This new book represents a complete rewriting by the author of her A History of India, vol. 1. Includes bibliographical references (p. 542-544) and index.
A Sober, Analytical Demonstration Of The Various Tellings Of The Sack Of Somnath & [Explores] Not Just The Politics Of Memory, But Also How Remembrances Play On The Certitude Of Facts Shahid Amin In Outlook In 1026, Mahmud Of Ghazni Raided The Temple Of Somanatha. The History Of This Raid And Subsequent Events At The Site Have Been Reconstructed In The Last Couple Of Centuries Largely On The Basis Of The Turko-Persian Sources. There Were Other Sources That Also Refer To Events At Somanatha Throughout A Period Of Almost A Thousand Years, But These Have Rarely Been Quoted When Reconstructing This History. Until Very Recent Times, There Were Few Attempts To Either Juxtapose Or Integrate These Other Texts In Order To Arrive At A More Complete Understanding Of The History Of Somanatha. Such Sources Include Local Sanskrit Inscriptions, Biographies Of Kings And Merchants Written From A Jaina Perspective, Epics Of Rajput-Turkish Relations Composed At Various Rajput Courts And Popular Narratives Of The Activities Of Pirs And Gurus, All Of Which, In Some Way, Have A Bearing On The History Of Somanatha. This Book Is An Attempt To Draw Together These Numerous Voices, To View The Sources Comparatively, But Above All To Place Each Narrative In A Historical Context. This Also Involves Exploring Why A Particular, And Often Distinctive, Perspective Was Adopted By Each. It Suggests A Different History Of Somanatha From The One That Has Been Projected Through The Last Two Centuries. It Also Effectively Underlines The Significance Of Examining The Historical Perceptions Of How Authors Present Events, Both In The Narratives Written In The Past And In The Interpretations Of Past Events In Present Times. A Remarkable Example Of Assiduous And Open-Ended Historiography Hindustan Times
The figure of Sakuntala appears in many forms throughout South Asian literature, most famously in the Mahabharata and in Kalidisa's fourth-century Sanskrit play, Sakuntala and the Ring of Recollection. In these two texts, Sakuntala undergoes a critical transformation, relinquishing her assertiveness and autonomy to become the quintessentially submissive woman, revealing much about the performance of Hindu femininity that would come to dominate South Asian culture. Through a careful analysis of sections from Sakuntala and their various iterations in different contexts, Romila Thapar explores the interactions between literature and history, culture and gender, that frame the development of this canonical figure, as well as a distinct conception of female identity.
This omnibus collection of four of Romila Thapar's published volumes attempts to explore different historical questions in their varying manifestations and from multiple perspectives, at the same time keeping the historical perspectives constantly in view.
A collection of papers that interprets afresh, known facts about the early period of Indian history up to the end of the first millennium AD. The papers discuss several associated themes such as society and religion, social classification and mobility and the study of regional history. A useful reference book for postgraduate students of History.
A Largely Rewritten Version Of A Classic History Of Early India Concerned Not Only With The Past But Also With The Interaction Of The Past And The Present. Romila Thapar S Penguin History Of Early India Brings To Life Many Centuries Of The Indian Past. Dynastic History Provides A Chronological Frame But The Essential Thrust Of The Book Is The Explanation Of The Changes In Society And Economy. The Mutation Of Religious Beliefs And Practices, The Exploration Of Areas Of Knowledge In Which India Excelled, Its Creative Literature, Are All Woven Into A Historical Context. In This Version, The Opening Chapters Explain How The Interpretations Of Early Indian History Have Changed. Further, Although The Diversity Of Sources And Their Readings Are Well Known, Nevertheless, This Narrative Provides Fresh Readings And Raises New Questions. Romila Thapar Gives A Vivid And Nuanced Picture Of The Rich Mosaic Of Varied Landscapes, Languages, Kingdoms And Beliefs, And The Interaction Between These That Went Into The Making Of A Remarkable Civilization.
In a series of candid conversations, Romila Thapar, a widely read, discussed, and cited historian of our times, muses on a range of issues that impact history writing in modern India. Apart from exploring Thapar’s far-reaching influence as an authority on the history of early India, Talking History examines themes such as the function of a historian, the centrality of historical research and evidence, oriental despotism, the ongoing conflict with religious fundamentalists, and the polymorphous structure of Hinduism. Anecdotal and vibrant, each of these accounts reveals a rare understanding of history as a dialogue between the past and the present. The latest book in the series of Ramin Jahanbegloo’s interviews with prominent intellectuals who have influenced modern Indian thought, Talking History traces Romila Thapar’s journey as a historian and a public intellectual, and gives an insight into the ideas that have shaped her work.
