The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c7.s1.38

c7.s1.38

Unquestionably the most copious and important source of early Indian history is the epigraphic; and the accurate knowledge of many periods of the long-forgotten past which has now been attained is derived mainly from the patient study of inscriptions during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The great majority of inscriptions are commemorative, dedicatory, or donative. The first and second classes comprise a vast variety of records, extending from the mere signature of a pilgrim's name to an elaborate panegyrical poem in the most artificial style of Sanskrit verse; and for the most part are incised on stone. The third class, the donative inscriptions, or grants, on the other hand, are mostly engraved on plates of copper, the favourite material used for permanent record of conveyances.