The Idea of Ancient India

How ancient is ancient India? What are some of the recent approaches and challenges in reconstructing South Asia’s early history? Professor Upinder Singh’s talk will answer these questions by focusing on a few specific themes -- the earliest human remains found in the subcontinent; the reasons why the Indus civilization still presents many mysteries; the incorporation of subordinate and marginalized groups into social history; the problem of violence in history and thought; and the connections between the subcontinent and the wider world. In addressing these issues, Dr. Singh will be questioning some of the stereotypical notions about Indian culture.

Upinder Singh, Professor and Head of the Department of History, University of Delhi, is author of Kings, Brahmaṇas, and Temples in Orissa: An Epigraphic Study (AD 300-1147) (1994); Ancient Delhi (1999); The Discovery of Ancient India: Early Archaeologists and the Beginnings of Archaeology (2004); and A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the Twelfth Century (2008). She has edited Delhi: Ancient History (2006) and Rethinking Early Medieval India (2011); and co-edited Ancient India: New Research (2009), Asian Encounters: Exploring Connected Histories (2014), and Buddhism in Asia: Revival and Reinvention (2016). Her most recent book is The Idea of Ancient India: Essays on Religion, Politics and Archaeology (2016). Her current research interests include early Indian political ideas and the connections between South and Southeast Asia. 

Professor Tansen Sen will be introducing Professor Singh.

This event is co-sponsored by Center for Global Asia.