Painting In Punjab Is A Doctoral Thesis Approved By Meerut University, Meerut (India). It Is A First Comprehensive Survey Of Visual Arts (Miniature Painting, Illustrated Manuscripts And Mural Painting) Which Flourished In The Land Of Five Rivers Governed By The Lion Of Punjab, Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839) As Also The Area Reigned By East Punjab Rajas Known As Ruler Of Cis-Sutlej I.E. Malwa States; Maharaja Narinder Singh (1845-1862) Being The Prominent Among The Patraons Of Art And Learning Whose Contribution Excelled All In This Respect. The Present Study Covers Miniatures, Illuminated Manuscripts As Well As The Mural Painting Done In Both The Areas Of Punjab Thus Discovering And Establishing For The First Time A Definitive Movement Of Visual Arts Which Existed In Punjab Of Nineteenth Century. This Brings To The Attention Of Scholarly World A Rich Style Of Painting Known As Punjab Painting Hitherto Unknown Just Like Other Indian Schools Of Painting Viz Mughal, Rajput And Pahari Painting With All The Salient Features Of Any Art Movement Inherent In It. Special Feature Of The Book Lies In The Fact That It Sheds Light On The Social Life Of The Painters Who Made Creative And Beautiful Environments-Royal And Private Both-But Thus Far Remained In Oblivion. Simultaneously It Seeks To Trace The Presence Of Amour Artists In Both Regions And Their Family Genealogies Which Help Us To Track Down The Movement Of Art From One Princely Center To Another. One Such Family Was Chughtai Family Which Came From Heart (Persia) And Settled In Lahore, And Its Members Were Responsible For Significant Contribution To Creative Arts Of Punjab Specially During The Life Time Of Maharaja Ranjit Singh In The Capital Town Of Lahore. Unique Feature Of The Book Is That It Offers To The Reader An Opportunity To See The Flowering Of Vaishnavite Art In The Courts Of Tolerant Sikh Rulers Of Both Trans-Sutlej As Well As Cis-Sutlej Areas Of Punjab.

This book offers the first social history of music in undivided Punjab (1800-1947), beginning at the Lahore court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and concluding at the Patiala royal darbar. It unearths new evidence for the centrality of female performers and classical music in a region primarily viewed as a folk music centre, featuring a range of musicians and dancers -from 'mirasis' (bards) and 'kalawants' (elite musicians), to 'kanjris' (subaltern female performers) and 'tawaifs' (courtesans). A central theme is the rise of new musical publics shaped by the anglicized Punjabi middle classes, and British colonialists' response to Punjab's performing communities. The book reveals a diverse connoisseurship for music with insights from history, ethnomusicology, and geography on an activity that still unites a region now divided between India and Pakistan.

This book is a documentation of significant practicing painters and sculptors of Greater Pre-Independence India between 1750 and 1950. The task of collecting this scattered material of Colonial-era to the united India, lead to search for names of artists from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and of course India. This register records almost 3000 names of practicing Indian artists, gathered assiduously from National archives, Museum records, rare old journals and books, and present living family members of deceased artists. In the absence of a legitimate record of the names of these forgotten artists names of many famous court painters under the patronage of Kings, Nawabs, and local rulers have been pushed into oblivion, with their works described in generalized terms, like coming from the ‘Colonial Period’ or ‘Post Mughal Period’, with a short description of a few painting styles of Provincial Schools.This book is the first of its kind and a small step towards giving recognition to these lost artists. Roop Narayan Batham

Study of the Gurudwara Shri Guru Ram Rai Saheb, Dehradun, Uttaranchal, India.