3 Review(s)

The book is a visually rich text on the ancient and medieval history of India. Summary Of The Book Written by an expert on the ancient history of India, the book provides a comprehensive overview of India through ancient and early medieval times. It explores the time period from the Stone Age to the 12th century AD, taking into consideration both archaeological findings, as well as, literary descriptions of those times. It begins by exploring the most ancient times of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic ages, eventually progressing to the Harappan civilization and then to the Magadha and Mauryan empire of early medieval times. Key socio-cultural issues of each era have been discussed in great detail and all prevalent points of views are examined on significant contentious issues. The descriptions are accompanied with beautiful colour pictures of archaeological findings, historical maps, and drawings. Though written essentially for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in history, the book would be found equally stimulating by the general reader interested in learning about ancient Indian history. Salient Features Extensive use of visuals in full colour—over 350 photographs, maps, and sketches Pedagogically developed boxes on key concepts, primary sources, further discussion of specific issues, recent discoveries and new directions in research Extensive cross-referencing of themes and concepts A glossary of important terms Detailed references and lists of further readings About the Author Upinder Singh is a professor of history at Delhi University. She is the daughter of the Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh. She has written a number of books on Indian history including Rethinking Early Medieval India: A Reader, Ancient India: New Research, and Ancient Delhi. She has also written numerous articles and journals on various aspects of Indian history. Her research work is primarily focused on the study of ancient and medieval India. Her works explore various socio-cultural aspects of that time period, covering its religions, communities, and classes. She did her MA and M.Phil. in History from Delhi University and received her Ph.D. in History from McGill University, Canada. She was a lecturer at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, for over two decades. She also served briefly as a visiting professor at University of Leuven, Belgium. She was awarded the Infosys Award for Social Sciences in History in 2009.