Customer Reviews

A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century

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This is the most comprehensive and well written book on Ancient and Medieval Indian History that I have seen. Starting from the Stone Age and going up to the 12th century this is an excellent reference book, both for the student as well as for the general public. Well illustrated with color maps, photographs and figures, the book is printed and bound beautifully. Regarding the organization of the chapters let me quote from the book:

"Each chapter constitutes a chronological unit within a larger framework, providing a comprehensive overview of historical issues and details, and constructing profiles of the various geographical regions in the sub continent. The chapter outline provides a view of the broad organization of the chapter. An opening story from a variety of sources serves as an engaging start for the chapter and also presents a strand from the rich thematic core of the chapter's discussion."

I can't put it any better, but can only confirm it is not at all an exaggeration and each chapter looks like an art of work! The links to the early Indian literature, the tools, coins, inscriptions and other archeological evidence, external sources, later scientific interpretations of the evidence, and new directions of research are so well covered in each chapter than one cannot ask for anything more.

The book is expensive (Rs.3,500 in India and over $120 in U.S) but well worth it for the serious student of Indian History. I was also told that the author is the daughter of the India's prime minister, Mr.Manmohan Singh. I have not cross checked that, but anyway all Indians can be proud of Upinder Singh's contribution.

This comprehensive book covers many topics over a very long time span in a fair amount of detail. Topics covered include language, religion, ancient texts, writing scripts, archaeological sites, food production, and more. This work provides detail about a topic in the context of the time and place, thereby providing a sense of how it came about and who the people were. If you are interested in India from the macro perspective, this book is for you. It is a beautiful book, well written, with an incredible amount of information.

This is basically a textbook, and needs to be compared to other textbooks. On that scale it comes out very well indeed.One common problem with textbooks is that the writers get nervous about potential criticism from other experts. In that state of mind, writers start qualifying their statements to the point that the presentation gets very muddy.

Upinder Singh's writing, on the other hand, is clear as a bell. Any halfway interested reader will not be put off by her prose but drawn in. Given the difficulties of writing about ancient India, this is a remarkable achievement.