never strong enough to set up a lasting power. The CHAPTER VII. other states seized upon every chance of asserting their own independence; and the hegemony which individual princes were able to establish seldom outlived more than a few generations.

tutions.

Every state had its own prince, its own feudatory Rajpoot constichieftains, and its own separate constitution. The demesne of the prince occupied the centre of his dominion; whilst the fiefs of his several chieftains were distributed around. The royal demesne had a tendency to diminish with the grant of new fiefs; but at times it had a tendency to expand with new acquisitions arising from lapses or forfeitures. Originally the princes and their respective chieftains formed a military aristocracy. Each prince had probably in ancient times his own special band of companions, sworn to live or die in his defence. It seems probable that in Rajpootana, as in Europe, the close personal tie between the prince and his followers was superseded by a feudal relation between lord and vassal. Traces of the original institution were to be found at a comparatively recent period amongst the Rajpoot principalities of the Peninsula. Each prince had also his own council of chieftains, in which all questions were discussed, whether of local or imperial interest. The Ranas of Meywar were nominally the sovereign lords of all. On grand occasions, when the general peace or welfare were concerned, the Rana convened a great assembly of all the princes and chieftains of Rajast'han. Accordingly, as every subject had been pre

39 See especially Marco Polo's account of the five kings of the Tamil country, which will be brought under 1eview in chap. viii.

CHAPTER VII. viously discussed in the local councils, every prince and chieftain of the separate states attended the Rana's assembly, fully prepared to take his part in the imperial council.

Civil administration.

Civil administration of Ava

ma.

It would, however, appear that, in the progress of political development, the Rana of Meywar seems to have called in the aid of a civil power to neutralize the encroachments of military feudatories. Tod alludes to the "good times" of Meywar, in which the Rana was aided by a council of four ministers of the crown and their deputies; and promulgated all the legislative enactments in which the general rights and wants of the community were involved. In this civil administration neither the feudatory princes, nor their respective chieftains, had any share or concern.40 Tod is unable to furnish any explicit information upon the development of this system of civil government. The wars between the Mahrattas and Rajpoots, which prevailed during the greater part of the eighteenth century and the earlier part of the nineteenth, had reduced the old Rajpoot constitutions to a state of comparative chaos.

Fortunately the existing constitution of the or upper Bur- kingdom of Ava, or upper Burma, will be found to throw considerable light upon the subject." The sovereigns of Burma claim with some show of reason to be of Rajpoot descent. Their usages and ideas are in general accordance with those of the ancient Kshatriyas. But the power of the old military

40 Tod's Rajasthan, vol. i. Feudal System in Rajast'han, chap. ii.

41 The statements as regards the existing constitution of the kingdom of Ava are chiefly based upon certain notes which were taken by the author during a semi-political mission to Mandalay and Bhamo in the year 1870. They are, however, in general accordance with the information supplied by F. Sangermano, "Description of the Burmese Empire." Rome, 1833.

feudatories has been crushed out by the growth of an CHAPTER VII. official and non-hereditary nobility. The consequence has been, that the Burmese constitution has neither an aristocratic element nor a popular one. It consists of mere civil and military officials, whose title and position entirely depend upon the will of the sovereign. It is thus a bureaucracy of the worst form, for it is altogether wanting in that hereditary influence and national spirit, which are necessary to impart stability and consistency to the imperial rule.

councils.

The central authority at Mandalay, the present Two great capital of Burma, directs and controls the entire administration of the kingdom. It consists of two great councils, namely,

1st. The supreme council and high court of appeal, known as the IIlot-dau.

2nd. The privy or palace council, known as the Byadeit.

or supreme

The Hlot-dau, or supreme council of Ava, cor- The Hlot-dau, responds to the royal council of four ministers of the council. crown, and their deputies, which is mentioned by Colonel Tod. It may therefore be accepted as a modern development of the royal council which existed under the old Ranas of Meywar. It exercises all the powers of a senate, a high court, and a cabinet. Its functions are legislative, judicial, and executive. As a senate, it possesses a constitutional power of veto to any act or order of the king. As a high court of civil and criminal justice, it tries all important cases, and is the highest court of appeal. As a cabinet, it exercises all the powers of government; and every order of the king is issued by the Hlot-dau in the name of the ministers of whom the

CHAPTER VII. Court is composed. The court consists of the four Woongyees, or great ministers, and the four Woondouks, or assistant ministers. The crown prince is ex-officio president of the council; but a still higher throne is set apart for the king, on which his majesty occasionally takes his seat.

The Bradeit,

or privy council.

Substitution of officialism for

feudalisın.

The Byadeit, or palace council, is still more closely associated with the king, and it is doubtful whether it ever existed in Meywar. It consists of four ministers of the interior, who are the private advisers of the king, and take charge of the treasury, and all receipts and disbursements.

The Illot-dau, or supreme council, and the Byadeit, or privy council, thus form the two governing departments of the administration of Ava. Like the courts of the Normans and Plantagenets, both departments invariably accompany the king whenever he makes a progress within his own dominions. But in upper Burma, the old feudal element, which still prevails in Rajpootana, has entirely passed away. The two councils are composed of subservient smooth-tongued officials, whose ideas and aspirations are all centred in the king. They are the shadow without the substance of a constitution. They, however, serve to give a seeming permanence to the government of the kingdom, and perhaps hold it together, in the same way that officialism and routine held together the Byzantine empire for generations after its life-blood had ebbed

away.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE BRAHMANICAL REVIVAL, A.D. 600-1600.

seventh to the seventeenth

centuries.

THE Seventeenth century ushers in the history CHAP. VIII. of modern India. In the Punjab and Hindustan India from the the Mussulmans had founded the Mogul empire, and established its ascendancy from the mountains of Bactria and Cashmere to the delta of the Ganges. In the Dekhan the lesser Mussulman sovereignties had overthrown the last of the old Hindú empires, and were engaged in wars amongst themselves, or in extending their arms into the southern Peninsula. Meantime a new power appeared in the Eastern seas, which was destined to hold an imperial sway over the whole Indian continent. In 1600 the East-India Company obtained its first charter from Queen Elizabeth. In 1605 the emperor Akber died at Agra, and was succeeded by his son Jehángír, the grandfather of Aurangzíb. In 1613 the English built their first factory at Surat, and concluded their first treaty with emperor Jehángír. In 1639 they founded Madras; in 1661 they obtained Bombay; and in 1678 they settled at Calcutta. These factories grew into cities, and became the centres of trade; they are now the capitals of the AngloIndian empire.