In the succinctly written Introduction, Aparna Vaidik, besides providing a bird’s eye-view of the book, discusses the complex nature of the primary theme of her study, viz., the historical-legal aspects of the Case, and the difficulties that she, as a historian, faced while working on it. An important challenge which she faced related to presenting a difficult theme in ‘accessible prose’
From a geopolitical perspective, British involvement in the Hajj served multiple strategic purposes. It allowed the empire to assert control over trade routes and exert influence in key regions such as Jeddah. Simultaneously, the British sought to earn the loyalty and legitimacy of their Muslim subjects by facilitating the pilgrimage, a move that was both pragmatic and symbolic. However
Sometimes the amalgam worked well, as in the architecture of Lutyens Delhi; most times it was terrible! Luckily rural India and our temples and mosques remained more or less immune from this scourge.
As a dancer, I found the chapter on ‘The Commune and the Community’ most interesting. It served to make for an understanding of the various offerings that every Theyyam makes. Some start by sowing seeds, worshipping the Goddess, worshipping nature, ancestors, warriors, heroes, animals, snakes, etc. All the three stratospheres are included. Multifariousness is its hallmark. People of all faiths are devotees. It is a suspense of logic or scientific thought. It also goes beyond dogma and prescribed faith. The Devi can be ruthless in blaming the people for their misdoings. But is also a forgiving and prophetic Mother.
Mukherjee was nearing fifty when she cast the 12-ft high Ashoka at Kalinga. Sculpted in twenty-six parts, Mukherjee’s greatest worry at the time was to find a place to cast the complex work. Two-and-a-half decades later, she began work on another monumental sculpture, this time of the Buddha himself in whose teachings Ashoka had found his meaning of life. Having begun it in December 1996, the 14-ft high Buddha was conceived in sixty-six pieces, and she had cast most of it before she passed away in January 1998 of cardiac arrest.
Nor was it only the royal men who commissioned gardens—Shah Jahan’s daughter Roshanara had an elaborate space named after her, quite near what was to be known as the Grand Trunk Road. Throughout the book, the Liddles provide us with interesting nuggets of information on Mughal history. Roshanara was close to her brother Aurangzeb, supporting him when he usurped the throne from their father. She was rewarded with the then enormous sum of five lakh rupees and made the head of the palace.