Cover: The Past Before Us: Historical Traditions of Early North India, from Harvard University PressCover: The Past Before Us in HARDCOVER

The Past Before Us

Historical Traditions of Early North India

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HARDCOVER

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$70.00 • £60.95 • €63.95

ISBN 9780674725232

Publication Date: 11/04/2013

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784 pages

5-1/2 x 8-1/4 inches

7 maps

Not for sale in Indian subcontinent

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  • [List of] Maps and Tables*
  • Preface
  • Acknowledgements
  • Abbreviations
  • Part I: The Search for a Historical Tradition
    • 1. Searching for Early Indian Historical Writing
    • 2. Towards Historical Traditions
  • Part II: The Embedded Tradition
    • 3. Fragmentary Narratives from the Vedas
    • 4. The Mahābhārata
    • 5. The Rāmāyaṇa
  • Part III: Interlude: The Emerging Historical Tradition
    • 6. Genealogies in the Making of a Historical Tradition: The Vaṃśānucarita of the Viṣṇu Purāṇa
    • 7. Early Inscriptions as Historical Statements (Up to c. the Sixth Century AD)
    • 8. History as Literature: The Plays of Viśākhadatta
  • Part IV: Alternative Histories
    • 9. The Buddhist Tradition: Monks as Historians
    • 10. The Monastic Chronicles of Sri Lanka
    • 11. Buddhist Biographies
  • Part V: The Historical Tradition Externalized
    • 12. Historical Biographies: The Harṣacarita and the Rāmacarita
    • 13. Biographies as Histories
    • 14. Inscriptions as Official Histories—and the Voice of the Bard
    • 15. Vaṃśāvalīs: Chronicles of Place and Person—The Rājataraṅgiṇī
    • 16. The Chamba Vaṃśāvalī
    • 17. The Prabandha-cintāmaṇi
    • 18. Therefore: Looking Back and Looking Forward
  • Bibliography
  • Index
  • * Maps and Tables
    • Maps of Locations of the More Important Places, Clans, and Dynasties
      • 1. Chapter 3
      • 2. Chapter 4
      • 3. Chapter 5
      • 4. Chapter 7
      • 5. Chapter 12
      • 6. Chapter 14
      • 7. Chapters 16 and 17
    • Tables
      • 1. Texts of the Vedic Corpus
      • 2. Abbreviated Descent List
      • 3. Abbreviated Descent List
      • 4. Historical Change Suggested in the Vaṃśānucarita

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