Subject to British interference from the mid-eighteenth century onwards, Oudh was finally annexed in 1856. The diary of W. H. Sleeman's three-month tour through the rural areas of the kingdom in 1849–50 was thus a timely record of the effects of the initial phases of British intervention in Oudh affairs and a valuable delineation of the social, economic and political background to the still more drastic changes which were to accompany direct British rule. No more detailed, accurate or unbiased account exists of conditions in pre-annexation Oudh, and the diary is thus a significant document for those who are interested in the history of rural society and government in Oudh and of the impact of British rule upon it. This book is a record of the work of a skilled and perceptive observer and one who understood the way Indian society functioned rather than passing judgement on it.