The history of India has been written in many ways. If there are books that study the small things that are so often overlooked, there are also works that map out large grids of time and space. Upinder Singh's new book combines these perspectives.
From the first stone tools of the Siwaliks to the sumptuous stone temples of Tanjavur, from the Rgvedic Agni to the medieval woman-saint Andal, Singh tells the entire story of ancient and early medieval India in a single volume.
Simultaneously, and this is what makes it a tremendous read. She inserts into this vast landscape a degree of magnification which brings alive ordinary artifacts and unknown people. |
