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Introduction to Comparative Politics:

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8 th Edition

Introduction to
Comparative
Politics
Political Challenges and
Changing Agendas

Mark Kesselman
Columbia University

Joel Krieger
Wellesley College

William A. Joseph
Wellesley College

Australia ● Brazil ● Mexico ● Singapore ● United Kingdom ● United States

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Introduction to Comparative Politics: © 2019, 2016, 2013 Cengage Learning, Inc.
Political Challenges and Changing
Agendas, 8th Edition Unless otherwise noted, all content is © Cengage
Mark Kesselman, Joel Krieger,
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Print Number: 01   Print Year: 2017

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Brief Contents

PART I INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1: Introducing Comparative Politics 1

PART II CONSOLIDATED DEMOCRACIES


CHAPTER 2: Britain 38
CHAPTER 3: France 84
CHAPTER 4: Germany 133
CHAPTER 5: European Union 183
CHAPTER 6: Japan 228
CHAPTER 7: India 276
CHAPTER 8: The United States 324

PART III MIXED SYSTEMS


CHAPTER 9: Brazil 369
CHAPTER 10: Mexico 415
CHAPTER 11: South Africa 462
CHAPTER 12: Nigeria 509
CHAPTER 13: The Russian Federation 555

PART IV AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES


CHAPTER 14: Iran 607
CHAPTER 15: China 653

iii

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Contents

Preface  xxiii

PART I INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1 Introducing Comparative Politics 1
Mark Kesselman, Joel Krieger, and William A. Joseph

SECTION 1: Comparative Politics in a Volatile World 2


Making Sense of Turbulent Times 5

SECTION 2: What—and How—Comparative Politics Compares 6


Level of Analysis 9
Causal Theories 11

SECTION 3: Themes for Comparative Analysis 13


Theme 1: A Globalizing World of States 13
Theme 2: Governing the Economy 15
Theme 3: The Democratic Idea 17
Theme 4: The Politics of Collective Identities 20

SECTION 4: Classifying Political Systems 22

SECTION 5: Organization of the Text 26


The Making of the Modern State 26
Political Economy and Development 27
Governance and Policy-Making 27
Representation and Participation 28
Politics in Transition 28
Key Terms, Suggested Readings, and Suggested Websites 29

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Contents

PART II CONSOLIDATED DEMOCRACIES


Chapter 2 Britain 38
Joel Krieger

SECTION 1: The Making of the Modern British State 39


Politics in Action 39
Geographic Setting 39
Critical Junctures 41
The Consolidation of the British State 41   The Seventeenth-Century Settlement 43  
The Industrial Revolution and the British Empire 43   The British Empire 44  
Industrial Change and the Struggle for Voting Rights 44   World Wars, Industrial Strife,
and the Depression (1914–1945) 44   Collectivist Consensus (1945–1979) 45  
New Labour’s Third Way 45   The Conservative–Liberal Coalition 46   Brexit 47
The Four Themes and Britain 48
Britain in a Globalized World of States 48
Themes and Comparisons 50

SECTION 2: Political Economy and Development 50


State and Economy 50
Economic Management 51   The Consensus Era 51   Thatcherite Policy Orientation 52
New Labour’s Economic Policy Approach 52   The Coalition Government’s Economic
Policy 52   New Labour Becomes Old Labour Once Again 52
Social Policy 53
Society and Economy 53
Inequality and Ethnic Minorities 54   Inequality and Women 55
Environmental Issues 56
Britain in the Global Economy 56

SECTION 3: Governance and Policymaking 58


Organization of the State 58
The Executive 59
Cabinet Government 59   Bureaucracy and Civil Service 61
Public and Semipublic Institutions 63
Other State Institutions 64
The Military and the Police 64   The Judiciary 65   Subnational Government 65
The Policymaking Process 66

SECTION 4: Representation and Participation 67


The Legislature 67
The House of Commons 67   The Legislative Process 67   The House of Lords 68  
Reforms in Behavior 68   Structural Changes: Parliamentary Committees 69

vi

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Contents
th
8 Edition
Political Parties and the Party System 69
The Labour Party 69   The Conservative Party 70   Liberal Democrats 71
Elections 72
The Electoral System and the 2010 Election 72   Gender, Ethnicity,
and Representation 73   Trends in Electoral Behavior 74
Political Culture, Citizenship, and Identity 75
Social Class 75   National Identity 76
Interest Groups, Social Movements, and Protest 76
The Political Impact of Technology and the Media 77

SECTION 5: British Politics in Transition 78


Political Challenges and Changing Agendas 78
Constitutional Reform 78   Identities in Flux 79
Is Demography Destiny? 80
British Politics in Comparative Perspective 81

Chapter 3 France 84
Mark Kesselman

SECTION 1: The Making of the Modern French State 85


Politics in Action 85
Geographic Setting 86
Critical Junctures 88
Creating Modern France 88   The Ancien Régime 89   The Two Faces of the French
Revolution (1789–1815) 90   Many Regimes, Slow Industrialization (1815–1940) 90  
Vichy France (1940–1944) and the Fourth Republic (1946–1958) 91   The Fifth
Republic (1958–present) 93   2002: The Le Pen Bombshells and Their Aftermath 94  
The 2017 Presidential Elections: Reshuffling the Deck 95   France after September 11 95  
The French “Non”—Now or Forever? 96
The Four Themes and France 96
France in a Globalized World of States 96   Governing the Economy 97  
The Democratic Idea 97   Politics of Collective Identity 97
Themes and Comparisons 97

SECTION 2: Political Economy and Development 98


State and Economy 98
The New French Revolution 98   French-Style Economic Management 99   France’s
Economic Miracle 99   French Socialism in Practice—and Conservative Aftermath 99  
France’s Neoliberal Modernization Strategy 100   Assessing French Economic
Performance 101  
Society and Economy 101
Labor Relations 102   Inequality and Ethnic Minorities 102   Inequality and
Women 102   The Generation Gap 103

vii

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Contents

Environmental Issues 103


France in the Global Economy 104

SECTION 3: Governance and Policy-Making 105


Organization of the State 105
The Executive 107
The President 107   The Prime Minister and Government 109   Bureaucracy and
Civil Service 110    Public and Semipublic Agencies 111
Other State Institutions 111
The Judiciary 111   The Constitutional Council 112   State Council 112
Subnational Governments 112   The Military and Police 113
The Policy-Making Process 113

SECTION 4: Representation and Participation 114


The Legislature 114
How a Bill Becomes a Law 115   Electing the Legislature 116
Political Parties and the Party System 116
The Major Parties 116   Minor Parties 119
Elections 119
Political Culture, Citizenship, and Identity 121
Social Class 122   Ethnicity and Immigration 122   Citizenship and National
Identity 123   Gender 124
Interest Groups, Social Movements, and Protest 125
French Trade Unions 125   Social Movements and Protest 126
The Political Impact of Technology and the Media 126

SECTION 5: French Politics in Transition 127


Political Challenges and Changing Agendas 128
Reshaping the French Social Model? 128   “Oui” to Roquefort Cheese, “Non” to
Genetically Engineered Products 128   The Challenge of the FN 129  
France Falling? 129   France’s Relation to Terrorism 129
Is Demography Destiny? 130
French Politics in Comparative Perspective 130

Chapter 4 Germany 133


Wade Jacoby

SECTION 1: The Making of the Modern German State 134


Politics in Action 134
Geographic Setting 136
Critical Junctures 138

viii

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Contents
th
8 Edition
The Second Reich (1871–1918) 138   The Weimar Republic (1918–1933) 139  
The Third Reich (1933–1945) 140   A Divided Germany (1945–1990) 141  
The Challenge of German Unification (1990–2001) 142   Germany after
September 11, 2001 143
The Four Themes and Germany 144
Germany in a Globalized World of States 144
Comparisons 145

SECTION 2: Political Economy and Development 146


State and Economy 146
The Social Market Economy 146   Semipublic Institutions 147   Current Strains on
the Social Market Economy 149
Society and Economy 150
Ethnicity and Economy 150   Gender and Economy 151
Environmental Issues 152
Germany in the Global Economy 152

SECTION 3: Governance and Policy-Making 154


Organization of the State 154
Government Institutions 154
The Executive 155
The President 155   The Chancellor 155   The Cabinet 157   The Bureaucracy 158
Other State Institutions 158
The Military and Police 159   The Judiciary 160   Subnational Government 160
The Policy-Making Process 161

SECTION 4: Representation and Participation 162


The Legislature 162
The Bundestag 163   The Bundesrat 165
Political Parties and the Party System 165
The Christian Democrats 166   The Social Democratic Party 166   The Greens 167  
The Free Democratic Party 168   The Left Party 168   Alternative for Germany 169
Elections 169
Political Culture, Citizenship, and Identity 171
Refugees, Immigration, and Migrant Labor 171
Interest Groups, Social Movements, and Protest 172
The Political Impact of Technology and the Media 174

SECTION 5: German Politics in Transition 176


Political Challenges and Changing Agendas 177
Is Demography Destiny? 178
German Politics in Comparative Perspective 179

ix

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Contents

Chapter 5 European Union 183


George Ross

SECTION 1: The Making of the European Union 184


Politics in Action 184
Geographic Setting 185
Critical Junctures 185
Four Themes and the European Union 187
Comparisons 188

SECTION 2: Political Economy and Development 189


Environmental Issues 194

SECTION 3: EU Governance and Policy-Making 198


Organizing a Nonstate: EU Institutions 198
The European Commission: Executive and Bureaucracy? 199   The Council of Ministers
and the European Council 200
Other Institutions 201
The European Parliament: A European Legislature? 201   The European Union Court of
Justice 203   The Eurogroup, Advisory Committees, Agencies 204

SECTION 4: The EU and Its Policies 205


Federal Policies 205
Building a European Market 205   Competition Policy 206
Agriculture 207
Regional Development 207
The EU Budget 208
EMU and the Euro 209
Shared Policies 209
Globalization and Competitiveness 209   Social Policy 210
Intergovernmental Europe? 211
Justice and Home Affairs 211   Foreign and Security Policy 212

SECTION 5: Representation and Participation in the EU 215


The European Parliament 217
Political Cultures, Citizenship, and Identities 217
Interest Groups, Social Movements, and Protest 218
Elections 221
The Political Impact of Technology and the Media 221

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Contents
th
8 Edition
SECTION 6: Europolitics in Transition 222
Political Challenges and Changing Agendas 223
Is Demography Destiny? 224
Politics in Comparative Perspective 224
The EU: Summary and Prospects 225

