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5/21/2016

TheearlyIndianpast

TheearlyIndianpast

R.Champakalakshmi
AHISTORYOFANCIENTANDEARLYMEDIEVALINDIAFromtheStoneAgetothe12thCentury:UpinderSinghPearsonLongman,482,FIE,
Patparganj,Delhi110092.Rs.3500.
Thisisavoluminoustextbook.ItcoversalongspanofIndianhistoryfromtheStoneAgetothe12thcentury,acomprehensiverangeofissuesand
regionsoftheIndiansubcontinent.ItmaywellprovetobeanintroductionandguidetoallinitiatestothestudyofIndianhistory.Itsproductionisofa
highquality,printedinartpaperfromcovertocover,accompaniedbyexcellentphotographsandusefulmaps,sketchesanddiagrams,whichmakesit
alavishproject.PricedprohibitivelyhighatRs.3500,itisoutofreachevenforteachers,nottospeakofstudents.Itspurchaseislikelytobelimitedto
librariesortheveryrich.Itsunusualformatconsistsofnotonlyanarrativetext,butboxedinformationfromoriginalsourcesandresearchworks,and
onkeyconcepts,whichthestudentswillfindinstructive.Theauthorhaspresentedanexhaustiveandreaderfriendlynarrativebybringingtogether
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TheearlyIndianpast

