<p>This volume is part of the collaborative project of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) and Institute of Development Studies Kolkata (IDSK) on documents pertaining to economic history and quality of life in Northern India in the late nineteenth century. The present volume (divided into three parts A B and C) roughly covers the broad period of the 1880s and 1890s. Northern India here means what was generally known as the NorthWestern Provinces (NWP) and the province of Oudh (till 1877 after which it was merged with the NWP) in the late nineteenth century excluding the Punjab province. Documents included in this volume focus on a wide spectrum of human activities in northern India. They are materials from diverse fields such as agriculture forestry population public health jails education and sanitation in each of which the British Raj was involved in collecting information and directing the courses of development in more than one sense. These documents touch on various kinds of agricultural knowledge such as agricultural operations agricultural technologies manure and material conditions of agricultural classes population change health and mortality literacy and primary education values of livestock and cattle diseases production and export of cash crops production and supply of food grains distribution of waste lands forests and reclamation of jungle lands operation of income tax human disease and mortality and scarcity and famines. A section on the report of native newspapers has been added to evaluate the responses of educated Indians on some of these developments. Other reports include ones on agricultural improvements public works and veterinary developments Touching on a number of crucial aspects of material conditions and quality of life of people in Northern India in the last quarter of the nineteenth century the volume stands as a valuable source book for the students of both economic and social history and of human development in India as well. About the Author Amiya Kumar Bagchi is currently Emeritus Professor of Economics Institute of Development Studies Kolkata (IDSK). Prof. Bagchi was also the first Chancellor of Tripura Central University. He was the founderDirector of IDSK and had earlier served as a Professor and Director of Centre for Studies in Social Sciences Calcutta. He has been an economist and economic historian during a long academic career and has received honorary doctorates from four universities both in India and abroad. The Indian History Congress conferred the H.K. Borpujari award on him in 1997 and he worked as its President in 2019. Arun Bandopadhyay is currently the Historical and Archaeological Secretary of the Asiatic Society Kolkata and formerly the Nurul Hasan Chair Professor of History and Dean of Arts at the University of Calcutta. His research interest covers a wide range of areas: agrarian history business history and history of science and environment. He is currently the President of Paschimbanga Itihas Samsad and also the President of the Society for Preservation Calcutta.</p>

<p>Buddhism and its history are the most revolutionary things which happened in the world history. Buddha and his teaching proved to be an inspiration for many including Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. The History of Buddhist Thought covers literatures on the Buddhist philosophy. The book talks about the Early Sangha literature which comprises the Early Buddhist corpus available on Buddha. The relationship between the Buddhism and Brahmanism is an interesting aspect even though Buddhism was presented as a critic of the Hindu religion. However the important themes that are touched in this volume is the concept of Buddhahood Bodhisattva concept of voidness and consciousness and the stage of nirvana which is another important aspect in Buddhist religion. And finally it covers the interaction between Buddhism and modern thought. About the Author Edward J. Thomas (18691958) was an antiquarian scholar librarian author of several books on the Buddhist literature. He earned a master’s degree in Classics from University of St. Andrews in 1901 studied linguistics at Emmanuel College and graduated from University of Cambr­idge in 1905. He authored books such as Jataka Tales The Life of Buddha: As Legend and History The Perfection of Wisdom The Career of the Predestined Buddhas A Selection of Mahayana Scriptures transl­ated from the Sanskrit Early Buddhist Scriptures The Song of the Lord: Bhagavadgita Vedic Hymns etc.</p>

<p>The book contains the record of the events concerning the emergence of the French in south India from 1736 to 1760 compiled by Ananda Ranga Pillai. Ananda Ranga Pillai was a merchant by profession who also served as a dubashi of the French East India Company. He belonged to a welltodo merchant family in Madras. He became a close confidant to Joseph François Dupleix the GovernorGeneral of the French East India Company. He served Dupleix till his removal on account of ill health and deteriorating performance. His accounts reflect the eighteenthcentury political scenario in the Madras province and more specifically the AngloFrench Carnatic wars. The author of this book referred to Pillai as the ‘Samuel Pepys of French India’ who was an English diarist and navy administrator from whom the title of this book is given. The volume is part of article series ‘The Historical Material in the Private Diary of Ananda Ranga Pillai (17361761)’ which was committed into a form of a book in 1940. Its English translation was published by the Madras Government. This book discusses the activities of the French in Madras province and in particular gave special reference to Dupleix’s political activities. It also contains the history of Pondicherry which he recorded in his diaries. This book is from one of few Indian writers who gave a closer look at the European activities in India. This volume also covers the conflicts between the Nawab of Carnatic and the subject of the Mughal Empire Chanda Sahib and the commandant of the English East Company’s army Yusuf Khan. Besides the chapter covers the description of noted political figures like La Bourdonnais Leyrit Godeheu and De Bussy and covers the annexation of Madras military operations conducted at Cuddalore and Pondicherry and the fall of Pondicherry. About the Author ‘Rao Saheb’ C.S. Srinivasachari (18901951) was a historian and former Professor of History and Politics at Annamalai University. He authored books such as History of the City of Madras Fort WilliamIndia House Correspondence – Vol. IV: 17641766 A History of Gingee and its Rulers etc.</p>

