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The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia

The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia PDF Author: Himanshu Prabha Ray
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521011099
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 356

Book Description
Prior to European expansion, communities of the Indian subcontinent had a strong maritime orientation. In this new archaeological study, Himanshu Prabha Ray explores seafaring activity, religious travel and political economy in this ancient period. By using archaeological data from the Red Sea to the Indonesian archipelago, she reveals how the early history of peninsular South Asia is interconnected with that of its Asian and Mediterranean partners in the Indian Ocean Region. The book departs from traditional studies, focusing on the communities maritime history rather than agrarian expansion and the emergence of the state. Rather than being a prime mover in social, economic and religious change, the state is viewed as just one participant in a complex interplay of social actors, including merchants, guilds, boat-builders, sailors, pilgrims, religious clergy and craft-producers. A study that will be welcomed by students of Archaeology and Ancient History, particularly those interested in South Asian Studies.

The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia

The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia PDF Author: Himanshu Prabha Ray
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521011099
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 356

Book Description
Prior to European expansion, communities of the Indian subcontinent had a strong maritime orientation. In this new archaeological study, Himanshu Prabha Ray explores seafaring activity, religious travel and political economy in this ancient period. By using archaeological data from the Red Sea to the Indonesian archipelago, she reveals how the early history of peninsular South Asia is interconnected with that of its Asian and Mediterranean partners in the Indian Ocean Region. The book departs from traditional studies, focusing on the communities maritime history rather than agrarian expansion and the emergence of the state. Rather than being a prime mover in social, economic and religious change, the state is viewed as just one participant in a complex interplay of social actors, including merchants, guilds, boat-builders, sailors, pilgrims, religious clergy and craft-producers. A study that will be welcomed by students of Archaeology and Ancient History, particularly those interested in South Asian Studies.

The Archaeology of Knowledge Traditions of the Indian Ocean World

The Archaeology of Knowledge Traditions of the Indian Ocean World PDF Author: Himanshu Prabha Ray
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000220737
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 300

Book Description
This book examines knowledge traditions that held together the fluid and overlapping maritime worlds of the Indian Ocean in the premodern period, as evident in the material and archaeological record. It breaks new ground by shifting the focus from studying cross-pollination of ideas from textual sources to identifying this exchange of ideas in archaeological and historical documentation. The themes covered in the book include conceptualization of the seas and maritime landscapes in Sanskrit, Arabic and Chinese narratives; materiality of knowledge production as indicated in the archaeological record of communities where writing on stone first appears; and anchoring the coasts, not only through an understanding of littoral shrines and ritual landscapes, but also by an analysis of religious imagery on coins, more so at the time of the introduction of new religions such as Islam in the Indian Ocean around the eighth century. This volume will be of great interest to researchers and scholars of archaeology, anthropology, museum and heritage studies, Indian Ocean studies, maritime studies, South and Southeast Asian studies, religious studies and cultural studies.

Archaeology of Seafaring

Archaeology of Seafaring PDF Author: Himanshu Prabha Ray
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 372

Book Description
The Volume Brings Together The Results Of Ongoingresearch On Different Aspects Of The Archaeology Of The Indian Ocean: Archaeo-Botany; Ethno-Archaeology; Maritime Ethnography And Numismatics. These Issues Have Been Discussed Withinthe Wider Context Of Movements Across The Indian Ocean Of Fishing And Sailing Communities, And Of Travellers And Traders. A Range Of Textual Sources, Including Those In Greek And Arabic Have Been Analysed, And Are Accompanied By Representations In Cartography, The Objective Being To Initiate-Interest In A Manner Holistic To Early Seafaring Activity. The Contributors Form Part Of A Larger Indian Ocean Community Of Scholars, Actively Involved In Study And Research In Different Parts Of The Region. Many Of Them Have Participated In The Two International Conferrences Held In 1994 In New Delhi And In 1996 In Lyon.

Coastal Shrines and Transnational Maritime Networks across India and Southeast Asia

Coastal Shrines and Transnational Maritime Networks across India and Southeast Asia PDF Author: Himanshu Prabha Ray
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000166511
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Book Description
This book breaks new ground by examining trans-oceanic connectivity through the perspective of coastal shrines and maritime cultural landscapes across the Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea. It covers a period of expanding networks and cross-cultural encounters from the 3rd century BCE to the 13th century CE. The book examines the distinctiveness of these shrines, and highlights their interconnections, and their role in social integration in South and Southeast Asia. By drawing on data from shipwreck sites, the author elaborates on the material and religious intersections and transmissions between cultures across the seas. Many of these coastal shrines survived into the colonial period when they came to be admired for their aesthetic value as ‘monuments’. As nation states of the region became independent, these shrines were often inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List on account of their Outstanding Universal Values. The book argues that in the 21st century there is a need to promote the cultural connectivity of the past as transnational heritage on UNESCO’s global platform to preserve and protect our shared heritage. The volume will be essential reading for academics and researchers of archaeology, anthropology, museum and heritage studies, history of South and Southeast Asia, religious studies, cultural studies, and Asian studies.

