Ganga Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner since 1887, was the best-known of the Indian princes. He represented India in the Imperial War Cabinet in 1917 and at the peace conference of 1919, and he was the first Chancellor of the Chamber of Princes. In October 1941, aged sixty-one, he left again for active service in the Second World War, and before leaving he issued this proclamation to his subjects. He died in 1943. It is a proclamation, not a speech. The text is the abridged version printed by the International Labour Office in 1944, and the ILO editors' omission marks are kept; among other cuts, they leave out the Sanskrit coronation oath and Ganga Singh's explanation of his first principle.
Ganga Singh presents his rule as the "true Raj Dharma which our Sacred Texts teach us" and lists eight principles of good government, from the "Reign of Law" and an independent judiciary to a fixed Civil List for the Ruler and "the increasing association, as circumstances and local conditions permit, of the people with the Government." He declares these binding "not only on me but also on my heirs and successors." He cuts his own Civil List to nine per cent of the State's ordinary revenue, with a ceiling of twenty lakhs a year. He then speaks to each order of his State in turn: the Chiefs and Nobles, who are "the Pillars of this State and the Ornaments of my Throne"; the merchants; the cultivators, "the backbone of the State"; and the new colonists settled on the Ganga Canal lands.
[p. 508] . . .
On this supreme occasion when I am proceeding on active service with its incidental dangers, which as a Rathore and a Prince I have always been ready [p. 509] gladly to face in the performance of my duty, I need hardly assure my people that their welfare and happiness have ever been the guiding motives of my life; and from the beginning of my reign I have always looked upon the measure of their prosperity and contentment as the true index to my own success as a Ruler.
I have kept enshrined in my mind the Coronation Oath prescribed for Hindu Rulers which was administered according to the Hindu Religion to the first King to hold that dignity.
. . .
This may be translated as below :
I shall at all times protect the country regarding it as God. Whatever law there is and whatever is dictated by Neeti and what is not opposed to the doctrine of justice, I shall do without hesitation. I shall not act according to my own caprices.
And Aitareya Brahmana further enjoins:
If I play thee (the State) false, may I lose all the merit of my religious performances and gifts, of my good deeds, my place, my life, and even my progeny.
To achieve this ideal, which I had set before myself and which I conceived as the true Raj Dharma which our Sacred Texts teach us, I have kept unswervingly before me certain fundamental principles. About these I have on different occasions made public announcements and have assured my subjects in the most solemn manner of my resolute determination to adhere to them, not only as the general ideal to be realised, but as most important policies which I have been endeavouring in all earnestness to work out in practice. And I am thankful to say that I see evidence all round me that they have been principles that have made for the well-being and contentment of my people and the success of my administration.
All such previous assurances given at various times and rights secured to my beloved subjects I am to-day pleased to confirm unequivocally and to state in the clearest possible terms that they are and shall be inviolate and inviolable and shall remain sacred and equally binding not only on me but also on my heirs and successors and they shall be scrupulously honoured and respected for all time. I wish to impress on my people in all earnestness that for the future they should have no misgivings in their mind in this respect and that their rights will never be curtailed.
Those principles, which as I have already said have long been declared by our Sacred Texts to be the essentials of Raj Dharma, are the assurance of:
(1) Reign of Law, including certainty of Law; and the recognition of the equality of all the subjects of the State, high or low, before the Law;
(2) Security and protection of life and property and of rights and individual liberty;
(3) Independence of a competent and trained judiciary and the provision of adequate machinery for the adjustment of disputes between individuals and between individuals and the State;
(4) Financial credit and stability;
(5) Efficiency and continuity of administration;
(6) Clear demarcation of State expenditure and the personal expenditure of the Ruler and a definite fixed percentage of the ordinary revenues of the State as the Civil List of the Ruler, sufficient to meet his personal expenses and to maintain his position and dignity;
(7) Utilisation of as large a proportion as possible of the resources of the State for the benefit of the people and especially in what are called nation-building activities and beneficent departments;
(8) Beneficent rule in the interests of the general well-being and contentment of the subjects of the State and the increasing association, as [p. 510] circumstances and local conditions permit, of the people with the Government through the Legislative Assembly, local boards, municipalities, and other elective institutions.
These 8 principles which constitute the firm groundwork of the administration of the State and the essentials of good government have stood the test of experience; and I am happy to announce in regard to each of them that there shall be no going back at any time on the part of myself for the rest of the span of life that is given to me to guide and conduct the affairs of this State or on the part of my successors in days to come.
In order that there may be no misapprehension as to what these principles may stand for, I shall indicate briefly what I and my Government mean in respect of each of them.
. . .
Secondly, I have tried to ensure that there is security of life and property throughout the length and breadth of the State . . .
I include in this also fair and equitable taxation so that, the Noble, the cultivator, the businessman and the trader are all left free from all doubts, uncertainties and apprehensions to enjoy their property, for it could not be considered security of property or even of life, if the State itself, through unjust laws or arbitrary acts, deprives people of their property and thereby also of their means of livelihood.
. . .
The maintenance of financial credit and stability is also a primary principle of good government. A balanced budget, a careful and proper husbanding of assets, a system of public finance which will inspire confidence, these alone can give to the State the necessary means for the pursuit of a consistently liberal and beneficent policy. This has received my special care and attention and I have no hesitation in assuring my subjects that in the days to come also this policy will not be departed from.
