Sign-In
Cart
Megasthenes' Indica: A New Translation of the Fragments with Commentary
Paperback
Series: Routledge Classical Translations
Ancient History GeneralIndian & South Asian History
ISBN13: 9781032023571
Publisher: Routledge
Published: May 31 2023
Pages: 158
Weight: 0.56
Height: 0.37 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English
This book provides a new translation of all the surviving portions of the description of India written by Megasthenes in about 310 BCE, the fullest account of Indian geography, history and customs available to the classical world. The Indica was a pioneering work of ethnography that exemplified a new direction in Hellenistic writing; India was little-known to the Greeks before the expedition of Alexander the Great in 326-325 BCE, and Megasthenes, who resided as an ambassador in the Maurya capital Pataliputra for some time, provided the classical world with most of what it knew about India.
Megasthenes' book, which became a classic in antiquity, now survives only in fragments preserved in other Greek and Latin authors. Stoneman's work offers a reliable and accessible version of all the writings that can plausibly be ascribed to Megasthenes. His subject ranges from detailed accounts of social structure and the royal household, to descriptions of elephant hunting and Indian philosophical ideas. His book is the only written source contemporary with the Maurya kingdom of Candragupta, since writing was not in use in India at this date. This translation provides a path to clearer understanding of Greek ethnography and a valuable resource on Indian history.
The book will be of value not only to classical scholars with an interest in Hellenistic history and cultural attitudes, and to their students, but also to scholars working on the early history of India, who have had to rely (unless they are also Greek scholars) on scattered and dated collections of evidence.
Also in
Indian & South Asian History
Swift Sword: The True Story of the Marines of MIKE 3/5 in Vietnam, 4 September 1967
Glass, Doyle
Paperback
Koh-I-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond
Anand, Anita
Dalrymple, William
Paperback
The Doctor and the Saint: Caste, Race, and Annihilation of Caste, the Debate Between B.R. Ambedkar and M.K. Gandhi
Roy, Arundhati
Paperback
India - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture
Culture Smart!
Stephen, Becky
Paperback
The New Tech Titans of China: Innovation Under Pressure in the World's Most Ambitious Economy
Fannin, Rebecca
Paperback
Lions of Medina: The True Story of the Marines of Charlie 1/1 in Vietnam, 11-12 October 1967
Glass, Doyle
Paperback
Decolonizing Anarchism: An Antiauthoritarian History of India's Liberation Struggle
Ramnath, Maia
Paperback
Azadi: Fascism, Fiction, and Freedom in the Time of the Virus (Expanded Second Edition)
Roy, Arundhati
Paperback
Rambutan: Recipes from Sri Lanka, Accompanying the Acclaimed New London Restaurant
Shanmugalingam, Cynthia
Hardcover
The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolition
Soundararajan, Thenmozhi
Paperback
The Children of Mu: Relics of the Diaspora from the Lost Pacific Continent
Churchward, James
Paperback
The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide (Pulitzer Prize Finalist)
Bass, Gary J.
Paperback
Secret Drugs of Buddhism: Psychedelic Sacraments and the Origins of the Vajrayana
Crowley, Michael
Paperback
The Last Island: Discovery, Defiance, and the Most Elusive Tribe on Earth
Goodheart, Adam
Goodheart, Adam
Hardcover
Five Past Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World's Deadliest Industrial Disaster
Lapierre, Dominique
Moro, Javier
Hardcover
Women of the Raj: The Mothers, Wives, and Daughters of the British Empire in India
MacMillan, Margaret
Paperback
The Patient Assassin: A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge, and India's Quest for Independence
Anand, Anita
Paperback
The 1921 Rebellion in Malabar: A Collection of Communist Writings
Narayanan, Nitheesh
Prashad, Vijay
Paperback
Speaking of History: Conversations about India's Past and Present
Arora, Namit
Thapar, Romila
Paperback
Merchants of Death: A Study of the International Armament Industry
Engelbrecht, H. C.
Hanighen, F. C.
Paperback
Slaves from the Tamil Coast and European Trade Around the World: 1547-1792
Stephen, S. Jeyaseela
Hardcover
The Language Movement in Bangladesh: Translingualism and a Struggle for Rhetorical Sovereignty
Rabbi, Shakil
Hardcover
Linguistic Resistance in Pakistan: Punjabi Language Movements After Independence
Columeau, Julien
Paperback
Eagles of Destiny: Volume 2 - Growth and Wars of the Pakistani Air Force 1956-1971
Shabbir, Usman
Mazhar, Yawar
Paperback
Terror and Response: The India-Pakistan Proxy War 2008-2019
Pedroza, Everton
Badri-Maharaj, Sanjay
Paperback
Indies Adventure; the Amazing Career of Afonso De Albuquerque, Captain-general and Governor of India (1509-1515)
Sanceau, Elaine
Paperback
A Passage to Europe: The Astonishing Travels of an Indian Prince in the Age of Revolutions
Markovits, Rahul
Hardcover
Hindu Mythology: A Captivating Guide to Hindu Myths, Hindu Gods, and Hindu Goddesses
Clayton, Matt
Paperback
A Year in Green Tea and Tuk-Tuks: My unlikely adventure creating an eco farm in Sri Lanka
Spowers, Rory
Paperback
Prophetic Maharaja: Loss, Sovereignty, and the Sikh Tradition in Colonial South Asia
Judge, Rajbir Singh
Hardcover
Discovering Bhutan: Land of Gross National Happiness
Schofield, Janet Ward
Schofield, Janetward
Paperback
The Parliament of Pakistan: A History of Institution-Building and (Un)Democratic Practices, 1971-1977
Hussain, Mahboob
Paperback
Punjab and the War of Independence 1857-1858: From Collaboration to Resistance
Sargana, Turab Ul Hassan
Paperback
Modern Forests: Statemaking and Environmental Change in Colonial Eastern India
Sivaramakrishnan, K.
Paperback
Himmler's Crusade: The Nazi Expedition to Find the Origins of the Aryan Race
Hale, Christopher
Paperback
The Language Movement in Bangladesh: Translingualism and a Struggle for Rhetorical Sovereignty
Rabbi, Shakil
Paperback
Princess in the Land of Snows: The Life of Jamyang Sakya in Tibet
Sakya, Jamyang
Emery, Julie
Paperback
The Mughal Empire: A Captivating Guide to the Mughal Empire in South Asia and the Impact the Mughals Had on the History of India
History, Captivating
Paperback
A History of the Sikhs: From the Origin of the Nation to the Battles of the Sutlej: Copy#1
Cunningham, Joseph Davey
Hardcover