The Landscape
Where does the name Heathenland come from, and why does the author choose it for the land he is writing about? The chapter maps a vast ancient territory, from the Mediterranean to South-East Asia, and follows the names Isha, Asia, Sindhu, Hind, India and Bharat through the mouths of Greeks, Persians and Europeans. Three maps drawn by the author show the land as he believes it lay before 1.1 million B.C., before 1 million B.C. and in 1000 B.C.
Who, in the author’s account, is the true Father of the Indian Nation? Not the name you expect.
The text of Topic 1 is in the printed book. Get the book — the reading room opens here with the full chapter once the publishing rights return.
Indology.org presents the arguments of Brownstudy on Heathenland as its author made them in 2003. The chapter summaries on this site describe what each chapter asks and how the author answers; they do not argue his case, and the site’s editors do not endorse every conclusion. The author’s own Prefatory Note sets out the spirit in which the book was written. Readers who disagree are invited to write to the editor, and selected responses are published.