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TO THE MEMORY OF

RICHARD SOUTHWELL BOURKE SIXTH EARL OF MAYO

MAJOR-GENERAL SIR HENRY M. DURAND

AND

PROFESSOR THEODOR GOLDSTÜCKER

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED.

PREFACE.

THE present volume is complete in itself. It tells the history of India from a Hindú, Buddhist, and Brahmanical point of view. It starts from the remotest antiquity, and reaches right down to the appearance of the English in the Eastern seas. It does not deal with the Mussulman conquest or the Mussulman empire; as those subjects can scarcely be treated thoroughly, until the Hindú people have been well brought upon the stage; and although the history of Mussulman India has an intrinsic value and importance of its own, which entitle it to separate consideration, it throws little or no light upon the religious and social development of the Hindús. Whilst, however, the present work is complete in itself, it also forms the third volume of the history of India, the publication of which was begun as far back as 1867. It may therefore be advisable to describe more precisely the plan which was originally adopted for preparing a complete history of India, and which has since been made towards its comprogress

the pletion.

The principal materials from which to construct a purely

1 History of India from the Earliest Ages, Vol. I., comprising the Vedic period and Mahá Bhárata. Trübner & Co., 1867. Ibid., Vol. II., comprising the Rámáyana and Brahmanic Period, i. e. the Laws of Manu. Trübner & Co., 1869.

Hindú history are to be found in the four Vedas, the two epics of the Mahá Bhárata and Rámáyana, the laws of Manu, and the eighteen puránas. Of these the most important are the hymns of the Rig-Veda, the two epics, and the laws of Manu.2 Accordingly an effort was made to form a basis for the history of Hindú India by preparing a critical analysis of this vast mass of semi-historical literature. The results were incorporated in the first two volumes of the socalled History of India. It has, however, been asserted by friendly critics, that these two volumes, however interesting in themselves, ought not to be called history; that properly speaking they are not history, but prolegomena to history. Possibly such criticisms are correct. But still the Mahá Bhárata and Rámáyana are accepted by the people of India as history; and the two former volumes have enjoyed an extensive popularity amongst Hindú readers, as well as amongst those Europeans who are familiar with India. At the same time some knowledge of the Vedic hymns, and especially of the laws of Manu, is essentially needful to a right understanding of Vedic and Brahmanic India.

Accordingly the present work meets both views. It is at once the third volume of the history of India from the earliest ages, and the first volume of the history of India properly so called. Both begin from the earliest ages, and it is intended that they should be ultimately brought

2 The Vedas and Puránas are chiefly of a theological character. Occasionally statements appear, more especially in the puranas, which appear to possess a historical value, but after a critical analysis they are generally found to fade away into myth and fable. Sometimes, however, the puránas prove useful in illustrating religious and sectarian ideas. The author has compiled several folios of extracts, as well as a voluminous index, but has derived very few positive data from them. The Buddhist chronicle, known as the Mahawansa, is entitled to more respect; but it will be seen, by a reference to Appendix II. in the present volume, that its statements are far from reliable, unless confirmed by other authorities.

3 It appears, however, to the author, that the first two volumes of Mr Grote's History of Greece might be dismissed on a similar pretext.

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