<p>This book is an interesting study of the concept and philosophy of mantras which were used by the Hindus Buddhists and Jains alike for their daily meditation and ritualistic purposes. It explains from a nonEurocentric perspective but and from an Indic perspective though written by a European since Westerners considered mantras as ‘obscure’ ‘meaningless’ and ‘quite superstitious’ and grotesque in nature. This book is a collection of essays compiled on Mantra Sastra which is part of Tantra Sastra. It contains chapters on the doctrines of sabda philosophy and mantras like Om and Gayatri Mantra which are the most important mantras for Hindu ascetics and layman alike in their pursuit of the Almighty. Some of the chapters in this book were published in journals associated with oriental studies such as Vedanta Kesari and East and West. This book is recommended for those interested in the study of Hindu soteriology and the assessment of shruti worship and other traditions. About the Author Sir John Woodroffe (18651936) also known by his nom de plume Arthur Avalon was a British Orientalist and a jurist. He was educated at Oxford University and served as a lawyer at Calcutta High Court. Later he became the Reader of Indian Law at the University of Oxford and a recipient of the Court of Arms. He wrote extensively on Tantra Shakti and Yoga. His selected works include Introduction to the Tantra Sastra Shakti and Shâkta Hymns to the Goddess Bharati Shakti: Essays and Addresses on Indian Culture India: Culture and Society Is India Civilized? Essays on Indian Culture etc.</p>

<p>Like in other parts of India the Bhakti movement also spread into the eastern regions in the early sixteenth century and had brought a large section of the people under its banner stretching from Koch Behar in the west in North Bengal to the foothills of Arunachal Pradesh in the eastern frontier. The present work is a comprehensive but a critical history of the growth and development of the mystical movement in this part of India from the early sixteenth to seventeenth century with special reference to the Mayamara sect which claims to be nirgu]na in its essence teachings social ideology and political influence. While doing this the book has reexamined the theory that bhakti movement ultimately failed to usher in a democratic outlook and egalitarian aspects as it had originally proposed and that it had ultimately submitted to the strong and dominant conservative forces. With a detailed and sceptical examination of the ideological and philosophical aspects of Sankaradeva the founder of Bhakti movement in the eastern part of India the work proceeds on to examine the historical situation behind the emergence of the radical branch of the movement and its social and political implications. It shows how within every conservative structure there remains a radical force which always carries on the forces of reform resistance and protest against the dominant ideology if necessary even by adoption of militant methods. The emergence of the Mayamara sect from within the bhakti ideology its role in the making of the society and a militant resistant movement against the dominant class form the crux of the present work. While doing this it has questioned many of the existing ideas and concepts about the movement particularly in this part of India. About the Author A distinguished historian of Northeast India specializing in the social and cultural history Dambarudhar Nath held professorship at the Sri SriAniruddhadeva Chair attached to the Department of History Dibrugarh University Dibrugarh and SrimantaSankaradeva Chair at Tezpur University Tezpur for a brief period. Currently he is holding the position of the ViceChancellor at Auniati University Jorhat. Formerly he was also the first ViceChancellor of Majuli University of Culture Majuli. His area of interests include comparative religion and religious traditions of India. He had authored several books and articles which include Majuli Island: Society Economy and Culture.</p>

<p>In 2020 the Government of India proposed to raise the age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years. This proposal is related to gender equality as well as health issues and demographic advantages. In this context this book tries to trace the history of debate centering around the age of marriage in India from an analytical standpoint. The present work highlights how the law has been implicated in women’s subordination. It explores the ideological expectations that underpin women’s legal regulation as well as the traditions in which law subjugates women – the multifaceted and elusive ways wherein law validates profoundly genderbased suppositions relationships and characters. The book demonstrates that the correlation of moral precepts and legal norms is associated with the broader history of the age of marriage of girls in India and it has also shown how history includes diverse alternatives to understanding and addressing the problem of child marriages that do not rely on liberal legal frameworks. The book critically analyzes and evaluates the social and legislative history of the period spanning between three significant themes – Act III of 1872 Age of Consent Act of 1891 and Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929. It traces the history of the legal changes related to the age of marriage in India after Independence and links this issue with the presentday concern and the Government’s initiative for raising the age of marriage of girls. Undoubtedly this book is pertinent in the context of raising the age of marriage for girls in India in recent times. About the Author Shreya Roy presently teaches in the PG Department of History at Vivekananda College Thakurpukur Kolkata. She graduated from Bethune College and completed her master's from the University of Calcutta. She topped in both the levels of UG and PG in History examinations of the University of Calcutta. She has completed her M.Phil. from the University of Kalyani. Her areas of interest include women's studies social and cultural history. She has a number of publications in prestigious journals and edited books. She has also coauthored a book on history of Modern Bengal.</p>

