The Oxford history of India, from the earliest times to the end of 1911

Front matter

Division ID S 4* 3 6

Section

.555

Preface

The purpose of this book is to provide in one volume of moderate bulk and price a compendious up-to-date History of India as a whole, based on the results of modern research and extending from the earliest times to the end of 1911. It has been designed with the desire to preserve due proportion throughout in the Ancient, Hindu, Muhammadan, and British Periods alike, the space being carefully allotted so as to give prominence to the more significant sections. The author has sought to attain scrupulous accuracy of statement and impartiality of judgement, so far as may be. The subject has engaged his attention for nearly half a century. .

While foot-notes have been confined within narrow bounds, the authorities used are indicated with considerable fullness. The lists of authorities are not intended to be bibliographies. They merely mention the publications actually consulted. Chronological tables, maps, and other aids for the special benefit of professed students have been provided, but it is hoped that the volume may prove readable by and useful to all persons who desire to possess some knowledge of Indian history and do not find a mere school-book sufficient. No book on lines at all similar is in existence. The older works of Meadows Taylor, Marshman, and other authors are necessarily useless for the Hindu Period, which was treated consecutively and critically for the first time in the Early History of India, published originally in 1904, and revised in subsequent editions. The accounts of the Muhammadan Period in the writings of Elphinstone and in other books now current are inadequate and out of date, being far behind the present state of knowledge in every section. In the present work much unfamiliar material concerning that period has been utilized, as explained in the second section of the Introduction. The British Period, the subject of innumerable books, offers less opportunity for novelty or originality of treatment.

Notwithstanding the obvious truism that no man can be master in equal degrees of all the parts of India's long story, it is desirable in my opinion that a general history should be the work of a single

PREFACE autlior. Composite histories, built up of chapters by specialists, suffer from the lack of literary unity and from the absence of one controlling mind so severely that their gain in erudition is apt to be outweighed by their dullness.

The memorable visit of Their Majesties the King-Emperor and his consort at the close of 1911 seems to be the best stopping-place for the narrative. The years since that event have been passed for the most j)art under the shadow of the Great War, with which history cannot yet dare to meddle. A bare list of some of the happenings during those terrible years is appended.

The spelling of Asiatic words and names follows the principle observed in my work on Akbar, with, perhaps, a slight further indulgence in popular literary forms. The only diacritical mark used as a general rule is that placed over long vowels, and intended as a guide to the approximate pronunciation. Consonants are to be pronounced as in English. Vowels usually have the Italian sounds, so that Mir is to be read as ‘Meer ’ and Mid- as ‘Mool- ’. Short a with stress is pronounced like u in ‘ but ’, and when without stress as an indistinct vowel like the A in ‘ America ’. The name Akbar consequently is pronounced ‘ Ukbur ’ or ‘ Ukber ’. No simpler system is practicable, for we cannot revert to the barbarisms of the old books.

Much research and care have been devoted to the collection and reproduction of the numerous illustrations.

My acknowledgements are due to the Secretary of State for India for general liberty to use illustrations in official publications ; to B. Lewis Rice, Esq., C.I.E., for the use of two illustrations from Ml/sore and Coorg from the Inscriptions’, and to K. Panikkar, Esq., for the loan of an engraving of MahadajI Sindia. A few coins have been copied from the Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, by permission.

Copyright extracts are reproduced by permission of Messrs. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner& Co. (from Cover) ; Mr. William Heinemann (from Professor Macdonell) ; Robert Sewell, Esq., I.C.S. Retired (Vijayanagar) ; and the India Society (from version of Kabir).

The kind attention of readers is invited to the list of Additions and Corrections.

Note. — As the book probably will be used in colleges, it seems well to say that the two sections of the Introduction are not intended for junior students, who may leave them unread.

