by Amartya Sen
Reddy, C. Rammanohar 259, 385n
Rich, Bruce 369n
Robertson, John 336
Robinson, Andrew xvi, 89f, 98f, 113f, 370n, 371n, 372n
Robinson, J. S. 384n
Robinson, Joan 137
Rodrigues, Valerian 363n, 369n
Rolland, Romain 92, 100, 111, 370n
Rothschild, Emma xvi, 139f, 161f, 251f, 273f, 294f, 362n, 387n
Roy, Arundhati 42f, 257, 260, 385n
Roy, Ram Mohun 32, 32f, 33
Rudolph, Lloyd I. 139f, 150, 374n
Rudolph, Suzanne 139f
Sachau, E. C. 361n, 365n, 369–70n, 373n, 378n, 388n, 389n
Saha, Meghnad 317, 321, 325, 390n
Sahlin, Axel 338
Sahlins, Marshall 282, 387n
Said, Edward 141, 373n
St Clair, William 383n
Sandel, Michael 290, 350, 388n, 391n
Sarkar, Sumit 366n, 368n
Sarkar, Tanika 38f
Saul, S. B. 390n
Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar (‘Veer’) 51, 364–5n
Scanlon, Thomas.273f,387n
Schlegel, Friedrich 40, 94, 151, 152, 155, 328
Schopenhauer, Arthur 40, 94, 152, 328, 375n
Scrimshaw, Nevin 381n
Sebokt, Severus 327
Seife, Charles 346f
Selby-Bigge, L. E. 387n
Sen, Amita 370n
Sen, Aparna 125, 126
Sen, Dinesh Chandra 60, 366n
Sen, Gita 383n
Sen, Indrani xvi
Sen, Kshiti Mohan 11f, 45, 45f, 46, 46f, 315f, 358n, 360n, 363n, 364n, 370n, 389n
Sen, Makhanlal 361n, 364n
Sen, Mrinal 126
Sen, Nandana 89f
Sen, S. N. 390n
Sen, Tansen 377n, 378n
Sena 19
Sengupta, Arjun xvi
Sengupta, Amrita 216f
Sengupta, Mandira 358n
Sengupta, Nellie 7
Sengupta, Sagaree 358n
Shah Jahan, Emperor xi, 75
Shankar, Ravi 57, 75
Sharma, Jagdish xvi
Shastri, H.P. 376n
Shaw, George Bernard 153
Shotoku, Prince 81–2
Shukla, K. S. 390n
Shuyun, Sun 161f, 377–8n
Silvers, Robert B. xvi, 89f, 385n
Singh, B. 335f
Singh, Manmohan 83, 196, 380n
Singh, V. B. 335f
Sinha, Sasadhar 371n
Skinner, Quentin 359n
Smith, Adam 278, 279, 280, 292, 387n
Smith, Vincent A. 360n, 368n, 386n
Sobhan, Rehman xvi, 364n
Sopher, David 383n
Sorenson, Theodore C. 262, 262f
Speirs, Ruth 357n
Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorti xvi, 85–6f, 89f, 376n
Srinivas, Chitra 366n
Stalin, Joseph 275
Sterckx, Roel 161f
Stokes, Eric 374n
Strabo 151
Strachey, Sir John 336
Stratford, Elizabeth xvi
Subrahmanyam, Sanjay 294f, 365n, 376n
Śūdraka 19, 75, 136
Sun Shuyun 161, 378n
Sun Yat-sen 286
Svedberg, Peter 381n
Swain, David L. 385n
Sykes, Marjorie 119
Tagore, Debendranath 370n
Tagore, Dwarkanath 90
Tagore, Mrinalini 102
Tagore, Rabindranath xii, xv, 11f, 32, 45, 45f, 48, 48f, 49, 59, 72, 86f, 89–95, 95f, 96, 97, 98, 98f, 99–113, 113f, 114–20, 124, 130, 153, 154, 252, 252f, 268, 288, 348, 348f, 349, 352, 360n, 362n, 365n, 370n, 371n, 389n, 391n
Takakusu, J. 363n, 376n, 379n
Tan Yun-Shan 161f
Tata, Dorabji xvi, 334, 334f, 337, 338, 339
Tata, J. R. D. 336
Tata, Jamsetji Nusserwanji 336–9, 343, 356, 390n, 391n
Taylor, Charles 295, 362n
Tebbit, Norman 35f
Tennyson, Alfred 204
Thapar, Romila 36f, 368–9n
Tharoor, Shashi 57f, 89f, 116, 357n, 372n
Thompson, E. P. 98, 109–10, 116–17, 252f, 371n
Thompson, Edward 372n
Tinker, Irene 236f, 241f, 384n
Togadia, Praveen 78f
Tripathi, Amales 364n
Tsai Heng-Ting 171, 378n
Tully, Mark 363n
Vajpayee, Atal Bihari 71, 71f, 265–6
Vanaik, Achin 255, 365n, 385n
Varāhamihira 26, 28, 67, 148, 178, 179, 329
