Indians: A Brief History of a Civilization
What do the erotic carvings on Khajuraho's temple walls actually tell us about the people who made them? What was on the menu for monks at Nalanda? Did ancient Indians consider dark skin beautiful? These are not trivial questions. They're the kind that make history feel alive again, and Namit Arora asks them with genuine curiosity. This book takes six iconic locations as its anchors: the Harappan city of Dholavira, the Ikshvaku capital at Nagarjunakonda, the Buddhist learning centre at Nalanda, Khajuraho, Vijayanagar at Hampi, and Varanasi. Through each, Arora reconstructs how ordinary and extraordinary Indians lived across five millennia, covering their politics, their beliefs, their food, their festivals, and the values they held dear. Some of those values endure in modern India; others have quietly vanished. Interwoven with the main narrative are portraits of famous travellers who passed through the subcontinent, among them Megasthenes, Xuanzang, Alberuni, and Marco Polo. Their accounts are vivid, sometimes eccentric, and frequently revealing in ways they didn't intend to be. Arora mines them with a sharp, thoughtful eye. The prose is clear and unhurried, and the book is generously supported by evocative photographs and local stories that give texture to what could easily have become dry recitation. It's an ambitious undertaking, covering vast stretches of time without ever feeling rushed or superficial. Readers with even a passing interest in Indian history will find it richly rewarding.
- Author: Namit Arora
- Publisher: Penguin Viking
- Genre: Industry-Specific Business
- ISBN: 978-0670090433
- Pages: 304 pages