198 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XV, 
founded Ratanpur which continued the capital of a large part 
of the country now known as Chhattisgarh until it passed into 
the hands of the British. Of the varying fortunes of this royal 
house we know little or nothing; and we search in vain in the 
writings of Indian historians for any reference to this extensive 
territory. All we can affirm is that the dynasty continued in 
vigorous life for some six centuries; that about the 14th 
3. One would. at first, suppose it an easy task to recover 
the main outline of the Rajput régime in Chhattisgarh, lasting, 
as it did without interruption so far as we can learn, for over 
700 vears. ut memories are nowhere shorter than in the 
‘*‘ Immemorial East.” Few Europeans have been interested in 
this obscure corner of the Empire, in spite of the fact that it 
presents the remarkable picture of a Hindu Government con- 
tinuing till modern times outside the sphere of direct Moham- 
medan control; and, when we try to discover the social or 
political organization of the country prior to 1745 A.D., we 
find ourselves groping almost in complete darkness. 
at any relics of the old order of things survived long 
enough to be observed and recorded by the first British officials 
who visited the country must be attributed to the extraordi- 
nary isolation of Chhattisgarh. It was in pre-Britis 
territory ‘‘surrounded on all sides by almost uninhabited 
J 
“miles and during the rains perfectly inaccessible from the 
““ want of good roads.” (Hewitt’s Report of 1869, paragraph 
31). In this land-locked seclusion curious institutions, survivals 
of an earlier society, found it possible to persist in a recogniz- 
able if mutilated form. 
he fullest account of Chhattisgarh history which has been 
published is to be found in Vol. XVII of the Archaeological 
Survey of India This was written some 36 years ago by Sir 
inscriptional and other written sources. But it deals primarily 
with names ates and places, and throws no light on the 
internal organization of the country. 
! See paragraph 10 below. 
