Salomon surveys all the inscriptional material - documents written in ink on various surfaces, or carved into stone and metal, as well as seals - in the Indo-Aryan languages. He presents the entire corpus of these inscriptions in a way accessible to specialists in the field as well as non-specialists.

The scope of this survey is certainly impressive....any student of Indian history, religion, art, language, or literature who makes use of inscriptions in any way will find a great deal of useful original, and often fascinating material here....a broad and ambitious overview....As a guide and reference source summarizing what has been done so far in the field of Indian epigraphy, this is a most valuable work.

"The scope of this survey is certainly impressive....any student of Indian history, religion, art, language, or literature who makes use of inscriptions in any way will find a great deal of useful original, and often fascinating material here....a broad and ambitious overview....As a guide and reference source summarizing what has been done so far in the field of Indian epigraphy, this is a most valuable work."--The Journal of Asian Studies "Salomon's book represents an enormous amount of carefully assembled information combined with sound and cautious judgment in controversial cases, of which there are quite a few....a welcome tool for further research."--Indo-European Studies Bulletin "Salomon's book provides new arguments for several ongoing discussions among specialists; but above all, it is an indispensable handbook which gives answers and help to everyone who wants to evaluate or edit an epigraphical text. Indian epigraphy is now presented as a fascinating science; or alternatively, an important science has received its adequate introduction." --Harry Falk, Written Language & Literacy