The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c2: Preface to Fourth Edition
The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c2
- Language
- English
Preface to Fourth Edition
c2.1
THE task of revising this history for a fourth edition was entrusted to me in accordance with the wish of the author, who realized that he would not be spared to complete the work himself. For one who has not devoted the greater portion of a lifetime to careful study of the problems involved, the task has been by no means easy. Fortunately, however, I was furnished with notes on various points recorded by Dr. Vincent A. Smith before his death; and with these and the help of reports, papers and essays on Indian history and antiquities, which have appeared in various publications since 1914, I have endeavoured to the best of my ability to bring the work up to date.
c2.2
The excavations carried out at Taxila by the Archaeological Department of the Government of India, and the researches of Indian scholars like Messrs. R. D. Banerji, K. P. Jayaswal, D. R. Bhandarkar and others, have necessitated the preparation of several additional notes, as well as chronological and other amendments in the text and appendices of various chapters.
c2.3
As regards the problem of the origin of the Pallavas, which the author perforce left unsolved in the third edition, I have included in the text a theory advanced by a scholar of Colombo, based upon a tradition embodied in ancient Tamil literature. His suggestion as to the original connexion of the dynasty with Ceylon, which formed the gist of an article in the *Indian Antiquary* of April 1923, should be compared with a valuable paper on ‘The Origin and Early History of the Pallavas of Kanchi’ by Professor S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, which appeared in the *Journal of Indian History* (Vol. II, Part I) for November 1922. I much regret that a copy of the article, which Professor Aiyangar kindly sent to me, arrived too late to admit of my quoting or embodying his conclusions in this edition. Those, however, who are interested in the early history of South India will do well to acquaint themselves with the Professor’s view of the problem, based as it is upon prolonged research and careful reasoning.
c2.4
It remains to add that the Index of the work has been revised and slightly enlarged, and that a few necessary alterations have been made in the maps and illustrations.
c2.5
S. M. E.