This volume brings together new writings on different aspects of ancient Indian history like gender, archaeology, religion, landscapes, and literature. The contributors, mostly bright young scholars come from fields like history, archaeology, literary studies, and anthropology. They underline important methodological advances in the interpretation of literary and archaeological sources and in raising new and creative historical questions. Together they generate a unique, fresh dialogue, discussion and debate among scholars working within the field of ancient Indian history. The introduction written by Upinder Singh and Nayanjot Lahiri not only surveys the new writings but also raises important questions confronting ancient Indian history today.
This book will be of immense interest to scholars, teachers, and students of ancient and early medieval history, archaeology, and anthropology.

1.: Artefacts and Antiquities in Bengal: Some Perspectives Within an Emerging Non-official Sphere by Sanjukta Datta;
2.: . On the Surface Things Appear to be: Perspectives on the Archaeology of the Delhi Ridge by Mudit Trivedi;
3.: Human-plant Interactions in the Middle Gangetic Plains, from the Mesolithic up to c. Third Century BC: An Archaeobotanical Perspective by Shibani Bose;
4.: Landscapes of Life and Death: Considering the Region of Vidarbha by Uthara Suvrathan;
5.: Of Death and Fertility: Landscapes and Heroism in Ancient South India by Meera Vishvanathan;
6.: Religious Coexistence in Gujarat (AD Second/Third Century to Eighth Century) by Susan Verma Mishra;
7.: . Terracottas from Mathura and Ahicchatra: An Archaeological Study (400 BC to AD Seventh/Eighth Century) by Shivani Agarwal;
8.: Pleasure and Culture: Reading Urban Behaviour through Kavya Archetypes by Shonaleeka Kaul;
9.: Gender Relations in Early Medieval Kashmir by Devika Rangachari; Contributors Note