Varshney, Ashutosh 139f, 294f, 295, 365n, 388n
Vātsāyana 325
Vaughan, Rosie xvi, 161f
Victoria, Queen 249–50, 336
Viglielmo, V. H. 370n
Vivekānanda, Swami 49
Voltaire 160, 376n
Waley, Arthur 378n
Wang Fu 170–71
Webb, Beatrice 94
Weil, Shalva 359n
Weiner, Myron 139f
Wheeler, Mortimer 366n
Wieseltier, Leon xvi, 139f
Wills, Garry 386n
Wilson, G. 384n
Wink, Claudia 382n
Witzel, Michael 68
Wolfe, B. L. 384n
Wollstonecraft, Mary 233
Wong, W. S. 372n
Wormald, B. H. G. 361n
Wriggins, Sally Hovey 377n
Wright, Gillian 363n
Wu Cheng’en 169
Xuanzang (Hiuan-tsang) 145, 169, 172, 172f, 173, 174–5, 183f, 189–90, 377n, 378n
Yalman, Nur xvi, 139f, 389n
Yang Jingfeng 179, 379n
Yeats, W. B. 89, 90, 94–5, 96, 97, 111, 153, 273, 370n
Yi Jing (I-tsing, I-Ching) 2, 40, 82f, 85, 161, 164, 168, 169, 177, 181, 183f, 184, 363n, 376n, 377n, 379n
Yi Xing (I-Hsing) 178–9
Yonezawa, Toshi 385n
Young, G. N. 368n
Young, Michael 370n
Yu, Anthony 378n
Zakaria, Rafiq 54f, 365n
Zhang Qian 166
General Index
Afghanistan 15, 58, 84, 85, 166, 172
Africa, tradition of public reasoning 31, 361–2n
agnosticism as an old established tradition xi–xii, 20, 21–5, 26–7, 53, 57, 159, 182, 285, 288, 308–9, 354
Akbar, ideas and contributions: conversations between different religious groups 16, 18–19, 25, 39, 76, 81, 288–9; court, religious diversity in 18–19, 59, 287–8; criticism of a lesser share of property for women 290–91; Din-ilahi and attempted integration of religions 18, 41–2, 59, 90, 288–9, 319, 331; diversities within a unitary view of India 39, 40, 41, 59–60, 273–4; opposition to child marriage 290; ‘path of reason’ (rahi aql) 16, 32, 134, 274, 288, 290–91; public
discussions, importance of 16, 18, 39, 46–7, 75–6, 359n; release of imperial slaves 291; religious neutrality of the state 18, 76, 287; religious tolerance 18, 25, 46, 59–60, 76, 273–4, 289; remained a Muslim despite lapses from orthodoxy 18, 289; sceptical acceptance of rituals 291; secularism 18–9, 273–4, 287–8; on smoking 291; Tarikh-ilahi and calendar reform 41, 319, 331–2; on widow remarriage 290
Alberuni (b. 973 CE), account of India: astronomy and mathematics in India 29–30, 78–9, 148–9, 157, 292, 314f; defence of Āryabhaṭa’s scientific commitment against Brahmagupta’s traditionalist criticism 29–30; on the brutality of Sultan Mahmud’s invasions of India 3, 58, 314; on Indian mistrust of foreigners 172–3; on Indian society and culture 144–5; on neglect of education of low-caste people 157; on parochial tendencies in each culture 84, 145, 314; Ta’rikh al-hind 78–9, 144–5, 172–3, 292, 373n; understanding of India, importance of 144–5, 148–9
Ambedkar, leadership in the making of the Indian Constitution 36, 80–81, 304–5, 362–3n
Amritsar massacre (1919) 106–7
ancient Greece, ties with India 15, 28, 150–51, 178, 310, 327, 346–7, 359n, 369n
ancient India ix–xi, xii, 7, 10, 40–41,
66, 176, 322–7, 360n, 361n, 367n, 369n
Arabic translations of Indian scientific and mathematical texts 78–9, 78f, 144, 178–9, 314f
Arabs and Indians 17, 28, 29, 39–40, 56, 58, 77, 78–9, 78f, 90, 132–3, 135, 144–5, 147–8, 160, 165f, 178–9, 292, 310, 314, 328, 346, 347f, 360n, 369–70, 373n, 375n
