Softcover

ISBN 10: 014342288X ISBN 13: 9780143422884

Publisher: Penguin, 2014

For about a thousand years-from around 500 BCE to 500 CE - India witnessed a golden age, its first spring. During this period the country was economically prosperous, saw the rise of Buddhism and Jainism, as well as major advances in astronomy, medicine, philosophy and literature. In Part One of this riveting and elegantly written history, Abraham Eraly details the political, economic and social history of the thousand years-the rise of dynasties such as the Guptas in the north and the Pallavas and Cholas in the south, the flowering of court life and courtly culture, the growth of highly sophisticated urban centres, the advances in agriculture and the rise of trade.

About the Author:

Abraham Eraly was born in Kerala and was educated there and in Chennai. He has taught Indian history in colleges in India and the United States and was the editor of a current affairs magazine for several years. His works include two critically acclaimed and bestselling books on India - The Last Spring - The Lives and Times of the Great Mughals (later published in two volumes as Emperors of the Peacock Throne and The Mughal World) and Gem in the Lotus - The Seeding of Indian Civilisation.