The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c25.1

v1.c25.1

In the fourth century B.C. there is a sudden rift in the mists which envelop the ancient history of India. The regions disclosed are the Kābul Valley, the foothills through which the Five Rivers come down into the plains of the Punjab, the plains themselves, and the lower course of the Indus. The country, as we see it, is held partly by a number of independent tribes, governed by their own headmen and owning the authority of no king. But this primitive aristocratic type of community is holding its own with difficulty against another type of government, the monarchic. In parts of the country principalities have been formed under despotic rājas, and between the different elements a struggle with varying vicissitudes is going on. The rājas are fighting to extend their authority over the free tribes and the free tribes are fighting to repel the rājas. The rājas are also fighting amongst themselves, and mutual jealousies lead to politic alliances according to the necessities of the moment; we divine in this little world a conflict and shifting of antagonistic groups such as we can follow on a larger scale in the history of Europe. It is into this world that the Western invader plunges in 326 B.C.