Author Description

The result of a creative collaboration, this volume is the outcome of the July 2012 ICCR-Nalanda University Conference that brought together diplomats, historians, linguists, archaeologists, literary persons, musicians, and researchers who are deeply engaged with the nature of the early contacts between Asian countries and how these variously impacted the socio-cultural-religious fabric of these societies. The book interrogates the complexities of an inter-civilisation dialogue that cohered largely around the themes of religion, language, textual transmission, and trade, which, as the essays reveal, manifested in multiple ways -- art, archaeology, text, and performances -- and helped in the creation of a rich and syncretic Asian culture. Melding historical figures, persons from myths and legends, and living individuals evokes a strong sense of how past relations between Asian neighbours were interrupted by colonialism and are now being happily revived. It thus celebrates a new era during which Asia speaks to itself and recovers its lost but shared past. The collection is a valuable addition to the field of inter-Asian interactions and the nature of their dynamic cross-cultural exchanges.