. India, past and present / C. H. Forbes-Lindsay. been expected to show signs ofinsubordination ; and the danger was peculiarly greatin a force composed of men differing widely fromeach other in extraction, color, language, manners andreligion. But the devotion of the little band to itschief surpassed anything that is related of the TenthLegion of Ca?sar, or the Old Guard of sepoys came to Olive, not to complain of theirscanty fare, but to propose that all the grain shouldbe given to the Europeans, who required more nour-ishment than the natives of Asia. The thin gruel,they said,
. India, past and present / C. H. Forbes-Lindsay. been expected to show signs ofinsubordination ; and the danger was peculiarly greatin a force composed of men differing widely fromeach other in extraction, color, language, manners andreligion. But the devotion of the little band to itschief surpassed anything that is related of the TenthLegion of Ca?sar, or the Old Guard of sepoys came to Olive, not to complain of theirscanty fare, but to propose that all the grain shouldbe given to the Europeans, who required more nour-ishment than the natives of Asia. The thin gruel,they said, which was strained away from the rice,would suffice for themselves. History contains nomore touching instance of military fidelity, or of theinfluence of a commanding mind. At last, on the great day of the Muharram, thebesiegers made an attack in full force, and the fam-ished and well nigh exhausted defenders made asupreme call upon their fainting energies to meet theonslaught. An hour of terrific fighting ensued. Entrance to the Palace—Madura. MADURA. 207 Each successive advance was repelled in band-to-hand encounter. At length superior numbers gaveway before indomitable determination. The attackersbroke into disorderly retreat, abandoning their campand guns to the garrison. Centuries before the Muhammadans invaded IndiaMadura was the capital of a large and powerful king-dom, and the centre of the learning and religion ofthe southern peninsula. Of the princes who haveruled here in the past none has left a name so famousas that of Tirumala Kajiik, whose brilliant reign ofthirty-six years occurred in the first half of the sev-enteenth century. He was the Shah Jahan of theKarnatik—the master-builder of Southern India. Themagnificent structures which originated with him areeverywhere in evidence. His palace has been restored, and now has some-thing of a modern aspect, due to the application ofwhite and yellow plaster to its native granite. Whathas been lost in artistic effect
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Keywords: ., bookauthorforbesli, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1903
