Ancient India as described by Megasthenes and Arrian: Being a Translation of the Fragments of the Indika of Megasthenes collected By Dr. schwanbeck and of the first part of the Indika of Arrian

PREFACE

THE account of India written by Megas- thenês from his personal knowledge of the country is justly held to be almost invalu- able for the light which it throws upon the obscurity of early Indian history. Though, unfortunately, not extant in its original form, it has nevertheless been partially preserved by means of epitomes and quota- tions to be found scattered up and down the writings of various ancient authors, both Greek and Roman. Dr. Schwanbeck, of Bonn, rendered historical literature a good service by collecting and arranging in their proper order these detached fragments. The work thus reconstructed, and entitled Megasthenis Indica, has now been before the world for upwards of thirty years. It has not, however, so far as I know, been as yet translated, at least into our language, and hence it is but little known beyond the circles of the learned. The translation now offered, which goes forth from the very birth- place of the original work, will therefore for the first time place it within the reach of the general public. A translation of the first part of the Indika of Arrian has been subjoined, both because it gives in a connected form a general description of India, and because that description was based chiefly on the work of Megasthenês.

The notes, which turn for the most part on points of history, geography, archæology, and the identification of Greek proper names with their Sanskrit originals, sum up the views of the best and most recent authorities who have written on these sub- jects. This feature of the work will, I hope, recommend it to the attention of native scholars who may be pursuing, or at least be interested in, inquiries which relate to the history and antiquities of their own country.

In the spelling of classical proper names I have followed throughout the system of Grote, except only in translating from Latin, when the common orthography has been employed.

In conclusion, I may inform my readers that I undertook the present work intending to follow it up with others of a similar kind, until the entire series of classical works re- lating to India should be translated into the In furtherance of language of its rulers. this design a translation of the short trea- tise called The Circumnavigation of the Erythræan Sea, which gives an account of the ancient commerce of Egypt, Arabia, and India, is nearly ready for publication, and this will be followed by a translation of the narratives of the Makedonian Invasion of India as given by Arrian and Curtius in their respective Histories of Alexander.