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ANCIENT INDIA: CULTURE OF CONTRADICTIONS
Upinder Singh urges us to abandon simplistic stereotypes and instead think of ancient India in terms of the coexistence of five powerful contradictions-between social inequality and promises of universal salvation, the valorization of desire and detachment, goddess worship and misogyny, violence and non-violence, and religious debate and conflict. She does so using a vast array of sources including religious and philosophical texts, epics, poetry, plays, technical treatises, satire, biographies, and inscriptions, as well as the material and aesthetic evidence of archaeology and art from sites across the subcontinent. Singh's scholarly but highly accessible style, clear explanation, and balanced interpretations offer an understanding of the historian's craft and unravel the many threads of what we think of as ancient Indian culture. This is not a dead or forgotten past but one invoked in different contexts even today. Further, in spite of enormous historical changes over the centuries, the contradictions discussed here still remain.
280 pages, Hardcover
Published October 5, 2021
16 people are currently reading
185 people want to read
About the author
Upinder Singh
28 books149 followersUpinder Singh is an Indian historian and the former head of the History Department at the University of Delhi. She is the dean of faculty and professor of history at Ashoka University. She is also the recipient of the inaugural Infosys Prize in the category of Social Sciences.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 28, 2021
In today’s India, and by ‘today’ I mean the current ideologically bubbling India which shifts and changes according to the changing colours of its people, the term ‘Indian culture’ is used as a weapon of fight to combat any non-ancient field of view. In today’s Hindi-Hindu-Hindutva times, one can be often chided for flouting the ‘bharatiya saanskar’, almost equating the massiveness of our subcontinent into a narrow, unidirectional, conservative opinion. But in real sense, Indian history says otherwise. An educated mind inevitably has to recognise and accept that ancient India was a house full of conflicting ideals, confrontations used to exist on this land like the solid ground co-exists with liquid water. This book’s stance lies in the confluences of these contradictions, the muddy banks where the ground touches the water. Upinder Singh means to humbly direct our gaze to these confluences, these areas where contradictions can be happily accepted and therefore, conflicting ideals welcomed.
Singh uses her vast knowledge in the topics she writes about—about the evolution of religion, kinship, iconography and other archaeological study of India—and she punctuates her words with necessary citations, figures and facts. Covering 5 essays—social inequality and universal salvation, desire and detachment, goddess worship and misogyny, violence and non-violence and religious conflicts—Singh studies these conflicts that sprouted across geographical and theological boundaries and hence resulted in giving rise to a land that can boast of harmony in all spheres. At least, that was the kind of India that was meant to be. My favourite of the essays was the one on ‘Goddess worship and misogyny’ where Singh frankly confronts the hypocrisy that lies within utmost devotion in goddess worship, and then keeping women subordinate and dis-empowering them.
Singh’s voice is neutral in majority, she doesn’t visibly fixate on any personal opinions. She majorly writes from the point of view of a historian, examining facts and truth with a keen eye that calls for some necessary analysis.
It is true that the history depicted in this book can be pieced and traced back to other popular aisles of history, but the beauty of the book is in its thought. The amount of foresightedness and strategic organisation that is needed to lay all these conflicts and contradictions side by side and arrange them minutely, is humongous. And through these contrasts, Singh perhaps tries to teach us about the tolerance and ideological harmony that Indians of this age should have, just owing back to where we’ve all come from.
Thanks Aleph Book Company (the publisher) for providing me a copy.
Singh uses her vast knowledge in the topics she writes about—about the evolution of religion, kinship, iconography and other archaeological study of India—and she punctuates her words with necessary citations, figures and facts. Covering 5 essays—social inequality and universal salvation, desire and detachment, goddess worship and misogyny, violence and non-violence and religious conflicts—Singh studies these conflicts that sprouted across geographical and theological boundaries and hence resulted in giving rise to a land that can boast of harmony in all spheres. At least, that was the kind of India that was meant to be. My favourite of the essays was the one on ‘Goddess worship and misogyny’ where Singh frankly confronts the hypocrisy that lies within utmost devotion in goddess worship, and then keeping women subordinate and dis-empowering them.
Singh’s voice is neutral in majority, she doesn’t visibly fixate on any personal opinions. She majorly writes from the point of view of a historian, examining facts and truth with a keen eye that calls for some necessary analysis.
It is true that the history depicted in this book can be pieced and traced back to other popular aisles of history, but the beauty of the book is in its thought. The amount of foresightedness and strategic organisation that is needed to lay all these conflicts and contradictions side by side and arrange them minutely, is humongous. And through these contrasts, Singh perhaps tries to teach us about the tolerance and ideological harmony that Indians of this age should have, just owing back to where we’ve all come from.
Thanks Aleph Book Company (the publisher) for providing me a copy.
