Manohar Publishers and Distributors

24 November, 2012

The Feminine Sacred in South Asia

By- Harald Tambs-Lyche (ed)

Published in association with

Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, France

South Asia is the only major region where the ‘Great Goddess’ is still a living reality for believers—yet its society remains male-dominated. Drawing their examples from ritual practice, myth, and sacred texts the contributors to this volume discuss the place of the feminine within the sacred sphere of South Asian religion. The theme is full of contradictions, for the impurity of woman must be held against the powers she incarnates, and the religious status of these powers is an old theme of debate among Hindu and Buddhist thinkers. Finally, the feminine pole in religious thought cannot simply be equated with human womanhood. . . . Yet the very presence of feminity in the sacred sphere contrasts with its exclusion from scriptural Islam or from protestantism, and offers, perhaps, to women a mode of religious expression in an idiom where gender is a central paradigm of thought.

This volume then, contributing to the debate on feminity in South Asian religion, should also be of interest to scholars dealing with gender in a broader perspective.

Harald Tambs-Lyche, a social anthropologist, is professor of ethnology at the University of Picardie-Jules Verne, Amiens (France). He has worked on Gujaratis at home and abroad (London Patidars, Routledge, 1980; Power, Profit and Poetry, Manohar, 1997). He is currently doing fieldwork in Karnataka.

ISBN 978-81-7304-246-1 2004 148p. Rs.300/Pounds 35

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22 November, 2012

The Bengal Sultanate: Politics, Economy and Coins (AD 1205-1576)

The Bengal Sultanate: Politics, Economy and Coins (ad 1205-1576)

By- Syed Ejaz Hussain

The book presents a comprehensive account of the politico-economic history of Bengal, from ad 1205 to 1576. It has made extensive use of coins and epigraphs to interpret and substantiate the historical narrative culled out from the contemporaneous chronicles and travelogues.

The first six chapters trace the political history. The topics like the date of Bakhtiyar Khalji’s conquest of Bengal; the rule of the Governors and later of the independent Sultans; Bengal’s relations with the neighboring kingdoms; and its role in the regional politics and economy in different phases of history, have been discussed in the light of some hitherto untapped historical material. The debate of Bengal’s isolation from the north and south India has also been revisited.

The seventh chapter traces the administrative hierarchy, power and functions of the state functionaries while in the eighth chapter the economy of the region, inter-local, coastal and foreign trade as well as the currency pattern have been described.

The entire narrative is enriched by a corpus of rare coins spread over 32 plates. Two appendices, the first giving the revised chronology of the rulers of Bengal, and the second listing the mint towns, together with thematic maps, make the book a veritable reference work for medieval Indian history and numismatics.

Dr Syed Ejaz Hussain belongs to the family of late Syed Luqman Haider, a devotee of education and learning, who founded the Town High School at Ara (Bihar) as early as 1882. In 1983, he topped in M.A. (History) from Magadh University, Bodh-Gaya and was awarded gold medal. He obtained Ph.D. degree in History from Patna University, Patna in 1991. Dr Ejaz has contributed a number of research papers in national and international conferences as well as in learned journals. He has toured extensively in India and abroad and has consulted the coin-cabinets such as those of the American Numismatic Society, New York; the British Museum, London and the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. He has also received the Charles Wallace (India) Trust Fellowship to study the Sultanate coins in the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and is preparing a Catalogue of the said series. Presently Dr Ejaz teaches History in Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan.

ISBN 81-7304-482-1 2003 486p. Rs.1100/Pounds 90

20 November, 2012

The Afghan War and Its Geopolitical Implications for India

By- Salman Haidar (ed)

Published in association with

Academy of Third World Studies, New Delhi

Few countries have been more affected by the US-led war against Afghanistan than India. There was initial hope that the war would stamp out the terrorism plaguing India but this was soon belied, and the Afghan situation remains highly unpredictable. By now, America’s interest has shifted elsewhere, yet the military presence it has established all around Afghanistan profoundly affects the geopolitical picture in the heart of Asia. The powerful lure of oil and gas has begun to open up a region once off limits to the West, and new commercial and political rivalries are taking shape.

