Page:History of India Vol 8.djvu/532

470 SUBMISSION OF THE MAHARAJA DHULIP SINGH TO SIR HENRY HARDINGE, AT KANHA CUSHWA, FEB. 19, 1846.

Now, the origin and extension of British protectorates on the Asiatic mainland follow a clear and almost uniform process of development. Just as a fortress or a line of entrenchments requires an open space around or in front of it, so it is manifestly advantageous for the security of an outlying frontier province to keep the foreign territory adjoining it free from the intrusion or occupation of powerful neighbours. There is no great objection to neighbours who are merely troublesome, such as tribes who may be turbulent and predatory, or even petty states that may be