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India, long known for its huge population, religious conflicts and its status as not-quite best friend ally of the United States has moved from the backwaters of world attention to centre stage. Afghanistan and Pakistan with whom India is in almost conflict, are neighbours. India has developed a nuclear capability which also has a way of grabbing attention. This book discusses current issues and historical background and provides a thorough index important to a better understanding of this diverse country.
Introducing Hinduism, 2nd Edition is the ideal sourcebook for those seeking a comprehensive overview of the Hindu tradition. This second edition includes substantial treatments of Tantra, South India, and women, as well as expanded discussions of yoga, Vedanta and contemporary configurations of Hinduism in the West. Its lively presentation features: case studies, photographs, and scenarios that invite the reader into the lived world of Hinduism; introductory summaries, key points, discussion questions, and recommended reading lists at the end of each chapter; narrative summaries of the great epics and other renowned Hindu myths and lucid explanations of complex Indian philosophical teachings, including Sankhya and Kashmir Saivism; and a glossary, timeline, and pronunciation guide for an enhanced learning experience. This volume is an invaluable resource for students in need of an introduction to the key tenets and diverse practice of Hinduism, past and present.
The 1930s to 1950s witnessed the rise and dominance of a political culture across much of North India which combined unprecedented levels of mobilization and organization with an effective de-politicization of politics. On the one hand obsessed with world events, people also came to understand politics as a question of personal morality and achievement. In other words, politics was about expressing the self in new ways and about finding and securing an imaginary home in a fast-moving and often terrifying universe. The scope and arguments of this book make an innovative contribution to the historiography of modern South Asia, by focusing on the middle-class milieu which was the epicentre of this new political culture.
Basic Approach Developed as a comprehensive introductory work for scholars and students of ancient and early medieval Indian history, this books provides the most exhaustive overview of the subject. Dividing the vast historical expanse from the stone age to the 12th century into broad chronological units, it constructs profiles of various geographical regions of the subcontinent, weaving together and analysing an unparalleled range of literary and archaeological evidence. Dealing with prehistory and protohistory of the subcontinent in considerable detail, the narrative of the historical period breaks away from conventional text-based history writing. Providing a window into the world primary...
An engrossing and definitive narrative account of history and myth that offers a new way of understanding one of the world's oldest major religions, The Hindus elucidates the relationship between recorded history and imaginary worlds. Hinduism does not lend itself easily to a strictly chronological account: many of its central texts cannot be reliably dated even within a century; its central tenets karma, dharma, to name just two arise at particular moments in Indian history and differ in each era, between genders, and caste to caste; and what is shared among Hindus is overwhelmingly outnumbered by the things that are unique to one group or another. Yet the greatness of Hinduism - its vitali...
Since the 1940s, revaluations of the nature of the State have been a major preoccupation among historians worldwide. There has been a debate on the extent to which the State is independent of the interests of the ruling class. Pre-colonial India provides a unique testing ground for such debates, for it provides examples of State forms which vary enormously. Yet serious consideration of the nature of State forms in India was often overwhelmed by a focus on 'caste' and 'brahminism'. Now, however, as Professor Kulke demonstrates in his Introduction to this book - which consists of all the major essays on this important theme - several basic forms of the State can be isolated. Although the notion of 'centralized empire' still dominates the historiography, alternative models such as 'the segmentary state' and 'the patrimonial state' have given rise to productive debates.
The basic contention of this study is that the colonial rule had far more serious consequence than it has been realized. It radically transformed the nature of the Islamic societies of Egypt and Muslim India to that of an ‘Islamicate’societies. This affected the religious, cultural, social, and legal aspects including ethnic and minority relations, gender relations and even their educational system. The phrase ‘Islamicate’ is here borrowed from Marshall Hodgson, who used it in his The Ventures of Islam to indicate the changes that took place due to the modernization under the impact of the West and colonial rule. However, our investigation takes it into a different direction, demonstrating how and what ways this phenomenon of the ‘Islamicate’ has changed the Islamic identity of Egypt and Muslim India. This study analyzes varied aspects such as religious, social, cultural, legal, and other aspects of the Egyptian and Muslim Indian societies through the mechanisms of change that the colonial rule brought to them.
This book focuses on the relation between technology, warfare and state in South Asia in the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries. It explores how gunpowder and artillery played a pivotal role in the military ascendancy of the East India Company in India. The monograph argues that the contemporary Indian military landscape was extremely dynamic, with contemporary indigenous polities (Mysore, the Maratha Confederacy and the Khalsa Kingdom) attempting to transform their military systems by modelling their armies on European lines. It shows how the Company established an edge through an efficient bureaucracy and a standardised manufacturing system, while the Indian powers primarily focused on continuous innovation and failed to introduce standardisation of production. Drawing on archival records from India and the UK, this volume makes a significant intervention in our understanding of the rise of the British Empire in South Asia. It will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of history, especially military history, military and strategic studies and South Asian studies.
China, India, and East and Southeast Asia: Assessing Sustainability provides unprecedented analyses by regional experts and scholars elsewhere in the world on China, India, and their neighbors. Despite growing demands internally on their natural resources (China and India alone are home to more than one-third of the world's population), the expanding global economic influence of this region makes these countries vital players in a sustainable future for all citizens of the Earth. Regional coverage includes topics such as business and commerce, environmental and corporate law, and lifestyles and values.