University of Michigan historian Thomas? Trautmann's Indian subcontinent has accomplished this historic mission perfectly. Less than 200,000 words, covering 5,000 years of Indian civilization. From the archaeological discovery of the unwritten Mohenjo-the heroic site of the legal world to the area covered by Indian civilization to become an independent country. The author speaks the whole context of this civilization clearly and clearly in extremely concise language.
The author described the history of this civilization completely in chronological order. The first eight chapters are the overall development of Indian civilization in the first 4000 years, and the last four chapters are the development of Indian civilization in the past 1000 years. There is a very clear order to understand the development of this civilization in chronological order, and it would be perfect if this book could add a timetable.
But there is another clue in this book. What affects a civilization includes political power, religion, society, culture and so on. For the special group of Indian civilization, these influences are far-reaching.
In the Indian subcontinent, where Indian civilization is developed, political power has a very special color. The maintenance of political power has always been an inevitable factor in the development of a civilization, but in Indian civilization, political power is the most meaningless and vague concept. Whether the original urban civilization suddenly appeared in 2500 BC or not, it suddenly disappeared around 1900 BC. What caused this city with a population of tens of thousands to suddenly disappear at that time is also an unsolved mystery. The first completely unified regime in India, the Peacock Dynasty and the Qin Dynasty in China, were unified almost at the same time, but only existed for 100 years. Indian civilized areas have been invaded or divided by foreigners for a long time. After Indian civilization, the unified country was more of a foreign regime, and the Guishuang Empire began to have the shadow of nomadic rule. Although there was a glorious Gupta dynasty in the middle, its dominance and time were not unified. The most profound Mughal dynasty was ruled by Mongols. Such pluralistic rule has left a strong special mark on Indian civilization, which is relatively indifferent to the concept of great unity.
In Indian civilization, the most important influence has to mention religion. India has a large number of religions, even the birthplaces of many religions. Buddhism originated here, but in the long history, Buddhism declined extremely in India, and Buddhism spread widely in East Asia and Southeast Asia, which is also a very special phenomenon. India, every foreign invasion, has brought far-reaching influence to the religion of Indian civilization.
During the Vedic civilization, India developed religious systems such as Jainism, Buddhism, Illegism and Heresy, and the idea of hermit and reincarnation spread widely in these religions. This has become the ideological source of Hinduism and Buddhism, and also one of the religious sources of negative thoughts in India. During the occupation of India by Central Asia, Islam entered Indian civilization, and its religious belief scale exceeded that of the Middle East. /kloc-Christianity also entered India during the British rule in the 0/7th century. India has become such a country of religious integration, and religion has a far-reaching influence on Indian civilized countries. Later, the division of Indian civilized areas became so many countries, which had a lot to do with the division of religions.
In addition to political power and religion, there are many factors that have a far-reaching impact on the development of a civilization. Thomas's Indian subcontinent scattered these factors in various chapters of the book. Family and marriage are the most basic units of a civilization, and the structural characteristics of Indian patriarchy, multi-generation family and marriage also play an inestimable role in the development of this civilization; Social form is the foundation of another civilization, and in Indian civilization, the unique caste system is also extremely far-reaching and still deeply affects this nation.
What can a civilization become? There must be various historical factors. The Indian subcontinent has developed into what it is now, and every bit of history has given this civilization a foil. Thomas's A Brief History of Indian Civilization is simple in content and structure, but clear in context. It is the most basic reading for us to understand the Indian subcontinent and Indian civilization.