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Seeking suggestions on general histories of India and SE Asia to 1400

A dialog on H-Asia list
November 1997

Message-Id: <199711171020.FAA12338@h-net.msu.edu>
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 1997 10:25:49 +0000
From: Patricia Ebrey <ebrey@u.washington.edu>

I have recently agreed to revise the chapters on Asia to 1400 in a college world history text. I think I know enough about recent scholarship on China, Japan, and Central Asia for a text of this sort, but would very much welcome suggestions of things I should read on Indian and Southeast Asian history. What are the best general histories of these areas? Or the ones best for the earlier period? I am planning a chapter on the spread of Buddhism to tie together the different parts of Asia, and so would also be interested in any good books that deal with larger regions of Asia or even Asia as a whole.

Any suggestions?

Patricia Ebrey
History and Jackson School of International Studies
University of Washington
206-685-1528
email: ebrey@u.washington.edu

Message-Id: "199711181010.FAA35474@h-net.msu.edu>
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 10:17:03 +0000
From: Joseph Adler "adlerj@kenyon.edu>

On the spread of Buddhism, I would highly recommend Liu Xinru, _Ancient India and Ancient China: Trade and Religious Exchanges, AD 1-600_ (Delhi: Oxford UP, 1988). Too detailed for a general history, but some of her insights would be useful to include.

Joseph Adler
Kenyon College
adlerj@kenyon.edu

From: Dr. Eric Strahorn "estraho@fgcu.edu>

I would recommend:

Romila Thapar, _A History of India (volume 1)_ Pelican Books.

Tapan Raychaudhuri and Irfan Habib, _The Cambridge Economic History of India (volume 1)_ Cambridge University Press, 1982.

Ainslie T. Embree, _Sources of Indian Tradition (volume 1)_ Second Edition. Columbia University Press, 1988.

Eric Strahorn
Assistant Professor of History
College of Arts and Sciences
Florida Gulf Coast University
(941) 590-7214
estraho@fgcu.edu

Message-Id: <199711190456.XAA26168@h-net.msu.edu>
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 20:47:05 +0000
From: Carl Trocki <c.trocki@qut.edu.au>

I believe that I recently saw an ad for a new history of early Southeast Asia, but I can't find it right now. There is not very much on this field that is good and up to date.

Actually, even though it is badly dated, George Coedes old chestnut,_The Making of Southeast Asia_ (UC Berkeley, 1966 1983) is quite useful. It is still in print and quite accessible for undergraduates, and it does hit a lot of the highlights, at least so far as SEA is concerned and the region's connections with South Asia.

Ken Hall's_Maritime Trade and State Development in Early Southeast Asia_ is also useful, though it has some faults, but I'm not sure if its still in print. (Hawaii, 1985).

The there's the first volume of the _Cambridge History of Southeast Asia_, (1992). The first five chapters cover the story up to 1500. They're written by John Legge, Peter Bellwood, Kieth Taylor, Kenneth Hall, and J.G. De Casparis, and really do represent the state of the art for that period.

The collection of essays in_Southeast Asia in the 9th to 13th Centuries_, ed. by A.C. Milner and David G. Marr,, published by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 1986. This has some very good pieces.

Let us know what you come up with

Carl A. Trocki
Professor of Asian Studies
c.trocki@qut.edu.au
Queensland University of Technology
61-7-3864-4781 Fax:61-7-3864-4719

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