Contents

SECTION PAGE

]. The geographical foundation; diversity in unity and unity in diversity ; the scenes and periods of the story ; sea-power ; forms of government ; tlie history of thought . . . i

2. The Sources, or the Original Authorities ..... xiv BOOK I. ANCIENT INDIA

Section 2. The Tamil Powers of tlic Far South. . . 205

BOOK IV. THE MUHAMMADAN POWERS OF NORTHERN

INDI.4

1. The Rise of the Miiliammadan Power in India and the Sultanate

2. The Sultanate of Delhi continued ; a. d. 1290 to 1340 ; the Khiljl

and Tughlak dynasties ....... 230

3. The Decline and Fall of the Sultanate of Delhi, a. d. 1340-1520 ;

the Tughlak dynasty coneliided ; Timur ; the Sayyids ; the Lodi dynasty ; Islam in Indian life ...... 242

4. The Muhammadan kingdoms of Bengal, Malwa, Gujarat, and

BOOK V. THE SOUTHERN POWERS

1. The Bahmani Dynasty of the Dceean, 1347-1520 . . . 275

2. The Five Sultanates of the Deccan, and Khandesh, from 1474 to

the seventeenth century ....... 286

3. The Hindu empire of Vijayanagar, from a. n. 1336 to 1646. . 299

BOOK VI. THE MOGUL EMPIRE

1. The Beginnings of the Mogul Empire ; Babur, Humayun, and the

2. The Early European Voyages to and Settlements in India ; the

East India Company from 1600 to 1708 ..... 330

5. Shahjahan and the War of Succession ; climax of the Mogul Empire 391

7. The Later Moguls ; decline of the empire ; the Sikhs and Marathas 452

CONTENTS

BOOK VII. THE RULE OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY

CHAP. PAGE

J. The South ; French and Englisli ; Haidar Ali and IMysorc . . 469

2. Bengal affairs ; Siraju-d daula ; battles of Plassey and Biixar ;

the ‘ double government ’ ; tbe famine of 1770 . . . 487

3. Warren Hastings as governor of Bengal, 1772-4 ; the Rohilla war ;

the Regulating Act . . . . . . . .510

4. Warren Hastings as Governor-general ; the policy and character of

Hastings ; Sir John Maepherson ...... 523

5. Lord Cornwallis ; reforms ; the third iMysore war ; the ‘ perma-

nent settlement ' ; Sir .lolin Shore, a man of peace . . . 556

6. Lord Wellesley ; the fourth and last Mysore war ; annexations ;

treaty of Bassein and the second Maratha war ; jjolicy and achievement ......... 578

7. Reaction ; peace at any price policy of Lord Cornwallis in his second

adniinistration and of Sir George Barlow ; Lord Minto’s strong foreign and cautious internal policy ..... 607

8. The Marquess of Hastings ; Nepalese, Pindari, and Maratha wars ;

establishment of British supremacy in 1818 .... 620

BOOK VIH. THE RULE OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY FROM 1819 TO 1858

1 . The Marquess of Hastings continued ; reconstruction and internal

reforms ; Mr. Adam and the press ; Lord Amherst ; the first Burmese War ......... 637

2. Lord William Cavendish-Bentinck ; reforms ; relations with native

states : abolition of suttee ; suppression of thuggee ; renewal of charter ; Sir Charles Metcalfe ...... 055

3. Lord Auckland and Lord Ellcnborough ; the first Afghan War ;

annexation of Sind ; affairs of Gwalior ; abolition of slavery 672

4. Sir Henry (Lord) Hardinge ; first Sikh War ; treaties of Lahore ;

Lord Dalhousie ; second Sikh IVar ; second Burmese War ; annexations ; reforms ......•• 989

5. Lord Canning ; the Mutiny : the Queen's Proclamation and the

passing of the East India Company . . . . .710

CONTENTS

BOOK IX. INDIA UNDER THE CROWN ; THE VICEROYS FROM 1858 TO 1911

CHAP. PAGE

1. Lord Canning continued ; reconstruction ; Lord Elgin I ; Lord

Lawrence ; Lord Mayo ; and Lord Northbrook ; from 1858 to 1876, a period of almost unbroken peaee .... 732

2. Lord Lytton ; Royal Titles Act ; famine ; fmanee ; Vernaeular

Press Aet ; seeond Afghan War; Lord Ripon ; reversal of Afghan poliey ; internal administration ; Lord Dufferin ; Panjdeh incident ; third Burmese War ; Tenancy Acts . . . 740

3. Lord Lansdowne ; frontier defence ; Manipur ; exchange and

currency; Lord Elgin II ; Chitral and Tirah campaigns ; plague and famine ; Lord Curzon ; famine ; foreign affairs and frontier arrangements ; internal administration ; Lord Minto II ; constitutional changes ; anarchist crime ; Lord Hardinge of Penshurst ; visit of Their Majesties ..... 764

