Is indian civilization a myth [rare books]

In the title essay of this enthralling collection, Sanjay Subrahmanyam sets a provocative ball rolling: ‘At the heart of the matter’, he says, ‘is the notion that at some distant point in the past, say about AD 500, the concept of “Indian civilization” had already been perfected. Everything of any importance was in place: social structure, philosophy, the major literary works… The central idea here is of India-as-civilization, and it very soon becomes the same as a notion of closed India. Demolishing some of the myths which sustain the idea of the wonder that was India’, he shows us a region that was always more a crossroads, a rendezvous for concepts, cultures, and worldviews.