23 August, 2012

Sacred Landscapes in Asia: Shared Traditions, Multiple Histories


Sacred Landscapes in Asia: Shared Traditions, Multiple Histories

By- Himanshu Prabha Ray

Throughout history the peoples of Asia have been known for their mobility and interactions. The notion of territorially defined nations is historically recent. There was a continuing
dialogue between Asian cultures which functioned at both the spatial and the temporal
level, propelled by the movement of the great religions of Asia across continents via trading communities, clergies, Buddhist and Sufi scholars and communities of artisans.

The present volume explores the aesthetic theories underlying many genres of the Asian arts. These characterize the dialogue between and amongst different Asian regions. The same Asian notions of space and time are manifested in architectural form as also in a wide variety of visual arts. The contributors in this volume identify the multi-layered discourse comprising the nature of monuments, as also the movement of motifs and symbols though sculptured and picturised representation. Some essays focus on fundamental notions such as Sunyata as common to the Indian, Korean and other Asian countries. Also, the papers bear testimony to the phenomena of dialogue and distinctiveness, continuity and change. This is evident in architectural structures, sculptural forms, particularly in iconography, and of course in the performing arts.

The IIC-Asia Project in its second phase has, with purpose, traced the trajectory of transmission systems in Asian civilization in different domains and at different levels, be it the vertical transmission from generation to generation in education, or the artistic transmission and diffusion through the arts. It is hoped that this volume will add to the meager literature that exists on the subject and will stimulate further research and study.


Himanshu Prabha Ray is at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.


 ISBN 81-7304-726-X 2007 408p. Rs.995/ Pounds 85 


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Maratha Historiography: (Based on Heras Memorial Lectures)


Maratha Historiography: (Based on Heras Memorial Lectures)

By- A.R. Kulkarni

Scott Waring, a British historian of the early nineteenth century wrote, ‘The Mahrattas were once a mighty nation. How they rose, and how they fell, may surely challenge enquiry’. This was, perhaps, the main reason why administrators, researchers and historians—both Indian and foreign have been attracted towards the history of Marathas from seventeenth century till this day. A contention that is amply reiterated by the scope of the present volume.

This work on Maratha historiography is divided into three parts. It starts with an account
of the writings of the foreign historians Cosme da Guarda (Portuguese), M.C. Sprengel
(German) and Robert Orme, Scott Waring, Elphinstone and Grant Duff (British).

The second part of the work is devoted to the Archival movement in Bombay Presidency in the colonial period and the popular movement launched by the Maratha scholars against the rigid policy regarding the access to the State Archives, and the amount of source material collected by them. The contribution of Kashinath Narayan Sane, Vasudeo Vaman Khare, Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade, Dattatraya Balwant Parasnis is discussed in this part.

The work also analyses the contribution of the medieval chroniclers or the bakharkars, to historical writings on Marathas and an assessement of the major modern Indian historians, namely G.S. Sardesai, Jadunath Sarkar, and Surendra Nath Sen along with many others.

The post-Independence phase is discussed by the author in the last chapter.


A.R. Kulkarni (b. 1925) Professor Emeritus of History, University of Pune, has had a long teaching career (1949-85). His major published works are Maharashtra in the Age of Shivaji (also in Marathi & Hindi) and James Cuninghame Grant Duff  (also in English & Hindi) which have won national and state awards.




ISBN 81-7304-687-5 2006 364p. Rs.895/ Pounds 55 


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Interrogating History: Essays for Hermann Kulke


Interrogating History: Essays for Hermann Kulke

By- Martin Brandtner and Shishir Kumar Panda (eds)

This felicitation volume is in honour of Professor Hermann Kulke whose contribution to the world of history, especially Indian history, is very well known. It incorporates eassays which are thematically and spatially related to his areas of interest. Thus, the three sections into which the contributions are organized broadly overlap with some of the areas of historical enquiry as well as geographical regions that have attracted Professor Kulke – Historians and Historiography, South and Southeast Asia and last but not the least, Orissa.

The first section includes an article, ‘Ways of Questioning: Historians and Historiography’, that highlights, Professor Kulke’s contribution to the study of Indian history and culture. The other chapters focus on major issues related to archaeology, historiography, and the significance of the horse in India history.

The next section includes chapters that examine issues related to Kharavela, The Date Formula in Ceylonese inscriptions, Tradition and Time, Trade, Vidisa during the Guptas, Early Medieval Orissa and Tagore’s Perceptions of Southeast Asia.

