Page:The empire and the century.djvu/728

 his independence, and held as his own the greater part of the territory which had been assigned to his charge as the delegate of the Great Mogul. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, after the battle of Assaye, when the Duke of Wellington (then Sir Arthur Wellesley) finally broke the Mahratta power which was threatening Hyderabad, the Nizam made a treaty of alliance with the British Government; and a Resident was appointed to his Court to negotiate terms which provided for the protection of the Hyderabad dominions, and the cession of certain districts which had been allotted to the Nizam after the defeat of Tipu Sultan in 1799, the revenues of which were assigned for the maintenance of the British troops garrisoned at Hyderabad. The present Nizam—Mir Mahbub Ali Khan, G.C.B., G.C.S.I., is the fourth in descent from the founder of the dynasty in the Deccan. His Highness was invested with ruling power on attaining his majority in 1885. During his minority Hyderabad was wisely administered by Sir Salar Jung, who initiated a form of government which was most beneficial to his State.

The Maharaja of Mysore is the ruler of a State in southern India of a total area of 80,000 square miles, containing a population of 5,500,000, and yielding a revenue of about £1,500,000. It is an ancient Hindu dynasty which has undergone strange vicissitudes. The State was conquered and usurped during the eighteenth century by Haidar Ali and his son Tipu Sultan. After the Battle of Seringapatam in 1799, when Tipu was killed and his family taken prisoners by Sir Arthur Wellesley, Mysore was restored by the East India Company to the ancient line, and Krishna Raj, a descendant of the ruling family, was installed as Maharaja. This Chief was guilty of so many acts of misrule that the British Government were compelled, in 1881, to resume the administration of the State, which was, however, carried on in the name of Krishna Raj, at whose death, in 1881, an adopted son was recognised as successor. Fifty years of British administration restored Mysore to