APPENDIXES

A. Some events from 1912 to 1918 specially concerning India and

the Indian Army ........ 784

B. East India Company ........ 785

C. Governors-general and Viceroys ...... 785

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

The Taj Mahal . Frontispiece Burial urn, Tinnevelly . 3

Copper axe (celt) . . 4

Copper harpoon ... 5

Kushan (Kanishka) coin . 9

Kharoshthi script on silver scroll . . . .40

Mahavira Vardhamana . .50

Gautama Buddha (Sarnath,

fifth century) . . 51

Coins of Taxila ... 61

Poros medal ... 63

Ancient Indian arms (Cunningham) ... 64

Alexander the Great . . 66

Punch-marked coins . . 69

Four-horsed chariot of sun . 82

Boys armed as soldiers . 83

Veddah bow ... 84

Coin of Ptolemy Philadelphos 97 The Bo-tree at Anurajapura. 99 Asoka’s inscription on the

Rummindel Pillar . .102

Capital, Sarnath . . .112

Great Stupa, Sanchi (restored) 113 Inscription of Dasaratha . 117

Andhra coin . . .119

Coins of Diodotos II, Euthydemos, and Demetrios . 123

Heliodoros Column . .124

Coins of Eukratidcs, Menander, Antialkidas, and Heliokles . . . .12.5

Coins of Hermaios and Gondophernes ' . . .126

Ancient cross, Kottayam . 127

Coin of Kadphises II . . 128

Coin of Kanishka . . 130

Buddha coin of Kanishka . 132

A Kushan king. Mat . . 135

Head of Bodhisattva . . 136

Bodhisattva . . .137

Gandhara frieze . . 138

Medallion, Amaravati . 139

Coins of Huvishka and Vasudeva .... 140

Coins of Pantaleon, Agathokles, and Nero . . 141

Coin of Chandragupta I . 148

Coin of Samiidragupta: horsesacrifiee type . . .148

Coin of Samiidragupta; lyrist type . . . . 151

PAGE

Coin of Chandragupta II . 151

Coin of Ujjain . . .152

Coin of Kumaragupta 1 . 156

Lauriya-Nandangarh Pillar . 157

-Monkeys, Ajanta . .158

Woman and child, Ajanta . 159

Column, Gujita Period . 160

Ilippogryph, Gupta . . 161

Coin of Toraman.a . .163

Signature of Harsha . . 168

Gurkha eoin . . . 175

Tibetan bronze . . . 177

-Martand Tem])le . . . 178

Ahom eoins . ... 179

Tibetan bronze : Kuvera and Sakti . . . .183

Coin of Adi Varaba (Bhoja) . 184

Seulpture, Pala Period . 185

Temple, Khajuraho . . 187

Coin of Sabuktigin . . 190

Coin of Govindachandra . 195

Face of Gomata, Sravana Bclgola .... 199

Puncb-marked coin ; Early Chalukj'a coin . . . 200

A copper-plate grant . . 201

Pallava coin (?) . . . 207

Ganesa Ratha . . . 208

-Muktesvara Temple, Kanehi 209 Coin of Rajaraja . . .211

Pandya coin . . .214

Chera coin . . . .215

Minaret at GbaznI . .219

Coin of Paramarddi . . 222

Great arch, Kutb Mosque . 224

Coin of Iltutmish . . 225

Coin of Raziyya . . . 226

Coin of Balban . . . 228

Coin of Alau-d din Khiiji . 232

Coin of Tughlak Shah . . 286

Tomb of Tughlak Shah . 237

Bengal coin of Fakbru-d din 243 Khalif coin of Muhammad bin Tughlak . . . 244

A jailal .... 251

Coin of Firoz Shah . . 251

Coin of Ibrahim of Jaiinpur . 254

Atala Devi Mosque, .Taunpur 255 A bahloll .... 256

Khiiji eoin of Malwa . . 265

Coin of Mahmud Bigarha . 269

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Kashmir coin of Zainu-1 ’Alhdln .... 273

