The impact of Mughal rule on India remains a hotly contested topic of debate. Some see the regime as a benign entity, others as one harmful to India’s long-term development. But by fixating on the king’s actions rather than those of his subjects, have we been looking at the issue the wrong way round?
Badshah, Bandar, Bazaar turns conventional wisdom on its head to examine what has long been taken for granted. Through the eyes of numerous real-life characters, it demonstrates the power of bankers, moneylenders, merchants, middlemen, artisans and all manner of ordinary folk in making – and eventually breaking – the might of the Mughal Empire.
Globalisation and the spread of market relations was intensifying meanwhile, transforming everyday life in ways that were often subtle, and sometimes dramatic. With exotic and enticing goods for purchase, and ever more artful ways to make money, came a new ethos – and a new set of anxieties – towards business which was so potent that it shaped preaching by Sikh gurus and Sufi sayyids alike.
Breathing new life and a fresh perspective into the history of the Mughal Empire, Badshah, Bandar, Bazaar takes us on a fabulous journey from the empire’s rich and fertile countryside, to the hustle and bustle of its great cities and ports; and from religious debates in Delhi’s fairgrounds and public squares and legal battles over property in Surat, to princely wars of succession and the dynasty’s tumultuous yet protracted overthrow.
A definitive account of India’s decisive military response to Pakistan-backed terrorism — told by Lt Gen K.J.S. Dhillon, one of India’s most respected Army commanders.
On 22 April 2025, the Baisaran Valley in Pahalgam, south Kashmir, witnessed a horrifying attack when heavily armed terrorists from the Resistance Front, a proxy of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), fully sponsored by the Pakistan Army and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), shattered its serenity with gunfire, killing twenty-six innocent individuals and injuring several others. The victims included newlyweds, elderly parents and solo trekkers. A Hindu professor narrowly escaped death by reciting the kalma, a Christian sacrificed his life to save his family and a local Muslim was killed while saving others. This was an attempt to rupture India’s religious harmony and create widespread outrage in the country.
India chose to respond to this incident, which shook not just the nation but the world, with Operation SINDOOR, showcasing its military modernization and might. The mission targeted terror camps, including the ones in Bahawalpur and Muridke, linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed and LeT, respectively, and terrorist launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. India’s response demonstrated military professionalism, technological maturity and diplomatic sagacity, ensuring regional stability while delivering a powerful message against Pakistan and its terror factory. This book carries minute details and a blow-by-blow account of the ‘Four-Day War’ between two hostile nuclear powers. The author underscores the intelligent use of media and social media in the battle of narratives, discusses the ‘new normal’ and emerging rules of engagement, and suggests a way forward.
Offering hitherto unrevealed information, Lt Gen. ‘Tiny’ Dhillon (Retd) opens a window to Operation SINDOOR, a testament to the strength of the Indian military and the unity of India when confronted with an adverse situation. With visuals from the destroyed target areas, this book is a powerful reminder of the impact of terrorism and the enduring hope for peace and justice.
Operation SINDOOR is a must-read for everyone.
Returning to Pakistan in 1970 after a spell in England, Salima and her husband, Shoaib Hashmi, plunge into Pakistani cultural and political life. Along with her teaching at the National College of Arts, Lahore, where she pioneered a new system of art education, Salima also found time to dabble in photography, advertising and television.
In 1972, Shoaib and Salima conceived, scripted and acted in the pathbreaking Akkar Bakkar on Pakistan TV (PTV). Akkar Bakkar ran for six months and became the first Pakistani television programme to win an international award. Such Gup and Taal Matol, both hugely popular programmes, soon followed. It was a time of creativity and innovation.
During this time, Salima and Shoaib also became parents to Mira and Yasser. This period of Salima’s life came to an end with the ascent to power in 1977 of Gen. Zia-ul-Haq. Amidst a programme of Islamization and a clampdown of dissent, Salima also had to deal with her father Faiz’s second spell of self-exile to Beirut between 1979 and 1982.
Enter Stage Left, the second of Salima’s two-volume memoir brings us up to date with events in Salima’s and Pakistan’s life until the present day.
