The Idea of Ancient India Essays on Religion, Politics and Archaeology

by Singh, Upinder

• ISBN13: 9780143461531
• ISBN10: 0143461532
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2023-12-19
• Publisher: Vintage Books

Summary

How can the complexities of ancient India be comprehended?

This book draws on a vast array of texts, inscriptions, archaeology, archival sources and art to delve into themes such as the history of regions and religions, archaeologists and the modern histories of ancient sites, the interface between political ideas and practice, violence and resistance, and the interactions between the Indian subcontinent and the wider world. It highlights recent approaches and challenges in reconstructing South Asia's early history, and in doing so, brings out the exciting complexities of ancient India.

Authoritative and incisive, this revised Penguin edition-with two new chapters-is essential reading for students and scholars of ancient Indian history and for all those interested in India's past.

Author Biography

Upinder Singh is Professor of History at Ashoka University. Her interests range over ancient Indian history and archaeology, the history of ideas, and India's connections with the wider world. She is the author of Ancient India: Culture of Contradictions; Kings, &I
/I&ahma?as, and Temples in Orissa: An Epigraphic Study (AD 300-1147); Ancient Delhi; The Discovery of Ancient India: Early Archaeologists and the Beginnings of Archaeology; A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the Twelfth Century; and Political Violence in Ancient India. She has edited Delhi: Ancient History; Rethinking Early Medieval India; and The World of India's First Archaeologist: Letters from Alexander Cunningham to J .D. M. Beglar; and co-edited Ancient India: New Research; Asian Encounters: Exploring Connected Histories; and Buddhism in Asia: Revival and Reinvention.