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Matkaopas historiaan: Intia
Intialla on syytä ylpeyteen: maan sivilisaatio lukeutuu maailman vanhimpiin, monimutkaisimpiin ja lumoavimpiin, ja se ulottuu yli 4 000 vuoden taakse. Egyptin ja Mesopotamian ohella intia on itse asiassa yksi sivilisaation kehdoista ja monet siellä kehittyneet filosofiat ja uskonnot ovat nykyisin yhtä houkuttelevampia ja kiehtovampia, ehkäpä juuri länsimaalaisista. Yhdessä suhteessa Intia on kuitenkin ainutlaatuinen. Muinaisen Egyptin ja Mesopotamian nykyiset perilliset ovat menettäneet täysin kosketuksen maissa tuhansia vuosia sitten kukoistaneisiin sivilisaatioihin, mutta Intiassa yhteys menneisyyteen on kuitenkin säilynyt ja on aina läsnä.
Hätkähdyttävät, toisinaan järkyttävät vastakohtaisuudet, jotka Intia ulkomaalaiselle näyttää, ovat osa maan pysyvää viehätystä. Matkailijalle ja historian ystävälle Intia ja sen historia ovat sekä innoituksen lähde että haaste. Pelkästään Intian kulttuurin runsaus, sen laaja kirjo ja usein häikäisevät värit ovat kiehtoneet ulkomaalaisia sukupolvi toisensa perään.
Traveller's history: Intia on asiantunteva, kokonaisvaltainen, ja lajissaan ainutlaatuinen esitys Intian vaiheista esihistoriasta aina nykyaikaan saakka. Teoksen kirjoittaja SinhaRaja Tammita-Delgoda on onnistunut luomaan teokseen oivallisen kokonaisuuden Intian historian vaiheista, jossa asiat eivät esiinny irrallisina elementteinä vaan tukevat esityksen kokonaisuutta. Näin lukijalle avautuu näköalapaikka yhteen maailman monimuotoisimman kansakunnan vaiheisiin eri aikakausina, joka hakee vertaistaan maailman historiassa.
Hätkähdyttävät, toisinaan järkyttävät vastakohtaisuudet, jotka Intia ulkomaalaiselle näyttää, ovat osa maan pysyvää viehätystä. Matkailijalle ja historian ystävälle Intia ja sen historia ovat sekä innoituksen lähde että haaste. Pelkästään Intian kulttuurin runsaus, sen laaja kirjo ja usein häikäisevät värit ovat kiehtoneet ulkomaalaisia sukupolvi toisensa perään.
Traveller's history: Intia on asiantunteva, kokonaisvaltainen, ja lajissaan ainutlaatuinen esitys Intian vaiheista esihistoriasta aina nykyaikaan saakka. Teoksen kirjoittaja SinhaRaja Tammita-Delgoda on onnistunut luomaan teokseen oivallisen kokonaisuuden Intian historian vaiheista, jossa asiat eivät esiinny irrallisina elementteinä vaan tukevat esityksen kokonaisuutta. Näin lukijalle avautuu näköalapaikka yhteen maailman monimuotoisimman kansakunnan vaiheisiin eri aikakausina, joka hakee vertaistaan maailman historiassa.
293 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 22, 2016
I added this book to Good Reads, and discovered it was my 1000th book, a figure that seemed to deserved some sort of notice.
As the title suggests, it's a traveller's history, a compact book intended to be read by foreigners travelling to India, and taken along for reference when there. It has a gazetteer of historic towns mentioned in the text, with indications of what can be found there, in addition to a brief outline of Indian history. I'm unlikely to visit India in my lifetime, so it won't serve its purpose for me, but I nevertheless found it an interesting account.
It did, however leave me with some questions. Though the author is himself a foreigner (Sri Lankan) and so sees India with an outsider's eye, he seems to adopt a north India point of view, and the south is only mentioned in connection with attempts by the north to conquer it.
He mentions the Aryan invasions (which many Hindu nationalists dispute) but says little about the people that the Aryans found when they invaded, other than that they tended to become members of the lower castes as Hinduism developed. It would have been interesting to know how this worked out in the south, where the Aryans barely penetrated.
There are also gaps in the story of the development of languages and religion. It appears that Sanskrit was brought by the Aryan invaders, but the Buddhist scriptures were mostly written in Pali, and won wonders where that came from, and somehow both got replaced by Hindi somewhere along the line.
Obviously one can't fit everything into a small book, but a few extra paragraphs on these topics would only have added about 5-1o pages to the book.
As the title suggests, it's a traveller's history, a compact book intended to be read by foreigners travelling to India, and taken along for reference when there. It has a gazetteer of historic towns mentioned in the text, with indications of what can be found there, in addition to a brief outline of Indian history. I'm unlikely to visit India in my lifetime, so it won't serve its purpose for me, but I nevertheless found it an interesting account.
It did, however leave me with some questions. Though the author is himself a foreigner (Sri Lankan) and so sees India with an outsider's eye, he seems to adopt a north India point of view, and the south is only mentioned in connection with attempts by the north to conquer it.
He mentions the Aryan invasions (which many Hindu nationalists dispute) but says little about the people that the Aryans found when they invaded, other than that they tended to become members of the lower castes as Hinduism developed. It would have been interesting to know how this worked out in the south, where the Aryans barely penetrated.
There are also gaps in the story of the development of languages and religion. It appears that Sanskrit was brought by the Aryan invaders, but the Buddhist scriptures were mostly written in Pali, and won wonders where that came from, and somehow both got replaced by Hindi somewhere along the line.
Obviously one can't fit everything into a small book, but a few extra paragraphs on these topics would only have added about 5-1o pages to the book.
June 5, 2018
Mainio pikakurssi Intian historiasta siitä juuri mitään tietämättömälle.
May 17, 2023
Interesting
January 22, 2009
A very very short history of India that nevertheless gives the reader a concise overview of the major points in India's history.
February 2, 2010
As mortified as I am to say this...I had to force myself to finish this book. For whatever reason, it wasn't nearly as engrossing as A Traveller's History of Egypt.
February 23, 2010
Overall, this book does a good job of presenting a ton of information in a few pages.
May 27, 2012
A concise and well written relatively unbiased version of Indias past - Chronological
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews