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JAINA EPIGRAPES: PART
Then what about the inscriptions, the authentic and precious do onments lying about in and outside the old temples near their very hearths and fields? These were installed there originally by their forefathers with the avowed intention that the general public should realise their importance and preserve them together with the benefactions registered therein. It may not be proper to expect under the existing conditions that all and sundry should be aware of the contents of these records written hundreds of years. ago in an ancient and obsolete alphabet and language. But it would be just in the fitness of things to hope that our people understood at least their purpose and value in a general way and took due care to protect them from destruction. But alas! on the contrary the attitude betrayed by them in regard to these epigraphical records was one of appalling ignorance and unbecoming lack of understanding. The inscribed stones and tablets were recklessly handled and put to all sorts of reprehensible service. In most cases superstition was rampant investing them with mysterious significance, and it was believed that they held the key to trace the whereabouts of hidd en treasures! What is all this if not a symptom of social deterioration and cultural degradation!
MATERIAL COLLECTED: Most of the collection work pursued in the manner described above was undertaken and completed in course of my tours, in 1930-34, which were planned in suitable stages during different seasons of the year according to my leisure and convenience. Consequently I was able to survey parts of the Gulbarga Dt. and a major portion of the Kopbal Dt. of the Hyderabad State. This area, rich in historical material, has hitherto remained almost unexplored, and no systematic attempt has been made so far to tap its immense resources to the fullest extent. This being the fact and as the material collected by me thus comes from a region which might well be reckoned as a virgin field, it may not be too much to expect that every bit of information gleaned from this tract should be new and interesting in its own way and contribute to our knowledge of history, epigra phy, religion, art and culture of India in general and of Karnataka in particular. These expectations are fulfilled in a large measure even from a perusal of this study which includes only a part of: my total collection.
ITS STUDY AND PUBLICATION: Collection of the original sources is like laying the foundations of a building. It is the preliminary part of the work a true historian has to shoulder. But it does not end with this. Interpretation of the material thus collected in its proper perspective and reconstruction of the edifice of history on this foundation in correlation with the known facts, is the next momentous task he has to apply himself to. With this end in view set myself to a close and intensive study of the material
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