" To the honourable men of the past the term,
'Mulki/ connoted, above everything else, a sense
of sincere devotion to the country which they
felt to be their own ; and an inchoate patriotism
lay deep in every heart. Their impulse always
was to give something of their own to their
country—talent, labour and good-will, as the
general tendency, nowadays, is to take something
from the country—official promotion, money,
lands, etc. People's common feeling then was
that the country was their home, and that its chest
contained their own savings which ought to be
used with care and kept for the benefit of coming
generations. Men's common feeling now is that
the country, the Sirkar, the public chest —
all belong to them as property! The result is
that every man's hand seems to be advancing
towards the public chest, and innumerable are
the pretexts by which the dexterous approach is
justified. Even learning is exploited (to use their
favourite phrase) as a means to this end/
Intrigue and Influence
" What usually gives rise to intrigue in Indian
States is perhaps the easy credulity of those in
authority, worked on by the designing selfishness
of low-minded but sharp-witted persons.
" There have been seen various types of intri-
guers in Hyderabad in the past: (i) the learned,
able, apparently refined, suave and * dignified
personage whose dreams were of higher position
and more influence ; (2) the clever, unscrupu-
lous, resourceful adventurer who reached out for