A Handbook for Travellers in India, Burma, and Ceylon, including the Provinces of Bengal, Bombay, Madras, the United Provinces of Agra and Lucknow, the Panjab, Eastern Bengal and Assam, the North-West Frontier Province, Baluchistan, and the Central Provinces, and the Native States of Rajputana, Central India, Kashmir, Hyderabad, Mysore, &c.

Abstract

THE handbook to India, Burma, and Ceylon issued by Mr. John Murray, which now appears in its eighth edition, has reached its present form after a long series of revisions. It was first published between 1859 and ^83 in four volumes, and was the work of a well-known Oriental scholar, the late Captain E. B.—Eastwick, who collected the material during several journeys to India. When we remember that in the period immediately following the Mutiny of 1857 communications throughout the Empire were imperfect, and that the present vast library of Indian books of reference, such as the imperial and provincial gazetteers, the census, archaeological, and other departmental reports were not available for reference, Captain Eastwick's work was, in its way, admirable. Since the book appeared in its original form it has been subjected to constant revision by competent scholars, and has now been practically rewritten by Mr. H. C. Fanshawe, late secretary to the Government of the Panjab, and author of an excellent account of the imperial city of Delhi. The arrangement has been recast in accordance with the most recent railway developments, and the accounts of the most important places have been revised in the light of modern research.