Rethinking Early Medieval India

This book changes the way we look at the history of early medieval India (c. 600-1300 CE). Deftly tackling issues of periodization and continuities, it highlights the complex and multilinear nature of historical processes. From feudalism and state formation and economic and social structures in villages and cities to explorations in religion, art, and intellectual history of the period, this book sheds light on the economic, political and cultural history of the pre-Sultanate and non-Sultanate early medieval India.

The reader presents a new approach to the understanding of early medieval India. It discusses political history and models; village, town, and society; religion and culture; and language and ideas as well as the key debates.

Covering a long span, from the Vedic period to twelfth century AD, this volume explores key aspects of early Indian history political ideas and institutions; economic patterns and developments; social orders and ractices; and the transition from ancient to medieval.

This book is a collection of essays by eminent historians exploring a millennium of India s history between the eighth and the eighteenth century, conventionally understood as early medieval and medieval India. Though these terms are subjected to critical

The book analyses the transition from the ancient to the medieval period in polity, economy, the caste system and culture. It examines the form of peasant protest and the reasons for their failure and infrequency. The author also examines the development of tantrism and the mentality that feudalism created.

How can the complexities of ancient India be comprehended? This book draws on a vast array of texts, inscriptions, archaeology, archival sources and art to delve into themes such as the history of regions and religions, archaeologists and the modern histories of ancient sites, the interface between political ideas and practice, violence and resistance, and the interactions between the Indian subcontinent and the wider world. It highlights recent approaches and challenges in reconstructing South Asia's early history, and in doing so, brings out the exciting complexities of ancient India. Authoritative and incisive, this revised Penguin edition-with two new chapters-is essential reading for students and scholars of ancient Indian history and for all those interested in India's past.

A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India is the most comprehensive textbook yet for undergraduate and postgraduate students. It introduces students to original sources such as ancient texts, artefacts, inscriptions and coins, illustrating how historians construct history on their basis. Its clear and balanced explanation of concepts and historical debates enables students to independently evaluate evidence, arguments and theories. This remarkable textbook allows the reader to visualize and understand the rich and varied remains of India s ancient past, transforming the process of discovering that past into an exciting experience.

The Making of Early Medieval India is a collection of essays which together seek to explore the processes and nature of change in Indian society over a period of about six hundred years, approximately between the seventh and the thirteenth centuries. The notion of change articulated in these essays marks a radical departure from what exists in the current historiography of the period.