Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champa; Vol. II: Suvarnadvipa) v2.c10.40

v2.c10.40

The first volume of *Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East*, dealing with the colony of Champā, was published in 1927. Various causes have delayed the publication of the second volume. One of them is a change in the planning of the different volumes. Originally I had intended to deal with the history of Kāmboja (Cambodia) in the second volume. As the wonderful monuments of this kingdom were to constitute an important part of the volume, I paid a visit to Cambodia in order to obtain a first-hand knowledge of them. There, in my conversation with the Archæological authorities, I came to learn for the first time that many novel theories were being advanced regarding the age and chronological sequence of the monuments of Angkor Thom. I was advised to put off the publication of my book until these had been fully explored. Acting upon this advice I took up the history of Malayasia which was to have formed the third volume. My knowledge of Dutch being very poor at the time, I had to spend a long time in mastering the contents of relevant books and Journals which are mostly written in that language. Hence it has taken me nearly nine years to prepare and bring this volume before the public. The interval between the first and the second volume has further been prolonged by several urgent pre-occupations.