The Mahabharata War was, or thought to be, such a momentous event as to leave an indelible impact on the life and culture of not only the Indian subcontinent but on all the other countries where Indians migrated in strength and lived for some time. There were several important personages in India and abroad named after the Mahabharata characters and places in far-flung areas are found christened after them. The Mahabharata is still being lived by Indians and by those imbibing Indian culture elsewhere. One cannot think of Indian religion, philosophy, thought-pattern and literary genres without the Mahabharata. The present anthology of twenty-six well-researched papers representing the outcome of a national seminar hosted by the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, sheds welcome light and presents fresh perspective on absorbing questions relating to the Great Epic like the date of the war, peoples, ethnography, culture, polity, communication, epigraphic allusions, etc. It also studies numerous versions prepared by the votaries of different sects to suit their own needs and in different sects to suit their own needs and in different Indian languages. They either contain fresh information or stress the need to have a second look at the known data. By their very nature, these contributions are bound to stir the imagination of ane excite one and all interested in epic studies and early Indian history and culture.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ajay Mitra Shastri
Prof. Ajay Mitra Shastri (b. 1934), a reputed historian, epigraphist, numismatist and indologist, has retired recently as Professor of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology from Nagpur University. A former Editor of the Journal of the Numismatic Society of India, he is currently Editor of the Numismatic Digest. Formerly Chairman of the Indian Coin Society, he is now Vice-Chairman of the Epigraphical Society of India, Convener of the Inscriptions of India, Programme of the Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi, and Chairman of the Advisory Board (Ancient Period) and as such a member of the National Commission for History of Science, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi. Professor Shastri has been Sectional President of the Indian History Congress (1978), Andhra Pradesh History Congress (1980), Maharashtra Itihas Parishad (1986) and the All-India Oriental Conference (1994) and General President of the Numismatic Society of India (1981), Epigraphical Society of India (1987), Third International Colloquium of 'Coinage, Trade and Economy at the Indian Institute of Research in Numismatic Studies, Nasik, Tamil Nadu Numismatic Society, Indian History and Culture Society (1991), the Vidvat Parishad of the Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Samiti (1994), South Indian Numismatic Society (1997), Member of the History panel of the University Grants Commission (1980-82), UGC National Lecturer (1985) and UGC National Fellow (1987-89) and is currently UGC Emeritus Fellow. He has been felicitated by the Numismatic Society of India with its Akbar Silver Medal (1984) and Altekar Gold Medal (1995); presented with a plaque of honour by the Coin Study Circle, Calcutta (1989), a copper-plate by the Epigraphical Society of India (1992), James Campbell Memorial Gold Medal by the Asiatic Society of Bombey (1996), Jijamata Vidvat Puraskar of the Chhatrapati Pratishthan, Nagpur (1997) and honoured with a couple of festschrifts: one published from Indore (1988) and the other in two tomes from Delhi (1989). He has also delivered numerous prestigious endowment lectures.
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