Nayanjot Lahiri's new book ... "As a teacher of Indian history I am all too aware of the squabbles that the periodization of Indian history has spawned ... I hope, however, that the elasticity in my use of the label ‘ancient’ is of little consequence since I am not concerned with monuments and artefacts only as a kind of archive of ancient human activity. Instead, I investigate aspects that relate to the modern histories of these architectural and archaeological relics. So these essays all connect with the modern pasts of premodern sites and objects, analysing the many ways in which the conceptions, contradictions, and conflicts of modern India came to mark their documentation and conservation. " -- from the Introduction ... Iconic sites and ‘monumental’ subjects in Indian history are the core of this fascinating collection of essays. Nayanjot Lahiri ranges from the Indus cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro to Buddhist Mahabodhi and ...