[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924) › c10.5 # The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c10.5 The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c10.5 - **Language:** English ### [c10.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c10.5) That line, in the case of India, may be drawn, at the earliest, through the middle of the seventh century B. C. ; a period of progress, marked by the development of maritime commerce, and probably by the diffusion of a knowledge of the art of writing. Up to about that time the inhabitants of India, even the most intellectual races, seem to have been generally ignorant of the art of writing, and to have been obliged to trust to highly trained memory for the transmission of knowledge.¹ - [Previous: c10.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c10.4) - [Next: c10.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c10.6) - [Up: c10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c10) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c10.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c10.5) · Pramāṇa