Publisher's Synopsis
From the preface: "The revolutions of the Moghul Empire of Hindoostan, up to the battle of Paniput, have been chronicled by the late Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone, along with the corresponding periods in the history of the Deccan. The campaigns of Generals Lake and Wellesley, with the subsequent British administration, have been described in the works of Mill, Wilson, Kaye, &c. But there is a period of above forty years, the annals of which are only to be made out by laborious research among various and conflicting narratives, some very scarce. To collate and reconcile these with the aid of trustworthy MSS. and traditions, has appeared a service which might be acceptable to those who are in any way interested in the great dependency of the Crown. A brief introduction has been prefixed, which, it is hoped, may be of use to those even who are familiar with the standard histories. For although a relation of the events which took place in remote provinces has not "been reiterated in what professes to be merely an account of the disintegration of the Empire after the death of Aurungzeb, yet a few particulars of manners and occurrences are now, it is believed for the first time, presented to the English reader; while some errors that had crept into preceding works, have been silently rectified from Native authorities, compared with English memoirs written at the time. The spelling of native words has been framed on the system prescribed by the Government of the North-West Provinces of India, much the same as that followed by Grant Duff in his "History of the Mahrattas." The notion is to represent the words by the nearest phonetic equivalents; to discard the use of accents; and to adhere to the received spelling of very familiar words like "Calcutta," "Mahomet," &c., even when quite incorrect.
