A History of India Volume 1: From the First Human Settlements to the Mughal Empire - Couverture rigide

Torri, Michelguglielmo

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1837651442 ISBN 13 : 9781837651443

Editeur : Boydell & Brewer, 2025

Synopsis

Comprehensive and in-depth exploration of one of the oldest civilisations in the world, revealing the dynamic changes of its society, the links to the rest of the world and the underlying forces that led to its significant role on the global stage.

This is the first of a three-volume history of India, characterized by three main arguments: (a) Indian history has been crucially conditioned by the connections linking the Indian subcontinent to the remainder of the world; (b) Indian society was never static, but always crisscrossed by powerful currents of change; (c) colonialism caused both the crystallization of a 'traditional' society - which, in that shape, had never really existed before - and, at the same time, the rise of modernity.

This volume examines the history of India from the first human settlements in the subcontinent up to the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1717. The political, military, economic and social developments are analysed against the backdrop represented by the rise, decline, fall and renaissance of flourishing urban civilizations. While the economy remained mainly agrarian, long-distance trade and pre-modern, but quite sophisticated, manufacturing and service activities rose, declined and rose again. This caused the parallel rise, decline and resurgence of intermediate social strata, later resulting in the formation of a modern bourgeoisie. While the existing religious and cultural strands are analysed, a particular emphasis is placed on the relations between the two main religious traditions, Hinduism and Islam. This volume demonstrates that, despite exceptions, an essentially harmonious coexistence prevailed, which often resulted in cooperation. This coexistence came into being as a result of both Realpolitik and the presence, within both Hinduism and Islam, of surprisingly similar mystical movements extremely influential both at the mass level and at the level of the ruling classes.

A propos du livre

À propos de l?auteur

MICHELGUGLIELMO TORRI, a former Harkness Fellow, a retired full Professor of Asian History (University of Turin), presently the president of 'Asia Maior, an Italian think tank on Asia', is the doyen of the Italian historians working on South Asia. He has widely published in Italian and English, with articles appeared in Economic and Political Weekly, the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Studies in History and The Indian Economic and Social History Review, among others.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Boydell & Brewer
• Date d'édition: 2025
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1837651442
• ISBN 13: 9781837651443
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 410
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible