Bücher der Reihe Cambridge Library Collection - South Asian History

John Clark Marshman (1794-1877) was an English missionary and civil servant who developed a fascination with the history of India after his long service in the country. Marshman emigrated with his missionary parents to India in 1799, settling at Serampore in West Bengal. With his father he founded the first Bengali magazine in 1818, and the first English magazine in India in 1821. After serving as a staff member at Serampore College and as the Official Bengali Translator for the Government, Marshman left India in 1855 and returned to England. This volume, first published in 1876, contains a condensed edition of Marshman's acclaimed History of India. He provides an overview of Indian history, providing details of the most powerful medieval kingdoms and the creation and administration of the East India Company. This volume also provides insights into contemporary theories concerning the prehistory and creation of various Indian states.

Published in 1834, as Britain and Russia sought supremacy in Central Asia, this two-volume work sheds light on the Great Game, a coinage credited to British officer Arthur Conolly (1807-42). He describes here the various Asiatic tribes he encountered, as well as the many dangers he had to avoid.

The Christian missionary Joseph Wolff (1795-1862) published in 1845 this account of his perilous journey to the Emirate of Bukhara (in present-day Uzbekistan) to investigate the disappearance of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Stoddart and Captain Arthur Conolly. Wolff later discovered that the British officers had been executed.

The British colonial administrator Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere (1815-84) left his mark on both India and South Africa. In 1894, John Martineau (1834-1910) published this sympathetic two-volume biography, which traces Frere's rise to prominence and his fall from grace.

Translated and annotated by the German orientalist Edward Sachau (1845-1930), this two-volume 1887-8 work is an account of Indian life in the early medieval period by Muslim polymath and traveller Alberuni (973-1048). Volume 1 discusses among other subjects Hindu beliefs, the caste system and the calendar.

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, his political dealings with the English, Russian and Persian governments at the time of the 'Great Game' in Central Asia.

In this three-volume work, published in 1838, Irish civil servant and author Robert Montgomery Martin (1801-68) compiled and collated earlier survey material to describe the geography, geology, meteorology, natural history, agriculture and manufactures, population, and history of the huge area of Eastern India controlled by the East India Company.

This two-volume work by the Scots orientalist and historian William Erskine (1773-1852), published posthumously by his son in 1854, describes the history of India under the Mughal rulers Babur and his son Humayun, and is acknowledged as one of the earliest western scholarly accounts of Mughal rulers in India.

This two-volume work by Alexander Rogers (1825-1911), first published in 1892, describes the land revenues of the Bombay Presidency (the province which at its greatest extent encompassed much of West and Central India), and gives a history of the rise and progress of the British administration in the region.

The British administrator William Sleeman toured the kingdom of Oude in 1849-1850 and produced a report on its political, social and economic condition. This book, containing Sleeman's account of his journey and selected correspondence, was originally published in Lucknow in 1852; this reissue reproduces the 1858 London edition.

Sir John Malcolm (1769-1833) spent nearly fifty years in India, beginning as a cadet and ending as Governor of Bengal. This two-volume history, published in 1826, covers the period from 1784 to 1823, which saw extensive British territorial expansion in India. Volume 2 discusses the evolution of British rule.

Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779-1859) was a British administrator in India whose career saw him posted to Afghanistan and Poona before becoming Governor of Bombay. Volume 1 of this two-volume biography, published in 1884, examines his childhood, education and early career, covering the period up to 1817.

By the time Lieutenant-Colonel William Henry Sleeman (1788-1856) published this two-volume work in 1844, he had been living in India for more than thirty years. Volume 1 draws from his extensive travels and discusses aspects of Indian life.

Reginald Heber (1783-1826) was appointed as the second Anglican Bishop of Calcutta in 1823. He travelled widely in India, and his diary and letters were published in 1828 by his widow Amelia. They include valuable descriptions of Indian culture, together with comments on scenery and architecture.

