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THE NATIVE STATES

688

elephant, or even shot a tiger or stuck a pig, goes away delighted with his visit, but more than ever mystified as to what it all means, and how it comes about that such an institution as a Native State, or such an anomaly as a ruling Chief with his court, and his nobles, and his army, and his officials, and his subjects, and all the paraphernalia of Oriental sway, can possibly exist in the India of the twentieth century, and within from fifteen to twenty days* journey from Charing Cross. And yet there is no reason why anyone should be amazed; the history of feudatory'^[1] India is no sealed book, and it is only because the fact is lost sight of in the general impression that India is the greatest dependency of the Crown of England, that those who come out in yearly increasing numbers to see India forget that the Native States are an integral part of the Empire, and that they are an important feature in its constitution and its strength. The States cover an area of 688,462 square miles, or about one-third of the whole of India: they contain nearly 68,000,000 subjects, or about one-fourth of the total Indian population, and yield to the Chiefs gross receipts of more than £18,000,000, or about one-sixth of the revenues of British India. There are in all some 600 States, but of these about 500 are insignificant in size and status; many of them are tributary to the larger principalities, while others are held under guarantee or direct from the

↑ The word 'feudatory' in this application does not imply that there is any real analogy between the relations of the Native States to the British Government and the incidents of ancient feudal tenure. No doubt some of the minor States are grants from the British Crown, to the tenure of which personal duties and military service are attached as incidents and conditions. But the resemblance to the feudal system is at best superficial and unreal. The expression 'feudatory States,' though, perhaps, calculated to mislead, has come into very general use of late years, merely from want of a better or more convenient term to denote the subordination of territorial sovereignties to a common superior, combined with the obligation to discharge certain duties and render certain services to that superior.—Sir Charles Aitchison, 1880.

[1] The word 'feudatory' in this application does not imply that there is any real analogy between the relations of the Native States to the British Government and the incidents of ancient feudal tenure. No doubt some of the minor States are grants from the British Crown, to the tenure of which personal duties and military service are attached as incidents and conditions. But the resemblance to the feudal system is at best superficial and unreal. The expression 'feudatory States,' though, perhaps, calculated to mislead, has come into very general use of late years, merely from want of a better or more convenient term to denote the subordination of territorial sovereignties to a common superior, combined with the obligation to discharge certain duties and render certain services to that superior.—Sir Charles Aitchison, 1880.

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