Early Nineteenth-Century Panjab

The ChÄr BÄgh-i-PanjÄb written by Ganesh Das Wadera immediately after the annexation of the Lahore kingdom by the British in 1849 is a classic Persian text. Its long descriptive part is the only surviving account of the social religious and cultural life of the peoples of the Punjab especially during the late-eighteenth and the early-nineteenth century. Ganesh Das writes about traditional learning literature folklore urban centres and women with a rare catholicity as an Indian an orthodox Hindu a Punjabi and a Khatri. Himself a hereditary qanungo of Gujrat in the Sikh kingdom he also provides valuable insights into the structure of revenue administration at lower rungs. This volume presents an authoritative English translation of this primary descriptive section of ChÄr BÄgh-i-PanjÄb with a detailed Introduction critical commentary glossary map and a classified index. Indispensable for researchers it will interest historians of medieval and modern India especially those concerned with the pre-Independence Punjab region. . Language: English