The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c8.s3.3

c8.s3.3

II. But the information to be gathered from all these sources is extremely meagre; and there are many provinces on the history of which they do not throw any light. And the facts mentioned in them cannot be systematically arranged, or even chronologically connected, except with the assistance of other sources of information to which we shall now proceed. The invasion of Alexander the Introductory. Great brought the Greeks in contact with the Hindus; and his successors in Syria kept up an intercourse with the Indian emperors for a long time. The notices of Indian persons and events contained in the writings of the Greeks, when compared with the statements occurring in the Purâṇas, admit, in some cases, of an easy identification; and from the known dates of the corresponding Greek persons or events, we are able to determine those of the Indian persons or events. In this manner the date of the foundation of the Maurya dynasty by Chandragupta has been determined to be about 322 B.C., and a good many other dates in Indian history have been ascertained. The writings of Chinese authors also throw a great deal of light on some periods of Indian history. Buddhism was introduced into China in the first century of the Christian era; and from time to time men from that country came to India as pilgrims; and some Indian Buddhists also must have found their way to China. The Chinese pilgrims wrote accounts of what they saw and did in India, and these works, which have come down to us, are very valuable for the elucidation of Indian history. The Chinese possessed a perfect system of chronology, and the dates of the pilgrimages are useful for the purposes of the Indian antiquarian. Valuable accounts of India written by the Arabic visitors to the country in the Middle Ages have also become available.