21G J. Eeames —On the Geography of India in the Reign of Ahhar. [Ko. 2, 
Uebli emperor, tlie details given in the Ain are less fnll than those of 
other Snbahs. Moreover, owing to various causes which I need not ex¬ 
plain in this place, the changes that have occurred since the sixteenth 
century are more numerous and perplexing than in any part of India* 
For Bengal we have some of Blochmann’s work, a general sketch of the 
extent and position of the nineteen sarkars, and detailed identification of 
two or three of them."^ I am now engaged in working out the rest, hut 
I am not yet quite ready with Bengal, and though I have received much 
assistance from the Collectors of the various districts—which I take this 
opportunity of gratefnlly acknowledging—I fear some time must elapse 
before the whole sarkar will be fully reconstructed. 
Bihar was not undertaken by Blochmann, but I have nearly finished 
my identification, and hope to publish it shortly. 
Ilahabad, Agrah, Dihli and all those parts of Snbahs which were 
included in the North West Provinces in 1844 have been worked out by 
Sir H. Elliot and may be found at Yol. II, p. 82 of his Races of the 
N. W. P. (my edition) and those parts left untouched by him I am now 
working out. 
Under these circumstances I have thought it better to begin with 
Oudh, as I have been able to complete my work on that Subah. Oudh 
was not British territory when Elliot wrote, and he has therefore omitted 
it from his lists, with the exception of Gorakhpur, which has all along 
formed part of the N. W. P. 
The materials which I have used are chiefly the reports of the recent 
settlements of the various districts, supplemented by*much valuable in¬ 
formation scattered here and there in the Oudh Gazetteer. The settle¬ 
ment reports being official publications are not generally accessible to the 
learned public either in India or Europe, they contain much curious and 
useful information, and in respect of the old names of estates and par- 
ganahs give data not usually procurable, being derived from local tradi¬ 
tion, the histories of the great families, and the records preserved by the 
Kanungoes or fiscal recorders, an office founded by the Mughal Emperors 
and which has survived to our own times. I have thought it might be 
serviceable to students to publish in the Society’s Journal material at 
present virtually buried in the Settlement Reports, and to bring together 
into one general view the scattered notices to be found in the Gazetteer. 
The accompanying map is an attempt at making our knowledge of the 
subject precise and definite. 
* See liis articles on the Geography and History of Bengal in J. A. S. B. 
Vol. XLIT, p. 209 ; Vol. XLIII, p. 280; Vol. XLIV, p. 275 and in Appendix to Hun¬ 
ter’s Statistical Account of the 24 Parganas District. 
