Indian Epigraphy c6.s2.2

c6.s2.2

Writing in 1839, Elphinstone observed in his famous *History of India* that in Indian history ‘no date of a public event can be fixed before the invasion of Alexander and no connected relation of the national transactions can be attempted until up to the Muhammadan conquest’.¹ In 1866 Cowell accepted the truth of Elphinstone’s dictum in regard to the whole of the so-called Hindu period of Indian history, for he pointed out that ‘it is only at those points where other nations came into contact with the Hindus that we are able to settle any details accurately.’¹ But the activities of a multitude of scholars working in the various branches of ancient Indian history led to the gradual discovery and accumulation of an unexpected wealth of material for its reconstruction. The achievements of ancient Indian rulers recorded in inscriptions on stone and copper plates were undoubtedly the most important of this.