"At a time when each Society had its own medium of propogation of its researches ... in the form of Transactions, Proceedings, Journals, etc., a need was strongly felt for bringing out a journal devoted exclusively to the study and advancement of Indian culture in all its aspects. [This] encouraged Jas Burgess to launch the 'Indian antiquary' in 1872. The scope ... was in his own words 'as wide as possible' incorporating manners and customs, arts, mythology, feasts, festivals and rites, antiquities and the history of India ... Another laudable aim was to present the readers abstracts of the most recent researches of scholars in India and the West ... 'Indian antiquary' also dealt with local legends, folklore, proverbs, etc. In short 'Indian antiquary' was ...entirely devoted to the study of MAN - the Indian - in all spheres ... " -- introduction to facsimile volumes, published 1985.

Includes also Minutes of [the] Proceedings, and Report of [the] President and Council for the year (beginning 1965/66 called Annual report).

A Greek doctor serving at the court of the Persian king Artaxerxes II in the fifth century BC, Ctesias met travellers and visitors from the far eastern reaches of the Persian Empire, merchants from along the Silk Road and Indians from near the Indus Valley. His Indika (On India), was the first monograph ever written on India by a western author, introducing its readers to such fantastic creatures as the unicorn and the martichora, along with real life subjects such as the parrot and the art of falconry. Confirming pre-existing conceptions of what were considered to be the edges of the earth, Ctesias' Indika helped shape the Greek view of India. This English translation is accompanied by explanatory notes and includes all extant fragments of the Indika, as well as fragments of Ctesias' other minor works.