The Academy of Third World Studies of Jamia Millia Islamia recently organized a seminar where a number of noted experts looked in depth at events in an around Afghanistan, its history, current situation and future prospects; also what it tells us about today’s unipolar world. The newly acquired significance of Central Asia is highlighted and the special situation of Iran analysed. There is also an account of how developments in Central Asia explain policy-making processes in the former hegemon Russia.

Collectively, these papers are an illuminating study of events whose full implications can only be guessed at but whose relevance to India’s future strategy cannot be bypassed.

Salman Haidar is a former diplomat who retired from the Indian Foreign Service in 1997 as Foreign Secretary. He is currently associated with the Academy of Third World Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, and also with the Centre for Research in Ruural and Industrial Development, Chandigarh.

ISBN 978-81-7304-558-5 2004 200p. Rs.425/Pounds 40

Text and Context in the History, Literature and Religion of Orissa

By- Angelika Malinar, Johannes Beltz and Heiko Frese (eds)

The last decades of the twentieth century have witnessed an enlarged understanding of the notion of ‘text’ as not only comprising written documents, but also rituals, artifacts and the like. Thereby, ‘texts’ were brought closer to the social religious or historical contexts that help to interpret texts. Scholars, traditionally divided in different disciplines that deal either more with texts (historians, philologists, etc.) or with contexts (sociologists anthropologists, etc.) became interested in the methods and perspectives of the other disciplines. This has resulted in a renewed interest in the theoretical issues implied in the notions of text and context. The essays in this volume reflect these debates and show how they influence and enrich research on South Asia.

Anthropologists, historians, literary critics, philologists and historians of religion deal with the mutli-layered interplay between texts and contexts in past and present Orissa. Orissa, renowned for the cults related to the Jagannatha Temple in Puri, is marked by a rich cultural diversity. In dealing with the interdependence between text and context the eassys provide fresh insights to the complexity and fluidity of cultural contexts that use text as stable points of reference. The traditions of Orissa are considered in their uniqueness as well as in their relationship to South Asian cultural contexts on a larger scale.

Angelika Malinar is Associate Professor at the Institute for Indian Languages. Literatures and Art History of Free University of Berlin. Her major publications are on the history and the modern religious movements of Hinduism, epics and Puranas, Indian philosophy and aesthetics, and modern Hindi literature.

Johannes Beltz is Research Fellow at the South Asia Institute of the University of Heidelberg. He studied theology and Indian religions in Halle, Strasbourg, Lausanne and Paris, and received his Ph.D. in 1999. Currently, he is Assistant Curator at the Rietberg Museum, Zurich.

Heiko Fress, Ph.D., is Research Associate at the University of Kiel. He is presently working on a research project on historiography in seventeenth to twentieth century Orissa sponsored by the German Research Council.

ISBN 978-81-7304-566-0 2004 520p. Rs.1150/Pounds 95

19 November, 2012

Terrorism Post 9/11: An Indian Perspective

By- P.R. Chari and Suba Chandran (eds)

India has been facing a wide range of terrorist threats emanating from diverse groups with objectives purporting to being inspired by leftist, rightist, secular and sectarian ideologies. Some groups are plainly criminal organizations. They have used different tactics to achieve their ends ranging from hit and run tactics to fidayeen (suicide) attacks. The terrorists have used a variety of weapons to create mayhem including small arms. Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), shoulder fired rockets and human bombs. Since India lies between two volatile regions—South East Asia and Central Asia that are centres for arms and drugs smuggling, the availability of weapons to the terrorists is not a problem.

9/11 changed the contours of the international system. It also enhanced the terrorist threat to India. Pakistan’s role in the War against Terrorism has informed its promotion of terrorist activities across its eastern border after it was coerced into assisting the US campaign against terrorism on Pakistan’s western border and in Afghanistan. The terrorist attacks against the J&K Assembly and the Indian Parliament, the Army camp at Kaluchak and the Akshardham/Raghunath temples are manifestations of this new reality.

This volume brings together the entire range of issues relating to terrorism in India, the efforts made by the Indian government to combat this menace, its successes and failures, besides profiling some of the significant terrorist groups in South Asia. A documentation section provides information on the legal framework available to assist the anti-terrorism campaign.