argumentative tradition: relevance for democracy 12–16, 37; resistance to inequality 34–72; secularism and acceptance of heterodoxy 6, 17–21, 294–316; use across barriers of class and caste 10–12, 38–9; use by women interlocutors 7–10
Arjuna’s arguments against war xvii, xix, 3–6, 9–10, 24f, 47
Arjuna-Krishna debate 3–10, 47
Arthaśāstra (‘Economics’) by Kauṭilya (4th c. BCE) 25, 166–7, 284, 361n
Āryabhaṭa’s mathematical and scientific contributions 28–30, 78–9, 158, 178–9, 323, 374n
Ashoka’s ideas and contributions (3rd c. BCE): and Buddhist councils 15–16, 75, 81, 182; building of public hospitals 82–3; contribution in spreading Buddhism 81, 81f, 82; contribution to Indian secularism 18–21, 284, 288; conversion to Buddhism 353–4; on public discussion and behaviour 16–21, 18–21, 284; religious tolerance 18, 21, 284–5, 288; state’s neutrality between religions 288
‘Asian values’ 123, 134–6, 136–7, 280, 281, 286
astronomy: ancient Indian 28, 29–30, 75, 78–9, 144–5, 148–9, 161, 164, 169, 172, 178–80, 314f, 323–5, 329; Āryabhaṭa’s rejection (499 CE) of religious orthodoxy 28–30; Brahmagupta’s criticism of Āryabhaṭa’s, and Alberun’s defence 29–30; China, Indian astronomers in 177–80; earth’s diurnal rotation contrasted with sun’s orbiting 28–9, 148–9, 374n; Greek, Babylonian and Roman connections 28; hypothesis of gravity linked with earth’s movement 29, 148, 323; relativity of ‘up’ and ‘down’ on a spherical earth 29; solar and lunar eclipses: explanation and algorithmic prediction 29–30, 179
atheism as an old established tradition xi–xii, 18, 21–5, 26–7, 159, 308–9
Babri mosque, destruction x, 48, 209, 310
Baha’ism 16, 17
ballistic missiles, see nuclear weapons
Bangladesh: see also Bengali literature; BRAC; Grameen Bank; cultural identities 41, 55–6, 321, 328, 332; fertility rates 249; India’s relations with 43, 258; language and literature 43, 55–6, 89–90, 153; national anthem 90, 106; personal connections xvii, 21; Tagore’s role in 89–90, 153; women in 207, 228, 232, 234, 249
Belgium 338
Bengal famine (1943) 117, 128, 188f
Bengali literature x-xi, 32–3, 43, 45f, 56, 60, 89–90, 96, 95–7, 102, 112–13, 124–5, 129, 153, 315n, 366n
Bengali San calendar 321, 328, 332
Bhagavad Gītā 3–5, 255, 285, 357
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 49–50, 50–53, 57, 62, 63–9, 70–71, 72, 83–4, 254–5, 256, 258, 263, 314, 365n, 366n
Bihar earthquake (1934), Gandhi-Tagore debate 103–4, 114 blasphemy laws 300, 302–3
Bose, Subhas Chandra, political influence 7f, 110, 111, 371, 378
BRAC in Bangladesh 249
Brahmagupta, mathematical and scientific contributions 26–8, 29–30, 144, 148–9, 178–9, 292, 323, 374n
Bretton Woods Agreement 341
Britain and India 6–7, 7f, 8, 12–3, 32, 37, 39, 40, 78–80, 90, 91, 105–6, 106–7, 108–9, 110, 112–13, 113–14, 116–18, 132, 142, 145–6, 146–50, 153–5, 155–7, 188f, 200, 204, 234f, 284, 288, 300, 310, 312, 316, 318, 327–8, 329, 331, 333, 335–6, 336–8, 339, 355, 356, 361–2n
Buddha and Buddhism 15, 23, 23f, 27, 75, 167, 170–74, 180, 286, 378n
Buddha Nirvāṇa calendar 321, 326
