viii PREFACE 



moment education is not only free, but is compulsory as well in Baroda. By 

 the enlightening and levelling influences of this system of universal education 

 His Highness hopes so to raise the lower castes that the fetters of caste itself 

 "will automatically fall away, but so gradually that the evils of a sudden 

 social revolution shall be avoided. The Maharaja is certainly entitled to be 

 considered the most important personal factor in social reform in India ; 

 indeed none but a powerful and orthodox Hindu ruler such as he is dare to 

 approach with any chance of success the domestic problems which fetter 

 Indian society. Among other measures of reform, he has done much for the 

 cause of female education, not only within the bounds of his own State but 

 throughout all Hindu India ; he is a staunch advocate of a relaxation of the 

 rigorous enforcement of the purdah system, and by his enactments he has so 

 raised the minimum marriage age, that the evils of child marriage have been 

 put an end to in Baroda. 



Those interested in the social and economic regeneration of India should 

 study well and in detail the history of Baroda during the present reign, for 

 therein they will find the record of much attempted and much accomplished 

 in spite of many failures. The present volume is the story of the work done 

 in one of these pioneering attempts. 



In conclusion, I desire to thank once more all the Baroda officials who gave 

 their ungrudging help, to me in the present investigation ; I wish them long life 

 and every possible success in their careers, and especially do I wish all honour and 

 happiness to Dewan Bahadur V. M. Samarth, who, I understand, is about to 

 retire from the service of his State at an early date. 



My hearty thanks are also due to Major A. K. Condon, the Assistant British 

 Resident at Dwarka during my visit, for his great hospitality and unvarying 

 kindness and courtesy. I shall ever retain a vivid recollection of the warmth 

 of the welcome which he was so good as to extend to me. To observe the 

 wonderfully good relations subsisting between him and the officers and men of 

 the Okha battalion was not the least interesting of my experiences, and I 



