Kalhana s Rajatarangini is the oldest and fullest record of Kashmir history. Sir Stein, recognising the inestimable value of the only work of its kind, succeeded in publishing the critical edition of the text as early as 1892 which is reprinted here as Vol.III of this 3-volume set. Later he followed this illustrious venture by presenting a fully annotated translation of the Chronicle, in 2 volumes, reprinted as Vol I and Vol. II here, the former containing the translation of the first seven Tarangas of the original Sanskrit and the letter that of the remaining eighth Taranga. The translation is preceded by a comprehensive and scholarly Introduction in which Stein has endeavoured to elucidate in the first place the data which can be gathered as regards the person of Kalhana, his family and the milieu in which he lived. In the second chapter (of the Introduction) the author has examined as closely as our available materials would permit, the objects and methods which guided Kalhana in the composition of his work, the sources he used for it, and the form which he gave to his narrative.

A pioneering and comprehensive study of the historical imagination in Kashmir, this book explores the conversations between the ideas of Kashmir and the ideas of history taking place within Kashmir’s multilingual historical tradition. Analysing the deep linkages among Sanskrit, Persian, and Kashmiri narratives, Kashmir’s Contested Pasts contends that these traditions drew on and influenced each other to imagine Kashmir as far more than simply an unsettled territory or a tourist paradise. By offering a historically grounded reflection on the memories, narrative practices, and institutional contexts that have informed, and continue to inform, imaginings of Kashmir and its past, the book suggests new ways of understanding the debates over history, territory, identity, and sovereignty that shape contemporary South Asia.