Coin of Firoz Bahmani . 277

Dargali of Amir Barid Shah,

Tombs in Golkonda style, Bi-

Coin of Krishna deva Raya . 303

Portrait image of Krishna deva Raya . . . 304

Coin of Babur . . . 321

Tomb of Babur . . . 324

Tomb of Sher Shah . . 328

Rupees of Sher Shah and Islam Shah .... 329

Albuquerque . . . 333

Indo-Portuguese coin . . 335

Indo-Dutch coin . . . 336

Indo-Danish and Indo-French coins . . . . 337

Portcullis coin of Elizabeth, for India . . . . 337

Early Bombay coin . . 339

Bombay Fort, from the sea . 340

Dutch epitaph, Sadras . 341

Rana Partap Singh . . 355

Gold coins of Akbar . . 356

Akbar on throne . . . 368

Raja Birbal . . . 373

Coin of .lahangir and Nfirj:!-

The Rev. Edward Terry . 382

.Tahangir .... 383

Tomb of Itimadu-d Daula,

Rupee of Murad Bakhsh . 410

Shahjahan .... 416

A mindr or pillar of dead men’s heads . . . .417

Fathpuri Mosque at Taj entrance .... 420

Rupee of Shahjahan . . 421

Shayista Khan . . . 424

Aurangzeb .... 447

Rupee of Aurangzeb Alamgir 449 Nadir Shah . . . 459

La Bourdonnais . . . 472

Nawab Muhammad Ali . 473

Stringer Lawrence . . 474

Trichinopoly Fort . . 475

Autograph of Clive . . 476

PAGE

Dupleix .... 477

Gheria Fort . . . 490

Warren Hastings (as a young man) . . . .512

Sir William .Tones . . 515

Sir Philip Francis . . 521

Sir Elijah Impcy . . 530

Gwalior Fort . . . 534

Count de Boignc . . 536

Haidar Ali .... 544

Warren Hastings (in old age) 549 William Pitt the younger . 552

Lord Cornwallis . . . 557

Mahadaji Sindia • . . 573

Sir .lohn Shore . . . 576

Sir Arthur Wellesley . . 579

Napoleon .... 581

Seringapatam in 1792 . . 584

Tippoo Sultan . . 585

Nana Farnavis . . . 596

Baji Rao Peshwa . . 597

Gateway, Gawilgarh . . 601

Bhurtpore Fort . . . 604

Marquess Wellesley . . 605

Lord Minto . . .613

Marquess of Hastings . .621

A Nepalese stockade . . 622

Colonel Tod and his .Iain Pundit .... 632

Murshidabad half-rupee . 641

Sir Thomas Munro . . 645

Bandula's armed observation post . . . .651

Lord William Cavendish- Bentinck . . . 655

Sir William Sleeman . . 668

Bala Hissar, Kabul . . 681

Maharaja Ranjit Singh . 692

Lord Dalhousie . . . 697

Sir Henry Lawrence . . 700

Lord Canning . . . 711

The Residency, Lucknow (before the Mutiny) . . 718

The well and Bibighar, Cawnpore . . . .719

Sir .Tung Bahadur . . 722

Bahadur Shall H . . 724

East India House, 1858 . 726

Sir .John Lawrence . . 738

Lord Mayo . . . .743

I Lord Lvtton . . . 747

Lord Dufferin . . . 758

' Council Chamber, iNIandalay . 762

' I.ord Curzon of Kedleston . 769

MAPS AND PLANS

PAGK

India, Physical .......... ii

Changed course of Son ........ v

North-western Physical Features ....... vi

North-western Passes and Countries ...... vii

Alexander’s Route from the Hindu Kush to the Hyphasis and back

to .Jhelum . . . . . . . . OO

The Empire of Asoka, 250 b. c. . . . . . . . 105

The Conquests of Samudragupta, a. d. 340, and the Gupta Em|)ire,

The Balimani Kingdom, as in a. u. 1480 ; Khandesh and the fiye Sultanates of the Deccan (Bijapur, Bidar, Colkonda, Ahmadnagar, and Berar) as in a. d. 1500 ....... 287

Sketch map to ilhrstrate Akbar's camj)aigns in Kajputana and

Plan of the battle of Panipat, by Casi Ram ..... 403

Plan of the battle of Plassey (Rennell) ...... 493

Map to illustrate Mysore history to 1799 ..... 588

Map to illustrate Lord Lake’s Campaigns, 1804-(> .... 003

French and British Islands in the Indian Ocean . . .010

Ranjit Singh’s Dominions in 1839 . . . ■ • • 091

Indian Empire, showing Politieal Diyisions .... fachig 78^

A. c. — After Christ.

A. D. — Anno Domini.

A. n. — .Anno Hijrae (Hcgirae).*

Alii. — Ai)i-i Akbarl, by Abu-1 Fazl, transl. Blochmann and Jarrctt.