P.R. Chari, former member of the Indian Administrative Services, has held several important positions including Additional Secretary, Ministry of Defence and Director, Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses. He was International Fellow, Centre for International Affairs, Harvard University and is currently Director of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) He has worked extensively on nuclear disamandment non-proliferation and Indian defence issues and is the author of many distinguished publications.

Suba Chandran has been with the IPCS since 1998 and currently is working on the Ford Foundation study on India’s Security Problematique. With a doctoral degree from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, his research interests include Pakistan, Kashmir Indo-Pak relations and suicide terrorism. He is a recipient of the Ford ACDIS Fellowship and will be working at the ACDIS, University of Illinois starting from June 2003 for six months on Limited War between India and Pakistan.

ISBN 81-7304-510-0 2003 310p. Rs.450/Pounds 19.99

18 November, 2012

Taxation of Income: An International Comparison

Taxation of Income: An International Comparison
A Select Study of U.S., U.K., Australia, Malaysia, Pakistan, India

By- Indu Jain

Business and investment operations of individuals and companies are becoming increasingly international in scope in the wake of current wave of globalization and openness sweeping across the countries of the world. Income tax systems of different countries differ in terms of definition of income and expenses, exemptions and concessions, rates and collection procedures. Varying tax practices of different countries complicate decision-making by individuals and corporates. Hence a comparative study of taxation of income becomes relevant.

This book attempts to provide a detailed analysis of income tax provisions of six countries—three of them developed, namely, the U.K., the U.S., and Australia and three developing, Malaysis, Pakistan and India. The book makes a detailed analysis of the tax rate structure and explains the model of the computation of the taxable income of the individual and the corporate taxpayer.

The work will be most useful for a cross-section of readers including researchers, teachers and students of economics, commerce, law and management. The analysis of the income tax systems of chosen countries would also be beneficial for policy makers, legislators, tax consultants, executives and enterprises having multinational operations.

Indu Jain obtained her Ph.D. degree from the Department of Commerce, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. She is Reader in the Department of Commerce, Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi.

ISBN 978-81-7304-559-2 2004 422p. Rs.1195/Pounds 80

MANOHAR PUBLISHERS & DISTRIBUTORS
4753/23 Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi 110002
Phones: 23284848, 23289100
Fax: 23265162
E-mail: manbooks@vsnl.com
sales@manoharbooks.com

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16 November, 2012

Tashrih-ul-Moosiqu: Persian Translation of Tansen’s Original Work ‘Budh Prakash’

By- Najma Perveen Ahmad (Editor, Translator, Commentator)

Several Persian and Urdu manuscripts of the medieval period are very precious and provide valuable information and insights into various aspects of Indian musicology. Most of them contain translations and references to ancient Sanskrit texts which could not be preserved and are not available now for various reasons.

One such rare manuscript is Tashrih-ul-Moosiqui, written by Hakeem Mohammad Arzani during the seventeenth century. It is the Persian translation of Tansen’s work Budh Prakash. Like Man Kautuhal, of which only Persian translation Raag Darpan is available, probably Budh Prakash may also be available only in this form.

The present work is an English translation of Tashrih-ul-Moosiqui that consists of eight chapters containing description of Origin of Music, Types of Samaah, Attributes of Musicians, Svara, Classification and Time Theory of Ragas, Tala and Musical Instruments. The most significant and comprehensive part of the manuscript is the seventh chapter which is about Mishra Ragas where the author has used the word Miloni for a combination of ragas, in place of the well-known terms like Chhayalag, Sankeerna and Mishra Ragas, used by the other authors of the period. It elaborates the classification system of the wide range of well-known ragas mentioned in Budh Prakash that has some different nuances as compared to the description given in Persian works of later medieval period.

It is hoped that this work will bring to light the work of the great musician Tansen. In addition to the translation of the manuscript, the author has provided brief commentary and critique wherever required.

Najma Perveen Ahmad, former Dean and Head of the Department of Music, University of Delhi, is a teacher, scholar and vocalist in Hindustani Classical Music belonging to Delhi Gharana. At present she is Emeritus Fellow of UGC at the Faculty of Music and Fine Arts, University of Delhi

ISBN 978-81-7304-943-9 2012 192p. Rs.795/Pounds 50