| Chapter No. | Chapter Title | Chapter Author | Page No. |
| 1 | The Iron Age, Surplus and Economic Change, c. 700-c. 350 BC | | 1 |
| Iron in Northern India | | 2 |
| Iron age in Peninsular India | | 9 |
| Agriculture | | 12 |
| Other Aspects of material Culture | | 14 |
| Iron and Production of Surplus | | 18 |
| Metal Money | | 20 |
| Trade | | 23 |
| Long-Distance Trade, Crafts and Cities | | 26 |
| 2 | Settlements, Towns and the Social Order | | 33 |
| Rural Settlements in Literary Texts | | 33 |
| Towns in Literary Texts | | 35 |
| Cities: The Archaeological Perspective | | 39 |
| Social Groups | | 46 |
| Gender Relations, Marriage | | 56 |
| Occupational Divisions | | 59 |
| Acculturation and the Growth of the Caste System | | 62 |
| 3 | Politics and Formation of States | | 78 |
| The janapadas | | 78 |
| Polities in Northwestern India | | 89 |
| Mahajanapadas as Socio-Cultural Regions | | 92 |
| State Formation | | 94 |
| The Rise of Magadha | | 100 |
| 4 | The Religious Revolution | | 109 |
| The Intellectual Ferment | | 109 |
| Ajivikas | | 112 |
| The Jaina System | | 114 |
| The Dhamma of the Buddha | | 124 |
| Brahmanism and Brahmanical Texts | | 140 |