<p>Louis Laurent de Federbe Comte de Modave like most eighteenth century Europeans came to India in search of fortune. He failed in his quest dying under tragic circumstances but his memoirs were saved and brought back to France. However it was not until 1971 that Jean Deloche of the Ecole Francaise d'Etreme Orient published a properly collated and annotated text. The memoirs present a fascinating contemporary commentary on the political situation of the rapidly decaying Mughal Empire. His penportraits of the Emperor Shah Alam II of ShujaudDaulah Mirza Najaf Khan and his fellow adventurer and compat­riot Rene Madec are particularly valuable. He spent more than a year at the court of Delhi and had the opportunity to observe the emperor closely. The latter comes across as kindly courteous and gentle essentially a family man always surrounded by his sons and never shy of showing his affection for them. The age however demanded a warrior emperor perhaps someone like Aurangzeb but unfortunately Shah Alam had no talent or taste for war. The melancholy ruins that marked the twin capitals of Agra and Delhi did not escape the Count’s notice. His tone becomes elegiac as he contemplates the ‘prodigious number of old palaces ruined caravanserais and other buildings now reduced to an ‘immense mass of ruins and rubble’. One is reminded of the concluding chapter of Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire the ruins of the Mughal capital also provide ‘ample scope for moralizing on the vicissi­tudes of Fortune which spares neither man nor the proudest of his works burying empires and cities in a common grave’. About the Author G.S. Cheema is a former civil servant and writes mainly on historical subjects. His first book The Forgotten Mughals came out in 2002. This was followed by Our History Their History (2012) and The Ascent of John Company (2017). In 2014 he published A Memoir of the Mughal Empire a translation of Jean Law de Lauriston's Memoire sur quelques Affaires de L'Empire Mogol. The present work is his second translation of the memoirs of a French adventurer.</p>

<p>Indians have been drinking some form of wine for the past four thousand years. In spite of it a kind of pretence pervades the society against drinking of wine. In the Vedic times Somarasa and Sura were much in common use. Indra the Vedic deity of war greatly relished it and not unoften got inebriated. Interestingly the ninth book of the Rgveda is fully devoted to Soma its preparation and use. Similarly later works like Astadhyayi Ramayana Mahabharata Arthasastra Raghuvamsa Harsacarita etc. also refer to the popularity of wine among all sections of the society. Dharmasastras however occasionally speak against the use of wine by the Brahmanas. Perhaps the book may help in correcting our hypocritic attitude against wine though abstinence from alcoholic drinks is always beneficial. About the Author Uma Prasad Thapliyal was born in Uttarakhand in 1938. An alumnus of Allahabad and Delhi Universities he served as the Director of the History Division Ministry of Defence till 1996. After superannuation he was appointed the General Editor to publish some operational histories by the Ministry. He has authored more than thirty books related to the military history of India from the earliest times. He is a recipient of various awards for his original research works. Many of his research papers have been published in reputed historical journals. In recogni­tion of his outstanding research acumen ICHR honoured him with postdoctoral fellowship and senior academic fellowship. He also delivered talks at Nehru Centre London and Oxford University on Indian participation in World War II.</p>

<p>Bengal in the medieval period came to be ruled by the Muslim Sultans with the establishment of Bakhtiyar Khalji (r.12031206). Apart from official and nonofficial literature and archaeological findings numismatic studies too plays a very important role in understanding the socioeconomic and political history of any region nation or confederation of states. In this book we find that it is in Bengal the collection and publication of coins minted under the Muslim Sultans during the Delhi Sultanate and independent Sultanates in the various museums and libraries. The book is divided into two major parts one is the critical analysis of coins and the other is the study of coins issued by Muslim dynasts of Bengal. The first part covers the coins minted from the time of Sultan Iltutmish till Muhammad bin Tughluq. It also covers the coins issued by the Bengal governors under the rule of the Delhi Sultans. This section also covers the analysis of coins from Sultan GhiyasudDin Iwad Khalji (r.15331538) of the Hussain Shahi Sultanate who was defeated by Sher Shah Suri (r.1537 1545). The second part of this book covers the issues concerning the numismatic studies done with the help of tables and places made by the author. These include the following: a chronological survey of Bengal Sultan coins the minting process and popular Islamic titles issued which include the famous ArabicPersian titles such as ‘Khilafat’ and ‘Khilafat Allah’ and the coins issued by princes and nonrulers. Interestingly this part ends by covering the inscribed names of the Abbasid Caliphs and zamindars under the Muslim Sultans such as Raja Ganesha and Raja Mahendra Deva. About the Author Abdul Karim was a Bangladeshi historian. He served as the fifth ViceChancellor of the University of Chittagong and was awarded with the Ekushey Padak in 1995 by the Government of Bangladesh. He did his BA from the University of Dhaka in 1949 and his Masters in 1950 and completed his second PhD from SOAS London. He wrote books in both Bengali and English which include Corpus of the Arabic and Persian Inscriptions of Bengal History of Bengal: Mughal Period Murshid Quli Khan and His Times Dhaka: The Mughal Capital The Rohingyas: A Short Account of their History and Culture and Social History of the Muslims in Bengal (Down to a.d. 1538).</p>

<p>A sequel to the volume Akbar and the Jesuits translated into English by C.H. Payne in 1930 it describes the encounters of Jesuit missionaries in the Mughal court under Emperor Jahangir (r.16051627). The book is divided into three parts the first part being the main theme of the book which talks about the Jesuit account of court activities and their religious mission. The second part contains the accounts which include the Travels of Benedict Goës and the third part is about the Jesuit mission to Pegu and the deputation of Portuguese emissaries to Goa. These parts discusses the first decades of the seventeenth century concerning the political happenings in the Mughal court and the Portuguese missions to South East and East Asia. The first part covers the infamous rebellion of Prince Salim against his father Emperor Akbar (r.15561605). It also covers the conversion of two Mughal princes to Christianity the Jesuit father's mission to the Agra court interfaith debates between the Jesuit fathers and Muslim clergies the Mughal king's reverence to Jesus Christ and the neoconverts to the Christian faith. The second part of this book talks about Benedict Goës trip from Lahore which was another Mughal capital to Yarkand situated in the current Xinjiang autonomous province of China and Suchou in mainland China. The third part talks about the establishment of Portuguese rule in Burma with the Portuguese occupation of Pegu discussing the conflicts between the Portuguese and Arakanese rulers and the establishment of Portuguese adventurer and mercenary Filipe de Brito e Nicote at Syriam. About the Author Fr. Fernão Guerreiro (15501617) was the Superior of the Jesuit congregation in Lisbon and a historian. He was responsible for one of the most important collections of these letters from overseas missionaries of the Order. His work Relação Anual das Coisas que Fizeramos Padres da Campanhia de Jesus nas Partes da India (Yearly Report of the Deeds Realized by the Fathers of the Society of Jesus in India&nbsp; was published in 16031611. His works served as a major reference point to the yearly Carta Annuas (Annual Letters) sent by his overseas colleagues which presents a vivid description of where the Society of Jesus developed its missions in South SouthEast and East Asia. C.H. Payne was a translator and a former educational adviser to the erstwhile Nawab of Bhopal. He authored books such as A Short History of the Sikhs GohuriIkbal (transl. into English as An account of My Life) Scenes &amp; Characters from Indian History as Described in the Works of Some Old Masters Tod’s Annals of Rajasthan: The Annals of Mewar etc.</p>

