The present monograph by Dr. Shankar Goyal seeks to study problems of ancient Indian history and culture with a new approach. As Dr. Goyal’s main area of interest is historiography, the present work includes several articles on the problems of historiography in which he has analysed the perceptions of earlier scholars thoroughly in the light of his own. Further, he has studied the new source materials which is coming to light every year. Dr. Goyal is extremely interested in Maurya and Gupta periods. He feels personally concerned with the theme of Gupta golden or classical age. In the present monograph he has severely criticised those Marxist historians who dismiss the golden age model as merely an utopia. It is generally believed that Bana was a stauch follower of the Brahmanical culture. It is basically true, but Dr. Shankar Goyal has very cogently argued, and that too for the first time, that Bana was also a great critic of such customs a sati and such concepts as the divinity of kings. He was also a critic of the then administrative structure. These are some of the new dimensions which Dr. Goyal has boldly articulated in the present monograph. We hope that it will be found not only interesting but also highly informative and provide a new perception for looking at our ancient past.
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.
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