A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century

Cover
Brief Contents
Contents
Photographs, Maps, and Figures
The Author
Preface
Acknowledgements
A Reader’s Guide
Introduction: Ideas of the Early Indian Past
	The Main Physiographic Zones of the Subcontinent
	Ways of Dividing the Indian Past
	Changing Interpretations of Early Indian History
	New Histories, Unwritten Histories
Chapter 1: Understanding Literary and Archaeological Sources
	Reading Ancient Texts from a Historical Point of View
		Ancient palm leaf manuscripts
	The Classification of Literary Sources: Language, Genre, and Content
	The Vedas
	The Two Sanskrit Epics: The Ramayana and Mahabharata
		Archaeology and the Mahabharata
		The chronological layers in the Ramayana
	The Puranas
	The Dharmashastra
		Theory and practice in the Dharmashastra
	Buddhist Literature
		Songs of Buddhist nuns
	Jaina Literature
	Sangam Literature and Later Tamil Works
		The stories of the two Tamil epics
	Early Kannada and Telugu Literature
	Other Ancient Texts, Biographies, and Histories
		Banabhatta and his royal biography
	The Nature of Ancient Indian Historical Traditions
	The Accounts of Foreign Writers
		Al-Biruni on the writing of the Hindus
	Archaeology and the Early Indian Past
	Scientific Techniques in Archaeology
		Radiocarbon dating
	Interpreting Archaeological Evidence
	Ethno-Archaeology
		The social and cultural aspects of technology
	Protecting Sites
	Epigraphy: The Study of Inscriptions
	Ancient and Early Medieval Scripts
	Languages of Ancient and Early Medieval Inscriptions
		Deciphered and undeciphered scripts
	Dating the Inscriptions
		How to convert ancient era dates into modern ones
	The Classification of Inscriptions
		Memorializing death in stone
	Inscriptions as a Source of History
	Numismatics: The Study of Coins
	A Brief History of Indian Coinage
	Coins as a Source of History
		Counter-struck coins of the Kshatrapas and Satavahanas
	Conclusions
Chapter 2: Hunter-Gatherers of the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Ages
	The Geological Ages and Hominid Evolution
		What does it mean to be human?
	Hominid Remains in the Indian Subcontinent
	Palaeo-environments
	Classifying the Indian Stone Age
	The Palaeolithic Age
		Lower Palaeolithic Sites
			Typical lower palaeolithic tools
			Isampur: a centre of stone tool manufacture
		Middle Palaeolithic Sites
			The Levallois technique
		Upper Palaeolithic Sites
			Upper palaeolithic tools
		Palaeolithic Art and Cults
			Ostrich eggshell beads
		The Life-Ways of Palaeolithic Hunter-Gatherers
			Food resources—now and then
	The Mesolithic Age
		Mesolithic Sites
			Microliths
			Animal bones at mesolithic sites
			Graves, subsistence, and settlement patterns
			The journey to get chalcedony
		The Magnificence of Mesolithic Art
	Conclusions
Chapter 3: The Transition to Food Production: Neolithic, Neolithic–Chalcolithic, and Chalcolithic Villages, c. 7000–2000 BCE
	The Neolithic Age and the Beginnings of Food Production
	Why Domestication?
	The Identification of Domestication and Food Production in the Archaeological Record
		The analysis of ancient plant remains
	The Transition to Food Production in the Indian Subcontinent
		The Earliest Village Settlements in the Indian Subcontinent, c. 7000–3000 BCE
			The North-West
			The Vindhyan Fringes and Other Areas
		Neolithic, Neolithic–Chalcolithic, and Chalcolithic Communities,
c. 3000–2000 BCE
			The North and North-West
			Did people actually live in the Burzahom pits?
			Rajasthan
			The Malwa region
			The western Deccan
			The middle Ganga plain and eastern India
			South India
			The mystery of the ash mounds
			Community feasting at neolithic Budihal
	The Life of Early Farmers
	Changes in Cultic and Belief Systems
		Female figurines—ordinary women or goddesses?
	Conclusions
Chapter 4: The Harappan Civilization, c. 2600–1900 BCE
	Civilization and Urbanization: Definitions and Implications
		The 10 characteristics of cities, according to Childe
	Recent Discoveries and Changing Perspectives
	Harappan, Indus, or Sindhu–Sarasvati Civilization?
