SUBSIDIARY TREATIES AKD THEIR RESULTS 317
land with European states in this respect, that whereas Austria or Russia raised armies on funds provided by England, Oudh or Haidarabad provided funds on which the British government raised armies. Large sums had hitherto been spent by the native princes in maintain- ing ill-managed and insubordinate bodies of troops, and in constant wars against each other; they might econ- omize their revenues, be rid of a mutinous soldiery, and sit much more quietly at home by entering into con- tracts with a skilful and solvent administration that would undertake all serious military business for a fixed subsidy. But as punctuality in money matters has never been a princely quality, this subsidy was apt to be paid very irregularly; so the next stage was to revive the long- standing practice of Asiatic governments, the assign- ment of lands for the payment of troops. There were now in India (excluding the Pan jab, with which Eng- land had had no dealings as yet) only three states whose size or strength could give the English govern- ment any concern. One of these, the Maratha federa- tion, was still strong and solvent, but the two Moham- medan states of Oudh and Haidarabad were in no con- dition to resist the proposals of Lord Wellesley, nor is it likely that either of them could have long maintained itself without British protection. The Nizam of Hai- darabad had been very liberally treated in the partition of Mysore, and Tippu's destruction had relieved him of an inveterate foe. In 1800 he transferred consider- able districts in perpetuity to the British government,