<p>Education in Ancient India provides us with a glimpse of the education system practiced in ancient India upto 1200 AD. The author examines different sources such as canonical texts archaeological and literary compositions foreign travel accounts etc. to study the ancient Indian educational system. Certain aspects covered in this book are studentteacher relationship primary education female education educational institutes society aims and achievements rituals associated with edu­cation such as yajnopavita curricula methods examination systems convocation ceremonies and pedagogical skills cum techniques etc. This book will be largely beneficial to researchers and students inter­ested in ancient India and history of education. About the Author A.S. Altekar (19891960) was an ancient Indian historian. He was the Head of Ancient History and Culture at BHU Varanasi and served at K.P. Jayaswal Research Institute Patna and Patna University. In 1947 he was appointed as the chairman of the Numismatic Society of India. He authored books like The Position of Women in Hindu Civilization: From Prehistoric Times to the Present Day The VakatakaGupta Age State and Government in Ancient India Rash?raku?as and their Times and History of Benares etc.</p>

<p>This third volume of André Wink’s acclaimed and pioneering AlHind: The Making of the IndoIslamic World takes the reader from the late Mongol invasions to the end of the medieval period and the beginnings of early modern times in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. It breaks new ground by focusing attention on the role of geography and more specifically on the interplay of nomadic settled and maritime societies. In doing so it presents a picture of the world of India and the Indian Ocean on the eve of the Portuguese discovery of the searoute: a world without stable parameters of pervasive geophysical change inchoate and instable urbanism highly volatile and itinerant elites of nomadic origin farflung merchant diasporas and a famine and diseaseprone peasantry whose life was a gamble on the monsoon. About the Author André Wink Ph.D. Leiden (1984) is Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin Madison. He is the author of Land and Sovereignty in India (1986) as well as numerous articles.</p>

<p>In this volume André Wink analyzes the beginning of the process of momentous and longterm change that came with the Islamization of the regions that the Arabs called alHind – India and large parts of its Indianized hinterland. In the seventh to eleventh centuries the expansion of Islam had a largely commercial impact on alHind. In the peripheral states of the Indian subcontinent fluid resources intensive raiding and trading activity as well as social and political fluidity and openness produced a dynamic impetus that was absent in the densely settled agricultural heartland. Shifts of power occurred in combination with massive transfers of wealth across multiple centers along the periphery of alHind. These multiple centers mediated between the world of mobile wealth on the IslamicSinoTibetan frontier (which ex­tended into Southeast Asia) and the world of sedentary agriculture epitomized by brahmanical temple Hinduism in and around Kanauj in the heartland. The growth and development of a world economy in and around the Indian Ocean – with India at its center and the Middle East and China as its two dynamic poles – was effected by continued economic social and cultural integration into ever wider and more complex patterns under the aegis of Islam. About the Author André Wink Ph.D. Leiden (1984) is Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin Madison. He is the author of Land and Sovereignty in India (1986) as well as numerous articles.</p>

<p>During the early medieval Islamic expansion in the seventh to eleventh centuries alHind (India and its Indianized hinterland) was character­ized by two organizational modes: the longdistance trade and mobile wealth of the peripheral frontier states and the settled agriculture of the heartland. These two different types of social economic and political organization were successfully fused during the eleventh to thirteenth centuries and India became the hub of world trade. During this period the Middle East declined in importance Central Asia was united under the Mongols and Islam expanded far into the Indian subcontinent. Instead of being devastated by the Mongols who were prevented from penetrating beyond the western periphery of alHind by the absence of sufficient good pasture land the agricultural plains of North India were brought under TurkoIslamic rule in a gradual manner in a conquest effected by professional armies and not accompanied by any largescale nomadic invasions. The result of the conquest was in short the revitalization of the economy of settled agriculture through the dynamic impetus of forced monetization and the expansion of political dominion. Islamic conquest and trade laid the foundation for a new type of IndoIslamic society in which the organizational forms of the frontier and of sedentary agriculture merged in a way that was uniquely successful in the late medieval world at large setting the IndoIslamic world apart from the Middle East and China in the same centuries. About the Author André Wink Ph.D. Leiden (1984) is Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin Madison. He is the author of Land and Sovereignty in India (1986) as well as numerous articles.</p>

