Author: Romila Thapar
Publisher: Orient Longman
Year: 1996
Language: English
Pages: 341
ISBN/UPC (if available): 81 250 0808 X
Description
The papers in this collection interpret afresh known facts, in the light of additional evidence, about the early period of Indian history up to the end of the first millennium AD.
Some of the papers present significant new evidence which is primarily archaeological, and integrate archaeological data with literary sources for some aspects of the social history of ancient India. Other papers emphasize methodological approaches to the interpretation of existing evidence with references to those disciplines which have a bearing on the historical date of the early period.
The papers are concerned with the sub-themes such as society and religion, social classification and mobility, archaeological concepts of the early period and the study of regional history.
CONTENTS:
Interpretation of Ancient History / Society and Law in the Hindu and Buddhist Traditions / Ethics, Religion and Social Protest in the First Millennium BC in Northern India / Renunciation: The making of a counter-culture? / Dana and Daksina as Forms of Exchange / Social Mobility in Ancient India with Special Reference to Elite Groups / The Image of the Barbarian in Early India / The Historian and Archaeological Data / The Study of Society in Ancient India / Puranic Lineages and Archaeological Cultures / The Tradition of Historical Writing in Early India / Origin Myths and the Early Indian Historical Tradition / Genealogy as a Source of Social History / The Scope and Significance of Regional History
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
CHAPTER I
Interpretations of Ancient Indian History
CHAPTER II
Society and Law in the Hindu and Buddhist Traditions
CHAPTER III
Ethics, Religion and Social Protest in the First Millennium B.C. in Northern India
CHAPTER IV
Renuciation : The Making of a Counter-culture?
CHAPTER V
Dana and Daksina as Forms of Exchange
CHAPTER VI
Social Mobility in Ancient India with Special Reference of Elite Groups
CHAPTER VII
The Image of the Barbarian in Early India
CHAPTER VIII
The Historian and Archaeological Data
CHAPTER IX
The Study of Society in Ancient India
CHAPTER X
Puranic Lineages and Archaeological Cultures
CHAPTER XI
The Tradition of Historical Writing in Early India
CHAPTER XII
Origin Myths and the Early Indian Historical Tradition
CHAPTER XIII
Genealogy as a Source of Social History
CHAPTER XIV
The Scope and Significance of Regional History
Index