Lehal Library

AN APPRECIATION CUNNINGHAM'S History of the Sikhs is a work which no serious student of Indian history can do without. Cunningham was never a dilettante; on the other hand he was an expert and an authority. He brought to bear on the subject an unbiased mind, a fastidious fondness for accuracy as well as consummate erudiNo bias warps his judgement, no profitless profusion mars the beauty of his style, no lurking ignorance interrupts the fulness of the narrative. tion. The author had lived among the Sikhs for a period of eight years during a very important portion of their history. And it is to this fact that the genesis of his magnum opus is to be traced. — — But strange as it may appear the author's unflinching adherence to truth at first brought him only degradation and disgrace. The circumstances have been explained by Malleson thus: "The work (History of the Sikhs) appeared in Extremely well writeen, giving the fullest and the most accurate details of events; the book possessed one quality which, in the view of the Governor-General of the day, the Marquis of Dalhousie, rendered the publication of it a crime. It told the who^e truth the unpalatable truth, regarding the first Sikh War; it exposed the real strength of the Sikh army; the conduct of, and the negotiations with, the Sikh chiefs. 1849. — "The book, if unnoticed by high authority, would have injured no one. The Punjab had been annexed, or was in the process of annexation, when it appeared. But a despotic Government cannot endure truths which seem to reflect on the justice of its policy. Looking at the policy of annexation from the basis of