Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1857 edition. Excerpt: ... heard a great deal. On personal examination, I was quite disappointed, and was informed by the inhabitants that the splendor had departed with its former master. " Those markets," said they with a melancholy tone, " where heaps of golden coins, strings of pearls, and caskets of precious ornaments, were exposed for sale, are now all deserted." The amount of the population of the city at this time is said to have been reduced from half a million to about one hundred and twelve thousand persons, on account of the banishment of the Peshwa and the consequent dispersion of his armies and emigration of the people. It having occurred to me to ascend the Parbati Hill to have a full view of the city at once, I employed a guide for the purpose and soon reached the summit. It commands a view of the whole city, with its environs and a beautiful landscape of the town, the English camp, and the suburbs, ornamented SATARA. 217 with nine lakhs of mango trees planted by the Peshwa, called nau lakha bdgh. The next day I left Punah for Satara, the place of my destination, which, being about fifty-six miles distant, I reached in three days by easy marches on the 30th of March, 1823. Satara, originally belonging to the province of Bijapur, is situated in a mountainous country, environed by lofty hills on three sides; or, I may observe, the town is lying under and within the south-western angle of hills running in the form of a syphon, the southern leg of which is the short one, and is walled and towered, partly scarped and partly built into a hill fort, the eminence being about two hundred and seventy-five yards high. The fortress was commanded from many places, particularly from the west. The sight of the fortress reminded me of the anecdote of Aurangzeb's...
