As a primordial form of identity, people in the Indian subcontinent possess a remarkable affinity to the place where they come from. Different regions have their own sense of linguistic, literary and cultural dynamics that bind people together while also distinguishing them from those inhabiting other regions.
The life and times of Bahadur Shah Zafar II have generally been examined from the perspective of the 1857 uprising and the exile of this ‘tragic’ emperor who experienced the collapse of the vestiges of Mughal power. The book under review, however, strikes a different note.
This is a somewhat motley, though interesting, collection of articles. There is little to string them together, in terms of a theme. Yet this is precisely what constitutes a smorgasbord of historical work and musings, from which almost everyone would find an interesting tid-bit or two to sample.
This volume, despite its slightly vague title, is a valuable collection of essays which survey writings on various areas of Indian history, especially ‘new and developing areas of study’.
I begin with a quote from B.D.Chattopadhyaya, ‘The volume makes a point that the pan-Indian patterns of civilization and historical processes may be best understood from their intersections with how these patterns shape and get reshaped in the context of regions’.
Epigraphic studies need special training and interpretative skills. Appasamy Murugaiyan, the editor of the present collection of essays, reiterates this by hailing the Indian epigraphic tradition and the contributions of the pioneers to South Indian epigraphy.