To identify the Aryan is to search for that which remains elusive. There have been many definitions based on multiple and diverse factors and there are therefore inevitable disagreements about both the identification and the meaning of the concept. It is probably the most complex question in early Indian history and it requires considerable expertise in the interpretation of the evidence which ranges from ecology to philology. This collection of essays, written over some years, explores these aspects of the theme in a way that furthers our understanding of an early period of Indian history. The constituents that went into the concept have changed from race, ethnicity and elements of nationality to language, status and culture. This has involved recasting the constructs and has inevitably been controversial. The essays explain how the constructs came to be formulated, why they changed and what might be more meaningful interrogations of this history.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Romila Thapar
Romila Thapar was born in India in 1931 and comes from a Punjabi family, spending her early years in various parts of India. She took her first degree from Punjab University and her doctorate from London University. She was appointed to a Readership at Delhi University and subsequently to the Chair in Ancient Indian History at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, where she is now Emeritus Professor in History. Romila Thapar is also an Honorary Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford and has been Visiting Professor at Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania as well as the College de France in Paris. In 1983 she was elected General President of the Indian History Congress and in 1999 a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy. Among her publications are Ashoka and the Decline of the Mauryas, Ancient Indian Social History: Some Interpretations, From Lineage to State, History and Beyond, Sakuntala: Texts, Readings, Histories and Cultural Pasts: Essays on Indian History as well the children's book Indian Tales.
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