Page:History of India Vol 8.djvu/508

450 represent the out-works of our strategical position; and from the northwest to the southeast they adjoin the dominions of two other great Asiatic empires, Russia and China. The political situation in Asia is now closely dependent upon any entanglement of the network of international relations throughout the world, so that any serious strain or rupture would be felt not only in India, but in all the adjacent countries under European influence; nor is it too much to say that the destiny of the greater part of Asia depends on the balance of power and the adjustment of forces in Europe.

The history of British dominion in India has been written, up to this point in the narrative, with little or no reference to matters of interior administration. It has described, in broad outline, the origin and expansion of British rule by territorial conquest and cessions, the gradual rise of its supremacy over all rival Indian powers, and the external policy adopted for the defence and security of our possessions. But during the latter half of the nineteenth century great internal changes have supervened; the enlargement of territory has increased the number and diversity of the population; the moral and material condition of the people has made important advances. It has, therefore, been thought expedient to complete this volume by adding some brief account of the progress of civil government, and of the reforming measures from time to time introduced, in the course of the period to which this section relates.

The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 was reactionary in its causes and revolutionary in its effects; it shook for a