About the Book The decline of the great Mughal Raj, the elimination of the foreign elements like the Portugues, the Dutch, the French, and subjugation of the Indian Princes through series of wars, along with establishment of the British rule in India make an interesting study.
This volume deals with the period 1707 to 1813 during which time the British East India Company gradually transformed its trade holds in India into territorial and became a political power. It is an introduction to the next two volumes covering the periods 1813-1920 and 1920- 1947 respectively. The readers will find the simplicity of style a great asset in the study of the history of this period.
About the Author G. S. Chhabra, b. 1928, obtained his Masters (1951) and Ph.D. (1955) degrees from the University of Punjab and joined Khalsa College, Jalandhar as lecturer in 1954. He shifted to Ramgarhia College, Phagwara as head of the post-graduate department of history (1956-63) and then to the University of Jammu where he was dean faculty of social sciences and professor and head of the department of history retiring in 1988. He has been a visiting professor in U.S.A. and presently divides his time between that country and India.
Preface This volume starts with the study of the declining years of the Mughals in India, discusses how from Mughal ruins the Maratha power, among others, emerged which carried with itself the seeds of its decay, and traces the steady growth of the English power which humbled its European rivals; put the sagacity and far-sightedness of its leaders in India to a good account; and supplanting one Indian power after another, shaped itself into a supreme and sovereign authority which just fell short of its consummation when the superiors in England foolishly intervened and recalled Wellesley in an ignorant despair. In this whole drama of the rise and fall of the political powers staged on the Indian soil, the one perceptible fact which a non-sceptic may find difficult to escape is the mysterious force which one may call destiny or some divine agency, and which brought victories to the British often without fighting for them, and despite the British Parliamentary enactments against territorial expansion and acquisition of unnecessary power. The book needs to be read than explained, as it draws its information from all the available primary and secondary published works and gives it a form so as to suit the requirements of the advanced students of this subject, here and there giving an interpretation or throwing an idea which may arouse the imagination of the worthier minds so that the cause of History is served the better.
Book's Contents and Sample Pages
