IsittruethattheancientIndianshadnosenseofHistory?Thebookbeginswiththisquestion,andpointsouthowthewaysofperceivingthepastcouldbeculture-specificandhowtheconceptofhistoricaltraditionscanbeusefulinstudyingthevariouswaysofmemorisingandrepresentingthepast,evenifthosewaysdonotnecessarilycorrespondtothemethodologyoftheOccidentaldisciplinecalled’History’.AncientIndiahadseveralhistoricaltraditions,andthebookfocusesononeofthem,theitihasa.ItalsoshowshowtheMahabharataisthebestillustrationofthistradition,andhowahistoricalstudyofthecontentsofthetext,withcomparisonwithandcorroborationfromothercontemporarysourcesandtraditions,mayhelpusrestorethetextinitsoriginalcontextinthebardichistoricaltraditionabouttheLaterVedicKurus.IstheMahabharatathenanauthentichistory?Thisbookdoesnotclaimso.However,itshowshowthetexthadoriginatedasacriticalreflectiononagreatperiodoftransition,howitdealtwiththeconflictingphilosophiesofthetransitionalperiod,howitpropoundeditsthesisbycreatingnewkindsofheroessuchasYudhisthiraandKrsna,andhowthetextwasreworkedwhenitwascanonizedbythebrahmanas
