A useful starting point for the Indian subcontinent is Karl J. Schmidt, An Atlas and Survey of South Asian History (1995), with maps and facing text illustrating geographic, environmental, cultural, and historical features of South Asian civilization. A concise discussion of the history of ancient India can be found in Stanley Wolpert, A New History of India, 7th ed. (2004). R. S. Sharma, India’s Ancient Past (2005), Romila Thapar, Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300 (2003), and Paul Masson-Oursel, Ancient India and Indian Civilization (1998), are fuller, up-to-date presentations.
Ainslie T. Embree, Sources of Indian Tradition, vol. 1, 2nd ed. (1988), contains translations of primary texts, with the emphasis almost entirely on religion and few materials from southern India. Barbara Stoler Miller, TheBhagavad-Gita:Krishna’s Counsel in TimeofWar (1986), is a readable translation of this ancient classic with a useful introduction and notes. An abbreviated version of the greatest Indian epic can be found in R. K. Narayan, The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic (1978). The filmed version of Peter Brook’s stage production of The Mahabharata (3 videos, 1989) generated much controversy because of its British director and multicultural cast, but it is a painless introduction to the plot and main characters. Robert Goldman, The Ramayana of Valmiki: An Epic of Ancient India (1984), makes available the other Indian epic. To sample the fascinating document on state building supposedly composed by the adviser to the founder of the Mauryan Empire, see T. N. Ramaswamy, Essentials of Indian Statecraft: Kautilya’s Arthashastra for Contemporary Readers (1962). James Legge, The Travels of Fa-hien [Faxian]: Fa-hien’s Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms (1971), and John W. McCrindle, Ancient India as Described by Megasthenes and Arrian (1877), provide translations of reports of foreign visitors to ancient India.
A number of works explore political institutions and ideas in ancient India: Charles Drekmeier, Kingship and Community in Early India (1962); John W. Spellman, Political Theory of Ancient India: A Study of Kingship from the Earliest Times to Circa A. D. 300 (1964); and R. S. Sharma, Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India, 2nd ed. (1968). Romila Thapar, Asoka and the Decline of theMauryas (rev. ed., 1997), is a detailed study of the most interesting and important Mauryan king.
For fundamental Indian social and religious conceptions see David R. Kinsley, Hinduism: A Cultural Perspective (1982). See also David G. Mandelbaum, Society in India, 2 vols. (1970), which provides essential insights into the complex relationship of class and caste. Kevin Trainor, ed., Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide (2001), devotes several chapters to Buddhism in ancient India. Jacob Pandian, The Making of India and Indian Tradition (1995), contains much revealing historical material, with particular attention to often neglected regions such as southern India, in its effort to explain the diversity of contemporary India. The chapter on ancient India by Karen Lang in Bella Vivante, ed., Women’s Roles in Ancient Civilizations: A Reference Guide (1999), provides an up-to-date overview and bibliography. Stephanie W. Jamison, Sacrificed Wife/Sacrificer’s Wife: Women, Ritual, and Hospitality in Ancient India (1996), deals with the roles of early Indian women in ritual practices and the creation and maintenance of social relations, including several forms of marriage. Stella Kramrisch, The Hindu Temple, 2 vols. (1946), and Surinder M. Bhardwaj, Hindu Places of Pilgrimage in India:A Study in Cultural Geography (1973), examine important elements of worship in the Hindu tradition.
Roy C. Craven, Indian Art (1976), is a clear, historically organized treatment of its subject. Mario Bussagli and Calembus Sivaramamurti, 5000 Years of the Art of India (1971), is lavishly illustrated. Susan L. Huntington, The Art of Ancient India: Buddhist, Hindu, Jain (1985), focuses on the art and architecture of antiquity. For the uniqueness and decisive historical impact of Indian mathematics see Georges Ifrah, From One to Zero: A Universal History of Numbers (1985).
Kameshwar Prasad, Cities, Crafts, and Commerce Under the Kusanas (1984), discusses the dynamic, multicultural domain of the Kushans. Jean W. Sedlar, India and the Greek World: A Study in the Transmission of Culture (1980), relates the interaction of Greek and Indian civilizations. Lionel Casson, The Periplus Maris Erythraei: Text with Introduction, Translation and Commentary (1989), explicates a fascinating mariner’s guide to the ports, trade goods, and human and navigational hazards of Indian Ocean commerce in the Roman era. Xinru Liu, Ancient India and Ancient China: Trade and Religious Exchanges, A. D. 1-600 (1994), covers interactions with East Asia.
Richard Ulack and Gyula Pauer, Atlas of Southeast Asia (1989), provides a very brief introduction and maps for the environment and early history of Southeast Asia. Nicholas Tarling, ed., The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, vol. 1 (1999);
D. R. SarDeSai, Southeast Asia: Past and Present, 5th ed. (2003); and Milton E. Osborne, Southeast Asia: An Introductory History (1995), provide general accounts of Southeast Asian history. Lynda Shaffer, Maritime Southeast Asia to 1500 (1996), focuses on early Southeast Asian history in a world historical context. Also useful is Kenneth R. Hall, Maritime Trade and State Development in Early Southeast Asia (1985).
The art of Southeast Asia is taken up by M. C. S. Diskul, The Art of Srivijaya (1980); Maud Girard-Geslan et al., Art of Southeast Asia (1998); and Daigoro Chihara, Hindu-Buddhist Architecture in Southeast Asia (1996).
World History
