History Of The Panjab(1891)

Latif,syad Muhammad · 1891 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

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3tlra people in that country at Tarious times. The ori^n of the

4pcSbple has been traced, so far as was consutent with the objects of

5this work and the religious nolaons of the people, and their remark*

6able customs and usages have been described. I have, in short,

7attempted to trace the Panj&bi, from the time when he lived a

8primitive life, to that in which he claims the highest privileges that

9could be legitimately conferred upon him ; from ah age of barbar*

10ism to an age of enlightenment, when he shares, with the rest of

11the Crown’s subjects, the benefits and blessings of a civilized

12Government.

13The magnitude of the scheme must be my plea for the brief"

14manher in which I have treated of general subjects, for, had 1

15ventured to deal with them fully, the work would have swelled

16to an enormous extent, and it was not intended to make it an

17encyclopaedia. 1 have, in short, endeavoured so to treat of each

18subject as to bring the work within the compass and scope of a

19provincial history.

20That a competent English scholar would have done moi*e justice

21to the work, I freely admit. I am neither unconscious of my own

22shortcomings, and of the many defects in the work which 1 have

23ventured to, lay before the public, nor, in spite of the care bestow-

24ed on the work, am I in a position to claim for it the credit of

25being a complete history of the Panjdb. It is possible that some

26mistakes have crept in, for which I ask the indulgence of the learned

27reader. It is possible, too, that more discerning eyes will find im-

28perfections iu my work that are invisible to mine ; but, in the

29words of Mill, “ I shall yet appeal from the sentence of him who

30shall judge of me solely by what I have not done. An equitable

31and truly useful decision would be grounded upon an accurate es-

32timation of what I have done, and what I have not done, taken

33Itogether.” If that eminent historian of India, with all his great

34literary talents, thought the plea applied to his case, it will, d for-

35tiori, have application to the case of one like myself, who has no

36pretensions whatever to systematic scholarship. And if I am ask-

37ing the learned reader to approve of my labours in a field of some

38difficulty, I do so, not because I am sanguine of their worth, but

39because I have so much confidence in his indulgence. My reason

40for attempting the work is simply this ; Since no ^Bne of higher

41qualifications had* thought of such a work, I conceived that I might

42make an attempt, however imperfect, to supply what I considered

43a waiit, with no 'ostentatious object, but with a view solely to

44awakening interest, and inducing more competent persons to com- ^

45plete what I might have left incomplete, and to accomplish what I *

46was not in a position fully to execute.

47Afid* now, my dear countrymen, before I close this review, let

48me say a few words to you, words which I feel you will do well to

49take to heart. When you have read my history, will you put it