SOUTH ASIA BEYOND BORDERS: NEW RESEARCH IN HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY

Ancient Itinerants and Medieval Rulers in Bandhavgarh’s Forests

Illustrated lecture by Prof. Nayanjot Lahiri, Professor of History, Ashoka University

Chair: Prof. Upinder Singh

Forests and wilderness rarely figure in the archaeology of historical India, except in passing when expanding agricultural tracts are described in relation to forest lands or in accounts of trade routes. This has meant that large expanses of forests and wild places that carry early markers of human use – a lot of which originates from urban spaces and political capitals – have not featured in such research. Prof. Lahiri’s presentation will show that urban folk did not just live in cities and towns but helped create as also inhabit dwellings in forests, through the field work conducted by her and other collaborators in the Bandhavgarh National Park and Tiger Reserve

Second lecture in a new series of bi-monthly lectures organised in collaboration with Ashoka University