INTRODUCTION

Summary

I have been advised that an Abridgment of the History of India which has been in use by the students of the University of Calcutta for eight years would be welcome to them, and I have endeavoured to compress the substance of the three volumes into one, which, although scanty in detail, will suffice to give them a view of the salient events of the different periods.

The space allotted to the Mahomedan period has been abbreviated to make room for a fuller narrative of the progress of British power, in which the Queen's Indian subjects are more particularly interested. This will not be considered a matter of regret, as Elphinstono's classical and standard History of India, which treats exclusively of the Musulman dynasties, is included in the student's curriculum of study.

The present abridgment has been brought down to the close of the administration of the East India Company, and the annexation of the empire of India to the crown of Great Britain, which forms one of the most important epochs in Indian history. A brief notice of events from that date to the death of Lord Mayo has been added.

Since the publication of the original work a new system of spelling Indian names, designated the transliteral, has been introduced in India, which in some cases differs so materially from that which has hitherto been in vogue, that it is not easy to identify the places or persons.