by the Brahmins. With them the fear +of unseen powers and the desire to obtain their favor is the +only rule of life and the only maxim taught to the people. And +it is the foundation upon which the influence and power of the +Brahmins depend. The world and all its inhabitants are at the +mercy of cruel, fickle and unjust gods; the gods are under the +influence of the Brahmins; hence the Brahmins are holy men and +must be treated accordingly. No Hindu will offend a Brahmin under +any circumstances, lest his curse may call down all forms of +misfortune. A Hindu proverb says: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"What is in the Brahmin's books, that is in the Brahmin's heart. +Neither you nor I knew there was so much evil in the world." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The power of the priests or Brahmins over the Hindus is one of +the phenomena of India. I do not know where you can get a better +idea of their influence and of the reverence that is paid to +them than in "Kim," Rudyard Kipling's story of an Irish boy who +was a disciple of an old Thibetan lama or Buddhist monk. That +story is appreciated much more keenly by people who have lived +or traveled in India, because it appeals to them. There is a +familiar picture on every page, and it is particularly valuable +as illustrating the relations between the Brahmins and the people. +"These priests are invested," said one of the ablest writers on +Indian affairs, "with a reverence which no extreme of abject +poverty, no infamy of private conduct can impair, and which is +beyond anything that a mind not immediately conversant with the +fact can conceive. They are invariably addressed with titles of +divinity, and are paid the highest earthly honors. The oldest +and highest members of other castes implore the blessing of the +youngest and poorest of theirs; they are the chosen recipients +of all charities, and are allowed a license in their private +relations which would be resented as a deadly injury in any but +themselves." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This reverence is largely due to superstitions which the Brahmins +do their best to cultivate and encourage. There are 30,000,000 +gods in the Hindu pantheon, and each attends to the affairs of his +own particular jurisdiction. Most of them are wicked, cruel and +unkind, and delight in bringing misfortunes upon their devotees, +which can only be averted by the intercession of a priest. Gods and +demons haunt every hill and grove and gorge and dark corner. Their +names are usually unknown, but they go on multiplying as events +or incidents occur to which the priests can give a supernatural +interpretation. These gods are extremely sensitive to disrespect +or neglect, and unless they are constantly propitiated they will +bring all sorts of disasters. The Brahmin is the only man who +knows how to make them good-natured. He can handle them exactly +as he likes, and they will obey his will. Hence the superstitious +peasants yield everything, their money, their virtue, their lives, +as compensation for the intercession of the priests in their +behalf. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The census of 1901 returned 2,728,812 priests, which is an average +of one for every seventy-two members of the Hindu faith, and +it is believed that, altogether, there are more than 9,000,000 +persons including monks, nuns, ascetics, fakirs, sorcerers, chelas, +and mendicants or various kinds and attendants employed about +the temples who are dependent upon the public for support. A +large part of the income of the pious Hindu is devoted to the +support of priests and the feeding of pilgrims. Wherever you +see it, wherever you meet it, and especially when you come in +contact with it as a sightseer, Brahminism excites nothing but +pity, indignation and abhorrence. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Buddhism is very different, although Buddha lived and died a +Hindu, and the members of that sect still claim that he was the +greatest, the wisest and the best of all Brahmins. No two religions +are so contradictory and incompatible as that taught by Buddha and +the modern teachings of the Brahmins. The underlying principles of +Buddha's faith are love, charity, self-sacrifice, unselfishness, +universal brotherhood and spiritual and physical purity. He believed +in none of the present practices of the Hindu priests. There is +a striking resemblance between the teachings of Buddha and the +teachings of Christ. Passages in the New Testament, reporting +the words of the Savior, seem like plagiarisms from the maxims of +Buddha, and, indeed, Buddhist scholars tell of a myth concerning +a young Jew who about five centuries after Buddha, and twenty +centuries ago, came from Syria with a caravan and spent several +years under instruction in a Buddhist monastery in Thibet. Thus +they account for the silence of the scriptures concerning the +doings of Christ between the ages of 12 and 20, and for the +similarity between his sermons and those preached by the founder +of their religion. Buddha taught that good actions bring happiness +and bad actions misery; that selfishness is the cause of sin, +sorrow and suffering, and that the abolition of self, sacrifices +for others and the suppression of passions and desires is the +only true plan of salvation. He died 543 years before Jesus was +born, and within the next two centuries his teachings were accepted +by two-thirds of the people of India, but by the tenth century +of our era they had been forgotten, and a great transformation +had taken place among the Indo-Ayran races, who began to worship +demons instead of angels and teach fear instead of hope, until +now there are practically no Buddhists in India with the exception +of the Burmese, who are almost unanimous in the confession of +that faith. It is a singular phenomenon that Buddhism should +so disappear from the land of its birth, although 450,000,000 +of the human race still turn to its founder with pure affection +as the wisest of teachers and the noblest of ideals. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The teachings of Buddha survive in a sect known as the Jains, +founded by Jina, or Mahavira, a Buddhist priest, about a thousand +years ago, as a protest against the cruel encroachments of the +Hindus. Jina was a Perfect One, who subdued all worldly desires; +who lived an unselfish life, practiced the golden rule, harmed +no living thing, and attained the highest aim of the soul, right +knowledge, right conduct, temperance, sobriety, chastity and a +Holy Calm. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are now 1,334,148 Jains in India, and among them are the +wealthiest, most highly cultured and most charitable of all people. +They carry their love of life to extremes. A true believer will +not harm an insect, not even a mosquito or a flea. All Hindus +are kind to animals, except when they ill treat them through +ignorance, as is often the case. The Brahmins represent that +murder, robbery, deception and every other form of crime and +vice may be committed in the worship of their gods. They teach +that the gods themselves are guilty of the most hideous depravity, +and that the sacrifice of wives, children, brothers, sisters +and friends to convenience or expediency for selfish ends is +justifiable. Indeed, the British government has been compelled to +interfere and prohibit the sacrifice of human life to propitiate +the Hindu gods. It has suppressed the thugs, who, as you have +read, formerly went about the country killing people in order +to acquire holiness; it has prohibited the awful processions +of the car of Juggernaut, before which hysterical fanatics used +to throw their own bodies, and the bodies of their children, to +be crushed under the iron wheels, in the hope of pleasing some +monster among their deities. The suppression of infanticide, +which is still encouraged by the Brahmins, is now receiving the +vigilant attention of the authorities. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Every effort has been made during the last fifty years to prevent +the awful cruelties to human beings that formerly were common in +Hindu worship, but no police intervention has ever been necessary +to protect dumb animals; nobody was ever punished for cruelty to +them; on the contrary, animal worship is one of the most general +of practices among the Hindus, and many beasts and reptiles are +sacred. But the Jains go still further and establish hospitals +for aged and infirm animals. You can see them in Bombay, in Delhi, +Lucknow, Calcutta and other places where the Jains are strong. +Behind their walls may be found hundreds of decrepit horses, +diseased cows and bullocks, many dogs and cats and every kind of +sick, lame and infirm beast. Absurd stories are told strangers +concerning the extremes to which this benevolence is carried, +and some of them have actually appeared in published narratives +of travel in India. One popular story is that when a flea lights +upon the body of a Jain he captures it carefully, puts it in +a receptacle and sends it to an asylum where fat coolies are +hired to sit around all day and night and allow fleas, mosquitoes +and other insects to feed upon them. But although untrue, these +ridiculous stories are valuable as illustrating the principles +in which the Jains believe. They are strict vegetarians. The +true believers will not kill an animal or a fish or a bird, or +anything that breathes, for any purpose, and everybody can see +that they strictly practice what they preach. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +His most gracious majesty, King of Great Britain and Ireland and +Emperor of India, has more Mohammedan subjects than the Great +Turk or any other ruler. They numbered 62,458,061 at the last +census. They are a clean, manly, honorable and industrious portion +of the population. Commercially they do not rank as high as the +Parsees, who number only 94,190, or the Jains, who number 1,334,148, +but are vastly superior to the Hindus from any point of view. +They are not so ignorant nor so filthy nor so superstitious nor +so submissive to their priests. They are self-respecting and +independent, and while the believers in no other creed are more +scrupulous in the performance of their religious duties, they +are not in any measure under the control or the dictation of +their mullahs. They have their own schools, called kuttebs, they +take care of their own poor very largely; drunkenness and gambling +are very rare among them. They are hospitable, kind to animals +and generous. The difference between the Mohammedans and the +Hindus may be seen in the most forcible manner in their temples. +It is an old saying that while one god created all men, each +man creates his own god, and that is strikingly true among the +ignorant, superstitious people of the East. The Hindu crouches in +a shadow to escape the attention of his god, while the Mohammedan +publicly prays to his five times a day in the nearest mosque, +and if no mosque is near he kneels where he stands, and takes +full satisfaction in a religion of hope instead of fear. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +From the political standpoint the Mohammedans are a very important +factor in the situation in India. They are more independent than the +Hindus; they occupy a more influential position than their numbers +entitle them to; they have most profound pride in their religion +and race, and in their social and intellectual superiority, and +the more highly they are educated the more manly, self-reliant and +independent they become, and the feeling between the Mohammedans +and the Hindus is bitterly hostile. So much so as to make them +a bulwark of the government. Several authorities told me that +Mohammedans make the best officials in the service and can be +trusted farther than any other class, but, speaking generally, +Islam has been corrupted and debased in India just as it has +been everywhere else. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One of the results of this corruption is the sect known as Sikhs, +which numbers about 2,195,268. It thrives best in the northern +part of India, and furnishes the most reliable policemen and +the best soldiers for the native army. The Sikhs retain much +that is good among the teachings of Mohammed, but have a bible +of their own, called the Abi-granth, made up of the sermons of +Nanak, the founder of the sect, who died in the year 1530. It +is full of excellent moral precepts; it teaches the brotherhood +of man, the equality of the sexes; it rejects caste, and embraces +all of the good points in Buddhism, with a pantheism that is +very confusing. It would seem that the Sikhs worship all gods +who are good to men, and reject the demonology of the Hindus. +They believe in one Supreme Being, with attributes similar to the +Allah of the Mohammedans, and recognize Mohammed as his prophet +and exponent of his will. They have also adopted several Hindu +deities in a sort of indirect way, although the Sikhs strictly +prohibit idolatry. Their worship is pure and simple. Their temples +are houses of prayer, where they, meet, sing hymns, repeat a +ritual and receive pieces of "karah prasad," a consecrated pastry, +which means "the effectual offering." They are tolerant, and +not only admit strangers to their worship, but invite them to +participate in their communion. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The morning we arrived in Agra we swallowed a hasty breakfast +and hurried off to the great mosque to witness the ceremonies +of what might be termed the Mohammedan Easter, although the +anniversary has an entirely different significance. The month +of Ramadan is spent by the faithful followers of the Prophet +in a long fast, and the night before it is broken, called +Lailatul-Kadr, or "night of power," is celebrated in rejoicing, +because it is the night on which the Koran is supposed to have +come down from heaven. In the morning following, which is as +much a day of rejoicing as our Christmas, the men of Islam gather +at the mosques and engage in a service of thanksgiving to Allah +for the blessings they and their families have enjoyed during +the year past, and pray for a repetition of the same mercies for +the year to come. This festival is called the "Idu I-Fitr," and +we were fortunate enough to witness one of the most impressive +spectacles I have ever seen. Women never appear, but the entire +male population, with their children assembled at the great park +which surrounds the mosque, clad in festival attire, each bringing +a prayer rug to spread upon the ground. About ten thousand persons +of all ages and all classes came on foot and in all sorts of +vehicles, with joyous voices and congratulations to each other +that seemed hearty enough to include the whole world. Taking +advantage of their good humor and the thankful spirits hundreds +of beggars were squatting along the roadside and appealing to +every passerby in pitiful tones. And nearly everyone responded. +Some people brought bags of rice, beans and wheat; others brought +cakes and bread, but the greater number invested in little sea +shells which are used in the interior of India as currency, and +one hundred of them are worth a penny. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Rich people filled their pockets with these shells and scattered +them by handsful among the crowd, and the shrieking beggars scrambled +for them on the ground. There were long lines of food peddlers, +with portable stoves, and tables upon which were spread morsels +which the natives of India considered delicacies, but they were +not very tempting to us. The food peddlers drove a profitable +trade because almost every person present had been fasting for +a lunar month and had a sharp appetite to satisfy. After the +services the rich and the poor ate together, masters and servants, +because Mohammed knew no caste, and it was an interesting sight +to see the democratic spirit of the worshipers, for the rich +and the poor, the master and the servant, knelt down side by +side upon the same rug or strip of matting and bowed their heads +to the ground in homage of the God that made them all. Families +came together in carriages, bullock carts, on the backs of camels, +horses, mules, donkeys, all the male members of the household +from the baby to the grandfather, and were attended by all men +servants of the family or the farm. They washed together at the +basins where the fountains were spouting more joyously than usual, +and then moved forward, laughing and chattering, toward the great +mosque, selected places which seemed most convenient, spread +their rugs, matting, blankets and sheets upon the ground, sat in +long rows facing Mecca, and gossiped cheerfully together until +the great high priest, surrounded by mullahs or lower priests, +appeared in front of the Midrab, the place in every mosque from +which the Koran is read, and shouted for attention. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Ram Zon, one of our "bearers," who is a Mohammedan, disappeared +without permission or notice early in the morning, and did not +report for duty that day. His piety was greater than his sense of +obligation to his employers, and I saw him in the crowd earnestly +going through the violent exercise which attends the worship of +Islam. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="625"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig007.jpg" width="621" height="375" alt="Fig. 7"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + MOHAMMEDANS AT PRAYER +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +When the hour for commencing the ceremony drew near the entire +courtyard, several acres in extent, was covered with worshipers +arranged in rows about eight feet apart from north to south, +all facing the west, with their eyes toward Mecca in expectant +attitudes. The sheikh has a powerful voice, and by long experience +has acquired the faculty of throwing it a long distance, and, +as he intoned the service, mullahs were stationed at different +points to repeat his words so that everybody could hear. The +first sound was a long wailing cry like the call of the muezzeins +from the minarets at the hour of prayer. It was for the purpose +of concentrating the attention of the vast audience which arose +to its feet and stood motionless with hands clasped across their +breasts. Then, as the reading proceeded, the great crowd, in perfect +unison, as if it had practiced daily for months, performed the +same motions one after the other. It was a remarkable exhibition +of precision. No army of well drilled troops could have done +better. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The following were the motions, each in response to the intonation +of a prayer by the high priest: +</p> + +<p class="indent">1. Both hands to forehead, palms and fingers +together, in the attitude of prayer.</p> + +<p class="indent">2. Bend body forward at right angles, three times +in succession, keeping hands in the same position.</p> + +<p class="indent">3. Return to upright position, with hands lowered +to the breast.</p> + +<p class="indent">4. Bow head three times to the ground.</p> + +<p class="indent">5. Rise and stand motionless with hands at sides.</p> + +<p class="indent">6. Hands lifted to ears and returned to side, +motions three times repeated.</p> + +<p class="indent">7. Body at right angles again, with hands clasped at +forehead.</p> + +<p class="indent">8. Body erect, kneel and bow forward, touching the +forehead threetimes to the earth.</p> + +<p class="indent">9. Fall back upon knees and with folded hands.</p> + +<p class="indent">10. Rise, stand at attention with clasped hands +until the cry of the mullah announced that the ceremony was over; +whereupon everybody turned to embrace his family and friends +in a most affectionate manner, again and again. Some were crying, +some were laughing, and all seemed to be in a state of suppressed +excitement. Their emotions had been deeply stirred, and long fasting +is apt to produce hysteria. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The boom of a cannon in a neighboring fortress, was a signal +that the obligations of Ramadan had been fulfilled, that the +fast was broken, and thousands of people rushed pell-mell to +the eating stands to gorge themselves with sweetmeats and other +food. The more dignified and aristocratic portion of the crowd +calmly sat down again upon their rugs and mats and watched their +servants unload baskets of provisions upon tablecloths, napkins +and trays which they spread upon the ground. Not less than seven +or eight thousand persons indulged in this picnic, but there was +no wine or beer; nothing stronger than tea or coffee, because +the Koran forbids it. And after their feast at the mosque the +rest of the day was spent in rejoicing. Gay banners of all colors +were displayed from the windows of Mohammedan houses, festoons +of flowers were hung over the doors, and from the windowsills; +boys were seen rushing through the streets loaded with bouquets +sent from friend to friend with compliments and congratulations; +firecrackers were exploded in the gardens and parks, and during +the evening displays of fireworks were made to entertain the +Moslem population, who were assembled in each other's houses +or at their favorite cafes, or were promenading the streets, +singing and shouting and behaving very much as our people do on +the Fourth of July. +</p> + +<h2><a name="VII">VII</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +HOW INDIA IS GOVERNED +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The present form of government in India was adopted in 1858, +after the terrible Sepoy mutiny had demonstrated the inability of +the East India Company to control affairs. By an act of parliament +all territory, revenues, tributes and property of that great +corporation, which had a monopoly of the Indian trade, and, next +to the Hanseatic League of Germany, was the greatest Trust ever +formed, were vested in the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, +who in 1876 assumed the additional title of Empress of India. The +title and authority were inherited by Edward VII. He governs through +the Secretary of State for India, who is a Cabinet minister, and +a Council of not less than ten members, nine of whom must have +the practical knowledge and experience gained by a residence of at +least ten years in India and not more than ten years previous to +the date of their appointment. This Council is more of an advisory +than an executive body. It has no initiative or authority, but +is expected to confer with and review the acts of the Secretary +of State for India, who can make no grants or appropriations +from the revenues or decide any questions of importance without +the concurrence of a majority of its members. The Council meets +every week in London, receives reports and communications and +acts upon them. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The supreme authority in India is the Viceroy, the direct personal +representative of the emperor in all his relations with his +300,000,000 Indian subjects; but, as a matter of convenience, +he makes his reports to and receives his instructions from the +Secretary of State for India, who represents that part of the +empire both in the ministry and in parliament. The present viceroy +is the Right Honorable George Nathaniel Curzon, who was raised +to the peerage in October, 1898, as Baron Curzon of Kedleston. +He is the eldest son of Lord Scarsdale, was born Jan. 11, 1859, +was educated at Eton and Oxford; selected journalism as his +profession; became correspondent of the London Times in China, +India and Persia; was elected to parliament from Lancashire in +1886, and served until 1898; was private secretary to the Marquis +of Salisbury, and under-secretary of state for India in 1891-92; +under-secretary of state for foreign affairs in 1895-98; married +Mary Leiter, daughter of Mr. L. Z. Leiter of Washington and Chicago, +in 1895, and was appointed viceroy of India to succeed the Earl +of Elgin, September, 1898. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There have been twenty-five viceroys or governors general of +India since Warren Hastings in 1774, and the list includes some +of the ablest statesmen in English history, but Lord Curzon is +the only man in the list who has ever been his own successor. +When his first term expired in September, 1903, he was immediately +reappointed for another five years. Whether he continues through +the second term depends upon certain contingencies, but it is +entirely probable that he will remain, because he has undertaken +certain reforms and enterprises that he desires to complete. His +administration has been not only a conspicuous but a remarkable +success. Although he has been severely criticised for his +administrative policy and many of his official acts have been +opposed and condemned, the sources from which the criticisms +have come often corroborate the wisdom and confirm the success +of the acts complained of. Lord Cornwallis was twice Governor +General of India, but there was a long interval between his terms, +the first beginning in 1786 and the second in 1805. He is the only +man except Lord Curzon who has been twice honored by appointment +to the highest office and the greatest responsibility under the +British crown except that of the prime minister. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Viceroy is assisted in the administration of the government +by a cabinet or council of five members, selected by himself, +subject to the approval of the king. Each member is assigned to +the supervision of one of the executive departments,--finance, +military, public works, revenue, agriculture and legislative. +The viceroy himself takes personal charge of foreign affairs. +The commander in chief of the army in India, at present Lord +Kitchener, is ex-officio member of the council. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +For legislative purposes the council is expanded by the addition of +ten members, appointed by the Viceroy from among the most competent +British and native residents of India upon the recommendation +of provincial, industrial and commercial bodies. The remaining +members are the heads of the various executive departments of the +government. By these men, who serve for a period of five years, +and whose proceedings are open to the public and are reported and +printed verbatim, like the proceedings of Congress, the laws +governing India are made, subject to the approval of the Viceroy, +who retains the right of veto, and in turn is responsible to +the British parliament and to the king. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Thus it will be seen that the system of government in India is +simple and liberal. The various industries and financial interests, +and all of the great provinces which make up the empire, have a +voice in framing the laws that apply to the people at large; +but for convenience the territory is divided into nine great +provinces, as follows: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Madras, with a governor whose salary is $40,000 a year. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Bombay, whose governor receives the same salary. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Bengal, with a lieutenant governor; salary, $33,000. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +United Provinces, lieutenant governor; salary, $33,000. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Punjab, lieutenant governor; salary, $33,000. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Burma, lieutenant governor; salary, $33,000. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Assam, chief commissioner; salary, $16,500. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Central Provinces, chief commissioner, $16,500. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Northwestern Frontier Province, governed by an agent to the governor +general, whose salary is $16,500. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The governors of Bombay and Madras are appointed by the king; +the lieutenant governors and commissioners by the Viceroy. All of +them have legislative councils and complete executive organizations +similar to that of the general government at Calcutta. Each makes +its own local laws and enjoys administrative independence similar to +that of the states of the American Union, and is seldom interfered +with by the Viceroy or the authorities in London, the purpose +being to encourage home rule as far as possible. The provinces +are divided into districts, which are the units of administration, +and each district is under the control of an executive officer, +who is responsible to the governor of the province. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Exclusive of the great provinces named are eighty-two of the +ancient principalities, most of them retaining their original +boundaries, governed by native chiefs, who are allowed more or +less independence, according to their ability, wisdom and zeal. +The control exercised by the central government varies in the +different states, but there are certain general rules which are +applied to all. The native princes have no right to make war or +peace, or communicate officially with each other or with foreign +governments except through the Viceroy. They are permitted to +maintain a limited independent military force; they are allowed +to impose a certain amount of taxes; no European is allowed to +reside at their courts without their consent, but commerce, trade, +industry, education, religious worship, the press and other rights +and privileges are free to all just as much as in England or the +United States. The native chiefs are not permitted to interfere with +the judiciary, which has a separate and independent organization, +as in Great Britain, with the Viceroy and the council of state +corresponding to the House of Lords, as the highest court of +appeal. Each native chief is "assisted" in his government by a +"Resident," who is appointed by and reports to the Viceroy, and +is expected to guide the policy and official acts of the native +ruler with tact and delicacy. He remains in the background as much +as possible, assumes no authority and exercises no prerogatives, +but serves as a sort of ambassador from the Viceroy and friendly +adviser to the native prince. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The following is a list of the ruling native princes in the order +of their rank as recognized by the British government, and the +salutes to which they are entitled: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Salute of twenty-one guns-- +<div class="quote"> +Baroda, the Maharaja (Gaikwar) of.<br> +Hyderabad, the Nizam of.<br> +Mysore, the Maharaja of. +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Salute of nineteen guns-- +<div class="quote"> +Bhopal, the Begam (or Newab) of.<br> +Gwalior, the Maharaja (Singhai) of.<br> +Indore, the Maharaja (Holkar) of.<br> +Jammu and Kashmire, the Maharaja of.<br> +Kalat, the Khan of.<br> +Kolhapur, the Maharaja of.<br> +Mewar (Udaipur), the Maharaja of.<br> +Travancore, the Maharaja of. +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Salute of seventeen guns-- +<div class="quote"> +Bahawalpur, the Nawab of.<br> +Bharatpur, the Maharaja of.<br> +Bikanir, the Maharaja of.<br> +Bundi, the Maharao Raja of.<br> +Cochin, the Raja of.<br> +Cutch, the Rao of.<br> +Jeypore, the Maharaja of.<br> +Karauli, the Maharaja of.<br> +Kota, the Maharao of.<br> +Marwar (Jodhpur), the Maharaja of.<br> +Patiala, the Maharaja of.<br> +Rewa, the Maharaja of.<br> +Tonk, the Newab of. +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Salute of fifteen guns-- +<div class="quote"> +Alwar, the Maharaja of.<br> +Banswara, the Maharawal of.<br> +Datia, the Maharaja of.<br> +Dewas (senior branch), the Raja of.<br> +Dewas (junior branch), the Raja of.<br> +Dhar, the Raja of.<br> +Dholpur, the Maharaja Rana of.<br> +Dungarpur, the Maharawal of.<br> +Idar, the Maharaja of.<br> +Jaisalmir, the Maharawal of.<br> +Khairpur, the Mir of.<br> +Kishangarh, the Maharaja of.<br> +Orchha, the Maharaja of.<br> +Partabgarth, the Marharawat of.<br> +Sikkam, the Maharaja of.<br> +Sirohi, the Maharao of. +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Salute of thirteen guns-- +<div class="quote"> +Benares, the Raja of.<br> +Cooch Behar, the Maharaja of.<br> +Jaora, the Nawab of.<br> +Rampur, the Newab of.<br> +Tippera, the Raja of. +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Salute of eleven guns-- +<div class="quote"> +Agaigarh, the Maharaja of.<br> +Baoni, the Newab of.<br> +Bhaunagar, the Thakur Sahib of.<br> +Bijawar, the Maharaja of.<br> +Cambay, the Nawab of.<br> +Chamba, the Raja of.<br> +Charkhari, the Maharaja of.<br> +Chhatarpur, the Raja of.<br> +Faridkot, the Raja of.<br> +Gondal, the Thakur Sahib of.<br> +Janjira, the Newab of.<br> +Jhabua, the Raja of.<br> +Jahllawar, the Raj-Rana of.<br> +Jind, the Raja of.<br> +Gunagarth, the Newab of.<br> +Kahlur, the Rajah of.<br> +Kapurthala, the Raja of.<br> +Mandi, the Raja of.<br> +Manipur, the Raja of.<br> +Morvi, the Thakur Sahib of.<br> +Nabha, the Raja of.<br> +Narsingarh, the Raja of.<br> +Nawanagar, the Jam of.<br> +Palanpur, the Diwan of.<br> +Panna, the Maharaja of.<br> +Porbandar, the Rana of.<br> +Pudukota, the Raja of.<br> +Radhanpur, the Newab of.<br> +Rajgarth, the Raja of.<br> +Rajpipla, the Raja of.<br> +Ratlam, the Raja of.<br> +Sailana, the Raja of.<br> +Samthar, the Raja of.<br> +Sirmur (Nahan), the Raja of.<br> +Sitamau, the Raja of.<br> +Suket, the Raja of.<br> +Tehri (Garhwal), the Raja of. +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The Viceroy has a veto over the acts of the native princes as +he has over those of the provincial governors, and can depose +them at will, but such heroic measures are not adopted except +in extreme cases of bad behavior or misgovernment. Lord Curzon +has deposed two rajahs during the five years he has been Viceroy, +but his general policy has been to stimulate their ambitions, +to induce them to adopt modern ideas and methods and to educate +their people. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Within the districts are municipalities which have local magistrates +and councils, commissioners, district and local boards and other +bodies for various purposes similar to those of our county and +city organizations. The elective franchise is being extended in +more or less degree, according to circumstances, all over India, +suffrage being conferred upon taxpayers only. The municipal boards +have care of the roads, water supply, sewerage, sanitation, public +lighting, markets, schools, hospitals and other institutions +and enterprises of public utility. They impose taxes, collect +revenues and expend them subject to the approval of the provincial +governments. In all of the large cities a number of Englishmen +and other foreigners are members of boards and committees and +take an active part in local administration, but in the smaller +towns and villages the government is left entirely to natives, +who often show conspicuous capacity. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The policy of Lord Curzon has been to extend home rule and +self-government as rapidly and as far as circumstances will justify. +The population of India is a dense, inert, ignorant, depraved and +superstitious mass of beings whose actions are almost entirely +controlled by signs and omens, and by the dictation of the Brahmin +priests. They are therefore not to be trusted with the control +of their own affairs, but there is a gradual and perceptible +improvement in their condition, which is encouraged by the +authorities in every possible way. And as fast as they show +themselves competent they are trusted with the responsibility +of the welfare of themselves and their neighbors. The habitual +attitude of the Hindu is crouching upon the ground. The British +government is trying to raise him to a standing posture, to make +him a man instead of the slave of his superstitions. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +No one can visit India, no one can read its history or study +its statistics, without admitting the success and recognizing +the blessings of British occupation. The government has had its +ups and downs. There have been terrible blunders and criminal +mistakes, which we are in danger of repeating in the Philippine +Islands, but the record of British rule during the last +half-century--since the Sepoy mutiny, which taught a valuable +lesson at an awful cost--has been an almost uninterrupted and +unbroken chapter of peace, progress and good government. Until +then the whole of India never submitted to a single ruler. For +nearly a thousand years it was a perpetual battlefield, and not +since the invasion of Alexander the Great have the people enjoyed +such liberty or tranquillity as they do today. Three-eighths +of the country still remains under the authority of hereditary +native rulers with various degrees of independence. Foreigners +have very little conception of the extent and the power of the +native government. We have an indefinable impression that the +rajah is a sensuous, indolent, extravagant sybarite, given to +polo, diamonds and dancing girls, and amputates the heads of +his subjects at pleasure; but that is very far from the truth. +Many of the princes in the list just given, are men of high +character, culture and integrity, who exercise a wise, just and +patriarchal authority over their subjects. Seventeen of the rajputs +(rashpootes, it is pronounced) represent the purest and bluest +Hindu blood, for they are descended from Rama, the hero of the +Ramayama, the great Hindu poem, who is generally worshiped as +an incarnation of the god Bishnu; and their subjects are all +their kinsmen, descended from the same ancestors, members of +the same family, and are treated as such. Other rajahs have a +relationship even more clannish and close, and most of them are +the descendants of long lines of ancestors who have occupied the +same throne and exercised the same power over the same people from +the beginning of history. None of the royal families of Europe +can compare with them in length of pedigree or the dimensions of +their family trees, and while there have been bad men as well +as good men in the lists of native rulers; while the people have +been crushed by tyranny, ruined by extravagance and tortured by +the cruelty of their masters, the rajahs of India have averaged +quite as high as the feudal lords of Germany or the dukes and +earls of England in ability and morality. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It has been the policy of Lord Curzon since he has been Viceroy +to extend the power and increase the responsibility of the native +princes as much as possible, and to give India the largest measure +of home rule that circumstances and conditions will allow. Not +long ago, at the investiture of the Nawab of Bahawalpur, who +had succeeded to the throne of his father, the Viceroy gave a +distinct definition of the relationship between the native princes +and the British crown. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"It is scarcely possible," he said, "to imagine circumstances +more different than those of the Indian chiefs now and what they +were at the time Queen Victoria came to the throne. Now their +sympathies have expanded with their knowledge and their sense of +responsibility; with the degree of confidence reposed in them. +They recognize their obligations to their own states and their +duty to the imperial throne. The British crown is no longer an +impersonal abstraction, but a concrete and inspiring force. The +political system of India is neither feudalism nor federation. +It is embodied in no constitution; it does not rest upon treaty, +and it bears no resemblance to a league. It represents a series +of relationships that have grown up between the crown and Indian +princes under widely different historical conditions, but which +in process of time have gradually conformed to a single type. The +sovereignty of the crown is everywhere unchallenged. Conversely, +the duties and the services of the state are implicitly recognized, +and, as a rule, faithfully discharged. It is this happy blend of +authority with free will, of sentiment with self-interest, of +duties with rights, that distinguishes the Indian Empire under +the British crown from any other dominion of which we read in +history. The princes have gained prestige instead of losing it. +Their rank is not diminished, and their privileges have become +more secure. They have to do more for the protection they enjoy, +but they also derive more from it; for they are no longer detached +appendages of empire, but its participators and instruments. +They have ceased to be architectural adornments of the imperial +edifice, and have become the pillars that help to sustain the +main roof." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At the same time Lord Curzon has kept a tight rein upon the rajahs +and maharajas lest they forget the authority that stands behind +them. He does not allow them to spend the taxes of the people +for jewels or waste it in riotous living, and has the right to +depose any of them for crime, disloyalty, misgovernment or any +other cause he deems sufficient. The supreme authority of the +British government has become a fact which no native state or +ruler would for a moment think of disputing or doubting. No native +chief fails to understand that his conduct is under scrutiny, and +that if he committed a crime he would be tried and punished by +the courts as promptly and as impartially as the humblest of his +subjects. At the same time they feel secure in their authority and +in the exercise of their religion, and when a native prince has no +direct heir he has the right to select his successor by adoption. +He may choose any child or young man among his subjects and if the +person selected is of sound mind and respectable character, the +choice is promptly ratified by the central government. There is +no interference with the exercise of authority or the transaction +of business unless the welfare of the people plainly requires it, +and in such cases, the intervention has been swift and sure. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +During the five years that he has been Viceroy, Lord Curzon has +deposed two native rulers. One of them was the Rajah of Bhartpur, +a state well-known in the history of India by its long successful +resistance of the British treaty. In 1900 the native prince, a +man of intemperate habits and violent passions, beat to death +one of his personal servants who angered him by failing to obey +orders to his satisfaction. It was not the first offense, but +it was the most flagrant and the only one that was ever brought +officially to the attention of the government. His behavior had +been the subject of comment and the cause of scandal for several +years, and he had received frequent warnings. Hence, when the +brutal murder of his servant was reported at the government house, +Lord Curzon immediately ordered his arrest and trial. He was +convicted, sentenced to imprisonment for life, deprived of all +his titles and authority, and his infant son was selected as his +successor. During the minority of the young prince the government +will be administered by native regents under British supervision. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In 1901 the uncle of the Maharaja of Panna died under mysterious +circumstances. An investigation ordered by Lord Curzon developed +unmistakable evidence that he had been deliberately poisoned. The +rajah was suspended from power, was tried and convicted of the +crime, and in April, 1902, was deposed, deprived of all honors +and power and sentenced to imprisonment for life, while one of +his subordinates who had actually committed the crime by his +orders was condemned to death. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In January, 1903, the Maharaja of Indore, after testifying to his +loyalty to the British crown by attending the durbar at Delhi, +and after due notice to the viceroy, abdicated power in favor of +his son, a boy 12 years old. The step was approved by Lord Curzon +for reasons too many and complicated to be repeated here. During +the minority of the young man the government will be conducted +by native ministers under British supervision, and the boy will +be trained and educated with the greatest care. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In 1894 the Maharaja of Mysore died, leaving as his heir an infant +son, and it became necessary for the viceroy to appoint a regent +to govern the province during his minority. The choice fell upon +the boy's mother, a woman of great ability and intelligence, who +justified the confidence reposed in her by administering the +affairs of the government with great intelligence and dignity. +She won the admiration of every person familiar with the facts. +She gave her son a careful English education and a few months +ago retired in his favor. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In several cases the privilege of adoption has been exercised by +the ruling chief, and thus far has been confirmed by the British +authority in every case. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are four colleges in India exclusively for the education +of native princes, which are necessary in that country because +of the laws of caste. It is considered altogether better for a +young prince to be sent to an English school and university, +or to one of the continental institutions, where he can learn +something of the world and come into direct association with +young men of his own age from other countries, but, in many cases, +this is impracticable, because the laws of caste will not permit +strict Hindus to leave India and forbid their association with +strangers, Even where no religious objections have existed, the +fear of a loss of social dignity by contamination with ordinary +people has prevented many native princes and nobles from sending +their sons to ordinary schools. Hence princes, chiefs and members +of the noble families in India have seldom been educated and until +recently this illiteracy was not considered a discredit, because it +was so common. To furnish an opportunity for the education of that +class without meeting these objections, Lord Mayo, while viceroy, +founded a college at Ajmer, which is called by his name, A similar +institution was established at Lahore by Sir Charles Atchison, +Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab in 1885. The corner stone was +laid by the Duke of Connaught, A considerable part of the funds +were contributed by the Punjab princes, and the balance necessary +was supplied by the imperial government. Similar institutions +have since been founded at Indore and Rajkot, and in the four +schools about 300 of the future rulers of the native states are +now receiving a healthy, liberal, modern education. The course +of study has been regulated to meet peculiar requirements. It is +not desired to make great scholars out of these young princes to +fill their heads with useless learning, but to teach them knowledge +that will be of practical usefulness when they assume authority, +and to cultivate manly habits and pure tastes. Their physical +development is carefully looked after. They play football, cricket +and other games that are common at the English universities; +they have gymnasiums and prizes for athletic excellence. They +are taught English, French and the oriental languages; lower +mathematics, geography, history and the applied sciences, +particularly chemistry, electricity and engineering. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Lord Curzon has taken a deep interest in these institutions. +He usually attends the graduating exercises and makes addresses +to the students in presenting prizes or diplomas; and he gives +them straight talks about the duties and the privileges of young +men of their positions and responsibilities. He tells them that +a rajah is worthless unless he is a gentleman, and that power +can never safely be intrusted to people of rank unless they are +fitted to exercise it. With a view of extending their training +and developing their characters he has recently organized what is +called the Imperial Cadet Corps, a bodyguard of the Viceroy, which +attends him upon occasions of state, and is under his immediate +command. He inspects the cadets frequently and takes an active +personal interest in their discipline and education. The course +of instruction lasts for three years, and is a modification of +that given the cadets at West Point. The boys are taught military +tactics, riding and the sciences. Very little attention is paid +to higher mathematics of other studies except history, law and +the modern languages. No one is eligible for admission to this +corps except members of the families of the ruling native princes, +and they must be graduates of one of the four colleges I have +mentioned, under 20 years of age. There is great eagerness on the +part of the young princess to join the dashing troop of horsemen. +Four of the privates are now actual rulers of states with several +millions of subjects and more than thirty are future maharajas. +The honorary commander is the Maharaja Sir Pertas Singh, but the +actual commander is a British major. It is proposed to offer +commissions in the Indian army to the members of this corps at +the close of their period of training, but that was not the chief +purpose in Lord Curzon's mind when he suggested the organization. +He desired to offer the most tempting inducement possible for +the young princes to attend college and qualify themselves for +their life work. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +American visitors to India are often impressed with the presence +of the same problems of government there that perplex our own +people in the Philippines, and although England has sent her +ablest men and applied her most mature wisdom to their solution, +they are just as troublesome and unsettled as they ever were, +and we will doubtless have a similar experience among our own +colonial or, as they are called, insular possessions. There are +striking coincidences. It makes one feel quite at home to hear +Lord Curzon accused of the same errors and weaknesses that Judge +Taft and Governor Wright have been charged with; and if those +worthy gentlemen could get together, they might embrace with +sympathetic fervor. One class of people in India declares that +Lord Curzon sacrifices everything of value to the welfare of +the natives; another class insists that he has his foot upon the +neck of the poor Hindu and is grinding his brown face into the +dust. In both England and India are organizations of good people +who have conceived it to be their mission to defend and protect +the natives from real or imaginary wrongs they are suffering, +while there are numerous societies and associations whose business +is to see that the Englishman gets his rights in India also. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It may console Lord Curzon to know that the criticisms of his +policy and administration have been directed at every viceroy +and governor general of India since the time of Warren Hastings, +and they will probably be repeated in the future as long as there +are men of different minds and dispositions and different ideas +of what is right and proper. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +England has given India a good government. It has accomplished +wonders in the way of material improvements and we can say the +same of the administration in the Philippine Islands, even for +the short period of American occupation. Mistakes have been made +in both countries. President Roosevelt, Secretary Taft, Governor +General Wright and his associates would find great profit in +studying the experience of the British. The same questions and +the same difficulties that confront the officials at Manila have +occurred again and again in India during the last 200 years, +and particularly since 1858, when the authority and rights of +the East India Company were transferred to the crown. And the +most serious of all those questions is how far the native shall +be admitted to share the responsibilities of the government. +The situations are similar. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The population of India, like that of the Philippines, consists +of a vast mixed multitude in various stages of civilization, in +which not one man in fifty and not one woman in 200 can read +or write. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Ninety per cent of the people, and the same proportion of the +people of the Philippines, do not care a rap about "representative +government." They do not know anything about it. They would not +understand what the words meant if they ever heard them spoken. +The small minority who do care are the "educated natives," who are +just as human as the rest of us, and equally anxious to acquire +money and power, wear a title, hold a government office and draw a +salary from the public funds. There are many most estimable Hindu +gentlemen who do not come within this class, but I am speaking +generally, and every person of experience in India has expressed +the same opinion, when I say that a Hindu immediately becomes a +politician as soon as he is educated. It he does not succeed in +obtaining an office he becomes an opponent of the government, +and more or less of an agitator, according to his ability and +ambitions. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The universities of India turn out about five thousand young men +every year who have been stuffed with information for the purpose +of passing the civil service examinations, and most of them have +only one aim in life, which is to secure government employment. +As the supply of candidates is always much larger than the demand, +the greater number fail, and, in their disappointment, finding no +other profitable field nor the exercise of their talents, become +demagogues, reformers and critics of the administration. They +inspire and maintain agitations for "home rule" and "representative +government." They hold conventions, deliver lectures, write for +the newspapers, and denounce Lord Curzon and his associates. +If they were in the Philippine Islands they would organize +revolutions and paper governments from places of concealment +in the forests and mountains. They classify their emotions and +desire for office under the name of patriotism, and some of them +are undoubtedly sincere. If they had a chance they would certainly +give their fellow countrymen the best government and the highest +degree of happiness within their power. They call themselves +"the people." But in no sense are they representatives of the +great masses of the inhabitants. They have no influence with +them and really care nothing about them. If the English were to +withdraw from India to-day there would be perpetual revolution. +If the Americans were to withdraw from Manila the result would +be the same. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It should be said, however, that, with all their humbug about +benevolence, the British have never had the presumption to assert +that their occupation of India is exclusively for the benefit of +the natives. They are candid enough to admit that their purpose +is not entirely unselfish, and that, while they are promoting +civilization and uplifting a race, they expect that race to consume +a large quantity of British merchandise and pay good prices for +it. The sooner such an understanding is reached in the Philippines +the better. We are no more unselfish than the British, and to +keep up the pretext of pure benevolence while we are in the +Philippines for trade and profit also, is folly and fraud. It +is neither fair nor just to the Filipinos nor to the people of +the United States. At the same time the British authorities in +India have given the natives a fair share of the offices and have +elevated them to positions of honor, influence and responsibility. +But they have discovered, as our people must also discover in the +Philippines, that a civil service examination does not disclose +all the qualities needed by rulers of men. The Hindu is very +similar in character, disposition and talent to the Filipino; +he has quick perceptions, is keen-witted, cunning and apt at +imitations. He learns with remarkable ease and adapts himself +to new conditions with great facility, but no amount of those +qualities can make up for the manly courage, the sterling honesty, +the unflinching determination and tireless energy of the British +character. The same is true in the Philippine Islands. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At the last census only 864 Englishmen held active civil positions +under the imperial government and 3,752 natives. The number of +natives employed in the public service has been constantly increasing +since 1879, while the number of Englishmen has been gradually growing +less. No person other than a native of India can be appointed to +certain positions under the government. Native officers manage +almost all of the multifarious interests connected with the revenues, +the lands, the civil courts and local administration. The duties +of the civil courts throughout India, excepting the Court of +Appeals, are almost entirely performed by native judges, who +exercise jurisdiction in all cases affecting Europeans as well +as natives, and the salaries they receive are very liberal. No +country in the world pays better salaries than India to its +judiciary. In Bengal a high court judge whether English or native, +receives $16,000 a year, and the members of the lower courts +are paid corresponding amounts. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is asserted by prominent and unprejudiced members of the bar +that nothing in the history of civilization has been more remarkable +than the improvement that has taken place in the standard of +morality among the higher classes of Indian officials, particularly +among the judiciary. This is due in a great measure to the fact +that their salaries have been sufficient to remove them from +temptation, but a still greater influence has been the example +of the irreproachable integrity of the Englishmen who have served +with them and have created an atmosphere of honor and morality. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The English officials employed under the government of India +belong to what is known as "The Covenanted Civil Service" the term +"covenanted" having been inherited from the East India Company, +which required its employes to enter into covenants stipulating +that they would serve a term of years under certain conditions, +including retirement upon half pay when aged, and pensions for +their families after their death. Until 1853 all appointments +to the covenanted service were made by nomination, but in that +year they were thrown open to public competition of all British +subjects without distinction of race, including natives of India +as well as of England. The conditions are so exacting that few +native Hindus are willing to accept them, and of the 1,067 men +whose names were on the active and retired lists on the 31st +of December, 1902, only forty were natives of India. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Lord Macaulay framed the rules of the competition and the scheme +of examination, and his idea was to attract the best and ablest +young men in the empire. Candidates who are successful are required +to remain one year on probation, with an allowance of $500, for +the purpose of preparing themselves for a second examination +which is much more severe than the first. Having passed the second +examination, they become permanent members of the civil service. +They cannot be removed without cause, and are promoted according +to length of service and advanced on their merits in a manner +very similar to that which prevails in our army and navy. None +but members of the covenanted service can become heads of +departments, commissioners of revenue, magistrates and collectors, +and there is a long list of offices which belong to them exclusively. +Their service and assignment to duty is largely governed by their +special qualifications and experience. They are encouraged to +improve themselves and qualify themselves for special posts. +A covenanted official who can speak the native languages, who +distinguishes himself in literature or in oratory, who devises plans +for public works, or distinguishes himself in other intellectual +or official lines of activity is sure to be recognized and receive +rapid advancement, while those who prefer to perform only the +arduous duties that are required of them will naturally remain +in the background. There is, and there always will be, more or +less favoritism and partiality as long as human affections and +personal regard influence official conduct, and I do not believe +we would have it otherwise. We can admire the stern sense of +justice which sends a son to the scaffold or denies a brother +a favor that he asks, but we do not like to have such men in +our families. There is undoubtedly more or less personal and +political influence exercised in the Indian service, but I doubt +if any other country is more free from those common and natural +faults. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In addition to the covenanted service are the imperial service +and the provincial service, which are recruited chiefly from the +natives, although both are open to any subject of King Edward +VII. All these positions are secured by competitive examinations, +and, as I have already intimated, the universities of India have +arranged their courses of study to prepare native candidates +for them. This has been criticised as a false and injurious +educational policy. The universities are called nurseries for +the unnatural propagation of candidates for the civil service, +and almost every young man who enters them expects, or at least +aspires, to a government position. There is no complaint of the +efficiency of the material they furnish for the public offices. +The examinations are usually sufficient to disclose the mental +qualifications of the candidates and are conducted with great care +and scrupulousness, but they fail to discover the most essential +qualifications for official responsibility, and the greater number +of native appointees are contented to settle down at a government +desk and do as little work as possible. +</p> + +<h2><a name="VIII">VIII</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE RAILWAYS OF INDIA +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The railways of India are many and long and useful, but still very +primitive in their appointments, having been built for utility and +convenience, and not for comfort. The day will come, I suppose, +when modern improvements will be introduced, and the long journeys +which are necessary to reach any part of the vast empire will be +made as pleasant and luxurious as transcontinental trips in the +United States. Just now, however, the equipment is on a military +basis of simplicity and severity. Passengers are furnished with +what they need, and no more. They are hauled from one place to +another at reasonable rates of speed; they are given shelter from +the sun and the storms en route; a place to sit in the daytime +and to lie down during the night; and at proper intervals the +trains stop for refreshments--not very good nor very bad, but +"fair to middling," as the Yankees say, in quality and quantity. +If a traveler wants anything more he must provide it himself. +People who live in India and are accustomed to these things are +perfectly satisfied with them, although the tourist who has just +arrived is apt to criticise and condemn for the first few days. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Every European resident of India who is accustomed to traveling +by train has an outfit always ready similar to the kit of a soldier +or a naval officer. It is as necessary as a trunk or a bag, an +overcoat or umbrella, and consists of a roll of bedding, with +sheets, blankets and pillows, protected by a canvas cover securely +strapped and arranged so that when he wants to retire he need +only unbuckle the straps and unroll the blankets on the bunk in +the railway carriage. He also has a "tiffin basket," with a tea +pot, an alcohol lamp, a tea caddy, plates and cups of granite +ware, spoons, knives and forks, a box of sugar, a tin of jam, +a tin of biscuits or crackers, and other concomitants for his +interior department in case of an emergency; and, never having +had anything better, he thinks the present arrangement good enough +and wonders why Americans are dissatisfied. Persons of ordinary +common sense and patience can get used to almost anything, and +after a day or two travelers trained to the luxury of Pullman +sleepers and dining cars adjust themselves to the primitive +facilities of India without loss of sleep or temper, excepting +always one condition: You are never sure "where you are at," so +to speak. You never know what sort of accommodations you are +going to have. There is always an exasperating uncertainty as +to what will be left for you when the train reaches your place +of embarkation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Sleeping berths, such as they are, go free with first and second +class tickets and every traveler is entitled to one bunk, but +passengers at intermediate points cannot make definite arrangements +until the train rolls in, no matter whether it is noonday or 2 +o'clock in the morning. You can go down and appeal to the station +master a day or two in advance and advise him of your wants and +wishes, and he will put your name down on a list. If you are so +fortunate as to be at the starting place of the train he will +assign you a bunk and slip a card with your name written upon +it into a little slot made for the purpose; the other bunks in +the compartment will be allotted to Tom, Dick and Harry in the +same manner. There are apartments reserved for ladies, too, but +if you and your wife or family want one to yourselves you must +be a major general, or a lieutenant governor, or a rajah, or +a lord high commissioner of something or other to attain that +desire. If they insist upon being exclusive, ordinary people +are compelled to show as many tickets as there are bunks in a +compartment, and the first that come have the pick, as is perfectly +natural. The fellow who enters the train later in the day must +be satisfied with Mr. Hobson's choice, and take what is left, +even if it doesn't fit him. It the train is full, if every bunk +is occupied, another car is hitched on, and he gets a lower, but +this will not be done as long as a single upper is vacant. And +the passengers are packed away as closely as possible because +the trains are heavy and the engines are light, and the schedules +must be kept in the running. A growler will tell you that he never +gets a lower berth, that he is always crowded into a compartment +that is already three-fourths occupied with passengers who are +trying to sleep, but he forgets that they have more than he to +complain of, and if he is a malicious man he can find deep +consolation in the thought and make as great a nuisance of himself +as possible. I do not know how the gentler sex behave under such +circumstances, but I have heard stories that I am too polite +to repeat. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is no means of ventilation in the ceiling, but there is +a frieze of blinds under it, along both sides of the car, with +slats that can be turned to let the air in directly upon the +body of the occupant of the upper berth, who is at liberty to +elect whether he dies of pneumonia or suffocation. The gentleman +in the lower berth has a row of windows along his back, which +never fit closely but rattle like a snare drum, and have wide +gaps that admit a forced draught of air if the night is damp +or chilly. If it is hot the windows swell and stick so that you +cannot open them, and during the daytime they rattle so loud that +conversation is impossible unless the passengers have throats +of brass like the statues of Siva. In India, during the winter +season, there is a wide variation in the temperature, sometimes +as much as thirty or forty degrees. At night you will need a +couple of thick blankets; at noonday it is necessary to wear a +pith helmet or carry an umbrella to protect the head from the +sun, and as people do their traveling in the dry season chiefly, +the dust is dreadful. Everything in the car wears a soft gray +coating before the train has been in motion half an hour. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The bunks are too narrow for beds and too wide for seats. The +act of rolling over in the night is attended with some danger and +more anxiety, especially by the occupants of the upper berths. +In the daytime you can sit on the edge like an embarrassed boy, +with nothing to support your spine, or you can curl up like a +Buddha on his lotus flower, with your legs under you; but that +is not dignified, nor is it a comfortable posture for a fat man. +Slender girls can do it all right; but it is impracticable for +ladies who have passed the thirty-third degree, or have acquired +embonpoint with their other graces. Or you can shove back against +the windows and let your feet stick out straight toward the infinite. +It isn't the fault of a railway corporation or the master mechanic +of a car factory if they don't reach the floor. It is a defect +for which nature is responsible. President Lincoln once said +every man's legs ought to be long enough to reach the ground. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The cars are divided into two, three, or four compartments for +first-class passengers, with a narrow little pen for their servants +at the end which is absolutely necessary, because nobody in India +travels without an attendant to wait upon him. His comfort as +well as his social position requires it, and few have the moral +courage to disregard the rule. To make it a little clearer I +will give you a diagram sketched by your special artist on the +spot. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="338"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig008.jpg" width="334" height="600" alt="Fig. 8"> +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +This is an excellent representation of a first-class railway carriage +in India without meretricious embellishments. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The second-class compartments, for which two-thirds of the +first-class rates are charged, have six narrow bunks instead +of four, the two extras being in the middle supported by iron +rods fastened to the floor and the ceiling. The woodwork of all +cars, first, second, and third class, is plain matched lumber, +like our flooring, painted or stained and varnished. The floor is +bare, without carpet or matting, and around on the wall, wherever +there is room for them, enormous hooks are screwed on. Over the +doors are racks of netting. The bunks are plain wooden benches, +covered with leather cushions stuffed with straw and packed as +hard as tombstones by the weight of previous passengers. The +ceiling is of boards pierced with a hole for a glass globe, which +prevents the oil dripping upon your bald spot from a feeble and +dejected lamp. It is too dim to read by and scarcely bright enough +to enable you to distinguish the expression upon the lineaments +of your fellow passengers. A scoop net of green cloth on a wire +springs back over the light to cover it when you want to sleep: +Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The toilet room +is Spartan in its simplicity, and the amount of water in the +tanks depends upon the conscientiousness of a naked heathen of +the lowest caste, who walks over the roofs of the cars and is +supposed to fill them from a pig skin suspended on his back. +You furnish your own towel and the most untidy stranger in the +compartment usually wants to borrow it, having forgotten to bring +one himself. You acquire merit in heaven, as the Buddhists say, by +loaning it to him, but it is a better plan to carry two towels, +in order to be prepared for such an emergency. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As we were about starting upon a tour that required several thousand +miles of railway travel and several weeks of time, the brilliant +idea of avoiding an risks and anxiety by securing a private car +was suggested, and negotiations were opened to that purpose, +but were not concluded because of numerous considerations and +contingencies which arose at every interview with the railway +officials. They are not accustomed to such innovations and could +not decide upon their own terms or ascertain, during the period +before departure, what the connecting lines would charge us. +There are private cars fitted up luxuriously for railway managers +and high officials of the government, but they couldn't spare one +of them for so long a time as we would need it. Finally somebody +suggested a car that was fitted out for the Duke and Duchess of +Connaught when they came over to the Durbar at Delhi. It had two +compartments, with a bathroom, a kitchen and servants' quarters, +but only three bunks. They kindly offered to let us use it provided +we purchased six first-class tickets, and were too obtuse to +comprehend why we objected to paying six fares for a car that +could not possibly admit more than three people. But that was +only the first of several issues. At the next interview they +decided to charge us demurrage at the rate of 16 cents an hour +for all the time the car was not in motion, and, finally, at the +third interview, the traffic manager said it would be necessary +for us to buy six first-class tickets in order to get the empty car +back to Bombay, its starting point, at the end of our journey. This +brought the charges up to a total as large as would be necessary +to transport a circus or an opera company, and we decided to take +our chances in the regular way. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +We bought some sheets and pillow cases, pillows and old-fashioned +comfortables and blankets, and bespoke a compartment on the train +leaving Bombay that night. Two hours before the time for starting +we sent Thagorayas, our "bearer", down to make up the beds, which, +being accustomed to that sort of business, he did in an artistic +manner, and by allowing him to take command of the expedition +we succeeded in making the journey comfortably and with full +satisfaction. The ladies of our party were assigned to one +compartment and the gentlemen to another, where the latter had +the company of an engineer engaged upon the Bombay harbor +improvements, and a very intelligent and polite Englishman who +acts as "adviser" to a native prince in the administration of +an interior province. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the same train and next to our compartment was the private +coach of the Gaikwar of Baroda, who was attended by a dozen or +more servants, and came to the train escorted by a multitude of +friends, who hung garlands of marigold about his neck until his +eyes and the bridge of his nose were the only features visible. +The first-class passengers came down with car loads of trunks and +bags and bundles, which, to avoid the charge for extra luggage, +they endeavored to stowaway in their compartments. The third-class +carriages were packed like sardines with natives, and up to the +limit allowed by law, for, painted in big white letters, where every +passenger and every observer can read it, is a notice giving the +number of people that can be jammed into that particular compartment +in the summer and in the winter. We found similar inscriptions +on nearly all freight cars which are used to transport natives +during the fairs and festivals that occur frequently--allowing +fifteen in summer and twenty-three in winter in some of the cars, +and in the larger ones thirty-four in winter and twenty-six in +summer, to avoid homicide by suffocation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Gaikwar of Baroda in his luxurious chariot did not sleep any +better than the innocent and humble mortals that occupied our +beds. We woke up in the morning at Ahmedabad, got a good breakfast +at the station, and went out to see the wonderful temples and +palaces and bazaars that are described in the next chapter. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are now nearly 28,000 miles of railway lines in India. +On Jan. 1, 1903, the exact mileage under operation was 26,563, +with 1,190 miles under construction. The latter was more than +half completed during the year, and before the close of 1905, +unless something occurs to prevent, the total will pass the thirty +thousand mark. The increase has been quite rapid during the last +five years, owing to the experience of the last famine, when +it was demonstrated that facilities for rapid transportation +of food supplies from one part of the country to another were +an absolute necessity. It is usually the case that when the +inhabitants of one province are dying of starvation those of +another are blessed with abundant crops, and the most effective +remedy for famine is the means of distributing the food supply +where it is needed. Before the great mutiny of 1857 there were +few railroads in India, and the lesson taught by that experience +was of incalculable value. If re-enforcements could have been +sent by rail to the beleaguered garrisons, instead of making +the long marches, the massacres might have been prevented and +thousands of precious lives might have been saved. In 1880 the +system amounted to less than 10,000 miles. In 1896 it had been +doubled; in 1901 it had passed the 25,000 mile mark, and now +the existing lines are being extended, and branches and feeders +are being built for military as well as famine emergencies. All +the principal districts and cities are connected by rail. All +of the important strategical points and military cantonments +can be reached promptly, as necessity requires, and in case of +a rebellion troops could be poured into any particular point +from the farthermost limits of India within three or four days. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As I have already reminded you several times, India is a very +big country, and it requires many miles of rails to furnish even +necessary transportation facilities. The time between Bombay and +Calcutta is forty-five hours by ordinary trains and thirty-eight +hours by a fast train, with limited passenger accommodation, which +starts from the docks of Bombay immediately after the arrival of +steamers with the European mails. From Madras, the most important +city of southern India, to Delhi, the most important in the north, +sixty-six hours of travel are required. From Peshawur, the extreme +frontier post in the north, which commands the Kyber Pass, leading +into, Afganistan, to Tuticorin, the southern terminus of the system, +it is 3,400 miles by the regular railway route, via Calcutta, +and seven days and night will be necessary to make the journey +under ordinary circumstances. Troops could be hurried through +more rapidly. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Nearly all the railways of India have either been built by the +government or have been assisted with guarantees of the payment +of from 3 to 5 per cent dividends. The government itself owns +19,126 miles and has guaranteed 3,866 miles, while 3,242 miles +have been constructed by the native states. Of the government +lines 13,441 miles have been leased to private companies for +operation; 5,125 miles are operated by the government itself. +Nearly three-fourths of the lines owned by native states have +been leased for operation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The total capital invested in railway property, to the end of +1902, amounted to $1,025,000,000, and during that year the average +net earnings of the entire mileage amounted to 5.10 per cent +of that amount. The surplus earnings, after the payment of all +fixed charges and guarantees and interest upon bonds amounted +to $4,233,080. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The number of passengers carried in 1,902 was 197,749,567, an +increase of 6,614,211 over the previous year. The aggregate freight +hauled was 44,142,672 tons, an increase of 2,104,425 tons over +previous year, which shows a healthy condition. During the last +ten years the gross earnings of all the railways in India increased +at the rate of 41 per cent. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Of the gross earnings 59 per cent. were derived from freight and +the balance from passengers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is now no town of importance in India without a telegraph +station. The telephone is not much used, but the telegraph lines, +which belong to the government, more than pay expenses. There +has been an enormous increase in the number of messages sent +in the last few years by natives, which indicates that they are +learning the value of modern improvements. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The government telegraph lines are run in connection with the +mails and in the smaller towns the postmasters are telegraph +operators also. In the large cities the telegraph offices are +situated in the branch postoffices and served by the same men, so +that it is difficult to divide the cost of maintenance. According +to the present system the telegraph department maintains the +lines, supplies all the telegraphic requirements of the offices +and pays one-half of the salaries of operators, who also attend +to duties connected with the postoffice. There were 68,084 miles +of wire and 15,686 offices on January 1, 1904. The rate of charges +for ordinary telegrams is 33 cents for eight words, and 4 cents +for each additional word. Telegrams marked "urgent" are given +the right of way over all other business and are charged double +the ordinary rates. Telegrams marked "deferred" are sent at the +convenience of the operator, generally during the night, at half +of the ordinary rates. As a matter of convenience telegrams may +be paid for by sticking postage stamps upon the blanks. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are 38,479 postoffices in India and in 1902 545,364,313 +letters were handled, which was an increase of 24,000,000 over the +previous year and of 100,000,000 since 1896. The total revenues of +the postoffice department were $6,785,880, while the expenditures +were $6,111,070. +</p> + +<h2><a name="IX">IX</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE CITY OF AHMEDABAD +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Ahmedabad, capital of the province of Jujarat, once the greatest +city of India, and formerly "as large as London," is the first +stopping place on the conventional tour from Bombay through the +northern part of the empire, because it contains the most perfect +and pure specimens of Saracenic architecture; and our experience +taught us that it is a place no traveler should miss. It certainly +ranks next to Agra and Delhi for the beauty and extent of its +architectural glories, and for other reasons it is worth visiting. +In the eleventh century it was the center of the Eden of India, +broad, fertile plains, magnificent forests of sweet-scented trees, +abounding in population and prosperity. It has passed through +two long periods of greatness, two of decay and one of revival. +Under the rule of Sidh Rajah, "the Magnificent," one of the noblest +and greatest of the Moguls, it reached the height of its wealth +and power at the beginning of the fifteenth century. He erected +schools, palaces and temples, and surrounded them with glorious +gardens. He called to his side learned pundits and scholarly +priests, who taught philosophy and morals under his generous +patronage. He encouraged the arts and industries. His wealth was +unlimited, and, according to local tradition, he lived in a style +of magnificence that has never been surpassed by any of the native +princes since. His jewels were the wonder of the world, and one +of the legends says that he inherited them from the gods. But, +unfortunately, his successors were weak and worthless men, and +the glory of his kingdom passed gradually away until, a century +later, his debilitated and indolent subjects were overcome and +passed under the power of a Moslem who, in the earlier part of +the sixteenth century, restored the importance of the province. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Ahmed Shah was his name. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He built a citadel of impregnable strength and imposing architecture +and surrounded it by a city with broad streets and splendid buildings +and called it after himself; for Ahmedabad means the City of Ahmed. +Where his predecessor attracted priests and scholars he brought +artists, clever craftsmen, skilled mechanics and artisans in gold, +silver, brass and clay; weavers of costly fabrics with genius to +design and skill to execute. Architects and engineers were sent +for from all parts of the world, and merchants came from every +country to buy wares. Thus Ahmedabad became a center of trade +and manufacture, with a population of a million inhabitants, and +was the richest and busiest city in the Mogul Empire. Merchants +who had come to buy in its markets spread its reputation over +the world and attracted valuable additions to its trades and +professions. Travelers, scholars and philosophers came to study +the causes of its prosperity, and marvelous stories are told by +them in letters and books they wrote concerning its palaces, +temples and markets. An envoy from the Duke of Holstein gives +us a vivid account of the grandeur of the city and the splendor +of the court, and tells of a wedding, at which the daughter of +Ahmed Shah married the second son of the grand mogul. She carried +to Delhi as her dower twenty elephants, a thousand horses and +six thousand wagons loaded with the richest stuffs of whatever +was rare in the country. The household of the rajah, he says, +consisted of five hundred persons, and cost him five thousand +pounds a month to maintain, "not comprehending the account of his +stables, where he kept five hundred horses and fifty elephants." +When this traveler visited the rajah he was sitting in a pavilion +in his garden, clad in a white vestment, according to the Indian +code, over which he had a cloak of gold "brocade," the ground +color being carnation lined with white satin, and above it was +a collar of sable, whereof the skins were sewed together so that +the tails hung over down his back. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Among the manufacturers and business men of Ahmedabad in those +days, as now, were many Jains--the Quakers of India--who belong +to the rich middle class. They believe in peace, and are so +tender-hearted that they will not even kill a mosquito or a flea. +They are great business men, however, notwithstanding their soft +hearts, and the most rapid money-makers in the empire. They built +many of the most beautiful temples in India, in which they worship +a kind and gentle god whose attributes are amiability, benevolence +and compassion. The Jains of Ahmedabad still maintain a large +"pinjrapol," or asylum for diseased and aged animals, with about +800 inmates, decrepit beasts of all species, by which they acquire +merit with their god. And about the streets, and in the outskirts +of the city, sitting on the tops of what look like telegraph +poles, are pigeon houses; some of them ornamented with carving, +other painted in gay colors and all of them very picturesque. +These are rest houses for birds, which the Jains have built, +and every day basins of food are placed in them for the benefit +of the hungry. In the groves outside of the city are thousands +of monkeys, and they are much cleaner and more respectable in +appearance than any you ever saw in a circus or a zoo. They are +as large as Italian greyhounds, and of similar color, with long +hair and uncommonly long tails, and so tame they will come up to +strangers who know enough to utter a call that they understand. +Our coachman bought a penny's worth of sweet bread in one of the +groceries that we passed, and when we reached the first grove +he uttered a cry similar to that which New England dairymen use +in calling their cattle. In an instant monkeys began to drop from +the limbs of trees that overhang the roadway, and came scampering +from the corners, where they had probably been indulging in noonday +naps. In two minutes he was surrounded by thirty-eight monkeys, +which leaped and capered around like so many dogs as he held +the sugar cake up in the air before them. It was a novel sight. +These monkeys are fed regularly at the expense of the Jains, and +none of God's creatures is too insignificant or irritating to +escape their comprehensive benevolence. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One of the temples of the Jains, the Swamee Narayan, as they call +it, on the outskirts of the city, is considered the noblest modern +sacred building in all India. It is a mass of elaborate carving, +tessellated marble floors and richly colored decorations, 150 +feet long by 100 feet wide, with an overhanging roof supported +by eighty columns, and no two of them are alike. They are masses +of carving-figures of men and gods, saints and demons, animals, +insects, fishes, trees and flowers, such as are only seen in the +delirium of fever, are portrayed with the most exquisite taste +and delicacy upon all of the surface exposed. The courtyard is +inclosed by a colonnade of beautifully carved columns, upon which +open fifty shrines with pagoda domes about twelve feet high, and +in each of them are figures of Tirthankars, or saints of the +calendar of the Jains. The temple is dedicated to Dharmamath, a +sort of Jain John the Baptist, whose image, crowned with diamonds +and other jewels, sits behind a beautiful gilded screen. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Ahmedabad now has a population of about 130,000. The ancient +walls which inclose it are in excellent preservation and surround +an area of about two square miles. There are twelve arched gateways +with heavy teakwood doors studded with long brass spikes as a +defense against elephants, which in olden times were taught to +batter down such obstructions with their heads. The commerce of +the city has declined of late years, but the people are still +famous for objects of taste and ornament, and, according to the +experts, their "chopped" gold is "the finest archaic jewelry in +India," almost identical in shape and design with the ornaments +represented upon sculptured images in Assyria. The goldsmiths +make all kinds of personal adornments; necklaces, bracelets, +anklets, toe, finger, nose and ear rings, girdles and arm-bands +of gold, silver, copper and brass, and this jewelry is worn by the +women of India as the best of investments. They turn their money +into it instead of patronizing banks. As Mr. Micawber would have +expressed it, they convert their assets into portable property. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The manufacture of gold and silver thread occupies the attention +of thousands of people, and hundreds more are engaged in weaving +this thread with silk into brocades called "kincobs," worn by +rich Hindus and sold by weight instead of by measure. They are +practically metallic cloth. The warp, or the threads running +one way, is all either gold or silver, while the woof, or those +running the other, are of different colored silks, and the patterns +are fashioned with great taste and delicacy. These brocades wear +forever, but are very expensive. A coat such as a rajah or a rich +Hindu must wear upon an occasion of ceremony is worth several +thousand dollars. Indeed, rajahs have had robes made at Ahmedabad +for which the cloth alone cost $5,000 a yard. The skill of the +wire drawers is amazing. So great is their delicacy of touch +that they can make a thousand yards of silver thread out of a +silver dollar; and if you will give one of them a sovereign, in +a few moments he will reel off a spool of gold wire as fine as +No. 80 cotton, and he does it with the simplest, most primitive +of tools. