An Intellectual and Cultural History of India

This book. An Intellectual and Cultural History of India (From Pre-History to the 18th Century), contains chapters on the concept of Intellectual History, Philosophy of Indian History and the growth of science and technology in India along with deeper studies in Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism), Buddhism, Hindu Pantheon, the science of Yoga, ancient university education, Islam in India, Bhaktivada, Sufism, Indian sculpture and painting. Explorations have also been made in the domains of the universal impact of the Upanishads and the Geeta

Dr. Sailen Debnath, MA, Ph.D., of the Department of History, Alipurduar University, West Bengal, has been engrossed in the studies of the history of ideas and intellectual history of India, Asia and Europe for the last twenty-five years. He has authored a number of books namely The Meanings of Hindu Gods. Goddesses and Myths. ISBN 9788129114815, Rupa & Co., New Delhi, 2009; (2) Secularism: Western and Indian ISBN 9788126913664, Atlantic Publishers, New Delhi, 2010: (3) Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose His Philosophy, Political Thought and Contribution, ISBN 9789350740859, Abhijeet Publications, New Delhi, 2013; (4) Human Rights in the Context of Caste, Class and Gender in India, ISBN 9789350740996, Abhijeet Publications, New Delhi, 2013: (5) Kamatapur An Unexplored History of Eastern India (650-1498), ISBN-9788193019078, Aayu Publications, New Delhi,2015; (6) The Koch-Rajbanshis from Panchanan to Greater Cooch Behar Movement, ISBN 9789385161155, Aayu Publications, New Delhi: (7) Indo-Bhutan Relations in Modern Times: A Study of Bilateral Relations, ISBN 9789385161469, Aayu Publications, New Delhi, 2017; (8) The Unfortunate Indian, ISBN 9789385161551, (A Historical Novel). Aayu Publications, New Delhi, 2017, (9) Essays on Cultural History of North Bengal, ISBN 9788186850427, NL Publishers, 2008; (10) West Bengal in Doldrums, ISBN 9788186860342, N.L Publishers, 2009; (12) The Dooars in Historical Transition, ISBN 9788186860441, N.L. Publishers, 2010. including two edited books: (1) Social and Political Tensions in North Bengal since 1947, ISBN 9788186860441, N.L. Publishers, 2007; (2) 1st Editor, Modern Trends in Social and Basic Sciences. ISBN 9789382623519, Readers Service, Kolkata, 2015.

This book, An Intellectual and Cultural History of India (From Pre History to the 18th Century), is the first of its kind in the domain of studies in Indian History. This new genre of historical analysis of intellectual and cultural development is based on the concept of the progress of civilization through interactions and inter-impact between creative ideas and human activities across the ages. The physical structures of civilization wear off; and gradually turn into remains; and then vanish with the passing of long duration of time; but the positive ingredients of ideas and creative thoughts continue to exist all through changes with the elapse of time. India is a country of continental dimension in the field of culture; therefore, the making of an intellectual and cultural survey at all levels is well-nigh impossible. In this book, attempts have been made to collocate together in the context of time and relevance only the pan-Indian major cultural trends and courses. Micro-level cultural diversities and local tendencies in the formations of regional cultural identities could naturally not be given proper attention. This book contains chapters on the concept of Intellectual history, philosophy of Indian history and the growth of science and technology in ancient India along with deeper studies in Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism), Buddhism, the science of Yoga. ancient university education, Islam in India, Bhaktivada, Sufism, Indian sculpture and painting. Explorations have been made in the domains of the universal impact of the Upanishads and the Geeta.

The topics analysed in this book partially cover the syllabi of many universities apart from the fact that the themes are subjects of general discussions and of intellectual exercise of the Indian people nearly at all levels. There should have been some more chapters on different other aspects of Indian culture, which, can, of course, be fulfilled in the next enlarged editions of the book.

The title of the book, An Intellectual and Cultural History of India (From Pre History to the 18" Century), appears in one hand to be self-explanatory of its central theme and on the other may seem to be queer to those who always view history only in terms of political or social or economic or outward cultural changes not thinking about the overall and all-inclusive impact of creative thought, intellectual cultivation and advancement on the course of human activity and therewithal on the evolution of history. Intellectual history covers the history of ideas, and ideas are such driving forces as easily go across the barriers of all kinds of borders in the passage of time. The present book is inclusive of an indepth study of the intellectual and cultural history of India: the thing that has been explored is the inter-active influences of ideas and actions in Indian history from the remote past to the 18th century; and in another book, the same kind of study has been made upto the present covering the thematic aspects of intellectual and cultural development in modern India including the cultural factors for the creation of Pakistan.

The interplay of creative ideas and human activities vis-a-vis the challenges across the way of human progress has been the subject of intellectual and cultural history; therefore, the course of Indian history here in this book has been explored and studied from that point of view of intellectual history. Right from the prehistoric period, the Indians have proved their brilliance, creative power and capability in the fields of discoveries, inventions and manufacturing: as well as they have excelled most other peoples of the world in the cultivation of the art of peace and spirituality. In the remote past, they gave birth to the earliest urban civilization (the Harappan), the science of Yoga, meditation, medicine (Ayurveda), sanitation, drainage system, plastic surgery, astronomy. with the concept of the roundness of heavenly bodies, the earth's rotation, the value of the pi, the decimal system with the numerals and the Zero, the earliest literature (the Vedas), the earliest concept of evolution (Sankhya philosophy), the universal concept and practice of non-violence (Buddhism and Jainism).

Book's Contents and Sample Pages