Download Free Hindu Arms And Ritual Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online Hindu Arms And Ritual and write the review.

Most studies of Indian armor have concentrated on Mughal arms from northern India, and there has been no serious study of Hindu arms since the nineteenth century. Robert Elgood seeks to fill this scholarly gap with Hindu Arms and Ritual, a new and richly illustrated study that examines pieces from the Tanjore Palace Armory in south India. Tanjore arms reveal a wealth of information about Hindu warrior society through the intricate and symbolic iconography carved on them. As Elgood shows, inscribed gods, goddesses, and sacred animals and plants infused the weaponry with divine powers of assistance. Drawing on evidence from various sources, such as ancient manuscripts and contemporary art, Elgood also challenges the commonly held opinion that most south Indian arms date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Instead, he argues, many pieces were made during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and are attributable to the Vijayanagara and Nayaka courts. This beautifully illustrated work is an invaluable contribution to the historical study of Indian arms and material culture.
Tracing the development of the weapons of the Indian warrior, from the earliest to modern times, this text also provides illustrations of a wide variety of the arms and armour discussed.
Hinduism is more than a religion; it is a way of life. Its rich and multicoloured history has made the structure of its mythical and philosophical principles into a highly differentiated maze, of which total knowledge is a practical impossibility. This volume cannot offer a complete survey of the meaning of Hinduism. It is an extensive compilation of important deities and their divine manifestations, so that modern students can understand the significance of the Hindu pantheon.
This book traces the evolution of theories of warfare in India from the dawn of civilization, focusing on the debate between Dharmayuddha (Just War) and Kutayuddha (Unjust War) within Hindu philosophy. This debate centers around four questions: What is war? What justifies it? How should it be waged? And what are its potential repercussions?
One of the first things that strike the Western viewer of Indian art is the multiplicity of heads, arms and eyes. This convention grows out of imagery conceived by Vedic sages to explain creation. This book for the first time investigates into the meaning of this convention. The author concentrates on its origins in Hindu art and on preceding textual references to the phenomenon of multiplicity. The first part establishes a general definition for the convention. Examination of all Brahmanical literature up to, and sometimes beyond, the 1st - 3rd century A.D., adds more information to this basic definition. The second part applies this literary information mainly to icons of the Yaksa, Śiva, Vāsudeva-Kṛsṇa and the Goddess, and indicates how Brahmanical cultural norms, exemplified in Mathurā, can transmit textual symbols. Both Part I and Part II provide iconic modules and a methodology to generate interpretations for icons with this remarkable feature through the Gupta age.
Set in Hyderabad in the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this book, a study of the cultural world of the Muslim soldiers of colonial India, focuses on the soldiers' relationships with the faqir holy men who protected them and the British officers they served. Drawing on Urdu as well as European sources, the book uses the biographies of Muslim holy men and their military followers to recreate the extraordinary encounter between a barracks culture of miracle stories, carnivals, drug-use and madness with a colonial culture of mutiny memoirs, Evangelicalism, magistrates and the asylum. It explores the ways in which the colonial army helped promote this sepoy religion while at the same time attempting to control and suppress certain aspects of it. The book brings to light the existence of a distinct 'barracks Islam' and shows its importance to the cultural no less than the military history of colonial India.
