Indian Palaeography c2: Foreword
Indian Palaeography c2
- Language
- English
Foreword
c2.1
THE study of Indian palaeography began nearly 180 years ago with the interpretation of a number of medieval inscriptions by members of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. During the last century knowledge of ancient Indian scripts progressed rapidly, until practically all the epigraphs of the subcontinent were intelligible. About sixty years ago the accumulated knowledge of over 100 years was consolidated in Bühler’s *Indische Paläographie*, which became the standard textbook on the subject. Since its appearance the only similar work of major importance to be published was Professor G. S. Ojha’s *Bhāratīya Lipimālā* (1918) in Hindi. In the last forty years many new inscriptions have been published, and the technique of the palaeographer has much advanced; hence both books are now out of date in many respects. Moreover, both have long been out of print, and the student of Indian palaeography has been much hampered by the impossibility of obtaining a suitable manual for use outside the library reading-room.
c2.2
My friend Dr. A. H. Dani has rendered a great service to Indology in producing this detailed study. Taking into account the many epigraphs not available to Bühler and Ojha, he has given a more complete survey of the evolution of the Indian scripts than any earlier scholar, and has brought the study of Indian palaeography to a degree of precision well beyond that reached by his two predecessors. His charts show many forms not recorded in those of the earlier scholars, and his text is the result of much original thought and study.
c2.3
Our knowledge of early Indian history depends very much on epigraphs, many of them undated. Thus this work is of great importance to the historian, and will long remain an essential companion to his studies. It is to be hoped that Dr. Dani will continue his researches and produce a second volume, covering the medieval period, and providing a complete survey of Indian scripts down to recent times.
c2.4
It is particularly gratifying that this is the work of a Muslim scholar. Many Hindus have in the past studied the ‘Muslim Period’ of Indian history, and have produced works of major importance on it, but hitherto no Muslim has made a major contribution to the study of the history of the subcontinent before the coming of Islam. It is to be hoped that other Muslims will be encouraged by this work to take up the study of ancient Indian history, and of the culture of the people who were their own ancestors, as they were the ancestors of the Hindus. This may well be the first of many studies of early India from Muslim scholars, and a token of developing friendship and cultural collaboration between India and Pakistan.
c2.5
A. L. BASHAM
c2.6
*London, 1961*