Chakrabarti, Professor Kunal (Professor of Ancient Indian History, Professor of Ancient Indian History, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University): Religious Process

This book traces the evolution of a process of interaction between Brahmanism and the indigenous social groups of Bengal during the early medieval period. Following the logic of cultural negotiation implicit in the Puranas composed composed in Bengal, the book unravels a pattern that governed this relationship of recirpocity, contestation and domination. Two significant methodoligical issues have been addressed -- the manner in which didactic Sanskritic texts can be read for the reconstruction of early Indian history and the application of anthropological models, such as great and little traditions, to such texts for a more comprehensive understanding of the Indian culture continuum. The book focuses on Bengal, but cultural negotiations refers to a fundamental civilizational pocess common to most regions in India, and as such has wider relevance.Kunal Chakravarti's book is an outstanding interdisciplinary contriution to Bengal Studies...[T]he value of the book lies also in illuminating the social processes that generally make the cultural history oh India - T N Madan.