In recent decades the popularity of the political history is declining very fast in India as well as in other countries. Therefore in order to revitalize their discipline some political historians, both in India and the West, are pleading that now the concept of political history should be modified. They argue that now historians should cease to give emphasis only on the ‘deeds’ and ‘dates’ of the kings and should makes study of the political aspect of society their basic concern. In other words, they should give emphasis on ‘how’ and ‘why’ instead of only ‘when’ and ‘what’. For this a study of the political events and institutions against various factors –religious, economic, social, etc. –is vital. This is what they call ‘New Political History’ or ‘Integral Political History’. It needs not only a study of basic sources with a new angle but also a multidisciplinary approach to the political life of society and state. In India Professor S.R. Goyal has been pleading for the adoption of this approach for several decades he is being supported by numerous others. The present monograph by Dr. Shankar Goyal seeks to show what Professor S.R. Goyal has done to give a new definition and meaning o political history specially of ancient India and what more can be done in this field.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Shankar Goyal
Dr. Shankar Goyal (b. 1959), the young and ebullient author of the present monograph, is emerging very rapidly as one of the recognized authorities on the historiography of ancient India. He has already produced three monographs dealing with some aspects of ancient Indian history writing viz. History and Historiography of the Age of Harsha (Jodhpur, 1992), Aspects of Ancient Indian History and Historiography (New Delhi, 1993) and History Writing of Early India (Jodhpur, 1996). He has co-edited a number of works with such eminent scholars as Professors G.C. Pande, B. Ch. Chhabra and Jagannath Agrawal which are directly or indirectly concerned with this discipline, including Political History in a Changing World (Jodhpur, 1992), Reappraising Gupta History (New Delhi, 1992) and S.R. Goyal: His Multidimensional Historiography (New Delhi, 1992). He has also-co-edited several other monographs with Shri M.C. Joshi and Dr. Sobhag Maghur which include King Chandra and the Meharauli Pillar (Meerut, 1989), Spectrum of Nehru’s Thought (New Delhi, 1994) and Rajasthan Bharati, in two volumes (Jodhpur, 1995) and authored more than seventy research articles. His research output in a period of less than six years has been stupendous, and its originality and quality superb, as is evident from the reviews of his works appearing in national and international journals. Dr. Shankar Goyal did his graduation from the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, post-graduation from the Deccan College, Pune, and Doctrate on Main Trends in Indian Historiography Since Independence from the University of Jodhpur, Jodhpur, where he is presently working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of History.
There are no reviews yet.