As early as in 1837 James Prinsep indicated the necessity of systematically arranging the epigraphical materials for the study of ancient history of India under the name Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum which was also suggested by him. Following this scheme, the work of editing this volume was entrusted to me by the Director General of Archaeology in his letter of 30 March, 1966. The volume was planned in the beginning to contain the inscriptions of the time of the ...
