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The first book on alcohol in pre-modern India,
An Unholy Brew: Alcohol in Indian History and Religions uses a wide range of sources from the Vedas to the Kamasutra to explore intoxicating drinks and styles of drinking, as well as sophisticated rationales for abstinence found in South Asia from the earliest Sanskrit written records through the second millennium CE.
List of contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Aperitif - Sura, the Prototypical Liquor of India
- ROUND ONE: DRINKS AND DRINKING
- Cup One: Sura Made From Grains
- Cup Two: Sugarcane, Wine, Toddy, and Other Drinks
- Cup Three: Sura Brewing and Public Drinking
- Cup Four: Luxurious, Erotic Drinking in Literary Texts
- Cup Five: Drink, Health, and Disease in Ayurvedic Texts
- ROUND TWO: DRINK AND RELIGION
- Cup Six: Drink in Ritual, Myths, and Epic
- Cup Seven: The Filth of Grain and the Pain of Drink: Morality, Vice, and Law
- Cup Eight: Sura Regained: Drink in Tantra
- Cup Nine: Firewater and Corpse-Reviver: Alcohol in Later Sanskrit Sources
- Digestif: What Do We Do About This Stuff That Makes Everything Go Awry?
- Appendix: Soma, Ancient Drugs, and Modern Scholars
- Bibliography
About the author
James McHugh studies the history and religions of early India, working with texts in Sanskrit and related languages. He completed his Ph.D. at Harvard University in 2008, and is now Associate Professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. His book Sandalwood and Carrion: Smell in Indian Religion and Culture explored the significance of odors, perfumes, and aromatics in India.
Summary
The first book on alcohol in pre-modern India, An Unholy Brew: Alcohol in Indian History and Religions uses a wide range of sources from the Vedas to the Kamasutra to explore intoxicating drinks and styles of drinking, as well as sophisticated rationales for abstinence found in South Asia from the earliest Sanskrit written records through the second millennium CE.
