This book is a collection of essays by eminent historians exploring a millennium of India’s history between the eighth and the eighteenth century, conventionally understood as early medieval and medieval India. Though these terms are subjected to critical scrutiny by various contributors, they do not foreground the discussion because they tend to straitjacket perspectives in one or the other direction. The idea is to use as many entry points as possible to develop perspectives with which to study this vital period of Indian history. The volume is organised under three thematic components in order to make a wide and comprehensive assessment of the salient trends that emerged and were transformed during this millennium. The first looks at politics, legitimacy, and political culture; the second examines community, gender, and cultural transmission; and the third deals with commerce, crafts, and the countryside. These have been so organised because each rubric raises a problematic instead of arguing for a definitive view on the theme. What emerge are pictures of tensions, negotiations and accommodations through the long term. The volume shows that the paths taken by Indian society, economy and culture to reach higher and more complex levels were multi-tracked as were the pressures being exerted on them. Taken together, these provide new entry points beyond the standardised and monochromatic views of medieval Indian history and allow us to take a more nuanced and interconnected look at the millennium.
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