Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c6: Extracts from the Preface to the Second Edition
Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c6
- Language
- English
Extracts from the Preface to the Second Edition
c6.1
A New edition of the *Political History of Ancient India from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty* is placed before the public. The work has been out of print for some times and need has long been felt for a fresh edition. Therefore it goes forth once more having been revised and re-written in the light of the new information that is coming in so rapidly and in such vast bulk. No pains have been spared to bring the book up-to-date and make it more attractive to students. Material emendations have been made in almost every chapter. Some of the extracts in Sanskrit have been provided with English renderings.
c6.2
A new feature of the present volume is the inclusion of a number of maps, and a few chronological and synchronistic tables, which, it is to be hoped, will increase the usefulness of the work. The incorporation of fresh material has necessitated a recasting of the indexes.
c6.3
The present writer never intended his work to be a comprehensive survey of the political and dynastic history of every Indian province. He is chiefly concerned with those kingdoms and empires whose influence transcended provincial limits and had an important bearing upon the general course of political events in the heart and nerve-centres of the Indian sub-continent. Dynasties of mere local interest (*e.g.*, the Tamil *Prachāmtas* of the far south, or the Himālayan *Pratyantas* in the far north) have received very brief notice, as these did not acquire an all-India importance till after the Gupta period when a Jayadeva Parachakra-kāma had intimate dynastic relations with several rulers of the Indian interior, a Lalitāditya pushed his conquests as far as Kanauj, and a Rājendra Chola carried his arms to the banks of the Ganges.
c6.4
Further, the author does not claim for the period from Parikshit to Bimbisāra the same degree of authenticity as for the age of the Mauryas, the Sātavāhanas and the Guptas. The absence of trustworthy contemporary dynastic records makes it preposterous to put forward such a proposition. In regard to the early period it has been his principal endeavour to show that the huge fabric of sacerdotal and rhapsodic legends is not based solely on the mythical fancy of mendacious priests and storytelling Diaskeuasts; that bardic tales sometimes conceal kernels of sober facts not less trustworthy than the current accounts of the dynasties immediately preceding the raid of Alexander; and that chronological relation of the national transactions before 600 B.C. is not impossible. In trying to demonstrate this he has not confined himself to literature of a particular type, but has collated the whole mass of evidence, Vedic as well as Purāṇic, Brāhmaṇical as well as non-Brāhmaṇical, Buddhist as well as Jain, Indian as well as Hellenic.
c6.5
The writer of these pages wishes to acknowledge with sincere thanks his indebtedness to scholars and critics who have helped him with valuable suggestions, and especially to Dr. Barnett, Professor Schrader, Dr. Jarl Charpentier, Mr. H. Subbaiya and Mr. Asananda Nag. He is also grateful for the kind assistance which he received in many difficulties from his friends and colleagues, among whom Mr. Sailendranath Mitra, Dr. Suniti Kumar Chatterji, Mr. H. C. Ray and Mr. J. C. Chakravorti deserve especial mention. His acknowledgments are also due to Srijut Golapchandra Raychaudhuri who gave him much valuable help in the preparation of maps and the revision of the Indexes. The author does not claim that the Indexes are exhaustive, but he has spared no pains to include all important references.
c6.6
*April 12, 1927.*