The Fall of the Moghul Empire of Hindustan | Page 5

protection for life, property, or traffic
Uncertain reform without foreign aid
Concluding remarks
APPENDIX.
THE FALL OF THE MOGHUL EMPIRE OF HINDUSTAN.

PART I.

CHAPTER I.
Preliminary Observations on Hindustan and the City of Dehli.
THE country to which the term Hindustan is strictly and properly
applied may be roughly described as a rhomboid, bounded on the
north-west by the rivers Indus and Satlej, on the south-west by the
Indian Ocean, on the south-east by the Narbadda and the Son, and on
the north-east by the Himalaya Mountains and the river Ghagra. In the
times of the emperors, it comprised the provinces of Sirhind (or
Lahore), Rajputana, Gujrat, Malwa, Audh (including Rohilkand,
strictly Rohelkhand, the country of the Rohelas, or "Rohillas" of the
Histories), Agra, Allahabad, and Dehli: and the political division was
into subahs, or divisions, sarkars or districts; dasturs, or sub-divisions;
and parganahs, or fiscal unions.
The Deccan, Panjab (Punjab), and Kabul, which also formed parts of
the Empire in its widest extension at the end of the seventeenth century,
are omitted, as far as possible, from notice, because they did not at the
time of our narration form part of the territories of the Empire of
Hindustan, though included in the territory ruled by the earlier and
greater Emperors.
Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa also formed, at one time, an integral portion
of the Empire, but fell away without playing an important part in the
history we are considering, excepting for a very brief period. The
division into Provinces will be understood by reference to the map.
Most of these had assumed a practical independence during the first
quarter of the eighteenth century, though acknowledging a weak
feudatory subordination to the Crown of Dehli.
The highest point in the plains of Hindustan is probably the plateau on
which stands the town of Ajmir, about 230 miles south of Dehli. It is
situated on the eastern slope of the Aravalli Mountains, a range of
primitive granite, of which Abu, the chief peak, is estimated to be near
5,000 feet above the level of the sea; the plateau of Ajmir itself is some
3,000 feet lower.

The country at large is, probably, the upheaved basin of an exhausted
sea which once rendered the highlands of the Deccan an island like a
larger Ceylon. The general quality of the soil is accordingly sandy and
light, though not unproductive; yielding, perhaps, on an average about
one thousand lbs. av. of wheat to the acre. The cereals are grown in the
winter, which is at least as cold as in the corresponding parts of Africa.
Snow never falls, but thin ice is often formed during the night. During
the spring heavy dews fall, and strong winds set in from the west.
These gradually become heated by the increasing radiation of the earth,
as the sun becomes more vertical and the days longer.
Towards the end of May the monsoon blows up from the Indian Ocean
and from the Bay of Bengal, when a rainfall averaging about twenty
inches takes place and lasts during the ensuing quarter. This usually
ceases about the end of September, when the weather is at its most
sickly point. Constant exhalations of malaria take place till the return of
the cold weather.
After the winter, cacurbitaceous crops are grown, followed by sowings
of rice, sugar, and cotton. About the beginning of the rainy season the
millets and other coarse grains are put in, and the harvesting takes place
in October. The winter crops are reaped in March and April. Thus the
agriculturists are never out of employ, unless it be during the extreme
heats of May and June, when the soil becomes almost as hard from heat
as the earth in England becomes in the opposite extreme of frost.
Of the hot season Mr. Elphinstone gives the following strong but just
description: — "The sun is scorching, even the wind is hot, the land is
brown and parched, the dust flies in whirlwinds, all brooks become dry,
small rivers scarcely keep up a stream, and the largest are reduced to
comparative narrow channels in the midst of vast sandy beds." It should,
however, be added, that towards the end of this terrible season some
relief is afforded to the river supply by the melting of the snow upon
the higher Himalayas, which sends down some water into the almost
exhausted stream-beds. But even so, the occasional prolongation of the
dry weather leads to universal scarcity which amounts to famine for the
mass of the population, which affects all classes, and which is sure to

be followed by pestilence. Lastly, the malaria noticed above as
following the monsoon gives rise to special disorders which become
endemic in favouring localities, and travel thence to all parts of the
country, borne upon the winds