Princely India is a collection of photographs by one of the pioneer photographers in the world, namely Lala Deen Dayal whose work is a valuable reflection of India in the period 1870-1905. It covers architecture, views, portraits of native princes, visits of dignitaries and influence of the British in various aspects of political and social life. The photographs provide excellent reference material for period costumes, historical events and social life. It is a must for every library and every collector of 19th century photographs. The quality of the pictures is amazingly sharp with an artistic novelty about the composition and lighting coupled with attention to details. Most of the photos particularly views are collodian prints which incorporate the total mastery of the photographer in pioneering circumstances. The book can be an ideal gift for lovers of photography and a fine feast for the coffee table browsers.

Raja Deen Dayal was the most sort after photographer in the state. My parents wedding pictures werewere taken by his studio in 1938. The book is a pictorial history of the state and its people. Some of the most striking photo graphs of the time. Whether the pictures are studio portraits or panaramic view of landscapes. The are very accurateand wonderfully compsed. The light effects in black and whitephotography is phoenominal. Those baby boomers whogrew up in Hyderabad must possess this book. It brings brings the childhood memories of traditionspeople and the landscape back. A totally captivating book.the childhood

The only modern pictorial of pre-1948 Hyderabad of His Exalted Highness the Nizam, once the world's richest man. Good selection of pictures of monuments, people, dresses etc. A "must get" for any serious collector of impressions of the Deccan. Black and white pcitures; subjects covered are famine, palaces, circuses, birthday parties and one photo of Bhilwara temple at Mount Abu that is hard to beat

The author deserves great praise for a very well written account on a subject often ignored by historians. The people of Sindh have been excellent traders for a few thousand years and the author has done well to describe the development of 2 Sindhi networks developed in the past couple hundred years.

I'd highly recommend this book (and not only because it covers the history of my ancestors).

sb

BY LAKSHMI SUBRAMANIAN

The Global World of the Indian Merchant 1750-1947: Traders of sind from bukhara to panama

By Claude Markovits, Cambridge, Price not mentioned

This is a book many of us have been waiting for. Periodic pronouncements have been made about the resilience and prescience of the Asian trader operating within and against the writ of the colonial economy of the 19th and 20th centuries. Along with these, the long debate on the world economy has sustained a level of interest and enquiry about the dynamics of non-European commercial activity in widely dispersed areas of the globe. Serious gaps and doubts have, however, remained and we are often left wondering, "Whose world economy was it anyway?" Was Asian enterprise a tedious aggregate of small, but countless, transactions indulged in by the colonial state with its own calculations and compulsions.

On the other hand, the visibility and movement of Indian merchant groups in the emerging global economy since the 19th century have invested the Asian experience with a certain significance, which, in turn, warrants a closer examination of the process, its antecedents and its projections. Claude Markovits's study attempts precisely to do all this and more, with the result that we have a narrative that is rich in detail, sensitive to the play of historical configurations and supported by a theoretical framework that is balanced and not overly ambitious. He focuses on two communities - the Shikarpuris and the Sindworkis, and through them proceeds to weave a story of dispersal and circulation, rather than that of a unitary diaspora with overarching Indian connotations.

Markovits argues that south Asian merchant movements were essentially temporary migrations and that the settlements, when these did occur, were largely involuntary. Nor did these correspond to any unitary category of caste, territory or religion and were in every sense the outgrowths of regional compulsions and local realities. The experience of the two communities chosen by Markovits, the Shikarpuris and Sindworkis, illustrates the juxtaposition of local processes with that of the global economy, where the activities of merchant groups took on a fuller meaning.

Obviously, such an approach is admissible when dealing with the operation of a colonial economy and not that of a national one, and it is no coincidence that the study should stop at 1947. Within this framework of local and global history, Markovits teases out a fascinating story of the merchant networks of Sind region, that has suffered an overdose of orientalizing descriptions. He also traces their emergence in the context of 18th century transition politics and their expansion in the high noon of British imperialism and Russian centralization. There is also the story of their spatial advance from Bukhara to Panama. The relocation of the south Asian merchant networks in the world economy in the 18th century is a well-established fact, even if its implications are not so well drawn out. The 18th century, in particular, is seen to have constituted a turning point in the positioning of the Asian merchants who suffered major reverses and in the process facilitated the marginalization of Asia in the newly emerging world economy centred firmly in Europe. The process of relocation was not coeval with that of decline and dislocation, and according to Markovits, it was marked by sharp regional and sub-regional variations.

