Political History Of Ancient India

Author(s): Hemchandra Raychaudhari
Publisher: University of Calcutta

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PREFACE
period when a Jayadeva Parachakra-kāma had intimato dynastic relations with several rulers of the Indian interior, a Lalitāditya pushed his aconquests as far as Kananj, and a Rījendra Chola carried his arms to the banks of the Ganges.
Further, the author does not claim for the period from Parikshit to Bimbisāra the same degree of authenticity as for the age of the Mauryas, the śātavāhanas and the Guptas. The absence of trustworthy contemporary dynastic records makes it preposterous to put forward such a proposition. In regard to the early period it has been his principal endeavour to show that the huge fabric of sacerdotal and rhapsodic legends is not based solely on the mythical fancy of mendacious priests and storytelling Diaskeuasts, that bardic tales sometimes conceal kernels of sober facts not less trustworthy than the current accounts of the dynasties immediately preceding the raid of Alexander, and that chronological relation of the national transactions before 600 B. C. is not impossible. In trying to demonstrate this he has not confined himself to literature of a particular type, but has collated the whole mass of evidence, Vedic as well as Purāņic, Brāhmaṇical as well as non-Brāhmaṇical, Buddhist as well as Jain, Indian as well as Hellenic..
The writer of these pages wishes to acknowledge with sincere thanks his indebtedness to scholars and critics who have helped him with valuable suggestions, and Lespecially to Dr. Barnett, Professor Schrader, Dr. Jarl Charpentier, Mr. H. Subbaija and Mr. Asananda Nag. He is also grateful for the kind assistance which he received in many difficulties from his friends and colleagues, among whom Mr. Sailendranath Mitra, Dr. Sunitikumar Chatterji, Mr. H. C. Ray and Mr. J. C. Chakravorti deserve especial mention. His acknowledgments are also due to Srijut Golapchandra Raychaudhuri who gave him