Mahar

“ Only the women and children fell prey to the Mahars—they being the weakest and most tender—and when they had satisfied their appetite for human flesh, some of them devouring two and three of the slaves, there were only a score of full-grown men left, and I thought that for some reason these were to be spared, but such was far from the case, for as the last Mahar crawled to her rock the queen's thipdars darted into the air, circled the temple once and then, hissing like steam engines, swooped down upon the remaining slaves. ”

“ After assuming the reins of the Samastanam, he made grand improvements to the old fort now in the occupation of the Royal Family. A temple was lately constructed by Her Highness Lakshmi Devi Rajeswari, the Dowager Maharani, at a cost of 70,000 Rupees and dedicated to the god Ramachandraswami. Be it said to the credit of the Maharajah that he opens his purse liberally to any institution that is calculated to do good to the public at large. He is not conservative, but is very liberal although he may be said to be orthodox. ”

“ Now, when the time for instruction came, the Maharaja considered whom he should employ to teach his son. Should it be a man of the Wanderers, who, having cast the world utterly aside, scans its wisdom with the diamond ray of perfect comprehension—one of the Unfettered? Or should it be one of the men of braided hair—a Brahman hermit, held, as yet, in family ties, but living the life of pure contemplation? ”

“ Years passed; the blind old Maharajah, weighed down with sorrowful recollections of his sons and [193] followers who had fallen in the great war, retired, with his wife Gandhari, into a jungle on the banks of the Ganges. ”

“ Beyond the white buildings of the Maharajah of Vizianagram's palace with their high-walled gardens and cool-looking pavilions, and the {155} houses of native bankers, surrounded by orange trees laden with green fruit, and yet another temple called the Mahram Barhal, the Durga Temple appeared at last.
A young man had just brought a little black kid for sacrifice. He was dressed in tan leather shoes, a long fawn coat with a pattern on it and a small black cap on his head. He had an orange red caste mark freshly painted on his forehead, and round his shoulders hung a flower garland. ”

“ So the Maharaja, receiving him in his arms, blessed his son, rejoicing in his happy fate who was the father of such a one as the world could not show the like. And in his ears the voices of prophecy made a changing music of pride and triumph. And the Maharani, overweighted with gladness, like a lily surcharged with dew, was borne to her noble couch of ivory and gold; and Prajapati watched each breath she drew, so great were her love and fear. ”

“ I have seen a great deal of the native Sirdars or chiefs, especially Tej Singh who commanded the Sikh forces in the war, and of the Maharaja. The former a small, spare little man, marked with the smallpox, and with a thin and scanty beard, but sharp and intelligent, and by his own account a hero. The Maharaja is a fine, tall, portly man, with a splendid expressive face, and most gentlemanly, pleasing manner, and fine-toned voice,—altogether the most pleasing Asiatic I have seen,—to all appearance the gentlest of the gentle, and the most sincere and truthful character in the world ”

“ My son a beggar! Our race is beaten to the earth with shame.”
And standing calmly before the angry Maharaja the Blessed One after due salutation lifted his eyes and replied:
“Maharaj, this is the custom of our race.”
“This horrible thing is not so. Not one of our ancestors has ever begged his bread.”
“Maharaj, you and your high race claim descent from kings,—but my descent is far otherwise. It is from the Buddhas of ancient days, and as they have done, begging their food from the charitable, so do I, nor can I otherwise.” ”

“ Maharaj slowly took up a chapatie in his trunk, carefully weighed it and put it on one side, took up another and did the same. The fourth chapatie was the light one; this he found out at once and indignantly threw it at the feet of the mahout, grumbling and gurgling and swinging his head from side to side and stamping his forefoot in anger.
"What! son of a pig! is not the flour I eat good enough for thee also? Well, starve then, for there is no better in the bazaar." ”

“ Maharaj carefully placed the body of Piroo on the ground and knelt down beside it, and the boys, only too pleased at the chance, scrambled off as fast as their cramped legs would permit. It needed some walking up and down to get rid of their stiffness, so they chased the jackals and pelted them with stones, which restored their circulation quickly, whilst Maharaj stood sentry over the dead man. ”