Additionally, the establishment and workings of the colonial economy reared a sub-stratum of commercial functions and operations that were deftly handled and taken over by enterprising indigenous groups. It is within this context that Markovits positions his communities. He argues that far from operating in a residual space left open by the colonial dispensation, these merchant networks adapted successfully to a trading world dominated by European capital through a complex process of collaboration and conflict. The Shikarpuri and Sindworki networks developed under very different circumstances. The surge in Indo-Central Asian trade from the 1840s enabled the Shikarpuris to rework an existing network of caravan commerce and credit transactions under the dispensation of the Uzbeg khanates of central Asia. Meanwhile, the Sindworkis regrouped under the British dispensation and took advantage of the extension of the colonial economy from Bombay into Sind to operate a trade of truly global proportions. The Shikarpuri network was forced out of its base in Sind by changes that followed in the wake of colonial subjugation and changing configurations of commercial exchange. They exploited their old connections with central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan to emerge as principal moneylenders and traders, especially in the khanate of Bukhara. The details of the network have been deduced from a mass of legal material that the Russian authorities felt compelled to share with the British government in the eventuality of any death-related succession dispute involving a British Indian subject. One of the most striking features of the network to emerge from this legal discourse is the working of Shikarpuri panchayats in most localities of central Asia. The Sindworkis, on the other hand, were very much part of the colonial economy and began as modest peddlers of native crafts to a European clientele. This venture expanded substantially to include, in subsequent years, a wide range of curios that found their way into the European markets. Their initiative and intrepidity were quite remarkable. Consider the trader who protested against Australian immigration restrictions and flashed his credentials as a trader of repute who bought and sold exotic goods besides carving the occasional tortoise shell or setting a piece in jade. Curios became doubly important as the tourist traffic caught the fancy of European visitors, enabling a massive expansion of Sindhi enterprise on both sides of the Suez that soon turned to trade in textiles and financial speculation.

In all, this is a fascinating story of commercial dynamism. What makes the story even more fascinating is the exploration of the proclivity to spatial and social mobility among the networks. Caste did not play a central role in forging solidarities. The affinity seemed very much to lie with the region and with the ability to travel extensively and, in the process, ensure a circulation of skills and entrepreneurial labour.

Circulation however, remained confined to males, very rarely did wives accompany their partners. The absence of female company did not, however, deflect the passion for riches as merchants alternated between celibacy and permissiveness to balance the sexual economy of circulation.

Well researched and written. I came across this gem of a book in India and I have read it couple times. I found to my surprise that not even the locals of Hyderabad know as much as what this book tells. This book tells history behind the popular commercial spots in Hyderabad like 'King Koti', 'Abids' which none of the locals are aware of. Unfortunately many of the historical tombs and buildings of immense architectural beauty mentioned in this book are in ruin and some lost. If you are from Hyderabad (which I am not) and feel passionate about your city (which I do) this is your book. The most interesting part of the book is at the end when the police action was in progress. The chief of the much hated Razakars was running after his get-away plane in which he has stashed his fortunes with the Indian police hot in pursuit (sounds like Hollywood movie ending). Read the book to know what happens to him.

An excellent book giving us a rare look into life in the Nizam's Dominions in the early 1900s through the eyes of Cyril Lloyd Jones. Jones although an extremely clever man (an engineer) and one whose services would have been snapped up in the US and elsewhere, gave no consideration for self but put his country (England) and his adopted home (Hyderabad) and the friends he made there first. He enjoyed the outdoor life, the jungles and camping and the shikar - although he did not shoot very much. Hyderabad and the Nizam's Government are indebted to this man for his unselfishness in giving of himself to build the NSGR (Nizam's State Guaranteed Railway) one on which I travelled (safely) many times during my life in India.

A rare record, a rare book and a rare man.

Highly recommended for all Hyderabadi historians.

An excellent work. Impartial. Realistic. Everyone interested in the history of former Hyderabad State should read this.

A worthy book which gives a detailed history of the beginings of the Asif Jahi Dynasty and the eventual take over of the Hyderabad State by the Nizams. The only thing lacking I thought was a bit more social history of the times. An excellent read and a must for any Hyderabadi's library.

Karen is the only person who has written this book , and it gives you a detailed info. about the Kayasthas. A must for all Kayasthas and intresting to read too.