<p>This comparative study investigates court politics in four kingdoms that succeeded the Vijayanagara empire during the 16th to 18th centuries: Ikkeri Tanjavur Madurai and Ramnad. Building on a unique combination of unexplored Indian texts and Dutch archival records this research offers a captivating new analysis of political culture power relations and dynastic developments. This monograph provides in great detail both new facts and fresh insights that contest existing scholarship. By highlighting their competitive fluid and dynamic nature it undermines the historiography viewing these courts as harmonic hierarchic and static. Far from being remote ritualised figures we find kings and Brahmins contesting with other courtiers for power. At the same time by stressing continuities with the past this study questions the recent scholarship that perceives a fundamentally new form of Nayaka kingship. Thus this research has important repercussions for the way we perceive both these kingdoms and their ‘medieval’ precursors. About the Author Lennart Bes is an Indologist and historian studying political culture in pre-modern India. He has published on south India’s late medieval/early mod­ern kingdoms and Dutch sources on (South) Asia; and has been teaching Asian history Dutch overseas history and archival studies at Leiden Uni­versity the University of Tokyo and Universitas Gadjah Mada Yogyakarta. He is presently researching the courts of 17th- and 18th-century Kerala.</p>

<p>Mysore with an area about the size of Scotland and ruled by the most enlightened of princely autocracies is the best example of the failure of the princely order to survive the end of the British Raj. It is also the only Princely State which had a well</p>

<p>History is a hot topic in popular politics of the public domain. Pressures from different kinds of ideological positions and politics of identities of various kinds put serious constraints on the practice and writing of history. Despite the challenges scholarship has continued to grow. Current historiographical thrusts illustrate how a whole range of themes and issues are dealt with by professional historians from a variety of perspectives with reference to sources and evidence. For instance issues relating to the complex interactions between religion and political culture are no longer being swept under the carpet. This collection of short essays and extended discussions on current research aims to intervene in public debates on what exactly happened in history. Given the situation attempts of this kind can possibly help in somewhat bridging the wide gap between serious academic research and misplaced assumptions of popular histories. Much as historians are accused of merely speaking to themselves (and boring others) they need to be taken seriously when intervening in public debates using specialized historical methods and practices. Historical research conducted in universities can inform popular debates in newspapers television channels social media and roadside dhabas for that matter to lift the discussion to an informed intellectual plank and to bring about historical literacy and civility in the public domain. About the Author Raziuddin Aquil teaches history at the University of Delhi. Professor Aquil has published widely on religious traditions literary practices and political culture in medieval and early modern India. His books include Sufism Culture and Politics: Afghans and Islam in Medieval North India (Oxford University Press); The Muslim Question: Understanding Islam and Indian History (Penguin Random House); Lovers of God: Sufism and the Politics of Islam in Medieval India (Manohar and Routledge); and Days in the Life of a Sufi: 101 Enchanting Stories of Wisdom (Pan Macmillan).</p>

<p>India and China underwent similar political experiences between the seventh and second centuries b.c. Centripetal forces propelled Magadha in India and the state of Ch’in in China to positions of undisputed power through the assimilation and conquest of states which had been their equals. In both the cases the states that became paramount summed up and exemplified the forces and tendencies of the time and were outsiders to the hallowed centres of culture and thus representative of the changing and radical nature of the epoch in which Chou feudalism finally died in China and India saw the rise of major heterodox religious movements such as Buddhism. This period of fierce inter-state conflict and fluctuating political fortunes preceding unification also saw the development of a literature of Realpolitik which frankly aimed at the aggrandisement of political might – a concern shared by both the Legalists of China and the Arthsastra author of India. These affinities are striking and well worth going into in detail particularly in view of their divergent historical futures. The present work sets out with the aid of a number of contemporary texts to elucidate conceptual approaches to the problem of political authority in the two countries during this phase. It suggests that the historical affinities that exist tend to obfuscate rather than reveal crucial differences of political perspectives. Differences which – to leap centuries ahead of this study – may help to explain why Gandhi and Mao despite the many similarities between them opted for discrete and unitary political models respectively. About the Author Padmanabh Vijai Pillai after a brief stint with the Indian Foreign Service turned to academics and obtained a Ph.D. in History from the University of Michigan. He returned to Delhi and worked as a senior fellow at CSDS as a Homi Bhabha Fellow. He also co-edited with Pietro Redondi The History of Sciences: The French Debate. He passed away in 2007.</p>

