<p>The prehistoric phase forms the longest period in human history cov­ering a few millennia whereas the knowledge of writing which could be used for the reconstruction of history was acquired by man only five thousand years ago. The development of human culture can be properly understood only by studying the prehistoric past. The antiquity of man now goes back to 3.6 million years and since then man has been progressing in the face of all odds. Man the hunted became man the hunter later acquired the technique of food production which further led to sedentary existence fashioned artefacts to cope with environment learnt the use of metals and established trading contacts finally leading to urbanization. In India the first Stone Age tools were discovered in Tamil Nadu which have recently been dated to 1.5 million years (but could not be included in the present volume as it was too late). The proper study of prehistory received a boost in the postIndependence period. Hundreds of pre­historic sites have since been discovered almost all over the country even in the northeast which was archaeologically a terra incognita till now. Systematic excavations have been carried out and the data scientifically analysed stages of evolution of culture from food gathering to food producing have been traced and the further development into the glorious Indus – Harappan – civilization has also been critically reviewed. The volume includes contributions from acknowledged experts in the field. Greater emphasis has been laid on scientific evidence which brings out the role of environment in the evolution of cultures. The study ends with the advent of Aryans which is one of the knottiest of issues in human history. About the Author The late Professor M.K. Dhavalikar (19302018) retired as a Professor of Archaeology and Director of the Deccan College PostGraduate Research Institute Pune. He had published 27 books some of which include Ajanta: A Cultural Study (1973) Late Hinayana Caves of Western India (1984) Indian Protohistory (1997) The Aryans: Myth and Archaeology (2006) and SocioEconomic Archaeology of India (2014). His excavation reports of numerous sites such as Inamgaon Kuntasi Prabhas Patan etc. have been robust testimonies of his dedicated service to Indian archaeology. The Indian History Congress elected him as its General President for its annual session in 1999. In recognition of his accomplishments the President of India bestowed upon him the coveted civilian award ‘Padma Shri’ in 2011.</p>

<p>The Fourth Volume of A Comprehensive History of India covers the period from c. 985 ce to 1206 ce. A clear and connected sourcebased account of the political organization of this period has been provided by competent contributors in the first part of the volume published a few years ago. The second part of the volume being presented here treats social economic religious literary and cultural developments together with coinage science and technology and India’s contacts with the outside world during the period. All contributions are marked by their varied perspectives taking cognisance of not only regional specificities but also of the macroview of such developments. Notwithstanding the multiplication of political power centres during the period under survey the dynamism of socioeconomic and cultural lives of people never faded away. The volume locates this dynamism within the broad panIndia vision. It also includes more than a hundred illustrations is provided with an exhaustive and up to date bibliographic survey and multifaceted index to facilitate location of reader’s curiosities. About the Author The late Professor R.S. Sharma (19202011) was an Emeritus Professor of History Patna University and took retirement from the University of Delhi in 1985. In an active career spanning over nearly six decades he produced numerous landmark publications such as Sudras in Ancient India Indian Feudalism and Urban Decay in India (c.300c.1000). He was the Founder Chairperson of the Indian Council of Historical Research (197277). K.M. Shrimali (b.1947) retired as a Professor of History University of Delhi after serving for more than four decades (19682012). He has authored ten books and presided over several history congresses including the Indian History Congress. He is committed to disseminate scientific and secular history through the teaching and writing of history. His forthcoming book is History Archaeology and Ideology: Essays on Intellectual and Social History of Early India.</p>

