Intercourse between India and the Western World from the Earliest Times to the Fall of Rome c2: Preface
Intercourse between India and the Western World from the Earliest Times to the Fall of Rome c2
- Language
- English
Preface
c2.1
I HAVE attempted, in this monograph, to furnish a succinct account of the intercourse between India and the Greco-Roman world from the earliest times to the fall of Rome. This subject has never, so far as I am aware, been dealt with as a whole in any English work. Yet it is replete with interest to the student of Hellenism in its wider and more neglected aspects, and to Orientalists, who depend largely upon references in Greek and Roman authors for information about many obscure points of Indian History.
c2.2
I have, so far as possible, consulted every passage bearing upon India in Roman and Greek Literature. Many, but not quite all, of these passages have been collected, annotated, and translated by the late Dr J. W. McCrindle, in his six valuable volumes of translations of such references. On these the present monograph is very largely based, though I have, in nearly every case, referred to the original text rather than to the translation.
c2.3
The difficulties of a work of this kind are considerable in India, where up-to-date libraries are few and far between, and the verification of references is proportionately tedious and laborious. I owe, therefore, a special debt of gratitude to Professor E. J. Rapson, who has read through my proofs, made numerous suggestions and corrections, and assisted me in many ways; to Dr P. Giles, Master of Emmanuel College, for criticisms and references; and lastly, to the authorities of the University Press, for their unfailing courtesy and promptitude. The map is reproduced by kind permission of Messrs Longmans, Green and Co.; the coin plate was prepared at the British Museum, under Professor Rapson’s directions. The photographs are produced with the permission of the Director General of Archaeology, with the exception of the Javanese plate, which I owe to Mr H. J. Lewis, of the Atelier at Soerabaia.
c2.4
H. G. RAWLINSON.
c2.5
POONA, 1916.