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India Discovered: The Recovery of a Lost Civilization
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
‘A gripping, erudite and witty study of the European discovery of India’s ancient past. The first book I ever read on India, and still one of my favourites.’
William Dalrymple
‘Exact scholarship, plus clear, strong writing, with glints of humour on every page … This book will greatly reinforce Mr Keay’s reputation as the best of the post-Raj interpreters of India for English-speakers.’
Dervla Murphy, The Irish Times
Product Description
Two hundred years ago, India was seen as a place with little history and less culture.Today it is revered for a notable prehistory, a magnificent classical age and a cultural tradition unique in both character and continuity. How this extraordinary change in perception came about is the subject of this fascinating book.
The story, here reconstructed for the first time, is one of painstaking scholarship primed by a succession of sensational discoveries. The excitement of unearthing a city twice as old as Rome, the realization that the Buddha was not a god but a historical figure, the glories of a literature as rich as anything known in Europe, the drama of encountering a veritable Sistine chapel deep in the jungle, and the sheer delight of categorizing ‘the most glorious galaxy of monuments in the world’ fell, for the most part, to men who were officials of the British Raj. Their response to the unfamiliar – the explicitly sexual statuary, the incomprehensible scripts, the enigmatic architecture – and the revelations which resulted, revolutionized ideas not just about India but about civilization as a white man’s prerogative.
A companion volume by the author of the highly praised India: A History and The Great Arc.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
45 of 47 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A book which does full justice to "This Wonderful Country". Keay's India Discovered is a triumph of meticulous scholarship and erudition. Covering the fileds of art and literature, cartography and zoology Keay elegantly captures the spirit of William Jones and those others of the Asiatic Society who are the subject of this book. A book which is as compellingly readable as it is sophisticated and erudite and a must for any reader with a love of India, its cultures and its peoples.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I first heard about John Keay in another book by William Dalrymple where he wrote that John was an inspiration to him to write about India. This in turn inspired me to buy this book. As an Indian, this book was revealing and awe-inspiring in the scope of the discoveries that it describes. It is unimaginable that many (even more) important centres of history/culture have been destroyed or are maintained poorly and are falling to ruin.
This book is very well documented in parts, obviously backed by a lot of research, and tells stories about places/monuments in India as they were discovered by the British. The detail given on these is unmatched.
This book is very well documented in parts, obviously backed by a lot of research, and tells stories about places/monuments in India as they were discovered by the British. The detail given on these is unmatched.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
The discoverers and the discovered
11 July 2002
Format:Paperback
This book explores the manner in which European - well British anyway - people became familiar with India from the 1700s on. It is mostly about the discoverers, but also reveals a lot about what they discovered. And the mysteries that remain. The ancient Harappan civilisation - so developed and yet so static - the Hindu culture and the Buddha who grew within it (but where have the Indian Buddhist gone today - how were they driven away or why did the philosophy become unfashionable), the Jains - a sect of the Buddhists? And then there are the aboriginal peoples of India, the Moslem invasions, and, of course, the British.
I have had the good fortune to visit India on several trips - visiting the Taj Mahal, the caves at Elephanta, and Mahabalipuram. But the most spectacular site for me is Khajuraho. All these places are mentioned by Mr Keay (and, of course, many I have not visited) and I found it interesting to read about how each has a context in Indian history and helps us to understand better this continent of enormous population, of refined culture, and of such diverse mixtures of race. But the most amazing thing to me is the realisation that so many of these sites were abandoned ruins that had to be found, explored, restored, conserved. What rich pickings there were for those British colonials who took the continent to heart, and were not repulsed by its alienness.
Khajuraho is a case in point, where the erotic nature of much of the adorned temples was a real shock to early explorers. And yet Mr Keay has some great words for it:
"No pin-up ever approached the provocative postures, the smouldering looks and the langourous gestures of the Khajuraho nymphs. Serene rather than saucy, intent rather than ecstatic, they go gracefully about their feminine business, adjusting the hair, applying eye shadow, removing a splinter, approaching their lovers; then the kiss, the caress, the passionate love-making of first aquaintance, and the erotic experiments of a mature affection. Here there is love and beauty, passion and joy, instruction even and inspiration; but anything less sordid it is hard to imagine. One can only feel sorry for those generations of Europeans whose own sexual inhibitions prevented them from seeing it that way."
Mr Keay explores literature (such as the Ramayana), the leftovers of earlier civilisation (such as coins), architecture (Buddhist, Hindu and Moslem), and paintings. There are a couple of add-on chapters that seem a bit out of place, concerning flora and fauna. But I was a little disappointed that there was nothing of mathematics, astronomy, music .... But having said that, this is a good read and a great adventure story that features some extraordinary people.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Revealing
18 Oct 2005
Format:Paperback
I first heard about John Keay in another book by William Dalrymple where he wrote that John was an inspiration to him to write about India. This in turn inspired me to buy this book. As an Indian, this book was revealing and awe-inspiring by the scope of the discoveries that it describes. It is unimaginable that many (even more) important centres of history/culture have been destroyed or are maintained poorly and are falling to ruin.
This book is very well documented in parts, obviously backed by a lot of research, that tells facts as they were discovered. The detail given is unmatched. This is a must read for any Indian history buff.
This book is very well documented in parts, obviously backed by a lot of research, that tells facts as they were discovered. The detail given is unmatched. This is a must read for any Indian history buff.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Great book to have!
9 Sep 2003
Format:Paperback
Instead of telling you the history of India, this book emphasized the history of how the Indian history was discovered by the British, I always love books written by John Keay, though it's more or less written by a British author with a little bit biased view.
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