India is a vast sub-continent, with a complex history and a great array of languages, cultures and religions. This short introduction to one aspect of that great culture is intended merely as an appetiser, and is by no means intended as the last word on any aspect of Indian arms and armour. By 'India' I mean the whole Indian sub-continent rather than any political term. The history which forms a background to the story of Indian arms and armour saw empires rise and fall, but the remarkable constancy in the exquisite weapons used by their defenders and opponents marks Indian arms and armour out as something beyond mere statehood. was the catalyst to all sorts of studies of Indian culture and it is no accident that much of the pioneering work on Indian arms and armour was carried out by English scholars. The most notable of these, and the author of the first serious study of Indian armour and arms, was William Egerton, Lord Egerton of Tatton in Cheshire, whose catalogue of the collection of the Indian Museum in London (a collection now absorbed into the Victoria and Albert Museum) appeared in 1880. Yet despite a few important works in the 20th century, such as Philip Rawson's The Indian Sword and Russell Robinson's Oriental Armour, and new works such as Robert Elgood's Hindu Arms and Ritual in The 21st Century, the scientific study of Indian arms and armour has not advanced to the level, say, of Japanese arms and armour. armour in the Royal Armouries. Almost all the holdings are concentrated in the period from the formation of the Mughal empire in the 16th century to the end of the 19th century when western firearms technology had been widely adopted, and it is hoped that this small publication will help in making an important western collection of Indian armour and arms accessible.
Your hands-on guide to one of the world's major religions The dominant religion of India, "Hinduism" refers to a wide variety of religious traditions and philosophies that have developed over thousands of years. Today, the United States is home to approximately one million Hindus. If you've heard of this ancient religion and are looking for a reference that explains the intricacies of the customs, practices, and teachings of this ancient spiritual system, Hinduism For Dummies is for you! Provides a thorough introduction to this earliest and popular world belief system Information on the rites, rituals, deities, and teachings associated with the practice of Hinduism Explores the history and teachings of the Vedas, Brahmans, and Upanishads Offers insight into the modern daily practice of Hinduism around the world Continuing the Dummies tradition of making the world's religions engaging and accessible to everyone, Hinduism For Dummies is your hands-on, friendly guide to this fascinating religion.
- The first book to be written specifically on historic Indian firearms by an international arms expert - It offers scholars and collectors the opportunity to see the superb Jodhpur collection that includes the best Indian matchlocks, modern British and American sporting guns, shotguns, revolvers and automatic pistols by many of the great makers of the 20th century - Features more than 350 unique images of guns and Rajput paintings from private collections showing their use, as well as explains Rajput traditions relating to hunting and war In 1972 H.H. Maharaja Gaj Singhji, of Jodhpur-Marwar transformed the Rathore's magnificent Mehrangarh Fort into a highly successful Rajput museum and cultural center. As part of this work, the Mehrangarh Museum Trust commissioned this book. The author discusses the worldwide medieval diffusion of firearms technology and Arab, Ottoman, European and Chinese influences on the development of Indian firearms. Jodhpur was one of the most important military states in Rajasthan, playing a major role in the history of the subcontinent, never more so than during the reign of Maharaja Ajit Singhji (1678-1724) who purchased large numbers of guns when his daughter married the Mughal emperor. Jodhpur owns the best Indian matchlocks in the subcontinent, much admired at the Delhi Durbar in 1911. Successive maharajas have added to the collection, which includes modern British and American sporting guns, shotguns, revolvers and automatic pistols by many of the great makers of the twentieth century, collected by the Maharaja's grandfather, a noted hunter, and his father, a gun designer. The Maharaja of Jodhpur's Guns is the first book to be written specifically on historic Indian firearms. With more than 350 unique images of guns and Rajput paintings from private collections showing their use, this book offers scholars and collectors the opportunity to see the superb Jodhpur collection and to learn about Rajput traditions relating to hunting and war.
History as a social science is arguably more self-reflective than associated disciplines in that family. Other social scientists seem to see little reason to look beyond the paradigm they are developing in the present times. Historians on the other hand, tend to depend on the cumulative process of the development of their craft and the fund of accumulated knowledge. Yet, while this is acknowledged in the practice of research, Historiography in itself as a subject of study has rarely found its place in the syllabi of Indian universities. Knowledge of Historiography is taken for granted when a scholar plunges into research. In an attempt to address this lacuna, the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) has planned a series of volumes on Historiography comprising articles by subject specialists commissioned by the ICHR. The first volume in the series, Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography brings to the readers the first fruits of that endeavour. While the essays encompass areas of research presently at the frontiers of new research, scholars will also find the bibliographies accompanying the essays of significant appeal.