Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c2: Preface to the Sixth Edition
Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c2
- Language
- English
Preface to the Sixth Edition
c2.1
The *Political History of Ancient India* now arrives at a sixth edition. The continued illness of the author makes the task of revision extremely difficult. It has not been found possible to eliminate mistakes and misprints that may have crept into the volume.
c2.2
Few important discoveries have been made in the domain of Ancient Indian History and Culture of the period dealt with in the following pages, since the publication of the fifth edition in 1950. It may, however, be noted that certain copper coins of a king whose name has been read as Rāmagupta have been collected by Śrī Advani and others at Bhilsa, bearing the figure of a lion on the obverse. The identity of the ruler is still undecided. The available evidence is not sufficient to indicate whether the ruler in question was a local prince or a scion of the imperial line of Guptas. Mention may also be made of a seal said to have been discovered in the Ghositārāma monastery in course of excavations at the site of Kauśāmbī carried on by the University of Allahabad. The seal is "impressed" with one of Toramāna, the famous Hun ruler, and seems to confirm the evidence of Somadeva, a Jaina contemporary of Kṛishṇa III Rāshtrakūṭa, regarding Hun penetration deep into the interior of the Ganges valley. The representation of Grumbates (of the Chionitai) as a Kushān ruler accepted by several scholars, is by no means certain.
c2.3
The author has read with interest the learned notes on the Scythian period by Ludwig Bachhofer, Otto Maenchen Halfen, Dr. Lohuizen, and A. L. Basham, to whom recognition is due. His grateful thanks are also due to Professor Louis Renou of Paris for certain suggestions and constructive criticism.
c2.4
THE UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA: *July 2, 1953*