Archaeology and Buddhism in South Asia

Archaeology and Buddhism in South Asia PDF Author: Himanshu Prabha Ray
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1351394320
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 197

Book Description
This book traces the archaeological trajectory of the expansion of Buddhism and its regional variations in South Asia. Focusing on the multireligious context of the subcontinent in the first millennium BCE, the volume breaks from conventional studies that pose Buddhism as a counter to the Vedic tradition to understanding the religion more integrally in terms of dhamma (teachings of the Buddha), dāna (practice of cultivating generosity) and the engagement with the written word. The work underlines that relic and image worship were important features in the spread of Buddhism in the region and were instrumental in bringing the monastics and the laity together. Further, the author examines the significance of the histories of monastic complexes (viharas, stupas, caityas) and also religious travel and pilgrimage that provided connections across the subcontinent and the seas. An interdisciplinary study, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars in South Asian studies, religion, especially Buddhist studies, history and archaeology.

Buddhism and Gandhara

Buddhism and Gandhara PDF Author: Himanshu Prabha Ray
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1351252747
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 225

Book Description
Gandhara is a name central to Buddhist heritage and iconography. It is the ancient name of a region in present-day Pakistan, bounded on the west by the Hindu Kush mountain range and to the north by the foothills of the Himalayas. ‘Gandhara’ is also the term given to this region’s sculptural and architectural features between the first and sixth centuries CE. This book re-examines the archaeological material excavated in the region in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and traces the link between archaeological work, histories of museum collections and related interpretations by art historians. The essays in the volume underscore the diverse cultural traditions of Gandhara – from a variety of sources and perspectives on language, ethnicity and material culture (including classical accounts, Chinese writings, coins and Sanskrit epics) – as well as interrogate the grand narrative of Hellenism of which Gandhara has been a part. The book explores the making of collections of what came to be described as Gandhara art and reviews the Buddhist artistic tradition through notions of mobility and dynamic networks of transmission. Wide ranging and rigorous, this volume will appeal to scholars and researchers of early South Asian history, archaeology, religion (especially Buddhist studies), art history and museums.

Decolonising Heritage in South Asia

Decolonising Heritage in South Asia PDF Author: Taylor & Francis Group
Publisher: Routledge Chapman & Hall
ISBN: 9780367733513
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 258

Book Description
This volume cross-examines the stability of heritage as a concept. It interrogates the past which materialises through multi-layered narratives on monuments and other objects that sustain cultural diversity. It seeks to understand how interpretations of "monuments" as "texts" are affected at the local level of experience, even as institutions such as UNESCO work to globalise and fix constructs of stable and universal heritage. Shifting away from a largely Eurocentric concept associated with architecture and monumental archaeology, this book reassesses how local and regional heritage needs to be balanced with the global and transnational. It argues that material objects and monuments are not static embodiments of culture but are, rather, a medium through which identity, power and society are produced and reproduced. This is especially relevant in South and Southeast Asian contexts, where debates over heritage often have local, regional and national political implications and consequences. Reevaluating how traditional valuation of monuments and cultural landscapes could help aid sustainability and long-term preservation of the heritage, this book will be useful for scholars and researchers of South and Southeast Asian history, heritage studies, archaeology, cultural studies, tourism studies and political history as well.

The Archaeology of South Asia

The Archaeology of South Asia PDF Author: Robin Coningham
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521846978
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 557

Book Description
This book synthesises the archaeology of South Asia from the Neolithic period (c.6500 BCE) to the third century BCE.

The Winds of Change

The Winds of Change PDF Author: Himanshu Prabha Ray
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264

Book Description
On maritime trade and seafaring in the early historical period with reference to support provided by Buddhist monastic establishments during that period.

Negotiating Cultural Identity

Negotiating Cultural Identity PDF Author: Himanshu Prabha Ray
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000227936
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 303

Book Description
This volume breaks new ground by conceptualizing physical landscapes as living cultural bodies. It redefines dynamic cultural landscapes as catalysts in which the natural world and human practice are inextricably linked and are constantly interacting. Drawing on research by eminent archaeologists, numismatists and historians, the essays in this volume • Provide insights into the ways people in the past, and in the present, imbue places with meanings; • Examine the social and cultural construction of space in the early medieval period in South Asia; • Trace complex patterns of historical development of a temple or a town, to understand ways in which such spaces often become a means of constructing the collective past and social traditions. With a new chapter on continuity and change in the sacred landscape of the Buddhist site at Udayagiri, the second edition of Negotiating Cultural Identity will be of immense interest to scholars and researchers of archaeology, social history, cultural studies, art history and anthropology.