	Origin: The Significance of the Early Harappan Phase
		The problems with diffusionist theories
	The Relationship Between the Early and Mature Harappan Phases
	The General Features of Mature Harappan Settlements
	Profiles of Some Harappan Cities, Towns, and Villages
	The Diversity of the Harappan Subsistence Base
		Animal bones at Shikarpur
	Harappan Crafts and Techniques
		Sculpture in stone and metal
		The making of long carnelian beads
	Networks of Trade
		Shortughai—a Harappan trading post in Afghanistan
	The Nature and Uses of Writing
	Religious and Funerary Practices
		The ‘fire altars’
	The Harappan People
		How healthy were the Harappans?
	The Ruling Elite
		Defining a state
	The Decline of Urban Life
	The Significance of the Late Harappan Phase
	Conclusions
Chapter 5: Cultural Transitions: Images from Texts and Archaeology, c. 2000–600 BCE
	Perspectives from Texts
		Using The Vedas as a Historical Source
			The date of the Rig Veda
		Who were the Indo-Aryans?
		The Culture Reflected in the Family Books of the Rig Veda Samhita
			Tribes and Wars
			Hymn to arms (Rig Veda Samhita 6.75)
			Lineage, clan, tribe
			Pastoralism, Agriculture, and Other Occupations
			Varna in the Rig Veda
			Women, Men, and the Household
			The family and the household
			Religion: sacrifices to the gods
			Hymn to Indra (Rig Veda 2.12)
			The soma plant and its juice
		The Historical Milieu of Later Vedic Age Texts
			Aspects of Everyday Life
			The emergence of monarchy
			The ceremony of the jewel offering
			The varna hierarchy
			The Purusha-sukta (Rig Veda 10.90)
			Gender and the household
			Religion, ritual, and philosophy
			The Nasadiya hymn (Rig Veda 10.129)
			The sacrificial arena
			The atman, according to Uddalaka Aruni
			Popular beliefs and practices
				Atharva Veda spells
	Archaeological Profiles of Different Regions of the Subcontinent, c. 2000–500 BCE
		Neolithic–Chalcolithic and Chalcolithic Cultures
			The north-west and north
			The Indo-Gangetic divide, the upper Ganga Valley, and the doab
			The Sanauli cemetery
			The copper anthropomorph
			Black and Red Ware
			Western India
			The middle Ganga valley
			Eastern India
			The North-East
			The cultural sequence in central India
			The chalcolithic farmers of the Deccan
			The Daimabad bronzes
			Food, nutrition, and health among the people of Inamgaon
			Goddesses with and without heads
			Neolithic–chalcolithic sites of South India
			Pictures on stone
		From Copper to Iron: Early Iron Age Cultures of the Subcontinent
			A clarification about the Indian megaliths
			The north-west
			The Indo-Gangetic divide and the upper Ganga Valley: the Painted Grey Ware culture
			Painted Grey Ware
			The evidence from Rajasthan
			The Middle and Lower Ganga Valley
			Central India
			The Deccan
			South India
			The enigma of the megalithic anthropomorphs
		The Impact of Iron Technology
	The Problem of Correlating Literary and Archaeological Evidence
	Conclusions
Chapter 6: Cities, Kings, and Renunciants: North India, c. 600–300 BCE
	The Sources: Literary and Archaeological
		Panini and his Ashtadhyayi
		Northern Black Polished Ware
	The 16 Great States
		The identification of Taxila
	The Ganas or Sanghas
		The conflict between the Sakyas and Kosalans
		Vassakara seeks the Buddha’s advice on how to defeat the Vajjis
	Political Conflicts and the Growth of the Magadhan Empire
		The chronology of the early dynasties of Magadha
	The Persian and Macedonian Invasions
		The storming of the Malla citadel
	Land and Agrarian Expansion
	From Village to Town: The Example of Atranjikhera
	The Emergence of City Life
		Perceptions of the forest
	Archaeological and Literary Profiles of Early Historical Cities
		The North-West
		The Indo-Gangetic Divide, the Upper Ganga Valley, and the Doab
		The Middle and Lower Ganga Valley
		Central India and the Deccan
	Urban Occupations, Crafts, Guilds, and Money
		The New Social Elites: The Gahapati and Setthi
	Trade and Traders
	Class, Kinship, Varna, and Caste
		Activities in times of adversity
		Varna and jati
	Gender, Family, and Household
		Marriage, according to the Grihyasutras
	The Renunciatory Tradition
		The Samannaphala Sutta
	The Ajivikas
	Early Buddhism
		The Life of the Buddha
		The Buddha’s Teachings
		The analogy of the raft
		The Buddhist Sangha and the Laity
		The Social Implications of the Buddha’s Teachings
		The Ambattha Sutta
		Buddhism and Women
			Patachara’s song
			The eight conditions imposed on nuns
			The seven kinds of wives
	Early Jainism
		The Jaina Tirthankaras, Vardhamana Mahavira
		The Jaina Understanding of Reality
		The Jaina Discipline
		The liberated man
		On not killing earth bodies
		The Social Composition of the Jaina Sangha and Laity
		The true Brahmana
		Malli or Mallinatha?