In 1800 the East India Company surgeon Francis Buchanan (1762-1829) was appointed to survey the kingdom of Mysore in southern India, which had recently come under British control. His three-volume report was published in 1807. Volume 3 focuses on the region of Canara, and on Mysore's imports and exports.

This five-volume collection, edited by Robert Montgomery Martin and published in 1836-1837, contains papers by Richard, Lord Wellesley (1760-1842) written during his controversial period in office as Governor-General of Bengal (1798-1805). Volume 2 covers the years 1799-1802, including the treaty of Hyderabad and threats from the French.

Russell's Diary in India of 1858-1859 provides a fascinating account of the conflict known as the Indian Mutiny, the first Indian war of independence of 1857-1859. It is particularly interesting in its coverage of the British reprisals after the initial Indian victories, advocating leniency, rebuilding, cooperation, and reform. Volume 1 covers his journey to India and first impressions.

This History is a classic of its time, established as the standard reference work of British Imperialism. Volume 1 examines the history from first encounters of the British in India to the formation of the Honourable East India Company in 1708, with studies of the Hindu and Muslim people and religions.

First published in 1826, this three-volume history of the Marathi people was written by Scots army captain James Grant Duff, who served in India for many years. Volume 1 focuses on the general history of the Marathi, starting with the conquest of the Deccan and finishing in 1740.

Charles Cornwallis, first Marquis Cornwallis (1738-1805), was an influential colonial governor, appointed Governor General of India in 1786 and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1797. These volumes, first published in 1858, contain personal letters written during his extensive career. Volume 1 contains correspondence from 1776 to 1790.

Sir Clements R. Markham, the doyen of historical geography in the late nineteenth century, published this comprehensive work on surveys of India in 1871. Beginning with the earliest European mapping of the Indian Ocean, Markham also covers the geological, archaeological and astronomical surveys of the subcontinent in the nineteenth century.

Akbar the Great (1542-1605) is often regarded as the Mughal Empire's most accomplished ruler. This document on the workings of his empire was translated from the original Persian by Francis Gladwin (1744/5-1812) and appeared in this two-volume edition in 1800. Volume 2 focuses on religion, philosophy and science.

Matching modern astronomical tables to data from canonical Hindu texts like the Vedas and the Ramayana, this 1825 study strives to establish the scientific facts behind such mythological events as the birth of Rama, the war of the gods and giants, and the marriages of the moon.

Henry St George Tucker (1772 1851), who became a director of the East India Company, prepared this report following a claim by a French economist that the British possession of India was a burden to the mother country. First published in 1825, this work offers insights into the profitability of colonialism.

This detailed study of the history of Bengal was published in 1813 by the orientalist Charles Stewart (1764-1837). The work covers the period from the early Islamic conquests in the ninth century to the Battle of Plassey in 1757, marking the beginning of British rule.

This 1869 book by Henry Thoby Prinsep (1792-1878) written as a guide for magistrates on procedure in the criminal courts of British India. The Code is annotated, and case law and precedents are cited, while appendices contain further relevant legislation. An index of cases cited is also provided.

The Scots historian William Robertson (1721-93) published this work in 1791. It is a synthesis of all earlier western accounts of India from classical times to the sixteenth century, and a long appendix describes 'the genius, the manners, and institutions of the people of India'.

This 1817 book by 'A.M. Philalethes' traces the history of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from the classical period to 1815, providing details of the religion, laws and manners of the people. An appendix contains an account, originally published in 1681, by Robert Knox of his nearly twenty-year captivity on the island.

Trevelyan's fascinating and often controversial 'letters' combine recognition of cultural relativity, the dangers of racial prejudice, and an affirmation of the Liberal imperialist's duty to govern for the 'benefit of the inhabitants of India', spreading justice, education and Christianity in the years following the conflict of 1857-1859.

An account of the development of one of India's most important cities, this work, written by Indian civil servant Stephen Meredyth Edwardes (1873-1927) and published in 1902, sketches the port's development from its earliest days to the enormous changes that occurred during the period of British rule.