Foreign Influx And Interaction With Indian Culture (6th Cent. B.C. 1st Cent. A.D.) (An Old & Rare Book)

This book presents a panoramic view of Indian history spanning a vast stretch of seven centuries, beginning from the 6th Century B.C. when the world was being convulsed by an unprecedented intellectual ferment. The Indian confrontation with different races and civilisations infused elanvital and brought about a qualitative change in the civilisation of the day. The book traces how the successive waves of migrating peoples, with their diverse cultures. and racial affinities got interwoven, through the passage of time, in the fabric of Indian Society.The stimulus provided by the Persian Invasion under Cyrus and Darius-I, the interaction, in the wake of the Greek connection, between Hellenic and Indian traditions, in the realm of philosophy, visual arts, coinage, mathematics, medicine, astro nomy and other applied sciences, as manifes ted by the evolution of the 'Divine origin of Kingship', the emergence of Gandhara Art and the elegant workmanship of later Indian coinage have all been lucidly unfolded in the pages of this book. The constant criss crossing of ideas and traditions of Iranian. Parthian, Greek and Indian civilisations, which resulted in a multi-dimensional deve lopment of Indian civilisation through revitalisation of Indian language, literature, art and philosophy, is clearly perceptible as one reads through the book.It becomes evident how the emergence of Buddhism as a world religion and the immense maritime trade with Rome and South East Asia, in the wake of the Kushäna Control over the 'Silk Route' elevated India to the foremost position among world powers of the day, besides substantially boosting the state of economy. The beginn ing of the Christian era witnessed extensive cosmopolitan contacts throughout the vivi lised world which provided the Kushänas with a broad-based cultural horizon as a fitting prelude to the Indian Renaissance which flourished during the Gupta Age. The book sheds new light on how the positive Indian response of assimilating new ideas, adapting the alien virtues and harmonising all contradictions resulted in the melting of various races and cultures in the crucible of history, with the end product ultimately fortifying the mosaic of Indian civilisation with vitality and continuity down the ages.Here is the perfect introduction to the genesis of one of the world's most noble and refined civilisations, which can be read with profit both by serious scholars of history and culture as well as by the general reader.

The present work is an attempt at gauging the extent of impact made by the various races and tribes which invaded India during the span of time stretching from the 6th Cent. B.C. to 1st Cent. A.D. and the varied contributions brought to bear by them in moulding the shape of Indian Civilisation. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Dr. B.N. Puri, who has kindly guided and helped me all along while this work was in progress. My thanks are also due to Dr. B.N. Srivastava, Head of Department, Ancient Indian History, Lucknow University, Dr. B.N. Mukherjee, Dr. R.C. Sharma, Dr. K.K. Thapaliyal, Prof. G.R. Sharma, Prof. J.S. Negi, Dr. Om Prakash, Dr. Lallanji Gopal, Dr. S.P. Tewarson and my colleague Sri Rahul Shukla.

I should like to thank Sri Ashfaq Ali, Librarian of Lucknow Museum Library, Sri I.M. Tripathi, Librarian Lucknow Secretariat Library, Sri Chandra Mohan Srivastava and Late Sri Bhagwat Sahi of the Central Archaeological Library for providing me help and ample library facilities.In the end, I must thank my husband, Subhas, without whose co- operation, this book would not have seen the light of day and my two sons, Gagan and Tuhin, who have helped me in correcting the proofs.Inspite of my best efforts many mistakes are bound to have been left, for which I crave the indulgence of my readers.

Ms. Sarojini Chaturvedi pursued her studies in Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology at the Universities of Allahabad and Varanasi and was later awarded Ph.D. by the Lucknow University. A keen Indologist, Ms. Chaturvedi has to her credit numerous Research papers and Articles which have been published in various Journals and Periodicals from time to time and is widely travelled. Ms. Chaturvedi, who was formerly on the staff of the Isabella Thoburn College, Lucknow for some time and is currently teaching Ancient Indian History & Culture in the Christian College, Lucknow.

**Contents and Sample Pages**