Concise History Of Ancient India Political History

Description: This is the first volume of a series, dealing with the history and culture of ancient India, which is intended to fulfill the needs of the university student as well as of the general readers who desire to know the past history of India. The series consists of three volumes dealing respectively with (1) political history, (2) theories of government, administration, and economic life, and (3) society, religion, and philosophy. The present volume deals with the political history of ancient India, and presents the facts avoiding the theories as far as possible. Hence it has been possible to describe within the space of this volume the history of India from the Harappa culture down to the fall of the Hoysalas, including the rise and fall of all the great dynasties and also of the important minor dynasties with adequate accounts of the reigns of the famous monarchs. Two of the special features of this work are the exhaustive description of the source materials, and of the Arabs and Turks in India, which deals, among other topics, with the 'nature and pattern of Muslim conquest, 'while an analysis of the causes which led to the defeat of the Hindu kings is discussed in the preface.

Description: This is the third and last volume of a series, dealing with the history and culture of ancient India, which is intended to fulfil the needs of the University student as well as of the general readers who desire to know the past history of India. The series consist of three volumes dealing respectively with (1) Political History (2) Political Theory, Administration and Economic Life and (3) Hinduism : Society Religion and Philosophy. The present volume deals with religion, philosophy and society. Historians writing on Indian history are mostly content with devoting a single chapter to cover these three topics. This has created problems for those readers, who want to know more, but have no ready access to the vast number of books required for a thorough grasp of the subject. Dr. Majumdar has solved this problem by devoting an entire volume to these topics. Each and every aspect of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain religions and their philosophy have been thoroughly dealt with. Even remote and minor religious practices are not left out, the ripples and upheavals in society caused by the oscillating political fortunes are brought in sharp focus.

Description: This is the second volume of a three volume series dealing with the history and culture of ancient India. The first volume, already published, describes the political history of ancient India from the earliest period to c. AD 1300. The present volume deals with the political theories, administrative organizations, and economic life. The arrangements of topics in this volume will enable the reader to distinguish between theory and practice. He will also obtain an integrated picture of political and economic life in ancient India presented here for the first time in one volume. As the author has explained in the preface to the first volume, 'concise' means, brief in expression,' and not 'abridgement.' Following this principle, he has been able to present the salient features of the political and economic life in ancient India with important details sometimes even quoting inscriptions in full. The author began the study of these subjects nearly thirty years ago. He now presents the fruit of his patient, labour and mature deliberation.

The Book Presents A Lucid Survey Of Major Developments In The Ancient And Early Medieval Periods Of Indain History. It Discusses Issues Like The Antiquity And Authorship Of The Harappan Civilization, The Original Home Of The Aryans And The Salient Features Of Their Life, The Emergence Of Caste System And The Process Of State Formation Culminating In The Establishment Of The Maurya Empire. Challenging The Stereotype Of An `Unchanging` India And The Myth Of The `Golden Age`, The Book Not Only Underlines The Changes In Its Cocial Structure Over Centuries But Also Devotes Much Space To India`S Contact With The Outside World Leading To The Enrichment Of Its Culture. Moreover, It Pays Adequate Attention To The Transformation Of India From Pre-Feudal To Feudal Society And To The Discussion Of The Contours Of Feudal Culture.

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The present work by a well-known authority on Ancient India deals in a comprehensive manner with the ancient Hindu political ideas, theories and ideals and describes the different features and aspects of the ancient Indian administration in its numerous branches. It is based not merely on a study of the different Smrti books and Arthasastra works in Sanskrit, which give us the theoretical picture, but it also utilizes fully all the data bearing on the subject available in Vedic and classical literature, Buddhist and Jain works, ancient books on history and accounts of foreign travellers and historians. Rich material supplied by inscriptions has been fully tapped and the discerning critic will not be unwilling to concede that no previous work on the subject attempts to give such a comprehensive synthesis of the divergent data supplied by theoretical and literary works on the one hand and by inscriptions and purely historical records on the other. The material has been arranged chronologically and also province-wise, whenever it was possible to do so. In each chapter, attempt has been made to trace the development of political theories and institution from age to age, though the material in some cases was not quite sufficient to do so.