Publisher's Synopsis
The central theme of this book is how India has been viewed by outsiders, as well as how both these outsiders and the people of India have been affected by such perceptions. Professor Embree examines the complex interplay of indigenous Indian culture with two civilizations, the Islamic and the Western. His work shows with precise detail that civilization is not a fixed residue handed down from the past, and that it is, rather, an enduring structure with adaptive mechanisms that permit it to be both a historically determined and continuously renewed creative force.;The essays which collectively contribute to this theme range over ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary Indian history - from those on Brahminical ideology and the Idea of Indian history, to those on the 1857 revolt and Liberal experiments between 1885 and 1909.
