Imagining the urban : Sanskrit and the city in early India

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In Imagining the Urban, Shonaleeka Kaul turns to Sanskrit literature to discover the characteristics—both physical and social—of ancient Indian cities. Kaul examines nearly a thousand years of Sanskrit ka¯vyas to see what India’s early historic cities were like as living, lived-in entities, and discovers that they were vibrant and teeming with variety and life.

As much about Sanskrit literature as about urban spaces — insofar as that literature reveals significant aspects of the Indian urban past — Imagining the Urban shows that Sanskrit literature is a rich source for historical understanding. Advocating the ka¯vyas as an important historical source, Kaul provides a fresh view of the early city and shows distinctive ways of thought and behaviour that relate to tradition, morality and authority.

With its provocative new questions about early Indian cities and ancient Indian texts, this book will be an essential read for scholars of urban history, Sanskrit writings and South Asian antiquity.