The Afghan soon followed to complete the work of devastation which the
Persian had begun. The warlike tribe of Rajpoots threw off the
Mussulman yoke. A band of'mercenary soldiers occupied the Rohilcund.
The Seiks ruled on the Indus. The Jauts spread terror along the Jumnah.
The high lands which border on the western sea-coast of India poured
forth a yet more formidable race--a race which was long the terror of
every native power, and which yielded only after many desperate and
doubtful struggles to the fortune and genius of England. It was under
the reign of Aurungzebe that this wild clan of plunderers first
descended from the mountains; and soon after his death every corner of
his wide empire learned to tremble at the mighty name of the Mahrattas.
Many fertile viceroyalties were entirely subdued by them. Their
dominions stretched across the peninsula from sea to sea. Their
captains reigned at Poonah, at Gualior, in Guzerat, in Berar, and in
Tanjore."
Such prose as this affects us like poetry. The pictures and suggestions
might possibly have been gathered together by any other historian; but
the artful succession, the perfect sequence, could only have been found
by a fine writer.
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