A. S. — Archaeolo<;ical Survey.

A. S. B. — Asiatic Society of Bengal.

As. lies. — Asiatic Kesearches.

A. S. VV. I. — Arcliaeological Survey of Western India.

.4. 1^. — .ilharvaveda.

B. c. — Before Christ.

B. .M. — British .Museum. ’

E. & D. — The Ilisionj of India as told by its own Historians, by Sir H. M.

Elliot and Professor .John Uowson, 8 vols., 1807-77.

E. II. I. — The Early History of India, by Vincent A. Smith, 3rd ed. (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1914).

E. I. Co. — East India Company.

Ep. Ind. — Epigraphia Indica, Calcutta, in progress.

Gaz. — Gazetteer.

//. F. .4. — -A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, by Vincent .A.

.Smith (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1911).

I. G. — Imperial Gazetteer of India (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1907, 1908). Ind. .Int. — Indian Antiquary, Bombay, 1872 to date.

I. O. — India Olfice, London.

J. A. O. S. — Journal of the American Oriental Society.

J. <& Proc. A. S. B. — Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta.

J. As. — Journal Asialique, Paris.

J. A. S. B. — lournal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta.

J. Bom. Br. R. A. S. — Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.

J. B. O. (or J. B. & O.) Res. Soc. — Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society.

J. P. H. S. — Journal of the Pan jab Historical Society.

J. R. A. S. — Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, London.

J. U. P. H. S. — Journal of the United Provinces Historical Society.

M. M. — Mahamahopadhyaya, a title.

N. S. — New style.

N. W. P. — North-Western Provinces.

O. S. — Old style.

Prog. (Progr.) Rep. — -Progress Report,

R. A. S. — Royal Asiatic Society.

R. I. — Rulers of India Scries.

R. V. — Rigveda.

S. B. E. — Sacred Books of the East.

U. P. — United Provinces of Agra and Oudh.

Note. — An index number above the title of a book indicates the edition ; e. g., .innals of Rural BengaU means the 7tli edition of that work.

' The word hijra is rendered by ‘ withdrawal ' more precisely than by ‘ flight ’, the equivalent usually given.

ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS

Page 34, 1. 1. Messrs. F. E. Pargiter and K. P. Jayaswal attach to the Piiranic genealogies a value higher than I have been disposed to allow. Jayaswal ventures to assign 1727 b. c. for the beginning of the Brihadratha dynasty. Such an attempt to give an approximately precise date for events so remote necessarily involves many assumptions (J. li. O. Ret>. Soc., vol. iv (1918), p. 33). I take this opportunity of emphasizing the high value of Mr. Pargiter’s book, The Purdna Text of the Dynasties of the Kali Age, the outcome of much patient labour, and indispensable to the student of primary authorities.

Pages 48, 58 n., 70. Messrs. Banerji and .Jayaswal have published a satisfactory edition of the Kharavcla inscription with adecjuatc facsimiles in J.B.O. Res. Soc., vol. iii (Dec. 1917), pp. 425-,507. Although the interpretation is 0[)en to doubt on certain minor points, the main chronological results as stated on p. 58 n. are established. Exact dates depend on the year assumed for the accession of Chandragupta, which may be as early as 325. The King of Rajagriha (Magadha) defeated by Kharavcla and forced to retire on Mathura was l^ushyamitra, the first of the Sunga dynasty. He was called also Brihaspati (Bahapati in the inscription, Bahasati of coins and certain short inscriptions). The two alternative names are substantially synonymous, Brihaspati being the regent of the nakshatra or zodiacal asterism Pushya, also named Tishya, in the constellation Cancer or the Crab. Many other facts and inferences of importance are recorded in or deducible from the Kharavcla record. See my short article in J.R.A.S., July 1918. Now (August 1918) I am disposed to agree with K. P. .Jayaswal and Harit Krishna Deb (J. B. O. Res. Soc., iv. 91-5) that the term Navananddh should be interpreted as meaning the ‘New’ or ‘Later’ Nandas, not the ‘Nine’. On that supposition they are to be distinguished from Kshemendra’s Pravananddh, the ‘ Early ’ Nandas, namely Nanda (or Nandi-) vardhana and Mahananda (or -nandin). Harit Krishna Deb gives good reasons for believing that Chandragupta Maurya was a kinsman of the respectable Early Nandas, and not a Siidra or low-caste man, like the Later Nandas of ill-rcj)ute. The Kharavcla inscription proves that Nandavardhana was reckoned as a Nanda.

