Author: Romila ThaparPublisher: Orient LongmanYear: 1996Language: EnglishPages: 341ISBN/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
PrefaceAcknowledgementsCHAPTER IInterpretations of Ancient Indian HistoryCHAPTER IISociety and Law in the Hindu and Buddhist TraditionsCHAPTER IIIEthics, Religion and Social Protest in the First Millennium B.C. in Northern IndiaCHAPTER IVRenuciation : The Making of a Counter-culture?CHAPTER VDana and Daksina as Forms of ExchangeCHAPTER VISocial Mobility in Ancient India with Special Reference of Elite GroupsCHAPTER VIIThe Image of the Barbarian in Early IndiaCHAPTER VIIIThe Historian and Archaeological DataCHAPTER IX The Study of Society in Ancient India CHAPTER XPuranic Lineages and Archaeological CulturesCHAPTER XIThe Tradition of Historical Writing in Early India CHAPTER XIIOrigin Myths and the Early Indian Historical TraditionCHAPTER XIIIGenealogy as a Source of Social HistoryCHAPTER XIVThe Scope and Significance of Regional HistoryIndex
