Upendra Singh Ancient History
Rosalia Kemme
Professor Upinder Singh first made her mark in the field of historical scholarship with an excellent epigraphic study of state and religion in Orissa from the fourth to the twelfth century. She then made a pioneering contribution to ancient urban history in a book on Delhi. Along with her colleague Professor Nayanjot Lahiri of Delhi University, Singh has scaled the distance between ancient and modern history and connected the separate worlds of archaeological and literary sources to provide fresh insights into the modern rediscovery of ancient India. Their work illuminates the intricacies of nineteenth and early twentieth-century archaeology as well as the complexities of ancient Indian history.
Singh's book, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the Twelfth Century (2008), is a magnificent achievement, impressive in realizing its chronological ambitions without making any geographical sacrifices.
She recognizes the role of all of the subcontinent's diverse regional peoples as historical actors in shaping the idea of India. Her work has led historians to rethink the conventional periodization of Indian history.
Her eye for visual detail and her elegant prose have ensured that the best historical research is reaching a wide readership beyond the circle of academic specialists. She has inspired and trained a younger generation of historians to adopt innovative methods in the study of early Indian history. A wonderful historian, Singh is a key figure in rejuvenating the study of early history and archaeology in India.
Professor Upinder Singh completed her Bachelor's degree in History (Honors) from St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi. She followed this with two postgraduate degrees, a Master of Arts in History and an M.Phil. in History, both from the University of Delhi. She completed her Ph.D. at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, with a thesis titled "Kings, Brahmanas, and Temples in Orissa: an epigraphic study (300-1147 CE)".
In 1985, Singh was awarded the Netherlands Government Reciprocal Fellowship to pursue research at the Instituut Kern, Leiden. In 1999, she was awarded the Ancient India and Iran Trust/Wallace India Visiting Fellowship to pursue research in Cambridge and London. During this period, she was also a Visiting Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. Singh is a recipient of the prestigious Daniel Ingalls Fellowship at the Harvard-Yenching Institute, Harvard University (2005).
She is the National Coordinator for History at the Institute of Life Long Learning at the University of Delhi. Currently Professor in the Department of History at the University of Delhi, Singh is engaged in research on the intellectual history of ancient and early medieval Indian history.
Professor Upinder Singh is being recognized for her rich contributions as an outstanding historian of ancient and early medieval India. The depth and breadth of her scholarly research are matched by a rare ability to communicate her findings to a broad audience of students and intellectually curious non-specialists. She has been a pioneer in supplementing literary sources with an impressive array of archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic evidence to brilliantly reconstruct early Indian history. The vast chronological span of her scholarship stretches across millennia from the Paleolithic and Mesolithic ages to 1200 CE.
Equally impressive is the geographical spread of her research, covering all the diverse regions of India. Attentive to regional distinctions, Singh is able to offer an overarching and subtle interpretation of Indian history and culture. As an innovative scholar who enables her readers to re-envision the idea of India, Singh is an ideal recipient of the inaugural Infosys Prize in Social Sciences - History.
Gonda Lecture spoken by Upinder Singh, 10 June 2022. The J. Gonda Foundation supports the scholarly study of Sanskrit, other classical Indian languages and literature, and Indian cultural history. The Foundation organizes the Gonda Lecture every year, which is also published.
Upinder Singh, Professor of History, Ashoka University, Sonepat, India, argues that the fundamental template of ancient Indian political ideology and religious policy was established during the period c. 200 BCE-300 CE through a continuous dialogic process revealed in the manner in which kings inscribed their power on their realm. She does so by drawing on epigraphic evidence to focus on three themes.
The first theme is religion, ideology and historical memory in the Hathigumpha inscription of Khāravela in eastern India. The second is the emergence of Purāṇic Brahmanical kingship in Sātavāhana and western Kṣatrapa inscriptions in the western Deccan. And the third is the extent to which episodes of religious persecution created ruptures in the general pattern of multi-directional and inclusive royal patronage.
Note: Contents data are machine generated based on pre-publication provided by the publisher. Contents may have variations from the printed book or be incomplete or contain other coding.
ContentsPrefaceA Reader's Guide to This Book AcknowledgementsINTRODUCTION: IDEAS OF THE EARLY INDIAN PAST The main physiographic zones of the subcontinent Ways of dividing the Indian pastChanging interpretations of early Indian historyNew histories, unwritten historiesCHAPTER 1: HOW DO WE KNOW ABOUT ANCIENT AND EARLY MEDIEVAL INDIA?Reading ancient texts from a historical point of viewThe classification of literary sources: language, genre and contentBox: Ancient palm leaf manuscriptThe Vedas The Puranas The EpicsBox: Archaeology and the MahabharataBox: The Historical Layers in the RamayanaThe DharmashastraBox: Theory and practice in the DharmashastrasBuddhist literatureBox: Songs of Buddhist nunsJaina literatureSangam literature and later Tamil worksBox: Silappadikaram and ManimekalaiEarly Kannada and Telugu literatureOther ancient texts, biographies and historiesBox: Banabhatta and his royal biographyThe nature of ancient Indian historical traditionsThe accounts of foreign writersBox: Al-Biruni's Tahqiq I HindArchaeology and the early Indian pastBox: Cultural sequence at HastinapuraScientific techniques in archaeologyBox: Some dating methods used in archaeologyInterpreting archaeological evidenceEthno-archaeologyBox: Social and cultural aspects of technologyProtecting sitesEpigraphy: the study of inscriptionsAncient and early medieval scriptsBox: Deciphered and undeciphered scriptsLanguages of ancient and early medieval inscriptionsDating the inscriptionsThe classification of inscriptionsInscriptions as a source of historyBox: Memorializing death in stoneBox: An ancient theatre and an ancient love storyNumismatics: the study of coinsA brief history of Indian coinageCoins as a source of historyBox: Counter-struck coins of the Kshatrapas and SatavahanaConclusionsCHAPTER 2: PALAEOLITHIC AND MESOLITHIC HUNTER-GATHERERSThe geological ages and hominid evolutionBox: What does it mean to be human?Hominid remains in the Indian subcontinentPalaeo-environmentsBox: Water and prehistoric settlements in the TharClassifying the Indian stone ageThe palaeolithic ageLower palaeolithic sitesBox: Stone tools of lower Palaeolithic peopleMiddle palaeolithic sitesBox: The Levallois techniqueUpper palaeolithic sitesBox: Upper palaeolithic toolsBox: Hunter-gatherers of central IndiaPalaeolithic art and cultsBox: The ostrich, its eggs, and their shellsThe life-ways of palaeolithic hunter-gatherersThe Mesolithic ageMesolithic sitesBox: Tiny stone toolsThe magnificence of mesolithic artConclusions CHAPTER 3: THE TRANSITION TO FOOD PRODUCTION: NEOLITHIC, NEOLITHIC-CHALCOLITHIC, AND CHALCOLITHIC CULTURES, C. 7000-2000 BCEThe neolithic age and the beginnings of food productionWhy domestication? The identification of domestication and food production in the archaeological recordBox: The domestication of plantsThe transition to food production in the Indian subcontinentThe earliest village settlements c. 7000-3000 BCEThe north-westThe Vindhyan fringes and other areasNeolithic, neolithic-chalcolithic, and chalcolithic communities c. 3000-2000 BCEThe north and north-west Box: Did people actually live in the Burzahom pitsRajasthanThe Malwa regionThe western DeccanThe middle Ganga plain and eastern IndiaSouth India Box: The mystery of the ash moundsBox: Community feasting at Neolithic BudihalThe life of early farmersChanges in cultic and belief systemsBox: Female figurines - ordinary women or goddessesConclusionsCHAPTER 4: THE HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION(C. 2600-1900 BCE)Civilization and urbanization: Definitions and implicationsBox: Childe's ten-point formulaRecent discoveries and changing perspectivesHarappan, Indus or Sindhu-Sarasvati civilization?Origin: the significance of the early Harappan phaseBox: What's the problem with diffusionist theories?The relationship between the early and mature Harappan phasesThe general features of mature Harappan settlementsProfiles of some Harappan cities, towns