ABSTRACT
The last Mahratta war was over, and the last of the Peshwas was captured in 1818; and Lord Hastings was forced to face the problem of a proper land administration in India, far more difficult to deal with than swarms of the Pindaries or armies of the Mahrattas. The task of conquests and annexations was easy enough, when disciplined troops faced undisciplined hordes in the field of battle. But the story of such conquests is not the history of India; the story of the administration, and of the condition of the people under the new rule, is the true history of the country.
