OUTLINES OF INDIAN HISTORY COMPRISING THE HINDU, MAHOMEDAN AND CHRISTIAN PERIODS FROM THE EARLIEST DATE TO THE RESIGNATION OF THE VICEROYALTY OF BRITISH INDIA BY SIR JOHN (NOW LORD) LAWRENCE WITH MAPS, AND APPENDICES CONTAINING DETAILS (WITH AREA AND PROVINCES COMPOSING BRITISH INDIA The right of translation and of reproduction is reserved. 226. j.167. TE PREFACE. HESE "Outlines," arranged on the plan adopted by Messrs. Ince and Gilbert in their excellent little work, "Outlines of English History," have been divided into three parts, the Hindū, Mahomedan, and Christian periods, such as are now generally recognized as correct divisions of Indian history,—the first extending from the earliest periods of Hindu history up to the date of the invasion of India by Sultan Mahmud of Ghuzni (A.D. 1001). This portion, which is very indistinct and unsatisfactory in character, abounds in fabulous narratives and puerile legends, and though there is much that is interesting in the study of the two great Hindu epic poems, the Māhābhārat and the Rāmāyāna, the subjects are essentially mythical, and there is such an utter absence of all reliable dates, as to make them altogether useless as guideposts to authentic history. The second portion extends from the reign of Sultān Mahmud, the Ghuznivide, to A.D. 1761, the year which witnessed the disastrous battle of Paniput, and the consequent annihilation of the great Maratta power, while at the same time it saw the Mogul Emperor of Delhi a fugitive, and the English already sufficiently powerful to take an important political part in India. This portion of its history is one of great interest, as describing the gradual acquisition of nearly all India by the Mahomedans, and particularly so when treating of the Mogul emperors of the house of Teimur, whose extensive conquests, as well as splendour and magnificence, have been made known not only by the native historians of |