and villages The diversity of the Harappan subsistence baseBox: Animal bones at ShikarpurHarappan crafts and techniquesBox: Sculpture in stone and metalBox: How craftsmen made the long carnelian beadsNetworks of tradeBox: Shortughai -- a Harappan trading post in AfghanistanThe nature and uses of writingReligious and funerary practicesBox: The 'fire altars'The Harappan peopleBox: How healthy were the Harappans ?The ruling eliteThe decline of urban lifeBox: Defining a stateThe significance of the late Harappan phaseConclusions CHAPTER 5: THE REGIONS OF THE SUBCONTINENT, C. 2000-500/600 BCE: LITERARY AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROFILESPerspectives from textsUsing the Vedas as a historical sourceBox: The date of the Rig VedaWho were the Indo-Aryans?The culture reflected in the family books of the Rig Veda SamhitaTribes and warsBox: Hymn to arms (Rig Veda Samhita VI.75)Box: Kinship, tribPastoralism, agriculture, and other occupationsVarna in the Rig VedaWomen, men, and the householdBox: The family and the household Religion: sacrifices to the godsBox: Hymn to Indra Rig Veda II. 12Box: The soma plant and its juiceThe historical milieu of later Vedic age textsAspects of every-day lifeThe emergence of monarchyBox: The ceremony of the jewel offeringThe varna hierarchyGender and the household Religion, ritual, and philosophyBox: The Nasadiya hymn (Rig Veda X. 12 The sacrificial ritual of the Brahmana textsBox: The sacrificial arena The UpanishadsBox: The atman, according to Uddalaka AruniPopular beliefs and practicesBox: Atharva Veda spellsArchaeological profiles of different regions of the subcontinent, c. 2000-500 BCENeolithic-chalcolithic and chalcolithic culturesThe north-west and northBox: Mythological motifs on Cemetery-H potteryThe Indo-Gangetic divide, the upper Ganga valley and the doabThe late Harappan phaseThe Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP) cultureThe copper hoardsBox: The copper anthropomorphsThe Black and Red Ware (BRW) phase in the doabBox: The problem of black and red wareWestern IndiaThe middle Ganga valley Eastern IndiaThe north-east The cultural sequence in Central IndiaThe Ahar cultureThe Malwa cultureThe chalcolithic farmers of the DeccanThe late Harappan and Malwa culturesBox: The curious Daimabad bronzesThe Jorwe cultureBox: Food, nutrition and health among the people of InamgaonBox: Goddesses with heads and without headsNeolithic-chalcolithic sites of South IndiaBox: Pictures on stonesFrom copper to iron: Early iron age cultures of the subcontinentA clarification about the Indian megalithsThe north-westThe Indo-Gangetic divide and the upper Ganga valley: The Painted Grey Ware (PGW)culture Box: Painted Grey Ware RajasthanThe middle and lower Ganga valleyCentral IndiaThe DeccanSouth India Box: The enigma of the megalithic anthropomorphsThe impact of iron technologyThe problem of correlating literary and archaeological evidenceConclusionsCHAPTER 6: CITIES, KINGS, AND RENUNCIANTS: EARLY HISTORICAL NORTH INDIA, C. 600-300 BCEThe sources, literary and archaeologicalBox: History from grammarThe 16 great statesThe ganas or sanghasBox: The conflict between the Sakyas and the KosalansBox: Vassakara seeks the Buddha's advice on how to defeat the LichchhavisPolitical conflicts and the growth of the Magadhan empireBox: Ajatashatru's visit to the BuddhaBox: The chronology of the early dynasties of MagadhaThe Persian and Macedonian invasionsBox: The storming of the Malla citadelLand and agrarian expansionFrom village to town: the example of AtranjikheraThe emergence of city-lifeBox: The legendary city of KusavatiArchaeological and literary profiles of early historical citiesThe north-westThe Indo-Gangetic divide, the upper Ganga valley and the doabThe middle and lower Ganga valleyCentral India and the DeccanUrban occupations, crafts, guilds, and moneyThe new social elites: gahapati and setthiTrade, trade routes, tradersClass, kinship, varna and