Matkaopas historiaan: Intia

by Sinharaja Tammita-Delgoda, Anne Toppi (Translator), Kirsi Kankaansivu (Translator)

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.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, India, Travel

293 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Stephen Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm very hard to please when it comes to history books. If it's not a textbook, I tend to easily find numerous faults with the authors and the structure presented to me. A Traveller's History of India managed to hold my attention, have a good structure, and be written by someone who can speak concisely (which in my experience is incredibly rare.)

It's as Traveller's History, so the point isn't to replace a real book dedicated to one specific person or era, but rather to provide an overview of all the major events within the region. In this regard, I feel like the author did an amazing job, as it is difficult to fit thousands of years of history into just 200-ish pages.

Overall, the book was incredibly fun to read. The history presented was nothing short of fascinating and I loved every section that was included. My only gripes are that the maps (bonus points for providing maps btw) were a little difficult to read and that the southern region of India wasn't as heavily focused on as the Punjab-Rajastan-Central Deccan regions... but again it's a brief history and enough was provided about the south that it sparked an interest in me to learn more. I'd heavily recommend this for almost anyone wanting to learn more about the subcontinent.

[Evaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mainio pikakurssi Intian historiasta siitä juuri mitään tietämättömälle.

[Ananya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

[S K Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than the China book in the same series.

[Ac · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very very short history of India that nevertheless gives the reader a concise overview of the major points in India's history.

[Sarah Brandel · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall, this book does a good job of presenting a ton of information in a few pages.

[Shishir · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise and well written relatively unbiased version of Indias past - Chronological