<p>Languages do not see barriers and they adopt certain words while traversing to distant lands. Indian lexicons in English came to promin¬ence when the Portuguese Dutch and other colonial nations before the British Raj learned about specific Indian vocabularies and adopted them into their dictionaries. Many itinerary literature in the form of travelogues botanical medical and miscellaneous works coming from the said countries had left their account and they have written certain terms and terminologies which did not have an equivalent in European languages. Also with the establishment of the Asiatic Society of Bengal and the reports diaries and accounts written by the British orientalists government officials and linguists many Indian lexicons came into being from their compositions. This eventually led to the formation of AngloIndian words. Hobson Jobson is the corruption of the slogan Shia Muslim BritishIndian soldiers during the Muharram which is ‘Ya Hasan Ya Hussain!’. This dictionary contains more than a thousand AngloIndian terms and was written by Henry Yule and A.C. Burnell with additions made by William Crooke in 1903. About the Author Henry Yule (18201889) was a Scottish orientalist and a geographer. He published several books including the English translations of Marco Polo and The Apothegms of Ali the son of Abu Talib. He was also an expert in Persian and Arabic languages and collected many early manuscripts A.C. Burnell (18401882) was an English civil servant and a scholar in Sanskrit and Dravidian languages. He was also the head of collecting Tanjore Court Collection. William Crooke (18481923) was a British orientalist and a key figure in the study and documentation of AngloIndian folklore. He joined the Indian Civil Service. While an administrator in India he found abundant materials for his researches in the ancient civilizations of the country. He wrote on the people of India their religions beliefs and customs. He was also an accomplished hunter. He has several landmark publications to his credit.</p>

<p>After Jñanesvari SrimadBhagavadgitaRahasya is the Marathi translation and commentary on Gita written by Tilak while he was serving his prison term at Mandalay Burma. The text was completed in Mandalay Jail from 1908 to 1914 and was published in 1915 when he returned to Poona. The English translation was done by B.S. Sukthankar in 1934. In his commentary he gave high emphasis to nishkamakarmayoga (selfless action) over karma sanyasa (renouncing actions). Also he gave importance to the Mima]nsa rule of interpretation which is part of the tradition of contemplation which is followed to discover the meanings in the Vedic texts. The first part contains the philosophical exposition and the second part contains the Gita text its translation and commentary. He interprets the message of Gita by the subservience of all yogas to karma yoga (yoga of action) rather than jñana yoga (yoga of knowledge) or bhakti yoga (yoga of devotion). About the Author Bal Gangadhar Tilak (18561920) was an Indian nationalist leader jurist teacher and prominent member of the Indian National Congress. He advocated the Swaraj movement and supported the cause of the Swadeshi movement in 1907. He was one of the founding members of the Deccan Education Society in 1880. He also established the All India Home Rule League along with Annie Besant 191618. He was the founder of two prominent nationalist papers Kesari and Mahratta. His notable works include The Arctic Home in the Vedas The Orion A Missing Verse in the Sankhyakarakas etc. Bhalchandra Sitaram Sukthankar was an Indian jurist and was the Solicitor of the Bombay High Court.</p>

<p>The study breaks a fresh ground in the study of Sikh art after the pione­ering contributions of W.H. McLeod and B.N. Goswamy in the similar field. The book on Sikh art evolution is centred on portraits of Sikh Gurus from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. It examines around two hundred and fifty texts of art available in different mediums scattered across museums and private collections in different countries. It goes to the credit of the scholar for pointing out how Guru Nanak’s portraiture catered to the spiritual and cultural needs not only of ordinary Sikhs but also satisfied the expectations of the newly formed urban middle class. The scholar critically reviews Harjot Oberoi’s study and emphasizes the significant role of Sikh art in the formation of a distinct Sikh community’s identity. The author took note of how the Singh Sabha Move­ment (18731909) and the Akali Movement of 1920 onwards popularized devotional portraits of Guru Nanak even though idolatry is forbidden in the sacred text Guru Granth Sahib. It underlines how there was a paradigm shift in the mentality of Sikh society under the colonial impact of the British Raj. This book will not only be appreciated by students of visual arts researchers and academicians and but also by the universities across the world where Sikh Studies are taught. About the Author Atsushi Ikeda a historian of South Asian art especially Sikh art and visual culture holds an MFA from Kyoto City University of Arts and an M.Res. from Kyoto University. His 2018 doctoral thesis at SOAS University of London reflects his dedication. After having worked as an art director in a Japanese company he currently serves as the Chief Director of the Japanese Organisation for the Promotion of Indian Art and Culture (JOPIAC).</p>