Appointed through family influence to the East India Company, Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779 1859) arrived on the subcontinent in 1796, quickly learning Persian and developing an interest in Indian civilisation. After postings in Benares, Afghanistan and Poona, he became governor in 1819 of the recently acquired territory that became known as the Bombay Presidency, where he remained until his resignation in 1827. On his return to England, he devoted much of his time to writing and was a founder member of the Royal Geographical Society. This two-volume history, based on a range of Indian sources and first published in 1841, is infused with his lifelong understanding of Indian culture, science and philosophy. A scholarly refutation of James Mill's History, it was the most popular work of its kind among the early Victorian public. Volume 1 contains a topographical introduction and covers the history of the Indian subcontinent to the thirteenth century.

Appointed through family influence to the East India Company, Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779 1859) arrived on the subcontinent in 1796, quickly learning Persian and developing an interest in Indian civilisation. After postings in Benares, Afghanistan and Poona, he became governor in 1819 of the recently acquired territory that became known as the Bombay Presidency, where he remained until his resignation in 1827. On his return to England, he devoted much of his time to writing and was a founder member of the Royal Geographical Society. This two-volume history, based on a range of Indian sources and first published in 1841, is infused with his lifelong understanding of Indian culture, science and philosophy. A scholarly refutation of James Mill's History, it was the most popular work of its kind among the early Victorian public. Volume 2 covers the period from the thirteenth century to the demise of the Mogul empire in the mid-eighteenth century.

Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779 1859) was a Scottish diplomat and colonial administrator. After joining the civil service of the East India Company in 1796 he was appointed the first British envoy to the Court of Kabul in 1808. In 1819 he was appointed the Governor of Bombay, and after his retirement in 1827 he devoted his life to historical and literary studies. First published in 1815, this volume contains Elphinstone's detailed description of the Kingdom of Afghanistan. Elphinstone describes the geography, economy and political situation of the kingdom and provides a brief account of Afghan history. He also gives the first detailed ethnographic accounts of the various Afghan tribes and ethnic groups in the kingdom. This fascinating volume informed British military and diplomatic policy in the region until the 1840s, and remained the main source of information on the culture of the Afghan tribes for much of the nineteenth century.

Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779 1859) was a colonial official who spent his career in India, eventually becoming governor of Bombay in 1819. Before that he was resident in Poona (Pune) during the final days of the Maratha empire. He was fluent in Persian and took an interest in the culture of the region. This report, however, published in 1821, is a political work. The report describes the western Indian territory that the British had acquired by 1818, and Elphinstone provides a geographical overview of the area and the people who lived there. He then gives a brief sketch of Maratha history before moving on to the crux of the work: how to administer the territory, with the question of how to raise more revenue being of especial importance. This report provides a first-hand example of the inner workings of the British Empire in India.

The historian George W. Forrest (1846 1926) pays tribute to the legacy of Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779 1859) by bringing his writings together in this 1884 publication, which begins with a account of Elphinstone's life and the historical events connected with his career, providing important background information and context for the reader. Forrest provides a fascinating insight into Elphinstone's opinions on some of the leading questions connected with the government of British India. The statesman played a pivotal role in founding the system of state education in India, strongly supporting native education and the local administration of laws. As Forrest describes, he brought 'a liberal and highly cultivated mind' to discussions of Indian problems, and he saw the British task in India as equipping Indians for self-government as quickly as possible. This collection documents his challenges and achievements, and is an important historical record of a turning point in Indian history.