INDIA'S ANCIENT PAST

1. The Significance of Ancient Indian History
Unity in Diversity: The Relevance of the Past to the Present; Chronology 1
2. Modern Historians of Ancient India
Colonialist Views and their Contribution; Nationalist Approach and its Contribution; Move Towards Non-Political History; Communal Approach; Chronology 6
3. Nature of Sources and Historical Construction
Material Remains; Coins; Inscriptions; Literary Sources; Foreign Accounts; Village Study; Natural Sciences; Historical Sense; Constructing History; Chronology 14
4. Geographical Setting
Emergence of India; The Role of the Monstoon: The Northern Boundaries; Rivers; Natural Frontiers and Cultural Contacts; Minerals and Other Resources; Chronology 31
5. Ecology and Environment
Ecology; Environment and Human Advance; Surroundings and Settlements; The Rain and Human Effort; Ancient Attitudes Towards the Environment; Chronology 40
6. The Linguistic Background
Principal Language Groups; Austro-Asiatic; Tibeto-Burman; Dravidian; Indo-Aryan; Ethnic Groups and Language Families; Chronology 45
7. Human Evolution: The Old Stone Age
African Ancestors of Human Beings: The Early Man in India; Phases in the Palaeolithic Age: The Mesolithic Age: Hunters and Herders: Art in the Old Stone Age: Earliest Human Organization: Chronology 50
8. The Neolithic Age: First Food Producers and Animal Keepers
Earliest Rural Settlements in Baluchistan; Use of Bone Tools in the Sites of Burzahom and Chirand; Neolithic Settlements in South India; Farming and Cereals; Progress in and Limitation of the Neolithic Phase; Chronology 58
9. Chalcolithic Cultures
Chalcolithic Settlements; Importance of the Chalcolithic Phase; Limitations of Chalcolithic Cultures; The Copper Hoards and the Ochre-Coloured Pottery Phase; Chronology 63
10. Harappan Culture: Bronze Age Urbanization in the Indus Valley
Introduction; Town Planning and Structures; Agriculture; Domestication of Animals; Technology and Crafts; Trade and Commerce; Social Organization; Polity; Religious Practices; The Male Deity in the Indus Valley; Tree and Animal Worship; The Harappan Script; Weights and Measures; Harappan Pottery; Seals and Sealings; Images; Terracotta Figurines; Stone Work; End of the Indus Culture; Maturity; Post Urban Phase; Percolation of New Peoples; Problem of Origin; Was the Harappan Culture Vedic; Problem of Continuity; Chronology; Chronology of Harappan Archaeology 74
11. Identity of Aryan Culture
Texts for Traits of Aryan Culture; The Horse, its Domestication and Diffusion; The War Chariot; Spoked Wheels; Horse Remains in the Subcontinent; Pit-dwelling; Birch; Cremation; The Fire Cult; Animal Sacrifice; Horse Sacrifice; The Cult of Soma; The Svastika; Language and Inscriptional Evidence; Dispersal of the Indo-Aryans; Chronology 94
12. The Age of the Rig Veda
Arrival of the Indo-Aryans; Tribal Conflicts; Cattle Rearing and Agriculture; Tribal Chiefdom; Tribe and Family; Social Differentiations; Rig Vedic Gods; Chronology; 106
13. The Later Vedic Phase:
Transition to State and Social Orders
Expansion in the Later Period (c. 1000-500 BC); Use of Iron; Agriculture; Arts and Crafts; Settlements; Political Organization; Social Organization; Gods, Rituals, and Philosophy; Chronology 117
14. Jainism and Buddhism
The Causes of Origin; Vardhamana Mahavira and Jainism; Doctrines of Jainism; Spread of Jainism; Contribution of Jainism; Gautama Buddha and Buddhism; Doctrines of Buddhism; Features of Buddhism and the Causes of its Spread; Causes of the Decline of Buddhism; Significance and Influence of Buddhism; Chronology 130
15. Territorial States and the Rise of Magadha
Conditions for the Rise of Large States; The Mahajanapadas; The Rise and Growth of the Magadhan Empire; Causes of Magadha's Success; Chronology 145
16. Iranian and Macedonian Invasions
Iranian Invasion; Results of the Contact; Alexander's Invasion; Effects of Alexander's Invasion; Chronology 153
17. State Structure and the Varna System in the Age of the Buddha
