I was asked some time ago by an Indian publisher for permission to print a number of my papers in book form, and I submit a small collection of such papers in the hope that they will be of some value and interest to scholars and students in India and elsewhere.
I have, in the course of a long study of history in general and Indian history in particular, come to the conclusion that the essential purpose of that study is the very humble one of satisfying man's intellectual curiosity. On one occasion I have ventured to state this rather forcefully in a public lecture, and there-by I laid myself open to a good deal of friendly criticism from my colleagues. It has even been suggested that by claiming only such a humble place for history in the scheme of man's values I have denigrated and devalued the discipline which I serve.
I am still, however, unrepentant. I have yet to be convinced that the study of history is of any great value in giving guidance for the future, and even less do I favour the interpretation of history which is sometimes heard from Western scholars, who suggest that it is a quasi-religious activity which in some mystical way puts the historian in touch with the very thought and life of past ages, and may even lead him on to higher stages of spiritual development. The historian is never really in touch with the thought and life of the past. The best he can do is to build within himself by a disciplined use of the imagination a structure of concepts and ideas which he believes bears some resemblance to that of the period which he studies. None of us can really think the thoughts of Asoka or Kalidasa. When we read the edicts of the one and the dramas of the other, we read into them the accumulated experience and knowledge of many centuries.
The best that we can hope to do is to divest ourselves temporarily of some of that accumulated experience and to try to see the world as it was seen in the past. Owing to the imperfections of human nature to do this completely is quite impossible. The best that we can do is to approximate to it in some measure.
I believe that even the most obscure and recondite branches of historical study should be in some sense entertaining, if they are to be of any value at all. We cannot expect the man in the street to derive any great pleasure or intellectual satisfaction from abstruse arguments about such questions as the motives of Asoka or the date of Kaniska. But if the serious student does not develop pleasure and satisfaction from investigating these problems, he would be well advised to give up the study of history for something nearer to his own interests and tastes. There is in the human spirit, strongly developed in some people and less so in others, a desire to know. This desire expressed itself in what I call, for want of a better term, intellectual curiosity. And surely this intellectual curiosity is a very valuable aspect of the human personality.
Intellectual curiosity is not merely a desire to know for practical or direct purpose. The historian when he studies the past has rarely the positive and conscious purpose of discovering ways and means of solving the contemporary problems of his country or the world. In taking up the study of history he is not in general motivated by a desire to purify his soul or to achieve happier rebirths. He studies his subject simply because he has a thirst for knowledge in that respect. If as a by-product of his study he obtains a clearer picture of the causes of the contemporary situation, and if his soul or mind is in some measure ennobled, I can only think of these results as secondary ones. The ultimate motive of the study of history is to obtain as clear a picture as possible of what happened in the past and how it happened, in order to satisfy the need felt by most intelligent people for knowledge for its own sake. Hence I make no apology for including in this volume papers which have no message and no special value for the world at large, but attempt to throw a little more light on the dustier corners of India's history.
I must express my very sincere thanks to my friend and former student, Dr. B. N. Mukherjee for suggesting that I should publish this book and for making the arrangements for its publication. I am also very grateful to Miss V. Adams for secretarial assistance.
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