The Historian and her Craft

Romila Thapar is Professor Emeritus of History at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She has researched and written extensively on early Indian history including its historiography-both as written in those times and as in the present. In 2008 she was awarded the John W. Kluge Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Study of Humanity.

• Volume I - Ideology, Theory, and HistoryIntroduction to the Set - Romila ThaparIntroduction to the Volume - Neeladri BhattacharyaDecolonising History1. Ideology and the Interpretation of Early Indian History2. Early India: An Overview3. The Decolonization of History: Early IndiaMarxism, Sociology and the writing of History4. Durkheim and Weber on Theories of Society and Race Relating to Pre-colonial India5. The Contribution of D.D. Kosambi to IndologyWriting the Region6. Regional History: The Punjab7. Regional History with Reference to the KonkanSecularism and the Writing of History8. Imagined Religious Communities? Ancient History and the Modern Search for a Hindu Identity9. Secularism and History10. The Historiography of the Concept of 'Aryan'11. The Tyranny of LabelsThe Question of Historical Consciousness12. Society and Historical Consciousness: The Itihasa-purana Tradition13. Was There Historical Writing in Early India?Narrative - An History14. A Historical Perspective on the Story of Rama15. Sakuntala: Histories of a Narrative16. Somanatha: Narratives of a HistoryRomila Thapar in conversation with Neeladri BhattacharyaIndexVolume II - Pre-Mauryan and Mauryan IndiaIntroduction to the Volume - Kumkum RoyStarting Up1. A Possible Identifi cation of Meluhha, Dilmun and Makan2. Society in Ancient India: The Formative PeriodArchaelogy and Texts3. The Rigveda: Encapsulating Social Change4. The Archaeological Background to the Agnicayana Ritual5. Archaeological Artifacts and Literary Data: An Attempt at Co-relationState and Empire6. The Evolution of the State in the Ganga Valley in the Mid-first Millennium BC7. The Early History of Mathura: Up to and Including the Mauryan Period8. Towards the Definition of an Empire: The Mauryan State9. State Weaving-Shops of the Mauryan PeriodInscriptions10. Asoka and Buddhism as Reflected in the Asokan Edicts11. Raya Asoko from Kanaganahalli: Some Thoughts12. Literacy and Communication: Some Thoughts on the Inscriptions of AsokaBeyond the Empire13. Epigraphic Evidence and Some Indo-Hellenistic Contacts during the Mauryan Period14. Text and Context: Megasthenes and the Seven Castes15. The Role of the Army in the Exercise of Power in Early IndiaRomila Thapar in conversation with Kumkum RoyIndexVolume III - Social and Cultural TransactionsIntroduction to the volume - Rajan GurukkalLooking at Epics1. The Historian and the Epic2. Some Aspects of the Economic Data in the Mahabharata3. Dana and Daksina as Forms of Exchange4. The Ramayana: Theme and VariationThe Hero5. Death and the Hero6. As Long as the Moon and the Sun EndureGenealogies and Claims to Status7. Genealogical Patterns as Perceptions of the Past8. Origin Myths and the Early Indian Historical Tradition9. Clan, Caste and Origin Myths in Early India10. The Mouse in the AncestryIndia and Europe in Early Times11. The Image of the Barbarian in Early India12. Indian Views of Europe: Representations of the Yavanas in Early Indian History13. Black Gold: South Asia and the Roman Maritime TradeRomila Thapar in conversation with Rajan GurukkalIndexVolume IV - Religion and SocietyIntroduction to the volume - Kunal Chakrabarti Exploring New Ideas1. Sacrifice, Surplus, and the Soul2. Ideology, Society and the Upani?ads3. Ethics, Religion and Social Protest in the First Millennium BC in Northern India4. The Oral and the Written in Early IndiaThe Social Role of the Renouncer5. Dissent and Protest in the Early Indian Tradition6. Renunciation: The Making of a Counter-Culture?7. The Householder and the Renouncer in the Brahmanical and Buddhist Traditions8. Millenarianism and Religion in Early IndiaInclusion and Exile9. The Puranas: Heresy and the Vamsanucarita10. Exile and the Kingdom: Some Thoughts on the 'Ramayana'11. Perceiving the Forest: Early IndiaReligion as an Aspect of Politics12. Syndicated HinduismForms of Patronage-Old and New13. Cultural Transaction and Early India: Tradition and Patronage14. Patronage and the Community15. The Museum and History16. The Museum ExperienceRomila Thapar in conversation with Kunal Chakrabarti Index