Respect the Numbers! (Being an Appeal to Fellow Workers in Early Indian History)

Among historians of early India, all of repute who have made notable contributions to our knowledge, there has been a worrying tendency of a remarkably relaxed attitude, bordering on apathy, towards the numerical value of all kinds of important facts. This tendency is far from being obvious; regular references to precise figures in their works suggest indeed an impression to the contrary. It is therefore necessary to illustrate the said tendency with examples. We like to have figures in our narratives, but are not as particular about them as we ought to be. This creates difficulties as soon as a student moves from one reading to another. The importance of the issue for the quality of research is patent. However, the main route for identifying the problem was my accountability to undergraduate students, which remains the first reason for voicing this concern.