History is, by and large, written by the victor. It is a tale of kings and queens, of their loves and conquests. Sahir Ludhianvi, in his celebrated poem 'Taj
Every one of you? Why not let me speak in
Any language I like? The language I speak,
Becomes mine, its distortions, its queernesses
All mine, mine alone.
– Kamala Das
Conflicts inherently affect, even reshape, the social fabric of any society in ways both positive and negative. Apart from changing livelihoods and behavioural patterns, prolonged conflicts also affect the lexicon
Nepal's relationship with its northern neighbour, Tibet, was cemented when the Nepali princess Bhrikuti Devi married the king of Tibet, Songtsan Gampo, in the seventh century AD and
Travelogues from colonial and pre-colonial times inevitably have great value as source material for historians. Unfortunately, very few such publications exist on Tibet. The first mention of the 'forbidden
Britain's Gurkha War: The invasion of Nepal, 1814-16
by John Pemble
Frontline Books, 2008
Thucydides begins his monumental History of the Peloponnesian War by saying that whatever the
Travel arrangements in Burma are not the easiest to coordinate, so I became somewhat apprehensive upon receiving a message from my travel agent in Mandalay warning that there had been
The legacy of N Chauvin lives on in Southasia.
The odour of ancient edifice,
Fill up the crevices of ancient desires.
Where we have lived,
For several years, holding breath.
In her earlier works, Nira Wickramasinghe, a history professor at the University of Colombo, explored diverse themes as ethnic politics, the role of civil society and the politics of clothing