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Nearly all the gold, silver and tin foil used in India is made +at Ahmedabad, also in a primitive way, for the metal is spread +between sheets of paper and beaten with a heavy hammer. The town +is famous for its pottery also, and for many other manufactured +goods. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The artisans are organized into guilds, like those of Europe in +ancient times, with rules and regulations as strict as those of +modern trades unions. The nagar-seth, or Lord Mayor, of Ahmedabad, +is the titular head of all the guilds, and presides over a central +council which has jurisdiction of matters of common interest. But +each of the trades has its own organization and officers. Membership +is hereditary; for in India, as in all oriental countries, it +is customary for children to follow the trade or profession of +their father. If an outsider desires to join one of the guilds +he is compelled to comply with very rigid regulations and pay a +heavy fee. Some of the guilds are rich, their property having +been acquired by fines, fees and legacies, and they loan money +to their own members. A serious crisis confronts the guilds of +Ahmedabad in the form of organized capital and labor-saving +machinery. Until a few years ago all of the manufacturing was +done in the households by hand work. Within recent years five +cotton factories, representing a capital of more than $2,500,000, +have been established, and furnish labor for 3,000 men, women and +children. This innovation was not opposed by the guilds because +its products would come into direct competition only with the +cotton goods of England, and would give employment to many idle +people; but now that silk looms and other machinery are proposed +the guilds are becoming alarmed and are asking where the intrusions +are likely to stop. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The tombs of Ahmed, and Ganj Bhash, his chaplain, or spiritual +adviser, a saintly mortal who admonished him of his sins and kept +his feet in the path that leads to paradise, are both delightful, +if such an adjective can apply, and are covered with exquisite +marble embroidery, almost incredible in its perfection of detail. +It is such as modern sculptors have neither the audacity or the +imagination to design nor the skill or patience to execute. But +they are not well kept. The rozah, or courtyard, in which the +great king lies sleeping, surrounded by his wives, his children +and other members of his family and his favorite ministers, is +not cared for. It is dirty and dilapidated. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="378"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig009.jpg" width="374" height="488" alt="Fig. 9"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + HUTHI SINGH'S TOMB--AHMEDABAD +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +This vision of frozen music, as some one has described it, is a +square building with a dome and walls of perforated fretwork in +marble as delicate as Jack Frost ever traced upon a window pane. +It is inclosed by a crumbling wall of mud, and can be reached only +through a narrow and dirty lane obstructed by piles of rubbish, +and the enjoyment of the visitor is sometimes destroyed and always +seriously interfered with by the importunities of priests, peddlers +and beggars who pursue him for backsheesh. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The lane from the mausoleum leads into the courtyard of the Jumma +Musjid, a mosque erected by Ahmed Shah at the height of his power +and glory. It is considered one of the most stately and satisfactory +examples of Saracenic architecture. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The most beautiful piece of carving, however, in this great +collection is a window in a deserted mosque called Sidi Sayid. +Perhaps you are familiar with it. It has been photographed over +and over again, and has been copied in alabaster, marble, plaster +and wax; it has been engraved, photographed and painted, and is used +in textbooks on architecture as an illustration of the perfection +reached by the sculptors of India. The design is so complicated +that I cannot describe it, but the central features are trees, +with intertwining boughs, and the Hindu who made it could use +his chisel with as free and delicate a hand as Raphael used his +brush. Fergusson, who is recognized as the highest authority on +architecture, says that it is "more like a work of nature than +any other architectural detail that has yet been designed, even +by the best masters of Greece or the middle ages." Yet the mosque +which this precious gem made famous is abandoned and deserted, +and the courtyard is now a cow pasture. +</p> + +<h2><a name="X">X</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +JEYPORE AND ITS MAHARAJA +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A board of geographic names, similar to that we have in Washington, +is badly needed in India to straighten out discrepancies in the +nomenclature on the maps. I was told that only three towns in +all the vast empire have a single spelling; all the rest have +several; some have many; and the name of one town--I have forgotten +which--is given in sixty-five different ways. Jeypore, for example, +is given in fifteen. The sign over the entrance to the railway +station reads "Jeypure;" on the lamps that light the platform +it is painted "Jeypoor"; on the railway ticket it was "Jaypur"; +on the bill of fare in the refreshment-room of the station it +was "Jaipor"; on a telegram delivered by the operator at the +station it was spelled "Jaiphur." If the employes about a single +establishment in the town can get up that number of spells, what +are we to expect from the rest of the inhabitants of a city of +150,000 people, and Jeypore is one of the simplest and easiest +names in the gazetteer. The neighboring city of Jodpore, capital +of the adjoining native state of Marwar, offers an even greater +variety of orthoepy, for it appears in a different spelling on each +of the three maps I carried around--a railway map, a government +map, and the map in Murray's Guide Book. This is a fair illustration +of the dissensions over nomenclature, which are bewildering to +a stranger, who never knows when he gets the right spelling, +and sometimes cannot even find the towns he is looking for. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Jodpore is famous for its forts, which present an imposing appearance +from a wide spreading plain, as they are perched at the top of a +rocky hill three hundred feet high, with almost perpendicular +sides. The only way to reach it is by a zigzag road chiseled +out of the cliff, which leads to a massive gateway. The walls +are twenty-eight feet high, twenty-eight feet thick, and are +crowned with picturesque towers. During ascent you are shown +the impressions of the hands of the fifteen wives of one of the +rajahs who were all burned in one grand holocaust upon his funeral +pyre. I don't know why they did it, but the marks are there. +Within the walls are some very interesting old palaces, built +in the fifteenth century, of pure Hindu architecture, and the +carvings and perforated marble work are of the most delicate +and beautiful designs. The treasury, which contains the family +jewels and plate, is the chief object of tourist curiosity, and +they are a collection worth going far to see. The pearls and +emeralds are especially fine, and are worth millions. The saddles, +bridles, harness and other stable equipments are loaded with gold +and silver ornaments set with precious stones, and the trappings +for elephants are covered with the most gorgeous gold and silver +embroidery. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +About half a mile outside the city walls is a temple called the +Maha Mandir, whose roof is supported by a hundred richly decorated +columns. On each side of it are palaces intended exclusively +for the use of spirits of former rulers of the country. Their +beds are laid out with embroidery coverings and lace, sheltered +by golden canopies and curtains of brocade, but are never slept +in by living people, being reserved for the spirits of the dead. +This is the only exhibition of the kind to be seen in India, +and why the dead and gone rulers of Marwar should need lodgings +when those of the other Indian states do not, is an unsolved +mystery. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the royal cemetery, three miles to the north, rows of beautiful +but neglected cenotaphs mark the spots where the remains of each +of some 300 rajahs were consumed with their widows. Some of them +had more and some less, according to their taste and opportunities, +and sutti, or widow burning, was enforced in Jodpore more strictly +than anywhere else in India. You can imagine the thoughts this +extraordinary place suggests. Within its walls, in obedience +to an awful and relentless custom, not less than nine hundred +or a thousand innocent, helpless women were burned alive, for +these oriental potentates certainly must have allowed themselves +at least three wives each. That would be a very moderate estimate. +I have no doubt that some of them had forty, and perhaps four +hundred, and we know that one had fifteen. But no matter how +many times a rajah went to the matrimonial altar, every wife that +outlived him was burned upon his funeral pyre in order that he +might enjoy her society in the other world. Since widow burning was +stopped by the British government in the sixties, the spirits of +the rajahs of Jodpore have since been compelled to go to paradise +without company. But they do not take any chances of offending the +deities by neglect, for on a hill that overlooks their cemetery +they have erected a sort of sweepstakes temple to Three Hundred +Million Gods. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At the palace of the rajah of Ulwar, in a city of the same name, +sometimes spelled Alwar and in forty other different ways, which +lies about thirty miles north of Jodpore, is another collection +of jewels, ranked among the finest in India. The treasure-house +contains several great chests of teakwood, handsomely carved +and gilded, bound with gold and silver bands, and filled with +valuable plate, arms, equipment, vessels and ornaments that have +accumulated in the family during several centuries, and no matter +how severe the plague or how many people are dying of famine, +these precious heirlooms have never been disturbed. Perhaps the +most valuable piece of the collection is a drinking cup, cut from +a single emerald, as large as those used for after dinner coffee. +There is a ruby said to be one of the largest in existence and +worth $750,000; a yellow diamond valued at $100,000; several +strings of almost priceless pearls and other jewels of similar +value. There are caskets of gold and ivory in which hundreds of +thousands of dollars' worth of jewels are imbedded, perfumery +bottles of solid gold with the surfaces entirely incrusted with +pearls and diamonds, and hung upon the walls around the apartment +are shawls that are worth a thousand times their weight in gold. +The saddles, harness and elephant trappings are much more beautiful +and costly than those at Jodpore, and in the adjoining armory is +a remarkable collection of swords and other weapons with hilts +of gold, jade, enamel and jewels. A coat of mail worn by Bani +Singh, grandfather of the present rajah, is made of solid gold, +weighing sixteen and a half pounds, and is lavishly decorated +with diamonds. The library is rich in rare oriental books and +manuscripts wonderfully illuminated in colors and gold. It has +a large collection of editions of the Koran in fifty or more +different languages, and one manuscript book called "The Gulistan" +is claimed to be the most valuable volume in India. The librarian +insisted that it is worth 500,000 rupees, which is equivalent to +about $170,000, and declared that the actual cost of the gold +used in illuminating it was more than $50,000. It is a modern +manuscript copy of a religious poem, made in 1848 by a German +scribe at the order of the Maharaja Bani Singh. The miniatures +and other pictures were painted by a native artist at Delhi, +and the ornamental scroll work upon the margins of the pages and +the initial letters were done by a resident of Ulwar. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Nearly all of the capitals of the provinces of Rajputana have +similar treasures, the accumulations of centuries, and it seems +like criminal negligence to keep such enormous sums of money tied +up in jewels and useless ornaments when they might be expended or +invested to the great advantage of the people in public works and +manufactories. Some of the towns need such industries very badly +because, off the farms, there is nothing in the way of employment +for either men or women, and every branch of agriculture is +overcrowded. One may moralize about these conditions as long +as he likes; however, changes occur very slowly in India, and as +Kipling so pertinently puts it in one of his poems, it's only +a fool "Who tries to hustle the East." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Jeypore is the best, the largest and most prosperous of the twenty +Rajput capitals, and is beyond comparison the finest modern city +in India. It is also the busiest. Everybody seems to have plenty +to do, and plenty to spend. The streets are as crowded and as +busy as those of London or New York, with a bustling and stalwart +race of men and women, happy and contented, and showing more +energy than you often see in an oriental country. The climate is +cool, dry and healthful. The city stands upon a sandy and arid +plain, 1,600 feet above the sea, surrounded by stony hills and +wide wastes of desert, but, even these natural disadvantages have +contributed to its wealth and industries, for the barren hills are +filled with deposits of fine clays, rare ores and cheap jewels +like garnets, carbuncles and agates, which have furnished the +people one of their most profitable trades. Out of this material +they make an enamel which is famous everywhere, and has been the +source of great gain and fame. It is shipped in large quantities +to Europe, but the greater part is sold in the markets of India. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="628"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig010.jpg" width="624" height="373" alt="Fig. 10"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + STREET CORNER--JEYPORE, INDIA +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Jeypore is surrounded by a wall twenty feet high and nine feet +thick, built within the last century, and hence almost in perfect +condition. Indeed the town, unlike most of the Indian cities, +is entirely without ruins, and you have to ride five miles on +the back of an elephant in order to see one. The streets are +wide and well paved, and laid out at exact angles. Four great +thoroughfares 111 feet wide run at equal intervals at right angles +with each other. All the other streets are fifty-five feet wide +and the alleys are twenty-eight feet. Parks and public squares +are laid out with the same regularity, and the houses are of +uniform heights and generally after the same pattern. The façades +are almost fantastic, being covered profusely with stucco and +"ginger-bread work," so much that it is almost bewildering. The +roofs are guarded by highly ornamental balustrades that look +like perforated marble, but are only molded plaster; the windows +are filled with similar material; the doorways are usually arched +and protected with overhanging canopies, and the doors are painted +with pictures in brilliant colors. The entire city has been +"whitewashed" a bright rose color, every house having almost the +same tint, which gives a peculiar appearance. There is nothing +else like it in all the world. The outer walls of many of the +house are painted with pictures of animals and birds, trees, +pagodas and other fantastic designs, and scenes like those on +the drop curtains of theatres, which appear to have been done +by unskilled amateurs, and the whole effect--the colors, the +gingerbread work and the tints--reminds you of the frosted cakes +and other table decorations you sometimes see in confectioners' +windows at Christmas time. You wonder that the entire city does +not melt and run together under the heat of the burning sun. +The people wear colors even more brilliant than those of their +houses, and in whichever direction you look you see continual +streams passing up and down each broad highway like animated +rainbows, broken here and there by trains of loaded camels, huge +elephants with fanciful canopies on their backs and half-naked +Hindus astride their heads, guiding them. Jeypore was the first +place we found elephants used for business purposes, and they +seemed to be quite numerous--more numerous than horses--and some +of them were covered with elaborate trappings and saddles, and +had their heads painted in gay tints and designs. That was a +new idea also, which I had never seen before, and I was told +that it is peculiar to Jeypore. The bullock carts, which furnish +the only other means of transportation, are also gayly painted. +The designs are sometimes rude and the execution bears evidence +of having been done with more zeal than skill. The artist got the +giddiest colors he could find, and laid them on without regard +to time or expense. The wheels, bodies and tongues of the carts; +and the canopies that cover those in which women are carried, +are nightmares of yellows, greens, blues, reds and purples, like +cheap wooden toys. Everything artificial at Jeypore is as bright +and gay as dyes and paint can make it. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A great deal of cloth is manufactured there, both cotton and +silk; most of it in little shops opening on the sidewalk, and it +is woven and dyed by hand where everybody can see that the work +is honestly done. As you walk along the business part of town you +will see women and children holding long strips of red, green, +orange, purple or blue cloth--sometimes cotton and sometimes silk, +fresh from the vats of dye, out of the dust, in the sunshine, +until the colors are securely fastened in the fibers. Even the men +paint their whiskers in fantastic colors. It is rather startling +to come up against an old gentleman with a long beard the color of +an orange or a spitzenberg apple. You imagine they are lunatics, +but they are only pious Mohammedans anxious to imitate the Prophet, +who, according to tradition, had red whiskers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +About half of the space of the four wide streets is given up +to sidewalk trading, and rows of booths, two or three miles in +length, occupy the curbstones, with all kinds of goods; everything +that anybody could possibly want, fruits, vegetables, groceries, +provisions, boots and shoes, ready-made clothing, hats and caps, +cotton goods and every article of wearing apparel you can think +of, household articles, furniture, drugs and medicines, jewelry, +stationery, toys--everything is sold by these sidewalk merchants, +who squat upon a piece of matting with their stock neatly piled +around them. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One feature of the street life in Jeypore, however, is likely +to make nervous people apprehensive. The maharaja and other rich +men keep panthers, leopards, wildcats and other savage beasts +trained for tiger hunting and other sporting purposes, and allow +their grooms to lead them around through the crowded thoroughfares +just as though they were poodle dogs. It is true that the brutes +wear muzzles, but you do not like the casual way they creep up +behind you and sniff at the calves of your legs. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Siwai Madhao Singh, Maharaja of Jeypore, is one of the most +interesting persons in India, and he represents the one hundred +and twenty-third of his family, descendants of the hero of a +great Sanskrit epic called the Ramayana, while the emperor of +Japan represents only the one hundred and twenty-third of his +family, which is reckoned the oldest of royal blood. The poem +consists of 24,000 stanzas, arranged in seven books, and describes +the adventures and sets forth the philosophy of Rama, the seventh +incarnation of Vishnu, one of the two greatest of the gods. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="378"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig011.jpg" width="374" height="500" alt="Fig. 11"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + MAHARAJA OF JEYPORE AND HIS PRIME MINISTER +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Siwai Madhao Singh is proud of his ancestry, proud of his ancient +faith, proud of the traditions of his race, and adheres with +scrupulous conservatism to the customs and the manners of his +forefathers. At the same time he is very progressive, and Jeypore, +his capital, has the best modern museum, the best hospital, the +best college, the best industrial and art school, and the largest +school for girls among all the native states of India, and is more +progressive than any other Indian city except Calcutta and Bombay. +The maharaja was selected to represent the native princes at the +coronation of King Edward, and at first declined to go because he +could not leave India for a foreign country without losing caste. +When the reasons for his selection had been explained to him, and +he was informed that his refusal must be construed as an act of +disrespect to his sovereign, he decided that it was his duty to +waive his religious scruples and other objections and show his +esteem and loyalty for the Emperor of India. But he could not +go without great preparation. He undertook to protect himself +as much as possible from foreign influences and temptations, +and adhered as strictly as circumstances would allow to the +requirements of his caste and religion. He chartered a ship to +carry him from Bombay to London and back; loaded it with native +food supplies sufficient to last him and his party for six months, +and a six months' supply of water from the sacred Ganges for +cooking and drinking purposes. His preparations were as extensive +and complete as if he were going to establish a colony on some +desert island. He was attended by about 150 persons, including +priests, who carried their gods, altars, incense, gongs, records, +theological works, and all the appurtenances required to set up +a Hindu temple in London. He had his own stewards, cooks and +butchers--servants of every kind--and, of course, a good supply +of wives and dancing girls. A temporary temple was set up on the +dock in Bombay before sailing, and Rama, his divine ancestor, +was worshiped continuously for two weeks by the maharaja's priests +in order to secure his beneficent favor on the voyage. When London +was reached the entire outfit was transferred to a palace allotted +to his use, and such an establishment as he maintained there +was never seen in the world's metropolis before. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Siwai Madhao Singh was received with distinguished honors by the +king, the court, the ministry, the statesmen and the commercial +and industrial interests of England. He was one of the most +conspicuous persons at the coronation, and if he had been trained +from childhood for the part he could not have conducted himself +with greater grace and dignity. Everybody was delighted with him, +and he was delighted with his reception. He returned to Jeypore +filled with new ideas and inspired with new ambitions to promote +the welfare of his people, and although he had previously shown +remarkable capacity for government he feels that his experience +and the knowledge he acquired during his journey were of inestimable +value to him. One of the results is a determination to send his +sons to England to be educated, because he feels that it would +be an injustice to them and to the people over whom they must +some time rule, to deprive them of the advantages offered by +English institutions and by association with the people that +he desires them to meet. Caste is no longer an objection. The +maharaja has broken caste without suffering any disadvantage, +and has discovered that other considerations are more important. +He has learned by actual personal experience that the prejudices +of his race and religion against travel and association with +foreigners has done an immeasurable amount of injustice. He has +seen with his own eyes how the great men of England live and +prosper without caste, and is willing to do like them. They do +not believe in it. They regard it as a narrow, unjust and +inconvenient restriction, and he is partially convinced that they +are right. The most distinctive feature of Hindu civilization +thus received a blow from which it can never recover, because +Siwai Madhao Singh is recognized as one of the ablest, wisest +and most sincere of all the Hindu princes, and his influence in +this and as in other things is almost unlimited. He expects to +go to England again. He desires to visit other countries also, +because he realizes that he can learn much that is of value to +him and to his people by studying the methods and the affairs +of foreign nations. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="498"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig012.jpg" width="494" height="371" alt="Fig. 12"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + HALL OF THE WINDS--JEYPORE +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +In November, 1902, when Lord Curzon visited Jeypore, a banquet +was given in his honor, at which the maharaja made a remarkable +speech, alluding to his experience in England and the benefit +he derived from that visit. In reply Lord Curzon said: "When +I persuaded Your Highness to go to England as the chosen +representative of Rajputana at the coronation of the king, you +felt some hesitation as to the sharp separation from your home +and from the duties and the practices of your previous life. +But you have returned fortified with the conviction that dignity +and simplicity of character, and uprightness and magnanimity of +conduct are esteemed by the nobility and the people of England +not less than they are here. I hope that Your Highness' example +may be followed by those who come after you, and that it may +leave an enduring mark in Indian history." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The palace and gardens of the maharaja cover one-seventh of the +entire area of the city of Jeypore, and are inclosed within a +mighty wall, which is entered through several stately gates. +The only portion of the palace visible from the street is called +the Hawal Mahal, or "Hall of the Winds," which Sir Edwin Arnold's +glowing pen describes as "a vision of daring and dainty loveliness, +nine stories of rosy masonry, delicate overhanging balconies and +latticed windows, soaring tier after tier of fanciful architecture, +a very mountain of airy and audacious beauty, through a thousand +pierced screens and gilded arches. Aladdin's magician could have +called into existence no more marvelous an abode, nor was the +pearl and silver palace of the Peri more delicately charming." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Those who have had the opportunity to compare Sir Edwin Arnold's +descriptions with the actual objects in Japan, India and elsewhere +are apt to give a liberal allowance to his statements. He may be +an accomplished poet, but he cannot see straight. He looks at +everything through rose-colored magnifying glasses. The Hall of +the Winds is a picturesque and unique piece of Hindu architecture. +It looks like the frosting on a confectioners' cake. But it is +six instead of nine stories in height, is made of the cheapest +sort of stucco, and covered with deep pink calcimine. It is the +residence of the ladies of the harem, or zenana, as that mysterious +part of a household is called in India. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The palace of the maharaja is a noble building, but very ornate, +and is furnished with the most tawdry and inappropriate French +hangings and furniture. It is a pity that His Highness did not +allow his own taste to prevail, and use nothing but native furniture +and fabrics. His garden is lovely, being laid out in the highest +style of Hindu landscape art. At the foot of the grounds is a +great marble building, open on all sides, with a picturesque +roof sustained by a multitude of columns, which is the public +or audience hall, where His Highness receives his subjects and +conducts affairs of ceremony. Behind it is a relic of some of +his semi-barbarous ancestors in the form of a tank, in which a +lot of loathsome crocodiles are kept for the amusement of people +who like that sort of thing. They are looked after by a venerable, +half-naked old Hindu, who calls them up to the terrace by uttering +a peculiar cry, and, when they poke their ugly noses out of the +water and crawl up the steps, teases them with dainty morsels +he has obtained at the nearest slaughter-house. It is not a +soul-lifting spectacle. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The stables are more interesting. The maharaja maintains the +elephant stud of his ancestors, and has altogether about eighty +monsters, which are used for heavy work about the palace grounds +and for traveling in the country. In the stud are two enormous +savage beasts, which fight duels for the entertainment of the +maharaja and his guests. These duels take place in a paddock +where horses are exercised. His Highness has erected a little +kiosk, in which he can sit sheltered from the sun while the sport +goes on. He also has a lot of leopards, panthers and cheetahs +(Hindu wildcats), trained like dogs for hunting purposes, and +are said to be as useful and intelligent as Gordon setters. He +frequently takes a party of friends into the jungle for tiger +shooting, and uses these tame beasts to scare up the game. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He is fond of horses and has 300 breeding mares and stallions +kept in long stables opening upon the paddock in which they are +trained. Each horse has a coolie to look after it, for no coolie +could possibly attend to more than one. The man has nothing else +to do. He sleeps on the straw in the stall of the animal, and +seldom leaves it for a moment from the time he is assigned to +the duty until his services are no longer required. The maharaja +has spent a great deal of money and taken a great deal of pains +to improve the stock of his subjects, both horses and cattle. He +has an experimental farm for encouraging agriculture and teaching +the people, and a horticultural garden of seventy acres, with a +menagerie, in which are a lot of beautiful tigers captured by +his own men upon his own estates within twelve miles of town. +They catch a good many tigers alive, and one of his amiable habits +is to present them to his friends and people whom he desires to +honor. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the center of the horticultural garden stands one of the noblest +modern buildings in India, a museum which the maharaja established +several years ago for the permanent exhibition of the arts and +industries of his people, who are very highly skilled in metal and +loom work of all kinds, in sculpture, enameling, in making jewelry +of gold and silver, and varieties of glass work. At great expense +he has assembled samples of similar work from other countries in +order that his subjects may have the benefit of comparing it +with their own, and in connection with the museum has established +a school of art and industry. This at present has between five +and six hundred students receiving instruction in the arts and +industries in which the people of Jeypore have always excelled. +The museum is called Albert Hall, in honor of the King of England, +and the park is christened in memory of the late Earl of Mayo, +who, while Viceroy of India, became an intimate friend and revered +adviser of the father of the maharaja. An up-to-date hospital +with a hundred beds is named Mayo Hospital. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Maharaja's College is another institution which has been +established by this public-spirited and progressive Hindu, who +has done more for the education of his people than any other +native prince. There are now about 1,000 students, with a faculty +of eighty-two professors, including fifteen Englishmen and twelve +Persians. The college is affiliated with the University of Calcutta, +and has the best reputation of any institution of learning among +the native states. But even higher testimony to the liberality and +progressive spirit of this prince is a school for the education +of women. It is only of recent years that the women in India +were considered worth educating, and even now only about half +a million in this vast country, with a female population of +150,000,000, can read and write. But the upper classes are gradually +beginning to realize the advantage of educating their girls, +and the Maharaja of Jeypore was one of the first to establish +a school for that purpose, which now has between 700 and 800 +girls under the instruction of English and native teachers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +We had great fun at Jeypore, and saw many curious and interesting +things, for it is the liveliest and most attractive place we found +in India, with the greatest number of novelties and distinctive +local color. We went about day after day like a lot of lunatics, +kodaks in hand, taking snap-shots at all the odd looking +characters--and their name is legion--that we saw in the streets, +and it was an unusual experience. Everybody hasn't an opportunity +to photograph a group of elephants in full regalia carrying their +owners' wives or daughters on shopping excursions or to visit +friends--of course we didn't know which. And that is only one +of the many unusual spectacles that visitors to Jeypore may see +in every direction they choose to look. The gay raiment worn by +the women and the men, the fantastic designs painted upon the +walls of the houses and the bullock carts, are a never-ending +delight, for they are absolutely unique, and the latter ought +to be placed on pedestals in museums instead of being driven +about for ordinary transportation purposes. The yokes of the +oxen are carved with fanciful designs; everything is yellow or +orange or red. Even the camels are draped with long nettings +and fringes and tassels that reach from their humps to their +heels. The decorative idea seems to prevail over everything in +Jeypore. Nothing is without an ornament, no matter how humble +its purpose or how cheap its material or mechanism, its owner +embellishes as much as money and imagination will allow. Everything +pays tribute to the esthetic sense of the people. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The bullocks are lean animals of cream color, with long legs, +and trot over the road like horses, making four or five miles +an hour. Instead of carrying a bit in their mouths, the reins +are attached to a little piece of iron that passes through a +hole in the cartilage of the nose, and the traces which draw +the load spring from a collar that resembles a yoke. Most of +the hauling is done by these animals. They are used for every +purpose that we use horses and mules. Cows are never yoked. They +are sacred. The religion of the Hindu prohibits him from subjecting +them to labor. They are used for milking and breeding, and are +allowed to run at large. Nobody dare injure a cow or even treat +it unkindly. It would be as great a sin as kicking a congressman. +A learned pundit told me the other day how it happened that cows +became so highly esteemed in India. Of course he did not pretend +to have been on the spot, but had formed a theory from reading, +study and reflection, and by that same method all valuable theories +are produced. He said that once upon a time cattle became scarce +because of an epidemic which carried many of them off, and in +order to recover their numbers and protect them from slaughter +by the people some raja persuaded the Brahmins to declare them +sacred. Everything that a Brahmin says goes in India, and the +taboo placed upon those cows was passed along until it extended +over the entire empire and has never been removed. I suppose +we might apply the same theory to the sacred bulls of Egypt. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +We took our first elephant ride one morning to visit Amber, the +ancient but now deserted capital of the province of Jeypore, +where tens of millions of dollars were wasted in the construction +of splendid palaces and mansions that are now abandoned, and +standing open and empty, most of them in good condition, to the +enjoyment of tourists only and an occasional party of pilgrims +attracted hither by sacred associations. The reason alleged for +abandoning the place was the lack of pure water. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="629"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig013.jpg" width="625" height="371" alt="Fig. 13"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + ELEPHANT BELONGING TO THE MAHARAJAH OF JEYPORE +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The maharaja usually furnishes elephants for visitors to his +capital to ride around on. We are told that he delights to do +it because of his good heart and the number of idle monsters +in his stable who have to be exercised daily, and might as well +be toting tourists about the country as wandering around with +nobody on their backs. But a certain amount of ceremony and delay +is involved in the transaction of borrowing an elephant from an +Indian prince, hence we preferred to hire one from Mr. Zoroaster, +who keeps a big shop full of beautiful brass and enamel work, +makes Indian rugs and all sorts of things and exerts a hypnotic +influence over American millionaires. One American millionaire, +who was over there a few days ahead of us, evidently came very +near buying out Mr. Zoroaster, who shows his order book with +great pride, and a certain estimable American lady, who owns a +university on the Pacific slope, recently bought enough samples +of Indian art work from him to fill the museum connected with that +institution. Mr. Zoroaster will show you the inventory of her +purchases and the prices she paid, and will tell you in fervent +tones what a good woman she is, and what remarkable taste she has, +and what rare judgment she shows in the selection of articles +from his stock to illustrate the industrial arts of India. He +charged us fifteen rupees, which is equivalent to five dollars +in American money, more or less, according to the fluctuations +of exchange, for an elephant to carry us out to Amber, six miles +and a half. We have since been told that we should have paid +but ten rupees, and some persons assert that eight was plenty, +and various other insinuations have been made concerning the +way in which Mr. Zoroaster imposed upon innocent American globe +trotters, and there was plenty of people who kept reminding us +that we might have obtained an elephant for nothing. But Zoroaster +is all right; his elephants are all right; the mahouts who steer +them are all right, and it is worth fifteen rupees to ride to +Amber on the back of a great, big clumsy beast, although you +don't realize it at the time. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Beginners usually do not like the sensation of elephant riding. +Young girls giggle, mature ladies squeal, middle-aged men grab hold +of something firm and say nothing, while impenitent sinners often +express themselves in terms that cannot properly be published. +The acute trouble takes place just after mounting the beast and +just before leaving the lofty perch occupied by passengers on +his back. A saddle is placed upon his upper deck, a sort of +saw-horse, and the lower legs stretch at an angle sufficiently +obtuse to encompass his breadth of beam. This saw-horse is lashed +to the hull with numerous straps and ropes and on top of it are +placed rugs and cushions. Each saddle is built for four passengers, +sitting dos-a-dos, back to back, two on a side, and a little +shelf hangs down to support their feet. In order to diminish +the climb the elephant kneels down in the road. A naked heathen +brings a ladder, rests it against the side of the beast and the +passengers climb up and take their seats in the saddle. Another +naked heathen, who sits straddle the animal's neck, looks around +at the load, inquires if everybody is ready, jabs the elephant +under the ear with a sharpened iron prong and then the trouble +begins. It is a good deal like an earthquake. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +An elephant gets up one leg at a time, and during the process the +passengers on the upper deck are describing parabolas, isosceles +triangles and parallelepipedons in the circumambient atmosphere. +There isn't much to hold on to and that makes it the more exciting. +Then, when the animal finally gets under way, its movements are +similar to those of an earthquake or a vessel without ballast in +a first-class Hatteras gale. The irregularity and uncertainty +of the motion excites apprehension, and as the minutes pass by +you become more and more firmly convinced that something is wrong +with the animal or the saddle or the road, and the way the beast +wiggles his ears is very alarming. There is nobody around to +answer questions or to issue accident-insurance policies and +the naked heathen attendants talk no language that you know. +But after a while you get used to it, your body unconsciously +adjusts itself to the changes of position, and on the return +trip, you have a pretty good time. You become so accustomed to +the awkward and the irregular movements that you really enjoy +the novelty and are perfectly willing to try it again. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +But the most wonderful part of all is how the mahout steers the +elephant. It is one of the mysteries that foreigners can never +understand. He carries a goad in each hand--a rod of iron, about +as big as a poker, with an ornamental handle generally embossed +with silver or covered with enamel. One of the points curves +around like half a crescent; the other is straight and both are +sharpened to a keen point. When the mahout or driver wants the +elephant to do something, he jabs one of the goads into his +hide--sometimes one and sometimes the other, and at different +places on the neck, under the ears, and on top of the head, and +somehow or another the elephant understands what a jab in a +particular place means and obeys cheerfully like the great, +good-natured beast that he is. I have never been able to understand +the system. Elephant driving is an occult science. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The road to Amber passes through an interesting part of the city +of Jeypore and beyond the walls the broad highway is crowded with +carts loaded with vegetables and other country produce coming +into town and quite as many loaded with merchandise going the +other way. Some of them are drawn by bullocks and some by camels; +there are long caravans of camels with packs and paniers upon +their backs. As you meet hundreds of pedestrians you will notice +that the women all have baskets or packages upon their heads. The +men never carry anything. On either side of the broad highway +are cultivated gardens and gloomy looking houses and acres covered +with ruins and crumbling tombs. The city of Amber, which, as +I have already told you, was once the capital of the province +and the scene of great splendor, as well as frequent strife, +is now quite deserted. It once had 50,000 inhabitants, but now +every house is vacant. Few of them even have caretakers. The +beautiful palace with its marble coverings, mosaics and luxuriant +gardens is occupied only by a number of priests and fakirs, who +are supposed to spend their time in meditation upon heavenly +things, and in obedience to an ancient custom they sacrifice a +sheep or a goat in one of the temples every morning. Formerly +human beings were slain daily upon this altar--children, young +girls, women and peasants, who either offered themselves for +the sake of securing advancement in reincarnation or were seized +by the savage priests in the absence of volunteers. This was +stopped by the British a century ago, and since then the blood +of rams and goats has atoned for the sins of Jeypore. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XI">XI</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +ABOUT SNAKES AND TIGERS +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A gentleman in Bombay told me that 50,000 people are killed in +India every year by snakes and tigers, and his extraordinary +statement was confirmed by several officials and others to whom I +applied for information. They declared that only about one-half of +the deaths from such causes were ever reported; that the government +was endeavoring to secure more complete and exact returns, and +was offering rewards for the destruction of reptiles and wild +animals. Under instructions from Lord Curzon the authorities +of the central government at Calcutta gave me the returns for +British India for the ten years from 1892 to 1902, showing a +total of 26,461 human beings and 88,019 cattle killed by snakes +and wild animals during the fiscal year 1901-2. This does not +include the mortality from these causes in the eighty-two native +states which have one-third of the area and one fourth of the +population of the empire. Nor does it include thousands of cases +in the more remote portions of the country, which are never reported +to the authorities. In these remote sections, vast areas of +mountains, jungles and swamps, the danger from such causes is +much greater and deaths are more frequent than in the thickly +settled portions; so that my friend's estimate was not far out +of the way. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The official statistics for British India only (the native states +not included) for the ten years named are as follows: +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0 class="center"> +<tr><td colspan=3 class="center">KILLED BY WILD ANIMALS AND + SNAKES.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td> + <td class="right">Persons</td> + <td class="right">Cattle</td></tr> +<tr><td>1892</td> + <td class="right">21,988</td> + <td class="right">81,688</td></tr> +<tr><td>1893</td> + <td class="right">24,016</td> + <td class="right">90,253</td></tr> +<tr><td>1894</td> + <td class="right">24,449</td> + <td class="right">96,796</td></tr> +<tr><td>1895</td> + <td class="right">25,190</td> + <td class="right">100,107</td></tr> +<tr><td>1896</td> + <td class="right">24,322</td> + <td class="right">88,702</td></tr> +<tr><td>1897</td> + <td class="right">25,242</td> + <td class="right">84,187</td></tr> +<tr><td>1898</td> + <td class="right">25,166</td> + <td class="right">91,750</td></tr> +<tr><td>1899</td> + <td class="right">27,585</td> + <td class="right">98,687</td></tr> +<tr><td>1900</td> + <td class="right">25,833</td> + <td class="right">91,430</td></tr> +<tr><td>1901</td> + <td class="right">26,461</td> + <td class="right">88,019</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td> + <td class="right">---------</td> + <td class="right">---------</td></tr> +<tr><td>Total ten years</td> + <td class="right">250,252</td> + <td class="right">907,619</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Taking 1901 as a sample, I find that 1,171 persons were killed +by tigers and 29,333 cattle; 635 persons and 37,473 cattle were +killed by leopards; 403 human beings and 5,048 cattle were killed +by wolves; 1,442 human beings and 9,123 cattle were killed by +other wild animals, and 22,810 human beings and 5,002 cattle +by snakes. This is about the average record for the ten years, +although the number of persons killed by tigers in 1901-2 was +considerably less than usual. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The largest sacrifice of life was in the Province of Bengal, of +which Calcutta is the capital, and where the imperial authorities +have immediate control of such affairs. The government offers a +bounty of $1 for every snake skin, $5 for every tiger skin, and +a corresponding amount for other animals. During 1901-2, 14,301 +wild animals were reported killed and 96,953 persons received +rewards. The number of snakes reported destroyed was 69,668 and +2,858 persons were rewarded. The total amount of rewards paid +was $33,270, which is much below the average and the smallest +amount reported for many years. During the last ten years the +amount of rewards paid has averaged about $36,000 annually. The +falling off in 1901-2 is due to the discovery that certain +enterprising persons had gone into the business of breeding snakes +for the reward, and had been collecting considerable sums from +the government by that sort of fraud. Hereafter no one will be +able to collect claims without showing satisfactory evidence +that the snakes were actually wild when killed or captured. It is +hardly necessary to say that no one has thus far been accused of +breeding tigers for the bounty, although large numbers of natives +are engaged in the business of capturing them for menageries and +zoological gardens. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the maharaja's park at Jeypore we saw a dozen or more splendid +man-eating tigers, which, the keeper told us, had been captured +recently only twelve miles from that city. His Highness keeps a +staff of tiger hunters and catchers for amusement. He delights +in shooting big game, and several times a year goes into the +jungles with his native hunters and parties of friends and seldom +returns without several fine skins to add to his collection. His +tiger catchers remain in the woods all the time, and he has a +pleasant way of presenting the animals they catch to friends in +India, England and elsewhere. While we were in Jeypore I read in +a newspaper that the Negus of Abyssinia had given Robert Skinner +two fine lions to take home to President Roosevelt, and I am +sure the maharaja of Jeypore would be very glad to add a couple +of man-eating tigers if he were aware of Colonel Roosevelt's +love for the animal kingdom. I intended to make a suggestion in +that line to him, but there were so many other things to talk +about that it slipped my mind. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The maharaja catches tigers in the orthodox way. He has cages +of iron and the toughest kind of wood set upon wheels so that +they can be hauled into the jungle by oxen. When they reach a +suitable place the oxen are unhitched, the hunters conceal the +wheels and other parts of the wagon with boughs and palm leaves. +A sheep or a goat or some other animal is sacrificed and placed +in the cage for bait and the door is rigged so that it will remain +open in an inviting manner until the tiger enters and lifts the +carcass from the lever. The instant he disturbs the bait heavy +iron bars drop over the hole through which he entered and he is +a prisoner at the mercy of his captors. Sometimes the scheme +fails and the hunters lose their time and trouble and bait, but +being men of experience in such affairs they generally know the +proper place and the proper season to look for game. When the +watchers notify them that the trap is occupied they come with oxen +and haul it to town, where it is backed up against a permanent +cage in the menagerie, the iron door is lifted, and the tiger +is punched with iron bars until he accepts the quarters that +have been provided for him, and becomes a prisoner for life. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is a terrible thing when a hungry and ugly man-eater comes +into a village, for the inhabitants are generally defenseless. +They have no guns, because the government does not allow the +natives to carry arms, and their only weapons are the implements +of the farm. If they would clear out and scatter the number of +victims would not be so large, but they usually keep together +for mutual defense, and, as a consequence, the animal has them +at his mercy. A man-eater that has once tasted human flesh is +never satiated, and attacks one victim after another until he +has made away with an entire village. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The danger from snakes and other poisonous reptiles is much greater +than from tigers and other wild beasts, chiefly because snakes +in India are sacred to the gods, and the government finds it +an exceedingly delicate matter to handle the situation as the +circumstances require. When a Hindu is bitten by a snake it is +considered the act of a god, and the victim is honored rather +than pitied. While his death is deplored, no doubt, he has been +removed from an humble earthly sphere to a much more happy and +honorable condition in the other world. Therefore, while it is +scarcely true that the Hindus like to be killed by snake poison, +they will do very little to protect themselves or cure the bites. +Nor do they like to have the reptiles killed for fear of provoking +the gods that look after them. The snake gods are numbered by +hundreds of thousands, and shrines have been erected to them +in every village and on every highway. If a pious Hindu peasant +sees a snake he will seldom run from it, but will remain quiet +and offer a prayer, and if it bites him and he dies, his heirs +and relatives will erect a shrine to his memory. The honor of +having a shrine erected to one's memory is highly appreciated. +Hence death from snake poison is by no means the worst fate a Hindu +can suffer. These facts indicate the difficulties the government +officials meet in their endeavors to exterminate reptiles. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Snake charmers are found in every village. They are usually priests, +monks or sorcerers, and may generally be seen in the neighborhood +of Hindu temples and tombs. They carry from two to twenty hideous +reptiles of all sizes in the folds of their robes, generally +next to their naked bosoms, and when they see a chance of making +a few coppers from a stranger they draw them out casually and +play with them as if they were pets. Usually the fangs have been +carefully extracted so that the snakes are really harmless. At +the same time they are not agreeable companions. Sometimes snake +charmers will allow their pets to bite them, and, when the blood +appears upon the surface of the skin, they place lozenges of +some black absorbent upon the wounds to suck up the blood and +afterward sell them at high prices for charms and amulets. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When Mr. Henry Phipps of New York was in India he became very +much interested in this subject. His sympathies were particularly +excited by the number of poor people who died from snake bites +and from the bites of wild animals, without medical attention. +There is only one small Pasteur institute in India, and it is +geographically situated so that it cannot be reached without +several days' travel from those parts of the empire where snakes +are most numerous and the mortality from animals is largest. +With his usual modesty, without saying anything to anybody, Mr. +Phipps placed $100,000 in the hands of Lord Curzon with a request +that a hospital and Pasteur institute be established in southern +India at the most accessible location that can be found for the +treatment of such cases, and a laboratory established for original +research to discover antidotes and remedies for animal poisons. +After thorough investigation it was decided to locate the institute +in the Province of Madras. The local government provided a site +and takes charge of its maintenance, while the general government +will pay an annual subsidy corresponding to the value of the +services rendered to soldiers sent there for treatment. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +While we were waiting at a railway station one morning a +solemn-looking old man, who, from appearances, might have been +a contemporary of Mahomet, or the nineteenth incarnation of a +mighty god, squatted down on the floor and gazed upon us with a +broad and benevolent smile. He touched his forehead respectfully +and bowed several times, and then, having attracted attention and +complied with the etiquette of his caste, drew from his breast +a spry little sparrow that had been nestling between his cotton +robe and his bare flesh. Stroking the bird affectionately and +talking to it in some mysterious language, the old man looked up +at us for approval and placed it upon the pavement. It greeted +us cordially with several little chirps and hopped around over +the stone to get the kinks out of its legs, while the old fakir +drew from his breast a little package which he unfolded carefully +and laid on the ground. It contained an assortment of very fine +beads of different colors and made of glass. Taking a spool of +thread from the folds of his robe, the old man broke off a piece +about two feet long and, calling to the bird, began to whistle +softly as his pet hopped over toward him. There was evidently +a perfect understanding between them. The bird knew what was +expected and proceeded immediately to business. It grasped the +lower end of the thread in its little claws as its trainer held +it suspended in the air with the other end wound around his +forefinger, and swung back and forth, chirruping cheerfully. +After swinging a little while it reached the top, and then stood +proudly for a moment on the fakir's finger and acknowledged our +applause. Then it climbed down again like a sailor or a monkey +and dropped to the ground. I had never seen an exhibition so +simple and yet unusual, but something even better was yet to +come, for, in obedience to instruction, the little chap picked +up the tiny beads one after another with his bill and strung +them upon the thread, which it held with its tiny toes. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XII">XII</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE RAJPUTS AND THEIR COUNTRY +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In India, as everywhere else, the climate and physical features +of the country have exercised a sharp and lasting influence upon +the race that lives therein. The noblest characters, the brave, +the strong, the enduring and the progressive come from the north, +where the air is keen and encourages activity, while those who +dwell in the south have hereditary physical and moral lassitude. +The geographical names are typical of the people. They all mean +something and have a poetical and oftentimes a political +significance. "The Mountains of Strength" encompass a plateau +called "The Abode of Princes," and beyond and behind them stretches +a desert called the "Region of Death." This country is called +the Rajputana--pronounced Raashpootana--and is composed of the +most interesting of all the native states of India, twenty in +number, with an area of 150,000 square miles and a population +of more than 12,000,000. They are the only part of the empire +where ancient political institutions and dynasties survive, and +their preservation is due to the protection of the British +authorities. Each prince is the hereditary chief of a military +clan, the members of which are all descended from a common ancestor, +and for centuries have been the lords of the soil. Many of the +families are Mohammedans, and they are famous for their chivalry, +their loyalty, their independence and love of the truth. These +characteristics, I contend, are largely due to the climate and +the topography of the territory in which they live. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Mount Abu, the sacred Olympus of western India, a huge heap of +granite rising 5,650 feet above the sea, is in the center of +Rajputana. It is called the "Pinnacle of the Saints," and upon +its summit may be found the highest ideals of Indian ecclesiastical +architecture in a group of five marble temples erected by +peace-loving and life-protecting Jains, the Quakers of the East. +These temples were built about a thousand years ago by three +brothers, pious merchant princes, Vimala Sah, Tejpala and Vastupala. +The material was carried more than 300 miles over mountains and +across plains--an undertaking worthy of the ancient Egyptians. +The columns and pillars, the cornices, the beams that support the +roofs, the arches of the gateways, windows and doors, the sills +and lintels, the friezes and wainscoting, all of the purest and +daintiest marble, were chiseled by artists of a race whose creed +pronounces patience to be the highest virtue, whose progenitor lived +8,000,000 years, and to whom a century is but a day. The purpose +of the prayers of these people is to secure divine assistance in +the suppression of all worldly desires, to subdue selfishness, +to lift the soul above sordid thoughts and temptations. Therefore +they built their temples amid the most beautiful scenery they +could find. They made them cool and dark because of the heat and +glare of this climate, with wide porticoes, overhanging eaves that +shut out the sunshine and make the interior one great refreshing +shadow, tempting the warm and weary to enter the cool twilight, +for all the light they have is filtered through screens made of +great sheets of fine-grained marble, perforated with tracery +and foliage designs as delicate as Brussels lace. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the center of this wonderful museum of sculpture, surrounded +by a forest of carved columns, which in the minuteness and beauty +of detail stand almost unrivaled even in this land of lavish labor +and inexhaustible patience, sits the image of Parswanatha, the god +of Peace and Plenty, a divinity that encourages love and gentleness +and truth, to whom these temples were dedicated. He is seated upon +an exquisite platform of alabaster, with legs crossed and arms +folded, silent and immovable, engaged in the contemplation of the +good and beautiful, and his lips are wreathed in a smile that +comprehends all human beings and will last throughout eternity. +Around this temple, as usual with the Jains, is a cloister--a +wide colonnade supported by a double row of pillars. There are +fifty-five cells opening upon it, but instead of being occupied +by monks or priests, in each of them, upon a throne of lotus +leaves, sits an exact miniature duplicate of the image of the same +god, in the same posture, with the same expression of serene and +holy calm. A number of young priests were moving about placing +fresh flowers before these idols, and in the temple was a group +of dusty, tired, hungry, half-naked and sore-footed pilgrims, +who had come a long way with packs on their backs bearing their +food and seeking no shelter but the shade of temples or trees. +Here at last they found rest and relief and consolation, and it +seems a beautiful religion that requires nothing more from its +devotees. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The forty-eight columns which sustain the dome of this temple +have been pronounced the most exquisite examples of carved marble +in existence, and the highest authority on Indian architecture +declares that the dome "in richness of ornament and delicacy +of detail is probably unsurpassed in the world." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Facing the entrance to the temple is a square building, or portico, +containing nine large white elephants, each carved from a monolith +of marble. Originally they all had riders, intended to represent +Vimala Sah, the Jain merchant, and his family going in procession +to worship, but several of the figures have been broken entirely +away and others have been badly damaged. These five temples, with +their courtyards and cloisters, are said to have cost $90,000,000 +and to have occupied fourteen years in building, from 1032 to +1046 A. D. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Mount Abu is the headquarters of the Rajputana administration, +the hot weather station for the British troops, and the favorite +summer resort of the European colonies of western India. The +mountain is encircled with well-made roads, winding among the +forests, and picturesque bridle paths. There are many handsome +villas belonging to officials and private citizens, barracks, +schools, asylums, clubs and other modern structures. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In several of the larger cities of the province can be found +temples similar to those I have described; some of them of Saracenic +architecture, equal to that of the Alhambra or the Persian palaces. +The pure Hindu designs differ from the Saracenic as widely as +the Gothic from the Romanesque, but often you find a mixture +embracing the strongest features of both. The rich and the strong +gave expression to their own sense of beauty and taste when by +the erection of these temples they sought to honor and glorify +the gods to whom they pray. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Ajmere, the winter capital of the governor general of Rajputana, +is one of the oldest and most beautiful cities of western India, +having been founded only a hundred years after the beginning of +the Christian era, and occupying a picturesque position in an +amphitheater made by the mountains, 3,000 feet above the sea. +It is protected by a stone wall, with five gateways; many of the +residences and most of the buildings are of stone, with ornamental +façades, and some of them are of great antiquity. In the olden +days it was the fashion to build houses to last forever. Ajmere +has a population of about 70,000. It is surrounded by a fertile +country, occupied by an industrious, wealthy, and prosperous +people. The city is commanded by a fortress that crowns a noble +hill called "The Home of the Stars," possesses a mosque that +is one of the most successful combinations of Hindu and Saracenic +architecture of which I have spoken, the conception of some unknown +genius, combining the Mohammedan ideas of grandeur with Hindu +delicacy of taste and prodigality of detail. In its decorations +may be found some of the most superb marble embroidery that the +imagination can conceive of. One of the highest authorities dates +its erection as far back as the second century before Christ, but +it is certainly of a much later date. Some architects contend that +it belongs to the fourteenth century; it is however, considered +the finest specimen of early Mohammedan architecture in existence. +The mosque can be compared to a grand salon, open to the air at +one side, the ceiling, fifty feet high, supported by four rows +of columns, eighteen in each row, which are unique in design, and +no two of them are alike. The designs are complex and entirely +novel, and each is the work of a different artist, who was allowed +entire liberty of design and execution, and endeavored to surpass +his rivals. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are several other mosques and temples of great beauty in +Ajmere, and some of them are sacred places that attract multitudes +of pilgrims, who are fed daily by the benevolence of rich +contributors. Enormous rice puddings are cooked in eight enormous +earthen caldrons, holding several bushels each, which are ready +at noon every day. The composition contains rice, butter, sugar, +almonds, raisins and spices, and to fill all of the eight pots +costs about $70. The moment the pudding is cooked a bell is rung, +and the pilgrims are allowed to help themselves in a grab-game +which was never surpassed. Greedy creatures scald themselves in +the pudding so badly that they sometimes carry the marks for +life. It is counted a miracle caused by the intercession of the +saints that no lives have ever been lost in these scrambles, +although nearly every day some pilgrim is so badly burned that +he has to be taken to a hospital. The custom is ancient, although +I was not able to ascertain its origin or the reason why the +priests do not allow the pudding to cool below the danger point +before serving it. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Ajmere is the headquarters of one of the greatest railways in +India, with extensive shops, employing several thousand natives +and Europeans. The chief machinists, master mechanics and engineers +are almost exclusively Scotchmen. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In this province may be found an excellent illustration of the +effect of the policy of the British government toward the native +princes. It had good material to work with, because the twenty +independent Rajput princes are a fine set of men, all of whom trace +their descent to the sun or the moon or to one of the planets, and +whose ancestors have ruled for ages. Each family has a genealogical +tree, with roots firmly implanted in mythology, and from the +day when the ears of their infants begin to distinguish the +difference in sounds, and their tongues begin to frame thoughts in +words, every Rajput prince is taught the tables of his descent, +which read like those in the Old Testament, and the names of his +illustrious ancestors. Attached to each noble household is a +chronicler or bard, whose business is to keep the family record +straight, and to chant the epics that relate the achievements of +the clan. As I have said, all the Rajput families are related and +belong to the same caste, which has prevented them from diluting +their blood by marriage with inferior families. It is his blood, +and not the amount of his wealth or the extent of his lands, +that ennobles a Rajput. Many of the noblest families are very +poor, but the poorest retains the knowledge and the pride of +his ancestors, which are often his only inheritance. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +These characteristics and other social and religious customs +make Rajputana one of the most romantic and fascinating spots in +India, and perhaps there is no more interesting place to study +the social, political and economical development of a people +who once held that only two professions could be followed by +a gentleman--war and government. But their ancient traditions +have been thoroughly revised and modified to meet modern ideas. +They have advanced in prosperity and civilization more rapidly +than any other of the native states. Infanticide of girl babies +was formerly considered lawful and generally practiced among them, +and widows were always burned alive upon the funeral pyres of +their husbands, but now the Rajput princes are building hospitals +and asylums for women instead, bringing women doctors from Europe +to look after the wives and daughters in their harems, and are +founding schools for the education of girls. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="624"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig014.jpg" width="620" height="369" alt="Fig. 14"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + TOMB OF ETMAH-DOWLAH--AGRA +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +About three miles from the center of Ajmere is Mayo College, +for the exclusive education of Rajput princes, and erected by +them. The center building, of white marble, is surrounded by +villas and cottages erected for the accommodation of the members +of the princely families who are sent there. The villas are all of +pure Hindu architecture, and there has been considerable rivalry +among the different families to see which should house its cadets +in the most elegant and convenient style. Hence, nowhere else +in India can be found so many fine examples of modern native +residence architecture. The young princes live in great style, +each having a little court around him and a number of servants +to gratify his wants. It is quite the usual arrangement for a +college student to live in a palatial villa, with secretaries, +aides-de-camp, equerries and bodyguards, for Indian princes are +very particular in such matters, and from the hour of birth their +sons are surrounded with as much ceremony as the King of Spain. +They would not be permitted to attend the college if they could +not continue to live in regal state. Some of them, only 10 or +12 years old, have establishments as large and grand as those +of half the kings of Europe, and the Princes Imperial of England +or of Germany live the life of a peasant in comparison. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XIII">XIII</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE ANCIENT MOGUL EMPIRE +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The ancient Mogul Empire embraced almost as much of India as +is controlled by the British today, and extended westward into +Europe as far as Moscow and Constantinople. It was founded by +a young warrior known as Timour the Tartar, or Tamerlane, as he +is more frequently called in historical works. He was a native +of Kesh, a small town fifty miles south of Samarkand, the capital +of Bokhara, which was known as Tartary in those days. This young +man conquered more nations, ruled over a wider territory and +a larger number of people submitted to his authority than to +any other man who ever lived, before or since. His expansion +policy was more successful than that of Alexander the Great or +Julius Cæsar or Charles V. or Napoleon, and he may properly be +estimated as one of the greatest if not the very greatest and +most successful soldier in all history. Yet he was not born to a +throne. He was a self-made man. His father was a modest merchant, +without wealth or fame. His grandfather was a scholar of repute +and conspicuous as the first convert to Mohammedanism in the +country in which he lived. Timour went into the army when he +was a mere boy. There were great doings in those days, and he +took an active part in them. From the start he seems to have been +cast for a prominent role in the military dramas and tragedies +being enacted upon the world's wide stage. He inherited a love +of learning from his grandfather and a love of war as well as +military genius from some savage ancestor. He rose rapidly. Other +men acknowledged his superiority, and before he was 30 years +old he found himself upon a throne and acknowledged to be the +greatest soldier of his time. He came into India in 1398 and set +up one of his sons on a throne at Delhi, where his descendants +ruled until the great Indian mutiny of 1857--460 years. He died +of fever and ague in 1405, and was buried at Samarkand, where +a splendid shrine erected over his tomb is visited annually by +tens of thousands of pilgrims, who worship him as divine. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Babar, sixth in descent from Timour, consolidated the states +of India under a central government. His memoirs make one of +the most fascinating books ever written. He lived a stirring +and a strenuous life, and the world bowed down before him. His +death was strangely pathetic, and illustrates the faith and the +superstition of men mighty in material affairs but impotent before +gods of their own creation. His son and the heir to his throne, +Humayon, being mortally ill of fever, was given up to die by the +doctors, whereupon the affectionate father went to the nearest +temple and offered what he called his own worthless soul as a +substitute for his son. The gods accepted the sacrifice. The +dying prince began to recover and the old man sank slowly into +his grave. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The empire increased in wealth, glory and power, and among the +Mogul dynasty were several of the most extraordinary men that have +ever influenced the destinies of nations. Yet it seems strange that +from the beginning each successive emperor should be allowed to +obtain the throne by treachery, by the wholesale slaughter of his +kindred and almost always by those most shameful of sins--parricide +and ingratitude to the authors of their being. Rebellious children +have always been the curse of oriental countries, and when we +read the histories of the Mogul dynasty and the Ottoman Empire +and of the tragedies that have occurred under the shadows of the +thrones of China, India and other eastern countries, we cannot +but sympathize with the feelings of King Thebaw of Burma, who +immediately after his coronation ordered the assassination of +every relative he had in the world and succeeded in "removing" +seventy-eight causes of anxiety. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Babar, the "Lion," as they called him, was buried at Kabul, the +capital of Afghanistan, and was succeeded by Humayon, the son +for whom he gave his life. The latter, on Sunday, Dec. 14, 1517, +the day that Martin Luther delivered his great speech against the +pope and caused the new word "Protestant"--one who protests--to +be coined, drove Sikandar, the last of the Afghan dynasty, from +India. When they found the body of that strenuous person upon the +battle field, the historians say, "five or six thousand of the +enemy were lying dead in heaps within a small space around him;" +as if he had killed them all. The wives and slaves of Sikandar +were captured. Humayon behaved generously to them, considering +the fashion of those times, but took the liberty to detain their +luggage, which included their jewels and other negotiable assets. +In one of their jewel boxes was found a diamond which Sikandar +had acquired from the sultan Alaeddin, one of his ancestors, +and local historians, writing of it at the time, declared that +"it is so valuable that a judge of diamonds valued it at half the +daily expenses of the entire world." This was the first public +appearance in good society of the famous Kohinoor, which, as +everybody knows, is now the chief ornament in the crown of Edward +VII., King of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India. It +is valued at £880,000, or $4,400,000 in our money. Queen Victoria +never wore it. She had it taken from the crown and replaced by a +paste substitute. This jewel thus became one of the heirlooms +of the Moguls, who lived in such splendor as has never been seen +since or elsewhere and could not be duplicated in modern times. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the winter of 1555 Humayon was descending a stairway when his +foot slipped and he fell headlong to the bottom. He was carried +into his palace and died a few days later, being succeeded by +his son, a boy of 13, who in many respects was the noblest of +the Moguls, and is called in history Akbar the Great. He came to +the throne in 1556, and his reign, which lasted until 1605, was +almost contemporaneous with that of Queen Elizabeth. In reading +his history one is impressed by the striking resemblance between +him and the present Emperor of Germany. Beiram, who had been +his father's prime minister, and whose clear intellect, iron +will and masterful ability had elevated the house of Tamerlane +to the glory and power it then enjoyed, remained with the young +king as his adviser, and, owing to the circumstances, did not +treat him with as much deference and respect as Akbar's lofty +notions considered proper. The boy endured the slights for four +years, and when he reached the age of 17 there occurred at the +court of the Moguls an incident which was repeated several centuries +later at Berlin, but it turned out differently. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Beiram, like Bismarck, submitted to the will of his young master, +surrendered all insignia of authority, and started on a pilgrimage +to Mecca, but before he left India his chagrin and indignation +got the better of his judgment and he inspired an insurrection +against the throne. He was arrested and brought back to Delhi, +where, to his surprise, he was received with the greatest ceremony +and honor. According to the custom of the time, nobles of the +highest rank clothed him with garments from the king's wardrobe, +and when he entered the royal presence Akbar arose, took him by +the hand and led the astonished old man to a seat beside the +imperial throne. Beiram, realizing the magnanimity of his boyish +master, fell upon his knees, kissed the feet of the king, and +between sobs begged for pardon. The king conferred the greatest +possible honors upon him, but gave him no responsibility, and +Beiram's proud and sensitive soul found relief in resuming his +pilgrimage to Mecca. But he never reached that holy place. He +died on the way by the hand of an Afghan noble, whose father, +years before, he had killed in battle. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +You must remember Akbar, because so many of the glories of Indian +architecture, which culminate at Agra and Delhi, are due to his +refined taste and appreciation for the beautiful, and I shall +have a good deal to say about him, because he was one of the best +men that ever wore a crown. He was great in every respect; he was +great as a soldier, great as a jurist, great as an executive, +broad-minded, generous, benevolent, tolerant and wise, an almost +perfect type of a ruler, if we are to believe what the historians +of his time tell us about him. He was the handsomest man in his +empire; he excelled all his subjects in athletic exercises, in +endurance and in physical strength and skill. He was the best +swordsman and the best horseman and his power over animals was +as complete as over men. And as an architect he stands unrivaled +except by his grandson, who inherited his taste. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Although a pagan and without the light of the gospel, Akbar +recognized the merits of Christianity and exemplified the ideals +of civil and religious liberty which it teaches, and which are +now considered the highest attribute of a well-ordered state. +While Queen Elizabeth was sending her Catholic subjects to the +scaffold and the rack, while Philip II. was endeavoring to ransom +the souls of heretics from perdition by burning their bodies +alive in the public plazas of his cities, and while the awful +incident of St. Bartholomew indicated the religious condition +of France, the great Mogul of Delhi called around his throne +ministers of peace from all religions, proclaimed tolerance of +thought and speech, freedom of worship and theological controversy +throughout his dominions; he abolished certain Hindu practices, +such as trials by ordeal, child marriage, the burning of widows +and other customs which have since been revived, because he +considered them contrary to justice, good morals and the welfare +of his people, and displayed a cosmopolitan spirit by marrying +wives from the Brahmin, Buddhist, Mohammedan and Christian faiths. +He invited the Roman Catholic missionaries, who were enjoying +great success at Goa, the Portuguese colony 200 miles south from +Bombay, to come to Agra and expound their doctrines, and gave +them land and money to build a church. His grandson and successor +married a Catholic queen--a Portuguese princess. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +But notwithstanding the just, generous and noble life of Akbar, +he was overthrown by his own son, Selim, who took the high-sounding +title Jehanghir, "Conqueror of the World," and he had been reigning +but a short time when his own son, Kushru, endeavored to treat +him in the same manner. The revolt was promptly quelled. Seven +hundred of the supporters of the young prince were impaled in +a row, and that reckless youth was conducted slowly along the +line so that he could hear the dying reproaches of the victims +of his misguided ambition. Other of his sons also organized +rebellions afterward and "the conqueror of the world" had +considerable difficulty in retaining his seat upon the throne, +but he proved to be a very good king. He was just and tolerant, +sober and dignified and scrupulous in observing the requirements +of his position, and was entirely subject to the influence of +a beautiful and brilliant wife. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +His successor was Shah Jehan, one of the most interesting and +romantic figures in Indian history, who began his reign by murdering +his brothers. That precaution firmly established him upon the throne. +He, too, was considered a good king, but his fame rests chiefly +upon the splendor of his court and the magnificent structures he +erected. He rebuilt the ancient City of Delhi upon a new site, +adorned it with public buildings of unparalleled cost and beauty, +and received his subjects seated upon the celebrated peacock +throne, a massive bench of solid gold covered with mosaic figures +of diamonds, rubies, pearls and other precious stones. It cost +£6,500,000, which is $32,500,000 of our money, even in those +times, when jewels were cheap compared with the prices of today. +In 1729 Nadir Shah, the King of Persia, swooped down upon India +and carried this wonder of the world to his own capital, together +with about $200,000,000 in other portable property. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are many good traits in the character of Shah Jehan. Aside +from his extravagance, his administration was to be highly commended. +Under his rule India reached the summit of its wealth and prosperity, +and the people enjoyed liberty and peace, but retribution came at +last, and his sons did unto him as he had done unto his father, +and much more also. They could not wait until he was ready to +relinquish power or until death took the scepter from his hand, +but four of them rebelled against him, drove him from the throne +and kept him a prisoner for the last eight years of his life. But +scarcely had they overthrown him when they began to quarrel among +themselves, and Aurangzeb, the fourth son, being the strongest +among them, simplified the situation by slaughtering his three +brothers, and was thus able to reign unmolested for more than +half a century, until he died in 1707, 89 years old. His last +days were embittered by a not unnatural fear that he would suffer +the fate of his own father. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +From the time that the Emperor Aurangzeb climbed to the throne +of the Moguls upon the dead bodies of his father and three elder +brothers, the glory and power of that empire began to decay. +He reigned forty-nine years. His court was magnificent. At the +beginning his administration was wise and just, and he was without +question an able, brave and cultured king. But, whether as an +atonement for his crimes or for some other reason, he became a +religious fanatic, and after a few years the broad-minded policy +of religious liberty and toleration, which was the chief feature +of the reign of his father and his grandfather, was reversed, and +he endeavored to force all of his subjects into the Mohammedan +faith. He imposed a heavy head tax upon all who did not profess +that faith; he excluded all but Moslems from the public service; +he deprived "infidels," as they were generally termed, of valuable +civil rights and privileges; he desecrated the shrines and destroyed +the sacred images of the Hindus, and prohibited the religious +festivals and other features of their worship. The motive of +this policy was no doubt conscientious, but the effect was the +same as that which has followed similar sectarian zeal in other +countries. The history of the world demonstrates that religious +intolerance and persecution always destroy prosperity. No nation +ever prospered that prohibited freedom of worship. You will find +a striking demonstration of that truth in Spain, in the Balkan +states and in the Ottoman Empire, in modern times without going +back to the Jews and other ancient races. The career of Aurangzeb is +strikingly like that of Philip II. of Spain, and his character was +similar to that of Louis XIV. of France, who was his contemporary. +Both were unscrupulous, arrogant, egotistical and cruel kings; +both were religious devotees and endeavored to compensate for a +lack of morals by excessive zeal in persecuting heretics, and +in promoting what they considered the interests of their church; +and both created disaffection and provoked rebellion among their +subjects, and undermined the power and authority of the dynasties +to which they belonged. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is needless to review the slow but gradual decay of the Great +Mogul Empire. With the adoption of Aurangzeb's policy of intolerance +it began to crumble, and none of his successors proved able to +restore it. He died in 1707, and the throne of the Moguls was +never again occupied by a man of force or notable ability. The +history of the empire during the eighteenth century is merely a +record of successive failures, of disintegration, of successful +rebellions and of invasions by foreign foes, which stripped the +Moguls of their wealth and destroyed their resources. First came +the Persians; then the Afghans, who plundered the imperial capital, +desecrated tombs and temples, destroyed the fortresses and palaces +and left little but distress and devastation when they departed. +One by one the provinces separated themselves from the empire and +set up their own independence; until in 1804 the English took +possession of the remnant and have maintained their authority +ever since. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Within the wall of the great citadel at Delhi, for reasons of +policy, the English allowed the great Mogul to maintain a fictitious +court, and because the title continued to command the veneration of +the natives, at state ceremonies the nominal successor of Timour +the Tartar was allowed to sit upon a throne in the imperial hall +of audience and receive the homage of the people. But the Moguls +were not allowed to exercise authority and were idle puppets +in the hands of their advisers until the great mutiny of 1857 +brought the native soldiers into the palace crying: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Help, oh King, in our Fight for the Faith." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is not necessary to relate the details of that awful episode +of Indian history, but it will do no harm to recall what we learned +in our school days of the principal incidents and refer to the +causes which provoked it. From the beginning of the British +occupation of India there had been frequent local uprisings caused +by discontent or conspiracy, but the East India Company, and the +officials of the British government who supported it, had perfect +confidence in the loyalty of the sepoys--the native soldiers who +were hired to fight against their fellow countrymen for so much +pay. They were officered by Englishmen, whose faith in them was +only extinguished by assassination and massacre. The general +policy and the general results of British administration have +been worthy of the highest commendation, but there have been +many blunders and much injustice from time to time, due to +individuals rather than to the nation. A weak and unwise man +in authority can do more harm in a year than can be corrected +in a century. Several so-called "reforms" had been introduced +into the native army; orders had been issued forbidding the use +of caste marks, the wearing of earrings and other things which +Englishmen considered trivial, but were of great importance to +the Hindus. Native troops were ordered over the sea, which caused +them to lose their caste; new regulations admitted low-caste men +to the service; the entire army was provided with a new uniform +with belts and cockades made from the skins of animals which the +Hindus considered sacred, and cartridges were issued which had been +covered with lard to protect them from the moisture of the climate, +and, as everybody knows, the flesh of swine is the most unclean +thing in existence to the pious Hindu. All these things, which +the stubborn, stupid Englishmen considered insignificant, were +regarded by the sepoys as deliberate attacks upon their religion, +and certain conspirators, who had reasons for desiring to destroy +British authority, used them to convince the native soldiers +that the new regulations were a long-considered and deliberate +attempt to deprive them of their caste and force them to become +Christians. Unfortunately the British officers in command refused +to treat the complaints seriously, and laughed in the faces of +their men, which was insult added to injury, and was interpreted +as positive proof of the evil intentions of the government. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This situation was taken advantage of by certain Hindu princes +who had been deprived of power or of pensions previously granted. +Nana Sahib, the deposed raja of Poona, was the leader, and the +unsuspecting authorities allowed him to travel about the country +stirring up discontent and conspiring with other disloyal native +chiefs for a general uprising and massacre, which, according to +their programme, occurred in northern India during the summer +of 1857. If the British had desired to play into the hands of the +conspirators they could not have adopted a policy more effective +in that direction. Utterly unconscious of danger and unsuspicious +of the conspiracies that were enfolding them, they relieved city +after city of its guard of English troops and issued arms and +ammunition in unusual and unnecessary quantities to the sepoys, +at whose mercy the entire foreign population was left. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The outbreak occurred according to the programme of Nana Sahib, +who proved to be a leader of great ability and strategic skill, +and in nearly every city of northern India, particularly at Delhi, +Lucknow, Cawnpore and other places along the Ganges, men, women and +children, old and young, in the foreign colonies were butchered +in cold blood. In Agra 6,000 foreigners gathered for protection +in the walls of the great fort, and most of them were saved. +Small detachments of brave soldiers under General Havelock, Sir +Henry Lawrence, Sir Colin Campbell, Sir Hugh Rose, Lord Napier and +other leaders fought their way to the rescue, and the conspiracy +was finally crushed, but not without untold suffering and enormous +loss of life. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the evening of May 11, 1857, about fifty foreigners, all unarmed +civilians, were brought into the palace at Delhi, and by order of +Bahander Shah, the Mogul whom the mutineer leaders had proclaimed +Emperor of India, were thrust into a dungeon, starved for five +days and then hacked to pieces in the beautiful courtyard. The +new emperor, a weak-minded old man with no energy or ability, +and scarcely intellect enough to realize his responsibilities, +pronounced judgment and issued the orders prepared for him by +the conspirators by whom he was surrounded. But retribution was +swift and sure. A few weeks later when the British troops blew +in the walls of the palace citadel after one of the most gallant +assaults ever recorded in the annals of war, the old man, with +two of his sons, fled to the tomb of Humayon, who occupied the +Mogul throne from 1531 to 1556, as if that sanctuary would be +revered by the British soldiers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This tomb is one of the most notable buildings in India. It stands +on the bank of the Jumna River, about five miles from the present +city of Delhi. It is an octagonal mass of rose-colored sandstone +and white marble, decorated with an ingenuity of design and delicacy +of execution that have never been surpassed, and is crowned by a +marble dome of perfect Persian pattern, three-fourths the diameter +of that of St. Paul's Cathedral of London, and almost as large as +that of the Capitol at Washington. In this splendid mausoleum, +where twelve of his imperial ancestors sleep, the Last of the Moguls +endeavored to conceal himself and his sons, but Colonel Hodson, +who commanded a desperate volunteer battalion of foreigners whose +property had been confiscated or destroyed by the mutineers, whose +wives had been ravished and whose children had been massacred, +followed the flying Mogul to the asylum he sought, and dragged +him trembling and begging for mercy from among the tombs. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Hodson was a man of remarkable character and determination and +was willing to assume responsibility, and "Hodson's Horse," as +the volunteer battalion was called, were the Rough Riders of the +Indian mutiny. He took the aged king back to Delhi and delivered +him to the British authorities alive, but almost imbecile from +terror and excitement. The two princes, 19 and 22 years of age, +he deliberately shot with his own revolver before leaving the +courtyard of the tomb in which they were captured. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This excited the horror of all England. The atrocities of the +mutineers were almost forgotten for the moment. That the heirs +of the throne of the great Moguls should be killed by a British +officer while prisoners of war was an offense against civilization +and Christianity that could not be tolerated, although only a +few weeks before these two same princes had participated in the +cold-blooded butchery of fifty Christian women and children. +There was a parliamentary investigation. Hodson explained that +he had only a few men, too few to guard three prisoners of such +importance; that he was surrounded by fifty thousand half-armed +and excited natives, who would have exterminated his little band +and rescued his prisoners if anyone of their number had possessed +sufficient presence of mind and courage to make the attempt. +Convinced that he could not conduct three prisoners through that +crowd of their adherents and sympathizers without sacrificing +his own life and that of his escort, he took the responsibility +of shooting the princes like the reptiles they were, and thus +relieved the British government from what might have been a most +embarrassing situation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Hodson was condemned by parliament and public opinion, while +the bloodthirsty old assassin he had captured was treated as +gently and as generously as if he had been a saint. Bahandur +Shah was tried and convicted of treason, but was acquitted of +responsibility for the massacre on the ground that his act +authorizing it was a mere formality, and that it would have occurred +without his consent at any rate. Instead of hanging him the British +government sent him in exile to Rangoon, where he was furnished +a comfortable bungalow and received a generous pension until +November, 1862, when he died. Bahandur Shah had a third son, a +worthless drunken fellow, who managed to escape the consequences +of his participation in the massacre and accompanied him into +exile. He survived his father for several years and left a widow +and several children at Rangoon, including a son, who inherited +his indolence, but not his vices. The latter still lives there on +a small pension from the British government, is idle, indifferent, +amiable and well-liked. He goes to the races, the polo games +and tennis matches, and takes interest in other sports, but is +too lazy to participate. He has married a Burmese wife and they +have several children, who live with him in the bungalow that was +assigned to his grandfather when he was sent to Burma forty-five +years ago, and, judging from appearances, it has not been repaired +since. Although he is perfectly harmless, the Last of the Moguls +is required to report regularly to the British commandant and +is not allowed to leave Burma, even if he should ever desire +to do so. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XIV">XIV</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE MOGULS +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Although the Moguls have vanished, their glory remains in the +most sublime and beautiful monuments that were ever erected by +human hands, and people come from the uttermost parts of the +earth to admire them. In the form of fortresses, palaces, temples +and tombs they are scattered pretty well over northern India, +and the finest examples may be found at Agra, a city of 200,000 +inhabitants, only a short ride from Delhi, the Mogul capital. Agra +was their favorite residence. Akbar the Great actually removed +the seat of government there the latter part of the sixteenth +century, and expended genius and money until he made it the most +beautiful city in India and filled it with the most splendid +palaces that were ever seen. Shah Jehan, his grandson, who was +a greater man than he, and lived and reigned nearly a hundred +years after him, even surpassed him in architectural ambition +and accomplishments. Jehan built the fort at Agra, and the best +specimens of his architectural work are within its walls, erected +between 1630 and 1637, and he was confined within them, the prisoner +of his son Aurangzeb, for seven years before his death, from 1658 +to 1665. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The fortress at Agra is probably the grandest citadel ever erected. +It surpasses in beauty and strength the Kremlin at Moscow, the +Tower of London, the citadel at Toledo and every other fortress +I know of. Nothing erected in modern times can compare with it. +Although it would be a poor defense and protection against modern +projectiles, it was impregnable down to the mutiny of 1857. The +walls are two miles and a quarter in circumference; they are +protected by a moat 30 feet wide and 35 feet deep; they are 70 +feet high and 30 feet thick, and built of enormous blocks of +red sandstone. There are two entrances, both very imposing, one +called the Delhi Gate and the other the Elephant Gate, where +there used to be two large stone elephants, but they were removed +many years ago. Within the walls is a collection of the most +magnificent oriental palaces ever erected, with mosques, barracks, +arsenals, storehouses, baths and other buildings for residential, +official and military purposes, all of them on the grandest scale. +Since the British have had possession they have torn down many +of the old buildings and have erected unsightly piles of brick +and stone in their places, but while such vandalism cannot be +condemned in terms too strong, the world should be grateful to +them for leaving the most characteristic and costly of the Mogul +residences undisturbed. A small garrison of English soldiers is +quartered in the fortress at present, just enough to protect it +and keep things in order, but there is room for several regiments, +and during the mutiny of 1857 more than 6,000 foreigners, refugees +from northern India, found refuge and protection here. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Although the palaces seem bare and comfortless to us to-day, and +we wonder how people could ever be contented to live in them, +we are reminded that when they were actually occupied the open +arches were hung with curtains, the marble floors were spread +with rugs and covered with cushions, and the banquet halls were +furnished with sumptuous services of gold, silver and linen. +The Moguls were not ascetics. They loved luxury and lived in +great magnificence with every comfort and convenience that the +ingenuity and experience of those days could contrive. It is +never safe to judge of things by your own standard. You may always +be sure that intelligent people will adapt themselves in the +best possible manner to their conditions and environment. Those +who live in the tropics know much better how to make themselves +comfortable than friends who visit them from the arctic zone. +Wise travelers will always imitate local habits and customs so +far as they are able to do so. While these wonderful compositions +of carved marble seem cold and comfortless as they stand empty +to-day, we must not forget that they were very different when +they were actually inhabited. Some idea of the luxury of the +Mogul court may be gained from an account given by M. Bernier, +a Frenchman who visited Agra in 1663 during the reign of Shah +Jehan. He says: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"The king appeared sitting upon his throne, in the bottom of +the great hall of the Am-kas, splendidly appareled. His vest was +of white satin, flowered and raised with a very fine embroidery +of gold and silk. His turban was of cloth-of-gold, having a fowl +wrought upon it like a heron, whose foot was covered with diamonds +of an extraordinary bigness and price, with a great oriental topaz, +which may be said to be matchless, shining like a little sun. A +collar of big pearls hung about his neck down to his stomach, +after the manner that some of the heathens wear their great beads. +His throne was supported by six pillars, or feet, said to be +of massive gold, and set with rubies, emeralds and diamonds. I +am not able to tell you aright either the number or the price +of this heap of precious stones, because it is not permitted to +come near enough to count them and to judge of their water and +purity. Only this I can say: that the big diamonds are there +in confusion, and that the throne is estimated to be worth four +kouroures of roupies, if I remember well. I have said elsewhere +that a roupie is almost equivalent to half a crown, a lecque to +a hundred thousand roupies and a kourour to a hundred lecques, +so that the throne is valued at forty millions of roupies, which +are worth about sixty millions of French livres. That which I +find upon it best devised are two peacocks covered with precious +stones and pearls. Beneath this throne there appeared all the +Omrahs, in splendid apparel, upon a raised ground covered with a +canopy of purified gold, with great golden fringes and inclosed +by a silver balistre. The pillars of the hall were hung with +tapestries of purified gold, having the ground of gold; and for +the roof of the hall there was nothing but great canopies of +flowered satin, fastened with great red silken cords that had +big tufts of silk mixed with threads of gold." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The gem of the architectural exhibition at Agra, always exempting +the Taj Mahal, is the "Pearl Mosque," so called because it is +built of stainless white marble, without the slightest bit of +color within except inscriptions from the Koran here and there +inlaid in precious stones. It was the private chapel of the Moguls, +as you might say; was built between 1648 and 1655, and has been +pronounced by the highest authority to be the purest and most +elegant example of Saracenic architecture in existence. No lovelier +sanctuary was ever erected in honor of the Creator. One of the +inscriptions tells us that it was intended to be "likened to a +mansion of paradise or to a precious pearl." It is built after +the usual fashion, a square courtyard paved with white marble and +surrounded by a marble colonnade of exquisite arches, supported +by pillars of perfect grace. The walls upon three sides are solid; +the western side, looking toward Mecca, being entirely open, a +succession of arches supported by columns exquisitely carved. +And the roof is crowned with a forest of minarets and three white +marble domes. In the center of the courtyard is a marble tank +thirty-seven feet square and three feet deep, in which the faithful +performed their ablutions before going to prayer. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Near by the mosque is the Diwan-i-'Am, or Hall of Public Audience, +201 feet square, in which the Moguls received their subjects +and held court. The roof is supported by nine rows of graceful +columns cut from red sandstone and formerly covered with gold. +The rest of the building is marble. The throne stood upon a high +platform in an alcove of white marble, richly decorated, and above +it are balconies protected by grilles or screens behind which the +sultanas were permitted to watch the proceedings. Back of the +audience-room is a great quadrangle, planted with trees, flowers +and vines. White marble walks radiate from a marble platform and +fountain basin in the center, and divide the garden into beds +which, we are told, were filled with soil brought from Cashmere +because of its richness. And even to-day gardeners say that it +is more productive than any found in this part of the country. +Around this court were the apartments of the zenana, or harem, +occupied by the mother, sisters, wives and daughters of the sultan +who were more or less prisoners, but had considerable area to +wander about in, and could sit in the jasmine tower, one of the +most exquisite pieces of marble work you can imagine, and on the +flat roofs of the palaces, which were protected by high screens, +and enjoy views over the surrounding country and up and down the +Jumna River. From this lofty eyrie they could witness reviews +of the troops and catch glimpses of the gay cavalcades that came +in and out of the fortress, and in a small courtyard was a bazar +where certain favored merchants from the city were allowed to +come and exhibit goods to the ladies of the court. But these were +the only glimpses female royalty ever had of the outer world. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +No man was ever admitted to the zenana except the emperor. All +domestic work was done by women, who were watched on the outside +by eunuchs and then by soldiers. They had their own place of +worship, the "Gem Mosque" they called it, a beautiful little +structure erected by Shah Jehan, and afterward used as his prison. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The baths are of the most sumptuous character. The walls are +decorated with raised foliage work in colors, silver and gold, +upon a ground of mirrors, and the ceiling is finished with pounded +mica, which has the effect of silver. Fronting the entrance of +the bathrooms are rows of lights over which the water poured in +broad sheets into a basin, then, running over a little marble +causeway, fell over a second cluster of lights into another basin, +and then another and another, five in succession, so that many +ladies were able to bathe in these fascinating fountains at the +same time. Below the baths we were shown some dark and dreary +vaults. In the center of the most gloomy of them there is a pit--a +well--which, the guide told us, has its outlet in the bottom of +the river, three-quarters of a mile away. Over this pit hangs +a heavy beam of wood very highly carved, and in the center is +a groove from which dangles a silken rope. Here, according to +tradition, unfaithful inmates of the harem were hanged, and when +life was extinct the cord was cut and the body fell into the +pit, striking the keen edge of knives at frequent intervals, +so that it finally reached the river in small fragments, which +were devoured by fishes or crocodiles, or if they escaped them, +floated down to the sea. After each execution a flood of water was +turned from the fountains into the pit to wash away the stains. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +But let us turn from this terrible place to the jasmine tower +containing apartments of the chief sultana, which overhangs the +walls of the fort and is surpassingly beautiful: a series of +rooms entirely of marble--roof, walls and floor--and surrounded +by a broad marble veranda supported, by noble arches springing +from graceful, slender pillars arranged in pairs and protected +by a balustrade of perforated marble. One could scarcely imagine +anything more dainty than these lacelike screens of stone extremely +simple in design and exquisite in execution. The interior walls +are incrusted with mosaic work of jasper, carnelian, lapis-lazuli, +agate, turquoise, bloodstone, malachite and other precious materials +in the form of foliage, flowers, ornamental scrolls, sentences +from the Koran in Arabic letters and geometrical patterns. The +decoration is as beautiful and as rich as the Taj Mahal, so far +as it goes, and was done by the same artists. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is a broad field for the imagination to range about in +and picture this palace when it was a paradise of luxury and +splendor, filled with gorgeous and costly hangings, draperies, +rugs, couches and cushions. The writers of the time tell us that +the sultanas had 5,000 women around them who were divided into +companies. First were the three chief wives, next in rank were +300 concubines and the remainder were dancing girls, musicians, +artists, embroiderers, seamstresses, hair dressers, cooks and +other servants. The mother of the Mogul was always the head of +the household. The three empresses were subject to her authority, +according to the oriental custom, and while they might stand +first in the affections of the Mogul they were subordinate to +his mother, who conducted affairs about the harem, we are told, +with the same regularity and strictness that were found in the +executive departments of the state. Each of the wives received an +allowance according to her rank. If she had a child, especially +a son, she was immediately promoted to the highest rank, given +larger and better quarters, provided with many more servants +and furnished with a much larger allowance in money. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The apartments of the emperor are quite plain when compared with +the adjoining suite of the favorite sultana, but are massive, +dignified and appropriate for a sovereign of his wealth and power, +and everything is finished with that peculiar elegance which is +only found in the East. In all the great cluster of buildings +there is nothing mean or commonplace. Every apartment, every +corridor, every arch and every column is perfect and a wonder +of architectural design, construction and decoration. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +From the emperor's apartments you may pass through a stately +pavilion to a large marble courtyard. Upon one side of it, next +to the wall that overhangs the river, is a slab of black marble +known as "The Black Marble Throne." And upon this he used to +sit when hearing appeals for justice from his subjects or other +business of supreme importance. Upon the opposite side of the +court is a white marble slab upon which the grand vizier sat +and to the east is a platform where seats were provided for the +judges, the nobles and the grandees of the court. In this pavilion +have occurred some of the most exciting scenes in Indian history. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Perhaps you would like to know something about the women who +lived in these wonderful palaces, and are buried in the beautiful +tombs at Agra. They had their romances and their tragedies, and +although the Mohammedan custom kept them closely imprisoned in +the zenanas, they nevertheless exerted a powerful influence in +arranging the destinies of the Mogul empire. The most notable +of the women, and one who would have taken a prominent part in +affairs in whatever country or in whatever generation it had +pleased the Almighty to place her, was Nur Jehan, sultana of the +Mogul Jehanghir. She lived in the marble palace of Agra from 1556 +to 1605; a woman of extraordinary force of character, the equal +of Queen Elizabeth in intellect and of Mary Stuart in physical +attractions, and her life was a mixture of romance and tragedy. Her +father, Mizra Gheas Bey, or Itimad-Ud Daula, as he was afterward +known, was grand vizier of the Mogul empire during the latter +part of the reign of Akbar the Great. An obscure but ambitious +Persian scholar, hearing of the generous patronage extended to +students by Emperor Akbar in India, he started from Teheran to +Delhi overland, a distance of several thousand miles. He had +means enough to buy a donkey for his wife to ride, and trudged +along with a caravan on foot beside the animal to protect her and +the panniers which contained all their earthly possessions. The +morning after the caravan reached Kandahar, Turkestan, a daughter +was born to the wife of Mirza, and was, naturally, a great source +of anxiety and embarrassment to him, but the principal merchant +of the caravan, struck with the beauty of the child and with +sympathy for the mother, provided for their immediate needs, took +them with him to Agra and there used his good offices with the +officials in behalf of the father, who was given employment under +the government. His ability and fidelity were soon recognized. He +was promoted rapidly, and finally reached the highest office in +the gift of the Mogul--that of prime minister of the empire--which +he filled with conspicuous ability, wisdom and prudence for many +years. As his daughter grew to girlhood she attracted the attention +of Prince Jehanghir, who became violently in love with her, and, +to prevent complications, the emperor caused her to be married to +Shir Afghan Kahn, a young Persian of excellent family, who was +made viceroy of Bengal, and took his wife with him to Calcutta. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Several years later, when Jehanghir ascended the throne, he had +not forgotten the beautiful Persian, and sent emissaries to Calcutta +to arrange with her husband for a divorce so that he might take +her into his own harem. Shir Afghan refused, and the king ordered +his assassination. Nur Jehan undoubtedly loved her husband, and +sincerely mourned him. She repelled the addresses of the emperor, +and for several years earned her living by embroidery and painting +silks. One day the emperor surprised her in her apartment. He +was the only man in India who had the right to intrude upon his +lady subjects, but seems to have used it with rare discretion. +When she recognized her visitor she bowed her head to the floor +nine times in accordance with the custom of the country; and +although she was wearing the simplest of garments, she had lost +none of her beauty or graces, and treated the Mogul with becoming +modesty and dignity. When he reproached her for her plain attire +she replied: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Those born to servitude must dress as it shall please them whom +they serve. Those women around me are my servants and I lighten +their bondage by every indulgence in my power; and I, who am your +slave, O Emperor of the World, am willing to dress according to +your pleasure and not my own." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This significant retort pleased His Majesty immensely, and, with +the facilities that were afforded emperors in those days, he had +her sent at once to the imperial harem, where she was provided +with every possible comfort and luxury and was promoted rapidly +over the other women. She received the title Nur Jehan Begam +(Light of the World). The Emperor granted her the right of +sovereignty in her own name; her portrait was placed upon the +coin of the country; and after several years her power became +so great that the officials would not obey any important order +from his majesty unless it bore her indorsement. He willingly +submitted to her judgment and counsel. She repressed his passions, +caprices and prejudices, and when any matter of serious importance +arose in the administration of affairs, it was submitted to her +before action was taken. Her beauty and her graces were the theme +of all the poets of India, and her goodness, the kindness of her +heart and her unbounded generosity are preserved by innumerable +traditions. She was the godmother of all orphan girls and provided +their dowers when they were married, and it is said that during +her reign she procured good husbands for thousands of friendless +girls who otherwise must have spent their lives in slavery. Thus +the child of the desert became the most powerful influence in +the East, for in those days the authority of the Mogul extended +from the Ganges to the Bosporus and the Baltic Sea. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Nur Jehan took good care of her own family. Her father continued +to occupy the office of grand vizier until his death, and her +brother, Asaf Khan, became high treasurer of the empire and +father-in-law of the Mogul. Other relatives were placed in +remunerative and influential positions. But at last she made a +blunder, and failed to secure the crown for her son, Sheriar, +who, being a younger member of the family, was not entitled to +it, and Shah Jehan, the oldest son of the Mogul by another wife, +succeeded him to the throne. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Shah Jehan promptly murdered his ambitious brother, as was the +amiable custom of those days, but treated his father's famous +widow with great respect and generosity. He presented her with +a magnificent palace, gave her an allowance of $1,250,000 a year +and accepted her pledge that she would interfere no longer in +politics. She survived nineteen years and devoted her time and +talents thereafter and several millions of dollars to the +construction of a tomb to the memory of her father, which still +stands as one of the finest of the group of architectural wonders +of Agra. It is situated in a walled garden on the bank of the +River Jumna about a mile and a half from the hotels, and is +constructed entirely of white marble. The sides are of the most +beautiful perforated work, and the towers are of exquisite design. +Much of the walls are covered with the Florentine mosaic work +similar to that which distinguishes the Taj Mahal. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="654"> +<tr><td colspan=2> + <img src="fig015.jpg" width="650" height="389" alt="Fig. 15"> +</td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="center">AKBAR, THE GREAT MOGUL</td> + <td class="center">SHAH JEHAN</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Shah Jehan, the greatest of all the Moguls, had many wives, and +three in particular. One of them was a Hindu, of whom we know +very little; another was a Mohammedan, the daughter of Asaf Khan, +high treasurer of the empire and the niece of Nur Jehan. She is +the woman who sleeps in the Taj Mahal, the most beautiful of all +human structures. The third was Miriam, a Portuguese Christian +princess, who never renounced her religion, and built a Roman +Catholic Church in a park outside the walls of Agra in connection +with a palace provided for her special residence. This marriage +was brought about through the influence of the governor of the +Portuguese colony at Goa, 200 miles south of Bombay, and illustrates +the liberality of Shah Jehan in religious matters. He not only +tolerated, but invited Catholic missionaries to come into his +empire and preach their doctrines, and although we know very +little of the experience of the Sultana Miriam, and her life +must have been rather lonely and isolated, yet the king did not +require her to remain in the harem with his other wives, but +gave her an independent establishment a considerable distance +from the city, where she was attended by ladies of her own race +and religion. Her palace has disappeared, but the church she +built is still standing, and her tomb is preserved. By successive +changes they have passed under the control of the Church of England +and her grounds are now occupied by an orphanage under the +superintendence of a Mr. Moore, who has 360 young Hindus under +his care. The fathers and mothers of most of them died during +the famine and he is teaching them useful trades. We stopped +to talk to some of the children as we drove about the place, +but did not get much information. The boys giggled and ran away +and the workmen were surprisingly ignorant of their own affairs, +which, I have discovered, is a habit Hindus cultivate when they +meet strangers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Akbar the Great is buried in a coffin of solid gold in a mausoleum +of exquisite beauty about six miles from Agra on the road to +Delhi. It is another architectural wonder. Many critics consider +it almost equal to Taj Mahal. It is reached by a lovely drive +along a splendid road that runs like a green aisle through a +grove of noble old trees whose boughs are inhabited by myriads +of parrots and monkeys. The mausoleum is quite different from +any other that we have seen, being a sort of pyramid of four open +platforms, standing on columns. These are of red sandstone and +the fourth, where rests the tomb of the great Mogul, of marble. +The lower stories are frescoed and decorated elaborately in blue +and gold. The fourth or highest platform is a beautiful little +cloister of the purest white. No description in words could possibly +do it justice or convey anything like an accurate idea of its +beauty. Imagine, if you can, a platform eighty feet from the +ground reached by beautiful stairways and inclosed by roofless +walls of the purest marble that was ever quarried. These walls +are divided into panels. Each panel contains a slab of marble +about an inch thick and perforated like the finest of lace. The +divisions and frame work, the base and frieze are chiseled with +embroidery in stone such as can be found nowhere else. There is +no roof but the sky. In the center of this lofty chamber stands +a solid block of marble which is covered with inscriptions from +the Koran in graceful, flowing Persian text. Sealed within a +cenotaph underneath are the remains of the great Akbar. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +About three feet from his head stands a low marble column exquisitely +carved. It is about four feet high, and in the center of the +top is a defect, a rough hole, which seems to have been left +there intentionally. When the mighty Akbar died, his son and +successor, the Emperor Jehanghir, imbedded in the center of that +column, where it might be admired by the thousands of people who +came to the tomb every day, the Kohinoor, then the most valued +diamond in the world and still one of the most famous of jewels, +and chief ornament in the British crown. It was one of the most +audacious exhibitions of wealth and recklessness ever made, but +the stone remained there in the open air, guarded only by the +ordinary custodian of the tomb, from 1668 to 1739, when Nadir, +Shah of Persia, invaded India, captured Delhi, sacked the palaces +of the moguls, and carried back to his own country more than +$300,000,000 worth of their treasures. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XV">XV</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF BUILDINGS +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Once upon a time there lived an Arab woman named Arjumand Banu. +We know very little about her, except that she lived in Agra, +India, and was the Sultana of Shah Jehan, the greatest of the +Mogul emperors. She must have been a good woman and a good wife, +because, after eighteen years of married life, and within twelve +months after his accession to the throne, in 1629, she died in +giving birth to her fourteenth baby. And her husband loved her so +much that he sheltered her grave with a mausoleum which, without +question or reservation, is pronounced by all architects and +critics to be the most beautiful building in the world--the most +sublime and perfect work of human hands. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="620"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig016.jpg" width="616" height="369" alt="Fig. 16"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + THE TAJ MAHAL +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +It is called the Taj Mahal, which means "The Crown of the Palaces," +and is pronounced Taash Mahal, with the accent on the last syllable +of the last word. Its architect is not definitely known, but the +design is supposed to have been made by Ustad Isa, a Persian, +who was assisted by Geronino Verroneo, an Italian, and Austin de +Bordeaux, a Frenchman. They are credited with the mosaics and +other decorations. Austin designed and made the famous peacock +throne at Delhi. Governor La Fouche of that province, who has +carefully restored the park that surrounds the building, and is +keeping things up in a way that commands hearty commendation, +has the original plans and specifications, which were discovered +among the archives of the Moguls in Delhi after the mutiny of 1857. +The records show also that the tomb cost more than $20,000,000 of +American money, not including labor, for like those other famous +sepulchers, the pyramids of Egypt, this wonderful structure was +erected by forced labor, by unpaid workmen, who were drafted +from their shops and farms by order of the Mogul for that purpose, +and, according to the custom of the time, they were compelled to +support themselves as well as their families during the period +of their employment. Thousands of those poor, helpless creatures +died of starvation and exhaustion; thousands perished of disease, +and thousands more, including women and children, suffered untold +distress and agony, all because one loving husband desired to do +honor to the favorite among his many wives. The workmen were changed +at intervals, 20,000 being constantly employed for twenty-two +years upon this eulogy in marble. The descendants of some of +the artists engaged upon its matchless decoration still live in +Agra and enjoy a certain distinction because of their ancestry. +Forty or fifty of them were employed by Governor La Fouche in +making repairs and restorations in 1902, and a dozen or more +are still at work. It is customary in that country for sons to +follow the occupations of their fathers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The road to the Taj Mahal from the City of Agra crosses the River +Jumna, winds about among modern bungalows in which British officials +and military officers reside, alternating with the ruins of ancient +palaces, tombs, temples and shrines which are allowed to deface +the landscape. Some of the fields are cultivated, and in December, +when we were there, the business of the farmers seemed chiefly +to be that of hoisting water from wells to irrigate their crops. +They have a curious method. A team of oxen hoists the buckets +with a long rope running over a pulley, and every time they make +a trip along the well-worn pathway they dump a barrel or more of +much needed moisture into a ditch that feeds the thirsty ground. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The roadway is well kept. It was made several centuries ago, and +was put in perfect order in 1902 on account of the Imperial durbar +at Delhi, which brought thousands of critical strangers to see the +Taj Mahal, which really is the greatest sight in India, and is +more famous than any other building, except perhaps Westminster +Abbey and St. Peter's Cathedral at Rome. The road leads up to a +superb gateway of red sandstone inlaid with inscriptions from +the Koran in white marble, and surmounted by twenty-six small +marble domes, Moorish kiosks, arches and pinnacles. This gateway +is considered one of the finest architectural monuments in all +India. Bayard Taylor pronounced it equal to the Taj itself. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +You pass under a noble arch one hundred and forty feet high and +one hundred and ten feet wide, which is guarded by a group of +Moslem priests and a squad of native soldiers who protect the +property from vandals. Having passed this gateway you find yourself +at the top of a flight of wide steps overlooking a great garden, +which was originally laid out by the Mogul Shah Jehan and by Lord +Curzon's orders was restored last year as nearly as possible +to its original condition and appearance. About fifty acres are +inclosed by a high wall of a design appropriate to its purpose. +There are groups of cypress equal in size and beauty to any in +India; groves of orange and lemon trees, palms and pomegranates, +flowering plants and shrubs, through which winding walks of gravel +have been laid. From the steps of the gateway to the tomb is +a vista about a hundred feet wide paved with white and black +marble with tessellated designs, inclosed with walls of cypress +boughs. In the center are a series of tanks, or marble basins, +fed from fountains, and goldfish swim about in the limpid water. +This vista, of course, was intended to make the first view as +impressive as possible, and it is safe to say that there is no +other equal to it. At the other end of the marble-paved tunnel +of trees, against a cloudless sky, rises the most symmetrical, +the most perfect, perhaps the only faultless human structure in +existence. At first one is inclined to be a little bewildered, +a little dazed, as if the senses were paralyzed, and could not +adjust themselves to this "poem in marble," or "vision in marble," +or "dream in marble," as poets and artists have rhapsodized over +it for four centuries. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +No building has been more often described and sketched and painted +and photographed. For three hundred and fifty years it has appeared +as an illustration in the chapter on India in geographies, atlases +and gazetteers; it is used as a model in architectural text-books, +and of course is reproduced in every book that is written about +India. It has been modeled in gold, silver, alabaster, wax and +every other material that yields to the sculptor's will, yet no +counterfeit can ever give a satisfactory idea of its loveliness, +the purity of the material of which it is made, the perfection of +its proportions, the richness of its decorations and the exquisite +accuracy achieved by its builders. Some one has said that the +Moguls designed like giants and finished like jewelers, and that +epigram is emphasized in the Taj Mahal. Any portion of it, any +feature, if taken individually, would be enough to immortalize +the architect, for every part is equally perfect, equally chaste, +equally beautiful. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I shall not attempt to describe it. You can find descriptions +by great pens in many books. Sir Edwin Arnold has done it up +both in prose and poetry, and sprawled all over the dictionary +without conveying the faintest idea of its glories and loveliness. +It cannot be described. One might as well attempt to describe +a Beethoven symphony, for, if architecture be frozen music, as +some poet has said, the Taj Mahal is the supremest and sublimest +composition that human genius has produced. But, without using +architectural terms, or gushing any more about it, I will give +you a few plain facts. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="492"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig017.jpg" width="488" height="370" alt="Fig. 17"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + INTERIOR OF TAJ MAHAL +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The Taj Mahal stands, as I have already told you, at the bottom +of a lovely garden surrounded by groves of cypress trees, on the +bank of the River Jumna, opposite the great fortress of Agra, +where, from the windows of his palace, the king could always +see the snowwhite domes and minarets which cover the ashes of +his Arab wife. Its base is a marble terrace 400 feet square, +elevated eighteen feet above the level of the garden, with benches +arranged around so that one can sit and look and look and look +until its wonderful beauty soaks slowly into his consciousness; +until the soul is saturated. Rising from the terrace eighteen +feet is a marble pedestal or platform 313 feet square, each corner +being marked with a marble minaret 137 feet high; so slender, +so graceful, so delicate that you cannot conceive anything more +so. Within their walls are winding staircases by which one can +reach narrow balconies like those on lighthouses and look upon +the Taj from different heights and study its details from the top +as well as the bottom. The domes that crown these four minarets +are exact miniatures of that which covers the tomb. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the east and on the west sides of the terrace are mosques built +after Byzantine designs of deep red sandstone, which accentuates +the purity of the marble of which the tomb is made in a most +effective manner. At any other place, with other surroundings, +these mosques would be regarded worthy of prolonged study and +unbounded admiration, but here they pass almost unnoticed. Like +the trees of the gardens and the river that flows at the foot +of the terrace, they are only an humble part of the frame which +incloses the great picture. They are intended to serve a purpose, +and they serve it well. In beauty they are surpassed only by +the tomb itself. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One of the mosques has recently been put in perfect repair and +the other is undergoing restoration, by order of Lord Curzon, +who believes that the architectural and archæological monuments +of ancient India should be preserved and protected, and he is +spending considerable government money for that purpose. This +policy has been criticised by certain Christian missionaries, +who, like the iconoclasts of old, would tear down heathen temples +and desecrate heathen tombs. Many of the most beautiful examples +of ancient Hindu architecture have already been destroyed by +government authority, and the material of which they were built +has been utilized in the construction of barracks and fortresses. +You may not perhaps believe it, but there are still living in +India men who call themselves servants of the Lord, who would +erase every other monument that is in any way associated with +pagan worship or traditions. They would destroy even the Taj +Mahal itself, and then thank God for the opportunity of performing +such a barbarous act in His service. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Midway between the two red mosques rises a majestic pile of pure +white marble 186 feet square, with the corners cut off. It measures +eighty feet from its pedestal to its roof, and is surmounted +by a dome also eighty feet high, measuring from the roof, and +fifty-eight feet in diameter. Upon the summit of the dome is a +spire of gilded copper twenty-eight feet high, making the entire +structure 224 feet from the turf of the garden to the tip of +the spire. All of the domes are shaped like inverted turnips +after the Byzantine style. Four small ones surround the central +dome, exact duplicates and one-eighth of its size, and they are +arranged upon arches upon the flat roof of the building. From +each of the eight angles of the roof springs a delicate spire +or pinnacle, an exact duplicate of the great minarets in the +corners, each sixteen feet high, and they are so slender that +they look like alabaster pencils glistening in the sunshine. +The same duplication is carried out through the entire building. +The harmony is complete. Every tower, every dome, every arch, is +exactly like every other tower, dome and arch, differing only +in dimensions. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The building is entered on the north and south sides through +enormous pointed arches of perfect proportions reaching above +the roof and at each corner of the frames that inclose them is +another minaret, a miniature of the rest. Each of the six faces +of the remainder of the octagon is pierced by two similar arches, +one above the other, opening upon galleries which serve to break +the force of the sun, to moderate the heat and to subdue the +light. They form a sort of colonnade around the building above +and below, and are separated from the rotunda by screens of +perforated alabaster, as exquisite and delicate in design and +execution as Brussels point lace. The slabs of alabaster, 12 by +8 feet in size, are pierced with filigree work finely finished +as if they were intended to be worn as jewels upon the crown of +an empress. I am told that there is no stone work to compare +with this anywhere else on earth. Hence it was not in Athens, nor +in Rome, but in northern India that the chisel of the sculptor +attained its most perfect precision and achieved its greatest +triumphs. All of the light that reaches the interior is filtered +through this trellis work. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The rotunda is unbroken, fifty-eight feet in diameter and one +hundred and sixty feet from the floor to the apex of the dome. +Like every other part of the building, it is of the purest white +marble, inlaid with mosaics of precious stones. The walls, the +pillars, the wainscoting and the entire exterior as well as the +interior of the building are the same. You have doubtless seen +brooches, earrings, sleeve-buttons and other ornaments of Florentine +mosaic, with floral and other designs worked out with different +colored stones inlaid on black or white marble. You can buy paper +weights of that sort, and table tops which represent months of +labor and the most exact workmanship. They are very expensive +because of the skill and the time required to execute them. Well, +upon the walls of the tomb of the Princess Arjamand are about +two acres of surface covered with such mosaics as fine and as +perfect as if each setting were a jewel intended for a queen to +wear--turquoise, coral, garnet, carnelian, jasper, malachite, +agate, lapis lazuli, onyx, nacre, bloodstone, tourmaline, sardonyx +and a dozen other precious stones of different colors. The guide +book says that twenty-eight different varieties of stone, many of +them unknown to modern times, are inlaid in the walls of marble. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The most beautiful of these embellishments are inscriptions, +chiefly passages from the Koran and tributes of praise to "The +Exalted One of the Palace" who lies buried there, worked out +in Arabic and Persian characters, which are the most artistic +of any language, and lend themselves gracefully to decorative +purposes. The ninety-nine names of God, which pious Mussulmans +love to inscribe, appear in several places. Over the archway +of the entrance is an inscription in Persian characters which +reads like a paraphrase of the beatitudes: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Only the Pure in Heart can Enter the Garden of God." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This arch was once inclosed by silver doors, which were carried +off by the Persians when they invaded India and sacked the palaces +of Agra in 1739. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is no wood or metal in this building; not a nail or a screw +or a bolt of any sort. It is entirely of marble, mortised and +fastened with cement. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The acoustic properties of the rotunda are remarkable and a sound +uttered by a human voice will creep around its curves repeating +and repeating itself like the vibrations of the gongs of Burmese +temples, until it is lost in a whisper at the apex of the dome. +I should like to hear a violin there or a hymn softly sung by +some great artist. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the center of the rotunda Shah Jehan and his beloved wife +are supposed to lie side by side in marble caskets, inlaid with +rich gems and embellished by infinite skill with lacelike tracery. +But their bodies are actually buried in the basement, and, the +guides assert, in coffins of solid gold. She for whom this tomb +was built occupies the center. Her lord and lover, because he +was a man and an emperor, was entitled to a larger sarcophagus, +a span loftier and a span longer. Both of the cenotaphs are +embellished with inlaid and carved Arabic inscriptions. Upon his, +in Persian characters, are written these words: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"His Majesty, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Shadow of Allah, +whose Court is now in Heaven; Saith Jesus, on whom be peace, +This World is a Bridge; Pass thou over it, Build not upon it! +It lasteth but an Hour; Devote its Minutes to thy Prayers; for +the Rest is Unseen and Unknown!" +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +No other person has such a tomb as this; nor pope, nor potentate, +nor emperor. Nowhere else have human pride and wealth and genius +struggled so successfully against the forgetfulness of man. The +Princess Arjamand has little place in history, but a devoted, +loving husband has rescued her name from oblivion, and has +immortalized her by making her dust the tenant of the most majestic +and beautiful of all human monuments. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Everybody admits that the Taj Mahal is the noblest tribute of +affection and the most perfect triumph of the architectural art +in existence, and the beautiful edifices in the fort at Agra, +which we also owe to Shah Jehan, the greatest of the Moguls, +have already been mentioned but I am conscious that my words +are weak. It is not possible to describe them accurately. No +pen can do them justice. The next best work in India, a group +of buildings second only to those in Agra, and in many respects +their equal, are credited to Akbar the Great, grandfather of +Shah Jehan. He reigned from 1556 to 1605. They may be found at +Fattehpur-Sikir (the City of Victory), twenty-two miles from +Agra on the Delhi road, occupying a rocky ridge, surrounded by +a stone wall with battlements and towers. The emperor intended +these palaces to be his summer residence, and was followed there +by many of the rich nobles of the court, who built mansions and +villas of corresponding size and splendor to gratify him and +their own vanity--but all its magnificence was wasted, strange +to say. The city was built and abandoned within fifty years. +Perhaps Akbar became tired of it, but the records tell us that +it was impossible to secure a water supply sufficient for the +requirements of the population and that the location was exceedingly +unhealthy because of malaria. Therefore the king and the court, +the officials of the government, with the clerks and servants, +the military garrison and the merchants who supplied their wants, +all packed up and moved away, most of them going back to Agra, +where they came from, leaving the glorious marble palaces without +tenants and allowing them to crumble and decay. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Abandoned cities and citadels are not unusual in India. I have +already told you of one near Jeypore where even a larger population +were compelled to desert their homes and business houses for +similar reasons--the lack of a sufficient water supply, and there +are several others in different parts of India. Some of them +are in a fair state of preservation, others are almost razed +to the ground, and their walls have been used as quarries for +building stone in the erection of other cities. But nowhere can +be found so grand, so costly and so extensive a group of empty +and useless palaces as at Fattehpur-Sikri. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The origin of the town, according to tradition, is quite interesting. +When Akbar was returning from one of his military campaigns he +camped at the foot of the hill and learned that a wise and holy +Brahmin named Shekh Selim Chishli, who resided in a cave among +the rocks, exercised powerful influence among the Hindu deities. +Akbar was a Mohammedan, but of liberal mind, and had not the +slightest compunction about consulting with a clergyman of another +denomination. This was the more natural because his favorite +wife was a Hindu princess, daughter of the Maharaja of Jeypore, +and she was extremely anxious to have a child. She had given +birth to twins some years previous, but to her deep grief and +that of the emperor, they had died in infancy. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The holy man on the hill at Fattehpur was believed to have tremendous +influence with those deities who control the coming of babies +into this great world; hence the emperor and his sultana visited +Shekh Selim in his rock retreat to solicit his interposition +for the birth of a son. Now, the hermit had a son only 6 months +old, who, the evening after the visit of the emperor, noticed +that his father's face wore a dejected expression. Having never +learned the use of his tongue, being but a few months old, this +precocious child naturally caused great astonishment when, by a +miracle, he sat up in his cradle and in language that an adult +would use inquired the cause of anxiety. The old man answered: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"It is written in the stars, oh, my son, that the emperor will +never have an heir unless some other man will sacrifice for him +the life of his own heir, and surely in this wicked and selfish +world no one is capable of such generosity and patriotism." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"If you will permit me, oh, my father," answered the baby, "I +will die in order that his majesty may be consoled." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The hermit explained that for such an act he could acquire unlimited +merit among the gods, whereupon the obliging infant straightened +its tiny limbs and expired. Some months after the sultana gave +birth to a boy, who afterward became the Emperor Jehanghir. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Akbar, of course, was gratified and to show his appreciation of +the services of the hermit decided to make the rocky ridge his +summer capital. He summoned to his aid all the architects and +artists and contractors in India, and a hundred thousand mechanics, +stone cutters, masons and decorators were kept busy for two scores +of years erecting the palaces, tombs and temples that now testify +with mute eloquence to the genius of the architects and builders +of those days. It is shown by the records that this enterprise +cost the taxpayers of India a hundred millions of dollars, and +that did not include the wages of the workmen, because most of +them were paid nothing. In those days almost everything in the +way of government public works was carried on by forced labor. +The king paid no wages. The material was expensive. Very little +wood was used. The buildings are almost entirely of pure white +marble and red sandstone. They had neither doors nor windows, but +only open arches which were hung with curtains to secure privacy, +and light was admitted to the interior through screens of marble, +perforated in beautiful designs. The entrance to the citadel is +gained through a gigantic gateway, one of the noblest portals +ever erected. It was intended as a triumphal arch to celebrate +the victory of Akbar over the Afghans, and to commemorate the +conquest of Khandesh, and this is recorded in exquisite Persian +characters upon its frontal and sides. Compared with it the arches +of Titus and Constantine in Rome and the Arc de Triomphe in Paris +are clumsy piles of masonry. There is nothing to be compared +with it anywhere in Europe, and the only structure in India that +resembles it in any way may be found among the ruins in the +neighborhood of Delhi. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="625"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig018.jpg" width="621" height="371" alt="Fig. 18"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + TOMB OF SHEIK-SALIM--FATTEHPUR +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Through this majestic portal you enter a quadrangle about six +hundred feet square, inclosed by a lofty cloister which Bishop +Heber pronounced the finest that was ever erected. He declared +that there was no other quadrangle to be compared to it in size or +proportions or beauty. In the center of this wonderful inclosure +is a building that resembles a miniature temple. It is not large, +and its low roof and far projecting eaves give it the appearance +of a tropical bungalow. It is built of the purest marble. No other +material was used in its construction. There is not a nail or +a screw or an ounce of metal of any kind in its walls, and very +little cement or mortar was used. Each piece of stone fits the +others so perfectly that there was no need of bolts or anything +to hold it in place. It stands upon a pedestal four feet high and +is crowned with a low white dome of polished metal. The walls +of this wonderful building are pillars of marble inclosing panels +of the same material sawed in very thin slabs and perforated in +exquisite geometrical patterns. No two panels are alike; there +is no duplication of design on the pillars; every column is +different; every capital and every base is unique. We are told +that it was customary in the days of the Moguls to assign a section +of a building to an artist and allow him to exercise his skill +and genius without restriction, of course within certain limits. +Notwithstanding this diversity of design, the tomb of Shekh Selim, +of which I have attempted to give you an idea, is an ideal of +perfect harmony, and every stroke of the chisel was as precise +as if the artist had been engraving a cameo. It was erected by +Akbar and his Queen, Luquina, as a token of gratitude to the old +monk who brought them an heir to their throne, but, unfortunately +this heir was an ungrateful chap and treated his father and mother +very badly. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Another tomb of equal beauty but smaller dimensions, is also a +tribute of respect and affection. Under this marble roof lies +all that remains of that extraordinary baby who gave his life +to gratify the king. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Surrounding the quadrangle are the apartments of the emperor, +the residences of his wives and the offices in which he conducted +official business. They are all built of marble of design and +beauty similar to those within the walls of the fort at Agra. +One of them, known as the Hall of Records, is now used for the +accommodation of visitors because there is no hotel and very +little demand for one. The only people who ever go to Fattehpur +Sikri are tourists, and they take their own bedding and spread +it on the marble floor. It is a long journey, twenty-six miles +by carriage, and it is not possible to make it and return on +the same day. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Imperial Hall of Audience, where Akbar was accustomed to +sit in his robes of state each day to receive the petitions and +administer justice to his subjects, is a splendid pavilion of red +sandstone with fifty-six columns covered with elaborate carving +in the Hindu style. Here he received ambassadors from all parts +of the earth because the glory of his court and the liberality of +his policy gave him universal reputation. Here Jesuit missionaries +gave him the seeds of the tobacco plant which they brought from +America, and within a few miles from this place was grown the +first tobacco ever produced in India. The hookah, the big tobacco +pipe, with a long tube and a bowl of perfumed water for the smoke +to pass through, is said to have been invented at Fattehpur Sikri +by one of Akbar's engineers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Connected by a marble corridor with the palace, and also with the +Hall of Public Audience, is a smaller pavilion, where, according to +the custom of the times, the emperor was in the habit of receiving +and conferring with his ministers and other officials of his +government, with ambassadors and with strangers who sought his +presence from curiosity or business reasons. This diwani-khas, +or privy chamber, is pointed out as the place where the emperor +held his celebrated religious controversies. We are told that +for several years Jesuit missionaries were invited there and +encouraged to explain the dogmas and doctrines of their faith to +the nobles and the learned pundits of the Indian Empire, often +in the presence of the Mogul, who took part in the discussions. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When his majesty was tired of business and wanted relaxation +he ordered his servants to remove the silken rug and cushions +upon which he sat to a little marble portico on the other side of +the palace, where the pavement of the court was laid in alternate +squares of black and white marble. This was known as the imperial +puchisi board, and we are told that his majesty played a game +resembling chess with beautiful slave girls dressed in costume +to represent the men upon the board. Here he sat for hours with +his antagonists, and was so proud of his skill that expert puchisi +players from all parts of the empire were summoned to play with +him. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At the other end of the inclosure is a large building known as +the mint, where the first rupees were coined. They were cubes of +gold, covered with artistic designs and with Persian inscriptions +reading "God is great. Mighty is His Glory." The largest coin was +called a "henseh" and was worth about $1,000 in our money. And +there were several other denominations, in the forms of cubes, +and they bore similar pious inscriptions. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The residences of the women of the court and the ministers and +other high officials were of corresponding splendor and beauty. +There is nothing on our side of the world or in Europe to compare +with them in beauty of design, costliness of material and lavishness +of decoration. The grandest palaces of the European capitals are +coarse and clumsy beside them, and the new library at Washington, +which we consider a model of architectural perfection, can be +compared to these gems of Hindu architects as cotton duck to +Brussels lace. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The palaces, temples and tombs in northern India are unequaled +examples of the architectural and decorative arts. Nothing more +beautiful or more costly has ever been built by human hands than +the residences and the sepulchers of the Moguls, while their +audience chambers, their baths and pavilions are not surpassed, +and are not even equaled in any of the imperial capitals of Europe. +The oriental artists and architects of the Mohammedan dynasties +lavished money upon their homes and tombs in the most generous +manner, and the refinement of their taste was equal to their +extravagance. And where do you suppose they obtained all the +money for these buildings, which cost millions upon millions +of dollars? The architectural remains of Akbar and Shah Jehan, +the two most splendid of the Moguls, represent an expenditure of +several hundred millions, even though the labor of construction +was unpaid, and where did they get the funds to pay for them? +Lieutenant Governor La Touche, who has been collecting the records +of the Mogul dynasty and having them carefully examined, discovers +that their revenues average about $100,000,000 a year for a hundred +years or more. In 1664 the land taxes amounted to £26,743,000, +in 1665 they amounted to £24,056,000, while in 1697, during the +reign of the Mogul Aurangzeb, they reached their highest figure, +which was £38,719,000. With these funds they were required to +keep up their palaces, pay their officials, maintain their armies +and provide for the luxurious tastes of their courtiers. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XVI">XVI</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE QUAINT OLD CITY OF DELHI +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Wherever the viceroy may hold court, wherever the government +may sit, Delhi always has been and always will be the capital +of India, for have not the prophets foretold that the gilded +marble palaces of the Moguls will stand forever? Although Benares +and Lucknow have a larger population, Delhi is regarded as the +metropolis of Northern India, and in commerce and manufactures +stands fourth in the list of cities, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras +only surpassing it in wealth, industry and trade. If you will look +at the map for a moment you will notice its unusually favorable +location, both from a commercial and military standpoint. It +occupies a central place in northern India, has railway connections +with the frontier and is equidistant from Bombay and Calcutta, +the principal ports of the empire. It receives raw materials +from the northern provinces and from mysterious regions beyond +the boundary. Its cunning artisans convert them into finished +products and ship them to all the markets of the world. Being +of great strategic importance, a large military garrison is +maintained there, and the walls of an ancient fort shelter arsenals +filled with guns and magazines filled with ammunition, which +may be promptly distributed by railway throughout the empire +on demand. It is the capital of one of the richest and most +productive provinces, the headquarters of various departments of +the government, the residence of a large foreign colony, civil, +military and commercial; it has the most learned native pundits +in India; it has extensive missionary stations and educational +institutions, and is the center and focus of learning and all +forms of activity. It is a pity and a disgrace that Delhi has +no good hotels. There are two or three indifferent ones, badly +built and badly kept. They are about as good as the average in +India, but ought to be a great deal better, for if travelers could +find comfortable places to stop Delhi might be made a popular +resort. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Travelers complain also of the pestiferous peddlers who pursue +them beyond the limit of patience. We were advised by people who +know India not to buy anything until we reached Delhi, because +that city has the best shops and the best bazaars and produces +the most attractive fabrics, jewelry and other articles which +tourists like to take home to their friends. And we found within +a few moments after our appearance there that we would have no +difficulty in obtaining as many things as we wanted. We arrived +late at night, and when we opened the doors of our chambers the +next morning we found a crowd of clamoring merchants in the corridor +waiting to seize us as we came out. And wherever we went--in +temples, palaces, parks and in the streets--they followed us with +their wares tied up in bundles and slung over their backs. When +we drove out to "The Ridge," where the great battles took place +during the mutiny of 1857, to see a monument erected in memory +of the victims of Indian treachery, two enterprising merchants +followed us in a carriage and interrupted our meditations by +offering silks, embroideries and brass work at prices which they +said were 20 per cent lower than we would have to pay in the +city. When we went into the dining-room of the hotel we always +had to pass through a throng of these cormorants, who thrust +jewelry, ivory carvings, photographs, embroideries, cashmere +shawls, silks and other goods in our faces and begged us to buy +them. As we rode through the streets they actually ran at the +sides of the carriage, keeping pace with the horses until we +drove them off by brandishing parasols, umbrellas and similar +weapons of defense. We could not go to a mosque or the museum +without finding them lying in wait for us, until we became so +exasperated that homicide would have been justifiable. That is +the experience of every traveler, especially Americans, who are +supposed to be millionaires, and many of our fellow countrymen +spend their money so freely as to excite the avarice of the Delhi +tradesmen. And indeed it is true that their goods are the most +attractive, although their prices are higher than you have to +pay in the smaller towns of India, where there is less demand. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The principal business section, called Chandni Chauk, which means +Silver street, has been frequently described as one of the most +picturesque and fascinating streets in the world. It is about a +mile long and seventy-five feet broad. In the center are two rows +of trees, between which for several hundred years was an aqueduct, +but it is now filled and its banks are used as a pathway, the +principal promenade of the town. But a stranger cannot walk there +in peace, for within five minutes he is hemmed in and his way is +blocked by merchants, who rush out from the shops on both sides +with their hands filled with samples of goods and business cards +and in pigeon English entreat him to stop and see what they have +for sale. Sometimes it is amusing when rival merchants grapple +with each other in their frantic efforts to secure customers, +but such unwelcome attentions impair the pleasure of a visit to +Delhi. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The shops on both sides of the Chandni Chauk are full of wonderful +loom and metal work, jewelry, embroidery, enamel, rugs, hangings, +brocades, shawls, leather work, gems and carved ivory and wood. +Delhi has always been famous for carvings, and examples of engraving +on jade of priceless value are often shown. Sometimes a piece +of jade can be found in a curio shop covered with relief work +which represents the labor of an accomplished artist for years. +In the days of the Moguls these useless ornaments were very highly +regarded. Kings and rich nobles used to have engravers attached +to their households. Artists and their families were always sure +of a comfortable home and good living, hence time was no object. +It was not taken into consideration. They were indifferent whether +they spent five months or five years in fashioning a block of +ivory or engraving a gem for their princely patrons. The greatest +works of the most accomplished artists of the Mogul period are now +nearly all in the possession of native princes and rich Hindus, +and if one comes into the market it is snapped up instantly by +collectors in Europe and the United States. Some of the carved +ivory is marvelous. An artist would spend his entire life covering +a tusk of an elephant with carvings of marvelous delicacy and +skill; and even to-day the ivory carvers of Delhi produce wonderful +results and sell them at prices that are absurdly small, considering +the labor they represent. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Akbar the Great, who sat upon the Mogul throne the latter half +of the sixteenth century, was a sensible man, and endeavored to +direct the skill and taste of the artisans of his empire into +more practical channels. Instead of maintaining artists to carve +ivory and jade he established schools and workshops for the +instruction of spinners, weavers and embroiderers, and offered +high prices for fine samples of shawls and other woolen fabrics, +weapons, pottery and similar useful articles. He purchased the +rich products of the looms for the imperial wardrobe and induced +the native princes to imitate his example. He organized guilds +among his workmen, and secured the adoption of regulations which +served to maintain a high standard, and permitted none but perfect +products to be placed upon the market. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The descendants of the master workmen educated under this policy +are still living and following the trades of their ancestors in +Delhi, and there may be found the finest gold and silver cloth +and the most elaborate embroidery produced in the world. The +coronation robe of Queen Alexandra of England, which is said +to have been of surpassing richness and beauty, was woven and +embroidered in a factory upon the Chandni Chauk, and the merchant +who made it is constantly receiving orders from the different +courts of Europe and from the leading dressmakers of London, +Paris and Vienna. He told us that Mrs. Leland Stanford had +commissioned him to furnish the museum of her university in +California the finest possible samples of different styles of +Indian embroidery, and his workmen were then engaged in producing +them. Her contract, he said, amounted to more than $60,000. Lady +Curzon is his best customer, for she not only orders all of the +material for her state gowns from him, but has brought him enough +orders from the ladies of the British court to keep his shop +busy for five years. He told us that Lady Curzon designed the +coronation robe of Queen Alexandra; he declared that she had +the rarest taste of any woman he knew, and that she was the best +dressed woman in the world--an opinion shared by other good judges. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="533"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig019.jpg" width="529" height="371" alt="Fig. 19"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + A CORNER IN DEHLI +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +He spread upon the floor wonderful samples of the skill and taste +of his artists, brocades embroidered with jewels for the ceremonial +robes of native princes; silks and satins whose surface was concealed +by patterns wrought in gold and silver thread. And everything is +done by men. Women do not embroider in India. He keeps eighty +men embroiderers constantly employed, and pays them an average of +18 cents a day. The most famous of his artists, those who design +as well as execute the delicate and costly garnishings, the men +who made the coronation robe of the British queen, receive the +munificent compensation of 42 cents a day. That is the maximum +paid for such work. Apprentices who do the filling in and coarser +work and have not yet acquired sufficient skill and experience +to undertake more important tasks are paid 8 cents a day and +work twelve hours for that. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Delhi is the principal distributing point for the famous Cashmere +shawls which are woven of the hair of camels, goats and sheep +in the province of Cashmere, which lies to the northward about +300 miles. They are brought packed in panniers on the backs of +camels. I was told at Delhi that the foreign demand for Cashmere +shawls has almost entirely ceased, that a very few are shipped +from India nowadays because in Europe and America they are no +longer fashionable. Hence prices have gone down, the weavers +are dependent almost entirely upon the local market of India, +and one can obtain good shawls for very low prices--about half +what they formerly cost. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In northern India every Hindu must have a shawl; it is as necessary +to him as a hat or a pair of boots to a citizen of Chicago or New +York, and it is customary to invest a considerable part of the +family fortune in shawls. They are handed down from generation +to generation, for they never wear out; the older they are the +more valuable they are considered. You often see a barefooted, +bare-legged peasant with his head wrapped in a Cashmere shawl +that would bring a thousand dollars in a London auction-room. +It is considered absolutely essential for every young man to +wear one of those beautiful fabrics, and if there is none for +him in the family he saves his earnings and scrimps and borrows +and begs from his relations until he gets enough money together +to buy one. Most of the shawls are of the Persian pattern familiar +to us. The groundwork is a solid color (white and yellow seem to +be the most popular), and there are a good many of blue, green, +orange and pink. A crowd of Hindus in this part of the country +suggest a kaleidoscope as they move about with their brilliant +colored shawls upon their shoulders. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The amount and fineness of embroidery upon the border and in +the corners of shawls give them their value, and sometimes there +is an elaborate design in the center. The shawl itself is so +fine that it can be drawn through a finger ring or folded up +and stowed away in an ordinary pocket, but it has the warmth +of a Scotch blanket. Shawls are woven and embroidered in the +homes of the people of Cashmere, and are entirely of hand work. +There are no factories and no steam looms, and every stitch of +the decoration is made with an ordinary needle by the fingers +of a man. Women do not seem to have acquired the accomplishment. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A great deal of fun used to be made at the expense of Queen Victoria, +who was in the habit of sending a Cashmere shawl whenever she was +expected to make a wedding present, and no doubt it was rather +unusual for her to persist in forcing unfashionable garments +upon her friends. But there is another way of looking at it. +The good queen was deeply interested in promoting the native +industries of India, and bought a large number of shawls every +year from the best artists in Cashmere. Up there shawl-makers +have reputations like painters and orators with us, and if you +would ask the question in Cashmere any merchant would give you +the names of the most celebrated weavers and embroiderers. Queen +Victoria was their most regular and generous patron. She not +only purchased large numbers of shawls herself, but did her best +to bring them into fashion, both because she believed it was a +sensible practice, and would advance the prosperity of the heathen +subjects in whom she took such a deep interest. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The arts and industries of India are very old. Their methods +have been handed down from generation to generation, because +sons are in the habit of following the trades of fathers, and +they are inclined to cling to the same old patterns and the same +old processes, regardless of labor-saving devices and modern +fashions. Many people think this habit should be encouraged; +that what may be termed the classic designs of the Hindus cannot +be improved upon, and it is certainly true that all purely modern +work is inferior. Lord and Lady Curzon have shown deep interest +in this subject. Lord Curzon has used his official authority and +the influence of the government to revive, restore and promote +old native industries, and Lady Curzon has been an invaluable +commercial agent for the manufacturers of the higher class of +fabrics and art objects in India. She has made many of them +fashionable in Calcutta and other Indian cities and in London, +Paris and the capitals of Europe, and so great is her zeal that, +with all her cares and responsibilities, and the demands upon +her time, she always has the leisure to place orders for her +friends and even for strangers who address her, and to assist +the silk weavers, embroiderers and other artists to adapt their +designs and patterns and fabrics to the requirements of modern +fashions. She wears nothing but Indian stuffs herself, and there +is no better dressed woman in the world. She keeps several of +the best artists in India busy with orders from her friends, and +is beginning to see the results of her efforts in the revival +of arts that were almost forgotten. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The population of Delhi is about 208,000. The majority of the +people, as in the other cities of northwestern India, are +Mohammedans, descendants of the invaders of the middle ages, and +the hostility between them and the Brahmins is quite sharp. The +city is surrounded by a lofty wall six miles in circumference, +which was built by Shah Jehan, the greatest of the Moguls, some +time about 1630, and the modern town begins its history at that +date. It has been the scene of many exciting events since then. +Several times it has been sacked and its inhabitants massacred. +As late as 1739 the entire population was put to the sword and +everything of value within the walls was carried off by the Persians. +In the center of the city still remains a portion of what was +probably the most splendid palace that was ever erected. It is +surrounded by a second wall inclosing an area 3,000 feet long by +1,500 feet wide, which was at one time filled with buildings of +unique beauty and interest. They illustrated the imperial grandeur +of the Moguls, whose style of living was probably more splendid +than that of any monarchs of any nation before or since their +time. Their extravagance was unbounded. Their love of display +has never been surpassed, and while it is a question where they +obtained the enormous sums of money they squandered in ceremonies +and personal adornment, there is none as to the accuracy of the +descriptions given to them. The fact that Nadir Shah, the Persian +invader, was able to carry away $300,000,000 in booty of jewels +and gold, silver and other portable articles of value when he +sacked Delhi in 1739, is of itself evidence that the stories +of the wealth and the splendor of the Moguls are not fables. +It is written in the history of Persia that the people of that +empire were exempt from taxation for three years because their +king brought from Delhi enough money to pay all the expenses +of his government and his army during that time. We are told +that he stripped plates of gold from the walls of the palace +of Delhi and removed the ceilings from the apartments because +they were made of silver, and the peacock throne of itself was +of sufficient value to pay the debts of a nation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A considerable part of the palaces of the Moguls has been destroyed +by vandals or removed by the British authorities in order to make +room for ugly brick buildings which are used as barracks and +for the storage of arms, ammunition and other military supplies. +It is doubtful whether they could have secured uglier designs and +carried them out with ruder workmanship. Writers upon Indian +history and architecture invariably devote a chapter to this +national disgrace for which the viceroys in the latter part of +the nineteenth century were responsible, and they denounce it as +even worse than the devastation committed by barbarian invaders. +"Nadir Shah, Ahmed Khan and the Maratha chiefs were content to strip +the buildings of their precious metals and the jeweled thrones," +exclaims one eminent writer. "To the government of the present +Empress of India was left the last dregs of vandalism, which +after the mutiny pulled down these perfect monuments of Mogul art +to make room for the ugliest brick buildings from Simla to Ceylon. +The whole of the harem courts of the palace were swept off the +face of the earth to make way for a hideous British barrack, +without those who carried out this fearful piece of vandalism +thinking it even worth while to make a plan of what they were +destroying, or making any records of the most splendid palace +in the world. Of the public parts of the palace, all that remain +are the entrance hall, the Nobut Khana, the Dewani Aum, the Dewani +Khas and the Rung Mahal, now used as a mess room, and one or two +small pavilions. They are the gems of the palace, it is true, +but without the courts and corridors connecting them they lose +all their meaning and more than half their beauty. Being now +situated in the midst of a British barrack yard, they look like +precious stones torn from their settings in some exquisite piece +of oriental jeweler's work and set at random in a bed of the +commonest plaster." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is only fair to say that no one appreciates this situation +more keenly than Lord Curzon, and while he is too discreet a +man to criticise the acts of his predecessors in office, he has +plans to restore the interior of the fort to something like its +original condition and has already taken steps to tear down the +ugly brick buildings that deface the landscape. But something +more is necessary. The vandalism still continues in a small way. +While we were being escorted through the beautiful buildings by +a blithe and gay young Irish soldier, I called his attention to +several spots in the wall where bits of precious stone--carnelian, +turquoise and agate--had been picked out and carried away as +relics. The wounds in the wall were recent. It was perfectly +apparent that the damage had been done that very day, but he +declared that there was no way to prevent it; that he was the +only custodian of the place; that there were no guards; that +it was impossible for him to be everywhere at once, and that +it was easy enough for tourists and other visitors to deface +the mosaics with their pocket knives in one of the palaces while +he was showing people through the others. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The mosaics which adorn the interior marble walls of the palaces +are considered incomparable. They are claimed to be the most +elaborate, the most costly and the most perfect specimens of the +art in existence. The designs represents flowers, foliage, fruits, +birds, beasts, fishes and reptiles, carried out with precious +stones in the pure white marble with the skill and delicacy of a +Neapolitan cameo cutter, and it is said that they were designed +and done by Austin de Bordeaux, the Frenchman who decorated the +Taj Mahal, and it was a bad man who did this beautiful work. +History says that "after defrauding several of the princes of +Europe by means of false gems, which he fabricated with great +skill, he sought refuge at the court of the Moguls, where he +was received with high favor and made his fortune." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The richest and the loveliest of the rooms in the palace is the +Diwan-i-Khas, or Hall of Private Audience, which is built entirely +of marble and originally had a silver ceiling. The walls were once +covered with gold, and in the center stood the famous peacock +throne. Over the north and south entrances are written in flowing +Persia, characters the following lines: +</p> + +<div class="quote"> +If there be a Paradise on Earth<br> +It is This! It is This! It is This! +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The building was a masterpiece of refined fancy and extravagance, +and upon its decorations Austin de Bordeaux, whose work on the Taj +Mahal pronounces him to be one of the greatest artists that ever +lived, concentrated the entire strength of his genius and lavished +the wealth of an empire. Mr. Tavernier, a French jeweler, who +visited Delhi a few years after the palace was finished, estimated +the value of the decorations of this one room at 27,000,000 francs. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One of the several thrones used by the Moguls on occasions of +ceremony was a stool eighteen inches high and four feet in diameter +chiseled out of a solid block of natural crystal. M. Tavernier +asserts that it was the largest piece of crystal ever discovered, +and that it was without a flaw. It was shattered by the barbarians +during the invasion of the Marathas in 1789. But the peacock +throne, which stood in the room I have just described, was even +more wonderful, and stands as the most extraordinary example +of extravagance on record. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="518"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig020.jpg" width="514" height="373" alt="Fig. 20"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + HALL OF MARBLE AND MOSAICS IN THE PALACE OF THE MOGULS AT DEHLI +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +A description written at the time says: "It was so called from its +having the figures of two peacocks standing behind it, their tails +being expanded, and the whole so inlaid with diamonds, sapphires, +rubies, emeralds, pearls and other precious stones of appropriate +colors as to represent life. The throne itself was six feet long +by five feet broad. It stood upon six massive feet, which, like +the body, were of solid gold, inlaid with rubies, emeralds and +diamonds. It was surrounded by a canopy of gold, supported by +twelve pillars, all richly emblazoned with costly gems, and a +fringe of pearls ornamented the borders of the canopy. Between +the two peacocks stood a figure of a parrot of the ordinary size +carved out of a single emerald. On either side of the throne +stood an umbrella, one of the emblems of royalty. They were formed +of crimson velvet, richly embroidered and fringed with pearls. +The handles were eight feet high, of solid gold thickly studded +with diamonds." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This throne, according to a medical gentleman named Bernier, the +writer whose description I have quoted, was planned and executed +under the direction of Austin de Bordeaux. It was carried away by +Nadir Shah to Teheran in 1739, and what is left of it is still +used by the Shah of Persia on ceremonial occasions. The canopy, +the umbrellas, the emerald parrot and the peacocks have long +ago disappeared. