The term "foreign" as applied to the Indian Foreign Office is a misnomer, and has led to confusion. The term "political department" would be more correct, as it deals mainly with Asiatic feudatory states which are bound up with the body politic of the Anglo-Indian empire. The relations between the British government and its Asiatic feudatories are not "international" in the European sense of the word, and are not controlled by international law. They are "political" in the imperial sense of the word, and are governed by the treaties, and regulated by the sovereign authority which is exercised by the British government as the paramount power in India. A British officer is placed in charge of every state, or group of states, and is known as "political agent" or "Resident." Lord Macaulay, versed in European history, but with no special knowledge of Asia, condemns the word "political," which had been used ever since the department was founded by Warren Hastings. He declared that Asiatic feudatories were "foreign states," and that the relations between those feudatories and the paramount power were diplomatic. Lord Macaulay in his time was as great a literary authority as Dr. Samuel Johnson. Lord Ellenborough took the hint when he was Governor-General, and changed the Political Department into the Foreign Office. It would be better to call it "Political and Foreign." INDEX. A. Adoption, question of, 175; present aspect, 177 Afghanistan, Elphinstone's mission, 103; Russian advances, 143; first Afghan war, 146; insurrection at Cabul, 149; British losses in the Khyber Pass, 150; end of war, 152; vulnerable frontier, 186; death of Dost Mohammed Khan, 290; fratricidal war, 291; Shere Ali Khan, _ib._; second Afghan war under Lord Lytton, 296 Agnew, Mr. Vans, murdered at Multan, 161 Agra, captured by General Lake, 95; presidency formed, 128; water way, 171; isolation during the sepoy mutinies, 215, 231 Ajmere, acquired by the British, 120 Akalis, Sikh fanatics, 156, 157 Akbar Khan, son of Dost Mohammed, heads revolt at Cabul, 149; murders Sir William Macnaghten, 150 Alam, Shah, Padishah, seeks British protection, 95 Alexander the Great, defeat of Porus, 163; his invasion of India, 225 Alighur, fortress of, captured by Lake, 94 Aliwal, battle of, 159 Allahabad, at the junction of the Jumna and Ganges, 171; position during the sepoy revolt, 215, 217, 220, 238; mutiny and massacre, 241; fortress besieged, _ib._; relieved by General Neill, 242 Amherst, Lord, Governor-General, 120; first Burmese war, 121; Bhurtpore war, 122 Amir Khan, an Afghan Pindhari, 105; founds principality of Tonk, 112, 113; surrenders to the British, 115 Amritsar, city of, 155 Andaman Islands, 294