About the Book
"The Cambridge History of India: Ancient India," edited by Edward James Rapson, is the first volume of the comprehensive series on Indian history. Published in 1922, it leverages Rapson's expertise in numismatics to shed light on the earliest Indian rulers, often relying on coin evidence due to the scarcity of written records. The meticulous work includes contributions from various scholars, with Rapson known for his scrupulous attention to detail. Despite his efforts, the subsequent volume remained incomplete at his death in 1937.
About the Author
Edward James Rapson FBA (1861-1937) was a British numismatist, philologist, and professor of Sanskrit at Cambridge University. A fellow of St. John's College, he edited the first volume of "The Cambridge History of India" and was known for his expertise in ancient coins. Rapson passed away suddenly at St. John's College.
Preface
THE present volume deals with the history of ancient India from the earliest times to about the middle of the first century A.D.; and it attempts to represent the stage of progress which research has now reached in its task of recovering from the past the out-lines of a history which, only a few years ago, was commonly supposed to be irretrievably lost. Well within the memory of contributors to this volume it was the fashion to say that there was no history of India before the Muhammadan conquests in the eleventh century A.D., and the general opinion seemed to be summed up in the dictum of the cynic who roundly asserted that all sup-posed dates for earlier events were like skittles-set up simply to be bowled down again. But this gibe, not quite justifiable even when it was uttered, could not be repeated at the present day. It has lost its point: it is no longer even approximately true.
Regarded as a record of the character and achievements of great leaders of men, this history indeed is, and must always remain, sadly deficient. Of all the conquerors and administrators who appear in this volume there are two only-Alexander the Great and, in a less degree, Asoka-whose personality is at all intimately known to us; in the case of others the bare memory of some of their deeds has been preserved; the rest have become mere names to which research has given a time and a place. But the fragments of fact which have been rescued from the past are now sufficiently numerous and well established to enable us to construct a chrono-logical and geographical framework for the political history of many of the kingdoms and empires of ancient India; and into this framework may be fitted the history of social institutions, which is reflected with unusual clearness in the ancient literatures.
The manner in which modern scholarship has succeeded in throwing light on the dark ages of India, and in revealing order where all seemed to be chaos, is briefly indicated in the latter section of Chapter 11 which deals with the sources of history. The story of rediscovery is a long record of struggles with problems which were once thought to be insoluble, and of the ultimate triumphs of patience and ingenuity.'
