148
personally. But I had to look untroubled and
unhurt; and my reply was : " He was so great
that it is difficult for ordinary minds nowadays
to understand his greatness/' I am not sure
whether this Parthian dart touched the questioner
below the skin, but I had relieved my feelings by
discharging it.
Salar Jung's greatness lay in his penetration
and his foresight, in his unerring judgment and
his calm decision. This was followed up by
appropriate and adequate action carefully planned
and unfalteringly pursued. The period between
^1 the ?4th and 2Qth years of his age was filled with
the gravest concerns. He had first to save Hyder-
abad from self-destruction, and then to save India
from the horrors of civil war. Hyderabad was
on the verge of ^bankruptcy, when he became
Dewan, and many of the districts were in the
hands of the Arab Chiefs and other depredators
who had lent the State money and were thus
repaying themselves. They had become farmers
of revenue and their own paymasters, and often
defied higher authority. The young Minister,
though a novice in public affairs, was yet able
to manage them with his fine tact and firmness,
so as to pay them off and get back the districts
to be administered under his own direction. He
then proceeded to settle the system under which
Revenue administration was to be carried on in
future, and at a later stage facilitated control by
the distribution of the whole country into Divisions
and Districts, Another and greater achievement