Akbar, the ablest and best of the princes of the House of Tamerlane, had just been borne, full of years and honours, to a mausoleum surpassing in magnificence any that Europe could show.

He had bequeathed to his posterity an empire containing more than twenty times the population and yielding more than twenty times the revenue of the England which, under our great Queen, held a foremost place among European powers.

It is curious and interesting to consider how little the two countries, destined to be one day so closely connected, were then known to each other.

The most enlightened Englishmen looked on India with ignorant admiration.

The most enlightened natives of India were scarcely aware that England existed.