This book was initially conceived after some starting archaeological discoveries began to be made in the second half of the twentieth century. At the same time, a new computer software was developed, which could verify astronomical dates given in many ancient texts. Once the astronomical data was verified to be correct, it added to the overall credibility of the concerned texts. This work takes cognizance of some of the new data, and discoveries, and attempts to correct some clearly, unacceptable concepts about ancient history, handed down to us from the colonial period of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. In doing so, the authors have also tried to show the various paths of cultural development that had taken place prior to the current era of our history. Indeed they could claim to even show the initial origins of human civilization, as it exists today.
This book arrives at some challenging conclusions, and claims to solve puzzles of our ancient history, that had been inducted in the textbooks of the colonial period. It also calls fro the cleansing of political and religious prejudices from the pages of earlier historical works, which had scant attention to developments considered to be politically unsavoury. This work calls for the recognition of truths about our ancient past, even if they had not been favoured in the past.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR B R Mani
Dr. Buddha Rashmi Mani, born 17 April 1955 (Gunhill, Mussoorie) in a family of patriots, academicians, administrators, is presently Director (Archaeology) in the Archaeological Survey of India, Janpath, New Delhi. he has had a meritorious academic record from High School to the University, always standing first class first. He got his Master's degree in Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology from Banaras Hindu University in 1976 and Ph.D. in 1980 on 'Life in the Kushan Age'. He taught the subject in B.H.U. and at Central Institute of Tibetan Higher Studies, Sarnath in between 1978 and 1984 after which he joined the Archaeological Survey of India where he worked in various capacities of Group 'A' service in different circles and branches and directed more than a dozen significant archaeological excavations, such as at Lolkot, Salimgarh fort, Sankisa, Siswania, Kanishkapura, Ambaran and Ayodhya and also conserved a number of monuments in Goa, Maharashtra, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir. He has been Director of the Institute of Archaeology (ASI), New Delhi. he has widely travelled and has represented the country in international conferences in Male, Tehran, Leicester, London etc. and has contributed two books, 'The Kushan Civilization' and 'Delhi: Threshold of the Orient' alongwith more than 100 research papers published in national and international journals.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sureshwar D Sinha
Commander Sureshwar D Sinha, who retired early from the Indian Navy, drew inspiration from a family collection of manuscripts that were later gifted to a library. It included the world’s oldest copy of the Mahabharata written on palm leaf and also documents from the ancient university of Nalanda.
Whilst in the Navy he visited museums and ancient sites, rather than shopping centres in the various ports of call. Though he could not visit the ten thousand year old site of Nevali Cori in Turkey, as it had submerged in waters of a reservoir, he met with the head of the excavation team Dr. Harald Hauptmann of the Heidelberg University and collected the valuable data gathered from the site. It was then that he decided to embark on this project to bring out the newly emerging perspectives on ancient history.
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