Art and Culture : Endeavours in Interpretation/edited by Ahsan Jan Qaisar and Som Prakash Verma. 1996, xiv, 224 p., 81 halftone illustrations, 17 coloured plates, $79.

Contents: 1. The process of acculturation in regional historiography: the case of Delhi Sultanate/Iqtidar Husain Siddiqui. 2. Erotic elements in temple art/S.P. Singh. 3. Encounter and transition--European impact in Awadh (1765-1856)/Madhu Trivedi. 4. Some problems of the Mughal school of art: ascriptions, duplicate versions and modern attributions/Som Prakash Verma. 5. Indian response to western medicine: vaccination in the city of Bombay in the nineteenth century/Mridula Ramanna. 6. Muhammad Zaman: a 17th century controversial artist/Ahsan Jan Qaisar. 7. Popular religion: local tradition in the hills of Himachal Pradesh/Mahesh Sharma. 8. Perceptions of British rule in Maharashtra: a selective study/J.V. Naik. 9. The craft of bookbinding in Mughal India/Ahsan Jan Qaisar & Rana Firdaus. 10. The Chhatri (Cenotaph) of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II of Jaipur: an appreciation/Neelima Vashishtha. 11. Signals from behind the Purdah: Muslim women during the first half of the 20th century/Hassan Imam. 12. Classical (Ajanta) survivals in medieval schools of painting/Som Prakash Verma. 13. Women and the temple in medieval Andhra: a note/A. Padma. 14. Colonialism and ethnic identities in India (19th to early 20th century)/Kamlesh Mohan. 15. In quest of indigenous approach to women studies in India/Abdul Matin. 16. The Hindus and the Dargah of Ajmer, A.D. 1737-1857/S. Liyaqat A. Moini.

"This is the first volume of the Annual Series of Art and Culture. The raison d'etre for this undertaking is the absence of any regular publication in India encompassing matters related to some specific aspects of society in one volume. The contents of the volumes under this scheme will not be restricted to any particular period or geographical area. Moreover, the purpose is to encourage scholars to think and write in terms of social mores and values as far as possible. In fact, interpretation is the key-word. To begin with, however, the themes will be confined to: a. Cultural set-up and values; b. Art and architecture and c. Science and technology." (jacket)

[Ahsan Jan Qaisar is Professor of Social and Cultural History of Aligarh Muslim University. He also wrote Building Construction in Mughal India : The Evidence from Paintings and Indian Response to European Technology and Culture A.D. 1498-1707.

Return to Art History Catalogue