Page:History of India Vol 5.djvu/15

INTRODUCTION vii fessor Dowson and the various translators who lent their aid in converting the original Oriental accounts into English. Condensation was essential, excisions were often necessary, while certain changes in phrase- ology seemed frequently advisable; but never has the tone or spirit of the original been departed from, as will be clear to any one who will take the trouble to consult Elliot's complete work, which must always re- main the standard and the ultimate source for the spe- cial student and historian to use. In arranging the selections I have tried to make the story a more or less continuous one and have endeav- oured to make the connections clear by introductory and transfer paragraphs, indicating also by ' single quotes ' the point where the account of the native an- nalist begins and ends. The story as told by these Oriental writers has a quality of its own; and that will best be appreciated when the events described are read in connection with the two preceding volumes, to which this volume forms a supplement and sequel. The pho- togravures, half-tones, and cuts which serve as illus- trations have been selected with the same attention as throughout the rest of the series. With these words I leave the Eastern chroniclers to narrate their own events after their own manner. A. V. WILLIAMS JACKSON.