DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49383#0017
CHAPTER II.
THE INDIAN STATES.
The eighteenth century in Indian History marks the transition from
the Mediaeval to the Modern age. It witnessed the dismemberment
of the Moghul Empire and the disruption of the Mahratta Power.
T'he whole century at first sight presents a spectacle of unprecedented
political chaos and confusion. Yet behind this apparent chaos,
half-conscious forces were at work which were destined in the long
run to evolve a calm world and a long’ peace and to suppress the
insurrections of the brute nature of man. Viewed in this light, this
century was also a period of constructive effort in the History of
India, culminating in the final establishment of British supremacy.
By a law of political gravitation, the jarring fragments of the
disorganized Moghul Empire and of the Mahratta confederacy were
brought together under the suzerainty of the well-organized British
Power.
With the establishment of the British overlordship over the
vast continent of India, there begins a period of social and political
reconstruction on a much more magnificent scale than was ever
dreamt of by the great Emperors of Ancient or Mediaeval India. The
presence of a common sovereign has tended to weld together the
heterogeneous elements of the Indian population into the political
unity of a nation. T'he British Raj has ensured the protection of law
to all alike; has checked the incursions of the foreign races, and
guaranteed immunity from plunder and aggression to the Indians.
The blessings of the British Raj to India may be summed up in three
phrases, namely, political unity, assured peace, and the reign of law.
In this chapter, we are only concerned with the history of the
Native States in their relations with the Paramount Power. No
Empire, except that of the. British, has afforded a striking illustration of
THE INDIAN STATES.
The eighteenth century in Indian History marks the transition from
the Mediaeval to the Modern age. It witnessed the dismemberment
of the Moghul Empire and the disruption of the Mahratta Power.
T'he whole century at first sight presents a spectacle of unprecedented
political chaos and confusion. Yet behind this apparent chaos,
half-conscious forces were at work which were destined in the long
run to evolve a calm world and a long’ peace and to suppress the
insurrections of the brute nature of man. Viewed in this light, this
century was also a period of constructive effort in the History of
India, culminating in the final establishment of British supremacy.
By a law of political gravitation, the jarring fragments of the
disorganized Moghul Empire and of the Mahratta confederacy were
brought together under the suzerainty of the well-organized British
Power.
With the establishment of the British overlordship over the
vast continent of India, there begins a period of social and political
reconstruction on a much more magnificent scale than was ever
dreamt of by the great Emperors of Ancient or Mediaeval India. The
presence of a common sovereign has tended to weld together the
heterogeneous elements of the Indian population into the political
unity of a nation. T'he British Raj has ensured the protection of law
to all alike; has checked the incursions of the foreign races, and
guaranteed immunity from plunder and aggression to the Indians.
The blessings of the British Raj to India may be summed up in three
phrases, namely, political unity, assured peace, and the reign of law.
In this chapter, we are only concerned with the history of the
Native States in their relations with the Paramount Power. No
Empire, except that of the. British, has afforded a striking illustration of