Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300University of California Press, 2004 - 555 pages "Romila Thapar is the most eminent Indian historian. This superb book is not only the basic history of how India came to be and an introduction to how the writing of history takes shape, but also, not the least, a deconstruction of the historical myth and inventions on which is based the present intolerant and exclusivist Hindu nationalism. It is essential reading today."—Eric Hobsbawm "One of the world's most eminent historians of India, Thapar gives us a thoroughly revised edition of her authoritative general history. This one contains the accumulated research of the last thirty years and includes richly textured accounts of life in ancient India. Like its predecessor, this is indispensable reading for anyone interested in India's long and complex history."—Thomas R. Metcalf, Professor of History and Sarah Kailath Professor of Indian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, and co-author of A Concise History of India "Incorporating newer findings, methods, and interpretations, this thorough and outstandingly written addition to the author's highly acclaimed History of India, Volume One manifests her long and distinguished service to the study of Indian history. Thapar's skillful analysis of how India's past has been interpreted not only brings greater clarity to the understanding of contemporary India, but also contributes usefully to a broader study of history and historiography."—Peter L. Schmitthenner, Associate Professor of History, Virginia Tech |
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activities administration agriculture Arab archaeological areas Ashoka associated became brahmans Buddha Buddhist central Asia centres century Chalukyas Chola cities claimed clan coins cultivation cults culture Deccan deity Delhi Dharma-shastras donations dynasty earlier early eastern economic evidence excavated exchange forest gana-sanghas Gandhara Ganges Plain gradually grants of land Greek groups guilds Gupta Harappan hierarchy Hindu Indian history Indo-Aryan Indus inscriptions irrigation Jaina Jainism jati Kanauj king kingdoms kshatriya Kushana labour language later linked Magadha Mauryan merchants millennium BC monasteries monks north-west northern India Pallavas pastoralists patronage peasant peninsula period political Prakrit Pratiharas Puranic raja Rajasthan Rashtrakutas referred region religion religious revenue Rig-Veda ritual routes royal rulers ruling Sanskrit Satavahana sects settlements Shaiva Shakas Shramanic shudra social sources south India status subcontinent suggest Tamil taxes temple texts theory towns trade tradition urban various varna Vedic Brahmanism village western India worship