Vedic Religion Is Unclear

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Vedic Religion Is Unclear HISTORY UGC NET/SET/JRF (Paper II and III) Amitava Chatterjee Delhi Chennai No part of this eBook may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the publisher’s prior written consent. Copyright © 2014 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. This eBook may or may not include all assets that were part of the print version. The publisher reserves the right to remove any material in this eBook at any time. ISBN: 9789332520622 e-ISBN: 9789332537040 First Impression Head Office: 7th Floor, Knowledge Boulevard, A-8(A) Sector 62, Noida 201 309, India. Registered Office: 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110 017, India. In fond memories of Dada and Mamoni About the Author "NJUBWB$IBUUFSKFF faculty of history at Ramsaday College, Howrah and guest faculty at Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata is a Charles Wallace Fellow (UK, 2012). He has teaching experience of over 12 years. He has completed two UGC sponsored Minor Research Projects titled ‘Sports History in Bengal: A microcosmic study’ and ‘ Evolution of Women’s Sporting Culture in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Bengal.’ He has edited two books 1FPQMFBU-BSHF1PQVMBS$VMUVSFJO.PEFSO #FOHBMand1FPQMFBU1MBZ4QPSU $VMUVSFBOE/BUJPOBMJTNandwritten extensively in reputed national and international journals such as 4PDDFS 4PDJFUZ(Routledge), 4QPSUJO4PDJFUZ Routledge)*OUFSOBUJPOBM+PVS OBMPG)JTUPSZPG4QPSU $BMDVUUB)JTUPSJDBM+PVSOBM+PVSOBMPG)JTUPSZ to name a few. He is also a guest editor of 4QPSUJO4PDJFUZand referee of 4PDDFS4PDJFUZ(Routledge). Some of his books include #IBSBU07JTIXBand *UJIBTFS"MPLF&VSPQFS3VQBOUBSpublished by Pearson Education. His area of interest is sports history and his thrust research area is the evolution of sporting culture in colonial Bengal. Contents 1SFGBDF WJJ "DLOPXMFEHFNFOUT WJJJ Part I: Ancient 1. Pre-History 1.3 2. Indus Valley Civilization 1.21 3. The Vedic Age 1.34 4. Religious Movements 1.48 5. Mauryan and Post-Mauryan Empire 1.62 6. Gupta and Post-Gupta Empire 1.81 7. The Chola Dynasty 1.98 Part II: Medieval 8. The Delhi Sultanate 2.3 9. Vijayanagar and Bahamani Empire 2.32 10. Indo-Islamic Culture and Religion 2.65 11. The Mughal Empire 2.77 12. The Marathas 2.107 Part III: Modern 13. Establishment of British Rule in India 3.3 14. Uprising against the British Rule 3.24 15. Socio-Economic Impact of the British Rule in India 3.40 16. The Freedom Struggle 3.69 17. Post-Partition India 3.101 18. World Concepts 3.116 Part IV: Previous Years’ Solved Papers 1BQFS** June 2008 4.3 December 2008 4.11 June 2009 4.19 December 2009 4.26 June 2010 4.32 December 2010 4.39 June 2011 4.46 December 2011 4.53 June 2012 4.61 December 2012 4.69 June 2013 4.77 September 2013 4.84 December 2013 4.90 1BQFS*** June 2013 4.97 September 2013 4.108 December 2013 4.119 Part V: Model Set Papers Model Set I 5.3 Model Set II 5.10 Model Set III 5.17 Model Set IV 5.24 Model Set V 5.31 Model Set VI 5.37 Part VI: Appendix Appendix 1 6.3 Appendix 2 6.9 Appendix 3 6.15 $ISPOPMPHZPG*OEJBO)JTUPSZ 6.19 Preface This book is written for the benef t of NET/SET aspirants who desire to go into academics. The book has been structured strictly in accordance with the prescribed syllabus of the Univer- sity Grants Commission. It starts with the pre-history portion and has been divided into three sections—Ancient Indian History, Medieval Indian History and Modern Indian History. As per the latest syllabus, I have also included the section of ‘world concepts’ for the benef ts of the students. Though the syllabus is extensive and tough, this book will try to quench the thirst of the students as far as the microcosmic study is concerned. Each chapter does have a lucid outline of every aspect of the particular topic along with multiple-choice questions covering every important areas of the chapter. Each chapter of this book has been a result of thorough and up-to-date research. I have compiled some practice test set for the self-evaluation of aptitude after completion of reading. The book also contains previous years’ question of NET examinations with solutions including the latest one. Interestingly this book is a compilation of almost all probable MCQs which are paramount for both Paper II and III in the forthcoming NET/SET examinations. The chronologies of different dynasties in case of Ancient and Medieval Indian History have also been incorporated at the end of this book. As far as the Modern Indian History is concerned, chronologies of different important events, along with the list of Viceroys and Governor Generals of India, have been included in a separate section which will be of immense help to the students. Acknowledgements I am indebted to all my teachers of the Department of History, Jadavpur University where I had my orientation of history. I am thankful to my teachers—Prof. Ranjan Chakrabarti, Prof. Rup