Deepak Lal
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199275793
- eISBN:
- 9780191706097
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199275793.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
This chapter begins with a discussion of the geographical environment of Pre-Aryan India. It then discusses the emergence of pastoralism and agriculture, this is followed by a look at the development ...
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This chapter begins with a discussion of the geographical environment of Pre-Aryan India. It then discusses the emergence of pastoralism and agriculture, this is followed by a look at the development of the Indus valley civilization. This was the first urban civilization on the subcontinent, which was based on the agriculture and animal husbandry of the Indus flood-plain which appears to have been similar to that of recent centuries in the Indus valley.Less
This chapter begins with a discussion of the geographical environment of Pre-Aryan India. It then discusses the emergence of pastoralism and agriculture, this is followed by a look at the development of the Indus valley civilization. This was the first urban civilization on the subcontinent, which was based on the agriculture and animal husbandry of the Indus flood-plain which appears to have been similar to that of recent centuries in the Indus valley.
Dilip K. Chakrabarti
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198069898
- eISBN:
- 9780199080052
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069898.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This book explores how the political history of ancient India has transpired in various geographical orbits, the definition of which has long bothered scholars. Contrary to widely held assumptions, ...
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This book explores how the political history of ancient India has transpired in various geographical orbits, the definition of which has long bothered scholars. Contrary to widely held assumptions, there was no fixed boundary line or ‘divide’. The Oxus-Indus orbit is the most popular and well understood geopolitical orbit. The idea can be attributed to T.H. Holdich in the late nineteenth century, when the question of delineating a permanent border between British India and Afghanistan became a crucial issue. This book explores whether such orbits are fixed entities in our geographical understanding of Indian archaeology and history, or whether they should be considered nothing more than useful concepts to understand the geography of the flow of historical events in India. To address this issue, it is necessary to historically trace the persistence of all such orbits throughout the course of political events in ancient India.Less
This book explores how the political history of ancient India has transpired in various geographical orbits, the definition of which has long bothered scholars. Contrary to widely held assumptions, there was no fixed boundary line or ‘divide’. The Oxus-Indus orbit is the most popular and well understood geopolitical orbit. The idea can be attributed to T.H. Holdich in the late nineteenth century, when the question of delineating a permanent border between British India and Afghanistan became a crucial issue. This book explores whether such orbits are fixed entities in our geographical understanding of Indian archaeology and history, or whether they should be considered nothing more than useful concepts to understand the geography of the flow of historical events in India. To address this issue, it is necessary to historically trace the persistence of all such orbits throughout the course of political events in ancient India.
Dilip Chakrabarti
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198064121
- eISBN:
- 9780199080519
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198064121.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Indian History
The increased pace of archaeological research in recent decades has provided a connected account of the history of prehistoric and early historic India primarily on the basis of archaeology. This ...
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The increased pace of archaeological research in recent decades has provided a connected account of the history of prehistoric and early historic India primarily on the basis of archaeology. This book charts the flow of India's grassroots archaeological history in all its continuities and diversities from its Palaeolithic beginnings to ad 300 when early historic India assumed its basic form. Beginning with the first stone tools in the subcontinent, the book weaves India's archaeological history in all the areas and multiple strands of development till the early historic foundations. It also discusses the basic significance of Indian prehistoric studies, the variegated pattern of the beginning of village life, various issues related to Indus civilization and how the transition to, and consolidation of, the early historical India took place. The historical development of human–natural resource interaction in the subcontinent is also reconstructed in a lucid style.Less
The increased pace of archaeological research in recent decades has provided a connected account of the history of prehistoric and early historic India primarily on the basis of archaeology. This book charts the flow of India's grassroots archaeological history in all its continuities and diversities from its Palaeolithic beginnings to ad 300 when early historic India assumed its basic form. Beginning with the first stone tools in the subcontinent, the book weaves India's archaeological history in all the areas and multiple strands of development till the early historic foundations. It also discusses the basic significance of Indian prehistoric studies, the variegated pattern of the beginning of village life, various issues related to Indus civilization and how the transition to, and consolidation of, the early historical India took place. The historical development of human–natural resource interaction in the subcontinent is also reconstructed in a lucid style.
Denis J. Murphy
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199207145
- eISBN:
- 9780191708893
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207145.003.0011
- Subject:
- Biology, Plant Sciences and Forestry
This chapter focuses on the Indus Valley region and China, where complex agro-urban cultures evolved at about the same time as in the Near East. Wheat and barley farming originated in the Kachhi ...
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This chapter focuses on the Indus Valley region and China, where complex agro-urban cultures evolved at about the same time as in the Near East. Wheat and barley farming originated in the Kachhi Plain at least 9,000 BP and then spread to the Indus Valley. By 5,500 BP, flourishing urban centres had sprung up throughout this vast region. These impressively organized cities were managed by elites without the trappings of power and warfare found in contemporary Mesopotamia. Around 4,000 BP, the Indus Valley civilization was extinguished in what may have been a climate related catastrophe. Chinese agriculture began with broomcorn millet cultivation in the northern Yellow River catchment, but early urban cultures also collapsed around 4,000 BP, possibly due to climate change. In southern China, rice farming possibly started before 10,000 BP in the Yangtze Basin, but intensive paddy cultivation was not practiced until 3,000 BP.Less
This chapter focuses on the Indus Valley region and China, where complex agro-urban cultures evolved at about the same time as in the Near East. Wheat and barley farming originated in the Kachhi Plain at least 9,000 BP and then spread to the Indus Valley. By 5,500 BP, flourishing urban centres had sprung up throughout this vast region. These impressively organized cities were managed by elites without the trappings of power and warfare found in contemporary Mesopotamia. Around 4,000 BP, the Indus Valley civilization was extinguished in what may have been a climate related catastrophe. Chinese agriculture began with broomcorn millet cultivation in the northern Yellow River catchment, but early urban cultures also collapsed around 4,000 BP, possibly due to climate change. In southern China, rice farming possibly started before 10,000 BP in the Yangtze Basin, but intensive paddy cultivation was not practiced until 3,000 BP.
Edwin Bryant
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195137774
- eISBN:
- 9780199834044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137779.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
An examination is made of the relationship between the Indus Valley Civilization and Indo-Aryan origins, a topic that has received a tremendous amount of attention from Indian archaeologists and ...
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An examination is made of the relationship between the Indus Valley Civilization and Indo-Aryan origins, a topic that has received a tremendous amount of attention from Indian archaeologists and historians. The issue discussed is whether the Indo-Aryans preceded, succeeded, or co-existed with the inhabitants of the Indus Valley cities. The different sections of the chapter look at archaeological evidence on the religion of the Indus Valley, evidence on the decline of the river Sarasvatī (which is referred to many times in the Ŗgveda, the oldest of the Sanskrit Vedic texts), the absence of the horse from the Harappan record (although it played an important part in the Vedic-Aryan culture), evidence of the spoked-wheel chariot (which is fundamental to Aryan identification), the Indus script, and urbanization and the Ŗgveda.Less
An examination is made of the relationship between the Indus Valley Civilization and Indo-Aryan origins, a topic that has received a tremendous amount of attention from Indian archaeologists and historians. The issue discussed is whether the Indo-Aryans preceded, succeeded, or co-existed with the inhabitants of the Indus Valley cities. The different sections of the chapter look at archaeological evidence on the religion of the Indus Valley, evidence on the decline of the river Sarasvatī (which is referred to many times in the Ŗgveda, the oldest of the Sanskrit Vedic texts), the absence of the horse from the Harappan record (although it played an important part in the Vedic-Aryan culture), evidence of the spoked-wheel chariot (which is fundamental to Aryan identification), the Indus script, and urbanization and the Ŗgveda.
J. Mark Kenoyer
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195305326
- eISBN:
- 9780199850884
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305326.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
The discoveries of this book do not seem to match the well-entrenched models that attribute the second period of urbanism to the late Northern Black Polished Ware period corresponding with the ...
