1919.] | The Rajput Kingdoms of Mediaeval Chhattisgarh. 253 
“western parts of Hindustan are quartered upon the tenantry 
hs “(. e the Patels) who in return for the ac commodation and sub- 
“locks, and it is accordingly one of the most productive 
* provinces under the Berar Rajah.” 
92. According to Vans Aree the Mahratta conquest was 
not a misfortune to the acai * Judging from the present 
“‘ management for near 74 vears, the effect produced by their 
“conquest of the country must be considered to have mate- 
‘“rially promoted the civilization of the inhabitants as well as 
“the agricultural improvement of the Lands.” But this is a 
point of view which it is possible to challenge. I do not 
wish to lay stress on the confusion which arose in the later days 
of Mahratta rule when, in Vans Agnew’s often- quoted words, 
‘‘ but that of collecting by whatever means the largest amount 
*‘ possible.”” The prominence given to ‘this description of the 
Mahratta Government in the last days of its degeneracy by 
British officials obviously does injustice to their system of 
management. On the other hand I am tempted to question 
the correctness of the view that Mahratta rule ‘‘ promoted the 
“ civilization of the inhabitants and the agricultural improve- 
“ment of the land.’”’ So far as this statement is based, as 
surviving Z 
which the Mahratttas had converted into “ Segre the in- 
Moreover in spite of their direct control and their oppressive 
ep the Mahrattas never seem to have got more than 4} 
methods of administration, an anne u no concession to any 
ocal customary status. There was no give-and-take between 
the ruler and the ruled. The state in fact was, as Sir A. Lyall 
said, an organism whose sole function seemed to consist in its 
exercise of the powers of suction. It absorbed the wealth of 
