History of Bangladesh: Early Bengal in Regional Perspectives (up to c. 1200 CE) – Vol. 1 (Archaeology Political History Polity)
The first volume looks into the historical geography of the ancient region and its inhabitants; it also pays meticulous attention to the pre-literate phase in the early history of Bengal. One of the salient features of this volume is the attention paid to field archaeological materials which offer the most reliable window to grasp the transition from the pre-literate to the early historic times (up to c. 300 CE). Elaborate discussions on political history have been also accommodated as new epigraphic and rewriting of the political history of the regions and sub-regions (especially of the Pala period and southeastern Bangladesh). The understanding of the polity and nature of the state forms another important aspect of discussion in the first volume.
The two volumes are expected to fill a long-felt gap in the historiography of early Bengal and will possible serve as a standard reference work for both the specialist scholars and the general readers.
Studied at the University of Dhaka (1956-1960) and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (1962-2005) and retired as Professor of History. He spent an academic year (2013-2014) at the Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A., as a visiting scholar with a Senior Fulbright Fellowship. From 2000 to 2003 he was the Vice-Chancellor of the National University, Bangladesh.
Ranabir Chakravarti
Has just retired as Professor of Ancient History, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He specializes in the socio-economic history of early India with a particular interest in the Indian Ocean maritime history.
The History of Bangladesh: Early Bengal in Regional Perspectives (up to c. 1200 CE) in two volumes belongs to the series History of Bangladesh under the auspices of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. In these two volumes the remote past of the region called Bengal (Bengal before 1947) has been explored and studied by going beyond the boundaries of modern nation states.
This historical study stems from a rigorous survey and examination of a wide variety of primary sources (field archaeological, epigraphic, numismatic, art historical and textual materials) which may or may not always converge; the volumes attempt to make audible the many voices of the past of early Bengal.
The contents of the two volumes have been immensely enriched by the Foreword from the celebrity historian Professor Romila Thapar internationally acclaimed authority on early Indian history. Her Foreword drives home the significance of the studies of regions and subregions for a better explanation of the contours of historical developments in the subcontinent which cannot at all be grasped by harping on homogenized, majoritarian approaches o the past.
The chapters in the two volumes have been penned by established experts who belong not only to Bangladesh and India, but to various parts of the globe. The volumes truly rest on international cooperative scholarship.
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