Celebrating a Scholar and a Teacher

A book such as this celebrates two things simultaneously—the range of interests of Kumkum Roy, in whose honour the scholars have come together, and the extent of engagement of the scholars and of Kumkum Roy with aspects of early Indian history. Divided into six parts, on Reflecting on Roy, ‘Crocodiles, Conmen’, ‘Geese and Gluttons’, ‘Subtly Subverting Strīdharma’, ‘Queens and Questioners’, ‘Beyond Textual Sources’ and ‘Writing for a Wider Audience’, the book brings together twenty excellent papers on a variety of themes. I must particularly commend the headings of the various sections that invite the reader to delve deeper into the various chapters. But from the point of view of a reviewer, it is very difficult to do justice to this wealth of research!