CULTURAL HISTORY OF UTTARAKHAND

D.D. SHARMA

2009, xxxi+417pp. Index, bibl., folded Maps 1, 75 coloured, 7 blw photo., ISBN: 81-246-0434-7, Rs. 1500 (HB)

Cultural history of Uttarakhand is an outcome of many years of keen observation of the linguistic and cultural phenomena of the whole Himalayan region, right from Ladakh in the west to Bhutan in the east and an intensive study of ancient Indian literature and of the historical incidents that have taken place in the central Himalayan regions, particularly in the land termed as Uttarakhand. Though there are some works, both in Hindi and English, on the history and culture of this land, they pertain either to a specific region or to some particular aspect of it. This is for the first time that exhaustive chronological accounts of the history and culture of the inhabitants of Uttarakhand, including various ancient and modem tribes and races, right from Tons and Yamunā in the west to Mahākālī / Śāradā in the east, and from Bhotantic Himalayan regions in the north to Tarāī-Bhābar area in the south, considered to be a “cultural area” of Uttarakhand, have been taken into account for this study. An effort has been made to unfold various layers of the history of this land in a comprehensive way.

As such, this volume on the cultural history of Uttarakhand is supposed to provide a rare opportunity to students, as well as to readers in general, to have an intimate knowledge of various aspects of the cultural history of various tribes and races inhabiting Uttarakhand from pre-historic periods to modem times.

(On this book the author has received the prestigious award of Padam Sri from the Government of lndia besides receiving two awards from the state Government of Uttarakhand.)