<p>The book Textual Studies in Hinduism concerns with the classical Hindu texts like Bhagavad Gita Vedas Pura]nas and Brahma]nas etc. from classical to modern age from the perspective of comparative studies. The book touches upon certain tools and approaches which are an essential part of the curriculum taught in the religious studies classes such as etymological understanding of certain Sanskrit terms used in Hindu sacred texts problem of inconsistencies and contradic­tions in reading the Hindu religious texts approach to the Upani]sads from the medieval and modern commentaries given by the contempor­ary scholars understanding of religious texts in the light of modernday period and comparative studies of Hindu texts with the Semitic religions’ sacred texts. The author sheds a new light in the field of comparative studies in Hinduism. This book is beneficial for those who are interested in the history of Hinduism Hindu hermeneutics Hindu philosophy and scholars of Sanskrit literature and language. Since comparative religions and theological studies is one of the most popular discipline in the western universities this book is also important for those students professors and scholars who are interested in Hindu studies interfaith understanding and dialogues and also to the scholars in codicology and palaeography. About the Author Arvind Sharma is the Birks Professor of Comparative Religion at McGill University Canada. He completed his masters in Theological Studies (1974) and obtained his Ph.D. (1978) from the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies at Harvard University. He published several books including Gandhi: A Spiritual Biography Hinduism and its Sense of History Religious Studies Comparative Methodology: The Case for Reciprocal Illumination and One Religion too Many etc.</p>

<p>The TuzukiJahangiri or the Memoirs of Jahangir written by NurudDin Muhammad Salim Jahangir (r.16051627) gives a lively picture of India in the early decades of the seventeenth century. Written in Persian Jahangir follows the writing style of his greatgrandfather Babur. It contains details pertaining to art battles and conquests military aspects religion social issues and his household. Tuzuk contains the first nineteen years (16051623) of Jahangir’s rule while the rest of the memoirs were entrusted to Muhammad Hadi and Mutamid Khan who wrote the biography of the said Mughal em­peror Iqbal NamaiJahangiri. The autobiography meticulously de­scribes the minute details depicting flora and fauna as Jahangir was also a naturalist. Also it contains the early life of Jahangir’s successor and the fourth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (r.162858). The printed version was published by Islamic scholar and reformer Sir Syed Ahmed Khan printed at Ghazipur (1863) and Aligarh (1864). Filled with folios containing miniature paintings the entire manuscript of Tuzuk is preserved at the National Museum New Delhi and several albums are deposited at the British Museum London. About the Author Alexander Rogers (18251910) was an Indian civil servant and orientalist. He was appointed as the Collector and Magistrate in 1860 and was a member of Council of Bombay Presidency in 1872. He wrote books such as History of Land Revenue Settlement of Bombay and also translated the classical Persian romantic work Yusuf and Zulekha and other modern Persian plays. Henry Beveridge (18371929) was an Indian Civil Service officer and orientalist. He translated the famous Akbar Nama (vols. 13) and the author of several books like The District of Bakarganj: Its History and Statistics and Texts and The Trial of Maharaja Nanda Kumar: A Narrative of a Judicial Murder.</p>

<p>Vishambhar Misra famously known as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (c.14861534) led one of the most pioneering movements within the Vaishnava tradition in medieval India which influenced many of the famous modern Hindu mystics including Ramakrishna Paramahansa and certain modernday world famous Hindu mystical organizations like ISCKON. This book deals with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s life and his version of Vaishnavaite mysticism in Orissa (presently Odisha). The author in the first part deals with the sources attributed to the Vaishnava saint written in Bengali Odia and Sanskrit during medieval and early modern periods. These include his biographies and mystical com­positions dedicated to Lord Krishna composed by his followers. The second part deals with the religiosity and asceticism of the said saint and how it is different from the traditional Vaishnavism practiced in medieval Orissa. The final part of this book deals with the impact of Mahaprabhu on the history of medieval Orissa and his movement prevalent in modern times. This book is highly recommended to those who are interested in researching the history of Vaishnavism in medi­eval times the history of Eastern India and the study of Hinduism in general. About the Author Prabhat Mukherjee was a retired Reader at the Department of History Utkal University Bhubaneshwar. He wrote books primarily on the history of the Orissan region notably History of Medieval Vaishnavism in Orissa (1940) History of the Gajpati Kings of Orissa (1953) History of the Freedom Movement in Orissa Vol. II (1957) The Buddhist Remains in Orissa (1961) History of Orissa in the 19th Century (1964) and The History of the Jagannath Temple in the 19th Century (1977).</p>