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The discoveries of this book do not seem to match the well-entrenched models that attribute the second period of urbanism to the late Northern Black Polished Ware period corresponding with the emergence of the Mauryan Empire. The origin or stimulus for this urbanism is either attributed to Achaemenid influence from the west or from socioeconomic and political developments in middle and lower Ganga. Similarly, the Kushana Empire is thought to have its stimulus from contact with the west and north, Iran and Central Asia, as well as the far-off Mediterranean with only minimal contributions from indigenous processes. The well-known literary evidence for the presence of indigenous polities, as well as earlier archaeological evidence for the presence of substantial settlements and local cultural traditions needs to be reevaluated. This chapter focuses on the Indus valley and discusses recent surveys and excavations conducted in Pakistan.Less
The discoveries of this book do not seem to match the well-entrenched models that attribute the second period of urbanism to the late Northern Black Polished Ware period corresponding with the emergence of the Mauryan Empire. The origin or stimulus for this urbanism is either attributed to Achaemenid influence from the west or from socioeconomic and political developments in middle and lower Ganga. Similarly, the Kushana Empire is thought to have its stimulus from contact with the west and north, Iran and Central Asia, as well as the far-off Mediterranean with only minimal contributions from indigenous processes. The well-known literary evidence for the presence of indigenous polities, as well as earlier archaeological evidence for the presence of substantial settlements and local cultural traditions needs to be reevaluated. This chapter focuses on the Indus valley and discusses recent surveys and excavations conducted in Pakistan.
David Gilmartin
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780520285293
- eISBN:
- 9780520960831
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520285293.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Environmental History
Blood and Water is a history of the political and environmental transformation of the Indus basin as a result of the modern construction in the region of the world’s largest integrated irrigation ...
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Blood and Water is a history of the political and environmental transformation of the Indus basin as a result of the modern construction in the region of the world’s largest integrated irrigation system. The system was begununder British colonial rule in the nineteenth century, and the resulting transformation continued after the region was divided between two new states, India and Pakistan, in 1947. It was a process deeply shaped, from the beginning, by colonial statecraft-and by the fissures within colonial policies and ideologies. The book traces the critical intersection between competing visions of community that shaped the environmental transformation. On the one hand, forms of political mobilization and productive incentives were developed to facilitate the extension of coordinated, productive control of the region’s environment. At the same time, the state mobilized countervailing visions of community based on genealogy and blood to stabilize its political authority. The tensions between these competing visions were deeply embedded in the politics of irrigation development, and they have continued to frame the ways that irrigators have been mobilized within the system.Less
Blood and Water is a history of the political and environmental transformation of the Indus basin as a result of the modern construction in the region of the world’s largest integrated irrigation system. The system was begununder British colonial rule in the nineteenth century, and the resulting transformation continued after the region was divided between two new states, India and Pakistan, in 1947. It was a process deeply shaped, from the beginning, by colonial statecraft-and by the fissures within colonial policies and ideologies. The book traces the critical intersection between competing visions of community that shaped the environmental transformation. On the one hand, forms of political mobilization and productive incentives were developed to facilitate the extension of coordinated, productive control of the region’s environment. At the same time, the state mobilized countervailing visions of community based on genealogy and blood to stabilize its political authority. The tensions between these competing visions were deeply embedded in the politics of irrigation development, and they have continued to frame the ways that irrigators have been mobilized within the system.
Clark Spencer Larsen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813036670
- eISBN:
- 9780813041803
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813036670.003.0001
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
This chapter presents an overview of the archaeology of a period known as the Deccan Chalcolithic. It begins by describing the origin and development of agrarian life in a semi-arid region of ...
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This chapter presents an overview of the archaeology of a period known as the Deccan Chalcolithic. It begins by describing the origin and development of agrarian life in a semi-arid region of peninsular India. The chapter then focuses on the central question of what led to the collapse of these settlements at the end of the second millennium B.C., after hundreds of years of successful settlement. After describing prior research findings and interpretive models developed to explain the nature of the collapse, it outlines research questions for bioarchaeological investigation: What were the climatic circumstances surrounding the collapse? What can the archaeological record tell us about culture change in the Deccan Chalcolithic? How did human populations respond to these changes in terms of demography and health status?Less
This chapter presents an overview of the archaeology of a period known as the Deccan Chalcolithic. It begins by describing the origin and development of agrarian life in a semi-arid region of peninsular India. The chapter then focuses on the central question of what led to the collapse of these settlements at the end of the second millennium B.C., after hundreds of years of successful settlement. After describing prior research findings and interpretive models developed to explain the nature of the collapse, it outlines research questions for bioarchaeological investigation: What were the climatic circumstances surrounding the collapse? What can the archaeological record tell us about culture change in the Deccan Chalcolithic? How did human populations respond to these changes in terms of demography and health status?
