PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
ABBREVIATIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
CHRONOLOGICAL OUTLINE
SCOPE AND METHODS
Special methods needed for Indian history
Available materials
The underlying philosophy
THE HERITAGE OF PRE-CLASS SOCIETY
Prehistoric archaeology
Tribal society
Tribal survivals
The Vetala cult
Higher local cults
Festivals and rites
CIVILIZATION AND BARBARISM IN THE INDUS VALLEY
The Indus cities
Indus trade and religion
Maintenance of a class structure
Food production
THE ARYANS IN THE LAND OF THE SEVEN RIVERS
Aryans outside India
Rgvedic information
Panis and new tribes
Origins of caste
Brahmin clans
THE ARYAN EXPANSION
Aryan as a mode of living
Study of legend and myth
Yajurvedic settlements
The eastward drive
Tribes and dynasties
The mark of primitive tribes
The new brahminism
Beyond brahminism; ritual, food production and trade
The need for a radical change
THE RISE OF MAGADHA
New institutions and sources
Tribes and kingdoms
Kosala and Magadha
Destruction of tribal power
New religions
Buddhism
Appendix: Punch-marked coins
THE FORMATION OF A VILLAGE ECONOMY
The first empire
Alexander and the Greek accounts of India
The Asokan transformation of society
Authenticity of the Arthasastra
The pre-Asokan state and administration
The class structure
Productive basis of the state
INTERLUDE OF TRADE AND INVASIONS
After the Mauryans
Superstition in an agrarian society
Caste and the village; the Manusmrti
Changes in religion
The settlement of the Deccan plateau
Commodity producers and trade
The development of Sanskrit
Social functions of Sanskrit literature
FEUDALISM FROM ABOVE
Early feudal developments
Growth of villages and barbarism
The India of the Guptas and Harsa
Religion and the development of village settlement
The concept of property in land
Mayurasarman's settlement of the west coast
Village craftsmen and artisans
FEUDALISM FROM BELOW
Difference between Indian and English feudalism
The role of trade in feudal society
The Muslims
Change to feudalism from below; slavery
Feudal prince, landlord, and peasant
Degeneracy and collapse
The bourgeois conques
APPENDIX
THE MAKING OF HISTORY [ILLUSTRATIONS]
COMMENTARY TO THE ILLUSTRATIONS
INDEX
