Indian Ancient Origins: Stories of People & Civilization

Beautiful edition with a new introduction to the history of the land and the people, highlighting the origins of myth and folklore.

The story of Ancient India, the vast land that stretches from the Himalayas in the North to the Oceans far south, can be traced back to the 8th millennium BCE. Later, in the mid-3000s, the first cities of the great Indus or Harappan Civilization rose around the basin of the Indus river system, a little earlier than the Ancient Egyptians around their Nile, or the Sumerians between the Tigris and the Euphrates. Tales of gods and peoples from this period were written for the first time, from older oral traditions, in the Sanskrit of Vedas in the mid-1500s, when Babylon was at its height, and the culture of Mycenaean Greeks would flower and collapse. In the 1st millennium BCE Indian civilization shifted south to the Ganges, where the great literature of the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyana recorded the glory and the power of the gods, and the worship of a people whose vibrant culture is a reflection of its lands and the migrations of its ancestors. Presenting classic historical texts complemented by new introductions, this new book gives an insight into the rich diversity of India today.

Flame Tree Collector’s Editions present the foundations of speculative fiction: authors, myths, tales and history without which the imaginative literature of the twentieth century would not exist, bringing the best, most influential and most fascinating works into a striking and collectable library. Each book features a new Introduction and a Glossary of Terms or lists of Ancient Leaders.

Roshen Dalal (Introductions) is a writer and researcher living in Dehradun, India. She has an MA and PhD in ancient Indian History from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. She is the author of fourteen books on Indian and world history, as well as on religion and philosophy, along with one philosophical novel. She writes for both children and adults. Apart from books, she has written numerous articles and book reviews. She is currently engaged in research in historical geography and also in writing a new series of books on Indian history.

J.K. Jackson (General Editor) has written, edited and contributed to over 20 books on mythology and folklore. Related works include studies of Babylonian creation myths, the philosophy of time and William Blake’s use of mythology in his visionary literature.