Kumar Burman and Prof. Chittabrata Palit of Jadavpur University. I am indebted to Prof. Arabinda Samanta, Prof Syed Tanveer Nasreen (Burdwan University), Prof. Gautam Chandra Roy and Prof. Debjani Das (Vidyasagar University), Prof. Sabyasachi Chattopadhyay (Kalyani University), Prof. Kausik Bandopadhyay and Prof. Sutapa Chatterjee (West Bengal State University), Prof. Sab- yasachi Dasgupta and Prof. Bipasha Raha (Visva Bharati University). I must express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Bhaskar Chakrabarti, my supervisor, for his kind concern in almost all aspects of my academic endeavours. I also thank Prof. Nirban Basu, Prof. Arun Bandopadhyay, Prof. Suparna Guptu (University of Calcutta) for their encouragement and support. Prof. Sajal Nag of Assam University and Prof. Biswamoy Pati of the University of Delhi indeed supported me in my toughest time. I am indebted to all the faculty members of Department of History, Rabindra Bharati University viz., Prof. Hitendra Patel, Prof. Susnata Das, Prof. Sujata Mukherjee, Prof. Ashis Das, Prof. Sahara Ahmed, Prof. Anuradha Kayal and Prof. Ajanta Biswas. Last but not the least I thank Binayak Dutta of North Eastern Hill University, Maroona Murmu of Jadavpur University, Monishankar Mishra of Tripura University and Anirban Bandopadhyay, Scholar, CHS, JNU. I also would like to thank Amrita Mondal, Avipsu Halder and Souvik Naha of JNU and my student Debanjan Mitra for their help. Finally I could not produce a list of acknowledgments without addressing my Dada. I am truly blessed to have such a supportive pillar right beside me in every step of my life even after his sad demise. Mamoni, who left me alone couple of years back, would have been the happiest person to witness the publication of this volume. The task of writing this book would not have completed without the support of my family, especially my wife Aparna and my little daugh- ter Anushka. My family’s sacrifices and belief in me have helped me immensely in completing this book. Part I: Ancient This page is intentionally left blank 1 Pre-History Periodization and Genesis of into Palaeolithic and Neolithic. The present mode of chronological classification in prehis- Prehistoric Studies tory was first proposed by Edouard Lartet in In the first half of the nineteenth century, the his book new findings from the excavations and their systematic observation by C.J. Thomsen pro- vided strong empirical data to logically sup- (1861), where he classified prehistory into port and prove the three-age model of history lower, middle and upper phases on the basis as propounded earlier by Lucretius, the Dane of the association of different stone tool types Vedel Simonsen, Montfaucon, and Mahudel. with different fauna found in the excavated This was a landmark event in understanding stratigraphic sequence of the palaeolithic cave the human past as it replaced the traditional site of Aurignac, France. paths of intuition and upheld the significance of empirics retrieved from the archaeological findings. In this relative chronological system, What is Prehistory? Thomsen classified the human history into The study of the Stone Age culture is com- three ages: Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron monly known as prehistoric studies. Prehis- Age. This model provided a crude structure tory encompasses the largest segment of the of classifying the different stages of human evolution of human life and culture. Etymo- history and initiated a new dimension in the logically, the word ‘prehistory’ means events research of the culture of the Stone Age. The or anything before ‘history’. History is basi- chronology was established by 1825 and was cally an umbrella term that determines the pat- published in an illustrated monograph named terns of cause and effect of any events in the in 1826. The idea past through interconnected narratives, either of three-age system was also advocated by tangible or intangible. Generally, history deals another Danish scholar P.F. Suhm, who was with the events of the period post the invention contemporary of Thomsen. Subsequently, the of a specialized skill of documenting the events theory was refined and proved by other schol- through arranging some groups of characters ars, mainly by Jacob Worsaae. A concept of in a syntactical order, which can be even picto- two-age system was introduced by John Lub- grams or something close to modern-day writ- bock in 1863 who categorized prehistoric time ing. So the entire trajectory of the evolution of 1.4 Chapter 1 human life and culture before the phase of syn- behavioural variations in different regions of tactical documentation is basically categorized the world (Table 1). under the domain of ‘prehistory’. The Pleistocene has been dated from 2.588 The trajectory of human evolution and its million (±5,000) to 11,700 years before pres- culture has not occurred in a linear fashion.
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