Aurel Stein carried the lingered thoughts about the Rajatarangini throughout his life and barely three years before his death, it was in the summer of 1940 that he again relived his first years in Kashmir . He found himself back on Mohand Marg. There one day while clearing some old papers from a box , he chanced to discover some precious memories in the heap of these papers. He found papers pertaining to Captain Anthony Troyer whose data he had collected way back in 1902. Stein sat to write a complete story of Troyer. He recalled that it was Troyer’s earliest translation of the Rajatarangini through which he had gained the first knowledge of this historical record. It also brought anew before the eye of his mind the hard work of many years of his youth he had devoted to Rajatarangini. He journeyed back in time to the delight of his inner feelings and decided to grab the opportunity of issuing a revised edition of Rajatarangini and this time with illustrations of photographs of the ancient sites he had traced almost 50 years before. Stein started on the task at the onset of Kashmir autumn.

“Before you start would it not be a good thing to come up to Gulmarg and search for evidence of Alexander’s Camp on Khilan Marg.” – Colonel R. Henry Phillimore.

(in a letter dated September 3, 1940 by Colonel R. Henry Phillimore to Aurel Stein) Stein Mss 426, Bodleian Library, Oxford.

“My intention is to use October for a tour in Kashmir which will allow me to take all the photographs of ancient remains and sites which are to illustrate the planned new edition of my translation etc of Kalhana’s Chronicle. That new edition can be realised if the help of Kashmir State is given as suggested by the Prime Minister.” - Aurel Stein.

(in a letter dated September 8, 1940 by Aurel Stein to Colonel Reignald Henry Phillimore) Stein Mss 426, Bodleian Library, Oxford.

By November 1940 Stein completed the work of touring the old sites of Kashmir to obtain pictures that were to illustrate his revised edition of the Rajatarangini.

“I am completing my tours in the Kashmir valley. My purpose was to obtain pictures of ancient sites and ruins, so that I could incorporate them in the new edition of the Rajatarangini. Therefore, I undertook a tour of these ancient sites once again, having fortunately visited these places earlier 52 years back. This tour proved to be of paramount interest to me.” - Aurel Stein.

(in a letter dated November 13, 1940 by Aurel Stein to Pandit Ram Chand Bali.) Translation into English of the Urdu original, which itself constitutes a translation of the English original, by Shiv Nath Hundoo. From; Jalwa-E-Sadrang by Dr Brij Premi. Source; Jawahar Lal Bali grandson of Pandit Ram Chand Bali.

The Kashmir Durbar provided Stein with a photographic assistant while the photographs proved a complete success. The hardworking Dogra Brahmin assistant developed their negatives with high efficiency. It made Stein happy to know that the observations he had made during his first vacation tours between 1889 to 1895 were so exact that the results of proposed new edition could be prepared after a lapse of four decades without any significant change. But alas! all those who had helped him in earlier times with all the local information had since passed away. It made him remember as to how far back that time now lay and also to realize that he himself had become as it were a historical record.

By October 1941 there was considerable progress in the work. Stein intended for its publication by the Oxford University Press. He informed John Johnson of the OUP about the inclusion of the photographs in the revised edition and about the text and negative prints of these photographs lying at the Imperial Bank of India in Srinagar for safe keeping. The selection of the photographs and identification of the blocks for text indicators was entrusted to Fred Andrews, while the necessary proof reading was assigned to Lionel Barnett who according to Stein was “most competent Indologist”

(from a letter dated October 27, 1941 by Aurel Stein to John Johnson) Stein Mss 87, Bodleian Library, Oxford.

By June 1943 when every thing was ready ,Stein took the occasion to advance his project for the consideration of the publication grant from the Kashmir Government. On 14 th June, 1943, he informed the Chief Secretary of the Kashmir State, Haveli Ram about the expected costs of the publication. The response of the government was favourable. In a communication dated July 7, 1943, Haveli Ram asked Stein to submit exact costs. The Prime Minister was favourable to his proposal and assured him of the State’s help for the new edition provided the estimates from Oxford University Press were reasonable for acceptance. Stein gave last instructions to the publisher by September 1943 before he settled to begin his dream exploration of Afghanistan. Regrettably it followed with his death in Kabul on October 26, 1943.