This book traces the evolution of a process of interaction between brahmanism and the indigenous social groups of Bengal during the early medieval period. Addressing two significant methodological issues—the reading of didactic Sanskritic texts for the reconstruction of early Indian history, and the application of contemporary anthropological concepts to such texts to help elucidate cultural contestations—Chakrabarti examines a civilizational process fundamental to the unfolding of Indian history.
The Bengal Purāṇas adopted the cult of the goddess as the medium of assimilation of local cultural forms, and it was on the shared understanding of this common cult that the earliest foundation of Bengal’s regional tradition was laid. The book argues that the Puranic synthesis in Bengal generated for the first time the necessary cultural resource that enabled the diverse communities to acquire a regional cultural identity.