South and Eastern Asia from the earliest times to the present day : an epitome of forgotten chapters

Ultimately the Moguls established a power more durable and more extensive than any previous state, thanks partly to t he exceptional qualities of some of the Mogul emperors, thanks also to the fortunate loss of their territories beyond the Suleiman mountains. Their supremacy, however, was never carried over the whole of peninsular Ind ia.

The M aratha power indeed had begun to grow up before the Mogul empife h ad reach ed its u t most limits. Sivaj i, the founder, (about 1650) , re presented a reaction , mainly religious but partly also racial, against Mohammedan domination: but otherwise the Marathas were purely military. B eginning in t he D eccan , they spread over a great part of the northern plain , from time to t ime virtually mastering the d ecadent Moguls, and again suffering defeat from fresh invaders from beyond the Suleimans.

Such was the state of t h ings, when for the first time in the h istory the destinies of India began to depend on the sea. The discovery of the Cape route by Vasco da Gama marks t he dawn of the new era, though more than two centuries elapsed before the effect s v.ere seriously felt . One European nation a fter a n other began trading with India by sea , and managed to establish settlem ents on the coast, with no purpose beyond security for their comm erce .. . .

Clive' s conquest of lower B engal, which inevitably led by gradual steps to the B ritish conquest of India, was the victory of coherent and disciplined strength . H ere, as in other parts of the world , the civilized power has found itself virtually compelled to extend and consolidate its sway : and whether or not the benefits accruing to a conquered population t hrough peace and good government are a justification for conquest , British rule in Indi a has at least not hing to fear from comparison with similar cases elsewhere. G eograph y is indeed concerned , but only indirectly ; the unwarlike character of t he B engalis , which facilitated t he first stage of British advance, was the fruit of long ages of su bmission to foreign conquerors, against whom natu re had given t hem no sh ield . There were racial and religious differences, which on the whole helped towards the conquest, 35