DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.34827#0098
82 Zz)G <9/ cn. xm.
serve the eihciency of the mamlutdar. At present all powers
are vested in that ofEcer, and as long as the auxiliary horse and
sebundies are kept up, he has ample means of preserving order.
The only thing requisite at present is that the mamlutdar
should have higher pay, to render him more respectable and
more above temptation, and to induce the better sort, of natives
to accept the of&ce. When the sebundies are reduced in
numbers and the horse discharged, our means of preserving the
peace will be greatly weakened, at the same time that the
number of enemies to the public tranquillity will be increased :
the number of sebundies now in our pay, by giving employment
to the idle and needy, contributes, I have no doubt, more than
anything else to the remarkable good order which this part of
our new conquests has hitherto enjoyed. The mamlutdar will
also feel the want of many of the jageerdars and others of the
upper class, who used to aid his predecessors with their influence,
and even with their troops. The want of that class will be still
more felt, as a channel through which Government could re-
ceive the accounts of the districts, and of the conduct of the
mamlutdars themselves. The cessation of all prospects of a rise
will of itself, in a great measure, destroy the connection between
them and the rulers; and the natural distance which, I am
afraid, must always remain between natives and English gentle-
men will tend to complete the separation. Something may be
done by keeping up the simplicity and equality of Mahratta
manners, and by imitating the facility of access which was con-
spicuous among their chiefs. On this also the continuance of the
spirit of the people and of our popularity will probably in a great
measure, depend. Sir Henry Strachey, in his report laid before
Parliament, attributes many of the defects in our administration
in Bengal to the unmeasurable distance between us and the
natives; and afterwards adds that there is scarcely a native in
his district who would think of sitting down in the presence of
an English gentleman. Here every man above the rank of a
hircarra sits down before us, and did before the Peshwa; even
a common ryot, if he had to stay any time, would sit down on
the ground. This contributes, as far as the mechanical parts of
serve the eihciency of the mamlutdar. At present all powers
are vested in that ofEcer, and as long as the auxiliary horse and
sebundies are kept up, he has ample means of preserving order.
The only thing requisite at present is that the mamlutdar
should have higher pay, to render him more respectable and
more above temptation, and to induce the better sort, of natives
to accept the of&ce. When the sebundies are reduced in
numbers and the horse discharged, our means of preserving the
peace will be greatly weakened, at the same time that the
number of enemies to the public tranquillity will be increased :
the number of sebundies now in our pay, by giving employment
to the idle and needy, contributes, I have no doubt, more than
anything else to the remarkable good order which this part of
our new conquests has hitherto enjoyed. The mamlutdar will
also feel the want of many of the jageerdars and others of the
upper class, who used to aid his predecessors with their influence,
and even with their troops. The want of that class will be still
more felt, as a channel through which Government could re-
ceive the accounts of the districts, and of the conduct of the
mamlutdars themselves. The cessation of all prospects of a rise
will of itself, in a great measure, destroy the connection between
them and the rulers; and the natural distance which, I am
afraid, must always remain between natives and English gentle-
men will tend to complete the separation. Something may be
done by keeping up the simplicity and equality of Mahratta
manners, and by imitating the facility of access which was con-
spicuous among their chiefs. On this also the continuance of the
spirit of the people and of our popularity will probably in a great
measure, depend. Sir Henry Strachey, in his report laid before
Parliament, attributes many of the defects in our administration
in Bengal to the unmeasurable distance between us and the
natives; and afterwards adds that there is scarcely a native in
his district who would think of sitting down in the presence of
an English gentleman. Here every man above the rank of a
hircarra sits down before us, and did before the Peshwa; even
a common ryot, if he had to stay any time, would sit down on
the ground. This contributes, as far as the mechanical parts of