Malwa in Transition or A Century of Anarchy: The First Phase 1698- 1765

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In the course of the 116 years that have elapsed since Malcolm wrote, all the original State papers of the Marathas, forming an immense mass, have seen the light, and quite a large number of contemporary Persian sources, unknown to Malcolm, have been discovered and utilized by scholars. The result amounts to a complete revolution in our knowledge of the history of Malwa in the 17th and 18th centuries, The present work forms the first portion of an attempt to replace Malcolm's primitive Memoir of Central India by gathering together the fruits of the accumulated discovery and research of the past century.

It is fortunate that Malwa is at last going to have a history worthy of her past glories, through the pious endeavour of one of her sons, Maharaj-Kumar Raghubir Sinh, M.A., D.LITT., LL.B., the cultured heir of the Rathor Maharajah of Sitamau. He has utilised all the available materials, printed and manuscript, in the Persian, Marathi, Hindi, English and French languages that can throw any light vince's past during the period chosen. In addition to borrowing all my MSS. bearing on the subject, he has procured photo- static copies of the other necessary MSS. in the British Museum and India Office, which were wanting in my collection. With immense labour he has critically sifted and then pieced together a large number of minute details from the Persian akhbarat and official letter-books (all unprinted) and reconstructed the history of many an unknown episode and period of the provincial history. To this he has added his intimate knowledge of the topography and genealogy of Malwa, which no outsider can equal. The result is a study at once intensive, accurate and exhaustive. the pro Besides throwing true light on many names of places and princes, this book makes two very important corrections in the known history of the province: he has conclusively proved that Girdhar Bahadur and Daya Bahadur were both killed on the same day and in the same battle, and that the Hindi Mandloi letters are a pure fabrication. His sections on the economic condition, social changes and culture of the province supply a very important and interesting element which is usually ignored by our research students. This book is as readable as it is packed with learning, and I feel sure that it will stand forth as a model and exemplar for other provincial histories of India in future.

**Contents and Sample Pages**