Globalisation has long historical roots in South Asia, but economic liberalisation has led to uniquely rapid urban growth in South Asia during the past decade. This book brings together a multidisciplinary collection of chapters on contemporary and historical themes explaining this recent explosive growth and transformations on-going in the cities of this region. The essays in this volume attempt to shed light on the historical roots of these cities and the traditions that are increasingly placed under strain by modernity, as well as exploring the lived experience of a new generation of city dwellers and their indelible impact on those who live at the city’s margins. The book discusses that previously, cities such as Mumbai grew by accumulating a vast hinterland of slum-dwellers who depressed wages and supplied cheap labour to the city’s industrial economy. However, it goes on to show that the new growth of cities such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Madras in south India, or Delhi and Calcutta in the north of India, is more capital-intensive, export-driven, and oriented towards the information technology and service sectors. The book explains that these cities have attracted a new elite of young, educated workers, with money to spend and an outlook on life that is often a complex mix of modern ideas and conservative tradition. It goes on to cover topics such as the politics of town planning, consumer culture, and the struggles among multiple identities in the city. By tracing the genealogies of cities, it gives a useful insight into the historical conditioning that determines how cities negotiate new changes and influences. There will soon be more mega cities in South Asia than anywhere else in the world, and this book provides an in-depth analysis of this growth. It will be of interest to students and scholars of South Asian History, Politics and Anthropology, as well as those working in the fields of urbanisation and globalisation.

This is a heritage book which takes readers on a spiritual voyage of legends, mythology, saints, temples and dynasties. It presents vignettes of India’s rich cultural background. As one of the seven mokshapuris (centers of salvation) and the nerve-centre of vedic schools, Kanchipuram has always been a role model. Adi Sankaracharya, brought religious renaissance in the country by providing a new meaning to sanatana dharma. He established the KanchiKamakotipeetham which continues to be a center of learning and devotion. The town is credited with having around one thousand temples at one time. While Pallava rulers built most of these temples, these were extensively renovated later by Cholan and Vijayanagara kings. Exhaustive Annexures about the various rules and dynasties are also provided. The book is amply illustrated with maps and photographs, which will be of great interest to general readers and to tourists and pilgrims in particular.

Urbanization of Dibrugarh, a town in Assam.

This book investigates how the material culture of South Indian courts was perceived by those who lived there in the pre-colonial period. Howes peels away the standard categories used to study Indian palace space, such as public/private and male/female, and replaces them with indigenous descriptions of space found in court poetry, vastu shastra and painted representations of courtly life. Set against the historical background of the events which led to the formation of the Ramnad Kingdom, the Kingdom's material circumstances are examined, beginning with the innermost region of the palace and moving out to the Kingdom via the palace compound itself and the walled town which surrounded it. An important study for both art historians and South India specialists. The volume is richly illustrated in colour.

This book makes a pioneering attempt to analyse the linkages between the rule of East India Company and urban environment in colonial India over more than a half-century - from 1746 to 1803 - through a study of the city of Madras (present Chennai). The book traces urban development in colonial South India from a broad economic history point of view and with a focus on its environmental dimension, covering the period from the First Carnatic War until the 18th century by which time the English East India Company had consolidated its power. It discusses themes such as urban development; infrastructural development; housing and buildings, city and suburbs; and development of land and roads in the colonial period. Using extensive archival resources, it offers new insights on the various aspects of the shifting urban physical environment and captures the development of Madras city limits; road infrastructure, building of paved streets, whitewashed walls and compounded houses; establishment of garden houses; use of land resources; development of masonry bridges by merchants; housing problems; and the building of Fort House, Garden House, Admiralty House, Pantheon House, Custom House, etc. in Madras, to describe the impact of colonialism on urban environment. An important contribution to the history of urban economics and environment, this book with its lucid style and rich illustrations will be an essential read for scholars and researchers of colonial history, modern Indian history, environmental history, urban environment, urban history, political economy, urban economic history, Indian history, and South Asian studies.

India is undergoing massive urbanization. The future form of Indian cities in terms of urban planning and design is most urgent. A study of the key historical moments from the point of view of urban development is thus important. With case studies from the time cities originated in the Indian subcontinent and hand-drawn illustrations of these cities till the ones in recent times, the author discusses the last two hundred years of urban development in India with emphasis on the overall structure of the city, its nature of public places, institutions, and housing.

A Companion to South Asia in the Past provides the definitive overview of research and knowledge about South Asia’s past, from the Pleistocene to the historic era in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, provided by a truly global team of experts. The most comprehensive and detailed scholarly treatment of South Asian archaeology and biological anthropology, providing ground-breaking new ideas and future challenges Provides an in-depth and broad view of the current state of knowledge about South Asia’s past, from the Pleistocene to the historic era in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal A comprehensive treatment of research in a crucial region for human evolution and biocultural adaptation A global team of scholars together present a varied set of perspectives on South Asian pre- and proto-history