At the time of his death BURTON STEIN was Professorial Research Associate in History at the School of oriental and African Studies, London. He had previously held professorships at the universities of Minnesota and Hawaii. His publications included Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India (1980) and Thomas Munro: The Origins of the Colonial State and his Vision of Empire (1989). DAVID ARNOLD is Professor of Asian and Global History at the University of Warwick. His publications include The Problem of Nature (Blackwell, 1996) and Gandhi (2001).

• List of Illustrations viiiList of Maps xSeries Editor’s Preface xiIntroduction to Burton Stein’s A History of India xivAcknowledgements to First Edition xxiiPart I 11 Introduction 7The Physical Setting 8The Social Setting 14Resituating Communities and States 21Historian’s Choice 35Part II Ancient India 37Chronology 382 Ancient Days 39The Pre-formation of Indian Civilization 39Vedic Culture 46Political and Religious Developments 53Religion in the Later Vedic Period 59The Nature of the Mauryan Kingdom 68Towards the Classical Pattern 75Early Hinduism 79Developments in the South 84The Age of the Early Empires 85The Gupta Classical Pattern 90The Classical Pattern Elaborated and Extended: the South 96Part III Medieval and Early Modern India 103Chronology 1043 Medieval India 105Introduction 105Medieval Kingdoms 110The Role of the Southern Kingdoms 124The Advent of Islam 129The Indian Development of Islam 138The Deccan and the South 146Vijayanagara 147States and Communities 1504 Early Modern India 155Introduction 155The Mughal Empire 159The Wars of the Mughal Succession 171The Last Act of the Mughals 179The Maratha Moment 185The Shadow of Europe 1935 The East India Company 196Introduction 196The Joint Trajectory of Development 201The Company Perpetuates the Past 211The Emergence of a New Order 215Mutiny and Revolt 222Late Company Rule 223Part IV Contemporary South Asia 225Chronology 2266 The Crown Replaces the Company 227The Contemporary State 227After the Mutiny 229The Rule of the Raj 239The Political Economy of the Late Nineteenth Century 247Cultural Change, Education and New Classes 253The Politicization of Class, Caste and Gender 2627 Towards Freedom 274Two Types of Nationalism 274Early Congress and Its Adversaries 277War, Sacrifice and Mass Political Mobilization 287Imperialism’s Paradoxical Enemy 289The First Campaigns 294Between Campaigns 299Conditions for a New Politics 3068 Gandhi’s Triumph 308Civil Disobedience 308The Left in Politics 325The Right Prevails 332War and the Last Act Begins 338The Bitter Victory of Partition 3489 New States, Old Nations 357Territorial Passage 357The Promises of Independence 358Pakistan in Parallel 368The Green Revolution: Promise of Plenty 376Environmental Problems, Old and New 377The Condition of Women: Broken Promises 384Communal Politics: Shattered Pluralism 388India and the World 393Promises Kept, Promises Broken 39610 Another India 398The Nehruvian Consensus 399Eroding Consensus 402Failure on the Left 406Hindu Nationalism 409Rise of the Hindu Right 410Economic Liberalization 413The Indian State 417Notes 421Glossary of Non-English Terms 425Further Reading 430Index 435

Reviews of first edition"A powerful and coherent interpretation of the grand sweep of India's past ... It is a 'must read' for all serious students of India regardless of their discipline and/or chronological focus." History. "What impresses is Stein's ability to take the long view of Indian history and to develop his analysis across so many centuries and through such diverse material. It is also a mark of his achievement that his book stimulates discussion of matters that he has touched on only fleetingly himself, for it is an argument as much as an account of events." Times Higher Education Supplement. "A History of India is clearly superior to its predecessors ... The fact that Stein was willing to put forward so many provocative formulations is itself a virtue. The text itself is likely to stimulate interesting discussions in classes, something that most predecessors did not even attempt to achieve ... in its paperback version this book might be seen by many teachers as the solution to their text dilemma." The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.