Maharashtra

“ To cover the Presidency with a net-work of schools was only a part of their aspirations. They wanted to do something more; they wanted to educate the masses by imparting to them democratic ideas and enlightening them on the true state of the country. The birth of the New English School on the one hand and of the Kesari and the Mahratta on the other, heralded in Maharashtra a new era and galvanised its public life and the credit of this achievement must be given to Chiploonkar, Tilak and Agarkar. ”

“ WHILE the Social Reformers were remarrying widows and breaking castes with the ultimate object of making the people fit for political rights, Mr. Tilak was labouriouly striving to infuse vigour into the public mind by his passionate appeals to the great traditions of our History, Religion and Society. He inaugurated the Ganapati and the Shivaji festivals, which in spite of the bitter attacks of Moderates and the hostile attitude of the Government have now come to form a permanent feature of the social life of Maharashtra. ”

“ If the credit of popularising the Congress work in Maharashtra can be claimed by any one, it can be by Mr. Tilak. The Congress itself was an institution after western models; its leaders, so far at least as the land of the Marathas was concerned, were chiefly Government servants and pensioners, titled nonentities and self-seeking youngsters. Add to this; the controversies in connection with the Age of Consent Bill, Sharada Sadan and the Hindu-Mahomedan riots, controversies in which Mr. Tilak had to take a definitely hostile attitude towards the Reformers of the day. ”

“ On the way the travellers descry the Sumeru mountain, the Malaya mountain, the Dandaka forest, the mountain Prasravana, the Godaveri river, mount Malyavan, Kundinipura in the Maharashtra country, the shrine of Bhimeswara, the city of Kanchi, Ujayin, the temple of Mahakala, Mahishmati the capital of Chedi, the Jumna and Ganga rivers, Varanasi, Mithila or Tirhut, and Champa near Bhagalpur. ”

“ The name does not indicate a social caste, or a religious sect; it is not even tribal. Strictly, it is confined to the upper class from whom Sivaji’s generals were mostly drawn, and who sometimes claim a Rajput origin. In a wider sense it may be extended to include all who inhabit Maharashtra and speak Mahratti as their mother-tongue. In 1901 the total number of speakers of Mahratti in all India exceeded 18 millions.
The Mahrattas have always been a separate nation or people, and still regard themselves as such, though nowadays they are almost all under British or Mahommedan jurisdiction ”

“ Now it should be noted here in passing, that with the exception of boycott and volunteering, every other item in the above propaganda had been more or less tried and with varying success in all parts of the country, but more particularly in the Punjab and Maharashtra before this. The Deccan education Society and the Poona Fergusson College were the offshoots of the desire to further the cause of education by self imposed sacrifices, with the underlying motives of quickening the patriotic impulse and the Nationalist spirit. ”

“ If there is only one well in the village he may not use it, but has to get his water where he can. His sons are consigned to a corner in the village school, and [146] the schoolmaster, if not superior to caste prejudices, discourages their attendance. Nevertheless, Mahārs will not remain for years downtrodden in this fashion, and are already pushing themselves up from this state of degradation. In some places they have combined to dig wells, and in Nāgpur have opened a school for members of their own community. Occasionally a Mahār is the most prosperous man in the village. ”

“ Cultivators from western India came and settled on the land, and the existing population are of the same castes as the Marātha country or Bombay. But prior to the Marātha conquest Berār and the Nimar District of the Central Provinces had been included in the Mughal empire, and traces of Mughal rule remain in a substantial Muhammadan element in the population. To the south the Chānda District runs down to the Godāvari river, and the southern tracts of Chānda and Bastar State are largely occupied by Telugu immigrants from Madras. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Next morning they returned to the capital of the island, took me with them, and presented me to their king. He asked me who I was, and by what adventure I had come into his dominions. After I had satisfied him, he ordered that I should want for nothing.
Being a merchant, I frequented men of my own profession, and particularly inquired for those who were strangers, that perchance I might hear news from Bagdad, or find an opportunity to return. For the Maharaja's capital is situated on the sea-coast, and has a fine harbor, where ships arrive daily from the different quarters of the world. ”

“ It was for some time doubtful whether the Government would recognize the adoption, as, after the death of the Maharajah, it had been generally assumed that the province would be annexed, but in April, 1867, the Home Government decided that it should be recognized, and on September 23rd, 1868, six months after the death of Krishna Rajah, his adopted son, Chama Rajendra Wodeyar Bahadur, at that time between five and six years old, was duly installed at Mysore, and it was then decided that the country should remain under British administration till the Maharajah came of age. ”

“ 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! ”

“ Go into a village which is partially inhabited by these unfortunate people, mostly called Mahars in that part of India, and you will find that they are forbidden even to draw water from any but their own wells, as by drawing it from wells used by caste Hindus they would render them impure. In the larger urban schools under Government control British laws, which recognise no caste distinctions, enforce the admission of Mahar boys, some of whom do extremely well. ”

