Book Details

Publication Year: 2000

Contributors

Author: H. G. Keene

Author Info: H.G. Keene’s is a haloed name among the path-breakers of the history of late mediaeval Indian history. He was one of those energetic and inquisitive colonial administrators, who not only ruled the British empire but were also busy discovering and describing the circumstances in which the foundation of that empire was laid. Keene started his judicial career under the East India Company and later served the British-Indian government, mostly in the then North-Western Province, now known as U.P. He was well-known for his knowledge of both Persian and Urdu, and made his mark as the author of The Moghul Empire from the Death of Aurungjeb, published in 1867. In recognition of his scholastic contribution he was elected a fellow of Calcutta University, whose jurisdiction extended across entire northern India, before the establishment of the Universities of Punjab and Allahabad. The present book, published nine years later in 1876, is some sort of a revised and updated follow-up of the earlier work, and covers the period, from the Third Battle of Panipat to the Second Anglo-Maratha War, obviously with North India at the centre of the focus. These forty years saw the virtual disappearance of the shadowy authority of the Moghul Badshah, the failure of the Marathas and any other power to fill in the void, and the ultimate emergence of the English East India Company as the undisputed master of Hindustan. So, although in the words of Keene himself it is essentially a history of a period of anarchy, it also for the first time, gives a dependable connected account of these tumultuous years pregnant with significant developments. However, being a pioneer work in this field, mostly based on available Persian sources and local traditions, it may be rather out-dated from the point of view of a modern scholar of this period. However, just as no river engineer can afford to ignore the source similarly those fortunate to have before them the researches done in the last over a century cannot afford to ignore the giants who had shown their predecessors their way. It is one of those time-less treasures, which shines brighter with passing years.