Yossef Rapoport and Emilie Savage-Smith
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226540887
- eISBN:
- 9780226553405
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226553405.003.0008
- Subject:
- Earth Sciences and Geography, Cartography
The maps of the Book of Curiosities demonstrate the strategic importance of the Indian Ocean, and of the tenth-century Ismaʿili emirates in Sind, to the global ambitions of the Fatimid empire. The ...
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The maps of the Book of Curiosities demonstrate the strategic importance of the Indian Ocean, and of the tenth-century Ismaʿili emirates in Sind, to the global ambitions of the Fatimid empire. The maps also contribute to the history of global communications at the turn of the previous millennium, as they highlight a route to China that passed through northern India and Tibet. This chapter examines three separate maps of East and Central Asia: a map of the Indian Ocean, a map of the River Oxus, and a map of the Indus, which also shows localities along the Ganges. This third map of the Indian river systems uniquely depicts an overland itinerary from Muslim Sind, then under Fatimid control, through northern India and then probably through Tibet, to China. Other routes, either the sea route to China through the Straits of Malacca, or the Central Asian Silk Road, are not depicted in such detail, suggesting that by the time the Book of Curiosities was composed the Tibetan route eclipsed its more famous alternatives.Less
The maps of the Book of Curiosities demonstrate the strategic importance of the Indian Ocean, and of the tenth-century Ismaʿili emirates in Sind, to the global ambitions of the Fatimid empire. The maps also contribute to the history of global communications at the turn of the previous millennium, as they highlight a route to China that passed through northern India and Tibet. This chapter examines three separate maps of East and Central Asia: a map of the Indian Ocean, a map of the River Oxus, and a map of the Indus, which also shows localities along the Ganges. This third map of the Indian river systems uniquely depicts an overland itinerary from Muslim Sind, then under Fatimid control, through northern India and then probably through Tibet, to China. Other routes, either the sea route to China through the Straits of Malacca, or the Central Asian Silk Road, are not depicted in such detail, suggesting that by the time the Book of Curiosities was composed the Tibetan route eclipsed its more famous alternatives.
R.S. Sharma
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195687859
- eISBN:
- 9780199080366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195687859.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
The urban culture of the Bronze Age found in Harappa was a path-breaking discovery. No other Bronze Age civilization gave so much care to health and cleanliness as did the Harappan. The Indus people ...
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The urban culture of the Bronze Age found in Harappa was a path-breaking discovery. No other Bronze Age civilization gave so much care to health and cleanliness as did the Harappan. The Indus people produced wheat, barley, rai, peas, and the like. The Indus people were the earliest people to produce cotton. The Harappans conducted considerable trade in stone, metal and shell, within the Indus culture zone. The male deity is represented on a seal. The people of the Indus region worshipped trees. Animals were also worshipped. The greatest artistic creations of the Harappan culture are seals. Sometimes Harappan culture is called Rig Vedic, but its principal features do not figure in the Rig Veda. Similarly, the de-urbanization of the Harappan city is not a simple transformation but meant the disappearance of towns, script, and burnt bricks.Less
The urban culture of the Bronze Age found in Harappa was a path-breaking discovery. No other Bronze Age civilization gave so much care to health and cleanliness as did the Harappan. The Indus people produced wheat, barley, rai, peas, and the like. The Indus people were the earliest people to produce cotton. The Harappans conducted considerable trade in stone, metal and shell, within the Indus culture zone. The male deity is represented on a seal. The people of the Indus region worshipped trees. Animals were also worshipped. The greatest artistic creations of the Harappan culture are seals. Sometimes Harappan culture is called Rig Vedic, but its principal features do not figure in the Rig Veda. Similarly, the de-urbanization of the Harappan city is not a simple transformation but meant the disappearance of towns, script, and burnt bricks.