“ My valued friend Sir Dinkar Rao informs me that, among other traditions of high Mahratta society, he has been told by aged men that the Maharaja was never known to evince serious displeasure save with cowards and men who fled in battle. ”

“ Towards the end of his book, the Maharaja, as men in their later lives, gets back to religion, and with robust common-sense untainted with theology he beats the whole Hindu system into shape, wipes off excrescences, and shows up the underlying truths in strong relief. ”

“ And when on the morrow these dreams were told to Prajapati, she rejoiced with them, no thought of envy to cloud the crystal of her soul. And when they were laid before the dream-readers, they could presage nothing but good, and being called in before the Maharaja where he sat in state with his Maharanis, they spoke as follows:
“A lord of men shall be born, a great and awful ruler. Let the soul of the Maharaja be exalted, and the heart of the Maharani rejoice and triumph, since to their house is given a son whose kingdom is the earth and the fullness of it.” ”

“ His son moved before him, beautiful exceedingly, perfect in duty not only to his father and his foster-mother, Prajapati the fair and noble, but also to all with whom he had to do, quick to smile and reply, glad in a boy’s sports and games, and yet—apart. As a man, looking down through the clear crystal of a lake, may behold beneath it groves of strange leafage where silver fish dart and disappear in a life unknown to him, so the Maharaja, looking through the translucence of his son’s eyes uplifted to his, knew that they revealed yet hid a world in which he had no part. ”

“ When at last we reached Moozuffernuggar, after two days' and a night's hard travelling, we were met by a crowd of local grandees, who looked as if they had spent the greater part of their lives in brushing back their whiskers, and we drove up at once, in European carriages, to the Maharajah's palace. The look of it astonished me. It was a strange and rambling old Hindoo hill-fort, high perched on a scarped crag, like Edinburgh Castle, and accessible only on one side, up a gigantic staircase, guarded on either hand by huge sculptured elephants cut in the living sandstone. ”

“ Under the most favourable auspices, after the Maharajah had received a sound education and the Government of Madras had formed a high opinion of his character, Sri Sri Sri Vikrama Deo Maharajah ascended the guddi on the 27th November 1895. It was a day of very great rejoicing to the people of Jeypore to find the son of their deceased Maharajah, with all the accomplishments necessary for a ruler of a large Samastanam, placed at the head of the administration. ”

“ The Maharaja is a Hindu of the Hindus, and is no believer in the advantage of educating youths to doubt and despise the system under which they have to live their own Jives, and in which all those around them live and move and have their being. Upon the marriage question he is content with what Nature prescribes for India, and does not yearn to substitute for it systems Providence provided for wholly different circumstances. ”

“ He is born a "lord" of ancestors the Lord knows who, and at a very tender age he lords it over a seraglio of intellectual ladies whose husbands are men of highly liberal marital sentiment. It is a wonder to many how the Máháráj lives in such a princely style. ”

“ And these happy people had a good Maharaja, named Suddhodana, or Pure Rice, because not only were his granaries and those of his fathers’ before him full to overflowing, but his heart was pure as the grains of living pearl; a man grave and kind, rich also in cattle and elephants, yet not arrogant with riches, charitable, alms-giving, reverencing the Brahman and the ascetic, walking in peace in the way of ancient pieties, with thoughts of his own to think as he raised his eyes to the mountains, awful in the heavens as intermediaries between men and Gods. ”

“ Wylie, we attended a reception at the Maharaja's palace. The durbar hall, which was filled with men in uniform, was of beautiful proportions, and very handsomely decorated and furnished. After the usual introductions and some conversation with the chief officers, we were invited to visit the Maharani in her own apartments, and having ascended a flight of steps and passed through numerous corridors and luxuriously furnished rooms, we were shown into a spacious apartment, the prevailing colour of which was rose, lighted by lamps of the same colour. ”

