This book is a new edition with new preface of a volume that was the outcome of a seminar on the Ideology and Status of Sanskrit held in 1994. It contains studies of crucial periods in the history of the Sanskrit language, from the earliest, Vedic and pre-Vedic periods, through the period in which the (restricted) use of Sanskrit spread over practically all of South and Southeast Asia, up to the recent history of Sanskrit in India. The aim of the book is to contribute especially to the social and sociolinguistic history of Sanskrit. The new preface discusses the implications of other and more recent studies in this domain.
