Page:History of India Vol 4.djvu/263

 APPENDIX II IBEAHIM KHAN'S CHECXNTCLE OF THE MAEATHAS This brief account of the Marathas, written by a native of Hindustan in the latter part of the eighteenth century, is of value because of the clear presentation it gives of certain important historical events in the author's own time, and it serves as a useful supplement to the foregoing sixth and seventh chapters in this volume. The author, Ibrahim Khan Bahadur, was an illustrious Nawab, or nabob, although he modestly calls himself "the humblest of slaves," and says that he wrote his chronicle " as a volume of warning for men of sagacity." He compiled the work at the time when Lord Cornwallis, of American Eevolutionary distinction, was serving as Governor-General of India under George the Third, and he eulogizes Cornwallis in flatter- ing terms. The book was translated for Sir H. M. Elliot by Major Fuller, and the extracts here presented are from his rendering, with some unimpor- tant omissions and modifications. EDITOR. BE it not hidden that in the language of the people of the Deccan these territories and their dependen- cies are called " Dihast," and the inhabitants of the re- gion are styled " Marathas. " The Maratha dialect is adopted exclusively by these classes, and the chieftain- ship of the Marathas is centred in the Bhonsla tribe. The lineage of the Bhonslas is derived from the Udai- pur Rajas, who bear the title of Rana; and the first 215