Against the tumultuous backdrop of Singapore in 1942 unfolds the extraordinary saga of Captain Mohan Singh of the 14 Punjab Regiment and the Indian National Army (INA). As the pioneering leader of the INA, Singh’s bold alliance with Japan sought to liberate India from the yoke of British rule but soon encountered treacherous challenges.
In chronicling how INA soldiers fought bravely when they got a chance, as well as the harrowing trials of them enduring starvation and sickness in Burma, this tale unveils a lesser-known chapter of history. The author masterfully follows the INA’s journey through the jungles of Burma to the postwar days in India when it hastened Independence, highlighting Subhas Chandra Bose’s pivotal rise to leadership along the way.
This is also the story of Lieutenant M.M. Pillai’s daring escape from Singapore. Of the grim fate of prisoners of war (POWs) like Warrant Officer John Baptist Crasta, one of 17,000 Indian POWs sent to hard labour camps in the Pacific. Of the war crime trials held by the Australians for Japanese atrocities against these POWs where Subedar Chint Singh was a key witness. Of the wives waiting for years with little news of their soldier-husbands.
Gautam Hazarika’s The Forgotten Indian Prisoners of World War II, enriched by personal accounts and the hard truth, is a testament to loyalty, resilience and the indomitable human spirit
हिंदी पल्प की दुनिया का एक ऐसा अध्ययन जिसमें अंतरराष्ट्रीय प्रेरणाओं और भारतीय भाषाओं के लोकप्रिय साहित्य का सही तरीके से लेखा-जोखा किया गया है। इसमें बातचीत, बैठकें, कहानियाँ, शोध और विश्लेषण शामिल हैं। बेगमपुल एक ऐसी जगह है जहाँ कई पल्प लेखक तब घूमते रहते थे जब मेरठ हिंदी पल्प का बाज़ार हुआ करता था। दिल्ली के दरीबा और खारी बावली से पहले मेरठ के शास्त्री नगर-ईश्वर नगर, वाराणसी और इलाहाबाद (अब प्रयागराज) का बोलबाला था। स्कूली किताबों में छिपकर इसे पढ़ने के लिए पागल पाठकों के लिए यह जादू कैसे पैदा हुआ? “बेगम पुल से दरियागंज—देसी पल्प की दिलचस्प दास्तान” हिंदी पल्प साहित्य के समृद्ध ताने-बाने की एक दिलचस्प खोज पेश करती है, इसकी जड़ों, विकास और इसे आकार देने वाले प्रतिष्ठित व्यक्तियों की खोज करती है। यह उन चहल-पहल भरी सड़कों, जीवंत कवर और आकर्षक कहानियों के प्रति श्रद्धांजलि है, जिन्होंने लाखों लोगों को आकर्षित किया।
When Jagat Murari, a young film student in post-war America, finds himself at the feet of one of cinema’s true giants – Orson Welles – during the making of Macbeth in 1947, the lessons he absorbs on that set will shape not only his future, but also the future of Indian cinema. Returning to a newly independent India, Jagat goes on to build the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) from the ground up.
In The Maker of Filmmakers, Radha Chadha offers an intimate and meticulously researched portrait of her father – a celebrated documentary filmmaker – and the iconic film school he built. With uncanny consistency, FTII turned out top talent – the likes of Shabana Azmi and Jaya Bachchan, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Subhash Ghai, and other cinema legends. His alumni became the leading actors, directors, cinematographers, sound designers and editors of Bollywood and beyond. They spearheaded the Indian New Wave, kickstarted regional language cinema, and helped usher television into the country.
How did Jagat go about ‘making’ such extraordinary filmmakers? What was his secret formula? With unprecedented access to Jagat’s diaries, letters, personal papers and over 100 interviews with alumni and colleagues, Radha Chadha leads us behind the scenes, and into the mind of a visionary who reshaped Indian cinema, even as he grappled with its many challenges.
