PROLOGUE: EARLY INDIA PART 1: 4TH CENTURY BCE-4TH CENTURY CE INTRODUCTION: FIRST EMPIRES 1.1 STUPA AND MONASTERY IN THE EARLY IMPERIAL ERA 1.1.1 ASHOKAN FOUNDATIONS 1.2 THE TRANSFORMATION OF BUDDHISM 1.2.1 MANIFESTAT ION OF TRANSFORMATION: ART AND ARCHITECTURE 1.3 THE ADVENT OF HINDUISM AND THE ESOTERIC 1.

3.1 THEOLOGY AND THE INVENTION OF THE TEMPLE 1.3.2 UNITY IN VARIETY OF SYMBOLIC FORM PART 2: 4TH-13TH CENTURY CE BUDDHISM ECLIPSED; HINDUS ASCENDANT 2.1 THE EARLY TEMPLE: EXCAVATION AND BUILDING 2.2 DECCANI ECLECTICISM AND THE DRAVIDIAN MERU 2.2.1 EARLY CHALUKYAN DERIVATIONS 2.

2.2 EARLY PALLAVAN REPRESENTATION 2.2.3 RETURN TO ELLORA FOR THE APOGEE OF ECUMENICAL EXCAVATION 2.2.4 THE CHOLAS AND THEIR NEIGHBOURS 2.3 ASCENT TO NAGARA MERUS: LATINA, SHEKHARI AND BHUMIJA 2.3.

1 PRATIHARA FOUNDATIONS 2.3.2 SHEKHARI PROLIFERATION 2.3.3 APOTHEOSIS OF LATINAIN OR ISSA 2.3.4 THE BHUMIJA OF THE PARAMARAS AND THEIR NEIGHBOURS 2.4 VE SARA: SYNTHESES AND ABSTRACTION IN KARNATIKA 2.

4.1 LATER CHALUKYAN CROSS-FERTILISATION 2.4.2 HOYSALA SYNTHESIS PART 3: 13TH-18TH CENTURY ISLAM ASCENDANT : HINDUS AND JAINS DEFENSIVE 3.1 ISLAM IN INDIA AND THE PATTERN OF MUSLIM PATRONAGE 3.2 AFGHANS , TURKS AND THEIR DELHI SULTANATE 3.3 REGIONAL GRAVITY 3.3.

1 RIVALS TO THE SULTANATE IN THE SOUTH 3.3.2 SUCCESSORS TO THE SULTANATE IN THE NORTH 3.4 THE MUGHALS : ADVENT 3.5 RETURN TO THE DECCAN: QUTBSHAHIS AND ADILSHAHIS 3.6 THE MUGHALS : APOGEE EPILOGUE: HINDUSTANI SYNCRETISM.