Dilip K. Chakrabarti
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198069898
- eISBN:
- 9780199080052
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069898.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
The period of the ‘sixteen Mahajanapadas’ around the period of the Buddha is said to mark the first distinct historical phase of the political history of ancient India. By the time India's political ...
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The period of the ‘sixteen Mahajanapadas’ around the period of the Buddha is said to mark the first distinct historical phase of the political history of ancient India. By the time India's political history assumes a concrete shape, there is a variety of clearly defined political units in India extending from the Indo-Gangetic plain to the rest of northern India and also covering large parts of the Deccan. The Oxus-Indus orbit rose to prominence after Alexander invaded the Indus valley and inherited the Achaemenid power in the east. Two geopolitical orbits — the one highlighted by the Achaemenid and Macedonian invasions and the one consolidated by the Magadhan expansion — coalesced under the Maurya dynasty and led to the creation of an overarching orbit from the Hindukush to Karnataka. These two orbits are the earliest major geographical foci of state power that can be discerned in ancient India.Less
The period of the ‘sixteen Mahajanapadas’ around the period of the Buddha is said to mark the first distinct historical phase of the political history of ancient India. By the time India's political history assumes a concrete shape, there is a variety of clearly defined political units in India extending from the Indo-Gangetic plain to the rest of northern India and also covering large parts of the Deccan. The Oxus-Indus orbit rose to prominence after Alexander invaded the Indus valley and inherited the Achaemenid power in the east. Two geopolitical orbits — the one highlighted by the Achaemenid and Macedonian invasions and the one consolidated by the Magadhan expansion — coalesced under the Maurya dynasty and led to the creation of an overarching orbit from the Hindukush to Karnataka. These two orbits are the earliest major geographical foci of state power that can be discerned in ancient India.
Dilip K. Chakrabarti
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198069898
- eISBN:
- 9780199080052
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069898.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
One of the most significant geopolitical orbits in the post-Maurya period was the Oxus to the Indus orbit, although it was not a monolithic one on the basis of the period's political history. ...
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One of the most significant geopolitical orbits in the post-Maurya period was the Oxus to the Indus orbit, although it was not a monolithic one on the basis of the period's political history. Instead, it was divided into a number of distinct segments. The Saka thrust towards Mathura shows that during this period, the area of what is called the Indo-Gangetic divide in Indian geography (the area between the Sutlej and the Yamuna) became subject to the influence of political factors associated with the Oxus-Indus orbit. This scenario becomes more evident under the Kushan dynasty. Vast stretches of the Deccan, Orissa, and western Malwa in the post-Mauryan context formed an orbit of their own where a lot of interaction took place, with some thrusts towards the north.Less
One of the most significant geopolitical orbits in the post-Maurya period was the Oxus to the Indus orbit, although it was not a monolithic one on the basis of the period's political history. Instead, it was divided into a number of distinct segments. The Saka thrust towards Mathura shows that during this period, the area of what is called the Indo-Gangetic divide in Indian geography (the area between the Sutlej and the Yamuna) became subject to the influence of political factors associated with the Oxus-Indus orbit. This scenario becomes more evident under the Kushan dynasty. Vast stretches of the Deccan, Orissa, and western Malwa in the post-Mauryan context formed an orbit of their own where a lot of interaction took place, with some thrusts towards the north.
Dilip K. Chakrabarti
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198064121
- eISBN:
- 9780199080519
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198064121.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Indian History
This chapter begins with discussions of the importance of archaeological evidence in studying ancient India, and the development of archaeological research in the subcontinent — establishment of the ...
