Epigraphia Indica Vol 13

Author(s): Sten Konow, F W Thomas
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India

Page 13

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
(VOL. XIII.
veracious counterparts was little appreciated by the authorities, who were disappointed to find that a task which they had expected to be disposed of in a comparatively short period was, as it appeared to them, spun out interminably. Besides the journeys in India, a voyage to England was necessary to superintend the photo-lithographic reproduction of the inscriptions, the minute accuracy of which was an essential feature of the work. For these various reasons the printing was not completed till July 1887, and the volume was published in 1888.
It is as exhnustive a production as the importance of the subject demands, and was intended by the author to be a model for all similar work. But a century would not suffice to carry out with corresponding particularity a Corpus Inscriptionum of all that India can supply. Moreover, bulky as the volume is-hardly handy and accessible, as originally contomplated by General Cunningham, it is only a part of what was in the mind of the editor to produce. It will not,' he says, 'be thoroughly complete without the Historical Chapters that should form the second part of it. And the writing of these will ontail so enormous an amount of miscellaneous reading and annotation that I doubt much whether those chapters will over be written by mo'-(and they never were).
The hopelessness of the prospect being manifest, it was arranged by Dr. Burgess to issue a quarterly supplement to the Indian Antiquary, under the name of Epigraphia Indica, in which inscriptions should be published as they were found, trusting to the Index to facilitate roferences. Its Vol. I, issued in 1892, was thus to be regarded as Vol. IV of the Corpus. This scheme is still in operation and has proved of the greatest value, though much delayed by changes of Editors and other causes due to the war. In this publication Dr. Fleet bore a full share.
Other works by him, of more than local importance, are his articles in Vol. I of the Gazetteer of Bombay of 1895, in which he bas given an account of the Dynasties of the Runarese Districts from the earliest historical times to the Musalınan conquest of 1318 A.D., as derived from inscriptions. It teems with information of the first importance, nowhere else then available, though the narrative is perhaps too much interrupted by minute specifications of dates, often given in double years.
Then we have his comprehensive chapter on Epigraphy in Vol. II, Historical, of the new Imperial Gazetteer of India of 1908. In this he not only summarizes what has been done, but points out the ends to be still kept in view and appeals for help from all hands.
Lastly comes his article on Indian Inscriptions in the Encyclopædia Britannica, Ilth edition, 1911, which is a masterly review of the whole subject and bears witness to his intimate knowledge of this great field of research.
One point further mas be noticed in connexion with his attainments. The examination of the complicated system of Indian Chronology was taken up by him with characteristic eagerness, as being mach to his taste. In his Gupta Inscriptions he has stated his obligations to Mr. S. B. Dikshit for the help derived from him in this matter. His publications since then bear sufficient evidence of his deep penetration into this intricate branch of inquiry, so that he was constantly appealed to as an authority for the verification of dates, which he was always ready to investigate. It is not to be wondered at that some such puzzles were not found to be soluble; but inscriptions, it is feared, have been condemned as false or doubtful owing to a too rigid application of rules, which resulted in their dates being pronounced "irregular,' often for the reason that the week-day did not work out correctly. A solution of many of these discrepancies has now been presented by Dr. Venkata Subbiah, of the Mysore Archæological Department, in his important brochure, just published, called Some Saka Dates in Inscriptions, which is calculated to clear the air in regard to these points.
It remains to state that Dr. Fleet was Honorary Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society from 1906 till his death; and in 1912 received the Gold Medal of the Society for his eminent