HOUGH, William.

£1,750 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

A Brief History of the Bhopal Principality in Central India. First edition of this conspicuously uncommon history of Bhopal - at the time of publication under the protection of the presidency of Bengal - consolidating "all the information to be obtained in printed works" (p. v); Library Hub cites copies at just five British and Irish institutional libraries (BL, Manchester, SOAS, Oxford, Southampton), WorldCat adds another seven world-wide; no copies traced on auction records.The lettering on the front cover, rendered in English from the Hindi, "Maha Muratib" ("Dignity of the Fish") and "Futteh Jung", were both honorary titles awarded to the Nawabs and Begums of Bhopal. From 1819 until 1926 Bhopal was a matriarchy ruled by the Begums. However, during the 1840s there was a dispute over the succession, with the British Political Agent, Lancelot Wilkinson, opposing the rule of women. After various machinations the six-year old Sultan Shah Jehan was finally installed under the regency of her mother Sikandar Begum. "Events had fully vindicated the Begums as they returned to Bhopal to a tumultuous welcome from the people" (Shaharyar M. Khan, The Begums of Bhopal: A Dynasty of Women Rulers in Ray India, 2000, p. 85).William Hough (1789-1865) was an officer in the 48th Bengal Native Infantry, commissioned in 1805, he served in the Nepal War (1814-16), the Third Maratha War (1817-18) and the First Afghan War (1839-42), and was an "authority on military law" (Peter Stanley, White Mutin

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