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This chapter begins with discussions of the importance of archaeological evidence in studying ancient India, and the development of archaeological research in the subcontinent — establishment of the Asiatic Society, early 1830s, Alexander Cunningham and his successors, and the role of Indians as well as prominent Britishers like John Marshall and Mortimer Wheeler. It then sets out the purpose of the book, which is to offer an archaeological history of the Indian subcontinent from prehistory to the early historical stage. The chapter introduces the land mass and some of the major geographical parameters and concepts affecting the study of its archaeology and ancient history. It then focuses on the growth of agricultural settlements beyond the distribution area of the Indus civilization, and argues that it was the interaction between this civilization, and the advanced hunter-gatherers and the marginal agricultural producers in the rest of the subcontinent, which led to the formation of an agricultural base in all the major agricultural areas and laid down the basis of the subsequent early historic urban growth in the Ganga plains and elsewhere. The chapter also discusses India in relation to Asia and Africa, the distinct geographical entity and identity of the Indian subcontinent, the recent approach of the Anthropological Survey of India and the classificatory system based on concept of race.Less
This chapter begins with discussions of the importance of archaeological evidence in studying ancient India, and the development of archaeological research in the subcontinent — establishment of the Asiatic Society, early 1830s, Alexander Cunningham and his successors, and the role of Indians as well as prominent Britishers like John Marshall and Mortimer Wheeler. It then sets out the purpose of the book, which is to offer an archaeological history of the Indian subcontinent from prehistory to the early historical stage. The chapter introduces the land mass and some of the major geographical parameters and concepts affecting the study of its archaeology and ancient history. It then focuses on the growth of agricultural settlements beyond the distribution area of the Indus civilization, and argues that it was the interaction between this civilization, and the advanced hunter-gatherers and the marginal agricultural producers in the rest of the subcontinent, which led to the formation of an agricultural base in all the major agricultural areas and laid down the basis of the subsequent early historic urban growth in the Ganga plains and elsewhere. The chapter also discusses India in relation to Asia and Africa, the distinct geographical entity and identity of the Indian subcontinent, the recent approach of the Anthropological Survey of India and the classificatory system based on concept of race.
Dilip K. Chakrabarti
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198064121
- eISBN:
- 9780199080519
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198064121.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Indian History
This chapter outlines the archaeological evidence related to the growth of village occupation west of the Delhi-Aravalli-Cambay axis of Indian geography. The evidence shows growth of distinctly ...
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This chapter outlines the archaeological evidence related to the growth of village occupation west of the Delhi-Aravalli-Cambay axis of Indian geography. The evidence shows growth of distinctly agricultural communities in the vast stretch of land between Baluchistan and Bannu on the one hand and the area near Delhi and Gujarat on the other. It discusses agricultural life, domestication, tools, pottery, and burial culture of sites in Baluchistan, Bannu, the Gomal Valley, Piedmont and Kohistan, the Potwar Plateau, Indus-Hakra Plain, and the Aravalli Belt. It is in the course of this development that the roots of the subsequent Indus civilization lie.Less
This chapter outlines the archaeological evidence related to the growth of village occupation west of the Delhi-Aravalli-Cambay axis of Indian geography. The evidence shows growth of distinctly agricultural communities in the vast stretch of land between Baluchistan and Bannu on the one hand and the area near Delhi and Gujarat on the other. It discusses agricultural life, domestication, tools, pottery, and burial culture of sites in Baluchistan, Bannu, the Gomal Valley, Piedmont and Kohistan, the Potwar Plateau, Indus-Hakra Plain, and the Aravalli Belt. It is in the course of this development that the roots of the subsequent Indus civilization lie.
Dilip K. Chakrabarti
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198064121
- eISBN:
- 9780199080519
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198064121.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Indian History
Harappa and Mohenjodaro are both located in the Indus valley and because no site of this civilization was then known to exist outside the Indus valley, the civilization came to be called ‘the Indus ...
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Harappa and Mohenjodaro are both located in the Indus valley and because no site of this civilization was then known to exist outside the Indus valley, the civilization came to be called ‘the Indus civilization’. However, the extent of this civilization includes areas far beyond the Indus river valley, and number-wise, the most significant cluster of sites occurs in the Cholistan section of the Hakra plain in Pakistan. This chapter discusses the origin, morphology of some major sites, and the general features of the Harappan civilization like seals and script, pottery, lithic industry, metallurgy, art and craft, trade, agriculture, economy, religion. The chronological framework, political and social framework, and decline and transformation of this civilization has also been analysed in detail.Less
Harappa and Mohenjodaro are both located in the Indus valley and because no site of this civilization was then known to exist outside the Indus valley, the civilization came to be called ‘the Indus civilization’. However, the extent of this civilization includes areas far beyond the Indus river valley, and number-wise, the most significant cluster of sites occurs in the Cholistan section of the Hakra plain in Pakistan. This chapter discusses the origin, morphology of some major sites, and the general features of the Harappan civilization like seals and script, pottery, lithic industry, metallurgy, art and craft, trade, agriculture, economy, religion. The chronological framework, political and social framework, and decline and transformation of this civilization has also been analysed in detail.
