Early History of North India

An attempt has been made in the present volume to trace the political history of North India from the fall of the Mauryas to the death of Harṣa. The idea of writing such a book suggested itself to me when I was a Lecturer at the University of Calcutta and when I found that in most of the works the archaeological sources have not been properly adjusted in the background of other available materials. Further, scant attention is paid in these treatises on the Central Asiatic affairs...
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An attempt has been made in the present volume to trace the political history of North India from the fall of the Mauryas to the death of Harṣa. The idea of writing such a book suggested itself to me when I was a Lecturer at the University of Calcutta and when I found that in most of the works the archaeological sources have not been properly adjusted in the background of other available materials. Further, scant attention is paid in these treatises on the Central Asiatic affairs that had undoubtedly an important influence on the political destiny of then India.
After I came to the Visvabharati University, my late lamented teacher Dr P. C. Bagchi, Vice-Chancellor of the Institution, encouraged me to undertake the task and suggested the plan for the work. But alas! he is no more to see it in its finished form, to appreciate its merit, if there be any, or to point out its shortcomings. On many crucial points, I have ventured to differ from my pūrva-sūris, but I may humbly assure my readers that I have always been on the guard not to be led astray from the terra firma of solid facts by an eagerness for theorising. In the Introduction, I have tried to point out some of my conclusions, but they are certainly not all. Among the literary works, I have tried to utilise all the available Chinese sources, mostly in their French and English translations, and Dr Bagchi himself kindly supplied me with some important data. The Aryan migration from Central Asia forced the original Dravidian inhabitants to move southwards although North India resisted several invasions from the West, including that of Macedonian Alexander the Great. In the 4th century BCE, Chandragupta Maurya extended his kingdom to include the whole of North India. His descendant Ashoka helped spread Buddhism throughout India and Asia.