Soldier And Traveller

This memoir by a Christian Artillery officer (1785-1877) serving in the army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh enlists his observations and experiences as well as the biographical details about his own life. Being a soldier and an adventurous traveller, the author records his experiences of childhood, education, travels to Ireland, Mexico, America, Afghanistan, Asia, Punjab, military service in Maharaja Ranjit Singh, participation in Sikh Army campaigns, intrigues and conspiracies of Dogras after Ranjit Singh's death, first Anglo-Sikh war, his exile from Punjab. The memoir is rich and meticulous in detail, a gripping description of Asia, Afghanistan and Punjab in the late eighteenth and early 19th century. Parts of it can be read as a capsule of Afghan and Sikh history. The whole memoir runs like a film before the reader's eyes. It is both informative and educative.