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PROSPECTUS.

Having been appointed in 1792 to accompany an escort ordered to attend captain Reynolds, of the Bombay establishment, on a furvey through the Dooab and the adjoining countries, it appears to me, that in the course of this expedition, much information may be gained on fubjects not hitherto, fufficiently investigated and developed; what I conceive to be most useful in the researches above alluded to, may be reduced under the following heads:

ift. The natural productions of the Dooab, with its commercial advantages, and a comparative view of its former and prefent revenues, with as accurate a calculation of its inhabitants as can be procured.

2nd. The places of note, and the monuments of Mahomedan grandeur fince the conqueft of the Moguls.

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3d. An account of Calpee and Etyah, and of the improvements that may be made in the inland commerce with the neighbouring countries.

4th. The cities of Agra and Delhi, and their environs, notwithstanding their present ruinous state, will nevertheless yield materials for many interesting remarks. The history of the revolutions at Delhi, and the unfortunate catastrophe of the prefent defcendant of Timoor, would, I am perfuaded, be interesting to my countrymen at home, and great and accurate information on this fubject may be gained by perfonal conversation with feveral of the actors in this revolution, who are now living at Delhi.*

5th. The celebrated city of Mathura, and the plains of Bindrabund, present a field for the investigation of the ancient government of the Hindoos; for, on this fpot, confecrated for ages by the fuperftition of their ancestors, we may hope to find those primitive manners

*See the History of Shah Aulum, and present work.

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and cuftoms defcribed in their Sanfcrit manufcripts; and their religious opinions being closely connected with their civil ordinations, we may be able to form a more correct idea of the fpirit of their ancient government.

6th. On the fouth and fouth-weft of the Jumna, the provinces of Boondeelcund, and Gohud, which have lately been reduced by the Mahratta government, with respect to their fi tuation towards the Vizier's frontier, are objects of confequence to the British nation, and demand an attentive inveftigation.

7th. From the late fucceffes attendant on Scindiah's arms, we muft naturally conclude it has been owing in a great degree to the attention he has paid to the internal discipline and economy of his military fyftem; it is therefore my intention to obtain as correct information as I can of the ftate of the Marhatta armies, together with an account of the Mahratta government.*

* The late maha-rajah Madajee Scindiah.

THE SEIKS.

8th. This nation, so obfcure as hardly to be mentioned even as a tribe, at the beginning of the present century, have, within these last thirty years, raised themselves in fuch reputation as not only to attract the notice, but excite the alarm of their neighbours on both sides of their government.

They poffefs the whole of the Punjaub, and it is very probable will one day or other have an eye to a participation of the Vizier's provinces. I propofe, therefore, to obtain every poffible information of their tribe, manners, customs, and spirit of government, and, should we be able, to penetrate into the Punjaub, to describe the face of that country, and the natural and commercial productions.*

9th. The defiderata of Major Rennel, which from a perufal of his moft excellent memoir I

* See the History of Shah Aulum, and present work.

find to be, first, the ascertaining the existence of one of the grand defigns of the Emperor Feroze; which was, to have cut a canal from the Sutledge to the Jumna, which would have opened a communication by water from Cabul to Affam. Major Rennel obferves, he takes it for granted this canal was never completed, as no farther intimation has been obtained on that head. The remains of fuch a magnificent work, if any still exift, muft doubtless be difcovered by an inspection on the spot.

10th. I have in my poffeffion a history of the celebrated Timoor or Tamerlane, faid to be written by himself. This work contains the whole of Timoor's expeditions, from an early period of his life until near his death. The Indian expedition in particular is detailed in a very accurate manner.

11th. THE ALTARS OF ALEXANDER.

I have been the more induced to prefent to the public the above prospectus, as an evidence

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* See the 14th chapter of the present work.

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