India Brief History of a Civilization

by Trautmann, Thomas R.

• ISBN13: 9780190202491
• ISBN10: 0190202491
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2015-01-28
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

India: Brief History of a Civilization, Second Edition, provides a brief overview of a very long period, allowing students to acquire a mental map of the entire history of Indian civilization in a short book. Most comprehensive histories devote a few chapters to the early history of India and an increasing number of pages to the more recent period, giving an impression that early history is mere background and that Indian civilization finds its fulfillment in the nation-state. Thomas R. Trautmann believes that the deep past lives on and is a valuable resource for understanding the present day and for creating a viable future. The result is a book that is short enough to read in a few sittings, but comprehensive in coverage--5,000 years of India in brief.

Author Biography

Thomas R. Trautmann is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Michigan. He is the editor of The Aryan Debate (OUP, 2008) and the author of Elephants and Kings: An Environmental History (2015), Arthashastra: The Science of Wealth (2012), Languages and Nations (2006), and Aryans and British India (2004).

Table of Contents

Illustrations
About the Book

1. Introduction
India, Indians, Indian Civilization
The History of Indian Civilization
The Landscape of Indian Civilization

2. The Beginnings of Indian Civilization
Mohenjo-daro and Harappa
Economy, Technology, Writing
Religion
Origin and Destiny of the Indus Civilization

3. The Vedic Age
The Rig Veda
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan
The Later Veda
The Epics: Mahabharata and Ramayana

4. New Religions, New Empires
Religions of Renunciation
The Rise of Magadha
The Mauryas

5. Classical India
The Formation of Classical Indian Civilization (187 BCE-320 CE)
The Classical Age (320-600 CE)
Late Classical Indian Civilization (600-1000 CE)

6. Family, Society, Polity
Family
Society
Polity

7. Mentalities
Religion
Law
Science
Classical Arts and Letters

8. The World That India Made
Central Asia
East Asia
Southeast Asia
The Middle East and Europe

9. Turks and Mughals
Islam and India
Turks
Mughals

10. Europeans
European Merchants
British Rule
India and European Civilization

11. The Nation-State
The Emergence of Indian Nationalism
Gandhi and Jinnah
Partition and Independence

12. New Nations
The Republic of India
Pakistan and Bangladesh
Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldives
Indian Civilization and the Future

Further Reading
Notes
Bibliography
Index