Many years earlier, Sri Aurobindo had written in The Human Cycle: The objective view of society has reigned throughout the historical period of humanity in the West; it has been sufficiently strong though not absolutely engrossing in the East. Rulers, people, and thinkers alike have understood by their national existence a political status, the extent of their borders, their economic well-being and expansion, their laws, institutions and the working of these things. For this reason political and economic motives have everywhere predominated on the surface and history has been a record of their operations and influence. The one subjective and psychological force consciously admitted and with difficulty deniable has been that of the individual. This predominance is so great that most modern historians and some political thinkers have concluded that objective necessities are by law of Nature the only really determining forces; all else is result or superficial accidents of these forces. Scientific history has been conceived as if it must be a record and appreciation of the environmental motives of political action, of the play of economic forces and developments and the course of institutional evolution. The few who still valued the psychological element have kept their eye fixed on individuals and are not far from conceiving of history as a mass of biographies. The truer and more comprehensive science of the future will see that these conditions only apply to the imperfectly self-conscious period of national development. Even then there was always a greater subjective force working behind individuals, policies, economic movements and the change of institutions; but it worked for the most part subconsciously, more as a subliminal self than as a conscious mind. This book is an attempt to write the history of India from the subjective viewpoint, without in any way distracting from the external events; on the contrary, it will enhance greatly and give meaning to the objective narration of external events that took place. The Indian people are by nature subjective in their approach to life; the stress in India has always been more on the inside than on the outside. This inwardness has been one of the striking features of Indian culture. An India without the great Vedic and Upanishadic scriptures and the spiritual personalities of Rama and Krishna would not be India any more. A study and appreciation of Indian history, therefore, demands more particularly a subjective understanding and appreciation. It may even be said that the study of Indian history demands an approach that values the impact of the highest truths and thought found in India's greatest scriptures, literature and mythology as well as the influence of the ideals lived and taught by Rama, Krishna, Buddha and a long list of Rishis and Saints. The impact of such inner forces in shaping the outer history of India is thus a key topic of inquiry for this book. Secondly, it is evident to serious thinkers that all human behaviour, whether on the individual or the collective plane, is the direct consequence of the inner psychological state. In this book an attempt has been made to interpret the events of Indian history from a psychological point of view. This does not mean that external events are any less important; rather they gain greater importance when seen in the light of the inner psychological vision and deeper forces behind them. The significance of external events lies in the meaning that a true subjectivism and an inward approach to knowledge alone can give. One of the most powerful subjective forces in history has been that of the individual. There have been times in the history of a nation when events have revolved around an individual personality. This book lays much stress on the impact of individual personalities.