Daughters, Urbanity, and Environment in Early India brings together a decade of research to explore early Indian history through three interconnected themes. The essays here trace how gender, urbanity, and the environment shaped and reflected the socio-cultural fabric of north India from the prehistoric to the late-historic period.

The first section examines the underexplored figure of the daughter or kanyā in early Indian scriptures, reconstructing the multiple identities of ‘elite’ daughters in relation to education, marriage, inheritance, ritual, and religious symbolism. The second section turns to urbanity, illustrating how commercial activity, religious patronage, and political authority intersected in the making of urban spaces. The final section addresses the environment and reveals early Indian attentiveness to ecological concerns, sacral traditions, and urban aspirations. Taken together, the essays weave these three themes into a single tapestry that challenges monolithic readings of early Indian history. This book thus situates early India within broader debates on gender, urban historical, and environmental studies, and their making of historical transitions.