“ As from the appointed day,—
the Madras enclaves in Hyderabad shall cease to form part of the Province of Madras; the Hyderabad enclaves in Madras shall be included in and form part of the Province of Madras; the boundaries of the Province of Madras shall be so altered as to exclude from them the Madras enclaves in Hyderabad and to comprise within them the Hyderabad enclaves in Madras. As from the appointed day,—
the Bombay enclaves in Hyderabad shall cease to form part of the Province of Bombay; the Hyderabad enclaves in Bombay shall be included in, and form part of, the Province of Bombay ”

“ The most valuable district which the Raja of Nepal possesses, is that which formed the western division of the principality, founded by Lohangga, although the district called Mahatari has been separated, and annexed to the Subah of Saptari. The Subah of this district resides usually at Makwanpur, on the hills, but, in the cold season, he visits the plains and resides at Baragarhi, from whence he is often called the Baragarhi Subah. His jurisdiction extends from the Rato, on the east, to the Trisul Gangga, and Gandaki, on the west ”

“ Long before Europeans settled in India, the Mahrattas were the chief tribe in the region north, south, and east of the present city of Bombay. After many struggles against the competitors for the throne of Delhi, the Mahrattas were left in possession of a sovereign state, of which Satara and Poonah were the chief cities. From 1707 till 1818, the nominal sovereign or rajah of the Mahrattas had no real power ”

“ The Maharajah and Maharani always spend some months of the year at Kuch Behar, the capital of their little territory, where they have a fine estate; but during the hot weather they usually follow the example set them by English people, and go to the hills, either to Darjiling or Simla, where they mix a good deal in society. They keep up the native custom of having many members of their family to live with them, and their "house-party" is always a large one. They have several children, of whom the youngest, born soon after their return from England, is named Victor in honour of Her Majesty. ”

“ Under them the cultivators are by British arrangements placed in the position of peasant proprietors. The village community has always existed as the social unit in the Mahratta territories, though with less cohesion among its members than in the village communities of Hindustan and the Punjab. The ancient offices pertaining to the village, as those of the headmen (patel) , the village accountant, &c., are in working order throughout the Mahratta country.
The Mahratta peasantry possess manly fortitude under suffering and misfortune. ”

“ There are indeed still three large native states nominally Mahratta: that of Sindhia near the borders of Hindustan in the north, that of Holkar in Malwa in the heart of the Indian continent, and that of the gaekwar in Gujarat on the western coast. But in these states the prince, his relatives and some of his ministers or officials only are Mahrattas; the mass of the people belong to other sections of the Hindu race. These states then are not to be included in the Mahratta nation, though they have a share in Mahratta history. ”

“ Roughly there are four great sections of the population: the Mahratta section, who belong to the ruling circles; the Rajputs, who are also hereditary noblemen; the trading classes, consisting chiefly of Marwaris and Gujaratis; and lastly, the jungle tribes of Dravidian stock. The Mahrattas are foreigners, and, though rulers of the greater part of Central India, have no true connexion with the soil and are little met with outside cities, the vicinity of courts, and administrative centres. The Rajputs with all their endless ramifications form a large portion of the population. ”

“ The social position of the Mahārs is one of distressing degradation. Their touch is considered to defile and they live in a quarter by themselves outside the village. They usually have a separate well assigned to them from which to draw water, and if the village has only one well the Mahārs and Hindus take water from different sides of it. Mahār boys were not until recently allowed to attend school with Hindu boys, and when they could not be refused admission to Government schools, they were allotted a small corner of the veranda and separately taught. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Madras is the third city in population of India, or next to Bombay, with 452,518 souls, by the census published last year. It is on the Coromandel coast, which is nearly the whole of the Madras Presidency. It is nearly the entire western shore of the Sea of Bengal, including the bay, as the northern part of it is called in modern times. There is scarcely a single safe harbor for large vessels. ”

“ 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. ”

“ There is no one in the Maharaja's employ fit for the post, and the selection would need particular care. The situation is this: no Native could administer the affairs of Jammu and Kashmir unless he is not only the exceptionally strong Character but also exceptionally honest; and, in any case he would require besides the full support of the Government of India. If a weak man is chosen he will succumb to local intrigue, notwithstanding all the support which tile Government may give him; and, if he is not honest, he will yield to the temptations with which the place abounds, and go with the swim. ”

“ Now if they do this in the capital, what damage must they not do to the crops in the district? Men said that they did a very great deal of damage, and it was hard to keep their noses out of anything they took a fancy to. On the evening of the Englishman's visit, the Maharaja went out, as is his laudable custom, alone and unattended, to a road actually in the city along which one specially big pig was in the habit of passing. His Highness got his game with a single shot behind the shoulder, and in a few days it was pickled and sent off to the Maharana of Udaipur, as a love-gift. ”