Sindhia, the
chief of Gwalior, is one of the surviving members of this great
confederacy--the rest are the Holkars of Indore, the Bhonslas of
Nagpur, and the Gaikwars of Baroda,[16] the grandchildren of the
commandants of predatory armies, who formed capital cities out of
their standing camps in the countries they invaded and conquered in
the name of their head, the Satara Raja,[17] and afterwards in that
of his mayor of the palace, the Peshwa. There is not now the
slightest feeling of nationality left among the Maratha States,
either collectively or individually.[18] There is not the slightest
feeling of sympathy between the mass of the people and the chief who
rules over them, and his public establishments. To maintain these
public establishments he everywhere plunders the people, who most
heartily detest him and them. These public establishments are
composed of men of all religions and sects, gathered from all
quarters of India, and bound together by no common feeling, save the
hope of plunder and promotion. Not one in ten is from, or has his
family in, the country where he serves, nor is one in ten of the same
clan with his chief.
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