Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Indian Empire: Its People, History, and Products
Continuous condensation, although convenient to the reader, has its perils for the author. Many Indian topics are still Open questions, with regard to which divergences of opinion may fairly exist. In some cases, I have been compelled by brevity to state my conclu sions without setting forth the evidence on which they rest, and without any attempt to combat alternative views. In other matters, I have had to content myself with conveying a correct general impression, while omitting the modifying details. For I here endeavour to present an account, which shall be at once original and com plete, of a continent inhabited by many more races and nations than Europe, in every stage of human develop ment, from the polyandric tribes and hunting hamlets of the hill jungles, to the most complex commercial communities in the world. When I have had to expose old fables, or to substitute truth for long accepted errors, I clearly show my grounds for doing so. Thus, in setting aside the legend of Mahmud the idol-breaker, I trace back the growth of the myth through the Persian Historians, to the contemporary narrative of Al Biruni (970 - 1029 The calumnies against Jagannath are corrected by the testimony of three centuries, from I 580, when Abul Fazl wrote, down to the police reports of 1870. Macaulay's somewhat fanciful story of Plassey has been told afresh in the words of Clive's own despatch. The history of Christi anity in India is written, for the first time, from original sources and local inquiry.
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