ΤΟ MAJOR-GENERAL SIR H. C. RAWLINSON, K.C.B. ETC. ETC., WHO HAS HIMSELF DONE SO MUCH TO THROW LIGHT ON THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF ASIA, THIS ATTEMPT TO ELUCIDATE A PARTICULAR PORTION OF THE SUBJECT IS DEDICATED BY HIS FRIEND, THE AUTHOR. 393340 PREFACE. THE Geography of India may be conveniently divided into a few distinct sections, each broadly named after the prevailing religious and political character of the period which it embraces, as the Brahmanical, the Buddhist, and the Muhammadan. The Brahmanical period would trace the gradual extension of the Aryan race over Northern India, from their first occupation of the Panjâb to the rise of Buddhism, and would comprise the whole of the Prehistoric, or earliest section of their history, during which time the religion of the Vedas was the prevailing belief of the country. The Buddhist period, or Ancient Geography of India, would embrace the rise, extension, and decline of the Buddhist faith, from the era of Buddha, to the conquests of. Mahmud of Ghazni, during the greater part of which time Buddhism was the dominant religion of the country. The Muhammadan period, or Modern Geography of India, would embrace the rise and extension of the Muhammadan power, from the time of Mahmud of Ghazni to the battle of Plassey, or about 750 years, during which time the Musalmâns were the paramount sovereigns of India. * The illustration of the Vedic period has already been made the subject of a separate work by M. Vivien de Saint-Martin, whose valuable essay on this early section of Indian Geography shows how much interesting information may be elicited from the Hymns of the Vedas, by an able and careful investigator. 6 The second, or Ancient period, has been partially illustrated by H. H. Wilson, in his Ariana Antiqua,' and by Professor Lassen, in his 'Pentapotamia Indica.' These works, however, refer only to North-west India; but the Geography of the whole country has been ably discussed by Professor Lassen, in his large work on Ancient India,† and still more fully by M. de SaintMartin, in two special essays, -the one on the Geography of India, as derived from Greek and Latin sources, and the other in an Appendix to M. Julien's translation of the Life and Travels of the Chinese pilgrim Hwen Thsang. His researches have been conducted with so much care and success that few places have escaped identification. But so keen is his critical sagacity, that in some cases where the imperfection of our maps rendered actual identification quite impossible, he has indicated the true positions within a few miles. For the illustration of the third, or Modern period, ample materials exist in the numerous histories of the Muhammadan States of India. No attempt, so far as I am aware, has yet been made to mark the limits of the several independent kingdoms that were established Étude sur la Géographie et les populations primitives du NordOuest de l'Inde, d'après les Hymnes Védiques.' Paris, 1859. Indische Alterthumskunde.' 4 vols. Bonn. Étude sur la Géographie Grecque et Latine de l'Inde,' 1858. M. Julien's Hiouen Thsang,' vol. iii. p. 251; "Mémoire Analytique," etc. |