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Why did Indian historians move away from the centric approach in the 1970s? Why did they shift their focus to local sub-regions instead of focusing on historio-geographic blocks like the Gangetic heartland or the Kaveri valley? What were the constructs that developed the concept of India? Examining the questions that have shaped history-writing in India, this book maps the changing perspectives about early India. Focusing on the histories of regions, the volume studies social and cultural change, regional polities, and various socio-economic aspects of regional and rural societies. It includes a wide range of topics: from the role of Brahmanical ideology in the construction of caste to the regional dimensions of the Kali Age crisis; from agrarian land systems to forms of protest and dissent; and the evolution of regional identities in Indian historiography. The Introduction provides an overview of the issues and themes discussed, and surveys the research on early India. Salient Features Examines history of specific regions like Orissa and traces comparable trajectory of growth across regions Mentions all the major debates Adopts a methodological approach Table of Contents Preface Acknowledgements Introduction: Regions and the Constructions of Early India Part I: EARLY PATTERNS OF SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CHANGE 1. Brahmanical Conception of Origin of Jatis: A Study of Manusmrti 2. Conception of the Kali Age in Early India: Perspectives from the Regions 3. Var'a, Jati, and the Shaping of Early Oriya Society 4. Profiling of Daksina Kosala: The Making of an Early Historical Subregion? Part II: THE TRAJECTORY OF REGIONAL POLITIES 5. Ways of Seeing: History and Historiography of the State in Early India 6. The Early State in Orissa: From the Perspective of Changing Forms of Patronage and Legitimation 7. Characterizing Early Medieval Indian Polity: The Case of Daksina Kosala and Beyond 8. Legitimation, Ideology, and State in Early India; Part III: THE SHAPING OF REGIONAL RURAL SOCIETIES 9. Mapping the Patterns of Regional Land Systems and Rural Society 10. Agrarian Changes and the Peasantry in Early Medieval Orissa 11. Shifting the Gaze: Facets of Sub-regional Agrarian Economies 12. Dissent and Protest in Early Indian Societies: Some Historiographic Remarks Index