<p>The decline of the Mughal Empire the political ascendency of the British East India Company a number of revivalist powers (the Sikhs the Marathas the Rohillas etc.) and a large number of Indian princely states resulted in redrawing the political spaces across India. In the process the minting rights of the titular Mughal king and of the neo-independent Indian princely rulers were severely curbed by the domin­ant colonial power both for political as well as economic reasons. The territorial expansion of the British Empire in India was invariably fol­lowed by the abolition of the native mints and the introduction of the imperial currency in the annexed territories. Indeed the ‘sikka’ followed the flag. By presenting the monetary history of this period this volume seeks to address some of the questions viz. the effect of money supply on trade prices of commodities and services wage structures in different regions as well as on the administrative and military health of a political power. In this unique anthology published studies along with unpublished archival records have been integrated into an overall theme. Together with a comprehensive bibliography-cum-list for further readings this volume is aimed to serve as a veritable reference tool. About the Author Sanjay Garg (b. 1965) is an eminent scholar with extensive research experience in history of South Asia with specialization in economic and monetary history currency and coinage architecture and archival studies. His research findings have been widely published in print and multimedia and include The Sikka and the Raj (2013). For a complete list of publications see: http://sanjaygarg.wikidot.com/bibliography. Dr. Garg has been serving in the National Archives of India since 1988 and is presently holding the post of Deputy Director of Archives. Simultaneously he is also working as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) at the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav Secretariat created at the Ministry of Culture Government of India to celebrate the 75 years of India’s Independence.</p>

<p>Bharata Na_tyam as currently practiced is one of the major classical dance forms in existence. Its rich repertory of poetical texts; its highly developed vocabulary of expressive gestures; its intricate syntax of pure dance patterns; its music displaying a wealth of complex rhythms and melodies; its sumptuous costumes – all make it one of the most sophisticated dance traditions in the world. When performed by an accomplished dancer and fine musicians it affords aesthetic experience of the highest order. It is rapidly becoming known and appreciated all over the world as it indeed deserves to be. In this volume five scholars – inspired by the magnificent dance performances of the renowned exponent of the Pandanallur style of Bharata Na_tyam Padma Sri Alarmel Valli – have contributed to an interdisciplinary understanding of this great living art form. Disciplines represented include philosophy humanistic studies dance ethnology ethnomusicology art history and comparative historiography. In Chapters I and II Professor Kliger traces the history of classical dance in the Tamil region in its religous social and political contexts and explores Indian aesthetic concepts and their exemplification in Bharata Na_tyam as a classical dance form. Chapter III by Professor Van Zile provides a formal analysis of two basic units of abstract dance movement frequently employed in Bharata Na_tyam. In Chapter IV Professor Kagan examines the form and content of each item in a typical Bharata Na_tyam recital. Chapter V by Professor Rabe explores the complex interrelations of dance and sculpture in India focusing on examples in the Tamil region the home of Bharata Na_tyam. In Chapter VI Professor Kopf traces four historical perspectives on the female temple dancers known as Devadasis. About the Author Professor George Kliger earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota in 1967 where he has since been teaching interdisciplinary humanities courses. His researches have focused on classical Hinduism from the Guptas to the thirteenth century and the aesthetics of the Na_tyasastra Anandavardhana and Abhinavagupta. During his frequent visits in India he has studied Hindu temple sculpture and Indian classical dance traditions.</p>

<p>History has always dealt with people yet often gazing at the people from the perspectives of the non-people – colonizers intruders outsiders and the privileged elite insiders – who seem to have internalized the ‘mainstream’ perspective framed by the outsiders. In this context a group of scholars working on Darjeeling felt that there was a need for an inclusive people’s history of the Darjeeling hills. The present volume tries to fill this gap of the missing voices of the people of the Darjeeling hills and their cultures through re-writing inclusive history of society and culture from ‘below’ not only by de­coding the elements that are treated as tradition but also the trans­formations in the realms of arts and ecology. For the tribal-scape of the Darjeeling hills is not a static/frozen zone and the people (hence the geo-space) are in continuous transition from traditional beings towards becoming neo-traditional. Accepting history as constantly ‘extra mural’ the objectives of the book are to focus on un­documented histories related to harmony intimacy belongingness and environmental care and thereby interact the living with what is often projected as ‘dead’ by rejecting to abide by any given set of references as the final/‘scientific’/authentic and thereby opening up with other kinds of historical dialogue with the understated historical items that are accessible in Darjeeling. About the Author Dinesh Chandra Ray Ph.D. is presently Assistant Professor in History Southfield College Darjeeling. As Joint Editor he edited Dis­courses on Darjeeling Hills (2013). Srikanta Roy Chowdhury Ph.D. is presently Assistant Professor in History Southfield College Darjeeling. He has published From Ba?ga­lar Itihasa to Ba?galir Itihasa: History in Making (2007) and edited 1857: Text &amp; Beyond (2013) and Darjeeling Hills University &amp; the Prospects of Higher Education in the Hills (2020).</p>

