Early History of Rajasthan (An Old and Rare Book)

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Rajasthan is extraordinarily rich in historical and archaeological materials. However, so far historians have not discussed the history of pre Pratthara period of Rajasthan satisfactorily. The present work seeks to fulfill this lacuna. It deals with the political history of the region from the sixth century B.C. to the middle of the eighth century A.D. Till now the political history of Rajasthan of this period has been viewed as only a part of the history of the sub-continent But in the present work an humble attempt has been made to reconstruct the political history of the area separately though still as a segment of the story of our national evolution. It is an example of the kind of regional history writing we ought to en-courage in our country. The utility of the regional history is sought not in its appeal to local sentiments but in its being a fruit-full area of detailed research.

Dr. Dinesh Chandra Shukla was born at Allahabad in 1936 in a family known for its literary achievements. He did his M.A. in Ancient History, Culture and Archaeology in 1958 and started teaching in the University of Gorakhpur. In 1963 he joined the University of Jodhpur where he earned his Doctorate in 1975. As a student of ancient history and culture he has utilized his knowledge for the reconstruction of the history of ancient Rajasthan. He has contributed a number of research papers on various aspects of the history and culture of Rajasthan. At the moment, he is engaged in writing a book on the Cultural history of ancient Rajasthan.

It may be regarded as an audacious presumption on my part to attempt on a subject the study of the various aspects of which has been undertaken by such illustrious scholars as James Tod, G.H. Oj ha, D.R. Bhandarkar, B.N. Reu, C.V. Vaidya, H.C. Ray, D.C. Ganguli, G.C. Raychaudhuri, A.C. Banerji, D.C. Sircar, R.C. Majumdar, A.K. Majumdar, Dasharatha Sharma and G.N. Sharma. But these great scholars have mostly given the history of pre-Imperial Pratihdra period of Rajasthan only a cursory treatment, usually as a sort of background to their esteemed monographs on the various Rajput dynasties and states. Partly because of the glory asso-ciated with the name of the Rajputs and partly because of the wealth of materials available for their history, it was but natural for these savants to concentrate on the early medieval periods of the history of Rajasthan. However, I feel that the researches of the last few decades have resulted in a great advance of our knowledge of the pre-Pratlhara Rajasthan also and, therefore, a detailed study of the early history of this region may now be attempted. If the present work fills up this lacuna in the historiography of Rajasthan I shall consider my labour amply rewarded.

I became interested in the history and culture of this glorious land ever since I joined the University Department of History as a lecturer in Mt This interest, however, remained sterile till my supervisor Dr. S.R. Goyal joined the Department as a Reader-in 1970. No amount of conventional expression of gratitude can do justice to my deep sense of indebtedness to him. Right from the beginning of my research work he has been the main source of inspiration to me. He has given me friendly guidance and brotherly encouragement and had willingly rendered all sorts of help. I just cannot thank him adequately. His help would remain a rina which I can never repay.