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History of India HISTORY OF INDIA VOLUME - 2 History of India Edited by A. V. Williams Jackson, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor of Indo-Iranian Languages in Columbia University Volume 2 – From the Sixth Century B.C. to the Mohammedan Conquest, Including the Invasion of Alexander the Great By: Vincent A. Smith, M.A., M.R.A.S., F.R.N.S. Late of the Indian Civil Service, Author of “Asoka, the Buddhist Emperor of India” 1906 Reproduced by Sani H. Panhwar (2018) Preface by the Editor This volume covers the interesting period from the century in which Buddha appeared down to the first centuries after the Mohammedans entered India, or, roughly speaking, from 600 B.C. to 1200 A.D. During this long era India, now Aryanized, was brought into closer contact with the outer world. The invasion of Alexander the Great gave her at least a touch of the West; the spread of Buddhism and the growth of trade created new relations with China and Central Asia; and, toward the close of the period, the great movements which had their origin in Arabia brought her under the influences which affected the East historically after the rise of Islam. In no previous work will the reader find so thorough and so comprehensive a description as Mr. Vincent Smith has given of Alexander’s inroad into India and of his exploits which stirred, even if they did not deeply move, the soul of India; nor has there existed hitherto so full an account of the great rulers, Chandragupta, Asoka, and Harsha, each of whom made famous the age in which he lived. The value of the book is further enhanced by a historical sketch of the mediaeval kingdoms of the North and the Deccan and by a brief outline of the history of Southern Hindustan, a section to which attention should be devoted by the historian who wishes fully to understand India’s present condition as well as her past. Throughout the work the author has taken advantage of every available source, whether literary, traditional, archaeological, monumental, epigraphic, or numismatic, including also the narratives of the early Chinese pilgrims who visited India and whose narratives yield important historic results. The plan of the series has necessitated certain changes from the original edition of the author’s work so as to bring the volume into closer accord with the others of this History; to these alterations Mr. Smith, like the other writers, has courteously consented, a concession which I, as editor, desire to acknowledge with appreciation. It was necessary, for example, to omit the foot-notes and marginal references, one or two maps, and some of the longer appendices that were of a strictly technical character, in order to bring the volume within the compass required. In no case, I believe, has anything been eliminated that was essential to the main theme, namely, the continuous story of India’s development during the period indicated. The reader who may desire to pursue the subject further and devote attention more specifically to minute details will consult Mr. Smith’s larger volume, which abounds in references. In choosing the illustrations for the history of this period, as of the others, much care has been taken and an endeavor has been made to add to the existing material by including photographs from my own collection made in India. Other persons also have kindly aided in carrying out this part of the plan as designed, by granting permission to reproduce pictures which were their special property. Among the obligations which both the publishers and myself most cordially recognize is an indebtedness to Mr. Holland Thompson, A.M., Instructor in History in the College of the City of New York, who rendered generous assistance in connection with the preparation of the text to conform with the needs of the series, and for aid in making the index. With these words I present the volume, recalling the reader once more from the present to the past, to the early ages of India before and after the Christian era. A. V. Williams Jackson CONTENTS CHAPTER 1. THEDYNASTIESBEFOREALEXANDER .. .. .. .. 1 2. ALEXANDER'S INDIAN CAMPAIGN : THE ADVANCE .. .. 13 3. ALEXANDER'S INDIAN CAMPAIGN: THE RETREA .. .. 27 4. CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA AND BINDUSARA .. .. .. 46 5. ASOKA MAURYA .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 61 6. ASOKA MAIIRYA AND HIS SUCCESSORS .. .. .. .. 76 7. THE SUNGA, KANVA, AND ANDHRA DYNASTIES .. .. 90 8. THE INDO -GREEK AND INDO -PARTILIAN DYNASTIES .. 105 9. THE KUSHAN OR INDO- SCYTHIAN DYNASTY .. .. .. 116 10. THE KUSHAN OR INDO-SCYTHIAN DYNASTY - FROM 56 TO 225 A.D. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 127 11. THE GUPTA EMPIRE AND THE WESTERN SATRAPS : CHANDRA- GUPTA I TO KUMARAGUPTA I .. .. .. 143 12. THE GUPTA EMPIRE AND THE WHITE HUNS .. .. .. 159 13. THE REIGN OF HARSHA .. .. .. .. .. .. 170 14. THE MEDLEVAL KINGDOMS OF THE NORTH .. .. .. 186 15. THE KINGDOMS OF THE DECCAN .. .. .. .. .. 202 16. THE KINGDOMS OF THE SOUTH .. .. .. .. .. 