<p>The emergence of an active women’s movement in contemporary India has created new interest in discovering the historical roots of feminist thought and women’s organizations in the colonial period. Professor Southard analyzes the growth of the women's movement in the crucial period between the two World Wars when the Indian nationalist movement gained momentum and women’s associations first sought to address women's issues through political action. This regional study focuses on the attempts to gain a hearing for women's issues from the provincial legislature in Bengal whose powers were enhanced by the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms. The author examines three women’s campaigns for political rights education and social reform legislation: the Bangiya Nari Samaj’s quest for woman suffrage the Bengal Women’s Education League’s efforts on behalf of extending universal education schemes to girls and the All-Bengal Women’s Union’s campaign for protection of women and young girls from the prostitution trade. Autobiographies and biographies records and reports of women’s associations newspapers and journals and government documents such as the Bengal Legislative Council Proceedings have been used to reconstruct the social origins goals political strategies and historical significance of these women's movements What emerges is an appreciation of the complexities inherent in alliances between nationalist and feminist movements and the constraints that limited the effectiveness of social reform movements under colonial conditions. Widespread poverty and illiteracy were obstacles that prevented the mobilization of a broad spectrum of the Bengali female population. Overshadowed by the dominant nationalist discourse it was difficult for women to develop an independent feminist perspective on the problems of Indian society. Activist women who looked to male nationalist leaders for support for their programmes often found that their allies had other priorities in this period of deepening political divisions and increasing violence. Nevertheless the women's movement made important contributions in articulating the nature and extent of gender discrimination in their society formulating a feminist philosophy that was compatible with nationalist thought and arousing public support for social change. About the Author Barbara Southard is Professor of History at the University of Puerto Rico and has also taught at the University of Minnesota. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Hawaii in the East-West Center program. Her published works include articles on Hindu religious reform movements and militant nationalism in Bengal as well as feminist ideology and women's movements in India which have appeared in various journals such as Modern Asian Studies and Gandhi Marg.</p>

<p>The period from 1872-1947 witnessed the rise of many movements in Bengal where those who were considered lower castes were mobilized to protest against the inequality and injustice meted out to them in various fields including religion politics and education. The focus of their struggle was the social injustice within the Hindu caste hierarchy. Unlike in south and western India where caste movements were often associated with anti-Brahmanical movements in Bengal it was upgradation of caste from Sudra to Kshatriya varna. The main focus of the study is the Kshatriyaization movement of Rajbansis the Matua movement of Namasudras and the colonial policy of ‘Protective Discrimination’ and its impact. It studies the attempt by Rajbansi community to establish themselves as Kshatriyas in the first half of the twentieth century though the movement started in the late nineteenth century itself. It also in­cludes their struggle against the Brahmanical dominance and the elites of their own community. Alongside the Kshatriyaization movement a parallel movement for the social uplift started among the Namasudra community which later spread to northern Bengal. Their struggle actually began from the time of the first Census in 1872 when the census authorities classified the Namasudras as Chandals in the census report. The Namasudra protest movement hereafter developed through a dif­ferent channel provided by a Vaishnava religious sect named Matua started under a Namasudra leader Harichand Thakur. This book is essential for those wishing to understand the socio-religious movement of the Namasudra and the Rajbansi commun­ities in their historical context. About the Author Bipul Mandal (b. 1977) is Head and Assistant Professor Department of History Kaliyaganj CollegeWest Bengal. He is also the Editor-in-Chief Journal of Historical Studies and Research (JHSR) and President Bangasanskriti o Itihas Anusandhan Parishad. He has published nine books and several research articles.</p>