Dr. Gupta’s annotated edition of the news-letters will, I am sure, be welcomed as a substantial addition to the existing primary sources of the history of modern Panjab. The period covered by these letters is, no doubt, short, not exceeding ten months in all (January-October 1844); but it is a period of great relative importance. It was during this period, viz., the wazarat of Raja Hira Singh, that the forces which engulfed the Sikh empire a couple of years later were taking definite shape and their subversive operation was becoming visible. A close study and analysis of these news items unfolds to the reader the working and the interplay of some of these forces of disrup-tion and also helps in determining the extent’ of the mischief done by them.