DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2371#0019
XV111 PREFACE.
This arrangement, though inevitable under the circumstances,
has, I fear, been in some respects unfavourable to the uniformity
of the work. There is little doubt that if Mr. Burgess had been
at home and in daily communication with me during the time the
work was passing through the press, many points of detail might
have been discussed and elaborated with more completeness than
has been possible at a distance. There is, however, really nothing
of importance on which we were not agreed before his departure.
Had this not been the case, a better plan would probably have
been to postpone indefinitely the appearance of the book. Had I
been a younger man, I might possibly have recommended this
course, especially if I had felt confidont that the Indian Government
would at any future period have sanctioned the necessary outlay.
The abolition, however, of the establishment at Peckham, the dis-
persion of the India Museum, and other symptoms of economy
in matters relating to literature and art, seem to render it ex-
pedient to proceed while there is the opportunity.
Supposing these personal difficulties had not existed, the work
might certainly have been made more perfect if its publication had
been delayed till the survey was complete, or at least more nearly
so than it now is. At present our knowledge of the subject is
rapidly progressive, and anything like completeness is consequently
impossible. Since, for instance, Mr. Burgess' return to India in
October last, two facts have been brought to light which have
revolutionised our chronology of the old pre-Christian caves in the
west, and gives our knowledge of them a precision that was not
before attainable. One of these is the discovery of inscriptions in
the Mauryan character (they have not yet been deciphered) in the
caves at Pitalkhora. The other the discovery of the very old
Vihara at Bhaja, described in the Appendix. With two such dis-
coveries in one season there is every probability that others of great
if not of equal importance may be made, and give the history of
the western caves a precision it cannot now pretend to possess.
One of the weak points in the chronology of the western caves
arises from our inability to fix the dates of the Andhrabhritya kings,
but in his last letter Mr. Burgess informs me that he has collected
an immense number of inscriptions at Karle and elsewhere, which
he is examining with the assistance of Mr. Fleet, Dr. Biihler, and
the Pandits, and he hopes to make even this point quite clear.
This arrangement, though inevitable under the circumstances,
has, I fear, been in some respects unfavourable to the uniformity
of the work. There is little doubt that if Mr. Burgess had been
at home and in daily communication with me during the time the
work was passing through the press, many points of detail might
have been discussed and elaborated with more completeness than
has been possible at a distance. There is, however, really nothing
of importance on which we were not agreed before his departure.
Had this not been the case, a better plan would probably have
been to postpone indefinitely the appearance of the book. Had I
been a younger man, I might possibly have recommended this
course, especially if I had felt confidont that the Indian Government
would at any future period have sanctioned the necessary outlay.
The abolition, however, of the establishment at Peckham, the dis-
persion of the India Museum, and other symptoms of economy
in matters relating to literature and art, seem to render it ex-
pedient to proceed while there is the opportunity.
Supposing these personal difficulties had not existed, the work
might certainly have been made more perfect if its publication had
been delayed till the survey was complete, or at least more nearly
so than it now is. At present our knowledge of the subject is
rapidly progressive, and anything like completeness is consequently
impossible. Since, for instance, Mr. Burgess' return to India in
October last, two facts have been brought to light which have
revolutionised our chronology of the old pre-Christian caves in the
west, and gives our knowledge of them a precision that was not
before attainable. One of these is the discovery of inscriptions in
the Mauryan character (they have not yet been deciphered) in the
caves at Pitalkhora. The other the discovery of the very old
Vihara at Bhaja, described in the Appendix. With two such dis-
coveries in one season there is every probability that others of great
if not of equal importance may be made, and give the history of
the western caves a precision it cannot now pretend to possess.
One of the weak points in the chronology of the western caves
arises from our inability to fix the dates of the Andhrabhritya kings,
but in his last letter Mr. Burgess informs me that he has collected
an immense number of inscriptions at Karle and elsewhere, which
he is examining with the assistance of Mr. Fleet, Dr. Biihler, and
the Pandits, and he hopes to make even this point quite clear.