Page 65. Balochistan is correct, not Baluchistan as in 1. G. (M. Longworth Dames, J. R. A. S., 1914, p. 457).

Page 71, 1. 42. Add after ‘ text', ‘A still later work is An Epitome of Jainism, a Critical Study, &c., by Imuran Chand Nahar and Krishna- CHANDRA Ghosh, Vedantachintamoni, Calcutta, Gulab Kumar IJbrary, 46 Indian Mirror Street. The hook, which seems to be based on full knowledge, is badly produced and disfigured by carejess proof-reading. The authors controvert Mrs. Stevenson on various matTCrs.

Page 157. The illustration of the Lauriya-Nandangarh Asoka pillar was accidentally misplaced.

Page 171, end. Insert ‘ Mr. Pan.n'A Lall, J.C.S., in ‘ The Dates of Skandagupta and his Successors’ {IIindnsta)i Review, .Jan. 1918), argues that the reign of Skandagupta ended about a. d. 467 ; that Hiuen Tsang erroneously attributed the defeat of Miliiragula to Daladitya ; that there were only two emperors or kings named Kumaragupta ; and that Fleet erred in his interpretation of the Mandasor inscription. My review (J.R. A. S., Oct. 1918) accepts the essayist's conclusions’.

Pages 174, 175. From ‘ Srong-tsan Gampo ' to ‘ India ’. The text followsthe opinions of A.H.Franke and Hoernle, now proved to be erroneous

ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS by Berthold Lauf'er (J. A. O. S., vol. 38 (}018), pp. 31-46). The chronology ol the Chinese and Mongolian authors should be followed. King Srong-tsan Gampo was born in a. d. 617, and ascended the throne in a. d. 629, when in his thirteenth year. The date of his marriages, a. d. 641, as stated on p. 180, is correct. He died in a. d. 650, not 698. The Tibetan alphabet came, not from Khotan, but from India. Relations between Tibet and Khotan began in a. d. 670 when the Tibetans conquered the ‘ Four Garrisons ’ (Khotan, Kucha, Tokmak, Kashgar). See Waddell in J. 7f. A. S., 1909, pp. 945-8 ; and I. J. Schmidt’s translation of the history by Sanah Setsen (Ssanang Ssetsen) Geschichte der Ost-Mongolen, &c. (St. Petersburg and Leipzig, 1829), pp. 29, &c. A copy of Schmidt’s rare book is in the Malan Library, Indian Institute, Oxford.

Page 191, 1. 29. An error of Kielhorn led me to confound Visala deva with the much latter Vigraha-raja. The statements assuming their identity in E. II. I.^, pp. 386, 387, require correction.

Page 216. Add, after ‘ Probsthain, 1916 ’ (I. 38) : ‘vol. ii, with 8 plates, 32 pp. ; Pondicherry, sold by the translator, 32 Perumal Covil Street, 1918. The volume has been reduced to a few pages because the author was called up to serve in the army.’

Page 261. A new and e.xcellent translation of Kabir’s poems made directly from the Hindi has been published at Hamirpur, U.P., in 1917 by Mr. Ahmad Shah, who edited the text in 1911 (Cawnporc). The Tagore and Underhill version is from the Bengali. Mr. Ahmad Shah’s works are favourably reviewed at length by Gkierson in J. R. A. 6'., 1918, pp. 151-60.

Page 262. Another version of Ibn Batuta’s travels in India, China, &c., will be found in the Hakluyt Soeiety’s edition of Cathay and the Way Thither by Yule and Cordier, 1916, vol. iv, pp. 1-166, including Introduce tory Notice, pp. 1-79. The notes are not up to date.

Page 339, 1. 47. Aungier's grave is no longer ‘ nameless It has been identified with certainty sufficient to justify the insertion of a new marble tablet in one of the inner walls of the tomb believed to be that of Aungier. The tablet was put up in 1916. Aungier died on June 30, 1677 (Prog. Rep. A. S. W. 1., 1916-17, p. 42).