Second Urbanization; Rural Economy; Administrative System; Army and Taxation; The Republican Experiment; social Orders and Legislation; Conclusion; Chronology 158
18. The Maurya Age
Chandragupta Maurya; Imperial Organization; Ashoka (273-32 BC); Ashokan Inscriptions; Impact of the Kalinga War; Internal Policy and Buddhism; Ashoka's Place in History; Chronology 170
19. The Significance of Maurya Rule
State Control; Economic Regulations; Art and Architecture; Spread of Material Culture and the State System; Causes of the Fall of the Maurya Empire - Brahmanical Reaction, Financial Crisis, Oppressive Rule, New Knowledge in the Outlying Areas, Neglect of the North-West Frontier and the Great Wall of China; Chronology 179
20. Central Asian Contact and Mutual Impact
I Political Aspects - The Indo-Greeks, The Shakas, The Parthians, The Kushans, The Indo-Sassanians; II Cultural Consequences - Structures and Pottery, Better Cavalry, Trade and Agriculture, Polity, New Elements in Indian Society, Religious Developments. The Origin of Mahayana Buddhism, Gandhara and Mathura School of Art; Language, Literature, and Learning: Science and Technology; Chronology 190
21. The Satavahana Phase
Political History; Aspects of Material Culture; Social Organization; Pattern of Administration; Religion; Architecture; Language; Chronology 203
22. The Dawn of History in the Deep South
The Megalithic Background; State Formation and the Development of Civilization; Three Early Kingdoms; The Purse and the Sword; Rise of Social Classes; Beginnings of Brahmanism; Tamil Language and Sangam Literature; Social Evolution from Sangam Texts; Chronology 211
23. Crafts, Commerce, and Urban Growth (200 BC - AD 250)
Crafts and Craftsmen; Types of Merchants; Trade Routes and Centres; Goods in Foreign Trade; Money Economy; Urban Growth; Chronology 221
24. Rise and Growth of the Gupta Empire
Background; Chandragupta I (AD 319-34); Samudragupta (AD 335-80); Chandragupta II (AD 380-412); Fall of the Empire; Chronology 231
25. Life in the Gupta Age
System of Administration; Trends in Trade and the Agrarian Economy; Social Developments; The State of Buddhism; The Origin and Growth of Bhagavatism; Art; Literature; Science and Technology; Chronology 237
26. Spread of Civilization in Eastern India
Signs of Civilization; Orissa and Eastern and Southern MP; Bengal; Assam; The Formative Phase; Chronology 250
27. Harsha and His Times
Harsha's Kingdom; Administration; Buddhism and Nalanda; Chronology 259
28. Brahmanization, Rural Expansion, and Peasant Protest in the Peninsula
The New Phase; States of the Deccan and South India; The Kalabhra Revolt; Conflict between the Pallavas and the Chalukyas; Temples Demands on the Peasantry; Land Grants and Rural Expansion; Social structure and Brahmanization; Chronology 265
29. Developments in Philosophy
Goals of Life; Samkhya; Yoga; Nyaya; Vaisheshika; Mimamsa; Vedanta; Charvaka and the Materialistic View of Life; Chronology 276
30. Cultural Interaction with Asian Countries
India's Relations with the Outside World; Buddhism in Sri Lanka; Myanmar, China, and Central Asia; Christianity and West Asian Relations; Indian Culture in Southeast Asia; Cultural Give and Take; Chronology 281
31. From Ancint to Medieval
Social Crisis and Agrarian Changes; Rise of Landlords; New Agrarian Economy; Decline of Trade and Towns; Changes in the Varna System; rise of Regional Identities; Tends in Literature; The Divine Hierarchy; The Bhakti Cult; Tantrism; Summary; Chronology 287
32. Sequence of Social Changes
Introduction; Tribal and Pastoral Phase; Agriculture and the Origin of the Upper Orders; The Varna System of Production and Government; Social Crisis and the Rise of the Landed Classes; Summary; Chronology 299
33. Legacy in Science and Civilization
Religion; The Varna System; Philosophical Systems; Crafts and Technology; Polity; Science and Mathematics; Medicine; Geography; Art and Literature; Strength and Weakness; Chronology 307
Chronology of Literature Sources 317
Bibliography 320
Index

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