‘Genealogy, Archive, Image’ addresses the ways in which history and tradition are ‘reinvented’ through text, memory and painting. It examines the making of dynastic history in the kingdom of Jhalavad, situated in Gujarat, western India, over the longue durée, from the eleventh to twentieth centuries. The essays critique a collection of contemporary miniature paintings, which chart the dynastic history of Jhalavad’s rulers and the textual and ethnographic archive upon which they are based. A multidisciplinary work, it crosses the boundaries of history, anthropology, folklore and mythology, gender, musicology, literary studies, and visual, film and digital media. The essays draw upon a variety of voices, spanning various religious and ethnic communities, including Hindus, Muslims, Jains, Parsees and Siddhi Africans, and caste identities, such as that of the bard, ballad singer, king, priest, court chronicler, soldier, mason and drummer.

Kanhaiya Lal Munshi's talent and achievements in different fields are outstanding. He was a renowned advocate and one of the experienced spokespersons of the constitution makers.In his student life, he got into the independence struggle by getting inspired by Sri Aurobindo. He worked at the different levels unitedly and closely with Jinnah,Tilak,Annie Besant, Mahatma Gandhi,Sardar Patel, and Pandit Nehru. Due to his services, he became the home minister of Bombay in 1937, he remained an Indian agent-general in Hyderabad before the police action. He became the Indian food minister also and later he showed his bravery and decisive nature as the Uttar Pradesh governor. Notably, he has remained the best writer of modern Gujarati literature. His literary contribution in Gujarati had been very vast and diversified, in all this, several novels, plays,memoirs, and history are included. Along withthis, he also wrote several historical novels in English also. Among these "Gujarat and its History", "Samrajyawadi Gurjar", "Modern Life and Bhagwat Gita", "Jeevan ki SrajanatmakKala" and "Badrinath ki Ore" deserve special mention. Doctor Munshi has written this book originally in English. In this book, Dr. Munshi has disclosed many secrets. Everyone should get benefitfrom his charismatic writing and Gurjar society would get the deserved respect in Indian history. With this thought in mind, this book is being published in Hindi. My thoughts are that this country's young generation will get the opportunity to know and understand the sacrificial history of Gurjar society.