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Ranabir Chakravarti Exploring Early India Up to c. AD 1300 , 2013

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DOI: 10.1080/02666030.2014.892374

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Suchandra Ghosh
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Ranabir Chakravarti Exploring Early India Up to c. AD

1300, 2013
a
Suchandra Ghosh
a
Department of Ancient Indian History & Culture, University of Calcutta
Published online: 25 Mar 2014.

To cite this article: Suchandra Ghosh (2014) Ranabir Chakravarti Exploring Early India Up to c. AD 1300, 2013, South Asian
Studies, 30:1, 103-104, DOI: 10.1080/02666030.2014.892374

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 South Asian Studies, 2014
Vol. 30, No. 1, 103–104
BOOK REVIEW
Ranabir Chakravarti, Exploring Early India Up to c.
AD 1300, 2013 (second edition), Macmillan,
New Delhi, pp. 1–412, Rs. 305
In the recent past our understanding of early India has
been enriched by the publication of Romila Thapar’s
Early India from the Origins to c. AD 1300 (2002), R.
S. Sharma’s India’s Ancient Past (2007), and Upinder
Singh’s A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India
(2007). The popularity of these three books among
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students, teachers, scholars, and general readers is indi-
cative of the growing interest in early Indian history.
Exploring Early India Up to c. AD 1300 by Ranabir
Chakravarti makes an important addition to these stu-
dies. Although the book was first published in 2010, the
revised second edition published in 2013 is the subject
of this review.
In order to reveal the ways in which our past is
constructed, the author has purposely emphasized pri-
mary source materials. Providing a window to the world
of primary sources is indeed a necessity considering
how the multiple possible readings of sources shape
our understanding of history. Thus, Exploring Early
India is a rich and balanced medley of textual, art
historical, epigraphic, and numismatic sources, as well
as field archaeological evidence. Here the monograph
stands out from earlier works on the subject.
Chakravarti is aware that the problem of periodiza-
tion and chronological frameworks is central to the
writing of a survey of history. He includes a discussion
on periodization in the introduction, and follows the
accepted broad chronology of early Indian history.
However, within the chronological bracket,
Chakravarti has given a different terminology for the
chapters, which sets the stage for further exploration.
Each of the book’s seven chapters is sectioned and sub-
sectioned to allow for the dissemination of detailed
information and reappraisal and discussion, and each
is followed by a reading list. The main chapters include
‘a) From the Beginning of Human Presence to the First
Civilization (up to c. 1500 BC)’, ‘b) India During the
Days of the Vedic Corpus (c. 1500–600 BC)’, ‘c)
Mahajanapadas, Urban Centres and Heterodox
Religious Movements (c. 600–300 BC)’, ‘d) The
Maurya Empire (c. 325–185 BC)’, ‘e) Confrontations,
Commerce and Cultural Scenario (c. 200 BC–AD
300)’, ‘f) A Political, Social and Cultural Overview:
The Epoch of the Guptas and their Contemporaries
(AD 300–600)’, and ‘g) Realms and Regions: Profiles
of Economy, Society and Culture (c. AD 600–1300)’.
Chakravarti moves away from the tradition of hav-
ing a separate chapter on sources. Instead, he discusses
relevant sources, and their related historiographical
issues, within each chapter. This helps the reader to
understand the changing nature of the sources. In addi-
tion, it highlights the role that new findings and inter-
pretations play in the production and recognition of
historical processes. Situating prevailing historical
debates in their contexts, Exploring Early India presents
balanced assessments and a nuanced yet lucid account
of India’s past.
Within a limited space it is not possible to delve
deeply into all the chapters, but a general framework of
the chapters may be presented. Justice has been done to
the first two chapters by incorporating recent research.
For the rest, it is to be noted that there is no attempt to
give a dynastic history; instead there is a detailed dis-
cussion of political history and polities. Considering
Ranabir Chakravarti’s area of specialization, it is but
natural that socio-economic history, which includes
trade and urbanization, receives greater attention.
However, sufficient focus has also been given to reli-
gion, art, and architecture. The linkage and interaction
between political and socio-economic history has been
clearly stated in the book.
Although the author has tried to give each section a
balanced treatment, at times this did not work. For
example, within the sub-section on art and architecture
in the chapter ‘Realms and Region’, we find that more
thrust is on architecture than on regional variations in
sculptural traditions, and paintings are not discussed at
all. Similarly, in the previous chapter, which deals with
the chronological period 300–600 CE, the author gives
one paragraph to the paintings of Ajanta but makes no
mention of nearby Bagh. Finally, in the chapter related
to the post-Mauryan period, the author has discussed
the art styles of well-known centers, such as Gandhara,
Mathura, and Amaravati, but does not refer to places
like Sanghol, which has come into the limelight over
the past two decades for its stupa and its extraordinary
sculptures created in Mathura style.
Nonetheless, it goes to the author’s credit that he has
successfully highlighted the important facets of each per-
iod. While earlier historiography dismissed the post-
 104 Book Review
Mauryan period as a dark age, the nomenclature
‘Confrontation, Commerce and Cultural Scenario’ to des-
ignate the period between c. 200 BCE to 300 CE is extre-
mely appropriate. Important evidence for the religious
context, viz. the coins of Agathocles (c. second century
BCE) from Ai Khanoum in Afghanistan (found in the
1970s) showing probably the earliest anthropomorphic
depictions of Vasudeva Krishna and Sankarshana, has not
been missed. Again Chakravarti’s treatment of Kharavela is
noteworthy. The repeated attack on Magadha has been
rightfully suggested by him as a Kalingan reaction to and
retaliation against long Magadhan dominance over it.
Another important element is the use of numismatic issues
and currency patterns for understanding political history.
One of the most scholarly chapters is that on the
Mauryas. Chakravarti’s ability to handle a variety of
sources helped him to write a succinct narrative on
the Mauryas. The discussions of the centuries between
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300 and 600 CE touch upon all the major aspects of the
period. Chakravarti has even carefully projected Romila
Thapar’s study on the transformation that took place in
the portrayal of Shakuntala from the Mahabharata to
Kalidasa. In the final chapter, he clearly drove home the
notion that it is futile to see the period 600–1300 CE in
the light of competing polities; rather, the period should
be viewed in terms of regional creativity and identity
dispelling all signs of crises in various facets of life.
Finally, it can be said that the author has pre-
sented an exhaustive yet reader friendly narrative by
bringing together information from the pioneering
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works up to the most recent research, including his
own. The attempt to bring forth multiple perspec-
tives of India’s past and move beyond well-defined
and normative texts is quite clear. This book is more
than a textbook. It has not been written following
any particular curriculum. Yet teachers could use
this book to ignite among their students an interest
for early India. Although it contains an exhaustive
bibliography, websites for further references and
reading would have made a useful supplement to
the narrative. The reviewer only feels that the pub-
lisher Macmillan could have been a little more car-
ing in the production of the book; the beautiful
pictures needed to be printed on better quality
paper. The author has provided maps which are
extremely useful. To provide an overview of the
early history of the subcontinent is an extremely
onerous task which has been accomplished by the
author. The intended readers, students, teachers, and
scholars of early Indian history, will all benefit from
Ranabir Chakravarti’s scholarly oeuvre.
Suchandra Ghosh
Associate Professor,
Department of Ancient Indian History & Culture,
University of Calcutta
suchandra64@gmail.com
© 2014, Suchandra Ghosh
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02666030.2014.892374