<p>Traditionally Indian architecture is divided into sacred and royal structures. Palaces in the Indian subcontinent are the most important landmarks associated with Indian heritage. This slim volume focuses on the architectural features associated with prasada or palace structures constructed during the ancient and medieval times. Coomaraswamy examines the features associated with palace structures such as pillars walls apartments streets gateways quarters of the royal members windows arches facades etc. and the materials which were use for its construction. The author looks at both literary and archaeological evidences. The book also uses photographs and sketches of various palace structures located in Bharhut Sanchi Amravati Mammallapuram Bengal and other parts of India to explain the features associated with Indian styles of palace construction. This book is highly recommended for students archaeologists and researchers interested in ancient and medieval Indian art and architecture. About the Author Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (22 August 1877–9 September 1947) is a Ceylonbased metaphysician historian theorist and philosopher of Indian art. He brought the Indian tradition of art into the western world. He was also seen as the bridgemaker between western and Indian art and phil­osophy as he was much inspired by Hindu and GrecoRoman trad­itions. His works were influenced by the Traditionalist and Perennial Schools of Philosophy. He authored several books which were based on the traditional arts metaphysics and social criticism. He was also the curator of Indian art at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.</p>

<p>The image of Buddha in Gandhara style depicted in the padmasana pose is one of the most popular images of the world. This image is connected with the symbol of Buddhism apart from the Ashoka Chakra. Throughout ancient India Buddha’s image gained popularity in the formation of Mahayana Buddhism. The major question that comes forth is how this art came into being during ancient times. This small volume on Buddhist art by Coomaraswamy challenges the notion that Buddha’s image did not emerge from the IndoGreek and other nonIndian art styles like Kushana or Bactrian. He asserts that Buddha’s icon and its representation in various forms found in monuments sculptures and other archaeological structures was prevalent in the preexisting Indian art forms. The book discusses the symbolisms necessity of Buddha’s image and anthropomorphic iconography in the creation of Buddha’s icons available in early India and talks about the differences in Indian and historicity of Gandhara and Mathura art. The author writes further that Gandhara art is Indic and not European. This book is highly recommended for scholars and researchers interested in Buddhist art. About the Author Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (22 August 1877–9 September 1947) is a Ceylonbased metaphysician historian theorist and philosopher of Indian art. He brought the Indian tradition of art into the western world. He was also seen as the bridgemaker between western and Indian art and phil­osophy as he was much inspired by Hindu and GrecoRoman trad­itions. His works were influenced by the Traditionalist and Perennial Schools of Philosophy. He authored several books which were based on the traditional arts metaphysics and social criticism. He was also the curator of Indian art at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.</p>

<p>Indian architecture is diverse and rich in its nature. This volume by Coomaraswamy centres around Buddhist architecture in ancient India. Buddhist architecture was one of the remarkable features which gave rise to the sacred architecture in India as it developed during the Mauryan Empire and subsequently went to other parts of East Central and South East Asia. This volume discusses the importance of city and city gates from the perspective of Buddhist architecture. The work is divided into two parts: Part I deals with cities and city gates etc. while Part II is on the Bodhigharas i.e. representations of the Bodhi tree with or without a temple structure. The book looks at the Pali literature which includes tales from Jatakas depicted in stupas located at Bharhut Sanchi and Amravati. These three sites are known for their ancient Indian stupa architecture around the world which gave rise to the traditional Buddhist stupa architecture. The author also cites references from medieval architecture such as forts situated in Gujarat Madhya Pradesh Karnataka and other parts to describe city architecture in ancient India. About the Author Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (22 August 1877–9 September 1947) is a Ceylonbased metaphysician historian theorist and philosopher of Indian art. He brought the Indian tradition of art into the western world. He was also seen as the bridgemaker between western and Indian art and phil­osophy as he was much inspired by Hindu and GrecoRoman trad­itions. His works were influenced by the Traditionalist and Perennial Schools of Philosophy. He authored several books which were based on the traditional arts metaphysics and social criticism. He was also the curator of Indian art at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.</p>