Traditionally, history has been telling us the stories of kings. In the long tradition of history writing, his-story has always dominated over her-story. Though queens evoke a sense of romance and their stories are told like fairy tales, it is common enough to find that these stories end in tragedy. In India's history, not all queens are remembered today. Some are celebrated; while others have been almost ignored by historians. In Ranis and the Raj, Queeny Pradhan has selected six queens. All the six queens are fromthe nineteenth century and have faced the British Raj, the East India Company and the Crown. From the Rani of Sirmur, who was the earliest to deal with theBritish authorities, to Rani Chennamma, Rani Jindan, Begum Zeenat Mahal, Rani Lakshmi Bai, to the Sikkim Queen from the 1860s to 1890s, Pradhan has attempted to carve an engrossing historical narrative for each of these important figures in Indian history. Unlike the biographical convention in traditional history writing, theresearch in this book can be placed in the realm of 'microhistory'. The life stories of these queens are fragmented due to the 'silences' and 'invisibilization' in political history of the time, and this book aims to fill these gaps.

This volume was first published by Inter-Disciplinary Press in 2015. Storytelling has always played a central role in the formation of cultures and communities. All cultures define themselves and their place in the world through their stories. Similarly, our identities are largely constructed as narratives, and it is with the aid of storytelling that we manage to conceive of ourselves – our selves – as meaningful wholes. Thus, storytelling is not ever absent: it is to be found in literature, social life, in the places we visit and the buildings we live in. This volume presents storytelling in various appearances: from ancient myths and oral history, to transmedia narratives and digital stories. Different forms of narrative are analysed, as is the use of storytelling as a method for e.g. counselling, education and research. Throughout twenty-five chapters, a compelling overview of recent research on the topic is provided, both stressing the omnipresence of storytelling and exploring what storytelling is and isn’t.

This book is a suspense thriller of a historical event where the reader stays glued to the book to see what comes next. The happenings described in the book are real, events related are real, only a story has been tailored to make the forgoing more interesting. It is story of 50 wealthy families who dare the odds and leave their familiar surroundings after repeated Muslim invasions of their hometown, during 1730-1760 AD period, after the collapse of the Moghul Empire in India. They migrate to the Hills of Punjab, now Himachal Pradesh in search of safety and security. They travel 130 miles to another kingdom with their bag and baggage. Secure in their new surroundings, they prosper again. Within a few years after their arrival they are wealthy but their prosperity became a thorn to the local unsavoury people. They conspired to grab some of their money. The conspiracy they hatch was to rob a returning wedding party fully laden with gold & silver and decamp with the money and jewellery. They succeed in their conspiracy but unfortunately kill the groom in the process. Heartbroken, the bride, only 17 years of age, jumps into her husband's funeral pyre. The book in two parts, covers both their travel while braving the elements as well as danger of wayside marauders and the growing up of a young accomplished girl during these unsettled times. Finally she is married and on her wedding day finds her husband dead, a victim of robbery. The place where all the forgoing happened is a place of worship and pilgrimage to her descendants. The site is marked by a century old stone structure and is visited by the family to remember her supreme sacrifice.

This book is an exotic account of some important religious places in India garnished with a collection of fascinating mythological anecdotes and ancient saga of valor, romance, and penance that are embedded in the timeline of this enigmatic country. The history of India is marked by arrival of various invaders from faraway land. Their presence and actions have been important guiding force for the religious beliefs to emerge and faiths to manifest in this country. Also India's own history that dates back to several thousand years is a repository of remarkable episodes and vast spiritual knowledge submerged in a sea of ignorance. It is for this reason that the author chose to relate the various places of his visit to historical sequence of events and ancient anecdotes in an effort to enhance the significance and sanctity of these places that are often ignored. Readers of all ages and from all across the globe will find it extremely captivating while reading this documentary as it journeys through the different provinces of the country that is so diversified and distinctive yet inseparably interwoven by the invisible thread of faith.

This is an historical account of the British Summer Capital of Shimla from 1832 to 1932. It describes the lives of a few men who were grain traders and commission agents who kept the British as well as the local population supplied with their food and other needs. In the process over one hundred years they grew extremely wealthy and influential. The British showered them titles and respected them for great skill and hard work. Today Sud or Sood as they are known around the town hold the strings of the pursue of present day Himachal Pradesh economy.