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106 Holkar and the Mahrattas as refugees supplicating an alliance, and all Hindostan was in a blaze, he formed a clear conception of English strength and resources, and acquired a great respect for their character. Though a man of immense ambition, he was gifted with a far-sightedness that few Indian rulers have possessed, and one of the main lines of his policy was to keep his word with the British and avoid under all circumstances collision with them. To his death he remained with them on terms of implicit confidence and the utmost friendliness, and never ceased to impress on all around him to maintain this as they valued their independence; but that he had doubts in his mind as to what the future might bring was shown when, a short time before his death, on looking at a map of India, he asked why so much of it was coloured red, and being told it marked British territory, he said with a sigh, "It will soon be all red."

The only time when he ever apparently