Authored by one of the leading scholars of German Indology, “Fortified Cities in Ancient India” offers a comparative exploration of the development of towns and cities in ancient India. Based on in-depth textual and archeological research, Professor Dieter Schlingloff’s work presents for the first time the striking outcomes of intertwining data garnered from a wide range of sources. This volume scrutinizes much of the established knowledge on urban fortifications in South Asia, advancing new conceptions based on an authoritative, far-reaching study.

A sweeping, interdisciplinary history of the world’s third-largest river, a potent symbol across South Asia and the Hindu diaspora Originating in the Himalayas and flowing into the Bay of Bengal, the Ganges is India’s most important and sacred river. In this unprecedented work, historian Sudipta Sen tells the story of the Ganges, from the communities that arose on its banks to the merchants that navigated its waters, and the way it came to occupy center stage in the history and culture of the subcontinent. Sen begins his chronicle in prehistoric India, tracing the river’s first settlers, its myths of origin in the Hindu tradition, and its significance during the ascendancy of popular Buddhism. In the following centuries, Indian empires, Central Asian regimes, European merchants, the British Empire, and the Indian nation-state all shaped the identity and ecology of the river. Weaving together geography, environmental politics, and religious history, Sen offers in this lavishly illustrated volume a remarkable portrait of one of the world’s largest and most densely populated river basins.

This book is a compilation of papers presented at the first international conference on ‘Challenges Faced in Interpretation and Site Management in Fortifications and World Heritage’, organised jointly by ICOFORT India, the National Scientific Committee on Fortifications and Military Heritage of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) India, ICOFORT International Scientific Committee, the World Monuments Fund, the School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal, UNESCO, and the DRONAH Foundation held in February 2015. It brought together a team of international and national experts, architects and scholars who shared their experiences and opinions, and looked at possible solutions to the problems faced in site management and interpretation of fortifications. Structured as per conference sessions, the book provides a preface based on the ICOFORT Charter, and is divided into three sections: namely, Classifying Fortified Heritage; Conservation and Management Challenges in Forts; and Interpretation and Tourism Challenges in Forts. The book will appeal to both a national and international audience, composed primarily of heritage experts, architects, archivists, students of architecture, ICOMOS members, and scholars with a focus on fortifications and world heritage.