Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1891-08-21
EXTRAV AGANT RAJAHS.
LIVE AS GRANDLY AS DID THE
KINGS OF NORTHERN INDIA.

MINUS OF NUN TERN INDiA
large Armies aud Heavy Revenues-They
Wear Diamonds Large as Hickory
Nuts-A Sample City in the Heart of
India-The Shrewd Merchant.
The traveller who would see India as it
Is must go out of the regular line and
enter the native states There is in
Hlndostan territory nearly one-ffth the
size of the United States and containing
a population of more than fifty-six mill
ions, which is governed by rajahs. These
rajahs have power Of life and death
They have revenues of their own, lew
taxation as they please and organize their
/ people and armies on a different basis.
from the English portion of India. .They
are subject in a certain sense to the Eng
llsh' and most of them have English off
GERS connected with their establishments
| They are feudatory states to England
and England does not allow them to
make war upon each other, nor can they
have any relations with foreign states.
If a JAN misgoverns his people or Cd
presses them the viceroy of India re-
proves him and if he does not come to
! time secures his removal These states.
however, have none Of the new customs
of English India. Few foreigners visit
them and the people are substantially the
9S h,f Il,
railroad and the English desire for bust
ness came in to grind them up in the
mortar of modern civilization.
COVER THEMSELVES WITH GEMS.
One-third of the whole territory of India
is possessed by such rajahs and their sub
jects make up one-ffth of the inhabit-
ants Their united armies amount tc
100000 men and their gross yearly rev
enues are about $80,000 600
These rajahs live as grandly as did the
kings of northern India in the past, and
the English merchants of India cater
largely to their wants. Some of the finest
Jewelry stores in the world are here in
India, and under every glass counter you
see barbaric jewelry set with diamonds
day, one worth two and the other four
thousand dollars. The first was diamond
| of about the size of a hickory nut, set
around with cluster of small diamonds
as big as peas, and the whole affixed to Il
finger ring, containing enough gold to
make hunting case for a Waterbury
watch. The other was the same size as
to the gold, but the central stone was a
ruby fully as big as a chestnut, and the
diamonds about it were very beautiful
The tops of these rings were as large
around as old copper cents, and as |
looked at them | asked the ieweer who
would wear such gorgeous and unwieldy
objects, He replied;
ooh, we sell these to the raiahs They
want the most extravagant jewelry, and
some Of them fairly cover themselves
with gems"
AT another store was told that a raiah
had just been in and given an order for
200 yards of satin at $40 a yard He
wanted this to paper the walls of room
IN new palace and thought nothing of
FASTING this 50 900 upon the plaster. The
sultan of lahore, when | visited him in
his palace at lahore, had ropes of gold
about twice the size of a clothes line
about his wrists, and upon his fingers
wore diamond rings The fingers of the
right hand were covered from the
knuckles to the first joints with rings set
with diamonds and emeralds so that a
diamond alternated with an emerald all
over his hand, and the whole made a
blazing fist of white and green. On the
left hand the fingers were covered with
rings In the same manner, save that cost
ly rubies took the place of the emeralds
At Delhi | was shown a dressing gown
set with precious stones, which cost $50
900, and which had just been made for a
rajah, and here at Jeypore, through the
courtesy of one of the most noted raiahs
of India, | have had chance to visit his
palace, to get a glimpse of his wonderful
stables, to take a ride on one of his court
elephants, and to see the life and business
OF his capital city,
THE CITY OF JEYPORF