The Hindus: An Alternative History

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Wendy Doniger (, Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago)

The Hindus

An Alternative History

Wendy Doniger (, Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago)

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English

Oxford University Press
30 December 2010

Religion & beliefs; Hinduism; Hindu worship, rites & ceremonies; Hindu life & practice; Hindu sacred texts

An engrossing and definitive narrative account of history and myth that offers a new way of understanding one of the world's oldest major religions, The Hindus elucidates the relationship between recorded history and imaginary worlds.

Hinduism does not lend itself easily to a strictly chronological account: many of its central texts cannot be reliably dated even within a century; its central tenets karma, dharma, to name just two arise at particular moments in Indian history and differ in each era, between genders, and caste to caste; and what is shared among Hindus is overwhelmingly outnumbered by the things that are unique to one group or another. Yet the greatness of Hinduism - its vitality, its earthiness, its vividness - lies precisely in many of those idiosyncratic qualities that continue to inspire debate today.

Wendy Doniger is one of the foremost scholars of Hinduism in the world. With her inimitable insight and expertise Doniger illuminates those moments within the tradition that resist forces that would standardize or establish a canon. Without reversing or misrepresenting the historical hierarchies, she reveals how Sanskrit and vernacular sources are rich in knowledge of and compassion toward women and lower castes; how they debate tensions surrounding religion, violence, and tolerance; and how animals are the key to important shifts in attitudes toward different social classes.

The Hindus brings a fascinating multiplicity of actors and stories to the stage to show how brilliant and creative thinkers - many of them far removed from Brahmin authors of Sanskrit texts - have kept Hinduism alive in ways that other scholars have not fully explored. In this unique and authoritative account, debates about Hindu traditions become platforms from which to consider the ironies, and overlooked epiphanies, of history.

By: Wendy Doniger ( Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 158mm, Spine: 60mm
Weight: 1.256kg
ISBN: 9780199593347
ISBN 10: 0199593345
Pages: 800
Publication Date: 30 December 2010
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Reviews for The Hindus: An Alternative History

You will learn a huge amount about both the main thoroughfares and neglected byways of Hindu history. Jonathan Wright, Sunday Herald It is one of the most profound and enlightening anatomisations of Hindu history I have ever read. Jonathan Wright, Sunday Herald Scholarly, witty, and even-handed... one of the most profound and enlightening anatomisations of Hindu history I have ever read. Jonathan Wright, Sunday Herald