The chronicler of small things lies under even greater
disabilities. He has fewer facts to guide his judgment, nor is it as
easy to read small print as capital letters.
In an attempt to state the causes of the great tribal upheaval of 1897,
these difficulties are increased by the fact that no European can gauge
the motives or assume the points of view of Asiatics. It is, however,
impossible to pass the question by, and ignoring the detail, I shall
endeavour to indicate some at least of the most important and apparent
forces, which have led to the formidable combination with which the
British power in India has been confronted.
The most marked incident in the "Forward Policy" has been the retention
of Chitral. The garrisons, the road, the tribal levies have made the
tribesmen realise the proximity and the advance of civilisation. It is
possible--even probable--that with all their love of independence, the
majority of the inhabitants of the mountains would have been willing,
until their liberties were actually curtailed, to remain in passive
submission, soothed by the increase of material prosperity.
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