source of early Indian history is the epigraphic, and the accurate knowledge of many periods of the long-forgotten past which has now been attained is derived mainly from the patient study of inscriptions during the last seventy years. Inscriptions are of many kinds. Asoka's edicts, or sermons on stone, form a class by themselves, no other sovereign having imitated his practice of engraving ethical exhortations on the rocks. Equally peculiar is the record of two Sanskrit plays on tables of stone at Ajmir. But the great majority of inscriptions are commemorative, dedicatory, or donative. The former two classes comprise a vast variety of records, extending from the mere signature of a pilgrim's name to an elaborate panegyrical poem in the most artificial style of Sanskrit verse, and are for the most part incised on stone. The donative inscriptions, or grants, on the other hand, are mostly engraved on plates of copper, the favourite material used for permanent records of conveyances.
The south of India is peculiarly rich in inscriptions of almost all kinds, both on stone and copper, some of which attain extraordinary length. The known southern inscriptions are believed to number several thousands, and many must remain for future discovery. But these records, notwithstanding their abundance, are inferior in interest to the rarer northern documents, by reason of their comparatively recent date. No southern inscription earlier than the Christian era is known, except the Mysore edition of Asoka's Minor Rock Edicts and the brief dedications of the Bhattiprolu