	Conclusions
Chapter 7: Power and Piety: The Maurya Empire, c. 324–187 BCE
	The Major Sources for the Maurya Period
		Kautilya’s Arthashastra
		The statistical analysis of word frequencies in the Arthashastra
		Megasthenes’ Indica
		The Greeks on Megasthenes
		Ashoka’s Inscriptions
		The different categories of Ashokan inscriptions and their location
		References to famine relief in the Mahasthan and Sohgaura inscriptions
		Archaeological and Numismatic Evidence
		The Maurya Dynasty
		Legends of Ashoka
		The stone portrait of Ashoka at Kanaganahalli
	Literary and Archaeological Profiles of Cities
		Pataliputra and the palace, according to Arrian and Aelian
	Some Aspects of Rural and Urban Life
	The Nature and Structure of the Maurya Empire
		Kautilya’s timetable for a king
		The life of a king, according to Megasthenes (via Strabo)
		Rock edict 6 (Girnar version)
		The Maurya state and forest people
	Ashoka and Buddhism
		Minor rock edict 1 (Rupnath version)
	Ashoka’s Dhamma
		The 5th pillar edict (Delhi–Topra pillar)
		The 13th rock edict (Shahbazgarhi version)
		Ashoka’s assessment of his success: the Shar-i-Kuna Greek–Aramaic inscription
	Sculpture and Architecture
		Ancient and modern quarries at Chunar
		The medieval and modern histories of Ashokan pillars
		The discovery of an Ashokan stupa at Deorkothar
		The Parkham yaksha, then and now
	The Decline of the Maurya Empire
	Conclusions
Chapter 8: Interaction and Innovation, c. 200 BCE–300 CE
	The Political History of North India
		The Shungas
		The Besnagar pillar inscription of Heliodorus
		The Indo-Greeks
		Coins of the Indo-Greeks
		The Shaka-Pahlavas or Scytho-Parthians
		The Kushanas
		The Rabatak inscription
	The Shaka Kshatrapas of Western India
		A lake, a storm, and a king
	The Satavahana Empire in the Deccan
		The royal portrait gallery in the Naneghat cave
	Kings and Chieftains in the Far South: The Cheras, Cholas, and Pandyas
		The royal drum
	Villages and Cities
		Plant remains from Sanghol
		Cities of the North-West
		The Indo-Gangetic Divide and the Upper Ganga Valley
		The Middle and Lower Ganga Valley and Eastern India
		Chandraketugarh
		Central and Western India
		Cities and Towns of the Deccan
		Cities of the Far South
		Madurai in the Maduraikkanchi
	Crafts and Guilds
		Guilds as bankers
	Trade and Traders
		Ancient travellers
		Long-Distance Trade
		Kaveripattinam in the Pattinapalai
		Trade with East and Southeast Asia
		Indo-Roman Trade
		Periplus Maris Erythraei (The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea)
		Recent excavations at Arikamedu
		The Wider Roles of Trade and Traders
	Aspects of Social Change in North India and the Deccan: Varna, Caste, Gender
		The Jatakas as a source of social history
	Society in Early Historical South India
		An ancient Tamil love poem
		A heroic death
	Philosophical Developments: Astika and Nastika Schools
		The Bhagavad Gita
	Looking at the History of Religions beyond the Framework of ‘isms’
		The Worship of Yakshas and Yakshis, Nagas and Nagis
		Goddesses, Votive Tanks, and Shrines
		Vedic Rituals
		Puranic Hinduism
		Shivaism
		The Formation of the Vaishnava Pantheon
		Krishna and Balarama on Agathocles’ coins
		Shakti Worship
		The Emergence of Mahayana Buddhism
		Monastic and lay practices in texts versus inscriptions
		The Digambara–Shvetambara Schism in Jainism
	Religious Architecture and Sculpture
		Early Hindu Temples and Sculpture
		Buddhist Architecture and Sculpture
		Stupa-Monasteries of the North-West
		Central Indian Stupas —Sanchi and Bharhut
		Stupas of Andhra Pradesh
		Early Relief Sculpture at Buddhist Stupa Sites
		Buddhist Caves in the Western Ghats
		The Jaina Caves at Udayagiri and Khandagiri
		The Gandhara School of Sculpture
		Early Stone Sculptures from Vidisha and Mathura
		Terracotta Art
		The Patronage of Religious Establishments
		Gifts of water pots from ancient Gandhara
		Pious donations at Bandhogarh
	Conclusions
Chapter 9: Aesthetics and Empire, c. 300–600 CE
	Political History
		The Gupta Dynasty
		Ramagupta—did he exist?
