THE first idea of compiling information about the different districts of the Bombay Presidency
conceived as far back as 1843, was in the form of Statistical Accounts. The Government called on the
Revenue Commissioner to obtain from all the Collectors as part of their next Annual Report, the fullest
available information regarding their district Government remarked that as Collectors and their
Assistants during the large portion of the year moved about the district in constant and intimate
communication with all classes, they possessed advantage which no other public officers enjoyed of
acquiring a full knowledge of the condition of the country; the causes of progress or retrogradation, the
good measures which require to be fostered and extended, the evil measures which call for
abandonment, the defects in existing institutions which require to be remedied and the nature of the
remedies to be applied. Collectors also, it was observed, have an opportunity of judging of the effect
of British rule on the condition and character of the people, and their caste prejudices, and on their
superstitious observances. They can trace any alteration for the better or worse in dwellings, clothing
and diet, and can observe the use of improved implements of husbandry or other crafts, the habits of
locomotion, the state of education, particularly among the higher classes whose decaying means and
energy under our most levelling system compared with that of the preceding Governments will attract
their attention. Finally, they can learn how far existing village institutions are effectual to their end and
may be made available for Self-Government and in the management of local taxation for local
purposes.
In obedience to these orders reports were received from the Collectors of Ahmedabad, Broach,
Kaira, Thana and Khandesh. Some of the reports contained much interesting information. These five
northern reports were practically the only result of the Circular Letter of 1843.
The matter does not appear to have been pursued any further.
Later in October 1867, the Secretary of State for India desired the Bombay Government to take
concrete steps for the compilation of a Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency on the model of the
Gazetteer prepared during that year for the Central Provinces. The Government of Bombay then
requested some of its responsible officials to submit a scheme for carrying out into effect the orders of
the Secretary of State, and in 1868, appointed the Bombay Gazetteer Committee to supervise and
direct the preparation of the Gazetteer. After a few organizational experiments the responsibility was
finally entrusted to Mr. James M. Campbell of the Bombay Civil Service, who commenced the
compilation in 1874 and completed the series in 1884. The
actual publication, however, of these volumes both in the General and District Series was spread over
a period of 27 years between 1877 and 1904 in which year the last General Index Volume was
published.
Though a Gazetteer literally means only a geographical dictionary, the scope of this particular
compilation was much wider. It included not only a description of the physical and natural features of a
region but also a broad narrative of the social, political, economic and cultural life of the people living
in the region. The purpose which the Gazetteer was intended to serve was made clear by Sir William
Hunter when his opinion was sought on the subject. He said” My own conception of the work is that in
return for a couple of days' reading, the account should give a new Collector, a comprehensive, and,
at the same time, a distinct idea of the district which he has been sent to administer. Mere reading can
never supersede practical experience in the district administration. But a succinct and well-conceived
district account is capable of ante-dating the acquisition of such personal experience by many months
and of both facilitating and systematising a Collectors' personal enquiries.. But in all cases a District
Account besides dealing with local specialities should furnish a historical narration of its revenue and
expenditure since it passed under the British rule, of the sums which we have taken from it in taxes,
and of the amount which we have returned to it in the protection of property and person and the other
charges of Civil Government".
The Gazetteer, thus both in its District and General Series was intended to give a complete
picture of the district to men who were entire strangers to India and its people but who as members of
the ruling race carried on their shoulders the responsibility of conducting its administration.
The Gazetteer had 27 Volumes, some split up into two or three parts making a total of 35 books
including the General Index Volume which was published in 1904. Some of the Volumes as stated
earlier were of a general nature and were not confined to the limits of a particular district. For example,
Volume 1 dealt with History and was split up into two parts, one dealing with Gujarat and the other with
Konkan, Deccan and Southern Maratha Country. Part I was based on the material prepared by Pandit
Bhagwanlal Indraji and completed by Mr. A. M. T. Jackson. Part II was composed of the following
articles:—
(1) History of the Konkan by Rev. Alexander Kyd. Nairne
(2) Early History of the Deccan down to Mahomadan Conquest by Prof. Ramkrishna Gopal
Bhandarkar.
(3) The Dynasties of the Kanarese districts from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman
Conquent by Dr. J. F. Fleet.
(4) Dakhan History—Musalman and Marathas A.D. 1300— 1800 by W. W. Loch, Esquire and
History of the Bombay and Karnatack—Musalman and Maratha A.D. 1300—1800 by Major E. W.
