[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) › c3 # The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c3: Extract from Preface to First Edition The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c3 - **Language:** English ### Extract from Preface to First Edition ### [c3.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c3.1) THE plan and limitations of this book have been explained so fully in the Introduction that little more need be said by way of preface. The room for difference of opinion on many of the subjects treated is so great that I cannot expect my views on controverted points to meet with universal acceptance; and the complexity of my undertaking forbids me to hope that positive errors, justly open to censure, have been avoided altogether; but I trust that critics will be prepared to concede the amount of indulgence which may be granted legitimately to the work of a pioneer. ### [c3.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c3.2) The devotion of a disproportionately large space to the memorable invasion of Alexander the Great is due to the exceptional interest of the subject, which, so far as I know, has not been treated adequately in any modern book. ### [c3.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c3.3) The presentation of cumbrous and unfamiliar Oriental names must always be a difficulty for a writer on Indian history. I have endeavoured to secure reasonable uniformity of spelling without pedantry. The system of transliteration followed in the notes and appendices is substantially that used in the \*Indian Antiquary\*; while in the text long vowels only are marked where necessary, and all other diacritical signs are discarded. ### [c3.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c3.4) Vowels have values as in Italian; except the short \*a\*, which is pronounced like \*u\* in \*but\*, when with stress, and like \*A\* in \*America\*, when without stress. The consonants are to be pronounced as in English; and \*ch\*, consequently, is represented in French by \*tch\*, and in German by \*tsch\*; similarly, \*j\* is equivalent to the French \*dj\* and the German \*dsch\*. The international symbol \*c\* for the English \*ch\*, as in \*church\*, which has been adopted by the Asiatic Societies, may have some advantages in purely technical publications; but its use results in such \*monstra horrenda\* as \*Cac\* for \*Chach\*, and is unsuitable in a work intended primarily for English and Indian readers. --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c3) · Pramāṇa