		The inscription of Chandra and the legend of the unsteady pillar
		The Vakatakas of the Deccan
		A queen’s grant
		Other Dynasties of Peninsular India
	The Administrative Structure of the Gupta and Vakataka Kingdoms
		An ancient panchayat?
	Revenue Resources of States
	Land Ownership
	Types of Land, Land Measures, and Land Tenure
	Royal Land Grants
		The terms of the Vakataka grants
	Patterns of Urban History
		The lifestyle of the nagaraka
	Craft Production, Guilds, and Trade
	Aspects of Social Structure: Gender, Forms of Labour, Slavery, and Untouchability
		Faxian’s account
		The ganika and kulastri in Sanskrit kavya
	Patterns of Religious Developments
		The Emergence of Tantra
		The Evolution of the Vaishnava Pantheon
		Shivaism
		The Cult of the Great Goddess
		The Worship of Other Deities
		Buddhism
		Kumarajiva (343–413 CE)
		Jainism
	A Classical Age of Art?
		Religious Architecture
		Sculpture
	Sanskrit Literature
		The cloud messenger
		The Natyashastra
	Astronomy and Mathematics
		Ancient mathematical and medical manuscripts
	Medical Knowledge
		The ideal hospital, according to Charaka
	Conclusions
Chapter 10: Emerging Regional Configurations, c. 600–1200 CE
	Sources, Literary and Archaeological
		New evidence regarding Wang Xuance’s missions to India
	Political Narrative and Political Structure
		The image of the ideal king in inscriptions of Orissa
		Rudramadevi, the female king
		The Deccan
		The Aihole inscription of Pulakeshin
		The Far South
		Religious and political symbolism in the Tanjavur temple
		North India: The Pushyabhutis, Harshavardhana
		The life and travels of Xuanzang
		Eastern India
		Some origin myths of the dynasties of Orissa
		The Rajput Clans
		The Tomaras and Delhi in legends and inscriptions
		Kashmir and the North-West
		Didda
	Royal Land Grants
		Brahmana Beneficiaries
		The Nature of Brahmadeya Settlements
		Kara-shasanas and kraya-shasanas
		The Impact of Brahmana Settlements on Agrarian Relations
		Land Grants as Part of Larger Social and Cultural Processes
	Rural Society: Regional Specificities
		Popular agricultural sayings of early medieval Bengal
	Urban Processes in Early Medieval India
	Historical Processes in Early Medieval South India
		The Nature of South Indian States
		The segmentary state, according to Southall and Stein
		Administrative Structures
		Rural Society
		The history of a Karnataka village
		Agriculture and Irrigation
		Irrigation devices in early medieval Tamil Nadu
		Betel leaves and areca nuts
		Urban Processes
		Weavers and weaving in early medieval Tamil Nadu
		Trade and Traders
		Aihole and the Ayyavole
	The Religious Sphere
		Buddhism in Early Medieval India
		A letter from Xuanzang to Prajnadeva
		Major Centres of Jainism
		Shankara and Advaita Vedanta
		The Hindu Cults
		Vishnuism and Shivaism
		The Shakti Cult
		The Goddess as killer of the demon Mahisha
		South Indian Bhakti: The Alvars and Nayanmars
		Songs of the Nayanmar saint Appar
		Andal’s songs
		Karaikkal Ammaiyar—her life and songs
		The Philosophical Underpinnings of South Indian Bhakti and Later Developments
		The vachanas of Basavanna
		Patronage To Temples
		Temple women in Chola inscriptions
	The Architecture and Sculpture of Early Medieval India
		The Nagara, Dravida, and Vesara Styles of Temple Architecture
		Western India and the Deccan
		The discovery of an early medieval quarry site near Pattadakal
		The Pallava Kingdom
		The Chola Temples
		Chola Metal Sculpture
		Archaeometric analysis of Nataraja images
	Conclusions
A Note on Diacritics
Glossary
Further Readings
References
Index
Credits