India & Cambridge - Cambridge University Press India

HISTORYVijayanagaraBurton SteinThe Vijayanagara kingdom ruled asubstantial part of the southernpeninsula of India for over threehundred years, beginning in themid fourteenth century, andduring this epoch the region wastransformed from its medieval pasttowards a modern colonial future.Concentrating on the latersixteenth- and seventeenthcenturyhistory of Vijayanagara,Burton Stein details the pattern of rule established in thisimportant and long-lived Hindu kingdom, which wasfollowed by other, often smaller kingdoms of peninsularIndia until the onset of colonialism.Burton Stein is Professorial Reseach Associate at the Schoolof Oriental and African Studies, University of London.9788185618463 170pp PB ` 345.00(The New Cambridge History of India)The Marathas: 1600-1800Stewart GordonIn this book, Dr. Stewart Gordonpresents the first comprehensivehistory of the Maratha polity,which was an important regionalkingdom in the seventeenthcentury and the largest politicalentity of eighteenth-century India.He focusses on the origins of theelite families, problems oflegitimacy and loyalty, militaryorganization and change, and thedevelopment of administration, tax collection, and religiouspatronage. Through the use of a vast array of documents,the author also gives a picture of everyday life in theMaratha polity.Stewart Gordon, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.10 maps9788175960398 224pp PB ` 245.00(The New Cambridge History of India)The Anglo-MarathaCampaigns and theContest for India: TheStruggle for Control of theSouth Asian MilitaryEconomyRandolf G.S. CooperThis is a cross-cultural study of thepolitical economy of war in SouthAsia. Randolf G. S. Coopercombines an overview of Marathamilitary culture with a battle-bybattleanalysis of the 1803 Anglo-Maratha Campaigns.Building on that foundation he challenges ethnocentricassumptions about British superiority in discipline, drill andtechnology. He argues that these campaigns, in whichArthur Wellesley served with distinction, represent themilitary high-water mark of the Marathas who posed thelast serious opposition to the formation of the British Raj.Dr Cooper asserts that the real contest for India was never asingle decisive battle for the subcontinent. Rather it turnedon a complex social and political struggle for control of theSouth Asian military economy.Randolf G.S. Cooper, Visiting Fellow at Wolfson College,University of Cambridge.9788175962507 456pp HB ` 795.00The Mughal EmpireJohn F. RichardsThe Mughal empire was one of thelargest centralised states in the premodernworld and this new volumetraces the history of thismagnificent empire from itscreation in 1526 to its breakup in1720. He stresses the dynamicquality of Mughal territorialexpansion, their institutionalinnovation in land revenue, coinageand military organisation,ideological change and the relationship between theemperors and Islam. Professor Richards also analysesinstitutions particular to the Mughal empire, such as thejagir system, and explores Mughal India’s links with the earlymodern world.John F. Richards, Duke University, North Carolina.6 tables9788185618494 344pp PB ` 395.00(The New Cambridge History of India)order online at www.cambridgeindia.org7