Conceived as a series of dialogues between Shah and his fellow social scientists, and indeed between the two disciplines of Sociology and History, essays in this collection nuance ethnographic fact with a historical dimension in ways that were path-breaking for their time. The book includes Shah´s well-known study of the Vahivancha Barots traditional record-keepers of genealogies and narrators and creators of myths. Shah offers several essays on theory and method in sociology and history, anchored in review of literature, and empirical material. A significant inclusion is the discussion between Shah and Romila Thapar on sociological understanding of ancient India, examining the relation between lineage, clan, caste and the state.
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