With the closure of the overland Silk Road in the fourteenth century following the collapse of the Mongol empire, the Indian Ocean provided the remaining vital link for wider cultural, political, and societal integrations prior to the Western colonial presence. Collectively, these studies explore the history of non-metropolitan urban settings c. 1400-1800 in the Indian Ocean realm, from the Ottoman Empire and the African coastline at the mouth of the Red Sea in the west to China in the eas...

The macro-region of South Asia – including Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka – today supports one of the world’s greatest concentrations of cities, but as James Heitzman argues in the first comprehensive treatment of urban South Asia, this has been the case for at least 5,000 years.With a strong emphasis on the production of space and periodic excursions into literature, art and architecture, religion and public culture, this interdisciplinary study is a valuable te...

This volume is a collection of papers originally delivered by an international group of researchers at a conference organized in April 2000 by Dr. F. J. Brüggemeier and Dr. Wolfgang Schenkluhn. The World in the Year 1000 is organized in four thematic sections covering five world regions: Europe, the Islamic world, India, China, and Mesoamerica. All contributions in this volume are original works by many of today's leading scholars. Unlike most works on pre-modern world history, wh...

Discerning on-the-ground guide to the sights and monuments of these two key destinations. With practical information plus eating and accommodation tips.This ebook comprises two chapters from Blue Guide India: the best guide for the independent traveller to India's art, architecture and history. Superb maps, detailed sections on religions and culture. Written by the BBC's Sam Miller.According to William Dalrymple, who wrote the foreword: "I can vouch for its accuracy and nov...

A sweeping history of the conquest of India by the British, from the first faltering trading stations to the marbled imperial cities, emphasizing the violence of colonial rule and its chaotic inheritanceThe popular image of the British Raj—an era of efficient but officious governors, sycophantic local functionaries, doting amahs, blisteringly hot days and torrid nights—chronicled by Forster and Kipling is glamorous and nostalgic, but entirely fictitious. In this dr...

User-friendly guide with full background information on Indian history, culture and religions, and eating and accommodation tips. Includes the sights and monuments of Kolkata (Calcutta) and the richly varied state of West Bengal: Darjeeling, Hooghly and Plassey, the Islamic architecture of Gaur and terracotta temples of Bishnupur.This is a chapter from Blue Guide India: the best guide for the independent traveller to India's art, architecture and history. Superb maps, detailed pract...

Practical and cultural guide to the sights and monuments of Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, with Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram. Includes referenced maps, full background information on Indian history, culture and religions, and eating and accommodation tips.This is a chapter from Blue Guide India: the best guide for the independent traveller to India's art, architecture and history. According to William Dalrymple, who wrote the foreword: "I can vouch for its a...

Discerning on-site guide to the sights and monuments of Tamil Nadu and Chennai (Madras), with referenced maps, full background information on Indian history, culture and religions, and eating and accommodation tips.This is a chapter from Blue Guide India: the best guide for the independent traveller to India's art, architecture and history. According to William Dalrymple, who wrote the foreword: "I can vouch for its accuracy and novelty – the Indian guide which reaches the long-for...

User-friendly guide to the sights and monuments of Punjab and its capital Chandigarh, with maps, full background information on Indian history, culture and religions, and eating and accommodation tips. Includes Le Corbusier's planned city of Chandigarh, the Golden Temple at Amritsar (holiest site of the Sikh religion) and the former princely states of Kapurthala, Patiala and Faridkot.This is a chapter from Blue Guide India: the best guide for the independent traveller to India's ar...

On-site guide to the sights, monuments, natural beauties and architecture of this popular destination. With full background information on Indian history, culture and religions, and eating and accommodation tips.This is a chapter from Blue Guide India: the best guide for the independent traveller to India's rich cultural heritage. Superb maps, detailed practical information. Written by the BBC's Sam Miller.According to William Dalrymple who wrote the foreword: "I can vouch ...

A nation of 1.25 billion, India is the world's most diverse democracy. Drawing on his extensive fieldwork and experience of Indian politics, Sumantra Bose tells the story of democracy's evolution in India since the 1950s and describes the challenges it faces today: from poverty and inequality to Maoist revolutionaries and Kashmir secessionists.

A sweeping cultural history of India’s largest cityA place of spectacle and ruin, Mumbai exemplifies the cosmopolitan metropolis. It is not just a big city but also a soaring vision of modern urban life. Millions from India and beyond, of different ethnicities, languages, and religions, have washed up on its shores, bringing with them their desires and ambitions. Mumbai Fables explores the mythic inner life of this legendary city as seen by its inhabitants...