Sources of Indian Tradition, Vol 2: Modern India and Pakistan

by William Theodore de Bary (editor), Stephen Hay (editor)

Since 1958 one of the most important and widely used texts on civilization in South Asia (now the nation-states of India, Pakstan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal), this classic is now extensively revised, with much new material added. Introductory essays explain the particular settings in which leading Indian thinkers have expressed their ideas about religious, social, political, and economic questions. Brief summaries precede each passage from their writings or sayings.

Chapters address the opening of India to the West; Hindu and Muslim social and religious reform movements; the emergence of both moderate and extremist nationalisms; the thought of Mahatma Gandhi; public policies for independent India; Pakistan's formation as an Islamic state, and other topics.

Genres: History, India, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Asia, Reference, Historical

433 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

William Theodore de Bary was an East Asian studies expert at Columbia University, with the title John Mitchell Mason Professor of the University and Provost Emeritus.

De Bary graduated from Columbia College in 1941, where he was a student in the first iteration of Columbia's famed Literature Humanities course. He then briefly took up graduate studies at Harvard before the US entered the Second World War. De Bary left the academy to serve in American military intelligence in the Pacific Theatre. Upon his return, he resumed his studies at Columbia, where he earned his PhD.

He has edited numerous books of original source material relating to East Asian (primarily Japanese and Chinese) literature, history, and culture, as well as making the case, in his book Nobility and Civility, for the universality of Asian values. He is recognized as essentially creating the field of Neo-Confucian studies.

Additionally, DeBary was active in faculty intervention during the Columbia University protests of 1968 and served as the university's provost from 1971 to 1978. He has attempted to reshape the Core Curriculum of Columbia College to include Great Books classes devoted to non-Western civilizations. DeBary is additionally famous for rarely missing a Columbia Lions football game since he began teaching at the university in 1953. A recognized educator, he won Columbia's Great Teacher Award in 1969, its Lionel Trilling Book Award in 1983 and its Mark Van Doren Award for Great Teaching in 1987.

Now the director of the Heyman Center for the Humanities and still teaching, De Bary lives in Rockland County, New York.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_de_Bary

Reviews

[Patrick]

Another collection of translations of primary sources that I read with students and teaching in mind. This book is primarily composed of selections from representative writings of major figures of Indian political and religious thinking in the 19th and 20th centuries. The editors did a great job of prefacing and contextualizing these sources and of showing the diverse range of thought and argumentation in South Asia during this time period. You can find everything from Islamist to Hindu Nationalist, from liberal defenders of British colonial rule to communists.

[Michael David]

This is an interesting introduction of the ascent of modern India from the perspectives of its major players. From Ram Mohan Roy's pacifist stance toward cultural assimilation from the British, to the unforgettable Gandhi and philosophical Tagore, the genesis of modern India was slowly painted by this tome through the insights of its prominent people.

Although I believe that there were unnecessary additions to the text, the book was still a notable read. It wasn't as good as Mommsen's History of Rome, for example, but it was good - just a little bloated.

[James Violand]

This is the one work needed to study the history of India. It presents the writings/sources upon which the myriad tribes of the subcontinent evolved into the most spiritually enlightened people on the planet. There is a depth here that is sadly lacking in European civilization: the quest for the soul's fulfillment. I cannot praise this work enough.

[Julie]

I really enjoyed this book. It has a lot of information about India and Pakistan - two countries which I don't know very much about. Historically, the information is important and should be read by people of all nations. The essays included in this book are remarkable - profound thoughts and ideas from learned men, which were not covered in any of the world history classes I took in high school or college.

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I have.

[Dr. Vipin Behari Goyal]

Good compilation of traditions, stronger logic could have been given in favor of traditions with little more efforts.

[Vik]

A must read for anyone interested in political history of India