This classic provides a comprehensive account of the hstory of the Mauryas with a special emphasis on the reign and activities of Aśoka. It examines the sources, socio-economic conditions, administration, Dhamma, foreign relations, and the decline of the Mauryas. This edition comes with a new Pre-word which updates research on the subject.
This Second Volume Of A Classic Introduction To India'S History Deals With The Mughal And British Periods, Tracing The Continuities That Pervaded Them. Mughal Rule Is Seen As The Precondition For The Modern Age Ushered In By The British, And The Raj As The Harbinger Of Western Civilization In India.
The claim, often made, that India--uniquely among civilizations--lacks historical writing distracts us from a more pertinent question, according to Romila Thapar: how to recognize the historical sense of societies whose past is recorded in ways very different from European conventions. In The Past Before Us, a distinguished scholar of ancient India guides us through a panoramic survey of the historical traditions of North India. Thapar reveals a deep and sophisticated consciousness of history embedded in the diverse body of classical Indian literature. The history recorded in such texts as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata is less concerned with authenticating persons and events than with presenting a picture of traditions striving to retain legitimacy and continuity amid social change. Spanning an epoch of nearly twenty-five hundred years, from 1000 BCE to 1400 CE, Thapar delineates three distinct historical traditions: an Itihasa-Purana tradition of Brahman authors; a tradition composed mainly by Buddhist and Jaina scholars; and a popular bardic tradition. The Vedic corpus, the epics, the Buddhist canon and monastic chronicles, inscriptions, regional accounts, and royal biographies and dramas are all scrutinized afresh--not as sources to be mined for factual data but as genres that disclose how Indians of ancient times represented their own past to themselves.
प्रस्तुत पुस्तक में लगभग 1000 ई. पू. में आर्य संस्कृति की स्थापना से लेकर 1526 ई. में मुगलों के आगमन और यूरोप की व्यापारिक कंपनियों के प्रथम साक्षात्कार तक प्रायः 2500 वर्षों के दौरान भारत के आर्थिक तथा सामाजिक ढांचे का विकास प्रमुख राजनितिक एवं राजवंशीय घटनाओं के प्रकाश में दर्शाया गया है ! मुख्या रूप से डॉ. थापर ने धर्म, कला और साहित्य में, विचारधाराओं और संस्थाओं में व्यक्त होनेवाले भारतीय संस्कृति के विविध रूपों का रोचक वर्णन किया है ! यह इतिहास वैदिक संस्कृति के साथ प्रारंभ होता है, इसलिए नहीं कि यह भारतीय संस्कृति का प्रारंभ-बिंदु है, वरन इसलिए कि भारतीय संस्कृति के प्रारंभिक चरणों पर, जो आदिम-ऐतिहासिक और हड़प्पा काल में दृष्टिगोचर होने लगे थे, सामान्य पाठकों को उपलब्ध अनेक पुस्तकों में पहले ही काफी कुछ लिखा जा चूका है ! इस प्रारंभिक चरण का उल्लेख 'पूर्वपीठिका' वाले अध्याय में है ! यूरोपवासियों के आगमन से भारत के इतिहास में एक नवीन युग का सूत्रपात होता है ! समाप्ति के रूप में 1526 ई. इसलिए रखी गई है ! लेखिका ने पहले अध्याय में अतीत के विषय में लिखनेवाले इतिहासकारों पर प्रमुख बौद्धिक प्रभावों को स्पष्ट करने की चेष्टा की है ! इससे अनिवार्यता नवीन पद्धतियों एवं रीतियों का परिचय मिल जाता है जिन्हें इतिहास के अध्ययन में प्रयुक्त किया जा रहा है और जो इस पुस्तक में भी परिलक्षित हैं !
This book is a concise collection of lectures which discuss the nature of early Indian society during the mid-first millennium BC and relate it to the ancient Indian historical tradition in its earliest forms. It also looks at the particular character of social formations, their genesis, and continuity as part of the later Indian social landscape. Examining the social and political formulations of the period, this volume analyses the transformation of lineage-based societies into state formulations. It considers the migration and arrival of the monarchies in the middle Ganga valley, where the evolution of these societies resulted in the formation of a state. It provides insights into environmental influences on settlements, the particularities of caste, the role of rituals, and the interaction of ideology with these changes. The volume presents an account of the interplay of a range of variables in state formation.
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