Noted Indian writer and translator Khuswant Singh's tribute to 18 major Punjabi writers whose stories he has translated in this collection of short fiction. The writers included here are familiar names in India - writers such as Amrita Pritam, Saadat Hasan Manto, Khwaja Ahmed Abbas, and also two new women writers, Ajeet Caur and Usha Mahajan - among others.

In 1801, at the age of just 20 years old, Ranjit Singh became the Maharaja of the Punjab Empire and subsequently became one of the greatest figures in the history of India. He was a fiercely brave leader, capturing the city of Lahore before becoming Maharaja and overcoming a variety of challenges during his 40-year rule, such as harsh terrain, an ethnically and religiously diverse population and strong aggressors including the British and the Afghans. Despite such challenges, Ranjit Singh was able to unite Punjab's various factions yet rule a nation that was strictly secular; the Maharaja was benevolent to his subjects no matter their ethnicity or religion and sought to promote interfaith unity through policies of equality and non-discrimination. Aside from building his own nation, Ranjit built solid strategic relations with his most challenging aggressor - the British. Through stamina and political will, he managed to establish a formal treaty between the two and secured from 1809 Britain's protection against third party attempts to conquer the Punjab. Following Ranjit Singh's death in 1839, the Empire fell into decline. Just six years later, the Punjabis attacked the British, and in 1845 they were beaten and forced to sign the Treaty of Lahore, essentially conceding control to the British.Ranjit Singh's personal characteristics and leadership skills were what held the Punjab nation together in a tumultuous period in history. Mohamed Sheikh's new account of Singh's life illustrates these characteristics and skills and illuminates the man who singlehandedly created and sustained the Empire.

The book you are holding in your hands is a collection of six short stories written by a grandmother who wanted to introduce her grandchildren to the land of their origin, Punjab in Pakistan. The name 'Punjab' is derived from the Farsi/ Persian words broadly translating to 'five rivers'. Tales from the Land of Five Rivers went to the printers because of the social isolation and the unique circumstances created by Covid-19. The six tales are a peek at the colourful Punjab of the author's childhood, a joy she wanted to share with children from around the world. These stories evolved while the kids steered their grandmother on with endless questions about the land of their origin. There is one inspired by 'Basant, ' the colourful kite festival, while the rest are about endearing birds and animals and the joy that kids derive by bonding with them. The stories are very descriptive and rendered in a manner that captivates a child's imagination right from the very beginning. The author, my mother, did not forget to add a moral lesson to her fiction. This has been done very discreetly, making the stories as meaningful as they are entertaining. Ahmed Naeem

Study on the political, military, and economic achievements of Ranjit Singh, Maharaja of Punjab, 1780-1839.

Sanwal learned the secrets of Punjabi cuisine in her mother-in-law's kitchen. She reveals those secrets in easy-to-follow prose and recipes.

DID THE GREAT FLOOD OF INDIAN LEGEND ACTUALLY HAPPEN? WHY DID THE BUDDHA WALK TO SARNATH TO GIVE HIS FIRST SERMON? HOW DID THE EUROPEANS MAP INDIA? The history of any country begins with its geography. With sparkling wit and intelligence, Sanjeev Sanyal sets off to explore India and look at how the country’s history was shaped by, among other things, its rivers, mountains and cities. Traversing remote mountain passes, visiting ancient archaeological sites, crossing rivers in shaky boats and immersing himself in old records and manuscripts, he considers questions about Indian history that we rarely ask: Why do Indians call their country Bharat? How did the British build the railways across the subcontinent? Why was the world’s highest mountain named after George Everest? Moving from the geological beginnings of the subcontinent to present-day Gurgaon, Land of the Seven Rivers is riveting, wry and full of surprises. It is the most entertaining history of India you will ever read.

A Times bestseller 'Wonderful...I was hooked from the first page. It's the real stuff.' - Michael Frayn 'Deeply affecting' - Guardian 'Superb' - Mail on Sunday 'Barney Norris is a rare and precious talent' - Evening Standard 'There exists in all of us a song waiting to be sung which is as heart-stopping and vertiginous as the peak of the cathedral. That is the meaning of this quiet city, where the spire soars into the blue, where rivers and stories weave into one another, where lives intertwine.' One quiet evening in Salisbury, the peace is shattered by a serious car crash. At that moment, five lives collide – a flower seller, a schoolboy, an army wife, a security guard, a widower – all facing their own personal disasters. As one of those lives hangs in the balance, the stories of all five unwind, drawn together by connection and coincidence into a web of love, grief, disenchantment and hope that perfectly represents the joys and tragedies of small town life. Barney Norris's third novel, The Vanishing Hours, will be published in July 2019.

Land of Two Rivers chronicles the story of one of the most fascinating and influential regions in the Indian subcontinent. The confluence of two major river systems, Ganga and Brahmaputra, created the delta of Bengal--an ancient land known as a center of trade, learning and the arts from the days of the Mahabharata and through the ancient dynasties. During the medieval era, this eventful journey saw the rise of Muslim dynasties which brought into being a unique culture, quite distinct from that of northern India. The colonial conquest in the eighteenth century opened the modern chapter of Bengal's history and transformed the social and economic structure of the region. Nitish Sengupta traces the formation of Bengali identity through the Bengal Renaissance, the growth of nationalist politics and the complex web of events that eventually led to the partition of the region in 1947, analyzing why, despite centuries of shared history and culture, the Bengalis finally divided along communal lines. The struggle of East Pakistan to free itself from West Pakistan's dominance is vividly described, documenting the economic exploitation and cultural oppression of the Bengali people. Ultimately, under the leadership of Bangabandhu Mujibur Rahman, East Pakistan became the independent nation of Bangladesh in 1971. Land of Two Rivers is a scholarly yet extremely accessible account of the development of Bengal, sketching the eventful and turbulent history of this ancient civilization, rich in scope as well as in influence.