Chapter 6 Japan 228


Shigeko Fukai and Haruhiro Fukui

SECTION 1: The Making of the Modern Japanese State 229


Politics in Action 229
Geographic Setting 230
Critical Junctures 231
Premodern Japan 231   Meiji Restoration and Taisho Democracy (1868–1925) 235  
Rise and Fall of Militarist Nationalism (1926–1945) 236   The Birth and Evolution of a
Pacifist Democracy (1945–Present) 237
The Four Themes and Japan 238
Japan in a Globalized World of States 238   Governing the Economy 239  
The Democratic Idea 239   Politics of Collective Identity 239
Comparisons 240

SECTION 2: Political Economy and Development 241


State and Economy 241
Society and Economy 243
Environmental Issues 245
Japan in the Global Economy 246

SECTION 3: Governance and Policymaking 248


Organization of the State 248
The Executive 250
Prime Minister and Cabinet 250   The National Bureaucracy 251
Other State Institutions 253
The Military 253   The Judiciary 253   The Police 255  
Subnational Government 255
The Policymaking Process 256

SECTION 4: Representation and Participation 257


The Legislature 257
Political Parties and the Party System 258
Elections 261

xi

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Contents

Political Culture, Citizenship, and Identity 263


The Ainu and Okinawans 263   Outcast Groups 264   Koreans and Other Resident
Foreigners 265
Interest Groups, Social Movements, and Protest 265
Women’s Movement 267   Protest 268
The Political Impact of Technology and the Media 269

SECTION 5: Japanese Politics in Transition 271


Political Challenges and Changing Agendas 271
Is Demography Destiny? 272
Japanese Politics in Comparative Perspective 273

Chapter 7 India 276


Atul Kohli and Amrita Basu

SECTION 1: The Making of the Modern Indian State 277


Politics in Action 277
Geographic Setting 278
Critical Junctures 280
The Colonial Legacy (1757–1947) 281   The Nationalist Movement and Partition
(1885–1947) 282   The Nehru Era (1947–1964) 283   The Indira Gandhi Era
(1966–1984) 284   Coalition Governments (1989 to the Present) 286   September 11
and Its Aftermath 287
The Four Themes and India 288
India in a Globalized World of States 288   Governing the Economy 288  
The Democratic Idea 288   The Politics of Collective Identity 288   Implications for
Comparative Politics 288

SECTION 2: Political Economy and Development 289


State and Economy 290
The Economy after Independence 290   Economic Liberalization 291  
Reforms in Agriculture 291
Society and Economy 292
Inequality and Social Welfare Policy 292
Environmental Issues 294
India in the Global Economy 295

SECTION 3: Governance and Policy-Making 296


Organization of the State 296
The Executive 298
The Prime Minister and Cabinet 298   The Prime Minister 298   The Cabinet 299  
The Bureaucracy 299

xii

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Contents
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Other State Institutions 300
The Military and the Police 300   The Judiciary 301   Subnational Government 302
The Policy-Making Process 303

SECTION 4: Representation and Participation 303


The Legislature 303
Political Parties and the Party System 305
The Congress Party 307   The Janata Party and Janata Dal 307  
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 308   The Communist Party of India (CPM) 309  
The Aam Admi Party 309
Elections 311
Political Culture, Citizenship, and Identity 311
Interest Groups, Social Movements, and Protest 312
The Political Impact of Technology and the Media 314

SECTION 5: Indian Politics in Transition 315


Political Challenges and Changing Agendas 315
The Challenge of Ethnic Diversity 315   Political Violence 316   India-Pakistan
Tensions 316   Nuclear Weapons 316   Kashmir in a World of States 317  
India’s Regional Relations 317   Economic Performance 318   International Power
and Domestic Prosperity 319   Institutional Decay 319
Is Demography Destiny? 320
Indian Politics in Comparative Perspective 321

Chapter 8 The United States 324


Louis DeSipio

SECTION 1: The Making of the Modern American State 325


Politics in Action 325
Geographic Setting 327
Critical Junctures 327
The Revolutionary Era (1773–1789) 328   The Civil War and Reconstruction
(1861–1876) 330   The New Deal Era (1933–1940) 330   Divided Government,
Frequently Shifting Partisan Dominance, and Political Contestation of the Scope of
Government (1968 to the Present) 331   September 11, 2001, and Its Aftermath 332
The Four Themes and the United States 332
The United States in a Globalized World of States 332   Governing the Economy 333  
The Democratic Idea 333   The Politics of Collective Identity 333
Themes and Comparisons 334

SECTION 2: Political Economy and Development 334


State and Economy 334
Society and Economy 337

xiii

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Contents

Environmental Issues 340


The United States in the Global Economy 341

SECTION 3: Governance and Policy-Making 344


Organization of the State 344
The Executive 346
The Presidency 346   The Cabinet and the Bureaucracy 347
Other State Institutions 348
The Judiciary 348   Subnational Government 349   The Military 350  
National Security Agencies 350
The Policy-Making Process 350

SECTION 4: Representation and Participation 352


The Legislature 352
Political Parties and the Party System 354
Elections 356
Political Culture, Citizenship, and Identity 358
Interest Groups, Social Movements, and Protest 359
The Political Impact of Technology and the Media 361

SECTION 5: United States Politics in Transition 362


Political Challenges and Changing Agendas 362
Is Demography Destiny? 365
U.S. Politics in Comparative Perspective 365

PART III MIXED SYSTEMS


Chapter 9 Brazil 369
Alfred P. Montero

SECTION 1: The Making of the Modern Brazilian State 370


Politics in Action 370
Geographic Setting 371
Critical Junctures 372
The Brazilian Empire (1822–1889) 372   The Old Republic (1889–1930) 373  
The 1930 Revolution 374   The Populist Republic (1945–1964) 375   The Rise of
Bureaucratic Authoritarianism (1964–1985) 376   The Transition to Democracy and the
First Civilian Governments (1974–2001) 376   Brazil after September 11, 2001 378
The Four Themes and Brazil 380
Brazil in a Globalized World of States 380   Governing the Economy 380  
The Democratic Idea 380   The Politics of Collective Identity 380
Themes and Comparisons 381

xiv

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Contents
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SECTION 2: Political Economy and Development 382
State and Economy 382
The Fiscal System 383   The Problem of Inflation 384
Society and Economy 385
The Welfare System 385   Agrarian Reform 387
Environmental Issues 387
Brazil in the Global Economy 388

SECTION 3: Governance and Policy-Making 390


Organization of the State 390
The Executive 391
The Bureaucracy: State and Semipublic Firms 393
Other State Institutions 394
The Judiciary 394   Subnational Government 395   The Military and the Police 395
The Policy-Making Process 396

SECTION 4: Representation and Participation 398


The Legislature 398
Political Parties and the Party System 399
Elections 402
Political Culture, Citizenship, and Identity 402
Interest Groups, Social Movements, and Protest 405
The Political Impact of Technology and the Media 406

SECTION 5: Brazilian Politics in Transition 407


Political Challenges and Changing Agendas 407
Is Demography Destiny? 410
Brazilian Politics in Comparative Perspective 410

Chapter 10 Mexico 415


Halbert Jones

SECTION 1: The Making of the Modern Mexican State 416


Politics in Action 416
Geographic Setting 419
Critical Junctures 420
Independence, Instability, and Dictatorship (1810–1910) 420   The Mexican Revolution
and the Sonoran Dynasty (1910–1934) 422   Lázaro Cárdenas, Agrarian Reform, and
the Workers (1934–1940) 423   The Politics of Rapid Development (1940–1982) 423  
Crisis and Reform (1982–2000) 423   Since 2000: Mexico as a Multiparty Democracy 425

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Contents

The Four Themes and Mexico 427


Mexico in a Globalized World of States 427   Governing the Economy 427  
The Democratic Idea 428   The Politics of Collective Identity 428
Comparisons 429

SECTION 2: Political Economy and Development 430


State and Economy 430
Import Substitution and Its Consequences 430   Sowing the Oil and Reaping a Crisis 432  
New Strategies: Structural Reforms and NAFTA 433   The Mexican Economy Today 433
Society and Economy 435
Environmental Issues 435
Mexico in the Global Economy 436

SECTION 3: Governance and Policy-Making 438


Organization of the State 438
The Executive 438
The President and the Cabinet 438   The Bureaucracy 440   The Parastatal Sector 441
Other State Institutions 441
The Military 441   The Judiciary 442   Subnational Government 443
The Policy-Making Process 444

SECTION 4: Representation and Participation 445


The Legislature 445
Political Parties and the Party System 446
The PRI 446   The PAN 448   The PRD and Morena 449   Other Parties 450
Elections 451
Political Culture, Citizenship, and Identity 451
Interest Groups, Social Movements, and Protest 452
The Political Impact of Technology and the Media 453

SECTION 5: Mexican Politics in Transition 455


Political Challenges and Changing Agendas 456
Is Demography Destiny? 458
Mexican Politics in Comparative Perspective 459

Chapter 11 South Africa 462


Tom Lodge

SECTION 1: The Making of the Modern South African State 463


Politics in Action 463
Geographic Setting 465

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Contents
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8 Edition
Critical Junctures 465
Dynamics of the Frontier, 1779–1906 467   Imperialists Against Republicans,
1867–1910 468   The Origins of Modern Institutionalized Racism, 1910–1945 468
Apartheid and African Resistance, 1945–1960 469   The Sharpeville Massacre
and Grand Apartheid, 1960–1976 469   Generational Revolt and Political Reform,
1976–1990 472   The South African Miracle, 1990–1999 472
The Four Themes and South Africa 474
South Africa in a Globalized World of States 474   Governing the
Economy 474   The Democratic Idea 475   Collective Identity 475
Themes and Comparisons 475

SECTION 2: Political Economy and Development 476


State and Economy 476
Apartheid Economics 476   Liberalization and Deregulation 477
Society and Economy 478
Black Empowerment 479
Environmental Issues 480
South Africa in the Global Economy 481

SECTION 3: Governance and Policy-Making 483


Organization of the State 483
The Executive 484
Other State Institutions 487
The Judiciary and the Police 487   National Security Organizations 489
Subnational Government 489
The Policy-Making Process 491

SECTION 4: Representation and Participation 492


The Legislature 492
Political Parties and the Party System 493
The African National Congress 494   Smaller Parties 495
Elections 498
Political Culture, Citizenship, and Identity 500
Interest Groups, Social Movements, and Protest 500
The Political Impact of Technology and the Media 501

SECTION 5: South African Politics in Transition 502


Political Challenges and Changing Agendas 502
Economic Challenges 504
Is Demography Destiny? 505
South African Politics in Comparative Perspective 505

