The contributions to this liber amicorum extend over the whole range of Indian civilisation. The contents are arranged into two sections. In the first part those articles are brought together which bear upon the earlier stages of Indian history or upon the reconstruction of a certain epoch. The contents of this section, which, in historical terms, span the period from the Indus civilisation up to medieval times, include several fine pieces of textual analysis. The second section contains contributions on the more recent history of South Asia alongside articles that examine ancient features which have persisted till the present day." Contributors": Part 1:'Ritual and State from the Earliest History': HT Bakker, HWA Blezer, HW Bodewitz, RN Dandekar, W. Doniger, ECL During Caspers, TY Elizarenkova, H. Falk, S. Gupta, FBJ Kuiper, H. Kulke, A. Lubotsky, M. Nihom, G. Oberhammer, MS Oort, A. Parpola, H. Scharfe, H.-P. Schmidt, DD Shulman, HJ Tieken, PC Verhagen, and A. Wezler. Part 2:'Ritual and History up to the Present': S. Bayly, J. Brouwer, HM de Bruin, JG de Casparis, SN Eisenstadt and H. Hartmann, A. Hiltebeitel, AW van den Hoek, RB Inden, DHA Kolff, D. Kooiman, AG Menon and GH Schokker, R. Rocher, JF Staal, G. Toffin, KW van der Veen, PT van der Veer, RJ Zwi Werblowsky, A. Wink, and M. Witzel.