first adopted
under Lord W. Bentinck, prosecuted by Lord Auckland, and
superintended by two able and excellent men, Doctors Goodeve and
O'Shaughnessy. It will be one of the greatest blessings that India
has ever received from England.[6]

Notes:

1. January, 1836. The date is misprinted 20th in the original
edition.

2. _Ante_, chapter 56 [13].

3. 'Amongst the remains of former times in and around Meerut may be
noticed the Suraj kund, commonly called by Europeans 'the monkey
tank'. It was constructed by Jawahir Mal, a wealthy merchant of
Lawar, in 1714. It was intended to keep it full of water from the Abu
Nala but at present the tank is nearly dry in May and June. There are
numerous small temples, 'dharmsalas' [i.e. rest-houses], and 'sati'
pillars on its banks, but none of any note. The largest of the
temples is dedicated to Manohar Nath, and is said to have been built
in the reign of Shah Jahan. Lawar, a large village . . . is distant
twelve miles north of the civil station. . . . There is a fine house
here called Mahal Sarai, built about A.D. 1700 by Jawahir Singh,
Mahajan, who constructed the Suraj kund near Meerut' (_N.W.P.
Gazetteer_, 1st ed., vol. iii, pp. 406,400). This information,
supplied by the local officials, is more to be depended on than the
author's statement.

4. 'The "dargah" [i.e. shrine] of Shah Pir is a fine structure of red
sandstone, erected about A.D. 1620 by Nur Jahan, the wife of the
Emperor Jahangir, in memory of a pious fakir named Shah Pir. An
"urs", or religions assembly, is held here every year in the month of
Ramazan. The "dargah" is supported from the proceeds of the revenue-
free village of Bhagwanpur' (ibid., vol. iii, p. 406). The text of
the original edition gives the pilgrim's name as 'Gungishun', which
has no meaning.

5. An interesting collection of modern cases of a similar kind is
given in Balfour, _Cyclopaedia_, 3rd ed., s.v. 'Samadhi'.

6. See _ante_, chapter 15, note l4. Dr. W. B. O'Shaughnessy
contributed many scientific papers to the _J.A.S.B._ (vols. viii, ix,
x, xii, and xvi).

CHAPTER 72

Subdivisions of Lands--Want of Gradations of Rank--Taxes.

The country between Delhi and Meerut is well cultivated and rich in
the latent power of its soil; but there is here, as everywhere else
in the Upper Provinces, a lamentable want of gradations in society,
from the eternal subdivision of property in land, and the want of
that concentration of capital