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Contents

Chapter 12 Nigeria 509


Darren Kew and Peter M. Lewis

SECTION 1: The Making of the Modern Nigerian State 512


Politics in Action 512
Geographic Setting 513
Critical Junctures 515
The Precolonial Period (800–1900) 515   Colonial Rule and Its Impact (1860–1945) 517  
Divisive Identities: Ethnic Politics Under Colonialism (1945–1960) 517   The First
Republic (1960–1966) 518   Civil War and Military Rule (1966–1979) 519  
The Second and Third Republics, and Predatory Military Rule (1979–1999) 520  
The Fourth Republic (1999–Present) 520
The Four Themes and Nigeria 522
Nigeria in a Globalized World of States 522   Governing the Economy 522  
The Democratic Idea 522   Collective Identities 523
Comparisons 523

SECTION 2: Political Economy and Development 524


State and Economy 524
Origins of Economic Decline 524   From 1985 to the Present: Deepening Economic Crisis
and the Search for Solutions 524
Society and Economy 527
Environmental Issues 529
Nigeria in the Global Economy 530

SECTION 3: Governance and Policy-Making 532


Organization of the State 532
The National Question and Constitutional Governance 532   Federalism and State
Structure 532
The Executive 534
The Bureaucracy 536
Other State Institutions 536
The Military 536   The Judiciary 537   Subnational Government 538
The Policy-Making Process 538

SECTION 4: Representation and Participation 539


The Legislature 539
Political Parties and the Party System 539
Elections 541
Political Culture, Citizenship, and Identity 542
Modernity Versus Traditionalism 542   Religion 543
Interest Groups, Social Movements, and Protest 544
The Political Impact of Technology and the Media 545
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Contents
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SECTION 5: Nigerian Politics in Transition 547
Political Challenges and Changing Agendas 547
Is Demography Destiny? 550
Nigerian Politics in Comparative Perspective 551

Chapter 13 The Russian Federation 555


Joan DeBardeleben

Section 1: The Making of the Modern Russian State 556


Politics in Action 556
Geographic Setting 558
Critical Junctures 559
The Decline of the Russian Tsarist State and the Founding of the Soviet Union 559
The Bolshevik Revolution and the Establishment of Soviet Power (1917–1929) 559  
The Stalin Revolution (1929–1953) 560   Attempts at De-Stalinization
(1953–1985) 561   Perestroika and Glasnost (1985–1991) 563   Collapse of the
USSR and the Emergence of the Russian Federation (1991 to the Present) 563
The Four Themes and Russia 565
Russia in a Globalized World of States 565   Governing the Economy 566  
The Democratic Idea 566   The Politics of Collective Identity 566
Comparisons 566

Section 2: Political Economy and Development 567


State and Economy 568
Society and Economy 570
Environmental Issues 572
Russia in the Global Economy 572

Section 3: Governance and Policy-Making 576


Organization of the State 576
The Executive 578
The National Bureaucracy 579   Public and Semipublic Institutions 580
Other State Institutions 581
The Judiciary 581   Subnational Governments 582   The Military and Security Organs 584
The Policy-Making Process 585

Section 4: Representation and Participation 586


The Legislature 586
Political Parties and the Party System 587
The Dominant Party: United Russia 588   Other Parties Represented in the State
Duma 588   Western-Oriented Liberal Parties and Kremlin Critics: Marginalized 591
Elections 592

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Contents

Political Culture, Citizenship, and Identity 593


Interest Groups, Social Movements, and Protest 594
The Political Impact of Technology and the Media 596

SECTION 5: Russian Politics in Transition 598


Political Challenges and Changing Agendas 598
Is Demographic Destiny? 602
Russian Politics in Comparative Perspective 603

PART IV AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES


Chapter 14 Iran 607
Ervand Abrahamian

SECTION 1: The Making of the Modern Iranian State 608


Politics in Action 608
Geographic Setting 609
Critical Junctures 612
The Safavids (1501–1722) 612   The Qajars (1794–1925) 613   The Pahlavis
(1925–1979) 613   The Islamic Revolution (1979) 615   The Islamic Republic
(1979–Present) 617   Iran after 9/11 618
The Four Themes and Iran 619
Iran in a Globalized World of States 619   Governing the Economy 620  
The Democratic Idea 620   The Politics of Collective Identity 621
Comparisons 621

SECTION 2: Political Economy and Development 622


State and Economy 622
Iran’s Economy under the Islamic Republic 623
Society and Economy 624
Environmental Issues 626
Iran in the Global Economy 627

SECTION 3: Governance and Policy-Making 629


Organization of the State 629
The Executive 630
The Leader and Major Organizations of Clerical Power 630   The Government
Executive 632   The Bureaucracy 633
Other State Institutions 634
The Judiciary 634   The Military 635   Subnational Government 636  
Semipublic Institutions 636
The Policy-Making Process 637

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Contents
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SECTION 4: Representation and Participation 639
The Legislature 640
Political Parties and the Party System 640
The Liberation Movement 640   The National Front 641   The Mojahedin 641  
The Fedayin 641   The Tudeh (Party of the Masses) 641
Elections 641
Political Culture, Citizenship, and Identity 642
Interest Groups, Social Movements, and Protest 644
The Political Impact of Technology and the Media 645

SECTION 5: Iranian Politics in Transition 646


Political Challenges and Changing Agendas 647
Is Demography Destiny? 650
Iranian Politics in Comparative Perspective 650

Chapter 15 China 653


William A. Joseph

SECTION 1: The Making of the Modern Chinese State 654


Politics in Action 654
Geographic Setting 655
Critical Junctures 657
Warlords, Nationalists, and Communists (1912–1949) 658  
Mao Zedong in Power (1949–1976) 659   Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation
of Chinese Communism (1977–1997) 661   From Revolutionaries to Technocrats
(1997–Present) 662
The Four Themes and China 663
China in a Globalized World of States 663   Governing the Economy 664   The
Democratic Idea 664   The Politics of Collective Identity 664
Comparisons 665

SECTION 2: Political Economy and Development 666


State and Economy 666
China Goes to Market 666   Remaking the Chinese Countryside 668
Society and Economy 669
Environmental Issues 671
China in the Global Economy 672

SECTION 3: Governance and Policy-Making 674


Organization of the State 674
The Executive 674
CCP Organization 674   PRC Organization 677

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Contents

Other State Institutions 679


The Judiciary 679   Subnational Government 680   The Military, Police,
and Internal Security 680
The Policy-Making Process 681

SECTION 4: Representation and Participation 682


The Legislature 682
Political Parties and the Party System 683
The CCP 683   China’s Noncommunist “Democratic Parties” 684
Elections 685
Political Culture, Citizenship, and Identity 686
From Communism to Consumerism 686   China’s Non-Chinese Citizens 687
Interest Groups, Social Movements, and Protest 689
Protest and the Party-State 689
The Political Impact of Technology and the Media 690

SECTION 5: Chinese Politics in Transition 691


Political Challenges and Changing Agendas 691
China and the Democratic Idea 693
Is Demography Destiny? 694
Chinese Politics in Comparative Perspective 695
China as a Communist Party-State 695   China as a Developing Country 696

Endnotes 701
Glossary 709
About the Editors and Contributors 721
Index 723

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Preface

In the prefaces to several of the previous editions of Introduction to Comparative Politics (ICP), we brought up
the title of Bob Dylan’s 1964 song, “The Times, They Are a-Changin’” to describe how tumultuous politics
around the world was when the book was published. Here is what we observed:
●● “Politics throughout the world seems more troubled today than even a few years ago, when celebrations
around the globe ushered in the new millennium.”
—Introduction to Comparative Politics, 3rd edition, © 2004.
●● In recent years, the “world of politics was as turbulent as at any time in recent memory, with clear-cut
trends more elusive than ever.”
—Introduction to Comparative Politics, 4th edition, © 2007.
●● [We] have witnessed as much—or more—turmoil and uncertainty as the preceding years.”
—Introduction to Comparative Politics, 5th edition, © 2010.
●● “The sixth edition of ICP . . . has been published soon after prodemocracy movements overthrew decades-
old dictatorships in Tunisia and Egypt, and repressive regimes unleashed deadly force against similar
movements in Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Libya, Syria, and Yemen.”
—Introduction to Comparative Politics, 6th edition, © 2013
●● “When it comes to the degree of uncertainty, and the range and depth of challenges faced by ordinary
citizens who yearn for stability, less strife, and a widening circle of opportunities, the present edition is no
different than its predecessors.”
—Introduction to Comparative Politics, 7th edition, © 2016
If there is a difference in the tone of the 8th edition of ICP, it may be that, although the times are certainly
still a-changin’, it now seems as if many of those political changes are for the worse. Where are equivalent
developments fueling the optimism generated by the democratic promise of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989
or the Arab Spring in 2011?
The political climate in much of the world these days is cloudy indeed, and for all-too-good reasons. For a
start, there have recently been heightened geopolitical tensions, which, in the case of North Korea’s continu-
ing development of nuclear weapons, threaten devastating military conflict. In addition, civil wars and ethnic
violence have engulfed many regions of the world, unleashing great destruction of life and property and giving
rise to waves of refugees—which in turn fuel a nativist backlash in countries that feel threatened by the influx
of migrants seeking safe haven. Finally, the thickening storm clouds also include the increasingly palpable real-
ity that climate change is accelerating, including rising sea levels, global warming, and more frequent extreme
weather events. There is a scientific consensus that the change is largely due to human actions (i.e., a hyperin-
dustrialized assault on nature). But, at least with regard to the latter, all is not bleak: there is increased recogni-
tion of the need for concerted action at the local, regional, national, and international levels.
Whatever the direction of change, our mission in this book has remained the same. It is not to promote
optimism or pessimism, but, as we noted in the preface of prior editions of ICP, to provide a clear and compre-
hensive guide to unsettled political times through comparative analysis.
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Preface

Country-by-Country Approach and Thematic Framework


We hope that the methods of comparative analysis will come alive as students examine similarities and differ-
ences among countries and within and between political systems. Our thematic approach facilitates disciplined
analysis of political challenges and changing agendas within each country. Like previous editions of ICP, this
edition employs a country-by-country approach structured around four core themes:
1. A Globalizing World of States focuses on the importance of state formation, the internal organization
of the state, and the impact of the interstate system on political development. This theme emphasizes the
interaction of globalization and state power.
2. Governing the Economy analyzes state strategies for promoting economic development and competitive-
ness, emphasizes the crucial role of economic performance in determining a state’s political legitimacy, and
stresses the interactive effects of economic globalization on domestic politics.
3. The Democratic Idea explores the challenges posed to the state by citizens’ demands for greater participa-
tion and influence in democracies, mixed systems, and authoritarian regimes, and discusses the inevitable
gap between the promise of democracy and its imperfect fulfillment.
4. The Politics of Collective Identities considers the political consequences of the complex interplay among
class, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and nationality.
Our approach to comparative politics stresses the analysis of each country’s politics by applying these
four themes within a context shaped by globalization. This approach strikes a balance between a fine-grained
analysis of the richness of each country’s distinctive pattern of political development and explicit cross-country
comparative analysis. In so doing, our text teaches students that the study of comparative politics is defined
by a method that investigates similarities and differences in cases and, at the same time, poses and attempts
to answer searching questions that really matter in the lives of students as active citizens. These are questions
embedded in the thematic scaffolding of ICP.
Chapter 1 begins this book by describing the comparative method, presenting in some detail our four-
theme framework, discussing how we classify the political systems of the countries covered in this book, and
providing an overview of the organization of the country chapters.

