While scholars have long documented the migration of people in ancient and medieval times, they have paid less attention to those who traveled across borders with some regularity. This study of early transnational relations explores the routine interaction of people across the boundaries of empires, tribal confederacies, kingdoms, and city-states, paying particular attention to the role of long-distance trade along the Silk Road and maritime trade routes. It examines the obstacles voyagers faced, including limited travel and communication capabilities, relatively poor geographical knowledge, and the dangers of a fragmented and shifting political landscape, and offers profiles of better-known transnational elites such as the Hellenic scholar Herodotus and the Venetian merchant Marco Polo, as well lesser known servants, merchants, and sailors. By revealing the important political, economic, and cultural role cross-border trade and travel played in ancient society, this work demonstrates that transnationalism is not unique to modern times. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Magadha In Ancient Times Was Both Attens And Rome For India. While Her Leading Role In The Buddhist, Maurya And The Gupta Ages Has Been Treated At Length By Leading Historians Of The East And The West, In The Present Work The Dynamic Though Subdued Part Played By Magadha From The Middle Of The 5Th Century A. D. To The Conquest By The Turko-Afghans Has Been Dealt In Depth And Detail. The Part Played By The Later Guptas, The Maukharis And The Gaudas, Immediately On The Decline Of The Imperial Guptas, On The Indian Chessboard Is Here Laid Out With Singular Clarity. Numerous Cobwebs Of Political History Of The Subsequent Periods Have Been Cleared, And The Paramount Position Of Magadha In The Heyday Of Pala Imperialism Has Been Highlighted. The Book Will Not Only Satisfy Readers About The Political Vicissitudes Of Magadha But Of The Whole Of Northern India In The Very Exciting Periods Of India S Political History.

In the religious landscape of early medieval (c. AD 600-1200) Bihar and Bengal, poly-religiosity was generally the norm than an exception, which entailed the evolution of complex patterns of inter-religious equations. Buddhism, Brahmanism and Jainism not only coexisted but also competed for social patronage, forcing them to enter into complex interactions with social institutions and processes. Through an analysis of the published archaeological data, this work explores some aspects of the social history of Buddhist, Brahmanical and Jaina temples and shrines, and Buddhist stūpas and monasteries in early medieval Bihar and Bengal. This archaeological history of religions questions many ‘established’ textual reconstructions, and enriches our understanding of the complex issue of the decline of Buddhism in this area. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.