Origin Of The Sikh Power In The Punjab

Henry T. Prinsep · 1834 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

2PREFACE.

3follow, to tlie date of the decease of the promi-

4nent character of the work, to he added here-

5after, in case at any future period the public

6should take sufficient interest in the affairs ot

7the Punjab, to call for a renewed publication.

8It may be proper to add, that while the first part

9of this work was already in the Printer’s hands,

10a Persian account of the affairs of the Sikhs

11in the Punjab,* was obligingly communicated to

12the Compiler by Sir Charles Metcalfe. The

13manuscript had been delivered to Sir Charles

14by its author, Khooshwuqt Raee, who was tor

15many years the Agent and Intelligencer of the

16British Government at Umritsur. The narra-

17tive comes down to 1812 only, but is very full

18in respect to the early history of the Sikh Sir-

19dars, and contains much information and useful

20matter, not to be found elsewhere. The oppor-

21tunity which was thus presented of comparing

22an original work of this kind with the Memoir

23of Captain Murray, has not been lost. The

24result has afforded a satisfactory corroboration

25of the accuracy of this officer : indeed, the corres-

26pondence of date and circumstance in many

27important particulars leads almost to the con-

28clusion, that Khooshwuqt Raee’s narrative must

29have been amongst the materials from which

30the Memoir was prepared. Some occasional