In this connection, I should like specially to say that in regard to any large-scale investments in the Bikaner State Savings Bank or in industrial concerns, whether they be by financiers and capitalists from outside or inside the State, which have been started, or may hereafter be started, with assurances from or concessions by the State, such assurances and concessions will be scrupulously honoured both in the letter and in the spirit. More especially, as in the case of the Bank of Bikaner, which I hope will soon be started as a public concern, undertakings which are based on public credit will be safeguarded from undue interference and the Government of the State will take every necessary action to protect the interests of the public.
An essential condition of sound financial credit is of course the prompt repayment of loans and the scrupulous honouring of State liabilities. Too much care can never be taken in this matter; and I am happy to feel that until now there has never been an occasion when the good name of Bikaner in financial transactions has been doubted. In future also such public loans for remunerative purposes and other liabilities, as the State may have contracted or may contract, will be honoured without fail and paid back with promptitude.
. . .
. . . A well defined and fixed Civil List with a clear and ascertainable dividing line between State expenditure and the personal expenditure of the Ruler is another of the essential conditions of good government at all times.
The separation of personal expenditure from the expenditure of the State is not only a wise policy, but a religious duty enjoined on Hindu Kings . . .
With the increasing revenues of the State I have now decided to reduce my Civil List from 10 per cent. and to fix it at 9 per cent. of the ordinary revenues of the State.
[p. 511] It has been my view always that it is most desirable and only just and right and proper in the case of all big States with large revenues that the Civil List should not only not exceed a fixed percentage but also should not exceed a fixed maximum, and that, when the revenues of the State yield that maximum sum on the basis of a reasonably fixed percentage, there must thereafter be no further increase in the Ruler's Civil List. I have accordingly decided and hereby give the solemn assurance that whatever the revenues of the State may amount to, the Civil List of the Ruler of Bikaner shall at no time exceed 20 lakhs of rupees per annum, even though the ordinary revenues of the State reach the figure of Rs.2 crores or more, which by the grace of God, it is hoped it will one day — and I hope before long — be the case.
The utilisation of all available resources for activities meant for the welfare of the people and the State is the inalienable duty of the Ruler. The expanding activities of the State in such matters as education, medical relief, sanitation, rural uplift, agriculture and in providing amenities of civilised life take up a considerable portion of the State revenue; and I am happy to be able to assure you that not only will these beneficent and nation-building activities continue undiminished, but, while discountenancing wasteful expenditure, no ruthless cuts in the State grants in regard particularly to these departments will be made merely for the purpose of saving or hoarding money, so that, even if circumstances may not permit of that in my lifetime, at least in the time of my successor Bikaner, instead of merely ranking amongst the progressive States in India, may be in the forefront of the most progressive States.
I also desire to give a solemn assurance that the policy . . . of the association of my beloved subjects with the Government of the State . . . will be considered an integral part of the Constitution of the Bikaner State and that as the days go on, a wise and progressive policy will continue to be followed and wherever that is possible the Constitution in this respect too will be made more liberal in keeping with modern requirements, and with due regard to the safety of the State and public tranquillity.
. . .
To my Chiefs and Nobles I would repeat again what I have constantly assured them, viz., that they will continue to be the Pillars of this State and the Ornaments of my Throne and it will be my constant endeavour, as it shall be of my successors also, to maintain them in the rights and privileges which are their due and to uphold their izzat and dignity and their proper and honoured position in the body politic of the State. . . . the Chiefs or Nobles need have no fear whatsoever that they will be unjustly deprived of their Jagirs or that their Jagirs will be arbitrarily taken away from them and transferred to someone else — so long as they continue to be loyal and fulfil the obligations which they owe to the Ruler and the State, and conform to the conditions clearly stipulated by the State in the terms of the grant of such Jagirs.
Such duties and obligations, which the Chiefs and Nobles and other Jagir holders owe to the Ruler and State, no less than to my subjects residing in their Jagirs, have for centuries been clearly inserted as essential conditions in the Mohar Chhap Chithis relating to the original grant of Jagirs as well as on the renewal of the Jagir at each succession. They are that Jagir holders:
Shall not deviate from the path of loyalty;
Shall not enter into any seditious conspiracies against the State;
Shall not defy State authority;
Shall not commit any oppression or excesses on the ryots;
Shall keep their villages populated;
Shall realise only reasonable rent; and
Shall not permit robbers and thieves to settle in their Jagir areas; and should any enter them they shall cause them to be apprehended.
. . .
[p. 512] To the Seths and Sahukars and others of our great mercantile community I give the further special assurance that they will always receive full and sympathetic consideration at my hands and those of my successors and that in laying down economic and industrial policies the State will in every manner that is reasonable and possible give due weight to their views and protect their legitimate interests.
To the Zamindars and other members of our agricultural community — who are the backbone of the State — I solemnly reaffirm my firm and unalterable faith that in their welfare shall be the Ruler's happiness, in their prosperity his pride and in their loyalty his reward.
To the new colonists I again declare solemnly that, so long as they remain loyal to the State and its Ruler, they will enjoy all the rights and privileges of my other subjects and that everything will continue to be done to further their well-being and to ensure their prosperity .
. . .
While in the natural evolution of things there may be further elaboration and greater development of the essential principles to which I have alluded in this Proclamation — and although details of administration cannot be forecast and the problems which arise at any particular time can only be dealt with in the circumstances of that time — my subjects may rest assured that these principles will continue to be the firm foundation of the Government of the State for the future no less than for the present.
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International Labour Office, Constitutional Provisions Concerning Social and Economic Policy (Montreal: International Labour Office, 1944), pp. 508–512. The ILO editors abridged the proclamation; their omission marks are kept.