Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Preface ix
4. Acknowledgements xiii
5. Abbreviations xv
6. PART I The Search for a Historical Tradition
7. 1 Searching for Early Indian Historical Writing 3
8. 2 Towards Historical Traditions 49
9. PART II The Embedded Tradition
10. 3 Fragmentary Narratives from the Vedas 87
11. 4 The Mahābhārata 144
12. 5 The Rāmāyaṇa 208
13. PART III Interlude: The Emerging Historical Tradition 263
14. 6 Genealogies in the Making of a Historical Tradition: The Vaṃśānucarita of the Viṣṇu Purāṇa 265
15. 7 Early Inscriptions as Historical Statements (Up to c. the Sixth Century ad) 319
16. 8 History as Literature: The Plays of Viśākhadatta 353
17. PART IV Alternative Histories
18. 9 The Buddhist Tradition: Monks as Historians 381
19. 10 The Monastic Chronicles of Sri Lanka 414
20. 11 Buddhist Biographies 442
21. PART V The Historical Tradition Externalized
22. 12 Historical Biographies: The Harṣacarita and the Rāmacarita 471
23. 13 Biographies as Histories 507
24. 14 Inscriptions as Official Histories—and the Voice of the Bard 547
25. 15 Vaṃśāvalīs Chronicles of Place and Person—The Rājataraṅgiṇī 597
26. 16 The Chamba Vaṃśāvalī 626
27. 17 The Prabandha-cintāmaṇi 651
28. 18 Therefore Looking Back and Looking Forward 681
29. Bibliography 702
30. Index 737