<p>A reprint of the 1921 edition this volume covers the numismatic studies focusing on the thirtyeight regnal years of two Mysore sultans Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan. The work is largely based on the collection of the said rulers’ coinage preserved at Madras Government Museum Madras British Museum London and Mysore Government Museum Bangalore. The book lists the coins issued in different principalities with details of the inscriptions engraved. The plates of the coins have been included in this volume. Many of these coins were collected from all parts of south India particularly the Mysore region. The ArabicPersian inscriptions inside the gold and silver coins bear the testimony of the past. This book is one of the few which discusses the numismatic history of southern India. Lastly the volume is important from the perspective of economics and metallurgical studies which was prominent during the eighteenth century history of South India before the annexation by the British crown. About the Author J.R. Henderson (18631925) was a zoologist numismatist and historian. He served as a professor of Zoology at the Madras Christian College Madras the principal librarian at Connemara Public Library and a Keeper of the Madras Aquarium. He was the Superintendent of the Government Museum in Madras from 19081920. He wrote several articles published in journals and books concerning zoology numismat­ics and museology.</p>

<p>Originally published in 1931 and translated from French into English by Homer White and Richard Glaenzer the book covers the history of the first Timurid ruler of India ZahirudDin Muhammad Babur (r.15041530). This volume discusses the adventures and romantic life of the first Mughal emperor his transition in life as a vagabond and spendthrift person while an heir of a tiny principality in Ferghana (modern day Uzbekistan). Also his political failures and his miraculous appointment as the ruler of Kabul and Hindustan is also touched. The book covers the history of his life in Central Asia more comprehensively than the rest of his years at Hindustan which he spent regaining his position back in his native land. This book concludes with his brief conquest of Hindustan before his untimely death in 1530 in Agra. About the Author JosephFernand Grenard (4 July 1866–1 April 1945) was a French explorer author and diplomat. He spent much of his life in Eastern Turkestan (Xinjiang) and the Tibetan plateau under French govern­ments sponsorship. He authored his East Asian expedition under the French title Mission Scientifique Dans la HauteAsie (A Scientific Mission to Upper Asia 1897–1898) and wrote other titles like GengisKhan La Révolution Russe Tibet: The Country and its Inhabit­ants which was translated into English by A. Teixeira de Mattos.</p>

<p>In the decades between the 1870s and 1920s literary periodicals (sahitya patrika) much like the newspapers and the books became po­pul­ar among the middleclass Bengali homes – both as an affordable recreation for leisure hours and as a major vehicle for the circulation of ideas in the public domain. Periodicals Readers and the Making of a Modern Literary Culture: Bengal at the Turn of the Twentieth Century begins by looking at the logistics of the production and circulation of periodicals that were oriented towards a widening readership market. Given their easily understood nature their capacity for sustaining debates and adapt­ability by readers with diverse reading competencies periodicals be­came the preferred means for dispensing modern education and enjoy­ment through the vernacular. The proliferation of periodicals therefore came to be perceived as a mark of a new national life (jati?a jiban) coming into existence. The book moves on to look at some of the defining debates that shaped readers’ perspectives on critical social issues and explains how these were tied up with larger concerns over ethical social life. Finally it looks at the BengaliMuslim and women’s periodicals and their readerships and argues that the presence of multiple literary voices makes it impossible to speak of Bengali literary culture in any singular term. About the Author Samarpita Mitra teaches at the Department of History at Jadavpur University Kolkata.</p>

<p>Japan’s radical development following the Meiji Restoration in 1868 drew the attention of the world. Among other provinces in British India it was in Bengal chiefly that one witnessed a sustained interest in the material advancement of Japan as well as the uniqueness of her culture. The book is an attempt to explore how writers of Bengal also travelogue writers nationalists and cultural enthusiasts from this part of British India have tried to represent the politics and culture of Japan during that period. The present book is a revised version of the author’s doctoral thesis for which he was awarded a Ph.D. degree from the Faculty of Arts Jadavpur University. About the Author Pratyay Banerjee is an English language instructor. He takes interest in different subjects such as foreign language learning as well as revisiting the cultural and political history of India during the colonial period. He also studied Japanese language from the School of Languages Jadavpur University Kolkata.</p>