Buddhism: central role in India xii, 10, 17, 23, 23f, 56–7, 81, 172, 378–9n, 159, 353–5, 362n; contributions in China 161, 164–6, 167–8, 169, 170–71, 172–3, 177–80, 180–81, 182–4, 184–6, 188–90, 347, 377–9n; higher education and Nālandā 173–5, 353n; influence in Korea, Indo-China, Indonesia, Japan and Thailand 56, 81f, 81–2, 85, 182–3; opposition from Daoists and Confucians in China 168, 170–71, 189; printing, influence in the development of 82, 82f, 182–4, 347f, 369n; public reasoning, emphasis on 15–16, 75, 81–2, 182–4; role in linking India and China 161–90
Buddhist councils and public discussions 15–16, 182
Calendar Reform Committee 321, 323
calendars: Buddha Nirvāṇa calendar 321, 326; Christian calendars 283, 318–19, 327; Hijri calendar 291, 319, 331; Kaliyuga calendar 321–5; Kollam calendar 321, 329; Mahāvīra Nirvāṇa calendar 326; Parsee calendar 322; Śaka calendar 321, 326; Tarikh-ilahi calendar 41, 330, 331–2; Ujjain and the principal meridian of India xv, 40–41, 329–30; Vikram Saṃvat calendar 321, 325–6, 329
calendar and different systems of year-length correction 325, 328–9
calendars as reflections of culture 317–18, 330–31
calendars and their zero points 323–4, 325–6
cardio-vascular diseases and maternal and child undernourishment 247–8.
Cārvāka atheistic school 23–4, 25–7, 288–9, 308
caste system and resistance to it xiv, xv, 6, 10–12, 34–9, 80, 116, 150, 157, 200, 205, 207–9, 216
charka (spinning wheel), Gandhi–Tagore debates 100–101, 114
China: Chinese students at Nālandā 161, 168, 169, 173–5, 189–90; Chinese visitors in India 2, 40, 82, 82f, 85, 145, 161, 161f, 164, 167, 168–9, 172, 172f, 173, 174–5, 181, 183f, 184, 189–90, 363n, 376n, 377n, 378n, 379n; Chinese translation of Sanskrit texts 82, 161–2, 167–8, 177–8, 183, 183f, 369n; comparison between Chinese and Indian economic and social achievements 185–9, 199–200
famine in China (1958–61) 188, 188f; Indian astronomers and mathematicians in China 161–4, 177–80; innovations in 82, 166–7, 182–4, 345–6, 369n; intellectual and cultural interactions with India xv, 161–90; lessons for India 130, 189, 195, 199–200, 239, 344; nuclear weapons 253, 265–6; printing and the influence of Buddhism 82, 82f, 182–4, 347f, 369n; Sanskrit translators in China 82, 161–2, 167–8, 183, 183f, 369n; trade between ancient China and India 166–7, 377n, 379n; Vajracchedikaprajñāpāramitā (‘Diamond Sutra’), first printed book (Chinese translation of Sanskrit text) 82, 183, 183f, 369n
Christianity in India x, 16–18, 48–9, 57, 59, 108, 288–9, 308, 330, 331, 353, 366n
civil rights 117, 134–5, 194, 194f, 202–3, 249–50, 363n
class divisions, 204–6, 207–10, 210–11, 212–15, 216–18, 218–19
cold war, fragility of peace with nuclear deterrence 261–2, 265
colonialism, influence of 77–80, 105, 119, 139, 141–2, 146–50, 153–4, 155–60, 334–6, 362n
communitarian approaches 85, 122, 289–90, 339, 348–9, 350, 375n
Constitution of India 12–13, 36–7, 80–81, 304–5, 309, 353, 362–3n, 369n, 375n, 388, 389
Cook, Captain, interpretation of his killing 281–2, 387n
cooperative conflicts and the family 236, 240–42, 383n
cotton industry, early development 335–6
Cuban Missile Crisis 262
