Cultural Pasts - Essays in Early Indian History

Bibliographic Details

Title: Cultural Pasts: Essays in Early Indian History

Author: Romila Thapar

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Place of Publication: New Delhi, India

Publication Year: 2003

Series: Oxford India Paperbacks

Language: English

Format: Paperback

Pagination: xi + 1,156 pages, with 4 pages of plates

ISBN-10: 0-19-566487-6

ISBN-13: 978-0-19-566487-4

Description

Cultural Pasts brings together 51 essays and lectures by Romila Thapar on the interpretation of early Indian history. Written across several decades, the studies examine historiography, social and cultural change, archaeology, political institutions, economic exchange, epic traditions, religious movements and the modern use of India’s ancient past.

The volume is organized into nine thematic sections. Its historiographical essays consider historical consciousness, regional history and the contributions of scholars such as D. D. Kosambi. Studies connecting archaeology with textual evidence address early social formation, the Agnicayana ritual and contacts between South Asia and the ancient Near East.

A substantial group of essays examines pre-Mauryan and Mauryan India, including state formation in the Ganga Valley, early Mathura, Aśoka’s inscriptions, Buddhism, literacy and the structure of the Mauryan state. Other sections investigate systems of exchange and patronage, Indo-Roman trade, historical material in the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa, genealogies and origin myths, and the social position of the renouncer in Brahmanical and Buddhist traditions.

The final section considers how interpretations of the early Indian past have shaped modern debates about religious identity, secularism, the Aryan question and the politics of historical representation. With extensive references and a detailed index, this major collection is an important resource for research and teaching in ancient and early medieval Indian history, historiography, archaeology, religious studies, epic studies and South Asian intellectual history.

Condition

This copy has been physically checked and is in excellent condition. It has been preserved on our shelves in a protective plastic cover. Please review the photographs for the condition of the actual copy being offered.