Finally, the third section contains eassays that explore the Oriya identity movement in Singhbhum, the blurred boundaries between religion and politics, the making of cultural identity, the rumours associated with Gandhi in the literary tracts, the problems of decolon-ization, sub-regional centres like Khallikote in south-western Orissa, the colonial classification of the Kondh tribe and the Saivite version of the puja manuals of Jagannatha of Puri.

Besides historians, this book would attract political sociologists, social anthropologists and indologists.


Martin Brandtner: Senior Research Fellow, Chair of Asian History, Kiel University.

Shishir Kumar Panda: Professor, Department of History, Berhampur University.



ISBN 81-7304-679-4 2006 392p. Rs.875/ Pounds 55

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Impact of Partition: Refugees in Pakistan: Struggle for Empowerment and State’s Response RCSS Policy Studies 37


Impact of Partition: Refugees in Pakistan: Struggle for Empowerment and State’s Response RCSS Policy Studies 37

By- Amtul Hassan

Though much has been written in recent years on different facets of partition, the hopes and disillusionments of refugees and the possibility of their integration in Pakistan and gradual alienation of the succeeding generations in the wake of rising ethnic and sectarian violence has seldom constituted a part of political and social discourse.

This volume deals primarily with the experience of partition refugees in Pakistan. Issues like partition carnage, pangs of displacement, the challenges of resettlement and the deliberate policy of the state and ruling elites to disempower the Muhajirs and their reassertion as a poltical force constitute some of the major areas of concern for the study. The meteoric rise
of the MQM as a political power and its campaigns against feudalism, sardari system, intelligence agencies, as well as terrorism and religious parties have been dealt with in this work.

The work also refers to the clash of interests, frequent outbreaks of violence in Karachi and urban Sind, refugee uprising, tussle for power role of the civil and military bureaucracy
to contain and control the emerging political forces and speculates upon the challenges of disintegration.

This timely study also highlights Pakistan’s approach towards the refugees and explains
the dynamics of social and cultural interaction between the newly arriving Muhajirs and the natives.


Amtul Hassan is presently doing her M.Phil. in International Relations from Karachi
University. The areas of her interest include forced migration, human rights, movement for democracy and human security issues.



 ISBN 81-7304-698-0 2006 142p. Rs.260/ Pounds 17.99 


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History of The Jaipur City


History of The Jaipur City

By- Ashim Kumar Roy

Jaipur is the first planned city of northern India after Mohenjo-daro and the Greek city of Sirkap in Taxila. Its builder was Sawai Jai Singh, the versatile ruler of Amer whose multifarious activities as a statesman, an astronomer and a patron of Hinduism form part of this book.
The planning of the city too was perhaps done by Jai Singh himself, ably assisted by a Bengali Brahman, Vidyadhar, who later became his favourite minister.
Within a few years of its founding Jaipur became and has since remained the most important city in Rajasthan. From the start it has had a good water supply system. In providing street lighting, medical facilities, higher education, etc., it has kept pace with modern cities of India. By the middle of the 19th century it had become a centre of banking and jewellery trade in north India and by the end of the century a centre of Sanskrit learning.
One of the products of the city was Todarmal, who was perhaps the first writer of modern Hindi prose. The city is also an important religious centre. The history of Jaipur could thus he said to be the history of civilization in norther India during the 18th and 19th centuries.
This capital story of the birth and growth of the capital of one of the most forward looking states of India should be of interest to the lay reader as well as to specialist.

Ashim Kumar Roy, a product of Presidency College, Calcutta joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1949 and served in the state and central government in various capacities. During 1959-60 he was at Harvard University as a Ford Foundation Fellow. He obtained his Ph.D. in History from Rajasthan University in 1976.



ISBN 81-7304-697-2 2006 286p. Rs.570/ Pounds 45


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Eastward-Bound: India’s New Positioning in Asia


Eastward-Bound: India’s New Positioning in Asia

By- Isabelle Saint-Mézard

A long historical perspective would probably describe India as a country that has always been at the very centre of things in Asia. An ancient cultural matrix of Asian civilizations, India had close interactions with its eastern neighbours through centuries and was deeply involved
in the pan-Asianist and decolonization movements during the first part of the Twentieth
Century. Novertheless, by the early 1990s, India found itself so estranged from its eastern neighbourhood that it had to formulate a proactive policy to return to the Asian fold. A Look East policy was thus officially launched as a deliberate attempt on India’s part to emulate the ‘Asian Miracle’ and to associate itself with East Asia, a region that stood as one of the most dynamic in the world. India’s long history in Asia has since entered a new era.