August 30, 2024
The rating is due to the concluding paragraphs of each chapter...the balance text tends to meander. And also to the last three pages at the end.
January 5, 2022
As usual Professor Singh makes it easy for us to understand the various cultural & societal values of an ancient time about which we have so little data. She critically analyses historical texts and materials and puts them together for readers to better understand why a movement took place and the ramifications which sometimes last till the modern age.
October 28, 2022
Amazing, detailed exposition for those willing to stick with it. Given the nature and scope of the subject, it can get too heavy too soon.
Although, seems to be too heavy a ready for a layman trying to gain the basic knowledge on Indian culture.
Although, seems to be too heavy a ready for a layman trying to gain the basic knowledge on Indian culture.
December 28, 2022
Of the 4 books of Dr Upinder Singh i have read, this is arguably the weakest.
Firstly it doesnt add much to the discourse - its largely summary of her earlier works thematically - with slight re-interpretation.
The book is divided along four themes - Social inequality (Caste), Love, Gender relations, Violence and Religious freedom/plurality.
If you have been reading and following Dr Singh's work and have good recollections, the ever present politics of this book can be jarring. The author starts with the anecdote of suicide of Dalit activist Rohit Vemula before embarking on the historic analysis of "Caste". jAti-varna Matrix of Ancient India needed more in depth analysis as done for Political violence (in author's previous book on Political Violence in Ancient India). The essay covers all the bases, but fails to enrich an informed reader - while making some unsubstantiated arguments.
eg: Caste in Sangam Era (or lack thereof). While the argument made holds for Vaidika concept of "Varna" it doesnt hold for Caste - a hybrid of jAti-Varna. Isnt jAti-Varna system also an "old kin based" system ? Doesn't it seem more natural to speculate that existing old kin based system merged with Vaidika Varna ? Maybe - maybe not but the author doesn't try to speculate.
The "desire and detachment" essay was refreshing, something i would definitely go back to. The next section "Goddesses and misogyny" covers the religious developments well enough but leaves the Economic("Marxist?") reasons for patriarchy. The role of economics in the patriarchal setup of agrarian and pre-industrialised societies doesn't get more than a brief mention.
The next section, "Violence and Non-Violence" was a summary of her earlier book - good enough, but i would suggest interested parties to read that book - as it goes into the texts while making grand narratives and arguments. As a result the arguments in the previous book stick, this doesn't (though its the same argument). Also some inconsistencies I had not noticed in earlier book came to my notice this time around. While comparing Ashok's ideological espousal of Non-violence to Kautilya's pragmatic approach (one may differ in the labels), the author doesnt fully challenge the above assumption even though it comes up in the text. Following is Kautilya's recommendations for looking after animals.
"If horses under state care were incapacitated by war, disease, or old age, they should receive food for maintenance; those no longer fit to be used in war should be used as stallions for breeding. Veterinarians should tend to elephants suffering as a result of a long journey, disease, work, rut, or old age. Hurting domesticated animals is a punishable offence."
How is looking after incapacitated horses pragmatic?
If one re-reads the subtext, ideology (empathy?) comes up again and again in Kautilya, whereas pragmatism and realpolitik in Ashok - the point the author notices in Ashok but not in Kautiya.
The last section was also enjoyable, if one manages to ignore the often jarring political undertone. The author lets slip a line
"These days, one dare not crack jokes about religion."
Firstly, we cannot compare what we can glean of an ancient society from reconstruction to the documented 21st century realities. While trying to avoid the romantic reconstruction (or for contemporary politics), the author seems to have gone into the same. Yet I enjoyed the information I got from the last section, especially the Kshemendra's satires from ancient Kashmir.
I would recommend the books for those who are really interested in Ancient India, but I would also recommend dozens of other books before this - especially the ones I havent read. Jarring and without original insights (unlike her previous works) I would still rate this book 3/5 for its readability and denseness.
What I had admired about Dr Singh's work till now was her unwillingness to let politics and ideology rear its ugly head in her work - unlike other authors on ancient India (Including new emerging scholarship from the Hindu side). Though what saves the book is the author's unwillingness to make "leaps of faith" - which become foundation for next scholarship - common in Ancient Indian History.
Find full review : https://www.brownpundits.com/2022/12/...
Firstly it doesnt add much to the discourse - its largely summary of her earlier works thematically - with slight re-interpretation.
The book is divided along four themes - Social inequality (Caste), Love, Gender relations, Violence and Religious freedom/plurality.
