India’s Ancient Past

Description

R.S. Sharma, one of the best-known historians of early India, provides a comprehensive yet accessible text on the ancient period of Indian history. Beginning with topics such as historiography and the importance of Ancient Indian history, he goes on to cover the geographical, econological and linguistic settings, before looking at specific cultures of neolithic, chalcolithic types, the Harappan civilization, the Vedic period, the rise of Jainism and Buddhism, Magadha and the beginning of territorial states, the age of the Mauryas, Satavahanas, Guptas, and Harshavardhana. While taking the reader on this journey through time, he highlights important phenomena such as the beginning of urbanization and monarchy in India, invasions, the Varna system, commerce and trade, developments in philosophy and cultural efflorescence. He ends this insightful volume with a comments on the transition from the Ancient to the Medieval. This book also addresses a number of issues which have become current in discussion on Ancient Inida today, such as the Identity of the Aryan Culture, and Historical Construction. This is a volume meant for all those who want a masterly, lucid, yet eminently readable introduction to and overview on India's early history by one of the master-scholars of Indian history - be it students, tourists, or the interested lay reader 1 The Significance of Ancient Indian History 2 Modern Historians of Ancient India 3 Nature of Sources and Historical Construction 4 Geographical Setting 5 Ecology and Environment 6 The Linguistic Background 7 Human Evolution: The Old Stone Age 8 The Neolithic Age: First Food Producers and Animal Keepers 9 Chalcolithic Cultures 10 Harappan Culture: Bronze Age Urbanization in the Indus Valley 11 Identity of Aryan Culture 12 The Age of the Rig Veda 13 The Later Vedic Phase: Transition to State and Social Orders 14 Jainism and Buddhism 15 Territorial States and the Rise of Magadha 16 Iranian and Macedonian Invasions 17 State Structure and the Varna System in the Age of the Buddha 18 The Maurya Age 19 The Significance of Maurya Rule 20 Central Asian Contact and Mutual Impact 21 The Satavahana Phase 22 The Dawn of History in the Deep South 23 Crafts, Commerce, and Urban Growth (200 BC–AD 250) 24 Rise and Growth of the Gupta Empire 25 Life in the Gupta Age 26 Spread of Civilization in Eastern India 27 Harsha and His Times 28 Brahmanization, Rural Expansion, and Peasant Protest in the Peninsula 29 Developments in Philosophy 30 Cultural Interaction with Asian Countries 31 From Ancient to Medieval 32 Sequence of Social Changes 33 Legacy in Science and Civilization