In this volume, Isabelle Saint-Mézard analyses the Look East policy in a comprehensive way, stringing together its various developments and nuances over one decade and a half. Her focus is on the politico-economic dynamics of the policy. At the same time, she acknowledges the multifaceted nature of the Look East policy and underlines its ideological and cultural dimensions, as well as its security-related aspects. Shifting in perspectives, her study also shows how countries and regional organizations in East Asia have responded to India’s opening up. The reprecussions of the 1997 financial crisis on the multidimensional rapprochement between India and East Asia have also been analysed.

The study proceeds to evaluate the results of the policy. The Look East policy has no doubt stimulated ecomimic, political, institutional and strategic ties with East Asia, and more importantly India has increasingly identified itself with Asia. Thus, the author shows that the Look East policy has become a major dimension of India’s new external relations in the post-Cold War era. One of the most remarkable features of this policy is that it has been cleverly pursued in congruence with trends in regionalization and that it has helped India to reposition itself as a major player in Asia.


Isabelle Saint-Mézard holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the Institut de Sciences Politiques (Sciences Po), Paris. She was based at the Centre of Asian Studies, the University of Hong Kong from 2003 to 2006.





ISBN 81-7304-761-8 2006 406p. Rs.895/ Pounds 60


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A Dictionary of Urdu, Classical Hindi and English


A Dictionary of Urdu, Classical Hindi and English

By- John T. Platts

The distinguishing features of this classic dictionary are: the space assigned to the etymology of words; the arrangement of words which are similarly spelt but differently derived into separate paragraphs according to their etymology; the indicating postposition by means of which an indirectly transitive, or an intransitive verb governs its object, and the change of meaning which frequently takes place by the employment of different postpositions after a verb (many verbs, in existing dictionaries, are given as transitive, thus leading one to suppose that they govern the accusative case, whereas they govern, it may be, the genitive, or the ablative, or the locative; e.g. gabza karna is called a transitive verb, although it governs the locative); the admission of numerous words which do not find place in the literary language.

This volume is an invaluable accessory for the scholars of classical Urdu and Hindi.

John Thompson Platts (1830-1904) was born in Kolkata. He became head of Saugor School in 1859 and headmaster of Benares College in 1861. After his retirement from India, Platt was elected teacher of Persian at Oxford University in 1880. He wrote works on the grammer of Hindustani and Persian and compiled a number of dictionaries of Asian languages.

 



ISBN 81-7304-670-0 2006 1260p. Rs.800/ Pounds 110


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Cultural Dynamics and Strategies of the Indian Elite (1870-1947): Indo-French and Anti-French Under the Raj


Cultural Dynamics and Strategies of the Indian Elite (1870-1947): Indo-French and Anti-French Under the Raj

By- Samuel Berthet

Published in Association with Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi

The history of French culture in India tends to show that if for long conflicts in the colonial context have been studied in a dual perspective, they can be better understood in a polyphonic one. From the nineteenth century onwards, along with the opposition between the British tending to increasingly impose their dominance, and the Indian élite trying to assimilate and manufacture a modern identity of its own, France and French culture provided an alternate space for cultural negotiation. Perceived in Europe and beyond as the modern culture par excellence, the most anglicized of the Indian élite engaged themselves in a process of appropriation of French as an alternate path for cultural discourse. The direct consequence of this was the rapid progress of French language in Indian universities by the end of the nineteenth century.

The British authorities were prompt to react and tried to contain the development of French culture within the educative institutions. The new space for culture making created by
the Indo-French dialogue is now open to political interpretations, at times conflicting. The relations between Rabindranath Tagore and Sylvain Lévi is one instance of the difficulties for a colonizing power to acknowledge the modern ferment within the colonized regions of the world in the twentieth century. Nevertheless, as this volume so eloquently portrays, the dynamics of cultural and scientific exchanges were in motion between France and India, through the Indian diaspora and French intellectuals associating themselves with India and Indian reformist movements.


Samuel Berthet has been a lecturer at Visva Bharati and Jawaharlal Nehru universities.
Affiliated to the Centre de Sciences Humaines, he is currently research coordinator for the South Asia Europe Maritime Heritage Project conducted under the aegis of the Centre for French and Francophone Studies (JNU).




 ISBN 81-7304-717-0 2006 240p. Rs.575/ Pounds 50

 
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