Daily Life in Ancient India From Approximately 200 BC to AD 700

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This magnum opus of Jeannine Auboyer refashions an ancient India which is not so very different from the one that we know today, a country made simultaneously of theories, principles and realities, in which the human presence is constantly visible throught he tangle of rules and rites. According to the author, though India has not produced true chronicles in the Western sense of the word, still the readers may be assured that in most everyday aspect India conforms to the image of itself that it has transmitted to us over the centuries which is an arresting one because of its multiple facets. The volume introduces the Indian life in terms of the geographical and historical background, the social structure and its religious principles, the political and administrative structure, economics and everyday life; individual and collective existence with reference to the background to regular life, the importance of religion, the individual and the family, and the monastic and ascetic life; and royal and aristocratic existence in view of urban elitism and styles, royal environment and the imperial pomp. Based on a whole series of technical or descriptive texts, storied monuments, the discoveries or archaeological excavations, numismatics, epigraphy and, in addition, contemporary chronicles by the foreigners, this well-documented volume deals brilliantly both with the traditional character of Indian civilization and with its changing patterns taking into consideration an exceptionally lengthy period, almost a thousand years, to give a necessary breadth of detail to the understanding of various historical processes through which the social fabric of India was characterized.

About the Author:

Jeannine Auboyer was the Chief Curator at Museee Guimet, Paris.

Preface
PART I : AN INTRODUCTION TO INDIAN LIFE
1. The Geographical and Historical Background

2. The Social Structure and its Religious Principle
   The brahmans
   The warrior-nobles
   The vaisyas
   The servile class
   The 'outcastes'
   The 'mixed' class
   The slaves

3. The Political and Administrative Structure
   The State and the King
   The administrative organization of the kingdom
   Ministers and public officials
   Law and justice, crime and punishment

4. Economics and Daily Life
   Agriculture and stock farming
   Commerce
   Routes and caravans
   Merchant shipping and port facilities
   Product, exports, imports
   The manual crafts
   Hunting and fishing
   The guilds
   State resources and monopolies
   Money, wages and the cost of living

1. The Background to Daily Life
   The capital, the towns and the villages
   The rituals of construction
   The home and its furnishings
   Religious structures and sacred spots

2. The Importance of Religion in Daily Life
   Seasonal rituals and festivals
   Popular cults, magic and superstitions

3. The Individual and the Family
   Pregnancy and birth; infancy
   The brahmanic initiation
   Student life and teaching methods
   Betrothal and marriage
   Family life and its conventions
   The rites and customs of daily and family life
   The cares of life; debts, sickness
   Death and funeral ceremonies
   Widowhood, sati
   Inheritance and rights of succession

4. Monastic and Ascetic Life
   The two final stages of life
   Buddhist laity and priesthood; monasteries
   The Jains

1. City Life and fashionable Existence
   The daily routine of a young man of fashion
   Love and courtesans; prostitution and the criminal classes
   Games and gaming
   Fashionable arts, plays, sports and diversions

2. Royal Existence and its Environment
   The royal palaces and its inhabitants
   Life in the royal harem
   The king's day

3. The Public Life of the King : Imperial Pomp
   Consecration
   Royal processions and pilgrimages
   War and victory
   Solemn and imperial rites

Conclusion

Bibliography

Chronological Table

Notes

Index