cultural separatism 93, 115, 118–19, 281–2, 339, 347, 349
curatorial approaches to Indian cultures 142–5, 145–6, 373–4n
Dalits and other socially disadvantaged groups xiii, 6, 10, 37, 80, 207–8, 216–18, 344, 347, 362n
Dara Shikoh, Moghal prince, as translator of the Upaniṣads xi, 61, 61f, 375
decimal system 47–8, 346
democracy: as a global tradition 13–16, 80–83, 30–31, 359, 361–2n; practice, need for improvement 36, 194–5, 363n; protective role of 185, 198–200; as public reasoning xiii, xiv, 12–16, 30–39, 80–83, 117, 117f, 182–3, 186–8
diaspora xiv, 62–3, 73–7, 85–6
Din-ilahi 18, 41–2, 59, 289, 331
domestic violence against women 224, 236–7
East and West, thesis of ‘fundamental’ contrast xiii–xiv, 164–5, 200; see also ‘Asian values’
education: basic importance of 37, 105, 112–13, 113–15, 1
98, 243–7, 342–4; influence on fertility and mortality rates 238, 243–4, 244–7; Nālandā and early higher studies in India 173–5, 353; primary 37, 38f, 110–15, 216–18, 218–19; Tagore’s ideas on 90–91, 114, 115–16; women’s 197, 201–2, 232, 233, 238, 244, 255
elections, general 49, 50, 70–71
Enlightenment, European 274–5, 279–80
exoticist interpretations of India 141, 150–51, 151–2, 155, 373n, 375n, 376n
families: cooperative conflicts 236, 240–2, 383n; inequalities within 220–21, 232–3, 240–42, 383–4n
famines 117–18, 128, 188f, 199, 199f, 212, 276–7
food and hunger: see also famines; undernourishment; minimum support prices 213–14, 215, 218; reserve stocks 213, 214, 219
France 19–20, 46, 54, 145, 324–5, 344, 350
Gandhi, assassination of 51, 64, 365n
Gandhi and Tagore 91–2, 100–105, 114
Germany 110–11, 152–3, 228–9, 328, 338
globalization: asymmetries of power 241, 340–41; cultural dimension 81, 85–6, 344–6; division of benefits 340–41, 341–2; domestic policies for making use of globalization 343–4; economic contributions 83–4, 195–6, 339–43, 343–4; global interdependence 339–44, 345–7, 349; history and globalization 344, 345–6; mathematics and science 345–6; migration of ideas 344–6, 346f, 346–7; protest movements 341, 342
Grameen Bank 249
Greenwich Mean Time xv–xvi, 318, 329
Gregorian calendar: arbitrariness of its dominance 283; end of the second millennium 318–19, 321, 327
Gujarat riots (2002) 52, 54f, 70, 71, 188f, 194f
Hijri calendar 291, 319, 331
Hinduism: broad and narrow understanding of 45–9, 50–51, 72; and calendars 320, 321–2, 324, 325; Islamic influences on 11, 19, 315–16
Hindutva movement ix–x, xii, 28, 35, 49–53, 53–6, 62–9, 69–72, 74, 78, 81, 83–4, 294, 364–5n, 367
History of British India of James Mill and its influence 78, 79, 140, 142, 146–9, 153–4, 316
HIV/AIDS 195f, 198f, 202f
hospitals, early public 82–3
households, division of benefits and chores 236, 243–4, 383n
human rights 42–3, 54f, 123, 134–5, 202–3, 342
‘idea of India’, Tagore’s understanding of 72, 86, 347, 348, 349
identity: see also Indian identity; external and internal identity 26–7, 139–40, 155–8, 349; Gandhi and Tagore on 72, 86, 100–101, 347, 348; national identity and other commitments 99–101, 329–48; plural affiliations and choice of emphasis 352, 355–6; religious identity 307–8, 309, 316, 327, 352–3