Consolidated Democracies, Hybrid States, and Authoritarian Regimes


We classify the thirteen countries in this edition of ICP in three categories:
●● Consolidated democracies (Britain, France, Germany, Japan, India, and the United States)
●● Hybrid states (Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Nigeria, and Russia)
●● Authoritarian regimes (Iran and China)
The book also includes a chapter on the European Union (EU), which, in addition to Britain, France, and
Germany, is made up of twenty-five other member states that fall into the category of consolidated democra-
cies. (Thanks to the outcome of the 2016 popular vote in the United Kingdom known as Brexit, Britain may
no longer be a member of the EU during the life of this edition.)
In Chapter 1, we define the three regime types and explain the rationale for the typology. In particular, we
warn against assuming that there is a linear movement from authoritarian regimes to hybrid states to consoli-
dated democracies. Democratization is often a protracted process with ambiguous results or reversals, rather
than a clearly delineated path toward completion. Thus, we stress that the countries that we classify as hybrid
states are not riding a historical escalator mechanically leading to their transformation into stable or consoli-
dated democracies. Indeed, we emphasize that in hybrid states, elements of democracy coexist with authoritar-
ian practices, and that future political developments could lead any of these countries to move toward either
more or less freedom for their citizens.

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Preface
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8 Edition
We also emphasize that the boundaries dividing the three groups are not airtight. Russia is a good example
of a country on the cusp between a mixed system and an authoritarian regime. Furthermore, scholars disagree
about the appropriate criteria for classifying regime types, as well as about how to classify particular cases.
Indeed, instructors may find it fruitful to encourage class discussion of alternative conceptual schemes for clas-
sifying groups of countries and how to best characterize the political system of given countries.

NEW Eighth Edition Content


●● A new subsection called “Is Demography Destiny?” examines the political importance of demographic
changes such as the graying population, the youth bulge, and migration.
●● The subsection on “The Political Impact of Technology” in the previous edition has been retitled “The
Political Impact of Technology and the Media” and supplemented by additional material on the press,
social media, and other means of communication in the Information Age.
●● The thoroughly updated introduction and country chapters provide analyses of major recent political
developments throughout the world, including discussion of the following:
●● The dramatic 2016 Brexit vote in Britain and its impact on British and EU politics, as well as the loss
of its parliamentary majority by the governing Conservative Party a year later
●● The election in 2017 of political newcomer Emmanuel Macron as French president and the upending
of France’s party system
●● The surprising Electoral College victory of Donald J. Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential election as
the result of an unanticipated nationalist and populist upsurge
●● The impeachment and removal from office of Brazil’s president, Dilma Rousseff, and corruption
charges involving her successor, Michel Temer
●● The crisis in South African politics resulting from youth protest, the erosion of the domination of the
African National Congress (ANC), and corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma
●● The 2016 election as president of Nigeria of retired general Muhammadu Buhari, who had previously
served as the nation’s head of state from 1983 to 1985 after taking power in a military coup d’état
●● The reelection in 2017 of the reform-minded Iranian president Hassan Rouhani
●● Russia’s continuing drift toward authoritarianism under Vladimir Putin
●● The consolidation of personal power by the head of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, to a
degree unprecedented since the eras of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping

Special Features That Teach


●● Country chapters strike a balance between introducing comparative politics to students with little or no
background in political science and maintaining coverage of the complexity of institutions, issues, pro-
cesses, and events.
●● Consistent Country Chapter Organization. At the beginning of each chapter, students will find a map,
data on ethnicity, religion, and language specific to that country to aid in comparing countries, and some
basic information about the country’s political system. Each country chapter consists of five sections:
●● The Making of the Modern State begins with an opening vignette that illustrates an important
feature of the country’s contemporary politics. This is followed by a description of the country’s geo-
graphic setting, a discussion of the critical junctures in the historical development of the state, and an
overview of how the book’s four central themes relate to the country. This section concludes by noting
the significance of the country for the study of comparative politics.
●● Political Economy and Development analyzes the relationship between the state, the impact of eco-
nomic development on society, current environmental issues, and the country’s position in the global
economy.
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Preface

●● Governance and Policy-making describes the general organization of the state, the executive branch,
and other state institutions, including the judiciary, subnational levels of government, and the military,
police, internal security, and other agencies of coercion. This section concludes with a description of
the policy-making process.
●● Representation and Participation covers the country’s legislature, party system, elections, political
culture, citizenship, national identity, interest groups, social movements, and protest. The final subsec-
tion is a newly expanded one on the political impact of technology and the media.
●● Politics in Transition begins by highlighting a recent important development that is influencing the
country’s politics and then proceeds to an analysis of the major political challenges facing the country.
This is followed by a new subsection on youth politics and the generational divide. The section ends
with some concluding thoughts about the politics of the country in comparative perspective.
●● Focus questions at the beginning of each major section in the country chapters provides students with
some guidance about what is particularly important about that section.
●● Where Do You Stand? questions at the end of each section in all chapters encourage students to develop
and defend original arguments on controversial issues.
●● An end-of-chapter Summary highlights the major themes and facts in the chapter.
●● There are three sidebar boxes in each country chapter that highlight interesting and important aspects
of politics:
●● The Profile box highlights biographies of important political leaders.
●● The Global Connection box provides links between domestic and international politics.
●● The U.S. Connection box compares an important feature of political institutions with its American
counterpart or explores a crucial aspect of the country’s relationship with the United States.
●● Making Connections questions at the end of each sidebar box encourage students to link the topic of the
box to the content of the chapter.
●● Maps, tables, charts, photographs, and political cartoons enliven the text and present key informa-
tion in clear and visually appealing ways. At the end of Chapter 1, various data are presented in a way that
facilitates comparisons among the countries covered in this book.
●● Key terms are set in boldface and defined in the margin of the page where the term is first introduced, as
well as in a glossary at the end of the book. The glossary defines many key concepts that are used broadly
in comparative politics.
●● Each chapter concludes with a list of suggested readings and websites.
Not much is certain about what the political future will hold. But we believe that politics around the world
will continue to be endlessly fascinating and that comparative analysis can be an important tool for trying to
make sense of what happens and why. The times, indeed, are a-changin’! Welcome aboard!

MindTap
●● MindTap: Empower Your Students. MindTap is a platform that propels students from memorization to
mastery. It gives you complete control of your course so that you can provide engaging content, challenge
every learner, and build student confidence. Customize interactive syllabi to emphasize priority topics, and
then add your own material or notes to the eBook as desired. This outcomes-driven application gives you
the tools needed to empower students and boost both understanding and performance.
●● Access Everything You Need in One Place. Cut down on prep with the preloaded and organized
MindTap course materials. Teach more efficiently with interactive multimedia, assignments, quizzes, and
more. Give your students the power to read, listen, and study on their phones so that they can learn on
their own terms.

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Preface
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●● Empower Students to Reach their Potential. Twelve distinct metrics give you actionable insight into
student engagement. Identify topics troubling your entire class and instantly communicate with those who
are struggling. Students can track their scores to stay motivated to progress toward their goals.
●● Control Your Course—and Your Content. Get the flexibility to reorder textbook chapters, add your
own notes, and embed a variety of content, including Open Educational Resources (OER). Personalize
course content to your students’ needs. They can even read your notes, add their own, and highlight key
text to aid their learning.
●● Get a Dedicated Team, Whenever You Need Them. MindTap isn’t just a tool—it’s backed by a person-
alized team eager to support you. We can help set up your course and tailor it to your specific objectives,
so you’ll be ready to make an impact from day one. We’ll be standing by to help you and your students
until the final day of the term.

Supplemental Teaching and Learning Aids and Database Editions


Instructor Companion Website
The Instructor Companion Website is an all-in-one multimedia online resource for class preparation, presenta-
tion, and testing. Accessible through www.cengage.com/login with your faculty account, the site offers the
following available for download:
●● Book-specific Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentations
●● A Test Bank compatible with multiple learning management systems
●● An Instructor Manual
●● PowerPoint image slides
●● A JPEG Image Library
The Test Bank, offered in Blackboard, Moodle, Desire2Learn, Canvas, and Angel formats, contains
Learning Objective–specific multiple-choice and essay questions for each chapter. Import the test bank into
your LMS to edit and manage questions, and to create tests.
The Instructor’s Manual contains chapter-specific learning objectives, an outline, key terms with defini-
tions, and a chapter summary. In addition, it features a critical thinking question, lecture launching sugges-
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to several colleagues who have reviewed and critiqued past and current editions of ICP:
Neal Coates, Abilene Christian University
Joseph Ellis, Wingate University
Katharina Felts, Loudoun Valley High School

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He went on to tell me about a question of property concerning two
golden heads. There is a mountain called Popa (5000 feet high) standing
right in the middle of the plain. We could see it from the back of the house. It
is an extinct volcano and is the home of two of the most important Nats in all
Burmah. They have lived on Popa ever since about 380 A.D. They were
brother and sister, and used to have a festival held on this mountain every
year in their honour.

About the middle of the eighteenth century one of the kings of Ava—
Bodawpaya—presented to the Popa villagers two golden heads, intended to
represent these Nats. At that time Popa village, for some reason, was a
separate jurisdiction outside the jurisdiction of the Pagan governor. What
happened was that these heads were kept in the Royal Treasury at Pagan for
safety, and taken up to Popa every year for the festival and brought back
again. Subsequently, Popa came under the jurisdiction of the Pagan
governor. Then apparently the Pagan people began to think that these heads
really belonged to them, and they were kept in Pagan until the annexation in
1886. After this, our Government, thinking they were very valuable relics
which ought to be preserved, sent them down to the Bernard Free Library in
Rangoon, where they have been lodged ever since.

