India: Historical Beginnings and the Concept of the Aryan

by Romila Thapar

The four essays in this volume provide fresh insights into the beginnings of Indian History, once a straight forward story, now replete with complex and controversial arguments. Setting out the parameters of the problems involved, the essays look at four different aspects that have gone into the understanding of what is now called the Aryan and Aryan culture. Unpacking a range of new evidence- archaeological, linguistic, anthropological and historical- the book also argues for a comparative study of various societies that co-existed during the period and their mutual interactions.

A major contribution to historiography, the book with essays by Romila Thapar, Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, Madhav M Deshpande and Shereen Ratnagar, familiarises the reader with a broad spectrum of current scholarly discussions on the issue.

Genres: History

201 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Romila Thapar is an Indian historian and Professor Emeritus at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

A graduate from Panjab University, Dr. Thapar completed her PhD in the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.

Her historical work portrays the origins of Hinduism as an evolving interplay between social forces. Her recent work on Somnath examines the evolution of the historiographies about the legendary Gujarat temple.

Thapar has been a visiting professor at Cornell University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the College de France in Paris. She was elected General President of the Indian History Congress in 1983 and a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy in 1999.