Abstract
Orientalist travelogues were not the true representation, rather these were the distorted accounts of Indian society as filtered through the prim of colonial travelers. It appears as if the travelers were rendering ancillary services for the colonial project.There is no doubt that the literature produced by the Orientalist travelogues is marked by certain errors, however one cannot ignore the importance of these travel accounts, as they are considered important documents of history. However one can find that it is a misrepresentation of the Oriental essence, as Edward Said has made his point: "My whole point about this system is not that it is a misrepresentation of some Oriental essence — in which I do not for a moment believe — but that it operates as representations usually do, for a purpose, according to a tendency, in a specific historical, intellectual, and even economic setting.” The map of the Punjab in 1798, close to the time when Ranjeet Singh became its ruler, resembled a puzzle consisting of the territories of the misls.1 The district of Kasur was ruled by a Pathanfamily, and Hansi in the southeast where the English adventurer, George Thomas, had setup his kingdom. The position of other principalities was as follows: Multan was governed by Muzaffar Khan son of Shuja Khan, who claimed common descent with the Abdali King Ahmed Shah. Daera was ruled by Abdul Samad Khan; Mankera, Hot, Bannu and the neighbouring country, by Muhammad Shah Nawaz Khan Moin-ud-Doula, the successor of Nawab Muhammad Khan, and Tank by Sarwar Khan Katti Khel. Dera Ghazi Khan including Bhawalpur, and a tract of country adjoining Multan, was ruled by the Daudpotra, Bahawal Khan; Jhang by Sial Ahmed Khan; Peshawar by Fateh Khan Barakzai, the nominal vassal of Mahmud Shah. The fort of Attock was in the possession of the Wazir Khel, under Jahandad Khan; the Kangra Hills were under Raja Sansar Chand and the country from Hoshiarpur to Kapurthala governed by independent Sikh Sardars and their confederacies, called misls and other independent chiefs and so were Wazirabad, Dhanni, Khushab and Pakpattan, the seat of the Shrin of the great saint FaridShakarGanj.
Farzana Arshad. (2016) Contextualizing Nineteenth Century Punjab with particular Reference to the Orientalist writings, Journal of the Punjab University Historical Society, Volume 29, Issue 2.
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