Some time ago the Popa villagers sent in a petition that they might be
allowed to have their heads back, as they wanted them for the festival.
Investigations were started and about a month before my visit Mr Cooper
had been up to Popa and there dictated a written guarantee, signed by the
principal men of the village (the Lugyis, as they are called), that they would
undertake the responsibility of looking after these heads if they were given
back to them. Then Mr Cooper came to Pagan and had a meeting of the
Pagan Lugyis, asking them to sign a written repudiation of claim, and that's
where the matter rested.

I asked Mr Cooper to tell me the story of these famous Nats, in whose


honour a coconut is hung up in houses in this part of Burmah just as
regularly as we do for the tomtits at home, so that they can eat when they
like, and here is the story in his own words as he told it to me at Pagan.

These Nats have a good many names, but their proper names are
Natindaw and Shwemetyna, and they used to live in a place up the river
called Tagaung, a thousand years ago. Natindaw, the man, was a blacksmith.
He was very strong indeed—so strong that the King of Tagaung was afraid
of him and gave orders that he should be arrested. The man (he had not
become a Nat then) was afraid and ran away, but his sister remained and the
king married her. After some time the king thought of Natindaw again and
believed that although in exile he might be doing something to stir up
rebellion. So the king offered Natindaw an appointment at the Court, and
when Natindaw came he had him seized by guards and bound to a champak
tree near the palace. Then the King had the tree set on fire, and Natindaw
proceeded to burn up. Just at that moment the queen (Natindaw's sister)
came out of the palace and saw her brother being burnt. She rushed into the
fire and tried to save him, and failing, decided to share his fate.

The king then tried to pull her out by her back hair but was too late, and
both the brother and sister were utterly consumed except their heads. That
finished them as human beings, but they became Nats and lived up another
champak tree at Tagaung, and there, because they had been so shockingly
treated, they made up for it after death. They used to pounce on everyone
who passed underneath—cattle and people. At last the king had the tree with
the brother and sister on it cut down, and it floated down the river and
eventually stranded at Pagan. Well, the King of Pagan, who was at that time
Thurligyaung, had a dream the night before that something very wonderful
would come to Pagan the next day by river. In the morning he went down to
the bank and there he found the tree with the human heads of Natindaw and
Shwemetyna sitting on it, and they told him who they were and how badly
they had been treated. The king became very frightened and said he would
build them a place to live in on Popa. So they thanked him and he built them
Natsin, a little sort of hut on Popa, and there they have lived ever since.

Every year the kings of Pagan used to go in state and offer sacrifice to
Natindaw and Shwemetyna of the flesh of white bullocks and white goats,
and the Popa Nat story is still going on because of the latest development
about the golden heads.

It is a Burmese saying that no one can point in any direction at Pagan in


which there is not a pagoda, and on many of them in the mornings I saw
vultures—great bare-necked creatures—thriving apparently on barrenness.
Lack of water is the great trouble to the villages. The average rainfall in
this dry zone (which extends roughly from south of the Magwe district to
north of Mandalay) is fifteen to twenty inches.

Tenacious of life, these Thaton villagers of Pagan and Nyaungoo, led


into captivity by King Naurata, whose zeal as a religious reformer had been
fired by one of their own priests, survived their conquerors. They became,
nine hundred years ago, slaves attached to the pagodas, and under a ban of
separation, if not of dishonour, they have kept unmixed the blood of their
ancestors, are the only Burmese forming anything like a caste, and still
include some direct descendants of their famous king.

In the villages there is some weaving and dyeing of cloth, and quite a
large industry in the making of lacquer bowls and boxes.

It was not far to walk from the Circuit House to one of the villages,—
across the dry baked, brick-strewn earth, past great groves of cactus and
through the tall bamboo fence that surrounds the village itself. I passed a
couple of carts with primitive solid wheels, and under some trees in the
middle of the collection of thatched huts with their floors raised some feet
above the ground, a huge cauldron was sending up clouds of steam. Some
women were boiling dye for colouring cloth. This was Mukolo village. I
called at the house of U Tha Shein, one of the chief lacquer makers, and he
took me about to different huts to see the various stages of the work.

First, a "shell" is made of finely-plaited bamboo; this is covered with a


black pigment and "softened" when dry by turning it on a primitive lathe and
rubbing it with a piece of sand-stone. Then the red lacquer is put upon the
black box with the fingers, which stroke and smear it round very carefully.
In Burmese the red colour is called Hinthabada, from a stone I was told they
buy in Mandalay. The bowls now red are set to dry in the sun, and next are
placed in a hole in the ground for five days,—all as careful a process as that
of making the wine of Cos described in Sturge Moore's Vinedresser.

When they are exhumed after hardening, a pattern is finally engraved or


scratched on the lacquer with a steel point and a little gold inlaid on the more
expensive bowls.
I was going from house to house to see the different stages of the work,
when I heard a pitiful wailing and came upon the saddest sight I had yet seen
on my journey. The front of a thatched hut was quite open. A mangy yellow
pariah dog was skulking underneath, and some children were huddled silent
upon the steps leading up to the platform floor. There lay a little boy dead,
and his mother and grandmother were sorrowing for him. The grandmother
seemed to be wrinkled all over. Her back was like a withered apple. She
moaned and wailed, and tears poured from her eyes. "Oh! my grandson," she
cried—"where shall I go and search for you again?"

She was squatting beside the little corpse and pinching its cheeks and
moving its jaws up and down. "You have gone away to any place you like—
you have left me alone without thinking of me—I cannot feel tired of crying
for you."

And a Burman told me that the child had died of fever, and that the
father had gone to buy something for the funeral. He added, "The young
woman will never say anything—she will only weep for the children. It is
the old woman only that will say something."

CHAPTER V

MANDALAY

Christmas morning at Mandalay was bright, crisp and cold, with just that
bracing "snap" in the air that makes everyone feel glad to be in warm
clothes. On such a day the traveller feels a sense of security about the people
at home—they must be comfortable in London when it is so jolly at
Mandalay!

I was drawn by some Chinese characters over a small archway in


Merchant Street to turn up a narrow passage between high walls, which led
me to a modern square brick joss-house. There were several Chinese about
and I got to understand that the temple was especially for all people who
were sick or ill, and I went through the very ancient method of obtaining
diagnosis and prescription.

BURMESE PRIEST AND HIS BETEL BOX.

An English-speaking Chinaman told me that this temple was "the church


of Doctor Wah Ho Sen Too," who lived, he added, more than a thousand
years ago, and had apparently anticipated the advantages of Rontgen rays.
The American who is watching in Ceylon the formation of pearls without
opening of oysters, is yet far behind Doctor Wah Ho Sen Too, to whom all
bodies are as glass. The stout Chinaman grew quite eloquent in praise of this
great physician, explaining with graphic gestures how he had been able to
see through every part of all of us, and follow the career of whatever entered
our mouths.

In front of the round incense-bowl upon an altar, before large


benevolent-looking figures, was a cylindrical box containing one hundred
slips of bamboo of equal length (if any reader offers to show me all this at
Rotherhithe or Wapping, I shall not dispute with him but gladly avail myself
of his kindness). I was directed to shake the box and draw out at random one
of the bamboo slips. This had upon it, in Chinese characters, a number and
some words, and I was told that my number was fourteen. Upon the left-
hand wall of the temple were serried rows of one hundred sets of small
printed reddish-yellow papers. I was taken to number fourteen set and
bidden to tear off the top one, and this was Doctor Wah Ho Sen Too's
prescription.

I have not yet had that prescription made up; to the present day I prefer
the ailment, but I asked the English-speaking Chinaman what the medicine
was like, and he told me that it was white and that I could get it at Mandalay.
When he was in South America Waterton slept with one foot out of his
hammock to see what it was like to be sucked by a vampire, but I am of
opinion there are some things in life we may safely reject on trust, declining
taste of sample.

I went from the joss-house of Merchant Street to the Aindaw Pagoda,


about the middle of the western edge of the city, a handsome mass, blazing
with the brightness of recent gilding. From "hti" to base it was entirely gilt,
except for the circle of coloured glass balls which sparkled like a carcanet of
jewels near the summit. Outside the gate of the Aindaw Pagoda, where some
Burmans were playing a gambling game, a notice in five languages—
English, Burmese, Hindostani, Hindi and Chinese, announced, "Riding, shoe
and umbrella-wearing disallowed."

The Queen's Golden Monastery at the south-west corner of the town is a


finer specimen of gilded work, built in elaborately-carved teak, with a great
number of small square panels about it of figure subjects as well as
decorative shapes and patterns. Glass also has been largely introduced in
elaborate surface decoration at the Golden Monastery, not in the tiny tessarae
of Western mosaic but in larger facets, giving from the slight differences of
angle in the setting, bright broken lights almost barbaric in their richness. No
one seems to know where all the coloured and stained glass that is so
skilfully used in Burmese temples came from—whether it was imported or
made in the country.

The priests were returning to the monastery with bowls full of food from
their daily morning rounds, but there were very few people about at all, and
the place was almost given up that day to a batch of merry children, who
came gambolling round me, some of them pretending to be paralysed
beggars with quaking limbs.

It was very different at the Maha Myat Muni, the Arrakan Pagoda, which
was thronged with people like a hive of bees. This pagoda includes a vast
pile of buildings and enshrines one of the most revered images of Buddha, a
colossal brass figure seated in a shrine both gorgeous and elaborate, with
seven roofs overhead. Of shrines honoured to-day in Burmah the Arrakan
Pagoda is more frequented than any except the Shwe Dagon at Rangoon, and
is approached through a long series of colonnades gilded, frescoed, and
decorated with rich carving and mosaic work. They are lined with stalls of
metal-workers, sellers of incense, candles, violet lotus flowers, jewels,
sandalwood mementoes, and souvenirs innumerable, among which the most
fascinating to the stranger are grotesque toy figures, with fantastic movable
limbs, which would make an easy fortune at a London toy-shop, and before
long will doubtless be exported and gradually lose their exotic charm.

Passing through this Vanity Fair I at last reached the shrine, and in the
dim interior light I climbed up behind the great figure and followed the
custom of native pilgrims in seeking to "gain merit" by placing a gold-leaf
upon it with my own fingers. At all hours of every day human thumbs and
fingers are pressing gold-leaf upon that figure of Gautama. Outside in the
sunlight white egrets strutted about the grounds, and close by was a tank
where sacred turtles wallowed under a thick green scum. A swarm of rice-
sellers besought me to buy food for the turtles, and their uncomfortable
persistence was, of course, not lessened by patronage. The overfed animals
declined to show their heads, leaving the kites and crows to batten on the
tiny balls of cooked rice.

