Changing Gaze: Regions & the Construction of Early India

Why did Indian historians move away from the centric approach in the 1970s? Why did they shift their focus to local sub-regions instead of focusing on historio-geographic blocks like the Gangetic heartland or the Kaveri valley? What were the constructs that developed the concept of India? Examining the questions that have shaped history-writing in India, this book maps the changing perspectives about early India. Focusing on the histories of regions, the volume studies social and cultural change, regional polities, and various socio-economic aspects of regional and rural societies. It includes a wide range of topics: from the role of Brahmanical ideology in the construction of caste to the regional dimensions of the Kali Age crisis; from agrarian land systems to forms of protest and dissent; and the evolution of regional identities in Indian historiography. The Introduction provides an overview of the issues and themes discussed, and surveys the research on early India.