An historical sketch of the native states of India/Preface
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By Col. G. B. Malleson, Publisher: Longmans, Green & Co. London (1875)
Contents
[Page-vii]
THE WANT of a condensed historical sketch of the Native dynasties now reigning in India has been felt alike in that country and in England. Proposals to supply the want have from time to time been mooted. Had any of these been carried to their legitimate conclusion, the present publication would never have seen the light.
It happened, however, that information reached me in the course of last year that the labours in the same direction of a gentleman most competent to do justice to the subject had been indefinitely postponed. I had just then completed a literary work on which I had for some time been engaged, and the desire to supply a great public want induced me to take up the dropped thread.
Indian subjects had long been familiar to me, and the history of several important Native States had previously engaged my study and attention. I should, nevertheless, have felt myself unequal to the task of conducting to completion a work so extensive, had I not possessed in my library all the authorities necessary for the purpose. I made a diligent use of the materials thus at my disposal, and gave my undivided time and attention to the subject. The work is now completed. If it should fail
[Page-viii]
to fulfill the expectations of those who have felt the want of such a book of reference, I can assure them that I have grudged no toil, and, dependent entirely as I was on ray own exertions, have spared no pains to bring it as nearly as possible to the required standard.
Such a work must necessarily be of the nature of a compilation. This aspires to be nothing more. I have gone to the best authorities and have deliberately robbed them. In the widest sense of the term, I have been ' the burglar of others' intellects.' Of Colonel Tod's ' Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan ; ' of Captain Grant Duff's ‘History of the Mahrattas ; ' of Sir John Malcolm's ‘Central India,' I have availed myself largely. Chiefly, however, certainly more generally, are my obligations due to Mr. Aitchison's invaluable collection of ' Treaties, Engagements, and Sunnuds,' a work which contains within it all the modern part of the information I have condensed, and which must always constitute a material basis for such a compilation as the present. I owe much likewise to Elphinstone's ' History of India ; ' to Ferishta's ' History of the Dekkan ; ' to a work published anonymously in 1833, entitled ' An Historical Sketch of the Princes of India ; ' to an admirable summary, evidently officially inspired, of the history of the several states of India attached to the ' Agra Gazetteer ' for 1841 or 1842 ; to the Gazetteers of Hamilton and Thornton; and to a printed summary compiled in the Foreign Department in 1869, by Mr. Talboys Wheeler. I have made passing references to various articles in the ' Calcutta Review ' and in ‘Asiatic Researches ; ' to the works of Mill, Thorn, Stewart, and others ; but those specially mentioned
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constituted my main sources of supply. Nor, when mentioning my obligations, can I omit the name of my valued friend Mr. Runga Charlu, Controller to the household of the Maharaja of Mysore, a gentleman whose vast range of learning, great acquaintance with affairs, sound comprehensive views, and lofty character render him an invaluable ally to anyone engaged in literary work.
Of the Native States treated of in the first six parts of this volume, all, I think, may fairly be classed amongst those which are in subsidiary alliance with the British Government. The seventh part gives a brief account of the states and estates, classed as ' Mediatized and Minor’which though under the suzerainty of, are not in direct alliance with, the British Government. There remain then the countries in Asia which have entered into treaties with the Government of British India. These are practically independent. They may be said broadly to comprise Persia, Beluchistan, Afghanistan and the frontier tribes, Nipal, Gurkha, Sikkim, Bhutan, Burma, and Siam; and their history may perhaps form a separate volume.
One word as to the mode of division I have adopted. I have thought it convenient, instead of grouping states according to their individual size, to follow the natural order of the divisions in which they lie. Thus beginning with Rajputana the division containing the oldest monarchies in India, probably in the world and taking after it its neighbours in Central India and Bundelkhand, I have followed in succession with Western, Southern, and North- Western India. I have indicated the history of the principal states in these six divisions with such detail as a mere sketch of them seemed to authorise, and
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with as much precision as the authorities to which I had access would permit. If I may not have succeeded in accomplishing all that has been desired, I shall at least have opened a pathway to others alike more competent and commanding more secret sources of information.
With respect to the spelling of the cities and pro- vinces of India, I have followed the system laid down by Professor Blochmann in his 'Geography of India and Burma.'