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The same splendor, in more or less degree, was maintained throughout +the entire palace during the reign of the Moguls. The apartments +of the emperor and those of his wives, the harem, the baths, +the public offices, the quarters for his ministers, secretaries +and attendants were all built of similar materials and decorated +in the same style of magnificence. Some of the buildings are +allowed to remain empty for the pleasures of tourists; others +are occupied for military purposes, and the Rung Mahal, one of +the most beautiful, formerly the residence of the Mogul's favorite +wife, is now used for a messroom by the officers of the garrison. +A writer of the seventh century who visited the place says: "It +was more beautiful than anything in the East that we know of." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At one end of the group of the buildings is the Moti Majid, or +Pearl Mosque, which answered to the private chapel of the Moguls, +and has been declared to be "the daintiest building in all India." +In grace, simplicity and perfect proportions it cannot be surpassed. +It is built of the purest marble, richly traced with carving. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is within the walls of this fort and among these exquisite +palaces that the Imperial durbar was held on the 1st of January, +1903, to proclaim formally the coronation of King Edward VII., +Emperor of India, and Lord Curzon, with remarkable success, carried +out his plan to make the occasion one of extraordinary splendor. +It brought together for the first time all of the native princes +of India, who, in the presence of each other, renewed their pledges +of loyalty and offered their homage to the throne. No spectacle +of greater pomp and splendor has ever been witnessed in Europe or +Asia or any other part of the world since the days of the Moguls. +The peacock throne could not be recovered for the occasion, but +Lord and Lady Curzon sat upon the platform where it formerly +stood, and there received the ruling chiefs, nobles and princes +from all the states and provinces of India. Lord Curzon has been +criticised severely in certain quarters for the "barbaric splendor +and barbaric extravagance of this celebration," but people familiar +with the political situation in India and the temper of the native +princes have not doubted for a moment the wisdom which inspired +it and the importance of its consequences. The oriental mind +is impressed more by splendor than by any other influence, and +has profound respect for ceremonials. The Emperor of India, by +the durbar, recognized those racial peculiarities, and not only +gratified them but made himself a real personality to the native +chiefs instead of an abstract proposition. It has given the British +power a position that it never held before; it swept away jealousies +and brought together ruling princes who had never seen each other +until then. It broke down what Lord Curzon calls "the water-tight +compartment system of India." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Each province," he says, "each native state, is more or less +shut off by solid bulkheads from its neighbors. The spread of +railways and the relaxation of social restrictions are tending +to break them down, but they are still very strong. Princes who +live in the south have rarely ever in their lives seen or visited +the states of the north. Perhaps among the latter are chiefs who +have rarely ever left their homes. It cannot but be a good thing +that they should meet and get to know each other and exchange ideas. +To the East there is nothing strange, but something familiar and +even sacred," continued Lord Curzon, "in the practice that brings +sovereigns together with their people in ceremonies of solemnity. +Every sovereign in India did it in the old days; every chief in +India does it now; and the community of interest between the +sovereign and his people, to which such a function testifies and +which it serves to keep alive, is most vital and most important." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +And the durbar demonstrated the wisdom of those who planned it. The +expense was quite large. The total disbursements by the government +were about $880,000, and it is probable that an equal amount +was expended by the princes and other people who participated. +That has been the subject of severe criticism also, because the +people were only slowly recovering from the effect of an awful +famine. But there is another point of view. Every farthing of +those funds was spent in India and represented wages paid to +workmen employed in making the preparations and carrying them +into effect. No money went out of the country. It all came out of +the pockets of the rich and was paid into the hands of the poor. +What the government and the native princes and nobles expended in +their splendid displays was paid to working people who needed +it, and by throwing this large amount into circulation the entire +country was benefited. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The extravagance of the Viceroy and Lady Curzon in their own +personal arrangements has also been criticised, and people complain +that they might have done great good with the immense sums expended +in dress and entertainment and display, but it is easy to construe +these criticisms into compliments, for everyone testifies that both +the viceroy and his beautiful American wife performed their parts +to perfection, and that no one could have appeared with greater +dignity and grace. Every detail of the affair was appropriate +and every item upon the programme was carried out precisely as +intended and desired. Lord and Lady Curzon have the personal +presence, the manners and all the other qualities required for +such occasions. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Dr. Francois Bernier, the French physician who visited the Mogul +court in 1658, and gives us a graphic description of the durbar +and Emperor Aurangzeb, who reigned at that time, writes: "The +king appeared upon his throne splendidly appareled. His vest was +of white satin, flowered and raised with a very fine embroidery +of gold and silk. His turban was of cloth of gold, having a fowl +wrought upon it like a heron, whose foot was covered with diamonds +of an ordinary bigness and price, with a great oriental topaz +which may be said to be matchless, shining like a little sun. A +collar of long pearls hung about his neck down to his stomach, +after the manner that some heathens wear their beads. His throne +was supported by six pillars of massive gold set with rubies, +emeralds and diamonds. Beneath the throne there appeared the +great nobles, in splendid apparel, standing upon a raised ground +covered with a canopy of purple with great golden fringes, and +inclosed by a silver balustrade. The pillars of the hall were +hung with tapestries of purple having the ground of gold, and for +the roof of the hall there was nothing but canopies of flowered +satin fastened with red silken cords that had big tufts of silk +mixed with the threads of gold hanging on them. Below there was +nothing to be seen but silken tapestries, very rich and of +extraordinary length and breadth." +</p> + +<h2><a name="XVII">XVII</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE TEMPLES AND TOMBS OF DELHI +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Seven ancient ruined cities, representing successive periods +and dynasties from 2500 B. C. to 1600 A. D., encumber the plains +immediately surrounding the city of Delhi, within a radius of +eighteen or twenty miles; and you cannot go in any direction +without passing through the ruins of stupendous walls, ancient +fortifications and crumbling palaces, temples, mosques and tombs. +Tradition makes the original Delhi the political and commercial +rival of Babylon, Nineveh, Memphis and Thebes, but the modern +town dates from 1638, the commencement of the reign of the famous +Mogul Shah Jehan, of whom I have written so much in previous +chapters. About eleven miles from the city is a group of splendid +ruins, some of the most remarkable in the world, and a celebrated +tower known as the Kutab-Minar, one of the most important +architectural monuments in India. You reach it by the Great Trunk +Road of India, the most notable thoroughfare in the empire, which +has been the highway from the mountains and northern provinces +to the sacred River Ganges from the beginning of time, and, +notwithstanding the construction of railroads, is to-day the +great thoroughfare of Asia. If followed it will lead you through +Turkestan and Persia to Constantinople and Moscow. Over this +road came Tamerlane, the Tartar Napoleon, with his victorious +army, and Alexander the Great, and it has been trodden by the +feet of successive invaders for twenty or thirty centuries. To-day +it leads to the Khyber Pass, the only gateway between India and +Afghanistan, where the frontier is guarded by a tremendous force, +and no human being is allowed to go either way without permits +from the authorities of both governments. Long caravans still +cross the desert of middle Asia, enter and leave India through +this pass and follow the Grand Trunk Road to the cities of the +Ganges. It is always thronged with pilgrims and commerce; with +trains of bullock carts, caravans of camels and elephants, and +thousands of pedestrians pass every milestone daily. Kipling +describes them and the road in "Kim" in more graphic language +than flows through my typewriter. In the neighborhood of Delhi +the Grand Trunk Road is like the Appian Way of Rome, both sides +being lined with the mausoleums of kings, warriors and saints in +various stages of decay and dilapidation. And scattered among +them are the ruins of the palaces of supplanted dynasties which +appeared and vanished, arose and fell, one after another, in +smoke and blood; with the clash of steel, the cries of victory +and shrieks of despair. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the center of the court of the ancient mosque of Kutbul Islam, +which was originally built for a Hindu temple in the tenth century, +stands a wrought-iron column, one of the most curious things +in India. It rises 23 feet 8 inches above the ground, and its +base, which is bulbous, is riveted to two stone slabs two feet +below the surface. Its diameter at the base is 16 feet 4 inches +and at the capital is 12 inches. It is a malleable forging of +pure iron, without alloy, and 7.66 specific gravity. According +to the estimates of engineers, it weighs about six tons, and it +is remarkable that the Hindus at that age could forge a bar of +iron larger and heavier than was ever forged in Europe until a +very recent date. Its history is deeply cut upon its surface in +Sanskrit letters. The inscription tells us that it is "The Arm +of Fame of Raja Dhava," who subdued a nation named the Vahlikas, +"and obtained, with his own arm, undivided sovereignty upon the +earth for a long period." No date is given, but the historians +fix its erection about the year 319 or 320 A. D. This is the +oldest and the most unique of all the many memorials in India, +and has been allowed to stand about 1,700 years undisturbed. +An old prophecy declared that Hindu sovereigns would rule as +long as the column stood, and when the empire was invaded in +1200 and Delhi became the capital of a Mohammedan empire, its +conqueror, Kutb-ud-Din (the Pole Star of the Faith), originally +a Turkish slave, defied it by allowing the pillar to remain, +but he converted the beautiful Hindu temple which surrounded +it into a Moslem mosque and ordered his muezzins to proclaim +the name of God and His prophet from its roof, and to call the +faithful to pray within its walls. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This Hindu temple, which was converted into a mosque, is still +unrivaled for its gigantic arches and for the graceful beauty +of the tracery which decorated its walls. Even in ruins it is +a magnificent structure, and Lord Curzon is to be thanked for +directing its partial restoration at government expense. The +architectural treasures of India are many, but there are none +to spare, and it is gratifying to find officials in authority +who appreciate the value of preserving those that remain for +the benefit of architectural and historical students. It it a +pity that the original Hindu carvings upon the columns cannot be +restored. There were originally not less than 1,200 columns, and +each was richly ornamented with peculiar Hindu decorative designs. +Some of them, in shadowy corners, are still almost perfect, but +unfortunately those which are most conspicuous were shamefully +defaced by the Mohammedan conquerors, and we must rely upon our +imaginations to picture them as they were in their original beauty. +The walls of the building are of purplish red standstone, of +very fine grain, almost as fine as marble, and age and exposure +seem to have hardened it. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In one corner of the court of this great mosque rises the Kutab +Minar, a monument and tower of victory. It is supposed to have +been originally started by the Hindus and completed by their +Mohammedan conquerors. Another tower, called the Alai-Minar, about +500 feet distant, remains unfinished, and rises only eighty-seven +feet from the ground. Had it been finished as intended, it would +have been 500 feet high, or nearly as lofty as the Washington +monument. According to the inscription, it was erected by Ala-din +Khiji, who reigned from 1296 to 1316, and remains as it stood at +his death. For some reason his successor never tried to complete +it. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Kutab Minar, the completed tower, is not only a notable structure +and one of the most perfect in the world, second only in height +to the Washington monument, but it is particularly notable for +its geometrical proportions. Its height, 238 feet, is exactly +five times the diameter of its base. It is divided into five +stories each tapering in perfect proportions and being divided +by projecting balconies or galleries. The first story, 95 feet +in height, consists of twenty-four faces in the form of convex +flutings, alternately semicircular and rectangular, built of +alternate courses of marble and red sandstone. The second story +is 51 feet high and the projections are all semicircular; the +third story is 41 feet and the projections are all rectangular; +the fourth, 26 feet high, is a plain cylinder, and the fifth or +top story, 25 feet high, is partly fluted and partly plain. The +mean diameter of each story is exactly one-fifth of its height, +and the material is alternate courses of marble and red sandstone, +the entire exterior surface being incrusted with inscriptions from +the Koran, sculptured in sharp relief. It has been compared for +beauty of design and perfection of proportions to the Campanile +at Florence, but that is conventional in every respect, while +the Kutab Minar is unique. The sculptures that cover its surface +have been compared to those upon the column of Trajan in Rome and +the Column Vendome in Paris, but they are intended to relate the +military triumphs of the men in whose honor they were erected, while +the inscription upon the Kutab Minar is a continuous recognition +of the power and glory of God and the virtues of Mahomet, His +prophet. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Whichever way you look, whichever way you drive, in that +extraordinary place, you find artistic taste, the religious devotion, +the love of conquest and the military genius of the Mohammedans +combined and perpetuated in noble forms. The camel driver of +Mecca, like the founder of Christianity, was a teacher of peace +and an example of humility, but his followers have been famous +for their pride, their brilliant achievements, their audacity +and their martial violence and success. The fortresses scattered +over the plain bear testimony to their fighting qualities, and +are an expression of their authority and power; their gilded +palaces and jeweled thrones testify to their luxurious taste +and artistic sentiment, while the massive mausoleums which arise +in every direction testify to their pride and their determination +that posterity shall not forget their names. I have told you in +a previous chapter about the tomb of Humayun, the son of Baber +(the Lion of the Faith), who transmitted to a long line of Moguls +the blood of conquerors. But it is only one of several noble +examples of architecture and pretensions, and as evidence of +the human sympathies of the man who built it, the tomb of his +barber is near by. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +About a mile across the plain is another group of still more +remarkable sepulchers, about seven or eight miles from Delhi. +They are surrounded by a grove of mighty trees, whose boughs +overhang a crumbling wall intended to protect them. As we passed +the portal we found ourselves looking upon a large reservoir, +or tank, as they call them here, which long ago was blessed by +Nizamu-Din, one of the holiest and most renowned of the Brahmin +saints, so that none who swims in it is ever drowned. A group of +wan and hungry-looking priests were standing there to receive +us; they live on backsheesh and sleep on the cold marble floors +of the tombs. No dinner bell ever rings for them. They depend +entirely upon charity, and send out their chelas, or disciples, +every morning to skirmish for food among the market men and people +in the neighborhood. While we stood talking to them a group of six +naked young men standing upon the cornice of a temple attracted +our attention by their violent gesticulations, and then, one +after another, plunged headlong, fifty or sixty feet, into the +waters of the pool. As they reappeared upon the surface they +swam to the marble steps of the pavilion, shook themselves dry +like dogs and extended their hands for backsheesh. It was an +entirely new and rather startling form of entertainment, but +we learned that it was their way of making a living, and that +they are the descendants of the famous men and women who occupy +the wonderful tombs, and are permitted to live among them and +collect backsheesh from visitors as they did from us. Several +women were hanging around, and half a dozen fierce-looking mullahs, +or Mohammedan priests, with their beards dyed a deep scarlet +because the prophet had red hair. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The most notable of the tombs, the "Hall of Sixty-four Pillars," +is an exquisite structure of white marble, where rests Azizah Kokal +Tash, foster brother of the great Mogul Akbar. He was buried here +in 1623, and around him are the graves of his mother and eight +of his brothers and sisters. Another tomb of singular purity +and beauty is that of Muhammud Shah, who was Mogul from 1719 +to 1748--the man whom Nadir Shah, the Persian, conquered and +despoiled. By his side lie two of his wives and several of his +children. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The tomb of Jehanara, daughter of the great Emperor Shah Jehan, +is a gem of architecture, a dainty bungalow of pure white marble. +The roof is a low dome with broad eaves, and the walls are slabs +of thin marble perforated in geometric designs like the finest +lace. The inscription calls her "Heavenly Minded," and reminds us +that "God is the Resurrection and the Life;" that it was her wish +that nothing but grass might cover her dust, because "Such a pall +alone was fit for the lowly dead," and closes with a prayer for +the soul of her father. Notwithstanding her wishes, so expressed, +the tomb cost $300,000, but such sentiments, which appear upon +nearly all of the Mogul tombs, are not to be taken literally. The +inscription over the entrance to one of the grandest in India, +where lies "The Piercer of Battle Ranks," admits that "However +great and powerful man may be in the presence of his fellow +creatures; however wide his power and influence, and however +large his wealth, he is as humble and as worthless as the smallest +insect in the sight of God." Human nature was the same among the +Moguls as it is to-day, and the men who were able to spend a +million or half a million dollars upon their sepulchers could +afford to throw in a few expressions of humility. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="584"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig021.jpg" width="580" height="376" alt="Fig. 21"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + TOMB OF AMIR KHUSRAN--PERSIAN POET--DELHI.<br> + <i>With panels of perforated marble</i> +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The most beautiful of the tombs is that of Amir Khusrau, a poet +who died at Delhi in 1315, the author of ninety-eight poems, +many of which are still in popular use. He was known as "the +Parrot of Hindustan," and enjoyed the confidence and patronage +of seven successive Moguls. His fame is immortal. Lines he wrote +are still recited nightly in the coffee-houses and sung in the +harems of India, and women and girls and sentimental young men +come daily to lay fresh flowers upon his tomb. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the center of Delhi and on the highest eminence of the city +stands the Jumma Musjid, almost unrivaled among mosques. There +is nothing elsewhere outside of Constantinople that can compare +with it, either in size or splendor, and we are told that 10,000 +workmen were employed upon it daily for six years. It was built by +Shah Jehan of red sandstone inlaid with white marble; is crowned +with three splendid domes of white marble striped with black, +and at each angle of the courtyard stands a gigantic minaret +composed of alternate stripes of marble and red sandstone. There +are three stately portals approached by flights of forty steps, +the lowest of which is 140 feet long. Through stately arches you +are led into a courtyard 450 feet square, inclosed by splendid +arcaded cloisters. In the center of the court is the usual fountain +basin, at which the worshipers perform their ablutions, and at +the eastern side, facing toward Mecca, at the summit of a flight +of marble steps, is the mosque, 260 feet long and 120 feet wide. +The central archway is eighty feet high. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Over in one corner of the cloisters is a reliquary guarded by +a squad of fierce-looking priests, which contains some of the +most precious relics of the prophet in existence. They have a +hair from his mustache, which is red; one of his slippers, the +print of his foot in a stone, two copies of portions of the +Koran--one of them written by his son-in-law, Imam Husain, very +clear and well preserved, and the other by his grandson, Imam +Hasan. Both are very beautiful specimens of chirography, and would +have a high value for that reason alone, but obtained especial +sanctity because of the tradition that both were written at the +dictation of the Prophet himself, and are among the oldest copies +of the Koran in existence. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XVIII">XVIII</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THUGS, FAKIRS, AND NAUTCH DANCERS +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The most interesting classes among the many kinds of priests, +monks and other people, who make religion a profession in India, +are the thugs, fakirs and nautch girls, who are supposed to devote +their lives and talents to the service of the gods. There are +several kinds of fakirs and other religious mendicants in India, +about five thousand in number, most of them being nomads, wandering +from city to city and temple to temple, dependent entirely upon +the charity of the faithful. They reward those who serve them +with various forms of blessings; give them advice concerning +all the affairs of life from the planting of their crops to the +training of their children. They claim supernatural powers to +confer good and invoke evil, and the curse of a fakir is the +last misfortune that an honest Hindu cares to bring upon himself, +for it means a failure of his harvests, the death of his cattle +by disease, sickness in his family and bad luck in everything +that he undertakes. Hence these holy men, who are familiars of the +gods, and are believed to spend most of their time communicating +with them in some mysterious way about the affairs of the world, +are able to command anything the people have to give, and nobody +would willingly cross their shadows or incur their displeasure. +The name is pronounced as if it were spelled "fah-keer." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +These religious mendicants go almost naked, usually with nothing +but the smallest possible breech clout around their loins, which +the police require them to wear; they plaster their bodies with +mud, ashes and filth; they rub clay, gum and other substances +into their hair to give it an uncouth appearance. Sometimes they +wear their hair in long braids hanging down their backs like the +queue of a Chinaman; sometimes in short braids sticking out in +every direction like the wool of the pickaninnies down South. +Some of them have strings of beads around their necks, others +coils of rope round them. They never wear hats and usually carry +nothing but a small brass bowl, in imitation of Buddha, which +is the only property they possess on earth. They are usually +accompanied by a youthful disciple, called a "chela," a boy of +from 10 to 15 years of age, who will become a fakir himself unless +something occurs to change his career. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Many of the fakirs endeavor to make themselves look as hideous +as possible. They sometimes whitewash their faces like clowns +in circuses; paint lines upon their cheeks and draw marks under +their eyes to give them an inhuman appearance. At certain seasons +of the year they may clothe themselves in filthy rags for the +time being as an evidence of humility. Most of them are very +thin and spare of flesh, which is due to their long pilgrimages +and insufficient nourishment. They sleep wherever they happen +to be. They lie down on the roadside or beneath a column of a +temple, or under a cart, or in a stable. Sometimes kindly disposed +people give them beds, but they have no regular habits; they +sleep when they are sleepy, rest when they are tired and continue +their wanderings when they are refreshed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +About the time the people of the country are breakfasting in +the morning the chela starts out with the brass bowl and begs +from house to house until the bowl is filled with food, when he +returns to wherever his master is waiting for him and they share +its contents between them. Again at noon and again at night the +chela goes out on similar foraging expeditions and conducts the +commissary department in that way. The fakir himself is supposed +never to beg; the gods he worships are expected to take care of +him, and if they do not send him food he goes without it. It is +a popular delusion that fakirs will not accept alms from anyone +for any purpose, for I have considerable personal experience to +the contrary. I have offered money to hundreds of them and have +never yet had it refused. A fakir will snatch a penny as eagerly +as any beggar you ever saw, and if the coin you offer is smaller +than he expects or desires he will show his disapproval in an +unmistakable manner. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The larger number of fakirs are merely religious tramps, worthless, +useless impostors, living upon the fears and superstitions of +the people and doing more harm than good. Others are without +doubt earnest and sincere ascetics, who believe that they are +promoting the welfare and happiness of their fellow men by depriving +themselves of everything that is necessary to happiness, purifying +their souls by privation and hardship and obtaining spiritual +inspiration and light by continuous meditation and prayer. Many +of these are fanatics, some are epileptics, some are insane. They +undergo self-torture of the most horrible kinds and frequently +prove their sincerity by causing themselves to be buried alive, by +starving to death, or by posing themselves in unnatural attitudes +with their faces or their arms raised to heaven until the sinews +and muscles are benumbed or paralyzed and they fall unconscious +from exhaustion. These are tests of purity and piety. Zealots +frequently enter temples and perform such feats for the admiration +of pilgrims and by-standers. Many are clairvoyants and have the +power of second sight. They hypnotize subjects and go into trances +themselves, in which condition the soul is supposed to leave +the body and visit the gods. Some of the metaphysical phenomena +are remarkable and even startling. They cannot be explained. +You have doubtless read of the wonderful fakir, Ram Lal, who +appears in F. Marion Crawford's story of "Mr. Isaacs," and there +is a good deal concerning this class of people in Rudyard Kipling's +"Kim." Those two, by the way, are universally considered the best +stories of Indian life ever written. You will perhaps remember +also reading of the astonishing performances of Mme. Blavatsky, +who visited the United States some years ago as the high priestess +of Theosophy. Her supernatural manifestations attracted a great +deal of attention at one time, but she was finally exposed and +denounced as a charlatan. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Among the higher class of fakirs are many extraordinary men, +profound scholars, accomplished linguists and others whose knowledge +of both the natural and the occult sciences is amazing. I was +told by one of the highest officials of the Indian Empire of +an extraordinary feat performed for his benefit by one of these +fakirs, who in some mysterious way transferred himself several +hundred miles in a single night over a country where there were no +railroads, and never took the trouble to explain how his journey +was accomplished. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The best conjurers, magicians and palmists in India are fakirs. +Many of them tell fortunes from the lines of the hand and from +other signs with extraordinary accuracy. Old residents who have +come in contact with this class relate astounding tales. While +at Calcutta a young lady at our hotel was incidentally informed +by a fortune-telling fakir she met accidentally in a Brahmin +temple that she would soon receive news that would change all +her plans and alter the course of her life, and the next morning +she received a cablegram from England announcing the death of +her father. If you get an old resident started on such stories +he will keep telling them all night. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Of course you have read of the incredible and seemingly impossible +feats performed by Hindu magicians, of whom the best and most +skillful belong to the fakir class. I have seen the "box trick," +or "basket trick," as they call it, in which a young man is tied +up in a gunny sack and locked up in a box, then at a signal a +few moments after appears smiling at the entrance to your house, +but I have never found anyone who could explain how he escaped +from his prison. This was performed daily on the Midway Plaisance +at the World's Fair at Chicago and was witnessed by thousands +of people. And it is simple compared with some of the doings +of these fakirs. They will take a mango, open it before you, +remove the seeds, plant them in a tub of earth, and a tree will +grow and bear fruit before your eyes within half an hour. Or, +what is even more wonderful, they will climb an invisible rope +in the open air as high as a house, vanish into space, and then, +a few minutes after, will come smiling around the nearest street +corner. Or, if that is not wonderful enough, they will take an +ordinary rope, whirl it around their head, toss it into the air, +and it will stand upright, as if fastened to some invisible bar, +so taut and firm that a heavy man can climb it. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +These are a few of the wonderful things fakirs perform about +the temples, and nobody has ever been able to discover how they +do it. People who begin an inquiry usually abandon it and declare +that the tricks are not done at all, that the spectators are simply +hypnotized and imagine that they have seen what they afterward +describe. This explanation is entirely plausible. It is the only safe +one that can be given, and it is confirmed by other manifestations +of hypnotic power that you would not believe if I should describe +them. Fakirs have hypnotized people I know and have made them +witness events and spectacles which they afterward learned were +transpiring, at the very moment, five and six thousand miles +away. For example, a young gentleman, relating his experience, +declared that under the power of one of these men he attended his +brother's wedding in a London church and wrote home an account +of it that was so accurate in its details that his family were +convinced that he had come all the way from India without letting +them know and had attended it secretly. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Many of the snake charmers to whom I referred in a previous chapter +are fakirs, devoted to gods whose specialties are snakes, and +pious Hindus believe that the deities they worship protect them +from the venom of the reptiles. Sometimes you can see one of +them at a temple deliberately permit his pets to sting him on +the arm, and he will show you the blood flowing. Taking a little +black stone from his pocket he will rub it over the wound and then +rub it upon the head of the snake. Then he will rub the wound +again, and again the head of the snake, all the time muttering +prayers, making passes with his hands, bowing his body to the +ground, and going through other forms of worship, and when he +has concluded he will assure you that the bite of the snake has +been made harmless by the incantation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I have never seen more remarkable contortionists than the fakirs +who can be always found about temples in Benares, and frequently +elsewhere. They are usually very lean men, almost skeletons. As +they wear no clothing, one can count their bones through the +skin, but their muscles and sinews are remarkably strong and +supple. They twist themselves into the most extraordinary shapes. +No professional contortionist upon the vaudeville stage can compare +with these religious mendicants, who give exhibitions in the +open air, or in the porticos of the temples in honor of some +god and call it worship. They acquire the faculty of doing their +feats by long and tedious training under the instruction of older +fakirs, who are equally accomplished, and the performances are +actually considered worship, just as much as an organ voluntary, +the singing of a hymn, or a display of pulpit eloquence in one of +our churches. The more wonderful their feats, the more acceptable +to their gods, and they go from city to city through all India, +and from temple to temple, twisting their bodies into unnatural +shapes and postures under the impression that they will thereby +attain a higher degree of holiness and exalt themselves in the +favor of heaven. They do not give exhibitions for money. They +cannot be hired for any price to appear upon a public stage. +Theatrical agents in London and elsewhere have frequently tempted +them with fortunes, but they cannot be persuaded to display their +gifts for gain, or violate their caste and the traditions of +their profession. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is a fearful sect of fakirs devoted to Siva and to Bhairava, +the god of lunacy, who associate with evil spirits, ghouls and +vampires, and practice hideous rites of blood, lust and gluttony. +They tear their flesh with their finger-nails, slash themselves +with knives, and occasionally engage in a frantic dance from +which they die of exhaustion. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The nautches of India have received considerable attention from +many sources. They are the object of the most earnest admonitions +from missionaries and moralists, and no doubt are a very bad lot, +although they do not look it, and are a recognized and respected +profession among the Hindus. They are consecrated to certain +gods soon after their birth; they are the brides of the impure +and obscene deities of the Hindu pantheon, and are attached to +their temples, receiving their support from the collections of +the priests or the permanent endowments, often living under the +temple roof and almost always within the sacred premises. The +amount of their incomes varies according to the wealth and the +revenues of the idol to which they were attached. They dance +before him daily and sing hymns in his honor. The ranks of the +nautch girls are sometimes recruited by the purchase of children +from poor parents, and by the dedication of the daughters of pious +Hindu families to that vocation, just as in Christian countries +daughters are consecrated to the vocation of religion from the +cradle and sons are dedicated to the priesthood and ministry. +Indeed it is considered a high honor for the daughter of a Hindu +family to be received into a temple as a nautch. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +They never marry and never retire. When they become too old to +dance they devote themselves to the training of their successors. +They are taught to read and write, to sing and dance, to embroider +and play upon various musical instruments. They are better educated +than any other class of Hindu women, and that largely accounts for +their attractions and their influence over men. They have their +own peculiar customs and rules, similar to those of the geishas of +Japan, and if a nautch is so fortunate as to inherit property it +goes to the temple to which she belongs. This custom has become +law by the confirmation of the courts. No nautch can retain any +article of value without the consent of the priest in charge of +the temple to which she is attached, and those who have received +valuable gifts of jewels from their admirers and lovers are often +compelled to surrender them. On the other hand, they are furnished +comfortable homes, clothing and food, and are taken care of all +of their lives, just the same as religious devotees belonging +to any other sect. Notwithstanding their notorious unchastity +and immorality, no discredit attaches to the profession, and +the very vices for which they are condemned are considered acts +of duty, faith and worship, although it seems almost incredible +that a religious sect will encourage gross immorality in its +own temples. Yet Hinduism has done worse things than that, and +other of its practices are even more censurable. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Bands of nautches are considered necessary appurtenances of the +courts of native Hindu princes, although they are never found +in the palaces of Mohammedans. They are brought forward upon +all occasions of ceremony, religious, official and convivial. +If the viceroy visits the capital of one of the native states he +is entertained by their best performances. They have a place on +the programme at all celebrations of feast days; they appear at +weddings and birthday anniversaries, and are quite as important +as an orchestra at one of our social occasions at home. They are +invited to the homes of native gentlemen on all great occasions +and are treated with the utmost deference and generosity. They +are permitted liberties and are accorded honors that would not be +granted to the wives and daughters of those who entertain them, +and stand on the same level as the Brahmin priests, yet they +are what we would call women of the town, and receive visitors +indiscriminately in the temples and other sacred places, according +to their pleasure and whims. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A stranger in India finds it difficult to reconcile these facts, +but any resident will assure you of the truth. The priests are +said to encourage the attentions of rich young Hindus because of +the gifts of money and jewels they are in the habit of showering +upon nautches they admire, but each girl is supposed to have a +"steady" lover, upon whom she bestows her affections for the +time being. He may be old or young, married or unmarried, rich or +poor, for as a rule it is to these women that a Hindu gentleman +turns for the companionship which his own home does not supply. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is a difference of opinion as to the beauty of the nautches. +It is purely a matter of taste. There is no rule by which personal +attractions may be measured, and doubtless there may be beautiful +women among them, but, so far, I have never seen one. Their costumes +are usually very elaborate, the materials being of the rarest and +finest qualities and profusely embroidered, and their jewels are +usually costly. Their manners are gentle, refined and modest; they +are perfectly self-possessed under all circumstances, and, while +their dancing would not be attractive to the average American +taste, it is not immodest, and consists of a succession of graceful +gestures and posturing which is supposed to have a definite meaning +and express sentiments and emotions. Most of the dances are +interpretations of poems, legends, stories of the gods and heroes +of Indian mythology. Educated Hindus profess to be able to understand +them, although to a foreigner they are nothing more than meaningless +motions. I have asked the same question of several missionaries, +but have never been able to discover a nautch dancer who has +abandoned her vocation, or has deserted her temple, or has run +away with a lover, or has been reached in any way by the various +missions for women in India. They seem to be perfectly satisfied +with their present and their future. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The greatest good women missionaries have done in India, I think, +is in bringing modern medical science into the homes of the natives. +No man is ever admitted to the zenanas, no matter what may happen, +and thousands upon thousands, yes, millions upon millions, of poor +creatures have suffered and died for lack of ordinary medical +attention because of the etiquette of caste. American women brought +the first relief, graduates from medical schools in Philadelphia, +New York and Chicago, and now there are women physicians attached to +all of the missions, and many of them are practicing independently +in the larger cities. They are highly respected and exert a great +influence. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Nizam-u-Din, one of the holiest of the Hindu saints, lies in a +tomb of marble lace work and embroidery near Delhi; as exquisite +a bit of architecture as you can imagine, so dainty in all its +details that it ought to be the sepulcher of a fairy queen instead +of that of the founder of the Thugs, the secret religious society +of assassins which was suppressed and practically exterminated by +the British authorities in the '60's and '70's. He died in 1652. +He was a fanatic who worshiped the goddess Kali; the black wife of +Siva, and believed that the removal of unbelievers from the earth +was what we call a Christian duty. As Kali prohibited the shedding +of blood, he trained his devotees to strangle their fellow beings +without violating that prohibition or leaving any traces of their +work, and sent out hundreds of professional murderers over India +to diminish the number of heretics for the good and glory of the +faith. No saint in the Hindu calendar is more generally worshiped +or more profoundly revered unto the present day. His tomb is +attended by groups of Brahmins who place fresh flowers upon the +cenotaph every morning and cover it reverently with Cashmere +shawls of the finest texture and pieces of rare embroidery. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +India is the only country where crime was ever systematically +carried on as a religious and legitimate occupation in the belief +that it was right, for not only the Thugs, but other professional +murderers existed for centuries, and still exist, although in +greatly diminished numbers, owing to the vigilance of the police; +not because they have become converted from the error of their ways. +There are yet tribes of professional criminals who believe that, +in following the customs and the occupation of their ancestors, +they are acting in the only way that is right and are serving +the gods they worship. Criminal organizations exist in nearly +all the native states, and the government is just now making +a special effort to stamp out professional "dacoits," who are +associated for the purpose of highway robbery, cattle stealing +and violence and carry on marauding expeditions from their +headquarters continuously. They are just as well organized and as +thoroughly devoted to their business as the gangs of highwaymen +that used to make travel dangerous through Europe in the middle +ages. And there are other criminal organizations with which it +is even more difficult to deal. A recent report from the office +of the home secretary says: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"We all know that trades go by castes in India; a family of +carpenters will be a family of carpenters a century or five centuries +hence, if they last so long; so with grain dealers, blacksmiths, +leather-makers and every known trade. If we keep this in mind +when we speak of 'professional criminals' we shall realize what +the term really means. It means that the members of a tribe whose +ancestors were criminals from time immemorial are themselves +destined by the use of the caste to commit crime, and their +descendants will be offenders against the law till the whole +tribe is exterminated or accounted for in the manner of the Thugs. +Therefore, when a man tells you he is a badhak, or a kanjar, +or a sonoria, he tells you, what few Europeans ever thoroughly +realize, that he is an habitual and avowed offender against the +law, and has been so from the beginning and will be so to the +end; that reform is impossible, for it is his trade, his caste--I +may almost say, his religion--to commit crime." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Thugs were broken up by Captain Sleeman, a brave and able +British detective who succeeded in entering that assassination +society and was initiated into its terrible mysteries. A large +number of the leaders were executed from time to time, but the +government, whose policy is always to respect religious customs +of the Hindus, administered as little punishment as possible, +and "rounding up" all of the members of this cult, as ranchmen +would say, "corralled" them at the Town of Jabal-pur, near the +City of Allahabad, in northeastern India, where they have since +been under surveillance. Originally there were 2,500, but now +only about half of that number remain, who up to this date are +not allowed to leave without a permit the inclosure in which +they are kept. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One of the criminal tribes, called Barwars, numbers about a thousand +families and inhabits forty-eight villages in the district of +Gonda, in the Province of Oudh, not far from Delhi. They live +quietly and honestly upon their farms during the months of planting +and harvesting, but between crops they wander in small gangs +over distant parts of the country, robbing and plundering with +great courage and skill. They even despoil the temples of the +gods. The only places that are sacred to them are the temple +of Jaganath (Juggernaut), in the district of Orissa, and the +shrine of a certain Mohammedan martyr. They have a regular +organization under hereditary chiefs, and if a member of the +clan gives up thieving he is disgraced and excommunicated. The +plunder is divided pro rata, and a certain portion is set aside +for their priests and as offerings to their gods. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is a similar clan of organized robbers and murderers known +as Sonoriaths, whose special business is to steal cattle, and +the Mina tribe, which lives in the district of Gurgaon, on the +frontier of the Punjab Province, has 2,000 members, given up +entirely to robbery and murder. They make no trouble at home. They +are honest in their dealings, peaceable, charitable, hospitable, +and have considerable wealth, but between crops the larger portion +of the men disappear from their homes and go into other provinces +for the purpose of robbery, burglary and other forms of stealing. +In the Agra Province are twenty-nine different tribes who from +time immemorial have made crime their regular occupation and, +like all those mentioned, look upon it as not only a legitimate +but a religious act ordered and approved by the deities they +worship. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Special laws have been enacted for restraining these castes or +clans, and special police officers now exercise supervision over +them. Every man is required to register at the police headquarters +and receive a passport. He is required to live within a certain +district, and cannot change his abode or leave its limits without +permission. If he does so he is arrested and imprisoned. The +authorities believe that they have considerably reduced the amount +of crime committed by these clansmen, who are too cunning and +courageous to be entirely suppressed. No amount of vigilance +can prevent them from leaving their villages and going off into +other provinces for criminal purposes, and the railways greatly +facilitate their movements. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Nevertheless, if you will examine the criminal statistics of +India you will be surprised at the small number of arrests, trials +and convictions for penal offenses. The figures demonstrate that +the people are honest and law abiding. There is less crime in +India than in any other country in proportion to population, much +less than in England or the United States. Out of a population +of 300,000,000 people during the ten years from 1892 to 1902 +there was an annual average of 1,015,550 criminal cases before +the courts, and an average of 1,345,667 offenses against the +criminal laws reported, while 870,665 persons were convicted of +crime in 1902, with the following penalties imposed: +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0 class="center"> +<tr><td>Death</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">500</td></tr> +<tr><td>Penal servitude</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">1,707</td></tr> +<tr><td>Imprisonment</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">175,795</td></tr> +<tr><td>Fines</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">628,092</td></tr> +<tr><td>Over two years' imprisonment</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">7,576</td></tr> +<tr><td>Between one and two years</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">39,067</td></tr> +<tr><td>Between fifteen days and one year</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">86,653</td></tr> +<tr><td>Under fifteen days</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">34,517</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The following were the most serious crimes in 1902: +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0 class="center"> +<tr><td> </td> + <td class="right">Arrests.</td> + <td> </td> + <td class="right">Convictions.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Offenses against public peace</td> + <td class="right">15,190</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">5,088</td></tr> +<tr><td>Murder</td> + <td class="right">3,255</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">1,102</td></tr> +<tr><td>Assault</td> + <td class="right">42,496</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">12,597</td></tr> +<tr><td>Dacoity or highway robbery</td> + <td class="right">3,320</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">706</td></tr> +<tr><td>Cattle stealing</td> + <td class="right">29,691</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">9,307</td></tr> +<tr><td>Ordinary theft</td> + <td class="right">183,463</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">45,566</td></tr> +<tr><td>House-breaking</td> + <td class="right">192,353</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">23,143</td></tr> +<tr><td>Vagrancy</td> + <td class="right">25,212</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">18,877</td></tr> +<tr><td>Public nuisances</td> + <td class="right">216,285</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">201,421</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The following table will show the total daily average of prisoners, +men and women, serving sentences for penal offenses in the prisons +of India during the years named: +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0 class="center"> +<tr><td> </td> + <td class="right">Men.</td> + <td> </td> + <td class="right">Women.</td> + <td> </td> + <td class="right">Total.</td></tr> +<tr><td>1892</td> + <td class="right">93,061</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">3,142</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">96,202</td></tr> +<tr><td>1893</td> + <td class="right">91,976</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">2,988</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">94,964</td></tr> +<tr><td>1894</td> + <td class="right">92,236</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">2,941</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">95,177</td></tr> +<tr><td>1895</td> + <td class="right">97,869</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">3,216</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">101,085</td></tr> +<tr><td>1896</td> + <td class="right">100,406</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">3,280</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">103,686</td></tr> +<tr><td>1897</td> + <td class="right">109,989</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">3,277</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">113,266</td></tr> +<tr><td>1898</td> + <td class="right">103,517</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">2,927</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">106,446</td></tr> +<tr><td>1899</td> + <td class="right">101,518</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">2,773</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">104,292</td></tr> +<tr><td>1900</td> + <td class="right">114,854</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">3,253</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">118,107</td></tr> +<tr><td>1901</td> + <td class="right">108,258</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">3,124</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">111,382</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Those who are familiar with criminal statistics in the United +States and other countries, will, I am confident, agree with +me that this is a most remarkable record for a population of +300,000,000, illiterate, superstitious, impregnated with false +ideas of honor and morality, and packed so densely as the people +of India are. The courts of justice have reached a high standard; +the lower courts are administered almost exclusively by natives; +the higher courts by English and natives together. No trial of +importance ever takes place except before a mixed court, and +usually the three great religions--Brahminism, Mohammedanism and +Christianity--are represented on the bench. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One of the most difficult and delicate tasks of the British +authorities has been to prevent infanticide, the murder of girl +infants, because from time immemorial among all the races of +India it has been practiced openly and without restraint and +in many sections as a religious duty. And what has made it more +difficult, it prevailed most extensively among the families of +the highest rank, and among the natives, communities and provinces +which were most loyal to the British crown. For example, the +Rajputs, of whom I have written at length in a previous chapter, +are the chivalry of India. They trace their descent from the +gods, and are proud of their nobility and their honor, yet it +has been the custom among them as far back as traditions run, +to strangle more than half their girl babies at birth, and until +this was stopped the records showed numbers of villages where +there was not a single girl, and where there never had been one +within the memory of man. As late as the census of 1869 seven +villages were reported with 104 boys and one girl, twenty-three +villages with 284 boys and twenty-three girls and many others in +similar proportions. The statistics of the recent census of 1901, +by the disparity between the sexes, show that this crime has not +yet been stamped out. In the Rajputana Province, for example, +there are 2,447,401 boys to 1,397,911 girls, and throughout the +entire population of India there are 72,506,661 boys to 49,516,381 +girls. Among the Hindus of all ages there are 105,163,345 men +to 101,945,387 women, and among the Sikhs, who also strangle +their children, there are 1,241,543 men to 950,823 women. Among +the Buddhists, the Jains and other religions the ratio between +the sexes was more even. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Sir John Strachy, in his admirable book upon India, says: "These +people have gone on killing their children generation after +generation because their forefathers did so before them, not +only without a thought that there is anything criminal in the +practice, but with the conviction that it is right. There can +be little doubt that if vigilance were relaxed the custom would +before long become as prevalent as ever." The measures taken +by the government have been radical and stringent. A system of +registration of births and deaths was provided by an act passed +in 1870, with constant inspection and frequent enumeration of +children among the suspected classes, and no efforts were spared +to convince them that the government had finally resolved to +prevent the practice and in doing so treated it as murder. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XIX">XIX</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +SIMLA AND THE PUNJAB +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At Delhi the railway forks. One branch runs on to the frontier of +Afghanistan via Lahore and Peshawur, and the other via Umballa, an +important military post, to Simla, the summer capital and sanitarium +of India. Because of the climate there must be two capitals. From +October to April the viceroy occupies the government house at +Calcutta with the civil and military authorities around him, but +as soon as the summer heat sets in the whole administration, civil, +military and judicial, removes to Simla, and everybody follows, +foreign consuls, bankers, merchants, lawyers, butchers, bakers +and candlestick makers, hotel and boardinghouse keepers, with +their servants, coachmen and horses. The commander-in-chief of +the army, the adjutant general and all the heads of the other +departments with their clerks take their books and records along +with them. The winter population of Simla is about 15,000; the +summer population reaches 30,000. The exodus lasts about a month, +during which time every railway train going north is crowded and +every extra car that can be spared is borrowed from the other +railways. The last of October the migration is reversed and everybody +returns to Calcutta. This has been going on for nearly fifty +years. The journey to Umballa is made by rail and thence by +"dak-gherries," a sort of covered democrat wagon, "mailtongas," +a species of cart, bullock carts, army wagons and carriages of +every size and description, while the luggage is brought up the +hills in various kinds of conveyance, much of it on the heads +of coolies, both women and men. The distance, fifty-seven miles +by the highway, is all uphill, but can be made by an ordinary +team in twelve hours. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Long experience has taught the government officials how to make +this removal in a scientific manner, and the records are arranged +for easy transportation. The viceroy has his own outfit, and when +the word is given the transfer takes place without the slightest +difficulty or confusion. A public functionary leaves his papers at +his desk, puts on his hat and walks out of his office at Calcutta; +three days later he walks into his office at Simla, hangs his +hat on a peg behind the door and sits down at his desk with the +same papers lying in the same positions before him, and business +goes on with the interruption of only three or four days at most. +The migration makes no more difference to the administration than +the revolutions of the earth. Formerly the various offices were +scattered over all parts of Simla, but they have been gradually +concentrated in blocks of handsome buildings constructed at a +cost of several millions of dollars. The home secretary, the +department of public works, the finance and revenue departments, +the secretary of agriculture, the postmaster general and the +secretary of war, each has quite as good an office for himself +and his clerks as he occupies at Calcutta. There is a courthouse, +a law library, a theatre and opera house, a number of clubs and +churches, for the archbishop and the clergy follow their flocks, +and the Calcutta merchants come along with their clerks and +merchandise to supply the wants of their customers. It is a +remarkable migration of a great government. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Although absolutely necessary for their health, and that of their +families, it is rather expensive for government employes, or +civil servants, as they are called in India, to keep up two +establishments, one in Simla and one in Calcutta. But they get +the benefit of the stimulating atmosphere of the hills and escape +the perpetual Turkish bath that is called summer in Calcutta. +Many of the higher officials, merchants, bankers, society people +and others have bungalows at Simla furnished like our summer +cottages at home. They extend over a long ridge, with beautiful +grounds around them. It is fully six miles from one end of the +town to the other, and the principal street is more than five +miles long. The houses are built upon terraces up and down the +slope, with one of the most beautiful panoramas of mountain scenery +that can be imagined spread out before them. Deep valleys, rocky +ravines and gorges break the mountainsides, which are clothed with +forests of oak and other beautiful trees, while the background is +a crescent of snowy peaks rising range above range against the +azure sky. Many people live in tents, particularly the military +families, and make themselves exceedingly comfortable. Simla is +quite cold in winter, being 7,084 feet above the sea and situated +on the thirty-second parallel of north latitude, about the same +as Charleston, S. C., but in summer the climate is very fine. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The viceroy occupies a chateau called the Viceregal Lodge, perched +upon a hill overlooking the town, and from his porches commands as +grand a mountain landscape as you could wish to see. The Viceregal +Lodge, like the government-house in Calcutta, was designed especially +for its purpose and is arranged for entertainments upon a broad +scale. The vice-queen takes the lead in social life, and no woman +in that position has ever been more competent than Lady Curzon. +There is really more society at Simla than in Calcutta. It is +the Newport of India, but fortunately for the health of those +who participate, it is mostly out of doors. The military element +is large enough to give it an athletic and sporting character, and +to the girls who are popular a summer at Simla is one prolonged +picnic. There are races, polo, tennis, golf, drives, rides, walks, +garden parties and all sorts of afternoon and morning functions. F. +Marion Crawford describes the gayeties of Simla in "Mr. Isaacs," +the first and best novel he ever wrote, and gives a graphic account +of a polo match in which his hero was knocked off his horse and +had his head bathed by the young lady he was in love with. Kipling +has given us a succession of pictures of Simla society, and no +novel of Indian life is without a chapter or two on it, because +it is really the most interesting place in all the empire. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +If you want to get a better idea of the place and its attractions +than I can give, read "Mr. Isaacs." Many of its incidents are +drawn from life, and the hero is a Persian Jew of Delhi, named +Jacobs, whose business is to sell precious stones to the native +princes. Crawford used to spend his summers at Simla when he +was a reporter for the Allahabad Pioneer, and made Jacobs's +acquaintance there. His Indian experiences are very interesting, +and he tells them as well as he writes. When he was quite a young +man he went to India as private secretary for an Englishman of +importance who died over there and left him stranded. Having failed +to obtain employment and having reached the bottom of his purse, +he decided in desperation to enlist as a private soldier in the +army, and was looking through the papers for the location of the +recruiting office when his eye was attracted by an advertisement +from the Allahabad Pioneer, which wanted a reporter. Although +he had never done any literary work, he decided to make a dash +for it, and became one of the most successful and influential +journalists in India until his career was broken in upon by the +success of "Mr. Isaacs," his first novel, which was published +in England and turned his pen from facts to fiction. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The railway journey from Delhi to Lahore is not exciting, although +it passes through a section of great historical interest which +has been fought over by contending armies and races for more +than 3,000 years. Several of the most important battles in India +occurred along the right of way, and they changed the dynasties +and religions of the empire, but the plains tell no tales and +show no signs of the events they have witnessed. Everybody who +has read Kipling's stories will be interested in Umballa, although +it is nothing but an important military post and railway junction. +He tells you about it in "Kim," and several of his army stories +are laid there. Sirhind, thirty-five miles beyond, was formerly +one of the most flourishing cities in the Mogul Empire, and for +a radius of several miles around it the earth is covered with +ruins. It was the scene of successive struggles between the Hindus +and the Sikhs for several centuries, and even to this day every +Sikh who passes through Sirhind picks up and carries away a brick, +which he throws into the first river he comes to, in hope that in +time the detested city will utterly disappear from the face of +the earth. Sirhind is the headquarters of American Presbyterian +missionary work in the Punjab, as that part of India is called, +and the headquarters of the largest irrigation system in the +world, which supplies water to more than 6,000,000 acres of land. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Just before reaching Lahore we passed through Amritsar, a city +which is famous for many things, and is the capital of the Sikhs, +a religious sect bound together by the ties of faith and race +and military discipline. They represent a Hindu heresy led by +a reformer named Nanak Shah, who was born at Lahore in 1469 and +preached a reformation against idolatry, caste, demon worship +and other doctrines of the Brahmins. His theories and sermons +are embraced in a volume known as the "Granth," the Sikh Bible, +which teaches the highest standard of morality, purity and courage, +and appeals especially to the nobler northern races of India. His +followers, who were known as Sikhs, were compelled to fight for +their faith, and for that reason were organized upon a military +basis. Their leaders were warlike men, and when the Mogul power +began to decay they struggled with the Afghans for supremacy in +northern India. They have ever since been renowned for their +fighting qualities; have always been loyal to British authority; +for fifty years have furnished bodyguards for the Viceroy of India, +the governors of Bombay, Bengal and other provinces, and so much +confidence is placed in their coolness, courage, honesty, judgment +and tact that they are employed as policemen in all the British +colonies of the East. You find them everywhere from Tien-Tsin to +the Red Sea. They are men of unusual stature, with fine heads +and faces, full beards, serious disposition and military airs. +They are the only professional fighters in the world. You seldom +find them in any other business, and their admirers declare that +no Sikh was ever convicted of cowardice or disloyalty. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Amritsar is their headquarters, their religious center and their +sacred city. Their temples are more like Protestant churches than +those of other oriental faiths. They have no idols or altars, but +meet once a week for prayer and praise. Their preacher reads passages +from the "Granth" and prays to their God, who may be reached through +the intercession of Nanak Shah, his prophet and their redeemer. +They sing hymns similar to those used in Protestant worship and +celebrate communion by partaking of wafers of unleavened bread. +Their congregations do not object to the presence of strangers, +but usually invite them to participate in the worship. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The great attraction of Amritsar is "The Golden Temple" of the +Sikhs which stands in the middle of a lake known as "The Pool of +Immortality." It is not a large building, being only fifty-three +feet square, but is very beautiful and the entire exterior is +covered with plates of gold. In the treasury is the original +copy of the "Granth" and a large number of valuable jewels which +have been collected for several centuries. Among them is one +of the most valuable strings of pearls ever collected. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Punjab is a province of northern India directly south of +Cashmere, east of Afghanistan and west of Thibet. It is one of +the most enterprising, progressive and prosperous provinces, +and, being situated in the temperate zone, the character of the +inhabitants partakes of the climate. There is a great difference, +morally, physically and intellectually, between people who live +in the tropics and those who live in the temperate zone. This +rule applies to all the world, and nowhere more than in India. +Punjab means "five rivers," and is formed of the Hindu words +"punj ab." The country is watered by the Sutlej, the Beas, the +Rabi, the Chenab and the Jhelum rivers, five great streams, which +flow into the Indus, and thence to the Arabian Sea. Speaking +generally, the Punjab is a vast plain of alluvial formation, +and the eastern half of it is very fertile. The western part +requires irrigation, the rainfall being only a few inches a year, +but there is always plenty of water for irrigation in the rivers. +They are fed by the melting snows in the Himalayas. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The City of Lahore, the capital of the Punjab, is a stirring, +modern town, a railway center, with extensive workshops employing +several thousand men, and early in the nineteenth century, under +the administration of Ranjit Singh, one of the greatest of the +maharajas, it acquired great commercial importance, but the buildings +he erected are cheap and tawdry beside the exquisite architectural +monuments of Akbar, Shah Jeban and other Moguls. The population +of Punjab province by the census of 1901 is 20,330,339, and the +Mohammedans are in the majority, having 10,825,698 of the +inhabitants. The Sikhs are a very important class and number +1,517,019. There are only 2,200,000 Sikhs in all India, and those +who do not live in this province are serving as soldiers elsewhere. +The population of Lahore is 202,000, an increase of 26,000 during +the last ten years. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When you come into a Mohammedan country you always find tiles. +Somehow or another they are associated with Islam. The Moors +were the best tilemakers that ever lived, and gave that art to +Spain. In Morocco today the best modern tiles are found. The +tiles of Constantinople, Damascus, Smyrna, Jerusalem and other +cities of Syria and the Ottoman Empire are superior to any you +can find outside of Morocco; and throughout Bokhara, Turkestan, +Afghanistan and the other Moslem countries of Asia tilemaking has +been practiced for ages. In their invasion of India the Afghans +and Tartars brought it with them, and, although the art did not +remain permanently so far beyond the border as Delhi, you find +it there, in the rest of the Punjab and wherever Mohammedans +are in the majority. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Lahore is an ancient city and has many interesting old buildings. +The city itself lies upon the ruins of several predecessors which +were destroyed by invaders during the last twelve or fifteen +centuries. There are some fine old mosques and an ancient palace +or two, but compared with other Indian capitals it lacks interest. +The most beautiful and attractive of all its buildings is the +tomb of Anar Kali (which means pomegranate blossom), a lady of +the Emperor Akbar's harem, who became the sweetheart of Selim, +his son. She was buried alive by order of the jealous father +and husband for committing an unpardonable offense, and when +Selim became the Emperor Jehanjir he erected this wonderful tomb +to her memory. It is of white marble, and the carvings and mosaic +work are very fine. In striking contrast with it is a vulgar, +fantastic temple covered inside and out with convex mirrors. +In the center of the rotunda, upon a raised platform is carved +a lotus flower, and around it are eleven similar platforms of +smaller size. The guides tell you that upon these platforms the +body of Ranjit Singh, the greatest of the maharajas, was burned +in 1839, and his eleven wives were burned alive upon the platforms +around him. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Emperor Jehanjir is buried in a magnificent mausoleum in the +center of a walled garden on the bank of the river five miles +from Lahore, but his tomb does not compare in beauty or splendor +with those at Agra and Delhi. There is a garden called "The Abode +of Love," about six miles out of town, where everybody drives +in the afternoon. It was laid out by the Mogul Shah Jehan in +1637 for a recreation ground for himself and his sultanas when +he visited this part of the empire, and includes about eighty +acres of flowers and foliage plants. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Modern Lahore is much more interesting than the ancient city. +The European quarter covers a large area. The principal street +is three miles long, shaded with splendid trees, and on each +side of it are the public offices, churches, schools, hotels, +clubs and the residences of rich people, which are nearly all +commodious bungalows surrounded by groves and gardens. The native +city is a busy bazaar, densely packed with gayly dressed types +of all the races of Asia, and is full of dust, filth and smells. +But the people are interesting and the colors are gay. It is +sometimes almost impossible to pass through the crowds that fill +the native streets, and whoever enters there must expect to be +jostled sometimes by ugly-looking persons. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The fort is the center of activity. The ancient citadel has been +adapted to modern uses and conveniences at the expense of its +former splendor. The palaces and mosques, the baths and halls +of audience of the Moguls have been converted into barracks, +arsenals and storerooms, and their decorations have been covered +with whitewash. The only object of interest that has been left is +an armory containing a fine collection of ancient Indian weapons. +But, although the city has lost its medieval picturesqueness, it has +gained in utility, and has become the most important educational +and industrial center of northern India. The university and its +numerous affiliated schools, the law college, the college of +oriental languages and the manual training school are all well +attended and important, and the school of art and industry enjoys +the reputation of being the most useful and the best-managed +institution of the kind in the East, probably in all Asia, which +is due to the zeal and ability of J. L. Kipling, father of Rudyard +Kipling, who has spent the greater part of his life in making it +what it is. He was also the founder of the museum or "Wonder-House," +as the natives call it. It has the finest collection of Indian +arts and industries in existence except that in South Kensington +Museum, which Mr. Kipling also collected and installed. It was +under the carriage of one of the great old-fashioned cannon that +stand in front of this museum that "Kim" first encountered the +aged Llama, and Kipling's father is the wise man who kept the +"Wonder-House" and gave the weary pilgrim the knowledge and +encouragement that sustained him in his search for The Way. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="380"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig022.jpg" width="376" height="594" alt="Fig. 22"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + "KIM," THE CHELA, AND THE OLD LAMA WHO SOUGHT THE WAY AND THE + TRUST AND THE LIGHT +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, where his father was principal +of an art school, and was brought to Lahore when he was a child, +so that he spent most of his younger life there. He was educated +at the Lahore schools and university; he served for several years +as a reporter of the Lahore newspaper, and there he wrote most +of his short stories. "The Plain Tales From the Hills" and the +best of his "Barrack-Room Ballads" were inspired by his youthful +association with the large military garrison at this point. Here +Danny Deever was hanged for killing a comrade in a drunken passion, +and here Private Mulvaney developed his profound philosophy. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Lahore is the principal Protestant missionary center of northern +India. The American Presbyterians are the oldest in point of +time and the strongest in point of numbers. They came in 1849, +and some of the pioneers are still living. They have schools and +colleges, a theological seminary and other institutions, with +altogether five or six thousand students, and are turning out +battalions of native preachers and teachers for missionary work in +other parts of India. The American Methodists are also strong and +there are several schools maintained by British societies. Fifty +years ago there was not a native Christian in all these parts, +and the missionaries had to coax children into their schools by +offering inducements in the form of food and clothing. Now by +the recent census there are 65,811 professing Christians in the +Punjab province, and the schools and native churches are nearly +all self-supporting. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Lahore is an important market for native merchandise, and the +distributing point for imported European goods as well as the +native products, while Amritsar, the neighboring city, is the +manufacturing center. Here come Cashmeris, Nepalese, Beluchis, +Afghans, Persians, Bokharans, Khivans, Khokandes, Turcomans, +Yarkandis, Cashgaris, Thibetans, Tartars, Ghurkhars, and other +strange types of the human race in Asia, each wearing his native +dress and bringing upon caravans of camels and elephants the +handiwork of his neighbors. The great merchants of London, Paris, +Vienna, New York and Chicago have buyers there picking up curious +articles of native handiwork as well as staples like shawls from +Cashmere and rugs and carpets from Amritsar. The finest carpets +in India are produced at Amristar, and between 4,000 and 5,000 +people are engaged in their manufacture. These operators are not +collected in factories as with us, but work in their own homes. +The looms are usually set up in the doorways, through which the +only light can enter the houses, and as you pass up and down the +streets you see women and men, even children, at work at the looms, +for every member of the family takes a turn. As in China, Japan +and other oriental countries, arts and industries are hereditary. +Children always follow the trades of their parents, and all work +is done in the households. The weavers of Amritsar to-day are +making carpets and shawls upon the same looms that were used +by their great-grand fathers--yes, their progenitors ten and +twenty generations back--and are weaving the same patterns, and +it is to be regretted that modern chemical dyes made in Paris, the +United States and Germany are taking the place of the primitive +native methods which produced richer and permanent colors. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The trade is handled by middlemen, who furnish materials to the +weavers and pay them so much for their labor upon each piece. +The average earnings seem to us ridiculously small. An entire +family does not receive more than $3 or $4 a month while engaged +in producing shawls that are sold in London and Paris for hundreds +of pounds and rugs that bring hundreds of dollars, but it costs +them little to live; their wants are few, they have never known any +better circumstances and are perfectly contented. The middleman, +who is usually a Persian Jew, makes the big profit. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Winter is not a good time for visiting northern India. The weather +is too cold and stormy. The roads are frequently obstructed by +snow, and the hotels are not built to keep people up to American +temperature. We could not go to Cashmere at all, although it is +one of the most interesting provinces of the empire, because +the roads were blocked and blizzards were lurking about. There +is almost universal misapprehension about the weather in India. +It is certainly a winter country; it is almost impossible for +unacclimated people to live in most of the provinces between +March and November, and no one can visit some of them without +discomfort from the heat at any season of the year. At the same +time Cashmere and the Punjab province are comfortable no later +than October and no earlier than May, for, although the sun is +bright and warm, the nights are intensely cold, and the extremes +are trying to strangers who are not accustomed to them. You will +often hear people who have traveled all over the world say that +they never suffered so much from the cold as in India, and it +is safe to believe them. The same degree of cold seems colder +there than elsewhere, because the mercury falls so rapidly after +the sun goes down. However, India is so vast, and the climate +and the elevations are so varied, that you can spend the entire +year there without discomfort if you migrate with the birds and +follow the barometer. There are plenty of places to see and to +stay in the summer as well as in the winter. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +We arrived in Bombay on the 12th of December, which was at least +a month too late. It would have been better for us to have come +the middle of October and gone immediately north into the Punjab +province and Cashmere, where we would have been comfortable. But +during the entire winter we were not uncomfortably warm anywhere, +and even in Bombay, which is considered one of the hottest places +in the world, and during the rainy season is almost intolerable, +we slept under blankets every night and carried sun umbrellas in +the daytime. At Jeypore, Agra, Delhi and other places the nights +were as cold as they ever are at Washington, double blankets were +necessary on our beds, and ordinary overcoats when we went out +of doors after dark. Sometimes it was colder inside the house +than outside, and in several of the hotels we had to put on our +overcoats and wrap our legs up in steamer rugs to keep from +shivering. At the same time the rays of the sun from 11 to 3 +or 4 in the afternoon were intensely hot, and often seriously +affect persons not acclimated. If we ever go to India again we +will arrange to arrive in October and do the northern provinces +before the cold weather sets in. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It's a pity we could not go to Cashmere, because everybody told +us it is such an interesting place and so different from other +parts of India and the rest of the world. It is a land of romance, +poetry and strange pictures. Lalla Rookh and other fascinating +houris, with large brown eyes, pearly teeth, raven tresses and ruby +lips, have lived there; it is the home of the Cashmere bouquet, +and the Vale of Cashmere is an enchanted land. Average Americans +know mighty little about these strange countries, and it takes +time to realize that they actually exist; but we find our fellow +citizens everywhere we go. They outnumber the tourists from all +other nations combined. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I notice that the official reports of the Indian government give +the name as "Kashmir," and, like every other place over here, +it is spelled a dozen different ways, but I shall stick to the +old-fashioned spelling. It you want to know something about it, +Cashmere has an area of 81,000 square miles, a population of +2,905,578 by the census of 1901, and is governed by a maharaja +with the advice of a British "resident," who is the medium of +communication between the viceroy and the local officials. The +maharaja is allowed to do about as he pleases as long as he behaves +himself, and is said to be a fairly good man. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The people are peaceful and prosperous; politics is very quiet; +taxes are low; there is no debt, and a surplus of more than +$3,000,000 in the treasury, which is an unusual state of affairs +for a native Indian province. The exports have increased from +$1,990,000 in 1892 to $4,465,000 in 1902, and the imports from +$2,190,000 in 1892 to $4,120,000 in 1902. The country has its +own coinage and is on a gold basis. The manufacturing industries +are rapidly developing, although the lack of demand for Cashmere +shawls has been a severe blow to local weavers, who, however, +have turned their attention to carpets and rugs instead. Wool +is the great staple, and from time immemorial the weavers of +Cashmere have turned out the finest woolen fabrics in the world. +They have suffered much from the competition of machine-made +goods during the last half-century or more, and have been growing +careless because they cannot get the prices that used to be paid +for the finest products. In ancient times the making of woolen +garments was considered just as much of an art in Cashmere as +painting or sculpture in France and Germany, porcelain work in +China or cloisonne work in Japan, and no matter how long a weaver +was engaged upon a garment, he was sure to find somebody with +sufficient taste and money to buy it. But nowadays, like everybody +else who is chasing the nimble shilling, the Cashmere weavers are +more solicitous about their profits than about their patterns +and the fine quality of their goods. The lapse of the shawl trade +has caused the government to encourage the introduction of the +silk industry. A British expert has been engaged as director of +sericulture, seedlings of the mulberry tree are furnished to +villagers and farmers free of cost, and all cocoons are purchased +by the state at good prices. The government has silk factories +employing between 6,000 and 7,000 persons under the instruction +of French and Swiss weavers. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XX">XX</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +FAMINES AND THEIR ANTIDOTES +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Famine is chronic in India. It has occurred at intervals for +centuries past, as long as records have been kept, as long as +man remembers, and undoubtedly will recur for centuries to come, +although the authorities who are responsible for the well-being +of the empire are gradually organizing to counteract forces of +nature which they cannot control, by increasing the food supply +and providing means for its distribution. But there must be hunger +and starvation in India so long as the population remains as dense +as it is. The reason is not because the earth refuses to support +so many people. There is yet a vast area of fertile land untilled, +and the fields already cultivated would furnish food enough for +a larger population when normal conditions prevail, although +there's but a bare half acre per capita. There is always enough +somewhere in India for everybody even in times of sorest distress, +but it is not distributed equally, and those who are short have +no money to buy and bring from those who have a surplus. The +export of grain and other products from India continues regularly +in the lean as well as the fat years, but the country is so large, +the distances so great, the facilities for transportation so +inadequate, that one province may be exporting food to Europe +because it has to spare, while another province may be receiving +ships loaded with charity from America because its crops have +failed and its people are hungry. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The health and happiness of three hundred million human souls in +India and also of their cattle, their oxen, their sheep, their +donkeys, their camels and their elephants are dependent upon +certain natural phenomena over which neither rajah nor maharaja, +nor viceroy, nor emperor, nor council of state has control, and +before which even the great Mogul on his bejeweled throne stood +powerless. It is possible to ameliorate the consequences, but +it is not possible to prevent them. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Whether the crops shall be fat or lean, whether the people and +the cattle shall be fed or hungry, depends upon the "monsoons," +as they are called, alternating currents of wind, which bring +rain in its season. All animal and vegetable life is dependent +upon them. In the early summer the broad plains are heated by +the sun to a temperature higher than that of the water of the +great seas which surround them. In parts of northern India, around +Delhi and Agra, the temperature in May and June is higher than +in any other part of the empire, and is exceeded in few other +parts of the world. This phenomenon remains unexplained. The +elevation is about 2,100 feet above the sea; the atmosphere is +dry and the soil is sandy. But for some reason the rays of the +sun are intensely hot and are fatal to those who are exposed +to them without sufficient protection. But this extreme heat +is the salvation of the country, and by its own action brings +the relief without which all animal and vegetable life would +perish. It draws from the ocean a current of wind laden with +moisture which blows steadily for two months toward the northwest +and causes what is called the rainy season. That wind is called +the southwest monsoon. The quantity of rain that falls depends +upon the configuration of the land. Any cause which cools the +winds from the sea and leads to the condensation of the vapor +they carry--any obstacle which blocks their course--causes +precipitation. Through all the northern part of India there is a +heavy rainfall during April, May and June, the earth is refreshed +and quantities of water are drained into reservoirs called "tanks," +from which the fields are irrigated later in the summer. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The quantity of rainfall diminishes as the winds blow over the +foothills and the mountains, and the enormous heights of the +Himalayas prevent them from passing their snow-clad peaks and +ridges. Hence the tablelands of Thibet, which lie beyond, are +the dryest and the most arid region in the world. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As the sun travels south after midsummer the temperature falls, +the vast dry tract of the Asiatic continent becomes colder, the +barometric pressure over the land increases, and the winds begin +to blow from the northeast, which are called the northeast monsoon, +and cause a second rainy season from October to December. These +winds, or monsoons, enable the farmers of India to grow two crops, +and they are entirely dependent upon their regular appearance. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Over 80 per cent of the population are engaged in farming. They +live from hand to mouth. They have no reserve whatever. If the +monsoon fails nothing will grow, and they have no money to import +food for themselves and their cattle from more fortunate sections. +Hence they are helpless. As a rule the monsoons are very reliable, +but every few years they fail, and a famine results. The government +has a meteorological department, with observers stationed at +several points in Africa and Arabia and in the islands of the +sea, to record and report the actions of nature. Thus it has been +able of late years to anticipate the fat and the lean harvests. It +is possible to predict almost precisely several months in advance +whether there will be a failure of crops, and a permanent famine +commission has been organized to prepare measures of relief before +they are needed. In other words, Lord Curzon and his official +associates are reducing famine relief to a system which promotes +economy as well as efficiency. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is an interesting fact that the monsoon currents which cross +the Indian Ocean from South Africa continue on their course through +Australia after visiting India, and recent famines in the latter +country have coincided with the droughts which caused much injury +to stock in the former. Thus it has been demonstrated that both +countries depend upon the same conditions for their rainfall, +except that human beings suffer in India while only sheep die +of hunger in the Australian colonies. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The worst famine ever known in India occurred in 1770, when Governor +General Warren Hastings reported that one-third of the inhabitants +of Bengal perished from hunger--ten millions out of thirty millions. +The streets of Calcutta and other towns were actually blocked +up with the bodies of the dead, which were thrown out of doors +and windows because there was no means or opportunity to bury +them. The empire has been stricken almost as hard during the +last ten years. The development of civilization seems to make +a little difference, for the famine of 1900-1901 was perhaps +second in severity to that of 1770. This, however, was largely +due to the fact that the population had not had time to recover +from the famine of 1896-97, which was almost as severe, although +everything possible was done to relieve distress and prevent +the spread of plagues and pestilence that are the natural and +unavoidable consequences of insufficient nourishment. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +No precautions that sanitary science can suggest have been omitted, +yet the weekly reports now show an average of twenty thousand +deaths from the bubonic plague alone. The officials explain that +that isn't so high a rate as inexperienced people infer, considering +that the population is nearly three hundred millions, and they +declare it miraculous that it is not larger, because the Hindu +portion of the population is packed so densely into insanitary +dwellings, because only a small portion of the natives have +sufficient nourishment to meet the demands of nature and are +constantly exposed to influences that produce and spread disease. +The death rate is always very high in India for these reasons. +But it seems very small when compared with the awful mortality +caused by the frequent famines. The mind almost refuses to accept +the figures that are presented; it does not seem possible in the +present age, with all our methods for alleviating suffering, +that millions of people can actually die of hunger in a land +of railroads and steamships and other facilities for the +transportation of food. It seems beyond comprehension, yet the +official returns justify the acceptance of the maximum figures +reported. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The loss of human life from starvation in British India alone +during the famine of 1900-1901 is estimated at 1,236,855, and +this is declared to be the minimum. In a country of the area +of India, inhabited by a superstitious, secretive and ignorant +population, it is impossible to compel the natives to report +accidents and deaths, particularly among the Brahmins, who burn +instead of bury their dead. Those who know best assert that at +least 15 per cent of the deaths are not reported in times of +famines and epidemics. And the enormous estimate I have given +does not include any of the native states, which have one-third +of the area and one-fourth of the population of the empire. In +some of them sanitary regulations are observed, and statistics +are accurately reported. In others no attempt is made to keep +a registry of deaths, and there are no means of ascertaining +the mortality, particularly in times of excitement. In these +little principalities the peasants have, comparatively speaking, +no medical attendance; they are dependent upon ignorant fakirs +and sorcerers, and they die off like flies, without even leaving +a record of their disappearance. Therefore the only way of +ascertaining the mortality of those sections is to make deductions +from the returns of the census, which is taken with more or less +accuracy every ten years. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="627"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig023.jpg" width="623" height="373" alt="Fig. 23"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + AN EKKA OR ROAD CART +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The census of 1901 tells a terrible tale of human suffering and +death during the previous decade, which was marked by two famines +and several epidemics of cholera, smallpox and other contagious +diseases. Taking the whole of India together, the returns show +that during the ten years from 1892 to 1901, inclusive, there +was an increase of less than 6,000,000 instead of the normal +increase of 19,000,000, which was to be expected, judging by +the records of the previous decades of the country. More than +10,000,000 people disappeared in the native states alone without +leaving a trace behind them. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The official report of the home secretary shows that Baroda State +lost 460,000, or 19.23 per cent of its population. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Rajputana states lost 2,175,000, or 18.1 per cent of their +population. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The central states lost 1,817,000, or 17.5 per cent. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Bombay Province lost 1,168,000, or 14.5 per cent. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The central provinces lost 939,000, or 8.71 per cent. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +These are the provinces that suffered most from the famine, and +therefore show the largest decrease in population. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The famine of 1900-01 affected an area of more than four hundred +thousand square miles and a population exceeding sixty millions, +of whom twenty-five millions belong in the provinces of British +India and thirty-five millions to the native states. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Within this area," Lord Curzon says, "the famine conditions +for the greater part of a year were intense. Outside it they +extended with a gradually dwindling radius over wide districts +which suffered much from loss of crops and cattle, if not from +actual scarcity. In a greater or less degree in 1900-01 nearly +one-fourth of the entire population of the Indian continent came +within the range of relief operations. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"It is difficult to express in figures with any close degree +of accuracy the loss occasioned by so widespread and severe a +visitation. But it may be roughly put in this way: The annual +agricultural product of India averages in value between two and +three hundred thousand pounds sterling. On a very cautious estimate +the production in 1899-1900 must have been at least one-quarter +if not one-third below the average. At normal prices this loss +was at least fifty million pounds sterling, or, in round numbers, +two hundred and fifty million dollars in American money. But, +in reality, the loss fell on a portion only of the continent, +and ranged from total failure of crops in certain sections to +a loss of 20 and 30 per cent of the normal crops in districts +which are not reckoned as falling within the famine tract. If to +this be added the value of several millions of cattle and other +live stock, some conception may be formed of the destruction +of property which that great drought occasioned. There have been +many great droughts in India, but there have been no others of +which such figures could have been predicated as these. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"But the most notable feature of the famine of 1900-01 was the +liberality of the public and the government. It has no parallel in +the history of the world. For weeks more than six million persons +were dependent upon the charity of the government. In 1897 the +high water mark of relief was reached in the second fortnight +of May, when there were nearly four million persons receiving +relief in British India. Taking the affected population as forty +millions, the ratio of relief was 10 per cent. In one district of +Madras and in two districts of the northwestern provinces the ratio +for some months was about 30 per cent, but these were exceptional +cases. In the most distressed districts of the central provinces +16 per cent was regarded in 1896-7 as a very high standard of +relief. Now take the figures of 1900-01. For some weeks upward +of four and a half million persons were receiving food from the +government in British India, and, reckoned on a population of +twenty-five millions, the ratio was 18 per cent, as compared +with 10 per cent of the population in 1897. In many districts +it exceeded 20 per cent. In several it exceeded 30 per cent. +In two districts it exceeded 40 per cent, and in the district +of Merwara, where famine had been present for two years, 75 per +cent of the population were dependent upon the government for +food. Nothing I could say can intensify the simple eloquence +of these figures. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"The first thing to be done was to relieve the immediate distress, +to feed the hungry, to rescue those who were dying of starvation. +The next step was to furnish employment at living wages for those +who were penniless until we could help them to get upon their +feet again, and finally to devise means and methods to meet such +emergencies in the future, because famines are the fate of India +and must continue to recur under existing conditions. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"I should like to tell you of the courage, endurance and the +devotion of the men who distributed the relief, many of whom +died at their posts of duty as bravely and as uncomplainingly +as they might have died upon the field of battle. The world will +never know the extent and the number of sacrifices made by British +and native officials. The government alone expended $32,000,000 +for food, while the amount disbursed by the native states, by +religious and private charities, was very large. The contributions +from abroad were about $3,000,000, and the government loaned the +farmers more than $20,000,000 to buy seed and cattle and put +in new crops. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"So far as the official figures are concerned, the total cost +of the famine of 1900 was as follows: +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0 class="center"> +<tr><td colspan=2 class="center">BRITISH INDIA</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=2> </td></tr> +<tr><td>Direct relief</td> + <td class="right">$31,950,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>Loss of revenue</td> + <td class="right">16,200,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>Loans to farmers and native states</td> + <td class="right">21,300,000</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=2> </td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=2 class="center">NATIVE STATES</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=2> </td></tr> +<tr><td>Relief expenditure and loss of revenue</td> + <td class="right">22,500,000</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td class="right">------------</td></tr> +<tr><td>Total</td> + <td class="right">$91,950,000</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +"Some part of these loans and advances will eventually be repaid. +But it is not a new thing for the government of India to relieve +its people in times of distress. The frequent famines have been +an enormous drain upon the resources of the empire." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The following table shows the expenditures for famine relief +by the imperial government of India during the last twenty-one +years: +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0 class="center"> +<tr><td>Five years, 1881-86</td> + <td class="right">$25,573,885</td></tr> +<tr><td>Five years, 1886-91</td> + <td class="right">11,449,190</td></tr> +<tr><td>Five years, 1891-96</td> + <td class="right">21,631,900</td></tr> +<tr><td>1896-1897</td> + <td class="right">8,550,705</td></tr> +<tr><td>1897-1898</td> + <td class="right">19,053,575</td></tr> +<tr><td>1898-1899</td> + <td class="right">5,000,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>1899-1900</td> + <td class="right">10,642,235</td></tr> +<tr><td>1900-1901</td> + <td class="right">20,829,335</td></tr> +<tr><td>1901-1902</td> + <td class="right">5,000,000</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td> + <td class="right">--------------</td></tr> +<tr><td>Total (twenty-one years) + <td class="right">$127,730,825</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Among the principal items chargeable to famine relief, direct and +indirect, are the wages paid dependent persons employed during +famines in the construction of railways and irrigation works, +which, during the last twenty-one years, have been as follows: +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0 class="center"> +<tr><td> </td> + <td valign="bottom" class="center"> + Direct<br>famine<br>relief.</td> + <td> </td> + <td valign="bottom" class="center"> + Construction<br>of railways.</td> + <td> </td> + <td valign="bottom" class="center"> + Construction<br>of irrigation<br>works.</td> +<tr><td>Five years, '81-'86</td> + <td class="right">$379,760</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">$9,113,165</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">$3,739,790</td></tr> +<tr><td>1886-1891</td> + <td class="right">277,030</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">666,665</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">1,384,570</td></tr> +<tr><td>1891-1896</td> + <td class="right">411,065</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">12,056,505</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">921,675</td></tr> +<tr><td>1896-1897</td> + <td class="right">6,931,750</td><td> </td> + <td class="right"> </td><td> </td> + <td class="right">156,100</td></tr> +<tr><td>1897-1898</td> + <td class="right">17,752,025</td><td> </td> + <td class="right"> </td><td> </td> + <td class="right">125,055</td></tr> +<tr><td>1898-1899</td> + <td class="right">133,515</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">2,301,175</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">38,900</td></tr> +<tr><td>1899-1900</td> + <td class="right">10,375,590</td><td> </td> + <td class="right"> </td><td> </td> + <td class="right">119,650</td></tr> +<tr><td>1900-1901</td> + <td class="right">20,626,150</td><td> </td> + <td class="right"> </td><td> </td> + <td class="right">155,570</td></tr> +<tr><td>1901-1902</td> + <td class="right">2,645,905</td><td> </td> + <td class="right"> </td><td> </td> + <td class="right">353,465</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td> + <td class="right">-------------</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">-------------</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">-------------</td></tr> +<tr><td>Total (21 years)</td> + <td class="right">$59,531,790</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">$24,137,610</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">$6,994,775</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The chief remedies which the government has been endeavoring to +apply are: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +1. To extend the cultivated area by building irrigation works and +scattering the people over territory that is not now occupied. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +2. To construct railways and other transportation facilities +for the distribution of food. This work has been pushed with +great energy, and during the last ten years the railway mileage +has been increased nearly 50 per cent to a total of more than +26,000 miles. About 2,000 miles are now under construction and +approaching completion, and fresh projects will be taken up and +pushed so that food may be distributed throughout the empire as +rapidly as possible in time of emergency. Railway construction +has also been one of the chief methods of relief. During the +recent famine, and that of 1897, millions of coolies, who could +find no other employment, were engaged at living wages upon various +public works. This was considered better than giving them direct +relief, which was avoided as far as possible so that they should +not acquire the habit of depending upon charity. And as a part +of the permanent famine relief system for future emergencies, +the board of public works has laid out a scheme of roads and +the department of agriculture a system of irrigation upon which +the unemployed labor can be mobilized at short notice, and funds +have been set apart for the payment of their wages. This is one +of the most comprehensive schemes of charity ever conceived, and +must commend to every mind the wisdom, foresight and benevolence +of the Indian government, which, with the experience with a dozen +famines, has found that its greatest difficulty has been to relieve +the distressed and feed the hungry without making permanent paupers +of them. Every feature of famine relief nowadays involves the +employment of the needy and rejects the free distribution of +food. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +3. The government is doing everything possible to encourage the +diversification of labor, to draw people from the farms and employ +them in other industries. This requires a great deal of time, +because it depends upon private enterprise, but during the last +ten years there has been a notable increase in the number of +mechanical industries and the number of people employed by them, +which it is believed will continue because of the profits that +have been realized by investors. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +4. The government is also making special efforts to develop the +dormant resources of the empire. There has been a notable increase +in mining, lumbering, fishing, and other outside industries which +have not received the attention they deserved by the people of +India; and, finally, +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +5. The influence of the government has also been exerted so far +as could be to the encouragement of habits of thrift among the +people by the establishment of postal savings banks and other +inducements for wage-earners to save their money. Ninety per +cent of the population of India lives from hand to mouth and +depends for sustenance upon the crops raised upon little patches +of ground which in America would be too insignificant for +consideration. There is very seldom a surplus. The ordinary Hindu +never gets ahead, and, therefore, when his little crop fails he +is helpless. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="632"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig024.jpg" width="628" height="375" alt="Fig. 24"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + A TEAM OF "CRITTERS" +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The munificence of Mr. Henry Phipps of New York has enabled the +government of India to provide one of the preventives of famine +by educating the people in agricultural science. A college, an +experimental farm and research laboratory have been established +on the government estate of Pusa, in southern Bengal, a tract +of 1,280 acres, which has been used since 1874 as a breeding +ranch, a tobacco experimental farm and a model dairy. No country +has needed such an institution more than India, where 80 per +cent of the population are engaged in agricultural pursuits, +and most of them with primitive implements and methods. But the +conservatism and the illiteracy, the prejudices and the ignorance +of the natives make it exceedingly difficult to introduce +innovations, and it is the conviction of those best qualified +to speak that the only way of improving the condition of the +farmer classes is to begin at the top and work down by the force +of example. During a recent visit to India this became apparent +to Mr. Phipps, who is eminently a practical man, and has been +in the habit of dealing with industrial questions all of his +life. He was brought up in the Carnegie iron mills, became a +superintendent, a manager and a partner, and, when the company +went into the great trust, retired from active participation in +its management with an immense fortune. He has built a beautiful +house in New York, has leased an estate in Scotland, where his +ancestors came from, and has been spending a vacation, earned +by forty years of hard labor, in traveling about the world. His +visit to India brought him into a friendly acquaintance with Lord +Curzon, in whom he found a congenial spirit, and doubtless the +viceroy received from the practical common sense of Mr. Phipps many +suggestions that will be valuable to him in the administration +of the government, and in the solution of the frequent problems +that perplex him. Mr. Phipps, on the other hand, had his sympathy +and interest excited in the industrial conditions of India, and +particularly in the famine phenomena. He therefore placed at the +disposal of Lord Curzon the sum of $100,000, to which he has +since added $50,000, to be devoted to whatever object of public +utility in the direction of scientific research the viceroy might +consider most useful and expedient. In accepting this generous +offer it appeared to His Excellency that no more practical or +useful object could be found to which to devote the gift, nor +one more entirely in harmony with the wishes of the donor, than +the establishment of a laboratory for agricultural research, and +Mr. Phipps has expressed his warm approval of the decision. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is proposed to place the college upon a higher grade than +has ever been reached by any agricultural school in India, not +only to provide for a reform of the agricultural methods of the +country, but also to serve as a model for and to raise the standard +of the provincial schools, because at none of them are there +arrangements for a complete or competent agricultural education. +It is proposed to have a course of five years for the training +of teachers for other institutions and the specialists needed in +the various branches of science connected with the agricultural +department, who are now imported from Europe. The necessity for +such an education, Lord Curzon says, is constantly becoming more +and more imperative. The higher officials of the government have +long realized that there should be some institution in India +where they can train the men they require, if their scheme of +agricultural reformation is ever to be placed upon a practical +basis and made an actual success. For those who wish to qualify +for professorships or for research work, or for official positions +requiring special scientific attainments, it is believed that +a five years' course is none too long. But for young men who +desire only to train themselves for the management of their own +estates or the estates of others, a three years' course will be +provided, with practical work upon the farm and in the stable. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The government has solved successfully several of the irrigation +problems now under investigation by the Agricultural Department +and the Geological Survey of the United States. The most successful +public works of that nature are in the northern part of the empire. +The facilities for irrigation in India are quite as varied as in the +United States, the topography being similar and equally diverse. +In the north the water supply comes from the melting snows of the +Himalayas; in the east and west from the great river systems +of the Ganges and the Indus, while in the central and southern +portions the farmers are dependent upon tanks or reservoirs into +which the rainfall is drained and kept in store until needed. +In several sections the rainfall is so abundant as to afford +a supply of water for the tanks which surpluses in constancy +and volume that from any of the rivers. In Bombay and Madras +provinces almost all of the irrigation systems are dependent +upon this method. In the river provinces are many canals which +act as distributaries during the spring overflow, carry the water +a long distance and distribute it over a large area during the +periods of inundation. In several places the usefulness of these +canals has been increased by the construction of reservoirs which +receive and hold the floods upon the plan proposed for some of +our arid states. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In India the water supply is almost entirely controlled by the +government. There are some private enterprises, but most of them +are for the purpose of reaching land owned by the projectors. +A few companies sell water to the adjacent farmers on the same +plan as that prevailing in California, Colorado and other of +our states. But the government of India has demonstrated the +wisdom of national ownership and control, and derives a large +and regular revenue therefrom. In the classification adopted by +the department of public works the undertakings are designated +as "major" and "minor" classes. The "major" class includes all +extensive works which have been built by government money, and +are maintained under government supervision. Some of them, classed +as "famine protective works," were constructed with relief funds +during seasons of famine in order to furnish work and wages to +the unemployed, and at the same time provide a certain supply +of water for sections of the country exposed to drought. The +"minor" works are of less extent, and have been constructed from +time to time to assist private enterprise. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The financial history of the public irrigation works of India +will be particularly interesting to the people of the United +States because our government is just entering upon a similar +policy, the following statement is brought down to December 31, +1902: +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0 class="center"> +<tr><td>Cost of construction</td> + <td> </td> + <td class="right">$125,005,705</td></tr> +<tr><td>Receipts from water rates (1902)</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">7,797,890</td></tr> +<tr><td>Receipts from land taxes (1902)</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">4,066,985</td></tr> +<tr><td>Total revenue from all sources (1902)</td> + <td> </td> + <td class="right">11,864,875</td></tr> +<tr><td>Working expenses (1902)</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">3,509,600</td></tr> +<tr><td>Net revenue (1902)</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">8,355,275</td></tr> +<tr><td>Interest on capital invested</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">4,720,615</td></tr> +<tr><td>Net revenue, deducting interest</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">3,634,660</td></tr> +<tr><td>Profit on capital invested, per cent</td> + <td> </td> + <td class="right">6.97</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=3> </td></tr> +<tr><td>Net profit to the government, per cent</td> + <td> </td> + <td class="right">3.04</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +In addition to this revenue from the "major" irrigation works +belonging to the government, the net receipts from "minor" works +during the year 1902 amounted to $864,360 in American money. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In other words, the government of India has invested about +$125,000,000 in reservoirs, canals, dams and ditches for the +purpose of securing regular crops for the farmers of that empire +who are exposed to drought, and not only has accomplished that +purpose, but, after deducting 3-1/2 per cent as interest upon +the amount named, enjoys a net profit of more than $3,500,000 +after the payment of running expenses and repairs. These profits +are regularly expended in the extension of irrigation works. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the Sinde province, which is the extreme western section of +India, adjoining the colony of Beluchistan on the Arabian Sea, +there are about 12,500,000 acres of land fit for cultivation. Of +this a little more than 9,000,000 acres are under cultivation, +irrigated with water from the Indus River, and the government +system reaches 3,077,466 acres. Up to December 31, 1902, it had +expended $8,830,000 in construction and repairs, and during that +year received a net revenue of 8.5 per cent upon that amount +over and above interest and running expenses. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In Madras 6,884,554 acres have peen irrigated by the government +works at a cost of $24,975,000. In 1902 they paid an average +net revenue of 9.5 per cent upon the investment, and the value +of the crops grown upon the irrigated land was $36,663,000. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the united provinces of Agra and Oudh in northern India the +supply of water from the Himalayas is distributed through 12,919 +miles of canals belonging to the government, constructed at a +cost of $28,625,000, which irrigates 2,741,460 acres. In 1902 +the value of the crops harvested upon this land was $28,336,005, +and the government received a net return of 6.15 per cent upon +the investment. The revenue varies in different parts of the +provinces. One system known as the Eastern Jumna Canal, near +Lucknow, paid 23 per cent upon its cost in water rents during +that year. In other parts of the province, where the construction +was much more expensive, the receipts fell as low as 2.12 per +cent. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the Punjab province, the extreme northwestern corner of India, +adjoining Afghanistan on the west and Cashmere on the east, where +the water supply comes from the melting snows of the Himalayas, +the government receives a net profit of 10.83 per cent, and the +value of the crop in the single year of 1902 was one and one-fourth +times the total amount invested in the works to date. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This does not include a vast undertaking known as the Chenab +Canal, which has recently been completed, and now supplies more +than 2,000,000 acres with water. Its possibilities include 5,527,000 +acres. As a combination of business and benevolence and as an +exhibition of administrative energy and wisdom, it is remarkable, +and is of especial interest to the people of the United States +because the conditions are similar to those existing in our own +arid states and territories. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +If you will take a map of India and run your eye up to the +northwestern corner you will see a large bald spot just south of +the frontier through which runs the river Chenab (or Chenaub)--the +name of the stream is spelt a dozen different ways, like every +other geographical name in India. This river, which is a roaring +torrent during the rainy season and as dry as a bone for six +months in the year, resembles several of out western rivers, +particularly the North Platte, and runs through an immense tract +of arid desert similar to those found in our mountain states. +This desert is known as the Rechna Doab, and until recently was +waste government land, a barren, lifeless tract upon which nothing +but snakes and lizards could exist, although the soil is heavily +charged with chemicals of the most nutritious character for plants, +and when watered yields enormous crops of wheat and other cereals. +Fifteen years ago it was absolutely uninhabited. To-day it is +the home of about 800,000 happy and prosperous people, working +more than 200,000 farms, in tracts of from five to fifty acres. +The average population of the territory disclosed at the census +of 1901 was 212 per square mile, and it is expected that the +extension of the water supply and natural development will largely +increase this average. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The colony has been in operation fat a little more than eleven +years. The colonists were drawn chiefly from the more densely +populated districts of the Punjab province, and were attracted +by a series of remarkable harvests, which were sold at exorbitant +prices during the famine years. The land was given away by the +government to actual settlers upon a plan similar to that of +our homestead act, the settlers being given a guarantee of a +certain amount of water per acre to a fixed price. The demand +caused by the popularity of the colony has already exhausted +the entire area watered by the canals, but an extension and +enlargement of the system will bring more land gradually under +cultivation, the estimates of the engineers contemplating an +addition of 2,000,000 acres within the next few years. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The value of the crop produced in 1902 upon 1,830,525 acres of +irrigated land in this colony was $16,845,000, irrigated by canals +that cost $8,628,380, and the government enjoyed a net profit of +14.01 per cent that year upon its benevolent enterprise. Aside +from the money value of the scheme, there is another very important +consideration. More than half of the canals and ditches were +constructed by "famine labor"--that is, by men and women (for +women do manual labor in india the same as men) who were unable +to obtain other employment and would have died of starvation +but for the intervention of the government. Instead of being +supplied with food at relief stations, these starving people +were shipped to the Rechan Doab besert and put to work at minimum +wages. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +You will agree with me that the government has a right to feel +proud of its new colony, and its success has stimulated interest +in similar enterprises in other parts of the empire. It has not +only furnished employment to thousands of starving people, but +by bringing under cultivation a large tract of barren land with a +positive certainty of regular harvests it has practically insured +that section of the country against future famines. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The following figures will show the rapid development of the colony +from the first season of 1892-93 to the end of the season 1901, +which is the latest date for which statistics can be obtained: +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0 class="center"> +<tr><td colspan=7 class="center"> + CAPITAL OUTLAY TO END OF YEAR</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=7> </td></tr> +<tr><td>1892-93</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">£721,233</td><td> </td> + <td>1897-98</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">£1,512,916</td></tr> +<tr><td>1893-94</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">878,034</td><td> </td> + <td>1898-99</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">1,616,676</td></tr> +<tr><td>1894-95</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">995,932</td><td> </td> + <td>1899-1900</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">1,677,982</td></tr> +<tr><td>1895-96</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">1,174,781</td><td> </td> + <td>1900-01</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">1,725,676</td></tr> +<tr><td>1896-97</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">1,362,075</td> + <td colspan=4> </td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=7> </td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan=7 class="center"> + ACRES IRRIGATED DURING THE YEAR</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=7> </td></tr> +<tr><td>1892-93</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">157,197</td><td> </td> + <td>1897-98</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">810,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>1893-94</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">270,405</td><td> </td> + <td>1898-99</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">957,705</td></tr> +<tr><td>1894-95</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">269,357</td><td> </td> + <td>1899-1900</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">1,353,223</td></tr> +<tr><td>1895-96</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">369,935</td><td> </td> + <td>1900-01</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">1,830,525</td></tr> +<tr><td>1896-97</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">520,279</td> + <td colspan=4> </td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=7> </td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan=7 class="center"> + NET REVENUE DURING THE YEAR</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=7> </td></tr> +<tr><td>1892-93</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">£4,084</td><td> </td> + <td>1897-98</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">£111,041</td></tr> +<tr><td>1893-94</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">3,552</td><td> </td> + <td>1898-99</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">131,566</td></tr> +<tr><td>1894-95</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">9,511</td><td> </td> + <td>1899-1900</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">155,302</td></tr> +<tr><td>1895-96</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">51,632</td><td> </td> + <td>1900-01</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">421,812</td></tr> +<tr><td>1896-97</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">92,629</td> + <td colspan=4> </td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=7> </td></tr> + +<tr><td colspan=7 class="center"> + RETURN ON CAPITAL OUTLAY, PER CENT</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=7> </td></tr> +<tr><td>1892-93</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">0.57</td><td> </td> + <td>1897-98</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">7.34</td></tr> +<tr><td>1893-94</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">0.40</td><td> </td> + <td>1898-99</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">8.14</td></tr> +<tr><td>1894-95</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">0.96</td><td> </td> + <td>1899-1900</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">9.26</td></tr> +<tr><td>1895-96</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">4.40</td><td> </td> + <td>1900-01</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">14.01</td></tr> +<tr><td>1896-97</td><td> </td> + <td class="right">6.75</td> + <td colspan=4> </td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The system of allotment of land may be interesting. As the area +under irrigation was entirely open and unoccupied, few difficulties +were met with, and the engineers were perfectly free in plotting +the land. The entire area was divided into squares of 1,000 feet +boundary on each side, and these squares were each divided into +twenty-five fields which measure about one acre and are the unit +of calculation in sales and in measuring water. Sixty squares, +or 1,500 fields, compose a village, and between the villages, +surrounding them on all four sides, are canals. Between the squares +are ditches, and between the fields are smaller ditches, so that the +water can be measured and the allowance made without difficulty. +The government sells no smaller piece than a field of twenty-five +acres, but purchasers can buy in partnership and afterwards subdivide +it. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Each village is under the charge of a superintendent, or resident +engineer, who is responsible to a superior engineer, who has +charge of a number of villages. Each field is numbered upon a +map, and a record is kept of the area cultivated, the character +of the crops sown, the dates or irrigation and the amount of water +allowed. Before harvest a new measurement is taken and a bill is +given to the cultivator showing the amount of his assessment, +which is collected when his crop is harvested. As there has never +been a crop failure, this is a simple process, and in addition +to the water rate a land tax of 42 cents an acre is collected +at the same time and paid into the treasury to the credit of +the revenue department, while the water rates are credited to +the canal department. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The chief engineer fixes the volume of water to be furnished to +each village and the period for which it is to remain flowing. +The local superintendent regulates the amount allowed each +cultivator, according to the crops he has planted. There are +six rates, regulated by the crops, for some need more water than +others, as follows: +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0 class="center"> +<tr><td>Class. Crops.</td> + <td>Rate per acre.</td></tr> +<tr><td valign="top"> 1--Sugarcane</td> + <td valign="top" class="right">$2.50</td></tr> +<tr><td valign="top"> 2--Rice</td> + <td valign="top" class="right">2.10</td></tr> +<tr><td valign="top"> 3--Orchards, + gardens, tobacco, indigo, vegetables and melons</td> + <td valign="top" class="right">1.66</td></tr> +<tr><td valign="top"> 4--Cotton, oil + seeds, Indian corn and all cold weather crops, except + grain and lentils</td> + <td valign="top" class="right">1.66</td></tr> +<tr><td valign="top"> 5--All crops + other than specified above</td> + <td valign="top" class="right">.83</td></tr> +<tr><td valign="top"> 6--Single water + to plow, not followed by a crop</td> + <td valign="top" class="right">.40</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +As I have shown you from the figures above, this enterprise has +proved highly profitable to the government, and its management +is entitled to the highest compliments. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The main canal was originally forty miles long, averaging 109 +feet wide, with an average slope of one foot to the mile, and +capable of carrying seven feet four inches of water, or 10,000 +cubic feet, per second. Twenty-eight miles have since been enlarged +to a width of 250 feet and the remaining twelve miles to a width +of 150 feet. The canal has been deepened to nine feet six inches, +and the intention is to deepen it one foot more. The banks of the +main canal are twenty-five feet wide at the top and are built +entirely of earth. A railway ninety-six miles long of three-foot +gauge has been constructed down the main canal, which is a great +convenience in shipping crops and pays a profit to the government. +It was constructed by the canal engineers while the ditch was +being dug. There are 390 miles of branch canals from thirty to +fifty feet wide and from six to eight feet deep, and 2,095 miles +of distributaries, or ditches running between villages and squares. +The banks of the branches and ditches are all wide enough for +highways, and thus enable the people to go from village to village +and get their crops to market. Several towns of considerable size +have already grown up; the largest, called Lyallpur, having about +10,000 inhabitants. It is the headquarters of the canal and also +of the civil authorities; and scattered through the irrigated +country are about 100 permanent houses used as residences and +offices by the superintendents and engineers. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XXI">XXI</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE FRONTIER QUESTION +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The most sensitive nerve in the British Empire terminates in +Afghanistan, and the ghost of the czar is always dancing about +the Khyber Pass, through which caravans laden with merchandise +find their way across the mountains between India and the countries +of Central Asia. Every time there is a stir in a clump of bushes, +every time a board creaks in the floor, every time a footstep is +heard under the window, the goose flesh rises on John Bull's back, +and he imagines that the Great White Bear is smelling around the +back door of his empire in India. Peshawur is the jumping-off place +of the Northwest, the limit of British authority, the terminus of +the railway system of India and the great gateway between that +empire and Central Asia, through which everything must pass. +It is to the interior of Asia what the Straits of Gibraltar are +to the Mediterranean Sea, and the Dardanelles to the Black and +Caspian seas. While there are 300 paths over the mountains in +other directions, and it might be possible to cross them with +an army, it has never been attempted and would involve dangers, +expense and delays which no nation would undertake. The Khyber +Pass has been the great and only route for ages whether for war or +commerce. The masters of Central Asia, whether Persians, Greeks, +Macedonians or Assyrians, have held it. Alexander the Great crossed +it with his army. Timour the Tartar, whom we know better as +Tamerlane, came through upon his all-conquering expedition when +he subdued India to found the Mogul Empire, and if the Russians +ever enter India by land they will come this way. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The pass is reached by crossing a stony plain ten miles from +Peshawur, and winds through gorges and crevices in the mountains +for thirty-three miles at an altitude averaging 7,000 feet above +the sea. At one point the mountains close in to about 500 feet +apart and the rocks rise in sheer precipices on either side; in +other places the gorge widens to a mile or more and will average +perhaps three-quarters of a mile the entire distance. It is a +remarkable gateway, a natural barrier between hereditary enemies +and easily defended from either side. Kabul, the capital of +Afghanistan, is 180 miles from the western entrance to the defile. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The British fortifications are at Jamrud, nine miles from Peshawur, +and the terminus of the railways, where a strong garrison is +always kept. The pass itself is controlled by a powerful +semi-independent native tribe called the Afridis, estimated at +20,000 strong, who receive subsidies from the British government +and from the Ameer of Afghanistan to keep them good-natured on +the pretext that they are to do police work and keep order in the +pass. It is blackmail and bribery, but accomplishes its purpose, +and the pass itself, with a strip of highlands and foothills +on the Afghanistan side, is thus occupied by a neutral party, +which prevents friction between the nations on either side of +the border. The Afridis are fearless fighters, half-civilized, +half-savage, and almost entirely supported by the subsidies they +receive. Nearly all of the able-bodied men are under arms. A +few, who are too old or too young to fight, remain at home and +look after the cattle and the scraggy gardens upon the gravelly +hillsides. The women are as hardy and as enduring as the men +and are taught to handle the rifle. The British authorities are +confident of the loyalty of the Afridis and believe that the +present arrangement would be absolutely safe in time of war as +it is in time of peace--that they would permit no armed body, +whether Russians or Afghans, to cross the pass without the consent +of both sides, as is provided by treaty stipulations. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The arrangement is as effective as it is novel and the Afridis +carry out every detail conscientiously. The pass is open only two +days in the week, on Tuesdays and Fridays. No one is permitted +to cross or even enter it from either side except on those days. +And even then travelers, tourists and others actuated by curiosity +are not allowed to go through without permits. The caravans going +both ways are required to camp under well-formed regulations +at either entrance until daylight of Tuesday or Friday, when +they are escorted through by armed bodies of Afridis horsemen. +There is not the slightest danger of any sort to anyone, but it +is just as well to go through the ceremony, for it keeps the +Afridis out of mischief and reminds them continually of their +great responsibilities. These caravans are interesting. They +are composed of long strings of loaded camels, ox-carts, mules +and donkeys, vehicles of all descriptions and thousands of people +traveling on foot, who come sometimes from as far west as the +Ural Mountains and the banks of the Volga River. They come from +Persia, from all parts of Siberia and from the semi-barbarous +tribes who inhabit that mysterious region in central Asia, known +as the "Roof of the World." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The camel drivers and the traders are fierce-looking men and +extremely dirty. They have traveled a long way and over roads +that are very dusty, and water is scarce the entire distance. +They look as if they had never washed their faces or cut their +hair, and their shaggy, greasy, black locks hang down upon their +shoulders beneath enormous turbans. Each wears the costume of +his own country, but they are so ragged, grimy and filthy that +the romance of it is lost. The Afghans are in the majority. They +are stalwart, big-bearded men, with large features, long noses +and cunning eyes, and claim that their ancestors were one of the +lost tribes of Israel. Their traditions, customs, physiognomy and +dialects support this theory. Although they are Mohammedans, they +practice several ancient Jewish rites. The American missionaries +who have schools and churches among them are continually running +up against customs and traditions which remind them forcibly of +the Mosaic teachings. They have considerable literature, poetry, +history, biography, philosophy and ecclesiastical works, and some +of their priests have large libraries of native books, which, the +missionaries say, are full of suggestions of the Old Testament. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One of the most successful missionaries in that part of the world +was an apostate Polish Jew named Rev. Isidore Lowenthal, a remarkable +linguist and a man of profound learning. He translated the Bible +and several other religious books into Pashto, the language of +the Afghans, and was convinced that he shared with them the same +ancestry. A story that is invariably related to travelers up +in that country refers to his untimely taking off, for he was +accidentally shot by one of his household attendants, and his +epitaph, after giving the usual statistical information, reads: +</p> + +<div class="quote"> +He was shot accidentally by his chookidar.<br> +Well done, thou good and faithful servant.<br> +I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The Afghanistan question, is, so to speak, in statu quo. The +ameer is friendly to the British, but asserts his independence +with a great deal of firmness and vigor, and is an ever-present +source of anxiety. He receives a subsidy of $600,000 from the +British government, which is practically a bribe to induce him +not to make friends with Russia, and yet there are continual +reports concerning Russian intrigues in that direction. He declines +to receive an English envoy and will not permit any Englishmen +to reside at his court. The Indian government is represented +at Kabul by a highly educated and able native Indian, who is +called a diplomatic agent, and has diplomatic powers. He reports +to and receives instructions from Lord Curzon directly, and is +the only medium of communication between the ameer and the British +government. The present ameer has been on the throne only since +the death of his father, the ameer Abdur Rahman, in October, +1901, and for several months there was considerable anxiety as +to what policy the young man, Habi Bullah Khan, would adopt. +During the last three years of the old man's life he yielded +his power very largely to his son, and selected him twenty wives +from the twenty most influential families in the kingdom in order +to strengthen his throne. Although Habi Bullah is not so able or +determined as his father, he has held his position without an +insurrection or a protest, and is no longer in danger of being +overthrown by one of the bloody conspiracies which have interlarded +Afghanistan history for the last two centuries. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The British were fortunate in having a viceroy at that critical +period who was personally acquainted with the young ameer and a +friend of his father. When Lord Curzon was a correspondent of +the London Times, before he entered parliament, he visited Cabul +and formed pleasant relations with the late ameer, who speaks +of him in most complimentary terms in his recently published +memoirs. The old man happened to die during the darkest period of +the South African war, and Russia took occasion at that critical +moment to demand the right to enter into independent diplomatic +negotiations with Afghanistan for the survey of a railroad across +that country. Only a few years before, Great Britain fought a war +with Afghanistan and overthrew Shere Ali, the shah, because he +received a Russian ambassador on a similar errand, after having +refused to allow a British envoy to reside at his court or even +enter his country. And there is no telling what might have happened +had not Lord Curzon taken advantage of his personal relations and +former friendship. Russia selected a significant date to make +her demands. It was only a fortnight after the British repulse +at Spion Kop, and Ladysmith was in a hopeless state of siege. +Such situations have a powerful influence upon semi-civilized +soldiers, who are invariably inclined to be friendly to those +who are successful at arms. However, Lord Curzon had influence +enough to hold the ameer to the British side, and the latter +has ever since shown a friendly disposition to the British and +has given the Russians no public encouragement. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The official report of the viceroy to the secretary of state for +India in London, covering the ten years ending Dec. 31, 1902, +contains the following interesting paragraph concerning the greatest +source of anxiety: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Relations with Afghanistan have been peaceful throughout the +decade. Although there is reason to believe that Afghan influence +among the turbulent tribes on the northwestern frontier was at +times the cause of restlessness and disorder, the Durand agreement +of 1893, followed by the demarcation of the southern and nearly +all the eastern Afghan boundary, set a definite limit to the +legitimate interference of Afghanistan with the tribes included +in the British sphere of influence. Under that agreement the annual +subsidy paid by the British government to the ameer was increased +from £80,000 to £120,000. A further demarcation, which affected +alike Afghanistan and the British sphere, was that which resulted +from the Pamir agreement concluded with Russia in 1895. Russia +agreed to accept the River Oxus as her southern boundary as far +east as the Victoria Lake. Thence to the Chinese frontier a line +was fixed by a demarcation commission. This arrangement involved +an interchange of territories lying on the north and south bank +of the Oxus respectively between Afghanistan and Bokhara, which +was carried out in 1896. The Ameer of Afghanistan also undertook +to conduct the administration of Wakkhan, lying between the new +boundary and the Hindu Kush, in return for an increase of his +subsidy. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Under the strong rule of the late ameer the country for the +most part enjoyed internal peace, but this was broken by the +revolt of the Hazaras in 1892, which was severely suppressed. +In 1895-96 Kafiristan, a region which the delimitation included +in the Afghan sphere of influence, was subjugated. Political +relations of the government of India with the late and with the +present ameer have been friendly, and were undisturbed by the +murder of the British agent at Kabul by one of his servants in +1895, an incident which had no political significance. In the +year 1894-95 His Highness sent his second son, Shahzada Nasrulla +Khan, to visit England as the guest of Her Majesty's government. +The Ameer Abdur Rahman, G. C. B., died in October, 1901, and +was peacefully succeeded by his eldest son, Habi Bullah Khan, +G. C. M.G." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is no doubt as to what Lord Curzon knows and believes +concerning the aggressive policy of Russia in Asia, because, +shortly before he was appointed viceroy of India, he wrote an +article on that subject for a London magazine, which is still +what editors call "live matter." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"The supreme interest," he said, "ties in the physical fact that +it (the northwestern frontier) is the only side upon which India +has been or ever can be invaded by land, and in the political +fact that it confronts a series of territories inhabited by wild +and turbulent, by independent or semi-independent tribes, behind +whom looms the grim figure of Russia, daily advancing into clearer +outline from the opposite or northwest quarter. It is to protect the +Indian Empire, its peoples, its trades, its laboriously established +government and its accumulated wealth from the insecurity and +possible danger arising from a further Russian advance across the +intervening space that the frontier which I am about to describe +has been traced and fortified. Politicians of all parties have +agreed that, while the territorial aggrandizement of Russia is +permissible over regions where she replaces barbarism even by +a crude civilization, there can be no excuse for allowing her +to take up a position in territories acknowledging our sway, +where she can directly menace British interests in India, or +indirectly impose an excessive strain upon the resources and the +armed strength of our eastern dominions. The guardianship of the +frontier is, therefore, an act of defense, not of defiance, and is +an elementary and essential obligation of imperial statesmanship. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Originally it was supposed that there were but three or four +passes or cracks by which this mountain barrier was perforated, +and that if British soldiers only stood sentinel at their exits +an invader would have no other alternative but to come down and +be annihilated. Modern surveys, however, have shown that the +number of available passes is nearer 300 than three, a discovery +which has suggested the policy of establishing friendly relations +with the tribes who hold them, and thus acquiring an indirect +control over their western mouths. For just as the main physical +feature of the frontier is this mountain wall, with its narrow +lateral slits, so the main political feature is the existence +in the tracts of country thus characterized of a succession of +wild and warlike tribes, owing allegiance to no foreign potentate, +but cherishing an immemorial love for freedom and their native +hills." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Although the idea of consolidating these border tribes into a +single province, with an administrator and staff of officers +of its own directly under the control of the viceroy, was first +suggested by the late Lord Lytton, it has been the good fortune +of Lord Curzon to carry it into effect, and it is considered one +of the wisest and most notable events of his administration of +Indian affairs. The new community, which is called the Northwest +Frontier Province, was organized in February, 1901, and takes in +the wide stretch of territory, which is described by its name. +It is directly governed by an agent of the governor general and a +chief commissioner, who allow the widest liberty and jurisdiction +to the local chiefs consistent with peace and good government. The +new system has been working since 1902, and while it is yet too +early to calculate the results, the improvement already noticed in +the condition of affairs, peace, industry, morals, the increase +of trade and the development of natural resources justifies the +expectation that the semi-barbarous tribes will soon yield to +the influences of civilization and settle down into industrious, +law-abiding and useful citizens. At least their organization and +discipline under the command of tactful and discreet English +officers gives to India a frontier guard composed of 30,000 or +40,000 fearless fighters, who will be kept on the skirmish line +and will prove invaluable through their knowledge of the country +and the mountain trails in case of a border war. The military +position of England has thus been strengthened immensely, and +when the railways now being constructed in that direction are +completed, so that regular British and native troops may be hurried +to the support of the wild and warlike tribes whenever it is +necessary, a constant cause of anxiety will be removed and the +north-western frontier will be thoroughly protected. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The problems connected with the aggressive policy of Russia on +the Indian frontier are very serious from every point of view +to every Englishman, and whenever the time comes, if it ever +does come, the frontier will be defended with all the power of +the British Empire. The aggressiveness of Russia has been felt +throughout India much more than anyone can realize who has not +lived there and come in contact with affairs. It has been like a +dark cloud continually threatening the horizon; it has disturbed +the finances of the country; it has entered into the consideration +of every public improvement, and has, directly or indirectly, +influenced the expenditure of every dollar, the organization of +the army, the construction of fortifications and the maintenance +of a fleet. The policy of Lord Curzon is to bring all the various +frontier tribes, which aggregate perhaps 2,000,000, under the +influence of British authority. To make them friends; to convince +them that loyalty is to their advantage; to organize them so +that they shall be a source of strength and not of weakness or +peril; to teach them the blessings of peace and industry; to +avoid unnecessary interference with their tribal affairs; to +promote the construction of railways, highways and all facilities +of communication; to extend trade, introduce schools and mechanical +industries, and to control the traffic in arms and ammunition. +The commercial and the military policies are closely involved +and in a measure one is entirely dependent upon the other. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +South of Afghanistan, and the westernmost territory under British +control, is Baluchistan, whose western boundary is Persia and the +Arabian Sea. It was formerly a confederation of semi-independent +nomadic tribes under the Khan of Kalat, with a population of about +a million souls, but twenty-six years ago, after the Afghan war of +1878, those tribes were taken under the protection of the Indian +government and Sir Robert Sanderman, a wise, tactful and energetic +man, assisted the native rulers to reorganize and administer +their affairs. During that period the condition of the country +has radically changed. British authority is now supreme, the +primitive conditions of the people have been greatly improved, +they have settled down almost universally in permanent towns +and villages, many of them are cultivating the soil, producing +valuable staples and improving their condition in every respect. +The country consists largely of barren mountains, deserts and +stony plains. Its climate is very severe. The summers are intensely +hot and the winters intensely cold. The wealth of the people is +chiefly in flocks and cattle, and they are now raising camels, +which is a profitable business. The chief exports are wool and +hides, which are all clear gain now that the cultivation of the +fields provides sufficient wheat, barley, millet, potatoes and +other vegetables to supply the wants of the people. Fruits grown +in the valleys are superior to anything produced in other parts +of Asia. The apples and peaches of Baluchistan are famous and +are considered great delicacies in the Indian market. There is +supposed to be considerable mineral in the mountains, although +they have never been explored. Iron, lead, coal, asbestos, oil +and salt have been found in abundance, and some silver. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The efforts of the government have been to direct the attention +of the people to mechanical industries rather than to mining, +because it is important to break them of their nomadic tendencies +and accustom them to permanent homes and regular employment. +They resemble the Bedouins of Arabia in many respects and prefer +to follow their flocks and herds over the mountains rather than +settle down in the towns. The men are hardy, brave, honest and +intelligent, but are desperate fighters and of cruel disposition; +the women resemble the Chinese more than the Arabs, and are bright, +active and ingenuous. The sense of humor is highly developed and +the laws of hospitality are similar to those of the Arabs. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Although the British agent in Baluchistan has autocratic powers +whenever he finds it necessary to exercise them, the Khan of +Kalat is allowed to govern the country in his own way, and to all +appearances is the independent authority. He is given a subsidy +of about $75,000 a year on his private account from the Indian +government, and his official income averages about 500,000 rupees +a year, which is equivalent to about $175,000. With this he pays +the expenses of his government and maintains a bodyguard of about +250 native cavalry. Only once has the British government found it +necessary to interfere in an arbitrary manner. On that occasion +Khudadad, the late ruling khan, murdered his prime minister in a +fit of passion, and upon investigation it was found that he had +put to death also without trial a number of innocent subjects. The +Viceroy of India permitted him to abdicate and gave him a generous +allowance, which was much better treatment than the villain was +entitled to. His son, Mir Mahmud, who succeeded him, turns out +to be an excellent ruler. He is intelligent, conscientious, and +has the welfare of his people at heart. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is little of interest except the political question and +the peculiar appearance of the people up in that particular part +of India. It has been debatable ground as far back as the earliest +days of Aryan colonization. Although Peshawur is regarded as a +modern city, it is mentioned by the historians who wrote up the +campaigns of Alexander the Great, and if you will go up there +the guides will show you where he crossed the river. The city has +a population of about 80,000, of which three-fourths are Moslems. +They come from every part of Asia, and the streets and bazaars +swarm with quaint costumes and strange faces unlike any you have +ever seen before. And what strikes a traveler most forcibly is +their proud demeanor, their haughty bearing and the independent +spirit expressed by every glance and every gesture. They walk +like kings, these fierce, intolerant sons of the desert, and +their costumes, no matter how dirty and trail-worn they may be, +add to the dignity and manliness of their deportment. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +They are so different, these haughty Mohammedans, from the +bare-legged, barefooted, cringing, crouching creatures you see +farther south. It would seem impossible for these men to stoop +for any purpose, but the Bengalese, the Hindustani and the rest +of the population of the southern provinces, do everything on +the ground. They never use chairs or benches, but always squat +upon the floor, and all their work is done upon the ground. +Carpenters have no benches, and if they plane a board they place +it upon the earth before them and hold it fast with their feet. +The blacksmith has his anvil on the floor; the goldsmith, the +tailor and even the printer use the floor for benches, and it +is the desk of the letter writer and the bookkeeper. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It looks queer to see a printer squatting before a case of type, +and even queerer to see a person writing a letter with a block +of paper spread out before him on the ground. But that is the +Hindu custom. You find it everywhere throughout India, just as +you will find everybody, men, women and children, carrying their +loads, no matter how light or how heavy, upon their heads. If an +errand boy is sent from a shop with a parcel he never touches it +with his hands, but invariably carries it on top of his turban. +One morning I counted seven young chaps with "shining morning +faces" on their way to school, everyone of them with his books +and slate upon his head. The masons' helpers, who are mostly +women, carry bricks and mortar upon their heads instead of in +hods on their shoulders, and it is remarkable what heavy loads +their spines will support. At the railway stations the luggage +and freight is carried the same way. The necks and backs of the +natives are developed at a very early age. If a porter can get +assistance to hoist it to the top of his head he will stagger +along under any burden all right. I have seen eight men under +a grand piano and two men under a big American roller top desk, +and in Calcutta, where one of the street railway companies was +extending its tracks, I saw the workmen carry the rails upon +their heads. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XXII">XXII</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE ARMY IN INDIA +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The regular army in India is maintained at an average strength +of 200,000 men. The actual number of names upon the pay rolls on +the 31st of December, 1904, was 203,114. This includes several +thousand non-fighting men, a signal corps, a number of officers +engaged in semi-civil or semi-military duties, those on staff +detail and those on leave of absence. The following is an exact +statement: +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border = 0 cellspacing=0 class="center"> +<tr><td colspan=3 class="center">BRITISH</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=3> </td></tr> +<tr><td>Cavalry, three regiments</td> + <td class="right">2,101</td> + <td> </td></tr> +<tr><td>Artillery, eighty-seven batteries</td> + <td class="right">14,424</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td>Infantry, forty-five battalions</td> + <td class="right">42,151</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td>Engineers, one battalion</td> + <td class="right">204</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td class="right">---------</td> + <td class="right">58,880</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=3> </td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=3 class="center">NATIVES</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=3> </td></tr> +<tr><td>Cavalry, forty regiments</td> + <td class="right">24,608</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td>Artillery, fourteen batteries</td> + <td class="right">6,235</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td>Infantry, 126 battalions</td> + <td class="right">108,849</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td>Engineers, twenty-three battalions</td> + <td class="right">3,925</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td class="right">---------</td> + <td class="right">143,617</td></tr> +<tr><td>Officers on staff duty</td> + <td> </td><td class="right">617</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td> + <td> </td><td class="right">---------</td></tr> +<tr><td>Grand total</td> + <td> </td><td class="right">203,114</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +This regular and permanent military force is supplemented by +native armies in the various independent states, which are only +indirectly under the command of the commander-in-chief and are +not well organized, except in one or two of the provinces. There +is a reserve corps consisting of 22,233 men who have served in +the regular army and are now upon what we call the retired list. +They may be called out at any time their services are needed. +There is also a volunteer force numbering 29,500 men, including +cavalry, artillery, infantry and marines, many of them under the +command of retired officers of the regular army; and the employes +of several of the great railroad companies are organized into +military corps and drill frequently. There is also a military +police under the control of the executive authorities of the +several provinces, making altogether about 300,000 men capable of +being mobilized on short notice in any emergency, about one-third +of them being Englishmen and two-thirds natives. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In 1856, before the great mutiny, the British forces in India +consisted of less than 40,000 Europeans and more than 220,000 +natives, besides about 30,000 contingents, as they were called, +maintained by the rulers of the native states and at their expense. +The greater part of the artillery was manned by native soldiers +under European officers. Three-fourths of the native soldiers +participated in the mutiny. The Madras forces in southern India +and the Sikhs in the Punjab were not only loyal but rendered +valuable services in suppressing the revolt. On the reorganization +of the army, after the mutiny was suppressed, it was decided that +there should never be more than two natives to one European in +the service; that the artillery should be manned by Europeans +exclusively, and that all the arsenals and supply stations should +be in their charge. Since the reorganization there has been an +average of 60,000 British and 120,000 native troops in India. All +the artillery has been manned by Europeans, the British troops +have been garrisoned at stations where they can render the most +prompt and efficient service, and all of the cantonments, as the +European camps are called, all the fortresses and arsenals, are +connected with each other and with Bombay and Calcutta by railway. +When the mutiny broke out in 1857 there were only about 400 miles +of railway in India, and it was a matter of great difficulty, +delay and expense to move troops any distance. To-day India has +nearly 28,000 miles of railway, which has all been planned and +constructed as a part of the national defense system. In 1857 +it took between three and four months for a relief party to reach +Delhi from the seaboard. To-day ten times the force could be +sent there from any part of India within as many days. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Another vital error demonstrated by the mutiny was the former +plan of drawing soldiers from a single caste. They were all under +the same influence; all had the same interests and were governed +by the same prejudices, and could be easily united for the same +purpose. Now caste is not recognized in the army. Recruits are +drawn from every tribe and every caste, and men of different +races, religions and provinces are thrown together in the same +company and are not allowed to serve in the locality where they +were enlisted. Enlistments are entirely voluntary. The natives +are armed, equipped and clothed by the state, but provide their +own food, for which they receive a proper allowance. This is +necessary in order that they may regulate their own diet and +obey the laws of their caste. There are also what are called +"class company regiments," composed chiefly of men who are serving +second enlistments. That is, men of the same race and caste are +organized into separate companies, so that a regiment may have +two companies of Sikhs, two companies of Brahmins, two companies +of Rajputs, two companies of Mohammedans, two companies of Gurkhas +and companies of other tribes or religious sects which neutralize +each other and are inspired by active rivalry. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Race outbreaks and religious collisions very seldom occur in +India these days, but the hostility between the several sects +and races is very deep. The Mohammedan still dreams of the day +when his race shall recover control of the Indian Empire and turn +the Hindu temples into mosques. The Sikhs hate the Mohammedans as +well as the Hindus. None of the sects is without its prejudices. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The most efficient section of the native army is composed of the +Sikhs, the Gurkhas, who are enlisted in Nepaul, and the Pathans, +who come from the hill tribes in the far northwest. These are all +vigorous, hardy races, fearless, enduring and fond of military +service. It would be difficult to find in any country better +soldiers than they make, and their numerical strength in the Indian +army could be doubled without difficulty in case more soldiers +were needed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +All cities, towns and villages have regularly organized police +forces, consisting entirely of natives and numbering about 700,000. +In the larger cities and towns the chief officers are European, +and throughout the entire country the preference in making +appointments to this force is given to men who have served in +the regular army. About 170,000 officers and men have this +distinction and make very efficient police. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The supreme authority over the army in India is vested by law in +the viceroy and is exercised through a member of the council of +state, known as the secretary of military affairs, who corresponds +to our Secretary of War. The active command is in the person of +the commander-in-chief, who is also a member of the council of +state by virtue of his office. The present commander-in-chief +is Lord Kitchener, the hero of Khartoum and of the recent Boer +war. Lord Roberts was formerly in command of the Indian army. +He served in that country for thirty-eight years in various +capacities. He went as a youngster during the mutiny, was with +the party that relieved Delhi, and saw his first fighting and +got his "baptism of blood" upon the "ridge," which was the scene +of the fiercest struggle between the English rescuers and the +native mutineers. He has recently published a readable book giving +an account of his experience during thirty-eight years of military +service in India. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Lord Kitchener is assisted by four lieutenant generals, each +having command of one of the four military divisions into which +the empire is divided. The Calcutta division is under the command +of General Sir Alfred Gaseley, who led the combined international +forces to the relief of the besieged legations in Peking. There +is a general staff similar to that recently organized in the +United States army, which looks after the equipment, the feeding, +the clothing and the transportation of the army with an enormous +corps of clerks and subordinate officers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The officers of the staff corps number 2,700, and are appointed +from the line of the native army upon the merit system. Many of +them were educated at the military colleges in England; many +others have seen service in the regular army of great Britain, +and have sought transfer because the pay is better and promotion +is more rapid in the Indian than in the British army. However, +before an officer is eligible for staff employment in India he +must serve at least one year with a British regiment and one year +with a native regiment, and must pass examinations in the native +languages and on professional subjects. This is an incentive to +study, of which many young officers take advantage, and in the +Indian army list are several pages of names of officers who have +submitted to examinations and have demonstrated their ability +to talk, read and write one or more of the native tongues. The +gossips say that during his voyage from London to Bombay two +years ago Lord Kitchener shut himself up in his stateroom and +spent his entire time refreshing his knowledge of Hindustani. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +No officer is allowed a responsible command unless he can speak +the native language of the district in which he is serving, and, +as there are 118 different dialects spoken in india, some of +the older officers have to be familiar with several of them. +Such linguistic accomplishments are to the advantage of military +officers in various ways. They are not only necessary for their +transfer to staff duty, but insure more rapid promotion, greater +responsibilities and render them liable at any time to be called +upon for important service under the civil departments. Several +thousand officers are now occupying civil and diplomatic posts, and +are even performing judicial functions in the frontier provinces. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The armies of the native states look formidable on paper, but +most of them are simply for show, and are intended to gratify +the vanity of the Hindu princes who love to be surrounded by +guards and escorted by soldiers with banners. Some of the uniforms +of the native armies are as picturesque and artistic as those of +the papal guards at the Vatican, and on occasions of ceremony +they make a brave show, but with the exception of two or three of +the provinces, the native forces would be of very little value +in a war. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The military authorities of India are exceedingly proud of the +morale and the hygienic condition of their troops, and the records +of the judge advocates and medical departments show a remarkable +improvement in these respects, which is largely due to the scientific +construction of barracks, to the enforcement of discipline and +regulations framed to suit climatic conditions, a better knowledge +of the effect of food and drink and the close observance of the +laws of hygiene. The climate is very severe, particularly upon +Europeans, who must take care of themselves or suffer the +consequences. The death rate in all armies in time of peace should +be much lower than in the ordinary community, because recruits +are required to submit to physical examinations, and none but +able-bodied men are enlisted. The death rate in the army of the +United States before our soldiers were sent to the Philippines +was remarkably low, only three or four per 1,000 per year. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Some years ago in the army of India the mortality from disease +was as high as sixty-nine per 1,000, but by the introduction +of the reforms mentioned the rate had been reduced to nineteen +per 1,000 in 1880, and for the last ten years has been less than +sixteen per 1,000. According to the opinion of those best qualified +to know, this is largely due to the introduction of what are known +as Regimental Institutes, or Soldiers' Clubs, corresponding closely +to the canteens which were abolished in our army a few years ago, +but which are considered as important a part of the military +organization in India as a hospital or arsenal. After fifty years +of experience in India the British military authorities gave up +the attempt to prohibit drinking in the army. Lord Kitchener says: +"You might as well try to hasten the millennium." And for twenty +years they have been using various measures, some of which have +proved practicable and others impracticable, to promote temperance. +The result is an almost unanimous conclusion upon the part of +those who have given the subject study that the most effective +means of preventing intemperance and promoting discipline and +morals are the soldiers' institutes and clubs, in which liquor +is sold in small quantities under strict regulations enforced by +the enlisted men themselves. In other words, they have stopped +trying to prohibit drinking because they found it was impossible, +and are now trying to reduce it to the minimum. The placing of +the regulation of the liquor traffic very largely with the men +themselves, and removing the semblance of official interference of +authority, is said to be one of the most effective arrangements, +and the very fact that drinking is not forbidden and that liquor +can be obtained at any moment within a few steps of the barracks +is of itself a most wholesome influence, because it takes away +the desire, and all the spirit of adventure and risk. As long +as human nature is stubborn and contrary, men will do out of +pure mischief what they are told must not be done. These matters +have a deep interest for the viceroy, Lord Kitchener, the +commander-in-chief, and other prominent officials of the army +in India. Lord Kitchener takes an active part in the temperance +work and in the administration of the soldiers' institutes, and +has had an officer detailed to look after their arrangement and +management. Not long ago the viceroy traveled seven hundred miles +to deliver an address at an anniversary of the Army Temperance +Association. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Colonel De Barthe, secretary of military affairs in the cabinet +of the viceroy, to whom I was sent for information on this subject, +said: "The lives of the British soldiers in India are very tedious +and trying, especially during the hot summers, which, in the +greater part of the empire, last for several months. The climate +is enervating and is apt to reduce moral as well as physical +vitality. There are few diversions. The native quarters of the +large cities are dreadful places, especially for young foreigners. +I cannot conceive of worse, from both a sanitary and a moral point +of view. But they have a certain novelty; they are picturesque +and oftentimes attractive and entertaining to homesick soldiers, +who, as is natural, yield easily to temptations to dissipation. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"And the best remedy is to furnish counter attractions and give +the men resorts that are comfortable and attractive, where they +will not be subject to the restraint of authority or come in +contact with their officers too often. The government, as well +as philanthropic societies, is doing everything that it can to +provide such places, to protect the enlisted man as far as possible +from the temptations to which he is subjected, and to furnish +him a loafing place where he will feel at home, where he may do +as he likes to all reasonable limits, and where he can obtain a +moderate amount of pure liquor without feeling that he is violating +regulations and subjecting himself to punishment. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"We formerly had bars at which soldiers could buy pure liquor, +instead of the poisonous stuff that is sold them in the native +quartets of Indian cities, but we soon concluded that they defeated +their own purposes. Being situated at convenient locations, soldiers +would patronize them for the love of liquor, and induce others +to do the same for the sake of companionship. This promoted +intemperance, because the soldiers went to the bar only to drink, +and for no other reason. There were no reading-rooms or loafing +places or attractive surroundings, and they were not permitted +to remain at the bar after they had been served with one drink. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Those bars have been abolished, and, under the present system, an +effort is being made to furnish homelike, attractive club-houses, +where the enlisted men may pass their leisure time in comfortable +chairs, with pleasant surroundings, games, newspapers, magazines, +books, writing materials and a well-filled library. We give them +a lunch-room and a bar which are much more attractive than any of +the native bazaars can offer. They are allowed to drink liquor on +the premises in moderation, and the regulations of the institute +are enforced by a committee of the men themselves, which appeals +to their honor, their pride and their love for their profession. +A drunken enlisted man is quite as much of a humiliation to his +comrades as a drunken officer would be to his associates, and +the men feel quite as much responsibility in restraining each +other and in preventing their comrades from getting into trouble +as their officers--perhaps more. To this spirit, this esprit de +corps, we appeal, and find after several years of experience +that the institutes promote temperance, health, discipline and +contentment among the men. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"The surgeons of the service will tell you, and their reports +contain the details, that the largest amount of disease and the +worst cases are due to contact with natives in the bazaars of the +cities near which our barracks are located. It is impossible to +keep the men out of them, and their visits can only be lessened +by furnishing counter attractions. The soldiers' institutes have +proved to be the strongest ever devised. Anyone who knows India +can tell instantly where soldiers' institutes have not been +established by examining the sick reports of the officers of the +medical corps. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"You cannot prevent men from drinking any more than you can prevent +them from swearing or indulging in any other vice," continued +Colonel De Barthe, "but you can diminish the amount of vice by +judicious measures, and that we believe is being done by our +institutes, with their libraries, reading-rooms, lunch-rooms, +cafes, amusement-rooms, bars, theaters for concerts, lectures +and amateur dramatic performances. The government does not put in +billiard tables or any other kind of games. We allow the men to +do that for themselves, and they pay for them out of the profits +of the bar. Nor do we furnish newspapers. We require the soldiers +to subscribe for themselves. There is a good reason for this +which should be obvious to everyone who has ever had experience +in such matters. We furnish the building, provide the furniture, +fuel, lights, fill the shelves of the library with excellent +standard books of history, travels, biography, fiction and +miscellaneous works, and have a way of shifting the books between +stations occasionally, so that the men will not always have the +same titles before their eyes. We furnish a piano for the amusement +hall, and all of the permanent fixtures of the place, but the +men are required to do their share, which gives them personal +interest in the institute, increases their responsibility and +takes away much of the official atmosphere. If we should provide +magazines and newspapers they would not be so well satisfied +with them. There would always be more or less grumbling and +criticism. Hence it is better for them to make their own choice. If +we should provide crockery and glassware for the refreshment-rooms +it would be more frequently broken. The same rule prevails in other +matters, and, what is still more important, we want to remove as +much of the official relation as possible. The management of +the institute is in the hands of soldiers, under the supervision +of officers, who simply act as checks or as inspectors to see +that things go straight. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"We encourage the men to organize singing clubs, amateur theatricals +and other entertainments in which they take a great interest +and considerable talent is sometimes developed. They have their +own committees looking after these things, which is a healthful +diversion; and the institute is the headquarters of all their +sporting organizations and committees. The officers of the barracks +never go there unless they are invited, but when the men give an +entertainment every officer and his family attend and furnish +as much assistance as possible." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Colonel De Barthe showed me the rules for the government of these +institutes, which may be found in paragraph 658 of the Army +Regulations for India, and begin with the words: "In order to +promote the comfort and provide for the rational amusement of +noncommissioned officers and men, to supply them with good articles +at reasonable prices and to organize and maintain the means for +indoor recreation, a regimental institute shall be provided," etc. +It is then provided that there shall be a library, reading-rooms, +games and recreation-rooms, a theater or entertainment hall, a +refreshment-room and a separate room for the use of and under +the exclusive jurisdiction of the Army Temperance Association. +The reading-room is to be furnished with a library and the +amusement-room with a piano; card playing is permitted in the +recreation-room, but not for money or other stakes of value; +the discussion of religious and political subjects within the +institute is forbidden, and religious exercises are not allowed +to be conducted in the building except in the room of the Army +Temperance Association. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Every noncommissioned officer and private is entitled to the +use of the institute except when excluded for profane or other +improper language, for intoxication or other misconduct, for +such time as the committee in charge shall deem advisable. The +management of the institute is entrusted to several committees of +non-commissioned officers and soldiers and an advisory committee +of three or more officers. These committees have control of all +supplies, receipts and expenditures, the preservation of order, the +enforcement of the rules, and are enjoined to make the institute +as attractive as possible. A committee of three, of whom the +chairman must be a sergeant, is authorized to purchase supplies; +an inventory of the stock must be taken once a month; there may +be a co-operative store if deemed advisable by the commanding +officer, at which groceries, provisions and general merchandise +may be sold to the men at cost price; liquor may be sold in a +separate room of limited dimensions, under the supervision of a +committee of which a sergeant is chairman, and that committee, +by assigning good reasons, has the power to forbid its sale to +any person for any length of time. No spirituous liquor except +rum can be kept or sold; that must be of the best quality and +no more than one dram may be sold to any person within the hour, +and only one quart of malt liquor. Beside these, aerated waters +and other "soft drinks" must be provided, with coffee, tea, +sandwiches and other refreshments as required. The profits of +the institute may be devoted to the library, reading-room and +recreation department, the purchase of gymnastic apparatus, etc., +and articles for the soldiers' mess, and may be contributed to +the widows and orphans' fund, if so determined by the patrons +of the institution. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Those, in short, are the means used by the Indian government to +promote temperance and morality in its army, and everyone who has +experience and knowledge of the practical operation of such affairs +approves them. In addition to the institutes described, the Army +Temperance Association, which is entirely unofficial and composed +of benevolent people in private life, has established in several +of the large cities of India, where garrisons are stationed, +soldiers' clubs, which also prove very efficacious. They are +located in the bazaars and other parts of the cities frequented +by soldiers and where the most mischief is usually done. They are +clubs pure and simple, with reading and writing-rooms, games, +music, restaurants, billiard-rooms and bars at which rum, beer, +ale and other liquors are sold. There is also a devotional-room, +in which religious meetings are held at stated times. These clubs +are managed by private individuals in connection with committees +of noncommissioned officers and enlisted men, and several of them +represent investments of $15,000 and $20,000. In some cases a +small membership fee is charged. They have proved very effective +in catching human driftwood, and provide a place where men who +are tempted may have another chance to escape the consequences. +They are conducted upon a very liberal plan, and after pay day +soldiers who start out for a debauch, as so many regularly do, +are accustomed to leave their money and valuables with the person +in charge before plunging into the sinks of vice, where so many +men find pleasure and diversion. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XXIII">XXIII</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +MUTTRA, ALIGARH, LUCKNOW, CAWNPORE +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the way back from the frontier are plenty of delightful places +at which the journey may be broken. You can have another glimpse +of the most beautiful building in the world at Agra, and can take +a day's excursion to Muttra, one of the seven sacred cities of +India, the birthplace of Krishna, second in rank and popularity +of the Hindu gods. The trains are conveniently arranged; they +take you over from Agra in the morning and bring you back at +night, which is well, because there is no hotel at Muttra, only +what they call a dak bungalow, or lodging-house, provided by +the municipal authorities for the shelter of travelers who have +no friends to put them up. These dak bungalows are quite common +in India, for comparatively few of the towns have hotels that +a European or American would care to patronize. In Japan the +native hotels are miracles of neatness and sweetness. In India, +and the rest of Asia, they are, as far as possible, the reverse. +I suppose it would be possible for a white man to survive a day or +two in a native hotel, but the experience would not be classified +as pleasure. Several of the native princes have provided dak +bungalows for public convenience and comfort, and one or two are +so hospitable as to furnish strangers food as well as lodging +free of cost. The maharajas of Baroda, Jeypore, Bhartpur, Gwalior +and several other provinces obey the scriptural injunction and +have many times entertained angels unawares. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is an ancient custom for the head of the state or the municipal +authorities or the commercial organizations or the priests to +provide free lodgings for pilgrims and strangers; indeed, there +are comparatively few hotels at which natives are required to pay +bills. When a Hindu arrives in a strange town he goes directly to +the temple of his religion and the priest directs him to a place +where he can stop. It is the development of ancient patriarchal +hospitality, and the dak bungalow, which is provided for European +travelers in all hotelless towns and cities, is simply a refinement +of the custom. There are usually charges, but they are comparatively +small. You are expected to furnish your own bedding, towels, +etc., and there are no wire spring mattresses. Sometimes iron +cots are provided and often bunks are built in the wall. If there +are none all you have to do is to wrap the drapery of your couch +around you and select a soft place on the floor. A floor does +not fit my bones as well as formerly, but it is an improvement +upon standing or sitting up. Usually the dak bungalows are clean. +Occasionally they are not. This depends upon the character and +industry of the person employed to attend them. The charges are +intended to cover the expense of care and maintenance, and are +therefore very moderate, and everybody is treated alike. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After a long, dusty drive in the suburbs of Delhi one day I crept +into the grateful shade of a dak bungalow, found a comfortable +chair and called for some soda to wash down the dust and biscuits +to hold my appetite down until dinner time. I was sipping the +cool drink, nibbling the biscuits and enjoying the breeze that +was blowing through the room, when the attendant handed me a +board about as big as a shingle with a hole drilled through the +upper end so that it could be hung on a wall. Upon the board +was pasted a notice printed in four languages, English, German, +French and Hindustani, giving the regulations of the place, and +the white-robed khitmatgar pointed his long brown finger to a +paragraph that applied to my case. I paid him 10 cents for an +hour's rest under the roof. It was a satisfaction to do so. The +place was clean and neat and in every way inviting. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At many of the railway stations beds are provided by the firm of +caterers who have a contract for running the refreshment-rooms. +Most of the stations are neat and comfortable, and you can always +find a place to spread your bedding and lie down. There is a +big room for women and a big room for men. Sometimes cots are +provided, but usually only hard benches around the walls. There +are always washrooms and bathrooms adjoining, which, of course, +are a great satisfaction in that hot and perspiring land. The +restaurants at the railway stations are usually good, and are +managed by a famous caterer in Calcutta, but the men who run +the trains don't always give you time enough to eat. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the passenger trains, ice, soda water, ginger ale, beer and +other soft drinks are carried by an agent of the eating-house +contractor, who furnishes them for 8 cents a bottle, and it pays +him to do so, for an enormous quantity is consumed during the +hot weather. The dust is almost intolerable and you cannot drink +the local water without boiling and filtering it. The germs of +all kinds of diseases are floating around in it at the rate of +7,000,000 to a spoonful. A young lady who went over on the ship +with us didn't believe in any such nonsense and wasn't afraid +of germs. She drank the local water in the tanks on the railway +cars and wherever else she found it, and the last we heard of +her she was in a hospital at Benares with a serious case of +dysentery. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="380"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig025.jpg" width="376" height="571" alt="Fig. 25"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + GROUP OF FAMOUS BRAHMIN PUNDITS +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Mark Twain says that there is no danger from germs in the sacred +water of the Ganges, because it is so filthy that no decent microbe +will live in it; and that just about describes the situation. +It is a miracle that the deaths are so few. Millions of people +fill their stomachs from that filthy stream day after day because +the water washes away their sins, and I do not suppose there +is a dirtier river in all the universe, nor one that contains +more contagion and filth. It receives the sewage of several of +the largest cities of India. Dead bodies of human beings as well +as animals can be seen floating daily. From one end of it to +the other are burning ghats where the bodies of the dead are +soaked in it before they are placed upon the funeral pyres, and +when the bones and flesh are consumed the ashes are cast upon +the sacred stream. But the natives observe no sanitary laws, +and the filth in which they live and move and have their being +is simply appalling. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +But I started out to tell you about Muttra, which is a very ancient +place. It is mentioned by Pliny, the Latin historian, Ptolemy, the +Egyptian geographer, and other writers previous to the Christian +era, and is associated with the earliest Aryan migrations. Here +Krishna, the divine herdsman, was born. He spent his childhood +tending cattle in the village of Gokul, where are the ruins of +several ancient temples erected in his honor, but, although he +seems to have retained his hold upon the people, they have allowed +them to crumble, and the profuse adornments of the walls and +columns have been shamefully defaced. At one time it is said +there were twenty great monasteries at that place, with several +hundred monks, yet nothing is left of them but piles of stone and +rubbish. All have been destroyed in successive wars, for Muttra +has been the scene of horrible atrocities by the Mohammedans who +have overrun the country during several invasions. Therefore most +of the temples are modern, and they are too many to count. There is +a succession of them on the banks of the river the whole length +of the city, interspersed with hospices for the entertainment of +pilgrims, and palaces of rich Hindus, who go there occasionally +to wash away their sins, just as the high livers of London go +to Homburg and Carlsbad to restore their digestions. One of the +palaces connected with the temple, built of fine white stone in +modern style, belongs to Lakshman Das, a Hindu who the guide +told us is the richest man in India. The many merchants of Muttra +all seem prosperous. The city is visited by hundreds of thousands +of pilgrims every year, all of whom bring in more or less money, +and the houses and shops are of a more permanent and imposing +order of architecture than those of Delhi, Agra and other places. +It has the appearance of being a rich community. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The shade trees along the streets swarm with monkeys and parrots, +which are sacred, and when you go there you mustn't jump if a +grinning monkey drops down upon your shoulders in a most casual +manner and chatters in your ear. The animals are very tame. They +are fed by the pilgrims, who gain great merit with the gods thereby, +and the river is filled with sacred turtles, which are also objects +of great interest and devotion. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Only two towns in India are more sacred than Muttra. One is Benares +and the other is Jagernath, or Juggernaut, which is about 150 +miles south of Calcutta on the shore of the Bay of Bengal. There +is the great idol which we have all heard about from the +missionaries, and, I regret to say, some have been guilty of a +good deal of misrepresentation and exaggeration. When I was a +boy I read in Sunday-school books the most heart-tearing tales +about the poor heathen, who cast themselves down before the car of +Juggernaut and were crushed to lifeless pulp under its monstrous +wheels. This story has been told thousands of times to millions +of horrified listeners, but an inquiry into the facts does not +confirm it. It is true that on certain holy days the great image +of Juggernaut, or Jagernath, whichever way you choose to spell +it, and it weighs many tons, is placed upon a car and the car is +drawn through the crowded streets by thousands of pilgrims, who +cast flowers, rice, wheat, palm leaves, bamboo wisps, sweetmeats +and other offerings in its way. Occasionally in the throng that +presses around the image some one is thrown down and has the +life trampled out of him; on several occasions people have been +caught by the wheels or the frame of the car and crushed, and +at rare intervals some hysterical worshiper has fallen in a fit +of epilepsy or exhaustion and been run over, but the official +records, which began in 1818, show only nine such occurrences +during the last eighty-six years. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +I have great respect for missionaries, but I wish some of them +would be more charitable in disposition, a little more accurate +in statement, and not print so much trash. In Muttra you have a +good illustration of their usefulness. The American Methodists +commenced work there in 1887. No educational or evangelical work +had ever been attempted previous to that time, but the men and +women who came were wise, tactful and industrious, and the result +may be seen in a dozen or more schools, with several thousand +pupils, a flourishing, self-supporting church, a medical mission, +a deaconesses' home and training school, a printing establishment +and bookshop which is self-supporting and a large number of earnest, +intelligent converts. Wherever you go in heathen lands you will +find that wisdom, judgment, tact and ability, when applied in +any direction, always show good results, but all missionaries, +I regret to say, are not endowed with those qualities or with +what Rev. Dr. Hepburn of Japan calls "sanctified common sense," +and the consequences are sometimes deplorable. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"By their works ye shall know them." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At Aligarh, a town of 50,000 inhabitants on the railway between +Agra and Delhi, is a very rare and indeed a unique institution--a +Moslem university and printing press--the only ones in India, and +the only ones in the world established and conducted on modern +lines. The university is modeled upon the English plan. It has an +English president and dean and several English professors, all +of them graduates of the University of Cambridge. The preparatory +school has an English head master and assistant, and in the faculty +is a professor of physical culture, who has brought manly sports +among the students to a standard unequaled elsewhere in India. +The Aligarh University has the best football team and the best +cricket team in the empire. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This remarkable institution was founded in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmed +Khan, a Mohammedan lawyer and judge on the civil bench, for the +education of his co-religionists in order that they may take +places in the world beside the graduates of English and European +universities and exercise a similar influence. He recognized +that the Moslem population of India must degenerate unless it +was educated; that it could not keep pace with the rest of the +world. He was shocked at the ignorance and the bigotry of his +fellow Mohammedans and at their stubborn conservatism. He was +a sincere believer in his own religion, and insisted that the +faith of Islam, properly understood, was as much in the interest +of truth and progress in every branch of human knowledge and +activity as the Christian religion, and he devoted his entire +fortune and collected contributions from rich Mohammedans for +the establishment of a school that should be entirely up-to-date +and yet teach the Koran and the ancient traditions of Islam. There +are now about 500 students, who come from the most important +families in India. They live together in dormitories built about +the college, dine in the same refectory and enjoy a healthy, +active college life. Foreign and Christian professors fill the +chairs of science, mathematics and languages, while able mullahs +give instruction in the Koran and direct the students in the +daily exercise of the Mohammedan rites. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Sir Syed Ahmed Khan met with bitter opposition and animosity +from the conservative element of his faith, and while some of +his opponents admitted the purity and nobility of his motive, +he was often accused of apostasy, but his noble life was spared +until March, 1898, and he was permitted to see his institution +enjoying great popularity and usefulness. There is at present a +movement among the Mohammedans of India for the higher education +of the members of that sect. It is the fruit of his labors and +the men who are leading it are graduates of the Aligarh College. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Lucknow and Cawnpore are usually neglected by American travelers, +but are sacred objects of pilgrimage to all Englishmen because +of their terrible memories of the awful struggles of the mutiny +of the sepoys, or native soldiers, in 1857, and their heroic +defense and heroic relief by a handful of British troops under +Sir Henry Havelock, General James Outram and Sir Colin Campbell. +Although more has been written about Lucknow, yet the tragedy +of Cawnpore is to me the more thrilling in several particulars, +and that city was the scene of the greater agony. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Upon the shores of the Ganges River is a pretty park of sixty +acres, in the center of which rises a mound. That mound covers +the site of a well in which the bodies of 250 of the victims of +the massacre were cast. It is inclosed by a Gothic wall, and in +the center stands a beautiful figure of an angel in white marble +by an Italian artist. Her arms are crossed upon her breast and in +each hand she holds a palm branch. The archway is inscribed: +</p> + +<div class="quote"> +"These are They which Came<br> +Out of Great Tribulation." +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Chiseled in the wall that marks the circle of the well are these +words: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Sacred to the Perpetual Memory of a great Company of Christian +people, chiefly Women and Children, who near this Spot were cruelly +Murdered by the Followers of the Rebel Nana Dhundu Panth of Bithur, +and cast, the Dying with the Dead, into the Well below on the +XVth day of July, MDCCCLVII." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The story of Cawnpore has no parallel in history. It might have +been repeated at Peking two or three years ago, for the conditions +existed there. In the summer of 1857 sixty-one English artillerymen +and about 3,000 sepoys were attached to the garrison at that place, +where about 800 foreigners resided. Upon the 6th of June the native +troops rose in mutiny, sacked the paymaster's office and burned +several of the public buildings. The frightened foreigners fled +into one of the larger buildings of the government, where they +hastily threw up fortifications and resisted a siege for three +weeks. Their position having become untenable, they arranged +terms of capitulation with Nana Sahib, the leader of the mutiny, +who had been refused the throne and the allowance paid by the +British government to the late maharaja, although the latter +had adopted him in legal form and had proclaimed him his heir. +This was one of the principal reasons for the mutiny, and without +considering the question of justice or injustice, Nana Sahib +satiated his desire for vengeance under the most atrocious +circumstances. Having accepted the surrender of the little garrison +upon his personal assurances of their security and safe conduct +to Allahabad, he placed the survivors, about 700 in number, in +boats upon the Ganges River and bade them good-by. As soon as +the last man was on board and the word was given to start down +the stream, the blast of a bugle was heard. At that signal the +crews of the boats leaped into the water, leaving the passengers +without oars, and immediately the straw roofs of the boats burst +into flames and showers of bullets were fired from lines of infantry +drawn up on the banks. Most of those who jumped into the water +to escape the flames were shot down by the bullets. And many +who escaped both and endeavored to reach the shore were sabered +by cavalrymen who awaited them. One boat load escaped. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The survivors of this incident, about 200 in number, were led +back into the city, past their old homes, now in smoldering ruins, +and were locked up in two rooms twenty feet long and ten feet +wide. They had no beds, no furniture, no blankets, not even straw +to lie upon. They were given one meal a day of coarse bread and +water, and after suffering untold agonies for fifteen days were +called out in squads and hacked to pieces by the ruffians of +Nana's guard. Their bodies were cast into the well, which was +afterward filled with earth and has since been the center of +a memorial park. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The siege of Lucknow was somewhat different. When the mutiny +broke out Sir Henry Lawrence, the governor, concentrated his +small force of British soldiers, with eleven women and seven +children, in his residency, which stood in the center of a park +of sixty acres. It was a pretentious stone building, with a superb +portico and massive walls, and protected by deep verandas of +stone. Anticipating trouble, he had collected provisions and +ammunition and was quite well prepared for a siege, although +the little force around him was attacked by more than 30,000 +merciless, bloodthirsty fanatics. The situation was very much +as it was at Peking, only worse, and the terrific fire that was +kept up by the sepoys may be judged by the battered stump of an +old tree which still stands before the ruins of the residency. +Although about three feet in diameter, it was actually cut down +by bullets. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the second day of the siege, while Sir Henry Lawrence was +instructing Captain Wilson, one of his aids, as to the distribution +of rations, a shell entered his apartment, exploded at his side and +gave him a mortal wound. With perfect coolness and calm fortitude +he appointed Major Banks his successor, instructed him in details +as to the conduct of the defense, exhorted the soldiers of the +garrison to their duty, pledged them never to treat with the +rebels, and under no circumstances to surrender. He gave orders +that he should be buried "without any fuss, like a British soldier," +and that the only epitaph upon his tombstone should be: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"Here lies Henry Lawrence, Who Tried to do his Duty; May God have +Mercy upon his soul." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He died upon the Fourth of July. Upon the 16th Major Banks, his +successor in command, was killed and the authority devolved upon +Captain Inglis, whose widow, the last survivor of the siege, +died in London Feb. 4, 1904. The deaths averaged from fifteen to +twenty daily, and most of the people were killed by an African +sharpshooter who occupied a commanding post upon the roof of a +neighboring house and fired through the windows of the residency +without ever missing his victim. The soldiers called him "Bob the +Nailer." The latter part of August he was finally killed, but +not until after he had shot dozens of men, women and children +among the besieged. In order to protect themselves from his shots +and those from other directions the windows of the residency +were barricaded, which shut out all the air and ventilation, +and the heat became almost intolerable. A plague of flies set +in which was so terrible that the nervous women and children +frequently became frantic and hysterical. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the 5th of September a faithful native brought the first news +that a relieving force under Sir Henry Havelock and General James +Outram was nearing Lucknow. On the 25th Havelock fought his way +through the streets of the city, which were packed with armed +rebels, and on the 26th succeeded in reaching the residency. But, +although the relief was welcome, and the sufferings of the besieged +were for the moment forgotten, it was considered impracticable +to attempt an evacuation because the whole party would have been +massacred if they had left the walls. A young Irish clerk in +the civil service, named James Kavanagh, undertook to carry a +message to Sir Colin Campbell and succeeded in passing through +the lines of the enemy. On the 16th of November Campbell fought +his way through the streets with 3,500 men, and the relief of +Lucknow was finally effected. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A few days later Sir Henry Havelock, the hero of the first relief, +died from an attack of dysentery from which he had long been +suffering, and his body was buried under a wide-spreading tree in +the park. The tomb of Havelock is a sacred spot to all soldiers. +A lofty obelisk marks the resting place of one of the noblest +of men and one of the bravest and ablest of soldiers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The residency is naturally a great object of interest, but the +cemetery, gay with flowers and feathery bamboos, is equally so, +because there lies the dust of 2,000 men and women who perished +within the residency, in the attempts at relief and in other +battles and massacres in that neighborhood during the mutiny. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Nana Sahib, who was guilty of these awful atrocities, was never +punished. In the confusion and the excitement of the fighting +he managed to make his escape, and mysteriously disappeared. It +is now known that he took refuge in the province of Nepal, where +he was given an asylum by the maharaja, and remained secretly +under his protection, living in luxury for several years until +his death. It is generally believed that the British authorities +knew, or at least suspected, his whereabouts, but considered it +wiser to ignore the fact rather than excite a controversy and +perhaps a war with a powerful native province. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is little of general interest in Cawnpore. Lucknow, however, +is one of the most prosperous and busy towns in India. The people +are wealthy and enterprising. It has probably more rich natives +than any other city of India except Bombay, and their houses are +costly and extravagant, but in very bad architectural taste. +Millions of dollars have been spent in tawdry decorations and +ugly walls, but they are partially redeemed by beautiful parks +and gardens. Lucknow has the reputation of being the home of +the Mohammedan aristocracy in India, and a large number of its +wealthiest and most influential citizens belong to that faith. +Their cathedral mosque is one of the finest in the country. The +imambra connected with it is a unique structure and contains +the largest room in the world without columns, being 162 feet +long by 54 feet wide, and 53 feet high. It was built in 1784, +the year of the great famine, in order to give labor and wages +to a hungry people, and is one solid mass of concrete of simple +form and still simpler construction. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The architect first made a mold or centering of timber, bricks +and earth, which was covered with several layers of rubble and +coarse concrete several feet in thickness. After it had been +allowed a year or two to set and dry, the mold or centering was +removed, and this immense structure, whose exterior dimensions +are 263 by 145 feet, stood as solid as a rock, a single piece +of cement literally cast in a mold, and, although it has been +standing 125 years, it shows no signs of decay or deterioration. +The word imambra signifies "the patriarch's palace." The big room +is used for the celebration of the Moslem feast of Mohurram, +which commemorates the martyrdom of the sons of Ali, the immediate +descendants of Mahomet. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The royal palaces of Lucknow, formerly occupied by the native +kings, are considered the worst architecture of India, although +they represent the expenditure of millions of dollars. But the +hotels are the best in all the empire, except the new one of +which I have spoken in Bombay. For this reason and because it is +a beautiful city, travelers find it to their comfort and advantage +to stop there for several days longer than they would stay elsewhere, +and enjoy driving about the country visiting the different parks +and gardens. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One of the most novel excursions in India may be made to the +headquarters of the commissariat department of the army, about +three miles out of town, where a herd of elephants is used for +heavy lifting and transportation purposes. The intelligence, +patience and skill of the great beasts are extraordinary. They +are fed on "chow patties," a mixture of hay, grains and other +forage, and are allowed a certain number for each meal. Each +elephant always counts his as soon as they are delivered to him, +and if spectators are present the guardkeepers frequently give +them a short allowance, whereupon they make a terrible fuss until +they get what they are entitled to. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are some quaint customs among the farmers in that part +of the country. The evil eye is as common and as much dreaded +as in Italy, and people who are suspected of that misfortune +are frequently murdered by unknown hands to rid the community +of a common peril and nuisance. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Good and bad omens occur hourly; superstitions are as prevalent +as in Spain. If a boy be born, for example, a net is hung over +the doorway and a fire is lighted upon the threshold to prevent +evil spirits from entering the house. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="536"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig026.jpg" width="532" height="376" alt="Fig. 26"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + TOMB OF AKBAR, THE GREAT MOGUL, AT AGRA +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The commencement of the farming season is celebrated with ceremonies. +The first furrow in the village is plowed by a committee of farmers +from the neighborhood. The plow is first worshiped and decorated. +The bullock or camel which draws it is covered with garlands of +flowers, bright-colored pieces of cloth and rosettes of ribbon +are braided into its tail and hung upon its horns. Behind the +plow follows "the sower," who is also decorated with flowers +and ornaments, has a red mark upon his forehead and his eyelids +colored with lampblack. He drops seed into the furrow. Behind +him comes a second man, who carefully picks up every grain that +has fallen outside of the furrow. When the furrow is finished +the farmers assemble at some house in the neighborhood and have +a dinner of simple food. There are similar ceremonies connected +with the harvest. Some of them are said to be inherited from +their ancient Aryan ancestors; others are borrowed from the Arabs, +Persians and Chinese. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XXIV">XXIV</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +CASTE AND THE WOMEN OF INDIA +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Everybody who keeps in touch with the slowly changing social +conditions in India is convinced that the caste, the most important +fetich of the Hindus, is gradually losing its hold, particularly +upon the upper classes, because they cannot adjust it to the +requirements of modern civilization and to the foreign customs +they imitate and value so highly. Very high authorities have +predicted in my hearing that caste will be practically obsolete +within the next fifty years, and entirely disappear before the end +of the century, provided the missionaries and other reformers will +let it alone and not keep it alive by controversy. It is a sacred +fetich, and when it is attacked the loyal Hindu is compelled to +defend and justify it, no matter what his private opinion of +its practicability and advantages may be, but, if foreigners will +ignore it, the progressive, cultured Hindus will themselves discard +it. The influences of travel, official and commercial relations, +and social intercourse with foreigners, personal ambition for +preferment in the military and the civil service, the adoption +of modern customs and other agencies are at work undermining the +institution, and when a Hindu finds that its laws interfere with +his comfort or convenience, he is very certain to ignore them. +The experience of the Maharaja of Jeypore, told in a previous +chapter, is not unusual. His case is only one of thousands, for +nearly every native prince and wealthy Hindu has broken caste +again and again without suffering the slightest disadvantage, +which has naturally made them indifferent. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Travelers see very little of this peculiar institution, and it +is so complicated that they cannot comprehend it without months +of study. They notice that half the men they meet on the streets +have odd looking signs upon their foreheads. Ryas, our bearer, +calls them "god marks," but they are entirely artificial, and +indicate the particular deity which the wearer is in the habit +of worshiping, as well as the caste to which he belongs. A white +triangle means Krishna, and a red circle means Siva--the two +greatest gods--or vice versa, I have forgotten which, and Hindus +who are inclined to let their light shine before men spread on +these symbols with great care and regularity. At every temple, +every market place, at the places where Hindus go to bathe, at the +railway stations, public buildings, in the bazaars, and wherever +else multitudes are accustomed to gather, you will find Brahmins +squatting on a piece of matting behind trays covered with little +bowls filled with different colored ochers and other paints. +These men know the distinctive marks of all the castes, and for +small fees paint the proper signs upon the foreheads of their +patrons, who wear them with great pride. You frequently see them +upon children also; and on holidays and religious anniversaries, +when the people come out for pleasure, or during special ceremonials +at their temples, nearly everybody wears a "god mark," just as he +would wear a badge denoting his regiment and corps at a Grand +Army reunion. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The more you study the question of caste the more confusing it +becomes, but it is interesting and important because it is the +peculiar institution of India and is not found in any other country +in the world. The number of castes is almost infinite. The +200,000,000 or more Hindus in this empire are divided into a vast +number of independent, well-organized and unchangeable groups, +which are separated by wide differences, who cannot eat together or +drink from the same vessel or sit at the same table or intermarry. +There have been, and still are, eminent and learned philosophers +and social scientists who admire caste as one of the highest +agencies of social perfection, and they argue that it alone has +prevented the people of India from relapsing into barbarism, but +foreigners in general and Christian missionaries in particular +take a very different view, and many thoughtful and patriotic +Hindus publicly declare that it is the real and only cause of +the wretched condition of their people and the greatest obstacle +to their progress. Mr. Shoshee Chunder Dutt, a very learned Hindu +and author of a standard book entitled "India, Past and Present," +declares that "civilization has been brought to a standstill by +its mischievous restrictions, and there is no hope of its being +remedied until those restrictions are removed." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is curious to learn that the word "caste" is not Hindu at +all, but Portuguese, and that instead of being an ancient feature +of the Hindu religion, it is comparatively a modern idea. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The first form of religion in India was the worship of nature, +and the chief gods of the people were the sun, fire, water and +other natural phenomena, which were interpreted to the ignorant +masses by priests, who gradually developed what is now called +Brahminism, and, in the course of time, for social reasons, divided +the people into four classes: First, the Brahmins, which include the +priestly, the literary and the ruling portions of the population; +second, the Kshatryas, or warriors, who were like the knighthoods +of Europe in the middle ages; then the Vaisyas, or landowners, +the farming population, and those engaged in mercantile and +manufacturing industries; and finally the Sudras, or servants +who attended the other castes, toiled in the fields and did the +heavy labor of the community. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Gradually these grand divisions became divided into sections +or social groups. Trades, professions, tribes and clans, and +particularly those who worshiped the same god, naturally drifted +together and were watchful of their mutual interests. As there +are as many gods in the Hindu pantheon as there are inhabitants of +India, these religious associations are very numerous. Occupation +is not a sign of caste. Every caste, and particularly the Brahmins, +have members in every possible occupation. Nearly every cook +in India is a Brahmin, which is a matter of almost imperative +necessity, because no man can partake of food cooked or even +touched by persons of lower caste. The Brahmins are also more +numerous than any other caste. According to the recent census +they number 14,888,000, adult men only being counted. The soldier +caste numbers more than 10,000,000, the farmer caste and the +leather workers have nearly as many. Nearly 20 per cent of the +population of India is included in those four castes, and there +are forty or fifty sub-castes, each having more than 1,000,000 +members. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are more than 1,800 groups of Brahmins, who have become so +numerous and so influential that they are found everywhere. The +number in the public service is very large, representing about +35 per cent of the entire mass of employes of the government in +every capacity and station, and they have the largest proportion +of educated men. It is a popular delusion that every Brahmin is a +priest, when the fact is that they are so numerous that not more +than a small percentage is employed in religious functions. But +for more than 2,000 years they have maintained their superiority +unchallenged. This is not only due to their pretensions, but +to their intellectual force. They have been the priests, the +writers, the rulers, the legislators of all India, because of +their force of character and mental attainments, and will always +preserve their supremacy through the same forces that enabled +them to acquire it. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The laws of caste, as explained by Mr. Shoshee Chunder Dutt, the +Hindu writer referred to above, provide: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +1. That individuals cannot be married who do not belong to the +same caste. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +2. That a man may not sit down to eat with another who is not +of his own caste. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +3. That his meals must be cooked either by persons of his own +caste or a Brahmin. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +4. That no man of an inferior caste is to touch his cooked rations, +or the dishes in which they are served, or even to enter his +cook room. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +5. That no water or other liquid contaminated by the touch of +a man of inferior caste can be made use of--rivers, tanks and +other large sheets of water being, however, held to be incapable +of defilement. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +6. That articles of dry food, excepting rice, wheat, etc., do not +become impure by passing through the hands of a man of inferior +caste so long as they remain dry, but cannot be taken if they +get wet or greased. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +7. That certain prohibited articles, such as cows' flesh, pork, +fowls, etc., are not to be taken. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +8. That the ocean or any other of the boundaries of India cannot +be crossed over. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The only acts which now lead to exclusion from castes are the +following: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +1. Embracing Christianity or Mohammedanism. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +2. Going to Europe, America or any other foreign country. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +3. Marrying a widow. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +4. Throwing away the sacred thread. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +5. Eating beef, pork or fowl. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +6. Eating food cooked by a Mohammedan, Christian or low caste +Hindu. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +7. Officiating as priest in the house of a low caste Sudra. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +8. By a female going away from home for an immoral purpose. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +9. By a widow becoming pregnant. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When a Hindu is excluded from caste his friends, relatives and +fellow townsmen refuse to partake of his hospitality; he is not +invited to entertainments in their houses; he cannot obtain wives +or husbands for his children; even his own married daughters +cannot visit him without running the risk of being excluded from +caste; his priest and even his barber and washerman refuse to +serve him; his fellow caste men ostracize him so completely that +they refuse to assist him even in sickness or at the funeral of +a member of his household. In some cases the man excluded from +caste is debarred from the public temples. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +To deprive a man of the services of his barber and his washerman +is becoming more difficult these days, but the other penalties +are enforced with more or less rigor. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +They tell us that foreigners cannot appreciate the importance +of caste. Murray's guide book warns the traveler to remember +that fact, and says that the religion of the Hindu amounts to +little more than the fear of demons, of the loss of caste and +of the priests. Demons have to be propitiated, the caste rules +are strictly kept and the priests presented with gifts. Great +care has to be taken not to eat food cooked by a man of inferior +caste; food cooked in water must not be eaten together by people +of different castes, and castes are entirely separated with regard +to marriage and trade. A sacred thread of cotton is worn by the +higher castes. Washing in the sacred rivers, particularly the +Ganges, and especially at Allahabad, Benares, Hardwar and other +exceptionally holy spots, is of efficacy in preserving caste +and cleansing the soul of impurities. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"The traveler should remember," says the guide book, "that all +who are not Hindus are outcasts, contact with whom may cause +the loss of caste to a Hindu. He should not touch any cooking or +water holding utensil belonging to a Hindu, nor disturb Hindus +when at their meals; he should not molest cows, nor shoot any +sacred animal, and should not pollute holy places by his presence +if any objection is made. The most sacred of all animals is the +cow, then the serpent, and then the monkey. The eagle is the +attendant of Vishnu, the bull of Siva, the goose of Brahma, the +elephant of Indra, the tiger of Durga, the buffalo of Rama, the +rat of Ganesh, the ram of Agni, the peacock of Kartikkeya, the +parrot of Kama (the god of love), the fish, the tortoise and +boar are incarnations of Vishnu, and the crocodile, cat, dog, +crow, many trees, plants, stones, rivers and tanks are sacred." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Nevertheless, Brahmins are very clever in dodging an issue when +it is necessary for their convenience. For example, when a modern +water supply was introduced for the first time into a city of +India the problem arose, How could the Hindus use water that +came from hydrants, in face of the law which prohibited them +drinking it from vessels which may have been touched by people of +another caste? After much reflection and discussion the pundits +decided that the payment of water rates should be considered an +atonement for violating the ordinances of their religion. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There has been some improvement in the condition of women in +India, and it is due almost entirely to the Christian missionaries +who have brought about reforms which could not have occurred +otherwise, although, at the same time, the spirit of modern progress +has not been without its influence upon the native families. +Remarkable instances have occurred in which native women have +attained distinction in literature, scholarship and science. +Several have passed university entrance examinations; a few have +obtained degrees. In 1903 there were 264 women in collegiate +institutions throughout the empire, more than has ever been known +before. There has been a gradual increase in their number. In +1893-4 there were only 108; two years later there were 110. In +1898-9 the number jumped to 174, and in 1900-1 it reached 205, +hence you will see that the advance has been normal and regular +and there have been no steps backward. The greatest progress +has been in the southern part of the empire, where women are +less secluded and the prejudice against their education is not +so strong. Nevertheless 99 per cent of the women of India are +absolutely illiterate, and among the total of 144,409,000 only +1,433,000 can read and write; 75 per cent of them can do no more. +If a census were taken of those who can read and understand an +ordinary novel or a book of travel the total would be less than +250,000, and counted among the literates are all the girls now +in school who have advanced as far as the first reader. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In the United Provinces, the richest and proudest of India, where +the arts and sciences have advanced quite rapidly among men, only +56,000 women out of a total of 23,078,000 can read and write, +and that, as I said before, includes the girl children in the +schools. In the Punjab Province, which lies in the north, out +of a total of 12,369,000 women and girls only 42,000 can read +and write and at least 50 per cent of them are under 12 years +of age. The total number of girls now attending school in India +is only 446,282 out of a total population of 144,409,000 women, +but even this small number shows most encouraging improvement +during the last ten years. In 1893-4 the girls in school were +only 375,868, but since then there has been a gradual increase +every year--400,709 in 1897-8, 425,914 in 1899-1900 and 429,645 +in 1900-01. In the Central Province, which ought to be one of +the most progressive in India, out of a total female population +of 23,078,000 only 20,821 girls altogether are in school. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +But this does not fairly indicate the influence of women in India, +where they take a larger and more active share in the +responsibilities of the family and in the practical affairs of +life than one would suppose. The mother of a family, if she is +a woman of ability and character, is always the head of the +household, and the most influential person in it, and as long +as she lives she occupies the place of honor. Women often manage +estates and commercial affairs, and several have shown remarkable +executive ability and judgment. Several of the native states have +been ruled by women again and again, and the Rannee of Sikkim +is to-day one of the most influential persons in India, although +she has never been outside of the town in which she lives. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +An American lady told me of a remarkable interview she recently +had with the granddaughter of Tipu, the native chief who, in +the latter part of the eighteenth century, gave the English the +hardest struggle they ever had in India. He was finally overcome +and slain, and his territory is now under English rule, but his +family were allowed a generous pension and have since lived in +state with high-sounding titles. His granddaughter lives in a +splendid palace in southern India, which she inherited from her +father, and is now 86 years old. She cannot read or write, but +is a women of extraordinary intelligence and wide knowledge of +affairs, yet she has never been outside of the walls that surround +her residence; she has never crossed the threshold of the palace +or entered the garden that surrounds it since she was a child, +and 90 per cent of her time, day and night, has been spent in +the room in which she was born. Yet this woman, with a title +and great wealth, is perfectly contented with her situation. +She considers it entirely appropriate, and thinks that all the +women in the world ought to live in the same way. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The influence she and other women of old-fashioned ideas and +the conservative classes have is the chief obstacle to progress, +for they are much more conservative than the men, and much more +bigoted in their ideas. She does not believe that respectable +women ought to go to school; she does not consider it necessary +for them to read or write, and thinks that all women should devote +themselves to the affairs of their households and bear children, +duties which do not require any education. The missionaries who +work in the zenanas, or harems, of India tell me that the prejudice +and resistance they are compelled to overcome is much stronger +and more intolerant among women than among men, for the former +have never had an opportunity to see the outside of their homes; +have never come in contact with foreigners and modern ideas, +and are perfectly satisfied with their condition. They testify +that Hindu wives as a rule are mere household drudges, and, with +very rare exceptions, are patterns of chastity, industry and +conjugal fidelity, and they are the very best of mothers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Here and there a husband or a father is found who is conscious +of the disadvantages under which the women of his family are +laboring and would be glad to take upon himself the duty of +instructing his wife and daughters, yet is prevented from doing +so because the latter prefer to follow the example of their +foremothers and remain ignorant. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +While such conditions prevail it is impossible for the government +to take any steps for the promotion of education among women, but +a notable reform has been conducted by English women of India +under the leadership of the Marchioness of Dufferin, Lady Curzon, +and the wives of other viceroys, by supplying women doctors and +hospitals, because, as you understand, men physicians are not +permitted to enter zenanas except upon very rare occasions and +then only in the most liberal of families. Nor are women allowed +to be taken to hospitals. There are excellent hospitals and +dispensaries in every part of India, but women are not permitted to +participate in their benefits, and an untold amount of unnecessary +suffering is the result. Some years ago, inspired by Lady Dufferin, +an association was formed to provide women doctors, hospital +nurses, and establish, under the direction of women exclusively, +hospitals for the treatment of women and girls. This association +is non-sectarian and no religious services or conversations are +allowed. The movement has received active encouragement from both +the imperial government and the local authorities, and by the +latest returns is responsible for 235 hospitals and dispensaries, +33 women doctors with degrees from the highest institutions of +Europe, 73 assistants, and 354 native students and trained nurses, +who, during the year 1903, took care of nearly a million and a +half of women and girls who needed treatment and relief. This +does not include many similar institutions that are maintained +by the various missionary boards for the same purpose. Taking +both the civil and religious institutions together, the women +of India are now well supplied with hospitals and asylums. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Scattered over the country under the care of zealous and devoted +Christian women are a large number of homes for widows, and no +one who has not lived in India can appreciate the importance of +such institutions and the blessing they offer, for the situation +of widows is pitiable. Formerly they were burned upon the funeral +pyres of their husbands. It was an ancient custom, adopted from +the Scythian tribes, who sacrificed not only the wives, but the +concubines and slaves and horses upon the tombs of their dead +lords. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The British government forbade "suttee," as widow burning was +called, and although we hear that it is still practiced occasionally +in remote parts of the empire, such an act would be punished +as murder if the police were to learn of it. But the fate of +some thousands of widows is worse than death, because among the +superstitious Hindus they are held responsible for the death +of their husbands, and the sin must be expiated by a life of +suffering and penance. As long as a widow lives she must serve as +a slave to the remainder of the family, she must wear mourning, +be tabooed from society, be deprived of all pleasures and comforts, +and practice never-ending austerities, so that after death she +may escape transmigration into the body of a reptile, an insect +or a toad. She cannot marry again, but is compelled to remain in +the house of her husband's family, who make her lot as unhappy +and miserable as possible. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Brahmins prohibit the remarriage of widows, but in 1856 Lord +Canning legalized it, and that was one of the causes of the mutiny. +The priests and conspirators told the native soldiers that it was +only a step toward the abolition of all their rites and customs. +The law, however, is a dead letter, and while there have been +several notable marriages of widows, the husband and wife and +the entire family have usually been boycotted by their relatives, +neighbors and friends; husbands have been ruined in business +and subjected to every humiliation imaginable. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +If you will examine the census statistics you will be astonished +at the enormous number of widows in India. Out of a total of +144,000,000 women in 1901, 25,891,936 were widows, of whom 19,738,468 +were Hindus. This is accounted for by child marriage, for it is +customary for children five years of age and upwards to become +husbands and wives. At least 50 per cent of the adherents of +Brahminism are married before they are ten years old and 90 per +cent before they are fifteen. This also is an ancient custom and +is due to several reasons. Fathers and mothers desire to have +their children settled in life, as we say, as early as possible, +and among the families of friends they are paired off almost as +soon as they are born. The early marriage, however, is not much +more than a betrothal, for after it takes place, usually with +great ceremony, the children are sent back to their homes and +remain under the care of their parents until they reach a proper +age, when the wife is conducted with great rejoicing to the home +of her husband, and what is equivalent to another marriage takes +place. This occurs among the highly educated and progressive Hindus. +They defend the custom as wise and beneficial on the theory that +it is an advantage for husband and wife to be brought up together +and have their characters molded by the same influences and +surroundings. In that way, they argue, much unhappiness and trouble +is prevented. But in India, as everywhere else, the mortality +is greatest among children, and more than 70 per cent of the +deaths reported are of persons under ten years of age. Those +who are married are no more exempt than those who are not, which +explains the number of widows reported, and no matter how young +a girl may be when her husband dies she can never have a second. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Widowers are allowed to marry again and most of them do. There are +only 8,110,084 widowers in all India as against nearly 26,000,000 +widows. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Of course there are many native homes in which widows are treated +kindly and receive the same attention and are allowed the same +pleasures as the other women of the family, but those who understand +India assert that they are exceptional, and hence asylums for those +who are treated badly are very much needed. This is a matter with +which the government cannot deal and the work is left entirely +to the Christian missionaries, who establish homes and teach +friendless widows to become self-supporting. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XXV">XXV</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +EDUCATION IN INDIA +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Allahabad is the center of learning, the Athens in India, the +seat of a native university, the residence of many prominent men, +the headquarters of Protestant missionary work, the residence +of the governor of the United Provinces, Sir James La Touche, +one of the ablest and most progressive of the British officials +in India. Allahabad was once a city of great importance. In the +time of the Moguls it was the most strongly fortified place in +India, but the ancient citadel has been torn down by the British +and the palaces and temples it contained have been converted into +barracks, arsenals and storehouses. Nowhere in India have so +many beautiful structures been destroyed by official authority, +and great regret is frequently expressed. Allahabad was also a +religious center in ancient times and the headquarters of the +Buddhist faith. The most interesting monument in the city is the +Lat of Osoka, one of a series of stone columns erected by King +Asoka throughout his domains about the year B. C. 260, which were +inscribed with texts expressing the doctrines of Buddhism as +taught by him. He did for that faith what the Emperor Constantine +the Great did for Christianity; made it the religion of the state, +appointed a council of priests to formulate a creed and prepare +a ritual, and by his orders that creed was carved on rocks, in +caves and on pillars of stone and gateways of cities for the +education of the people. The texts or maxims embodied in the +creed represent the purest form of Buddhism, and if they could +be faithfully practiced by the human family this world would +be a much better and happier place than it is. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Several handsome modern buildings are occupied by the government, +the courts and the municipal officials, and the university is +the chief educational institution of northern India. There are +five universities in the empire--at Bombay, Calcutta, Lahore, +Allahabad and Madras--and they are managed and conducted on a plan +very different from ours, having no fixed terms or lectures, but +having regular examinations open to all comers who seek degrees. +The standard is not quite so high as that of our colleges and the +curriculum is not so advanced. The students may come at 15 or +16 years of age and be examined in English, Latin, Greek history, +geography, mathematics and the elements of science, the course +being just a grade higher than that of our high schools, and +get a degree or certificate showing their proficiency. They are +very largely attended by natives who seek diplomas required for +the professions and government employment. After two years' study +in any regular course a student may present himself for an +examination for a degree and is then eligible for a diploma in +law, medicine, engineering and other sciences. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The slipshod systems pursued at these institutions have been +severely criticised by scientific educators, but they seem to +answer the purpose for which they are intended. It is often asserted +that the colleges and universities in India do not cultivate a +genuine desire for learning; that the education they furnish is +entirely superficial, and that it is obtained not for its own +sake, but because it is a necessary qualification for a government +appointment or a professional career. It is asserted that no +graduate of any of these institutions has ever distinguished +himself for scholarship or in science, that no native of India +educated in them has ever produced any original work of merit, +and that no problem of political or material importance has ever +been solved by a citizen of this empire. In 1902 Lord Curzon, who +has taken a deep interest in this subject and is an enthusiastic +advocate of public schools, appointed a commission to investigate +the conduct and efficiency of the universities of India. The +report was not enthusiastic or encouraging. It was entirely +noncommittal. At the same time it must be said that the universities +and colleges of India are a great deal better than nothing at +all, and as there is no other provision for higher education +they serve a very important purpose. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The deplorable illiteracy of the people of India is disclosed +by the recent census. Ninety-five per cent of the men and more +than 99 per cent of the women have never learned the first letter +of the alphabet, and would not recognize their own name it written +or printed. I have been told by ladies engaged in missionary and +educational work that grown people of the lower classes cannot +even distinguish one picture from another; that their mental +perceptions are entirely blank, and that signs and other objects +which usually excite the attention of children have no meaning +whatever for them. The total number of illiterates recorded is +246,546,176, leaving 47,814,180 of both sexes unaccounted for, +but of these only 12,097,530 are returned as able to read and +write. The latest statistics show that 3,195,220 of both sexes +are under instruction. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +And even the percentages I have mentioned do not adequately represent +the ignorance of the masses of the people, because more than +half of those returned by the census enumerators as literates +cannot read understandingly a connected sentence in a book or +newspaper and can only write their own names. The other half are +largely composed of foreigners or belong to the Brahmin castes. +The latter are largely responsible for present conditions, because +their long-continued enjoyment of a hereditary supremacy over +the rest of the population has been due to their learning and +to the ignorance of the masses belonging to other castes. They +realize that they could never control any but an illiterate +population. Hence the priests, who should be leaders in education, +are, generally speaking, the most formidable opponents of every +form of school. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The census shows that only 386,000 natives in the whole of India +possess a knowledge of English, and this number includes all +the girls, boys and young men under instruction. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="548"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig027.jpg" width="544" height="373" alt="Fig. 27"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + AUDENCE CHAMBER OF THE MOGUL--PALACE--AGRA +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The Parsees and Jains are more eager for learning than the Hindus, +and are taking an active part in educational affairs. The Mohammedans +are also realizing the importance of modern schools, and there +is now quite an energetic movement among that sect. There is +a school connected with almost every Jain temple. We visited +one at Delhi. There were no benches or desks. The children, who +were of all ages, from 4 years old upward, were squatting upon +the floor around their masters, and were learning the ordinary +branches taught in common schools, with the exception of one +class over in a far corner of the room, which was engaged in the +study of Sanskrit. It was explained to us that they were being +trained for priests. Everybody was bare-footed and bare-legged, +teachers and all, and every boy was studying out loud, repeating +his lesson over and over as he committed it to memory. Some of +the youngsters made their presence known by reading in very loud +voices. A few of them had ordinary slates. Others used blocks +of wood for the same purpose, but the most of them wrote their +exercises upon pieces of tin taken from cans sent over by the +Standard Oil Company. We went into a school one day where, for +lack of slates and stationery, the children were copying their +writing lessons in the sand on the floor. It was a new idea, +but it answered the purpose. With little brushes they smoothed +off a surface and formed letters as clearly as they could have +been made upon a blackboard. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Bright colors are characteristic of the Hindus. Their garments +are of the gayest tints; both the outer and inner walls of their +houses are covered with rude drawings in colors; their carts are +painted in fantastic designs; and their trunks are ornamented in a +similar way. They are not always done in the highest form of art, +but you may be sure that the colors are bright and permanent. Some +people paint the hides of their horses and bullocks, especially on +holidays, and their taste for art, both in design and execution, +is much more highly developed than their knowledge of letters. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The present Indian educational system is about fifty years old, +but popular education, as we use that term, was not introduced +in a practical way until during the 80's. Up to that time nearly +all the schools were conducted by missionaries and as private +institutions. In 1858, when the government was transferred from +the East India Company to the crown, there were only 2,000 public +schools in all India, with less than 200,000 pupils, and even +now with a population of 300,000,000 there are only 148,541 +institutions of learning of all kinds, including kindergartens +and universities, with a grand total of 4,530,412 pupils. Of +these 43,100 are private institutions, with 638,999 pupils. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Education is not compulsory in India. The natives are not compelled +to send their children to school and the officials tell me that if +it were attempted there would be great trouble, chiefly because +of the Brahmin priests, who, as I have already intimated, are +decidedly opposed to the education of the masses. Normal schools +have been established in every province for the training of teachers, +with 31,114 young men and 2,833 young women as students. There +has been a slight increase in the attendance at school during +the last few years. In 1892 only 11.1 per cent of the children +of school age were enrolled and the average attendance was a +little over 7 per cent. In 1902 the enrollment had increased +to 12.5 per cent of the school population, and the attendance +to a little more than 8 per cent. Of the pupils in the public +schools 509,525 were Brahmins and 2,269,930 non-Brahmins. In +the private institutions 43,032 were Brahmins and the balance +non-Brahmins. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are several important art schools in India which have been +established and are encouraged by the government for the purpose +of encouraging the natives to pursue the industrial arts. Lord +Curzon has taken a decided interest in this subject, and is doing +everything in his power to revive the ancient art industries, +such as brocade weaving, embroidery, carving, brass working, +mosaic, lacquering, and others of a decorative character. The +tendency of late years has been to increase the volume of the +product at the sacrifice of the quality, and the foreign demand +for Indian goods and the indifference of the buying public as +to their excellence is said to have been very demoralizing upon +the artisans. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +From an artistic point of view, the manufactures of metal are the +most important products of India; the wood carvers of ancient times +surpassed all rivals and still have a well-deserved reputation. +In every village may be found artists of great merit both in +brass, copper, wood, silk and other industrial arts, but the +quality of their work is continually deteriorating, and Lord +Curzon and other sincere friends of India are endeavoring to +restore it to the former high standard. For that purpose art +schools have been established in Calcutta, Lahore, Bombay, Madras +and other places, first to train the eyes and the hands of the +young artisans, and, second, to elevate their taste and stimulate +their ambition to excel in whatever line of work they undertake. +There are several thousand young men in these schools who have +shown remarkable talent and are beginning to make their influence +felt throughout the country. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +As you may imagine, it is very difficult to induce people to +produce objects of high art when those which cost less labor and +money can be sold for the same prices. As long as the foreign +demand for Indian goods continues this tendency to cheapen the +product will be noticed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +By the late census it appears that there were 2,590 publications +in the native Indian languages during the year 1900, as against +2,178 during the previous year; 1,895 were books and 695 pamphlets; +1,616 of the books were original works and the remainder were +translations; 832 were in the Bengali language and the remainder +were divided among eighty-eight other languages, ninety-nine being +in Sanskrit and 103 in Persian. Included in this list were poetry, +fiction, works of travel, religious books, history, biography, +philosophy and several on political economy. Among the Persian +publications I noticed "A History of Russian Rule in Asia"; +among the translations are Lord Lytton's "Last Days of Pompeii," +several popular novels, and several of Shapespeare's plays. There +was a history of England and a series of biographies entitled +"Lives of Great Women," including those of Queen Victoria, Queen +Elizabeth, Maria Theresa, Marie Antoinette, and the mother of +Napoleon I. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Since 1902 there have been several movements among the Hindus +and Mohammedan citizens of India looking to the advancement of +their races and coreligionists. At Bombay, in December, 1903, +was held a Mohammedan educational conference, and a committee +was appointed to draw up a plan of permanent organization for the +purpose of awakening among the members of that sect an interest +in the advancement of women and the education of the masses. +Representatives were present from nearly all of the provinces +in which there is a Mohammedan population, and resolutions were +passed declaring that, in the opinion of the conference, schools +should be established throughout India to educate young women +and children of both sexes in strict conformity with the customs +and doctrines of Islam. It was asserted that such educational +facilities are absolutely necessary to keep the children out +of the public and Christian schools. The most notable feature +of the conference, which marks an entirely new departure in the +history of Islam, was the presence, unveiled and in modern dress, +of Miss Sorabjee, a highly educated and accomplished member of +that sect, who appeared daily upon the platform, participated in +the debates and made a lengthy address upon the emancipation of +women. She declared that in a population of 60,000,000 Mohammedans +only 4,000 girls are now attending school, which, she said, is +a menace to civilization, a detriment to Islam and a disgrace +to the members of that church. I was informed that this is the +first time a Mohammedan woman ever made an address before a public +assembly of Mohammedans, because the Koran does not permit women +to appear in public and custom requires them to conceal their +faces. Miss Sorabjee was, nevertheless, received with respect, +and made a decidedly favorable impression upon the assembly, which +was composed of men of culture and influence and true believers +in the teachings of the Prophet. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Another notable feature of the conference was the unanimous +recognition of the growing influence of Christianity in the Indian +Empire, and the opinion that in order to preserve their faith +the followers of Islam must imitate its example. Progressive +Mohammedans have become convinced that not only their men but +their women will insist upon having an education, and will seek +it in the Christian schools if facilities are not furnished by +members of their own religion. Aga Khan, a Mohammedan prince +who presided over the gathering, explained that the conference +was called in obedience to the spirit of progress, and as an +indication that the Mohammedan section of the community was alive +to the disadvantages under which the members of the faith were +laboring, and to the need of educated men as leaders in society +and commerce. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Mr. Tyabji, one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the Bombay +presidency, took even more advanced ground and declared that +the schools proposed by the conference must be far in advance +of those heretofore provided by Mohammedans, and teach English, +French, German and the modern sciences as well as the maxims of the +Koran. By that remark he uncovered the great defect of Mohammedan +education, which is purely religious, with the exception of a single +institution in northern India to which I refer in a previous +chapter. The conservative element of the Moslem population holds +that a knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic is sufficient +for members of that sect; hence in most of their schools they teach +nothing except the Koran, which is the book of books, the law of +laws, and contains knowledge sufficient for all mankind under +all circumstances. Some progressive Mohammedans go a little too +far in the other direction and would ignore all Arabic literature +and leave all ecclesiastical affairs to the priests. The Arabic +and Persian languages are rich in learning, poetry and general +literature. But they are not cultivated, and are almost unknown +to the Moslem priests, who are the school teachers of that faith +to-day. They have left the revival of Arabic belles-lettres entirely +to foreigners, and confine themselves to the Koran and the +commentaries that have been prepared upon it. It is asserted +that one can learn more of Arabian and Persian literature to-day +in London, Oxford, Paris, Berlin or Zurich than is known in +Constantinople or Cairo or any other Mohammedan city, and that +Professor Max Muller of Oxford has done more to encourage its +study than all the Mohammedan priests and professors in existence. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At almost the same time, although in another place, several of +the leading thinkers and scholars of the Brahmin caste were +discussing the same subject with the same purpose and from the +same point of view. They have been endeavoring to inaugurate +what they are pleased to call "the Renaissance of the Hindus." +And there is also an active movement for a revival of Buddhism, +although thus far it is confined to Japan and Ceylon. Buddhism +is practically extinct in India. At the Hindu conference several +thoughtful people expressed the view that something must be done +to revive the vitality of that religion, because it is the faith of +nearly 200,000,000 souls in India alone, over whom it is gradually +losing its influence, because of the vigorous propaganda of the +Christians. It was not admitted that the Hindus are adopting the +Christian religion, but merely that they are losing confidence +in their own and drifting toward materialism. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is universally recognized among educated Brahmins that India is +approaching a great religious crisis which demands the attention of +all who are interested in the welfare of the people. The movement +is slow, but quite obvious to all who are watching the development +of reforms that have been proposed for the last fifteen or twenty +years. It is based upon the fact that Brahminism, as taught at +the temples of India to-day, does not satisfy or even appeal to +educated men. At the same time it is insisted that true Hinduism +has the same ideals and the same spiritual advantages that are +offered by Christianity. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Experienced missionaries tell me there is a distinct tendency +among educated Hindus to give up the old line of defense against +the Christian religion, and, admitting the ethical purity and truth +of the teachings of Christ, to attack some particular doctrine, some +dogma over which Christians themselves have been in controversy, +to elaborate the criticisms of Ingersoll and Bradlaugh, and to +call attention to the failure of the Christians to realize their +own ideals. This is very significant, but at the same time there +is little encouragement or satisfaction in studying and tracing +the various reforms that have been started from time to time +among the Hindus. They have been many and frequent. New teachers +are constantly arising, new organizations are being formed, and +revivals of ancient precepts are occurring every year, but they +do not endure. They are confined to limited circles, and none has +yet penetrated to any extent into the dense mass of superstition, +idolatry and ignorance which lays its offerings at the altars of +cruel and obscene gods. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +At one of Lady Curzon's receptions, among other notable men and +women, I met Sir Nepundra Narayan Bhuf Bahadur, Maharaja of +Cutch-Behar, and his wife, one of the few native women who dress +in modern attire and appear in public like their European sisters. +She is the daughter of one of the most famous of Indian reformers. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Early in the last century a scholar and patriot named Ramohun +Roy, becoming dissatisfied with the teachings and habits of the +Brahmins, renounced his ancestral religion and organized what was +called "The Truth Seeking Society" for the purpose of reviving pure +Hinduism. He proclaimed a theistic creed, taught the existence of +one God, and the sin of idolatry. He declared for the emancipation +of women, for charity to the poor and helpless, for the purity of +life, and, altogether, his sermons and lectures are very similar +to the teachings of the Unitarians in the United States. He was +called the Theodore Parker of India, and attracted many followers. +But before he had accomplished much he died, and his mantle fell +upon Keshab Chunder Sen, a man of great learning, talent and +worth, the son of one of the most conservative families of the +Brahmin caste, born and brought up in a fetid atmosphere of +superstition and idolatry. While attending school at Calcutta he +was thrown in with European teachers and associates and, being +of an inquisitive mind, undertook the study of religions other +than his own. It naturally came about that he heard of the "Truth +Seeking Society" and ultimately joined it, and by his force of +character and ability became one of its leaders. Early in his +career he concluded that the greatest weakness among the people +of India is their treatment of their women, and he organized what +was known as "The Indian Reform Association" for the purpose +of promoting the education of women, preventing child marriage, +relieving widows from their forlorn ostracism and securing for +the daughters of Indian families the same legal and property +rights that are enjoyed by the sons. The movement became quite +popular and he gained considerable reputation. He went to England +and Germany and delivered lectures and published several books. +His agitation accomplished some practical results, and he secured +the passage of several laws of importance establishing the civil +rights of wives, widows and daughters. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In 1884 his daughter, a very brilliant and beautiful woman, married +the Maharaja of Cutch-Behar, who was converted, joined the movement +and became an active member of the society. Like many others of +the princely families of India, he lays claim to divine origin, +the founder of his dynasty having been a god. In 1772, the ruling +rajah, having been attacked by more powerful neighbors, applied +for protection to Warren Hastings, then governor of Bengal, and +acknowledged subjection to the East Indian Company. The province +of Cutch-Behar was thus one of the first to be absorbed by the +British Empire, but it has ever since been governed by the native +prince, who nominally owns all of the land in his territory and +receives taxes in lieu of rent from his tenants, who are his +subjects. His territory has a population of 650,000, of whom +427,000 are Hindus and 174,539 are Mohammedans. He is assisted +in his government by a resident English adviser, appointed by +the viceroy, and really has very little to do. He has a personal +allowance of $150,000 for the support of himself and family, and +inherited from his ancestors one of the most rare and valuable +collections of jewels in India. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The present maharaja was born in 1863, educated in England, attained +his majority in 1883, and has two sons, one of whom is a member +of the Viceroy's Corps of Imperial Cadets, and the other acts as +his father's secretary. The maharaja is considered one of the +handsomest men in India, as he is one of the most accomplished +and progressive, and his wife is as famous for her intellectual +as for her physical attractions. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The late Jamsetjee Nusserwanji Tata of Bombay, a typical Parsee, +amassed an enormous fortune as a merchant and manufacturer, won an +enviable reputation for integrity, enterprise and public spirit, +and for several years before his lamented death in 1904, was +permitted to enjoy the gratification that men of his kind deserve +after a long career of activity and usefulness. Having provided +in a most ample manner for his own future wants, and intrusting +his enormous business responsibilities to his sons, he devoted +the rest of his life to travel and other pleasures, and a large +portion of his fortune to benevolence. I have been frequently +told that Mr. Tata in his time was the most enterprising man in +India. He spent enormous sums in experiments for the development +of the resources and industries of his country; some of which +failed, but others have been eminently successful. He developed +the cotton industry, perhaps more than any other man, and improved +the staple by importing plants and seeds from Egypt. He was largely +engaged in growing, preserving and exporting the fruits of India +in order to furnish another occupation for the country people, +and in a thorough exploration of its iron deposits, building +furnaces, smelters, and mills with the hope of being able to +supply the local markets with home made steel and iron. There +is plenty of ore, plenty of coal and labor, and Mr. Tata was +willing to pay the expense and do the work of a pioneer in order +that his fellow countrymen may enjoy the wealth that lies dormant +in their mountains. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +He had cotton mills and other manufactories in various parts +of India, but the greater part of his fortune was invested in +the industries and real estate of his own province of Bombay. +His residence was one of the largest and most beautiful palaces +in that city, filled with works of art and trophies of travel. He +was the owner of several of the finest business blocks, introduced +modern apartment houses into Bombay, and built the modern hotel to +which I have several times alluded. He supported several young +Parsees in the technical schools and colleges of England, Germany +and the United States. For years no less than six such students +were selected annually to be educated at his expense, not only +because he took a personal interest in the welfare of his +co-religionists, but because he believed that young engineers, +chemists, electricians and other practical scientists were needed +to develop the resources of India. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Mr. Tata's latest act of benevolence, shortly before his death, +was to place in the hands of a board of trustees, of whom the +chancellor of the University of Bombay is chairman, real estate +and securities valued at more than 3,500,000 of rupees, which is +equivalent to about $1,250,000, the income from which, amounting +to 120,000 rupees, or about $40,000 in our money, a year, is +to be used for the establishment and perpetual maintenance of +the Indian Research University, a name selected by a conference +called together by the viceroy. This conference was composed of +four directors of public instruction for the different provinces +of India, the home secretary of the imperial government, the +surgeon general of the army and several other gentlemen eminent +in educational and public affairs. After a careful examination +of all conditions they decided to locate the institution at the +city of Bangalore, in the province of Mysore, in southern India, +where the local government, as an inducement, donated 300 acres of +land upon an eminence in a very favorable situation, and offered +a contribution of 18,000 rupees a year toward the payment of the +expenses, provided the money is used in such a way as to benefit +the people of that province. It has also offered to defray a +considerable part of the cost of erecting the necessary buildings. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XXVI">XXVI</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +THE HIMALAYAS AND THE INVASION OF THIBET +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Darjeeling is one of the most favored spots on earth, the loveliest +place in India, and the favorite resort and sanitarium of the citizen +element as distinguished from military and official circles. It +is a hard journey, both going and coming, and a traveler gets +impatient when he finds that it takes him from four o'clock in +the afternoon of one day until nearly two o'clock of the next to +make a journey of 246 miles. He leaves Calcutta with the thinnest +clothing he can buy, but when he arrives there he is glad that +he brought his overcoat and gloves, and pulls a second blanket +over himself at night. At the same time it is not so cold in +Darjeeling as one would expect from the altitude of 7,400 feet +above the sea, and the latitude, which is about 27 degrees 50 +minutes. You travel from four o'clock till seven upon a railway +of ordinary gauge, cross the Ganges on a steamboat for an hour, +taking your dinner while afloat; change into a three-foot gauge +train until half-past four in the morning, when you are routed +out, given a cup of coffee and a roll, and transferred to a baby +carriage on wheels which crawls up the foothills of the Himalayas +at the rate of six miles an hour. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The track is only two feet gauge, with forty-pound rails, which +have been laid upon the ancient highway over which the caravans +between China and India have passed for thirty centuries. It +winds in and out of gorges and defiles and at several points +the engineers have had to cut a foothold for it on the edges of +tremendous precipices. It doubles on itself repeatedly, describes +the letter S and the letter Z and the figure 8, and zigzags about +so recklessly that the engineer puts his locomotive first at one +end of the train and then at the other. Englishmen who write +books on India assert that it is the grandest railway journey in +the world, but we can show them several quite as picturesque and +attractive in our own beloved Rocky Mountains. The only advantage +they have over us there is the superior height of the mountains +and the superior size of the trees. But you must remember that +our country is young yet, and India is one of the oldest nations +in the world. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The first few miles of track lie in a dense jungle, with vegetation +of truly tropical luxuriance. Cane stalks grow fifty and sixty feet +high, the grass is fifteen feet deep, beautiful bamboo trees, whose +foliage is as fine as feathers, and palms which have plumage like +a peacock and a bird of paradise, lift their proud and haughty +heads above an impenetrable growth which, the guides tell us, is +the home of tigers, rhinoceroses, panthers, bears, wild hogs, +buffaloes, deer and all sorts of beasts, and snakes as big around +as a barrel. Fern trees are lovely, and are found here in their +greatest glory, but nevertheless we have foliage at home, and +they are no more beautiful than our elms, oaks, and other trees +that I might mention. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This is a great tea country, and the mountain sides have been +cleared in many places for plantations. A tea planter in India +is a heavy swell. He may be no more brilliant or intellectual +or virtuous or handsome, but the fact that he grows tea instead +of potatoes or wheat or sugar gives him a higher standing in the +social scale. I was asking an explanation of this phenomenon +from a very wise man the other day, and, although he insisted +that his attention had never been called to it before, he was +willing to admit that it was so, and he explained it on the theory +that so many sons of dukes and earls and lords and the swagger +set in England had come to India to engage in tea growing that +they had created a caste of their own; so that whenever a man +said he was a tea planter the public immediately assumed that +his father belonged to the nobility and treated him accordingly. +The tea planters usually live in good style. They have beautiful +bungalows, gardens, lawns and groves, and although they complain +of the depression of the industry, there is no evidence that they +suffer for want of the necessities of life. In the Darjeeling +district are about two hundred large plantations, employing from +one to two thousand laborers each, and producing about 12,000,000 +pounds a year. Most of the product is shipped to England. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +They carry you up the mountains in tiny little cars seating six +persons and open all around so that the passengers can take in all +there is to see, and they have plenty of scenery. The trains are +not allowed to run faster than six miles an hour as a precaution +against accidents, which allows plenty of time to look about, +and they twist around so that you can see things from various +points of view. And if a passenger gets impatient or is in a +hurry he can jump out of the car and walk ahead. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is little doubt that the views from Darjeeling include the +most majestic assemblage of mountains on the earth's surface. +For a distance of 200 miles east and west there arise a succession +of peaks not less than 22,000 feet high, and several of them +more than 25,000. In the immediate vicinity and within sight +are the highest mountains in the world. Everest, the king of +mountains, which measures 29,200 feet, is only eighty miles distant; +Kinchinjunga, which is forty-five miles distant, is 28,156 feet +high, and also, in the immediate vicinity, are the following: +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0 class="center"> +<tr><td>Janu</td> + <td class="right">25,304</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Kabru</td> + <td class="right">24,015</td></tr> +<tr><td>Chumalari</td><td class="right">23,943</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Pauhanri</td><td class="right">23,186</td></tr> +<tr><td>Donkia</td><td class="right">23,176</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Baudim</td><td class="right">22,017</td></tr> +<tr><td>Narsingh</td><td class="right">22,146</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Kanhenjhan</td><td class="right">22,500</td></tr> +<tr><td>Chomaino</td><td class="right">23,300</td> + <td colspan=3> </td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Between these mountain peaks is an almost continuous succession +of snow fields and glaciers beyond all comparison. The snow line +is 17,000 feet in midsummer, and in winter comes down to 12,000 and +15,000 feet, and when that altitude is reached snow is continuous +and impassable. This is the highest and the most extensive of +all mountain ranges. Along the northern frontier of India for +2,000 miles it stands like a vast hedge, the most formidable +natural boundary in the world, nowhere lower than 17,000 feet, +and impassable for armies the entire distance, with the exception +of two gateways: Jeylup Pass here and at the Khyber Pass of which +I told you in a previous chapter. There are passes over the snow, +but their elevation is seldom less than 16,000 feet; the average +elevation of the watershed exceeds 18,000 feet, and the great +plateau of Thibet, which lies upon the other side, is between +15,000 and 16,000 feet above the sea. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This plateau, which is sometimes called the "Roof of the World," +is 700 miles long and 500 miles wide, and could not be crossed +by an army not only because of the winds and the cold, but also +because there is very little water, no fuel and no supplies. No +invading force could possibly enter India from the north if these +passes were defended, because the inhospitable climate of Thibet +would not sustain an army, and the enormous distance and altitude +would make the transportation of supplies for any considerable +force practically impossible. During the summer the plateau is +covered with flocks and herds, but when the cold weather comes +on the shepherds drive them into the foothills, where they find +shelter. The width of the main range of the Himalayas will average +about 500 miles between its northern and southern foot-hills; it +embraces every possible kind of climate, vegetation and natural +products, and is a vast reservoir from which four of the greatest +rivers of the world flow across the plains of India, carrying +the drainage from the melting snows, and without this reservoir +northern India would be a hopeless and dreary desert. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is a lively dispute among geographers, topographers and other +learned pundits of the scientific bureaus of the Indian government +as to whether Everest is really the king of the mountains. Other +peaks in the group have their advocates, and over in Cashmere +are several which lift their heads nearly as high as 30,000 feet, +but few of them have been accurately measured, and the height of +none can be determined with exactness. Mount Godwin, in Cashmere, +is very near the height of Everest, and many claim that Kinchinjunga +is even higher. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Darjeeling is a sanitarium of the greatest benefit to the people +of India. The town is made up chiefly of hotels, hospitals and +summer bungalows belonging to the mercantile class of Calcutta. +Few officials except military officers ever go there. The official +society follows the viceroy to Simla, where the summer is always +gay, but those who seek health and rest only and are fond of +nature prefer Darjeeling. The hotels are good, there are plenty of +boarding houses, there are hospitals for all sorts of infirmities, +and perhaps there is no other place in the world with such an +ideal climate within a day's travel of the tropics. The hotels, +villas, boarding houses, hospitals and asylums are scattered all +over the hillside without regularity of arrangement. Wherever a +level spot has been found some kind of a house has been erected, +usually without any architectural taste, and the common use of +corrugated iron for building material has almost spoiled the +looks of the place. There is plenty of timber, and the great +mountains are built of stone, so that there is no excuse for the +atrocious structures that have been erected there. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Everybody who comes is expected to get up at half-past 3 in the +morning in order to see the sun rise. Everything is arranged +by the managers of the hotel. They have fixed the sunrise at +that hour in order to compel their guests to make the greatest +possible effort to see it because they will thus remember the +incident, and the experience will remain longer in their memory. +They give you a cup of coffee and a roll, and, if you insist +upon it, you can get an egg, although the cook is not inclined +to be obliging at that hour in the morning. They put you in a +sort of sedan chair called a "dandy," and you are carried by +four men seven miles up the mountains to a point 12,000 feet +above the sea. From there you can look upon the most impressive +spectacle that human eye has ever witnessed, the rising of the sun +over an amphitheater surrounded by the highest group of peaks on +the globe. Their snow-covered summits are illuminated gradually, +beginning at the top, as if a searchlight were slowly turned upon +them. Mount Everest stands in the center, but is so much farther +away that it does not seem so much higher than the rest. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is little mountain climbing in India compared with the +Alps, because the distances and the difficulties are so great. +A Boston gentleman and his wife made the ascent of Mount Everest +in 1904, and it is claimed that they went higher than anyone +had ever gone before. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Darjeeling is not a large town, but it is filled with interesting +people, and on Sunday a market is held in the principal bazaar +which is declared to be the most picturesque and fascinating +in all India. Throngs of natives in quaint costumes come from +all parts of the country around, representatives of tribes which +do not often stray so far away from their homes. They come from +Nepaul, Thibet, Sikkim and the surrounding countries, and bring +articles of home manufacture to exchange for "store goods." The +features of the people are unmistakable testimony of their Mongolian +origin. They are short of stature, with broad, flat faces, high +cheek bones and bright, smiling eyes wide apart. The men grow no +beards, but have long pigtails of coarse coal-black hair. The +women are sturdy, good-natured and unembarrassed; they are adorned +with a great quantity of jewelry, chiefly of silver, but often +of gold. They wear circlets around their heads made of coral, +turquoise, amber, agate, jade or other precious stones, with five +or six necklaces and enormous girdles of the same material. Huge +ear rings, four or five inches long, pull down the lobes of their +ears. Their wrists are heavy with bracelets, their limbs with +anklets, and their fingers are half hidden with rings. The entire +fortune of a family is usually invested in personal adornments +for the women members. They find this much safer than savings +banks. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The attention of the world has recently been attracted in that +direction because of an unusual and very significant movement +of the Indian government, which, in the winter of 1904, took +advantage of the embarrassments of Russia in the farther East, +and sent a military expedition over the northern border on the +pretext of escorting a diplomatic mission. Colonel Younghusband +was sent as an envoy extraordinary--very extraordinary--for, +with 2,500 British soldiers, he was instructed to make a treaty +of commerce and good will with the Grand Lama of Thibet, and his +orders were to stay at Lhassa until the treaty was negotiated +and as much longer as was necessary to compel the Thibetans to +respect its terms and carry out its stipulations. That means the +permanent occupation of Lhassa by a British army and the opening +of an unknown and mysterious region to trade. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Thibet is the unknown, mysterious country of the world, a land +of desert and mountains inhabited by a primitive and bigoted +people, who have for many years been under the protection of +China, and paid tribute to the emperor until the late war with +Japan in 1895. After the result of that conflict became known +they seemed to lose their respect for and confidence in their +protectors and have sent no envoys or money to Peking since. +We know very little about Thibet. Foreigners are not permitted +to enter the country, and only a few venturesome explorers have +endured the hardships and faced the dangers of a visit to that +forbidden land. Indeed, it is so perilous an undertaking that +a skeptical public frequently takes the liberty to doubt the +statements of the men who have gone there. But all agree that it +is the hermit of nations, and its people are under the control of +cruel and ignorant Buddhist priests, who endeavor to prevent them +from acquiring any modern customs or ideas. One of the objects of +Colonel Younghusband's expedition is to change this situation +and persuade the ignorant and bigoted ecclesiastics who govern +Thibet to open their gates and admit foreign merchants and foreign +merchandise into that benighted country. There is considerable +commerce, however. Parties of Thibetan traders are continually +coming across the frontier into Darjeeling with all sorts of +native products and may be seen in the market that is held every +Sunday morning and during the weekdays in the bazaars of the city. +After selling their goods they buy cottons, drugs, groceries, +hardware and other European goods and take them back into their +own country; but foreigners are not allowed to pass the line, +and practically all of the trade of Thibet is monopolized by +the Chinese, who sell the natives large quantities of cotton +fabrics and other imported merchandise as well as tea, silk and +other Chinese goods. This trade is supposed to be worth many +millions of dollars, and the ability of India to furnish the +tea and of England to furnish the manufactured goods that the +inhabitants of Thibet may need is considered ample reason for +sending the Younghusband expedition into that country. But there +are other reasons quite as important. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Lying between Thibet and India is the independent state of Nepal, +or Nepaul, the home of the Gurkhas, one of the finest fighting +races in the world, and there are eighteen full regiments of +them in the Indian army. The Gurkhas are a mountain people, +industrious, temperate, hardy, brave, loyal, honest, and without +sense of fear. They are the main dependence of the Indian government +among the native troops. Nepal has its own government and the +people are proud of their independence. While they are entirely +friendly to Great Britain and have treaties with India under +which the latter extends a protectorate over the province and +enters into an offensive and defensive alliance, the Maharaja +permits no British adviser to take part in his government and +receives a representative of the viceroy only in the capacity of +envoy or minister plenipotentiary. The latter dare not interfere +with the administration of the government and never presumes +to tender his advice to the native rulers unless it is asked. +His duties are chiefly to keep the viceroy at Calcutta informed +as to what is going on in the Nepal province and to cultivate +the good will of the officials and the people. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There has never been a census of Nepal and the population has been +variously estimated from 2,000,000 to 5,000,000. It is probably +near the latter figure. The people are mostly engaged in raising +cattle, sheep and goats and growing wheat, barley and other grains +in the valleys. The principal exports, which amount to about +$8,000,000 a year, are wool, hides and grain, and the imports, +which amount to about $5,000,000, are cotton goods and other +wearing apparel, iron and steel, cutlery and other manufactured +merchandise. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The people of Nepal profess the Hindu faith and have close relations +with the Brahmins at Benares, which is the Rome, or the Mecca, of +Brahminism. They sometimes in the past have beep bold enough to +defy British authority, and, for example, protected Nana Sahib, +the leader of the mutiny of 1857, and gave him an asylum when he +fled from British vengeance. However amicable the relations between +Nepal and the British government, the latter is scrupulously careful +not to furnish any excuse for complaint or controversy, because +a collision with this powerful people would not only result in +the loss of the finest corps in the Indian army, but would make +it extremely unpleasant for the people of Assam, Bengal, Oudh +and the Punjab, which provinces lie next on the south. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One hundred years ago an army from Nepal invaded Thibet and sacked +an important town. The Thibetans appealed to China, which had not +yet lost its military vigor, and sent an army to invade Nepal. +It came within eighteen miles of Gurkha, the capital, when the +Nepals proposed a parley, paid a heavy indemnity and entered into +a treaty of permanent peace, promising never to invade Thibet +again. That was the last heroic act of the Chinese government, +and then, in compliance with the terms of the treaty, all the +passes through the Himalaya Mountains between the two countries +were permanently closed by common consent, and in many cases +were walled up with masonry, adding an artificial barrier to +the natural wall. It was also agreed that there should be no +communication across the border and that the inhabitants of both +provinces would remain upon their own sides. This prohibition +has been enforced until to-day, and has not been violated except +by Buddhist priests and monks and a few venturesome explorers. +No Englishman may even now enter Nepal or pass from Nepal into +Thibet without permission from the authorities of both governments. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Mindful of the aggressive policy of Russia, which controls Turkestan, +the country north of Thibet, the British government some years ago +sent an envoy named McCauley to Lhassa, with the permission of +the Chinese government, to open commercial relations with Thibet +and find another market for the tea of Assam and the manufactured +merchandise of India. But he was unable to do anything. He could +not induce the priests, or lamas, who control the government, +to negotiate with him. They would not respond to his advances +and gave him plainly to understand that they did not care to +improve their relations with India. Immediately after his departure +the Thibetans began to fortify the passes over the mountains, +and invaded the little province of Sikkim, which also adjoins +Thibet. The British sent up troops and forbade the continuance +of the work. The Thibetans withdrew to the interior and agreed to +make a commercial treaty and open their market to Indian goods, +promising to send a plenipotentiary to Calcutta for that purpose +within six months; but he has never appeared, and frequent reminders +from the British have passed without notice. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When Lord Curzon came to India he determined to reverse the policy +of indifference which had been pursued by Lord Elgin, his +predecessor. The opening of Thibet to Indian trade has been one +of the principal features of his administrative programme. In +1900 he sent to Lhassa an ambassador in the person of Colonel +Younghusband, a distinguished Asiatic traveler, who speaks the +language of Thibet, to talk things over and persuade the Dailai +Lama, as the chief ruler of Thibet is called, to carry out his +promise about the treaties. The Grand Lama refused to receive +Colonel Younghusband, and would have nothing whatever to do with +him, rejecting his overtures without explanation and treating +his messages with contempt. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +While England was suffering the worst of the disasters of the +recent war in South Africa the Russian government sent a secret +embassy to Lhassa, carrying rich presents and large sums of money +to the Grand Lamal for the ostensible purpose of securing permission +to construct a branch from its Siberian Railway to Lhassa across +Chinese Turkestan. The Grand Lama afterward sent an embassy to +return the visit at St. Petersburg, which was received with great +honors and presented with rich gifts. The Grand Lama, in recognition +of these attentions, conferred upon the czar the title of "Lord and +Guardian of the Gifts of Faith." It is the supreme Buddhist honor, +and while the title is empty, it is particularly significant in +this case, because it implies protection. It is believed that a +secret treaty was made under which Russia promised to guarantee +the independence of Thibet and protect that government against +invasion in exchange for the privilege of constructing a railway +line through its territory. The Thibetans are supposed to have +accepted these terms because of their fear of China. Until 1895 +Thibet was a province of the Chinese Empire, and paid tribute to +the emperor every year, but since the war with Japan the Grand +Lama has sent no messenger to Peking, has paid no tribute and +has ignored the Chinese representative at Lhassa. The priests +postponed negotiations on the pretext that it was necessary to +consult Peking, and promised to send a mission to Calcutta within +six months, but never have done so. In the meantime there has +been continual friction on the border; the Indian authorities +have repeatedly reminded the Grand Lama of his promise and its +postponement, but he has stubbornly refused to communicate with +them, and has even returned their communications unopened. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When the secret relations between Russia and Thibet were discovered +the Chinese authorities were naturally indignant and the Indian +authorities were alarmed. After a conference China granted permission +for England to use whatever methods it thought best to bring the +Grand Lama to terms. Thereupon Colonel Younghusband was sent to +Lhassa again. The Grand Lama again refused to see him, declined +to appoint an official to confer with him and returned his +credentials unopened, and used other means to show his indifference +and contempt for India and England. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +When Younghusband returned to Calcutta and reported the failure +of his mission and the insults offered him Lord Curzon decided +that the time had come to act, and as soon as preparations could +be made Colonel Younghusband started back to Lhassa escorted +by 2,500 armed men and carrying provisions for two years. He +was instructed to avoid collisions, to make friends with the +people, to establish permanent posts on the line of march wherever +he thought necessary and to remain at Lhassa until he secured +a treaty opening the markets of Thibet to British merchants. +The treaty is made, and by its terms the Thibetans are to pay +England an indemnity of $3,750,000 to cover the cost of the +expedition. Until the indemnity is paid the Indian troops will +continue to occupy the Churubi Valley which leads to Lhassa. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Lord Curzon did not dispatch this expedition and undertake this +strategic movement without considering the present situation of +Russia. The czar took occasion to engage in negotiations not +only with Thibet, but with Afghanistan also, at the very moment +when England was suffering her most serious disasters and +embarrassments of recent history, and is getting tit for tat. +Before Colonel Younghusband's expedition was dispatched the British +ambassador at St. Petersburg was instructed to inquire if the +Russian government had any relations with Thibet or any interests +there, and was officially informed that it had not, and hence +the etiquette of the situation had been complied with and Lord +Curzon was perfectly free to act. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XXVII">XXVII</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +BENARES, THE SACRED CITY +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +No one can realize what an awful religion Brahminism is until +he visits Benares, the most sacred city of India, upon the banks +of the Ganges, the most sacred river, more holy to more millions +of human souls than Mecca to the Moslem, Rome to the Catholic +or Jerusalem to the Jew. This marvelous city it so holy that +death upon its soil is equivalent to life eternal. It is the +gate to paradise, the abundant entrance to everlasting happiness, +and its blessings are comprehensive enough to include all races, +all religions and all castes. It is not necessary to be a Brahmin +or to worship Siva or Krishna or any other of the Hindu gods, +nor even to believe in them. Their grace is sufficient to carry +unbelievers to the Hindu heavens provided they die within the +area inclosed by a boulevard encircling this city. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are in Benares 2,000 temples and innumerable shrines, 25,000 +Brahmin priests, monks, fakirs and ascetics, and it is visited +annually by more than half a million pilgrims--a larger number than +may be counted at Mecca or Jerusalem, or at any other of the sacred +cities of the world. There are more than 500,000 idols established +in permanent places for worship in Benares, representing every +variety of god in the Hindu pantheon, so that all the pilgrims +who go there may find consolation and some object of worship. +There are twenty-eight sacred cows at the central temples, and +perhaps 500 more at other places of worship throughout the city; +the trees around the temple gardens swarm with sacred monkeys +and apes; there are twenty-two places where the dead are burned, +and the air of the city is always darkened during the daytime by +columns of smoke that rise from the funeral pyres. No other city, +not even London, has so many beggars, religious and otherwise; +nowhere can so many pitiful spectacles of deformity and distress be +seen; nowhere is such gross and repulsive obscenity and sensuality +practiced--and all in the name of religion; nowhere are such sordid +deceptions imposed upon superstitious believers, and nowhere +such gloomy, absurd and preposterous methods used for consoling +sinners and escaping the results of sin. Although Benares in +these respects is the most interesting city in India, and one of +the most interesting in the world, it is also the most filthy, +repulsive and forbidding. Few people care to remain there more +than a day or two, although to the ethnologist and other students, +to artists and people in search of the picturesque, it has more +to offer than can be found elsewhere in the Indian Empire. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Benares is as old as Egypt. It is one of the oldest cities in +existence. It was already famous when Rome was founded; even +when Joshua and his trumpeters were surrounding the walls of +Jericho. It is the hope of every believer in Brahminism to visit +Benares and wash away his sins in the water of the sacred Ganges; +the greatest blessing he can enjoy is to die there; hence, the +palaces, temples, and lodging-houses which line the river banks +are filled with the aged relatives and friends of their owners +and with pilgrims who have come from all parts of India to wait +with ecstatic patience the summons of the angel of death in order +to go straight to heaven. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Nothing in all their religion is so dear to devout Hindus as the +Ganges. The mysterious cavern in the Himalayas which is supposed +to be the source of the river is the most sacred place on earth. +It is the fifth head of Siva, and for 1,600 miles to its delta +every inch of the banks is haunted with gods and demons, and has +been the scene of events bearing upon the faith of two-thirds +of the people of India. The most pious act, and one that counts +more than any other to the credit of a human soul on the great +books above, is to make a pilgrimage from the source to the mouth +of the Ganges. If you have read Kipling's story of "Kim," you will +remember the anxiety of the old lama to find this holy stream, and +to follow its banks. Pilgrims to Benares and other cities upon +the Ganges secure bottles of the precious water for themselves +and send them to friends and kindred in foreign lands. No river +in all the world is so worshiped, and to die upon its sacred +banks and to have one's body burned and his ashes borne away +into oblivion upon its tawny current is the highest aspiration +of hundreds of millions of people. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Ganges is equally sacred to the Buddhist, and Benares is +associated more closely with the career of Buddha than any other +city. Twenty-five hundred years ago Buddha preached his first +sermon there, and for ten centuries or more it was the headquarters +of Buddhism. Buddha selected it as the center of his missionary +work. He secured the support of its scholars, teachers and +philosophers, and from there sent forth missionaries to China, +Japan, Burmah, Ceylon, the Malay Peninsula, Siam, Thibet, and +other countries until half the human race accepted him as divine, +his teachings as the law of God, and Benares as the fountain +of that faith. It is a tradition that one of the wise men who +followed the Star of Bethlehem to the Child that was cradled in +a manger was a learned pundit from Benares, and it is certainly +true that the doctors of theology who have lived and taught in the +temples and monasteries there have exercised a greater influence +upon a larger number of men than those of any other city that +ever existed. But in these modern days Benares is wholly given +over to ignorance, superstition, vice, filth and idolatry. The +pure and lofty doctrines of Buddha are no longer taught. The +"Well of Knowledge" is a filthy, putrid hole filled with slime +and rotting vegetation. Buddhism has been swept out of India +altogether, and Brahminism is taught and practiced there in its +most repulsive and depraved forms. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="380"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig028.jpg" width="376" height="628" alt="Fig. 28"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + A HINDU ASCETIC--BENARES +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +Occasionally some reformer appears who endeavors to rebuke the +depravity and appeals to the thinking members of the Brahmin +sect to restore the ancient philosophy and morality of their +fathers. I saw such an one at Benares. He lives in a bare and +comfortless temple surrounded by a garden; is entirely dependent +upon charity; every mouthful of food that he eats is brought to +him by his disciples. He spends his entire time, day and night, +in contemplation; he sleeps when he is exhausted; he eats when +food is handed him, and if he is neglected he starves until some +thoughtful person brings him a bowl of rice or curry. He wears +nothing but a single shirt of cotton; he owns nothing in all +the world except a brass bowl, which is used for both food and +drink, and a few relics of his predecessor and teacher whom he +lived with and served and whose mantle fell upon him. To those +who come to his temple with serious minds and anxious to know +the truth, he talks freely, and his pride is gratified by having +his visitors inscribe their names in a large book which is kept +for that purpose. And contributions of money are very acceptable +because they enable his disciples to circulate his thoughts and +discourses in printed form. I noticed that most of the names in +the visitors' book were those of Americans, and it occurred to +me that his contemplations must be seriously disturbed by having +so many of them intrude upon him. But he assured me that he was +delighted to see every stranger who called; that it gratified him +to be able to explain to American travelers the true principles of +Brahminism and the correct doctrines of that sect. This was the +more important, he said, because nearly every foreigner formed +his impressions of Brahminism by what he saw and heard among +the pilgrims about the temples. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is only by contact with the crowds of eager pilgrims and devotees +which throng the streets and temples of Benares that one may +realize the vital force which Brahminism exercises in India. +Next to Mohammedanism it is the livest and most influential and +practical of all religions. The devotee lives and breathes and +feels his faith. It enters every experience of his career, it +governs every act, and compared with Brahminism, Christianity +is perfunctory and exercises practically little control over +its believers. Yet Christianity has come here, as it has entered +all the other sacred cities of India, and under the very shadow +of the Hindu holy of holies, within the circle that bounds the +favored gate of heaven, it has set up and maintained several +of the most prosperous and well attended schools in India. The +government has established a college of high standard in a handsome +gothic building, which many consider the best in India. And all +agree that it is an admirable institution. It has about seven +hundred students and teaches modern sciences which contradict +every principle that the Brahmins propose. There is also a school +there for the higher education of women with about 600 students, +maintained by the Maharaja of Vizianagram, a learned and progressive +Hindu prince, who has large estates in the neighborhood, and +there are several other distinctly modern institutions in whose +light Brahminism cannot live. They are growing and it is slowly +decaying. The number of devotees and pilgrims who come there is +still enormous, but those who have the best means of knowing +declare that it is smaller every year. But while the decrease is +comparatively small, its significance is great, and so great that +prominent Brahmins have recently held a conference to consider +what shall be done to protect the faith and defend it against +the vigorous assaults of the school teachers, the missionaries +and the materialists. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It does not take Hindus long to learn that the teachings of their +priests do not conform to the conditions of modern civilization, +and that their practices are not approved by those who believe +in modern standards of morals. It is difficult for an educated +man to adhere to or accept the teachings of the Hindu priests +while their practices are absolutely repugnant to him. The church, +therefore, if it may be called a church, must be reformed, and +its practices must be revised, if the decay which is now going +on is ever arrested. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Several religions have been born and bred and have died in Benares. +Vedic, Moslem, Buddhist, Brahmin have been nursed and flourished and +have decayed within the same walls. It is impossible to ascertain +when the Ganges was first worshiped, or when people began to build +temples upon its banks, or when Benares first became sacred. +Water was one of the first objects worshiped; the fertilizing and +life giving influence of a stream was one of the first phenomena +of nature recognized. Ganga, the beautiful heroine of a Hindu +legend, is supposed to have lived at the source of the water to +which her name is given, and the river is often represented as +flowing from the head of Siva, the chief deity of the Brahmins, +the most repulsive, the most cruel, the most vicious of all the +gods. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Siva is at once the generator and the destroyer. He represents +time, the sun, water, fire and practically all the mysteries of +nature, and Benares is the center of his influence and worship. +The temple which attracts the most pilgrims is dedicated to him. +The "Well of Knowledge," which is in the courtyard of the Golden +Temple, is his chosen residence, and is resorted to by every pilgrim +who drinks the putrid water from a ladle with which it is dipped +up by the attendant priest. All around the Golden Temple are other +temples and shrines dedicated to other gods, but Siva is supreme, +and before his image is the kneeling bull, the common symbol of +Phallic worship as represented in the legend of Europe. Siva's +hair is a bunch of snakes, serpents wind around his neck, arms, +waist and legs; a crescent is stamped upon his forehead, which +was the chief symbol of the ancient cult of Arabia destroyed by +Mohamet Aurangzeb, one of the Mogul emperors, who was a Mohammedan +fanatic. He came here in the middle of his reign, destroyed half +the Hindu temples and upon the ruins of the oldest and the finest +shrine of Siva erected a mosque which still stands and its slender +minarets almost pierce the sky. This mosque was thrust into the +most sacred place of Hindu worship as an insult to the Brahmins, +but the latter are more tolerant, and though they are very largely +in the majority and control everything there, they permit it +to stand untouched, but the worshipers of Islam are compelled +to enter it through a side door. This, however, is due more to +a desire to preserve the peace and prevent collisions between +fanatics and fakirs than for any other reason. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The great temple of Siva, the Golden Temple, is not imposing. It +is a small building with a low dome in the center and a smaller +dome at each corner, above which rises an artistic tower. These +and the roof are covered with beaten gold; hence the name of the +temple. None but Hindus are permitted to cross the threshold, +but strangers are permitted to block up the entrance and see +everything that is going on inside. It is crowded with priests, +pilgrims and sacred bulls and cows. The floor is covered with +filth, the air is fetid and the atmosphere all around it reeks +with offensive odors, suggesting all kinds of disease. There is +always a policeman to protect strangers from injury or insult, +and if you give the priests a little backsheesh they will look +out for you. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Benares is the seventh city in size in India. Ten years ago it +was fifth, but between the years 1891 and 1901 the population +was reduced 10,000 inhabitants by cholera, famine and plague, +and it dropped down two pegs in the list. It is a miracle that +the entire population does not perish, because, notwithstanding +the cautions and efforts of the government, every sanitary law +is violated by thousands of people daily. The temples and other +places frequented by pilgrims are filthy hotbeds of disease, and +the water they drink from the holy wells is absolutely putrid, +so that the odor can be detected a considerable distance. And +yet half a million devotees from every part of India come here +annually, and not only drink the poisonous stuff, but bathe in +the polluted river and carry back to their homes bottles of it +carefully corked and labeled, which the doctors tell us is an +absolutely certain method of distributing disease. While almost +all the large cities of India increased in population during the +the last decade, Bombay and Benares fell off, the former from +plagues and famine and the latter from all kinds of contagious +and other diseases. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is a city of great wealth and has many handsome and costly +palaces and mansions which have been erected there by pious Hindu +princes, rajahs, merchants, bankers and others who spend a part of +each year within its sacred precincts, renewing their relations +with the gods just as other people go to the springs and seashore +to restore their physical vitality. The residential architecture +is picturesque but not artistic. The houses are frequently of +fantastic designs, and are painted in gay colors and covered with +carvings that are often grotesque. They have galleries around +them, and broad overhanging eaves to keep out the rays of the +sun, and many of them are set in the midst of attractive groves +and gardens. Some of the modern buildings are very fine. There +is plenty of room for the display of landscape gardening as well +as architecture, but the former has been neglected. The one thing +that strikes a stranger and almost bewilders him is the vivid +colors. They seem unnatural and inappropriate for a sacred city, +but are not more incongruous than other features. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The streets in the outer part of the city are wide, well paved +and well shaded. The business portion of the town, where the +natives chiefly live, is a wilderness of narrow streets hemmed +in with shops, factories, dwelling houses, temples, shrines, +restaurants, cafes and boarding houses for pilgrims. Every shop +is open to the street, and the shelves are bright with brass, +silver and copper vessels and gaily painted images of the gods +which are purchased by the pilgrims and other visitors. Benares +is famous all over the world for its brass work and its silks. +Half the shops in town are devoted to the sale of brass vessels +of various kinds, chiefly bowls of many forms and styles which +are required by the pilgrims in performing their religious duties. +In addition to these there are a hundred different varieties of +domestic and sacred utensils, many of them beautifully chased +and engraved, and they are sold to natives at prices that seem +absurd, but foreigners are expected to pay much more. Indeed, +every purchase is a matter of prolonged negotiation. The merchant +fixes his price very high and then lowers it gradually as he +thinks discreet, according to the behavior of his customer. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Handmade silks from looms in the cottages of the peasants can +still be purchased in Benares and they wear forever. Some are +coarse, and some are fine, but they are all peculiar to this +place and cannot be purchased elsewhere because the product is +limited and merchants cannot buy them in sufficient quantity to +make a profitable trade. The heavier qualities of silk are used +chiefly for men's clothing. They wash like linen, they never wear +out and are cool and comfortable. The brocades of Benares are +equally famous, and are used chiefly for the ceremonial dresses +of the rich and fashionable. Sometimes they are woven of threads +of pure gold and weigh as much as an armor. These are of course +very expensive, and are usually sold by weight. Very little account +is taken of the labor expended upon them, although the designs +and the workmanship are exquisite, because the weavers and +embroiderers are paid only a few cents a day. Beside these heavy +fabrics are costly tissues as fine as spiders' webs, also woven +of silver and gold and silk and linen. They are used by the women +as head dresses and scarfs and rich men use them for turbans. +Sometimes an Indian noble will have seventy or eighty yards of this +delicate gossamer wound about his head and the ends, beautifully +embroidered, with long fringes of gold, hang gracefully down upon +the shoulders. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is almost impossible to go through the narrow streets of Benares +in the middle of the day, because they are so crowded with men, +women, children, priests, pilgrims, peddlers, beggars, mangy +dogs, sacred cows, fat and lazy bulls dedicated to Siva, and +other animate and inanimate obstructions. It seems to be the +custom for people to live and work in the streets. A family dining +will occupy half the roadway as they squat around their brass +bowls and jars and cram the rice and millet and curry into their +mouths with their fingers. The lower classes of Hindus never +use tables, knives or forks. The entire family eats out of the +same dish, while the dogs hang around waiting for morsels and a +sacred cow is apt to poke its nose into the circle at any time. +The street is often blocked up by a carpenter who is mending a +cabinet or putting a new board into a floor. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A little farther along a barber may be engaged in shaving the +face and head of some customer. Both of them are squatting face +to face, as often in the middle of the road as elsewhere, and +with bowls, razors, soap, bottles and other appurtenances of +the trade spread out between them. Barbers rank next to priests +in the religious aristocracy, and, as it is forbidden by the +Brahmins for a man to shave himself, they are of much importance +in the villages. Houses are usually set apart for them to live +in just as we furnish parsonages for our ministers. The village +barber has certain rights and exemptions that are not enjoyed by +other people. He is not required to do military service in the +native states; he does not have to pay taxes, and all members +of his caste have a monopoly of their business, which the courts +have sustained. The Brahmins also require that a man must be +shaved fasting. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Another matter of great importance which the barbers have to +do with is a little tuft of hair that is allowed to grow from +the top of the head of a child when all the rest of the scalp +is shaven. This is a commendable precaution, and is almost +universally taken in the interest of children, the scalp lock +being necessary to snatch the child away from the devil and other +evil spirits when it is in danger from those sources. As the +person grows older and capable of looking after himself this +precaution is not so important, although many people wear the +scalp lock or sacred topknot through life. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The sacred thread is even of greater importance in Hinduism, +and the Brahmins require that each child shall be invested with +it in his eighth year. Until that year also he must bear upon +his forehead the sign of his caste, which Ryas, our bearer, calls +"the god mark." The sacred thread is a fine silk cord, fastened +over the left shoulder, hanging down under the right arm like +a sash. None but the two highest castes have the right to wear +it, although members of the lower castes are even more careful +to do so. It is put on a child by the priest or the parent on +its eighth birthday with ceremonies similar and corresponding +to those of our baptism. After the child has been bathed and its +head has been carefully shaved it is dressed in new garments, +the richest that the family can afford. The priest or godfather +ties on the sacred thread and teaches the child a brief Sanskrit +text called a mantra, some maxim or proverb, or perhaps it may be +only the name of a deity which is to be kept a profound secret +and repeated 108 times daily throughout life. The deity selected +serves the child through life as a patron saint and protector. +Frequently the village barber acts in the place of a priest and +puts on the sacred thread. A similar thread placed around the +neck of a child, and often around its waist by the midwife +immediately after birth, is intended as an amulet or charm to +protect from disease and danger. It is usually a strand of silk +which has been blessed by some holy man or sanctified by being +placed around the neck of an idol of recognized sanctity. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The streets of the native quarters of Indian cities are filled +with naked babies and children. It is unfashionable for the members +of either sex to wear clothing until they are 8 or 10 years old. +The only garment they wear is the sacred string, with usually +a little silver charm or amulet suspended from it. Sometimes +children wear bracelets and anklets of silver, which tinkle as +they run about the streets. The little rascals are always fat +and chubby, and their bright black eyes give them an appearance +of unnatural intelligence. The children are never shielded from +the sun, although its rays are supposed to be fatal to full grown +and mature persons. Their heads being shaved, the brain is deprived +of its natural protection, and they never wear hats or anything +else, and play all day long under the fierce heat in the middle +of the road without appearing any the worse for it, although +foreign doctors insist that this exposure is one of the chief +causes of the enormous infant mortality in India. This may be +true, because a few days after birth babies are strapped upon +the back of some younger child or are carried about the streets +astride the hips of their mothers, brothers or sisters without +any protection from the sun. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="630"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig029.jpg" width="626" height="375" alt="Fig. 29"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + A HINDU BARBER +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +All outdoors is an Indian barber-shop. The barbers have no regular +places of business, but wander from house to house seeking and +serving customers, or squat down on the roadside and intercept +them as they pass. In the large cities you can see dozens of +them squatting along the streets performing their sacred offices, +shaving the heads and oiling the bodies of customers. Cocoanut oil +is chiefly used and is supposed to add strength and suppleness +to the body. It is administered with massage, thoroughly rubbed +in and certainly cannot injure anybody. In the principal parks +of Indian cities, at almost any time in the morning, you can see +a dozen or twenty men being oiled and rubbed down by barbers or +by friends, and a great deal of oil is used in the hair. After +a man is grown he allows his hair to grow long and wears it in a +knot at the back of his head. Some Hindus have an abundance of +hair, of which they are very proud, and upon which they spend +considerable care and labor. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The parks are not only used for dressing-rooms, but for bedrooms +also. Thousands of people sleep in the open air day and night, +stretched full length upon the ground. They wrap their robes +around their heads and leave their legs and feet uncovered. This +is the custom of the Indians of the Andes. No matter how cold +or how hot it may be they invariably wrap the head and face up +carefully before sleeping and leave the lower limbs exposed. +A Hindu does not care where he sleeps. Night and day are the +same to him. He will lie down on the sidewalk in the blazing +sunshine anywhere, pull his robe up over his head and sleep the +sleep of the just. You can seldom walk a block without seeing +one of these human bundles all wrapped up in white cotton lying +on the bare stone or earth in the most casual way, but they are +very seldom disturbed. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +You have to get up early in the morning to see the most interesting +sights in Benares, which are the pilgrims engaged in washing +their sins away in the sacred but filthy waters of the Ganges, +and the outdoor cremation of the bodies of people who have died +during the night and late in the afternoon of the preceding day. +Hindus allow very little time between death and cremation. As +soon as the heart ceases to beat the undertakers, as we would +call the men who attend to these arrangements, are sent for and +preparation for the funeral pyre is commenced immediately. Three +or four hours only are necessary, and if death occurs later than +1 or 2 o'clock in the afternoon the ceremony must be postponed +until morning. Hence all of the burning ghats along the river +bank are busy from daylight until mid-day disposing of the bodies +of those who have died during the previous eighteen or twenty +hours. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The death rate in Benares is very high. Under ordinary circumstances +it is higher than that of other cities of India because of its +crowded and unsanitary condition, and because all forms of contagious +diseases are brought by pilgrims who come here themselves to die. As +I have already told you, it is the highest and holiest aspiration +of a pious Hindu to end his days within an area encircled by +what is known as the Panch-Kos Road, which is fifty miles in +length and bounds the City of Benares. It starts at one end of +the city at the river banks, and the other terminus is on the +river at the other end. It describes a parabola. As the city is +strung along the bank of the river several miles, it is nowhere +distant from the river more than six or seven miles. All who die +within this boundary, be they Hindu or Christian, Mohammedan or +Buddhist, pagan, agnostic or infidel, or of any other faith or +no faith, be they murderers, thieves, liars or violators of law, +and every caste, whatever their race, nationality or previous +condition, no matter whether they are saints or sinners, they +cannot escape admission to Siva's heaven. This is the greatest +possible inducement for people to hurry there as death approaches, +and consequently the non-resident death rate is abnormally high. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +We started out immediately after daylight and drove from the +hotel to the river bank, where, at a landing place, were several +boats awaiting other travelers as well as ourselves. They were +ordinary Hindu sampans--rowboats with houses or cabins built +upon them--and upon the decks of our cabin comfortable chairs +were placed for our party. As soon as we were aboard the boatmen +shoved off and we floated slowly down the stream, keeping as +close to the shore as possible without jamming into the rickety +piers of bamboo that stretched out into the water for the use +of bathing pilgrims. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The bank of the river is one of the most picturesque and imposing +panoramas you can imagine. It rises from the water at a steep +grade, and is covered with a series of terraces upon which have +been erected towers, temples, mosques, palaces, shrines, platforms +and pavilions, bathing-houses, hospices for pilgrims, khans or +lodging-houses, hospitals and other structures for the accommodation +of the millions of people who come there from every part of India +on religious pilgrimages and other missions. These structures +represent an infinite variety of architecture, from the most severe +simplicity to the fantastic and grotesque. They are surmounted by +domes, pinnacles, minarets, spires, towers, cupolas and canopies; +they are built of stone, marble, brick and wood; they are painted +in every variety of color, sober and gay; the balconies and windows +of many of them are decorated with banners, bunting in all shapes +and colors, festoons of cotton and silk, garlands of flowers and +various expressions of the taste and enthusiasm of the occupants +or owners. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +From the Sparrow Hills at Moscow one who has sufficient patience +can count 555 gilded and painted domes; from the cupola of St. +Peter's one may look down upon the roofs of palaces, cathedrals, +columns, obelisks, arches and ruins such as can be seen in no other +place; around the fire tower at Pera are spread the marvelous glories +of Stamboul, the Golden Horn and other parts of Constantinople; +from the citadel at Cairo you can have a bird's-eye view of one +of the most typical cities of the East; from the Eiffel Tower all +Paris and its suburbs may be surveyed, and there are many other +striking panoramas of artificial scenery, but nothing on God's +footstool resembles the picture of the holy Hindu city that may +be seen from the deck of a boat on the Ganges. It has often been +described in detail, but it is always new and always different, +and it fascinates its witnesses. There is a repulsiveness about +it which few people can overcome, but it is unique, and second +only to the Taj Mahal of all the sights in India. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A bathing ghat is a pavilion, pier or platform of stone covered +with awnings and roofs to protect the pilgrims from the sun. It +reaches into the river, where the water is about two feet deep, +and stone steps lead down to the bottom of the stream. Stretching +out from these ghats, in order to accommodate a larger number of +people, are wooden platforms, piers of slender bamboo, floats +and all kinds of contrivances, secure and insecure, temporary +and permanent, which every morning are thronged with pilgrims +from every part of India in every variety of costumes, crowding +in and out of the water, carrying down the sick and dying, all +to seek salvation for the soul, relief for the mind and healing +for the body which the Holy Mother Ganges is supposed to give. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The processions of pilgrims seem endless and are attended by +many pitiful sights. Aged women, crippled men, lean and haggard +invalids with just strength enough to reach the water's edge; +poor, shivering, starving wretches who have spent their last +farthing to reach this place, exhausted with fatigue, perishing +from hunger or disease, struggle to reach the water before their +breath shall fail. Here and there in the crowd appear all forms +of affliction--hideous lepers and other victims of cancerous +and ulcerous diseases, with the noses, lips, fingers and feet +eaten away; paralytics in all stages of the disease, people whose +limbs are twisted with rheumatism, men and women covered with all +kinds of sores, fanatical ascetics with their hair matted with +mud and their bodies smeared with ashes, ragged tramps, blind +and deformed beggars, women leading children or carrying infants +in their arms, handsome rajahs, important officials attended by +their servants and chaplains, richly dressed women with their +faces closely veiled, dignified and thoughtful Brahmins followed +by their disciples, farmers, laborers bearing the signs of toil, +and other classes of human society in every stage of poverty or +prosperity. They crowd past each other up and down the banks, +bathing in the water, drying themselves upon the piers or floats, +filling bottles and brass jars from the sacred stream, kneeling +to pray, listening to the preachers and absorbed with the single +thought upon which their faith is based. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Such exhibitions of faith can be witnessed nowhere else. It is +a daily repetition of the scene described in the New Testament +when the afflicted thronged the healing pool. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After dipping themselves in the water again and again, combing +their hair and drying it, removing their drenched robes--all +in the open air--and putting on holiday garments, the pilgrims +crowd around the priests who sit at the different shrines, and +secure from them certificates showing that they have performed +their duty to the gods. The Brahmins give each a text or a name +of a god to remember and repeat daily during the rest of his or +her life, and they pass on to the notaries who seal and stamp the +bottles of sacred water, sell idols, amulets, maps of heaven, charts +showing the true way of salvation, certificates of purification, +remedies for various diseases, and charms to protect cattle and +to make crops grow. Then they pass on to other Brahmins, who +paint the sign of their god upon their forehead, the frontal +mark which every pilgrim wears. Afterward they visit one temple +after another until they complete the pilgrimage at the Golden +Temple of Siva, where they make offerings of money, scatter barley +upon the ground and drop handfuls of rice and grain into big +stone receptacles from which the beggars who hang around the +temples receive a daily allowance. Finally they go to the priests +of the witness-bearing god, Ganasha, where the pilgrimage is +attested and recorded. Then they buy a few more idols, images +of their favorite gods, and return to their homes with a tale +that will be told around the fireside in some remote village +during the rest of their lives. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="634"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig030.jpg" width="630" height="376" alt="Fig. 30"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + BODIES READY FOR BURNING--BENARES +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +But the most weird and impressive spectacle at Benares, and one +which will never be forgotten, is the burning of the bodies of +the dead. At intervals, between the temples along the river bank, +are level places belonging to the several castes and leased to +associations or individuals who have huge piles of wood in the +background and attend to the business in a heartless, mercenary +way. The cost of burning a body depends upon the amount and kind +of fuel used. The lowest possible rate is three rupees or about +one dollar in our money. When the family cannot afford that they +simply throw the body into the sacred stream and let it float +down until the fish devour it. When a person dies the manager of +the burning ghat is notified. He sends to the house his assistants +or employes, who bring the body down to the river bank, sometimes +attended by members of the family, sometimes without witnesses. +It is not inclosed in a coffin, but lies upon a bamboo litter, +and under ordinary circumstances is covered with a sheet, but +when the family is rich it is wrapped in the richest of silks and +embroideries, and the coverlet is an expensive Cashmere shawl. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Arriving at the river an oblong pile of wood is built up and +the body is placed upon it. If the family is poor the pile is +low, short and narrow, and the limbs of the corpse have to be +bent so that they will not extend over the edges, as they often +do. When the body arrives it is taken down into the water and +laid in a shallow place, where it can soak until the pyre is +prepared. Usually the undertakers or friends remove the coverings +from the face and splash it liberally from the sacred stream. +When the pyre is ready they lift the body from the litter, adjust +it carefully, pile on wood until it is entirely concealed, then +thrust a few kindlings underneath and start the blaze. When the +cremation is complete the charred sticks are picked up by the +beggars and other poor people who are always hanging around and +claim this waste as their perquisite. The ashes are then gathered +up and thrown upon the stream and the current of the Ganges carries +them away. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Certain contractors have the right to search the ground upon +which the burning has taken place and the shallow river bed for +valuables that escaped the flames. It is customary to adorn the +dead with the favorite ornaments they wore when alive, and while +the gold will melt and diamonds may turn to carbon, jewels often +escape combustion, and these contractors are believed to do a +good business. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +All this burning takes place in public in the open air, and sometimes +fifty, sixty or a hundred fires are blazing at the same moment. +You can sit upon the deck of your boat with your kodak in your +hand, take it all in and preserve the grewsome scene for future +reminiscencing. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +While the faith of many make them whole, while remarkable cures +are occurring at Benares daily, while the sick and the afflicted +have assured relief from every ill and trouble, mental, moral and +physical, if they can only reach the water's edge, nevertheless +scattered about among the temples, squatting behind pieces of +bamboo matting or lacquered trays upon which rows of bottles +stand, are native doctors who sell all sorts of nostrums and +cure-alls that can possibly be needed by the human family, and +each dose is accompanied by a guarantee that it will surely cure. +These fellows are ignorant impostors and the municipal authorities +are careful to see that their drugs are harmless, while they make +no attempt to prevent them from swindling the people. It seems +to be a profitable trade, notwithstanding the popular faith in +the miraculous powers of the river. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Another class of prosperous humbugs is the fortune-tellers, who +are found around every temple and in every public place, ready +to forecast the fate of every enterprise that may be disclosed +to them; ready to predict good fortune and evil fortune, and +sometimes they display remarkable penetration and predict events +with startling accuracy. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Benares is as sacred to the Buddhists as it is to the Brahmins, +for it was here that Gautama, afterward called Buddha (a title +which means "The Enlightened"), lived in the sixth century before +Christ, and from here he sent out his missionaries to convert +the world. Gautama was a prince of the Sakya tribe, and of the +Rajput caste. He was born 620 B. C. and lived in great wealth +and luxury. Driving in his pleasure grounds one day he met a man +crippled with age; then a second man smitten with an incurable +disease; then a corpse, and finally a fakir or ascetic, walking +in a calm, dignified, serene manner. These spectacles set him +thinking, and after long reflection he decided to surrender his +wealth, to relinquish his happiness, and devote himself to the +reformation of his people. He left his home, his wife, a child +that had just been born to him, cut off his long hair, shaved +his head, clothed himself with rags, and taking nothing with +him but a brass bowl from which he could eat his food, and a +cup from which he could drink, he became a pilgrim, an inquirer +after Truth and Light. Having discovered that he could drink from +the hollow of his hand, he gave away his cup and kept nothing +but his bowl. That is the reason why every pilgrim and every +fakir, every monk and priest in India carries a brass bowl, for +although Buddhism is practically extinct in that country, the +teachings and the example of Gautama had a perpetual influence +over the Hindus. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After what is called the Great Renunciation, Gautama spent six +years mortifying the body and gradually reduced his food to one +grain of rice a day. But this brought him neither light nor peace +of mind. He thereupon abandoned further penance and devoted six +years to meditation, sitting under the now famous bo-tree, near +the modern town of Gaya. In the year 588 B. C. he obtained Complete +Enlightenment, and devoted the rest of his life to the instruction +of his disciples. He taught that all suffering is caused by indulging +the desires; that the only hope of relief lies in the suppression +of desire, and impressed his principles upon more millions of +believers than those of any other religion. It is the boast of +the Buddhists that no life was ever sacrificed; that no blood was +ever shed; that no suffering was ever caused by the propagation +of that faith and the conversion of the world. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +After he became "enlightened," Gautama assumed the name of Buddha +and went to Benares, where he taught and preached, and had a +monastery at the town called Sarnath, now extinct, in the suburbs. +There, surrounded by heaps of ruins and rubbish, stand two great +topes or towers, the larger of which marks the spot where Buddha +preached his first sermon. It is supposed to have been built +in the sixth century of the Chinese era, for Hiouen Thsang, a +Chinese traveler who visited Sarnath in the seventh century, +describes the tower and monastery which was situated near it. It +is one of the most interesting as it is one of the most ancient +monuments in India, but we do not quite understand the purpose for +which it was erected. It is 110 feet high, 93 feet in diameter, +and built of solid masonry with the exception of a small chamber +in the center and a narrow shaft or chimney running up to the top. +The lower half is composed of immense blocks of stone clamped +together with iron, and at intervals the monument was encircled +by bands of sculptured relief fifteen feet wide. The upper part +was of brick, which is now in an advanced state of decay and +covered with a heavy crop of grass and bushes. A large tree grows +from the top. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There used to be an enormous monastery in the neighborhood, of +which the ruins remain. The cells and chapels were arranged around +a square court similar to the cloisters of modern monasteries. +A half mile distant is another tower and the ruins of other +monasteries, and every inch of earth in that part of the city is +associated with the life and labor of the great apostle of peace +and love, whose theology of sweetness and light and gentleness +was in startling contrast with the atrocious doctrines taught +by the Brahmins and the hideous rites practiced at the shrines +of the Hindu gods. But these towers are not the oldest relics +of Buddha. At Gaya, where he received the "enlightenment," the +actual birthplace of Buddhism, is a temple built in the year +500 A. D., and it stands upon the site of one that was 700 or +800 years older. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Benares is distinctly the city of Siva, but several thousand +other gods are worshiped there, including his several wives. +Uma is his first wife, and she is the exact counterpart of her +husband; Sati is his most devoted wife; Karali is his most horrible +wife; Devi, another of his wives, is the goddess of death; Kali +is the goddess of misfortune, and there are half a dozen other +ladies of his household whose business seems to be to terrorize +and distress their worshipers. But that is the ruling feature +of the Hindu religion. There is no sweetness or light in its +theology--it exists to make people unhappy and wretched, and to +bring misery, suffering and crime into the world. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Hindus fear their gods, but do not love them, with perhaps +the exception of Vishnu, the second person in the Hindu trinity, +while Brahma is the third. These three are the supreme deities +in the pantheon, but Brahma is more of an abstract proposition +than an actual god. For purposes of worship the Hindus may be +divided into two classes--the followers of Siva and the followers +of Vishnu. They can be distinguished by the "god marks" or painted +signs upon their foreheads. Those who wear red are the adherents +of Siva, and the followers of Vishnu wear white. Subordinate +to these two great divinities are millions of other gods, and +it would take a volume to describe their various functions and +attributes. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Vishnu is a much more agreeable god than Siva, the destroyer; he +has some human feeling, and his various incarnations are friendly +heroes, who do kind acts and treat their worshipers tolerably +well. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The "Well of Healing," one of the holiest places in Benares, +is dedicated to Vishnu. He dug it himself, making a cavity in +the rock. Then, in the absence of water, he filled it with +perspiration from his own body. This remarkable assertion seems +to be confirmed by the foul odor that arises from the water, +which is three feet deep and about the consistency of soup. It +looks and smells as if it might have been a sample brought from +the Chicago River before the drainage canal was finished. It is +fed by an invisible spring, and there is no overflow, because, +after bathing in it to wash away their sins, the pilgrims drink +several cups of the filthy liquid, which often nauseates them, +and it is a miracle that any of them survive. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One of the most curious and picturesque of all the temples is +that of the goddess Durga, a fine building usually called the +Monkey Temple because of the number of those animals inhabiting +the trees around it. They are very tame and cunning and can spot +a tourist as far as they can see him. When they see a party of +strangers approaching the temple they begin to chatter in the +trees and then rush for the courtyard of the temple, where they +expect to be fed. It is one of the perquisites of the priests +to sell rice and other food for them at prices about ten times +more than it is worth, but the tourist has the fun of tossing +it to them and making them scramble for it. As Durga is the most +terrific of all of Siva's wives, and delights in death, torture, +bloodshed and every form of destruction, the Hindus are very +much afraid of her and the peace offerings left at this temple +are more liberal than at the others, a fact very much appreciated +by the priests. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Another of the most notable gods worshiped at Benares is Ganesa, +the first born of Siva and one of his horrible wives. He is the +God of Prudence and Policy, has the head of an elephant, which +is evidence of sagacity, and is attended by rats, an evidence +of wisdom and foresight. He has eight hands, and from the number +of appeals that are made to him he must keep them all busy. He is +invoked by Hindus of all sects and castes before undertaking any +business of importance. It is asserted that none of the million +deities is so often addressed as the God of Wisdom and Prudence. +If a man is undertaking any great enterprise, if he is starting in +a new business, or signing a contract, or entering a partnership; +if he is about to take a journey or buy a stock of goods or engage +in a negotiation, he appeals to Ganesa to assist him, and leaves +an offering at one of his temples as a sort of bribe. If a woman +is going to make a dress, or a servant changes his employer, or +if anyone begins any new thing, it is always safer to appeal +in advance to Ganesa, because he is a sensitive god, and if he +does not receive all the attention and worship he deserves is +apt to be spiteful. Some people are so particular that they never +begin a letter without saluting him in the first line. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Driving along the roads of this part of India one often sees +stones piled up against the trunk of a tree and at the top a +rude elephant's head, decorated with flowers or stained with oil +or red paint, and there will always be a little heap of gravel +before it. That elephant's head represents the god Ganesa, and +each stone represents an offering by some one who has passed +by, usually the poorest, who have not been able to visit the +temple, and, having nothing else to offer, not even a flower, +drop a stone before the rude shrine. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are many sacred cows in Benares. You find them in temples +and wandering around the streets. Some of them are horribly diseased +and they are all lazy, fat and filthy. They have perfect freedom. +They are allowed to wander about and do as they please. They +feed from baskets of vegetables and salad that stand before the +groceries and in the markets, and sometimes consume the entire +stock of some poor huckster, who dare not drive them away or +even rebuke them. If he should attempt to do so the gods would +visit him with perpetual misfortunes. Children play around the +beasts, but no one ever abuses them. Pilgrims buy food for them +and stuff them with sweetmeats, and it is an act of piety and +merit to hang garlands over their horns and braid ribbons in +their tails. When they die they are buried with great ceremony, +like the sacred bulls of Egypt. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Benares is the principal center of the idol trade, and a large +part of the population are engaged in making images of the various +gods in gold, silver, brass, copper, wood, stone, clay and other +materials. Most of the work is done in the households. There +are several small factories, but none employs more than ten or +a dozen men, and the streets are lined with little shops, no +bigger than an ordinary linen closet in an American house. Each +opens entirely upon the street, there are no doors or windows, +and when the proprietor wants to close he puts up heavy wooden +shutters that fit into grooves in the threshold and the beam +that sustains the roof. The shelves that hang from the three +walls are covered with all kinds of images in all sizes and of +all materials, and between sales the proprietor squats on the +floor in the middle of his little establishment making more. +The largest number are made of brass and clay. They are shaped +in rude molds and afterward finished with the file and chisel. +The large idols found in the temples are often works of art, +but many of them and some of the most highly revered are of the +rudest workmanship. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is a funny story that has been floating about for many +years that most of the idols worshiped in heathen lands are made +in Christian countries and shipped over by the car load. This +is certainly not true so far as India is concerned. There is +no evidence upon the records of the custom-house to show that +any idols are imported and it would be impossible for any +manufacturer in the United States or Europe to compete with the +native artisans of Benares or other cities. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XXVIII">XXVIII</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +AMERICAN MISSIONS IN INDIA +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +About 5,000 missionaries of various religions and cults are working +among the people of India; two-thirds of them Protestants, and about +1,500 Americans, including preachers, teachers, doctors, nurses, +editors and all concerned. Their names fill a large directory, +and they represent all grades and shades of theology, philosophy, +morality and other methods of making human beings better, and +providing for the salvation of their souls. India is a fertile +and favorite field for such work. The languid atmosphere of the +country and the contemplative disposition of the native encourage +it. The Aryan always was a good listener, and you must remember +that India is a very big country--a continent, indeed, with a mixed +multitude of 300,000,000 souls, some striving for the unattainable +and others hopelessly submerged in bogs of vice, superstition +and ignorance. There are several stages of civilization also. +You can find entire tribes who still employ stone implements and +weapons, and several provinces are governed by a feudal system +like that of Europe in the middle ages. There are thousands who +believe that marriage is forbidden by the laws of nature; there +are millions of men with several wives, and many women with more +than one husband. There are tribes in which women control all +the power, hold all the offices, own all the property and keep +the line of inheritance on their side. There are vast multitudes, +on the other hand, in India who believe that women have no souls +and no hereafter, and advocate the murder of girl babies as fast +as they are born, saving just enough to do the cooking and mending +and to keep the race alive. Communities that have reached an +intellectual culture above that of any nation in Europe are +surrounded by 250,000,000 human beings who cannot read or write. +There are thinkers who have reasoned out the profoundest problems +that have ever perplexed mankind, and framed systems of philosophy +as wise as the world has ever known, and many of their wives +and daughters have never been outside of the houses in which +they were born; all of which indicates the size of the field of +missionary labor and the variety of work to be done. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +India contains some of the most sublime and beautiful of all the +non-Christian religions, and perfect systems of morals devised +by men who do not believe in a future life. More than 60,000,000 +of the inhabitants accept Jesus Christ as an inspired teacher +and worship the same God that we do under another name, and more +than three times that number believe that the Ruler of All Things +is a demon who delights in cruelty and slaughter and gives his +favor only in exchange for suffering and torture. A tribe in +northwest India believes that God lives on the top of a mountain +in plain sight of them, and up in the northeast are the Nagas, +who declare that after the Creator made men He put them into a +cellar from which they escaped into the world because one day +he forgot to put back the stone that covers a hole in the top. +More fantastic theories about the origin and the destiny of man +are to be found in India than in any other country, and those +who have faith in them speak 167 different languages, as returned +by the census. Some of these languages are spoken by millions +of people; others by a few thousand only; some of them have a +literature of poetry and philosophy that has survived the ages, +while others are unwritten and only used for communication by +wild and isolated tribes in the mountains or the jungles. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Christian missionaries have been at work in India for four hundred +years. St. Francis Xavier was one of the pioneers. Protestants +have been there for a little more than a century, and since 1804 +have distributed 13,000,000 of Bibles. During the last ten years +they have sold 5,000,000 copies of the Scriptures either complete +or in part; for the Gospels in each of the great Indian languages, +like two sparrows, can now be bought for a farthing. In 1898, +497,000 copies were issued; in 1902, more than 600,000; and thus +the work increases. More than 140 colporteurs, or agents, mostly +natives, are peddling the Bible for sale in different parts of +India. They do nothing else. More than 400 native women are engaged +in placing it in the secluded homes of the Hindus among women of +the harems, and teaching them to read it. No commercial business +is conducted with greater energy, enterprise and ability than +the work of the Bible Society, in this empire, and while the +missionaries have enormous and perplexing difficulties to overcome, +they, too, are making remarkable headway. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +You frequently hear thoughtless people, who know nothing of the +facts, but consider it fashionable to sneer at the missionaries, +declare that Hindus never are converted. The official census +of the government of India, which is based upon inquiries made +directly of the individuals themselves, by sworn agents, and +is not compiled from the reports of the missionary societies, +shows an increase in the number of professing Christians from +2,036,000 in 1891 to 2,664,000 in 1901, a gain of 625,000, or +30 per cent in ten years, and in some of the provinces it has +been remarkable. In the Central Provinces and United Provinces +the increase in the number of persons professing Christianity, +according to the census, was more than 300 per cent. In Assam, +which is in the northeastern extremity of India, and the Punjab, +which occupies a similar position in the northwest, the increase +was nearly 200 per cent. In Bengal, of which Calcutta is the +chief city, the gain was nearly 50 per cent; in the province +of Bombay it was nearly 40 per cent, and in Madras and Burmah +it was 20 per cent. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The dean of the American missionary colony is Rev. R. A. Hume, +of Ahmednagar, who belongs to the third, and his daughter to +the fourth, generation of missionaries in the family. He was +born in Bombay, where his father and his grandfather preached +and taught for many years. Rev. Mr. Ballantine, the grandfather +of Mrs. Hume, went over from southern Indiana in 1835 and settled +at Ahmednagar, where the Protestants had begun work four years +previous. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The first Christian mission ever undertaken by Americans in a +foreign country was at Bombay in 1813, when Gordon Hall and Samuel +Newall, fresh from Williams College, went to convert the heathen +Hindus. The governor general and the officials of the East India +Company ordered them away, for fear that they would stir up trouble +among the natives and suffer martyrdom, but they would not go, and +were finally allowed to remain under protest. A Baptist society +in England had sent out three men--Messrs. Carey, Ward and +Marshman--a few years before. They went to Calcutta, but the +East India Company would not permit them to preach or teach, +so they removed to Gerampore, where they undertook evangelical +work under the protection of the Dutch. But nowadays the British +government cannot do enough to help the missionaries, particularly +the Americans, who are treated in the same generous manner as +those of the Established Church of England, and are given grants +of money, land and every assistance that they officially could +receive. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Speaking of the services of the missionaries during the recent +famine, Lord Curzon said: "I have seen cases where the entire +organization of a vast area and the lives of thousands of beings +rested upon the shoulders of a single individual, laboring on +in silence and in solitude, while his bodily strength was fast +ebbing away. I have known of natives who, inspired by his example, +have thrown themselves with equal ardor into the struggle, and +have unmurmuringly laid down their lives for their countrymen. +Particularly must I mention the noble efforts of missionary agencies +of various Christian denominations. If there ever was an occasion +in which it was open to them to vindicate the highest standards +of their beneficent calling it was here, and strenuously and +faithfully have they performed the task." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In 1901 the government of India recognized the labors and devotion +of the American missionaries during the previous famine by bestowing +upon Dr. Hume the Kaiser-I-Hind gold medal, which is never bestowed +except for distinguished public services, and is not conferred +every year. It is considered the highest honor that can be bestowed +upon a civilian. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Sir Muncherjee Bharnajgree, a Parsee member of parliament, recently +asserted that the American missionaries were doing more for the +industrial development of the Indian Empire than the government +itself. The government recognizes the importance of their work +and has given liberal grants to the industrial schools of the +American Board of Foreign Missions, which are considered the +most successful and perhaps the most useful in India. It is +significant to find that the most important of these schools +was founded by Sir D. M. Petit, a wealthy Parsee merchant and +manufacturer, at the city of Ahmednagar, where 400 bright boys +are being trained for mechanics and artisans under the direction +of James Smith, formerly of Toronto and Chicago. D. C. Churchill, +formerly of Oberlin, Ohio, and a graduate of the Boston School +of Technology, a mechanical engineer of remarkable genius, has +another school in which hand weaving of fine fabrics is taught +to forty or fifty boys who show remarkable skill. Mr. Churchill, +who came out in 1901, soon detected the weakness of the native +method of weaving, and has recently invented a hand loom which +can turn out thirty yards of cloth a day, and will double, and +in many cases treble, the productive capacity of the average +worker. And he expects soon to erect a large building in which +he can set up the new looms and accommodate a much larger number +of pupils. J. B. Knight, a scientific agriculturist who also came +out in 1901, has a class of forty boys, mostly orphans whose +fathers and mothers died during the late famine. They are being +trained in agricultural chemistry and kindred subjects in order to +instruct the native farmers throughout that part of the country. +Rev. R. Windsor, of Oberlin, is running another school founded by +Sir D. M. Petit at Sirur, 125 miles east of Bombay, where forty +boys are being educated as machinists and mechanics. At Ahmednagar, +Mrs. Wagentreiver has a school of 125 women and girls, mostly +widows and orphans of the late famine, who are being taught the +art of lacemaking, and most of her graduates are qualified to +serve as instructors in other lace schools which are constantly +being established in other parts of India. There is also a school +for potters, and the Americans are sending to the School of Art +at Bombay sixty boys to be designers, draughtsmen, illustrators +and qualified in other of the industrial arts. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is interesting to discover that the School of Industrial Arts +founded by Sir D. M. Petit at Ahmednagar owes its origin to the +Chicago Manual Training School, whose aims and methods were carefully +studied and applied to Indian conditions with equally satisfactory +results. The principal and founder of the school, James Smith, was +sent out and is supported by the New England Congregational Church +on the North Side, Chicago, and generous financial assistance +has been received from Mr. Victor F. Lawson and other members of +that church. It was started in 1891 with classes in woodwork and +mechanical drawing, and has prospered until it has now outgrown +in numbers and importance the high school with which it was +originally connected. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This school is the most conspicuous example of combined English +education and industry in western India, and has received the +highest praise from government officers. Its grant from the +government, too, is higher than that of any other school in the +province. The government paid half of the cost of all the buildings +and equipments, while a very large part of the other half was +paid by people of this country, foremost among the donors being +the late Sir D. M. Petit, Bart., who built and equipped the first +building entirely at his own expense. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Mr. Churchill's workshops have also been very highly commended by +the government inspectors, and his invention has attracted wide +notice because it has placed within reach of the local weavers +an apparatus which is an immense saving in labor and will secure +its operators at least three times the results and compensations +for the same expenditure of time and toil. It thus affords them +means of earning a more comfortable living, and at the same time +gives the people a supply of cheap cotton cloth which they require, +and utilizes defective yarn which the steam power mills cannot +use. The government inspectors publicly commend Mr. Churchill +for declining to patent his invention and for leaving it free +to be used by everybody without royalty of any kind. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +It is exceedingly gratifying to hear from all sides these and +other similar encomiums of the American missionaries, and it +makes a Yankee proud to see the respect that is felt for and paid +to them. Lord Curzon, the governors of the various provinces and +other officials are hearty in their commendation of American men +and women and American methods, and especially for the services +our missionaries rendered during the recent famines and plagues. +They testify that in all popular discontent and uprisings they +have exerted a powerful influence for peace and order and for +the support of the government. Lord Northcote, recently governor +of Bombay, in a letter to President Roosevelt, said: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +"In Ahmednagar I have seen for myself what practical results +have been accomplished, and during the famine we owed much to the +practical schemes of benevolence of the American missionaries." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the first of January, 1904, the viceroy of India bestowed upon +William I. Chamberlin of the American Mission College at Madras the +Kaiser-I-Hind gold medal for his services to the public. A similar +medal was conferred upon Dr. Louis Klopsch of the Christian Herald, +New York, who collected and forwarded $600,000 for direct famine +relief and provided for the support of 5,000 famine orphans for +five years. Other large sums were sent from the United States. +The money was not given away. The American committee worked in +cooperation with the agents of the government and other relief +organizations, so as to avoid duplication. They provided clothing +for the naked and work at reasonable wages for the starving. They +bought seed for farmers and assisted them to hire help to put +it in the ground. The rule of the committee in the disbursement +of this money was not to pauperize the people, but to help those +who helped themselves, and to require a return in some form for +every penny that was given. Dr. Hume says: "The gift was charity, +but the system was business." The American relief money directly +and indirectly reached several millions of people and has provided +for the maintenance and education of more than five thousand +orphans, boys and girls, who were left homeless and helpless +when their fathers and mothers died of starvation. More than +320 widows, entirely homeless, friendless and dependent, were +placed in comfortable quarters, taught how to work, and are now +self-supporting. Two homes for widows are maintained by the +missionaries of the American Board, one in Bombay in charge of +Miss Abbott and her sister, Mrs. Dean, with nearly 200 inmates, +and the other at Ahmednagar, in charge of Mrs. Hume. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The medical and dispensary work of the American missions is also +very extensive, and its importance to the peasant class and the +blessings it confers upon the poor cannot be realized by those +people who have never visited India and other countries of the +East and seen the condition of women. As I told you in a previous +chapter, ninety per cent of the Hindu population of India will not +admit men physicians to their homes to see women patients, and the +only relief that the wives, mothers and daughters and sisters in +the zenanas can obtain when they are ill is from the old-fashioned +herb doctors and charm mixers of the bazaars. Now American women +physicians are scattered all over India healing the wounded and +curing the sick. There are few from other countries, although +the English, Scotch and German Lutherans have many missions. +</p> + +<h2><a name="XXIX">XXIX</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +COTTON, TEA, AND OPIUM +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Next to the United States, India is the largest cotton-producing +country in the world, and, with the exception of Galveston and +New Orleans, Bombay claims to be the largest cotton market. The +shipments have never reached $50,000,000 a year, but have gone +very near that point. Every large state in southern India produces +cotton, but Bombay and Berar are the principal producers. The +area for the whole of India in 1902-3 was 14,232,000 acres, but +this has been often exceeded. In 1893-4 the area planted was +nearly 15,500,000. The average is about 14,000,000 acres. Cotton +is usually grown in conjunction with some other crop, and in +certain portions of India two crops a year are produced on the +same soil. The following table will show the number of bales +produced during the years named: +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0 class="center"> +<tr><td> </td> + <td class="right">Bales of<br>400 lbs.</td> + <td> </td><td> </td> + <td class="right">Bales of<br>400 lbs.</td></tr> +<tr><td>1892-3</td><td class="right">1,924,000</td> + <td> </td> + <td>1897-8</td><td class="right">2,198,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>1893-4</td><td class="right">2,180,000</td> + <td> </td> + <td>1898-9</td><td class="right">2,425,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>1894-5</td><td class="right">1,957,000</td> + <td> </td> + <td>1899-0</td><td class="right">843,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>1895-6</td><td class="right">2,364,000</td> + <td> </td> + <td>1900-1</td><td class="right">2,309,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>1896-7</td><td class="right">1,929,000</td> + <td> </td> + <td>1901-2</td><td class="right">1,960,000</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The failure of the crop in 1899-1900 was due to the drought which +caused the great famine. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +About one-half of the crop is used in the local mills. The greater +part of the remainder is shipped to Japan, which is the best +customer. Germany comes next, and, curiously enough, Great Britain +is one of the smallest purchasers. Indian cotton is exclusively of +the short staple variety and not nearly so good as that produced +in Egypt. Repeated attempts have been made to introduce Egyptian +cotton, but, while some of the experiments have been temporarily +successful, it deteriorates the second year. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The cost of producing cotton is very much less than in the United +States, because the land always yields a second crop of something +else, which, under ordinary circumstances, ought to pay taxes +and often fixed charges, as well as the wages of labor, which +are amazingly low, leaving the entire proceeds of the cotton +crop to be counted as clear gain. The men and women who work in +the cotton fields of India are not paid more than two dollars +a month. That is considered very good wages. All the shipping is +done in the winter season; the cotton is brought in by railroad +and lies in bags on the docks until it is transferred to the +holds of ships. During the winter season the cotton docks are +the busiest places around Bombay. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The manufacture of cotton is increasing rapidly. There are now +eighty-four mills in Bombay alone, with a capital of more than +$25,000,000, and all of them have been established since 1870, +including some of the most modern, up-to-date plants in existence. +The people of Bombay have about $36,000,000 invested in mills, +most of it being owned by Parsees. There are mills scattered all +over the country. The industry dates from 1851, and during the +last twenty years the number of looms has increased 100 per cent +and spindles 172 per cent. January 1, 1891, there were 127 mills, +with 117,922 operatives, representing an investment of £7,844,000. +On the 31st of March, 1904, according to the official records, +there were 201 cotton mills in India, containing 43,676,000 looms +and 5,164,360 spindles, with a combined capital of £12,175,000. +This return, however, does not include thirteen mills which were +not heard from, and they will probably increase the number of +looms and spindles considerably and the total capital to more +than $60,000,000. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The wages paid operatives in the cotton mills of India are almost +incredibly low. I have before me an official statement from a +mill at Cawnpore, which is said to give a fair average for the +entire country. The mills of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta and +other large cities pay about one-half more. At smaller places +farther in the north the rates are much less. The wages are given +in rupees and decimals of a rupee, which in round numbers is +worth 33 cents in our money. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 cellspacing=0 width="80%" class="center"> +<tr><td colspan=6 class="center">MONTHLY WAGES IN A COTTON + MILL AT CAWNPORE FOR THE YEARS NAMED (IN RUPEES AND DECIMALS + OF A RUPEE).</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=6> </td></tr> +<tr><td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td class="right">1885.</td> + <td class="right">1890.</td> + <td class="right">1900.</td> + <td class="right">1903.</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=6>Cardroom--</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>Head mistry</td> + <td class="right">17.00</td> + <td class="right">24.80</td> + <td class="right">34.90</td> + <td class="right">33.00</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>Card cleaner</td> + <td class="right">5.00</td> + <td class="right">5.25</td> + <td class="right">8.70</td> + <td class="right">8.84</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>Spare hands</td> + <td class="right">5.00</td> + <td class="right">5.25</td> + <td class="right">5.90</td> + <td class="right">6.58</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=6>Muleroom--</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>Head mistry</td> + <td class="right">8.50</td> + <td class="right">19.60</td> + <td class="right">34.00</td> + <td class="right">36.42</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>Minder</td> + <td class="right">5.00</td> + <td class="right">6.37</td> + <td class="right">6.20</td> + <td class="right">7.12</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>Spare hands</td> + <td class="right">5.00</td> + <td class="right">5.00</td> + <td class="right">6.00</td> + <td class="right">6.50</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=6>Weaving department--</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>Mistry</td> + <td class="right">13.50</td> + <td class="right">18.00</td> + <td class="right">18.80</td> + <td class="right">17.81</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>Healder</td> + <td class="right">5.00</td> + <td class="right">5.50</td> + <td class="right">7.60</td> + <td class="right">7.09</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>Weaver</td> + <td class="right">6.00</td> + <td class="right">10.50</td> + <td class="right">8.62</td> + <td class="right">9.14</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=6>Finishing department--</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>Washers and bleachers</td> + <td class="right">6.00</td> + <td class="right">18.00</td> + <td class="right">18.70</td> + <td class="right">21.25</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>Dyer</td> + <td class="right">5.00</td> + <td class="right">5.50</td> + <td class="right">5.50</td> + <td class="right">6.08</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>Finishing man</td> + <td class="right">5.00</td> + <td class="right">5.50</td> + <td class="right">6.00</td> + <td class="right">6.53</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan=6>Engineering shop--</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>Boiler mistry</td> + <td class="right">6.00</td> + <td class="right">9.00</td> + <td class="right">9.30</td> + <td class="right">10.16</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>Engine man</td> + <td class="right">8.00</td> + <td class="right">11.00</td> + <td class="right">10.80</td> + <td class="right">14.62</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>Oil man</td> + <td class="right">6.00</td> + <td class="right">6.00</td> + <td class="right">6.20</td> + <td class="right">6.64</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>Boiler man</td> + <td class="right">6.00</td> + <td class="right">6.00</td> + <td class="right">6.90</td> + <td class="right">7.31</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>Carpenter</td> + <td class="right">10.00</td> + <td class="right">10.00</td> + <td class="right">11.10</td> + <td class="right">11.67</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>Blacksmith</td> + <td class="right">11.50</td> + <td class="right">13.50</td> + <td class="right">13.80</td> + <td class="right">15.84</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>Fitter</td> + <td class="right"> </td> + <td class="right">10.00</td> + <td class="right">11.00</td> + <td class="right">13.98</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +These wages, however, correspond with those received by persons in +other lines of employment. The postmen employed by the government, +or letter carriers as we call them, receive a maximum of only +12.41 rupees a month, which is about $3.50, and a minimum of +9.25, which is equivalent to $3.08 in our money. Able-bodied +and skilled mechanics--masons, carpenters and blacksmiths--get +no more than $2.50 to $3.50 a month, and bookkeepers, clerks +and others having indoor occupations, from $4.10 to $5.50 per +month. Taking all of the wage-earners together in India, their +compensation per month is just about as much as the same class +receive per day in the United States. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The encouragement of manufacturing is one of the methods the +government has adopted to prevent or mitigate famines, and its +policy is gradually becoming felt by the increase of mechanical +industries and the employment of the coolie class in lines other +than agriculture. At the same time, the problem is complicated +by the fact that the greater part of the mechanical products of +India have always been produced in the households. Each village +has its own weavers, carpenters, brass workers, blacksmiths and +potters, who are not able to compete with machine-made goods. +Many of these local craftsmen have attained a high standard of +artistic skill in making up silk, wool, linen, cotton, carpets, +brass, iron, silver, wood, ivory and other materials. But their +arts must necessarily decay or depreciate if the local markets are +flooded with cheap products from factories, and there a question +of serious consequence has arisen. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is very active rivalry in the tea trade of late years. +China formerly supplied the world. Thirty years ago very little +was exported from any other country. Then Japan came in as an +energetic competitor and sent its tea around everywhere, but +the consumption increased as rapidly as the cultivation, so that +China kept her share of the trade. About fifteen years ago India +came into the market; and then Ceylon. The Ceylon export trade +has been managed very skillfully. There has been an enormous +increase in the acreage planted, and 92 per cent of the product +has been sent to the United Kingdom, where it has gradually +supplanted that of China and Japan. Australia has also become +a large consumer of India tea, and the loyalty with which the +two great colonies of Great Britain have stood together is +commendable. In England alone the consumption of India tea has +increased nearly 70 per cent within the last ten years. This is +the result of careful and intelligent effort on the part of the +government. While wild tea is found in Assam and in several of +the states adjoining the Himalayas, tea growing is practically +a new thing in India compared with China and Japan. It was not +until 1830, when Lord William Benthinck was viceroy, that any +considerable amount of tea was produced in India. He introduced +the plant from China and brought men from that country at the +expense of the East India Company to teach the Hindus how to +cultivate it. For many years the results were doubtful and the +efforts of the government were ridiculed. But for the great faith +of two or three patriotic officials the scheme would have been +abandoned. It was remarkably successful, however, until now the +area under tea includes more than half a million acres, the number +of persons employed in the industry exceeds 750,000, the capital +invested in plantations is more than $100,000,000 and the approximate +average yield is about 200,000,000 pounds. In 1903 159,000,000 +pounds were exported to England alone, and the total exports +were 182,594,000 pounds. The remainder is consumed in India, +and more than a million pounds annually are purchased for the +use of the army. Among other consumers the United States bought +1,080,000 and China 1,337,000 pounds. Russia, which is the largest +consumer of tea of all the nations, bought 1,625,000 pounds, +and this was a considerable increase, showing that India tea is +becoming popular there. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The industry in India and Ceylon, however, is in a flourishing +condition, the area under cultivation has expanded 85 per cent +and the product has increased 167 per cent during the last fifteen +years. The cultivation is limited to sections where there is a +heavy rainfall and a humid climate, because tea requires water +while it is growing as well as while it is being consumed. Where +these conditions exist it is a profitable crop. In the valleys +of Assam the yield often reaches 450 pounds to the acre. The +quality of the tea depends upon the manner of cultivation, the +character of the soil, the amount of moisture and sunshine and +the age of the leaf at the time of picking. Young, tender leaves +have the finest flavor, and bring the highest prices, but shrink +enormously in curing, and many growers consider it more profitable +to leave them until they are well matured. It requires about +four pounds of fresh leaves to make one pound of dry leaves, +and black tea and green tea are grown from the same bush. If the +leaf is completely dried immediately after picking it retains +its green color, but if it is allowed to stand and sweat for +several hours a kind of fermentation takes place which turns it +black. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are now about 236,000 acres of coffee orchards in India, +about 111,760 persons are employed upon them and the exports +will average 27,000,000 pounds a year. The coffee growers of +India complain that they cannot compete with Brazil and other +Spanish-American countries where overproduction has forced down +prices below the margin of profit, but the government is doing +as much as it can to encourage and sustain the industry, and +believes that they ought at least to grow enough to supply the +home market. But comparatively little coffee is used in India. +Nearly everybody drinks tea. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Three million acres of land is devoted to the cultivation of +sugar, both cane and beet. During the Cuban revolution the industry +secured quite an impetus, but since the restoration of peace and +the adjustment of affairs, prices have gone down considerably, +and the sugar of India finds itself in direct competition with +the bounty-paid product of Germany, France, Belgium, Austria +and other European countries. In order to protect its planters +the government has imposed countervailing duties against European +sugar, but there has been no perceptible effect from this policy +as yet. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The indigo trade has been very important, but is also in peril +because of the manufacture of chemical dyes in Germany and France. +Artificial indigo and other dyes can be produced in a laboratory +much cheaper than they can be grown in the fields, and, naturally, +people will buy the low-priced article, Twenty years ago India +had practically a monopoly of the indigo trade, and 2,000,000 +acres of land were planted to that product, while the value of +the exports often reached $20,000,000. The area and the product +have been gradually decreasing, until, in 1902, only a little +more than 800,000 acres were planted and the exports were valued +at less than $7,000,000. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The quinine industry is also in a deplorable state. About thirty +years ago the Indian government sent botanists to South America +to collect young cinchona trees. They were introduced into various +parts of the empire, where they flourished abundantly until the +export of bark ran nearly to 4,000,000 pounds a year, but since +1899 there has been a steady fall. Exports have declined, prices +have been low, and the government plantations have not paid expenses. +Rather than export the bark at a loss the government has manufactured +sulphate at its own factories and has furnished it at cost price +to the health authorities of the native states, the British +provinces, the army and the hospitals and dispensaries. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +One of the most interesting places about Calcutta is the Royal +Botanical Gardens, where many important experiments have been +made for the benefit of the agricultural industry of India. It is +one of the most beautiful and extensive arboreums in the world, +and at the same time its economic usefulness has been unsurpassed +by any similar institution. It was established nearly 150 years +ago by Colonel Kyd, an ardent botanist, under the auspices of +the East India Company, and from its foundation it was intended +to be, as it has been, a source of botanical information, a place +for botanical experiments, and a garden in which plants of economic +value could be cultivated and issued to the public for the purpose +of introducing new products into India. It has been of incalculable +value in all these particulars, not only by introducing new plants, +but by demonstrating which could be grown with profit. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="642"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig031.jpg" width="638" height="375" alt="Fig. 31"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + GREAT BANYAN TREE--BOTANICAL GARDEN--CALCUTTA +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +The garden lies along the bank of the Ganges, about six miles +south of the city, and is filled with trees and plants of the +rarest varieties and the greatest beauty you can imagine. No +other garden will equal it except perhaps that at Colombo. It +is 272 acres in extent, has a large number of ponds and lakes, +and many fine avenues of palms, mahogany, mangos, tamarinds, +plantains and other trees, and its greatest glory is a banyan +tree which is claimed to be the largest in the world. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A banyan, as you know, represents a miniature forest rather than +a single tree, because it has branches which grow downward as +well as upward, and take root in the ground and grow with great +rapidity. This tree is about 135 years old. The circumference of +its main trunk five and a half feet from the ground is 51 feet. +Its topmost leaf is eighty-five feet from the ground. It has 464 +aerial roots, as the branches which run down to the ground are +called, and the entire tree is 938 feet in circumference. It +is large enough to shelter an entire village under its foliage. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Several other remarkable trees are to be found in that garden. +One of them is called "The Crazy Tree," because about thirty-five +different varieties of trees have been grafted upon the same +trunk, and, as a consequence, it bears that many different kinds +of leaves. Its foliage suggests a crazy quilt. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Benares is the center of the opium traffic of India, which, next +to the land tax, is the most productive source of revenue to +the government. It is a monopoly inherited from the Moguls in +the middle ages and passed down from them through the East India +Company to the present government, and the regulations for the +cultivation, manufacture and sale of the drug have been very +little changed for several hundred years. There have been many +movements, public, private, national, international, religious +and parliamentary, for its suppression; there have been many +official inquiries and investigations; volumes have been written +setting forth all the moral questions involved, and it is safe +to say that every fact and argument on both sides has been laid +before the public; yet it is an astonishing fact that no official +commission or legally constituted body, not a single Englishman who +has been personally responsible for the well-being of the people of +India or has even had an influential voice in the affairs of the +empire or has ever had actual knowledge and practical experience +concerning the effects of opium, has ever advocated prohibition +either in the cultivation of the poppy or in the manufacture of +the drug. Many have made suggestions and recommendations for +the regulation and restriction of the traffic, and the existing +laws are the result of the experience of centuries. But anti-opium +movements have been entirely in the hands of missionaries, religious +and moral agitators in England and elsewhere outside of India, +and politicians who have denounced the policy of the government +to obtain votes against the party that happened to be in power. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +This is an extraordinary statement, but it is true. It goes without +saying that the use of opium in any form is almost universally +considered one of the most dangerous and destructive of vices, +and it is not necessary in this connection to say anything on +that side of the controversy. It is interesting, however, and +important, to know the facts and arguments used by the Indian +government to justify its toleration of the vice, which, generally +speaking, is based upon three propositions: +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +1. That the use of opium in moderation is necessary to thousands +of honest, hard-working Hindus, and that its habitual consumers +are among the most useful, the most vigorous and the most loyal +portion of the population. The Sikhs, who are the flower of the +Indian army and the highest type of the native, are habitual +opium smokers, and the Rajputs, who are considered the most manly, +brave and progressive of the native population, use it almost +universally. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +2. That the government cannot afford to lose the revenue and +much less afford to undertake the expense and assume the risk of +rebellion and disturbances incurred by any attempt at prohibition. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +3. That the export of opium to China and other countries is +legitimate commerce. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The opium belt of India is about 600 miles long and 180 miles +wide, lying just above a line drawn from Bombay to Calcutta. The +total area cultivated with poppies will average 575,000 acres. +The crop is grown in a few months in the summer, so that the land +can produce another crop of corn or wheat during the rest of the +year. About 1,475,000 people are engaged in the cultivation of the +poppy and about 6,000 in the manufacture of the drug. The area +is regulated by the government commissioners. The smallest was in +1892, when only 454,243 acres were planted, and the maximum was +reached in 1900, when 627,311 acres were planted. In the latter +year the government adopted 625,000 acres as the standard area, +and 48,000 chests as the standard quantity to be produced in +British india. Hereafter these figures will not be exceeded. The +largest amount ever produced was in 1872, when the total quantity +manufactured in British India was 61,536 chests of 140 pounds +average weight. The lowest amount during the last thirty-five +years was in 1894, when only 37,539 chests were produced. In +addition to this from 20,000 to 30,000 chests are produced in +the native states. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The annual average value of the crop for the last twenty years +has been about $60,000,000 in American money, the annual revenue +has been about $24,000,000, and the officials say that this is a +moderate estimate of the sum which the reformers ask the government +of India to sacrifice by suppressing the trade. In addition to +this the growers receive about $5,500,000 for opium "trash," +poppy seeds, oil and other by-products which are perfectly free +from opium. The "trash" is made of stalks and leaves and is used +at the factories for packing purposes; the seeds of the poppy +are eaten raw and parched, are ground for a condiment in the +preparation of food, and oil is produced from them for table, +lubricating and illuminating purposes, and for making soaps, +paints, pomades and other toilet articles. Oil cakes made from the +fiber of the seeds after the oil has been expressed are excellent +food for cattle, being rich in nitrogen, and the young seedlings, +which are removed at the first weeding of the crop, are sold in +the markets for salad and are very popular with the lower classes. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +No person can cultivate poppies in India without a license from +the government, and no person can sell his product to any other +than government agents, who ship it to the official factories at +Patna and Ghazipur, down the River Ganges a little below Benares. +Any violation of the regulations concerning the cultivation of +the poppy, the manufacture, transport, possession, import or +export, sale or use of opium, is punished by heavy penalties, +both fine and imprisonment. The government regulates the extent +of cultivation according to the state of the market and the stock +of opium on hand. It pays an average of $1 a pound for the raw +opium, and wherever necessary the opium commissioners are authorized +to advance small sums to cultivators to enable them to pay the +expense of the crop. These advances are deducted from the amount +due when the opium is delivered. The yield, taking the country +together, will average about twelve and a half pounds, or about +twelve dollars per acre, not including the by-products. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The raw opium arrives at the factory in big earthen jars in the +form of a paste, each jar containing about 87-1/2 pounds. It +is carefully tested for quality and purity and attempts at +adulteration are severely punished. The grower is paid cash by +the government agents. The jars, having been emptied into large +vats, are carefully scraped and then smashed so as to prevent +scavengers from obtaining opium from them, and there is a mountain +of potsherds on the river bank beside the factory. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Each vat contains about 20,000 pounds of opium, lying six or +eight inches deep, and about the consistency of ordinary paste. +Hundreds of coolies are employed to mix it by trampling it with +their bare feet. The work is severe upon the muscles of the legs +and the tramplers have to be relieved every half hour. Three +gangs are generally kept at work, resting one hour and working +half an hour. Ropes are stretched for them to take hold of. After +the stuff is thoroughly mixed it is made up into cakes by men +and women, who wrap it in what is known as opium "trash," pack +it in boxes and seal them hermetically for export. Each cake +weighs about ten pounds, is about the size of a croquet ball, +and is worth from ten to fifteen dollars, according to its purity +under assay. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The largest part of the product is shipped to China, but a certain +number of chests are retained for sale to licensed dealers in +different provinces by the excise department. In 1904 there were +8,730 licensed shops, generally distributed throughout the entire +empire. But it is claimed by Lord Curzon that the average number +of consumers is only about two in every thousand of the population. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The revenue from licenses is very large. No dealer is permitted +to sell more than three tolas (about one and one-eighth ounces) +to any person, and no opium can be consumed upon the premises +of the dealer. Private smoking clubs and public opium dens were +forbidden in 1891, but the strict enforcement of the law has been +considered inexpedient for many reasons, chief of which is that +less opium is consumed when it is smoked in these places than when +it is used privately in the form of pills, which are more common +in India than elsewhere. Frequent investigation has demonstrated +that opium consumers are more apt to use it to excess when it is +taken in private than when it is taken in company, and there are +innumerable regulations for the government of smoking-rooms and +clubs and for the restriction and discouragement of the habit. +The amount consumed in India is about 871,820 pounds annually. +The amount exported will average 9,800,000 pounds. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Opium intended for export is sold at auction at Calcutta at the +beginning of every month, and, in order to prevent speculation, +the number of chests to be sold each month during the year is +announced in January. Considerable fluctuation in prices is caused +by the demand and the supply on hand in China. The lowest price +on record was obtained at the June sale in 1898, when all that +was offered went for 929 rupees per chest of 140 pounds, while +the highest price ever obtained was 1,450 rupees per chest. The +exports of opium vary considerably. The maximum, 86,469 chests, +was reached in 1891; the minimum, 59,632, in 1896. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The consumption in India during the last few years has apparently +decreased. This is attributed to several reasons, including increased +prices, restrictive measures for the suppression of the vice, the +famine, changes in the habits of the people, and smuggling; but +it is the conviction of all the officials concerned in handling +opium that its use is not so general as formerly, and its abuse +is very small. They claim that it is used chiefly by hard-working +people and enables them to resist fatigue and sustain privation, +and that the prevailing opinion that opium consumers are all +degraded, depraved and miserable wretches, enfeebled in body +and mind, is not true. It is asserted by the inspectors that +the greater part of the opium sold in India is used by moderate +people, who take their daily dose and are actually benefited +rather than injured by it. At the same time it is admitted that +the drug is abused by many, and that the habit is usually acquired +by people suffering from painful diseases, who begin by taking +a little for relief and gradually increase the dose until they +cannot live without it. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In 1895 an unusually active agitation for the suppression of the +trade resulted in the appointment of a parliamentary commission, +of which Lord Brassey was chairman. They made a thorough +investigation, spending several months in India, examining more +than seven hundred witnesses, of which 466 were natives, and +their conclusions were that it is the abuse and not the use of +opium that is harmful, and "that its use among the people of +India as a rule is a moderate use, that excess is exceptional +and is condemned by public opinion; that the use of opium in +moderation is not attended by injurious consequences, and that no +extended physical or moral degradation is caused by the habit." +</p> + +<h2><a name="XXX">XXX</a></h2> + +<p class="subtitle"> +CALCUTTA, THE CAPITAL OF INDIA +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Calcutta is a modern city compared with the rest of India. It has +been built around old Fort William, which was the headquarters +of the East India Company 200 years ago, and is situated upon the +bank of the River Hoogly, one of the many mouths of the Ganges, +about ninety miles from the Bay of Bengal. The current is so swift +and the channel changes so frequently that the river cannot be +navigated at night, nor without a pilot. The native pilots are +remarkably skillful navigators, and seem to know by instinct +how the shoals shift. For several miles below the city the banks +of the river are lined with factories of all kinds, which have +added great wealth to the empire. Old Fort William disappeared +many years ago, and a new fort was erected a mile or two farther +down the river, where it could command the approaches to the +city, but that also is now old-fashioned, and could not do much +execution if Calcutta were attacked. The fortifications near +the mouth of the river are supposed to be quite formidable, but +Calcutta is not a citadel, and in case of war must be defended +by battle ships and other floating fortresses. It is one of the +cities of India which shows a rapid growth of population, the +gain during ten years having been 187,178, making the total +population, by the census of 1901, 1,026,987. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The city takes its name from a village which stood in the +neighborhood at the time the East India Company located there. +It was famous for a temple erected in honor of Kali, the fearful +wife of the god Siva, the most cruel, vindictive and relentless +of all the heathen deities. The temple still stands, being more +than 400 years old, and "Kali, the Black One," still sits upon her +altar, hideous in appearance, gorgon-headed, wearing a necklace +of human skulls and dripping with fresh blood from the morning +sacrifice of sheep and goats. She brings pestilence, famine, war +and sorrows and suffering of all kinds, and can only be propitiated +by the sacrifice of life. Formerly nothing but human blood would +satisfy her, and thousands, some claim tens of thousands, of +victims have been slain before her image in that ancient temple. +Human offerings were forbidden by the English many years ago, +but it is believed that they are occasionally made even now when +famine and plague are afflicting the people. During the late +famine it is suspected that an appeal for mercy was sealed with +the sacrifice of infants. Residents of the neighborhood assert +that human heads, dripping with blood and decorated with flowers, +have been seen in the temple occasionally since 1870. It is the +only notable temple in Calcutta, and is visited by tourists, but +they are allowed to go only so far and no farther, for fear that +Kali might be provoked by the intrusion. It is a ghastly, filthy, +repulsive place, and was formerly the southern headquarters of +that organized caste of religious assassins known as Thugs. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +A little beyond the Temple of Kali is the burning ghat of Calcutta. +Here the Hindus bring the bodies of their dead and burn them on +funeral pyres. The cremations may be witnessed every morning +by anyone who cares to take the trouble to drive out there. They +take place in an open area surrounded by temples and shrines +on one side, and large piles of firewood and the palm cottages +of the attendants on the other. The river which flows by the +burning ground is covered with all kinds of native craft, carrying +on commerce between the city and the country, and the ashes of +the dead are cast between them upon the sacred waters from a +flight of stone steps which leads to the river's brink. There is +no more objection to a stranger attending the burning ceremonies +than would be offered to his presence at a funeral in the United +States. Indeed, friends who frequently accompany the bodies of +the dead feel flattered at the attention and often take bunches +of flowers from the bier and present them to bystanders. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Black Hole of Calcutta, of which you have read so much, no +longer exists. Its former site is now partially built over, but +Lord Curzon has had it marked, and that portion which is now +uncovered he has had paved with marble, so that a visitor can see +just how large an area was occupied by it. He has also reproduced +after the original plan a monument that was erected to the dead by +Governor J. Z. Howell, one of the sufferers. You will remember +that the employes of the East India Company, with their families, +were residing within the walls of Fort William when an uprising +of the natives occurred June 20, 1756. The survivors, 156 in +number, were made prisoners and pressed into an apartment eighteen +feet long, eighteen feet wide and fourteen feet ten inches high, +where they were kept over night. It was a sort of vault in the +walls of the fortress, which had been used for storage purposes +and at one time for a prison. The company consisted of men, women, +children and even infants. Several of them were crushed to death +and trampled during the efforts of the native soldiers to crowd +them into this place, and all but thirty-three of the 156 died +of suffocation. The next morning, when the leader of the mutiny +ordered the living prisoners brought before him, the bodies of +the dead were cast into a pit outside the walls and allowed to +rot there. The monument to which I have alluded stands upon the +site of the pit. To preserve history Lord Curzon has had a model +of the old fort made in wood, and it will be placed in the museum. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Calcutta is a fine city. The government buildings, the courthouses, +the business blocks and residences, the churches and clubs are +nearly all of pretentious architecture and imposing appearance. +Most of the buildings are up to date. The banks of the river +are lined for a long distance with mammoth warehouses and the +anchorage is crowded with steamers from all parts of the world. +There is a regular line between Calcutta and New York, which, I +was told, is doing a good business. Beyond the warehouses, the +business section and the government buildings, along the bank of +the river for several miles, is an open space or common, called +the Maidan, the amusement and recreation ground of the public, +who show their appreciation by putting it to good use. There +are several thousand acres, including the military reservation, +bisected with drives and ornamented with monuments and groves of +trees. It belongs to the public, is intended for their benefit, +and thousands of natives may be found enjoying this privilege +night and day. An American circus has its tent pitched in the +center opposite a group of hotels; a little further along is a +roller skating rink, which seems to be popular, and scattered +here and there, usually beside clumps of shade trees, are cottages +erected for the accommodation of golf, tennis, croquet and cricket +clubs. On Saturday afternoons and holidays these clubhouses are +surrounded by gayly dressed people enjoying an outing, and at +all times groups of natives may be seen scattered from one end of +the Maidan to the other, sleeping, visiting, and usually resting +in the full glare of the fierce sun. Late in the afternoon, when +the heat has moderated, everybody who owns a carriage or a horse +or can hire one, comes out for a drive, and along the river bank +the roadway is crowded with all kinds of vehicles filled with +all sorts of people dressed in every variety of costume worn +by the many races that make up the Indian Empire, with a large +sprinkling of Europeans. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The viceroy and Lady Curzon, with their two little girls, come +in an old-fashioned barouche, drawn by handsome English hackneys, +with coachman, footman and two postilions, clad in gorgeous red +livery, gold sashes and girdles and turbans of white and red. +Their carriage is followed by a squad of mounted Sikhs, bronzed +faced, bearded giants in scarlet uniforms and big turbans, carrying +long, old-fashioned spears. Lord Kitchener, the hero of Khartoum +and the Boer war, appears in a landau driven by the only white +coachman in Calcutta. Lord Kitchener is a bachelor, and his friends +say that he has never even thought of love, although he is a +handsome man, of many graces, and has contributed to the pleasure +of society in both England and India. The diplomatic corps, as +the consuls of foreign governments residing in India are called +by courtesy--for all of India's relations with other countries +must be conducted through the foreign department at London--are +usually in evidence, riding in smart equipages, and they are +very hospitable and agreeable people. The United States is +represented by General Robert F. Patterson, who went to the civil +war from Iowa, but has since been a citizen of Memphis. Mrs. +Patterson, who belongs to a distinguished southern family, is +one of the recognized leaders of society, and is famous for her +hospitality and her fine dinners. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The native princes and other rich Hindus who reside in Calcutta +are quite apt in imitating foreign ways, but, fortunately, most +of them adhere to their national costume, which is much more +becoming and graceful than the awkward garments we wear. The +women of their families are seldom seen. The men wear silks and +brocades and jewels, and bring out their children to see the +world, but always leave their wives at home. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are several sets and castes in the social life--the official +set, the military set, the professional people, the mercantile +set, and so on--and it is not often that the lines that divide +them are broken. During the winter season social life is very +gay. The city is filled with visitors from all parts of India, +and they spend their money freely, having a good time. Official +cares rest lightly upon the members of the government, with a +few exceptions, including Lord Curzon, who is always at work and +never takes a holiday. Dinners, balls, garden parties, races, polo +games, teas, picnics and excursions follow one another so rapidly +that those who indulge in social pleasures have only time enough +to keep a record of their engagements and to dress. The presence +of a large military force is a great advantage, particularly as +many of the officers are bachelors, and it is whispered that some +of the lovely girls who come out from England to spend a winter +in India hope to go home to arrange for a wedding. Occasionally +matrimonial affairs are conducted with dispatch. A young woman +who came out on the steamer with us, heart whole and fancy free, +with the expectation of spending the entire winter in India, +started back to London with a big engagement ring upon her finger +within four weeks after she landed, and several other young women +were quite as fortunate during the same winter, although not so +sudden. India is regarded as the most favorable marriage market +in the world. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Calcutta has frequently been called "the city of statues." I +think Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, the poet-viceroy, gave it that +title, and it was well applied. Whichever way you look on the +Maidan, bronze figures of former viceroys, statesmen and soldiers +appear. Queen Victoria sits in the center, a perfect reproduction +in bronze, and around her, with their faces turned toward the +government house, are several of her ablest and most eminent +servants. In the center of the Maidan rises a lofty column that +looks like a lighthouse. Its awkwardness is in striking contrast +to the graceful shafts which Hindu architects have erected in +various parts of the empire. It is dedicated to David Ochterlony, +a former citizen of Calcutta and for fifty years a soldier, and +is a token of appreciation from the people of the empire. The +latest monument is a bronze statue of Lord Roberts. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Facing the Maidan for a couple of miles is the Chowringhee, one +of the famous streets of the world, once a row of palatial +residences, but now given up almost entirely to hotels, clubs +and shops. Upon this street lived Warren Hastings in a stone +palace, and a little further along, in what is now the Bengal +Club, was the home of Thomas Babbington Macaulay during his long +residence in India. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The governor of the province of Bengal lives in a beautiful mansion +in the center of a park called "Belvedere," just outside the city. +There are few finer country homes in England, and associated with +it are many historical events. Upon a grassy knoll shaded by +stately trees occurred the historic duel between Warren Hastings, +then governor general of India, and Mr. Francis, president of +the council of state. They quarreled over an offensive remark +which Mr. Francis entered in the minutes of the council. Hastings +offered a challenge and wounded his antagonist, but the ball was +extracted and the affair fortunately ended as a comedy rather +than a tragedy. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are many fine shops in Calcutta, for people throughout +all eastern India go there to buy goods just as those in the +northwestern part of the United States go to Chicago, and in the +eastern states to Boston, Philadelphia or New York. Of course, the +Calcutta shops are not so large and do not carry such extensive +stocks as some dealers in our large cities, because they are almost +entirely dependent upon the foreign population for patronage, and +that is comparatively small. The natives patronize merchants +of their own race, and do their buying in the bazaars, where the +same articles are sold at prices much lower than those asked +by the merchants in the foreign section of the city. This is +perfectly natural, for the native dealer has comparatively little +rent to pay, the wages of his employes are ridiculously small and +it does not cost him very much to live. If a foreigner tries to +trade in the native shops he has to pay big prices. Foreigners who +live in Calcutta usually send their servants to make purchases, +and, although it is customary for the servant to take a little +commission or "squeeze" from the seller for himself, the price +is much lower than would be paid for the same articles at one +of the European shops. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Occasionally you see American goods, but not often. We sell India +comparatively little merchandise except iron and steel, machinery, +agricultural implements, sewing machines, typewriters, phonographs +and other patented articles. One afternoon four naked Hindus went +staggering along the main street in Calcutta carrying an organ made +by the Farrand Company of Detroit, which has considerable trade +there. American pianos are widely advertised by one of the music +dealers. The beef packing houses of Chicago send considerable +tinned meat to India, and it is quite popular and useful. Indeed, +it would be difficult for the English to get along without it, +because native beef is very scarce. It is only served at the +hotels one or twice a week. That is due to the fact that cows +are sacred and oxen are so valuable for draught purposes. Fresh +beef comes all the way from Australia in refrigerator ships and +is sold at the fancy markets. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The native bazaars are like those in other Indian cities, although +not so interesting. Calcutta has comparatively a small native +trade, although it has a million of population. The shops of +Delhi, Lahore, Jeypore, Lucknow, Benares and other cities are +much more attractive. In the European quarter are some curio +dealers, who stop there for the winter and go to Delhi and Simla +for the summer, selling brocades, embroideries, shawls, wood and +ivory carvings and other native art work which are very tempting +to tourists. Several dealers in jewels from Delhi and other cities +spend the holidays in order to catch the native princes, who +are the greatest purchasers of precious stones in the world. +Several of them have collections more valuable and extensive than +any of the imperial families of Europe. Prices of all curios, +embroideries and objects of art are much higher in Calcutta than +in the cities of northern India, and everybody told us it was +the poorest place to buy such things. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The most imposing building upon the Chowringhee, the principal +street, is the Imperial Museum, which was founded nearly a hundred +years ago by the Asiatic Society, and was taken over by the +government in 1866. It is a splendid structure around a central +quadrangle 300 feet square with colonnades, fountains, plants and +flowers. Little effort has been made to obtain contributions from +other countries, but no other collection of Indian antiquities, +ethnology, archæology, mineralogy and other natural sciences can +compare with it. It is under the special patronage of the viceroy, +who takes an active interest in extending its usefulness and +increasing its treasures, while Lady Curzon is the patroness of +the school of design connected with it. In this school about three +hundred young men are studying the industrial arts. Comparatively +little attention is given to the fine arts. There are a few native +portrait painters, and I have seen some clever water colors from +the brushes of natives. But in the industrial arts they excel, +and this institute is maintained under government patronage for +the purpose of training the eyes and the hands of designers and +artisans. In the same group of buildings are the geological survey +and other scientific bureaus of the government, which are quite +as progressive and learned as our own. A little farther up the +famous street are the headquarters of the Asiatic Society, one of +the oldest and most enterprising learned societies in the world, +whose journals and proceedings for the last century are a library +in themselves and contain about all that anybody would ever want +to know concerning the history, literature, antiquities, resources +and people of India. Here also is a collection of nearly twenty +thousand manuscripts in Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Hindustani +and other oriental languages. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There is comparatively little poverty in Calcutta, considering +the enormous population and the conditions in which they live. +There are, however, several hundred thousand people who would +starve to death upon their present incomes if they lived in the +United States or in any of the European countries, but there it +costs so little to sustain life and a penny goes so far that +what an American working man would call abject destitution is +an abundance. Give a Hindu a few farthings for food and a sheet +of white cotton for clothing and he will be comfortable and +contented. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The streets of Calcutta, except in a limited portion of the native +section of the city, are wide, well paved, watered and swept. There +is an electric tramway system with about twenty miles of track, +reaching the principal suburbs, railway stations and business +sections, and whether Moline (Ill.) got it from Calcutta or Calcutta +borrowed the idea from Moline, both cities use the same method +of laying the dust. The tramway company runs an electric tank +car up and down its tracks several times a day, throwing water +far enough to cover nearly the entire street. Other streets, +where there are no tracks, are sprinkled by coolies, who carry +upon their backs pig skins and goat skins filled with water and +squirt it upon the ground through one of the legs with a twist of +the wrist as ingenious and effective as the method used by Chinese +laundrymen in sprinkling clothes. No white man can do either. The +Hindu sprinkler is an artist in his line, and therefore to be +admired, because everybody who excels is worthy of admiration, +no matter what he is doing. The street sprinklers belong to the +very lowest caste; the same caste as the garbage collectors and +the coolies that mend the roads and sweep the sidewalks, but +they are stalwart fellows, much superior to the higher class +physically, and as they wear very little clothing everybody can +see their perfect anatomy and shapely outlines. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Much of the road mending in India is done by women. They seem +to be assigned to all the heavy and laborious jobs. They carry +mortar, and bricks and stone where new buildings are being erected; +they lay stone blocks in the pavements, hammer the concrete with +heavy iron pestles, and you can frequently see them walking along +the wayside with loads of lumber or timber carefully balanced on +their heads that would be heavy for a mule or an ox. Frequently +they carry babies at the same time; never in their arms, but swung +over their backs or astride their hips. The infant population of +India spend the first two or three years of their lives astride +somebody's hips. It may be their mother's, or their sister's, +or their brother's, but they are always carried that way, and +abound so plentifully that there is no danger of race suicide +in that empire. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Next to the Sikh soldier, the nattiest native in India is the +postman, who is dressed in a blue uniform with a blue turban of +cotton or silk cloth to match, and wears a nickel number over +his forehead with the insignia of the postal service, and a girdle +with a highly ornamental buckle. The deliveries and collections +are much more frequent than with us. It is a mortification to +every American who travels abroad to see the superiority of the +postal service in other countries. That is about the only feature +of civil administration in which the federal government of the +United States is inferior, but, compared with India, as well +as the European countries, our Postoffice Department is not up +to date. You can mail a letter to any part of Calcutta in the +morning and, if your correspondent takes the trouble, he can +reach you with a reply before dinner. The rates of postage on +local matter and on parcels are much lower than with us. I can +send a package of books or merchandise or anything else weighing +less than four pounds from Calcutta to Chicago for less than +half the charge that would be required on a similar package from +Evanston or Oak Park. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The best time for a stranger to visit Calcutta is during holiday +week, for then the social season is inaugurated by a levee given +by the viceroy, a "drawing-room" by the vice-queen and a grand +state ball. The annual races are held that week, also, including +the great sporting event of the year, which is a contest for a +cup offered by the viceroy, and a military parade and review +and various other ceremonies and festivities attract people from +every part of the empire. The native princes naturally take this +opportunity to visit the capital and pay their respects to the +representative of imperial power, while every Englishman in the +civil and military service, and those of social or sporting +proclivities in private life have their vacations at that time +and spend the Christmas and New Year's holidays with Calcutta +friends. Moreover, the fact that all these people will be there +attracts the tourists who happen to be in India at the time, for +it gives them a chance to see the most notable and brilliant +social features of Indian life. Hence we rushed across the empire +with everybody else and assisted to increase the crowd and the +enthusiasm. Every hotel, boarding-house and club was crowded. +Every family had guests. Cots and beds were placed in offices +and wherever else they could be accommodated. Tents were spread +on the lawn of the Government House for the benefit of government +officials coming in from the provinces, and on the parade grounds +at the fort for military visitors. The grounds surrounding the +club houses looked like military camps. Sixteen tents were placed +upon the roof of the hotel where we were stopping to accommodate +the overflow. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Good hotels are needed everywhere in India, as I have several +times suggested, and nowhere so much as in Calcutta. The government, +the people and all concerned ought to be ashamed of their lack of +enterprise in this direction, and everybody admits it without +argument. There is not a comfortable hotel in the city, and while +it is of course possible for people to survive present conditions +they are nevertheless a national disgrace. Calcutta is a city of +more than a million inhabitants. Among its residents are many +millionaires and other wealthy men. It is frequently called "the +city of palaces," and many of the private residences in the foreign +quarter are imposing and costly. Hence there is no excuse but +indifference and lack of public spirit. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The Government House, which is the residence of the viceroy, +is one of the finest palaces in the world, and in architectural +beauty, extent and arrangement surpasses many of the royal residences +of Europe. None of the many palaces in England and the other +European capitals is better adapted for entertaining or has more +stately audience chambers, reception rooms, banquet halls and +ballrooms. It is truly an imperial residence and was erected more +than a hundred years ago by Lord Wellesley, who had an exalted +appreciation of the position he occupied, and transplanted to +India the ceremonies, formalities and etiquette of the British +court. The Government House stands in the center of a beautiful +garden of seven acres and is now completely surrounded and almost +hidden by groups of noble trees so that it cannot be photographed. +It is an enlarged copy of Kedlestone Hall, Derbyshire, and consists +of a central group of state apartments crowned with a dome and +connected with four wings by long galleries. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The throne-room is a splendid apartment and the seat of the mighty +is the ancient throne of Tipu, one of the southern maharajas, +who, during the latter part of the eighteenth century, gave the +British a great deal of trouble until he was deprived of power. +The banquet hall, the council chamber, the ballrooms and a series +of drawing rooms, nearly all of the same size, are decorated in +white and gold, and each is larger than the east room in the +White House at Washington. The ceilings are supported by rows of +marble columns with gilded capitals, and are frescoed by famous +artists. The floors are of polished teak wood; the walls are +paneled with brocade and tapestries, and are hung with historical +pictures, including full length portraits of the kings and queens +of England, all the viceroys from the time of Warren Hastings, +and many of the most famous native rulers of India. In one of the +rooms is a collection of marble busts of the Cæsars. These, with +a portrait of Louis XV. and several elaborate crystal chandeliers, +were loot of the war of 1798, when they were captured from a +ship which was carrying them as a present from the Emperor of +France to the Nyzam of Hyderabad. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The palace cost $750,000 and the furniture $250,000, more than +a hundred years ago, at a time when money would go three times +as far as it does to-day. Lord Wellesley had lofty ideas, and +when the merchants of the East India Company expressed their +disapproval of this expenditure he told them that India "should +be governed from a palace and not from a counting-house, with +the ideas of a prince and not those of a retail dealer in muslin +and indigo." +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Great stories are told of the receptions, levees and balls that +were given in the days of the East India Company, but they could +not have been more brilliant than those of to-day. The Government +House has never been occupied by a viceroy more capable of assuming +the dignities and performing the duties of that office than Lord +Curzon, and no more beautiful, graceful or popular woman ever sat +upon the vice-queen's throne than Mary Leiter Curzon. No period +in Indian history has ever been more brilliant, more progressive +or more prosperous than the present; no administration of the +government has even given wider satisfaction from any point of +view, and certainly the social functions presided over by Lord +and Lady Curzon were never surpassed. They live in truly royal +style, surrounded by the ceremonies and the pomp that pertain to +kings, which is a part of the administrative policy, because +the 300,000,000 people subject to the viceroy's authority are +very impressionable, and measure power and sometimes justice and +right by appearances. Lord and Lady Curzon never leave the palace +without an escort of giant warriors from the Sikh tribe, who wear +dazzling uniforms of red, turbans as big as bushel baskets, and +sit on their horses like centaurs. They carry long spears and +are otherwise armed with native weapons. Within the palace the +same formality is preserved, except in the private apartments +of the viceroy, where for certain hours of every day the doors +are closed against official cares and responsibilities, and Lord +and Lady Curzon can spend a few hours with their children, like +ordinary people. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The palace is managed by a comptroller general, who has 150 servants +under him, and a stable of forty horses, and relieves Lady Curzon +from the cares of the household. Lord Curzon is attended by a +staff of ministers, secretaries and aids, like a king, and Lady +Curzon has her ladies-in-waiting, secretaries and aids, like a +queen. People who wish to be received at Government House will +find three books open before them in the outer hall, in which +they are expected to inscribe their names, instead of leaving +cards. One of these books is for permanent residents of Calcutta, +another for officials, and another for transient visitors, who +record their names, their home addresses, their occupations, +the time they expect to stay in Calcutta, and the place at which +they may be stopping. From these books the invitation lists are +made out by the proper officials, but in order to secure an +invitation to Lady Curzon's "drawing-room" a stranger must be +presented by some person of importance who is well known at court. +At 9 o'clock those who have been so fortunate as to be invited +are expected to arrive. They leave their wraps in cloakrooms in +the basement, where the ladies are separated from the gentlemen +who escort them, because the latter are not formally presented +to the vice-queen, but they meet again an hour or so later in +the banquet hall after the ceremony is over. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The ladies pass up two flights of stairs into waiting-rooms in the +third story of the palace, pursuing a rather circuitous course over +about half the building, guided by velvet barriers and railings, +and at each comer stands an aide-de-camp or a gentleman-in-waiting, +to answer inquiries and give directions to strangers. When the +anteroom is at last reached, the ladies await their turns, being +admitted to the audience chamber in groups of four. They are +given a moment or two to adjust their plumage, and then pass +slowly toward the throne, upon which Lady Curzon is seated. The +viceroy, in the uniform and regalia of a Knight of the Garter, +stands under the canopy by her side. There is no crowding and +pushing, such as we see at presidential receptions at Washington +and often at royal functions in Europe, but there is an interval +of twenty-five or thirty feet between the guests. After entering +the room each lady hands a card upon which her name is written +to the gentleman-in-waiting, and, as she approaches the throne +he pronounces it slowly and distinctly. She makes her courtesies +to the viceroy and his lady, and then passes on. There is no +confusion, no haste, no infringement of dignity, and each woman +for the moment has the entire stage to herself. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On either side of the throne are gathered, standing, many native +princes, the higher officers of the government and the army, +the members of the diplomatic corps and other favored persons, +with their wives and daughters, and their costumes furnish a +brilliant background to the scene. The rest of the great audience +chamber, blazing with electric lights, is entirely empty. The +viceroy greets every lady with a graceful bow, and Lady Curzon +gives her a smile of welcome. The government band is playing +all this time in an adjoining room, so that the music can be +only faintly heard, and does not interfere with the ceremony, +as is so often the case elsewhere. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Having passed in review, the guests return to the other part of +the palace by a different course than that through which they +came, and find their escorts awaiting them in the banquet hall. +When the last lady has been presented, the viceroy and Lady Curzon +lead the way to the banquet hall, where a sumptuous supper is +spread, and the gentlemen are allowed to share the festivities. +The formalities are relaxed, and the hosts chat informally with +the guests. +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table summary="" border=0 width="642"> +<tr><td> + <img src="fig032.jpg" width="624" height="373" alt="Fig. 32"> +</td></tr> +<tr><td class="center"> + THE PRINCES OF PEARLS +</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="indent"> +It is a very brilliant scene, quite different from any that may +be witnessed elsewhere, particularly because of the gorgeous +costumes and the profusion of jewels worn by the native princes. +At none of the capitals of Europe can so magnificent a show of +jewels be witnessed, but the medals of honor and decorations +which adorn the breasts of the bronzed soldiers are more highly +prized and usually excite greater admiration, for many of the +heroes of the South African war were serving tours of duty in +India when we were in Calcutta. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The viceroy's levee is exclusively for gentlemen. No ladies are +expected, and a similar ceremony is carried out. It is intended to +offer an annual opportunity for the native princes, and officials +of the government, officers of the army, the Indian nobility and +private citizens of prominence to pay their respects and offer +their congratulations to their ruler and the representative of +their king, and at 9 o'clock on the evening appointed, two days +later than Lady Curzon's reception, every man of distinction in +that part of the world appears at the palace and makes his bow +to the viceroy as the latter stands under the canopy beside the +throne. It might be a somber and stupid proceeding but for the +presence of many natives in their dazzling jewels, picturesque +turbans and golden brocades, and the large contingent of army +officers, with their breasts covered with medals and decorations. +This reception is followed a few days later by a state ball, +which is considered the most brilliant function of the year in +India. Invitations are limited to persons of certain rank who +have been formally presented at Government House, but Lady Curzon +is always on the lookout for her fellow countrymen, and if she +learns of their presence in Calcutta invitations are sure to reach +them one way or another. She is a woman of many responsibilities, +and her time and mind are always occupied, but few Americans +ever visit Calcutta without having some delightful evidence of +her loyalty and thoughtfulness. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There were many other festivities for celebrating the New Year. +All the English and native troops in the vicinity of Calcutta +passed in review before the viceroy and Lord Kitchener, who is +the commander-in-chief of the forces in India. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +In one of the parks in the city was a native fair and display +of art industries, and at the zoological gardens the various +societies of the Roman Catholic church in Calcutta held a bazaar +and raffled off many valuable and worthless articles, sold barrels +of tea and tons of cake, and sweetmeats to enormous crowds of +natives, who attended in their holiday attire. There was a pyramid +of gold coins amounting to a thousand dollars, an automobile, +a silver service valued at $1,000, a grand piano, a carriage +and span of ponies, and various other prizes offered in the +lotteries, together with dolls and ginger-cake, pipes and cigar +cases, slippers, neckties, pincushions and other offerings to +the god of chance. Fashionable society was attracted to the fair +grounds by a horse and dog show, and various other functions +absorbed public attention. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The great sporting event of the year in India is a race for a +big silver cup presented by the viceroy and a purse of 20,000 +rupees to the winner. We took an interest in the race because Mr. +Apgar, an Armenian opium merchant, who nominated Great Scott, an +Austrian thoroughbred, has a breeding farm and stable of 200 horses, +and everything about his place comes from the United States. He +uses nothing but American harness and other accoutrements, and +as a natural and unavoidable consequence Great Scott won the cup +and the purse very easily, and his fleetness was doubtless due +to the fact that he was shod with American shoes. The programme +showed that about half the entries were by natives. His Royal +Highness Aga Khan, the Nawab of Samillolahs; Aga Shah; our old +friend of the Chicago exposition, the Sultan of Johore, and His +Highness Kour Sahib of Patiala, all had horses in the big race. +Some of these princes have breeding stables. Others import English, +Irish, Australian, American and Arabian thoroughbreds. There was +no American horse entered for the viceroy's cup this year, but +Kentucky running stock is usually represented. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +There are two race tracks at Calcutta, one for regular running, +the other for steeple chasing, and, as in England and Ireland, +the horses run on the turf, and most of the riders are gentlemen. +A few professional jockeys represent the stables of breeders +who are too old or too fat or too lazy to ride themselves, but +it is considered the proper thing for every true sportsman to +ride his own horse as long as he is under weight. The tracks +are surrounded by lovely landscapes, an easy driving distance +from Calcutta, and everybody in town was there. The grand stand +and the terraces that surround it were crowded with beautifully +dressed women, many of them Parsees, in their lovely costumes, +and within the course were more than 50,000 natives, wearing every +conceivable color, red and yellow predominating, so that when one +looked down upon the inclosure from a distance it resembled a +vast flower bed, a field of poppies and roses. The natives take +great interest in the races, and, as they are admitted free, +every man, woman and child who could leave home was there, and +the most of them walked the entire distance from the city. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The viceroy and vice-queen appear in the official old-fashioned +barouche, drawn by four horses, with outriders, and escorted +by a bodyguard of Sikhs in brilliant scarlet uniforms and big +turbans of navy blue, with gold trimmings. The viceroy's box is +lined and carpeted with scarlet, and easy chairs were placed for +his comfort. Distinguished people came up to pay their respects +to him and Lady Curzon, and between visits he wandered about the +field, shaking hands with acquaintances in a democratic fashion +and smiling as if he were having the time of his life. It is +not often that the present viceroy takes a holiday. He is the +most industrious man in India, and very few of his subjects work +as hard as he, but he takes his recreation in the same fashion. +He is always full of enthusiasm, and never does anything in a +half-hearted way. Lord Kitchener came also, but was compelled +to remain in his carriage because of his broken leg. The police +found him a good place and he enjoyed it. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +On the lawn behind the grand stand, under the shade of groups +of palm trees, tables and chairs were placed, and tea was served +between the events. Ladies whose husbands are members of the +Jockey Club can engage tables in advance, as most of them do, and +issue their invitations in advance also, so that Viceroy's day +is usually a continuous tea party and a reunion of old friends, +for everybody within traveling distance comes to the capital +that day. Every woman wore a new gown made expressly for the +occasion. Most of them were of white or of dainty colors, but +they did not compare in beauty or elegance with the brocades and +embroidered silks worn by bare-legged natives. Half the Hindu +gentlemen present had priceless camel's hair and Cashmere shawls +thrown over their shoulders--most of them heirlooms, for, according +to the popular impression, modern shawls do not compare in quality +with the old ones. Under the shawls they wear long coats, reaching +to their heels like ulsters, of lovely figured silk or brocade +of brilliant colors. Some of them are finished with exquisite +embroidery. No Hindu women were present, only Parsees. They never +appear in public, and allow their husbands to wear all of the +fine fabrics and jewels. With shawls wrapped around them like +Roman togas, the Hindus are the most dignified and stately human +spectacles you can imagine, but when they put on European garments +or a mixture of native and foreign dress they are positively +ridiculous, and do violence to every rule of art and law of taste. +Usually when an oriental--for it is equally true of China, Japan +and Turkey--adopts European dress he selects the same colors he +would wear in his own, and he looks like a freak, as you can +imagine, in a pair of green trousers, a crimson waistcoat, a +purple tie, a blue negligee shirt and a plaid jacket. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +If you want to see a display of fine raiment and precious stones +you must attend an official function in India, a reception by +Lord or Lady Curzon, for in the number, size and value of their +jewels the Indian princes surpass the sovereigns of Europe. One +of the rajahs has the finest collection of rubies in the world, +purchased from time to time by his ancestors for several generations, +most of them in Burma, where the most valuable rubies have been +found. Another has a collection of pearls, accumulated in the +same way. They represent an investment of millions of dollars, +and include the largest and finest examples in the world. When +he wears them all, as he sometimes does, on great occasions, his +front from his neck to his waist is covered with pearls netted +like a chain armor. His turban is a cataract of pearls on all +sides, and upon his left shoulder is a knot as large as your +two hands, from which depends a braided rope of four strands, +reaching to his knee, and every pearl is as large as a grape. +You can appreciate the size and value of his collection when I +tell you that all of the pearls owned by the ex-Empress Eugenie +are worn in his turban, and do not represent ten per cent of +the collection. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Other rajahs are famous for diamonds, or emeralds, or other jewels. +There seems to be a good deal of rivalry among them as to which +shall make the greatest display. But from what people tell me I +should say that the Nizam of Haidarabad could furnish the largest +stock if these estimable gentlemen were ever compelled to go +into the jewelry business. We were particularly interested in +him because he outranks all the other native princes, and is the +most important as well as the most gorgeous in the array. His +dominions, which he has inherited from a long line of ancestors--I +believe he traces his ancestry back to the gods--include the +ancient City of Golconda, whose name for centuries was a synonym +for riches and splendors. In ancient times it was the greatest +diamond market in the world. It was the capital of the large and +powerful kingdom of the Deccan, and embraced all of southern +India, but is now in ruins. Its grandeur began to decay when the +kingdom was conquered by the Moguls in 1587 and annexed to their +empire, and to-day the crumbling walls and abandoned palaces are +almost entirely deserted. Even the tombs of the ancient kings, +a row of vast and splendid mausoleums, which cost millions upon +millions of dollars, and for architecture and decoration and +costliness have been surpassed only by those of the Moguls, are +being allowed to decay while the ruling descendant of the men +who sleep there spends his income for diamonds. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The magnificence and extravagance of these princes are the theme +of poems and legends. There is a large book in Persian filled with +elaborate and graphic descriptions of the functions and ceremonies +that attend the reception of an envoy from Shah Abbas, King of +Persia, who visited the court of Golconda in 1503. Among other +gifts brought by him from his royal master was a crown of rubies +which still remains in the family, although many people think +the original stones have been removed and imitations substituted +in order that the nizam may enjoy the glory of wearing them. +When his ambassador went back to Persia he was accompanied by +a large military escort guarding a caravan of 2,400 camels laden +with gifts from the nizam to his royal master. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The present capital of the province, the city of Haidarabad, +was founded in 1589 by a gentleman named Kutab Shah Mohammed +Kuli, who afterward removed his household there on account of a +lack of water and a malarial atmosphere at Golconda. He called +the city in honor of his favorite concubine. The name means "the +city of Haidar." The province includes about 80,000 square miles +of territory, and has a population of 11,141,946 of whom only +10 per cent are Moslems, although the ruling family have always +professed that faith. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +The present nizam is Mahbub Ali, who was born in 1866, was partially +educated in England and is very popular with all classes of +people--particularly with those who profit by his extravagance. +The revenues of the state are about $20,000,000 a year, and the +people are very much overtaxed. The nizam's taste for splendor +and his desire to outdo all the other native princes in display +have caused the government of India considerable anxiety, and +the British resident at his capital, whose duty is to keep him +straight, enjoys no sinecure. +</p> + +<p class="indent"> +Haidarabad is one of the oldest cities in India, with a population +of 355,000, inclosed by a strong wall six miles in circumference. +The city stands in the midst of wild and rocky scenery and is one +of the most interesting places in India, because the nizam is +fond of motion and music and color, and has surrounded himself +with a large retinue of congenial spirits, who live at his expense +and pay their board by amusing him. As the most important Moslem +potentate except the Sultan of Turkey, he has attracted to his +service Mohammedans from every part of the earth, who go about +wearing their distinctive national costumes and armed with quaint +weapons--Turks, Arabs, Moors, Afghans, Persians, Rajputs, Sikhs, +Marathas, Pathans and representatives of all the other races +that confess Islam. His palaces are enormous and are filled with +these retainers, said to number 7,000 of all ranks and races, and +the courtyards are full of elephants, camels, horses, mounted +escorts and liveried servants. It reminds one of the ancient +East, a gorgeous page out of the Arabian Nights. +</p> + +<h2>INDEX</h2> + +<p> +Abu, Mount<br> +Afghanistan<br> +Afridis, the tribe of<br> +Agra, fortress of<br> + religious celebration at<br> +Agriculture<br> +Ahmedabad, city of<br> +Ajmere, city of<br> +Akbar the Great<br> + tomb of<br> +Allahabad, city of<br> +Aligarh, city of<br> +Amber, city of<br> +Ameer of Afghanistan<br> +Americans in India<br> +American trade in India<br> +Amritsar, city of<br> +Architecture, Mogul<br> + Ahmedabad<br> + of India<br> +Area of India<br> +Art schools<br> +Army, the +</p> + +<p> +Banyan trees<br> +Baluchistan<br> +Banks of India<br> +Barbers<br> +Barbar, the Emperor<br> +Baroda, state of<br> +Bazaars, native<br> +Bazaars of Delhi<br> +Bearers, Indian<br> +Benares, city of<br> +Betel chewing<br> +Bibles in India<br> +Bird training<br> +Birth rate<br> +Black Hole of Calcutta<br> +Body guard, Lord Curzon's<br> +Bombay, death rate in<br> + city of<br> + residences of<br> + ghat-burning at<br> + Improvement Trust<br> + Monkey temple at<br> + old city of<br> + public buildings of<br> + railway station at<br> + statues in<br> + street-cars of<br> + University of<br> +Bordeaux, Austin de<br> +Botanical Gardens<br> +Brahmins, the<br> +Brahminism<br> +Brahmin priests<br> +Buddhism<br> +Burning bodies +</p> + +<p> +Cadet corps<br> +Calcutta, city of<br> +Calcutta, residences of<br> + Black Hole of<br> +Canteen, the army<br> +Caravans<br> +Cashmere, province of<br> + shawls<br> +Caste<br> +Castle in Bombay<br> +Catholic missions, Roman<br> +Cave temples<br> +Cawnpore, city of<br> +Census of India<br> +Christian population<br> +Cities of India<br> +Civil service, Indian<br> +Coal mining<br> +Coffee planting<br> +College, the Moslem<br> + at Jeypore<br> +Colleges<br> + the Phipps<br> +Contortionists<br> +Costumes, Hindu<br> +Cotton trade<br> +Council of India<br> +Courts<br> +Crime<br> +Criminals, professional<br> +Crops<br> + value of<br> +Curzon, Lord<br> + Lady<br> +Customs, religious<br> + social<br> +Customs-house at Bombay<br> +Cutch-Behar, Maharaja of +</p> + +<p> +Dak bungalows<br> +Darjeeling, city of<br> +Dead, burning the<br> +Death rate<br> + at Bombay<br> +Deccan, the<br> +Delhi, city of<br> + palaces of<br> + ancient<br> + tombs of<br> +Docks at Bombay<br> +Drawing room, Lady Curzon's<br> +Durbar, the +</p> + +<p> +East India Company<br> +Education<br> +Elephanta Island<br> +Elephant riding<br> +Elephants working<br> +Ellora, cave temples at<br> +Embroideries, Indian<br> +Emigration<br> +Epidemics<br> +Etiquette in Calcutta +</p> + +<p> +Fakirs, Hindu<br> +Famines<br> +Farming<br> +Fattehpur-Sikri, city of<br> +Frontier Question<br> +Funeral customs +</p> + +<p> +Ganges River<br> +Gaya, town of<br> +Ghats, burning<br> +Girls, English and American<br> +Goa, colony of<br> +Gods, Hindu<br> +Government house at Calcutta<br> + of India<br> +Governor of Bombay<br> +Guilds, Indian<br> +Gurkas, the +</p> + +<p> +Haiderabad, Nizam of<br> +Hall of the Winds, Jeypore<br> +Himalayas, the<br> +Hodson, Colonel<br> +Holiday week in Calcutta<br> +Hotels of India<br> + of Delhi<br> + in Muttra<br> +Hospital<br> +Humayon, tomb of<br> +Hume, Rev. R. A.<br> +Hypnotism, Hindu +</p> + +<p> +Idols<br> +Illiteracy<br> +Income tax<br> +Indian Ocean, temperature of<br> +Indigo<br> +Infanticide<br> +Irrigation in India +</p> + +<p> +Jains, religious sect of<br> + temples of the<br> +Jeejeebhoy, Sir Jamsetjed<br> +Jehanghir, the Mogul<br> +Jewels<br> +Jewelry<br> +Jeypore, city of<br> + Maharaja of<br> +Jodpore<br> +Juggernaut, the +</p> + +<p> +Khyber Pass<br> +Kipling, Rudyard<br> +Kitchener, Lord<br> +Kutab Minar, the +</p> + +<p> +Laboring classes<br> +Lahore, city of<br> +Lamington, Lord<br> +Land laws<br> +Languages of India<br> +Levees, the viceroy's<br> +Literature, Hindu<br> +Lucknow, city of +</p> + +<p> +Magicians, religious<br> +Manufacturing<br> +Mark Twain, anecdote of<br> +Marriage customs<br> +Mayo College<br> +Mendicants, religious<br> +Minerals<br> +Miriam, the Christian princess<br> +Missions, American<br> +Mizra, Gheas Bey<br> +Mogul Empire<br> +Moguls, the last of the<br> +Mohammedans<br> +Mohammedan College<br> +Monkey temple at Bombay<br> +Monsoons<br> +Mortality from snake and tiger bites<br> +Mosques in Delhi<br> +Mountains of India<br> +Museum, the imperial<br> +Mutiny, the<br> +Muttra, city of +</p> + +<p> +Native princes<br> +Nautch dancers<br> +Nepal, state of<br> +New Year Day in Calcutta<br> +Nomenclature in India<br> +Nur Jehan +</p> + +<p> +Occupations<br> +Officials, English and native<br> +Opium trade +</p> + +<p> +Palace, the viceroy's<br> +Palaces, the Mogul<br> +Parsees, the<br> +Patterson, Consul-general<br> +Peacock throne<br> +Pearl carpet<br> +Pearl Mosque<br> +Peerbhoy, Adamjee<br> +Peshawar, city of<br> +Petit family of Bombay<br> +Phipps, Henry<br> +Pilgrims<br> +Police<br> +Politicians<br> +Population of Bombay<br> + of India<br> + foreign<br> +Portuguese colony<br> +Postal service<br> +Poverty<br> +Princes, native<br> +Progress of India<br> +Prosperity of India<br> +P. and O. Steamers +</p> + +<p> +Quinine crop +</p> + +<p> +Racing horses<br> + in Calcutta<br> +Railways<br> +Railway travel in India<br> + stations<br> + station at Bombay<br> +Rainfall<br> +Rajputs, the<br> +Rajputana, province of<br> +Ramadan, feast of<br> +Ranjitsinhji, Prince<br> +Rarjumund Banu<br> +Readymoney, Sir Jehanghir<br> +Red Sea, temperature of<br> +Reforms in India<br> +Religions of India<br> +Residences of Bombay<br> +Rice eating<br> +Road, Great Trunk<br> +Roberts, Lord<br> +Ruins of Delhi<br> +Rulers, native<br> +Russians, fear of<br> + policy of +</p> + +<p> +Salaries of officials<br> +Schools, native<br> +Servants, native<br> +Shah Jehan<br> +Shopping in India<br> +Sights of Bombay<br> +Sikhs, the<br> +Simla, summer capital at<br> +Siva, the demon god<br> +Sleeping cars<br> +Snakes<br> +Snake charmers<br> +Social customs of India<br> +Society in India<br> +Stables at Jeypore<br> +Starvation<br> +Steamers, P. and O.<br> +Steamship passage to India<br> +Street sprinkling<br> +Sugar planting<br> +Superstitions<br> +"Suttee" forbidden +</p> + +<p> +Taj Mahal<br> +Tamerlane<br> +Tata, J. N.<br> +Taxes<br> +Tea-planting<br> +Telegraphs and telephones<br> +Temperance in the army<br> +Temples<br> + of Delhi<br> + of Ahmedabad<br> +Tigers<br> +Tiger catching<br> +Timour<br> +Thibet, invasion of<br> +Thugs<br> + founder of the<br> +Throne, the Peacock<br> +Tomb of Akbar<br> +Tombs of Delhi<br> +Towers of Silence<br> +Travellers, English and American<br> +Trust of Bombay, the Improvement +</p> + +<p> +Universities<br> +University of Bombay<br> + Tata, the +</p> + +<p> +Viceroy, authority of<br> + receptions of<br> +Voyage to India +</p> + +<p> +Wages<br> +Water, impurities of the<br> + supply<br> +Wedding customs<br> +Wheat growing<br> +Widows in India<br> +Widow burning<br> +Winter in India<br> +Women of India<br> + of Bombay<br> + English and American +</p> + +<p> +Xavier, St. Francis +</p> + +<p> +Younghusband, Colonel +</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Modern India, by William Eleroy Curtis + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MODERN INDIA *** + +***** This file should be named 11212-h.htm or 11212-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/2/1/11212/ + +Produced by Produced by Robert J. Hall + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + + https://www.gutenberg.org/etext06 + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: + https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + + + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> + |