History of Ancient India: Vol. XI - Ancient India’s Interrelations with the Worl

Ancient India’s interlinks with the outside world have long been understood, but the present volume has focused on their geographical , historical and archaeological frames which result in these interlinks being historically meaningful. In addition, there are two primary studies of the Graeco-Roman sources by a noted Indian scholar of the subject. Attention has been drawn in detail to two major areas —the whole belt of southeast Asia and the Tarim basin of central Asia—where ‘Indianized’ states came up, with both Buddhism and Hinduism being most visible among the ideology of the elite. The closeness of the regions of Khotan, Kashgar and Yarkand with the Indian areas of Kashmir and Ladakh has been highlighted both from the points of view of religious interaction and trade. This landmass as a whole is as much a part of Indian borderlands as of anything else. The volume ends with a brief but clear note on the historical links between India and Tibet.

Dilip K Chakrabarti is emeritus professor of south Asian archaeology at Cambridge University