This book is written to get an overall idea of "dynastic politics" in India. It is always kept in mind that a citizen of India should know more about the politicians who are in the Government and form policies, etc. to take the country in the proper direction, at the same time the book should be interesting. Wherever possible, family trees are shown as well as the assets of our politicians. It was natural to start with the Nehru Gandhi family, being one of the largest and long-ruling families at the helm of all affairs. Then State-wise, the families are chosen and the account is presented. Since the volume is huge, this book is in two volumes. States are chosen alphabetically. So, even if the Nehru Gandhi family is in Volume 1, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, etc. are in Volume 2. Indian politics has witnessed a large spectrum of politicians from various fields. Initially, it consisted mainly of leaders from the field of law. But now, we find that we have eminent personalities from the sports field, actors, actresses, superstars from the silver screen; the literary field is no exception; we have writers, poets, and so on; economists find a special place in the political arena; politics does not shun even criminals or few dacoits who then turned to politics after their surrender. Businessmen, lings or we can say princes from princely states as Britishers decided to call them are also found here. We have the learned people in politics as well as the illiterate people (angutha chhaap) who learnt to sign only after assuming office on getting elected.

This book is written to get an overall idea of “dynastic politics” in India. It is always kept in mind that a citizen of India should know more about the politicians who are in the Government and form policies, etc. to take the country in the proper direction, at the same time the book should be interesting. Wherever possible, family trees are shown as well as the assets of our politicians. It was natural to start with the Nehru Gandhi family, being one of the largest and long-ruling families at the helm of all affairs. Then State-wise, the families are chosen and the account is presented. Since the volume is huge, this book is in two volumes. States are chosen alphabetically. So, even if the Nehru Gandhi family is in Volume 1, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, etc. are in Volume 2. Early rulers in Indian history used to handover the throne to their sons and then to the next generations for generations to come until some larger event upset the process, mostly conspiracies by persons like very close aides of the king or a revolt. Similar lines were followed even during our democracy passing on the rule to the next generation, which gave rise to dynastic rule. Indian politics has witnessed a large spectrum of politicians from various fields. Initially, it consisted mainly of leaders from the field of law. But now, we find that we have eminent personalities from the sports field, actors, actresses, superstars from the silver screen; the literary field is no exception; we have writers, poets, and so on; economists find a special place in the political arena; politics does not shun even criminals or few dacoits who then turned to politics after their surrender. Businessmen, lings or we can say princes from princely states as Britishers decided to call them are also found here. We have the learned people in politics as well as the illiterate people (angutha chhaap) who learnt to sign only after assuming office on getting elected.

This book is written to give an overall idea of dynastic politics in India, keeping in mind that a citizen of India should know more about the politicians who are in the government and form policies and so on to take the country in the proper direction. Even if there are two related members, it is considered as dynasty and is included in this book. Wherever possible, family trees, as well as the assets of our politicians, are shown. It was natural to start with the Nehru Gandhi family, being one of the largest and longest-ruling families at the helm of all affairs. Then state wise, the families are chosen and the account is presented. As the content is extensive, the book is published in two volumes. States are chosen alphabetically. So even if Nehru Gandhi family is in Volume 1, Tamilnadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh are in Volume 2. Early rulers in Indian history used to hand over the throne to their sons and then to the next generations for generations till some significant event upset the process, mostly conspiracies by persons like very close aides of the king or a revolt. Similar lines were followed even during our democracy, passing on the rule to the next generation, which gave rise to dynastic rule. Indian politics has witnessed a large spectrum of politicians from various fields. Initially, it consisted mainly of leaders from the field of law. Now, we find that we have eminent personalities from sports fields, actors, actresses, superstars from the silver screen. The literary field is no exception; we have writers, poets, and so on. Economists find a special place in the political arena. Politics does not shun even criminals or a few dacoits who then turned to politics after surrendering. Businessmen, kings or princes from princely states, as the British decided to call them, are also found here. We have learned people in politics as also the illiterate people (angutha chhaap) who learned to sign only after assuming the office on being elected. People are interested in knowing the assets of politicians. This point is covered by using the asset declaration given by the politicians at the time of the election.

This volume of the Gazetteer of India was first published in 1965 and the public response has been very encouraging. Since then, major changes in the political map of India have taken place. The idea is to provide to the general public, especially the university students, low priced publications containing valuable, authentic and objective information on these subjects ( Physiography, People and Languages) by well-known experts in their respective fields.

The information on Muslims around the World is collected and presented in this book. The Muslim population percentage in major non-Muslim countries of the World, their social, economic, political, cultural, status in these as well as other fields substantiated by numbers. Similar information about the Muslims as well as minorities in the Muslim countries is presented in this book making it overall entertaining and informative at the same time.