“ The Maharaja having devoted a chapter to courage now shows his own, by entering the nursery, wherein he wisely deprecates intellectual forcing, urges that Hindu teachers are best for Hindu girls, and that European tutors for boys, themselves need supervision. ”

“ When the day came the mahout had a slight touch of fever and couldn't go, but he told his nephew to drive the boys there instead. Maharaj didn't like Piroo at all, and made a fuss at having to go without the mahout, for which he got a hot scolding. Then there were tears and pet names and much coaxing before Maharaj consented to go.
"Thou art indeed nothing but a great child that will go nowhere unless I lead thee by the hand, with no more heart in thy big carcase than my babe, who without doubt shall grow big and thrash thee soundly. ”

“ In 1893 the Maharajah was married to a princess of the well-known Surgoja House in Udayapur (Chota Nagapur) . The fruit of this union is Sri Sri Sri Ramachandra Deo born on the 17th December, 1893. The Government of India in recognition of the merit and qualifications of the Prince conferred on him the personal distinction of Maharajah in 1896, which was originally owned by his ancestors both before and after the advent of the British. The Maharajah went to Madras in
The Kumara Rajah of Jeypore. ”

“ Few Parliamentary candidates in these days dare say as much! The Maharaja deals with religious questions in a down-right practical manner, the applications of which throughout the world's history would have changed the history of the world. ”

“ During his minority Hyderabad was wisely administered by Sir Salar Jung, who initiated a form of government which was most beneficial to his State.
The Maharaja of Mysore is the ruler of a State in southern India of a total area of 80,000 square miles, containing a population of 5,500,000, and yielding a revenue of about £1,500,000. It is an ancient Hindu dynasty which has undergone strange vicissitudes. ”

“ His Honour's aide-de-camp will follow shortly with an invitation to Government House while you remain in Bombay—which will not be many days, I don't doubt, for there is nothing in this city of plague to stop for. Later on, during your progress up country, I do myself the honour to hope that you will stay as my guests for as long as you choose at Moozuffernuggar.'
My first impulse was to answer: 'Impossible, Maharajah; we couldn't dream of accepting your kind invitation.' But on second thoughts, I remembered my duty to my proprietor. Journalism first: inclination afterwards! ”

“ Next morning the Queen-Empress drove with her suite in attendance to the Fort and Palace at Bundi, through which the Maharao Raja had the honour of conducting Her Imperial Majesty. Thence she proceeded by motor, still attended by the Maharao Raja, to the Sar Bagh, Shikar Burj and Phul Sagar, returning to the camp for luncheon. At 2-30 P. M. the Maharao Raja came to take leave of Her Imperial Majesty who afterwards left Bundi by motor for Kctah. ”

“ Moreover, the characteristic peculiarities of Mahārāṣṭri, for instance, as have been noted in the aforesaid works, are not what can be shown to bear genetic affinities with the modern vernaculars of the Mahārāṣṭra country. If really the Mahārāṣṭri প্রাকৃত was based upon a living vernacular, we must say, that either the old ethnic element has disappeared from the Mahārāṣṭra country, or that by virtue of a serious revolution, a new ethnic element of dominating nature has come into the composition of the people of the country. ”

“ The Maharajah I first saw, without his wife, at the Calcutta Races; then I realised what a handsome husband his handsome wife had. Naturally enough, the Cooch Behar children are exceptionally pretty. It was in Darjeeling that I used to see them. The Maharajah of Cooch Behar and his wife stand for all that is best and wisest in Indian life. Their culture is broadly cosmopolitan, their loyalty to their own people is deep and tireless, but not pedantic nor narrow. They adore and adorn the country of their birth. They greatly credit the country of their allegiance. ”

“ October 3.—Took the road once more, and started for Muree. Our train was increased by a couple of volunteer native travellers, who were glad of our society in order that they might get clear of the Maharajah’s dominions with as little questioning as possible. Our coolies numbered twenty-six, so that altogether our forces now reached to thirty-eight. After a fine march, we halted at Nowshera, where the dashing river afforded us an exciting swim before breakfast. ”