Negotiating Cultural Identity: Landscapes in Early Medieval South Asian History [Paperback]

This book draws on research by archaeologists, numismatists and historians on the social and cultural construction of landscapes in India. It deals with the perception, use and representation of the landscape as an essential dimension of life in the early medieval period.Introduction: Himanshu Prabha Ray Part I: The Archaeology of Space 1. India Cartographica: Some Roman Sightings 2. Cartography and Cultural Encounter: Conceptualisation of al-Hind by Arabic and Persian Writers from the 9th to 11th Centuries CE 3. Self, Other and the Use and Appropriation of Late Roman Coins in Peninsular India (4th to 7th centuries CE) Part II: Defining Cultural Landscapes 4. Sacred Spaces of the Middle Ganga Valley: A Case Study of Varanasi 5. Transforming the Landscape: Questions of Medieval Reuse and Worship at Ancient Jain Rock-cut Sites near Madurai 6. Of Saffron, Snow and Spirituality: Glimpses of Cultural Geography in the Rajatarangini 7. Space for Change: Evaluating the Paucity of Metallic Currency in Medieval India 8. Colonial Imagination and Identity Attribution: Numismatic Cues for Defining Space 9. Shrines as Monuments: Issues of Classification, Custody and Conflict in OrissaThis book draws on research by archaeologists, numismatists and historians on the social and cultural construction of landscapes in India. It deals with the perception, use and representation of the landscape as an essential dimension of life in the early medieval period.US