136 



The Revif.w of Reviews. 



not, in the very nature of things, have followed the 

 hoary precedents or the examples of his brother 

 Princes in paying homage to their liege lord, 

 without turning his back upon his 

 highest ideals. Apart from being the 

 ruler of a large State, Sayaji Rao i^ 

 a modern Indian. He is a fine com- 

 bination of all that is best in the East 

 and the \\'est. With martial Mahratta 

 blood flowing in his veins, with a 

 dual education, partaking of the best 

 methods and ideals of the Hindu and 

 I'^nglish systems, with his man y extended 

 tours in Asia, America, and Europe, he 

 is neither of the Orient nor of the Occi- 

 dent, but of both. In this circum- 

 stance, he could not have comported 

 himself at the Imperial Assemblage 

 at Delhi as an Indian of the old 

 school any more than he acts like an 

 old-fashioned Indian in his daily life 

 at home and abroad. 



Indeed, the days when Orientals 

 used to grove! on their stomachs in 

 the dirt in order to express a respectful 

 attitude are fast disappearing, never to 

 return. Instead of this, the natives of 

 Hindostan are acquiring independence 

 of character, and are learning to show 

 their esteem and respect on Occidental 

 lines. This transition is confined only 

 to tho.se educated in modern schools. 

 But the change has taken place to 

 such an extent that the aliens in the 

 Oriental Dependency have noticed it 

 in the members of the new intellectual 

 aristocracy that is rapidly coming to 

 the forefront in India. According to 

 their bias for or against democracy, 

 the \Vesterners who witness this trans- 

 formation talk of it in appreciative or 

 denunciatory terms. Sayaji Rao III. 

 belongs to this new intellectual aristo- 

 cracy of Hindostan. Though he has 

 committed many strategic mistakes, 

 still the Maharaja of Baroda is looked 

 upon as a man standing high in the 

 category of representatives of the new 

 type of Indian. 



But since the Gaekwar has been 

 educated (by the Britisii themselves, 

 be it remembered) out of his Oriental 

 ways, one of which, no doubt, is the 

 servile expression of respect to his 

 superiors in ])osition and prestige, it 

 is idle and foolish to brand him a 

 rebel. He has publicly disclaimed 

 disloyalty to pax Biitaiinicd, antl 

 considering the fact that the British 

 Government transplanted him from a 



farm to the palace at Baroda, remembering that, in 

 the twinkling of an eye, the I'-nglish can dethrone 

 him, and not forgetting that no revolt on his High- 



' t 

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The Gaekwar's daughter. Princess Indirataja. 



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