Page:The Autobiography of an Indian Princess.djvu/58

44 and guardian. The Maharajah remained in Patna for five years, during which time he and Mr. Kneller visited the North- Western Provinces, Oudh, and the Punjab, and in 1877 the Maharajah attended the Durbar at Delhi, when the Queen was proclaimed Empress of India. The Viceroy, the late Lord Lytton, received the young ruler most cordially, and presented him with the Kaisar-i-Hind medal. Now for the first time the Maharajah was saluted with thirteen guns, and had a European guard of honour to attend him.

So far the experiment of training the ideal ruler for the ideal state had succeeded beyond the highest expectations of the Government. The Maharajah had become a clever young man and a keen sportsman and, as Mr. Dalton remarked at the Chaurakaran ceremony at Cooch Behar in 1876, "His Highness is fond of his native soil and the people, and enjoys himself thoroughly, taking an interest in everything." But now arose the question of the future. To ensure final success for the Government's scheme, it was necessary that the young ruler should marry an equally advanced girl, who would second him in his (and incidentally the Government's) efforts for Cooch Behar.

The difficult problem then arose as to whether an educated wife would agree to the polygamy hitherto customary with Maharajahs, and to adopt the many old-fashioned ideas and ways of a Hindu Court. The Government was keenly alive to the