(The) Age of iron and the religious revolution c.700 - c.350 BC / by Krishna Mohan Shrimali

Includes chronology and index.

THE IRON AGE, SURPLUS AND ECONOMIC CHANGE, C.700-C. 350 BC : Iron in Northern India -- Iron age in peninsular India -- Agriculture -- Other aspects of material culture -- Iron and production of surplus -- Metal money -- Trade -- Long-distance trade, crafts and cities in the Northwest -- SETTLEMENTS, TOWNS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER : Rural settlements in literary texts -- Towns in literary texts -- Cities: the archaeological perspective -- Social groups -- Gender relations, marriage -- Occupational divisions -- Acculturation and the growth of the caste system -- POLITIES AND FORMATION OF STATES : The Janapadas -- Polities in Northwestern India -- Mahajanapadas as socio-cultural regions -- State formation -- The rise of Magadha -- THE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION : The intellectual ferment -- Ajivikas -- The Jaina system -- The Dhamma of the Buddha -- Brahmanism and Brahmanical texts