CHAPTER XXIII
ALWAR
HE superior tourist in India usually makes a point of his acquaintance with rulers of native states, generally harps on the fact unduly, and raises bitterness in the heart of the plain tourist and common sight-seer, who cannot refer casually to the rajas, diwans, residents, and political agents he knows. "I was the guest of the raja at So-and-So," "I was put up at the maharaja's bangla in Here-and-There," say such enviable beings. One listens with envy and deep humility if he does not know that a card from one's consul, even a courteously worded note from the tourist himself, will secure one the privilege of stopping at the government rest-house or raja's bangla in a native state—at a fixed price for his lodging and carriage. One makes the usual grand tour and sees the great sights of India without leaving British territory, although one third of the area and one fifth the population of India are under native rule. Hyderabad in the Deccan, where the Nizam rules twelve millions of people occupying a territory as large as Italy, Udaipur (spelled in seventy-two different ways), Jodh-
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