"An authority on thousands of years of India's past, Thapar has a rare and special perspective on the country it was and the country it is becoming." -Financial Times Winner of the Kluge Prize Romila Thapar presents a sweeping survey of the historical traditions of North India, revealing a deep consciousness of history embedded in classical Indian literature. The claim, often made, that India-uniquely among civilizations-lacks historical writing distracts us from a more pertinent question, according to Romila Thapar: how to ...
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"An authority on thousands of years of India's past, Thapar has a rare and special perspective on the country it was and the country it is becoming." -Financial Times Winner of the Kluge Prize Romila Thapar presents a sweeping survey of the historical traditions of North India, revealing a deep consciousness of history embedded in classical Indian literature. The claim, often made, that India-uniquely among civilizations-lacks historical writing distracts us from a more pertinent question, according to Romila Thapar: how to recognize the historical sense of societies whose past is recorded in ways very different from European conventions. In The Past Before Us, a distinguished scholar of ancient India guides us through a panoramic survey of the historical traditions of North India. Thapar reveals a deep and sophisticated consciousness of history embedded in the diverse body of classical Indian literature. The history recorded in such texts as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata is less concerned with authenticating persons and events than with presenting a picture of traditions striving to retain legitimacy and continuity amid social change. Spanning an epoch of nearly twenty-five hundred years, from 1000 BCE to 1400 CE, Thapar delineates three distinct historical traditions: an Itihasa-Purana tradition of Brahman authors; a tradition composed mainly by Buddhist and Jaina scholars; and a popular bardic tradition. The Vedic corpus, the epics, the Buddhist canon and monastic chronicles, inscriptions, regional accounts, and royal biographies and dramas are all scrutinized afresh-not as sources to be mined for factual data but as genres that disclose how Indians of ancient times represented their own past to themselves.
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
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New. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 784 p. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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Fine. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 784 p. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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New. The claim that India uniquely lacks historical writing distracts us from a more pertinent question: how to recognize the historical sense of societies whose past is recorded in ways very different from European conventions. The author, distinguished scholar of ancient India, provides a panoramic survey of historical traditions in North India. Num Pages: 736 pages, maps. BIC Classification: 1FKA; HBAH; HBJF; HBLA. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 145 x 209 x 48. Weight in Grams: 996. 2013. Hardcover.....We ship daily from our Bookshop.
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Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
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Very Good-in Very Good-dust jacket. 9780674725232. Scratch in front cover, otherwise text clean and solid; taped cut in dust jacket at same place; 8vo 8"-9" tall; 784 pages.