213 Frieze from a Buddhist Stupa Chapter 1 – Introduction The researches of a multitude of scholars working in various fields have disclosed an unexpected wealth of materials for the reconstruction of ancient Indian history, and the necessary preliminary studies of a technical kind have been carried so far that the moment seems to have arrived for taking stock of the accumulated stores of knowledge. It now appears to be practicable to exhibit the results of antiquarian studies in the shape of a “connected relation” not less intelligible to the ordinary educated reader than Elphinstone’s narrative of the transactions of the Mohammedan period. The first attempt to present such a narrative of the leading events in Indian political history for eighteen centuries is made in this book, which is designedly confined almost exclusively to the relation of political vicissitudes. A sound framework of dynastic annals must be provided before the story of Indian literature and art can be told aright. Although literary and artistic problems are touched on very lightly in this volume, the references made will suffice, perhaps, to convince, the reader that the key is often to be found in the accurate chronological presentation of dynastic facts. European students, whose attention has been directed almost exclusively to the Greco- Roman foundation of modern civilization, may be disposed to agree with the German philosopher in the belief that “Chinese, Indian, and Egyptian antiquities are never more than curiosities;” but, however well founded that opinion may have been in Goethe’s day, it can no longer command assent. The researches of Orientalists during the last hundred years have established many points of contact between the ancient East and the modern West, and no Hellenist can now afford to profess complete ignorance of the Babylonian and Egyptian culture which forms the bed-rock of European institutions. Even China has been brought into touch with Europe, while the languages, literature, art, and philosophy of the West have been proved to be connected by innumerable bonds with those of India. Although the names of even the greatest monarchs of ancient History of India, Volume 2; Copyright © www.sanipanhwar.com 1 India are at present unfamiliar to the general reader, and awaken few echoes in the minds of any save specialists, it is not unreasonable to hope that an orderly presentation of the ascertained facts of ancient Indian history may be of interest to a larger circle than that of professed Orientalists, and that, as the subject becomes more familiar to the reading public, it will be found no less worthy of attention than more familiar departments of historical study. A recent Indian author justly observes that “India suffers to-day in the estimation of the world more through the world’s ignorance of the achievements of the heroes of Indian history than through the absence or insignificance of such achievements.” The following pages may serve to prove that the men of old time in India did deeds worthy of remembrance and deserving of rescue from the oblivion in which they have been buried for so many centuries. The section of this work which deals with the invasion of Alexander the Great may claim to make a special appeal to the interest of readers trained in the ordinary course of classical studies, and the subject has been treated accordingly with much fullness of detail. The existing English accounts of Alexander’s marvelous campaign treat the story rather as an appendix to the history of Greece than as part of that of India, and fail to make full use of the results of the labors of modern geographers and archaeologists. In this volume the campaign is discussed as a memorable episode in the history of India, and an endeavor has been made to collect all the rays of light from recent investigation and to focus them upon the narratives of ancient authors. The author’s aim is to present the story of ancient India, so far as practicable, in the form of a connected narrative, based upon the most authentic evidence available; to relate facts, however established, with impartiality; and to discuss the problems of history in a judicial spirit. He has striven to realize, however imperfectly, the ideal expressed in the words of Goethe: – “The historian’s duty is to separate the true from the false, the certain from the uncertain, and the doubtful from that which cannot be accepted. Every investigator must before all things look upon himself as one who is summoned to serve on a jury. He has only to consider how far the statement of the case is complete and clearly set forth by the evidence. Then he draws his conclusion and gives his vote, whether it be that his opinion coincides with that of the foreman or not.” The application of these principles necessarily involves the wholesale rejection of mere legend as distinguished from tradition, and the omission of many picturesque anecdotes, mostly folk-lore, which have clustered round the names of the mighty men of old in India.
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