Pages 396, 397. Another full account of the siege of Hooghly (Hugli or Bandel), written in 1633 by Father John Cabral, S.J., who was present, has been translated by the Rev. L. Besse, S.J., and published in the Catholic Herald of India (Jan. 30-April 10, 1918) by the Rev. H. Hosten, S.J., who has kindly sent me a reprint. The narrative is of great interest. The .Mogul attack was invited by a traitor, Martin Afonso de Mello.

Page 439. Sarkar’s improved version of the famous letter is printed in The Modern Review (Allahabad) for Sept. 1908, p. 21. The te.xt of the document has bdPi settled by collation of the London manuscript with another belonging to the A. S. B. Its date is said to be ‘ evidently the close of A. D. 1679 ’. It purports to have been composed by Nil Prabhu Munshi.

Page 483 h. Siraju-d daula was older than twenty-five, having been born in a. h. 1140 ( = Aug. 1727-.Iuly 1728). He succeeded his grandfather in A. H. 1169 ( = Oct. 1755-Sept. 1756). He was, therefore, twenty-nine or thirty years of age at his death (Bengal Past and Present, xii. 244 ; citing Persian authorities).

P.VGE 492, note 2. But see Forrest.

Page 509. Sir G. Forrest’s Life of Clive was published in Se|)t. 1918.

P.\GE 510, 1. 1. For an account of the strange career of IVillem Bolts, who was a Dutchman, sec Ind. Ant., 1917, pp. 277 foil.

IXTRODUCTION . SECTION 1

Tlie gcofirapliical foundation ; diversity in unity and unity in diversity ; the scenes and periods of the story ; sea-power ; forms of government ; the history of thouglit.

The geographical unit. The India of this l>ook is almost exclusively the geographical unit called by that name on the ordinary maps, bounded on the north, north-west, and north-cast by mountain ranges, and elsewhere by the sea. The extensive Burmese territories, although now governed as ])art of the Indian empire, cannot be described as being part of India. Burma has a separate history, rarely touching on that of India prior to the nineteenth century. Similarly, Ceylon, although geologically a fragment detached from the peninsula in relatively recent times, always has had a distinct political existence, reejuiring separate historical treatment. The island is not now included in the Indian empire, and its affairs will not be discussed in this work, except incidentally. Certain portions of Balochistan now administered or controlled by the Indian Government lie beyond the limits of the geographical unit called India. Aden and sundry other outlying dependencies of the Indian empire obviously are not parts of India, and the happenings in those places rarely demand notice.

Vast extent of area. Formal, technical descriptions of the geographical and physical features of India may be found in many easily accessible books, and need not be rej)roduced here. But certain geographical facts with a direct bearing on the history require brief comment, because, as Richard Hakluyt truly observed long ago, ‘ Geographic and Chronologic are the Sunne and the Moone, the right eye and the left eye of all history.’ The large extent of the area of India, which may be correctly designated as a sub-continent, is a material geographical fact. The history of a region so vast, bounded by a coast-line of about 3,400 miles, more or less, and a mountain barrier on the north some 1,600 miles in length, and inhabited by a population nundjering nearly 300 millions, necessarily must be long and intricate. The detailed treatment suitable to the story of a small country cannot be applied in a general history of India. The author of such a book must be content to sketch his picture in outlines boldly drawn, and to leave out multitudes of recorded particulars.

Continental and peninsular regions. Another geographical fact, namely, that India comprises both a large continental, subtropical area, and an approximately equal peninsular, tropical area, has had immense influence upon the history.

Three territorial compartments. Geographical conditions

IlSTRODL’CTION ii

divided Indian history, until the nineteenth century, into three well-marked territorial compartments, not to mention minor distinct areas, such as the Konkan, the Himalayan region, and others. The three are : (1) the northern plains forming the basins of the

Indus and Ganges ; (2) the Deccan plateau lying to the south of the Narbada, and to the north of the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers ; and (3) the far south, beyond those rivers, comprising the grou]) of Tamil states. Ordinarily, each of those three geographical compartments has had a distinct, highly complex story of

DOMINANCE OF THE NORTH iii

its own. Tlie points of contact between the three histories are not very numerous. .