09 August, 2012

Making of the Historian: J.S. Grewal

Making of the Historian: J.S. Grewal

By- Indu Banga in association with Karamjit K. Malhotra


This volume has been prepared in connection with an international seminar on ‘The State of Sikh and Punjab Historical Studies since Independence’ at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar in March 2009. Since Professor J.S. Grewal’s work touches upon nearly all the major aspects in the field, to suggest future directions of research each theme is approached through a critical assessment of his work and its comparison with other major writers.

The Themes covered in the seminar include the treatment of Sikh movement, study of Guru Granth Sahib, Sikh polity, martyrdom, caste, gender and sacred space, Sikh literature from the seventeenth to the early nineteenth century, the issue of Sikh identity, contemporary controversies in Sikh studies, general histories of the Sikhs, study of the Punjab region, treatment of colonial and contemporary Punjab, historical study of Punjabi literature, and methodology of history.




Indu Banga is Professor of History at the Panjab University, Chandigarh.





ISBN 978-81-7304-828-9 2009 80p. Rs.250/ Pounds 15


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Local Government in India: Policy and Practice: With Special Reference to a Field Study of Decentralization in Kerala

Local Government in India: Policy and Practice: With Special Reference to a Field Study of Decentralization in Kerala

By-, Rashmi Sharma


This book examines the development of panchayati raj policy in India and analyses the actual functioning of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). In this analysis, panchayati raj is seen, not as a stand alone, static phenomenon, but is understood, on the one hand against the unique Indian sociopolitical context that has shaped it, and on the other, as a synamic process that varies spatially and temporally. The scrutiny is comprehensive: it includes the dynamics of policy formulation, i.e. the stated and unstated reasons for decentralization, as well outcomes, i.e. the organizational characteristics of PRIs and their larger impact. On the basis of this analysis, an attempt is made to assess the potential of decentralization in India, and the way in which it can be maximised.

There is a special focus on the experiences of states that have been leaders in decentralization, i.e. in the pre-Seventy Third Constitutional Amendment scenario, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and West Bengal, and in the post-constitutional amendment setting, the experience of Kerala, the most extensive so far in terms of financial devolution and highly ‘evolved’ in terms of processes. The analysis of Kerala’s decentralization is based on a detailed field study undertaken in 2003-4, which goes beyond the initial policy initiative phase (which has formed the subject of other books about Kerala), and looks at the actual functioning on PRIs in the field eight years later.



Rashmi Sharma, a member of the Indian Administrative Service, has an abiding interest in governance in India, and in changing it for the better.



ISBN 978-81-7304-805-0 2009 278p. Rs.675/ Pounds 45


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Invisible Women, Visible Histories: Gender, Society and Polity in North India (Seventh to Twelfth Century AD)


Invisible Women, Visible Histories: Gender, Society and Polity in North India
(Seventh to Twelfth Century AD)

By- Devika Rangachari


This book examines certain gendered aspects of the early medieval period in north India (between the seventh to twelfth centuries AD) through a study of prominent – but representative – regional kingdoms located in Kashmir, Kanauj, and across Bengal and Bihar. By examining important epigraphic and literary sources pertaining to these polities in as comprehensive a manner as possible, it shows that gender is a cardinal angle from which to view this period and, additionally, that the same set of sources can yield differing interpretations. It also highlights the indifference of most secondary sources towards gender and related issues. The book, therefore, strives to address a lacuna in the historical reconstruction of the society and polity of this time-span.

Although early medieval Kashmir, Kanauj and Bengal-Bihar are linked by their status as important regional powers in this period and by their close political interactions, the book shows that the role and status of women differed considerably according to their regional contexts. The picture, therefore, is not a unified one, thereby stressing the fact that sweeping statements on women cannot be made to apply to early medieval north India as a whole - as has hitherto been the trend. The problems and possibilities involved in a gender analysis of this sort that examines the role and presence of women vis-à-vis men is highlighted, in the process. Areas with the potential for future investigation are also indicated. The pivotal importance of gender in any historical reconstruction of the early medieval period in north India is thereby underscored.



Devika Rangachari graduated from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, and did her doctorate in history from the University of Delhi. She has published several articles in distinguished academic journals and is also an award-winning children’s writer.






ISBN  978-81-7304-808-1    2009   532p.   Rs.1295/ Pounds 70



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