Now close to this turtle-tank and still within the precincts of the temple
was a large structure, evidently very much older than the rest of the
buildings—a vast cubical mass of red brick with an inner passage, square in
plan, round a central core of apparently solid masonry. Against one side of
this inner mountain of brick-work was the lower half of a colossal figure,
also in red brick, and cut off at the same level as the general mass of the
building. Whether the whole had ever been completed or whether at some
time the upper half had been removed, I could not tell. It was as if the
absence of head and shoulders cast a spell of death, which surrounded it with
a silence no voice ventured to dissipate, and with the noise and hubbub
outside nothing could have more strikingly contrasted than the impressive
quiet of this deserted sanctuary.

That Christmas afternoon, as already told, I left Mandalay on my way to


Bhamo, returning afterwards for a longer stay.

Far away, beyond Fort Dufferin on the other side of the city, rises
Mandalay Hill which I climbed several times for the sake of the wonderful
view. In the bright dazzle of a sunlight that made all things pale and
fairylike, I passed along wide roads ending in tender peeps of pale amethyst
mountains. I crossed the wide moat of Fort Dufferin, with its double border
of lotus, by one of the five wooden bridges and, traversing the enclosure,
came out again through the red-brick crenelated walls by a wide gateway,
and re-crossed the moat to climb the steep path by huge smooth boulders in
the afternoon heat. It was as if they had saved up all the warmth of noon to
give it out again with radiating force. At first the way lies between low
rough walls, on which at short intervals charred and blackened posts stand
whispering, "We know what it is to be burned"—"We know what it is to be
burned." They were fired at the same time as the temple at the top of the hill
over twenty years ago; but the great standing wooden figure of Buddha, then
knocked down, has been set up again, though still mutilated, for the huge
hand that formerly pointed down to the city lies among bricks and rubble.

The Queen's Golden Monastery and the Arrakan Pagoda were hidden
somewhere far away among the trees to the south of the city. Below, I could
see the square enclosure of Fort Dufferin, with its mile-long sides, in which
stands King Thebaw's palace and gardens, temples and pavilions, and I could
see the parallel lines of the city roadways. Mandalay is laid out on the
American plan, with wide, tree-shaded roads at right angles to each other.
Nearer to the hill and somewhat to the left lay the celebrated Kuthodaw or
four hundred and fifty pagodas, whereunder are housed Buddhist scriptures
engraved upon four hundred slabs of stone. The white plaster takes at sunset
a rosy hue, and in the distance the little plot resembles some trim flower-bed
where the blossoms have gone to sleep.
BURMESE MOTHER AND CHILD.

One of the loveliest things about Mandalay is the moat of Fort Dufferin.
In the evening afterglow I stopped at the south-west corner, where a boy was
throwing stones at a grey snake, and watched the silhouette of walls and
watch-towers against a vivid sky of red and amber and the reflections in the
water among the lotus leaves. Each side of the Fort is a straight mile long,
and the moat, which is a hundred yards across, has a wide space all along the
middle of the waterway quite clear of lotus. But moat and walls are both
most beautiful of all at sunrise. The red bricks then glow softly with warm
colour, and against their reflection the flat lotus leaves appear as pale hyaline
dashes.

Within, upon the level greensward, you may find to-day a wooden horse
—not such a large one as Minerva helped the Greeks to build before the
walls of Troy, nor yet that more realistic modern one I have seen in the great
hall, the old "Salone" of Verona—but a horse for gymnastic exercises of
Indian native regiments of Sikhs and Punjabis. Strange barracks those
soldiers have, for they sleep in what were formerly monasteries with halls of
carved and painted pillars.

I was asking the whereabouts of the only Burmese native regiment and
found it just outside Fort Dufferin, in "lines" specially built. It is a regiment
of sappers and miners. On New Year's Day Captain Forster, their
commanding officer, put a company of these Burmans through their paces
for me. In appearance they are not unlike Gourkhas, sturdy and about the
same height, and like the Gourkha they carry a knife of special shape, a
square-ended weapon good for jungle work.

King Thebaw's palace stands, of course, within the "Fort," which was
built to protect it. It is neither very old nor very interesting, and the most
impressive part is the large audience hall. The columns towards the entrance
are gilded, but on each side the two nearest the throne are, like the walls,
blood-red in colour, and the daylight filtering through casts blue gleams
upon them. It was not here, however, that the king was taken prisoner, but in
a garden pavilion a little distance from it with a veranda, and according to a
brass plate let into the wall below:—

"King Thebaw sat at this opening with his two queens


and the queen mother when he gave himself up to General
Prendergast on the 30th November, 1885."
I was talking one day with an army officer in a Calcutta hotel about
Burmah, and he told me how he himself had carried the British flag into
Mandalay with General Prendergast, and that it had been his lot to conduct
the Queen Sepaya (whom he declared does not deserve all that has been said
against her) to Rangoon, and he gave her the last present she received in
Burmah. She was smoking one of the giant cheroots of the country and he
gave her a box of matches.

I had never quite understood the annexation and that officer explained it
as follows:—"We knew the French were intriguing—that Monsieur Hass, the
French Ambassador at Rangoon, was working at the Court—and we got at
his papers and found he was just about to conclude a treaty with Thebaw.
The chance we seized was this—a difference between Thebaw and the
Bombay Burmah Trading Company. For their rights in forest-land in Upper
Burmah they paid a royalty on every log floated down. Now other people
were also floating logs down, and Thebaw claimed several lakhs of rupees
from the Bombay Burmah Company for royalties not paid. The Company
contended they had paid all royalties on their own logs, and that the unpaid
monies were due on other people's timber, and we seized the excuse and
took Mandalay in the nick of time, defeating the French plans."

The most noticeable feature of the Mandalay Bazaar is the supremacy of


the Burmese woman as shopkeeper. The vast block of the markets is newly
built and looks fresh and spick and span, though without anything about its
structure either beautiful or picturesque. It is like Smithfield and Covent
Garden rolled into one, and given over entirely to petticoat government. I am
told there are close upon 200,000 people in Mandalay, and those long
avenues of the great bazaar looked fully able to cope with their demands.
There is the meat-market, with smiling ladies cutting up masses of flesh; the
vegetable-market, with eager ladies weighing out beans and tamarinds; the
flour and seed-market, with loquacious ladies measuring out dal and rice-
flour and red chili and saffron powder; the plantain-market, with laughing
ladies like animated flowers decorating a whole street of bananas; the silk-
market, with dainty ladies with powdered faces enticing custom with deft
and abundant display of tissues and mercery,—and yet this does not tell one
half of the Mandalay Bazaar. I have not even mentioned the flower-market,
with piquant ladies—fully alive to the challenging beauty of their goods—
selling roses or lotus, with faces that express confident assurance of their
own superior charms.

Perhaps it is not hardness—perhaps it is merely some lack of


appreciation in me—but in spite of all that has been said or written in their
praise, I could not find those Burmese women as charming as the shop-girls
of London. I admit that they have a very smart way of twisting a little pink
flower into the right side of their hair, and although I have seen a great many
sleeping upon the decks of river steamers, I never heard one snore. Many
men find wives, I was told, in the Mandalay Bazaar, and they are said to
make excellent housekeepers. One perfectly charming little woman I did see,
the wife of an Eurasian engineer (or is not "Anglo-Indian" now the
prescribed word?), but she looked too much like a doll; and while a real doll
who was a bad housekeeper would be unsatisfactory enough, a good
housekeeper who looked like a doll would surely be intolerable.

Thinking of dolls brings me to the marionettes which still delight the


Burmese people. They have long since gone out of fashion in England,
"Punch and Judy" shows fighting hard to keep up old tradition; in Paris, the
"Guignol" of the side alleys of the Champs Elysees are nowadays chiefly
patronized by children, and you must go further East to find an adult
audience enjoying the antics of dolls. Marionettes had a vogue in ancient
Greece, and in Italy survived the fall of Rome. Even in Venice the last time I
went to the dolls' theatre I found the doors closed, but in Naples they flourish
still, and at the Teatro Petrilla in the sailors' quarter I have seen Rinaldo and
Orlando and all the swash-buckling courage of mediæval chivalry in
animated wood.

At Mandalay there is the same popular delight in doll drama, and one
evening I watched a mimic "pwe" for an hour. The story was another version
of that which I had already seen acted by living people. The showman had
set up his staging in a suitable position, with a wide and sloping open space
before it, and there was the same great gathering of young and old in the
open air, lying on low four-post bedsteads or squatting on mats, while
outside the limits of the audience stalls drove a thriving trade in cheroots and
edible dainties. How the people laughed and cackled with delight at the
antics of the dolls! These were manipulated with a marvellous dexterity, and
seemed none the less real because the showman's hands were often visible as
he jerked the strings. I walked up to the stage and stood at one end of it to
get the most grotesque view of the scene. A long, low partition screen ran
along the middle of the platform. Behind this, limp figures were hanging
ready for the "cues," and the big fat Burmese showman walked sideways up
and down, leaning over as he worked the dancing figures upon the stage.
The movements were a comic exaggeration of the formal and jerky actions
of the dance, but the clever manipulation of a prancing steed, a horse of
mettle with four most practical flamboyant legs, was even more amusing.

The parts of the dramatis personæ were spoken by several different


voices, and the absence of any attempt to hide the arms and hands of the
showman did not diminish the illusion, while it increased the general bizarre
character of the scene rather than otherwise, and was an excellent instance of
the fallacy of the saying—Summa ars est celare artem.

Blessed be the convention of strings! The success of a marionette show,


as of a government, is no more attained by a denial of the wire-puller's
existence than the beauty of a marble statue is enhanced by realistic
colouring.

