A History of IndiaThis new edition of Burton Stein's classic A History of India builds on the success of the original to provide an updated narrative of the development of Indian society, culture, and politics from 7000 BC to the present.
Part of The Blackwell History of the World Series The goal of this ambitious series is to provide an accessible source of knowledge about the entire human past, for every curious person in every part of the world. It will comprise some two dozen volumes, of which some provide synoptic views of the history of particular regions while others consider the world as a whole during a particular period of time. The volumes are narrative in form, giving balanced attention to social and cultural history (in the broadest sense) as well as to institutional development and political change. Each provides a systematic account of a very large subject, but they are also both imaginative and interpretative. The Series is intended to be accessible to the widest possible readership, and the accessibility of its volumes is matched by the style of presentation and production. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 64
... population growth and environmental change, gender inequalities and the rise of the petty bourgeoisie, echo many of his abiding concerns with the material underpinnings of the history of South Asia. Liberty, pleasure and poetics seldom ...
... climates it is available moisture, in both amount and distribution over the year, more than seasonal variations of temperature, that determines agricultural productivity, and, in the past, the population densities thereby. 9 Introduction.
... population comprises one-fifth of that of the world. Its sustenance still depends to an extent not yet sufficiently appreciated on the forests and supplies of water. Hence, evidence of changes in river courses, of the advance of deserts ...
... population – today 40 per cent of the whole of India – amenable to unified rule and the development of steep social hierarchies. In the north, copper objects were found at Mehrgarh, a site dated as far back as the fifth millennium bce ...
... populations who grew millet and relied to a large extent on animal husbandry for their livelihood. Where moisture was reliable, the land supported large populations of religious and military specialists (brahmans and warrior-kings); ...
Contents
xiv | |
xxii | |
1 | |
PART II Ancient India | 37 |
PART III Medieval and Early Modern India | 103 |
PART IV Contemporary South Asia | 225 |
NOTES | 421 |
GLOSSARY OF NONENGLISH TERMS | 425 |
FURTHER READING | 430 |
INDEX | 435 |