West.
This Volume was very highly prized. The Editor says in the Preface, "the general contributions
on History in Volume I, Parts I and II are among the valuable portions of the Gazetteer ".
Besides Volume I, there were two more Volumes, viz., Volume IX and Volume XXV which were
of a general nature; the former devoted to the population of Gujarat containing two parts, one
describing Hindus and the other Musalmans and Parsis and the latter gave an account of the Botany
of the area covered in the whole Presidency. It may, however, be stated that there was no
corresponding Volume to Volume IX devoted to the population of Maharashtra or Karnatak. The
remaining Volumes dealt with various districts of the Presidency and with what were then known as
Native States attached to the Bombay Presidency.
This Gazetteer compiled over 90 years ago had long become scarce and entirely out of print.
Though the Gazetteer contained authentic and useful information on several aspects of life and was
considered to be of great value to the administrator, and scholar and the general reader, there was a
general desire that there should be a new and revised edition of this monumental work. There was an
added reason also which prompted this desire. Today our notions about the Gazetteers have greatly
changed. They are intended to serve not only the administrators but the entire nation. The people
must have full information about inter alia the past history and culture of their country with an
inevitable shift in emphasis in the presentation and interpretation of certain phenomena. What was
necessary was a change in perspective in presenting that account so that it could be viewed against
the background of a broad nationalism and the synthesis of a larger social life. With this in view the
then Government of Bombay decided that the old Gazetteers should be revised and republished, and
entrusted the work of revision to an Editorial Board specially created for that purpose in 1949. In
addition to the revision and compilation of District Gazetteers, the Board also decided to prepare
General Volumes covering the whole of the then Bombay State to be published along with the District
Volumes. The General Volumes were to be on the following subjects:—
(1)Maharashtra—Land and Its People
(2)Geography
(3)Public Administration
(4)Botany
(5)History
(6)Language and Literature
(7)Fauna
(8)Places
Of these, the History Volume was to be published in four parts, viz., (1) Ancient Period, (2)
Mediaeval Period, (3) Maratha Period, and (4) Modern Period.
The present Volume on the History of the Mediaeval Period consists of ten chapters as stated
below:—
(1)The Deccan on the Eve of the Muslim Invasion
(2)The Bahamanis of the Deccan
(3)The Nizamshahi of Ahmadnagar
(4)Portuguese Settlements on the Western Coast
(5)The Adilshahi of Bijapur
(6)The Imadshahi of Berar
(7)The Qutbshahi of Golconda and the Baridshahi of Bidar
(8)The Faruqis of Khandesh
(9)The Moghals in Maharashtra
(10)Mediaeval Administration and Social Organization.
It will be noticed that the present volume is much more comprehensive in details and
description than the corresponding articles in Volume I, Part II. As a matter of fact that article on
Deccan History divided into two parts by W. W. Loch, Esquire gave a very brief history of Poona,
Satara and Sholapur districts (Part I) and Khandesh, Nasik and Ahmadnagar districts (Part II) and not
a detailed history of the various dynasties that ruled them in mediaeval times. Though the articles
have the caption Dakhan History: Musalman and Maratha A. D. 1300—1818, a large part of these is
devoted to the Maratha rather than the Muslim Period. The present Volume fully deals with the rise
and fall of the Bahamani Kingdom, the history of the five Deccan Sultanates which were the successor
States of the fallen Bahamani Kingdom, the history of the Faruqis of Khandesh as also the gradual
expansion of and the final absorption by the Moghal power of these Deccan States. Again the articles
in the earlier edition dealt only with political history while in the present Volume a full Chapter is
devoted to the analysis of the socio-economic organisation and the administrative set-up of the
mediaeval times. This is in keeping with the modern wider conception of History. A select bibliography
has also been appended at the end. The entire text of the Volume excluding the footnotes has been
diacritically marked in order to enable the reader to understand the correct pronunciation of the names
of places, objects, persons, etc., that appear in the text. For case of reference a detailed index
appears at the end. An added feature of this Volume is the photo plates of important forts that played
such a distinctive role in the period under review as also of the architectural remains of the period
which could appropriately be described as the legacy of the mediaeval Deccan.
BOMBAY: B. G. KUNTE,
15 August, 1972. Executive Editor and Secretary.