CHAPTER VI

SOUTHERN INDIA, THE LAND OF HINDOO


TEMPLES

A long line of rocks and a white lighthouse in the midst of them—this is


the first sight of India as the traveller approaches Tuticorin, after the sea
journey from Colombo. He sees the sun glinting from windows of modern
buildings, the tall chimney of a factory and trailing pennons of "industrial"
smoke. Far to the left, hills faintly visible beyond the shore appear a little
darker than the long, low cloud above them. Then what had seemed to be
dark rocks become irregular masses of green trees. Colour follows form—
the buildings grow red and pink and white, and the pale shore-line a thread
of greenish-yellow. The sea near Tuticorin is very shallow, and the steamer
anchors at least four miles out, a launch crossing the thick yellow turbid
water to take passengers ashore. On nearer view the lighthouse proves to be
on a tree-clad spit or island, and to the left instead of the right of the harbour.
Near the jetty I saw large cotton-mills, and passed great crowds of ducks
(waiting to be shipped to Ceylon), which dappled the roadside as I made my
way to the terminus of the South Indian Railway. At first the train passes
through a flat sandy country with little grass, but covered with yellow
flowering cactus, low prickly shrubs and tall palmyra palms. The shiny
cactus and sharp-pointed aloe leaves seemed to reflect the bright blue of the
sky, and by contrast a long procession of small yellow-brown sheep looked
very dark.

Presently the ground changed to red earth and tillage. Then we passed
more aloes and bare sand and a few cotton-fields. A thin stream meandered
along the middle of a wide sandy bed, and a line of distant mountains, seen
faintly through the shimmery haze of heat, seemed all the while to grow
more lovely. Taking more colour as the day advanced they stretched along
the horizon like the flat drop-scene of a theatre, abruptly separate from the
plain. After passing several lakes like blue eyes in the desert some red
sloping hills appeared to make a link in the perspective, and I reached my
first stopping-place, the famous Madura.

First I drove to that part of the great temple dedicated to Minachi, Siva's
wife, and then to the Sundareswara Temple dedicated to Siva himself under
that name.

The typical Dravidian temple, the Southern form of the Hindoo style of
architecture, consists of a pyramidal building on a square base divided
externally into stories, and containing image, relic or emblem in a central
shrine. This Vimana is surrounded at some distance by a wall with great
entrance gateways or Gopuras, similar in general design to the central
building but rectangular instead of square in plan, and often larger and more
richly decorated outside than the Vimana itself. Then there is also the porch
of the temple or Mantapam, the tank or Tappakulam, the Choultry or hall of
pillars and independent columns or Stambhams, bearing lamps or images.
The Sacred Tank and the Rock, Trichinopoly.

It was a vast double door some distance in front of me, beyond a series
of wide passages and courts, a colossal door larger than those two of wood
and iron at the entrance to the Vatican, where the Swiss guards stand in their
yellow-slashed uniforms with the halberds of earlier days, doors with no
carving save that of worms and weather, but, like the one before me, more
impressive by tremendous size and appearance of strength than the bronze
gates of Ghiberti. It was a portal for gods over whose unseen toes I, a
pygmy, might crane my neck. The vast perspective in front, the sense of
possible inclusion of unknown marvels commensurate with such an
entrance, a mystery of shadow towards the mighty roof,—all made me stand
and wonder, admiring and amazed. Porch succeeded porch, with statues of
the gods, sometimes black with the oil of countless libations, sometimes
bright and staring with fresh paint. Dirt mingled with magnificence and
modern mechanical invention with the beauty of ancient art. Live men
moved everywhere among the old, old gods.

Walking along a corridor, astounded at its large grotesque sculptures, I


noticed at my elbow two squatting tailors with Singer sewing-machines,
buzzing as with the concentrated industry of a hive of bees. I wished that a
prick of the finger would send them all to sleep, tailors, priests, mendicants
and the quivering petitions of importunate maimed limbs.

Neither Darius nor Alexander, had they been able to march so far, could
have seen Madura, for, after all, these temples are not yet so very old, but
Buonaparte— Ah! he of all men should have seen it! I think of him on his
white horse, gazing with saturnine inscrutability at the cold waves of carved
theogonies surging, tier on tier, up the vast pyramids of the immense
gopuras, till the golden roofs of inner gleaming shrines drew him beyond.

Brief—oh how much too brief—was the time permitted me to spend at


Madura, for the same night I was to reach Trichinopoly.

I dressed by lamplight and was on the road just at dawn, driving through
the poorer quarter of the town. By a white gateway of Moorish design,
erected on the occasion of the last royal visit, and still bearing the legend
—"Glorious welcome to our future Emperor"—I entered the wide street of
the main bazaar at the far end of which the "rock" appeared.

Trichinopoly, inside this gate, is entirely a city of "marked" men, the


lower castes, together with the Eurasians and the few European officials
living outside its boundaries.

The great bare mass which rises out of the plain to a height of 273 feet
above the level of the streets below, was first properly fortified in the
sixteenth century, under the great Nayakka dynasty of Madura, by which it
was received from the King of Tanjore in exchange for a place called
Vallam; and after being the centre of much fighting between native powers
and French and English, it passed quietly into the hands of the latter by
treaty in 1801.

From the roadway at the foot a series of stone stairways leads to the
upper street, which encircles the rock and contains a hall from which other
stairways lead up to a landing with a hundred-pillared porch on each side of
it. In one of these lay in a corner with their legs in air a number of bamboo
horses, life-size dummies, covered with coloured cloths and papers for use in
the processions. On a still higher landing I reached the great temple (whither
the image of Siva was removed from its former place in a rock-temple at the
base of the precipice), which Europeans are forbidden to enter.
THE MAIN BAZAAR, TRICHINOPOLY.

By engaging a man in a long argument with Tambusami as interpreter,


about certain images visible as far within as I was able to see from the
landing, I managed to rouse a desire to explain rightly, so that he made the
expected suggestion and took me twenty yards within the forbidden
doorway. Deafening noise of "temple music" filled the air, the most strident
being emitted from short and narrow metal trumpets.

Twenty yards within that stone doorway guarded by the authority of


Government embodied in official placards fastened on the wall! Shall I
divulge the mysteries within? Indeed it would fill too many of these pages to
spin from threads of temple twilight a wonder great enough to warrant such
exclusion of the uninitiated.
Yet another flight of steps leads up round the outside to a final series
roughly cut in the rock itself, rising to the topmost temple of them all, a
Ganesh shrine, whence there is a grand view over the town and far
surrounding plain.

Among the smaller shrines in the streets the one which seemed to me the
most curious—was that of the "Black God, Karapanasami," a wooden club
or baluster similar in design to those carved in the hands of stone watchmen
at temple gates. Wreathed with flower garlands it leaned against the wall on
a stone plinth and was dripping with libation oil. I was told that
Karapanasami may be present in anything—a brick, or a bit of stone, or any
shapeless piece of wood.

Among the native people, quite apart from the would-be guides who
haunt the temples, those who speak a little English seem proud to display
their knowledge and ready to volunteer information. Before a statue of Kali
in a wayside shrine a boy ventured to say he hoped I would not irritate the
goddess, adding, "This god becomes quickly peevish; it is necessary to give
her sheep to quiet her."

That afternoon I painted the "Tappakulam" or tank at the base of the


great rock with the dainty "Mantapam" or stone porch-temple in the middle
of it, working from the box seat of a gharry to be out of the crowd, but their
curiosity seemed to be whetted the more, and Tambusami was kept busy in
efforts, not always successful, to stop the inquisitive from clambering the
sides of the vehicle, which lurched and quivered as each new bare foot tried
for purchase on the hub of a wheel.

The dazzling brilliancy of the scene was difficult to realize on canvas,


for beyond all other elements of brightness a flock of green parrots flying
about the roof sparkled like sun-caught jewels impossible to paint.
KARAPANASAMI, THE BLACK GOD.

The next morning I dressed by lamplight, and it was not yet dawn when
Tambusami put up the heavy bars across back and front doorways of my
room at the dak bungalow for the safety of our belongings during a day's
absence. Old Ratamullah, the very large fat "butler," watched us from his
own house a little further back in the enclosure, as in the grey light we
started to drive to Srirangam, and before the least ray of colour caught even
the top of the Rock we saw a group of women in purple and red robes
getting water at a fountain. The large, narrow-necked brass jars gleamed like
pale flames, the colour of the words John Milton that shine from the west
side of Bow Church in Cheapside.

Outside the houses of prosperous Hindoos I noticed, down upon the red
earth, patterns and designs that recalled the "doorstep art" practised by the
peasants in many parts of Scotland. The dust of the day's traffic soon
obscures the patterns, but at that early hour they had not yet been trodden
upon. Brass lamps glimmered in the poorer huts, but we were soon away
from Trichinopoly and crossing the long stone bridge over the Cauvery. The
river was very wide but by no means full, and scattered with large spaces of
bare sand. Over the water little mists like the pale ghosts of a crowd of white
snakes curled and twisted in a strange slow dance.

When we had crossed the thirty-two arches of this bridge we were upon
the island of Srirangam, on which there is that vast and, it is said, wealthy
temple to Vishnu, about which one is always told that its design ought to
have been turned inside out, as it becomes less imposing the farther one
penetrates within. To me it was one long succession of delights and wonders,
and in the freshness of the early morning I found an enjoyment in the crude
designs of gods and heroes, freshly painted in strong outline of burnt sienna
colour on whitewashed walls, as well as in the older elaborate and
sometimes beautiful carvings of pillar and panel, niche and architrave.

Adjoining the so-called hall of a thousand columns a great bamboo


scaffolding was being put up for the erection of an annexe roof, to be
supported by sixty temporary pillars to make the full complement for the
December festival. It was from here that I painted a sketch looking through
the great passage, festooned with dry and withered mano leaves, under the
White Tower, with a Gopura beyond, mauve in the early morning light. The
Ana on one of the temple elephants was very pertinacious in his demands for
backsheesh, and his very obedient servant caused me some inconvenience by
the way in which the end of his trunk kept appearing between my brushes
and palette.

Before driving back to Trichinopoly I stopped to have a good look at the


great outer gateway of the temple, a magnificent granite structure of a
different style to the rest of the buildings. It gives the appearance of breaking
off suddenly at a lower height than its completion would have attained, but
its splendid symmetry, its severe contours and its fine proportions stamp it
forever as a grand piece of architecture and confute those who speak of the
Dravidian style as careless or haphazard in planning.

All that it was possible for me to do in this part of Southern India was to
visit a few of the most important temples, and as they are well known and oft
described I will not devote much space to them here.

The chief in the Dravidian style after Madura and Trichinopoly is, of
course, Tanjore—much earlier in date, being of the fourteenth century, if not
much earlier still,—with a pyramidal sikra of thirteen storeys high (it is
surmounted by a spiked ornament, which gives its name to the construction),
and a stone Mantapam covering the famous Nandi, the colossal stone bull of
Siva, which is over 12 feet high and blackened with centuries of oil
anointings.