casteBox: Duties in times of distressBox: Varna and jatiGender, the family and the householdBox: Marriage, according to the Grihya sutrasThe renunciatory traditionBox: The Samannaphala suttaThe AjivikasEarly BuddhismThe life of the BuddhaThe Buddha's teachingBox: The analogy of the raftThe Buddhist sangha and the laityBox: The seven kinds of wivesThe social implications of the Buddha's teachingBox: The Agganna Sutta Buddhism and womenBox: The 8 conditions imposed on nunsEarly JainismThe Jaina tirthankaras, Vardhamana MahaviraThe Jaina understanding of realityBox: The liberated manThe discipline of the Jaina monastic order and the laityBox: On not killing earth-bodiesThe social composition of the Jaina sangha and laityBox: The true BrahmanaBox: Malli or MallinathaConclusionsCHAPTER 7: THE MAURYA EMPIRE, C. 321-187 BCEThe major sources for the Maurya periodKautilya's Arthashastra Box: Statistical analysis of word frequencies in the ArthashastraBox: Megasthenes' IndikaBox: The Greeks on the GreeksMegasthenes' IndicaAshoka's inscriptionsBox: The different categories of Ashokan inscriptions and their locationArchaeological and numismatic evidenceThe Maurya dynastyBox: The legends about Ashoka in the AshokavadanaLiterary and archaeological profiles of citiesBox: Pataliputra and the palace according to Arrian and AelianSome aspects of rural and urban lifeBox: References to famine relief in the Mahasthan and Sohgaura inscriptionsThe nature and structure of the Maurya empireBox: Kautilya's daily time-table for a kingBox: The life of a king, according to Megasthenes (via Strabo)Box: Rock edict 6 (Girnar version)Ashoka and BuddhismBox: Minor Rock 1(Rupnath version)Box: The fifth pillar edict (Delhi-Topra pillar)Box: The 13th rock edict (Shahbazgarhi version)Box: Ashoka's assessment of his success The Shar-i-Kuna Greek-Aramaic inscription:Ashoka's dhammaSculpture and architectureBox: Ancient and modern quarries at ChunarBox: The medieval and modern history of the Ashokan pillarsBox: The discovery of an Ashokan stupa at DeorkotharThe decline of the Maurya empireConclusionsCHAPTER 8: CULTURAL INNOVATION AND INTERACTION: C. 200 BCE-300 CEThe political history of North India: The ShungasBox: The Besnagar pillar inscription of HeliodorusThe Indo-Greeks Box: Coins of the Indo-Greek kingsThe Shaka-Pahlavas or Scytho-ParthiansThe KushanasThe Shaka Kshatrapas of western IndiaBox: A lake, a storm and a kingThe Satavahana empire in the DeccanBox: The royal portrait gallery in the Naneghat caveKings and chieftains in the far south: The Cheras, Cholas and PandyasBox: The royal drumVillages and citiesCities of the north-westThe Indo-Gangetic divide and upper Ganga valleyThe middle and lower Ganga valley and eastern IndiaBox: ChandraketugarhCentral and western India Cities and towns of the DeccanBox: Plant remains from SangholCities of the far south Box: Madurai in the MaduraikanchiCrafts and guilds in the subcontinent Box: Guilds as bankersTrade and traders in the subcontinentBox: Why did people travel in ancient times? Long-distance trade Box: The description of Kaveripattinam in the Pattinapalai Box: The Periplus Maris Erythraei (The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea)Trade with East and Southeast AsiaIndo-Roman trade Box: Recent excavations at ArikameduThe wider roles of trade and tradersAspects of social change in north India and the Deccan: varna, caste, gender Box: The Jatakas as a source of social historySociety in early historical South India Box: An ancient Tamil love poem Box: The glorification of a heroic deathPhilosophical developments: astika and nastika schools Box: The Bhagavad GitaLooking at the history of religions beyond the framework of 'isms'The worship of yakshas and yakshis, nagas and nagisGoddesses, votive tanks and shrinesVedic ritualsPuranic HinduismShaivism or ShivaismThe formation of the Vaishnava pantheonShakti worshipThe emergence of Mahayana Buddhism Box: Krishna and