Including Kulu, Lahul, Spiti, Jammu And Other Areas Of Present Himachal Pradesh And Southern Jammu & Kashmir.

The Chār Bāgh-i-Panjāb, written by Ganesh Das Wadera immediately after the annexation of the Lahore kingdom by the British in 1849, is a classic Persian text. Its long descriptive part is the only surviving account of the social, religious, and cultural life of the peoples of the Punjab, especially during the late-eighteenth and the early-nineteenth century. Ganesh Das writes about traditional learning, literature, folklore, urban centres, and women with a rare catholicity as an Indian, an orthodox Hindu, a Punjabi, and a Khatri. Himself a hereditary qanungo of Gujrat in the Sikh kingdom, he also provides valuable insights into the structure of revenue administration at lower rungs. This volume presents an authoritative English translation of this primary descriptive section of Chār Bāgh-i-Panjāb, with a detailed Introduction, critical commentary, glossary, map, and a classified index. Indispensable for researchers, it will interest historians of medieval and modern India, especially those concerned with the pre-Independence Punjab region.

An unprecedented historical account of undivided Punjab, from the death of Aurangzeb to the Partition. For centuries, the fertile land of five rivers in the north of the Indian subcontinent was coveted by numerous empires and invaders. In this, the first major account of undivided Punjab, award-winning historian, biographer and scholar, Rajmohan Gandhi, gives us its history during its most tumultuous phase from the death of Aurangzeb, in the early eighteenth century, to its brutal partition in 1947, coinciding with the departure of the British. Relying on fresh sources as well as previous accounts provided from opposing perspectives, the author fashions a compelling narrative about the great events of the time in the region - the battles and tragedies that routinely disrupted the lives of ordinary Punjabis, the sacking of iconic cities like Lahore, Amritsar, Multan and Jalandhar by a succession of conquerors, the ravages wrought by invaders like Nadir Shah, the rise of the Sikhs culminating in the storied reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Britain's successful wars against the Sikh kingdom, the Great Rebellion of 1857 and its effect on Punjab, imperialist machinations, the influence on the people by leaders of the independence movement like Mahatma Gandhi, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Lala Lajpat Rai, as also key regional figures such as Fazl-i-Husain, Master Tara Singh, Sikander Hayat Khan and Khizr Hayat Tiwana, the devastation of Partition - and much else besides. Believing that modern India and Pakistan cannot be understood without comprehending the Punjab that was, the author also delves into the idea of Punjabiyat - Punjabiness - the literature and poetry of creative giants like Bulleh Shah, Waris Shah, Iqbal, Amrita Pritam and Saadat Hasan Manto, the spiritual teachings of the Sikh Gurus and Sufi saints and, above all, the testimonials and narratives of ordinary Punjabis, to create an unforgettable portrait of a place - undivided Punjab - that continues to fascinate us (even though it broke up more than six decades ago) and of its hard-tested and resilient people, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh.

Region and Empire examines Panjab's remarkably stratified society in the seventeenth century. The extension of agriculture, for instance, encouraged the settling of pastoral tribes which had long roamed the inhospitable fringes of the Panjab landscape. Growing social ferment disturbed the customary stability of society, and eventually led to political conflict in the region.

What is Punjabiyat? What are the different notions of Punjab? This volume analyses these ideas and explores the different aspects that constitute Punjab as a region conceptually in history, culture, and practice. Each essay examines a different Punjabi culture—language-based and literary; religious and those that define a 'community'; rural, urban, and middle class; and historical, contemporary, and cosmopolitan. Together, these essays unravel the complex foundations of Punjabiyat. The volume also shows how the recent history of Punjab—partition, aspirations of statehood, and a large and assertive diaspora—has had a discernible impact on the region's scholarship. Departing from conventional studies on Punjab, this book presents fresh perspectives and new insights into its regional culture.

Contributed articles.