Introduction; SECTION I: HISTORIOGRAPHY:; 1: Decolonising the Past; 2: Society and Historical Consciousness; 3: The Contribution of D.D. Kosambi to Indology; SECTION II: ECONOMY AND SOCIETY:; 4: Society in Ancient India; 5: Lineage Society; 6: The Evolution of the State in the Ganga Valley; 7: Black Gold: South Asia and the Roman Maritime Trade; SECTION III: CHANGING POLITICAL FORMATIONS:; 8: The Mauryan Empire in Early India; 9: Society and Economic Activity;10: Text and Context: Megasthenes and the Seven Castes; 11: Asoka: A Retrospective; SECTION IV: RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY AND SOCIETY:; 12: Ideology. Society and the Upanisads; 13: The Householder and theRenouncer; 14: Patronage and the Community; SECTION V: TOWARDS FURTHER CHANGE:; 15: Inscriptions as Historical Writing in Early India, 3rd BC to 6th AD; 16: Threshold Times; Index.