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Lot 206•
D. Ross, The Land of the Five Rivers and Sindh: Sketches Historical and Descriptive London, Chapman & Hall, 1883(4)
12 November 2024, 11:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £3,328 inc. premium
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Oliver White
Head of Department
D. Ross, The Land of the Five Rivers and Sindh: Sketches Historical and Descriptive
London, Chapman & Hall, 1883
London, Chapman & Hall, 1883
pp. 309, blue cloth gilt, 230 x 150 mm.; and E. B. Eastwick, Murray's Handbook of the Panjab, Western Rajputana, Kashmir and Upper Sindh, London, John Murray, 1883, pp. 327, one folding map (of Sindh), red cloth, 52 pages of contemporary advertisements, 178 x 125 mm.; and R. C. Temple, A Dissertation on the Proper Names of Panjabis, with special reference to the Proper Names of Villagers in the eastern Panjab, Bombay 1883, pp. 176, inscribed With the author's compliments, black morocco, 220 x 145 mm.; and C. U. Aitchison, A Collection of Treaties, Engagements and Sanads, relating to India and Neighbouring Countries, vol. I (relating to the Punjab, the Punjab States and Delhi), Calcutta 1931, pp. 359, brown cloth
260 x 185 mm.(4)
260 x 185 mm.(4)
Footnotes
Ross, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, writes in his preface: 'My object in publishing these "Sketches" is to furnish travellers passing through Sindh and the Punjab with a short historical and descriptive account of the country and places of interest between Karachi, Multan, Lahore, Peshawar and Delhi'.
The first section of Murray's Handbook begins with advice on dress for travellers, as well as diet and health, passing on to tables of British Governors, rulers of the Punjab and principal events in its history, the Sikh Gurus, Ranjit Singh and his family, and the rulers of Kashmir. After this it deals with 'objects of interest' in the Punjab, its tribes, the Sindhi and Punjabi languages, and ends with long lists of Punjabi and Sindhi vocabulary, and exemplary dialogues (sample: 'I want a palanquin'; 'Torch-bearer, run a little before me'). Section II deals lists itineraries and points of interest along the way.
Captain R. C. Temple was an officer of the Bengal Staff Corps, as well as a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and was also Cantonment Magistrate of Ambala, Punjab.
C. U. Aitchison was Under-Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign Department. The books lists the terms of treaties and agreements between the British and the states of the Punjab, ranging from the very earliest examples with Ranjit Singh at Lahore in the early 19th Century, through hill states such as Hindur and Baghal later in the 19th Century; then long sections relating to e.g. Patiala, Bahawalpur, Jind, Nabha, Kapurthala, and Hindu states such as Chamba and Suket, ending, remarkably, with treaties between the Company and the Mughal Emperor in the 1760s.