The Eccentricities of British Political Agents in India

Number of words: 563 In unadministered frontier areas and Indian native states the authority of the British Raj was usually vested in the political agent or the political officer. His powers were limited, so his effectiveness as an administrator was largely dependent on the degree to which he could impose his will on peoples who … Read more

The Historical Significance of the Johar Valley Trade Routes

Number of words: 508 The Rawats of Johar valley claim that their ancestors were part of the large-scale Hindu exodus from Rajputana following the invasion of Mohammed Ghori in the twelfth century. In about 1680 a leading member of the clan named Hiru Dham Singh went on a pilgrimage to Kailas-Manasarovar. He took with him … Read more

The Cultural Mosaic of Assam’s North-East Frontier

Number of words: 551 Bedingfield’s fellow gunner was given a more challenging commission, which was to explore the ‘perfect blank’ that lay upriver from Rungpore. Making his way up the Brahmaputra in a Bengali country boat by a laborious combination of sailing, poling and towing from the bank, Philip Burlton eventually came to an area … Read more

British Rule in Assam’s Cultural Identity

Number of words: 528 Throughout the period of British rule, India’s North-East Frontier, the province of Assam bordering on Tibet and Burma, was regarded by those who served there as the forgotten frontier. It was known for its tea gardens and for very little else. In 1865 one of India’s leading newspapers summed up the … Read more

The Mystical Allure of Mount Kailas and Manasarovar

Number of words: 890 Even in the strictest geological terms Kailas stands alone, being the world’s highest deposit of tertiary conglomerate – a vast pile of cemented gravel laid down in the period immediately preceding the arrival of early man and then thrown up into the sky. It has four clearly-defined walls that match the … Read more

Iqbal’s Contribution to the Muslim Intellectual Landscape

Number of words: 355 Though the mentality of the Moslem masses and the new growing middle class was shaped essentially by events, Sir Mohamad Iqbal played an important part in influencing the latter and especially the younger generation. The masses were hardly affected by him. Iqbal had begun by writing powerful nationalist poems in Urdu … Read more

The Rise of Rationalism in 19th Century India

Number of words: 1,066 The real impact of the west came to India in the nineteenth century through technical changes and their dynamic consequences. In the realm of ideas also there was shock and change, a widening of the horizon which had so long been confined within a narrow shell. The first reaction, limited to … Read more