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 more than its previous prosperity, and when the State was made over to the young Chief on attaining his majority in 1887, he entered into an agreement to abide by the form of government which had been so long enforced, to respect all laws and regulations passed by that Government, and to act in conformity with the advice of his Resident in all important matters. The Maharaja, who was an enlightened and well-educated Prince of great promise, died in 1895, and was succeeded by his son, the present Maharaja, during whose minority the State was administered with great ability by the Dewan Sir Shishadri Ayer. In 1902 the young Chief was duly invested with ruling powers.

The beautiful country of Kashmir, extending over 80,000 square miles, and containing a population of about 8,000,000, is ruled by His Highness the Maharaja Pratab Singh, G.C.S.I. In 1586 Kashmir was a part of the Mogul Empire, and became the summer residence of Akbar and of some of his descendants. The State was subsequently conquered, first by the Afghans and afterwards by the Sikhs. During the Sikh War it was governed by Gulab Singh (a feudatory of the Maharaja of the Punjab), to whom, after the victory of the British armies, it was conferred as an independent State, under certain conditions of alliance, by a treaty signed at Lahore in 1846. The ruling family is Dogra (Hindu), but at least three-fourths of the population of Kashmir are Mohammedan. The State includes the provinces of Jammu and Punch, and the subordinate and tributary chiefships of Chitral, Hanza, Nagar, etc., and the governorship of Ladakh and Gilgit. The revenue of Kashmir is about £450,000. The importance of the State is emphasized by its position on the frontier of India, bordering Tibet on the east, the debatable boundary with Russia on the Pamirs on the north, and Afghanistan on the west.

It would be wearisome to recount in detail our relations with all the minor States of the Punjab, Central India (including Bandelkhand, Baghelkhand, and Malwa),