Dilip K. Chakrabarti
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198064121
- eISBN:
- 9780199080519
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198064121.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, Indian History
This chapter attempts to put into their proper contexts the recent developments in Indian archaeology since this book was written in 1997–8. It discusses the Hathnora fossil finds, early ...
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This chapter attempts to put into their proper contexts the recent developments in Indian archaeology since this book was written in 1997–8. It discusses the Hathnora fossil finds, early architecture, Indus civilization, India beyond the Indus civilization, and its early history.Less
This chapter attempts to put into their proper contexts the recent developments in Indian archaeology since this book was written in 1997–8. It discusses the Hathnora fossil finds, early architecture, Indus civilization, India beyond the Indus civilization, and its early history.
A.G. Noorani
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198070689
- eISBN:
- 9780199081202
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198070689.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Indian History
This chapter focuses on diplomatic exchanges regarding the so-called ‘no man's land’, which refers to a barren tract between the Chinese and Indian boundaries. It presents correspondence wherein ...
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This chapter focuses on diplomatic exchanges regarding the so-called ‘no man's land’, which refers to a barren tract between the Chinese and Indian boundaries. It presents correspondence wherein British diplomats considered the option of either claiming the land up to the existing Chinese boundary, or else provoking the Chinese to effectively occupy up to the boundary themselves. The same position is also stated in some documents that prescribe the adoption of a line. The British Government had decided that the limits of the Indus watershed should be considered as the boundary of the Kashmir territories to the north, and that the line of natural water parting from a point near the Irshad Pass on the west to the recognised Tibet frontier on the east, should be regarded as the limit of their political jurisdiction.Less
This chapter focuses on diplomatic exchanges regarding the so-called ‘no man's land’, which refers to a barren tract between the Chinese and Indian boundaries. It presents correspondence wherein British diplomats considered the option of either claiming the land up to the existing Chinese boundary, or else provoking the Chinese to effectively occupy up to the boundary themselves. The same position is also stated in some documents that prescribe the adoption of a line. The British Government had decided that the limits of the Indus watershed should be considered as the boundary of the Kashmir territories to the north, and that the line of natural water parting from a point near the Irshad Pass on the west to the recognised Tibet frontier on the east, should be regarded as the limit of their political jurisdiction.
Daniel Haines
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190648664
- eISBN:
- 9780190686529
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190648664.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
The Indus Waters Treaty is considered a key example of India–Pakistan cooperation, but less has been said about its critical influence on state-making in both countries. This book reveals the ...
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The Indus Waters Treaty is considered a key example of India–Pakistan cooperation, but less has been said about its critical influence on state-making in both countries. This book reveals the importance of the Indus Basin river system, and thus control over it, for Indian and Pakistani claims to sovereignty after South Asia’s Partition in 1947. Securing water flows was a key aim for both governments. In 1960 the Indus Waters Treaty ostensibly settled the dispute, but in fact failed to address critical sources of tension. Examples include the role of water in the Kashmir conflict and the riverine geography of Punjab’s militarized border zone. Despite the recent resurgence of disputes over water-sharing in South Asia, the historical causes and consequences of the region’s flagship natural resources treaty remain little understood. Based on new research in South Asia, the United States and United Kingdom, this book places the Indus dispute, for the first time, in the context of decolonization and Cold War-era development politics. Using perspectives from environmental history, political geography, and international relations, it examines the discord over riparian rights at local, national and international levels, arguing that we can only explain its importance and longevity in light of India and Pakistan’s state-building initiatives after independence. In the process, it puts forward a new reading of territoriality in South Asia.Less
The Indus Waters Treaty is considered a key example of India–Pakistan cooperation, but less has been said about its critical influence on state-making in both countries. This book reveals the importance of the Indus Basin river system, and thus control over it, for Indian and Pakistani claims to sovereignty after South Asia’s Partition in 1947. Securing water flows was a key aim for both governments. In 1960 the Indus Waters Treaty ostensibly settled the dispute, but in fact failed to address critical sources of tension. Examples include the role of water in the Kashmir conflict and the riverine geography of Punjab’s militarized border zone. Despite the recent resurgence of disputes over water-sharing in South Asia, the historical causes and consequences of the region’s flagship natural resources treaty remain little understood. Based on new research in South Asia, the United States and United Kingdom, this book places the Indus dispute, for the first time, in the context of decolonization and Cold War-era development politics. Using perspectives from environmental history, political geography, and international relations, it examines the discord over riparian rights at local, national and international levels, arguing that we can only explain its importance and longevity in light of India and Pakistan’s state-building initiatives after independence. In the process, it puts forward a new reading of territoriality in South Asia.