informationfromthepioneeringworksuptothemostrecentresearch,infactsummarisingandevenquotingfrommanyoftherecentbookswhichare
ofhighstandardsofresearch,interpretationandanalysis.Thewebsiteforfurtherreferencesandreadingmakesasupplementtothenarrative.The
listoffurtherreadingsisimpressive.
Periodisation
TitledAHistoryofAncientandEarlyMedievalIndia:FromtheStoneAgetothe12thCentury,itfollowsthestandardperiodisation,whichhasevolved
overthelastfourdecades:PreHistoric,Harappan(Chalcolithic),VedicandPostVedic,EarlyHistoricandEarlyMedievalperiods.Using,however,a
differentterminologyforthechapters,theauthorcreatesgreatexpectationsthroughcatchytitles(forexampleCities,KingsandRenunciants:North
India600300BCE,PowerandPiety:TheMauryaEmpireC.324187BCE.andInteractionandInnovation200BCE300CE)tracingIndian
historyfromthetribalHuntingGathering,FoodProducingPastoralandAgriculturalstagesofthePrehistoricandProtohistoricperiodstothe
evolutionofstatesocietiesandemergenceoflargerpolitiesinthesubcontinentintheearlyhistoricalperiod,continuingtoregionalpolitiesintheearly
medievalperiod.Dueattentionispaidtoregionalhistories,especiallySouthIndiaandsourcesinregionallanguages(intranslation).
Theotherchaptersstartwithpoliticalhistory,whiletheprocessesthatledtothedevelopmentofsociety,economyandpolity,religionandculture,are
treatedinseparatesectionswithinaregionwisedivision.Theregionsunderwhichthevariousthemesarediscussedfollowthesamepattern,
notwithstandingthepossibleoverlapsandchangesintheconfigurationsofdifferentarchaeologicalculturesandtrajectoriesofregionalhistories.This
createsaprobleminpresentingasinglesitelikeAtranjikhera,whichhasanarchaeologicalstratificationoveralongperiod(asothersitesalsodo)
fromtheLateHarappantotheEarlyHistoric(fromvillagetotown)bysplittingtheevidenceindifferentarchaeologicalstrataunderdifferent
chaptersdealingwiththeauthorsthematictitles.Thismaybeconfusingevenforthematurestudentandmayleadtoafailuretounderstandhistorical
processesreflectedinthesitesarchaeologicalstrataoverthecenturies.
Parallelimages
UpinderSinghsaysthattherearecurrently(?)twoparallelimagesofancientSouthAsia,onebasedonliterarysourcesandtheotheronarchaeology,
astatementthatisnotinkeepingwiththewayinwhichhistoryhasbeenpresentedsofar.Theauthorsownnarrativediscussestextualand
archaeological(andepigraphic)sourcesseparately,showingtheauthorsreluctancetoacceptattemptstocorrelatethem,althoughsuchattemptsare
necessaryandhavebeenmeaningfulinmanycontexts,despitethevaryingdegreeofreliabilityandnatureofthesources.Theexampleofthewell
knowntextonpolity,theArthasastra,iscitedbytheauthorherselfasanimportanttextfortheMauryanperiod(inspiteofitbeingdatedtolaterperiod
bymanyhistorians),onthebasisthatboththearchaeological/epigraphicevidenceandthetextprojectapowerfulstate.
Presentingtheviewpointsandinterpretationsofdifferentscholars,SinghcriticisesRomilaThaparsviewthatthedeclineoftheMauryaswasdueto
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economicfactors(theMauryanswereunabletorestructuretheeconomiesofthecoreandperipheralareas)asanachronistic.Thiswouldbevalid
onlyifaviablealternativeissuggestedbytheauthor,insteadofsayingthatsuchthingsweshouldnotgenerallyexpecttofindinancientstatesand
thatexplanationshavetobeverygeneral.InthesamemannerShereenRatnagarsexplanationofthedeclineoftheHarappanCivilisationasdue
mainlytothedeclineoftradeisrejectedandagaintheauthorhaslittletoofferasanalternativeargument.
Marxisthistoriographyisdescribedastextcentricandasfollowingaunilinearhistoricalmodel.HencetheviewsofR.S.Sharmaontheprevalenceof
feudalisminearlymedievalIndiaarepredictablyrejected.Whilecritiquesarelegitimateinacademicresearch,theauthorwouldhavedonewelltoput
forthanalternativetheoryand/orinterpretationoftheagrarianorganisationandstatesocieties.Theauthormerelypresentsdifferingviewsofother
scholars,suchasthetheoryoftheSegmentaryStateandtheIntegrativeStatemodelsofBurtonSteinandH.KulkeandB.D.Chattopadhyaya,whose
workshavequestionedpoliticalbreakdownintheearlymedievalperiodmarkedbyanintensiveprocessofstateformationattheregionalandsub
regionallevel.Howtheyhavetakenthediscussionforward,ifshethinkstheyhave,isnotindicated.ThenatureoftheBrahmadeyaandits
ramificationsarenotclearlyunderstoodespeciallythesignificanceofTaniyur,asalsothePallavakottam,apastoralcumagriculturalunit.
Tradeandurbanism
Patternsofurbanismineachchaptersummarisestherecentstudiesontradeandurbanisationdiscussingthegrowthofcitiesandtrade,regional
andlongdistance,andguildactivities.Acompilationofdifferenttypesofinformationontradeandtradersisprovided,asforexample,froma11th
centuryJainworkontheethicalcodeofmerchantswithoutdiscussingwhatmightbeofwiderinterestinthiscode.
Theauthorsapproachisnowhereclearlystated.Ifoneassumesthatitisanintegratedandinterdisciplinaryapproach,itishardtoexplainwhyeach
chapterstartinglegitimatelywithpoliticalhistory,hastoisolateallothersocial,economicandculturalprocessesunderdifferentsectionsfollowingthe
samepatternofspatial(regions)presentationandthematicdivisionssuchasruralsociety,patternsofurbanism,stateandadministrativestructures,
religion,artandarchitecture.
Singhunderlinestheneedforathoroughinvestigationofthedifferentstrandsofreligiousthoughtandpracticeintheirownright,astheyareimportant
areasinhistory.AsectiononreligionineverychapterbrieflysurveysthevariousreligionsofIndiawiththeaimoflookingatthehistoryofreligions
beyondtheframeworkofisms(whateverthatmaymean)andtheideaofconversion.EventheTantricformsinBuddhismandBrahmanicalreligions
arementioned,butthereisapuzzlingomissionoftheAgama,thecanonwhichiscrucialtoPuranicreligionandthetemple,themainstreamreligion.
Religionandhistory
ThestatementthatreligiousstudiesaremarginaltomainstreamhistoricalwritinginIndiaandthatthereisatendencytotreatreligiouscultsand
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traditionsprimarilyasideologiesreflectingsocialandpoliticalpowerstructuresofthetime(theMarxistview)ignorestheenormousresearchoutputon
thedevelopmentofreligioninIndiaandthemultipleorpluralistictraditionsthatconstitutewhatiscalledHinduism,apartfromtheBuddhistandthe
Jain.Oneofthewaysinwhichreligionhasmadeitsimpactisintherealmofideology,whichisessentiallyusedasalegitimisingandintegrativeforce
invariouscontexts,especiallyinstateformation.ThelinkbetweentheBuddhistmonasteryandthemerchantguildsinearlyhistoricaltrade,the
BrahmanicaltempleandtheagrarianandurbangeographyofSouthIndiaasalsothestatesynthesisunderregionaldynastiesarethemainfocusof
recentstudies.ThepoliticalrationalebehindthepropagationofDhammabyAsokahasalsobeenexplained,althoughasmanyhavesaid,thereis
undoubtedlyaBuddhistcoreinhisinscriptions.Amongthemultiplemeansadoptedforlegitimacyofroyalpower,religionhasamajorroletoplayinall
ancientandmedievalsocieties.WhileitistruethattheBhaktimovementquestionedsocialhierarchy,italsoprovidedadominantideologyforthe
Cholastate.
InthesectionsonsocietySinghpointsoutthatthesubordinatedandmarginalisedgroups,labouringgroupsandtribalcommunitieshavebeen
neglectedinthestudyofsocialhistory,asalsowomenandgenderissues.ThefourfoldVarnaisinterpretedashereditaryclasses(?),whileitisalso
suggestedthatitisbettertoleaveVarnauntranslatedwhileJatiismorerelevantespeciallyinviewofthecrystallisationofoccupationalgroupsinto
castes(Kayasthas).
Descriptiveaccountsofartandarchitecture,literaryforms,medicine,astronomythestockthemesoftextbooksaregivenintherelevant
chapters,butonewishesthatthelinkswithpoliticalandsocialhistoryareshown.
Apublicationofsuchahightechnicalstandard,shouldbefreeoferrors.Somehavecreptin.IntheMap10.5,Uraiyuriswronglylocatedonthe
TamraparniandnotontheKaveri.
ThereadingofthenameBindusarainaSanchiinscriptionisincorrectandthelongusedroutesfromPunetoKanchipuramandfromGoatoTanjavur
Nagappattinammentionedbytheauthorarehardlyassignabletotheearlymedievalperiod.
ThebookcoversalongspanoftheIndianpast,butinexplaininghistoricalprocesseswearegivenmuchdatabutlessofitsreadings.Asatextbookit
willdoubtlessbeusefultotheundergraduates.

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