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This series focuses on South Asia during the colonial period. It includes contemporary accounts of European trade and settlement there, from the arrival of the East India companies to the full-blown colonial administration of the Victorian period, as well as works describing the earlier history of the region for the benefit of European readers.

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97 results in Cambridge Library Collection - South Asian History

Page 3 of 5

An Historical Disquisition Concerning the Knowledge Which the Ancients Had of India
  • And the Progress of Trade with that Country Prior to the Discovery of the Passage to it by the Cape of Good Hope
  • William Robertson
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    26 April 2012
    First published in:
    1791
  • William Robertson (1721–93), Principal of the University of Edinburgh and historiographer to His Majesty for Scotland, published this work in 1791. Already famous for a History of Scotland, which went into many editions, and a History of America, Robertson aimed to synthesise all earlier western accounts of the subcontinent from classical times to the sixteenth century. Beginning with a consideration of the practical difficulties facing explorers from Europe and Africa who headed east, Robertson discusses the (legendary) Pharaoh Sesostris of Egypt, Alexander the Great, and Roman military incursions into, and trade with, India, before turning to the Portuguese, Spanish, French and English explorers of the early modern period, furnishing his account with copious source notes. A long appendix then describes 'the genius, the manners, and institutions of the people of India, as far as they can be traced from the earliest ages to which our knowledge of them extends'.

Reminiscences of Forty-Three Years in India
  • Including the Cabul Disasters, Captivities in Affghanistan and the Punjaub, and a Narrative of the Mutinies in Rajputana
  • George Lawrence
  • Edited by William Edwards
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    19 July 2012
    First published in:
    1874
  • Written by General Sir George St Patrick Lawrence (1804–84) of the British Indian Army, this 1874 book is a memoir of his long and active service in India. The son of a distinguished officer in the army of the East India Company, he arrived in India in 1821, and was a participant in all the major military encounters of the period, including the Anglo-Afghan Wars, where he was involved in the 'Cabul disaster' and later narrowly avoided execution as a hostage, the Anglo-Sikh wars, and the Indian Mutiny, during which he and his family survived great danger. Lawrence, whose health had been undermined during the Mutiny, resigned from the army and returned to England in 1864. He entrusted his letters and diaries to William Edwards of the Bengal Civil Service, who compiled the work from these sources, and supplies a brief overview of Lawrence's career in his preface.

The History, Antiquities, Topography, and Statistics of Eastern India
  • In Relation to their Geology, Mineralogy, Botany, Agriculture, Commerce, Manufactures, Fine Arts, Population, Religion, Education, Statistics, etc.
  • Volume 3, Puraniya, Ronggopoor, and Assam
  • Robert Montgomery Martin
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    14 June 2012
    First published in:
    1838
  • In 1807, the Directors of the East India Company ordered a survey of the nine districts, covering 60,000 square miles and containing 15,000,000 British subjects, which formed the Eastern territories of British India. In this three-volume work, published in 1838, Irish civil servant and author Robert Montgomery Martin (1801–68) compiled and collated the original survey material at East India House to describe the geography, geology, meteorology, natural history, agriculture and manufactures, population, history, architecture, fine arts, religion and education of this huge area. Martin, the first colonial Treasurer of Hong Kong, founder of the East India Association, author of History of the British Colonies (1834–5), and later publisher of the Duke of Wellington's despatches, carried out his work to alert the British public to the growing social and political problems he perceived in India. Volume 3 covers the districts of Puraniya (now in Bihar), Rangpur, and Assam.