Balmiki Prasad Singh
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195693553
- eISBN:
- 9780199080328
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195693553.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
The longing for conflict-free and harmonious living is both an ancient and a continuing human aspiration. Multiplicity of tribes and beliefs has been a special feature of the Indian society since ...
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The longing for conflict-free and harmonious living is both an ancient and a continuing human aspiration. Multiplicity of tribes and beliefs has been a special feature of the Indian society since early times. The earliest known Indian civilization, the Indus Valley Civilization, was already quite advanced by about 2500 BC. It decayed in the middle of the second millennium BC, perhaps because of invasion by people who described themselves as Aryans. The most ancient works of the Vedic period are the four Vedas — Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharva Veda. Each Veda contains four sections consisting of Samhita or collection of hymns, prayers, benedictions, sacrificial formulae and litanies; Brahmanas or prose treatises discussing the significance of sacrificial rites and ceremonies; Aranyakas or forest texts, which are partly included in the Brahmanas and partly considered as independent; and Upanishads.Less
The longing for conflict-free and harmonious living is both an ancient and a continuing human aspiration. Multiplicity of tribes and beliefs has been a special feature of the Indian society since early times. The earliest known Indian civilization, the Indus Valley Civilization, was already quite advanced by about 2500 BC. It decayed in the middle of the second millennium BC, perhaps because of invasion by people who described themselves as Aryans. The most ancient works of the Vedic period are the four Vedas — Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharva Veda. Each Veda contains four sections consisting of Samhita or collection of hymns, prayers, benedictions, sacrificial formulae and litanies; Brahmanas or prose treatises discussing the significance of sacrificial rites and ceremonies; Aranyakas or forest texts, which are partly included in the Brahmanas and partly considered as independent; and Upanishads.
Khushwant Singh
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195673081
- eISBN:
- 9780199080601
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195673081.003.0015
- Subject:
- Religion, Sikhism
This chapter examines how the power of the Afghans in northern India came to an end. A month after the battle of Attock, the Durbar made plans to seize Kashmir from the Afghans. This led to the ...
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This chapter examines how the power of the Afghans in northern India came to an end. A month after the battle of Attock, the Durbar made plans to seize Kashmir from the Afghans. This led to the second campaign in Kashmir, which unfortunately was a failure. The Durbars did not launch any further campaigns until the Anglo-Gurkha war, but it was only when the Punjabis succeeded in conquering Multan that the influence of the Afghans over Punjab was broken. The next section gives an account of the Punjabi's march from the Indus to Peshawar, and is followed by a discussion of the eventual capture of Kashmir on July 1819. The chapter ends with a discussion on Hazara, Mankera, and Dera Ghazi Khan, three territories that were eventually added to the Punjab.Less
This chapter examines how the power of the Afghans in northern India came to an end. A month after the battle of Attock, the Durbar made plans to seize Kashmir from the Afghans. This led to the second campaign in Kashmir, which unfortunately was a failure. The Durbars did not launch any further campaigns until the Anglo-Gurkha war, but it was only when the Punjabis succeeded in conquering Multan that the influence of the Afghans over Punjab was broken. The next section gives an account of the Punjabi's march from the Indus to Peshawar, and is followed by a discussion of the eventual capture of Kashmir on July 1819. The chapter ends with a discussion on Hazara, Mankera, and Dera Ghazi Khan, three territories that were eventually added to the Punjab.
