Publisher's Synopsis
In the title essay of this enthralling collection, Sanjay Subrahmanyam sets a provocative ball rolling : "At the heart of the matter", he says, 'is the notion that at some distant point in the past, say about AD500, the concept of 'Indian Civilization' had already been perfected. Everything of any importance was in place : Social structure, philosophy, the major literary works ... The central idea here is of India-as-civilization and it very soon becomes the same as a notion of closed India'.