If you have been reading and following Dr Singh's work and have good recollections, the ever present politics of this book can be jarring. The author starts with the anecdote of suicide of Dalit activist Rohit Vemula before embarking on the historic analysis of "Caste". jAti-varna Matrix of Ancient India needed more in depth analysis as done for Political violence (in author's previous book on Political Violence in Ancient India). The essay covers all the bases, but fails to enrich an informed reader - while making some unsubstantiated arguments.
eg: Caste in Sangam Era (or lack thereof). While the argument made holds for Vaidika concept of "Varna" it doesnt hold for Caste - a hybrid of jAti-Varna. Isnt jAti-Varna system also an "old kin based" system ? Doesn't it seem more natural to speculate that existing old kin based system merged with Vaidika Varna ? Maybe - maybe not but the author doesn't try to speculate.
The "desire and detachment" essay was refreshing, something i would definitely go back to. The next section "Goddesses and misogyny" covers the religious developments well enough but leaves the Economic("Marxist?") reasons for patriarchy. The role of economics in the patriarchal setup of agrarian and pre-industrialised societies doesn't get more than a brief mention.
The next section, "Violence and Non-Violence" was a summary of her earlier book - good enough, but i would suggest interested parties to read that book - as it goes into the texts while making grand narratives and arguments. As a result the arguments in the previous book stick, this doesn't (though its the same argument). Also some inconsistencies I had not noticed in earlier book came to my notice this time around. While comparing Ashok's ideological espousal of Non-violence to Kautilya's pragmatic approach (one may differ in the labels), the author doesnt fully challenge the above assumption even though it comes up in the text. Following is Kautilya's recommendations for looking after animals.
"If horses under state care were incapacitated by war, disease, or old age, they should receive food for maintenance; those no longer fit to be used in war should be used as stallions for breeding. Veterinarians should tend to elephants suffering as a result of a long journey, disease, work, rut, or old age. Hurting domesticated animals is a punishable offence."
How is looking after incapacitated horses pragmatic?
If one re-reads the subtext, ideology (empathy?) comes up again and again in Kautilya, whereas pragmatism and realpolitik in Ashok - the point the author notices in Ashok but not in Kautiya.
The last section was also enjoyable, if one manages to ignore the often jarring political undertone. The author lets slip a line
"These days, one dare not crack jokes about religion."
Firstly, we cannot compare what we can glean of an ancient society from reconstruction to the documented 21st century realities. While trying to avoid the romantic reconstruction (or for contemporary politics), the author seems to have gone into the same. Yet I enjoyed the information I got from the last section, especially the Kshemendra's satires from ancient Kashmir.
I would recommend the books for those who are really interested in Ancient India, but I would also recommend dozens of other books before this - especially the ones I havent read. Jarring and without original insights (unlike her previous works) I would still rate this book 3/5 for its readability and denseness.
What I had admired about Dr Singh's work till now was her unwillingness to let politics and ideology rear its ugly head in her work - unlike other authors on ancient India (Including new emerging scholarship from the Hindu side). Though what saves the book is the author's unwillingness to make "leaps of faith" - which become foundation for next scholarship - common in Ancient Indian History.
Find full review : https://www.brownpundits.com/2022/12/...
January 7, 2023
Prefatory Note: I too wish, much like the author, I had the benefit of time, and hence, my apologies for being brief and sketchy.
This is an important book for two reasons described by its author. First, she says that history - I guess, much like every other discipline - is not meant to be instructive and all well-intended talk about forgetting history and repeating old blunders is too lofty. There is no reason to believe that Boris Johnson was all the wiser for being a biographer of Churchill, or Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee more astute in Nandigram having witnessed the slaughter at Marichajhhappi. To know history is to know where we come from. As Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan wrote, the study of early human society was to see the first, tottering, tentative steps of mankind (the words are not exact but the sense is spot on). Second, Upinder Singh agreeably emphasises on the importance of gleaning history by reading from first-hand sources and texts. In a world where all wisdom is received wisdom from translations in English prose, where Dharmashastras and ancient texts are transcribed by scholars whose grasp of the language is dangerously shaky and tenuous, I cannot think of anything more well-meaning in the study of ancient people speaking in alien tongues.
Alas! She relies on translations, which makes me wonder whether her own knowledge of the ancient sources is derivative and not based on the actual sources. While the book does not burden us with platitudes, much of it is not new and her many ideas seem like trodden paths. There are refreshing exceptions. In the chapter on romance in ancient India, she talks about love graffiti inscribed on the walls of caves by, I presume, romantics, tumescent adolescents & heartbroken ancient Sahirs. I was most fascinated by the section on a certain genre of Tamil poems, abounding with double entendres, implicit meanings and whatnots.
In the passages on women, the historian's probe was sadly defective. There was nothing revelatory, though her observation that these texts, often the work of several individuals over long stretches of time, contained contradicting beliefs and that it was quite difficult to impute a certain slant to the text, even though some stuff contained in them was undeniably twisted, appears reasonable. But the examples were few and did not buttress her arguments. Which is why it appears to me that the book was written in undue haste (it was written during the lockdown) and I will welcome future revisions, where she wholly rewrites at least 3 of the 5 chapters.
