Rambles and Recollections of an Indian OfficialSleeman, W. H. (William Henry), Sir
History
Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official
Sleeman, W. H. (William Henry), Sir
India -- Description and travel
The memoir of Sir William Sleeman is based on the slight sketch
prefixed to the _Journey through the Kingdom of Oude_, supplemented
by much additional matter derived from his published works and
correspondence, as well as from his unpublished letters and other
papers generously communicated by his only son, Captain Henry
Sleeman. Ample materials exist for a full account of Sir William
Sleeman's noble and interesting life, which well deserves to be
recorded in detail; but the necessary limitations of these volumes
preclude the Editor from making free use of the biographical matter
at his command.
The reproduction of the twenty-four coloured plates of varying merit
which enrich the original edition has not been considered desirable.
The map shows clearly the route taken by the Author in the journey
the description of which is the leading theme of the book.
EDITOR'S PREFACE (1915)
My edition published by Archibald Constable and Company in 1893 being
out of print but still in demand, Mr. Humphrey Milford, the present
owner of the copyright, has requested me to revise the book and bring
it up to date.
This new edition is issued uniform with Mr. Beauchamp's third edition
of _Hindu Manners, Customs, and Ceremonies_ by the Abbé J. A. Dubois
(Oxford: at the Clarendon Press, 1906), a work bearing a strong
resemblance in substance to the _Rambles and Recollections_, and,
also like Sleeman's book in that it 'is as valuable to-day as ever it
was--even more valuable in some respects'.
The labour of revision has proved to be far more onerous than was
expected. In the course of twenty-one years the numerous changes
which have occurred in India, not only in administrative
arrangements, but of various other kinds, necessitate the emendation
of notes which, although accurate when written, no longer agree with
existing facts. The appearance of many new books and improved
editions involves changes in a multitude of references. Such
alterations are most considerable in the annotations dealing with the
buildings at Agra, Sikandara, Fathpur-Sîkrî, and Delhi, and the
connected political history, concerning which much new information is
now available. Certain small misstatements of fact in my old notes
have been put right. Some of those errors which escaped the notice of
critics have been detected by me, and some have been rectified by the
aid of criticisms received from Sir George Grierson, C.I.E., Mr.
William Crooke, sometime President of the Folklore Society, and other
kind correspondents, to all of whom I am grateful. Naturally, the
opportunity has been taken to revise the wording throughout and to
eliminate misprints and typographical defects. The Index has been
recast so as to suit the changed paging and to include the new
matter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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