Urbanity and Economy

This volume seeks to address the issue of the growth and development of urbanisation in the region from the proto-historic period through to medieval times, examining the complex transformation of rural economies into urban ones, where multiple variables act as decisive forces shaping the nature, form, and character of urban growth; in a vast and ecologically diverse country like India, the development of material culture across time and space has never been uniform, and from the prehistoric period onwards regional forces have played a crucial role in shaping Indian culture, a reality that this anthology foregrounds by investigating processes of urbanisation within specific regional contexts. The contributors also emphasise economic factors—particularly trade—as key determinants of the pace and direction of urbanisation, and together their analyses offer readers a comprehensive overview of the scope and direction of current research on the subject.