A gripping tale of ambition, adversity, and artistic brilliance – richly illustrated with rare photographs – The Maker of Filmmakers paints a vivid picture of one man’s unwavering belief in the transformative power of cinema, and how his determination helped turn Indian cinema into the global powerhouse it is today.
Set against the backdrop of some of the landmark events and characters of the last century, this is biography and cinematic history at its best.
March 1947.
A four-year-old Salima Hashmi is witness to the Sikh leader, Master Tara Singh and his many followers denouncing the demand for Pakistan.
Soon, the sub-continent is partitioned and Salima, her sister Moneeza, her English mother Alys, and her father, the renowned Urdu poet and leftist intellectual, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, are citizens of the nascent Pakistan.
Life in the newly formed nation is full of ups and downs, the lowest points being Faiz’s imprisonment in 1951 on charges of sedition and his subsequent self-exile from Pakistan in 1960. Even as the family struggles to cope, life is not without its highpoints. There are picnics and outings with her cousins, Salma, Mariam and Billoo. The family home is frequented by writers, artistes and political figures and Salima is privy to their conversations and arguments. And through it all, Salima finds her footing in art which becomes her life’s calling.
Waiting in the Wings, the first part of her two-volume memoir, is the account of the first two-and-a-half decades of Salima’s life. It is as much a portrait of a young nation as it is the account of the author’s own life.
In 1947, the Indian subcontinent was partitioned, and Pakistan was born. A shared heritage, a composite culture and centuries-old bonds between people, all seemed to vanish overnight. Nowhere was this rupture more profound than in the Indus Basin—once a unified lifeline of the region, now fragmented by sovereign borders, its rivers flowing through two nations immediately at odds with each other.
The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960, proving that even bitter adversaries could cooperate over shared resources. Yet, it never brought lasting peace. The treaty was suspended by India in April 2025 as a punitive measure in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, and its future remains shrouded in uncertainty. Can it still endure and adapt? Perhaps the time has come for a new arrangement—one that is not just inevitable but essential.
This book traces the turbulent history of the Indus Basin and examines how the Indus Waters Treaty has been shaped by the region’s ever-evolving political dynamics. It explores the role of key leaders on both sides, as well as external pressures, in shaping and reshaping one of the world’s most critical transboundary water agreements.
The Indus Basin has been a witness to conflict, compromise and survival. And if you seek to understand the true nature of India–Pakistan relations, start with the rivers that bind them. Trial by Water leads us in that direction.
Six Indian soldiers, as part of their regular patrolling exercise, go missing from the Bajrang post in the Kaksar sector in Ladakh.
A captain and his men are outnumbered by hundreds and fired upon relentlessly from all angles.
Captain Saurabh Kalia and his five men from 4 Jat Regiment were the first casualties of the Kargil War in 1999. The unit was captured alive by the Pakistani Army and subjected to unimaginable horrors for twenty-two days—a stark violation of the Geneva Convention. The men had vowed not to reveal any secrets if captured, and they kept their promise even when each and every bone in their body was hammered to pieces.
In The Legacy of Captain Saurabh Kalia, Dr N.K. Kalia—with author Sreemati Sen—documents the inspiring life of his son, his pivotal role in the Kargil war, and his family’s relentless efforts in their quest for justice.
Featuring exclusive photographs, excerpts from the captain’s diary, letters written by him and rare interviews of his family, relatives, teachers, classmates, batchmates, and officials who were then posted in Kargil, this deeply researched account brings to light a story of valour and courage like you’ve never known before.
Three historians. Three generations. Spanning nearly a century of work, Romila Thapar, Kumkum Roy and Preeti Gulati, reflect on their lives and their engagement with one of the most demanding, and most crucial, disciplines of our times. Personal narratives of growing up—learning about history, charting new and distinct paths as researchers, the challenges of teaching—meld effortlessly into a larger and complex changing context: the emergence of an independent nation, of movements that have helped shape the process, and of resistance. To what extent, the authors ask, have feminisms made a difference? Can these interventions lead to redefining or rejuvenating the discipline, transforming it into a more inclusive space where diverse voices can be acknowledged and heard with respect and understanding? These and other questions inform this accessible and lucid text.
