Cultural Atlas of India

Fülszöveg

Cultural ATLAS OF
INDIA
A stimulating introduction to the subcontinent's rich cultural history, its religions and societies, arts and architecture, literature and science
Coverage includes all the modern countries of the South Asian region - India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka
Specially drawn color maps illustrate and extend the historical themes
More than 250 illustrations allow the reader to sample the enormous variety of Indian culture, while special features written by a number of leading scholars examine topics
of key interest
With a chronological table, glossary, bibliography and gazetteer


Cultural Atlas u.
INDIA
Over ISO illustrations, 36 color maps
About a fifth of humankind live in the countries of the Indian subcontinent - India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka - which are the subject of this adas. The region has been home to complex human societies from very ancient times. Two of the world's major religions, Hinduism... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Cultural ATLAS OF
INDIA
A stimulating introduction to the subcontinent's rich cultural history, its religions and societies, arts and architecture, literature and science
Coverage includes all the modern countries of the South Asian region - India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka
Specially drawn color maps illustrate and extend the historical themes
More than 250 illustrations allow the reader to sample the enormous variety of Indian culture, while special features written by a number of leading scholars examine topics
of key interest
With a chronological table, glossary, bibliography and gazetteer


Cultural Atlas u.
INDIA
Over ISO illustrations, 36 color maps
About a fifth of humankind live in the countries of the Indian subcontinent - India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka - which are the subject of this adas. The region has been home to complex human societies from very ancient times. Two of the world's major religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, came into being there, as many Muslims have lived there as in the rest of the world together, and it has sheltered, or given birth to, several important religious minorities. This atlas sets out to provide an introduction to India's rich cultural history, its social and political organization, religions, arts and architecture, literature and science.
Part One looks at the land, showing that the vast area of the subcontinent is divided into three main geographical regions - the northern mountain range, the highest in the worid; the flat and fertile expanses of the Indo-Gangetic plain; and the rocky scarplands and ancient plateaus of the southern peninsula. These physical features have determined the pattern of human movement and settlement within the subcontinent, as have climate and vegetation, which range from glacial to tropical and from barren desert to wet jungle. Next follows a brief account of the region's agriculture, its main demographic features, and its social and religious structures. Part Two then traces the history of its peoples from earliest times to the 20th century.
The themes of the adas are to show that while the Indian subcontinent is in many ways culturally distinct, at no stage in its history has it been cut off from its neighbors or immune from external influences. This has resulted in great linguistic, ethnic and religious diversity. In their turn, the peoples of the subcontinent have influenced other societies and countries distant from them. While there has been conflict, oppression and exploitation, its diffi

ration, its different lived alongside each other mingling and separating I. Far from being bound by instantly reshaping and a the light of present
societies and cultures hav over long periods of time and coming together agai the past, its societies are i rediscovering themselves experience.
The atlas concludes with brief surveys of the countrie and regions of the Indian subcontinent today. The argument throughout is supported by detailed maps and by a wealth of illustration that allows the reader to glimpse some of India's cultural and architectural riches and to sample its unending variety. Special features give fuller coverage to particular topics, ranging from astronomy to Hindu sacred architecture and from Mughal gardens to Kalighat painring, and there are detailed descriprions of a number of important archaeological and religious sites such as Mohenjo-Daro, Sanchi, Khajuraho and Vijayanagara,
Cover illustration: Taj Mal?al, Agra, India (Malcoim Robertson/Robert Harding Picture Library). Vissza