The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c21.16.1

c21.16.1

It is, however, Râjpûtânâ which furnishes the most striking example of the survival of Hindu institutions in the North. Here the Râjpûts established themselves after they had been driven out of the Gangetic plains. Though forced to acknowledge Muslim suzerainty from time to time, the Râjpût States, with the exception of Ajmer, the *point d'appui*, were never annexed to Muslim empire. In the eighteenth century and early years of the nineteenth, the Marâthâs harassed the Râjpûts but did not extinguish their autonomy. In modern times the British Government has left them pretty much to themselves. The old institutions were certainly modified by three factors—the presence of a large aboriginal population, constant pressure from outside and the example of Muslim organisation. Nevertheless, before modern influences and, particularly, the modern means of communication, warfare and industrial organisation affected Râjpûtânâ, its institutions resembled those of ancient India in many points. In Tod's Annals and Antiquities of Râjasthân, supplemented by more recent additions to our knowledge, Râjpûtânâ appears in some respects as a miniature edition of ancient India.² The small size of the state, internecine warfare, relationships of suzerainty and vassalage, constant attempts to throw off the yoke—all this carries the mind to the ancient age.