The temple is partly surrounded by the great walls and bastions of the
old fort of Tanjore and a wide moat, over which a bridge leads to the
gateway. All along the west and north sides of the great open space within
the walls runs a colonnade in which are placed, as in a long series of side-
chapels, 108 lingams. The walls of these cloister-like recesses are covered
with pictures of gods and miracles in sienna red, and on another side of the
enclosure is the superbly graceful later shrine, called Subramanya, to the
warrior son of Siva. The whole temple is attached to Tanjore Palace and
under the control of the Senior Ranee, Her Highness Matosree Jijayeeamba
Boyee Sahib.

The huge apartments of the five-storeyed palace are still inhabited by


this lady and her sister, also a widow, and a host of dependants. In the
courtyard stands a tower which served for many years as an armoury, and
still contains the wooden stands and racks used for storing guns. It is a
characterless stucco building, and its upper part has been for some time in a
dangerous condition; but I was well repaid for the long clamber up its dark
narrow stairway by the wide view from the top. In the palace there were
durbar halls to see and indifferent oil-paintings of the rajahs and their
ministers; but far more interesting than these is the old library, a famous
collection including many valuable manuscripts, of which a great number
are written on palm leaves. It was here I found, to my delight, the Elephant
Book. The words are older than the illustrations, and are the writings of a
certain rishi about all elephants. When the Hindoo librarian brought out this
treasure the daylight was rapidly going, and as I did not wish to see the
pictures by lamp-light, he had it carried outside for me and I turned the
pages to the sound of music, which was being played under a tree in a corner
of the courtyard. In the time of the rishi, elephants had wings, but the sound
of their flapping disturbed him when he wanted to rest, and that is why
elephants have no wings at all nowadays. In the pages of this book there
were painted elephants of every colour imaginable, and a large simple
treatment characterised the designs throughout. Some of the pictures made
me think of Blake, though they rarely contained human figures, and one of a
tree covered with little winged elephants reminded me of Blake's first vision
as a child when he saw a fruit tree full of winged cherubs.

Madras I would call the dusty town of interminable distances.


Everywhere seems to be miles away from everywhere else, and more liberal
space about public buildings was surely never seen. The great desideratum is
some kind of gliding shoe which will carry you back and forth at will,
without any demands upon the muscles of the leg.

About the middle of the great front is Fort St George, with its three and
four-storeyed barracks and officers' bungalows. It is of no strategic
importance, but there are very rightly stringent regulations against sketching
within its precincts. Thanks to the courtesy of the officers in charge I
obtained permission with regard to St Mary's Church where Clive was
married, and which claims to be not only the oldest English church in India,
but the oldest English building in India of any kind, dating from 25th March
1678, when the first sod was turned for its erection.

I had received a verbal permission from the commanding officer, but had
no sooner taken up my position than I was stopped by a sergeant. He insisted
on the need for a written permit. Now this involved a second walk of some
distance to the commanding officer's house, but I was sufficiently far from
any feeling of annoyance to smile at that sergeant, saying I would comply
with pleasure, and complimenting him on his zeal. His severe rejoinder was
a delicious contrast to the fluent suavity of Eastern politeness. Looking at me
sternly with flashing eyes, my compatriot exclaimed:—"Now look 'ere, don't
you give me none of your sarcasm neither!"

Most of the public buildings in Madras, such as the Railway Station, the
Government Offices and the Law Courts, are of red brick, and their
architecture an ingenious mixture of East and West.

Maimed and deformed beggars seem to abound. They come up to you


shaking their quivering limbs, showing you sores or touching your arm
softly with uncanny hands to draw your eyes to see some monstrous horror
of a leg.

I wanted, before leaving the South, to see the Nilgiris, and with this end
took train inland to Mettapalaiyam, where I changed on to the narrow gauge
railway which climbs one in twelve, a central rack-rail making such an angle
possible. As the engine was at the lower end I was able to sit on the extreme
front of the train and watch the scenery to advantage. A look-out man by my
side stopped the train in one deep cutting as we caught sight of a piece of
rock which had fallen from above and lay across the metals in front of us.
There were some coolies near at hand, and the obstacle was quickly
removed, but it dramatically suggested one of the dangers of mountain
railways.

The vegetation was very like that on the journey to Newara Eliya in
Ceylon; bamboos, areca-nut palms, plantains and the same little orange-
flowered shrub everywhere. Here and there the red earth showed but only
rarely for where there were no trees the ground was generally bare grey rock.
Hanging in gum trees or eucalyptus I noticed many paper nests of wasps. At
Runnymede Station, 4500 feet above sea-level, we were turned into a siding
for a down-coming train to pass. This was full of children shouting and
cheering loudly, coming away for Christmas holidays from the Lawrence
Asylum School at Ootacamund.

As we crossed small bridges over clefts and gorges I could see torrents
under my feet between the sleepers; and then, rugged and precipitous, the
hillside dropped below on one side and reared up on the other far above our
heads, as we crept along some narrow ledge.
At Coonoor, which was, at the time of my visit, still the end of the
railway, I shared a two-horse "tonga" with an engineer. He had been for
many years making railways in Assam, had been down with dysentery and
about to go home on leave when he was asked at Calcutta to get the "Ooty"
railway finished, and change of air and a "soft" job had decided him to take
the work.

HINDOO MOTHER AND CHILD.


A good linguist, he was fond of the natives generally and especially of
the Hindoos. Living for long periods sixty or seventy miles from any white
face, he had grown to dislike "society" and hated calling at the private
houses of officials. "They don't understand me," he said, "and they never
know the native as I know him. At the 'Holi' festival I make holiday with my
people. Early in the morning I go into their quarters, right into their houses
and throw the red water at their women, and then I have them all up to my
camp in parties and they dance to me and all have a royal time. Sometimes it
costs me three or four hundred rupees but I enjoy it, and they have few
pleasures in their lives. Put a lighted cracker in a Hindoo girl's hand and tell
her just when to throw it away, and the delight of it will last her for months.
Of course they buy a few fireworks themselves, but they can't afford the big
pieces and their joy well repays me. As to the talk of unrest, it's all bunkum,
—except among the baboos and a few mischievous priests in their pay. What
does the average native know about the partition of Bengal? He knows
nothing, as a rule, about political divisions at all, and as for wanting to be
ruled by his own people, the last thing in the world he wants is a native
judge. He knows well enough what that means—judgment for the side that
pays most. No—they get some Western learning, but they don't get made
straight. That's one of the reasons why it's impossible to give a native
engineer a top post anywhere. He can't resist bribery, and his sense of 'izzat'
makes him diddle his employers twice over. After all it is a point of honour
with your native not to take a bribe from an Englishman; he regards it as
entirely different from taking bribes from his own people. That is his sense
of 'izzat,' and to compensate for his loss of personal honour he must make
double out of the deal. The other reason is that a native always loses his head
in a crisis."

I do not think there was one thing this engineer said, except the last,
about which I had not heard the direct opposite from other Englishmen; but
he spoke from his own experience as they did, and the various views must be
weighed against each other.

"Ooty" was deserted. There were no happy holiday bachelors under


canvas tents on the club links, no one at all in the hotels. The place is not
unlike Newara Eliya from the scenic point of view as well as the social.
There were the same arum lilies growing near the lake.
Living in small huts on the hillside I saw a few Todas, some of the few
remaining of those early inhabitants of India allied to the Dravidians, but of
Scythian or Mongolian origin. Driven out by the Aryans, in their assumed
invasion from Central Asia, the Dravidians and their Mongolian cousins
were forced down to Southern India and Ceylon, remaining here and there
among the hills. The Todas number only a little over a thousand and are said
to be steadily decreasing in numbers. As they are polyandrous, it is indeed
surprising that any are left at all. Other tribes surviving from these early
peoples are the Bhils, Kols, Ghonds, Santals and Nagas.

"Ooty" is 2000 feet higher than Coonoor, but the finest mountain views
are from the latter neighbourhood. I drove back by night and all along the
road bullock-carts, with lanterns swinging underneath them, were slowly
plodding down with loads of coffee and tea. On the rack-railway there is
only passenger traffic, so they have to go all the way to Mettapalaiyam. The
drivers were all sound asleep and my "sayce" was on the road pretty often,
turning the cattle aside to let us pass. On one side the rocks rose
precipitously, and on the other stretched out a vast panorama of hills, clothed
in a dress more mystic than white samite, the soft pale clarity of moon-lit
mountain air.

It was very late when I reached the railway station, and finding all locked
up I slept on the pavement rolled in rug and ulster.

When I awoke at sunrise the Eastern sky was all rose and amber, and in
the sharp crisp morning air the bells of the horses jingled gaily as I drove up
through the woods above Coonoor, past snug villas now nearly all "to let"
for the season does not begin till February. A zigzag road it was, with roses
and wild heliotrope along its stone-built sides. The eucalyptus were 50 feet
high, rhododendrons with profusion of crimson blossoms grew to large trees,
and the graceful star-topped tree-ferns were very tall.

Suddenly rounding a corner of the road a majestic landscape broke upon


my sight, rising sheer out of plains which seemed to stretch away to a misty
infinity. There was a waterfall above the road, and the horses splashed
through a torrent under creepers hanging from bending tree-tops. Then the
road crept along a narrow ledge with four or five hundred feet of sheer drop
below. I left the carriage to climb to the view-point I wanted, near what is
called Lady Canning's Seat, and thence painted the Droog, the hill from the
steep summit of which Tippoo Sultan is said to have thrown his prisoners of
war. I have seen since other "blue mountains," and it was interesting to
compare the rich intensity of the colouring in the Nilgiris with the more
violet "bloom" of the gum-clad mountains of Australia, and especially this
view of the Droog with Govett's Leap, a scene in New South Wales of
similar configuration.

CHAPTER VII

CALCUTTA

In a heavy storm of rain, thunder and lightning early one Sunday


morning the British India Company's steamship Bengala, on which I had
travelled from Rangoon, began making her way up the Hooghly. Grey mud-
banks appeared vaguely in the stinging drift. There were toddy-palms here
and there and villages of thatched huts with plantains about them, the broad
green leaves standing out against the darker background. Leaves, blown on
the wind, whirled aimlessly across the dirty sea.

The few passengers on the Bengala were all eager to see "James and
Mary"; and beyond another village on a spit of sand with a crowd of small
fishing-boats at anchor, we passed the now celebrated spot where a couple of
masts still protruded above the water. All hands had been called to be ready
before we reached this fatal place, but no siren voices sounded from the
tragic sands.

At Budge Bridge, about 14 miles from Calcutta, where there are large oil
storage tanks, we began to pass jute-mills on the opposite bank and many
brick-making places. At Garden Reach we dropped the pilot and picked up
the Harbour Master just as a Natal coolie emigrant ship, the Umfuli, passed
us on her way out.

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