The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c3.1

v1.c3.1

THE present volume deals with the history of ancient India from the earliest times to about the middle of the first century a.d.; and it attempts to represent the stage of progress which research has now reached in its task of recovering from the past the outlines of a history which, only a few years ago, was commonly supposed to be irretrievably lost. Well within the memory of contributors to this volume it was the fashion to say that there was no history of India before the Muhammadan conquests in the eleventh century a.d., and the general opinion seemed to be summed up in the dictum of the cynic who roundly asserted that all supposed dates for earlier events were like skittles—set up simply to be bowled down again. But this gibe, not quite justifiable even when it was uttered, could not be repeated at the present day. It has lost its point: it is no longer even approximately true.