Synopses & Reviews
India: Brief History of a Civilization provides a brief overview of a very long period, allowing students to acquire a mental map of the entire history of Indian civilization in a short book. Most comprehensive histories devote a few chapters to the early history of India and an increasing number of pages to the more recent period, giving an impression that early history is mere background and that Indian civilization finds its fulfillment in the nation-state. Thomas R. Trautmann believes that the deep past lives on and is a valuable resource for understanding the present day and for creating a viable future. The result is a book that is short enough to read in a few sittings, but comprehensive in coverage--5,000 years of India in brief.
About the Author
Thomas R. Trautmann is Professor of History and Anthropology at the University of Michigan. He is the author of several books, including
Languages and Nations: The Dravidian Proof in Colonial Madras (2006) and
Aryans and British India (2004), and is the editor of
The Aryan Debate (OUP, 2008).
Table of Contents
Illustrations
About the book
Chapter 1: Introduction
India, Indians, Indian Civilization
The history of Indian Civilization
The landscape of Indian Civilization
Chapter 2: The beginnings of Indian Civilization
Mohenjo-daro and Harappa
Economy, technology, writing
Religion
Origin and destiny of the Indus Civilization
Chapter 3: The Vedic age
The Rig Veda
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan
The later Veda
Chapter 4: New religions, new empires
Religions of renunciation
The rise of Magadha
The Mauryas
Chapter 5: Classical India
The formation of classical Indian Civilization
The classical age
Late classical Indian Civilization
Chapter 6: Family, society, polity
The family
Society
Polity
Chapter 7: Mentalities
Religion
Law
Science
Classical arts and letters
Chapter 8: The world that India made
Central Asia
East Asia
Southeast Asia
The Middle East and Europe
Chapter 9: Turks and Mughals
Islam and India
Turks
Mughals
Chapter 10: Europeans
European merchants
British rule
India and European civilization
Chapter 11: The nation-state
The emergence of Indian nationalism
Gandhi and Jinnah
Partition and Independence
Chapter 12: New nations
The Republic of India
Pakistan and Bangladesh
Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, the Maldives
Indian Civilization and the future
Further reading
Notes
Bibliography
Index