Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v3.c42.s2.t1.96

v3.c42.s2.t1.96

The love of country and the passion for possessing land are strong throughout Rajputana : while there is a hope of existence the cultivator clings to the bapota, and in Haraoti this amor patriae is so invincible, that, to use their homely phrase, “ he would rather fill his pet in slavery there, than live in luxury abroad.” But where could they fly to escape oppression ? All around was desolation ; armies perambulated the country, with rapid strides, in each other’s train, “ one to another still succeeding.” To this evil Kotah was comparatively a stranger ; the Protector was the only plunderer within his domains. Indeed, the inhabitants of the surrounding States, from the year 1865, when rapine was at its height, flocked into Kotah, and filled up the chasm which oppression had produced in the population. But with the banishment of predatory war, and the return of industry to its own field of exertion, this panacea for the wounds which the ruler has inflicted will disappear ; and although the vast resources of the regent’s mind may check the appearance of decay, while his faculties survive to superintend this vast and complicated system, it must ultimately, from the want of a principle of permanence, fall into rapid disorganization. We proceed to the details [541] of the system, which will afford fresh proofs of the talent, industry, and vigilance of this singular character.