The declaration of war by Japan against the British Empire and the United States of America in December, 1941, the conquest of Burma, and the threat to India from the east, have painfully demonstrated the great importance which should be attached to the eastern frontier of this country from the politico-military point of view. The North-West can no longer monopolise the attention of the defenders of India, nor can serious students of frontier policy, which constitutes so large and vital a part of our national history, confine their study to the routes taken by Alexander and his followers. It is to be deplored that historians of British India have so far concentrated their attention on northern, western and southern India, they have been altogether indifferent to the strange events which culminated in the Burmese Wars and resulted in the incorporation of Assam and Burma in the British Empire. Some years ago I realised the importance of this neglected subject, and the composition of this book was finished a few months before the declaration of war by Japan. Circumstances beyond my control delayed its publication for more than two years. I now submit it to the public, strengthened by the conviction that a pioneer's defects deserve more charity and indulgence than are usually accorded to those who follow the lead of veteran scholars and deal with well-known subjects.
I have not tried to narrate the history of Burma and Assam; my purpose is to describe in some detail the policy pursued by the British Government towards these States. Probably my readers will agree with me in saying that, throughout the period covered by this volume, that policy was essentially pacific and defensive. Be that as it may, I have dealt with the subject from the British Indian point of view. The internal history of Burma and Assam has been altogether excluded, except in so far as references to internal conditions were found necessary to explain the attitude adopted by British authorities towards particular questions. My standpoint is, therefore, quite different from that adopted by Sir Edward Gait in his History of Assam and by Sir Arthur Phayre and Mr. G. E. Harvey in their works entitled History of Burnia.
A detailed account of the materials utilised in the composition of this volume will be found in the Bibliography I have relied entirely on original sources, mainly unpublished official documents, No statement made by secondary authorities, contemporary or later, has been accepted unless it is supported by positive documentary evidence. I may, therefore, claim that the entire book is an original contribution to the understanding of British Indian history. Sir Edward Gait gives a more or less complete, though brief, account of British relations with Assam: but he did not examine unpublished documents. He relied on Sir James Johnstone's Captain Welsh's Expedition to Assam (compiled from records in the Foreign Department of the Government of India") and Wilson's Documents Illustrative of the Burmese War. Whether Sir Arthur Phayre and Mr. G. E. Harvey examined all relevant documents, I do not know. But their narrative is very brief (covering only a few pages).
In reply to those readers of mine who look upon quotations from documents with disfavour, I would take shelter behind the following observations of Mr. Churchill (Marlborough, Vol. III. p. 10): "I have tried as far as possible to tell the story through the lips of its actors or from the pers of contemporary writers, feeling sure that a phrase struck out at the time is worth many coined afterwards".
In conclusion, it is my pleasant duty to acknowledge my debt to my teacher. Dr. Surendra Nath Sen, MA, Ph.D., B.Litt.. Keeper of the Records of the Government of India, who made it possible for me to secure with astonishing rapidity thousands of pages of transcripts from the unpublished records preserved in the Imperial Record Department, New Delhi, and kindly allowed me to use the manuscript of his Records in Oriental Languages, Vol. 1, Bengali Letters before its publication. To Rai Sahib B. N. Basu, B.A., formerly Superintendent, Imperial Record Department, and Mr. U. N. Sarkar, MA., an Assistant in the Imperial Record Department, I am indebted for uniform courtesy and ungrudging assistance. From my teachers. Dr Indubhusan Banerjce, M.A., Ph.D., and Mr. Tripurari Chakravarti, M.A., and my esteemed friend, Dr. Narendra Krishna Sinha. M.A.. Ph.D., I received con-stant encouragement and advice.
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