Aspects of Indian History and Culture

This book is a collection of twenty articles on various aspects of Indian history and culture contributed by mostly young teachers of different colleges and universities of West Bengal. These are the results of their scholarly researches in the field of their respective fields from the early period to the present day. The volume does not purport to present a comprehensive picture of Indian history; its primary objective is to bring together some not so-frequently discussed aspects of the subject. These articles, with notes, references and bibliography are well illustrated and are thematically grouped into four section, viz. Section-1: Epigraphy, Art, Architecture and Aesthetics, Section-II: Society, Economy and Culture, Section-III: Buddhist Sites, and Section-IV: Archeological Sites and Heritage Issues. Contents: Sction- I: Epigraphy, Art, Architecture and Aesthetics 1. Aturgaon Memorial Stone Inscription of a Kura Prince/ Susmita B Majumdar; 2. Queen Naganika and the Nanaghat Inscriptions/Kaveri Ghosh; 3. Urbanization through Reflections in Terraottas: A Case study of Chandraketugarh/ N Bano Sattar; 4. Pabna Pillars with Musical Scenes in the Collection of the Indian Museum/Rita Dutta; 5. Chhatri/S M Adhikari; 6. Dhyana Rupa/S Bhattacharyya. Section – II: Society, Economy and Culture 7. Underground Grain Storage System in the Black Soil Region of Ancient India/S Choudhury 8. A Re-Appraisal of Indo-Roman Trade: The Route to India/Srabani Datta; 9. Hydraulic Structures and Water Management in Early India/Sayan Bhattacharya et.al. 10. Exploring Early India’s Trade Linkages with Thailand: A Preliminary Survey/S Ghosh; 11. Legacy of Value Education: Early Indian Approaches/Nandita Chaudhuri. Section- III: Buddhist Studies 12. Buddhist Councils in Pali Literature: A Historical Perspective/S Mutsuddy; 13. Early Buddhist Religion and Its Role in Community and Public Life/D Maitra; 14. Metta in the Light of Indian Religion Tradition/A Bhattacharyya; 15. Monastic Role in the Introduction of the Image Cult in Buddhism of the North West/S Khettry. Section – IV: Archaeology Sites and Heritage Issues 16. Ajata; The aking of a Site/M Roychowdhury; 17. Vijayanagar: The City and Its Environs/Rita Chaudhuri; 18. Terracotta Art of Ancient Mallabhum/Durga Basu; 19. Traditional Playing Cards of Vishnupur/M Chakrabarti; 20. Heritage and Architecture in India/T Bhattacharyya.