FEUDAL FORMATIONS 119 m this regard without any clearly formulated theoretical framework did not dispute, nor did it consciously support, nor did it criticize the theory of a stagnant society implied in the nineteenth century writings. With great emphasis on the glorification of the Indian past there emanated historical generalizations that were based on empirical studies of varying degrees of specificity made during the early half of this century. It is precisely here, that is, in our perception of "scientific history' that the current historiographical debate about 'feudal social formations' outlined by D.N. Jha in the Introduction to this book for understanding Indian society and history, gains a new dimension. It helps in identifying the efficacy of the relevant methods of historical analysis. Jha has cautiously selected fouteen articles divided into three parts of 'Transition to Feudalism', 'Feudal Society and Economy' and "Feudal Ideology", so as to reflect intensive researches undertaken for different parts of the country, as also with a view that by and large, the collection represents a homogenous texture in terms of method. The views of one of the most prolific and one of the first proponents of the school of 'Indian Feudalism' are well-articulated in this volume. Kosambi's two essays touch on two different themes, namely, understanding a regional variation of feudalism and, the role of ideology, in this case taking the instance of the most popular Hindu text, the Bhagavadgita, in exemplifying class dominance and how efficaciously ideology could have been used for this purpose. In many ways these essays of Kosambi being chronologically the earliest, as also his innumerable other writings on Indian history, set the tone of the volume. They are in no uncertain terms, the inspiration behind a majority of the essays incuded in the book under review. Even today, when the marxist method of analysis has become comparatively more popular among Indian historians than it was in the 1950s, no one can deny that KosambFs piece on the Gita remains outstandingly the most creative interpretation of a religious text in the context of the method embo-.died in the theory of historical materialism. Part I of this book with six contributions neatly gets divided into two parts : the first includes two pieces by R.S. Sharma and B.N.Si Yadava discussing the question of transition to feudalism from a general, perhaps jail India perspective, and the last two articles by D.D.. Kosambi md Amalendu Guha discussing the issue from a regional perspective. Characteristic