. 158

J

A system of currency notes and savings banks
gives the government the command of a further large
sum on favourable terms.
The average annual balance at credit upon the
financial operations is one million.

CHAPTER XII.

ALLIED AND PROTECTED STATES.
Extent of independence.
India is, geographically speaking, a peninsula
bounded by the Himalayan range of mountains
along the north-eastern and north-western frontiers,
and by the sea on the south-east and south-west. The
island of Ceylon is under a separate government,
as are also the territories belonging to Great Britain,
known as the Straits Settlements. The provinces
of Assam and Burma, which adjoin on the eastern
boundary, are under the government of India. The
states of Khelat, Afghanistan, Kashmir, the smaller
hill states along the Himalayan range, Nipal, Sikkim,
Manipur, Bhutan, Siam and Mandalay, are contiguous
to British possessions along the inland boundary.
Within the peninsula itself the territories under the
sway of native rulers are very extensive. These
states do not all stand in the same relation to
the British empire, but possess different degrees of
independence. It would not be possible to give
here an exhaustive account of the relations of these
various states with the British covernment. Speaking