This is an important book for two reasons described by its author. First, she says that history - I guess, much like every other discipline - is not meant to be instructive and all well-intended talk about forgetting history and repeating old blunders is too lofty. There is no reason to believe that Boris Johnson was all the wiser for being a biographer of Churchill, or Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee more astute in Nandigram having witnessed the slaughter at Marichajhhappi. To know history is to know where we come from. As Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan wrote, the study of early human society was to see the first, tottering, tentative steps of mankind (the words are not exact but the sense is spot on). Second, Upinder Singh agreeably emphasises on the importance of gleaning history by reading from first-hand sources and texts. In a world where all wisdom is received wisdom from translations in English prose, where Dharmashastras and ancient texts are transcribed by scholars whose grasp of the language is dangerously shaky and tenuous, I cannot think of anything more well-meaning in the study of ancient people speaking in alien tongues.
Alas! She relies on translations, which makes me wonder whether her own knowledge of the ancient sources is derivative and not based on the actual sources. While the book does not burden us with platitudes, much of it is not new and her many ideas seem like trodden paths. There are refreshing exceptions. In the chapter on romance in ancient India, she talks about love graffiti inscribed on the walls of caves by, I presume, romantics, tumescent adolescents & heartbroken ancient Sahirs. I was most fascinated by the section on a certain genre of Tamil poems, abounding with double entendres, implicit meanings and whatnots.
In the passages on women, the historian's probe was sadly defective. There was nothing revelatory, though her observation that these texts, often the work of several individuals over long stretches of time, contained contradicting beliefs and that it was quite difficult to impute a certain slant to the text, even though some stuff contained in them was undeniably twisted, appears reasonable. But the examples were few and did not buttress her arguments. Which is why it appears to me that the book was written in undue haste (it was written during the lockdown) and I will welcome future revisions, where she wholly rewrites at least 3 of the 5 chapters.
January 17, 2024
This is how you write an essay! The author acknowledges the complexity of the issue (Indian history is a mess) and still manages to write something which supports by all means the theory of a “culture of contradictions” without being superficial. And if you want to know more just check the notes!
I especially liked the part on gender relations, and will read more about it.
Ok yes it is true that the essays presented in the book support the views of the author, but those are things everyone can get behind (do not cherry-pick historical event to support political factions, do not idealise the past, research thoroughly etc.)
Wonderful, interesting, and full of ideas for future readings. Cheers Upi!
I especially liked the part on gender relations, and will read more about it.
Ok yes it is true that the essays presented in the book support the views of the author, but those are things everyone can get behind (do not cherry-pick historical event to support political factions, do not idealise the past, research thoroughly etc.)
Wonderful, interesting, and full of ideas for future readings. Cheers Upi!
June 22, 2025
A good overview, focused on five thematic 'tensions', foregrounding social and women's history and issues of religious exchange, with recourse primarily to ancient texts but also material culture.
It reads much like an essay on modern India politics and culture, with each chapter starting with a modern incident and each tension being brought to bear on contemporary Indian politics.
Early on, I was worried it would be too much of a grab-bag approach, but each theme circles back to the same set of texts, making it more coherent.
The thematic nature of the book does risk flattening out dynamics over time or place, and also assumes a fair amount of knowledge to contextualise examples being discussed.
It reads much like an essay on modern India politics and culture, with each chapter starting with a modern incident and each tension being brought to bear on contemporary Indian politics.
Early on, I was worried it would be too much of a grab-bag approach, but each theme circles back to the same set of texts, making it more coherent.
The thematic nature of the book does risk flattening out dynamics over time or place, and also assumes a fair amount of knowledge to contextualise examples being discussed.
October 7, 2024
A subject matter for an expert, aptly chosen and lucidly documented by the indomitable Upinder Singh. The author clearly states upfront that this is a thematic and not a chronological history of India. She presents the amazing comfort with which our ancestors held contesting and often contradicting beliefs breaking the superior-mono-ideological narrative. However, some sections lack coherence in that there is a lack of binding within specific topic and the development of themes is somewhat crude. Regardless, the book is treasure trove for all lovers of ancient Indian history.
January 14, 2022
A brilliantly conceived and deeply engaging book that explores many of the most contentious matters in ancient Indian history. It is insightful, nuanced, judiciously argued, and replete with telling detail. Warmly recommended.
December 14, 2023
Es más básico que el resto de la obra de la autora, pero las tesis son buenas y, para quienes no estén familiarizados con la India, puede ser buen punto de partida para entender algunas características de su cultura
July 18, 2025
An interesting read, Singh provides a broad survey of five contradictions in Ancient Indian history and culture.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews