The method on 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 in the present work deals with matters about which long researches have been made, and various opinions have been 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 to three or four times its present humble size, and thus sacrificing the very object with which it is written. To carry out my primary object I have avoided every needless discussion, and I have tried to explain as clearly, concisely, and distinctly as I was able each succeeding phase of Hindu civilisation and Hindu life in ancient times. But, while conciseness has been the main object of the present work, I have also endeavoured to tell my story so that it may leave some distinct memories on my readers after they have closed the work. For this reason, I have avoided details as far as possible, and tried to develop, fully and clearly, the leading facts and features of each succeeding age. Repetition has not been avoided where such repetition seemed necessary to impress on my readers the cardinal facts--the salient features of the story of Hindu civilisation. "Mr. Dutt has attempted to popularise learned researches, and has undertaken a patriotic work, and in many respects none could he better prepared for the task than he.... As far as possible he allows the original texts to speak for themselves; his book is thus filled with extracts selected and translated with care; and the extracts are connected together by analyses and résumés in which we always find what is necessary, and seldom what is superfluous. He has written with enthusiasm, in a language clear and correct, and without that needless display of erudition which tires more than it instructs. On the whole I know of no work which enables one better to enter into the spirit of ancient Indian thought, or which is more fascinating reading."--M. BARTH, _in Revue Critique, Paris_. (Translated.) * * * * * In One Volume, post 8vo, cloth, pp. xvi.-224, price 7s. 6d. LAYS OF ANCIENT INDIA. Selections from Indian Poetry rendered into English Verse. BY ROMESH CHUNDER DUTT, C.I.E. Barrister-at-Law, and of the Indian Civil Service; Member of the Royal Asiatic Society, and of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Author of "A History of Civilisation in Ancient India," &c. EXTRACT FROM PREFACE.