Global India Circa 100 CE: South Asia In Early World History

3.5/5 ( ratings)

“Richard Davis’ dismantling of the notion of an isolated India masterfully integrates evidence from texts, archaeology, art history and numismatics. The focus shifts elegantly from Rome to China, from entrepreneurial traders to pious monks, from Jataka tales to the Ramayana. For anyone who teaches Indian, Asian or world history, this booklet is the essential antidote to Manu, the stay-at-home conservative usually held up as the norm of 'Indian Civilization.'”

Stewart Gordon
Center for South Asian Studies
University of Michigan
Author, When Asia Was the World: Traveling Merchants, Scholars, Warriors and Monks Who Created the ‘Riches of the East.’

“Richard Davis does a marvelous job of situating India within a larger world historical setting in Global India circa 100 CE. By focusing on traders, missionaries, warriors, and adventurers—the four types of agents who are responsible for globalizing processes— this highly accessible booklet brings analytical coherence and clarity to an unwieldy subject matter. In addition to excellent coverage of more familiar topics such as India’s sea trade with Rome, the proselytizing efforts of Ashoka and other Indian kings, or the migration of the Yueh-chih people, Davis adds valuable analyses of story literature, the Ramayana epic, and Buddhist art. Global India circa 100 CE is an entertaining introduction to India’s international interactions and conceptions that will greatly benefit teachers and students of world history as well as ancient Asia.”

Cynthia Talbot
Associate Professor of History and Asian Studies
University of Texas at Austin
Co-author, India before Europe

From: Association for Asian Studies