[Illustration] MODERN INDIA BY WILLIAM ELEROY CURTIS _Author of "The Turk and His Lost Provinces," "To-day in Syria and Palestine," "Egypt, Burma and British Malaysia," etc._ To LADY CURZON An ideal american woman This volume contains a series of letters written for _The Chicago Record-Herald_ during the winter of 1903-04, and are published in permanent form through the courtesy of Mr. Frank B. Noyes, Editor and publisher of that paper. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. The Eye of India II. The City of Bombay III. Servants, Hotels, and Cave Temples IV. The Empire of India V. Two Hindu Weddings VI. The Religions of India VII. How India Is Governed VIII. The Railways of India IX. The City of Ahmedabad X. Jeypore and its Maharaja XI. About Snakes and Tigers XII. The Rajputs and Their Country XIII. The Ancient Mogul Empire XIV. The Architecture of the Moguls XV. The Most Beautiful of Buildings XVI. The Quaint Old City of Delhi XVII. The Temples and Tombs at Delhi XVIII. Thugs, Fakirs and Nautch Dancers XIX. Simla and the Punjab XX. Famines and Their Antidotes XXI. The Frontier Question XXII. The Army in India XXIII. Muttra, Lucknow and Cawnpore XXIV. Caste and the Women of India XXV. Education in India XXVI. The Himalyas and the Invasion of Thibet XXVII. Benares, the Sacred City XXVIII. American Missions in India XXIX. Cotton, Tea and Opium XXX. Calcutta, the Capital of India ILLUSTRATIONS Map of India A Bombay Street The Clock Tower and University Buildings, Bombay Victoria Railway Station, Bombay Nautch Dancers Body ready for Funeral Pyre, Bombay Burning Ghat Mohammedans at Prayer Huthi Singh's Tomb, Ahmedabad Street Corner, Jeypore The Maharaja of Jeypore Hall of the Winds, Jeypore Elephant Belonging to the Maharaja of Jeypore Tomb of Etmah Dowlah, Agra Portrait of Shah Jehan Portrait of Akbar, the Great Mogul The Taj Mahal Interior of Taj Mahal Tomb of Sheik Salim, Fattehpur A Corner in Delhi Hall of Marble and Mosaics, Palace of Moguls, Delhi Tomb of Amir Khusran, Persian Poet, Delhi "Kim," the Chela and the Old Lama A Ekka, or Road Cart A Team of "Critters" Group of Famous Brahmin Pundits Tomb of Akbar, the Great Mogul Audience Chamber of the Mogul Palace, Agra A Hindu Ascetic A Hindu Barber Bodies ready for Burning, Benares Great Banyan Tree, Botanical Garden, Calcutta The Princes of Pearls I THE EYE OF INDIA