The Hindus: An Alternative History

1038 Pages·2010·6.19 MB·English

by  Wendy Doniger

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,
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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 : 978-1-10102870-4
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