Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/17



The method by which this work has been written is very simple. My principal object has been to furnish the general reader with a practical and handy work on the Ancient History of India—not to compose an elaborate work of discussions on Indian antiquities. To study clearness and conciseness on a subject like this was not, however, an easy task. Every chapter deals with matters about which long researches have been made and various opinions recorded. It would have afforded some satisfaction to me to have given the reader the history of every controversy, the account of every antiquarian discovery, and the pros and cons of every opinion advanced. But I could not yield to this temptation without increasing the work greatly in bulk and thus sacrificing the very object with which it is written. To carry out my purpose, I have avoided every needless controversy and discussion, and I have tried to explain as clearly, concisely, and distinctly as I was able, each succeeding phase of Hindu civilization and Hindu life in ancient times.

But, while conciseness has been the main object, I Rh