The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c35.s1.43

c35.s1.43

In the following sections of this chapter an attempt will be made to give an outline of the political history, so far as it is known, of the three Tamil kingdoms, the position and character of which have been described, and also of the intrusive dynasty of the Pallavas. But the time for writing in brief the history of the southern kingdoms in a satisfactory manner has not yet come, and at present any sketch such as that now offered must be tentative and incomplete. In its revised form it is less imperfect than the account in the earlier editions of this work, but, until specialists intimately acquainted with the languages and local conditions shall have worked out detailed monographs for each dynasty, it will not be possible to compile an adequate early history of the southern kingdoms in a form suitable for inclusion in a volume dealing with India as a whole. Still, notwithstanding the inevitable defects incident to the attempt, it is worth while to make it. I do not know of the existence of any book which professes to give the student or general reader a view of the history of Southern India before the Muhammadan conquest, as it has been partially recovered by the patient labours of modern scholarship.¹ I feel assured, therefore, that my effort to supply the want, however imperfectly executed, will not be wasted, and that expert critics who know the difficulties of the subject will be the most ready to pardon my shortcomings. *Tout connaître c'est tout pardonner.*