Description
Viva Books Economic History of Early India 2011 Edition by R. S. Sharma
Economic History of Early India brings together essays written by Dr R.S. Sharma on the economic history operating in India from the earliest times to c. 1200 AD, and how the same influenced and shaped India's politics and society of the times. Dr Sharma deals with economic patterns evident during some of the better-known epochs of early India, covering the major dynasties of the subcontinent. The author identifies areas which require further analyses for the scholar, and deals with topics such as the economics of the caste system in Ancient India, and how urbanization first arrived.The book contains eleven chapters written for different occasions. In Chapter One the material background of the Vedic warfare has been presented on the basis of literary references and hitherto discovered archaeological finds. Chapter Two deals with as many as seven stages of ancient Indian economy viz., (i) Harappan, (ii).Rgvedic, (iii) later Vedic, (iv) the period of c. 500â€"322 BC, (v) Mauryan, (vi) post-Mauryan (200 BCÃ�AD 200) and (vii) Gupta. The various modes of production are discussed in Chapter Three, while the fourth chapter draws the north Indian economic life during the Gupta period. In the fifth chapter eight economic aspects of the caste system have been pointed out, while the sixth chapter presents the early medieval land grants with Rastrakuta examples. In the seventh chapter problems regarding the peasant protest in early medieval India have been brought to light. Chapter Eight deals with usury in early medieval times. In Chapter Nine different aspects of urbanism in early historic India are discussed, while the urban growth and decline have been explained in Chapter Ten. The economic trends and prospects in India upto AD 1200 have been stressed in Chapter Eleven.About the AuthorR.S. Sharma is an eminent historian and scholar. He has taught at Delhi University and the University of Toronto and was a Senior Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Dr Sharma has also been the University Grants Commission National Fellow and the President of the Indian History Congress. His major works include Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India, Sudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order Down to Circa AD 600, India's Ancient Past, Looking for the Aryans, Indian Feudalism, Early Medieval Indian Society: A Study in Feudalisation, Perspectives in Social and Economic History of Ancient India and Urban Decay in India.