KASHMIR VALLEYS 241 



extremely liberal towards those of his subjects who were 

 not co-religionists. The present Maharajah, Pertab 

 Singh, is G.C.S.I., and a worthy follower of the tradi- 

 tions of his family. Under his kind and wise rule, aided 

 and advised as he has been and is by many Englishmen 

 of influence and power, the valley bids fair to rival in 

 prosperity the most favoured parts of the world, and one 

 need not fear to be considered too sanguine if hoping 

 that the days of misery, bloodshed, and anarchy, which 

 were once so frequent in this fertile valley, are things 

 of the past, and that the far-stretching lands of H.H. 

 the Maharajah, including, besides Kashmir proper, 

 Ladakh, Gilgit, Skardo Astor, and Jammu, may 

 continue to enjoy the Pax Britannica. 



Among other innovations which have proved very 

 beneficial to the people has been the training under the 

 guidance of British officers of a certain number of men 

 as Imperial service troops. These have proved smart 

 and efficient, and their conduct goes far to support their 

 own theory that, till the virile spirit had been crushed 

 out of them by the tyranny of successive conquerors, 

 they were a warlike people. But nothing has done more 

 to raise the people than the land settlement and the 

 various edicts connected therewith, which, among other 

 benefits, did away as far as possible with the iniquitous 

 systems of forced labour till then in vogue. Now the 

 Kashmirian is, on the whole, a prosperous person, no 

 longer thwarted in all attempts at improved agriculture 

 by the increasing exactions of officials. His inborn 

 industrious habits have full play, and the naturally rich 

 soil gives forth of her best and richest. An increased 

 market, too, means higher prices, and the improvement 

 of the communications with far-distant India by means 



