The Diary of Ananda Ranga Mai. Edited by H. Dodwell.
Vol. VII. (Madras : Government Press. 3 rupees.) The Diary of Ananda Ranga Mai. Edited by H. Dodwell. Vol. VII. (Madras : Government Press. 3 rupees.) The new instalment of the remarkable diary kept by the confidential native servant of Dupleix, the famous French Governor of Pondicherry, covers the critical period from May, 1751, to December, 1753, when fortune at last began to turn m favour of the British in the struggle for mastery in Southern India. Unluckily, however, Ranga Pillai did not recognize the epoch-making nature of Clive's dramatic capture of Arcot and of the action that he fought and won soon after, and the diary says little or nothing about these events which changed the course of history. Nevertheless, the details of the complex diplomacy by which Dupleix sought to maintain his ground are curiously interesting, and the picture of the great Governor, as seen from day to day by a subordinate who admired and hated him at the same time, is as fascinating as anything in Indian history. Mr. Dodwell's editing of the text, translated from a transcript of the Tamil original, which is now lost, is as impeccable as ever, and the sole fault of his introduction is its brevity.
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