A History of the Mahrattas v1.c6.10

v1.c6.10

I am very sensible that I appear before the public at great disadvantages, as, indeed, every one must do, who having quitted school at sixteen, has been constantly occupied nearly nine-tenths of the next twenty-one years of his life in the most active duties of the civil or military services of India; for, however well such a life may fit us for acquiring some kinds of information, it is in other respects ill-calculated for preparing us for the task of historians; yet unless some of the members of our service undertake such works, whence are the materials for the future historian to be derived, or how is England to become acquainted with India? Whilst I solicit indulgence, however, to such defects as arise from this cause, it is also due to myself to apprise the reader, that independent of want of skill in the author, there are difficulties incidental to the present subject, besides harsh names and intricate details, with which even a proficient in the art of writing must have been embarrassed. The rise of the Mahrattas was chiefly attributable to the confusion of other states, and it was generally an object of their policy to render everything as intricate as possible, and to destroy records of rightful possession. As their armies overran the country, their history becomes blended with that of every other state in India, and may seem to partake of the disorder which they spread. As the only method, therefore, of preserving regularity, I have sometimes been obliged, when the confusion becomes extreme, rather to observe the chronological series of events than to follow out the connexion of the subjects; a mode which will appear in some parts, especially of the first volume, to partake more of the form of annals than I could have wished; but persons who are better judges of composition than I pretend to be found, upon examination, that the remedy might have obliged me either to generalize too much, or, what would have been still worse, to amplify unnecessarily. I have also afforded some explanations for the benefit of European readers, which those of India may deem superfluous; and on the other hand I have mentioned some names and circumstances, which I am certain, will hereafter prove useful to persons in the Mahratta country, but which others may think might have been advantageously omitted.