The Hindus An Alternative History

by Doniger, Wendy

• ISBN13: 9780143116691
• ISBN10: 014311669X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-11-30
• Publisher: Penguin Books

Summary

"Don't miss this equivalent of a brilliant graduate course froma feisty and exhilarating teacher." -The Washington Post An engrossing and definitive narrative account of history and myth, The Hindusoffers a new way of understanding one of the world's oldest major religions. Hinduism does not lend itself easily to a strictly chronological account. Many of its central texts cannot be reliably dated within a century; its central tenets arise at particular moments in Indian history and often differ according to gender or caste; and the differences between groups of Hindus far outnumber the commonalities. Yet the greatness of Hinduism lies precisely in many of these idiosyncratic qualities that continues to inspire debate today. This groundbreaking work elucidates the relationship between recorded history and imaginary worlds, the inner life and the social history of Hindus.

Author Biography

Wendy Doniger holds doctorates in Sanskrit and Indian studies from Harvard and Oxford. She is the author of several translations of Sanskrit texts, including Penguin Classics editions of Hindu Myths and The Rig Veda, as well as many books about Hinduism. She is the Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago.

Table of Contents

India's Major Geographical Features	p. xi
India from 2500 BCE to 600 CE	p. xii
India from 600 CE to 1600 CE	p. xiii
India from 1600 CE to the Present	p. xiv
List of Illustrations	p. xv
Preface: The Man or the Rabbit in the Moon	p. 1
Introduction: Working with Available Light	p. 17
Time and Space in India: 50 Million to 50,000 BCE	p. 50
Civilization in the Indus Valley: 50,000 to 1500 BCE	p. 65
Between the Ruins and the Text: 2000 to 1500 BCE	p. 85
Humans, Animals, and Gods in the Rig Veda: 1500 to 1000 BCE	p. 103
Sacrifice in the Brahmanas: 800 to 500 BCE	p. 135
Renunciation in the Upanishads: 600 to 200 BCE	p. 164
The Three (or Is It Four?) Aims of Life in the Hindu Imaginary	p. 199
Women and Ogresses in the Ramayana: 400 BCE to 200 CE	p. 212
Violence in the Mahabharata: 300 BCE to 300 CE	p. 252
Dharma in the Mahabharata: 300 BCE to 300 CE	p. 277
Escape Clauses in the Shastras: 100 BCE to 400 CE	p. 304
Bhakti in South India: 100 BCE to 900 CE	p. 338
Goddesses and Gods in the Early Puranas: 300 to 600 CE	p. 370
Sects and Sex in the Tantric Puranas and the Tantras: 600 to 900 CE	p. 406
Fusion and Rivalry Under the Delhi Sultanate: 650 to 1500 CE	p. 445
Avatar and Accidental Grace in the Later Puranas: 800 to 1500 CE	p. 473
Philosophical Feuds in South India and Kashmir: 800 to 1300 CE	p. 503
Dialogue and Tolerance Under the Mughals: 1500 to 1700 CE	p. 527
Hinduism Under the Mughals: 1500 to 1700 CE	p. 551
Caste, Class, and Conversion Under the British Raj: 1600 to 1900 CE	p. 574
Suttee and Reform in the Twilight of the Raj: 1800 to 1947 CE	p. 610
Hindus in America: 1900-	p. 636
The Past in the Present: 1950-	p. 654
Inconclusion, or, the Abuse of History	p. 687
Acknowledgments	p. 691
Chronology	p. 693
Guide to Pronunciation and Spelling of Words in Sanskrit and Other Indian Languages	p. 695
Abbreviations	p. 696
Glossary of Terms in Indian Languages and Names of Key Figures	p. 697
Notes	p. 704
Bibliography: Works Cited and Consulted	p. 729
Photo Credits	p. 754
Index	p. 755
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