Balarama on Agathocles' coins Box: Monastic and lay practices in texts versus inscriptionsThe Digambara-Shvetambara divide in Jainism Religious architecture and sculptureEarly Hindu temples and sculptureBuddhist architectureBuddhist stupas-monasteries of the north-west Stupas of central India - Sanchi and BharhutStupas of Andhra PradeshEarly relief sculpture at Buddhist stupa sitesBuddhist caves in the western ghatsThe Jaina caves at Udayagiri and KhandagiriEarly sculptures from the north-west: the Gandhara schoolEarly stone sculptures from Vidisha and MathuraTerracotta artBox: Gifts of water pots from ancient GandharaBox: The unique donations at BandhogarhConclusionsCHAPTER 9: THE GUPTA EMPIRE AND ITS CONTEMPORARIESC. 300-600 CEPolitical historyThe Gupta dynastyBox: Ramagupta - did he exist?Box: The inscription of king Chandra and the legend of the shakey pillarThe Vakatakas of the DeccanBox: A queen's grantOther dynasties of peninsular IndiaAdministrative structure of the Gupta and Vakataka kingdoms Box: An ancient panchayat?Revenue resources of statesLand ownershipTypes of land, land measures and land tenureRoyal land grantsBox: The land grant deal, according to Vakataka grantsPatterns of urban historyBox: The daily routine of the sophisticated man-about- townCraft production, guilds and tradeAspects of social structure: Gender, forms of labour, slavery and untouchabilityBox: The ganika in Sanskrit kavyaPatterns of religious developments Box: Hari-HaraThe emergence of Tantra Box: The emergence of tantraThe evolution of the Vaishnava pantheonShaivism Box: The various forms of Shiva in the Elephanta caveThe cult of the great goddessThe worship of other deitiesBuddhismBox: Kumarajiva (343-413)JainismA classical age of art?Religious architectureBox: discovery of AjantaSculptureBox: Vishnu rescuing the earth, at Udyaygiri and EranThe classical age of Sanskrit literatureBox: The cloud messengerBox: The NatyashastraAstronomy and and mathematicsMedical knowledgeBox: The ideal hospital, according to CharakaBox: Sushruta on surgeons and surgeryConclusionsCHAPTER 10: EARLY MEDIEVAL INDIA C. 600-1200 CESources, literary and archaeologicalPolitical narrative and political structureBox: The image of the ideal king in inscriptions of OrissaBox: Rudramadevi, the female kingThe Deccan Box: The Aihole inscription of PulakeshinThe far southBox: Death and memorializationBox: Religious and political symbolism in the Tanjavur templeNorth India: The Pushyabhutis, Harshvardhana Box: A Chinese monk in IndiaEastern India Box: Some origin myths of the dynasties of OrissaThe Rajput clans Box: The Tomaras and Delhi in legends and inscriptions Kashmir and the north-west Box: DiddaRoyal land grantsThe political implications of land grantsBrahmana beneficiaries of royal grantsThe nature of brahmadeya settlementsThe impact of Brahmana settlements on agrarian relationsLand grants as part of larger social and cultural processesRural society: regional specificitiesUrban processes in early medieval IndiaSouth Indian states: centralized empires, segmentary states, feudal polities or otherwise? The administrative structure of South Indian kingdomsRural society in early medieval South IndiaIrrigation and cash crop cultivation in the Deccan and the far southUrban processes in South IndiaTrade and traders of South IndiaThe history of religions in early medieval IndiaBuddhism in early medieval IndiaMajor centres of JainismShankara and Advaita VedantaThe Hindu cultsVaishnavism and ShaivismThe Shakti cultSouth Indian Bhakti: The Alvars and NayanarsThe philosophical underpinnings of South Indian bhakti and later developmentsPatronage to templesThe architecture of early medieval templesNagara, Dravida and Vesara stylesThe art and architecture of western India and the DeccanThe architecture and sculpture of the Pallava kingdomThe Chola templesChola metal sculptureConclusionsNote on diacriticsGlossaryBibliographyIndexCreditsAbout the Author