Life of John Wilson, D.D. F.R.S.
  • For Fifty Years Philanthropist and Scholar in the East
  • George Smith
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    07 June 2012
    First published in:
    1878
  • John Wilson (1804–1875) was a Christian missionary and philanthropist. He spent most of his working life in India, where he built churches and schools, and founded the institutions now known as Wilson College and the University of Mumbai. First published in 1878, this biography was compiled by George Smith (1833–1919), at the request of Wilson's son. As former editor of the Calcutta Review, Smith was an expert on Wilson's career, and having met him on his own travels to India, held him and his work in high esteem. The book traces Wilson's life from his childhood to his final days. It reveals his patient mediation between native Indians and their rulers, his groundbreaking and lasting influence on their lives, and his pivotal role in the British government's efforts to help India and its neighbouring countries. It remains of great interest to scholars of religious and Asian studies.

Life of the Amir Dost Mohammed Khan of Kabul
  • With his Political Proceedings towards the English, Russian, and Persian Governments, Including the Victory and Disasters of the British Army in Afghanistan
  • Volume 1
  • Mohan Lal
  • Published online:
    05 April 2013
    Print publication:
    26 April 2012
    First published in:
    1846
  • In this two-volume biography of 1846, Indian diplomat and author Mohan Lal (1812–77) describes the life of Amir Dost Mohammed Khan (1793–1863), the ruler of Afghanistan. The work also includes an eye-witness account of the disastrous First Anglo-Afghan War. Lal, who was attached to the British mission to Kabul, had prepared an account in English and Persian which was lost during the chaos of the war, but he later put the story together again. In his Preface, Lal apologises to the reader for his abundant errors both in grammar and idiom and explains that anecdotes about the Amir's adventures and morals were generally communicated to him second-hand. However, the book, which contains illustrations and draws personal correspondence, is a fascinating account of the ruler himself and of his political dealings with the English, Russian and Persian governments at the time of the 'Great Game' in Central Asia.

Life of the Amir Dost Mohammed Khan of Kabul
  • With his Political Proceedings towards the English, Russian, and Persian Governments, Including the Victory and Disasters of the British Army in Afghanistan
  • Volume 2
  • Mohan Lal
  • Published online:
    05 April 2013
    Print publication:
    26 April 2012
    First published in:
    1846
  • In this two-volume biography of 1846, Indian diplomat and author Mohan Lal (1812–77) describes the life of Amir Dost Mohammed Khan (1793–1863), the ruler of Afghanistan. The work also includes an eye-witness account of the disastrous First Anglo-Afghan War. Lal, who was attached to the British mission to Kabul, had prepared an account in English and Persian which was lost during the chaos of the War, but he later put the story together again. In his Preface, Lal apologises to the reader for his abundant errors both in grammar and idiom and explains that anecdotes about the Amir's adventures and morals were generally communicated to him second-hand. However, the book, which contains illustrations and draws personal correspondence, is a fascinating account of the ruler himself and of his political dealings with the English, Russian and Persian governments at the time of the 'Great Game' in Central Asia.

Campaigning Experiences in Rajpootana and Central India
  • During the Suppression of the Mutiny, 1857–1858
  • Frances Isabella Duberly
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    16 February 2012
    First published in:
    1859
  • The diarist Mrs Henry Duberly (1829–1902), born Frances Locke, came to public attention through her Journal Kept during the Russian War, an 1855 account (also reissued in this series) of her experiences accompanying her husband's regiment in the Crimea, often as the only woman present. Her descriptions of military action - including the cavalry charges at Balaklava - and the hardships and gossip of army life, made it a popular success, although a dedication to Queen Victoria was declined. This 1859 volume narrates the Hussars' subsequent posting to India during the Mutiny. Describing the practicalities and privations of a 2,028 mile march through Rajputana from Bombay, and culminating in an account of the battle of Gwalior, including the news of Rani Lakshmi Bai's suicide, it illuminates the nature of military life in this tense period of Indian history, as well as the role of women on both sides of the conflict.

The Tea Industry in India
  • A Review of Finance and Labour, and a Guide for Capitalists and Assistants
  • Samuel Baildon
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    08 March 2012
    First published in:
    1882
  • The origins of tea-brewing in India and China are still lost to history. In this 1882 guide to the Indian tea industry, Samuel Baildon (a tea-planter about whom little is known) describes some of the earliest theories and legends surrounding it, including both botanical speculations and the Chinese stories of Bodhidharma, the Indian monk said to have introduced tea to China and Japan. Well-versed in the investment opportunities of the Indian plantations, Baildon also provides a frank tour of the nineteenth-century industry. He includes advice for investors, who he insists must not try to assist the managers of their plantations, and for potential tea-planters, who he strongly discourages from the profession if they enjoy free time, reading, or friends. With specific and anecdotal accounts of the plantations written for newcomers to the trade, this candid guide now represents an invaluable resource for students of colonial history and agriculture.

The Personal Adventures and Experiences of a Magistrate during the Rise, Progress, and Suppression of the Indian Mutiny
  • Mark Thornhill
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    08 March 2012
    First published in:
    1884
  • In 1857, when the Indian Mutiny broke out, Mark Thornhill (1822–1900) was the magistrate of Muttra, modern Mathura. His vivid account of ensuing events - published in 1884 - including a night ride to Agra through the rebel army and the developing tensions inside the fort, was well reviewed at the time, and, more recently, became one of the sources for J. G. Farrell's The Siege of Krishnapur. Also including excursuses on the history and architecture of Agra from the time of Babur, and ghost stories pertaining to it - Thornhill published a separate volume of Indian fairy tales - the narrative is notably modern in its acute psychological perceptions of response to violence and its conservationist concern for damage to buildings. Thornhill wrote the book as an historical analysis, and his conclusions about the underlying causes of the Mutiny illuminate subsequent developments in the region as well as the conflict he describes.

Tibet, Tartary and Mongolia
  • Their Social and Political Condition, and the Religion of Boodh, as There Existing
  • Henry Thoby Prinsep
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    30 June 2011
    First published in:
    1851
  • Henry T. Prinsep (1792–1878) was the son of a prominent East India Company servant, and like his father, he spent much of his life in the East. He left Britain for Calcutta in 1809, at the age of seventeen, and stayed in India, working in a variety of roles, until his retirement in 1843. He wrote a number of books about India: in this work, published in 1851, he turns to the north of the subcontinent. Prinsep draws from travel narratives of the few explorers who had been to this territory – which corresponds to today's western China and Mongolia – to illustrate the lives of the people there. Using sources ranging from the thirteenth-century account by Marco Polo to eighteenth-century reports by French missionaries, Prinsep brings information on what was then a little-known world to a wider audience.

Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official
  • Volume 1
  • W. H. Sleeman
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    16 June 2011
    First published in:
    1844
  • Lieutenant-Colonel William Henry Sleeman (1788–1856) spent his entire career in India as an army officer and later as a magistrate and resident. He was best known for his fight to suppress the activities of 'thugs', bands of criminals who attacked, robbed and often murdered innocent travellers. By the time of the publication of this two-volume work in 1844, Sleeman had lived in India for more than thirty years. In Volume 1, he draws on his travels and experiences, and over 48 chapters he discusses myriad aspects of Indian life, including Hinduism, local festivals and folklore, the 'thugs' he tried to eradicate, disease and famine, and the natural world. He also details the lives of a wide range of Indians, from key historical figures such as Aurungzebe, the Mogul emperor, to the ordinary people he encountered, such as washerwomen and elephant-drivers.

Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official
  • Volume 2
  • W. H. Sleeman
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    16 June 2011
    First published in:
    1844
  • Lieutenant-Colonel William Henry Sleeman (1788–1856) spent his entire career in India as an army officer and later as a magistrate and resident. He was best known for his fight to suppress the activities of 'thugs', bands of criminals who attacked, robbed and often murdered innocent travellers. By the time of the publication of this two-volume work in 1844, Sleeman had lived in India for more than thirty years. In Volume 2, Sleeman examines many issues related to governance, such as land, tax, military discipline and the justice system, and he recounts some of the extensive conversations he had with Indians on these matters. His travels in this volume takes him through Gwalior, Dholpur, Agra and Bharatpur, and the book includes plates of some of the spectacular buildings that he visits.

Western India
  • Reports addressed to the Chambers of Commerce of Manchester, Liverpool, Blackburn and Glasgow
  • Alexander Mackay
  • Edited by James Robertson
  • Preface by Thomas Bazley
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    02 June 2011
    First published in:
    1853
  • Scottish-born Alexander Mackay (1808–1852) spent most of his career as a journalist in Canada and the United States, though he had been called to the bar in 1847. In 1851 he was commissioned by the chambers of commerce of Manchester, Liverpool, Blackburn, and Glasgow to go to India and report on the cultivation of cotton there, especially around Gujarat. He stayed for a year and was on his way back to Britain – his return forced by ill health – when he died at sea in 1852. His Western India, however, was published the following year after it was revised by James Robertson. The book highlights the many impediments to further growth of the Indian cotton trade: the poverty of the cultivators, heavy taxation, outdated planting methods and poor infrastructure, as well as the problem of competition from the booming cotton exports of the United States.

Origin of the Sikh Power in the Punjab, and Political Life of Muha-Raja Runjeet Singh
  • With an Account of the Present Condition, Religion, Laws and Customs of the Sikhs
  • Henry Thoby Prinsep
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    30 June 2011
    First published in:
    1834
  • Henry T. Prinsep (1792–1878) began his career in India with the East India Company in 1807 and worked in various posts, finally being appointed Persian secretary before retiring in 1843. Throughout his career, and into his retirement, he wrote a number of books about India. The present work, however, published in 1834, is a report taken from information gathered by the late political agent at Umbala, Captain William Murray, whose death made it necessary for other officials to ready the work for publication. The report looks at the history of the Sikh people and the rise of Runjeet (Ranjit) Singh (1780–1839). After Singh died, his empire began to weaken, and by 1845 the British were at war with the Sikhs. This work provides a view of the Punjab during a critical point in its history.

The Despatches, Minutes, and Correspondence of the Marquess Wellesley, K. G., during his Administration in India
  • Volume 1
  • Richard Colley Wellesley
  • Edited by Robert Montgomery Martin
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    02 June 2011
    First published in:
    1836
  • Richard, Marquess Wellesley (1760–1842) became one of the most controversial politicians of his generation during his time as Governor-General of Bengal (1798–1805). Although this period saw him achieve territorial gains and military victories in India - including the defeat of Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore - the financial cost was considered too high. The East India Company Court of Directors in London disagreed with many of the changes he made, and Wellesley was forced to return to England. This five volume collection of papers, edited by the political activist and historian Robert Montgomery Martin (1800–1868), was published in 1836–1837 and documents Wellesley's period of office in India. Volume 1 (1836) contains correspondence between Wellesley and Indian rulers including the Nawob of Arcot and Tipu Sultan during the run-up to war, as well as letters to Britain's war secretary and army officials from 1797 to 1800.

Selections from the Minutes and Other Official Writings of the Honourable Mountstuart Elphinstone, Governor of Bombay
  • With an Introductory Memoir
  • Mountstuart Elphinstone
  • Edited by George W. Forrest
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    02 June 2011
    First published in:
    1884
  • The historian George W. Forrest (1846–1926) pays tribute to the legacy of Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779–1859) by bringing his writings together in this 1884 publication, which begins with a account of Elphinstone's life and the historical events connected with his career, providing important background information and context for the reader. Forrest provides a fascinating insight into Elphinstone's opinions on some of the leading questions connected with the government of British India. The statesman played a pivotal role in founding the system of state education in India, strongly supporting native education and the local administration of laws. As Forrest describes, he brought 'a liberal and highly cultivated mind' to discussions of Indian problems, and he saw the British task in India as equipping Indians for self-government as quickly as possible. This collection documents his challenges and achievements, and is an important historical record of a turning point in Indian history.

History of the French in India
  • From the Founding of Pondichery in 1674 to the Capture of that Place in 1761
  • George Bruce Malleson
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    16 December 2010
    First published in:
    1868
  • This work of 1868 is a revised and expanded version of a series of articles contributed by G. B. Malleson (1825–1898) to the Calcutta Review. The author served in India for thirty years from 1847, retiring finally with the honorary rank of major-general. Drawing on his wealth of first-hand experience of Anglo-Indian military history, he wrote prolifically and with an accessible, vigorous style. This work on the history of the French in India from 1674 to 1761 reassesses the career and contribution of Joseph François Dupleix and other major figures in this period of the Franco-Indian empire. He sees the decline in French power as the result of a few extremely able persons being let down by their mother-country's lack of support. In this he contrasts the French with the English in terms of their Indian colonial history.

The Despatches, Minutes, and Correspondence of the Marquess Wellesley, K. G., during his Administration in India
  • Volume 5
  • Richard Colley Wellesley
  • Edited by Robert Montgomery Martin
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    02 June 2011
    First published in:
    1837
  • Richard, Marquess Wellesley (1760–1842) became one of the most controversial politicians of his generation during his time as Governor-General of Bengal (1798–1805). Although this period saw him achieve territorial gains and military victories in India - including the defeat of Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore - the financial cost was considered too high. The East India Company Court of Directors in London disagreed with many of the changes he made, and Wellesley was forced to return to England. This five volume collection of papers, edited by the political activist and historian Robert Montgomery Martin (1800–1868), was published in 1836–1837 and documents Wellesley's period of office in India. Volume 5 contains materials that supplement those in the four earlier volumes. They focus on large undertakings such as the Mysore and Maratha Wars, as well as topics including the East India Company's finances during Wellesley's tenure.

The Despatches, Minutes, and Correspondence of the Marquess Wellesley, K. G., during his Administration in India
  • Volume 4
  • Richard Colley Wellesley
  • Edited by Robert Montgomery Martin
  • Published online:
    05 February 2012
    Print publication:
    02 June 2011
    First published in:
    1837
  • Richard, Marquess Wellesley (1760–1842) became one of the most controversial politicians of his generation during his time as Governor-General of Bengal (1798–1805). Although this period saw him achieve territorial gains and military victories in India - including the defeat of Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore - the financial cost was considered too high. The East India Company Court of Directors in London disagreed with many of the changes he made, and Wellesley was forced to return to England. This five volume collection of papers, edited by the political activist and historian Robert Montgomery Martin (1800–1868), was published in 1836–1837 and documents Wellesley's period of office in India. Volume 4 focuses on the period 1804–1805, and includes documents about peace treaties with local rulers, the establishment of Fort William College for the training of British civil servants (especially in Asian languages), and Wellesley's final departure for England.

A History of the Sikhs
  • From the Origin of the Nation to the Battles of the Sutlej
  • Joseph Davey Cunningham
  • Published online:
    05 February 2012
    Print publication:
    02 June 2011
    First published in:
    1849
  • Joseph Davey Cunningham (1812–1851) joined the East India Company's army thanks to the patronage of Sir Walter Scott. He became the assistant to Colonel Claud Wade, a political agent on the Sikh frontier, in 1837, and spent eight years in various political roles living among the Sikh in the Punjab. While writing a report in 1844 for the government, he decided to undertake the history of the Sikhs, and received encouragement for the project from his father, Scottish poet and author Allan Cunningham. He spent four years on the book, and while it established his reputation as a historian of India, it also destroyed his career as a colonial official: he fell foul of the Army in India for his revelation of supposedly secret negotiations with Sikh leaders, and allegations of corruption, during the First Anglo-Sikh War of 1845–1846.

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