The Hindus: An Alternative History

683 Pages·2014·8.02 MB·English

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

PREFACE:
CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION: WORKINGWITH AVAILABLE LIGHT

CHAPTER 2 - TIME AND SPACE IN INDIA 50 Million to 50,000 BCE

CHAPTER 3 - CIVILIZATION IN THE INDUS VALLEY 50,000 to 1500 BCE

CHAPTER 4 - BETWEEN THE RUINSAND THE TEXT 2000 to 1500 BCE

CHAPTER 5 - HUMANS, ANIMALS, AND GODS IN THE RIG VEDA 1500 to 1000
BCE

CHAPTER 6 - SACRIFICE IN THE BRAHMANAS 800 to 500 BCE

CHAPTER 7 - RENUNCIATION IN THE UPANISHADS 600 to 200 BCE

CHAPTER 8 - THE THREE (OR IS IT FOUR?) AIMS OF LIFE IN THE HINDU
IMAGINARY

CHAPTER 9 - WOMEN AND OGRESSES IN THE RAMAYANA 400 BCE to 200 CE

CHAPTER 10 - VIOLENCE IN THE MAHABHARATA 300 BCE to 300 CE

CHAPTER 11 - DHARMA IN THE MAHABHARATA 300 BCE to 300 CE

CHAPTER 12 - ESCAPE CLAUSES IN THE SHASTRAS 100 BCE to 400 CE

CHAPTER 13 - BHAKTI IN SOUTH INDIA 100 BCE to 900 CE

CHAPTER 14 - GODDESSES AND GODS IN THE EARLY PURANAS 300 to 600 CE

CHAPTER 15 - SECTS AND SEX IN THE TANTRIC PURANAS AND THE
TANTRAS 600 to 900 CE

CHAPTER 16 - FUSION AND RIVALRY UNDER THE DELHI SULTANATE 650 to
1500 CE

CHAPTER 17 - AVATAR AND ACCIDENTAL GRACE IN THE LATER PURANAS
800 to 1500 CE

CHAPTER 18 - PHILOSOPHICAL FEUDS IN SOUTH INDIA AND KASHMIR 800 to
1300 CE

CHAPTER 19 - DIALOGUE AND TOLERANCE UNDER THE MUGHALS 1500 to
1700 CE
CHAPTER 20 - HINDUISM UNDER THE MUGHALS 1500 to 1700 CE

CHAPTER 21 - CASTE, CLASS, AND CONVERSION UNDER THE BRITISH RAJ
1600 to 1900 CE

CHAPTER 22 - SUTTEE AND REFORM IN THE TWILIGHT OF THE RAJ 1800 to
1947 CE

CHAPTER 23 - HINDUS IN AMERICA 1900 -

CHAPTER 24 - THE PAST IN THE PRESENT 1950 -

CHAPTER 25 - INCONCLUSION, OR, THE ABUSE OF HISTORY

Acknowledgements

CHRONOLOGY

GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION AND SPELLINGOF WORDS IN SANSKRIT AND
OTHERINDIAN LANGUAGES

ABBREVIATIONS

GLOSSARY OF TERMS IN INDIAN LANGUAGES AND NAMES OF KEY FIGURES

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY: WORKS CITED AND CONSULTED

PHOTO CREDITS

INDEX

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ALSO BY WENDY DONIGER

Siva, the Erotic Ascetic
The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology
Dreams, Illusion, and Other Realities
Splitting the Difference: Gender and Myth in Ancient Greece and India
TRANSLATIONS:
The Rig Veda
The Laws of Manu
and
Kamasutra

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First published in 2009 by The Penguin Press,
a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Copyright © Wendy Doniger, 2009

All rights reserved

Acknowledgments for permission to reprint copyrighted works
appear on page 754.
Illustration credits appear on page 754.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Doniger, Wendy.
The Hindus : an alternative history / Wendy Doniger.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.

eISBN : 978-1-101-02870-4

1. Hinduism—Social aspects—History. 2. Women in Hinduism—History.
3. Pariahs in Hinduism—History.
4. Hinduism—Relations. I. Title.
BL1151.3.D66 2009
294.509—dc22
2008041030

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KATHERINE ULRICH—student, friend, editor supreme—
and
WILL DALRYMPLE—inspiration and comrade in the good fight

INDIA’S MAJOR GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES
INDIA FROM 2500 BCE TO 600 CE
INDIA FROM 600 CE TO 1600 CE