I.-POLITICAL..

(a)-THE STATE AND ITS RULER.

The State of Baroda is divided into four distinct blocks quite apart from each other. The southern district of Naosari lies near the mouth of the Tapti river, and is interlaced with British territory. To the north of the Narbada river is the central district of Baroda, in which the capital city is situated. Further up, and to the north of Ahmedabad, lies the rich district of Kadi with its busy towns and many industries. And far to the west, in the peninsula of Kathiawar, lie tracts of land, isolated and separated from each other, which comprise the district of Amreli. The area of the State in round numbers is eight thousand square miles, and the population is two millions. The State of Baroda, therefore, in respect of its population is a little bigger than Wales, and a little smaller than Switzerland.

The area and population of the four districts vary considerably, and are shown in the following table :

Baroda, with its capital town, is the most thickly populated district, having an average population of 336 per square mile. And the scattered district of Amreli is the most thinly populated, having scarcely 140 people to the square mile.

Over three-fourths of the entire population, or 15,46,992, are Hindus. The Musalmans number 1,65,014 or a little over one-tenth of the Hindus. Tribes or castes, low in civilisation, and returned as "Animistic," number 1,76,250. The Jains are 48,290 in number, forming less than one-thirtieth of the Hindu population. There are also 8,409 Parsees or Zoroastrians, and 7,691 Christians.

In his very interesting chapter on occupations, the Superintendent of the Census of 1901 classes the population of Baroda thus :—

...

2.87

Independent of Occupation... Among the people engaged in professions, those dealing with textile-fabrics are 68,213, workers in metals 25,029, workers in earthenware and stoneware 26,284, and workers in wood, cane, &c., 19,364. Commerce of various kinds, not including storage, support 61,080 persons.

The State of Baroda has a very interesting history which stretches back through twelve centuries.

India in the seventh century after Christ, he found the whole of Gujrat a very flourishing country, ruled by the Valabhis, who had their capital at Valabhipura. In the following century, the power of the Valabhis was broken by the Chalukya Rajputs, who conquered the kingdom and established their capital at Anhalwara-Pattan, situated within the present limits of the Baroda State. When Mahmud of Ghazni invaded Gujrat and attacked the famous temple of Somnath, the Prince of AnhalwaraPattan marched against him with a large army, and fought a decisive battle for his country and his religion. The Prince was defeated, but collected a fresh army to meet his foe again; and Mahmud avoided a second encounter by retiring across the deserts of Sindh. A succeeding Prince, Kumar Pala, favoured the Jain religion, and the Jains of Baroda assign many of their religious edifices and other public works and gifts to his reign. Altogether the Rajputs ruled for over five centuries, from the eighth to the close of the thirteenth, and some of the ruins of their temples, fortifications and edifices are still visible at Pattan. Alla-ud-din Khilji conquered the country from the Hindus, and the story of the beautiful Princesses Kamala Devi and Devala Devi, who became the wives of Alla-ud-din and his son, is one of the romances of Indian history. For some centuries Pattan continued to be the capital of Gujrat under the Mahomedan rulers; but the seat of Government was eventually removed to Ahmedabad. Gujrat threw off the yoke of Delhi and became an independent Mahomedan kingdom in the fourteenth century, but was once more brought under Northern India by Akbar the

wrecked the Mogul empire which Akbar had built up, and in the eighteenth century the Mahrattas spread over Gujrat as over other parts of India. Pilaji Rao Gaekwar and his comrades in arms firmly established themselves in Baroda in 1723; and the present ruling family has therefore a dynastic record of nearly two centuries.

Events which took place during the rule of Maharaja Malhar Rao led to his deposition in 1875, and the present Maharaja, then a young boy, was chosen for the throne of Baroda. On attainment of his majority His Highness assumed the reins of Government in 1881, and has, since then, personally directed, regulated, and supervised the administration in all departments. His Government is modelled after the system followed in British India; but modifications, required by the peculiar conditions of this State, are introduced both in legislation and in administration. The heads of the different departments deal with all matters relating to their respective work, and take the orders of His Highness on all important questions. Similarly, officers entrusted with the duty of drafting laws receive their instructions from the Maharaja, publish the first drafts in the Ajna Patrika to invite public criticism, revise the drafts in accordance with such criticism, and finally receive the sanction of His Highness to the revised draft before it is passed into law.

Reforms and changes in laws and administration, suggested by the officers of the State, receive the Maharaja's careful consideration; but in the majority of cases they are initiated by himself. A system of personal government, carried on during more than 20 years,